Radiance Ch. 15

"Oh god don't, now I'm gonna have that image stuck in my head for the rest of the night," she said.

"Your welcome and don't worry I'll certainly do my very best t fill the rest with images of Visa's big beautiful bum," Seven said.

"I don't doubt it for a second" Wisp said still chuckling to herself.

"Hey my sexy alpha, how's the tail?" Seven asked and Visa glanced back at him.

"It throbs a bit but I'm fine honestly my male, you don't need to fret over me," she said and Seven smiled inside his helmet.

"Oh come on my sexy alpha claw, it's my job to fret over you, you're my girl, what kinda male doesn't fret over his girl's well being, even if she is far bigger and stronger than him? It's my job to look after you, plus I'm going to have a hell of a job lifting your tail if you can't move it now aren't I?" he said playfully which made her tail swish and then a wince of pain betrayed her.

"Gotcha, knew it was hurting more than you let on, come on, over here to that rock, I'm going to have a proper look at it and sort it out," Seven said and when Visa turned to gare at him even through his helmet he projected a stance that told her he was not going to take no for an answer, so with a huff, she complied.

"Hey everyone we're stopping for a bit so I can take care of Visa's tail properly," Seven said and the group moved over to where he indicated, Seven got Visa to sit down and he moved behind her and he unwound the bandage from around her large tail, he could clearly see the wounds on either side of her tail where the bullet had passed right through at the top.

The scales have been pushed inwards and he knew he was going to have to get them out and clean this would out, "I'm sorry my love this will hut a bit" Seven said and Visa huffed and nodded, it was obvious she didn't like feeling vulnerable like this, or possibly she thought she was looking weak in front of him.

Seven took out the medical kit they'd liberated from the BOS bunker and he set to work, he plucked the scale fragments out of the wound and using a special needle and thread he stitched it closed before using one of the special injector guns that people called stimpacks to stimulate rapid healing of the wound before he re-bandaged it and gently ran his hand up her back and patted her shoulder.

"There we go, good as new and sexy as ever my sexy alpha," he said gently planting a kiss on each of her horns before pressing his lips to hers.

"Thank you my human and I am sorry if I seemed stubborn, I am not used to others helping me like this," she said softly.

"Oh hush now, it's fine honestly, I love you Visa and I will always take care of my big sexy alpha claw, no matter what, whatever she needs I will do my damnedest to give," he said softly stroking her horns as he did.

"Thank you so much, my beautiful human, I will never forget this, I swear it to you," she said.

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As they rested Gregory watched Seven tending to Visa and he turned to Ven, "Are you ok my beautiful claw? Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked softly and Ven smiled down at him.

"Don't worry my pretty human, I was not injured, but I wouldn't say no to one of those wonderful kisses of yours" Ven said softly and Gregory felt his face flush slightly before she stepped up to him and pressed his mouth to Ven's, Gregory felt his big strong claw take hold of him and pull him in tightly, his long tongue invaded Gregory's mouth and swirled around his own making his mind go all foggy and warm, it was a wonderful feeling, out of the corner of his eye he could see the new girl Riss watching them all curiously, she looked so innocent and curious of all this and he did find himself hoping that somewhere out there that a human boy was waiting for her to find him so she could look after him and he could love her the way she so desperately wanted.

Once the rest was over they continued on their way along the road and that's when they saw them, or rather Riss smelled them on the wind, after she alerted the group to the incoming danger they managed to find cover in a ditch surrounded by rocks and they lay there, listening, watching and waiting.

It didn't take long for them to loom up out of the inky darkness, it was an entire battalion of Legionnaires along with what appeared to be about 200 freshly captured slaves.

The Legionnaires were marching in ranks of five with the chained slaves shuffling along in the middle, Gregory felt his heart pounding like a hammer in his chest, suddenly he felt something heavy pressing down on him and it took him a moment to realise that Ven was shifting himself over the top of him protectively, "It'll be alright" Ven hissed so softly that only Gregory heard him.

He hadn't even realised she was shaking until he felt his ribs knocking against Ven's scales, he also felt Ven snake a long arm protectively around his waist and pull him against him protectively as the Legionnaires marched past them, he could feel the ground shaking beneath him with every unified step they took.

Each of them was dressed in black robe like gear, their legs were bare and their feet had sandals that stretched up to their knees with long leather straps, over their shoulders each of them carried a long wicked looking spear with ha jagged serrated tip, it was designed not to kill swiftly or cleanly, but painfully, maiming its victim and forcing them to suffer a horrible death, a testament to any who stood against the Legion.

Each of them also wore a metal helmet that was topped with black feathers, he could not help but feel a well of fear bubbling up as memories of that place and those uniforms flooded his mind and he forced himself to close his eyes and to focus on the beating of his big strong claw's heartbeat above him, he had faith that the male he loved would do everything he could to protect him, he just hoped it never came to it.

Fortunately, the Legionnaires didn't see them and passed them right by, the same couldn't be said for some of the unluckier raider gangs along their route and the sounds of fighting and screaming drifted to them along with the breeze through the night air.

Once they were clear the group moved on quickly and silently, no one speaking of what they'd just seen, but Gregory could feel it, a silent rage was floating among them, a wish that they could have helped those two hundred poor souls being led to their final destination, a great many of them would die and very soon, for no more crime than of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The group decided to find a place to rest up for the coming day, it came to them in the form of an abandoned truck depot, large semi-trailers littered the large compound and the burnt-out husks of vehicles were everywhere, for a moment Gregory wondered why none of the raider gangs or even the Legion had claimed such a place for themselves, that was until she saw who did occupy the place and then he understood all too well.

Ghouls, hundreds of them inhabited the truck depot, the feral shambling zombie-like ex-humans shuffling around the place seemingly aimlessly, "Fuck well that's thrown a spanner in the works" Seven hissed softly as they all crouched watching the place.

"Not really, look up there," Visa said pointing to the top of the large warehouse building, they all followed her pointed claw and they spotted what looked to be a camp of some kind sat atop the roof.

"Give me a moment I'll scout it out," Wisp said inside his head and with that she flowed out of his nose, mouth and ears before floating up and over the depot, staying out of sight of the Ghouls below her, she circled around it and then flew back to them.

She came back in the same way she got out and boy was it a strange feeling, "Ok, there's a camp up there, looks abandoned, saw a few skeletons and no sign that anyone has been there in years, the place is boarded up tight, no Ghouls up there" she said.

"Ok, but how do we reach it?" Seven said.

"I can reach it," Riss said and they all looked at her and before any of them had a chance to speak she vanished from sight.

As they watched Ghouls along the route began to mysteriously drop dead for no apparent reason, one second they were fine, the next they were either simply on the floor or their necks were broken, it seemed that Riss truly did know how to survive the harsh reality of this world.

About half an hour after she vanished she reappeared right before their eyes standing atop one of the semi-trailers, she waved to them to show that the route was all clear and the group moved quickly and quietly up, picking their way between the silent dead trucks, as they reached the semi-trailer she stood atop Ven hoisted Gregory up and deposited him on his back like he was one of those cowboys riding a horse as he'd seen in old books.

With a mighty leap, Ven cleared the trailer with ease, landing surprisingly quietly for a creature of his weight and size, from there he rushed forwards and climbed the vertical wall sinking his claws into the metal to scale it with ease, this made a series of handholds that made it easier for Seven in his power armour to climb up the vertical wall, followed by Visa who was making sure he didn't fall.

To his surprise the roof of the place had been covered with old shipping containers like those that sat on the backs of the semi-trucks, how they'd gotten them up here was an utter mystery, they must have used some kind of crane though he didn't remember seeing one.

"Good job guys, alright pick yourselves a container and this will be us for a day or so until we can figure out not only how to get back out of here but where to go from here," Seven said panning around the place checking everything out, it was all clear.

The chance at a little privacy was a strong lure and Ven picked out a shipping container that had been converted into a camp for them, it even had mattresses and old sleeping bags littering the floor, not to mention holes cut into the top of the containers to make sure that air flowed through when it was shut.

They decided that cold food was a better idea tonight rather than hot because they didn't want either the light of the fire or the smoke to give them away, either to the Ghouls below or any other casual observer, so Ven and Gregory sat on a mattress together sharing a cold meal, "You alright?" Ven asked softly and Gregory swallowed his cold cut of meat and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just seeing those people in chains brought back a lot of bad memories is all" Gregory said softly staring down at his hands.

Ven wrapped a long arm around his slender shoulders and pulled him right up against his large warm body, he snuggled into the side of his bid strong claw boy, "Don't you worry my beautiful human, no one will ever touch you while I still breathe, this beautiful body is for my claws only" Ven said softly and a wonderful shiver ran down Gregory's spine, this big claw really knew how to make his heart flutter.

"You bet your sweet sexy tail it is," Gregory said planting a soft kiss on Ven's chest right over his heart which was thudding away powerfully under his lips.

"Now as for those bad memories what do you say that went only chase them off but also make ourselves some new, sweet, beautiful ones, just me and you, away from the eyes of the world, just two boys, one human and one claw, deeply in love and about to prove it to each other, so what do you say my sweet little human?" ven said in such a deep, gravely and oh so sexy voice that his mere tone let alone his beautiful words sent a shiver down his spine.

"My answer is as simple as I am my big strong claw, take me, make love to me, make me fully yours tonight," Gregory said his heart fluttering like a pair of hummingbird wings even as the words left his lips, a huge smile crossed Ven's handsome face.

"Music to my ears," he said and he leaned in to kiss him deeply and passionately, tonight was going to be the most magical of his life, because tonight for the first time in his life, he would be truly free.