Chapter 17

“I’m worried about Anika.”

“Why is that?” Kal asked as he poked at some sizzling meat on the rack above the shelter’s fire. Behind him, Kashka sat on the green carpet just outside the marble circle, patiently awaiting her breakfast.

“She’s falling for you, hard.”

“I’m with Kashka on this,” said Ria from her seat on his shoulder. “She reminds me a lot of Sera when you first met her.”

The mage cringed as he remembered his first encounter with the gorgon. He spent almost a week frozen in place by her petrifying gaze. During that time, she had sex with him repeatedly. But while she enjoyed herself with his cock, Kal had been physically unable to climax. The experience nearly drove him mad. Kal doubted the sprite was referring to that particular part of their meeting.

“How do you mean?”

“Until you threw her out of the tent for attacking Kuto, she was absolutely smitten with you.”

“Do you think we’ll need to worry about the same jealousy?”

“Probably not. You didn’t have another companion with Sera. Anika seems to accept your and Kashka’s relationship. I think that’s why she went home last night. She’s waiting for an explicit invitation to join you in bed.”

Kal transferred pieces of cooked meat to a wooden plate as Kashka stood and walked over to him. “While we’re talking about our spider friend joining you in bed. How are you feeling about that?” she asked.

“That’s a hard question to answer,” he replied, handing her the plate before piling the remaining food onto another for himself. “I’ve read about lamias and centaurs, but I’ve never encountered face to face a monster girl with a body that’s mostly animal with the head swapped for a human torso.”

Ria spoke a few words in elven to make a small round table and two seats rise up from the white marble before saying, “Centaurs pre-dated monster girls.”

Kal looked at her in confusion as he and Kashka sat down, “Really? Wait, what do you mean by ‘pre-dated.’ Shouldn’t it be ‘pre-date’?”

Ria shook her head, “Your books called the centaur race secretive and impossible to track down. But many are convinced they are just gone. Centaurs were extraordinarily proud, much like the elves but they were also considered one of the monstrous races, like orcs.”

“They stopped having male children?” Kashka asked.

“Yes, but unlike the goblins, orcs, and kobolds, centaur pride didn’t allow them to settle for human partners, even to sustain their race. It’s believed they accepted their time had passed and gradually died off.”

“That’s sad. I can’t imagine letting my species die out because I had to sleep with humans,” said Kashka. “But then, I kind of like the human I’m sleeping with.”

“And I’m glad for that,” said Kal. “But I’m sure that I read somewhere that centaurs exist in a land far to the southwest of Prentas’s Tower.

“There do, but those aren’t true centaurs. Like Anika, they are monster girls patterned after things that already existed.”

“Women who were half-spider existed before monster girls?”

Ria nodded, “They weren’t human, like our new friend, but elves that lived deep underground. As punishment, they removed the elf’s legs and replaced them with the body of a giant spider while turning them into mindless slaves. It was intended to be a fate worse than death. However, the process had flaws, and a few retained their intelligence. A few of the smart ones escaped into the caverns and Once free they discovered their cobbled-together bodies could breed. Afterward, these spider people rescued those like them who retained their minds. Eventually grew into their own, separate race.”

“I’m curious, how did you learn all this? You said your memories fade over time.” Kal asked.

Ria put her hands on her hips and glared at the human. “Because when you are lost in your studies, I don’t sit and gaze up at you adoringly, waiting for the next thing you need to be stored or retrieved,” the sprite’s eyes enlarged comically as she stared up at him in faux reverence. “While your nose is buried in books, a lot of time I’m reading too. You just don’t notice.”

“Now I feel like an ass. So what are the differences between the monster girl centaurs and the true centaurs?”

She turned around and slapped her ass. “Mostly this.”

“Their butts? I don’t understand.”

“Not their butts, their pussies. Simply put, a centaur female was built for a centaur male, and to my knowledge, you and your enchanted cock are the only things that might have satisfied one. Monster girl centaurs have human pussies. They’re much deeper than normal but still mostly human.”

“Why deeper?” asked Kashka.

“Their back half is that of a horse. Probably in case some randy stallion catches her unaware. If her pussy were only as deep as yours, it would probably kill her.”

The cat-girl winced and put a hand on her lower belly.

The mage’s thoughts drifted back to Talin’s birth. “That sounds extraordinarily painful when it comes time to have a ... foal.”

“Not so. In fact, it’s far easier for monster girl centaurs to give birth than either true centaurs, horses, or humans. Monster-girl centaur babies are significantly smaller than true centaurs. While they may be tight enough to enjoy human cock, part of the birthing process loosens the flesh down there, so she doesn’t tear when the foal comes. Shortly after, everything tightens back up and she’s ready to breed again. But, like most monster girls, she probably won’t get pregnant again for at least two years.”

Kal drummed his fingers on the table as he pondered this new information. “A lot of monster girls have a limited ability to transform parts of their bodies, “e said. “I wonder if the ‘new’ centaurs do the same while giving birth.”

“That was an unexpected yet interesting history lesson,” said Kashka as she pushed her empty plate away. “Shall we go see our leggy new friend? Last night was fun for getting to know one another, but we didn’t get much information about the Reaver’s encampment.”

“I still think we are being overly cautious on this. Even if they have those belts, I don’t think they will be much challenge without the ape-women. Stronger than a man, swift through the trees, and able to fill me with lust just from looking at them. They were my biggest worry,” said Kal.

“You’re throwing caution to the wind? There’s a first,” the sprite deadpanned.

“Come on, Ria. You were there in the mountain pass. I took out an entire band of robbers by myself, then we wiped out something like thirty Gnolls without breaking a sweat. They even caught us by surprise and my only scratches came from rolling across the ground. How much bigger and more dangerous could these Reavers be?”

“Probably not much, but the belts are the only thing Anika knows about that came from the ruin’s armory. Tavik and his lieutenants may have much stronger gear. Besides, your healing spells won’t help you much against an arrow in the eye.”

“Fair enough,” the mage conceded. “Let’s see what our new friend can tell us.”

The complete shock on Anika’s face when Kal arrived with Kashka and Ria close behind seemed unwarranted to the mage. But given her previous history with men, this was likely the first time a male ever returned to her nest of his own free will.

After about an hour, Kal was ready to sleep with the spider-girl just to see if it would keep her on topic. His mere presence proved to be a considerable distraction, and her explanations kept drifting off as she stared at him. Her lack of attention also meant the drawing on her nest’s silken floor detailing the Reaver’s base offered little pertinent information.

“Wait a minute,” he said after the umpteenth time Anika trailed off. Again she was gazing at him like she couldn’t believe he was standing there. He had an idea that might help, but didn’t know if it would improve or worsen the situation. “I’m going to go pick up a good-sized rock I saw on the way here. Ria, return to the tent and put out the fire. I’ll need the space. We’ll continue this over there when I get back.” Kal walked toward the nest’s entrance, then took a few jogging steps before leaping off the edge and falling out of sight.

“NO!” shrieked Anika as she launched herself toward the opening. Kashka sprung straight upward to get out of the spider’s way. Shifting from hands and feet to paws, she sunk her claws into the woven silk ceiling and hung there as the arachne passed below. Ria wasn’t so lucky, and one of the spider’s legs sent her spinning into the wall.

Anika scanned the forest below for a moment before burying her face in her hands and sobbing. “I knew it!” she wailed into her palms. “I’m so ugly, even the nice men can’t stand being around me!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, settle down,” said Kal as he floated back to the nest, “I’m a magic-user. I can do things other humans can’t.” He hadn’t gotten far before he heard the spider’s yell and felt Kashka’s mind go blank as she reacted to danger. Had the spider not been so focused on searching the underbrush for his corpse, she might have seen him hovering beneath his tent.

Her hands came away from her face as his feet touched the nest. Disbelief warred with ecstatic relief for a moment before she reached out and grabbed him. Kal severely underestimated Anika’s strength as she shoved his head between her breasts and held him in place with her arms and leg-like pedipalps.

Despite chatting all night, this was their first time touching and the coolness of her skin surprised him. It wasn’t unpleasant or clammy but still significantly cooler than warm-blooded monster girls. While her breasts weren’t huge, they were large enough to cover his nose and mouth when pressed so tightly against them.

“After what she told you about men throwing themselves from her nest, I think you should be happy she isn’t slapping you silly,” said Kashka, walking up next to them while picking silken threads from under her claws. Switching back to hands, the cat tapped Anika on the shoulder, “He needs to breathe.”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry,” said the arachne, then took a few steps back from the entrance and let the mage go. “I don’t know what came over me,” she said, blushing.

“That was my fault. I didn’t consider how that would look to you. Ria, are you okay?” he asked as the sprite finally joined them.

“Yeah, my wing got tangled in the wall after she knocked me away. It took a few seconds to remember I can just make them disappear and reappear.”

“Okay, we’re going to try this again, but without thinking you’re so ugly I decided to kill myself.” He lifted a hand to the spider’s breast and rubbed his thumb across the nipple. Anika gasped and bit her lip but didn’t move. “I said I think you are pretty, and I meant it. But, when I get back, I need you to focus on the fight with the Reavers and not me.” The arachne responded with a tiny nod before Kal backed out of the nest, activating the flight rune so she could see he wasn’t just dropping to the ground. He hovered there for a moment, then turned and flew back along the path he took to her nest.

“Ria and I warned you Anika was falling for you this morning, didn’t we?” Kashka sent after a few seconds. Immediately behind the message came an image of the arachne staring where she lost sight of him while gently teasing the nipple he touched. “I don’t think you made the situation better.”

“One thing at a time, “ replied Kal as he scanned the forest beneath him for the rock he remembered seeing in this area.

The mage returned to the tent a short time later and set the small boulder on the marble floor. Reaching out with geomancy, Kal stretched the stone into a disc about as wide as his thumb and large enough for Anika to stand on comfortably.

After retrieving a piece of chalk from Ria, he handed it to the spider. “Draw out the ruin’s structures.”

“How is this different from what I did over in my nest?” she asked.

Kal smiled, “You’ll see.”

If nothing else, The arachne’s confusion helped her focus. Within a few minutes, she had more detail on the stone disc than after an hour in her nest. As she finished the main structures and added finer details, Anika told them about the Reaver’s defenses.

“The rectangle in the middle is the main temple. Tavik’s quarters are located there. His second in command and bodyguards have taken up the other rooms. The top of the temple is also where the entrance to the interior is located. It winds down through the structure before opening up into a circular room. From there, the three southern hallways are catacombs. Notches hewn out of the stone walls hold the bodies of the ancients. The corpses were treated with a substance that slows decay and makes them inedible to scavengers. Many burial notches also have small trinkets and even the remains of flowers, so I think these were places people came to visit often and pay their respects to the dead. Sadly, grave robbers desecrated many of the notches long before my mother arrived. The tunnels to the north are where things get interesting.

“Directly to the north lies a labyrinth filled with most of the traps I’ve disarmed. I believe this is where either the king and queen were buried or where the kingdom’s treasures were kept. I’ve come to think there is some magic at play as well. I have yet to find the other side of the labyrinth, even though I have spent days down there at a time just searching. Either that or the maze is far more massive than I could imagine.

“The northeastern tunnel collapsed, but graverobbers dug it out only to find it was unfinished anyway.”

“The northwest tunnel opens out into a deep chasm with a river at the bottom.” She looked up at the other three,” I haven’t explored in there very far. The light from my mother’s locket’s didn’t reach the far wall, and it sounded like something big moving around in the darkness. I chose not to risk it. I think the creature moved in after the ancients left because it looks like the path continues downward.”

“Or it was the reason they left,” said Kal. “That’s all very interesting, but we really need to know more about the Reavers. Maybe we can tackle the chasm on another visit once you have your home back.”

Anika stared at him, “You’re coming back?”

“If my path brings me back this way, I don’t see why not.” He pointed at the temple she drew in the middle of the disc. “How tall is that?”

The spider blinked repeatedly, unable to believe what she heard, before slowly turning back to the map. “It’s about this tall,” she said, leaning over and holding her hand over the rectangle.

“Keep your hand there,” Kal instructed as ropes of earth magic extended from his fingers. The rectangle denoting the temple raised up from the disc until it bumped Anika’s hand. She jerked her arm back as if burnt, then wiggled her fingers.

“Did I burn you?” asked Kal. “Stone can get hot when I mold it too fast.”

“No, I’m not hurt, you just surprised me,” she said. Looking down at her map, Anika pointed at the temple. “It’s not a block. It has large terraces that get smaller with each level and a long stair that runs up the front. Tavik has the Reavers’ best archers positioned at each corner.”

Kal made the modifications to the block, then went from structure to structure over the map with Anika until they had a close approximation of the Reaver’s encampment.

“One last thing. How high are the trees?”

Anika held her hand out on the edge of the map. Like before, Kal lifted the stone to touch it. He studied the poorly shaped tree and temple for a moment. “The temple is taller than the forest canopy?”

“Yes, but most of the trees in the ruins have been cleared by the Reavers. It’s made it difficult to eavesdrop on them.”

“How so?”Kal asked.

“I have special threads that I use to find passing prey. If they are tight enough, I can hear people speaking near the far end of the thread. I have a few attached to this building,” she pointed at a long structure to the right of the temple’s raised courtyard, “which is their barracks. She then pointed to a very large square building in the map’s southwest corner, “Also here on their storehouse. I think it was where the priests who tended to the temple lived. Down here,” she pointed to a smaller structure south of the barracks, “ is where their craftsmen work. I know they have a metalworker, a few woodworkers, and a man who works with hides and fabrics.”

“Where do they prepare their food?”

“In the corner of the storehouse. They sectioned the area off and knocked out the outer wall,” said Anika, tracing out the opening then stepping aside as Kal added the detail to the map.

“Ideas?” the mage asked the women. “The temple is going to be the most difficult to reach without being noticed.”

“If we go in at night, there should be more men in the barracks sleeping,” Kashka offered.

Kal frowned, “Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t like the idea of killing someone in their sleep.”

“That’s fine,” said the cat-girl, “I don’t have those reservations. I’ll take care of it.”

He looked over at the cat where she leaned against the canvas wall. “Now I feel like a wimp.”

Kashka shrugged, “You have your moral standards that come from tales like Sir Stormhammer’s. You feel like a man should face his enemy and die with honor and that slitting the throat of a sleeping man is cowardice. I honestly understand. But I’m an assassin, and a sleeping target is a low-risk target. Were these the town guards in Lassedo, I wouldn’t think that way. But these are murderers and thieves. The town guard wouldn’t kill me in my sleep. These men would in a heartbeat, so I have no qualms about putting down sleeping Reavers. Keep your sense of honor intact. I’ll take care of it.”

Kal sighed, “I’m not sure that made me feel better, but if it doesn’t bother you, then the barracks are your responsibility. I imagine there will be guards around the storeroom.”

“They have guards stationed on top as well,” said Anika. “It was mostly rubble when they arrived and they rebuilt using a lot of its original stone. Most of the wood from the ruins’ trees went toward its roof.”

“Normally, I’d say we could trash the storehouse to bring the rest running. But if you are going to be living there afterward, you may want some of the supplies. Do you think you can take out all of the storeroom guards?”

“I think so. But my hairs kill slowlyand like the one back on the road they usually die screaming. We’ll lose any kind of surprise after that.”

“At that point, we will hopefully only need to worry about the archers and Tavik’s entourage. You said there is an archer in each corner on each of the levels?”

Anika nodded.

“That’s twenty men there,” said Kal. “Maybe six guarding the storeroom. I’m doubting they would set up guards around the craftsmen’s workshops or the barracks. Do they have any men patrol the camp’s perimeter?”

“Yes, eight or ten groups of two that patrol back and forth in one area. It’s not uncommon to see four of them standing together talking since they found the armory. The only other group to worry about is the men out on the road dismantling the ape-women’s traps. There are six or seven in each group working up and down the road at the same time. Less if I can get one alone.”

“Do the guards work in two shifts or three?”

“Three from what I’ve seen.”

“We’re probably looking at around a hundred men, not including those working on the traps. That’s a lot of Reavers.”

“You’re glad you didn’t go rushing in now, I’m sure” Kashka smirked.

“I was expecting a third of this number,” said Kal. “Something closer to the gnolls. Not a small army enhanced by magic.”

“These aren’t an army, though. These are men on the wrong side of the law who banded together. You won’t see the same kind of discipline here as with Turam’s men. A good scare might send them scuttling like cockroaches.”

Anika frowned, “Don’t be so sure of that. They may lack military discipline, but those who join the Reavers quickly learn to be scared of Gaboh, and now Tavik. If Gaboh’s punishment for trying to leave the Reavers was public torture and death. Tavik made it clear thought the same way about deserters a few days after Gaboh died. The Reaver screamed he was just gathering berries until his last breath. I think it was more to make the men fear Tavik than because the Reaver did anything wrong.”

Kal sighed and shook his head slowly. “Sacrificed as an example. Any possibility some of them might be interested in another chance at freedom? Maybe the craftsmen, or the cooks?”

“Unlikely,” said the arachne. “The craftsmen were appointed to do the jobs after the last ones tried to escape or died some other way. These aren’t men with years of experience in their crafts, just bandits told to do the job under threat of death. The only ones you might be able to convince are the servants. Most of them were merchants or wagon drivers the Reavers kept to take care of the ape-girls’ needs. Once the girls left, they were charged with cleaning up after the Reavers.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Maybe twenty, but don’t expect them to help us. Most of them saw their companions tortured and killed for trying to run. These are broken men who only do what the Reavers tell them. They also bear the Reaver tattoo, so unless you see them getting ordered around, they’re nearly impossible to tell apart. The only thing I can offer is that I think most of them stay up here,” she pointed at a small building in the northwest corner of the map. “Gaboh kept them up there so the other Reavers wouldn’t hear them having sex with the apes.”

“How do the Reavers know which ones are the servants then?” asked Kashka.

“I ... I don’t know,” said the spider.

The mage pondered the news of the servants for a moment before speaking. “If there are only twenty, then they are probably known around camp by their faces, or maybe something they wear. Regardless, if they aren’t allies, they’re just men we don’t need to kill. What about taking the camp out in stages?” He tapped the camp’s perimeter, “We take out the guards patrolling over here, then the men in the barracks, then disappear. It will put the Reavers on high alert but will also thin their ranks significantly.”

“I’m not sure about that,” said Anika while staring at the stone map. “We know they have the belts ... Wait ... The belts! That’s how we can tell the servants apart. They didn’t give them belts!”

“Makes sense. You wouldn’t want your captives to be extra strong. That’ll help us weed out the non-combatants. What were you saying about the belts before that?”

“I believe those belts came from the royal armory and were meant for the royal guard. But this number of belts would have been for footsoldiers. I don’t know what kind of armor or weapons may have been wielded by the guard’s elites. If we take out those in the barracks then come back later, it will give them a chance to outfit the survivors with much better equipment.”

“Any idea how much better?”

“Carvings on the labyrinth walls portray a prince throwing lightning while another breathed fire. Depictions of the king showed spears bouncing off him as he ordered large golden cats to rip apart his enemies. I assume they were gold. Robbers scraped anything precious off the inscriptions long ago.”

The mage frowned. “That’s too bad. So it sounds like a single attack is safer. Although, I’m a little worried about the prince’s and king’s abilities. If Tavik got ahold of those ... We’ll just have to be careful.

“Alright, so Kashka will handle the sleepers in the barracks. I’ll fly up above the temple and deal with the archers from above. Anika, can you take out the men at the storehouse?”

“As I said, they’ll make a lot of noise, but yes.”

“Not to worry. Once I start dropping their archers, you’ll be lucky if they notice the Reavers screams.”

“I have one request,” said Anika, lifting up her abdomen. She pointed at the glass-like hairs growing on the top and back. “I’d like to have all of these available before we go after the bandits. Luckily, mine grow back in a few days, instead of having to wait for my next molt like the smaller versions of me.”

Ria rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. I’m sure it’s ‘only’ because you want your hairs to grow back,” she said with a couple of lewd thrusts of her hips that made Anika’s face turn bright red.

“Actually, this will work out,” said Kal, ignoring the sprite. “I’m worried about the princes’ armors and want to see if there’s some way to counteract their effects. This will give me time to study.”

“I think I might have a way to help Anika make her little spear-hairs go further. The poison will take a little to make, but she should drop a man with one needle instead of four. It’ll just take a little longer and you’ll need to be careful not to touch the tips afterward,” Kashka chimed in.

“Will it stop them from screaming? I hate it when they scream,” said the arachne.

“No, nothing I can mix up acts that fast. How exactly do those hairs kill your prey?”

“I don’t know other than they cause intense pain after a few seconds. Can pain alone kill someone?”

Kashka shrugged. “Not that I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

“If I didn’t believe extreme pain could kill a person, I would after watching that Reaver die yesterday.”

“Really?” the cat-girl asked. “What makes you think pain alone killed him?”

“The expression on his corpse was ... relief,” said Kal, his tone somber. “In his final moments, it looked like he preferred death to whatever torment those hairs cause. At least it was quick. As much as I hate bandits of all kinds, I’m not into torture or prolonged suffering.”

“It’s either use my hairs or pounce on them and rip their head off,” said Anika, sounding annoyed. The human and cat’s criticism of her special hairs was beginning to get on her nerves. She wasn’t expecting them to look over at her with curiosity.

“Can you do that?” asked Kal.

“Probably,” she said, suddenly nervous under their stares. She wasn’t sure if they were horrified by her claim or impressed by it. “I haven’t actually tried on a human, but I did get mad and pull the leg off a boar when it stuck me with a tusk.” Anika made a motion with her foreleg of yanking the imaginary boar’s limb to the side.

“Gruesome as it sounds, that makes me feel a little better. I was worried those hairs were your only defense.”

“I could bite them too, but it only makes humans want to mate with me. It paralyzes other animals but still doesn’t do the inside-melting.” The arachne shivered, “And they just slurp it up. That’s so gross.”

Kal clapped his hands to distract the spider from her thoughts. Her face was starting to turn a little green. “So we have a plan?”

“I think so,” said Kashka before looking toward Anika.

The arachne sighed. “It’s only six, and they will be distracted,” she muttered while staring at the diorama of her old home. The spider wore a hesitant smile as she looked up at the other two. “I’ve only ever attacked one Reaver at a time.”

“You’ll be doing the same here. Attack one, dispatch them as quickly as possible, then move on to the next,” said Kashka.

“You make it sound so simple.”

“In a way, it is. Ria, store this please,” said Kal, waving at the map. “Move fast, strike hard, make sure they can’t get up and stab you in the back later. That’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way.”

“I, for one, am glad you still haven’t learned it very well,” said Kashka as she took a tiny book out of one of her pouches and started flipping through the pages.

“Okay, you have a point.”

Anika looked between them. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?”

“Kal and I met when I tried to kill him,” said the cat without looking up from the book. “His magic nullified my first two attempts, and my owner was going to kill me if I failed again. I was desperate,” she glanced up to glare at Kal for a moment, “and exhausted when we finally fought. The smart thing to do would have been to kill me. Instead, he just knocked me senseless then saved me from a trap my owner implanted in me. From my perspective, I’m glad he isn’t thorough about not leaving enemies behind.”

“In fairness, there weren’t any other enemies on that roof, or we may not be having this conversation,” said Kal.

Anika stared at the cat and human, “How can you two talk about nearly killing each other so casually?”

“Because it was unfortunate at the time, but those things needed to happen how they did for us to be here. When her owner tried to poison her after I knocked her out, I got the impression she may not have been hunting me of her own will. So, I took a chance.”

“Since you brought up poisons, there are a few plants in here,” she held up the little book, “that I’ve never seen until yesterday.” Kashka looked up at Ria, “Do you mind coming with me?”

“What?! But they’re going to...” the sprite pointed at Anika, and Kal then made a couple of rude motions with her hands. When the cat-girl just raised an eyebrow at her, Ria slumped in the air and mumbled, “I guess so.”