Clara floated in slow spins on the dirt road, her breath hot against Daniel’s ear.
“That stupid Crier. Why is everyone in the kingdom so mean to me?”
“Darling, why are we talking about a professional rage-baiter? Maybe I need to work a little bit harder to hold onto your wings. Maybe if I nibble your ear, you’ll pay attention to me?”
“Oh, you look so sweet, but you can be sneaky. You’ve been trying to elevate my heart rate. Nibbling just might kill me. That collection of hearts you keep is growing. How do you make it look so easy?”
Daniel’s smile grew as he pulled her waist tighter against him.
“I have your trophy in my back seat, so why collect more? I summoned you and no one else. So don’t bury those thoughts of what you really want.”
He drew back far enough to lock vision with her spiraling eyes, forehead pressed against hers, lips a breath away. Her heat rose, her throat thickening, her cheeks and wings flushing.
“My song, endure. You put a spell on me. I’m losing my mind. You better stop these games. I’m hypnotized every time you speak my name. It isn’t fair. It’s as if I am made for you to tame. You drive me insane. Why can’t I escape?”
He pressed his lips against hers, tasting salt no one else could.
“If you did escape. I might have to hunt you down, grab your chin, and kiss your lips to bring you back.”
“Daniel… You always tease me. ”
“That wasn’t a no. And you know I can’t help myself when you ask tenderly. Did you want to be the little animal a fallen angel captures? Wait… You already are.”
“You keep me going in circles! These wilting wings can’t keep you for long. Carl, now Angel… Daniel!”
He pressed closer to clamp his teeth lightly on her ear. Her wings jittered harder than he’d ever seen, her chest compressing against his as she held him and trembled.
“You’re so easy. Every time I die, I feel powerful, but it is you again. You will have yours, my love, and I will have mine. So indulge in those desires, because no one else can fulfill them but me. And I will fill you up. So come, lay me down, and drink from my cup.”
She drew him in as tight as she could, wrapping him in her wings, mouth pressed against his so fiercely that he was left breathless. Drawing back, she was crying with the brightest smile.
“You truly do spoil your klutz of a wife… With my lips imprinted on yours, tonight, I will fill your cup, my beautiful husband. Let me win once. Because I am the luckiest woman in existence, being the only one to have the name ‘wife’ all to myself.”
Daniel held her hand until it was gone.
“Good night, my beautiful wife… Until we meet again in the dream.”
Daniel stood there a moment, imagining her smile.
My klutz of a wife, she calls herself. We’re a team. Without you, I’d long be Carl food.
How can I make her see how great she is?
He shook his head and sighed, then returned to the field to bury Edmund.
Every corpse but his was gone when he arrived. Carl doing Carl things.
Daniel used a pickaxe and shovel to dig it, extracting the loose dirt with [Vault]. It was sent to the Farmstead, in its own section since it operated out of his desire. He saw no animals other than a single undead raven, who stood on a branch nearby in total silence.
[Vault] sped up the process so much that he finished by afternoon.
Placing the stick marker, he brushed off his sweat and nodded.
“You’re being weird, Carl,” Daniel said, stamping the dirt flat.
The bird took some time to answer.
“I don’t like where I’m at. I need time to think.”
Carl flew off, leaving him alone in the picked-clean massacre site.
“Well. Okay. I guess you know I’ll be back for my feathers… Take your time, bud.”
Shrugging, he went to feed the horses before going to the river to wash up. He ate a solitary dinner. The quiet pressed in on him for the rest of the day as night fell. It was the longest he’d gone in isolation. Honestly, it was kind of nice.
He spent that time pondering what he needed to do next.
They weren’t just dealing with their own ruined kingdom anymore. They had a bunch of slaves relying on them, trying to survive in a cut-off piece of land with shadows seeking to corrode whatever they built.
I’ve got a lot to do, and little knowledge of this world’s markets.
Stay positive! Clara and my adventure has only just begun.
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He looked across the road at the horses.
I should send them to the farmstead tomorrow and see how they’re doing.
Shifting his focus to the treeline, he didn’t spot a single crow.
What are you doing, Carl?
Clara might be mad, but I kind of miss him. It’s better to talk to jaws that want to eat you than to let them fester and plot in the dark. Plus, he isn’t exactly unfriendly.
Morning came in with a hint of frost nipping at his nose. He was a little surprised that he didn’t quite feel the chill like the humans he’d traveled with. His body was more adaptable than theirs, it seemed.
He did a quick check around the caravan and didn’t find any traces of activity. It was kind of spooky. He thought this dungeon was supposed to be big business for the nearby city’s adventurers. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder if Carl had something to do with it.
[⟡ Ground #1: Farmstead &&] Activated.
The gate opened onto silver light and warm air. He ran the horses through four at a time.
He walked through to get a grasp on the state of things. The elves got the horses under control. Supplies had been laid out, but he wasn’t expecting Maranthe to march up to him and point at the gate even before Butler or One could reach him.
“We need the wagons. Can we bring all of them in?”
“The wood!” Daniel smacked his palm. “Brilliant, Maranthe.”
“Rather obvious, I’d say,” she returned. “We can handle it.”
He held up a thumb, and that was all that needed to be said before the elves were sweeping past him, returning the horses through the gate.
“Sire. Thirty-five horses?” Butler inquired, watching the women go. “That will make for excellent support.”
“How are they doing?”
“Adjusting. It would be wise to hold off on such discussions for a month or two.”
“Sounds good. I leave them in your capable hands!”
Once everything was hauled in to be deconstructed, he left them to their planning and went to the gate. Thirty minutes was not enough time to collect many short-term supplies they didn’t already have from the wagons.
He looked up at the sky as wagons were wheeled in.
“Angel, you haven’t really been saying anything outside. What’s up with that?”
[My place is to wait until called to answer, My King. I may not be able to answer anything regarding the outside world; my position here gives me privileges I can extend to you.]
“Sounds great! Please, try to be nicer to Queen Clara.”
[I am as nice as I can be, My King. To try any harder, and I would be a totally new person!]
“We’ll need to talk about that at some point. Please support the Farmstead.”
[Your sweet words are music to my ears, my timeless master.]
Daniel shook his head. Somehow that had to be spoken in a way that would infuriate his watching wife. What did Clara do to deserve this reaction? He knew the obvious implication. Without damning evidence, he wouldn’t entertain it.
He took one horse to travel with as he left.
Daniel lay down to rest one more night before starting his journey. No one was guarding him, but he didn’t feel particularly in danger. If he died, Clara would revive him, so long as he kept the deck in the small of his back, behind his belt; even if he was surprised, he had an out.
Clara was a vision. She spent the night showing him all the papers she was reading through and mapping out. There was a whole syndicate tied to this multi-race slave trade, and she was going to be the one to crack it. He liked seeing her fired up.
They danced a little more, talked, and shared some tender moments before morning.
When he woke up, he hopped on the horse and followed the road.
Well, he tried to, only to be stopped a little after midday by a man named Captain Keith.
Keith found him at the fork with six men behind him on tired horses. They’d already talked to Alys and Julia’s group. They’d said their party took a job; the job was a lie, and a slaver ring jumped them on the road. Ralph was marked as the traitor.
Every word of it was true, and a great deal of other true material lay on the floor.
“Where's the caravan?”
“Uh. It was three miles down the road. Ten wagons. It’s gone now.”
The men looked at one another, then at the fork watchman, standing nearby.
“No, Captain Keith, nothing but that one wagon with the women passed out of the Mansion Core’s road. Omens have turned most travelers away… Flocks of dead ravens. We’ve sent word to the knights. We think a break might be coming soon.”
The captain cursed under his breath.
“Ten wagons don’t just disappear.”
Daniel just smiled and pointed at the road.
“You can check.”
He looked up at the treeline, where hundreds of ravens sat, silently staring, and shivered.
“We reported what your Cleric told us. It will be logged with your party ID.”
Eh. Party ID? I’m not on their party ID. That could be a problem.
“The reward will be—”
“Captain, a shadow south, on the skyline!”
Everyone turned that way to spot a giant bird of some kind tilting their way.
It was diving.
Daniel tensed, but Captain Keith only groaned, rubbing between his eyes.
“The Department of Shadows already dispatched an agent? Great.”
The men were nervous as the giant stork came down in the fork with its wings out far enough to lift the dust off the whole crossing. Sixteen feet tall and a wingspan of thirty-eight feet, it was a beautiful creature. Its silver back glistened in the midday sun, its long neck stretched at an angle as it glared at them as if they were prey. A saddle for two sat on its back.
The man who swung off it wore gray with no insignia or rank marker. He held no weapon Daniel could find at a glance. He held up a small black disc with a seal pressed into it for Keith and put it away.
“Warrant Shade Bellamy. I already took the record of Ms. Alys, Ms. Julia, and the trafficked women. Give me the situation on your end.”
I’m guessing the first two words are his rank and title.
Interesting. Why does this situation call for this much attention?
“I can fill you in there, Warrant Shade.” Daniel jumped in, snagging all eyes. “I just gave a short summary to the captain. I’m Daniel.”
Bellamy gave him once over.
“You match the description of the group’s hired support Summoner. I’ve been looking forward to meeting another one…”
He lifted his hand, and the giant stork shimmered, converting to light and condensing into a wooden card, far cruder than the silver-laced pieces of art his wife crafted.
“I can’t wait to learn more about you.”
He was somewhat impressed at the show, though he could hear his own pets barking that a giant bird isn't that impressive. But his internal amusement didn’t hold long as he recognized the trap closing in around his throat.
He isn’t just interested in the slavers, is he?
Feather nibblers.