Building harem town 6, p.4
Building Harem Town 6, page 4
“Hey,” I said gently.
“Jack!” Aleia gasped. “How were the orcs? Is everything okay?”
“They’re fine,” I assured her. “For now.”
The women exchanged glances, and even Layla the bear started to slow down and give Nicola a side eye with all three heads. It was like the bear could sense the slight change in mood and was ready to protect her brunette friend from whatever was making her frown.
“We met a new species,” I said. “Well, a species I’ve never encountered before anyway. They said they were acting on behalf of Ethan.”
“Shit,” Nicola said, and Penelope gently slapped her arm as the kids giggled at the swear word.
“Who are they?” Celeste asked curiously. “It’s not anyone bigger than the ogres, is it? Or anything with more than one head? I’m not sure I can handle that kind of shock again.”
“Not this time,” I sighed. “It seems we’re up against… dragon-men.”
There was a pause as the women raised their eyebrows, and Nicola ran a hand through her dark hair with a pensive look on her face.
“Dragon-men?” Penelope asked. “My lord, I’m not sure what you mean by that?”
“They look like human men,” I explained. “They stand up on two feet, they have the bodies of human men. Except they also have scaly wings and horns.”
“Wow,” Aleia gasped. “I don’t think I’ve even heard of anything like that. Have any of you, sisters?”
Nicola and Penelope shook their heads, but Celeste looked thoughtful as she played with her fiery hair.
“I think I’ve heard legends about them,” the harpy said. “I never really thought much about it, though. It was the sort of thing I heard about when I was a child, but I’d hear so many stories I couldn’t possibly work out which were true and which weren’t.”
I took a moment to wonder how anyone would be able to tell fact from fiction in this world. The place was crawling with fairies, ogres, and elves. Would a story about dragon people really seem that far-fetched and crazy?
“So, they’re working for Ethan?” Penelope said. “I suppose he’s angry that his alliance is one god down.”
“Did Luke even count as a god?” Nicola snorted. “That slimy bastard was more of a snake than a deity.”
“How many more gods do you think are in Ethan’s alliance?” Aleia asked. “What if they all attack at the same time?”
“We’ll be ready,” I promised. “We already have a strong army, but I want to make sure we’re the best we can be. Celeste, I want you to come to the forest with me.”
“Of course,” the harpy agreed. “Back to the deep forest?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Now that I have that territory, I want to make sure I spread the word to everyone who lives there. We have much more of a chance of defending that land if everyone in it is on the same side.”
“Good idea.” Nicola nodded. “We have a fortress of crazy gnomes and a cave full of orcs, I bet there’s loads of more species in there that could fuck Ethan up.”
“That’s my opinion, too,” I laughed. “I wish I could give you a few days’ rest, but Ethan isn’t going to play by any rules. But I promise one day, your only concern will be laying in the sun in a tiny outfit while we play with our children.”
“That sounds nice,” Nicola sighed.
“I’m ready for anything,” Celeste said. “I’m a battle bird, remember? I live for this kind of thing.”
“Great,” I chuckled. “In that case, we’ll leave the convent in the capable hands of your sisters.”
“We’ve got it.” Nicola grinned. “If any of these dragon-boys try to come in, I’ll sic Layla on them.”
The bear growled with all three heads in agreement, and the gnome kids screeched and ran off to find their mother.
“Take care,” I said. “Those dragon-men were probably only one species in a long list. Who the fuck knows what else Ethan’s hiding in those mountains. I’ll check back in to make sure you’re okay, of course.”
“We will be ready for anything.” Penelope nodded. “Be careful in the forest.”
“I will.” Celeste smiled as she spread her scarlet wings. “I can’t wait to see what’s waiting for us there.”
“Maybe you should take something with you?” Aleia suggested. “Like we did for the fortress gnomes. The elves have freshly baked some more treats, could you bring some along as a peace offering?”
“Good idea,” I said. “If those cakes don’t win them over, then I don’t know what will.”
“I’ll go and grab some from the kitchen!” Aleia said, and she hurriedly fluttered off on her lilac wings.
I noticed that the deep purple color on her wings had begun to spread even further. That was what happened when fairies were pregnant, and I guessed it meant the baby was growing healthy inside her.
The notion made me wonder how quickly her pregnancy would develop, but then I eyed Nicola and recalled that the beautiful priestess probably didn’t know she was also expecting a baby yet. I zoomed in a little on the planes of her golden face to see if I could discern any telling difference yet, but I couldn’t be sure.
The brunette’s eyes seemed brighter today, and while she did practically glow in the sunlight, this wasn’t exactly a new development. Nicola had always looked like a damn goddess, even before I impregnated her with my holy seed.
There was a distant rumble of thunder that interrupted my thoughts, and everyone looked up at the sky.
I half-expected to see an orange storm rolling in, but the clouds stayed a dull gray as they drifted over the limestone walls.
When Aleia returned, she handed Celeste her satin waist pouch that was packed full of baked goods.
“That smells amazing,” Penelope sighed as the harpy tied it around her middle.
“It does.” Celeste grinned. “I have an all-powerful god and sweet treats on my side, so I don’t think there’s a creature in the forest that could say no to that.”
The harpy smiled proudly as she shot into the air, and she did a few twirls above the convent before she waved at her sisters. It was a stunning view as always, but I took a quick moment to enjoy the scene of the bustling convent below. Everyone inside relied on me for a happy life, and I would die before I let anything happen to them.
Celeste stared over the distant treetops for a moment and then began to fly north toward the deep forest.
“We’ll head to the orcs’ cave first,” I said. “I know you’re capable of kicking ass, but I want a whole team of fighters on standby for our trip.”
“That sounds good,” Celeste agreed. “I like the orcs. They’re kind of grumpy, but I feel like they would chop anything’s head off to help me.”
“That’s a good way of putting it,” I chuckled. “And that’s exactly why they’re on my team.”
The harpy jetted quickly over the emerald leaves, and I focused on the next stage in our plan: Recruit as many creatures as possible so when the dragon-men returned, we would have as strong of a force as we could on our side.
I would need to keep a constant eye on our surroundings, though. I doubted Ethan would have cringey entrance music every time he arrived like Luke had, so I had to be ready for a much smarter threat than before.
I knew that Lurk was right, too. There would be things in the forest that nobody would want to fuck with. And that was the point of this whole journey. Even the creepy, odd creatures that nobody messed with would have value, and I would be able to spot it. That was what made me different from the other gods, and that was why I knew I could win against this next one.
It was going to be a bloody fight, but as I flew over the forest with my harpy priestess, I knew that fucker Ethan wouldn’t stand a chance.
Chapter 3
Celeste worked on making record time as she soared north over the deep forest, and I spent most of the time thinking about the dragon-men. I filled the harpy in on all the details of the fight as we traveled, and she was surprised to hear about the ice swords and flying restrictions they seemed to have. She agreed that it sounded like Ethan was controlling their ability to use their wings, and it was just like the power play Luke had pulled with the forest’s magic.
The sun had started to peer out more from the gray clouds, and the sky was beginning to brighten up as the afternoon rolled in. There was a whole orchestra of bird songs below us, and brightly-colored forest creatures could be spotted whenever there was a break in the thick treetops. Ever since I’d restored the enchantments, it seemed that the forest animals had multiplied. I figured they had just come out from hiding, or maybe they were just happier to spend time out and about now.
It still blew my mind to watch the wildlife of my new world. A flock of what looked like bright yellow crows soared below us, and they called out to each other in strange voices that sounded almost human. It was another reminder that there was no way this world could be Earth like I had previously thought.
I kept that mystery at the back of my mind and found myself beginning to think about how the hell I got here when I was pulled out of my thoughts by my winged priestess.
“Nearly there!” Celeste called out. “Are all the orcs coming with us?”
“No,” I replied. “I want to leave the pregnant women protected, not that they need it, but I don’t want any of their babies to be in danger.”
“You would have to be pretty stupid to fight those ladies!” Celeste laughed. “If the dragon-men have any sense, they’ll stay far away from them.”
“They’re tough as hell,” I agreed. “Some of the women did say something odd, too, when the dragon-men had flown off. One said that the dragon guys felt ‘incomplete.’ The two orc women both agreed they sensed there was something missing.”
“That’s strange.” Celeste frowned. “I wonder what that means?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But maybe it’s something we can use against them. After all, everyone has a weakness.”
“You don’t,” Celeste laughed.
“Of course, I do!” I protested. “I go weak when I see you and your sisters writhing underneath me.”
“Jack!” Celeste laughed. “Don’t distract me from my mission! Or else I’ll beg you to use one of your fifteen-minute gifts to come and join me in a quiet spot of the forest.”
“That sounds way more fun than our plan,” I chuckled. “Don’t tempt me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” the harpy laughed, and I tried not to get lost in thoughts about her curved hips and long legs.
Celeste soared down through an opening in the emerald-colored trees and landed gracefully down in front of the orcs’ cave entrance. Lurk stood there with two others, and they nodded at Celeste with a grunt.
The harpy pushed her fiery hair back over her shoulders and folded her wings as she strode over to the burly cave-dwellers.
“How’s it going?” I asked. “Any signs of them again?”
“Not yet,” Lurk grunted as he eyed the clouds. “Got men stationed inside every entrance that leads to the cavern. I hope those icy bastards run into one of my boys in the dark. They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
“Maybe I’ll be able to help with them,” Celeste said. “I do have fire powers, and it sounds like ice is a big part of their setup.”
“That’s why I brought you,” I agreed. “I reckon if you blast them with some of those awesome fire skills, they will be weaponless pretty quickly.”
“How many men do you need, Jack?” Lurk asked. “This is Gavik and Muk.”
The two orc men beside Lurk nodded in turn, and I wasn’t shocked to see they both seemed like they could rip something’s head off if it looked at them the wrong way.
“That’s great,” I said. “I think that’s enough for a recruitment trip. I want to leave most of your men here to protect the cave.”
“Muk,” Lurk said as he turned to face his man. “Go and get two more to guard this spot when we’re gone.”
The orc nodded and silently strode off into the dim tunnel, and his footsteps echoed all around the forest clearing.
I suddenly heard a scream inside the cave, and instantly used my God Vision to check who was in danger. I very quickly regretted that decision as I arrived in the large cavern to find an orc woman lying on her back on top of some blankets as everyone crowded around her. She had her legs in the air, and I hurriedly refocused back outside before I saw anything too private.
“Um,” I said when I was back with Celeste. “Is that one of the women giving birth?”
“Yup,” Lurk grunted. “Her mate is there with her, don’t worry.”
“Does he know what they’re doing?” Celeste asked with concern as another scream rang out.
“What do you mean?” the orc leader asked. “What does the mate have to do?”
“Deliver the baby?” the harpy asked hesitantly. “Or is there a medicine woman in there with her?”
Lurk looked at Gavik with a grin, and the two orcs burst out into a deep rumble of laughter.
“The men are not even needed,” Gavik shrugged. “The women deliver babies by themselves. This is why we work so hard to protect them, they do all the painful stuff.”
“They what?” Celeste asked. “They deliver it themselves?”
The orcs shrugged as if this was the most normal thing in the world, and I almost wanted to go back and watch just to see how the hell that even worked. I respected the women’s privacy, though, and waited as grunts of pain rang out from the tunnels.
If the orc babies were coming, then that could make the caves even more of a target. After all, what better way to send a message than to hurt the young of one of the toughest species in the forest?
Muk arrived back with two other orcs, and they nodded respectfully at Lurk as they took up their positions.
“Let’s get going, then,” I said. “Maybe when we get back, you’ll have a new little member of your clan.”
“Yes,” Lurk chuckled. “I’ll give it a few days before I teach the child how to use an axe.”
I laughed as I checked my God Vision and wondered which direction would be best to explore first. I didn’t want to go too far north since that would give us more chance of running into Ethan, and I wanted to avoid that at all costs until we had a chance to recruit some people first.
“Let’s head west,” I decided. “There’s a whole area past the caves that I’ve never been through.”
“Let’s do it!” Celeste nodded, and she ran her fingers over the hilt of her sword as the group began to walk.
The orcs walked on either side of the harpy, and I just knew that they looked like a force to be reckoned with. Celeste’s lean frame with her fiery hair and wings stood out next to the bulky, gray orcs.
“You fight well, Celeste,” Lurk said as they left the clearing behind. “In the battle against Luke I saw you fuck up some Kappas. Impressive.”
“Thanks.” The harpy grinned. “I’ve been training with weapons my whole life. I’m just glad I have a reason to put those skills to use now!”
“Hopefully you won’t need those skills too much for this journey.” I said. “Where did those Kappas come from?”
“Not the forest,” Lurk said. “They must have come from the other side of the mountains. We would know if those fucking things lived in the area.”
“That’s good,” I chuckled. “Do any of you know what lives down this way?”
“Where to start?” Muk asked. “The forest is so vast, there are things living in every inch of the ground and trees. If we go far enough down this way, we’ll probably run into the griffins.”
“Griffins,” I said thoughtfully.
I knew better than to assume the creatures here were identical to the fairy-tale versions from Earth. From what I could remember, a griffin was half-bird and half-lion, but I knew nothing about them other than that.
“Great,” Gavik groaned. “They can stick their beaks up in the air and use fancy words I don’t understand to make us feel stupid.”
“They’ll feel stupid,” Muk grumbled. “If I cut their heads off and cook them.”
“None of that,” Lurk growled. “They’re annoying bastards, but they never hurt other forest-dwellers.”
“I’ve met griffins before.” Celeste nodded. “I thought we would get on really well because we’re both part bird. Then I tried having a conversation with them and, well, they were stuck-up fuckers.”
The three orcs cheered at the trash talk, and I chuckled as the group bonded over their mutual dislike for griffins.
“Got it,” I said. “So, they’re assholes but probably good to have on my team?”
“I suppose,” Celeste sighed. “They’re actually good fighters when they need to be, but they usually bore people away before anyone tries anything.”
“Their beaks are powerful.” Muk nodded. “And they have strong legs and talons.”
“Great,” I said. “How about we try and keep our cool the best we can whenever we run into them?”
“I’ll try,” Muk mumbled. “But if they start trying to confuse me with fancy words, then I can’t promise anything.”
The group walked through the trees, and small creatures raced under their feet with various squeaks and sniffs. The sun had truly come out now, and the clouds had turned more white than gray. My followers walked quickly and kept their hands on their weapons as they scanned the land around them.
There was a rustling noise to the right, and everyone spun around to see a small, brown creature standing beside a bush. It looked a bit like those animals from the movie Gremlins, but it had a large potbelly and skin rather than fur. Its floppy ears twitched, and huge, orange eyes blinked at us. It was naked except for a ragged pair of shorts that seemed to be made from burlap, and it almost looked like some ugly version of a giant, hairless rabbit that stood on two legs.
It seemed nervous and twiddled its fingers together as it shuffled on the spot.
“A hodge,” Lurk announced. “We mean you no harm.”
A hodge? I had never heard of that before. It didn’t exactly look like the most fearsome of creatures. It was almost cute. Well, maybe not cute, but endearing in a sort of ugly way.
