Lost Bloodline 5 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Blinking his eyes open, Koda started in surprise when all he could see was a swirling bank of white fog, lit faintly throughout like a full moon poured down its light from above.

The clinging tendrils of mist surrounded him like a cloak, their cool fingers running over his face and hair like curious children. After the long day of running under the hot spring sun, the misty tendrils felt nice on his skin.

A glance at his feet revealed that he stood on thick grass, and that Koda was once-again barefoot.

“Damn it, Thera,” Koda muttered under his breath, recognizing where he stood from the way his mind drifted for a moment and the fog seemed to speed up for no reason. “You could have just told me you wanted to talk, rather than dragging me off in my sleep.”

He knew this area, at least in general purpose. This was the misty forest and fields that surrounded Thera’s hiding place in the spiritual world. She’d retreated here after Koda was able to establish a hold over a few sites of power, able to actually dwell in the realm of the spirits with enough strength to conceal herself.

A sharp yip from behind him made Koda turn, and he saw a glowing light bobbing at about waist high approaching him.

“There you are, Pippin,” Koda called as the mist shredded around the light-bearer, revealing a familiar muzzle.

Pippin stood only a few feet tall, and looked vaguely like someone had taken an extremely fluffy arctic fox and taught it to walk on two legs before giving it a perm to make it even fluffier. A pointed muzzle and two bright eyes poked out of the puff that hid the fox-creatures head and a small iron lamp balanced on his head, shedding the light that Koda had seen approaching through the fog.

“Any idea what our lady needs of me this time?” Koda asked, lowering his voice when Pippin shot him a cross look. The idea of a fox being cross was so bizarre that it reminded Koda that they weren’t alone in this mist. Other creatures lived in the spiritual realm, Thera had told him. And she relied on their presence and reputations to help conceal her.

“Sorry, I’m just a bit jumpy because of how suddenly I was pulled away,” Koda apologized further when Pippin continued to glare up at him.

The fox spirit huffed cutely through his nose before turning on his little foot-paws and trotting into the mist without a word.

“Guess it must not be important enough a thing for you to want to talk about it,” Koda murmured as he started after the little creature at a trot.

“Or I respect my Lady enough that I will not spoil one of her few opportunities to speak to the outside world right now,” Pippin replied in his deep, respectable gentleman voice. The words rippled along the ground before rising to Koda’s ears. Something about the lack of echo to Pippin’s words told him that no one besides Koda would hear what the little creature said.

Taking the chastisement in stride, Koda went silent and instead focused his attention on traveling through the odd, dream-like realm that he was in. 

From his past trips to this place, Koda knew that he needed to focus rather intently on one or two things to be able to fully perceive them. Anything else would fade away from his perception and cares until they simply became blurs of time and color. A dangerous thing if one focused on their worries rather than where they were going.

So he focused on the lamp on Pippin’s head and keeping up with the small creature, trusting in Pippin and the fox-spirit’s loyalty to Thera to guide him.

The world flowed like colored honey over glass, Koda intentionally allowing his perception of time to fade away. But his instincts hummed inside his skull, telling him that he was not alone here. That something else walked the mists on silent feet, something familiar. But with his focus on Pippin, he couldn’t really track the sensation to its source.

One moment, the dull white mist was all that surrounded him. And then the next, a massive wood and stone lodge loomed out of the fog, shedding light from several windows of leaded glass. The entire building had an oddly elegant design to it, despite the somewhat rough materials used to construct it. Cut stones of granite were nestled together with the precision one would normally reserve for marble. Pine and oak beams and trusses graced the walls where one might expect expensive hardwoods.

It was rich in design, but simple in materials, and it exuded a welcome to Koda just laying eyes on it.

Pippin didn’t slow down as he scampered to the large, iron-bound doors set into the front of the building. A deep porch with a roof protected the door from snow and rain, which Pippin hopped up to with a pair of nimble jumps before skidding to a stop by the doors.

The fluffy little spymaster—for that was Pippin’s actual role for Thera—turned an expectant look towards Koda then glanced towards the doors and back again.

“Need me to open them?” Koda asked with a small laugh, unable to not be amused by the idea of the latches being out of reach for Pippin at the moment.

A vague memory of the spirit being able to get in anyway drifted through his mind, but the sleeping nature of the world prevented him from capturing it for more than a second.

“You must open the door, Aegisclaw,” Pippin ordered, and the seriousness in his tone surprised Koda.

A glance down at Pippin showed that the little spirit was watching him carefully, and Koda thought he saw the faint glimmer of teeth along the creature’s muzzle. Just that tiny threat should have been cute and not at all intimidating, but Koda felt a chill run up his spine like Pippin had just drawn a gun but not pointed it at him.

“Pippin, is everything okay? You are more tense than I’m used to?” Koda asked, but Pippin didn’t respond. Instead, the little spirit continued to stare at him meaningfully and his lip lifted another centimeter to reveal gleaming silver teeth.

Not wanting to push the clearly anxious little creature more, Koda reached forward and wrapped his hand around the handle on the door. A thrum of energy, halfway between an electrical charge and the rumble of a drum-skin, raced through Koda’s skin before the door clicked sharply and swung forward half an inch.

Pippin moved then, scampering forward and head-butting the door at about ankle-high to push it open. His plush tail flailed like a fuzzy little helicopter as he raced past, slapping into Koda’s shins like a plush pillow.

The sensation of being watched pressed down on Koda again and before heading inside, he turned to look over his shoulder.

The mist swirled close to the building, leaving only a bare foot or two of the surrounding grass visible.

A sudden shift in the swirling of the mist revealed a familiar pair of glowing eyes set in a thick muzzle, and Koda felt the tension in his chest relax slightly at that.

The ghost of the massive stonecracker leopard that he’d helped before sniffed the air once, its glowing eyes drifting over him before the creature let out a rumbling purr and vanished back into the fog. A long, slender tail broke the fog like a shark’s fin, only emerging from the side rather than the surface, before it vanished once more.

“Good kitty,” Koda murmured with a slight chuckle. “Proud of you for looking after Thera for me.”

No response came from the fog, but Koda wasn’t expecting one. Instead, he turned and stepped through the doorway and into the entry-hall of Thera’s abode.

Just like outside, the interior was well designed and appointed, but made with humble materials. Carefully polished wooden floors of light blonde wood gleamed in the light of small lamps hanging from the walls, the gleaming silver of the lamps the only traditional signs of opulence that he could see.

Were they always like that? Koda wondered as he glanced about the room. Weren’t the floors a different kind of wood before?

Before he could think too hard about the decor of the room, movement on the far side of the entry hall drew his attention and stole his breath away.

Thera was as beautiful as ever when she danced into view. Barefoot, she moved with the liquid grace of a prowling hunting cat, an appearance that was further enhanced by the pointed feline ears that protruded from the top of her mass of black curls.

Sun-kissed skin gleamed in the lamplight, while the fur on her top and skirt shimmered with life and vitality. The top was a wide band that compressed and contained her full bust, leaving a vast expanse of skin exposed to the air at the top. Her skirt hung from wide hips, the back dipping down to nearly her calves almost like a cape, while the front folded over and met several inches above her knees. Both were made of what looked like pitch-black fur, but the lamplight caught the fur just right to reveal a spotted pattern in the fur that shimmered faintly of gold. 

Eyes like bright discs of polished silver gleamed intelligently under slender brows as she regarded him, while the ghostly image of a plush black fox’s tail ghosted back and forth behind her before fading and being replaced with the long rope of a feline tail.

“Koda, how are you doing?” Thera asked, her warm voice shaking him out of his distracted staring.

“I’m fine, Thera. How are you? What was that all about with the door?” Koda replied, giving her a smile that she returned without hesitation.

Koda’s instincts guided him to step forward, opening his arms to his goddess to offer her a hug. He knew it was reaching beyond what would be considered proper, but under Arthene and Finna’s tutelage, he was learning to bow to those instinctive urges.

Thera’s gentle smile grew wide and her silver eyes softened. Without a moment of hesitation, she stepped forward and laid her hands on his chest, allowing Koda to envelop her in his arms and pull her tight to him.

Taking a deep breath, Koda savored her scent. The smell of fresh green grass, sun-warmed apples, and the happy smell of a sun-warmed pet filled his lungs, all underlaid by a faint, wild musk that he knew was uniquely Thera’s smell.

Thera rubbed her face into his chest, rumbling quietly with a contented purr that reminded Koda of a mixture between Arthene and Samira when either was very happy with him. This continued for nearly a minute before Thera began to reluctantly pull herself back from him.

“I apologize for the extra security, but there have been some strange things poking around the edges of the wood,” Thera said quickly, her contrition obvious in her voice.

“Nothing to apologize for, Thera,” Koda insisted, letting his arms fall from her shoulders to rest his hands on her hips, not wanting to release the goddess just yet. “You do what you need to in order to be safe. I’d happily jump through even more hoops if it would help with that.”

“Thank you for understanding, Koda,” Thera murmured happily, her nose scrunching cutely as her smile returned.

A moment later, Thera’s feline ears shifted and faded once more, changing into the rounded ears of a bear, though they still remained ephemeral and ghostly. That shift apparently reminded Thera of something, because she gave her head a tiny shake and blinked rapidly for several moments.

“I’m sorry, I called you here for a reason and I got distracted,” Thera murmured, shifting and pulling away slightly to separate from him.

Koda released his grip on her hips, but Thera didn’t go far. Instead, she shifted and wrapped herself around his right arm, for all the world mimicking a pose that Sienna favored when they went for walks in the village over the winter.

The warm sensation of the goddess pressed to his side was comforting as she led him deeper into her home.

“I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done in the last six months, Koda,” Thera murmured as she guided him down a long hallway with a deep green carpet softening the wood floor. Doors pierced the walls on occasion, but in the dreamlike, drifting state that he was in, Koda couldn’t remember more than their outlines and the fact they were closed.

“I’m just fulfilling my promise to you, Thera,” Koda answered, turning to catch her silver eyes staring at his profile.

Thera blinked and looked away quickly, a faint blush darkening her tanned cheeks before she spoke again.

“Be that as it may, you have been diligent in your work and you draw closer to understanding your ancestry.”

“I wanted to ask you about that, Thera,” Koda said, seizing on her words and forcing his mind to focus. “I wanted to ask… you seem to know more about my ancestors, and even like you might have recognized the branch family that was cast adrift to my old world…”

Koda trailed off as Thera began to shake her head in denial.

“I was able to recognize the connection in your bloodline, Koda. But that was it,” Thera answered, frowning in obvious disappointment that she couldn’t answer his question. “There were more than a few of my champions and their people that went missing during the final days, and you could be tied to any one of them.”

“But you might have ideas that I don’t know about,” Koda pressed. “I can sense the ties, the connection to my ancestors inside me, but I can’t see what it is. I know it’s big, and that it is very protective of those it views as kindred. But it’s not picky, either. It feels like anyone I lay eyes on that is one of us falls rapidly under that umbrella.”

“Curious,” Thera murmured, stealing a glance at his face while they walked. “There are a number of creatures whose bloodline merged with the beastfolk in ages past that would qualify for that…”

“What ones?” Koda asked as they drew near the end of the hallway where another large set of doors sat partially open, the dancing light of a fire glimmering through the crack. “I’d have thought a wolf like Sienna, given pack tendencies, but the drive is just as strong to protect friends as well as family, and it doesn’t seem to care about what animal they are aligned with.”

Thera shot him a small smile, her eyes twinkling like two polished coins in the firelight that made it through the door.

“You are thinking too small, my Aegisclaw,” Thera murmured while her eyes narrowed into happy slits from her smile. “Though their numbers are greatly reduced, there are many breeds of my beastfolk that once existed and may still exist in hidden pockets. Don’t limit your thoughts to those you have met, consider any animal that exists in this or the other worlds and see which one resonates strongly with your bloodline. There may be more than one there.”

Before Koda could ask more questions to delve deeper, there came a deep thunk of something heavy striking the wooden floor on the other side of the door. Thera’s smile grew even wider and she shook her head with a look of amused exasperation on her regal features.

“There is something more pressing we must discuss, my Aegisclaw,” Thera said gently and towed him towards the door. “You chastised me before for sending one of my ‘wayward daughters’ to you without warning, so I wanted you to speak with this one first, and she wished to speak with you too.”

“Another one already?” Koda asked, exasperated. “The way you talked about the primal spirits, I would have thought that it would take longer to wake them from slumber or bring their spirits back from wherever they were resting.”

“It would have,” Thera chuckled, a deep and luscious sound that sent a thrill of desire down Koda’s spine. “But my champion is a busy young man who embraces my ways with both arms. Did you not spend the last few days running beneath open skies surrounded by your mates?”

Koda felt his cheeks heat up at that question and he stammered out the only rebuttal he could as Thera pushed the doors open and led him into the familiar study with its velvet-covered chairs and wide fireplace.

“Finna isn’t one of my mates…”

“Oh, she must be either thumping mad to be kept waiting, or you’ve impressed her greatly,” said a new, feminine voice, far deeper than Thera’s was.

A shadow shifted by the fireplace as another deep thunk echoed through the floorboards. The light shifted and revealed a tall, muscled form of a woman who had been leaning against the mantle a moment before.

Deeply tanned skin showed her to be someone who spent a great deal of time outside. The lack of any obvious tan-lines also told another story that Koda filed away for later. Strong shoulders supported thickly muscled arms and full, luscious breasts held in a white linen shirt that strained to keep them in place. Koda thought he could see the faint outline of some kind of breast-band or bra underneath the linen, but the shadows were too erratic to tell. Wide hips tied into a full bottom and thickly muscled legs that protruded from under the edge of a knee-length wool skirt that reminded Koda of a kilt in the color, pattern, and pleating. A thick leather belt with a flat brass buckle carved in decorative knotwork held the two garments in place. What stood out the most about the woman was the horns that graced her head.

Thick bovine horns sprouted from the shaggy mane of dark brown hair that hung to her shoulders. They curved outwards from her skull and then forward, coming to gleaming dark-brown tips slightly ahead of her smiling face. A cute nose with an upturned tip and open features with rounded cheeks gave her an approachable air, but the sheer size of the woman made her intimidating.

The flicker of movement behind her pulled Koda out of his stunned staring, and the tufted cow-tail that flicked back and forth behind her was just so cute that it let him get his bearings.

“My Aegisclaw, may I introduce Sloane Sharphorn, primal spirit of the auroch,” Thera said, amusement dancing in her voice.

“My Lady, no need to be so official,” Sloane said, bouncing happily on her heels in a way that made her figure jiggle and sway distractingly.

“It is still good to be polite, Sloane,” Thera said with a small laugh before gesturing towards the chairs by the fire. “Especially since you wanted to take the time to meet with him before you incarnated yourself on Eassemund to join him.”

“I shan’t be like Arthene and throw myself at him,” Sloane said firmly, her tail switching annoyance as she settled onto a two-seater couch carefully. “Or like Finna, trying to stalk him to test him for no reason.”

“Thank you for that,” Koda said, walking Thera to the chair he knew she favored. The goddess gestured him towards another of the loveseats instead, and then pulled Koda down to sit next to her so she wouldn’t have to let him go. “While I like having Finna around, I didn’t enjoy having her show up out of nowhere and startle the hell out of me.”

“I gathered, Champion,” Sloane said, her liquid chocolate eyes twinkling in amusement. “Scared the fluff right off her when you spotted her, I’m sure.”

“I don’t know about that,” Koda hedged with a smile.

The friendly demeanor of the large, bovine woman was putting him at ease, even with the subtext that he knew flowed through a meeting like this.

“Finna may talk a big game and be good about hiding some things, but I know her,” Sloane said with a smile, leaning back and crossing one thick leg over the other. “She’d have been nervous as heck and startled badly when you spotted her as easily as my Lady has told me you did.”

“Just got lucky,” Koda said with a shrug, being careful to not jostle Thera.

“Not many could have caught her, it was a point of pride,” insisted Sloane.

Koda didn’t argue further, just shrugging again and studying the large woman in front of him.

Sloane, unlike her sister-spirits, didn’t carry any obvious weapons on her person. But then again, this was the first time he’d run into one of them fully conscious in Thera’s hideaway.

“It has been really good to see Arthene so happy over the winter,” Sloane said, shifting the subject away from Finna now with a quiet smile. “She was always so serious before, but seeing her smile so much is good.”

“How much have you seen?” Koda asked, more curious than anything else. He knew that he should be worried about someone spying on them, but given that it had to be Thera allowing it, he didn’t worry.

“Just bits and pieces, the ceremonies and high points. I’ve been fully awake for the last month or so, but I held myself back,” Sloane admitted with a faint blush darkening her sun-kissed cheeks.

“You don’t need to hold back if you don’t want to,” Koda said, immediately wanting to reassure this gentle giant in front of him. “It’s not like we don’t have the space for another house-guest. And I know Finna was happy to get the chance to bond with Arthene again after so long.”

Sloane didn’t respond, her eyes falling to the ground between them as she rubbed one bare foot against the other calf anxiously. But Thera wasn’t as resistant to speaking up, and the goddess piped up.

“Oh, she knows. I think she just wanted to build up her confidence a bit. Sloane has been studying your training and reviewing my visions of your battles with the Crooked.”

“Huh? Why? Did I do something wrong there?” Koda asked in concern, turning to look at Thera before snapping back to Sloane when the horned woman spoke.

“A lot of things, actually,” Sloane said firmly, her soft brown eyes firming up and she sat up straighter. “For someone with no formal training and only the instinctive knowledge that my Lady placed in your tools for you, though, you did well. But you brawled like a wild man. Even now, you barely use your strength right in a fight.”

“Sloane is an avowed master of barehand fighting,” Thera supplied, and Koda nodded in understanding. “She will be able to help you refine your techniques so that you can make the most of the tools you have.”

“I’ll happily take any help you can give,” Koda said without hesitation, and the stern look on Sloane’s face melted into a cute and open smile that looked far more natural on her features.

“I’ve been planning it out for the last few weeks,” Sloane said in an excited rush. “With the strength you’ve gotten as a champion and from the trolls, you will be even more of a monstrous threat once I’m done with you. Something you are going to need soon, too.”

“Is this about the report Pippin brought me?” Koda asked, turning to glance at a suddenly sober-looking Thera.

“That is part of it,” the goddess said with a sigh. “The Crooked are moving in force, and so are local forces representing Golieas and a few of his allies. You should avoid them if you can…”

“I’m not going to let them just steamroll any of the tribes that might be in their path,” Koda said firmly. That brought a small smile to Thera’s lips and she rubbed her cheek into his shoulder contentedly.

“I know, Koda. You want to protect all of my lost children if you can… Just be careful?  I’ve been trying to forge your helmet, but every time I finish binding it together, the construct falls apart, like it’s refusing to accept you as its owner.”

“Is that bad?” Koda asked, his brow wrinkling at the sudden change of subject to his totemic gear.

“It might be,” Thera said with a sigh. “I have the power to craft it, but the totem refusing to bond with you means that the spirits contained within don’t believe you worthy, or you have a bond forming already with others.”

“Which might mean that your bloodline is beginning to surface,” suggested Sloane in a bright tone. “My Lady is just upset that she can’t complete the set she gave you earlier.”

“And I would have it that he is properly protected!” Thera insisted, her ghostly ears—at the moment they were fox ears—laid flat against her head in irritation.

“That’s why I’m going to be joining them,” Sloane shot back with a firm nod. “I was sure before, but now there is no question. I will happily join my fellow primal spirits in binding ourselves to Koda to help him reinvigorate our people. And to further spread his bloodline once more…”

The last part was spoken in a far lower tone and the blush returned to Sloane’s cheeks while she darted a furtive glance to Koda.

“You said you’ve been watching me?” Koda asked, doing his best to fight down his own blush when Sloan’s hand started toying with the low collar of her linen shirt.

Sloan nodded positively to his question.

“Then you know I’m not going to rush you into my bed,” Koda continued in the wake of her nodding.

“No, of course not. You love your mates and are intent on forging true bonds with them,” Sloane replied, sounding almost offended at the implication she would wish otherwise. “I am interested in you, and would do my duty if I must, but I would much prefer a bull that cares for me over one that is worried about sowing his seeds widely.”

Koda couldn’t suppress his chuckle at her choice of words, but Sloane continued in spite of her deepening blush.

“I know that Finna is next. And I respect you more for wanting to take things slow and get to know your partner first. It also means I can work on correcting your techniques first before worrying about winning your affections. You can’t give me the calves I want if you die young, Aegisclaw.”

“Understood, Sloane Sharphorn. I look forward to your training, as well as getting to know you,” Koda said with a brief nod of his head towards her.

The blushing auroch-spirit perked up at that, and her tentative smile felt like a flower opening in the wake of the rain.