Chapter 21

I awoke sometime later with Lillian and Janet still in my arms. I looked down to see that their hands were still intertwined. I wished we were done with all this, allowing me to bask in the love and tenderness of the women in my life. I was growing tired of all the darkness and death that seemed to permeate my life, despite my attempts to prevent it. Still, they are the light that has come out of that darkness and I do not think I would do anything that would have kept that from happening.

The issue now was our timetable. Janet was nearly close to six months pregnant and if we wanted to have this done and then be safe, we would need to strike at the Voguel before we went to Int’samba village. We originally did not plant for these pregnancies, well, I know I did not. However, there was nothing to do about it now. Lillian had been checking the others and was happy with the state of the babies. She was also glad that her time in her wolf form had not accelerated her pregnancy. Still that gave us three to four months until Janet gave birth and another month or so more for the rest of the births. That is of course if they complete their full forty weeks of pregnancy.

Reluctantly I began to get out of the bed. Nature was calling and I did not want to make a mess in the bed. Janet and Lillian naturally awoke from the movements and both had a cute look of annoyance on their faces.

“I am sorry, my dears, but nature calls and I really do need to answer,” I said with a smile, before I began moving to free myself of their delicious bodies.

They giggled and let me free, embracing one another as soon I had vacated the bed. I gave a quick glance around the room and saw everyone asleep except for Irenia, who was reading a book. I gave her a smile as I unlocked the door and headed out. I heard the lock engage and made my way downstairs to the outhouse. It was late in the night, given how dark the sky was. When my business was concluded, I returned to our door and knocked on the door. We had decided on a knock system when we were on our way here to ensure we did not open the door for the wrong person.

It only applied when one of us was out of the room, as it is easy to subdue and then take the place of one person. I knocked on the door, which was answered by a unique mix of knocks. It was a question of sorts, so I then responded to that with the proper answer. A minute later the door opened to a smiling Irenia and I entered.

“So, you are on guard duty?” I asked. “How did you six go about choosing who would be on duty?”

“Well, we decided to wrestle naked for who would get to sleep. The first two losers were pitted against one another with the loser of that match fighting the final combatant. The loser of that match is stuck on duty. I lost because I got too excited with all of the naked bodies rubbing together. We were all sweaty and flopping everywhere. You should have seen it.”

I stared at her in shock. My mouth hung down low enough it could probably start catching bugs. Irenia burst out laughing loud enough to startle the others awake. Each of them having a look of shock and responding as if there was a threat.

Irenia fought to contain her laughter and said, “By the gods, Davik, the look on your face was absolutely priceless. We drew sticks and I lost. Sorry, my love, no naked wrestling, I am afraid. But when we get home maybe we can do just that. For an audience of one, of course.”

The others started laughing when they realized what was going on and more than a few agreed that the naked wrestling sounded like a plan. I grumbled and only caused more laughter. We were feeling hungry, so we dipped down to have a meal at the dining hall before returning to our room. Since we were not really tired, we began discussing our plans.

We knew there was a hidden lair deep in the northern woods, deep enough that no one had come across it. Given that it had been made deep in a former cave structure, it would stand to reason that it went unnoticed. Even if someone had gone into the cave, the entrance could have been hidden by some mechanism. The other option would be like the cave I had retreated to for a time. The entrance could be hidden by the illusion of a solid wall.

The question on my mind was, why was there a noticeable presence at the cave, now? You would think that they would still remain hidden. That could mean a few different things.

First, that something drastic was about to happen that removed the need for secrecy. If that were the case, then it would be imperative that we strike before the next blood moon. While we knew the cure was already being administered in nearly every village, town and city, there were still places that our enemy could go that would not get them exposed. Janet was worried that only the outlying area surrounding the capital was getting the cure, but those within the high walls of the city were an unknown variable.

Second, given the general fear of the people around the region, Voguel had no worries of anyone getting close enough to notice them. We were worried about the group in the woods. Voguel would be paranoid of anyone near their lair and might not believe that they were just wandering hunters looking for game. We only hoped that they would be able to get away without being seen, or worse, killed.

The third and most worrisome, was that they were no longer hiding because they were planning to move to a different location. If this were the case, it would hamper our efforts and extend our time here far longer than I was comfortable with. The risk to my growing family would be too high and the others agreed.

With those likely scenarios in mind, we worked to develop a base strategy that would deal with all of those possibilities. Once we got the base prepared, we would spend the next week preparing for the arrival of the rest of our support. Once they arrived, we would be ready to move forward with our attack. I only hoped that it would be enough.

Aphronia awoke to the dim light of a nearby torch. Its light cast dark shadows as it crossed paths with the iron bars of her cell. She could not recall what day it was, as there was no outside light to denote the passage of time. She felt weak and hungry, having refused the two meals they had brought. She feared that something would have been done to the food. What it could be she did not know. She feared they would put high doses of Curare into the food, which would not kill her, thanks to her Voguel curse. Instead, it would paralyze her for hours. She would be awake but unable to move or fight back.

She shivered at the thoughts that sprang to mind when she considered what they could do to her in that state. She also was not sure how much longer she could hold out before she could no longer ignore the pangs of discomfort her hunger was causing. She needed to somehow break free and escape, but both her legs were chained to the floor. Even if the door were left unlocked, she could not get out.

As Aphronia pondered her options, she began to hear footsteps approaching and moved quickly to the part of the cell farthest from the door. She was embarrassed to be scurrying away like a frightened animal.

The footsteps grew closer, until a cloaked figure stood before her. He drew back his hood to reveal that it was the man she believed was her sire. However, when she had stabbed him with the cure coated knife, he had revealed that it was someone else. She watched as he stood by the door to her cage, a smug smirk on his face.

“So the traitorous bitch has awoken at last,” he said with anger and sarcasm dripping from every word. “How do you like your new accommodations? And your clothing, I am sure you like your new attire?”

She continued to glare at him, as he knew all her clothing had been cut from her restrained body by his guards. They had taken them to check for any other hidden weapons, including very demeaning searches in her ass and pussy. When the guards were satisfied, she had no other weapons, she was chained up for punishment and left to the cloaked man. He took great pleasure in whipping her, leaving large welts across her back and ass. When he had covered as much of my exposed skin as he could he attacked her front.

Every time a strike landed on one of her nipples or the cleft of her legs, Aphronia was filled with the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. She passed out before he finished and, when Aphronia had woken up, she had been chained up in this cell. She still only glared at him, not giving him the satisfaction of a response.

“Still as defiant as ever, I see,” he replied with a smirk. “I am not surprised, and to be honest, I would have expected nothing less. That said, I would not make any plans for escaping any time soon. You have no allies to assist you. The master has seen to that. He is most displeased with the hindrance you caused and if the final stage of his plan were not about to come to pass, he would have come here himself to deal with you. No doubt you wonder how he could contact me, since I had been cured? He sent his personal carrier bird to me.”

Aphronia felt her blood run cold. She had indeed cured him and that meant that the plans the Torgal had talked about were real. She began to wonder when they would start administering the cure and a thought flashed through her mind. What if they were doing it already? If it was tasteless and colorless, then they could dump it into the water supply, and no one would know. If that were indeed the case, that would mean a severe loss of Voguel numbers.

“So you cannot speak with our magnanimous leader?” Aphronia asked, her words dripping with sarcasm. “Well then, let us hope he sends another bird soon, or else it may be too late.”

He cocked his head and replied, “He is going to be busy with our final step towards securing the region. He will not be sending a bird for a few weeks. What is so important that he would need to know?”