Chapter 17

I awoke to the sensation of a naked form pressed up against me on either side. I looked and found Lillian on my left and Janet on my right. I was not sure how long I had been asleep but based on the sounds coming from the forest around us, it was close to dawn. I tried to remove myself from their embrace, but that only served to awaken both as a result. I watched as both women stretched their aching muscles and enjoyed the delightful way their breasts jiggled with each movement. I saw the appreciative looks on their faces and was rewarded with a kiss from each of them.

“Good morning, my loves,” I said with a warm smile, as I embraced them both. “I hope that you both slept well, especially you, Janet, given your activities prior to joining us.”

She nodded, “I did, though I did not expect to. I never could stomach what we would do, though I did not do much last night. She did seem genuinely afraid of the knife, but I left it only in plain view. I used other tools to inflict minute amounts of pain and damage. Basically giving her only a taste of what would come, with the hopes that she would see reason before I returned. I would know after our morning meal if her attitude changed at all. I suggest that you take a shift within the woods, to work on your new enhanced abilities. I also do not want you to be there when I do continue my interrogation, despite what you may have done in the past.”

I sighed, but nodded, “Very well, Janet, I will do that, but I do not think that it will be necessary. Lillian can run with me, but make sure that the others are ready for if she tries anything. I would not be able to forgive myself if something had happened to you because I was not there to prevent it.”

“You cannot be there every moment of every day, Davik,” Lillian said softly as she kissed my cheek. “There is always risk in every aspect of life. Not just from the Voguel, but in random everyday occurrences that could injure us or claim our lives. I am sure that growing up in Fardun, you witnessed people severely injured or killed by seemingly random accidents.”

I thought back and agreed that I had seen many of those instances, especially around the logging camp. Many people ended up injured, or the occasional death occurred, due mostly to either someone’s inexperience or faulty equipment that failed at the worst possible time.

“Then, you need to understand that there is inherent risk to everything,” she continued with a sympathetic smile. “We appreciate our man taking care of us.”

I agreed and we shared one more kiss before leaving the tent for our morning meal. Lillian reluctantly changed back into her wolf form and padded out of the tent as Janet and I were still dressing. A few minutes later, we left the tent and made our way to the fire to join the others for breakfast. It was a simple and quick meal of cured meats and fruits with some tea. When that was finished, we broke camp and made ready to continue on our trip. Faye and Cherish would travel the woods to the left of the wagon and Lillian and I would travel down the right. Ingrid and Irene would take point steering the wagon, while the others were inside the wagon interrogating the prisoner. Janet made me promise to not try and find out what was happening or to try and sense what she was feeling through the link while we were traveling. She insisted that I try and dip into the well of energy and test the changes that occurred. She was not wrong, as my abilities would be better served if I trained and ensured I was prepared to utilize them for when we fought the Voguel.

Given how fast I was going to move, Lillian and I stayed back at the camp for a bit, then entered the forest. Gwen knew which way they were going, so first we went in search of food for Lillian.

“Are you sure that it will be enough food to keep you going for the trip?” I asked, casting a glance at my canine companion as we raced through the dense vegetation.

<<Yes, I am sure Davik, >> Lillian replied, her irritation at my question evident through the bond. <<If I have a large enough meal in my enhanced form, I should be able to focus on guarding the prisoner.>>

With the matter closed, based on Lillian’s demeanor through the bond, we continued on in search of prey for her. I stretched out my senses and licked up faint sounds of fauna around us. I dipped into the well within me and marveled at the enhanced range. The well nearly doubled my range and seemed to allow me to focus even better on a prospective target. In only a few moments we located a herd of deer that would suit our purposes and began our hunt. I dipped into the well and allowed it to fill my body. My speed increased and I tripped a few times until I began to utilize my combat awareness to allow me to prevent missteps. Lillian had to enhance herself to keep up and even then, she slowly began to fall behind as it was too much for her.

As I closed in in the deer, I decided to test how much my strength had been enhanced. I drew my knife and held it in my hand, with the blade pointing down, as I prepared to strike. When we came into the clearing where the herd was grazing, they scattered as the noise of our emergence startled them. I locked in on a good target and adjusted my direction to intercept it. I lunged at the deer, sailing over its back, and bringing my blade to bear on its spine. I landed and tumbled into a roll. When I stopped my roll and I was back up onto my feet, I turned to look at the deer.

The knife had slid right through its spine, causing the animal to drop as it no longer could move any more. Lillian came up and finished the job, putting the animal out of its misery. With the deer dead, she began to devour the carcass. The sounds of ripping flesh and the crunching of bone filled the air. I looked down at my blade and was shocked to see that it had been deformed by the force of my attack. It was bent slightly, and I doubted if I could even sheath it at this point. I had a spare in the wagon so I turned and threw the knife as hard as I could at a nearby tree.

The force of the impact caused the already bent knife to fully break, causing the blade to go flying in one direction, while the handle went in another. I was happy that neither decided to fly toward us. After fifteen minutes, I looked over at Lillian and was not surprised to see that she had devoured more than half of the animal already and soon would be ready to go again. I reached out and tried to see if I could still reach them with my senses, but they were just out of range. I pondered how I could ensure the weapons I used would not break or warp in battle when I felt shock and fear through the bond.

I knew that to protect me from what they were doing, half of our group was shielding the rest from the emotions and sensations of their interrogation of our prisoner. I could tell that this had come from Janet, Irenia and Elsie. Lillian stopped eating and dashed off towards the wagon. I took off as well, pouring everything I had into my body and pushing myself as hard as I could. My fear began to take hold and I worried that someone was injured or worse. I could feel everyone and none of them felt like they were fading, so my fear was unfounded for now. I could sense Cherish and Faye were also closing in, but they were nearer.

There was nothing but my determination to get to Janet and the others. My entire focus being on maintaining my speed and ensuring I did not trip or collide with anything. It took less than ten minutes to arrive at the wagon and I had to skid to a stop. I took in the scene and saw that Janet, Irenia and Elsie were all sporting injuries and wounds.

“What happened?” I asked, as I fought to catch my breath. “Are you all okay? Where is the prisoner.”

Janet sighed, “The bitch got away. We immediately started into the more ... intense forms of interrogation. It seemed like she was responding as she should, but something seemed off. It was not until she had broken free that we realized what had happened. She had spent the entire night rubbing the rope that we had bound her with against the edge of one of the seats in the wagon. She had worn it down and just waited for the right opportunity to attack. She snapped the ropes around her wrists just as I leaned in to cut her with a small knife. She had the knife before I could react and had sliced my arm.

“The pain was enough to temporarily distract me and she struck me in the head, disorienting me. Elsie rushed to help me and was stabbed in the side before Irenia could stop her. She kicked and bit at Irenia until she was free of Irenia’s grasp and then sliced her thigh. She then jumped out of the back and raced into the woods as fast as she could. It took a few moments for the others to stop the wagon and they focused on helping us instead of pursuing our captive.”

I felt anger well up inside me. Someone hurt someone that was mine, three of them. They would be made to pay for it, and I would ensure that the pain my ladies felt was returned a thousand-fold. I began stretching out my senses, when I felt a hand on my chest and turned to look at Janet.

“Let her go, my love,” she said with a fierce determination. “As much as I love your fierce, protective nature, it would hinder our plans.”

I gave her a confused look which caused her features to soften from the worried look she had only moments before.

“We allowed this, my love,” she continued as she placed a soft hand on my face. “If I did not want her to escape, she would not have. We allowed her to think that we would not check to see if she had been wearing down the rope. We even made sure to give her a rope that was easy to break. Then I left myself open for her to get loose, reacting slowly on purpose. The others did the same as well, making sure it was easy for her to escape.”