Monsters and Maidens (005 & 006)(Book 2)

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[Book 2 005] [Birds of Prey]

Rick stared up at the incandescent blue sky, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun with his hand. There were two shadows in the distance, black spots against the deep blue, and they were approaching fast. The light armor both of the flyers wore was hint enough that they were not feral.

Rick didn’t quite like their presence. Monica had left not that long ago, and if he didn’t know better, he’d suspect they’d waited for exactly such an opportunity to approach. He wanted to reach through the bond and call for her. Would such a thing even be possible?

“No need to worry. I can handle them.” Kiara spoke with a loud snort and a roll of her eyes, impetuously flicking a lock of blue hair over her shoulder. “They’re just two birds. A quick meal.”

Rick shot a glare, crossing his arms. “You can’t use your powers unless we’re sure of what they are.”

The Succubus halted mid-step and glared back. “Do you want me to just tie my hands behind my back while we’re at it? Guards or bandits, they-.”

“Don’t start anything if there’s no need to have anything started.” He stated humorlessly.

“You’re so dramatic.” Kiara sighed, shrugging her shoulders, reaching up to her neck and loosening the gold collar and pocketing it. “Doesn’t matter what they are.” Her declaration was accompanied by a slow shift to her form. Bit by bit, her horns shrank down, receding into her hairline, her tail and wings diminishing with every passing second until they too were gone from sight. “We kill them. No one will be any the wiser, and I will have had a decent meal for a change.”

Rick crossed his arms and looked at her flatly. “They can’t be the only ones. There’s bound to at least be a human out there. Plus, whoever they left protecting him.”

The statement gave her a moment of pause. It wasn’t so much a reaction, but a temporary lack of one. “Of course they’re a group.” Kiara continued smoothly, pretending she hadn’t been caught off guard.

“You hadn’t considered they wouldn’t be alone, did you?” His tone would’ve been more admonishing had he pried his eyes away from her expanding cleavage sooner.

“I did.” She quickly spoke. “And the friends will come inspect, and then we can get rid of them, too. They’re carrying supplies, I’m sure.”

Rick ignored the disapproving look Dia was shooting at the smirking Succubus.

Though Kiara did have a point, he glanced at the two incoming figures and wondered whether it would be better if they were bandits. How much supplies were they carrying around?

“Healer, pretend you’re restraining the leech, will you?” Kiara offhandedly remarked. She blinked rapidly, her eyes turning from gold to a dull ochre, her hair losing some of its glossier hues.

“Her name is Dia.” Rick stated.

She rolled her eyes, giving her chest a squeeze and adjusting the top of her dress. “And I don’t care.” The maiden declared offhandedly. “I’m not here for her.”

Rick stepped closer, giving her a warning look. “And you’re not here for your bitchy attitude, either.”

Kiara laughed. “Spicy. Any hotter and we’ll be angry-fucking into that tree in a minute.” She turned to the Rapha, making an exaggerated bow. “Oh generous and capable healer Dia, could you please pretend to choke the useless leech? I’d rather put down the threats to your Master without starting an actual fight.”

The pink-haired maiden rolled her eyes. “You can kiss my ass later.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Kiara replied, making a show of licking her lips. “Now, my dear Rick, are you ready for your role as the husband that was extremely fortunate to meet the magnificent person that is me?”

“If you’re trying to convince me to let you just kill everyone, you’re succeeding.” Rick sassed.

“Keep talking dirty, little man, and I’ll make your toes curl tonight.” A mirthful smirk crossed her lips.

“I’ve seen your best.” He chuckled. “No curled toes yet.”

She cooed, caressing his forearm. “Oh, honey, you’ve just never let me use my full repertoire.”

“Is… are you flirting with him?” Dia spoke with a mix of disbelief and irritation, all while straddling the unconscious Fledgeling. “Did you have to drain her this much? She’s going to be starving when she wakes up, and I’m not offering my neck for an emergency suck. Ever.”

“Then the leech should learn how to better turn ferals into prunes.” Kiara shrugged.

“Maybe drain some ferals yourself.” Rick pretended to be distracted as he limbered up.

The jab met its mark, the Succubus turned her full attention to him. “I can’t just ‘drain’ energy, it has to be in the right state. If they don’t have cognition, you might as well be telling me to suck water out of mud.” She glared at him while combing her hair between her fingers. “Just do the manly and buy some time, let the maiden do the rest.”

She tensed her shoulders, breathed in, and then let out a slow sigh.

In an instant, her demeanor shifted.

Suddenly she was smiling, a vapid look crossing her eyes as her whole body relaxed. A cocking of her hip, a forward lean of her shoulders, and a thousand tiny adjustments. Within seconds, the impression she gave off was that of a harmless vapid little thing, someone entirely unburdened of thoughts or cares.

And yet, just looking at her made Rick feel… wrong. Like watching someone put on a mask that had an uncanny edge to it. Was this also an effect of the bond? Or was it merely that he’d gotten used to her having that sharp, cutting gaze?

“HEEEEY!” Kiara waved her arm wildly at the two avian maidens before they even got into shouting range. “WE NEED HELP!”

The callout got an immediate reaction from the approaching maidens, apparently sharing a look before increasing their pace. They didn’t land right away though, moving to circle overhead, well away from potential harm. The duo appeared to be either talking to one another or checking the area. Likely both.

“Don’t get close to the one with black wings.” Kiara warned under her breath, quickly raising her voice and waving her hand even more enthusiastically. “HELLOOOOO! WE ARE LOST! HELP US!”

Three more rounds and they dove, stopping their fall roughly five or so meters over their heads, holding themselves aloft by flapping their wings. They looked like angels that had run through a henhouse after covering their arms and legs in tar. One had white feathers, the other one black. Rick focused less on their appearance and more on their weapons and clothes. Both wielded long spears, their clothes being ragged and dirty leather, no insignias or markers. These weren’t knights, hunters or guards it seemed. Though there was still a chance they were someone’s hired help.

“What’s the matter, ma’am?” The black-winged one asked.

“WE GOT A BIT LOST!” Kiara replied, keeping her volume loud and her tone obnoxious. “THE GUARDS LEFT LAST NIGHT AND WE COULDN’T FIND THEM!”

“Honey, your voice.” Rick stepped in, shooting the two a friendly if awkward smile.

“Oh, shush my love, everyone knows winged ones are hard of hearing because their heads are so full of air.” She spoke to him with a mock whispering voice and turned to the duo. “POINT US TO THE NEAREST VILLAGE, AND BE SURE TO-.”

A bolt of lightning struck Kiara’s leg. She shrieked and fell over.

“Kiara!” Rick leapt to her and froze.

A tingle ran against his skin, the air becoming charged. He backpedaled without a second thought. Another bolt struck the ground right in front of him. The attacker had been the black-feathered maiden, hovering closer and eyeing the group through narrowed eyes.

He realized Kiara was acting as she curled up, screaming loudly, clutching her leg and falling to the ground. Tears ran down her cheeks as she shrieked, an ugly sob akin to running nails on glass. It sent shivers through Rick’s body and, now frozen in place, he observed the two maidens with bated breath.

It was just so awkward, watching ham it up. Deep down he knew that, had she been seriously hurt, Kiara would’ve been pissed, cussing up a storm. What he was unsure of was whether this attack had come because the two flyers were aware of what Kiara was, or if they were bandits.

Another bolt struck.

Kiara screamed, a full on, lungs out wail.

“Humans, I swear.” White snorted. “At least she’s got a nice rack.”

That answered that, at least.

“Are you going to be as much of a pain as her?” The black-feathered maiden declared, turning to Rick. She glanced at Dia for a second and snorted. “Because that Rapha’s not going to do much, and neither is… what is that, anyway? A mutilated albino Mousegirl?”

“I uh-.”

Kiara screamed again; White had landed atop her and had used a knife to rip her shirt open.

“PLEASE! STOP! I BEG OF YOU!”

Rick watched in stunned silence as the Succubus screamed, wiggled, wailed, and writhed, yelling at the top of her lungs. Some part of him recognized he was barely registering the situation. Not that he couldn’t acknowledge what was going on, but there was no… weight to it. The white-winged maiden wasn’t doing anything the Succubus hadn’t intended to happen. It was as if he was reading the script.

And yet… there was something in the pit of his stomach, something that coiled and boiled, that made him wish he could just… “Aren’t you… aren’t you going to stop her?” It was straining to remind himself he should be playing the meek role.

No matter how much he wanted to throttle the two winged maidens.

The black-feathered maiden looked on over as Kiara kept weeping, White leaned down and savagely bit down on the Succubus’ breasts. “Nah.” She stated with a shrug, focusing on him, looking him over from head to toe as if he were a slab of meat. “Where do you hail from?”

Kiara turned to look at him, a moment of eye contact that lasted only a fraction of a second. Her lips curled into a mirthful smirk. Her next scream was louder as she thrust her chest out, the gesture urging White to maul her chest with more fervor.

“... Balet.” His mouth was dry, hackles rising.

“Your guards?” Black spoke with a bored tone, though she kept an eye on Dia and Eva.

As if Rick was nothing more than decoration.

“This bitch is wet!” White proclaimed with a laugh, quickly followed by her face diving straight back into Kiara’s bosom. The Succubus reached up to hold White’s head there. And suddenly, the winged maiden began to struggle, trying to pull away.

“She… she left.” Rick answered, knuckles white.

The white-feathered maiden’s wings fluttered. She managed to barely pull away enough to draw in a sharp breath. Her face was pale and clammy, eyes wild and afraid. White looked towards Black and opened her mouth, trying to say something.

Kiara cupped her cheeks and pulled her into a kiss, silencing her.

The thrashing became wild, face flushing and every limb going rigid. White ground her hips against the Succubus, eyes rolling into her head.

“Alone?” Black asked.

He caught the edge of suspicion in those words. It snapped his thoughts away from Kiara for a moment, his brain spun its wheels. Bond, collar, of course, Maidens were geographically bound to their human. “No, the handler left too. Took our food.” He realized his jaw had been clenched so tightly it hurt.

Had neither of the birds spotted Monica? Or did they believe the feline had been amongst the guards?

“Tch. We were looking forward to more supplies.” Amusement and a smirk followed. “The good news is that a man like you will be well fed. Can’t say the same for the Rapha.”

It was as if Black couldn’t see how her partner’s wings had gone limp, that she couldn’t see how White had collapsed atop Kiara’s body. The maiden only needed to turn her head ever so slightly and she would spot it, just a bit.

Rick stepped away from the bandit, away from Kiara, forcing the black-feathered creature to turn her gaze his way. “What’s… what are you going to do with us?” His voice shook, though he realized it wasn’t fear.

“You have a cute face. We’ll toss you in with the other toys. The others… well, it depends on the boss.”

White was dropped to the ground, discarded. Whether she was dead or just unconscious was anyone’s guess. Kiara slowly stood back up, dusting herself off and casually flicking a lock of blue hair over her shoulder. Her eyes didn’t bother to glance at Black, locked on Rick instead.

Slowly, her forked tongue wormed out of her mouth, her hands pulled up her top as the wet appendage danced against her bronze skin. Kiara’s hand made an offhand gesture towards the maiden that had not turned away from him. There was a shimmer in the air between them, a burning tingle against Rick’s skin.

Black let out a sigh, shoulders relaxing. She eyed him again, lips curling upwards. “Really cute. Maybe Mara had the right idea.” She landed with a soft beat of her wings, raising a small cloud of dust, her back turned away from Kiara as she stepped closer.

It was only now that Rick turned to focus on Black’s face, on the way her pupils were dilated and her face flushed, a hungry predatory look in her eye as she approached without a care.

He locked down, jaw setting into place. “No.”

That did not dissuade Black any. “Just a-.”

His head snapped at the sauntering Succubus. “Kiara. Enough.”

But she didn’t react, only quirked a brow at him, her lips keeping the mirth. The air became thick with… power. Rick didn’t have any other way to describe it. Black’s face flushed as she appeared entirely unable to register anything else but him. She dropped her spear, taking another step and licking her lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you feel good.”

Rick stood his ground. “Final warning.” He had not looked away from Kiara, staring at her over the shoulder of the black-winged maiden.

Hazel eyes met with golden ones. The bandit stood between them and was entirely ignorant of everything else and ignored for exactly the same reason. Black moved closer, reaching out to grab at Rick. His hand lashed out, a closed fist against her face.

It was as if he’d punched a tree. Inertia was inertia, however, and the maiden stumbled, more shocked than hurt. “I prefer it when they struggle.” The bandit cooed, wiping the back of her hand against her chin, fingers crackling with electricity.

“Tch.”

Kiara let out an annoyed sound as she stepped forward. She grasped Black’s throat from behind with an iron grip. The surprise was doubled when a blade bloomed from the center of her chest in a spray of blood. There was a trickle of lightning when her expression had shifted from shock to horror and pain.

“Bye.”

Whatever it was that Kiara did, the crackling power vanished into nothing. She twisted the blade, watching the maiden squirm for another moment before going limp entirely.

Dead.

Kiara dropped the body aside, letting out a disgusted sound at her stained hands. “Look at the mess you made me do.” She shook her arms slightly, splattering the blood on the dirt. “What’s your problem, anyway? You get to watch and I can’t get a turn on the voyeur seat?”

He ignored her taunt, blood boiling as he stomped towards her. “Is the other one alive?”

“Unconscious, better used-.”

He stepped forward, grabbing a fistful of her dress and yanking her into a kiss.

No preamble or warning. His fingers sank into her hair as he bit her lip. And immediately after, he shoved her off, barely giving her the chance to reciprocate. “That’s for doing what you do well.” He stated, then pointing at the cooling corpse. “But if you pull another fucking stunt like that, we’re through.”

Kiara laughed. “Are you trying to tease me? I’ll-.”

“You told me to keep away from the black-winged bitch.” He shoved his finger in the direction of the corpse. “Is your word worth nothing?”

Kiara’s mouth snapped shut with an audible snap. The Succubus looked at him, blinked, then turned down at the pool of blood that was forming around the lifeless maiden. Then back to him and blinked again, eyes slightly wide with the look of a deer caught in headlights.

Rick did not let her recover her wits. He turned away, still fuming. “Dia, wake Eva up, might as well give use to the body. And help me restrain the bird. We need answers from her and fast. Their friends are likely to come and check what’s going on sooner or later.”

Commands issued, he moved to the unconscious maiden. From the bag, he pulled out the metal wire and began his work by forcing her wings into as uncomfortable a position as he could.

And making doubly sure to ignore how he could almost physically feel Kiara’s eyes bore into the back of his head, as if she were trying to read his thoughts.

They didn’t have the time for him to concern himself with whatever was going through her head.

[Book 2 006] [Green Greens]

“So… any thoughts on how to make her talk? I mean, before her friends suspect something’s off and come knocking.” Rick threw the question out for everyone.

He glanced down at White. He knew her name was Mara, but it was just easier to keep her as White. Not like she deserved the courtesy. The maiden was awake and glaring. But she was wrapped in enough metal wire to make a fence. And Dia had the tip of one of the long spears pressing against the maiden’s chest.

“Remove her collar, break her bond, have her start fighting against the feral curse. Then bond her yourself and beat her to a pulp with a stick.” Kiara spoke with the sort of casualness one would use for the weather. “She wouldn’t be able to defend herself against you, not without risking seriously hurting you.”

Eva’s head snapped up from the lifeless corpse of Black, staring at the Succubus with wide eyes. There was something in that look that felt… off.

“Or I just have my way with her until she’s drooling and begging for more.” Kiara added with a roll of her eyes and a shrug. “That always works. Though it’d be a waste of all the energy I took from her.”

“If it’s an excruciating amount of pain, I could help.” Dia chirped up.

The Succubus laughed. “Sure you can. Maybe you’ll stab her a bunch and patch her back up.”

There was a moment of pause as Dia looked at Kiara with an odd, pensive look, then turned to Rick. “Sir, may I?”

He suspected where this was going. He nodded. “Go right ahead.”

Dia placed the spear on the ground and approached. The bandit tensed, trying to escape and struggle again, but the only thing she managed to do was have the wire dig more into her body. “Keep that up and you will cut blood flow to your extremities.” The maiden warned.

“Fufff hyu.” White declared through the gag, going still.

The Rapha shrugged. “First a mild paralytic to avoid mistakes…” Her hands began to glow green as she caressed the wings tenderly. The limbs lost their tension in quick order, the movements becoming sluggish. “This maiden is a Neigix, sir. Do you know what that means?”

“Surprise me.”

“It means that she is hyper-sensitive to air currents. It is what allows the breed to navigate storms and also aids their powers to strengthen or weaken air currents.” Her hands were still glowing as she kept caressing it over the following minutes. “Their wings contain a great deal of nerve clusters, and if I bolster their responsiveness, then…” slowly, she wrapped her fingers around the tip of the wing, and squeezed.

The response was immediate.

“AAAAAHHHH!” White began to shriek and thrash wildly, her whole body began to spasm out of control. Not even the gag was able to suppress the sound entirely. She was emptying her lungs into the cloth, eyes bulging with every heave.

The smile on Dia’s lips did not even twitch as she kept her gaze locked with a stunned Kiara. The Rapha tightened her grip further, driving the maiden to wail and jerk violently as if in the middle of a seizure.

After a good minute of not blinking or looking away from the Succubus, she let go.

White went limp, heaving lungfuls through her nose and drenched in sweat.

“I guess the experience would feel similar to having every feather plucked at the same time. Over and over.” Dia declared, keeping the smile as her hand hovered over the wing-tip, watching the maiden trembling like a leaf. “Are you feeling cooperative now? I could do it to both your wings at the same time, or maybe would you rather I try somewhere else? There are many places I am sure will be fun to try out. Maybe I should go for your eyes next?”

The maiden shook her head violently. “FEAHE!”

“Will you cooperate?”

A wild nodding followed.

“Sir? I think she is ready to answer questions.” The nurse pulled her hand away from the wing, though not far enough, she couldn’t quickly reach out again. “And I’m sure she will even be polite, too. Isn’t that right?”

A very fast nod.

Rick knelt in front of her. He met her gaze for a moment, reaching forward and pulling her gag out. “So, what do you have to share?”

“Ten others. Five Orcs, three Goblinas, one Hobgoblin, one human toy. Part of a larger warband. Orders are to capture or kill everyone passing through!” She spoke in a rush, stumbling over her words between breaths. “Please don’t let her do that to me again, sir, please!”

There was a moment of consideration. He looked at the others. “Warband?”

“They’re rare this far south. They’re more common in the northern deserts.” Dia muttered. “It’s likely a large group of bandits with enough Orcs in them they insist on the term.”

“Doesn’t answer why they have orders to block movement up and down the road.” Rick turned back to the white-winged maiden.

“I don’t know! Block the road, kill or capture. Get paid for every human slave or healer or producer or recruit! That’s all I know, sir, I swear!”

Eva perked up from where she’d been crouching. “Recruit? Recruit for who?”

“The new warleader.” She shuddered. “Took over the warband weeks ago. Never saw her, heard she is scary and has a big ego, but pays good coin.”

The pale Fledgling frowned, but shook her head, shuffling away from the body as she wiped off the blood from her lips.

“The human.” Rick broke the silence. “Who is it?”

“Just a human. We picked up from… the road.”

“So someone who was passing by, who you attacked, killed his maidens, and so on.” He shook his head, glancing at the others for a moment before quickly looking back. “Wait, one more thing. How close are we to Sinco?”

“Two, maybe three weeks with a human? Erm, sir? There are several other groups along the road.”

“Well shit.” Kiara said. “We should pretend to be recruits.”

“No one would be stupid enough to keep us together.” Rick sighed. “Besides, if anyone finds out what you are, and word gets out?”

“Pfff, yeah, like you’re much better. Mister I’m from a-.”

“You know what I mean.” He growled, cutting her off before she could say another word, very aware that Eva had shifted her head slightly to look their way.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.” The Succubus shrugged. “We either fight or we pretend to be recruits. Not my first ride on some motley group of maidens that like enslaving humans.”

“Of course it wouldn’t be.” Dia glared.

Rick grit his teeth. As much as he hated it, she had a point. If they didn’t fight the remainder of the bandit group, then their only alternative was avoiding the fight in its entirety. And running wasn’t an option since… well. He was human.

He shouldn’t have sent Monica out.

Fuck.

Could he even call her back?

With a heavy breath, he closed his eyes.

He focused, feeling out his bond with her. The emotion was vague and dispersed, clearly too far off. She was… currently exhilarated, eager, happy. Gritting his teeth, he tried to push a sense of panic and caution towards her. It felt as if he were trying to move a massive block of moldy cheese, his hands sinking into it but barely managing to shift it. Again, he focused and pushed.

There was the barest twitch from the other side. A mild note of concern from the Sabertooth’s end.

He wasn’t sure he’d managed to draw her back. He hoped it had, because things might get dicey, and the sooner she was there, the better. As much as he trusted the Succubus could handle things to a degree… “Kiara, against the enemies she described, what do you figure our chances are?”

“Orcs are meatier. They don’t rely on elemental energy as much. It’s a bad matchup for me. Taking them all in a direct fight would be stupid.” She shrugged. “I’d be able to get them all if we had the time to work them over, though.”

He looked around, trying to get his thoughts in order.

The dry grassland and hills stretched out in every direction. Shriveled bushes and withered trees popped up here and there. He wondered whether the reason why everything was so dry was because of the feral rush or merely because of the weather.

Wait.

Dry?

“You.” He looked at the bird-woman. “You want to live?”

She froze, hesitating but nodding vigorously. “Yes, sir.”

“Can you control the wind from down here? Without flying off?”

“It’s not that simple… sir.” She spoke, grimacing.

“Can you make the wind shift direction?”

“If… I have time? From the ground, it would be… hard. I’d need my wings. Sir.”

He nodded. “Dia, you heard her. I need her hog-tied but with her wings free. Kiara, I’m going to need you to check how far away the rest of her group is and whether they’re coming in or not. Eva, I need you to make a campfire.”

“Slow down there. You’re looking to start a fight without the cat around?” The Succubus asked, crossing her arms. “You’re better off letting me do the talking. Play pretend, and-.”

“First, I’d rather-.” His words halted, a heartbeat away from admitting he’d rather fight than watch her basically selling her body for their benefit.

“Yes?” Kiara arched a brow.

Rick changed tracks quickly. “I would sooner go down swinging than run the risk of them bonding me.” He pointed at her neck, at how she didn’t have the enchanted collar on.

At the fact that, unlike the humans from this world, he could bond to maidens without a collar to begin with.

He gave her an emphatic nod of the head. And Kiara caught his meaning, widening eyes. “Shit. Fine, we’ll do it your way.” She didn’t wait another second, grabbing one of the spears and taking off.

“I don’t know how to start a fire.” Eva stated as soon as Kiara was out of hearing range.

“You’re shitting me. You’re a-.” He stopped, rubbing at his temples for a moment, then sighing. She might be a maiden now, but as far as anyone was concerned, she’d been one for less than a month. At least while in a conscious, not-feral state of mind. “You’ll be helping with the bags. Dia?”

The Rapha paused mid-way through untangling the captive’s wings, her foot pinning the Neigix face to the ground. “Uh…”

“Nevermind, just keep at it.” He growled. Rick considered reaching into his backpack to check if there was anything in the chemistry sample box to start a fire, but stopped. They were in a rush, but not the sort that called for second by second decisions.

“They’re not moving yet, roughly six or seven kilometers off.” Kiara declared as she touched down. “What’s the plan?”

“Help Dia. We need that wind first.”

She smirked. “Sure, if you watch.”

He wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of the comment until the Succubus snatched the cables right out of Dia’s hands and began to work. Rick had to stop and blink, watching as Kiara untangled the wire with barely an effort and tied new knots even faster. It was as if the metal cable had gained sentience and was tying White up in…

Rick realized what he was looking at when the cable drew forms around the winged maiden’s breasts, how it hugged her curves and accentuated them even as her hands were secured behind her back and her legs were strangled in place.

“You know Shibari?”

“The what now?” Kiara quirked a brow. “Is that what it’s called? Huh.” She looked at their prisoner for a moment, then shrugged, kicking her. “You, start the wind.”

“In that direction.” Rick pointed towards where they’d seen the bandits take to the air, roughly southeast of them. “How long can you make it last?”

She hesitated. “If it’s just a gentle breeze? Maybe an hour or two.”

“Over how much area?”

“Just… around?” She made a gesture with her head to point at their surroundings.

“Get to it.”

“And don’t get any ideas about flying off.” Kiara warned, looping the wire around White’s throat, taking the improvised leash into her hand.

With a hesitant nod, the captive started to flap her wings. Rick could feel a cold itch across his body, in the surrounding air, in the wind. It was as sure a sign of the elemental powers being used as any, because he didn’t have much more to go on for the next handful of minutes.

A sudden gust blew through the area, then slowed, turning into a slow but constant breeze. “It is done. Today is a calm day, so it should last at least until past noon.”

“Great.” He pointed northeast. “Kiara, I need you to fly off in that direction to the edge of the breeze. Start lighting up the grass and fly towards us. Light more fires as you go. We’ll continue that way.” He pointed southwest. “Dia, I’m going to need you to start fires as we go.”

“Wait.” White hesitated, then frowned. “You… you’re going to burn him. You’re going to surround them with fire!” Immediately, she started to thrash against the wire, flapping madly in an attempt to take off. “I have to-!” Whatever she was about to say, she began choking as the metal tightened around her throat.

“Rick?” Dia looked at him as Kiara wrestled with the choking maiden.

“No killing.”

She nodded, and with her glowing hands, grasped the maiden’s head. It took a good minute of struggling, but the captive eventually slumped and fell unconscious. “This should keep her down for… a few hours.” She said.

“Why keep her alive?” Kiara snorted.

“She kept her end of the deal. Not her fault the bond pushed her to protect her human.” Rick replied, shaking his head. “Just drag her somewhere the fire might not get her. We should be long gone by the time she wakes up.”

“She’s betrayed the kingdom. She should not be allowed to live.” Dia whispered under her breath. Eva nodded emphatically.

“I made the promise, and killing her gives us nothing.” There was a warning in his voice as he met each of their gazes. “So let’s get a move on.”

“Just a warning, a bushfire won’t stop an Orc. It’ll be an annoyance for them at best.” Kiara pointed out. “They’re tough and regenerate.”

“They’ll be more concerned with protecting their human than chasing after us… at least, I hope.” He shook his head. “Worse comes to worst, it should at least split them up and make things easier for us.”

Taking one last look at the surrounding scenery, he nodded at himself.

“You… look excited.” Eva commented, staring at him with a dubious look.

Rick nodded. “What kind of chemist would I be if I weren’t at least a little fascinated by fire?”

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