Toofy Ch. 13

Royal seed spilled into her, dribbling out of him and into her. She let out a deep and happy growl.

He withdrew, and slapped her ass as he lay back onto her bed of coals. "You leave tomorrow. Kill the cat, or do not return."

Meerakeilian tossed back her head and let out a triumphant roar of blue flame, her tail drumming the ground excitedly.

---

"It is entirely insufferable!" The eunuch complained to her, "He let her eat one of the concubines! In front of the rest. She... Please. You must help me convince him to send her away."

Efina looked at the terrified man and adjusted herself on her chair. Making certain that the slit down the side of her dress revealed what the man could only dream to play with.

Not having the equipment was not the same as having no desire.

"I told you this was a possibility long before I gave in to the emperor's request."

Yan nodded fretfully, "You did, you did. But it is so much worse than that, Lady Efina. He has made an ambassador. I am to mark her as a free woman, tomorrow."

The priestess felt a cold chill run down her spine, "I had heard of the possibility. I had hoped my sources were wrong. Does he intend to send the salamander after Lady Twenty Four?"

"I believe that is the intent, but not the word." The man swallowed, "He would never label it as an assassination, but that is what will take place. And then he will reward her."

She put her chin in her hands, "It is... A wise choice. One I might have made in his place. The salamander is uniquely motivated to kill my precious neko."

"Yours?"

Efina smiled sadly, "Yes, I mistreated her. I tried so very hard to sculpt her into the perfect... Lady of influence. She abandoned me, making her own path towards the same desire."

"Why is this whore so motivated to kill your cat? And why does it concern the emperor?" Yan demanded.

The priestess sighed, "Those two questions, have very different answers. Ones that you must be certain that you wish to hear, before I speak them aloud."

"The first?"

Efina laughed softly, "Until our kitten arrived, the lone hatchling of Irrleichdan was the uncontested mistress in charge of all of my girls. The dragonkind princess was ruthless and brutal."

"She doesn't know who her father was, only that he was a great hero to her kind. I have guarded her from that knowledge, as best I can. The emperor recognised her as his hatchling, from what I hear."

"The daughter, exhibited the same control as her father. She is dragonkind. The world belongs to her, as a precious treasure to be guarded. Only three of my girls vanished before the hatchling had control."

Efina paused in her explanation, smiling to herself as she remembered the moment it had all changed. "I had no problem with it. Hierarchy promotes peace. So long as I lead, and others follow, the girls can sort it out."

Yan nodded slowly, "She is a violent creature."

"The kitten was only a handful of years old. Maybe six to eight years." Efina said, "She had her bright gold eyes, but... She tripped over her own tail. Couldn't speak in any human tongue yet. Only little purrs."

The priestess took a deep breath, "One day, this little playful kitten, stole a precious snack from the kitchen. I don't know why exactly, she could not eat firestones. They are only for dragonkind."

"Firestones? The enchanted rocks?" The man said in surprise, "I assume they belonged to the salamander."

"Indeed, sir." Efina nodded, "And in vengeance, she attacked the kitten. Slashed open her chest, and left her to bleed out. I found the kitten in my bed, where she had sewn her own wound shut. She wrecked one of my dresses to do it, taking the silk thread."

The eunuch stared at her in horror, "A child?"

"More childish than most children. She is neko. They live to play." Efina said cautiously, "I nursed her back to health, and then returned her to the girls, expecting her to be deferent to the one who had nearly killed her."

The man winced, "She... Wasn't?"

"I don't know she did it. Only the aftermath. She... Took Mia by surprise. Somehow. Cut off her tail's tip, and left her bleeding on the kitchen floor, whilst she cooked, and then ate, the tail's tip." The priestess paused to shudder.

Efina continued, "There is no greater shame than to be consumed by your enemy, among dragonkind. It is instinctual. Lady Twenty Four, permanently shamed and dominated Mia, in that singular moment. As a child."

Yan swallowed nervously, "So... Your salamander desires vengeance. With a hatred that will never be cooled. That... That makes sense. What of the other question? Is the neko a threat to our emperor?"

"Yes. And she has told him as such. And yet somehow convinced him to let her live." Efina said in bewilderment, "At least... She did, for a time. A decision, it appears, he has come to regret."

The eunuch shook his head, "This is a horror story... Neither of these women should be allowed to influence the court. Help me protect this empire."

"No." The priestess chuckled softly, "Mia is going to regret attacking my neko. The emperor is going to regret sending her after the neko. Because, my dear idiot, the cat... Never. Forgives."

"She must die, then."

Efina laughed loudly, "She has outlived everyone who has ever tried to kill her, you strange little man. She has lived as a hated creature. And she has triumphed. I cautioned the emperor, never to offend her. He ignored me. He will live with the consequences. I wash my hands of it."

The man glared at her, "You refuse to defend your empire?"

"I did what could be done. I advised your lord to take her as his bride. That would have been a better solution." Efina said idly, "If he expects her to die... This temple will not aid him. Ask Lord Yu for his assassins, if you must. He will give you a similar answer."

The eunuch swallowed, "Lord Yu screamed me from his office, throwing a wine bottle at my head. Why are you all so protective of this damned cat?"

"We're not. We're frightened of her." Efina replied stiffly, "Myself, more than most. You see her as a creature, and not a scheming lady of the court. You're an idiot. She's both, and that makes her far more dangerous."

The man took a deep breath and looked at her in confusion. "You raised this creature. This thing that is less than human. You, a woman of power, who even can bend even the ear of the emperor. Why do you fear her?"

"Because, one day, she is going to kill me." Efina whispered, and gave a tiny sad smile, "And I cannot change that fate."

He shook his head, "If she plots such a crime then -"

"You misunderstand, eunuch. I would deserve my death, for my mistreatment of her. Lady Twenty Four is a brilliant woman, but I tried my best to ensure total control over her and succeeded only in earning my name on the list of those she will kill. Men like Isaac, who have already learned that lesson, and men like you, who are yet to learn it, do not know fear enough. She does not forgive. Ever."

The priestess finished wallowing in her own self pity and looked up at him, "You may go. I have given you far more than I intended."

The man shuffled out, and Efina reconsidered the request of the succubus. The demand that she give up her magic, and burn it all.

She would have, in an instant, were it not for one thing.

At the Sai estate, on the day of the hunt, Twenty Four had revealed to her that she knew exactly where Efina's forbidden trove was hidden, and how to get to it.

If the neko knew of her black magic, of her efforts to condemn the corrupted human race to death, then the neko had likely visited it in person.

Somehow walked into a shrine to the old gods of destruction, and walked out, again.

Without Efina noticing a single thing out of place.

Had... Had the gods spoken to the cat, as they had to Efina?

Had they claimed the unpredictable, playful, and vengeful creature as an avatar for their justice in this world?

Not a single one of the wards or traps that Efina had put in place had triggered at the presence of the neko. It was utterly impossible, suggesting that somehow, some when, Twenty Four had mastered a magic that Efina could barely touch.

Either the divines had protected her, or that cat's soul was blacker than the gates of hell.

Elia had asked Efina if something had crawled through the crack to the divines when Twenty Four had held back death. Asked her if she believed something had tried to possess the neko.

The priestess pitied any demon that had tried to climb inside that woman.

---

"I assume you recognise a Gate when you see one." Sai waved at the circle of stones in front of them.

The foxgirl standing aloof, but nearby, rolled her orange eyes, "Ya be pissin' on her."

"I wasn't intending to be sarcastic or patronising." Sai replied calmly, "I am making the assumption you recognise the Gate. I am quite accustomed to Gate-travel, but those who are not, may experience some discomfort. So, I offer you a choice. Shall we eat before we travel, in relative luxury, or once we arrive in a war zone on the other side?"

Tammy wiggled her nose, sniffing at the air, "Aye. Gotsa vomit if ya go tru one dem. How far it be takin' ya?"

"To the orcish front. We're skipping two or three days hard travel." Sai informed her.

The fox's tail drooped, only one tail at the moment, and she sighed, "Not worth tossin' da cookies. So I guess it be rancid stew from da odder side."

She chose not to throw up a lunch, to eat in the middle of a war. He couldn't say he was that surprised, not since he had finally worked out who she was.

He stepped into the middle of the circle and held out his hand politely to her, "If you wish to still accompany me..."

"I gotsa be pissin' on da neko." The woman said angrily, "So I be followin'."

Her warm and soft hand found his, clinging tightly to it with an experienced expectation.

Sai focused, his green eyes burning with light for a moment before he reached down and plucked a blue sphere out of the ground. They were instantly surrounded by a howling wind, and peppered with flying stones.

He ignored all that, traced the route, and then released the ball of light.

The nausea hit him like a brick wall, but he had done this sort of trip almost every day of the northern war. It was simply a bitter taste of nostalgia.

The foxgirl, holding his hand, vomited violently and only failed to fall to her knees because she managed to stay grasping him.

Sai tossed up a hand and blocked an arrow before it pierced his chest, glaring towards the two mud-soaked soldiers who had fired it. "I am Lord Sai, of the House of Sai, and your new fucking commander!"

The one holding the bow knocked another arrow.

The other pushed the bow down so it wasn't aiming at them, "We heard you were coming, sir. Apologies. Things are not quite -"

Sai turned and looked across the blackened fields, at the flags and bodies lying out in the sun. He looked, particularly, at the black hand on the red cloth, of some of the orcish flags.

"Hammerhand is here. How long?"

"The orcish warlock?" The wiser of the two guards asked in surprise, "Three days. We're barely holding out, sir."

"No shit." Sai swore. "This woman is one of my weapons I've brought. She's gatesick. Take her to the camp, and make sure no one lays a hand on her."

"Sir." The man nodded, "She will be treated with the respect due -"

Sai looked over at him, "Didn't you just hear me say, weapon? Not touching her is because she'll kill you. Forget the protocols and rituals. Tell the others I have arrived, and gone to see Hammerhand."

He let go of Tammy, "Don't follow me, fox. Know when to play the game."

"The orcs kill anyone who approach. The warlock can suck the soul -"

"Shut it." Sai interrupted, crouching and grabbing some of the mud. He drew a complicated pattern onto his face. One he thought that he had abandoned as a child.

Tammy laughed softly, "Oh. Dat be a fun ting. When ya be learnin' o' dat?"

"As a boy." Sai said grimly and walked off on his own.

His boots squelched and tried to stick in the mud. He counted more bodies left to the ravens than he had seen since his time in the north.

This was not just some skirmish.

Whatever human forces were left, trying to hold this border, were the last line of defence before the orcs took a stranglehold in this region.

The dead humans also carried no weapons. Their compatriots had retrieved them, because there weren't enough. The last defenders were being starved of resources, expected to fail.

Sai didn't know what game the emperor was playing here, but it looked to him like a large scale war wasn't just inevitable - it was the intent.

An excuse to bring the full might of the empire down, and kill off every last orc.

Just like Kaden had done when he forced Sai to kill the nekos.

He caused an act of aggression, and used it to justify the large scale slaughtering of entire people groups. Stealing what the dead left behind to fund his ever expanding empire.

You either bow to the emperor, and rule as a puppet, or you watched all your people die.

No orc would bow.

Sai didn't take long to find the stronghold. A building made of stone and iron, rising up out of the ground like the interlocking plates of a turtle. Points from spear and bow visible through the gaps, ready to kill.

Always ready to kill.

A stronghold was a bustling city, despite the crude and warlike appearance. Within it, orcs of all walks of life could be found, but only orcs.

They were not accepting of outsiders, and they were not willing to even listen to another way of life. An emperor demanding obedience was an emperor insulting every orc that had ever lived.

Whilst the stronghold might have tailors and chefs, both were equally well trained to pick up a hammer to defend the honour of the clan.

"Horld!" A deep voice roared towards him, in an approximation of the human tongue. "Staart your b... B..."

"Brak'na'toa!" Sai cried out, and thumped his chest, "Frak'no nak nora, lak, tan Slag!"

There was a silent moment of confusion at his identification, and he saw several sets of eyes peering out at him. Examining the markings on his face.

He wouldn't be inclined to believe it either, in their condition.

And where there was doubt, it was the job of the chieftain to decide what would happen. He could decide to kill Sai, or could decide to be curious and meet him.

The wooden gates of the stronghold rumbled open, revealing a large group of warriors surrounding one that was big, even for an orc.

That black-skinned warrior walked towards him with heavy and shaking footfalls, looking down at him with derision, "Hu-man. A hu-man claiming to be Slarg."

"Slag." He corrected, "I was raised by the Frak'no, as Slag."

In a stronghold, everyone has a duty. Born into a career, it didn't matter if you were royal or homeless. Everyone served for the good of the clan.

They took names, not of family like a human might, but of the jobs that they worked.

Among the lowest of the low, were the slagboys. The ones who carted ruined metal for the blacksmith, and tossed it onto the slag heap. Risking life and limb every time.

It had been a brutal existence for a young human child.

The chieftain frowned, considering him, "I know the markings boy, but you ain't Slag. Can't be. Too fragile, as a human."

"I am also a Son of Menes."

The man stumbled backwards, snorting angrily at the sudden danger that he perceived. "Abomination."

Sai shrugged casually, "Then let the abomination speak to the one who summons abominations. I demand to see Hammerhand, that red fucker."

The orc laughed, a loud sound that rippled through his belly, "A Slag? Demanding the attention of our Hammerhand? He'll gut you like a pig and eat your intestines."

"I doubt it. He's the one who taught me how to kill those that try." Sai shrugged. "So, chief, go tell my father the son is back to spit in his face."

It was an orcish ritual of banishment.

The father would spit on the child who had embarrassed them, and toss them out of the stronghold. Then they'd send word to all other strongholds never to accept them in.

If the son survived in the wilds of a world that hated them, for more than ten years, then they could return and challenge their father to a duel.

If they were successful, then they would take up whatever career the father had. The father's skull would be proudly mounted on a spear outside the son's dwelling.

Sai didn't expect to succeed. He couldn't, not against one of the most brilliant and ruthless warlocks to have ever lived. However, it was a convenient excuse to let him speak to the authority leading his enemy.

The orc gestured for him to follow and turned, rolling his shoulders, "Welcome back, Slag."

---

Arina's throat burned her as she weakly drank the water from the proffered bowl. She smiled at Xivian gratefully, "Thank you."

"Don't." The woman shook her head, clearly full of regret. "I helped Lady Castelle conceal her intention to kill you from your mistress. I would have assisted her, if she asked me."

The weaker handmaiden smiled all the same. "Of course. It is our duty to act and protect our mistresses. As I attempted to protect Lady Twenty Four. I harbour no resentment to you."

"I may yet, kill you, to protect Lady Castelle." Xivian stated firmly.

Arina would have found the words terrifying, a few days ago. Might even have burst into tears at the threat. Today, however, she did not. Today, she remembered what Death looked like.

She remembered that she had endured, as Death tried to beat her into returning to life, so that Toofy's soul could be damned.

She breathed calmly in the air, and took a glance out the window towards Lady Castelle's gardens. Seeing Toofy's muddy bootprints staining the outside of the window ledge.

"Where is my lady?"

Xivian sighed heavily, "She is likely among the dead. She was sent, as the emperor's ambassador, in Lord Castelle's stead. An opportunity that was extended to him after the emperor determined Lady Vanhern's parentage."

"She is not. Not yet." Arina smiled sadly, "If she was, then I would not have been forced to return in the manner that I did."

The other handmaiden frowned, "That... Creature... What was it?"

"I have not a clue." She confessed freely, "I have never felt anything quite like it, Xivian. I saw a golden light. I felt the presence of a god, like I was in deep prayer at the temple. Yet the voice was callous and poorly educated."

"You saw a light?"

Arina felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment, "She... She grasped me. She grabbed me the way that... My lady does. And pulled me by it."

"Pulled you by..." Xivian took a moment to realise that Arina had been violated. Her privates invaded as nothing more than a handhold, to drag her back to the world of the living.

The weaker one sipped at her water again, and struggled not to cough. "So, am I abandoned? Am I now to serve at the whim or your lady?"

"Lady Twenty Four left rather explicit instructions that you were to come to no harm." Xivian tried to remain impassive, whilst informing her that it was likely that someone would still try and kill her.

Again, Arina couldn't find it in her to be afraid.

She had spent her entire life in service to the gods. Bowing and scraping. Feeling nothing but guilt for the life of a sinner.

Hating herself when she fell in love with someone who might be the most remarkable woman that Arina had ever met. Despising herself for letting her heart be so frail in front of what she knew to be wrong.

A woman that Arina had defied a god for.

She had faced Death itself, terrified, weeping. Yet, her resolve had never once wavered. Her will had stood strong, and Arina had seen one of the most powerful deities become powerless before nothing but a mortal soul.