Defiant Necromancer (Book 2 stubbed)

Aoife suppressed the urge to snap at Chad as she soared through the air.

“Are you still pissed about something?” the Hero asked, picking up on her mood.

“Not pissed,” the dragon replied instantly.

“Is it your monthly visitor?” he said, grimacing.

“No! Stop trying to guess.”

Aoife found herself frustrated with Chad. She shouldn’t have been. She knew that. His failings were not truly her concern. But she hoped to find a mate sometime soon, now that she had become an adult. She had been trying to carve out her own little territory, and Chad had taken her away from that.

The fact that he was, by his own behavior, ruling himself out as a mate - refusing to prove his worthiness by taking her challenge - meant she was making no progress toward her goals. She was seizing no territory, conquering no foes, taking no mates. Just serving as a glorified mount.

Perhaps I am better off that he has not chosen to accept my rematch, she thought. She did not consider it normal, from the draconic perspective, to choose a mate based on merit of personality, so she had overlooked some of Chad’s flaws. But she planned to invest a lot more effort into her offspring than her own parents had, and she wanted a mate who would match that level of commitment.

Chad seemed too keen on trying to spread his seed over actually worrying about what happened to it after it sprouted.

“Well, we’ve made it to the Salt Waste,” Chad said, observing the desert sand coming into view in the distance. “This coastal route really was the fastest we could take.”

Of course it was, Aoife managed not to snap. I know how to fly from one place to another quickly. It is in my blood. I am a dragon, after all.

“I think we should cut across from—”

Aoife sniffed the air, then shifted into a dive, the abrupt change of speed cutting the Hero off in mid-sentence.

“What’s going on?” he managed as they streaked toward the ground just outside the port.

“I smell undead,” she replied. “Unmistakable odor, thanks to our recent experiences in the swamp.”

Chad wrinkled his nose but nodded. “Very good. We’re close to what we came for, then. I hope. Boy, will Samara be surprised to see me!”

She sensed it as he smoothed his hair back.

“Assuming that we did not beat the paladin and her new companions here, which is entirely likely given my flight speed,” Aoife pointed out.

“Then she’ll be thrilled to arrive and find that we have already defeated the necromancer,” the Hero said without missing a beat.

The dragon hit the sand, dumped Chad unceremoniously off to the side, and shifted into her human form. A tall, commanding, red-haired beauty tossed her hair and gave Chad a slightly annoyed look.

“There, I’ve hidden my wings and horns to be discreet,” she said, pointing at her back, where she normally liked to keep her wings even in her humanoid form. “Let’s get this over with. I’d rather be burning this town than searching through it for a necromancer.”

“Yeah, let’s avoid the town-burning option unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Chad replied.

The two walked around the outer wall, presented themselves at the town’s front gate, and then simply entered like any other travelers.

What they saw over the next hour or so astounded Chad. Aoife was less impressed.

“There are beastfolk randomly hanging around every corner,” the Hero said, covering his mouth as if to restrain himself from being overly loud. “I didn’t think they existed in the Kingdom. Let alone in such numbers.”

Aoife just quietly suppressed a groan. Who cares? None of these individuals is strong enough to be the mage we are searching for…

“Why aren’t there any females, though?” he said after a little while. “I just keep seeing men who look like soldiers…”

“Perhaps the Kingdom has retained a beastfolk mercenary company,” the dragon replied. “If such things exist.”

That was when Chad stepped forward, eyes wide as saucers.

Aoife followed his gaze and then shook her head as her companion locked eyes on three women.

Did he entirely forget what we were here for? If the necromancer suddenly appears, would he truly wish to place these hapless women in the middle of - wait. There is something interesting about that one’s aura.

Like a red flame, it rose around her body more intensely than the normal coat of mana that surrounded a human. It was nothing compared to a mature dragon’s aura output, of course, but in the more limited context of the human and humanoid world, Aoife thought it was quite a prodigious amount. Comparable to the Hero.

Is she truly some helpless civilian in this conflict?

“Chad, perhaps we should—” she began.

But he was already in the middle of opening his mouth to speak, and the words cut her off before she could say anything useful.

“Hello, lovely ladies!” the Hero exclaimed loudly. “I didn’t know there were any beastgirls in Niet! What a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

All three turned and saw Chad as he immediately began walking toward them. It was a catgirl - the one with the intense aura - and twin foxgirls.

Aoife detected three different reactions from them.

Caution from the catgirl, annoyance from one foxgirl, and fear from the other.

It was that last reaction that Aoife found most interesting. Chad was annoying, yes, and powerful enough to inspire caution in anyone who could see aura, but why fear him based on his comments?

“Were you talking to us?” asked the annoyed foxgirl, glaring at the Hero.

“Why, of course I was!” he said, blind to her obvious disdain. “What brings you three gorgeous creatures out on this fine day?”

“We’re out shopping for wedding dresses and wedding cake,” said the foxgirl who Aoife had noticed was fearful a moment ago. She seemed to be shifting from afraid to annoyed. “So that we can be forever united with our husband, in the wedding ceremony we’ve scheduled.” The second sentence was extremely pointed.

“Well, I’m a very discreet sort of fellow,” Chad said. His back was to Aoife as he spoke, but the words carried as clear as a bell. She winced.

“What do you—” began the other foxgirl, raising an eyebrow.

The fearful twin whispered something in her ear, and the one who had seemed to be oblivious to the fact that Chad was dangerous went pale, then looked very angry.

Ugh. What sort of scandalous trouble are you about to get into, Chad?

The dragon started to close the distance, prepared to drag the Hero away if necessary.

“I think your sister knows what I mean,” the Hero said to the scandalized foxgirl, turning just enough to the side that Aoife could see him wink.

“You are the worst kind of scum,” began the scandalized one, her expression a near snarl. “Our fiance will—”

The catgirl grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth, and began to drag her backward, a tense look on her face. Aoife noticed for the first time that the catgirl was not only emitting a large quantity of ambient mana, but she was also built like a warrior. It was subtle, not a lot of bulk. But every muscle was defined and strong. A similar body type to Aoife’s own human form, and just a few inches shorter. The other foxgirl just shook her head at Chad disapprovingly while also slowly retreating backward alongside her companions.

The Hero took a step forward, but Aoife’s hand on his arm stopped him from going any further.

We have no idea who these three are, but at least one of them is dangerous. Do not rush in.

“Chad, we should discuss this situation,” she said quietly.

“What do we need to discuss?” the Hero asked impatiently, tugging at her arm.

Aoife looked and saw the three were retreating down an alley.

The catgirl might be able to hear me from there. I need to give him another relevant reason to leave them alone until we can assess the situation and speak freely.

“From the hormones present in their systems, I can smell that two of those three women are pregnant,” Aoife said. “They have been marked by the same man, I suspect. No matter how desperate you may be to spread your seed, they are nonviable as mates.”

“Well, that just means we don’t have to worry about unintended pregnancies,” he said with a shrug. “The important thing is that they look great, which they do. I can’t even tell who’s pregnant.”

Aoife felt a sudden rush of disgust toward the Hero, overpowering her other priorities in her mind for a moment.

You truly only care for the mating process, not any of what properly comes with it, she thought. As soon as we deal with this necromancer, I will demand a rematch. If you cannot defeat me, or you are unwilling to fight me, we are parting ways. A part of her thought that if she won, she would eat Chad. She was reluctant to do that, given that he had shown her mercy after their previous encounter.

But he kept pissing her off!

She sniffed, about to give the Hero an earful, when her nose suddenly picked up on something else. Something slightly more subtle.

Can it be?

***

Kistana dragged Victoria backward into an alley.

She didn’t need to drag Vidalia, who seemed to have recognized that they were in some danger immediately without needing to be told.

Once they were out of the two strangers’ direct line of sight, the catgirl turned tail and ran, still holding Victoria in her embrace.

She felt annoyed at herself for not being strong enough to face them directly under these circumstances. She was confident enough in her personal strength that she wanted to fight them. She would do it willingly, eagerly even, to test the limits of her abilities and prove the fight with Eolas had been an anomaly - but not with Victoria and Vidalia there. The two were more or less noncombatants, and protecting them would seriously harm Kistana’s ability to fight effectively. More importantly, she didn’t want to imagine either foxgirl coming to any harm.

They had accepted her into their family, and protecting them was the only thing she had to offer in return.

“Those two were very dangerous,” Vidalia said breathlessly as Kistana began to slow down. The foxgirl was still the slowest and physically weakest member of Tybalt’s inner circle, and Kistana had held herself back from running away as swiftly as she wanted to, to avoid leaving her behind.

That, she knew, would have been unforgivable.

“Yeah, I was about to say that,” Kistana said, looking around a corner to see behind them. Nothing there. “Um, how did you know?”

“I saw them with my powers. The man was the Hero, which means that woman with him was probably the dragon he’s been keeping company with. How did you know?”

“My powers. I can sense when someone nearby is a threat. It’s part of why I snuck up on our fiance and Lady Mariella when I first met you all. The two of them gave off such an obvious sense of threat that—” She looked up and grinned—“oh, good.”

“What seems to be the trouble?” asked former Beastking Robert. The mummy stood on a rooftop, a glowing crimson axe clutched in one hand. “We sensed your coming.”

Half of the mummies Tybalt had left behind stepped out of shadows or showed themselves from the edges of rooftops, ready to assist in any way necessary.

Kistana could feel the power of the Beastkings resonating through the air.

I’m glad they’re on our side.

“Can you take Lady Vidalia and Lady Victoria back to the residence?” she asked. The catgirl looked first to the mummies, then to the two foxgirls, seeking permission with her gaze.

“We can go the rest of the way on our own,” Vidalia said.

Victoria looked at her, eyes wide and questioning.

“Kistana wants to go and fight them,” Vidalia said knowingly. “Right?”

“That’s a terrible idea!” Victoria exclaimed.

“The prophecy from the lamia did say we can’t kill the Hero in this encounter without sacrificing something important,” Vidalia said, looking at Kistana nervously.

“But not that you can’t fight him at all,” Victoria said. “The wording allows some wiggle room. Even if you chopped off all his arms and legs and seared the wounds closed so he couldn’t heal them, you’d still be fine.”

The other two women looked at her as one, with the same expressions of mild disbelief.

“I’m used to parsing the explanations of a sometimes deliberately vague seer,” Victoria said, avoiding Vidalia’s gaze. “I’ve been doing it since we were thirteen.”

Vidalia clicked her tongue. “Anyway, like you said, Kistana doesn’t have to kill them, so go ahead and hunt them if you think you can do it, kitty cat,” she said. “If you kill one or the other, or you injure one of them, it only helps us. Just take the Beastkings with you, for your own safety. I insist. We can walk back to the Mayor’s house without bodyguards. You’re already dealing with probably the only threat in Whadesgart. If someone else bothers us, I’ll just use my power to put them to sleep.”

“Thank you both,” Kistana said, her aura flaring around her as she broke into a grin. She conjured her usual giant-sized bow and a single arrow from the mana all around her. “We’re going hunting.”

This time would be different from her last encounter with a dragon.

A minute later, the catgirl and the mummies emerged from an alley onto the street where the three beastgirls had encountered the Hero and the dragon in human form.

The two intruders were gone.

“Shit,” Kistana swore under her breath. “I think… Somehow I think they know we’re onto them. This is going to be a more difficult hunt than I thought.”