SK4 - Chapter 2 - The Journey Home (Patreon)

[Author Note - I didn't get much feedback about the final couple of chapters of BS7. Were folks happy with the final date and ending? Does it properly make you excited about the next book? I only got a couple of weeks before release, so I'd like to hear from you guys to make sure it's on point.]

Nick was marching through the cave with Shara in tow, and they turned into the next stretch of tunnel which was a few football fields in length. It would still be another day of moving through some caves before getting outside, where it would be at least another day of travel.

Myron was walking a little bit ahead of them, giving them a little more privacy in their conversation. Though, he doubted the old man couldn’t hear whatever they said.

He warned Shara, “The girls are right around the next bend.”

Shara grimaced as she looked ahead. “I…can’t help but feel a little queasy about that.”

“I think you’ll like them, but not all of them are here yet. Kaya’s going to love fighting and training with you–that was the giant red panda you saw. And then–”

“W-Wait. The big red bear–raccoon with all the axes, was Kaya?”

Nick chuckled. “She transforms. She’s a beastfolk, and not all that different from…a larger version of Fang when she’s not fighting. Almost as tall as me, roughly.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess… I saw a few of those with the bandits. Still, it’s surprising.”

Nick continued, “Jasmine, that’s that spider girl you saw, but she’s actually something else and that’s temporary. She’s going to make you some sweet new clothing and robes with her magic silk, you’ll love it. Eirwen the sheep beastfolk and Rebecca the angel priestess are both excited about trying your tea, and Eirwen can’t wait to cook up a storm to show you some of our foods here on Orion. Fang, Luna, and Sable, are all wolfen. They like everyone, and they will welcome you with open arms and fierce hugs–especially if you give them some ear scratches and head pats.”

He tried to gauge her reaction, and she just had more of a confused look than anything. Perhaps, it was too much information at once.

“Eirwen, Rebecca, and Luna are all back at Frosthaven. They needed to help out with the merger, and really, it was best that our fastest headed here to meet us, in case something happened, and we were in trouble.”

Shara didn’t seem to know what to say about all that, getting silent for a moment. “I see. They…really all get along?”

“Definitely. Well, I told you it’s a part of most of their culture. I suppose Rebecca wasn’t truly prepared for the idea right away, as the people of Zura were often with only one partner, too. But she warmed up to it as our friend and ally, at first. Maybe you could talk to her about it? The rest are very…pack minded. What’s good for the pack is good for them, I guess is how they all see it? Even the sheep and red panda beastfolk are like that, and a bigger pack is usually safest and most successful.”

“And that’s…all of them?” Shara frowned.

Nick let out a breath. “For now. As you learned, I gain power from making Soul Pacts with wives and followers, and having children. It’s a part of my Heritage Quest. I’m the last of my kind, and it’s kind of my duty to have as many children as possible. I haven’t started that yet because…well, mostly because of the threat of Blackthorne, honestly. All my girls so far are warriors in one way or another, and they are working to reach the third stratum as well as aid me in doing that. Can’t do that if they are with child.”

He added, “But there are a few more in the runnings. Some priestesses of Seraphara, which…might be joining me soon. Then you saw the uh…proposed bunch of monsterfolk girls. I don’t even know their names yet–I didn’t know they even existed until just now. I can certainly slow their…approach if it really bothers you.”

Shara hesitated. “You’d do that, for me?”

Nick shrugged. “Within reason. I don’t even know them yet. I know you. You can even call that fate.” He smiled at her, and waggled his brows.

Shara chuckled. “I suppose so. I’ll…see how I feel, but…it would probably help if you…at least don’t flirt with them much. Or let them flirt. Er, wait…” She frowned, and got a troubled look.

Nick gave her a patient smile, and patted her lower back. “It’s going to be tough, I get it. But I’ll see what I can do. Here we are.”

Jasmine, Kaya, Fang, and Sable were waiting for them on the bend, the rest of the Star Oni were moving ahead, escorted by the monsterfolk girls. Nick had done his best to arrive and be in lock step with Myron and Shara so that he could introduce them all properly. The girls all smiled at him as he came into view.

“Hey girls, thanks for coming to get us, it was a big help. This here is Myron, the Patriarch of the Fatestrider Clan, and Shara, his daughter.” Then he pointed to each of the girls in turn, from left to right, “And then these are my wives, Kaya, Jasmine, Fang, and Sable.”

Kaya waved. “Hey. Good to meet you both. Glad Nick could help out, when he went through that portal, we had no idea what to expect.” She chuckled. “Didn’t have much time to think on it either because we had our own big fight ahead of us.”

Myron gave a small bow. “Greetings. An honor to meet you all, and we were very grateful for your husband’s timely arrival. Truly, it was the will of the heavens.”

Shara said, “Yes, he really saved us from a horrible fate. Fang, I’m sorry for before.” Shara bowed her head slightly to Fang, and she just tilted her head in response.

“For what?”

“For…attacking you.”

“Oh! That was fun. But if you’re saying sorry, you’re doing it wrong.” Fang frowned.

“Huh?”

Fang moved closer into Shara’s personal space, and began pressing up against her with an almost angry look, with her eyes narrowed. The wolfen girl was almost a half of Shara’s height, so her head was really near the larger girl’s waist. Shara stumbled backward, but Fang pressed forward.

“C’mon. You said you were sorry. Let’s do this already.”

Shara looked worriedly at Nick as she tried to back away from Fang, who persisted toward her. “What? What’s happening?”

Sable chuckled, her tail wagging. “She wants you to scratch her ears.”

Shara froze, and looked rather distressed as she looked down at Fang. Fang somehow managed to continue looking hostile–despite asking for ear scratches. Hesitantly, Shara reached her hand out, and scratched her fluffy blue ears that sat in her short blue hair hesitantly at first, but then eventually began to pat her head and scratch the base of them properly.

Fang stared with narrowed eyes for a moment, before she popped back with a wide smile, her tail wagging. “There! That wasn’t so bad, was it? I forgive you.”

Shara chuckled a little awkwardly. “Ahaha…no, it… wasn’t?”

Sable said, “This girl will let you get away with just about anything with some ear scratches, so don’t worry about it. Still, why was it that you got so angry with her and the monsterfolk girls? What was it you called them, little sluts?”

Shara looked troubled, trying to think of an explanation. “I…got a little…”

Myron decided to save her, placing his arm around her body in a side hug. “Star Oni women are what you might know as berserkers. In the heat of battle, their blood runs hot. Even more so around a male they fancy.”

Sable chuckled. “Ah, so she fancies our Nicholas, then? Our handsome hero is often rescuing damsels and stealing their hearts. Still, I hope you realize that there’s plenty of our dear mate to go around, and there’s no reason to fiercely fight over him.”

Shara’s face scrunched up a little at that. “I’m…learning that. It is…”

Myron interrupted, “Us Star Oni are not used to that, so I do hope that you will forgive my daughter. However, Nicholas and Shara are Fated–an important thing in our people’s culture. So we’d appreciate very much if you could be patient and understanding. In the end, it is something she will likely accept, but it will take time.”

Jasmine looked over knowingly. While Kaya, Sable, and Fang weren’t really apprised of the situation, her connection with Nick meant that she probably knew Shara was into Nick before he knew for sure.

“It’s quite alright, nobody got hurt after all. It’s nice to meet you, Shara. I do believe we’ll get along well, in time.”

Shara had to look up to see her face. “Hi. Um…thanks. My, you’re so uh…big, aren’t you? I’m surprised that…um, never mind.”

The spider maid chuckled. “Yes, my form is a little strange, but I chose it so that I can serve master better. I can make myself a little smaller and maybe a little more normal, but I needed to help carry some of the luggage.”

Nick knew they brought the bikes, and they had left the disassembled units in spatial backpacks to store many of them at the entrance of the cave.

“Alright. How much further do we have to go?”

“It’d been nearly a full day since we entered the cave, and we were in a bit of a rush to aid you, too. It might actually take more than that to get out of here, as the Star Oni don’t seem to be able to match our pace.”

Myron nodded. “I do apologize, Orion has made our people a bit weak. I’m sure we’ll appreciate these…bikes when we get out.”

Nick asked, “Where does the cave take us out?”

Sable answered, “It takes us out quite a bit closer to Shadowvale’s old location, a bit Southwest of Frosthaven. But it’s not by very much, it’s still in the mountain range to the West of our home. We’ll be able to cut across straight to Frosthaven, though…the terrain will change again, thanks to the merger. Hopefully, not too much.”

The merger was set to happen shortly. It was now nearly 72 hours after the capture, and they were unsure how much the terrain surrounding Frosthaven would change.

“Alright. Lead the way, girls.”

Kaya, Sable, and Fang rushed on ahead, but Jasmine took out her carriage for her spider back, and began affixing them.

Jasmine eventually said, “Go ahead, Master.”

Shara looked baffled. “You…ride on her back?”

Nick shamelessly leaped up, getting into his seat with a happy groan. “Thanks, Jas. Caves suck. Course I do. Best transportation on Orion there is. At least for now.”

Shara had an open-mouthed stare as she watched him, and Jasmine frowned at Shara. “What? Do you think he should traverse this cave on foot, like some kind of peasant? He is the Lord of Frosthaven. Surely, your father feels the same way, given that he was previously a Nascent Soul Patriarch?”

Shara hesitated. “Yes, but…you are his–”

Myron chuckled, interrupting and patting Shara on the back. “Very true, very true. Well, it’s been troublesome that we too have been forced to give up many comforts, here on Orion. Living in tents under the stars, rather than my well-furnished, portable home or transportation. I had a flying vessel that would take us high over places like this, but unfortunately, Orion destroyed it upon entry, and a few of my spares are locked inside my cosmos sack. Frustrating.”

Nick was a bit shocked that there were some ships or similar in that sparkly bag of his. “Damn, destroyed it? I was wondering how you guys all got here.”

Jasmine interrupted, “You may join as well, Myron, Shara. You are Master’s guests, after all.”

Shara hesitated, but Myron was quick to reply, “Thank you. Excuse us.” He leaped up top without an issue, landing near Nick. He then added, “These old bones could use some rest after that battle with that plant man and the healing.”

Nick helped Shara climb up by giving a hand, which she smiled wide for, even if she was still weirded out by the idea.

They were about to get moving, but then Birdy tried to swoop down and join them on the carrier. But as the bird lined up its landing spot, Jasmine gave it a withering stare, causing it to squawk and back off for a moment in a hover, before she relented with a sigh.

“You did save Master. I suppose it’s fine until we get you your usual perch.”

Nick was not interested at all in re-summoning Jasper as a slimebear, so the loyal frostwarg would have to wait. Birdy nestled next to Shara, which made her give the creature a quizzical look as it fluffed its feathers out with pride.

Myron gave it a look as well. “Such an exotic creature. I dare say it might have some phoenix ancestry, at the very least. A demonic phoenix is counter to their divine nature.”

Birdy gave a prideful squawk as it fluttered its feathers, understanding Myron’s praise of its nature. Its body and feathers had been shifting throughout the past few months, and Nick would have to find it more materials when they got back to help improve this further.

Nick said to Shara, “Why don’t you tell me more about your Clan while we ride, Shara? I’d like to learn more about this Realm of yours, and your people.”

Shara blushed. “I…okay. The Fatestrider Clan, while we had many diviners, we often operated as a mercenary band as well. Thanks to Father, we would pick lucrative contracts and grow with every victory, usually led by my mother, Elyra.”

She spoke animatedly, and Nick smiled as he learned more about his fated wife and his new people. It was going to be a fairly long ride, after all.

***

They were about to take a rest for the night, having traveled through the caves all day. With Kaya and Sable taking point with the monsterfolk girls, they handled all the threats. Nick hadn’t found a good corpse to place Jasper into, so he figured he would have to wait until they arrived.

They had to rest because the few dozen first stratum Star Oni simply couldn’t continue their rapid march much longer. Luckily, they had reached a safer, defendable cavern for the night with only two exits that the monsterfolk girls and the Star Oni could keep watch over.

Myron leaped down from Jasmine’s back, and said, “I’ll go meet with the scouts and get my tent setup for the night. I’ll see you soon, right, Shara dear?”

“Yes, Father. I want to…talk to Nick for a bit longer before we rest.”

Myron gave her a smile. “Alright. I’ll prepare our tent for us.”

He took off, leaving Nick to jump down, dismounting from Jasmine. Nick then helped Shara down, catching her larger body when she leaped.

She giggled. “Wow. So strong, aren’t you?”

Nick chuckled as he set her down gently. “You haven’t seen anything yet. So? How are you feelin’ about things so far? After all, you just watched me ride one of my wives. Any jealousy there?”

Jasmine hovered over Nick, and grasped his shoulders from behind as she looked at Shara.

Shara looked back, and was a bit startled to see her touching him. “That’s silly, why would I be jealous about that? Still… I guess…it feels okay so far. But… I think I still… need to be eased into it?”

“Of course. I was just asking for your initial impression. You didn’t get to spend much time with all of them yet, but you’re going to, soon. We’ll all be riding the vehicle tomorrow the rest of the way to Frosthaven.” He pointed in the distance.

Shara turned to look ahead, and Kaya, Fang, and Sable were talking animatedly in the distance with each other and the monsterfolk girls, as well as a number of the Star Oni as they set up tents for the camp. Myron was saying hello, but then began floating out his own pavilion style tent to set up his camp.

Jasmine suddenly said, “Hm. Shall I set up the cottage, Master?”

“Ah, you brought that? Great. Yes, let’s do that.”

Shara was a bit surprised. “Huh? A cottage?”

Jasmine pulled on a thread, and a backpack Nick hadn’t even noticed hanging from her spider body came into view. Retrieving the large cube inside, she set it down a bit closer to the center of the camp. It unfurled, presenting the small home, but it actually looked a bit bigger than last time.

“Lumos improved on the design so that it would be more roomy but also sturdier against…worm attacks, and also a little sound dampening. Also, we now have some better spatial bags, so being a little larger is not an issue.”

Opening the door, Jasmine was able to shift her larger spider body through it without an issue, and beckoned them inside. Before, even Nick had to crouch a bit to get into the door even, but now he could see the insides could fit the larger Jasmine and Shara.

Shara did have to duck to enter the door, but she was able to stand at her full height within. “Wow, this is nice. Though it’s a little empty.”

Jasmine took out the portable chairs next, and bedrolls, placing them where they were supposed to go. It used to only fit maybe a single, double bed and little else. But now, it could fit Nick’s whole party, just about.

“Just the way it works.” Jasmine smiled at Shara. “Now that we are here, how about we play a little game? It’s important to know your limits with us and how we show our affection around Nick, wouldn’t you say? So that we can set some boundaries. Of course, we wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Shara frowned. “Um…I guess…that sounds okay.”

Nick wasn’t sure what Jasmine’s goal was here, but if Shara was okay with it, maybe it’d be fine?

Jasmine motioned for Nick to have a seat in his trusty recliner, and he groaned as he got comfortable. Shara didn’t seem to know what she wanted to do, but she chose to sit in the sieza position on the floor–her feet underneath her butt, with her knees on the floor.

Jasmine leaned down, and planted a gentle peck on Nick’s cheek, meeting Shara’s eyes all the while. “There. How was that?”

Shara’s breathing picked up. “Um…I don’t know. That was just a kiss on the cheek? Not a big deal.”

Jasmine smiled. “Oh? Is that so? I’ll try it again then.”

She looked at Nick lovingly, and she cradled his face as she approached his cheek from the side as he sat in the chair. All her devotion and respect carried across their connection as her lips neared, and she planted the small kiss on his cheek gently, lovingly.

It was as if all of her feelings for him were contained in that gentle kiss. While watching, Shara’s breathing had picked up, and she watched, fascinated, and maybe a little unhappy. Her face crinkled a bit, but she looked more confused than anything.

Jasmine let go of Nick, turned and smiled at Shara. “There. How was that? Just a peck on the cheek, no?”

Shara started fidgeting with her robes. “Um… I don’t think I like this game…”

Nick stroked his chin. “Hm. Well, maybe if you get a kiss too? I get a kiss, you get a kiss. Would you play that game? Of course, I haven’t forgotten that I’ve already gotten two. I owe you, then.”

Shara’s eyes widened, before giving a small smile as she took furtive glances at his lips. She tried to sound not very interested, but Nick could tell she was anything but. “Um… Maybe? That… Let’s try it.”

Nick stood and approached her side. She sucked in a breath at this, but she presented her cheek, tilting her head aside so he could reach. He chuckled internally because he didn’t have to bend down very much to reach because she was so large, even in this position on the floor. First, he kissed her gently with a simple peck, and a small amount of prismatic light filled the room. He noticed that it was much smaller now, which was a little odd.

“There. Now, I’ll try the other one.”

“O-Other one? You mean…?”

“Yeah. With a little more feeling.”

She nodded her head fervently. “Okay! I don’t…mind it.”

He cupped her cheek, and leaned forward. He closed his eyes, holding all the things he liked about Shara. Nick hadn’t known her long or all that well. But she was a warrior who cared deeply for her people and her family, displaying that when she risked herself to come to her father’s aid, and not wanting to give him up. The girl was strong, and of course, she was a beautiful amazoness.

As he leaned forward, suddenly, she turned a little, and his lips met the sides of hers, planting the kiss partially on them. When this happened, another small explosion of rainbow light occurred that he could see even with his closed eyelids.

Nick wanted to tease her, since she clearly did that on purpose. But he pretended not to even notice as he pulled away an opened his eyes. “There. How was that? Maybe next time, we can do it on the lips.”

“N-No, I think…that was good for now. You know? Maybe I won’t…mind so much. But maybe…we should take a break? And continue the game a little more…later.”

Jasmine pouted. “Aw, you don’t want to play the game anymore yet? That was just two kisses on the cheek!”

Shara blushed. “I’m…not sure that’s such a good idea. I was…already having a hard time.”

Nick knew that was the truth. Perhaps baby steps was the right principle. “That’s alright. Well, do make sure you get some rest. There’s still a long way to go tomorrow.”

Shara nodded distractedly, a hand to her lips as she stood and left out the door in a hurry, likely to join her father.

Jasmine side-eyed Nick. “I dunno how it’s going to work out for that girl. I feel sorry for her. I say, we just rip the bandage right off–get it over with and make her a wife with the pact.”

“And be trapped forever, always in pain as she watches me with the other girls? You might be right in the end, but I’d much rather it feels like it was her choice rather than she’s just trapped. She’ll feel better about it as she looks back on this time in the end this way if we ease her into it.”

Jasmine shrugged. “I think either way, if you look at it with a cynical lens, people can see it as you are trapping her by letting her build up feelings with you and have no other way out. The truth is that fate did that, or whatever, and she was already trapped between a rock and a hard place even without you doing anything.”

“What was your goal with that game, anyway?”

“I kinda just wanted to see the rainbow explosion in person. It didn’t happen when you were holding her hand before, didn’t you notice? But also, the next ride with the girls was going to be awkward as hell if you couldn’t even touch or kiss them, and hell, that’s not fair to them, now is it? It’d be fair to resent her for taking away their time with you. I just figured baby steps were better. Plus it was fun, I wanted to see how far she’d go. Turns out not very…”

Nick sighed. “I got a lot of shit to deal with soon. I like her, but we’re going to be busy when I get back. I gotta work on my stanzas and my soul blade, we gotta claim those special challenges in my heritage, defeat the demons under the mines, enter the Ordeal and then the third stratum…all while worrying about Blackthorne and now this Monster Kingdom.”

“And you need to make some babies soon, Master. Your Heirs will raise your knowledge in the Archives, and might also increase your personal power.”

Nick groaned. “Doubt Shara’s much going to like that. And I definitely can’t put it off for too long.”

Kaya and the wolfen girls joined him in the cottage next. Nick did get to rest with his wives, and Myron helpfully distracted Shara away from his tent, keeping her busy until she went to sleep. Nick did go out and have a small chat with her, the girl blushing all the while, and he talked with Myron about their upcoming arrival.

The girls went over the battle of Shadowvale with him, and he was proud of what they had accomplished and gained. Jasmine had watched over them in his absence, and she only put a light finger on the scales to ensure their victory–though she went a bit overboard with scorching their leader, it sounded like.

Nick showed off what he got from Kaya’s quest–his Monstrous Transformation. The girls mostly found it freaky how his limbs could stretch, yet remain strong. But the girls all seemed to like how the air around him changed, making him feel more dangerous and stronger.

He gave the girls their ear scratches and head pats, as well as spent some time brushing out their fur to kill some time, and Jasmine heated up some food for everyone, including the Star Oni.

The girls returned the tail brushing activity with a nice massage for him, and took a relaxing nap for a couple of hours, which would make them good to go for the upcoming travel.

In the morning, they continued their trek in much the same way, with Nick riding on Jasmine with Myron, Shara, and Birdy, and it wasn’t that long before they reached the cavern exit. They exited and then transferred over to their utility vehicle, with Jasmine transforming to her other form to become the driver. Nick was about to sit down, and he looked over at Shara.

Nick asked her, “Want to sit next to me, Shara? Or are you ready to see me spending more time with my wives?”

Shara froze, and hesitated as she looked over to Kaya, Fang, and Sable. “Um… I suppose…”

“Why not both!” Fang’s tail was wagging, and she leaped into Nick’s arms. “We can both sit next to Nick. Plenty of room!”

Shara’s face was scrunched up a bit. “Um…okay. That…sounds fine.” While it was a little worse than her words let on, her words rung mostly true in his Soul Sense.

Nick had sat down in the back seats, and Shara shuffled in next to him, with Fang on his lap.

Fang said, “Jas, turn on the music! Lumos imported the ones from our house!”

Myron sat up in the very front with Jasmine, wanting to get a better look at the controls and how the vehicle worked, and Kaya and Sable sat in front of Nick and Shara. The music turned on, and Nick was surprised when a tune that vaguely sounded like a popular 90’s boy band came on, but sung by women instead as they took off.

Fang bobbed her head side to side to the beat, her tail wagging against his side and bumping Shara too. Nick held Shara’s hand with his right as they started their trek, and she smiled at him, even if she gave Fang a troubled look as he patted her head and scratched her ears. The whole time, Nick did his best to gauge Shara’s reaction to it.

Dozens of bikes were waiting for the Star Oni as they came out of the cave. While the surrounding area was a bit rocky, it leveled out to a mostly hilly, grassy plain not long after.

The monsterfolk girls helped demonstrate and teach the Star Oni people how to assemble and ride them, and then they rode their own and started to move toward home as the monsterfolk scouted ahead in an escorting formation. Overall, Nick was impressed with how militant they were.

Fang noticed him looking at them. “Lothar and his people trained them! They’re all such hard workers.”

Sable chuckled. “They’ve each made a few runs through the Path of Kings, and spent some time in the Training Grounds and the Heritage underground. All to please their Boss.”

Shara let out a loud breath, and squeezed Nick’s hand. But said nothing.

Without roads, the utility vehicle along with the bikes still did surprisingly well. It seemed the wollywompus hides actually provided a decent grip, allowing the tires to work well enough even with more varied terrain.

And the utility vehicle had a decent suspension, making it much like an all-terrain-vehicle. It had no issues with the somewhat hilly terrain, and Nick understood that, most likely, a road could be built toward the underground cave with how mostly even the ground was.

He could pay for it with points, if he so chose, but he wasn’t so sure he wanted his enemy to have a paved path to his home–not that they wouldn’t be able to find it anyway.

The Star Oni were experienced warriors, athletic and in-tune with their bodies. They learned quickly and were strong enough to propel themselves rapidly, just as the orcs had been able to on the bikes.

The monsterfolk girls rode on ahead to scout and monitor the area, following Nick’s orders. This area was within Nick’s control radius and they had already passed through it, so it was unlikely they would run into issues, but things frequently changed on Orion. They kept themselves equipped and armored during their travel.

The terrain was still wild enough that they couldn’t go very fast with the vehicle. With no roads, it was not a very smooth ride.

Myron noted, “The essence is much more peaceful in this area, I can feel. When we arrived on this Shard far south of where you met us, it was an untamed wilderness and wild essence.”

Nick nodded, squeezing Shara’s hand. “That’s the nature of the Ordeals. You can somewhat cultivate this essence, but it’s still not the best for that, even within the city. Orion wants us to fight and earn the essence instead. To Test ourselves, and become more.”

Shara frowned. “Conflict under the heavens is normal, but it’s mostly a struggle over resources to ascend. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem all that different.”

Myron looked a little thoughtful. “I’m not so sure. In the Realms, those who can’t cultivate at all, or have a low talent, are more or less forgotten, treated as little more than chattel or slaves. It seems this Orion gives everyone an equal opportunity to excel, to possibly cultivate and ascend. Some might be born with a little more resources, but it seems much more fair to the average person.”

As they traveled throughout the day, the girls each took turns sitting next to Nick or in his lap. Nick did try to kiss them on the cheeks to gauge Shara’s reaction, and her breathing only picked up slightly, though her hand nearly crushed his in the process.

But thankfully, letting out a breath as she looked at his lips and touched her own, perhaps remembering her kiss, her jealousy subsided. Especially when she had him give her a peck on the cheek instead. She looked so happy as she gazed at the clouds, it was like she forgot she was a little mad.

And the girls eventually got her talking, telling them their stories and how they met Nick.

Kaya faced backwards, telling the story to Shara. “You should have seen him, he looked wild and crazy as he came out of that crypt. Covered in blood, his hair, and even his nails, were long and wild. Then, he grabbed those evil bandits, and drank their bodies and spirits like some evil undead. He was scary.”

“W-Wow. I think I saw him do that, but… I was a bit busy trying to get out of the net, and in a bit of a rage.”

Kaya continued, “But after the bad guys were dead, he didn’t really make a move on me. He just had a goofy smile on his face, and asked me for a Quest thinking it was a game. Soon, I realized he didn’t really know where he was, and later…how big of a jerk he was.”

Nick scowled playfully. “Jerk! I’ll have you know that teasing you was just something I enjoyed because you were fun to. I blame you for that. And now, I know that you enjoy me teasing you too, so it’s a win-win.”

Kaya groaned. “Whatever. So since Nick helped me out, I figured I could help him out too. Then I learned he could actually get away from Davon’s grip, by having a path into the Ordeal–he knew about a secret entrance. Then we went back to Eirwen, my adopted sister, to give her the medicine and ran into two bearcoons.”

Nick interrupted, “Oh yeah, whatever happened to that apothecary guy?”

Kaya snorted. “He’s hit a rough patch because his skills are useless compared to the priestesses. I don’t think he’s benefited much by the essence improving at all, either. He was already older, so it was probably too late for him.”

She continued her stories to Shara, and Nick eventually saw the terrain of Shadowvale. The valley extended out toward the mountains, but they were able to avoid that and find the original road heading to where Shadowvale used to be. The valley terrain from Shadowvale presumably actually shifted some of the river nearby, though it seemed it still continued in the same direction as before.

Eventually, they crested a hill and they were able to see their city upon the larger hill in the distance. The Southwest area near the city was covered in darkness, and it actually covered some of the lake like a pie-slice-shaped shadow cast over it from the tower.

Fang pointed over to the city, “There it is, our city and home! Everything you see here is the Boss’s stuff!”

Shara’s eyes were wide as she looked at it. “It is a nice city. And you say this started from nothing less than a year ago? How could you build all of that?”

Nick replied, “That’s right. I think I’ve been on Orion maybe five months total. Of course, my Heritage helped a lot with this. It was mostly ruins until I claimed the Ordeal. After that, it helped with providing certain amenities. It awarded buildings and more, and it largely tried to incentivize spending more time inside the Ordeal. If we don’t have to spend time worrying about housing, we have more time to work towards bettering ourselves.”

It was with a bunch of excitement for everyone that their caravan entered the gates. It had only been less than a week since he had left, but Nick was glad to be finally home.