Making monster girls 8 f.., p.16
Making Monster Girls 8: For Science!, page 16
“These are fickle spirits,” Olette commented, leaned her head back, and sniffed at the warm, evening air. “They can help you, but they can also turn against you. That’s why we don’t associate with them. We asked for their help long ago with the jackal and the hounds, but their help came with a price.”
“What do you mean?” I muttered.
“Before we were forced out, we didn’t leave the forest very often, Charles,” the elven woman warned. “Not alone, at least. You make a pact with something you’re unfamiliar with, and it will want something from you, always. The desert spirit, dry and dead, wanted blood, so it took it from any one of my daughters who stepped out of the safety of the tree line.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Matilda grumbled, and Olette nodded along knowingly. “I’m glad we never tried to reach out to the damn thing, I guess.”
“After we stopped feeding it,” the green-haired elf murmured. “It wanted revenge, so it gave the jackal and her hounds a clear path across the desert toward us.”
“Did you do anything in retaliation?” I breathed.
“What could we do?” Olette pondered. “We could’ve asked the forest spirit for help, but there is only so much she can do. Her powers only include the area within the trees and the desert... Well, it takes up so much space. Sure, the forest spirit is strong, but--”
“No.” I nodded. “There’s only so much you can do. I understand. Don’t worry, Olette, we’ll make sure the jackal and the hounds get what’s coming to them. What they’ve done to you and your daughters is inexcusable.”
We’d already passed through the clearing in the middle of the forest where Aschere and I had initially found the elven women, but there didn’t seem to be anyone here. The tents were empty, and all of the tall lamps were cold from the light rain. Olette lifted her head for a second time as we reached the clearing’s edge. Then, the green-skinned woman lowered herself closer to the ground.
“What is it?” Matilda hissed and hung over the elven Queen’s shoulder.
“Stay very quiet,” Olette warned under her breath. “We’re close. I can feel them just ahead. They’ve moved closer to the edge of the forest and are preparing to run to the caravan. They need a horse to get across the desert, maybe even some supplies.”
Matilda and I didn’t answer, only nodded, and then the three of us crept forward through the darkened trees. Something happened around us, and I wasn’t sure what it was at first. When we were inside the clearing, the wind and rain were so loud I could barely hear Olette and Matilda’s voices, but here, the noise around died out. My feet didn’t make a sound against the dry leaves rustling across the soft dirt, but my heartbeat was so loud I thought it might give our position away.
For a second, I could’ve sworn I heard the blood pumping within my own veins along with all the other sounds. My skin crawled as if every inch of it were covered in beetles and a strange, whistling sound echoed in my left ear. I slowly realized it was the sound of Matilda’s breathing. The desperado’s heartbeat was almost as loud as my own, and I feared the guard would hear it like the thumping of a drum in the distance.
Olette, on the other hand, was utterly silent. The elven woman didn’t seem to breathe at all, and her heart barely registered a sound inside the hushed forest. My eyesight seemed to change and shift, too. The colors around me brightened, and the moon, hidden by the swirling clouds cast even more illuminated shadows against the billowing leaves of the palms overhead. Through the trees, I could make out the desert in the distance as if I could see through them. When I glanced at Matilda out of the corner of my eye, the desperado seemed to be experiencing the same thing as me.
Olette’s ability was peeking through, but it wasn’t her full power. If she could do all of this to our senses, what else was she capable of? We moved closer, and I felt as if I saw everything through the elven woman’s eyes. The green-skinned Queen moved a palm leaf out of her way, and the three of us froze in place. The desert stretched out in front of us in an endless expanse of wasteland. When I looked at it now, I felt an eerie wariness I hadn’t before because of what they’d told me about the desert spirits that wandered this desolate place.
If I’d had my normal senses, I wouldn’t have seen the guard entirely cloaked in black crouching right in front of us, but with Olette’s heightened senses, it was almost as if I were looking down at her in broad daylight. I could see the intricate wrinkles in her coat from where it bundled against the dirt, the sparkling shards of sand caught in her dark hair, and the glint of sweat on her cheek as she turned to look to the left. It was as if everything I was seeing was through a magnifying glass. I could even hear the sound of the guard’s breathing and blood pumping as ours died away to nothing.
Suddenly, the entire forest fell unnervingly silent, and Olette lifted one of her delicate hands into the air. It felt as if we were in a tunnel, and the wind whipping around us lowered to nothing more than a whisper. We’d spent a few hours in Olette’s presence, but the sound of her roots and vines was unmistakable. It was like a rope being thrown forward and then pulled taut with a snap. Before I could even register what had happened, the green and brown appendages ripped up from the ground and trees. They wrapped up the guard like writhing snakes, and before the woman could even scream, an incredibly thick vine wriggled over her mouth.
Olette lifted the woman a little higher and hung her upside down in front of the three of us. The elven woman slunk forward, reached out with her right hand, and stroked the guard’s trembling cheek. The woman groaned and struggled against her confines but right as the elven Queen’s fingertips grazed the guard’s jawline, she retracted the hand.
“You’re not welcome here,” the green-skinned elf whispered in her strangely melodic voice. “You were never welcome here, hound. Why do you insist on coming and taking what was never meant to be yours?”
The guard’s bright blue eyes softened, and a glossy sheen passed over them. This was more than just an illusion, it was a trance the elven woman was putting her under. Suddenly, the vine covering the guard’s mouth loosened, pulled away, and rested gently against her slack chin.
“We don’t need you anymore,” the hound slurred. “This is the first of many.”
“The first of many what?” Olette asked in a calm tone and lifted a single eyebrow.
“Attacks,” the guard breathed dreamily. “The Queen isolated the part of your blood that gives you abilities. She has what she wants, so there is no need for any of you. The first task was to give humanity powers, and now that’s done, there’s only one thing left to do.”
Olette’s golden eyes and her expression never shifted but there was something different about her posture. Her shoulders and spine stiffened, and the vines wrapped the guard tightened even more. The hound let out a pained squeak, and her face turned bright red in the darkness around us.
“We’re no longer needed, are we?” Olette asked in a low, grave voice. “That’s why you’ve been attacking us and not taking any of us with you, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” the guard drawled out in a whisper. “There’s no need for you, your blood, or your women anymore. So, we’ve been tasked to kill you. Your species is useless to us now, so go ahead, show me your belly and let me kill you.”
Somehow, the guard’s limp hand dropped from inside the roots and vines and brandished a knife limply in the air. The blade glinted in the moonlight, and the tip brushed against Olette’s bare chest. The elven woman stared down at it with wide, emotionless eyes. For a moment, I thought she’d walk straight into it, and I moved to push her away, but Olette simply lifted her right hand closer to the guard’s face.
“I have a mother,” the elven Queen stated. “Just as you do. I was born, just as you were, but you still think you have the right to come here and kill those you do not understand because you are made of flesh and bone. To me, a higher being, you are worthless. A shameful mockery of what my daughters and I are. You were not born with these abilities naturally. I was. I am the highest on the food chain in the natural order of things, and you, a mere human, are the lowest of the low. You require tools and aid to feed and water yourself. Tell me, what is stopping me from killing you? What is stopping me from taking away the gifts that were stolen from my people?”
Olette stepped closer so their noses almost brushed together, and the elven Queen glared down into the hound’s wide, terrified eyes. The guard didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to as Olette spoke again.
“Nothing,” the green-skinned beauty hissed through her teeth. “There’s nothing stopping me from doing that. Not even the man beside me, whom I’ve pledged my allegiance to, could stop me, and I doubt he would try. I could kill you right here, right now, implant one of my seedlings inside of your corpse, then bury it in the marshes, and I’m sure one of my daughters would sprout from inside your rotting body. You see, the human form is full of tasty nutrients, especially with your stolen abilities. I’m sure my daughter could feed off your body for months, but let me tell you this. I won’t do that. I might kill you, but I won’t start one of my seedling’s lives with someone else’s suffering. I’d just kill you and let it be the end of it. You see, that’s the difference between the two of us.”
A heavy silence settled over us, and the guard processed what the elven Queen had just said. Suddenly, everything Olette said clicked into place for me. The sorrow and pain the elven women went through were transferred over to the newly born aristocrats, and that’s why they could never live truly happy lives unless they went through my machine. My blood replaced the elven women’s blood, therefore, giving them a truly new life.
“By fucking science.” I whispered, but both Olette and Matilda paid me no mind.
“Go ahead.” The guard gasped, and her eyelids lowered even more as Olette’s abilities heightened. “Kill me. I don’t care. As long as I did my duty for the Queen and died a true hero’s death.”
“A hero’s death?” Olette scoffed.
“We won’t kill you.” I grinned, stepped in, and placed a gentle hand on the elven woman’s shoulder. “I’m going to give you a new life. Not only that, but you’ll be joined by all of the other guards, too, so you won’t be alone. I will tell you, though, if you knew what was coming, you’d be begging for death a little bit more desperately.”
“Should we drag her back to camp?” Matilda asked with a crooked eyebrow.
“I have a better idea,” the green-skinned woman muttered, then turned toward me. “Does your machine fix broken bones? Internal bleeding and such?”
“Yes, I believe so.” I nodded. “Why?”
“No reason,” Olette giggled. “I just hope the fall doesn’t kill her, but the sand should cushion her.”
Suddenly, the elven Queen leaned forward and brought her green-tinted hand in front of her face. She bent her wrist, aimed her fingers at the guard’s face, and then puckered her lips. As the elf blew out, a fine dusting rose from her flesh, sparkled through the air, and nestled itself on the hound’s face. Instantly, the woman’s face tensed then relaxed to the point her round cheeks hung down, and her lips hung slack. Without a moment’s hesitation, Olette lifted the hand she’d just blown on and flung it back over her shoulder. Instantly, the vines and roots holding the guard in place tightened once more, drew back as if preparing for launch, and then hurled the guard over the treetops.
“Holy shit, ‘lil lady,” Matilda gasped and followed the guard’s movement with her eyes. “That was certainly a wild ride. I wasn’t even the target of your onslaught, and I was shakin’ in my boots. Hell, the vines and roots weren’t as scary compared to the things you said to her.”
“I merely told her the truth.” Olette smiled. “We all come from the earth, no matter what way we are born into it. It seems some of the women have forgotten their roots. Some of them don’t even know them, but I am more than happy to teach them.”
“Well...” The desperado laughed heartily and clapped the elf on the back. “How ’bout we celebrate a ‘lil bit? We did some great stuff tonight, and I won’t deny it. There were a couple of times I was pretty scared, but damn, Charles, you run a pretty tight ship, and I respect ya for it.”
“I thought you were only going to compliment me once in our lifetimes?” I chided, and the green-haired desperado wrinkled her nose before giving me a shy grin.
“Aw, now,” Matilda giggled. “You’re makin’ embarrassed. Hey, why don’t we celebrate right here? Just the three of us? I feel like I wanna get to know this little green woman a little better. Not only that, Charles, but I haven’t had any good quality time with you yet. I think we need some one-on-one time. Well, three-on-three time since Olette is here.”
The elven Queen and I stood idly by as the green-haired desperado searched around the forest floor and randomly grabbed fallen branches along with sticks. Olette glanced at me out of the corner of her eye with an amused smile playing about her perfectly shaped lips. The elf was beautiful in the moonlight with her soft but also angular features, plump lips, and bright, sharp eyes.
“Alright,” the desperado whispered to herself. “We need a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Oh, here we go! Hmmm… I need some rocks. Where are the damn rocks around this forest? Oh! There you are, you pesky little devils.”
Olette and I watched as Matilda hastily built a makeshift campfire, then she lifted her head and furrowed her arched eyebrows. The desperado sat with her knees dug in the sand for a second, tapped her chin, and then brought two fingers to her lips. A shrill whistle broke out around the forest and echoed across the empty desert. A soft sound reached my ears in the distance, and as it moved closer, I realized it was a rhythmic gallop of the desperado’s mechanical horse.
“There ya are, my darlin’,” Matilda soothed as the horse neighed softly and nuzzled its silver, metallic head against her ample bosom. “Don’t you look so pretty in the moonlight?”
“What a strange beast,” Olette commented and floated forward toward the horse. “Of course, I’ve seen animals like this before but never in this color. Is this a different crossbreed? So strange and beautiful…”
“Hey, now,” Matilda warned and lifted a hand in the air. “Nannie is a bit fussy, so if you wanna have a look at ‘er, you gotta come from the front and not the back. That’s a sure way to get yourself kicked in the chest, and I will tell ya, that don’t feel so nice.”
“Of course.” Olette nodded and came a little closer to the mechanical horse with both of her green hands raised in front of her.
“And just so ya know,” the desperado said. “She’s not a crossbreed or anything. Hell, she ain’t even a breed. She’s mechanical. Entirely made out of metal, bolts, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t know anything about. She was made for me, and well, I’d say we’re best friends, but she does have a pretty nasty attitude when I don’t give her coal disks on time in the mornin’.”
“Matilda?” I smiled and moved forward as Nannie, the mechanical horse, allowed Olette to brush a hand over her cold, metal side. “How exactly are you planning to light a fire out here? We don’t have anything to do such a thing.”
“Aw, Charles,” the desperado purred and waved a nonchalant hand in my direction. “Don’t you worry ’bout nothing. I already thought out all of this stuff.”
The Matilda lifted her mechanical arm, opened a small side panel on the inside of her arm, and then aimed her palm at the dry sticks and branches. The green-haired beauty depressed an unseen button, and a single blast of fire exploded out of her palm. Before I could even blink, a roaring fire came to life right in front of me.
I laughed lightly, shook my head, and then settled myself down in the sand next to Matilda. The desperado was always filled with surprises, and I had to admit, that’s what I liked about her the most; she kept me on my toes.
“So, this is it?” Olette asked and gestured toward the fire. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, but it’s certainly unexpected.”
“What is your version of celebration, Olette?” Matilda joked. “Going back into the forest and crawlin’ inside a bean pod? Is that what you do? I’m sorry, I don’t really know what you do to relax and unwind.”
“No,” the elven woman laughed and settled herself on the other side of me. “We elves don’t need sleep or rest, so we work to make the community better.”
“I don’t want to offend you,” the green-haired desperado uttered with raised eyebrows. “But isn’t that a little… boring?”
“Maybe to a human like you,” Olette explained. “But the elven community is a rich one. My daughters and I spend a lot of time building and solidifying our bonds.”
As the two of them continued to talk, Nannie sidled over and stood expectantly behind Matilda. Without missing a beat in the conversation, the desperado reached over her shoulder, formed into a fist, and rapped it against the side of the metallic beast’s belly. The sound echoed for a second, and a few loud clunks reached my ear before a small door in the bottom of the horse’s belly dropped open. Seconds later, a large bottle fell from inside and landed neatly in the sand below. Matilda nodded along with what Olette what saying and then reached for the bottle.
“What is that?” I laughed as I interrupted their conversation.
“Didn’t I tell ya?” the desperado grinned eagerly. “I had the scientist build a special compartment for a few bottles of rum. I can’t go anywhere without it. I’m not a drunkard like a lot of those aristocrats in town, but I do like to get rip-roaring drunk every once in a while. Also, it helps me sleep, so there’s nothing wrong with tuckin’ it every blue moon.”
Matilda lifted the bottle to her mouth, gripped the cork between her teeth, and then yanked it out with an explosive pop. She let it drop into her lap and then sucked down a few gulps of the booze. When she finally pulled it away from her lips, she let out a satisfied sigh and then offered it to me with a sly smile. I grabbed it from her hands, threw back my head, and drank my fill. The rum was strong, and I hadn’t drank something this potent in a very long time. When I finished, I turned and offered Olette the brown-tinted bottle, and the elven woman eyed it curiously.
