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  Vladimir was still standing there when Renful came to him. “Is everything prepared?” Vladimir asked his servant.

  “Yes, everything is ready as you requested,” Renful said with a bow of his head. “Karen is making dinner, Master. I do not think it will be much longer.”

  “Very well,” Vladimir said, abruptly walking to his tent.

  Almost everyone was gathered at the fire by the time Karen pulled the last of the food off the flames, drawn by the scent of roasting meat. “Tonight, we’re having steak and potatoes, thanks to the provisions provided by Vladimir.” She took the dishes offered by Fluff and plated each meal, handing them out as she finished. Alburet grinned at Karen as she handed him his. “Thank you.”

  “Wait until you try it,” Karen replied as she finally got her plate and moved over to sit beside him.

  They ate greedily, clearly enjoying Karen’s cooking much more than the tasteless rations from that morning. Cutting into the steak, Alburet found it a bit overcooked for his normal tastes, but it made sense that it wasn’t as rare as he normally preferred since Karen had been cooking for everyone. Popping the first bite into his mouth, he smiled. She had managed to maintain a lot of the flavor and moisture even without keeping the meat red.

  “Very good. Thank you, wife of mine,” Alburet told her as he picked up the next bite.

  “Glad you like it. Dessert will be even better,” Karen said softly, brushing her leg against his. Smile widening, Alburet eyed her with heat.

  Stacia giggled slightly as she watched their byplay, her hand snaking over to Fluff. “I’ll just be makin’ sure this wife does nay be neglected.”

  Rolland shook his head. “You four never seem to grow tired of the displays of affection.”

  “We nay will, either,” Stacia said simply. “Iffin we make one of ya uncomfortable, we will try to keep thin’s more subdued.” Everyone shook their heads, which made Stacia smile wider. “We be thankin’ ya for acceptin’ us as we are, then.”

  “We used to be like that,” Kim murmured to Rolland, who gave her leg a squeeze.

  “We’ve been getting back there.” No one else but Fluff heard Rolland’s soft reply.

  Fluff’s smile grew a little, but she didn’t say anything. Once she’d finished her meal, she washed her plate and cutlery, and resumed her seat next to Alburet. “I wonder if you would all be amenable to me getting a drawing of all of us at the fire?”

  Vladimir paused before nodding slowly. “It will be a momentous event, whether for good or ill, when we get to Peace. I would like to think there will be some commemoration of our attempt.”

  Quickly pulling out her sketchbook, Fluff began to rough out the image. As she got the position of each person, she would shift to make sure she had the right angle for everyone. Sitting back down as the others began to finish their meal, Fluff focused on her drawing.

  “I will see you all in the morning,” Vladimir said solemnly. “I hope that we get to Peace tomorrow, but if we do not, it shall surely be the next day.”

  “I’ll have the drawing done in the morning,” Fluff piped up. “I can have copies of it done by tomorrow night.”

  Vladimir paused, a look of surprise on his face, “You are a talented artist to be able to manage that, Fluffball. I shall look forward to your art in the morning.”

  “Call me Fluff, please,” Fluff said as she kept her eyes on the pad she was drawing on.

  “If that is what you want,” Vladimir said. His eyes squinted slightly and he nodded his head.

  “We should all get as much sleep as we can,” Ioaniss said after Renful had scurried after Vladimir. “It looks like we’ll be keeping the same pace until we reach the city.”

  “That is a good point,” Rolland yawned as he got to his feet, helping Kim up after him. “We should bed down for the evening.”

  Kim’s cheeks tinged with pink as she caught his meaning. “Yes. We need our rest, after all.”

  Stacia grinned at them as the couple moved toward their tent. When she took her eyes off them, she looked around to see that only she and her family were left. “Mayhap we should follow their lead?”

  “Yes,” Karen said, stretching and getting to her feet. “Come on Al, time for dessert.”

  Alburet chuckled as he got to his feet and offered his arm to Karen. “May I escort you to our abode?”

  “Oh, you’ll do more than that,” Karen said, grinning and taking his arm.

  Stacia looked over at Fluff, who was still working on her art. Moving to sit next to the Lunari, she kept her silent company as Fluff worked. After about an hour, Fluff looked up with a broad smile, and found the camp empty except for Stacia.

  “Umm…”

  “It be time for us to join the others,” Stacia said with a smile.

  “Sorry,” Fluff began before Stacia silenced her with a soft kiss.

  “No need to be sorry. Ya was followin’ ya muse,” Stacia said, taking Fluff’s hand and leading her to their tent. “Let’s go show the others what ya drew.”

  When they entered the tent, Karen and Alburet were spooning, covered in sweat and smiling. “I was wondering if you two were going to come along,” Alburet said.

  “She was workin’ on her craft,” Stacia said simply. “Ya should show them.”

  Fluff went to her two naked lovers and showed them the drawing. “What do you think?”

  “Your work is always so amazing, Fluff,” Alburet said, taking in each detail of the artwork. “You even have the right gleam on the various bits of metal.”

  “Beautiful,” Karen said as she also studied the drawing, focusing on the faces. “You can see each of them so clearly.”

  “Aye, she be gifted,” Stacia said from behind Fluff, having stripped already. “Now ya should be putting’ tha’ away, Fluff, so we can all cuddle.”

  “Oh, right,” Fluff put her sketchbook away and stripped down. Climbing into the bedroll with the others, she didn’t expect Alburet and Karen to move to either side of her. “I thought we were going to cuddle?” Fluff said, puzzled.

  “We will,” Alburet said as his hands began to gently glide over her side.

  “But first, we wanted to share our dessert with you,” Karen grinned, leaning forward to kiss Fluff.

  “Aye, we all be wantin’ tha’,” Stacia added. She reached over Karen and joined Alburet in gently caressing Fluff.

  When the kiss broke, Fluff felt a burning need deep inside of her. Feeling inflamed with passion, she tried to return all of their love and attention. They let her do as much as she wanted, showering her with their own love in return.

  Hours later, the four of them were dozing off, sated, content, and sleepy. “Do you think we’ll find the city tomorrow?” Karen asked with a big yawn.

  “Nay,” Stacia replied, nuzzling the back of Karen’s neck. “We would have seen more Infernals iffin tha’ were the case.”

  “That’s a good point,” Alburet murmured. His arm tightened slightly around Fluff’s waist, making her purr contentedly. “But we need our sleep first.”

  As each of them finally succumbed to sleep, a small spike of happiness at being with the others filled them, which helped all of them have pleasant dreams.

  Chapter Three

  Alburet woke to the sound of contented purring in his ear. Fluff was curled up against his side, with Karen holding her and Stacia holding Karen. Gently disengaging himself, Alburet quietly got dressed and left the tent.

  Rolland looked over as Alburet emerged from the tent. “Morning, Alburet. It’s my turn for breakfast today; yours is tomorrow.”

  “I’ve been told, but I woke up, so…” shrugging, Alburet took a seat near the fire. “What are you making today?”

  “Eggs, with sausage and cheese,” Rolland said as he moved the sausage pieces around the pan. “I’ll be adding the eggs in a moment,” he nodded to a bowl next to him that held whipped eggs.

  “Any opinion on our chances of completing Dracon’s quest, much less Carter’s?”
Alburet asked.

  “If the Dragon Eater is awake…” Rolland shook his head. “I recall some of the myths about him. It’s said he defeated an Elder Dragon by himself, which is where the nickname comes from. He’s used as a boogieman most of the time. ‘If you don’t behave, the Dragon Eater will come and take you to Stein.’” Shaking his head, Rolland sighed, “As for the Urn of Souls… I don’t know. I’m glad we have some Shamans with us, because we’ll probably need them for dealing with the Urn. I just don’t know if we can handle Ophelia, if she finds us.”

  “Good point. We didn’t exactly handle her the first time we met,” Alburet said, a pulse of raw hatred coursing through him. “I still owe her,” the words came out as a growl.

  Rolland blinked, looking up from his task to Alburet. “She isn’t what we’re going there for.”

  Clamping down on his anger, Alburet managed to push it aside. “Lucky for her.” Taking a few deep breaths, Alburet watched as Rolland added eggs to the pan. “We’ll find out when we get there, but it’s good to know you’re on the same page I am. We’ll need to do our best to keep them safe.”

  Rolland nodded. “I’ll change the world if it means making sure Kim gets out safely.”

  “I know how that feels,” Alburet said, giving the Elementalist a grim smile.

  “He’s by the fire,” Karen’s voice came from the partially open tent flap as she stuck her head out and looked around. “Morning Rolland. We’ll be out shortly.”

  “Breakfast will be soon,” Rolland replied.

  “Good, I’m hungry,” Kim said, exiting her tent and putting it away. “Eggs, sausage, and cheese… making my favorite, are you?”

  “A happy wife means a happy life,” Rolland replied with a cheesy smile.

  “My father said that before mother died,” Ioaniss said as he left his tent, followed by Sala. “Nice to know it wasn’t just one of his sayings.”

  Alburet watched as the rest of the group spilled out of their tents, all gathering around the fire as Rolland added cheese to the pan. He gave each of his wives a kiss as they took seats near him. “Morning to you all.”

  “We wondered where ya had gotten off ta,” Stacia said after collecting her kiss. “Erin sent me a message sayin’ she will be wantin’ dinner when we get back. Iffin we do tha’, she will forgive us.”

  “We’ll make it happen, then,” Alburet told her with an apologetic smile.

  Rolland began handing around plates, each loaded with a slice of buttered bread and the scrambled eggs. “I hope you all enjoy.”

  Once they’d all eaten and everything had been packed away, Ioaniss got ready to pull the Campstone, but hesitated as the sound of marching drifted over the sand. Two groups of Infernals came into view, making Jones chuckle. As he reached out again to pull the stone, three sets of Forgotten Undead rose out of the sands and attacked the Infernals.

  “Pull the stone,” Alburet said. “No area spells, single target focus the Undead down, and start with the Bastards.”

  Vladimir frowned. “We can just leave while they’re busy; fighting will cost us time.”

  “We would still be struggling across the sands if not for their help clearing the mobs for us,” Alburet replied coldly.

  Ioaniss pulled the Campstone. “He has a point, Vladimir.”

  “Fine,” the Vampire snapped, drawing two blades and vanishing from view.

  The fight was over in short order with the additional damage from the group. When the last Undead fell, the Greater Destroyer who had survived the onslaught of the Shadow Clones nodded. “Our thanks for helping. We were sent to help make today easier for your journey. There are groups of us camped along your path, plus some roving parties to help clear out even more Undead.”

  “Our thanks,” Alburet said as the Undead corpses were looted. “Sorry we weren’t able to help your friend.”

  “It is the risk of trying to increase our strength. He’s either back at home, or not,” the Destroyer shrugged. “Such is our life. We could take the easier road and become minions, but we wished to challenge ourselves here.”

  Tiny bristled slightly at the comment, but held his tongue. However, Bob didn’t have the same restraint. “Easier road? Really? You mean you can’t stand the idea of serving another failure. Binding ourselves to Summoners is always the hardest duty of our kind,” Bob’s tirade was loud and full of venom. “Stop trying to act like this is the harder task! You disgust me.”

  Eyes widening at Bob’s speech, the Destroyer’s hand tightened on his axe. “It’s easy to say such things when you serve one like him, Imp…”

  “Stop!” Tiny rumbled loudly enough for it to echo across the sands. “You are both wrong. We have places to be, and your task set by Mother is to aid our travel, not start conflicts.”

  Everyone blinked in surprise at Tiny acting the peacemaker, but both Bob and the other Destroyer looked abashed. “Sorry,” the two said in unison, before stepping away from each other.

  With a snort, Tiny turned back to Alburet. “We are ready to go, master.”

  “Very well,” Alburet looked at Vladimir.

  “Finally. Let us move, we might make the city today,” Vladimir said as he started leading them.

  “You won’t reach it before tomorrow,” one of the Succubi behind them stated.

  “We’ll see,” Vladimir replied without a glance back.

  The sun crested the horizon completely as the party got to the top of a large dune. Stretching out before them in a straight line, they could see groups of Infernals standing guard, with a few patrols walking up and down the line.

  “Darkness, he really is invested in helping us,” Ioaniss murmured as they started down the far side of the dune. “Alburet, have you gotten word as to why the Dark Lord is so interested?”

  “No, but since Mother will be joining us at some point, I’m sure we’ll find out,” Alburet replied.

  “The Dark Lord’s wife will be joining us?” Renful asked, surprise etched on his face.

  “That is what I’ve been led to believe,” Alburet said. “We’ll meet Gygax at the very least, but Bob said she had asked to be told when we reached the city, so…”

  “She is very interested,” Bob said as he hopped along with the group, resting his wings. “Her intensity is quite… hard to ignore.”

  Karen snickered, “Hard? Really, Bob?”

  Bob shook his head quickly, his words sounding almost panicked, “No, no, no, not like that!” Hands shaking, Bob looked at Karen. “She is second only to him. I will never be worthy of even having such thoughts about her.”

  Everyone eyed Bob with disbelief, before Stacia nodded. “Aye, ya be right. What Bob meant was tha’ it be like bein’ in the same room as a livin’ tempest. Ma’ once told me of seein’ Mother in a bad mood. The lava pools outside the Dark Lord’s residence erupted for three days straight.”

  Lips pursed, Alburet nodded slowly, “God-like power.”

  “She isn’t a god herself, but she is tied to one,” Ioaniss said. “She would need to be quite powerful to stand beside him. I know that if she had crooked a finger at me when we met, I would probably have been unable to resist.”

  Vladimir snorted, “When have you ever resisted a willing woman?”

  Sala laughed once before smothering it. “He has a point, Ioaniss.”

  Jones shrugged. “My point is, even if she isn’t a known god, she resides with one and has since the dawn of time. Mother is without a doubt the closest a non-god will get to divinity.”

  “A very valid point,” Rolland nodded. “If she comes to aid us, it would greatly increase our chances of success.”

  “Ophelia might run again,” Alburet murmured, his hands clenching in anger at the thought of the raid boss.

  “Undoubtedly,” Kim nodded. “Ophelia was powerful from what I’ve heard, but I doubt she’s on the same level as the Dark Lord’s wife.”

  “I hope we don’t have to find out,” Fluff added. “The fallout from their meeting wo
uld be very powerful. I don’t think we would survive it.”

  Everyone fell into thoughtful silence as their feet carried them closer to their destination. Greeting the Infernals they passed with thanks, they were given smiles in return.

  Vladimir kept them moving even as the sun began to drop for the evening. Alburet finally called out as the last edge of the sun began to fade, “Sir Dracon, we should stop for the night. It does us no good to get to the city and collapse from exhaustion.”

  The sun set and plunged the world briefly into darkness before Nightlight came over the far horizon, the moon giving them enough light to see by. “I agree, but part of me fears we might already be too late,” Vladimir said in a tired voice, stopping. “We’ll camp here, but we need to head out early.”