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  The girl’s quickly agreed and at the angel’s urging the family set aside their grief and set to the task of living.

  Chapter 3:

  Tits and Guns

  While the rest of her pack was out on assignment led by her second, Lilly the Wolfen was nursing a hangover.

  She was with Miranda and her girls getting breakfast in the mess hall of the Bastion.

  The contrast between Jan and the other Wolfen was staggering; the pack-leader was almost as tall as Kala and was just as muscular. That and while Jan was almost lackadaisical in demeanor, the other Wolfen held a smoldering intensity that never seemed to dim.

  She turned to Miranda while she ate and quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

  “So where are we going?”

  “Oakridge.”

  “Why Oakridge?”

  “Cuz someone there has big tits!” Jan chirped with a big smile.

  But her ears went flat to her head and she whined when Lilly shifted her gaze at her.

  Though she wasn’t part of her pack, the smaller wolf girl instinctively submitted before the pack-leader.

  “Because we have a lead.” Miranda corrected with a sigh.

  “We ran into some men in the wilds, they had blasters, three of them.” Kala added concisely between shoveling eggs into her mouth.

  “And one of these pricks pointed you to Oakridge? To a woman with nice cans?”

  Jez nodded from the other side of Kala.

  “Yeah, then Nina squished him! It was gross, but cool!”

  Lilly blushed at the Gripau’s look, then coughed and continued her line of questioning.

  “Miranda, what the fuck have you been up to?”

  The Aegis operative took a long drink of her coffee.

  “It’s a long story. We’ll fill you in on the way, for now though we need to gear up and head out.”

  Though it was still early in the morning, she was anxious to get on the road. The reality was the Aegis had their hands full with all that was going on, so she and her team couldn’t afford any delays.

  It took them a little while to gather the needed supplies, Miranda had to wait on the Aegis quartermasters to replenish her lost-tech gear while the other girls grabbed the rest of the things they’d need.

  On the way out of Garland Miranda leaned into Lilly’s side.

  “Something I’ve wondered for years. I’ve seen you talk your way into the most prudish woman’s panties, so why in the hell does my little Gripau get you so flustered all the time?”

  Lilly blushed at Miranda’s question, then when the Aegis operative didn’t let it go she looked to one side and mumbled.

  “I like the way her bum wiggles.”

  There was a long pause as Miranda absorbed the words.

  “…What?”

  Lilly snorted out a breath in exasperation.

  “Her bum wiggles!”

  Though it was early, Garland was a big city, and so more than a few heads in the street turned at the loud response, though a sharp glare from Lilly made them quickly lose interest in the very public, yet private, conversation.

  Miranda laughed.

  “Okay, that’s fair, and I’m a big fan myself, but that doesn’t explain why you start acting like a puppy whenever you’re around her.”

  Lilly snarled.

  “Oh whatever Miranda! Like you’ve never had a stupid crush!”

  Miranda held both hands up peacefully.

  “Fair enough, you got a crush and so you can’t keep from making an ass of yourself. Just try not to let her wiggling hiney distract you from the mission too much.”

  “Easy for you to say, you get to have her sit on your face every night.” Lilly’s tone was wistful as she imagined it.

  Miranda chuckled and stuck her lip out in a mock-pout.

  “Poor baby, want me to sit on your face?”

  Lilly pretended to consider the insincere offer for a few seconds.

  “Nah! Keep your saggy old cheeks away from me.”

  For the passersby who couldn’t keep from eavesdropping it was a strange conversation, especially given that Miranda’s cheeks were far from saggy, the athletic woman was fit and toned from her career and her active sex life.

  They fell silent for a time as the sun rose higher.

  Miranda took a breath.

  “You missed Kar’s funeral.”

  Lilly let out a slight whine.

  “I also missed the day before it and the day after it. I was drunk. I’ll have to make it up to the Brael girls somehow.”

  Miranda sighed.

  “Lil, you really need to find a better way to cope.”

  “I already have.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m going to help you find the one feeding the lost-tech to all the low-lives, and I’m going to tear their throat out with my teeth.”

  Lilly spoke with a deep growl that would have given a giant pause.

  Miranda shrugged.

  “I suppose that’s one way of coping.”

  Kala was walking to the right and slightly in front of them, a snoozing Jez on her back, but as she heard the Wolfen’s plan she turned her head to meet Lilly’s gaze.

  “I swear to you War-sister, I will aid you in this.”

  Miranda rolled her eyes.

  “Great, and me in the middle trying to actually arrest people.”

  “Don’t worry Mistress, I’ll only maim them!” Jan clapped her fist to her chest and spoke with pride.

  Jezebel hiccupped in her sleep then muttered something about dismemberment.

  Lilly spent a couple seconds considering the Gripau, specifically her ass, before she turned back to Miranda.

  “I gotta ask, Jan and Kala I understand, but how will Jez and her cute bum help with this mission?”

  “Actually she’s part of our cover. Her mother lives just outside Oakridge, we’ll be staying at her place, maybe she knows something. And as for how she can help, not even Kala can break free once Jez has her tongue around her. So while she’s not overly great for subduing perps, she’s really great at keeping them subdued.”

  Jan’s own tongue lolled out in amusement.

  “Who would want to escape? Our little froggy’s tongue is magical!”

  Lilly once again drifted her eyes over the Gripau’s figure.

  “If you say so.” She spoke in a growl again as she continued; “But I knew Katie since she was a pup, and that piece of shit burned her down like it was nothing. So if we can catch the people peddling these fucking weapons, there won’t be enough pieces of them left for her to get her tongue around.”

  Miranda eyed her for a long moment after she spoke, thinking on how best to reply.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we need to focus on figuring out who the woman with the tits and guns is.”

  Jan leaned in and licked her mistress’s neck and face before cocking her head in thought.

  “Heh, tits and guns. Great title for a magazine!”

  Lilly shrugged and let out another growl.

  “I’d read it.”

  __________

  Back in Kettering Nameless and the girls had a busy day.

  After taking Milly’s milk to the market, which was an occasion by itself given the excitement in town from the sudden arrival of a Valkyrie the previous night, he and the girls had spent the rest of the day resupplying and reoccupying the cottage; putting away their clothes and other sundries, restoring the solar panels for the kitchen stove, and unsealing the cistern so that they could bathe before bed.

  Night had fallen again and the darkness of their home was chased away as flames cheerily danced in the fireplace.

  But despite the coziness of the cottage, the young man was listless.

  The home that he and Milly had made for themselves looked strangely unfamiliar around him. The previous night he had been so tired from the events in Garland that he had slept like a log, but now the tranquility of the place set him on edge.

&
nbsp; It was an odd thing to come to grips with; that the comfort of home would make him nervous. Especially since the others seemed to have settled in without complaint.

  Ophelia was sitting on one of the loveseats, engrossed in a book while absently petting Erica’s ears. The snoozing Katje was purring with her head in her bond-sister’s lap, her body was curled up against the Flutterby’s side, the occasional twitch of an ear or foot the only motion from her.

  Meanwhile Nina was standing on her hammer in the kitchen, working on the counter to put together a sandwich that had more meat than bread.

  Volka was leaning with one hand against the wall above the fireplace, her eyes distant as she considered the burning logs.

  Without her armour on she looked much exposed; she was dressed now only in a thin pair of shorts and a scandalously short white shift, the edge of which hung loose over her breasts, the faint outline of her nipples visible to all, while her flat stomach was naked to the world.

  Milly was sitting beside her man on the other loveseat with one hand on his thigh as she watched him quietly.

  Nina frowned down at her sandwich, it needed something.

  “Hey Ophelia, is there any more of that weird yellow sauce stuff?”

  The Flutterby tore her eyes away from her book, her reading glasses low on her nose as she blinked over them at the Gigas.

  “You mean mustard?”

  “Sure, that.”

  The elegant woman raised an eyebrow.

  “In the icebox dear, on the shelf above the milking pail. In plain sight.”

  Nina hopped off her hammer and opened the icebox to pull out the sought-after jar.

  “Kind of a dumb name: must-turd. Like my sandwich has to take a massive shi-”

  “Nina!”

  The Gigas smirked at the perturbed tone in Ophelia’s voice while Volka put one hand over her mouth to hide her own grin as she turned from the fire.

  Nameless considered the cozy atmosphere of the room as Nina brought her dinner out of the kitchen and hopped into the recliner; with her tiny size she didn’t even need to extend the leg rest, the large seat looking even larger with its current occupant.

  “You look cute with glasses, should wear them more often.” Nina remarked.

  She was unbothered by the Flutterby’s irritation and she opened her mouth wide and bit into her over-stuffed sandwich.

  Ophelia groaned as meat, mustard and whatever else the Gigas had crammed between the two slices of bread was forced out the opposite side, splattering into her lap.

  “Nina, use a plate!”

  In exasperation Ophelia set her book down and moved to get up, Erica’s head shifting in her lap, but Volka waved her off, slipping into the kitchen and returning with a plate which she promptly slid underneath Nina’s messy dinner.

  “Hey, thanks Volka, you’re a peach.”

  Volka promptly ruffled the tiny girl’s hair.

  “And you are a troublemaker.” The angel chided: “Now please stop tormenting Ophelia before she wakes up the kitty.”

  Nina took another big bite of her sandwich, more of its contents splattering onto her plate as Ophelia winced.

  After taking a moment to chew and swallow, her face a mess of ingredients, the giant looked up at the angel with one eyebrow raised.

  “Says the lady with the ice.”

  Nameless abruptly stood, Milly’s hand slipping off his thigh as he moved to the front door.

  “Master?” Milly sat up at his abrupt movement.

  “I’m fine.” He replied, too quickly and with more volume than he intended.

  He forced himself to smile back at the concerned girls.

  “I’m fine, just need to stretch my legs. Maybe go visit with Paul.”

  “I’ll come with-”

  Volka began but he was already moving out the door.

  “No, you just got your armour off. I won’t be long, you girls just relax. Make sure Nina cleans up after herself!”

  Four sets of eyes followed his exit from the cottage.

  “I always clean up after myself.”

  The wet splat of yet more sandwich ingredients hitting her plate punctuated the giant’s words.

  __________

  Nameless moved quickly through the fading light, the long grass of the field parting around him as he made his way towards the trail that would take him to Paul’s.

  But a few minutes later a familiar buzzing noise gave him pause and he stopped after crossing the bridge.

  He strained his eyes as he tried to penetrate the foliage around the path.

  “What in the-” He muttered out loud but was interrupted.

  “The Hornets.”

  He jumped with a yelp at the sudden voice.

  Paul was standing behind him, smoking his pipe while one of his Cockatrices nuzzled against his leg.

  “Sorry boy, didn’t mean to give you a fright.”

  “No worries. Should have been paying more attention I guess.”

  Paul smiled as smoke wreathed his face, the brief flash of orange light from the bowl of his pipe illuminating his features.

  “Wouldn’t worry about that too much. Unless I’m mistaken, we currently have at least one Amazon watching us.”

  There was a pregnant pause as Nameless considered the dark bushes all around, and then a voice called from the bushes off to one side.

  “You are skilled indeed, to have spotted me so readily.”

  One of the scantily clad warriors slipped out of the undergrowth with barely a rustle.

  Paul took a long draw from his pipe while absently scratching at the hair of the Cockatrice huddled to his side, the girl cooing intimately at the attention.

  “Not skill, didn’t have any idea where you were or how many. Just knew there had to be at least one.”

  The Amazon, Helena, cocked her head and appraised the old farmer, then turned to the little man.

  “Valkyrja-datta I will give you and your friend room to talk, I think it is not my company you seek tonight.”

  “Wouldn’t be too sure about that, I know for a fact the kid likes ‘em tall… and short actually.” Paul clicked his teeth with the stem of his pipe as he considered the woman; “Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure he likes ‘em any which way he can get ‘em!”

  The woman smiled, stepped forwards and took the pipe from the old man before slipping it between her lips and drawing her cheeks in, then blowing the pungent smoke into the air of the night.

  “Would that I were so lucky.” She took another draw from Paul’s pipe, and then faced Nameless; “Like my sisters, I have offered you my stone Valkyrja-datta, and would be delighted were you to accept it. But for now, I shall leave you to your talk.”

  With that she slipped back into the night.

  Their eyes tracked her into the darkness and then Paul let out a sigh.

  “I do believe that woman intends to keep my pipe.”

  He turned back to face Nameless, who was himself bemused by the whole encounter.

  After a moment the smaller man shook of his befuddlement and furrowed his brow inquisitively.

  “You were saying something about the Hornets?”

  The odd buzzing had continued throughout Paul’s exchange with the Amazon.

  “Yeah, they’re setting up their hive just on the other side of this stand of trees here. I poked my beak in earlier today to see what’s what. Don’t recall ever having so many weapons pointed at my nose at once.”

  Nameless winced, though the Hornets were there for his protection, all of the land around him belonged to the farmer at his side.

  “Paul I-”

  The old man waved his apology away before he could even make it.

  “Don’t fret about it, hasn’t been this interesting around here in years. Besides, I left all these woods standing for a reason, so it weren’t like I was getting any use out of the tiny bit of land those girls swiped from me.”

  Nameless considered the old man’s weathered face and fr
owned when he noticed something a bit off.

  “You have feathers in your hair.” He pointed out.

  Paul brushed his hand over his hair, knocking loose a few downy cockatrice feathers, but then reached out and tugged on the feathered braid hanging down one side of Nameless’s face.

  “Look who’s talking.”

  “Fair point.”

  There was a pause and Nameless realized that the Cockatrice was staring directly up at him, her eyes wide as she just watched him.

  He also realized that she was behaving far calmer than he had ever seen any of the Cockatrices before; being bonded must have agreed with her.

  Paul’s voice caught his attention again.

  “So, first it was that fine Aegis operator and her three girls, now it’s a bunch of Amazons and an entire hive of Hornets skulking in my woods. I met the queen by the way, now there is a helluva woman.”

  Nameless couldn’t help but agree; Queen Oldeera was… formidable.

  The farmer gave him a long look, considering the face of the man in front of him and mentally comparing him to the boy that left so many weeks ago.

  “We haven’t really had a chance to talk since you come home.”

  Paul’s piercing stare had Nameless shifting in place in discomfort, so he sought a way to deflect.

  “Well from what I gather, you’ve been too busy acting like a teenager again!”

  The Cockatrice ruffled her feathers and her cheeks turned a bit pink as she smiled slightly, while the old farmer snorted and fired back.

  “Yeah, and you’ve been busy slipping it to an angel and making friends with every Amazon that ever was!”

  Nameless’s ears heated at the mention of Volka.

  “No! We haven’t! I mean, not yet.”

  One grizzled eyebrow rose.

  “Oh? Not into blondes?”

  But Nameless sighed as he reflected on the real reason.

  “Up until a few days ago, she was a shield and a voice in my head. I guess we just haven’t had a chance, we’ve been too focused on… on other things.”

  Left unspoken were the ‘other things’; the memory of another blonde sitting on Milly’s rump while Erica picked herself out of the dirt, the warrior laughing at her victory over the two girls.