Jax had a bit of a problem when she got too hungry. She had never needed to worry about it before—her master had always been right beside her—but she had a tendency to go a bit feral. When that happened, thinking things through became… difficult.
She was only just keeping it at bay even now. The only things between her and mental oblivion were the two dunderheads below and the mishmash of ill-flavored emotions they kept emitting.
Jax was stuck. Damned if she did and damned if she did not.
Worse, she still had next to no idea as to where she was. Some sort of maze, she guessed. Everything was white though, so there was nothing to distinguish one wall from the next. You could pass a turn and not even notice. It was why she had quickly decided to climb up and out—yet another thing Shadow Shift was useful for. Here, at least, you could sort of distinguish the tops of the walls from everything else.
Not that it had helped much. While she was… feral, she could not really concentrate on much of anything beyond finding her master. Or her next meal.
She was lucky to have found these two. Before then, she had been mindlessly prowling along some kind of invisible barrier that separated one section of the maze from the next. It was only after feeding a little that she realized the maze was not obligated to lead her directly to her master—much to her embarrassment. She would have to find its actual exit first.
Those other sections were interesting, though. She could hear people over there sometimes. Talking amongst themselves. Fighting with things. The wails of the wounded. No emotions though. Either the barrier blocked them, or they were too far away to filter from the air.
So then, why were these two in her section? If it was her section. She was not exactly privy to the rules.
The only clue she had were the differences in the enemies. On the other side, she had seen the occasional monster roaming about, mostly gigantic man-like creatures with a series of four eyes ringing their heads and dragging huge clubs about. They looked dumb as rocks, but with those eyes, you were not likely to be sneaking up on one.
Meanwhile, her side featured nothing but hordes of clicking, wooden… well, she did not really know. Ants maybe? They were about as big as her foot, had lots of legs, and could bite you. She knew that. And each one had a dart it could shoot you with. It did not do much beyond numbing you for a while, but she could guess that if enough of them hit you, you would be in a spot of trouble.
She had not had much difficulty with them, but she could not say the same for the two guards. She had seen them fight a couple of times now. Neither had much in the way of Toughness, so they tired quickly. And they were about as effective with those spears they carried as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest.
Even Donum could do better than these two. She immediately felt guilty at the thought… even if it was true. She loved the man beyond life, but combat was not his forte.
In the meantime, the pair had not moved from this little dead-end they had found for some while. Licking their wounds, she supposed. Although, from the sounds of their breathing…
She blinked a few times in disbelief.
“Mercy’s arse… are them two goons asleep?” she muttered.
“Oh bother. The—cabbage-fucking cock-weas—hem! That is… the poor dears must have gotten all tuckered out. Whatever will you do? Now that they’re all… defenseless, I mean.”
Jax smirked. If there was one thing about this Mia she did like, it was the occasional bouts of uncontrollable swearing. She had yet to figure out what triggered them, but she fully intended to. Oh yes… that she would.
In the meantime…
“Mayhap I’ll add a touch of the drookit to their dreaming.”
“Droo—? Oh, that sort of dream. Hmm. Only a touch?”
“Maybe more,” Jax admitted as she dropped silently to the ground. “Maybe a lot more.”
*****
“What are you doing?”
Mia jumped and spun into a low crouch. The bonfire she had been peering into winked out entirely the moment she looked away, but then, seeing who was behind her, she straightened and began self-consciously adjusting her gown.
Ahnbe merely cocked an eyebrow.
The goddess had an impatient tilt to her hip and her arms crossed beneath her breasts. She had also elected to manifest a full head taller than the Faen, no doubt to look imposing. It would seem she was in a mood, but that was hardly surprising. When one of her former sisters bothered visiting anyone, they usually were.
Her right eyelid fluttered uncontrollably for a moment as the urge to swear came and went. Her difficulties had never exactly applied to her own kind, but idiotic questions remained idiotic no matter their source. She would have to tough it out.
“Nothing really. Just having a bit of fun with—” She stopped and held up a hand. “Wait a minute. How exactly did you manage to get in here?”
Ahnbe’s perfect brow crinkled in confusion. For a moment, she looked around the clearing as though seeing it for the first time.
The lush foliage surrounding the campsite swayed in a gentle breeze. The hard packed earth beneath their feet was bare nearest the fire pit, but long grasses began springing up in clumps and patches the further one looked from it. Meanwhile, a smallish pup tent along with a solitary stool stood off to one side as the only furnishings.
Besides the monolith, of course.
Ahnbe stared at it curiously before returning her attention to the Faen. “How do you think I got in? Though, now that I look at it… this is a very tame sort of weave for him. Where is he, anyway?”
“Well, he’s—“ She started to point toward one of the paths out of the clearing, but once again, she had to stop. “Wait, what? This isn’t Donum.”
Ahnbe frowned and placed her hands on her bare hips. The move momentarily pulled Mia’s attention to the rest of her attire. She was sporting a skin-tight, sleeveless dress that was cut so high up and over the sides of her legs that the front was more loin cloth than anything.
She rather liked it, she decided. Save for the color scheme. The goddess never wore anything short of a garish assault on the senses.
“Don’t play me for a fool, Bline.”
Mia hissed slightly before she could stop herself.
Ahnbe tilted her head back consideringly, then she turned and began to slowly pace a circle around the camp, her eyes never leaving Mia. “Balls… you really have changed, haven’t you. I wonder how much of you is even left in there. I like the tail, by the way.”
Mia hesitated briefly before casting a surreptitious look behind herself. The long and quite fluffy, vulpine tail twitched innocently in response. Like it had always been there. Which it most assuredly had not.
How could she possibly have grown something like that without even noticing? Her dress was even cut to accommodate it! But those questions took a distant second to her main reaction.
She absolutely loved it. It even matched her hair! It was all she could do not to immediately snatch its length into her arms and rub it against her face. But she controlled the impulse. She was not about to make a spectacle of herself in front of her kin.
Seleroan
Hey folks!
I've got merch! That's right, about a month ago, I hired an artist to do some character portraits, and I figured, 'What better way to use them, than letting you guys buy your favorite girl. As a mug!'
Yeah... what can I say? I like coffee.
Anyway, here's the store:
https://the-quest-of-words-merch.printify.me/products
Currently, it only ships to the US. Can't seem to figure out why. Nothing on the webpage mentions that. But that's how it is. If I can figure out a way around it, I'll let you know.
For those of you outside the US, I also still have the Patreon available. And you gain access to the most up-to-date chapters.
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
Jax had a bit of a problem when she got too hungry. She had never needed to worry about it before—her master had always been right beside her—but she had a tendency to go a bit feral. When that happened, thinking things through became… difficult.
She was only just keeping it at bay even now. The only things between her and mental oblivion were the two dunderheads below and the mishmash of ill-flavored emotions they kept emitting.
Jax was stuck. Damned if she did and damned if she did not.
Worse, she still had next to no idea as to where she was. Some sort of maze, she guessed. Everything was white though, so there was nothing to distinguish one wall from the next. You could pass a turn and not even notice. It was why she had quickly decided to climb up and out—yet another thing Shadow Shift was useful for. Here, at least, you could sort of distinguish the tops of the walls from everything else.
Not that it had helped much. While she was… feral, she could not really concentrate on much of anything beyond finding her master. Or her next meal.
She was lucky to have found these two. Before then, she had been mindlessly prowling along some kind of invisible barrier that separated one section of the maze from the next. It was only after feeding a little that she realized the maze was not obligated to lead her directly to her master—much to her embarrassment. She would have to find its actual exit first.
Those other sections were interesting, though. She could hear people over there sometimes. Talking amongst themselves. Fighting with things. The wails of the wounded. No emotions though. Either the barrier blocked them, or they were too far away to filter from the air.
So then, why were these two in her section? If it was her section. She was not exactly privy to the rules.
The only clue she had were the differences in the enemies. On the other side, she had seen the occasional monster roaming about, mostly gigantic man-like creatures with a series of four eyes ringing their heads and dragging huge clubs about. They looked dumb as rocks, but with those eyes, you were not likely to be sneaking up on one.
Meanwhile, her side featured nothing but hordes of clicking, wooden… well, she did not really know. Ants maybe? They were about as big as her foot, had lots of legs, and could bite you. She knew that. And each one had a dart it could shoot you with. It did not do much beyond numbing you for a while, but she could guess that if enough of them hit you, you would be in a spot of trouble.
She had not had much difficulty with them, but she could not say the same for the two guards. She had seen them fight a couple of times now. Neither had much in the way of Toughness, so they tired quickly. And they were about as effective with those spears they carried as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest.
Even Donum could do better than these two. She immediately felt guilty at the thought… even if it was true. She loved the man beyond life, but combat was not his forte.
In the meantime, the pair had not moved from this little dead-end they had found for some while. Licking their wounds, she supposed. Although, from the sounds of their breathing…
She blinked a few times in disbelief.
“Mercy’s arse… are them two goons asleep?” she muttered.
“Oh bother. The—cabbage-fucking cock-weas—hem! That is… the poor dears must have gotten all tuckered out. Whatever will you do? Now that they’re all… defenseless, I mean.”
Jax smirked. If there was one thing about this Mia she did like, it was the occasional bouts of uncontrollable swearing. She had yet to figure out what triggered them, but she fully intended to. Oh yes… that she would.
In the meantime…
“Mayhap I’ll add a touch of the drookit to their dreaming.”
“Droo—? Oh, that sort of dream. Hmm. Only a touch?”
“Maybe more,” Jax admitted as she dropped silently to the ground. “Maybe a lot more.”
*****
“What are you doing?”
Mia jumped and spun into a low crouch. The bonfire she had been peering into winked out entirely the moment she looked away, but then, seeing who was behind her, she straightened and began self-consciously adjusting her gown.
Ahnbe merely cocked an eyebrow.
The goddess had an impatient tilt to her hip and her arms crossed beneath her breasts. She had also elected to manifest a full head taller than the Faen, no doubt to look imposing. It would seem she was in a mood, but that was hardly surprising. When one of her former sisters bothered visiting anyone, they usually were.
Her right eyelid fluttered uncontrollably for a moment as the urge to swear came and went. Her difficulties had never exactly applied to her own kind, but idiotic questions remained idiotic no matter their source. She would have to tough it out.
“Nothing really. Just having a bit of fun with—” She stopped and held up a hand. “Wait a minute. How exactly did you manage to get in here?”
Ahnbe’s perfect brow crinkled in confusion. For a moment, she looked around the clearing as though seeing it for the first time.
The lush foliage surrounding the campsite swayed in a gentle breeze. The hard packed earth beneath their feet was bare nearest the fire pit, but long grasses began springing up in clumps and patches the further one looked from it. Meanwhile, a smallish pup tent along with a solitary stool stood off to one side as the only furnishings.
Besides the monolith, of course.
Ahnbe stared at it curiously before returning her attention to the Faen. “How do you think I got in? Though, now that I look at it… this is a very tame sort of weave for him. Where is he, anyway?”
“Well, he’s—“ She started to point toward one of the paths out of the clearing, but once again, she had to stop. “Wait, what? This isn’t Donum.”
Ahnbe frowned and placed her hands on her bare hips. The move momentarily pulled Mia’s attention to the rest of her attire. She was sporting a skin-tight, sleeveless dress that was cut so high up and over the sides of her legs that the front was more loin cloth than anything.
She rather liked it, she decided. Save for the color scheme. The goddess never wore anything short of a garish assault on the senses.
“Don’t play me for a fool, Bline.”
Mia hissed slightly before she could stop herself.
Ahnbe tilted her head back consideringly, then she turned and began to slowly pace a circle around the camp, her eyes never leaving Mia. “Balls… you really have changed, haven’t you. I wonder how much of you is even left in there. I like the tail, by the way.”
Mia hesitated briefly before casting a surreptitious look behind herself. The long and quite fluffy, vulpine tail twitched innocently in response. Like it had always been there. Which it most assuredly had not.
How could she possibly have grown something like that without even noticing? Her dress was even cut to accommodate it! But those questions took a distant second to her main reaction.
She absolutely loved it. It even matched her hair! It was all she could do not to immediately snatch its length into her arms and rub it against her face. But she controlled the impulse. She was not about to make a spectacle of herself in front of her kin.
Seleroan
Hey folks!
I've got merch! That's right, about a month ago, I hired an artist to do some character portraits, and I figured, 'What better way to use them, than letting you guys buy your favorite girl. As a mug!'
Yeah... what can I say? I like coffee.
Anyway, here's the store:
https://the-quest-of-words-merch.printify.me/products
Currently, it only ships to the US. Can't seem to figure out why. Nothing on the webpage mentions that. But that's how it is. If I can figure out a way around it, I'll let you know.
For those of you outside the US, I also still have the Patreon available. And you gain access to the most up-to-date chapters.
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
