Battlemage Nonetheless Book 5 AdvocateChapter 7
- 2 years ago
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Marie had spent the last two days with Seth checking around the first town.
They weren't one of the first town's attacked, but they were among the first reported, and they were close to the capital than the rest at a days travel away.
Having spent the day looking around and talking to people they realized that they didn't know anymore than they did when they started.
Marie didn't have much of a chance to be alone with Seth for more than making out. Tonight she wanted to do something since they would have a real room instead of a tent to mask some of the noise she was hoping to make in it.
While in an Inn getting a meal with Seth, and discussing what they had been up to, Seth noticed a young boy about ten seasons old and called him over to meet Marie.
"Marie, this is Toby, he is one of the merchant apprentices. Toby this is Marie the woman who has decided to give me a break and make an honest man of me and marry me," said Seth.
Lightly punching his arm Marie looked at the boy and said "Hello Toby."
"Wow she's really pretty. You got really lucky Mr. Seth," said Toby while staring at Marie.
"Why thank you Toby," said Marie, but while blushing while Seth chuckled.
Normally compliments rolled off her back like water off a duck, but such frank honesty from a young child was refreshing and unexpected.
"There you are boy, why are you bothering Seth?" asked a loud voice.
Looking the direction of the voice Marie could see a quite rotund man as he leaned almost backwards and walked towards them. He was clean shaven with a balding head. His once black hair was now almost white instead of salt and pepper.
The man was dressed nicely but not in too expensive tunic and pants.
"Ahh Master Patterson, how goes it my good man?" asked Seth standing to embrace the man coming towards him.
"Well, well my friend. I hope Toby wasn't bothering you," said Patterson.
"Of course not, I love the little tyke," said Seth as he leaned over and rubbed Toby's head.
"Who do we have here? My god how do you get all the beauties to drag you to their beds? My god if I could bottle up what you have and sell it I would make a fortune!" said Patterson.
"Master Patterson, this is Marie, she's to be Mr. Seth's wife sir," said Toby.
Looking red Patterson tried to speak "Uhm, that was a joke between us, Seth and I ... Uhm, uhh, is a good man. Honorable man and..."
"Don't worry, we all had a past before we met, its not like I'm worried about anything but making sure he's too tired to be with anyone but me," said Marie giving Seth a smoldering look.
"Yes I really need to find a way to bottle that," muttered Patterson under his breath as he gave the room a sideways glance.
"Have a seat and bring me up to speed on your travels," said Seth gesturing to a chair.
Pulling out a chair Patterson sat in it, but leaned way back.
Talking they spoke about various things in the kingdom, how Patterson's shipping business was going, and eventually they got around to the attacks.
"It's a good thing to see that your men are making rounds trying to catch whoever is doing it. It's a shame that you only have a couple men in each town. Those people they train don't even have proper weapons.
"But Patella mind you has a full garrison of 150 - 200 fighting men stationed in every other town near the border it seems. Not every town, but enough that you know they are there," said Patterson.
"Wow, they are intent on catching who ever it is. At least they will see it's not us if they have that many men available to them," said Seth.
"Tell me about it. Who ever is doing it isn't that bright. But at least you're finally doing something about it as well. I thought the king would never loosen up the purse strings to allow you and your boys out," said Patterson laughing.
"Now, now you know as well as I do the Counts control the kingdom's money. The King would have us out there yesterday if he could," said Seth with a smile.
"But I truly find it hard to believe that someone is doing so much damage to your kingdoms like they are. Who ever it is, is attacking you both, but Patella seems to be getting the lighter side of the damage.
"Where you're almost having entire towns destroyed Patella is losing a few buildings, and at the most they are often empty ones. Where you're barely having enough men ride into towns to see what is going on, Patella has troops everywhere. It's like for every three towns or cities that you have hit Patella has one. Why do they have it in for your kingdom I wonder," said Patterson.
"I don't know either. It's like..." started Seth, but he never got to finish.
"Oh my god, that's it. That's why they are doing it. Now it makes complete sense what is going on," said Marie almost under her breath.
"What are you talking about my dear?" asked Patterson.
"Now that we know what is going on, the real questions are now who and what they personally gain from it," said Marie looking down and still in her own world.
"Marie, honey, what are you going on about?" asked Seth as he gently put his hand on her arm.
Looking up as if she realized where she was for the first time Marie looked at Seth.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's a bad habit I picked up from my friend Dusty. In fact he's infected us all with his way of thinking. It's the invasion that I'm talking about of course. You know that you're in no position to stop it," said Marie matter of factly.
"Excuse me?!" said Seth in alarm.
"Its not going to happen today, but it's soon," said Marie.
"Excuse me my dear, how did you come about to that conclusion?" asked Patterson.
"Think about it. Both of you gave me all the pieces, and if you think about it you have them as well. Seth, think about what is going on here. The Counts are severely limiting all the money being spent right? Think about it, why? What do they have to gain from "not" protecting the people any better than they have or providing better troops in the Kingdom? Just where is all that money going too?" asked Marie.
Having the men looking at her strangely she continued. This was always food for argument everywhere in the Kingdom. If she knew then they wanted to know.
"Now think about this as well, you have no real force of arms in any of the towns. Well not enough to matter, but Patella has, well let's say 200 fighting men in their towns for easy math. Patterson how many towns are you talking about?" asked Marie
"I'd say about ten to fifteen as an estimate on the borders, why?" asked Patterson
"Let's say ten again for easy math. If they all met up in a day's time, or two tops, and you would now have a small army of 2000 men easy who could cross over and start taking towns and cities before this kingdom even knew that they were there.
"By the time you mobilized what few men you had to attempt to repel them with your army as out of position as they would be, they would already be on their way to your capital, and by then as the rest joined them they would outnumber you almost five to one.
"Most towns would fall in moments to trained troops with real weapons, and they would still be claiming self defense as they did it because of all of the border attacks," said Marie as she looked at them.
"But why? What do they have to gain?" asked Seth.
"Your kingdom's main interest to anyone is the fact you have exclusive water rights for various ships coming into your kingdom. They really have no choice but set port in your kingdom or leave through your kingdom. Saving on that cost would be very lucrative for a kingdom that is heavily dependent on export," said Marie.
Seth appeared to be considering it.
"But that just answers what is going on. Master Patterson just pointed out that Patella isn't getting hit nearly as hard as you are. It's like all they need is an excuse to invade and start a war. A war no one can prove who's at fault before it started. Look at where all of their armed troops are and where are yours are positioned, not to mention what your troops are all lacking. It's all just a little too pat," said Marie.
"That all makes sense now that you point it out, but what I don't get is how do they know where to attack and what is going on?" asked Seth.
"Master Patterson I told you it was him," said Toby suddenly from Patterson's elbow.
"Who son?' asked Seth.
"That man who works for Count Randall as one of his men. I don't know his name, but he's the man with the ugly knife scar on the right side of his face that he got from what some said was him trying to force himself on that girl," said Toby
"Josh Sterling? Him? Where did you see him Toby?" asked Seth, now all ears.
"A few weeks back in Tolenburg. We were passing through and he rode past us going the other way. He tried to keep his head down but I got a good look," said Toby.
"That SOB. He almost got me killed," said Seth before it hit him. "He tried to have me killed," whispered Seth as it sunk in.
"So now we know who, but the question is what he gets out of this?" asked Marie.
Clearing his throat Patterson spoke.
"I believe I've seen why near the capital of Patella as well a few different times in my travels. I mean there is no law on who and where you may travel, but I never put it together until you just said you were in the latest town attacked. I wonder who he was talking to there?" asked Patterson.
"If he was in Patella then he couldn't be gone for that long for a round trip without the Count being aware, so he's in on this as well," said Seth.
"The only thing we don't know is what the "Count" gets out of screwing over his own kingdom, but I think we need to head back to the capital at first light. We need to inform the King and come up with a good plan. I need to go to bed, excuse me gentlemen," said Marie getting up.
Before she left she bent over and lightly kissed Seth before she started away and both men sat and watched her swinging hips until they couldn't see them anymore.
Marie now had something she had to do before bed that now totally occupied the part of her mind that was going to seduce Seth into her room. She definitely now had enough information to share.
"My god are you lucky. How do you do it man? How?" asked Patterson turning to look at Seth now that Marie disappeared from view.
"I'm not sure, but since she came into my life I'm really happy; whatever I have going for me I'm honestly glad it worked on her as well," smiled Seth at Patterson before he excused himself to go to bed as well.
Marie used her communication crystal to call Dusty and tell him what she found out. He quickly reached the same conclusion she did. He told her that her plan to get back and warn the King was a sound one and that she and Seth needed to stick to the King until he got back to her.
Dusty said he had a hunch he needed to play as well, but if he was right they needed to talk to Count Randall and squeeze him for information.
Dusty also brought her up to speed on his Knighting and Rachel's marriage before the crystal ran out of power. While Marie was shocked she was secretly happy for Rachel to finally be able to find her man whom future Dusty told her about.
They signed off and everyone went to bed.
The following morning, before anyone was quite up, Dusty went to the festival that was still running for a few more days and made a couple of inexpensive purchases.
He might not need what he bought, but he wanted to be prepared.
The following Morning found Dusty and his friends at the castle.
They met Daniel and Rachel just before they were to enter and both of them had grins a mile wide. Dusty understood, because he remembered right after Suzan and he were married he was exactly like that all the time as well. The six of them waited in front of closed doors for the Queen to arrive.
Earlier the Queen had dresses sent over for Suzan and Lori.
Suzan hadn't brought any since she was planning on only wearing her armor, tunic, and pants, but the seamstress told her that that was unacceptable for both a Lady and for one expected to be received by a Queen to be seen in men's trousers.
Suzan fought it, because it would mean leaving her weapon behind, but Dusty convinced her they needed to see the Queen more than she would need to fight.
Lori, who normally wore dresses, was easier to convince once she saw her dress.
So now Suzan was wearing a light tan gown that was tastefully cut to fall off her shoulders and leave them bare. It was cinched tight at the waist to show off her full figure and flowed behind her, just barely long enough to drag on the floor behind her. The color was just enough that it equally showed off her blonde hair and her wood brown eyes.
Lori's dress was on her shoulders but had a plunging back, but most of her long hair hid that fact. It too was snug in the waistline and followed her curves like Suzan's dress did.
Everyone could see that Rachel also was in a long dress that was a deep brown, off the shoulders, and tightly cinched on her firm body.
She also looked so happy that if she was a diamond she would be too bright too look at. Everyone was really happy for her and Daniel's smile was almost as bright. Dusty wondered if they had any more time to talk last night before they really got to know each other.
As Dusty thought about it he looked at her left hand.
On the ring finger was a white and gold tightly intertwined ring. It had three small diamonds flush in it, set deep in the alternating colors, but it wasn't anything flashy. It was obviously her wedding ring. Daniel must have given it to her last night on their wedding night.
Dusty wanted something better for Suzan like that, but she insisted on a flat gold band and that was all she wanted. She said that her real reward was him and the ring was only a reminder.
As they waited to be announced and told they could enter, Dusty looked around and noticed that there were a fair amount of women dressed in all manners passing by them.
Some of them gave them cool looks, and some were down right hateful. It soon became apparent that it was Rachel who they were really giving the looks to the most. Dusty wasn't quite sure what Rachel had done to elicit all the hostility.
Once he was sure he softly heard "peasant bitch" before the woman in question passed by. What was going on with them?
Eventually the doors opened and they were gestured inside.
Once inside the door way a man, who had his back to them, turned to them, gestured for them to stop, looked them over as if he was seeing something distasteful, and then asked for their names. Once they had complied, turning the man stepped just a little further inside, the man faced the audience chamber.
Before lunch had been served Dusty had already spoken with the King. Even though he tried hard to keep the crystal phones they created a secret from the public, the King while bragging about them, had shown his off to a few of the nobles and visiting dignitaries. That was enough to spark a huge interest in them. Suddenly it was seen as a favor to the crown to have a few people outfitted with them, and a few others tried to curry huge favors with him to get one. Dusty and his friends kept...
While Kat had waited that morning for the three of them to arrive quite a few men had tried to "chat her up" as they passed by her going either into the city or as they left. Even in her generally loose fitting travel garb they saw the gem that she was. Somehow she managed not only to talk to them in a friendly manner, but she also managed to get some useful information while not offending anyone or giving the impression that she was willing to go to bed with any of them. Even though she...
The four women entered the large city and quickly blended in with the rest of the inhabitants. Suzan was just a little unhappy Dusty wasn't with her though it had only been a little over a week since she left Dusty and headed out for the mission. Although she missed her husband, she was also really charged up to be here and was well ready to take on a new mission like this. It took them several days of travel by ship and a few more days of hard riding and just barely stopping for anything...
Amber came into the house and kicked off her boots. She then put her pack down beside the door, took off her twin swords, and then leaned those swords against the door next to her pack. Her parents would be around somewhere, and after she found something to eat she would go find them. She had dropped Logan off in town, as he wanted to visit, but she only wanted to go home and unwind. As she walked down the hallway she had the same thoughts she usually did when she passed through...
Dusty felt like he was submerged in warm water. It was strange because while he couldn't see, he could feel everything. The feeling made him feel like he was surrounded by nothing and yet at the same time by everything. He could feel shapes, colors, sounds, even smells. He could sense everyone around him and as strange as it sounded he could sense himself. It was like he was looking at himself but he wasn't looking at himself. As Dusty was trying to puzzle that out, he felt child like...
Dusty and Suzan reached the double doors that lead to the council chambers. They had passed a few offices that the council members and others made their own. Now they were at their destination. There was a single desk outside the council chambers, and at it sat a very striking and attractive red haired woman. She looked to conceivably be in her mid-thirties, but with mages that didn't mean anything. She was dressed in similar robes as the guard out front with the same sash over her...
Nathan and Ariel were at the city of Lake's End walking around and speaking with the various people who lived there as they waited for their contact to get in touch with them. Someone had sent a work request notice to the guild about a two person job that needed to be done, and they requested the two of them by name. It was a simple escort job, but the request that accompanied it asked that both of them come a few days early before hand and discuss the job, as it was private and sensitive...
Wolfgang wouldn't admit it but he was really looking forward to Kat's visit shortly. She had just called to say that she was close and would soon be at his home, and once they broke the connection he found he was rotating the crystal phone around in his hands and staring at it as he thought about her. Ever since Dusty's phones started to be the rage it had made his life far easier. Of course he wished he had access to these phones a long, long, time ago but Dusty wasn't born during the...
Dusty and Suzan quickly made a few plans between them, agreed on them, and then set about separately doing them. First thing Dusty wanted to do was make sure the kids were taken care of. He knew that getting DJ started on his training was important right then and so he made a quick call to Lori. Talking as fast as he could Dusty then explained what was going on and why he needed to send the kids to her home. Telling Lori he had the emergency covered he made the plan to send their kids,...
Dusty, Suzan, Daniel, and Rachel all suddenly appeared on the pad next to Lori's home. The pad was large enough to accommodate five riders on horseback, but it was the four of them standing next to Dusty and Suzan's horses. Waiting while Dusty and Suzan took their horses to the stable, the four of them returned to the front of the door and knocked. "Lori seemed pretty excited when I called her, I wonder why," said Suzan as they waited "Bet she's discovered something new again. She...
"Thank you for the horses," said Marie as she looked over at Seth smiling. "I'm happy to loan them to you all. I'm just sorry how you received them, but not that you have them," said Seth. "I am too. I wished those men didn't have to die while helping others as they did, but I know those people in the town appreciated their sacrifice," said Marie to Seth. Seth just nodded as he rode. They rode in silence while they were sticking to the main roads in the forest so that they could...
As the five of them worked their way through the dungeon, they were surprised that they no longer found any opposition. There just didn't seem to be anything that approached them or tried to attack them. That bothered Dusty. They had just gone from having wave after wave of ghouls attacking for over an hour to an eerie quiet. The only thing that made it worse was the occasional dripping sound of water from somewhere in the distance as they made their way deeper into the dungeon. "This is...
Melkin had to admit that Dusty was coming up in the world. When he brought him here he was someone who had nothing and had to start at the bottom. The council thought that this was the best way to do it and that it would make him more dependant on them for things he needed to survive while here. But not only had he started with nothing and grown, but he had been knighted, received a title and land, and was now turning a pretty decent profit. No one had expected him to be able to prosper...
"With us not finding any trace of what's happing during the day it looks like we're going to have to venture further into the woods at night," said Suzan as she looked at Dusty and Seth. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we've still not found a single trace of what is taking off with the people from around here," said Dusty as he turned to look at her. "I say we give it at least one more day, maybe two tops, before we go looking for any danger that we may not need to buy for...
The next morning Dusty got up very early, before the sun was even close to coming up, and started packing his pack for the next mission. As he pulled out clothing to take with him he noticed the suede leather jacket and jeans that he was wearing when he arrived here hanging in the wardrobe in the corner of his room. Seeing them once again took him back to when he first appeared in this world just under over a year ago. A lot of things had changed. First of all he now believed in magic. It...
Dusty started to run into the room, but he stopped and took a good long look around first looking for traps. As he stepped into the room he saw Galvin as he basically finished hanging his wife next to Daniel and Rachel from a hook by a chain around both of her wrists. When Galvin stepped back he could see that her shirt was ripped badly in the front and one of her breasts was in danger of spilling out of her already heavily overworked bra. He watched Galvin seem to take a good long look at...
Two men stood looking at the prone form of their leader. They just received the report that the man wanting to join them, a Christopher Jones, was just killed by someone a very powerful. It didn't look like magic that killed him, but they also had no idea at this point how he died. The men weren't too broken up about it because they felt the fool was wrong to be experimenting on children and they wouldn't miss him. He contacted them before with a deep desire to join their ranks and said...
"Mmmmmmm ... do you really need to get up and go work out so soon? The sun isn't even up yet. You really should come back to bed. I need you. I mean I really need you. You could just as easily work out with me instead you know," said Suzan softly but in her deep raspy voice. Even with just barely opening her eyes, she knew that she had her husband's complete attention. They had gone to bed the previous night in the buff and she could see his response to her request instantly. He was...
During the first week that Dusty and the others had left Marie and Seth had met with the King and Marie trained in the yard to keep up her skills, tone her body, and generally keep busy. The King gave her one of the outer rooms that faced the parade yards so that she was well away from the other nobles but close enough that she could work out in the yard and visit with Seth. King William gave her a knowing smile as his secretary briefed her where she would be staying. Marie smiled back at...
Once out of the chamber Dusty smiled and raced down the hall to grab Suzan's hand as she was still storming down the hallway, and pulled her trembling frame into an embrace. As he did he noticed that her face was unreadable, but he could see as he did this that she was still very much pissed off. While pulling her close he buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry honey, but should have told you that you broke nothing. If I hadn't been so caught up in self pity I would have spoken up...
"Well my dear it has been almost two weeks, I don't believe they are coming back before the time limit," said Queen Morigan as she looked over at Rachel while she stood apart from the other women. Rachel was sitting and trying to look at ease, but it was an effort with all the various other Lady's and ladies in waiting around. All the various forms of nobility were hanging around the audience chamber making light conversation about nothing and gossiping. As Rachel tried to look like she...
Dusty arrived with his friends at the kingdom of Stelmore. The first thing they did on entering was to head straight for the castle to talk with King Roland about the attacks. Reaching the city gates it was obvious that the city was on high alert. On trying to enter the capital city they had to get off of their horses at the gate and lead them into the city. The guards then separated them, and two guards checked them one at a time. One held a serviceable pike on them as the other one...
A bloody and very upset Suzan and Anita made their way back to the palace just as the Sun was cresting over the horizon. They had already made the stop by Tabitha's mother's house the night before to inform her of what happened. Needless to say it wasn't something they wanted to do, but knew that they had to and it was something they owed the only real victim to pay the ultimate price. Even though Suzan felt she should tell her, Anita insisted that because her death was her fault she...
"Who are you two?" asked Rory quietly as he stared at them. "Rory we're still your friends, but we're also different people than who you know. I promise I'll answer all your questions later. I'll meet you back here in about an hour or so. "Watch over Terrance. I don't believe he'll die, but if I'm wrong come get me. But for now I need to hurry and get Ariel to our room. I'll explain why I need to do this as fast as humanly possible when I return," said Nathan quickly. Moving...
"Everyone, you are here for a reason and it is something that has an effect on your lives both in the past and the future," began Brianna as they were all seated around the living room. As the last to arrive, once Matt and Rayne showed up it was time to get started. As they looked around at their children and their spouses, they both couldn't believe how much the boys took after their father, even down to having the same silver forelock now in their hair as well But knowing this would be...
Galvin sat on the cliff side with his legs dangling as he sat overlooking the city. It was a very prosperous city that originally had been a town that was built against the side of a cliff so that it could only be raided from one direction, and all the defenses had been developed to protect from that direction. But over the years the town had grown, as well as changes in modern warfare. Now if someone wanted to give the city a good pasting they could do it in relative safety from where he...
Aric was sitting the table mentally going over preparations for dinner. It was his week to cook. While Brianna was coming along with her cooking, he was still far better he thought with a smile. But she was getting better, and she was better at cleaning and laundry so he had no complaints. He was glad they took turns switching on and off each week. Even though he tried to stop it, his mind kept drifting back over the last few seasons. After Brianna and Aric were settled in they traveled a...
"And that all happened just a little over ten seasons ago?" asked Nathan slowly. The way this young man was acting he thought it was all recently at least in the last couple of seasons. Not something decades ago. "I left the city and I've not returned. Not even to see my family," said Elliot nodding yes. "But what happened to Kathryn after you left or the man she was with? Did you ever find out? Did you even want to know?" asked Nathan. As he thought about it, he realized that he...
Suzan could tell by the rising and setting of the sun that she had been here at least a week and a half so far. She wasn't sure what was going on with Dusty and her friends, but she really wanted to see them again. The first few days she was there she refused to eat, though after awhile she decided starving herself before she found a way out didn't make sense. But she refused to eat with the Queen and Prince under any circumstances. She just flat out refused to see them. Everyday she...
Once they came to the city they asked for directions and they headed for the address they were given. They found themselves in front of a very large museum with rod iron gates that were swung wide open. They entered and were shown into a very nice, but a very cluttered office. There were books stacked on every table. But at least the center desk was clear. As the secretary showed them in she smiled big at Dusty and offered him her hand as she showed them all into the office. And once he...
After making their way to the address in question they noticed that there was a light coming from what looked to be a cellar door. As they opened the door they saw there was a lantern lit by the door but the others close by it were out. But a few feet after those the rest were lit again. Marie said she was going first, and they followed her down a narrow passageway that seemed to go down for about two stories then leveled out. As they leveled out they realized that they were headed to a...
Dusty and the others made pretty good time over the last day and a half to the huge mountainous expanse in the desert. Dusty would never have expected this if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. It didn't make sense, but he was still learning things. There was one point when Kat called them close and said they were being followed. Dusty leaned over his horse, using just one stirrup to support his weight, reached into an inside pocket, and then hung like that as he buried something close...
Dusty got up early the next morning and found that not only was DJ up, but he already finished some light stretching, completed a run around the house a few times, and was now seated at the kitchen table entertaining himself as he waited for everyone else to get up. Laughing to himself he found it interesting that the boy had similar habits as himself. "I see your up early, any reason for that?" asked Dusty as he got a cup of something out of the icebox and then leaned against the counter...
"Hi welcome to the Winters, Taylor and Owen law firm. How may I help you?" asked the extremely beautiful young lady coming down the hallway. As Dusty stopped to get a good look at her he found his breath taken completely away. She was about 5'9" in some nice shiny black four inch Patten leather pumps. It didn't appear she was wearing stockings, but her legs were tanned and very well formed, but he was trying not to stare and only took a very quick look at them as she approached...
Early the next morning found the group of six riding away from the castle as they hurried to the Kingdom of Patella to speak with the Queen and see what was going on in that land. As the rode down the road, Dusty started talking about something that was on his mind. "Was it really wise to leave Marie alone with Seth?" asked Dusty to everyone as they rode their borrowed horses towards the Kingdom of Patella. He waited until they were well away from the capital city before he asked so no...
"Galen? Galen? Yes I know of him. He's one of those mages who seated themselves on their useless council. Don't you know that his meeting you was no accident? He was assigned to watch you. He also wanted to make sure that you didn't go power mad and crazy. While you may be stronger he's always hidden his true strength from you. "And you do know the reason that he took so long to help your son and his wife when her powers truly activated was because the council really didn't want to...
While still stunned from Gemma's story, Brianna looked down at the table and said "But, but, I don't know if he even likes me back. What if he doesn't think I'm attractive enough? All the other women here are so beautiful, and I'm not that special. I don't know how to walk around like they do or how to flirt with him. And I don't really know how to cook very well. Everyone else is better than I am at everything." Gemma, looked at her stunned for a moment, paused and then started to...
Andrea sat next to the bed looking down at the face of a sleeping Daven. It was hard to believe watching him that this was the same face of the young man who was the terror of husbands and fathers alike. Likewise it was hard to believe this was the same face of the young man who was well known as well for his uncommon attractiveness. If it wasn't for his barely hidden arrogance, that few who got close enough to him could see, she herself might have found him more attractive. He always...
DJ slowly came to, and as he did, he tried to get his bearings based on the last thing he remembered. The last thing he clearly remembered was hitting the ground hard and then ... nothing. While DJ lay there trying to figure out what was going on, he noticed a couple things. One he could hear an argument going on in the distance. He tried to focus on it, but he was distracted because his head was at an odd angle. It wasn't the fact it was unpleasant or anything, but he was lying on...
When everyone arrived in front of the home of Lori and Mark Miller, DJ was suitably impressed. To him it pretty much screamed mage from the start when you looked at it. He had seen lots of movies, books, and animations, and some of the designs gave him that impression. Their house was what he would have called a one story ranch style wrap around that had the front door and porch in the center of the structure and what looked to be separate rooms, or wings, on either side of it. It wasn't...
Reaching the edge of the city, just past the market square that she often visited, Suzan and Anita noticed that hardly anyone was around the homes there. Looking around as they reached the edge Suzan could see that something had gone horribly wrong. There were doors that were broken in, overturned stands, and destruction everywhere. Trash and broken items littered the road. Still in shock Suzan asked "What happened here, what is all of this?" "This is what happens when Trolls raid our...
DJ, Amber, Logan, Marilyn, and Jason reached the last city just outside of Lori's home without too much of a problem. They would soon be at her home to start DJ off on his training in magic. The trip was eventful with many men who kept asking after Amber and Marilyn to do everything from sitting with them, asking for a dance, to the blatant request to visit their room. Some didn't even want to wait for nightfall for that to take place. Marilyn often got most men to leave her alone by...
"Are we ready?" asked Marie Seeing everyone nod at her they started out of the gathering hall and headed down the road in the general direction of the city that they would eventually start their assignment. Marie knew that this mission was one that was given to Dusty by the council, via their guild, and she knew like always he would fill them in. He always shared all info with the team, but away from prying eyes and ears. As they walked Dusty was surprised at how Marie didn't seem to be...
Almost seeming to leap over the mess she had just made by the door, Lindsey jumped for Dusty and he just barely caught her before she tackled him. Dusty suddenly found himself holding a hysterically crying Lindsey as she seemed to break down in his arms. Not sure why he did it, Dusty couldn't help but notice that she was dressed in the same short brown outfit as the rest of the serving girls. She couldn't have been there all that long as her tanned and well formed legs only made the...
"Did you get what you needed?" asked Lori as they left Chris's home "Yes and no. I reported in and let them know what I found, but I know now even less about him than I did when I started," commented Dusty to Lori. Lori realized that Dusty probably wanted some privacy to ask some questions. One being why Lindsey was here and another about Chris, and she was sure he didn't want an audience. "Well thank god you came back when you did, we were running out of things to say to him while...
The night of the party was amazing. Somehow the ladies knew just who to see to get outfits for the party. Most missions didn't even include a party so they didn't pack dresses, but were still happy to find some to use to get dressed up for the occasion. Even Lindsey was happy with the outfit for her. It wasn't a large party or even a grand one, but it was a chance for them to talk to others and let their hair down for a bit. It was being held at the summer home near the edge of the town...
As soon as Marie closed and barred the door to her room she started to sweat again. Even though she was sure that at the time the cramps would kill her, she was used to getting the mild form so she was able to endure, but now she thought she was going to crawl out of her skin. She had to have sex and she needed it now! That was the only thing she wanted to do right now. That drug in her system was making it slowly her sole desire and the only thing her mind focused on. She couldn't...
Dusty and Lori managed to get to the farm in question and find what they needed. After convincing the farmer and his wife they weren't nuts and they did have a valid reason for why they wanted the stuff, they managed to get them to help them distill plant into a pure liquid form. Dusty promised that the Mayor would take care of the cost and that they just needed to let him know what to pay Asking for the use of a horse and wagon to carry back the large barrel, it was well into the...
The event in question was the night Dusty and Lindsey went to a summer party two months ago at one of their mutual friend's house. To be honest Grace was more Lindsey's friend than his, but he got along well with her husband Peter. Their friends had setup a barbeque pit, games, horseshoes, volley ball, among a few other games, and they had a very large turn out. Dusty was talking and hanging out with some of the guys he felt more comfortable with even though he really didn't know anyone...
The next morning as Dusty slowly awoke he noticed that a slender arm was now draped over him from behind as he faced the window. It wasn't like he didn't know who it was without turning over. He would have to start locking his door at nights it would seem. As he got up he could see that Lindsey had fallen asleep next to him and had obvious worn only her towel into his bed from the night before, and now it had now fallen open. Without meaning too, he looked and was disgusted to realize...
Eventually Dusty was able to find and move into his new apartment. Regardless of how he looked like on the outside to anyone, he was finding it hard to stay civil when every fiber of his being wanted to throttle Lindsey whenever she was near, and it was slowly starting to get to him. Going to the gym and getting into a good scrap at first seemed to help with his frustrations, but lately as the months drug on that was starting to not be enough. There were times during that last month that...
"I'm going to kill that old man," thought Dusty as he groaned painfully and rolled over. When he came to, he found himself face down in a field of grass. He looked around, and he could see what looked to be a dirt road to his right and trees off in the distance. As he stood up he realized that it looked like he was no longer in the city of Indianapolis anymore. He couldn't see anything like skyscrapers or building in general. All he could see was a big open field with a tree line off...
Three things happened after that first night they all spent in an Inn. First as they traveled during the day Lori came out of her shell and would talk with Dusty. Even though she still had her quiet moments, she no longer scowled at him and now that they traveled together Dusty found that she often would walk beside him, look up at him, and inquire about his life before he met them. She would sometimes even smile at him from time to time. Second was that while Suzan would still play pranks...
"OH MY GOD! WHAT WAS THAT!" thought Dusty as he waved his hand around at the dust in his room. "Did a bomb just now go off in here?! If so it was a bad one, it only took out the wall." There was a very large hole in the wall where his bed used to be and the bed was now a pile of heavily burnt and damaged kindling. But Dusty was without his towel and he was standing there on display as naked as the day he was born. Lori might have appreciated the view if she wasn't staring stunned at...
"Yes right there, right there Dusty. Oh my god yes! That feels wonderful. You really are as good as you said," moaned out Lori as she smiled down at Dusty. Lori was lying on the bed completely naked and looking unbelievable as she played with her large breasts with both hands as Dusty toiled on. Dusty smiled up at her as he was working hard at pleasuring her. He was hitting all the right spots and he knew that she was enjoying herself immensely it seemed. As he felt her twitching and...
The museum was having a party a week before the showing and Dr. White decided to allow the guild members to come as guests. Marie thought he really must be desperate to have them work for him since normally the help wasn't invited to these things. The main surprise was that the museum paid for them to all get new outfits for the night as well. Dr. White said that it was so they wouldn't feel pressure to find something. He just told them to mingle and meet new people and see what the museum...
"Tell me again what you say you saw?!" asked Dr. White shocked. This was the first time anyone had any information on the deaths. Dusty had gotten the girls up as he headed to Dr. White's room. It was on the second floor of where they were staying. Dr. White came down to view the room then he sent word to Dr. Carmichael that there was another attack and he took everyone to his office, and while he waited Dusty covered what he saw again. "Like I said, it was a wolf made of fire. But...
"So it went well?" Suzan asked as she sat and brushed her hair at the vanity. She could tell by Dusty's large smile that he had a good testing. The vanity was the only furniture she had brought with her when she moved into Dusty's room and it was small enough that it took up no real space in the corner. Dusty always enjoyed sitting and watching her work on her hair. While she only wore makeup for some of their special times together he still enjoyed watching her movements. To be honest...