Dark Empathy Read online

  It wasn’t invoked lightly, and certainly not by someone in Adrian’s position, but he still technically held the authority.

  Determination alone wasn’t enough to keep the weakened man on his feet however, and a moment later Alcaia was holding him from one side as his wounded leg buckled, her powerful arms more than up to the task of supporting him.

  “You would master us, human?” The warleader’s voice was neutral.

  The human swallowed bile, his nausea back in full force, but his words were steady when he replied.

  “To stop the men that killed my team, and to uphold the law, yes.” He turned to the raven-haired Witch; “Miss Olena, I’m asking you to please assist myself and the Saenga in this matter.”

  She smirked at being called ‘Miss’, but didn’t say anything.

  Alcaia nodded slowly.

  “Very well, then we will return to our village and decide on the proper course of action. The warriors of the Saenga are at your disposal... Aegis.”

  “I will need to gather some things, and to see to Franklyn.” The Witch, still wearing her smile, said.

  The mighty Amazon frowned.

  “I wish you would allow us kill that beast, Elda.”

  “What beast?” Adrian asked in concern.

  The two women ignored him though as they continued the conversation, Olena shaking her head at Alcaia’s request.

  “He is my responsibility, the price the Dryads extracted for my home. Besides, he’s not that bad.”

  “He tried to eat me not ten minutes ago.” Complained Hila as she stepped back inside.

  Olena looked her up and down, before winking deliberately.

  “He was being affectionate.”

  “What beast?” Adrian repeated insistently.

  He still didn’t get an answer as Hila rolled her eyes and looked to Alcaia.

  “The litter is ready Warleader.”

  Alcaia nodded.

  “Good, we leave at once. Evening is drawing to a close. We must get our guest settled for the night before the snow falls. Then I will gather the elders and see to our fallen.”

  Once again Adrian felt like a child as they left him out of the conversation, and even more so when the Amazons carefully bundled him up and carried him out of the Witch’s home into the chill air outside, doing their best not to jostle his injuries.

  Once they were sure he was settled in the improvised litter, they left quickly, an Amazon on either end carrying him swiftly through the trees.

  “What beast were they talking about?” He asked as they loped along.

  Rather than out of curiosity, mostly he spoke to distract himself from the cold and the nausea brought on by the rapid pace.

  One of the Amazons carrying him looked down for a moment before explaining.

  “Olena-Elda tends to the needs of a Man-eater just to the east of her tree.”

  He almost sat up in shock.

  “You’re not serious!”

  “I am. It is well beyond our territory, so it is no threat to us, but how she can sleep at night with it so near I will never know.”

  “Never mind her! I want to know how Jonas managed to come of age without being consumed by it!” The Amazon carrying the front of the litter threw back over her shoulder.

  “Jonas?”

  The Amazon above his head answered.

  “Her adopted son. A gifted alchemist. He visits often, or... he did.” She sighed heavily; “His child succumbed to wasting sickness, and his wife to madness shortly thereafter. Please Aegis, do not bring him up with Olena-Elda. She hides it well, but she must be in terrible pain.”

  “Of course.” He murmured.

  Of all of the ills ever to plague the human race, wasting sickness was commonly thought to be the worst. Some called it a plague unleashed during the war, others a punishment from the gods for sins long forgotten.

  To witness one’s child die of it... the thought brought Adrian’s mind back to his own grief and he closed his eyes as tears made them sting.

  “Please bear with the pain for a short while longer, Aegis. We will tend to you once we reach the village.” The woman above his head promised, mistaking his sudden distress as being from his injuries.

  Regaining control of his emotions he nodded at her, not trusting himself to speak yet.

  Even blunted by the trees the wind had picked up to the point that he felt it on his cheeks, while enormous flakes of snow were tossed about between the massive cedars, inevitably finding the ground.

  The storm was in full swing and night had long since fallen by the time he was carried into the center of the Saenga village. Fortunately the cliff that the village abutted sheltered them from the worst of the wind, though lazy flakes of snow still found their way down to melt into the hot springs against its base.

  Armed Amazons were all around, their faces angry from the fresh grief of their slain sisters, though they were nothing but courteous to him.

  Alcaia gave a few orders that sent warriors sprinting off to see them carried out, then she turned back to his litter.

  “Olena-Elda gave instructions regarding your wounds, but you still need a proper bath.” He was shivering violently now, and she offered a small smile at the sight of him; “Our hot springs will drive the chill from your bones. I will see to it personally.”

  He sat up as best he could and tried to protest between chattering teeth, but she pressed him back down.

  How she and the others weren’t freezing their perfect asses off in the night’s chill he didn’t know, seeing as not a one of them wore more than Alcaia did, short skirts, scanty tops and simple sandals.

  “As I said before, we failed you and it is up to us to make this right. Please allow me to tend to your needs.”

  He gave up at that point, realizing that she wouldn’t accept no for an answer.

  “I will help you, Wife.” A soft voice said from behind her.

  Alcaia turned to face a human woman wrapped in a thick blanket and greeted her with a quick embrace.

  “Thank you, my love. Adrian, this is my bond-mate, Maia.”

  The slight woman stood in stark contrast to the towering Amazon at her side, she was quiet, but had a warm smile and kind eyes.

  The bath that followed would have been a sexual fantasy to most men, but at first Adrian was just glad to be out of the cold when Alcaia lowered him into the water of the hot spring.

  Even the stinging pain from his shoulder and leg in the water couldn’t dampen the simple pleasure of the hot bath and he groaned at the warm relief enveloping him.

  He had never bathed outdoors during a snowstorm before, the juxtaposition of the cold air and the hot water was surprisingly delightful.

  Adrian was so enamoured with watching the enormous snowflakes meet their end in the steamy water that he didn’t even notice when the Amazon and her bond-mate stripped off their own clothing, though he certainly noticed when they began to carefully wash him.

  He opened his mouth to protest again, but the memory of similar baths from his past suddenly burst into his mind and caused his throat to close with grief.

  Cheri loved bathing with him, and he with her.

  Even the feeling of the two beautiful women’s breasts rubbing against his shoulders couldn’t pull him out of his memories and they stayed mercifully silent as he dealt with his grief.

  After his spate of helpless tears subsided they finished the bath and brought him back into the village wrapped in a thick blanket and fed him a hot meal by a warm fire, by which point he was nodding over his plate.

  Soon he found himself freshly bandaged and in a bed that smelled faintly of one of the Amazons, one who had obviously taken the time to warm it with her own body.

  Alcaia’s eyes reflected dimly in the faint light of the moon as she spoke to him from the doorway, her voice soothing and kindly.

  “We have much to do, but not this night. Rest, Aegis. Set aside tomorrow’s worries for now and find the peace of slumber.”
r />   Amazingly, mercifully, he did.

  Chapter 2:

  Respite

  Far away from the wilds and all of the dangers therein, a Minotaur, a Katje and a diminutive human male were shopping in the city of Garland.

  They were in a store the likes of which the young man had never entered in his life, but unlike the usual places the girls brought him to that fit that description, especially Erica, he felt no discomfort as the six foot six Minotaur picked something out for herself.

  With the help of the store clerk, who cut a pair of holes in the rich brown hat to accommodate her horns, Milly was soon admiring herself in one of the shop’s many mirrors.

  “What do you think?” She asked Nameless coquettishly.

  “You look good.”

  She really did, and a warm smile stole across his face as he looked her over.

  “I know, but how does the hat look?” She giggled cheekily.

  Erica the Katje had been examining some boots with a skeptical smile, her own cat-like feet unsuited to them. At the sound of Milly’s voice she looked over to them and couldn’t keep from letting out a snicker when she saw her bond-sister’s new headwear.

  “Haha, you look like a cowgirl!”

  Milly blinked.

  “What do you mean? I am a cow-girl.”

  Erica shook her head of rich purple hair quickly, one of her cat-like ears flicking in agitation.

  “No! Not a cow-GIRL cow-girl, a cowBOY cowgirl.”

  The Minotaur adjusted the hat on her head of chocolate brown hair self-consciously, her lips pursed in puzzlement as her own floppy ears twisted about beneath the unfamiliar feel of the hat’s wide brim, adjusting to the new headwear.

  “What’s a cowboy?”

  After a few seconds of trying to find the words to explain, Erica threw up her hands in disgust and twirled in place to walk out of the store, her purple hair flying behind her as she spun.

  “What did I say?” Milly pouted as she watched her bond-sister’s overly dramatic exit.

  Nameless rubbed her lower back reassuringly, taking a moment to stroke the tail poking out of the back of her shorts.

  “I think she’s just jealous of your new hat.”

  With one hand she absently adjusted her ears beneath the brim and mooed at his attentions before resuming her posing in front of the shop mirror.

  “It is pretty nifty isn’t it?”

  Again, he was quick to agree with her as he released her tail and gave her posterior a quick squeeze of appreciation.

  “I love it. It makes you look like, I don’t know, someone who knows how the world works I guess?” He shrugged helplessly as he tried to articulate how the new accessory pulled her outfit together.

  Dressed in a simple light blue button-up shirt, with a red polka-dot hanky trailing out of the back pocket of her jean shorts, she was a lovely sight that always made him smile, no matter his mood.

  “Do you think that Paul would like it?” She swayed back and forth slightly, unashamedly fishing for more praise.

  The polka-dot hanky had been a gift from Paul Fletcher, an elderly farmer back home in Kettering that had taken the couple under his wing when Milly and Nameless had first bonded.

  It was Paul that had taught Nameless the importance of complimenting the sensitive cow.

  He searched for more words of praise while running his hand over his hair.

  Just as Volka had once suggested he kept it longer now: tied in a short ponytail at the back of his head, with the Valkyrie’s feather dangling down the right side of his face in a tight braid.

  “I’m sure that he would tell you how well the hat compliments your pretty horns.”

  As Milly beamed at him, her bond-mate reflected back on the dear old man.

  Shortly after Nameless recited the Aegis Covenant and committed himself to the protection of monster girls everywhere, Paul had taken him aside and given him a gruff hug, then held him by either shoulder at arms’ length and looked him square in the eyes.

  I’m as proud of you as if you were my own son.

  Nameless doubted he would ever forget the words, and they never failed to put a smile on his face and a fire in his belly whenever he thought back on them.

  His smile faltered somewhat though when Milly stepped over to take up the pitch-black spear that was leaning against the wall next to the mirror. Unpleasant memories of the terrible violence she had so recently faced flitting across his mind and made his blood run cold for a moment.

  Shaking off the feeling of dread that seeing her so armed brought out in him, he quickly recovered his cheer.

  “Come on baby, we still need to get to the Bastion to pick up my uniforms.”

  He paid the store clerk and shortly afterwards they caught up to Erica and Nina in the street, the four of them heading to Divinity Square and the towering old world structure.

  In less than an hour Nameless stood with all of his bond-mates in the spacious supply room where the Aegis quartermasters operated.

  He stepped out of the fitting room, clad for the first time in his cadet uniform as he turned to face his bond-mates, his arms held slightly away from his hips.

  “So, uh, how do I look?”

  With the girl’s eyes on him he was a bit self-conscious, but for the most part their reactions were fairly predictable.

  Milly beamed at him and Erica’s eyes hooded while she bit the tip of her pinky finger as she admired his physique. Ophelia’s eyes welled with pride as the woman that raised him dabbed a lacy hanky at her cheek, while Volka, his warrior angel, made a quick joke to the misty eyed Flutterby that he didn’t catch.

  Meanwhile the tiny red-skinned Nina stomped forwards, set her enormous black hammer down next to him, and looked him over, her eyes pausing on his surname stitched into the breast of the uniform.

  The three-foot tall powerhouse clearly liked what she saw.

  “‘Armstrong’. Sounds badass.”

  It was a bittersweet moment for Nameless as he considered that the last man to bear the name, his father, was indeed badass enough to fight a Chimera.

  He was pulled out of the poignant thought though as his Gigas started unbuttoning his new pants.

  “N-Nina?!”

  “Shut up. We’re fucking.”

  “Not here we aren’t.” Ophelia scolded as she fluttered forwards on her violet wings, shooing the tiny red giant’s hands away from his groin with her hanky; “Today and tomorrow are the only days off we’ll have for a while, and we have much to do. So you’ll have to control yourself until we get back to the dormitories.”

  Nameless quickly sorted out the pants of his crisp new uniform while the Gigas sulked and one of the nearby quartermasters heaved a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to have to try to interfere with the powerful monster’s amorous ambitions.

  Having passed the initial hellish three weeks of his training, Nameless was now considered an Aegis cadet, and was therefore required to wear a uniform in the same cut and style as that of the full operatives, though his was a dull white rather than grey.

  This had proved a slight problem for the quartermasters as they had never fitted someone his size before, Aegis operatives typically being more... just, more.

  He and the other cadets in his class had been given two days off to procure their uniforms and recharge before they began the next phase of their training.

  “Yeah, I have something to pick up still in the market quarter.” Erica remarked as she shook her head slightly to clear away her own ardent thoughts.

  Ophelia frowned as she looked at the cat-girl.

  “Dearheart, you three just came from the market quarter!”

  The Katje rolled her eyes.

  “I poked my head in while Milly was getting her new headwear. They said it wasn’t quite ready yet, and everyone was in such a rush to see our hubby in his new getup I didn’t wait! I won’t be long. You’ll see: it’ll totally be worth it.” She finished with a seductive purr.

  Nameles
s took up the package containing his spare uniforms and gave the Katje a suspicious look.

  “What are you up to kitty?”

  She sashayed up to him and leaned over the paper wrapped bundle in his arms to lick him on the tip of his nose with a dry rasp of her rough tongue.

  “It’s a secret, you’ll find out. But not until we get back to the dormitories and Nina has a chance to blow off some steam, or blow you, whichever one she’s after.”

  The giant in question slipped one hand under Erica’s long hemmed shirt and gave her ass a healthy squeeze of appreciation.

  “I like where your head is at. But now I’m curious.”

  “Whatever surprise she has in store will have to wait.” Ophelia said with authority; “I still want to visit with my friend Madeleine at the boarding school so it looks like we’re going to split up again. Really Erica, I wish you had said something sooner!”

  The Katje shrugged at the slight rebuke.

  “Planning is for planners. I’m a doer, and Imma do you later, hot stuff.” She put her fingers in a V before her lips and waggled her tongue between them with a saucy wink.

  Ophelia turned a bit pink at the incorrigible cat’s meaning and couldn’t supress her smile, or the erotic shudder that went through her at the idea of Erica acting out what her crude gesture implied.

  The Katje, like most of her kind, was a phenomenally talented lover.

  “I suppose that leaves the two of us to keep each other company tonight, eh Milly?” Volka said with a teasing look at the Minotaur.

  It was Milly’s turn to go pink; she and the angel hadn’t been intimate as of yet, though they were both intrigued with the prospect.

  “I-I suppose.” She said breathlessly.

  Their Flutterby bond-sister shook off her arousal as she once again tried to get them back on task.

  “That all sounds lovely. But we can’t do any of it until we finish in the city!”

  She all but shooed them out of the quartermaster’s offices, again much to the relief of the staff there.

  Their conversation, while intimate, was hardly private.

  As they left and walked back out into the city, Nameless noticed an immediate difference in the way people looked at him.