For the Whored Ch. 088

Elunara stepped out past the barrier and looked around. The camp had practically turned into a village.

Charnak met her. "Is it to your liking?"

"Yes. I am pleased."

"May I ask you something?"

She eyed him. "What now?"

"I saw you the other day... with a Draenei female."

"On the hill?"

"Yes. I... didn't want to disturb you, so I left."

"That would be Tulani. She is my wife."

"She..." His eyes went wide.

"Before you ask, she is my only wife and the only woman that I love. Should anything happen to her, it would be the same as Grogek, I would go completely ballistic."

"Is she... a warrior?"

"No. In fact, to best describe our relationship, it would be that I protect her. She was taken by slavers, and I rescued her. She has been mine ever since."

His mind ran rampant as he considered this new information. "You protect her, and she is yours to protect."

"I love her. I do not JUST surround myself with men who have earned my favor. I surround myself with those that I can protect, those that I take under my wing and shelter from harm. You call me the goddess of war and mercy. This is the mercy I show. Tulani is just the closest to my heart of any of them."

"I am..." He licked his lips. "I am amazed by your kindness."

"I would do anything it took to protect my people. Even if it meant slitting your throat, or slaying every last one of this magnificent army you have brought me. So long as you are no threat to the ones I love, you can continue to earn my favor."

"Tell me what I must do."

"There is a village to the west of here that has been taken over by demons. They summon an endless stream of them via dark gates. Destroy those gates and bring me pieces. Of course, continue your treatment of your dead. It will be very important here, because the demons will consume their souls. Those demons must be stopped. Those gates must be closed." She laid a hand on his arm. "It will be dangerous, so stay safe." She turned and walked away.

He stared for awhile. She was concerned for his safety.

Elunara scrubbed the kitchen table. She tossed down her rag at the knock on the door. She blinked at Lucy.

"I'm going to do it."

Elunara looked at a calendar. "Your one month starts today?"

Lucy nodded.

"Ok, since you have a strong arm, I recommend asking the blacksmith if he has any work. At the very least you should ask him for a tour or demonstration as to what happens there. Tell him Elunara is calling in a small favor. He'll know."

Lucy nodded before turning and walking away.

"MOMMA!" They called in unison.

She sighed and leaned against the door. "What, you little monsters?"

"You have to come quick!"

"Lydia broke her arm!"

"WHAT? Weren't there like a dozen people along the way?"

"She's this way!"

Elunara ran after the boys, behind the house and down into the orchard. The little girl was lying under the tree, crying. Without waiting for an explanation, Elunara scooped up the girl and started running for the healer building, channeling her energy as she ran.

"Your momma is fast." One of the kids eyes went wide.

"Night Elf speed bonus." One of the others replied.

Darguni and Bradly ran into the healer building.

Ina turned on the both of them. "Weren't you told to stay out of those trees?"

"Yes."

Elunara sighed and held the little girl's hand while Leslia set the arm and began to heal. "What in the world were you doing in that tree?"

She sniffled. "The boys didn't want to play with me. They said I was too girly. So I wanted to show them I could do anything the boys did too."

"Darguni, Bradly... did YOU tell her she was too girly?"

"Well, no." Said Bradly.

"But she was taking forever,"

"And she never keeps up."

"So we have to wait on her all the time."

"We didn't mind,"

"Cause Momma Tuly walks slowly,"

"But the other guys were getting annoyed"

"And Aaron said it was because she was a girl"

"But WE said that our momma was a girl"

"And she was the best in the whole town."

"But then Rick said we had to give Lydia a test"

"To see if she wasn't too girly to play with us."

"And then they came up with the trees..."

Elunara gave a loud sigh. "You're both still idiots for going along with it. That tree sap is poisonous. If she'd been scratched, there'd be a whole different problem!" She put a hand on her hip.

"Momma..." Bradly whimpered. "You called us idiots."

She sighed. "Your friends did something incredibly mean, knowing full well they could hurt somebody, and you went along with it. That is just stupid. Your behavior ranked under the category of name calling, because you KNEW better. If the other kids are doing something mean, you have to either try to stop them, or come get me."

"I'm sorry." Lydia bit her lip.

"You're not to blame here sweetie. Hell, these two aren't to blame. It's your dumb friends." Elunara sighed.

"But if I was faster..."

"Has Grogek ever gotten around to that junior training?"

The boys shook their heads.

"Well, now he's an idiot." She sighed.

The kids giggled.

"So, maybe we'll work on helping you get faster. How about that?"

"You mean it?" Lydia squeezed her hand.

"Sure kid. Gotta learn early. We'll work on form and stuff, after the healers clear you for it."

"We've bandaged the arm to keep it stable. Children's bones are so malleable; it's difficult to heal all at once. She'll have to come back for a few days." Leslia smiled.

"Sure, let's get you home and then I'll bring you over for your arm, and we'll start work."

Elunara got Lydia on her shoulders and followed her directions home.

Several days later, Elunara opened the door to let Lydia in. She frowned as she watched her walk to the living rom.

"Kid, why are you limping?"

Lydia froze and stood up perfectly straight. "I'm not limping."

"First of all, you lie to me and I'll kick you out of here so fast the town will think you've sprouted wings. Second, I know bodies and you, madam, are limping."

Lydia turned around, tears in her eyes. "You CAN'T tell anybody!"

"Sweetie, my house is a safe house. Anything you tell me stays here; unless otherwise needed. This has always been my policy, and it's not changing any time soon."

She pulled up the edges of her big heavy skirt and showed off legs that were deformed.

"Ah. I've seen that many times before. We can still work with that." Elunara pointed to the couch and took the chair for herself. She popped out the board. "I understand you not wanting to tell your friends, kids can be mean little shits. But, I also understand being isolated because of how you were born."

"You have a deformity too?"

"According to some people? Yes. According to me? No. The truth is, I could not follow the expectations put on me, and people made fun of me, called me awful names. I decided I didn't care, and through my actions, have proven myself time and time again. Now, we can still work on building those leg muscles and get it so it's not so painful to run around. However, I think that you should at least tell my boys about your legs."

"But," She tugged on her skirt. "They'll make fun of me."

"First, they wouldn't make fun of you because they're better than that. Second, if they DO make fun of you, I will beat the living snot out of the little brats."

As if on cue, both boys ran in. "Can we take Yoona?" Bradly asked.

They stopped and said in unison, "Oh, hey Lydia."

Elunara raised an eyebrow at Lydia. Lydia gave a barely perceivable nod. "Boys, Lydia has something she wants to tell you. However, you're in the house, and you know my rule. You tell ANYONE for ANY reason, and there WILL be hell to pay."

"Yes, Momma." They said.

Lydia tugged up her skirts and closed her eyes.

"Ohhh." The boys looked at each other.

"That explains everything." Darguni nodded.

"You're not going to laugh?" Lydia pushed her skirt down.

"I was born with one Fang." Darguni pointed to his face.

"Our Momma has two husbands." Bradly held up two fingers.

"And a wife."

"He's a half breed."

"Of and orc and a Night Elf."

"Momma eats energy."

"Renwa and Zelinnia also had a half breed baby."

"Weird is always good."

"It just gets weirder around here."

"Your legs suck for you,"

"But now we know why you can't keep up."

"We'll protect you!"

"Yeah, like Momma protects Momma Tuly."

"She was rescued from slavers you know."

"Weird is the best." They said in unison.

Elunara held out a hand. "Told you so." With a laugh, she shook her head. "Why don't you help them take Yoona on her walk."

"Yeah!"

"We have to walk her slow anyhow."

"So it's not like you have to struggle."

Elunara was tucking her board away for the night when she heard the knock on the door. She opened it and found herself clamped in a hug. "Uh, hi?"

"Thank you. Thank you, so much!" Lydia's mother wiped her eyes. "Oh Gods, I'm so sorry." She stepped back and wiped her eyes on a dishtowel.

"Uh, Linda?"

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry, can I come in?"

"Sure." Elunara gestured to the couch.

Jordan leaned over the banister, in nothing but his pants. "Something wrong?"

"Not a thing. Don't worry about it."

"Okay then."

"Oh, MY!" Linda stared at his retreating form.

"In about... 5, 4, 3, 2...."

The opened and Grogek walked in, divesting himself of his armor. He sat down and took off his boots, before yanking off his shirt and heading upstairs.

Linda had flushed a delightful shade of red. "You keep BOTH of them?"

"Often in the same bed."

"I see why you have trouble choosing." She said weakly.

The door opened again. "Running a little late?" Elunara grinned at Tulani.

"Extra order came in, and then they were late delivering my new bolts. I had to leave them so I could get Eloise her share of the order." Tulani took her basket up. "You have company?"

"Yeah. I'll explain later."

"That's fine. Boys asleep?"

"They're passed the hell out on top of Yoona."

Tulani nodded. "I'll see you when you come up."

"I heard the rumor that you had two husbands and a wife, but I thought it was... just a rumor."

"And every one of them calls me insatiable. You didn't come here about my personal life." Elunara leaned back.

"No, I came to thank you. Lydia has been having such a hard time adjusting around here. Its bad enough we're in the middle of nowhere, but she had to leave behind most of her friends. They're all the typical little girl... you know how it is."

"Actually, I don't. The first "kid" I saw my age, was when I was fourteen and kicked out of the priesthood for having no ability."

"Oh, that's so sad." She frowned. "Well, all of her friends want to do the whole tea party thing and groom themselves into young ladies. So they don't run around like maniacs and put a lot of pressure on her body. Now? They're all rough and tumble maniacs and she has to struggle to keep up. But, what you did for her today." Fresh tears sprang from her eyes. "You and your boys. Gods." She put a hand to her chest.

"Around here, our motto is, weird is the best kind of amazing. My boys saw her issue, and took to her like flies on honey. She'll do fine. I'm going to work with her, try to build up those fatigued muscles. She'll get going soon enough."

"I love how you refer to Harvard's son as one of your boys."

"He IS my boy. Gotta love a kid that declares he's yours because you want him." She laughed with a sigh. The door to the kid's room open and she rolled her eyes. "That kid has a knack for timing, I swear to Elune."

Bradly walked out, rubbing his eyes. "Momma?"

"Over here, kiddo."

Bradly climbed up into her lap and curled up. "I had a bad dream."

"That so?"

"She came back for me." He whimpered.

Elunara wrapped her arms around him. "I'll just beat her ass like I did last time."

"You protect me." He murmured. "You always protect me." He fell back asleep.

Linda put her hand to her mouth, fresh tears streaming down her face. "Oh Gods, why can I not stop crying? This is humiliating." She whispered.

"Having a heart is not humiliating." Elunara grinned as she stood up. She went back into the boy's room and laid Bradly back down with Darguni. She brushed his hair out of his face and tucked a blanket over both.

She stepped out and closed the door.

"You let that cat sleep in there?"

"Yoona is a sweetheart. She usually just destroys fabric. Much to Tulani's annoyance." She sighed.

"Your family is amazing."

"And we're all maniacs." Elunara laughed. "Of course we welcome Lydia with open arms. There's nothing normal about us at all." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"And I am ridiculously grateful. She told me that she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. I find it fascinating, that she doesn't tell me until today, that the problem with her old friends, was sitting in their obnoxious chairs." Linda laughed. "She asked me if she could join your training regimen. At first, I was afraid for her. But now, I think I get it. So, yes, she can join your training camp. I'm confident you can help her."

"I'll do my best. You should know; she's a determined little girl. She'll move past this. I might not be able to make her 100%, but I can damn well get her pretty close."

And the duo became a trio. Lydia was huffing and puffing, but they stuck beside her.

"Hey!" One of the other kids flailed his hands. "Come ON! Just leave her!"

"NO!" They both yelled.

"But your mom is giving a demonstration!"

Both boys looked at each other with a frown. They looked back at Lydia.

"Just go." She sighed. "I'll catch up."

Darguni went around her back and grabbed her by the waist.

"What are you..."

Bradly stooped down and grabbed her ankles. He stood up and adjusted. "Ok, GO!" They jogged in unison.

Lydia was completely dumfounded as they carefully sat her on the platform.

"You ok?" Darguni looked over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah." She straightened her skirt. "Thank you." She blushed.

"Yeah, sure thing." Bradly sat on one side, Darguni the other.

Elunara spun her staff. "Come on, lovers, I need a good work out." She grinned.

Grogek and Jordan entered the ring with a grin.

"I thought you got plenty of exercise last night." Jordan laughed.

"Sugar, your stamina has dramatically increased, and the both of you gave me more than enough last night. But you and I both know this is a different exercise altogether. In fact, last night merely charged me up to take you down." She pointed her staff at him.

"Come for it, baby."

"I do SO love "feeding" you." Grogek grinned. A comment that most of the men in the crowd took wrong.

"BEGIN!" She called.

"Wow, your mom is vicious." A kid shook his head.

"Papa calls her his "vicious little she wolf"." Darguni Nodded.

"She's crazy is what she is." Aaron snorted.

"She's AMAZING." Lindsy sighed. "I wish my momma could fight like that."

"I wish I could fight like that." Lydia murmured.

Bradly patted her leg. "Momma has agreed to train you; she'll have you fighting in no time."

Darguni patted her other leg. "Yeah, if momma can fight like that, imagine how good you'll be, training under her."

"She says she'll get you into shape in no time."

"You'll be running around like a maniac. I just know you will."

"In any event, she'll train you in endurance."

"Yeah, she says that endurance is the key to any fight."

"If you can conserve your supply,"

"And use it in appropriate bursts,"

"You can bring down even the strongest opponent."

"Papa says that's how momma beats him in fights,"

"That she has crazy amounts of stamina,"

"And uses her endurance to weigh him down."

"Papa Jordan says that she's also just goddamned crazy."

The other kids gasped at the language.

"It's a quote, so we can't get in trouble." Bradly grinned.

"Momma enjoys the fact that she's completely crazy. She calls it her best asset."

"Hey, Darguni, who is that guy?"

Darguni looked up and frowned. "Oh, I think that's Charnak that I've heard momma talk about. He's Papa's long lost brother?"

"He calls her his Goddess."

"Yeah, The Goddess of War and Mercy."

"He brought her an army to command."

Elunara hadn't noticed him, and he just stood there watching. His body was slit open in places, but even if he died, just watching her like this made his heart soar. Grogek and Jordan not only were holding their own against her, but they didn't seem to be showing any signs of wear. The hell he had just been through was all worth it, just to see her pleasure. It began clear to him that she went easy on the melee she commanded. This was true war and grit and unmerciful hell. She brought the human down first. Wearing him down and disabling him. She shoved him to the side with her foot, and turned her wrath on Grogek.

Elunara spotted Charnak and the momentary distraction caused Grogek to land a glancing blow. She hissed in pain and went straight for the take down. When he was laying on his back in shock, she motioned her head. "My "champion" is back."

Grogek looked over his head and spotted the orc, watching in fascination. "Ah. I'll leave you to it."

She tossed her staff to Jordan and made her way outside the ring. She looked him over and sighed.

He dropped his arms and held out his hands. "My beautiful Goddess, watching you fight a real battle is something to behold."

She laid her hands on him and poured energy into his body. As she moved her energy around, both of their cuts healed themselves.

He groaned in ecstasy.

"Now that you've been tended to, tell me how my army faired."

"We lost one hundred and twenty three, but we broke the gates and brought you many pieces."

"Very good, show me." She wrapped an arm around his.

"Your mom seems very touchy feely with that guy." Lindsy snorted.

"Oh, she's like that with everyone."

"Unless they piss her off." Bradly grinned.

"Papa says she has enough heart to take in anyone who wishes."

"That she controls her body to her liking."

"Sounds like your mother is a whore." Lindsy snorted.

"Momma's codename in the SI:7 was "The Whore". She's quite proud of it." Darguni grinned.

"She was the most successful agent, according to Renwa. Her success rate was insane."

"Why did she quit?" Lydia frowned.

"When she met papa, she was put on assignment to watch him. But, eventually she fell in love with him, and the rest just fell into place." Darguni shrugged.

"Momma says that, it was difficult for her to learn to love, and that she has a hard time doing so."

"But papa says that, when she decides to allow herself to love,"

"She loves with her whole heart."

"Mind and body."

"Papa Jordan says she is a creature of mystery and magic."

"That she can unlock even the most closed heart."

"Zelinnia says that Elunara can't help but save people."

"And Renwa says that she's mean as a snake and a walking migraine."

"He's lost track of the amount of times he has seen her slit someone's throat and not flinch."

"She once tortured someone in the training ring." Darguni grinned.

"He tried to hurt Momma Tuly."

"Zelinnia saved her by fireballing the guy and sitting on him."

"So Momma tied him to a chair,"

"And cut him hundreds of times."

"Now he cleans the latrines."

"THAT GUY?" One kid gasped.

"Yep, Momma did that." Bradly grinned.

"She put every scar on his body and some we can't see."

"Renwa said that, when he blacked out, Momma dumped salt water on to him."

Lydia's head flick back and forth between the two boys. Elunara wasn't the only walking migraine, she sighed. "I'm scared." She whispered.

Both boys wrapped their arms around her back.

"Don't you worry." Bradly smiled.

"Momma likes you." Darguni grinned.