The Axe Falls 2 -ch 12-

“They’re… at the village now. They don’t seem to be taking… things. They are talking with everyone though,” Rahak reported, staring at nothing at all as she connected with her scouts. “I cannot get closer it would-mm-likely alert them.”

“I think this will be the path they take back and they won’t be going to another village either,” Jessie murmured and gestured on the track they were on.

It was more or less a beaten path from the camp of the deserters, to the village in question. As if boots stomped across it in both directions and frequently enough that the grass had died.

From what Jessie had seen, and from Rahak’s scouts, it didn’t seem as if the patrol would go to other villages.

The tracks to and from the camp almost always were only to and from the villages, never between them.

It didn’t mean they hadn’t done it, or wouldn’t, but just that it wasn’t their normal routine.

“That means we set up lots of nasty things here then, yes?” Julie asked with a smile. “This is something I’m good at. I was quite an accomplished kidnapper and assassin you know.”

Then Julie laughed and pointed a finger at Claudia.

“If it wasn’t for Nick, I would have had you. I’m infinitely glad that didn’t happen though. You’re a very kind, thoughtful, and aware person,” Julie said, grinning.

“Why thank you,” Claudia replied charmingly with a wave of her hand. “I credit all of who I am to Nick. From actually paying attention to things, preparing, and questioning everything people say.

“Even something so simple as being here. I attribute to him. While I’m still-still trying to truly get my thoughts around the fact that I’m his fiance, I’m quite glad to be around him.”

“What are you planning?” Rahak asked, looking to Julie. “We must-mm-be careful of what we reveal. Your talents are our Lords talents.

“They must be guarded and preserved.”

There was a general pause at the words as everyone considered that. That their abilities, hidden or otherwise, were also Nick’s.

To protect their own secrets was to protect his.

“Nothing that would be something that could be traced back to us in the future,” Julie asserted. “I plan on laying magical traps in the path. They will go off when crossed over.

“I plan on utilizing poison as the base and lace it with fire or heat. The wounds from the flame should make them more susceptible to surface contact powders. Even if they survive the blast, they won’t last long.

“Usually only takes thirty minutes to an hour. Most of them go out with symptoms resembling a heart attack. Given the nature of fire though most people assume it was something else entirely.”

Julie shrugged and grinned at Nick and Claudia.

“I’m less the ‘stab you while you sleep’ kind of person like Jessie is, and more of the ‘kill you with a trap’ kind of assassin,” Julie added.

“I think you and I will end up doing a lot of dirty work for Nicky,” Jessie said, peering across at Julie.

“Probably. I don’t mind,” replied Julie with a shrug.

“You’re fun. I like you. I approve,” Jessie stated, though the last she said while staring at Nick.

“Goodie?” Nick replied, not really understanding what that meant. “Alright. So, we trap the path.

“Claudia, you’ll need to be ready with antidote type of spells after this I imagine.

“Any other precautions, Julie?”

“None. I’ve learned some extra spells that’ll help protect us as well. Wind magic for one as well as water magic,” answered Julie. “I can make sure the poison doesn’t spread to us, and if it does, I’ll just douse us with a liberal amount of water.”

“I can lay my scouts out in the area around the trap,” Rahak suggested. “They can… quickly attack after the explosion.”

“I’ll use my new short bow,” Jessie murmured. “It’s wonderful by the way. Thank you Nicky. The Queen of your Rod approves and would be delighted if you indulged in her bits later.”

Nodding his head with a grin, Nick didn’t bother to reply.

He was most certainly not going to be bedding Jessie any time they didn’t have privacy. That was definitely not a fetish he had.

“I’ll just wait at the end of the path for my own part,” declared Nick. “Once the initial contact fades I’ll stand up and guard the way. I shouldn’t have an issue keeping them in place. Or at least, long enough for them to start dropping.”

“I likewise will be there,” Sara added with a nod of her head. “My place is eternally at your side.”

“Hey, Bright Tits,” growled Jessie.

“Jessie, would you remain at the rear of the formation?” responded Sara after turning to look at the Dark Elf. “Your abilities are best suited on that side, along with Claudia and Rahak.

“Julie would be best with Nicky and I. That way she can make sure he’s protected and able to not be affected by the poison.

“Claudia would be able to easily handle you two in a similar way.”

Jessie was openly hissing at the idea, the sound whistling out through between her teeth. Only for her to shake her head and look away.

“Fuck you, Bright Tits,” muttered Jessie. “Fine. At the back.”

“I wholeheartedly pass. Thank you for the offer. I’m surprised you would even want to go in for something like that, however. You’re so much more adventurous than I’d give you credit for,” Sara glibly said with a wide smile.

Jessie’s head snapped around and she looked at Sara, only to smile at her with her teeth exposed.

“You merely misunderstood. That’s all. I won’t hold it against a woman of such limited intelligence.

“I admit I have a bit of an imagination though. I have to keep Nicky happy, after all,” she offered in a lively tone. “In fact, just the other day I let him ta—”

“Aaaaaand we’re moving on to the next topic,” interrupted Nick with finality.

“But Nicky, the common folk deserve to know how the process of making a royal heir is,” Jessie said in a cute pouting voice that didn’t match her at all.

“Ker will do what Ker does,” offered Nick as a non-response to her words. “We’ll leave the horses tethered a long ways off so our prey doesn’t get spooked. Let’s make this happen.”

“I look forward to showing you how a proper Elf makes a royal heir,” Sara promised, still staring at Jessie with a wide smile.

“I’m sorry, our bed really only has room for two,” apologized Jessie.

“Wait and see, my dearest Jessie, wait and see,” promised Sara.

“Bring it Bright Tits,” flung back Jessie.

Wincing, Nick put a hand to his face and rubbed at the bridge of his nose with several fingers. He really didn’t want to sit here and listen to the two Elves bicker and fight with one another.

Then an idea struck him.

“Julie, Claudia, please attend me. I have a sudden headache and I’d very much like some fresh air. I feel like helping with the trap work and stretching my legs would be wonderful,” Nick proclaimed in his best imitation of Count Distis. “Sara, Jessie, please handle the mounts as well as providing some scouting duties with Ker and Rahak.”

Not waiting, Nick got up and left.

Julie and Claudia quickly joined him.

“Those two really are two angry cats in a room,” Julie murmured, looking to Claudia.

“Yes. It’s fine though. They wouldn’t actually harm one another. I think,” offered Claudia after a pause.

***

Laying against the ground in the grass, Nick was reconsidering his life choices.

Sara and Jessie had spent the entirety of the time he had been setting up the trap with Julie. To the point that Rahak had cursed at them in her native tongue and left them there with Ker.

Who promptly left them a pile of steaming crap as his own part of the conversation.

When they’d briefly come back together to go lay in wait, Sara and Jessie weren’t even looking at one another anymore.

Nick was now sure he would have to intervene between the two of them.

And soon.

This type of behavior was fine and amusing at first, but if it got to the point that they had a breakdown in communication, he would most certainly be the first person to step into the breach to solve it. Such a thing couldn’t be allowed to go on if that was the result.

There were precious few of them in this endeavor and he needed everyone to be willing to fight with and for one another, even if they had disagreements.

“Well,” Julie said quietly, laying on her back and staring up at the sky. “I certainly didn’t expect my life to take this kind of a turn. It’s rather enjoyable, though.

“I rather like the fact that I get to use the skills that the Dukes didn’t want to acknowledge me for. In fact, I was forcibly made to sign a contract that I was most certainly not hired by the Dukes.

“That I was a contractor hired by a contractor so that they had a degree of separation.

“Thankfully that changed when I took on the recruitment and resource job but… still.”

“I certainly understand that,” Sara answered as Nick chewed over a possible response. “I would very much like to be able to utilize my skills more appropriate for Nicky but… I don’t have the intelligence for the Knight Captain position or Royal Guard captain.

“My best use is with a sword except… well… have you seen his stats?”

“Yes. I have. I fought him briefly you’ll remember,” Julie muttered. “I thought he was at my level at the time and it turned out he was much lower.

“The idea of fighting him as he is now doesn’t fill me with confidence. Whoever said that they would rather die on their feet than live on their knees has never truly understood the cost of resistance.”

Haha.

You did serve me on your knees though, Julie.

Grinning, Nick turned his head partially and looked over at Julie.

She gave him a sidelong glare that demanded he say nothing. As if she could read his thoughts.

“—well. There are things I would rather die for than do. Some causes I wouldn’t want to betray,” argued Sara. Then she let out a very low chuckle. “Speaking of causes. I should be getting a response back by the time we return.

“I look forward to presenting myself as a potential fiance for you. I have no doubt that they’ll approve of my suggested course of action.”

“You what?” Julie asked quietly.

“He has his queen, Jessie. He’ll need a noble wife as well,” Sara explained. “On top of that, he’s the last of his line. Realistically speaking he’ll probably need an entire squad of women to have heirs with.

“He didn’t even argue the point himself when Rahak brought it up. I figure… even if I don’t get the noble wife marriage I would like, I think he’ll be forced to wed me, in a way, as a political partner.”

“Ah,” Julie said. The one word seeming to convey an entire conversation all on it’s own. Spoken with a gravitas that carried weight beyond the two letters.

Fuck if I know what the hell that is.

What the fuck did she mean by that, Gramps?

Cause right now I feel really fucking stupid.

“I think she just discovered that her previous thought, of being a noble woman turned wife or concubine, is still a valid ploy, my boy,” warned Lucian.

Ah.

“Quite right,” confirmed Lucian.

“—rub it in Jessie’s face. I just have to move things faster than I want but… it’s not like I wasn’t interested in him. He did ask me out after all,” Julie stated. She seemed to bring up often that Nick had asked her out. “I just thought he’d chase me more when I said no.”

“They’re coming,” warned Nick, a sudden impression coming to him from Ker. The rotten bastard had stolen someone’s hip pouch that’d been stuffed with food. “They spotted Ker and chased him off after he… well… he was a Fucker.”

“Wait, is that why you call him Ker?” Sara asked.

“Yeah. His full name is Fuh-Ker. Pronounced Fucker. I just call him Ker,” Nick admitted with a grin.

“Actually… he might just… err… hm,” Nick rambled as one of the deserters chased Ker into the brush he’d ducked into. Likely to get his pouch back, Nick assumed.

Only for Ker to spin around and turn on the man that was following him. Going from trundling on the ground to leaping at the enemy in a flash.

Ker was so heavy now that he had literally knocked the opponent to the ground. The Fisher’s claws had sunk easily through the thin leather armor and into the man under it.

Before he could cry out, Ker’s head snapped down and tore their throat out. Spitting out the contents to the side and then leaning upward to claw at their face.

In just seconds, the mean spirited, highly-intelligent, and vicious weasel had blinded and fatally injured the deserter.

Snatching up the pouch, Ker ran off again, snickering to himself.

“Ker just mauled one of them,” deadpanned Nick. His voice flat and without emotion. “Tore his throat out. Then blinded him. If they don’t have a decent potion or a good healer, that deserter’s dead.”

“He really is a bastard,” hissed Julie. Only to then shrug. “At least he’s on my side now and seems to like me.”

“Ker reflects Nicky’s emotional state,” Sara explained. “If he likes you, Nicky likes you. It’s not quite a one for one or anything.”

That’s rather unfortunate that they know about that.

I don’t really like the idea of having some sort of test and check method to see how I’m feeling about them.

“I wouldn’t fret over it. You’ll know as they know, of course. Your bond with Ker is growing stronger,” Lucian reasoned.

Unfortunately, the conversation died on that note.

Nick and Sara both looking down the road that they were waiting on. All while Julie just stared up into the sky, her hands folded across her stomach.

She seemed entirely unbothered by the situation.

Her face moving in odd facial expressions as if she was considering something else entirely. Thinking through a series of things and acting as if she was having a conversation in her head.

“Oh,” she said, her hands going still. Then she turned her head and looked at him. Grinning from ear to ear, she made a motion with her hands, spreading her fingers outward. “Boom.”

There was a ground shuddering thump followed by a whooshing sound. A lot like wind roaring past while also rumbling as it did so.

Julie got up to her feet and held her hands close to one another in front of herself. Nick noted a rather angry ball of magic gathering there.

Nick stood up and picked up his poleaxe as he did so.

Not far off, he could see a great cloud of dust and what was likely poison spread out in a wide mushroom like cloud. It easily covered the area completely.

The wind had died away a few hours ago and left everything mostly stationary.

Taking several steps, he moved over to the dead center of the worn-in path and thumped the ferrule of his weapon into the dirt.

No sooner than he stood up to his full height than the jitters and nerves left him. That the nervous energy that’d been coursing through him was gone.

All that was left was a path to hold with a weapon and challenge all opponents in combat. To rend them apart and throw down their bodies, broken and beaten, to the ground.

A smile curled Nick’s mouth, fighting down the sudden desire to move forward and engage.

“It’s alright, my boy,” soothed Lucian. “It’s just our shared blood. Its just being what it is.

“My daughter had much better control over it than I ever did and my grandchildren even more so.

“You’re a child of my line which means I expect you to hold your control over it. Hold to it and let it empower you, don’t let it run away with you.”

Yes, grandfather.

Nick didn’t so much as fight the feeling as redirect it. He let it swell inside him and uplift him.

He mentally envisioned that his goal was defense and that he was defending what would be his hoard.

It sounded a bit infantile to him to so comically relate a Dragon to needing a hoard but it was the best he could manage. To let his blood sing while also not letting it control him.

“Truth be told, a Dragon does need a hoard. The royal treasury that is my tomb is our families hoard,” Lucian remarked. “I’ve guarded it since my son-in-law laid me to rest there and not a single coin has left it.

“I’d be a terrible family guardian otherwise, you realize.”

Nick couldn’t help it and ended up laughing.

“As I promised before, grandfather. I’ll be sure to come free you,” Nick whispered. “And when the time comes, I’m going to make sure my children sit before you and learn all that they can.

“There’s no need for tutors with you around. I’m sure you’ve heard it all more times over than anyone would suspect.”

“Well… I… hm. Maybe. I wouldn’t be adverse to it,” Lucian mused. “It’d be rather enjoyable, actually.”

“Someone’s pushing through,” Julie warned from behind him. She had apparently moved since he’d seen her last.

“Well, my turn then, I suppose,” Nick remarked as he lifted his left hand.

He cast Earth-Shield atop himself and then nodded his head.

It’ll be nice to be able to enchant my gear later.