Lost in a foreign world, chapter 3: Unlikely alliance

Before Luxor could take any step forward, Akmella got in his way, her arms opened to block his way “no, you’re not murdering those men” she said with a stern look on her face, “what you did to that girtablilu was completely unnecessary, she wasn’t going to kill O’erick, believe me”.

Luxor took a step forward saying “what’s wrong with you? You’re the one who said that they would kill you, and that thing was holding a knife against O’erick’s throat”.

“She wasn’t!!” she said exasperatedly.

“Then what about those guards huh? will they try to kill you should they see you?!!” He demanded angrily at her.

“YES, THEY WOULD!!! But that’s because they’re simply afraid of what they don’t understand, and besides, they are just following orders just…like you” she said looking at him at the eyes through his helmet. He stepped back at the comparison before sighing.

“Well, I must admit it, your conviction surprises me, I’ll play your game, for now at least” he said turning backwards.

“Thanks, you won’t regret it” she said lowering her arms and smiling.

“Whatever” he started “hey!! O’erick, Gunnar come over here, there’s been a change of plans…”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this sir”. Gunnar said.

“Anyway, Akmella, I need you to lend your robes to private Gunnar…”

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“Man, I hate being on the night watch, nothing happens, I mean nothing really hap…”

“Kid, if you say another word, ANOTHER single word, am gonna kick you in the ass so hard, that you won’t be able to talk for at least a whole month, now shut up and stay alert” said an older man in a simple uniform, most of his face covered by the helmet he was wearing, leaving exposed only his face. He scratched his short beard before something called his attention.

“Sir!! Someone is coming straight to you, fast and alone appareantly” said the tower guard pointing to the figure running towards them.

As the man came into proper sight, it was obvious that he was in some serious problems “Stop right there!!!” Said the older man looking at Gunnar’s ragged robes.

“What on earth happened to you kid?” The eldest guard immediately started circling him “are you hurt?” Pointing to the way he came from, Gunnar said, panting “a-a monster sir, it’s got my partner!! Please help him!!” Pointing at three of the four men, the elder said “you three are coming with me, and you” he said to Gunnar “take us to the monster, quickly, before it’s late”. And with that, they departed to where Gunnar said.

“I hope that man is fine” started the left tower’s guard “I can’t imagine what kind of things that poor man must be enduring…” he pointed that last with a frown.  “Hey kid” he said to the young, remaining guard, “stay within earshot and our sight”.

“Piss off Jeff, am not a kid” he said not bothering in turning to face him “but I think something is off, why would two men be walking in the desert without any transport, no horses, nothing…”

“Now you’re being paranoid kid, stop that an…*thud*  wait, what was that noise?” Said the same guard looking around his tower but finding nothing. “Am sure I h…LOOK OUT!!” He shouted to the other tower’s guard as something quickly descended on his tower, but when he turned to see what crashed on top of his tower, Akmella tackled and pinned him down. The other guard quickly tried to ring the bell but O’erick hit him  in the back leaving him unconscious.

“Oh my god…we are under attack, w-what…” the young guard saw the scene atop of him and ran away to alert the other guards that were with Gunnar. “GUYS!! GUYS!! HELP!!” But big was his surprise when he found all of his fellow comrades laying motionless on the ground, and there, in the middle, was a giant dark-blue figure with blue eyes stared at his very soul “no…no…p-please” he babbled before turning the same way he came,but as soon as he did so, Gunnar, who had sneaked quietly behind him, punched him with the back of his rifle, knocking him out cold.

“That worked…” Gunnar said, looking at the guards “what do we do now sir?” Luxor looked at them for a couple of seconds before replying “Leave them, the screams of that one might’ve alerted a patrol…”

“Wait, so we’re just going to pass through the main doors like that?” Gunnar asked looking back at  the entrance before noticing O’erick doing a ‘clear’ sign atop of the tower.

“Effective as usual O’erick, now move Gunnar…”

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The gate slowly opened to reveal Akmella’s figre “hurry, get in” she said moving away as Luxor and Gunnar entered the village “did you…” she started “no, I didn’t, they’ll live” Luxor stated simply “by the way…nice job Akmella…you, did it fine” he said looking at her for just a second before asking “where to now?”

She then put a serious face “well, it should be easier from in here, but beware for any guard passing by, my friend told me that since the new governor took over, he established a curfew to…’keep the population safe’, so there shouldn’t be many people outside” she started “anyway, listen, our best options is to stay in the alleyways and hide if necessary, so?”

“And what if we run into someone?” O’erick asked looking at the empty streets of the village “we don’t know if we might be able to eff…”

“The first thing we must do, it’s to get as away as possible of this gate before someone notices our presence, now Akmella, you seem to rely too much on your friend, what was his name again?” Luxor asked her with a serious expression.

“Her name, actually, is Maggie, she was a good friend of my parents, therefore, she became my friend too, logic, isn’t it?” she said.

“Mmm-hmm, then you can lead the way Akmella, I’ll be right behind you, O’erick, you’re next, Gunnar, cover our six, now take positions”.

And with that, they moved through the inner border of the village’s walls and alleyways as stealthy as possible, but Luxor’s armor made small clank sounds with each step.

The village itself wasn’t very attractive, all and all considered, although it was well kept, the buildings were very simple, consisting of mainly some sort of desert stone, the windows were made of crafted wood like the doors, and the roofs were made of thin logs kept together by ropes and covered in palm leaves to prevent the rain from leaking in. Most of the buildings were like that, except for certain that were larger and had at the front some signs, establishments probably others were two-story buildings.

But one building in particular called the group’s attention, it was the only three-story building in the whole village, made of polished stone, its windows were made of actual glass, some of them even had adornings. “Why is that building so different?” Luxor aked.

“That’s the town hall, it’s where the mayor lives” Akmella said with a worried expression. “Maggie told me that he’s a very strict man when it comes to ruling, it is said that the king himself sent him as replacement…”

Luxor stood silent for a moment contemplating the town hall “…He’s the one who found my squad?” he asked, walking towards the the mayor’s house, but before he could do anything, Akmella forcefully pulled him back againinto the alley, “WHAT??!!” he hissed, his voice low as a whisper trhough his helmet, despite his clear anger.

“Look there” she said pointing to a light in the distance quickly aproaching  them, “hide, quickly!!” At that O’erick and Gunnar retreated to the back of one house, Akmella hid behind a wooden barrel and Luxor hid behind a cart full of hay.

Seven men with light plate armor, torches swords and  spears passed next to them hurriedly. 

“They found out” O’erick said looking at the leaving group “we better hurry before they start looking around here”.

“Maggie’s house is not that far, this way, hurry!!!” After a few turns here and there, they finally reached a two-story building with windows with dark glasses, hanging from a metal pole was the the sign of many bookshelves and below, the words Library could be seen written in dark-red letters. “A library?” Gunnar asked confused, “I’ve got a bad feeling about sir…” Luxor tried to peer through the window, but the dark glass prevented him from doing so.

“This place looks closed, you sure tha…” Luxor started, however he was cut off as Akmella took a key that apparently hidden somewhere in the wall “Oh, errr-good” he finished. Using the key and turning the door knob, Akmella slowly opened the door for everyone to be greeted by the dim light of a few candles atop a simple wooden table.

Suddenly Luxor grabbed Gunnar forcefully by the arm and threw him forcefully to one side, and half second later three long needles embedded themselves in the wall where he was standing a moment ago. Luxor quickly turned to see where the needles came from. A young man appeared from the shadows, sword in hand, charging towards him. His movements were so fast that O’erick didn’t have time to aim his rifle.

“AKMELLA RUN!!” shouted the man at her a second before both his and Luxor’s swords clashed against one another.

“Davis!!??” Akmella said, clearly confused, “STOP!! They’re with me!!” she said, separating them and putting herself between the two of them. “What’s wrong with you?” she said turning to this new man, who took a step back at her reaction.

“Me!?, What’s wrong with you, those men almost kill my group” he replied making eye contact with Luxor “If it wasn’t for Sheeva’s help we would all be probably dead by now”.

“We didn’t kill anyone” Luxor said taking a step forward “what are you talking about?” he demanded.

“Ohohoho, no you didn’t, your friends did it!!” Davis said.

“T-there are more of you?” Akmella asked turning to the group. Ignoring her for a moment, Luxor asked with a worried expression “More? How many? How did they look like…?”

“Hey hey hey, easy there you…whatever you are, I don’t have to tell you anything!!!” He replied, crossing his arms. At this point Luxor started growling at him with his fists clenched, “ooooh wow, am so scared. I’ve fought things bigger than you, so go on weirdo!!!” Davis said, taking stance to fight.

“What is all this bicke…oh for Maou, what are THEY doing here??!!” said the voice of a woman that came from an inside door. Everyone turned to see at this new woman.  She came hurriedly apparently, as her dark-brown hair was all messy and her glasses were hanging loose from her neck. “Akmella, what how did you got here, and why are they, of all people here?” she said with a stern expression.

“I-I don’t get it Maggie, what are you talking about? If Davis is here, that means Jess is here, he said that Sheeva’s here, w-what happened to her’ Is she ok?” Akmella asked, her concern clear in her face, “and what happened to you? You look terrible…”

Dusting her simple black dress off, Maggie said, still not convinced “first thing first Akmella” she said pointing to the group “why are they here? Where did you found them?” At this point, everyone was quite tensed up, when then Akmella spoke “I found them in the middle of the desert, they were injured, so I brought them to my cave and treat them, what’s the matter with it?” she said confused.

“The matter is, that two of those iron brutes and a bunch of men almost decimated all of my group, AND almost kill Jess and me, if it wasn’t for Sheeva’s help, we would all probably be dead by now…!!” Davis replied exasperatedly at Akmella.

Luxor then relaxed and even lowered his sword “wait, how many, and how did they look like?” Luxor asked all of a sudden.

“Worried about your friends huh? you giant piece of…” Davis started but was cut off by Akmella again.

“Please Davis, don’t make this more difficult, just tell us…” she said.

Puffing his cheeks, he said “fine, ughh…!! Like I said before, they were a bunch of them, those like your two partners there” he said referring to O’erick and Gunnar who had been silent till now, “they were all armed with, uhh, how did Jess call them…? Mmmm…oh right, automatic weapons, I don’t know, one moment we were on the camp chillin’, and then the next thing I know we’re under a fire rain…damn it…” he finished by also relaxing himself and sheathing his sword.

“And what about the other two that you say were like me?” Luxor asked, eyes still locked at Davis “I need the details…it’s important”.

Taking a moment to actually check Luxor’s features, Davis answered “well, they were both certainly smaller than you, one of them was bald, with a short brown beard, a tattoo in the left side of his head, his armor was umm…grey I think, didn’t really had the time to check on details, and the other one was the real problem, he was jumping around everywhere swinging a giant hammer, he was the one who caused the most trouble, although I couldn’t see his face due to his helmet…am sure he was enjoying the fight, am sure of it” he said that grimacing and looking down.

“Am sure Russ hates me” Luxor said turning away.

“What’s the matter Luxor? Is that one  close to you?” Akmella asked, putting a hand/paw on his shoulder “sounds like he has some certain importance”.

He took off his helmet and threw it to the ground, “His name, is Fyodor, he is one of the other aspirants who survived, Harald and I were the other two” he said.

“I don’t get it, yo know him, so?” Akmella asked, not getting the point.

“He hates me, he’s gone as far as to even claim that I am a heretic, GAAAAH, WHY?! WHY HERE??!!” He shouted to no one

“If he’s here that means that Harald probably is here too” O’erick said.

“Yes, but he’s not the one that I am worried about…if Fyodor sees me like these, am sure he won’t hesitate to kill every single one of us, specially now that he has the perfect excuse to do so…” Luxor said turning to face everyone, clearly worried about those facts.

“Wow buddy, sounds like he really hates you, but why all that hatred against you?” Davis asked with a little concern in his voice.

Luxor went on to explain everything as best as he could, going as far as to tell them about his ‘gifts’, what he and O’erick endured, who were Fyodor and Harald, and even told them what the three of them went through when they were in the wild planet and how they got here. Having finished his story, Luxor went silent, letting his words sink in.

“Very well then”, Maggie said with a serious yet calmed tone “I need a moment to discuss this with the others, you three stay here, Davis, Akmella, come with me…” Davis adjusted his leather suit and turned, Akmella in toe.

Once they left the room, Gunnar finally spoke, “With all respect sir, but are you sure that it was a good idea telling them all that? What if they plan something?”

“I…am not sure about anything…not anymore at least” Luxor started before he unhooked a book closed with chains from his belt, raising it to eye level, he stood in silent contemplating it “…not anymore…”

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Approaching to a separate book shelf, Maggie pulled a certain book, causing the whole shelf to tremble. A few seconds later the wall and the shelf slowly opened to reveal a set of stairs leading down “Come on, Jess and Sheeva must know about this, *sighs* and am sure neither of them will be pleased to know what happened” Maggie said, leading the way downstairs. At the end of the stairs was a dark hallway, she then snapped her fingers and set of torches started to burn alight, revealing two doors at each side of the hallway and a portrait of a landscape at the end of it.

They walked to the second right door, and as Maggie opened the door she was greeted by two feminine voices, the first was a mild high pitched voice and the other was rougher, but it sounded weak.

The first woman was wearing a black leather jacket, a pair of googles atop her green hair, cat-like ears flat atop her head, clearly a gremlin, the other one was draped in bed sheets, her white hair covering most of her face except for the pair of small horns coming out of her head” A-Akmella, how-how did you get here?” Jess asked perplexed.

“hi Jess, well, uhmm…it’s a long story” she said before looking at the red oni “oh Maou, what happened to Sheeva??!!” 

“We also have a long story…”Jess replied sourly at her

“Maybe you should let me explain everything Akmella, it would be best…” Maggie said stepping forward.

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After Maggie finished, the expression of both awe and anger of Jess was exceptional “THEY ARE HERE??!!” she screamed, “what is wrong with you??!!”

“Hold on Jess!! I found them in the desert, they were in trouble, DYING!! What was I supposed to do??!!” Akmella shot back, pissed by her comment.

“Enough you two!!” Maggie started, “If Akmella says we can trust them, lets at least give her the benefit of the doubt, ok?”

“I can’t believe this” Jess said “come on Maggie, look what they did to Sheeva!!”

“I don’t like the idea Maggie, you weren’t there when they attacked us” Davis interjected and we don’t have the resources here to heal her quickly, we ran out of healing potions the last week, remember?”

“One more thing!!” Akmella said leaning in and whispering something into Maggie’s ear. “I really want to, am tired of waiting for the ‘right’ one” she said with a lecherous grin.

“Oh dear, I thought your tastes were weird, but now it’s confirmed” Maggie said perplexed, “It’ll be hard to crack that shell…”

“Come on!! You were the one who said that everyone falls…” Akmella said with shit eating grin.

“Now you’re playing dirty young girl…” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. “But still, If they’re going to stay here for now I don’t like the idea of Sheeva being so weak, and I…no, wait, that could actually work…” she finished this by turning to her.

“what?” Akmella asked confused.

“Dearie, I’ve got an idea…” Maggie said with a devilish smile.

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“So? Are  you saying that all of them give off that same aura?” O’erick asked.

“Everyone, except for the man, he appears to be ‘warped’ by this…I don’t know, energy, maybe, no, forget it…” Luxor said.

Foot steps could be hear from the door Akmella left, and soon, a green-haired short woman entered the room, looking at them with a pensive expression before the rest entered the room.

“Well, we decided, that if you’re going to stay here for now, there are a few rules you’ll all have to follow…and for what Akmella told me, you need to find the rest of your group right?” Maggie said crossing her arms.

Luxor muttered something to himself and turned to his group “What do you think of this brother?”

“I don’t like this, but we don’t know anything about this place, they could be our only chance to find the others, by the way, you should ask her about them…”O’erick said.

“Turning to Maggie, Luxor asked “have you any idea of where the others might be?” but instead of Maggie, it was Davis who spoke “I heard that search party came back with a bunch of men, they looked like your pals there, if that’s true, the most likely thing is that the governor inspected them and sent them to the capital…”

“Why would he do that?” Gunnar started “that doesn’t make any sense…”

“He doesn’t take unnecessary risks” Jess said “the king was worried that the border towns of his kingdom could fall to the monsters, considering that this kingdom is one of two that makes frontier with the Demon realm of Wessex, I wouldn’t be surprised he wanted to protect as many towns as possible, that’s why he sent the governor here as a replacement…”

“Demon realm…what is that supposed to mean?” Luxor asked, tensing a little at the mention of such thing.

“Luxor please wait, let us explain everything, you’ll understand…” Akmella pleaded, and when Luxor saw her eyes he felt that same pity he felt for her  back in the cave.

“…Fine, I’ll listen what you have to say…” he said. Relaxing and turning to Maggie he continued, “state your rules…”

“First, you must surrender your weapons” Maggie started but O’erick intervened “You can’t expect us to simply d…”

“We’ll do it” Luxor simply said nonchalantly, unbuckling both his sword and the holster of his pistol. At this Gunnar said nothing and simply complied, handing his rifle to Davis.

“Come on O’erick, just do it” Luxor said, looking down, O’erick cursed and reluctantly handed his rifle to Maggie. “Good, that wasn’t very hard, was it?” she asked, “Akmella please put this in a safe place,” she started” it’s too dark outside already, I’ll prepare something to eat, I bet you guys mus be hungry…”

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After an hour or so of waiting, Maggie returned to the waiting room and told everyone to follow her. Entering another room was a large table with dishes for everyone along with salad, bread, an roasted beef. “Sorry if it isn’t fancy enough, wasn’t expecting so many guests tonight…”

Once everyone seated, Davis was the first to break the silence “so, yo three come from another planet?” he asked incredulously.

“O’erick and I are from Fenris, a completely frozen world and Gunnar, uhm well he…” Luxor hesitated for a moment, not sure to continue.

“It’s ok sir” Gunnar started, a sad expression crossing his face as he looked down “my…ah, home world Cadia was…destroyed, but hey lets not talk about it, is in the past, ok?” 

“Well!! Let’s start before this gets cold” Jess interjected to change the topic “By the way, uhh, Luxor right? Are you going to eat while wearing that armor?” she said.

Luxor simply shrugged “yes, I don’t mind, and…even if I wanted to I can’t take it off…” he said, looking at himself “why? is it bothering you?”

“No!! I just was curious…geez” she said looking away. Akmella leaned in and whispered something into her ear, at what she answered “one day, less if I start tomorrow early…” Jess replied her.

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When everyone started eating, even Gunnar had to back away as O’erick and Luxor ate without any regard for manners. Maggie’s eye twitched at the display, but decided to say nothing.

After everyone finished, Davis and Jess quickly retired to their room. Maggie chuckled and motioned for the three men to follow her upstairs. The second floor was nothing spectacular, adorned with various portraits. There were plenty of rooms. “That one over there is my room, you can pick any of the others, am tired, I’m going to sleep, good night” and with that she locked herself in her room.

“Sleeping on a comfortable bed sounds like a good idea, talk later…” Gunnar said leaving.

“What he said, and, try to get some rest brother” O’erick said as he left, leaving Luxor and Akmella alone in the dimly lighted hallway.

“Oh, well, there’s only one room left, and we are two” Akmella said, poorly faking her situation and convinced that things were going according to her pl…

“You should take it, I really don’t need to sleep” he said. Akmella slowly turned to face him, perplexed for his attitude, finding a calm and relaxed expression on his face.

“What?” he asked.

“Luxor, you haven’t slept in at least two days” she started “it’s not good for your health”

“T-trust me Akmella, am fine, I, uhm can handle this”. He wasn’t even looking at her by now, instead he was trying to step away.

“You know? You’re a terrible liar” she said pulling him by the wrist…

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Although the bed was big enough for the two of them, when Luxor tried to sit in the bed, it made a little cracking sound, not being able to support the weight of his armor. “I told you…” he said in an uncommonly low voice. “I’ll just, stay in that corner over there…” he walked to the corner and sat on the floor expressionless.

“I’m serious, I’ll be fine, you just rest, you look tired” he tried to persuade her, but it was in vain. ‘What is this man thinking’ she thought, but he was right, she was starting to feel sleepy, so she decided to go easy on him for tonight.

“Fine, but at least try to get some rest…please” she almost pleaded, and with that said, she tucked herself under the blankets, leaving the room in complete silence.

‘Try to get some rest…sure’ Luxor thought for a moment. ‘Maybe am too tensed…’ he adjusted his position and reclined himself against the wall “I can try, I can try…” he closed his eyes and relaxed and in a few minutes, he fell asleep.

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Cold. My face is freezing, and wet, but why? I tried to open my eyes only to be greeted by a splash of water. immediately after that I jump to my feet and look around, and…am on a beach, a specially cold one, the breeze was dry and unrelenting, like if it wanted to get to your very soul. As I step out of the water and stand on the shore, I see something coming from the sea, but I can’t distinguish its form due to the dense fog, however, when the figure comes to view , I can see that it is a boat.

Unsure of what to do, and not comprehending my situation I try to grab my pistol, but when I look to it’s holster, I find it empty, in fact my sword was also missing along with my helmet. I decide to take a risk  and call at the boat “You on the boat!!” I call at the approaching boat, but no one answers, so I step back and away from the shore as the boat docked at the shore.

Now that it was only a few meters away from me I could see it properly, its wooden hull somewhat familiar to me, it’s single sail was being tied, but before it did, I caught I glimpse of the symbol it had imprinted, a rounded shield with two crossed spears at the back.

And then I hear a voice “Come on Sigurd hurry up, we don’t have all the day!! I’m freezing out here” said the voice. Sigurd? I’ve heard that name before. “What if instead of standing there yo come here and help me??!!” said another voice. Before I can get any close, it’s two occupants jump off on the shore. They ere both wearing thick fur coats to protect themselves from this weather. Their long beards had adornments that I recognized immediately. It couldn’t be…

“Hey, you two!!” I call to them, but they simply ignored me and continued walking “Hey!! Am talking to you!! HEY!!” I  quickly catch up with them, but when I tried to grab one of them by the shoulder my hand simply went through him like if he wasn’t there at all.I froze in place at the realization: I was dreaming.

I looked at my hands “I nee to wake up”, I say hurriedly, but suddenly I felt the feeling to see, to see what was the meaning of this’dream’, so I decided to follow the two man. Soon at the distance a set of small buildings could be seen through the fog. “T-this place, i-it cannot be” I said, choking the words in my throat.

“Kattegat…” I murmured as I recognized what was the village I grew in. I dash to the village, ignoring everything in my way, not that it had any relevance, there wasn’t anything here that I wasn’t familiar with, I grew here. But still, something felt odd, I mean, yes this was my home, but at the same time something felt odd.

I push away that sensation and keep walking through the streets, ignoring the people passing by. The wooden houses were fairly similar, some other different, and then in the distance, I see it, the orphanage I grew in. As I start walking towards it I found myself in the middle of the market. It is then that I hear a particular voice speak.

“I don’t want to be here!!! I want to stay home!!!” I try to find the source of that childish voice, when I finally see the owner of that voice. Coming from the same direction that I intended to go was a very old woman, her gray hair a complete mess, her face the vestige of better days, and her tattered coat was even worse. But what really got my attention was the little boy of not more than 6 years old walking alongside her, his short black hair and emerald eyes were proof enough for me to recognize him.

At the other side of the woman was an even younger kid, his features pretty simple in comparison, he was perhaps only one year old. Both of the kids clothes were old and ragged though thick enough to protect them from the freezing weather.

The bigger one said again “I hate this place everything is boring and I am freezing!!” he said stomping a feet on the ground. Not bothering to face him, the old woman simply replied “enough of your tantrum Luxor, you’re not a baby anymore…” and kept walking. In response the infant ceased walking and tried to walk away, but the woman pulled grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him.

“I said ENOUGH!! I’ve had enough of your rebellious  attitude kid” she said while pulling the kid even stronger. It was then that I noticed that instead of a stern expression, a little smile was splattered across her face…she was enjoying doing this to him. I greeted my teeth in anger, but before I could do something, the little kid starts to scream desperately as he tries to break free from her grasp.

And then he looked straight to me, not like if he was watching through me, he was staring directly at my eyes with a pleading expression.  I tried to say something, but I couldn’t form any words, my mouth moving soundlessly. Time seemed to slow down as the kid looked down as if disappointed, but quickly he looked up, a firm resolution in his eyes, which immediately started to glow with energy as a bolt of the same energy gathered in his free hand. By now there was a small crowd gathered around them, at this point she was grinning maliciously.

When the kid tried to hit her with the orb of energy she quickly let go of his arm and moved out of the way as he discharged the energy in the direction she was a moment ago. The orb of energy flew quickly until it found a nearby house, the blast of the explosion was so big that even I staggered backwards. When the the smoke dissipated I saw in mute horror as how where there was once a house there was nothing more than flames and ashes.

Cries of horror and alarm could be heard everywhere as the crowd scattered, fearing for their lives, and in the middle of the chaos the little kid stood there silent, expressionless as he saw the aftermath of his actions.

“No…what have I done? What have I DONE!!??” I say as see the chaos all around me, and then the old woman placed a hand on the child’s shoulder, her face sporting the same expression as before, when she said “well done young one, well done…” she said while looking at where the house was a moment ago.

“S-she, s-she knew it, she knew this was going to happen, why? Why you did this to me…?” was all I could say as everything turns dark around me and something pulls me backwards.

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“GAAAAAAAH!!!” Waking up forcefully, Luxor jumped to his feet, sweating despite the coolness of the night’s desert. Akmella, who was sleeping a moment ago jumped off the bed, startled by his sudden reaction.

“Luxor! Luxor! Calm down, calm down, tell me what happened?” She asked while inspecting him. Holding his both hands she said “You look terrible, what happened?” 

“I saw her, t-that old woman, my care taker, s-she knew that I was going to do that” he started, his eyes unfocused staring at nothingness, she could feel his hands trembling “why? Why would she want me to do that?”

She got close to him and with a reassuring tone said “just relax, it was just a dream”. But instead of an answer from him, silence was the only thing she got from him was silence. “Hey come on, say something…” she said.

“You need to see something” he said not looking at her and picking the book from before. On closer inspection Akmella could distinguish every detail, the book was old, very old, it was clear for the yellow stained pages, the rusty chains keeping it close and secured, the original color long since faded, but what really called her attention was the cover of the book. It was a human  skull with horns that pointed to the sides and downwards.

“What is that book?” she asked, concern forming in her face “and why the chains?”

“This book Akmella, it’s for me both a blessing and a curse, this book is why many of my brethren despise me, its content has driven many man insane, but the most important thing is, that this book Akmella, is the main reason why I decided to trust you in first place, any other of my…’comrades'” Luxor said that with such a disgust “would have killed you without any regard” he finished handing the book to her.

Once in her hands/paws she stood there contemplating it. “I-I don’t get it, why did you spare me then?” she said confused.

“You saved my men, that is something that I must recognize, and when you told me that the humans of the order despise you just for what you are…I…I think I just felt identified, I know what is like to hated just for what you are…”

Her ears got flat against her head after hearing that revelation “oh Luxor, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through” she said caressing his cheek with one hand/paw.

“Here” he started, taking something from his neck, when he pulled it she saw that it was some sort of necklace with a long fang attached to it “I got this from a beast I fought during my training, every time I forget why I fight, this reminds me the reason, I hope it you can use it to keep forward, take it, let this be the proof of my loyalty to you and your group, may I?” He asked, lifting the necklace atop her head.

At first she said nothing, awestruck by his sudden change of attitude “wow, I mean s-sure, go on” she said lowering her head. At this Luxor lowered the necklace aver her head, struggling a little with her ears, at which she giggled and after a few more tries, it fell in place. She stood there, holding the fang with with one paw, contemplating it for a moment.

“So, you like it?” Luxor asked.

Immediately after she pounced on him, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. “Hey hey!! Easy there giant feline” Luxor said, but Akmella simply hugged him tightly, nestling her head on his neck, her large breasts pressed against the chest plate of his armor, “I love it…” she whispered, hugging him harder.

Unsure of what to do, Luxor stood there, lying on the floor, until reluctantly returned the hug. “Good to know…” he said.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Akmella, I heard doors opening a while ago, the others must be awake, get up…” Luxor said to Akmella but the only thing he got as answer was a groan from her. “Akmella..”

“Just…a little…longer…” she finally responded. After a few minutes later he repeated “Akmella…” louder.

“Ok ok, I’ll get up” she said, sitting atop him “You know? I could get used to do that” she said smiling seductively at him, but he didn’t seem to catch the message.

“Come on, they’re waiting for us…get off me” he said.

“Fine…” she said, muttering something as she stood up and left the room. He got back up and walked to the door, but stopped as he saw his book lying on the room’s desk. “Soon, but not now…” he said to himself before leaving the room.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“So you’re finally here, had fun last night?” Davis joked, mocking Luxor “I would say no considering your face”.

“Come on Davis, stop acting like that” Maggie started “hey Luxor, your breakfast’s there, hurry up, there are some things that must be done, and Jess said she needs you”.

“Huh? Me? Why?” he asked, at which Maggie simply shrugged and said “Not sure, but you better not keep her waiting…” she accentuated that pointing at the bowl of soup on the table. Instead of sitting he grabbed the bowl on each sides and drank the whole soup in only three gulps and returned the bowl to the table.

“Where is she?” he asked, removing some soup from his cheek. Maggie pointed to a door leading to one side of the house.

When Luxor entered the room however, his eyes went wide as in front of him were a large variety of machines of all sizes and forms, “The machine priests would be jealous of this…” he told to himself, when Jess appeared from a corner, holding a box withe loose parts. “Oh good!! I was wondering what took you so long…” Jess asked with a little of sarcasm, which earned her a snarl from Luxor.

“Why am I here?” he asked, while contemplating all of the room’s equipment.

“You said you can’t take that armor off, right?” She asked, while looking for some pieces in the box.

“Yes, I said that, and?”

“Well, I’ll build something that can removes it, hopef…”

“Do it, I’ll help you” He cutting her mid-sentence.

“Just like that?” Jess asked perplexed, surprised of his eagerness to remove his armor, “You won’t even ask m…”

“DO. IT.” he demanded this time. Jess rolled her eyes, but decided to not keep pushing him.

“Ooook, first things first, I need to see your armor closely to inspect it…”

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Akmella dear, I’ll soon open the library, so you should go check how Sheeva’s doing” Maggie said, while removing the the bowls from the table.

“Before I go down, Maggie, can I give you an advise?” Akmella asked, turning to face her.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Change the bed supports for iron ones…” she said and immediately left, not allowing Maggie to ask why.

“Oh…ah, ok, I guess”. Turning to O’erick and Gunnar “You two should also might want to wear something else, your clothes call too much attention, and also a bath would be useful…” she said turning away from them “We have plans for all of you tonight, but I recommend that you all stay in here till nightfall, is that ok to you?” she asked.

“Sir?” Gunnar asked.

“I guess it can’t be helped…”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the day was rather quiet if not boring, once Maggie flipped the cartel from closed to open, the library was full of customers in no time, must of them were caring bags, folded tents and all kind of things you would expect from someone who is traveling.

“Are all those people travelers?” Gunnar asked at Maggie, who was bussy attending at a woman looking for a certain book, “yes, as a border town we receive many visitors, it’s good to know that the governor allows it, with all his rules am surprised hi allowed people to freely come here” she said finishing with the woman.

“Really? Who is this so recalled governor?” Gunnar asked.

“He is a man with a stone heart, the king Valerian sent him here as a replacement for the last governor since he failed to protect the village when a large group of monsters raided the village, many men and women were kidnapped…that was three years ago” said the woman that Maggie attended. “And did you hear what happened last night?” 

Maggie raised her gaze from her notebook “Not quite sure, but I heard that there was breach, that the guards of the main gate were found unconscious, that’s all I know, why?”

In that moment Gunnar looked away, clearly nervous of the events of the last night. “The matter is that nothing was stolen from them, it was like they just wanted to get in the town, sounds weird though, travelers are allowed to come at any time even with the curfew thing, so why would someone knock them? In my opinion I think it was some kind of monster trying to sneak in”.

“Lets hope not” Davis said feigning worry “I would hate to be the target of one of those things”.

Hours passed by without much conversation, some customers stayed reading books, some of them bought one or two books. Things went like that, only Maggie left her desk to eat something but returned soon to keep working. Gunnar went as far as to help her with some customers, while O’erick and Davis talked about things they had in common. It turns out that Davis was the leader of A group of hunters, although Davis said that they were some sort of bounty hunters.

When night fall arrived Maggie flipped the cartel to closed and sighed, tired but satisfied with the results. A moment later, Akmella reappeared from the same door she left “Hey, you all look tired, hard day?” she asked.

“Kind of, but you also look tired, how is Sheeva?” Maggie asked.

“She is awake now, but she said she wanted to stay downstairs for now. And where are Luxor and Jess? Are they still in the workshop?”

“Yes, I wonder if they’ve finished already…” Maggie said. Akmella walked to the workshop, but she couldn’t hear anything, where they done, this thought got her heart pounding in her chest faster. When she opened the door she was immediately greeted by the sound of various machines. When she finally had a proper view of the room the first thing she noted was the gigantic machine with many arms, each of them with a different tool at the end, all working in unison to remove the missing parts of Luxor’s armor, who was inside the machine, mos of his armor was already lying on the ground.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Jess said while writing down in her notebook “When you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy” she said with an air of pride. As the machine finished working on removing the remnants of Luxor’s armor which was his chestplate, Akmella saw with a broken heart as Luxor’s chest was exposed, revealing a set of scars and marks spread across his chest, abdomen, arms and legs. Some of them seemed made on purpose as they ran in a straight line down the length of his both arms, and one that ran down from his chest and splitted in two at the waist, but the scars seemed like the result of multiple fights, his only piece of cloth was a rather simple short white pant. Even his muscular figure was almost ignored for those mar

Both Akmella and Jess stood there silently as Luxor descended the machine “disgusting, isn’t it?” he said looking down as if somehow ashamed of being seen like that.

“No no” Akmella quickly replied, “it’s just…I can’t imagine what you’ve been through…” she said, placing a paw on his chest. Even without his armor, Luxor was far larger than her, being only two inches shorter without his armor.

“Hey, mind if I take a closer look at these?” Jess asked pointing to the armor’s back engine. He looked over his shoulder at Jess and nodded, returning to Akmella he asked “So, what do you think?”

“I like it” Akmella said with a warm smile on her face “It makes you look tougher…”

At that, Davis poked his head through the door “Are you finis-HOLY SHIT!!” he said when he saw Luxor “man, you look like if you were sliced in pieces, reassembled and sliced again…”

“That’s a way of seeing it” Luxor simply replied.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

After Maggie’s reaction at Luxor’s body, she rummaged in her wardrobe for some clothes that could fit him, but finding nothing she decided to grab a bunch of similar clothes, and after some sewing, he got a decent pair of white shirts and brown loose pants along with a black leather jacket, luckily for him he was already wearing boots under his armor, so shoes were not necessary.

“So? Whatdo you think? Like it?” Maggie asked as Luxor eyed his new clothes. 

“They’re comfortable…” he said. 

“I’ll take that as a yes” Maggie started “Jess and I are going to the market, Davis said he has plans for you”. 

“Really?” Luxor asked turning to Davis “what kind of ‘plans’?” 

“You my friend, need sometihng to relieve your stress, you really need it…something to entertain yourself, would you like a drink? ” Davis replied defensively.

“Do you have a tavern in this place?” Luxor asked.

“Well of course man, ha, what kind of question is that?” Davis asked, as if the answer was obvious.

“Then what are we waiting for?” he asked all of a sudden but before he could say anything else Maggie interjected “not so fast, I need both Gunnar and O’erick if you don’t mind…”

He looked at Akmella for reassurance but she simply shrugged “why for?”

“Oh because Jess and I are just two Ladies and we might need some help with the heavy lifting, and since Akmella’s is way too big and obvious to disguise in this town, so we thought O’erick’s help would be very useful and I need Gunnar to take care of Sheeva, she is downstairs and is not feeling so well, and since Gunnar has seem to be so attentive and Akmella will be cleaning the library I just thought he was the perfect one for the job”.

“I think she is right sir…”Gunnar started “I’m the only one who’s face was really exposed, I should better stay here to avoid running into any of those guards, who knows…”

“Sounds reasonable for me, well lets go, I really need that drink…” and with that, they left the library, Davis guiding Luxor to the town’s tavern. Maggie then guided Gunnar to the secret passage , much to Gunnar’s surprise.

Then Maggie, O’erick and Jess departed to the market, the latter wearing a hat to cover her fluffy ears.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“So, what are you supposed to be? I’ve met tall people for sure, but none like you…” Davis said, trying to start a conversation.

“Trying to explain that properly would mean telling you a very long story, and am not really in that mood…” Luxor replied.

There was a fairly amount of people in the streets, some of looked at Luxor in surprise, while others simply ignored him. After walking a while the two men arrived to a rather simple establishment, however the sound of laughter and chattering could be heard from inside “looks like they are in the mood…” Davis said pushing the wooden door open with Luxor following behind.

“Come on, this way” Davis said “I know just the perfect spot to seat”. Almost no one payed attention to the duo, seemingly lost in their chattering and drinking. Once seated a waitress approached them “hey Davis, good to see you around, who’s your big friend here?”

“He’s Luxor, new around. So tell me Eliza, what’s the specialty for today…?” She smiled and said “I have just the right one for you two” and with that she left only to return with two giant beer jars. Even Luxor was surprised by their size.

“First rounds are on me guys, enjoy the night” Eliza said as she left to attend other tables. Immediately after that, Davis took his jar and started chugging it “Ahhhh, what’s the matter? too big for you?” he said in joking tone. Luxor simply smelled it and took the first chug.

“Is this really your best drink? Tastes like snow troll’s urine…” Luxor said. Davis smile faded instantly “I didn’t need to hear that, anyway, the night is young and I really intend on enjoying it” he emphasized this by putting a few gold coins on the table.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Y-ya know what, yer not like thoshe bastards we, weeee, uhh what ish the w-word?” Davis aked, dizziness evident on his face.

“Ran into?” Luxor asked as he finished his eleventh jar “you know, drinking is not your thing…”

“Bullshit!! Am f-f-ffffffffiiinee…” he said pointing at him “I only gotch seven? Bah, am okeysh”.

“sure…” Luxor replied.

Suddenly the door swinged open as six men entered the tavern. Luxor spilled some of his drink as he recognized one of the men as the old guard from last night, walking alongside him was a rather short man, his pure white suit evidence of his role, his black hair and mustache well kept, and finally the other four men were wearing a full set of armor, apparently escorting the short man.

When they approached the bar the whole place went silent as he and the old guard seated next to each other. The short man turned to face everyone and spoke “oh ladies and gentlemen, please just ignore me, I just came to let out some…stress, you’ll see by now every one knows that the town was breached last night…” he said while checking everyone’s faces.

“Who’s that man?” Luxor quietly asked at Davis.

“Oh ish zat c-cunt shucker bovernor…” Davis replied.

“…Usually, I wouldn’t mind much but that’s the point” the governor continued “it’s the way it or they breached in…for you’ll see, all the front door’s guards were knocked out using magic judging for the way it was, but here is the most intriguing part, nothing was stolen from them, so whoever made it was looking for something specific, and obviously it wasn’t a monster because all the guards are perfectly fine. You know I tolerate magic users, but I clearly ordered that such people must report their arrival, so why IN BLOODY HELL would someone bother to take out out MY guards, breach the town and take nothing when they could have simply walked in…but fear not, because we’ll find the responsible  

‘Maggie was right, this man’s perception is impressive, definitely he knows what happened to the other guardsmen’ Luxor thought eyeing the short man.

After a few rounds of drinks and chattering with the old guard, he passed the bartender some gold coins and departed, the four other guards following him along with the old man.

“Maybe we should go back…Davis?” When he looked at Davis he was already snoring atop the table.

“Drinking is not your thing…”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Gunnar walked through the small corridor many times, but never entering Sheeva’s room as Maggie requested. ‘I wonder if she’s right…if she really fought against Fyodor and survived that means she must be very strong, I wonder how she looks like…’ he thought standing in front of her door.

“No, Maggie said she would come out when she feels like” he said and decided to seat again.

“Every thing ok down there?” Akmella called from upstairs.

Gunnar stood up and walked to the entrance of the passage before replying “uhm, yes, everything’s fine, but how do I know if she’s fine? Maggie told me to let her rest…”

“Don’t worry, she’ll call you if she needs you…” Akmella said. When Gunnar turned to return to his seat he immediately froze in place at the sight. At the end of the corridor in front of Sheeva’s room was a very tall woman, at least seven foot tall, draped around her body, held in place by one hand, her red skin accentuated by the lights of the lamps a set of small horns protruding from her forehead, most of her face obscured by her shoulder-length white hair, and her amber eyes looking directly at him.

“Oh, uhm, you must be Sheeva, right? I suppose Maggie already told you about us…” Gunnar asked a little nervously at his sudden sight of her. Instead of responding she immediately smiled lustfully and started to walk towards him.

“The only thing Maggie told me about is of the little snack that would be waiting for me out here…” she replied, getting closer.

“W-what? How snack? Hey hey hey don’t come any close!!” he said walking backwards until he sprang to the passage’s door, but big was his surprise when he realized he had no clue about how to open the door “AKMELLA!! Come on let me out, this creature wants to devour me!! Open the door!!”

“Sorry Gunnar, Maggie told me not to interrupt Sheeva until she was satisfied, besides she already told you she needed your help…” as soon as Akmella said this, Gunnar felt a hand atop of his shoulder, and immediately after that he froze again as he realized the implications of what he willingly accepted.

“Well played Maggie, well played…”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Loud moans could be heard from the inside of Sheeva’s room. In there she was thoroughly straddling Gunnar in the cowgirl position “You like that, ha, don’t you little man?” Sheeva asked, but Gunnar’s soundless face of ecstasy was answer enough for her and decided to reward him by moving her hips faster “You’re getting close, yes, I can feel it” she grabbed one of his arms and made him grab one her jiggling breasts.

Having already succumbed to her, he grabbed and kneaded her soft orb “I-I love this, I’ve never felt like this before…”

“That’s because no human woman could give you the same kind of pleasure we monsters have to offer, now give it to me, give me that precious spirit energy”. Gunnar grunted and thrusted as deep as he could within her as he finally came.

“YES!!! ohhh that feels soooo good” Sheeva said as she rode her first orgasm her back arching, she stood like that for what seemed an eternity until her senses returned and she slumped atop of him “I’ve never felt something this…exotic, ha, I’m going to enjoy keeping you, you hear me?”

Gunnar stood there, unable to form words, exhausted but clearly satisfied.

“Don’t get too comfortable little man, we’re just getting started…” she said, moving her hips up and down again.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“What are all this things for?” O’erick asked looking at the two boxes full of iron bars, gears and scrap pieces.

“I already told you back at the store O’erick, am planing on doing a lot of research now that you three will be staying…” Jess said, caring two bags also full of pieces while Maggie was caring three bags full of food supplies.

“Quite an interesting armor that of Luxor, what do you know about it? It has an engine, of some sort, so something must be fueling, what is it?” Jess asked.

“That’s something you better ask him yourself, that of course, if he decides to tell you…” O’rick replied with a bit of sarcasm.

“Speaking of the Devil…” Maggie interjected, pointing to an intersection, where she saw Luxor heading back to the library while caring Davis over his shoulder. Jess immediately dropped her bags and ran towards him.

“What happened!!??” She said worriedly as she reached the two men.

“He passed out while drinking…” he replied simply.

Jess sighed relieved “He’s not a very good drinker, anyway, anything interesting happened there?”

“We met the governor…”he started “you were right, he’s a cold hearted bastard”.

“Oh…well, if you are here I assume nothing bad happened, right?” Jess asked.

“No…nothing really happened, but he might end up becoming a problem”

“Come on guys, you can discuss that at home, it’s getting late, and am tired” Maggie said as she reached the two of them.

“Had fun brother?” O’erick asked mockingly, in response Luxor shrugged and pointed at Davis.

“Not much, the drinks there were very plain, in this one passed out too soon…” he said.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The doorknob creaked as Maggie opened the door and entered, the rest of the group following behind.

“Finally!!” Sheeva said as she approached to greet the group, Akmella walking alongside her. “I’m starving Maggie, I was wondering if you cou-WOW!!” she said as she saw Luxor.

“Sheeva, O’erick and Luxor, O’erick and Luxor, Sheeva” Maggie said presenting them.

“Greetings Sheeva, am Luxor, and he’s my brother O’erick” Luxor said.

“Wow, I mean, you’re bigger than the other two…” Sheeva said noticing that Luxor was a whole foot taller than her, then she leaned in and smell him “pffff, ha, and you’re still a virgin, how so?”

In response, Luxor raised an eyebrow “How do yo…?” “Because you smell like it” Luxor started but Sheeva cut him off “I now see why Akmella was so eager to keep you eh eh eh” she said, elbowing Akmella slightly.

“Come on Sheeva, don’t start with this” Akmella replied playfully.

“I don’t get it…” Luxor said looking between the two monsters.

Sheeva’s smile faded immediately “though he’s not very smart apparently…” she said O’erick chuckled at this, earning him a growl from Luxor.

“By the way where is Gunnar?” O’erick asked looking around for him.

“Sleeping, poor guy passed out after the fifth round…” Sheeva said very proudly.

“Passed out? Doing what?” Luxor asked.

“Ok everyone, sit down, we can discuss this at the dinner, Luxor could you please take Davis to his room?”

“Sure…” he said taking the snoring man upstairs.

“Tomorrow will be a very important day, there is a lot of stuff that must be done” Maggie said walking to the kitchen “so have your dinner and go to sleep…” and with that she started to prepare the food.

“Come on O’erick lets put this in my workshop” Jess said.

“Sure…” he replied, taking the boxes and leaving both Sheeva and Akmella alone in the receiver room.

“So Akmella, what do you think of this Luxor, why him?” Sheeva asked, sitting next to her.

Akmella clutched the fang’s necklace in her paw “He’s just a tormented soul, am sure he’s different than the others you fought…”

“Hmmm, lets hope so little girl, lets hope so…”

To be continued…

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