Lost Bloodline 5 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Koda woke the next day, his mind was as foggy as the vision that he’d seen of Thera’s sanctuary.

For once, he’d slept later than most of his girls, with only Arthene and Calandra still cuddled up with him. It was actually Calandra waking up and deciding to wake him in what had quickly become her ‘traditional’ fashion that had shaken Koda awake.

When Calandra emerged from underneath the blankets, a wicked grin on her lips as she wiped her mouth with one hand and smoothed her thick hair down with the other, she noticed the odd look on Koda’s face.

“Everything okay?” Calandra asked, draping her naked form over his chest and crossing her arms under her chin. Because of her smaller size, this resulted in trapping him between her thighs as well, something that Koda wouldn’t complain about despite being very distracting.

“Had another one of those dreams,” Koda said, his voice rough from sleep. Clearing his throat a few times, he continued. “Talked to Thera, apparently she’s going to be sending through another primal spirit.”

“That’s surprising,” Calandra murmured, the dwarven woman’s nose wrinkling thoughtfully while she wiggled back and forth on his bare chest. “Well… actually that’s not that surprising. It’s been months since Finna joined us, so if things are working on the same scale then it’s about time for another to come through.”

“That was my thought as well,” Koda replied, leaning forward to bump his nose against Calandra’s.

Smiling, his dwarven chest-warmer rubbed her cute nose against his as the warm lump on Koda’s left shifted and he felt Arthene burrow her face into his hair more on that side.

“Dun wanna,” Arthene murmured, hugging the arm that she was using for a pillow tighter between her full breasts.

“If you are sure, Arthene,” Calandra replied with an evil grin on her lips and amusement dancing in her olive eyes. “I’ll happily take your turn.”

“Whuh?” Arthene murmured, one yellow eye popping open before blinking slowly as she stared at Calandra and her position atop of Koda.

Slowly, awareness rose in that eye until Arthene lazily swiped her messy pile of brown hair out of the way and frowned up at Calandra.

“Don’t lie, Cal,” Arthene said thickly, her voice also still clouded by sleep. “I know you well enough to know you’d just hop right on and wake me up by riding him.”

“Maybe,” Cal hedged, her grin growing wider. “But maybe I’d also be considerate and let you get the chance to take him for a ride as well. If only to roll you out of bed a bit earlier.”

Arthene continued to frown petulantly, which was rather adorable for someone of her size and build.

Before Arthene could formulate a reply, the scrape of footsteps came from above Koda’s head and he craned his neck to look.

Sienna was walking towards them, a small smile on her lips as she studied the naked tangle half covered in their traveling cloaks.

“I see you three are awake now, time to get some breakfast and get moving again. Finna said she spotted what looks like a smoke-trail a few hills over that she wants to check out,” Sienna said, coming over to squat down at their heads.

The redheaded huntress started running her fingers through Arthene’s thick mane, finger-combing the dense tresses and scritching at her scalp. This calmed the bear spirit and she gave a happy rumble while rolling her shoulders and leaning back into Sienna’s legs.

“All right, love,” Koda said, watching Sienna soothing Arthene with an easy, gentle touch. “I have some news from Thera, too.”

“Oh? Good news, I hope?” Sienna asked, her soft smile redirecting from Arthene to Koda.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you when we get dressed. Is breakfast almost ready?”

“That’s the other reason why I was heading this way,” Sienna answered, leaning down to press a kiss to Koda’s lips. “Finna and Samira said the camp-bread was almost done, so I should come wake you if Calandra hadn’t done so.”

“Beat you to it,” Calandra teased, sticking her tongue out at Sienna.

The dwarven woman immediately regretted that gesture, as Sienna struck like lightning. A quick snatching gesture and a pinch of her fingers had Calandra’s tongue captive and the dwarven woman making protesting noises around the trapped appendage.

“Don’t push it, Cal,” Sienna said smugly before releasing the captured tongue and giving Arthene another gentle head scratch behind one rounded bear ear. “Come on you three, the sun is up and the day is wasting.”

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Koda passed on his news to the others while they ate breakfast. It was a simple meal, a thick oat porridge with chunks of salted meat sliced up into it, along with a simple flatbread studded with dried fruit that had been toasted on the rocks of the firepit.

“Ohh, I miss Sloane,” Arthene murmured while munching sleepily on a thick hunk of flatbread.

The incarnate bear spirit had managed to get dressed, barely, but her thick brown hair was still a mess. She leaned heavily into Koda’s side, clearly wanting cuddles but her grumbling stomach demanding food distracted her from that but she still tried.

“Yes, I miss Sloane too. She offered to teach you, Koda?” Finna asked from across the fire, the lapine spirit watching Arthene’s sleepy snuggling with a gentle smile.

“More like demanded to,” Koda chuckled. “She insisted on it several times while I was with Thera. I think she’s as excited as you two were to finally walk the world again.”

“Worlds,” Finna reminded him, her smiling eyes shifting from Arthene back to Koda. “Sloane liked to roam the worlds as much as any of us. Auroch migrate constantly, and it is part of her nature. She and I would cross paths regularly on our wandering, though she tended to move slower across the land than I did, she didn’t really slow down for the winter.”

“She seemed like a nice gal,” Koda said with a shrug, which earned him a smirk from Finna and a sleepy laugh from Arthene.

It was the mortified look from Sienna that told Koda he’d said something weird or wrong.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Koda…” Sienna said after a moment, her forehead scrunching in concern while she rubbed at the tip of her nose while arranging the words in her head.

“What?” Koda asked again, starting to get a little irritated as it felt like Sienna was simply refusing to answer his questions.

“Sienna, he doesn’t know,” Finna reminded the wolf-eared woman. “We’ve taught Koda a lot, but the identities of all the primal spirits that are kin to Arthene and I is not one of the subjects we’ve covered.”

“It’s just… jarring. Thundering Sharphorn is one of the primal spirits that were part of the lessons that the headwoman’s family taught us…” Sienna sighed, her ears wilting to either side and shooting Koda an apologetic look.

“It’s not like Koda needs to be respectful,” Arthene mumbled. “Finna and I don’t care, and I’m sure most of my kin don’t either. Hell, my Lady wants to—”

Arthene abruptly cut off and stiffened, her thick hair actually fluffing up suddenly like she’d received an electric charge before she shook herself and grimaced.

“What?” Koda asked, setting his bowl down and turning his attention fully onto Arthene where she leaned into his side. Seeing her hair in its newly extra-frazzled state, he started using his hands to try and comb it down again.

“Nothing, I just let myself run off at the mouth when I was sleepy,” Arthene said stiffly before turning to nuzzle into Koda’s neck. “Regardless, you don’t have to worry about being overly familiar. Any of the incarnate spirits who recover or emerge in the coming years will have you to thank for the power to do that, and I guarantee my Lady will ensure they are aware of that.”

Koda studied Arthene for a moment, but she kept her face tucked into his neck where he couldn’t get a good read on her features. Glancing at the others, both Sienna and Samira looked confused while Finna had a knowing look but shook her head when he locked eyes with her. Calandra was smirking, but Koda could tell from the twinkling in her olive eyes that she wouldn’t divulge her own suspicions either.

Whatever, Koda thought with a long, drawn out sigh. It’s not like I don’t have my own guesses…

“Well, I didn’t get enough of a chance to talk with Sloane to get her whole life story or portfolio in the dream,” Koda said instead. “Care to enlighten me?”

Samira perked up before glancing towards Finna questioningly, as if asking if it was okay for her to speak.

“Go ahead, Samira,” Finna said with an indulgent smile. “I’ll just jump in to correct anything that you might have off.”

Samira gave a sharp nod before turning a bright grin to Koda. The amused dancing of her tail increased in speed as she straightened up more and entered her ‘teaching pose’ as Koda thought of it before launching into an explanation.

“So Sloan Sharphorn, or Thundering Sharphorn if you use one of her titles, was known for many things…”

Samira spent the rest of the morning regaling them with the handful of stories she had regarding Sloane’s old exploits. Everything from teaching the cow beastfolk the way of the land to farm and build wild gardens to establishing several trade-routes between worlds by shaping roads with her travel, to reminding Thera’s enemies of the implacable, devastating charge of a stampeding herd.

When Samira was done and they had finished their breakfast, the others were all firmly more awake and set about packing away their campsite in the small grove of trees that they’d chosen to settle down in.

Finna pointed out the thin streamer of smoke that she’d spotted early that morning and they broke into a steady run in that direction, all agreeing that it was likely the sign of either a group of local hunters or maybe a patrol from the army that was hopefully weeks at their back currently.

The streamer of smoke continued to grow over the course of an hour as they got closer to it. The great distances of the plains and the vanishing horizon actually hid how far away it was.

Based on its size, Koda started to worry that they’d somehow had a portion of the baron’s army maneuver around them. But after topping the last rise and seeing dozens of stretched-hide yurts with their colorfully dyed sides, Finna and Arthene both declared they must have stumbled across one of the local plains tribes.

This was confirmed by the fact that within five minutes of cresting the rise, Koda spotted a group detach from the milling campsite and angle towards them at a rapid pace.

“Horses,” Finna relayed with a serious nod of the head that made her ears bounce up and down. “Not surprised, they would be right at home here.”

“Then it is likely the Hillstrider tribe,” Samira said from Koda’s other side. “This should be part of their range if I am remembering right. We should slow down and let them approach us.”

The caracal woman turned her eyes onto Koda directly and gave him a soft smile.

“They are a fully nomadic tribe, and one of the ones that I’d hoped we would find out this way. They’ll know more about where the others are and any indications of trouble. But they’ll also be more defensive at first.”

“Let em,” Calandra grunted from the rear of their formation. “If they get too uppity then we can deal with that.”

“Not likely to happen,” Samira replied with a shake of her head. “They’ll likely bluster a bit, but with Arthene and Finna with us, I doubt they will start anything. Especially if the other tribes have passed word along over the winter. While the Silent Plain and many others batten down in winter retreats, the Hillstrider tribe continues to migrate while pursuing the auroch herds.”

By this point, Koda could make out the individuals in the rapidly approaching group. Nearly two dozen warriors armed with spears and bows were bearing down on them at a rapid sprint. Long manes of straight hair in shades of black and brown streamed behind them, decorated with flashing white and black feathers.

Something about how the light caught the feathers as they danced in the breeze made Koda’s heart surge as the group approached and he could make out more of them.

Just as the others had suggested, the approaching group appeared to be made up entirely of horse beastfolk. The upright ears and flowing tails were harder to make out at this distance, but Koda had learned what to look for.

Much like Samira, they were dressed in buckskin pants, but unlike the caracal woman, these new folk wore dyed linen shirts that shimmered in the bright light of the morning as they ran.

“Slow up then,” Koda ordered as the other group closed to within a few hundred feet of them, and his group decelerated as Calandra cut out the wind spell she’d been using to speed them along.

Koda felt the full weight of his body return as the buoying wind that had been at his back raced past him and up into the sky once more. It stirred up a brief cloud of dust and sent loose grass scattering a moment later.

The approaching group, led by a trio of black-haired men that appeared to be brothers, slowed abruptly at the surge of wind that kicked up between them. The spears that had been carried cross-body were shifted and the shining iron tips gleamed as they were directed towards Koda’s group.

The approaching beastfolk slowed to match their speed to Koda’s group, who continued to slow until both sides were walking rather than running. The horse beastfolk were wary, their ears upright and focused on the group ahead of them while a few on either side of the group scanned the hillside for threats.

“Who are you to enter the Hillstrider lands uninvited?” asked the foremost of the trio that appeared to be in charge.

The man was big, easily nearly six and a half feet tall before you included his ears. The spear held across his chest was several fingers thick and quite sturdy, with several leather cords strung with feathers and bone charms decorating it. The man’s thick features were set in a frown as he studied the eclectic group in front of him, but his eyes lingered on Samira the longest.

“Representatives from the north,” Finna said, stepping forward to stand beside Koda on his left while Sienna fell in on his right without comment. “We come from the Ivory Spear tribe to speak with those who roam these lands and pass on grave news.”

“Longears,” sneered another of the trio, his nose wrinkling as if he smelled something while staring up at the larger Finna derisively. “We don’t need the warnings of those who bow before the human god.”

The sneering man turned a derisive look towards Koda, but Koda ignored it. He had more than enough to deal with trying to keep Sienna calm with a hand on her wrist.

When the man had spoken derisively of the Ivory Spear, Sienna had stiffened and Koda had caught her tail beginning to fluff up in anger. When he caught her wrist, she turned to glare at him, a glare that softened almost immediately when she met Koda’s gaze and he gave her a small shake of the head.

Arthene’s low growl from behind him told Koda that he might need to step up his efforts to keep his girls calm if this spiraled further. Thankfully Finna continued to talk, though he was immediately unsure if her words were helping or making it worse.

“It shows how the Hillstriders have lost their way if they are so quick to dismiss ancient kin beneath the open sky,” Finna drawled, tilting her head to one side and letting her long ears, which had stood upright initially, flop over to one side.

“Don’t talk to me of kin!” snapped the younger man, glaring at Finna. But before he could dig himself deeper, the leader of the trio held up a hand to stop him.

“Calmly, brother. Your anger burns far too hot. I have warned you of this in the past.”

“The Ivory Spear turned their back on the ways of our people centuries ago!” protested the younger hunter, his glare turning to companion now instead.

“And you’ve heard the stories just the same as I have,” snapped the older warrior, his neutral expression turning thunderous. “You heard the word passed from the Whistling Grass when we traded with them weeks ago.”

It took Koda a moment to place that tribe, but after a moment he remembered the boisterous Jordan, a deer beastfolk, that he’d met early in the previous winter. The Whistling Grass was one of the tribes that had sent representatives to the Silent Plains during their early winter meetings, and they were allies as far as he was concerned.

“I don’t care. The Whistling Grass were fools to believe stories woven by the Silent Plains and the Ivory Spear. If the Goddess was still alive, there is no way she would dishonor us by choosing a human champion!”

“I’d consider my next words very carefully,” Koda said, his voice like stone as he turned to regard the lippy young man.

“Why? Are you upset to finally come across one of the Free Beasts that refuse to kneel before you, human?” snarled the younger hunter.

“No,” Koda snapped back, his own anger rising at the disrespect the young man was showing right now. Koda knew, instinctively, it wasn’t the disrespect being shown to him that bothered him so much. It was the derisive air the young man had while panning his eyes over the girls with him.

“Why not?” growled the young warrior. “It seems you’ve been collecting bedwarmers of the other tribes. I see that the Ivory Spear and Silent Plains have made their offerings, as well as one of the dirt-diggers. Are you here to demand a filly as tribute?”

The third of the trio had been watching the byplay back and forth carefully while the leader of the trio just shook his head. It was when the silent third’s eyes landed on Koda’s darkening expression that his mask cracked and concern raced over his features. Concern that was rapidly ratcheting up to panic when Koda spoke.

“As it is ordered by my Lady, Thera Ivorycrown, Queen of Beasts,” Koda said, his voice deepening into a snarl. “All beasts should run free beneath the open sky. I would never bind someone to me unwillingly, and to imply such is an insult to my family and my blood.”

The leader was looking back and forth between the lippy young warrior and Koda now, his brows knitting in concern but a look of resignation on his face.

“Why should I fear your family, human? Are you some son of the human lords that seek to steal more of our land? I don’t see your people’s armies here to back your claim, just you and your slaves,” spat the idiot.

Koda’s instincts roared at the repeated insults to his mates. It didn’t matter that Finna was with him and they had not sealed their bond yet as mates, the inner beast already recognized her as family and kin, just as it claimed the tribes that he’d met thus far as kin through Thera.

He’d known his instincts sang the loudest in defense of others. It was why Thera had given him the title of Aegisclaw and what he’d learned over the months meditating on what tribe dwelt within his ancient bloodline. That instinct to ward those of Thera’s people extended even to these long-distant children that he saw bore the ancient bonds to the Beast Queen.

But here stood an upstart, hot of blood with insults fresh on his lips for Koda and the bonds of love and protection over his mates, as well as the tribes they came from that he called family as well.

He felt Arthene shift behind him and the thump of her bone club coming to land head first in the dirt. He knew that if he did not act, his mate, the Den Mother, would put this cub in his place.

A shifting on his right and the creak of wood under Sienna's grip told him that his wolf was reaching the end of her patience as well.

So Koda acted, and the beast in his soul surged upwards from the shadows once more. He caught a burst of a white so brilliant that it gleamed like polished silver. Flashing yellow eyes and sharp curving claws held high.

When the conversation had started, the two groups had stopped roughly twenty feet apart. And Koda cleared that in a single breath.

Ruby fire, this time shot through with threads of brilliant silver, erupted from Koda’s skin as he stepped forward. In between heartbeats, the fire fell into the familiar form of his totemic gauntlet before racing to cover the rest of his body in the leather, bone, and stone armor leaving only his head bare.

The bounding stride brought Koda’s long black hair into the air like a fanning sail as his right hand closed around the upstart’s face.

The claws on the end of his right gauntlet, the one formed of Thera’s last consecrated totem when he arrived in this world, closed around the young warrior’s head like a snapping bear trap.

Initially, the bone claws had barely been the tips of his fingers sharpened. Over time they had grown with the power he’d recovered for Thera into inches-long blades.

Curved blades almost a foot long and wickedly sharp snapped closed over the head of the insulting warrior. The palm of Koda’s hand engulfed the young man’s face as he bore the cocky warrior to the ground with one hand, slamming him off balance and into the grass in a single motion.

Koda could see one wide, terrified eye peeking between two of his fingers as the startled brave tried to figure out how he’d ended up on his back even as his kin turned to react to Koda’s sudden invasion of their space.

“I am Koda Aegisclaw, champion to the Beast Queen Thera Ivorycrown,” Koda snarled. “By my blood I consecrate the land and claim the powers of the earth and sky in her name. I am of the lost bloodline of her faithful, returned to aid her rise once more. I will not allow you to insult my mates like this further, whelp.”

The young hunter, formerly so cocksure and confident to spit at Koda’s feet and insult them, fainted dead away.