《Pride》


 Beginning of the End

    762 days since the beginning of The End


    -War is the Art of Deception- Sun Tsu, reputedly the greatest strategic mind and military commander this world has ever seen.


    "Heyyy, youuuu, guys!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.


    Instantly I heard the loud rustle of a large group of people moving at once. The sentries in the guard towers had aimed what looked to be relatively modern looking high powered rifles with fancy looking scopes at me. I wasn''t sure exactly what kind, not exactly like I had a Cabela''s manual for all the guns in the Apocalypse or anything.


    Not all of the sentries had locked on to me though. Just one from each of the three towers guarding the front gate, which I had chosen to approach intentionally. After all, I had come here to do something that benefits everybody, including me, not to kill. It looked like there were about three other people per tower besides the one marksman to a tower, so twelve sentries in total. It also happened to look like there was an even mix of both male and female.


    "Huh, guess gender-equality still manages to stick around even during the Apocalypse. Guess chivalry really never died after all. Or maybe, it got resurrected along with the rest of those fuckers,"


    I chuckled a little bit in my head at that last thought I had.


    They probably had the three best marksmen each assigned to a different tower, that way they could conserve ammunition and cover all angles better. It could also be a case of not putting all your eggs in one basket, in case one or more of the towers are breached.


    "Ladies and gentlemen!'' I shouted. ''As you can see I''m unarmed, and my face is quite good looking. Would be a shame if one of you three sneezes and blow a hole in it. Someone once told me, I forget who, that you shouldn''t point a gun at someone unless you intend to use it. I''m sure you''ve all heard the sentiment a time or two," I finished.


    "We wouldn''t give a shit if you''re a quadruple amputee with the face of a Greek statue. We can tell from the fact that we didn''t fucking see you get here, that you''ve already Mutated, boy. We know a little bit about your kind. We ain''t got nothing here for ya," the armed sentry in the middle tower shouted, without moving his crosshair off of me, I might add.


    Not to mention, he seemed to be in a big hurry to force the words out, almost stumbling over them.


    I waited a few seconds, and as nobody reprimanded him from speaking I assumed that he was in charge or at least carried a good deal of respect and/or goodwill from the other sentries.


    "You seem to be the one in charge here, or at least they trust you to speak for em'', and that''s good enough for me. But you''re wrong on one count, and a little bit wrong on the other. While I am most definitely able to demolish your camp single-handedly, including any Mutants that you may or may not have, I am not a Mutant myself. At least not yet. Although I still need Beast meat and zombie Cores, I need a much higher quality to progress my strength than anything you weaklings could possibly give me."


    There was a little bit of shifting of feet and a couple disgruntled looks thrown my way, but at least they were smart enough to realize they probably shouldn''t piss off someone that just claimed they could wipe them all out, including any Mutant''s, as a non-Mutant.


    At least probably until they devised a way to test my strength without offending me.


    I wasn''t worried a bit though. I hadn''t stretched the truth in the slightest. Before I had come, I and a... someone else, performed reconnaissance on the base.


    No way was I going in blind anywhere that has humans. Animals I can deal with, it''s humans you can''t trust. Half the time they don''t even know why they like to hurt and betray people, it''s just all they''re used to. But back to my point, killing everyone in here would be as easy as turning over a palm bwas ack when I was just a weak human, before my Integration. Even the hidden Mutant that this camp had for a leader wouldn''t stand a chance.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    And I wasn''t trying to brag. I''ve had some unique advantages and information that if others possessed they might have already exceeded me in strength. I doubt it though. My survival, and dare I say it thrival(A.N: I know it''s not a real word, but it should be, so there.) has depended a lot on me somehow surviving near-death after near-death, most times flying by the seat of my pants, and barely surviving by a hair.


    "And in a world that makes you stronger the more you kill, it does something to you. It happens slowly, a little bit at a time. It''s almost impossible to differentiate, the feeling between a zombie and person n the heat of battle, with limbs flying and blood spattering, skulls getting caved in and spines broken. It changes you without you even realizing. And the more you kill the better and quicker at it you become, and the body count just starts piling up."


    I snapped out of my melancholy thought just in time to realize that the rough looking wooden gates to the kinda Skyrim looking base were slowly swinging outwards. A few seconds later, I saw a single man walking, big as fuck I might add, at least seven feet tall, if not eight.


    He kept waking until he was around fifteen yards away, about half-way from the gate and me,


    "I''ve been hearing some pretty big words for such a small man. Apparently, you think killing me and my men would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Well, I don''t know where your confidence comes from, but I can tell you right now it doesn''t matter anyway."


    I raised an eyebrow at his words.


    "Maybe somebody actually is stupid enough to piss me off, He must either think I was just boasting, or he thinks he has some type of trump card. It''s not normal to be so calm and casual in this day and age when a lone man tells you he''s stronger than anything thought possible, before or after the Beginning.


    "Well, I know my own strength, and judging from the fact that your base is still pretty shit, including the people under your command, it''s much greater than yours. So I wonder, where is your false sense of confidence coming from." I responded


    The man started laughing, starting as a slight chuckle and ending up in a booming Santa Claus-like gut buster.


    I started frowning, Something was not right here.


    Now, the giant man started speaking.


    "I don''t think I have met someone in all my life as arrogant as you are, even from people that had every right to be confident. You''re kind of an asshole, you know that?"


    I did know that in fact, but I was really only an asshole to people I didn''t like or didn''t know. But one thing was funny to me in that statement.


    "I may be an asshole, but what does that make someone who has doomed his followers to death by hiding crucial information about the zombies from them? I noticed you ignored the fact that I mentioned zombie Cores, and I know for a fact your people don''t know about them, or they wouldn''t still be such fucking weaklings!" I was shouting by the time I was finished speaking.


    I could understand as the leader and protector of a group of people taking the lion''s share of the resources, but to purposely stifle the growth of sentient beings that rely on you, to maintain your weak grasp on power, that was where I crossed the line. The zombies and Mutant Beasts weren''t laying around letting somebody do all the work protecting them. They were out killing and growing stronger by the second because of their nature.


    "You just don''t know when to shut your fucking mouth, do ya boy? I figured seeing me here unworried despite your strength would tip you off that I have something I''m confident in relying on, but I guess your''re just as stupid as you are cocky. Well, if you do end up being as capable as you apparently think you are, today''s as good a day as any to meet my Maker."


    "He''s too confident. He couldn''t possibly have found... no, it''s not possible,''I thought to myself. ''I didn''t come here to kill anybody, in fact with the opposite intentions, but I better end this, and quick, just in case," I finished my thought.


    I took off from a standing start at my top speed, which was a little over Mach 8, if measured in laboratory conditions. Much too fast for anybody to register, even the Mutant that I was attacking. Everything stood still in my perception, and when everything resumed, I was standing directly behind him with my right handing gripping the top his head in a vice grip.


    "Give me one damn good reason why I shouldn''t turn your head into a bloody fucking mist right now" I threatened him in a low voice.


    I could feel a full body shiver travel through him, but he somehow powered through the fear long enough to speak, with my hand still gripping his head and him faced away from me.


    "I''ll give you one, right now. If you want to see that pretty little thing of your''s still breathing, you better let me go now and not touch another hair on me or my peoples head."


    "Fuck! I don''t know how he discovered her, but there''s no way I can take the chance of losing her.

 Did You Say Cookies?

    Year 2022 after Diaspora Immortales


    The Unbound King shall in turn make loose his rage. Was it benevolence, or evil, to shatter his cage?


    The Fool thinks the world is his stage, but the Author knows reality is her page. Is it the beginning, or an end of an Age? Death is indomitable, but life is the same.


    "Hello, I''ve got a package for, uh..., a Miss Kalliste?" i spoke, hopefully loud enough for my voice to penetrate the thick oaken door I was standing in front of.


    I had just slammed the cool ass door knocker that was attached to the door. It was silver, in the shape of a wolf''s head. It was so detailed it looked like individual hairs were etched into it''s surface. The thing probably cost a million bucks or something, so I was kind of scared of slamming it like it shows in the movies, so I just picked up as high as it would go and then let it drop.


    Even then I still cringed a tad when I heard a loud thud sound when it struck the heavy door.


    "Oh well, not like she can really blame me if it does get damaged. After all, what''s the use of having a door knocker if people never use it." I thought, reassuring myself.


    I was snapped out of my thoughts by a slight creak and the sight of the heavy door opening just enough for me to see an old lady''s face.


    "Hello. And you are?" You could tell age had gotten to her vocal cords, because she had that same little pitch all old ladies eventually get. Her voice was actually very sweet though, with the hint of an accent that I couldn''t quite place.


    Surprisingly, she was just barely a couple inches shorter than me, even at her advanced age, and she had surprisingly few wrinkles, mostly around her mouth, forehead, and eyes. but her hair was thin and as white as snow.


    "I think they call those laughing wrinkles. Or is it smiling wrinkles? One thing I do know for certain, Grandma would love to know her skincare routine. Supposing she has one that is. I''ve seen old black ladies and men with faces like a newborn. Whoever said black don''t crack musta been a genius, because science literally proved them right.


    (A.N: look it up, darker people are darker because they have extra melanin, which is the body''s main defense mechanism against harmful UVA and UVB radiation, for all you prejudiced people out there. And when I say black I mean people of African ancestry. Not trying to offend anybody but I''m also not gonna pander to anybody either)


    Not to say that this lady in particular was black, but she was either deeply tanned or from somewhere near the Mediterranean, at least I thought so.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "My name is Cade, Miss Kalliste. Excuse me for not announcing myself ahead of time, but it seems we don''t have either your phone number or email taken down," I informed her.


    "My family used to call me Lena, Mr. Cade. I hope you don¡¯t think this is forward of me, but is there perhaps a certain name that your friends or family call you that you would privilege me with?¡± Lena spoke, almost in a whisper.


    ¡°Well, my friends call me Barry,¡¯ Before she even asked I continued. ¡®I know, how did they get that from Cade? It¡¯s cause I play left-tackle for my football team, and in one of my games an opponent described the feeling of running into me as what he imagined it would feel like to run into a riot-shield face first. My friends started calling me Barricade cause nobody could move me during that season. In fact, no one has since then either, now that I think about it. It got shortened to just Barry after that, Miss Lena,¡±


    I wondered at first why she wanted to know my friend¡¯s nickname for me, but maybe she planned on a lot of repeat business and was just getting ahead of trying to make friends with me. After all, people do get really lonely when they¡¯re always by themselves, so I figured she just wanted someone she could talk to whenever I dropped her packages off.


    ¡°Ah, now that introductions are out of the way, I think I shall stick with Cade. Much more refined than Barry in my opinion. After all, some of us old ladies do have a reputation to upkeep, you know?¡± She said, though with a smile to let me know she meant no offense by it. ¡°


    ¡°Either or Ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t really have a preference. I don¡¯t mean to rush you, but I do have a package for you,¡± I spoke.


    ¡°Ah, you do at that. I¡¯ll take it now. Do you need my signature?¡± she asked me, finally opening the door wide enough for her to step one foot out onto the porch and stretch her hand out towards the package in my hands.


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just a couple pounds of Macadamia nuts. Someone must really think you like these.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes I do. They¡¯re my favorite, in fact. Before my brother David passed he was the last remaining sibling of mine alive. His lawyer sent me a letter telling me that my brother hadn¡¯t wanted me to feel all alone now that my entire family had passed, so I would be receiving random packages of my favorite things just to remember him by. He always was the kindest out of all my relatives.¡±


    ¡°Big family?¡± I asked. I knew the feeling myself, having eight siblings. You love em¡¯ to death, but sometimes you just wanna arrange a firing squad for the whole lot and just be done with it.


    ¡°Oh, dear, you have no idea. I¡¯m probably half-sibling or cousins to half the known world because of my father, and most of my dear siblings.¡± She said exxageratingly(or so I thought at the time)


    ¡°What, is her family Mormon, or just a buncha hoes?¡±


    ¡°Then it sounds like you¡¯re not as alone as you think.¡¯


    ¡°Oh no, while I know of my families past tendencies, I don¡¯t have any contact or knowledge of the results of my family¡¯s philandering¡±


    I snorted slightly at that.


    ¡°Well, I probably better be headed off Miss Lena, I¡¯m sure my dad has more stuff for me to deliver by now¡±


    ¡°Oh, can¡¯t you stay for just a few minutes? My chocolate chip cookies are just about to come out of the oven and they¡¯ll cool down about five minutes after that. And, if you stay long enough I¡¯ll make us both a macadamia nut covered banana split. I so seldom get company, and never such a polite and strapping young man as yourself.


    ¡°Is this old lady hitting on me? Screw it, God and I both know she had me hooked at the word chocolate. And maybe, if them cookies are good enough, she might be in for a little surprise.¡±

 Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord

    "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."  -NIetsche-


    Still Day 762 of this shitty Apocalypse


    The screams of terror coming from the sentry towers cut off instantly, one second there, the next, absolute silence. I looked up quickly to see that all the sentries in the tower had disappeared. Fen had used the shade cast by the encampment as a portal.


    ¡°He must¡¯ve put them in his shadow before he shadow-jumped to Leslie, to avoid any collateral damage in case she¡¯s hurt and I freak out. Probably a good idea just in case. I wouldn¡¯t want to hurt any innocent¡¯s in that case, just this bastard,¡±


    A few seconds later, I heard the loudest howl I¡¯ve ever heard from Fen, echoing with pain and tinged with madness


    Before thoughts of what could have happened started running through my mind, I felt a huge paw wrap around my leg, and then a pulling sensation, I felt myself become weightless and start falling downwards, through the ground. I made sure I had a tight hold on the Mutant in my grasp, No way was I not taking him with me. Depending on what had happened, my vengeance upon him would be swift and merciless.


    When I could see again, I was standing somewhere completely different than the camp I was just in front of. I was where I had Fen cover Leslie with shadows. I had wanted to place her in Fen¡¯s shadow, that way absolutely no harm could come to her, but she had refused. She was always afraid that she would be trapped forever if Fen somehow died while she was still in his shadow, and was never willing to risk it, no matter how many times I had begged her in the past.


    She was still Tier 1, and only just barely half-way through it, not even close to the peak of Tier 1, and I had told her it was too dangerous to come with me.


    ¡°Maybe if she had come with me like she wanted, we wouldn¡¯t be in this position.¡± I thought angrily at myself.


    I didn¡¯t see either Leslie or Fen at first, and then I heard a short, high-pitched whine coming from a few yards behind me.


    I realized I couldn¡¯t turn around, because I was still hanging by this dudes head a couple feet off of the ground. Knowing he couldn''t even break my skin if I stood still and let him whale on me all day, I ignored him for the moment.


    I released my grip on him, and let myself drop to the dirt. As soon as my feet hit the ground , I performed an instant one-eighty, and what I saw brought me to my knees with a thud so hard they dug about six inches into the hard packed dirt.


    The only thing visible of my Leslie was her terrified face protruding from the body of a huge Beast, some type of constrictor snake, with it¡¯s mouth wide open around her throat. It¡¯s fangs were pressed against the front and back of her neck, and I could see fresh blood dripping down her throat where the fangs were slightly grazing her.


    I turned my head quickly to look back at the huge man.


    ¡°I can bargain with him. He has to know if he kills Leslie he loses his only bargaining chip. I can offer him increased power, that¡¯s all a man like this cares about. He obviously has a Mental type Mutation towards Beasts, but I don¡¯t have enough information to know if it¡¯s restricted to snake-types or just any Beast in general¡± I thought to myself, beginning to feel bits of panic and impotent rage clawing at the edges of my mind.


    ¡°What do you want in exchange for her life? Don¡¯t even think of fucking with me. If she dies, she¡¯ll have you for company on her way to the afterlife. I¡¯ve got lot¡¯s of things somebody you might like. You must have an ability to control snakes or maybe just animals in general, am I right?¡¯ At this he nodded his head a couple of times. ¡®I have plenty of Beast parts that could improve a Beast¡¯s bloodline, even a Basilisk heart for that snake of yours. After this, we part ways, completely. You have my word on that.¡± I finished bargaining, almost pleading with him.


    ¡°How do I know I can even trust you not to kill me once I let your girl go. Earlier you were just a millisecond from making my head go poof like some magic fairy dust.¡± He spoke confidently, now probably knowing he had me right where he wanted me.


    ¡°The truth is you don¡¯t. Could you honestly say you could trust anybodies word even before the Apocalypse?¡± I asked.


    He snorted at that.


    ¡°Exactly my point,¡¯ I remarked. ¡®What you can trust is mutual benefits. If my Leslie is safe, no harm, no foul. I just go find another group of survivors to power up. You get guaranteed safety from me for the rest of your life, no matter what you do, as long as you don¡¯t attack my Leslie again, and you get a significant power up for that Beast under your control. You do know that the Basilisk was king of the Serpents right, able to kill with eye contact alone? Imagine that against the zombies, or any of your enemies for that fact."


    With that last sentence I could tell I had won him over. His eyes lit up like he had just gotten all his previous years Christmas gifts at once. Especially in this day and age, you didn¡¯t know which behemoth was right around the corner that could walk past and crush your camp without even realizing it, that¡¯s the kind of world we lived in today. And the Basilisk was pretty fucking OP. I¡¯d had to make Leslie gouge my eyes out and have her call out directions during the fight. That was probably the worst pain I¡¯d ever felt, and it didn¡¯t help knowing that as part-Divinity I could grow them back over time, with a little help from my own jury-rigged health potion.


    ¡°Ay, for how sketchy it seemed at first, zombie-Cores distilled into alcohol actually does mimick the effects of a health potion in classic video games. Though it still pisses me off that I can remember everything about the mechanics of every game I¡¯ve played, but I just can''t remember me actually playing them. It¡¯s like those people who can¡¯t picture objects in their mind. What is it called¡­ oh, Aphantasia, almost forgot, hehe,¡±


    ¡°Fen, the Basilisk heart. Now please. I looked over to Fen who was between me and the snake wrapped around Leslie.


    He whined a little, and then I heard his voice whisper in my mind, ¡°Big brother, it is dishonorable to submit to a cur like this,¡±


    I replied back to him mentally as well, ¡°I choose Leslie over honor any day. Now the heart. This is not a request.¡±


    At that with a final bark, Fen lifted up his left paw, and as if it rose from it¡¯s depths, the still pulsing heart of the Basilisk was revealed. It let out an aura of power that dwarfed the still living snake wrapped around Leslie, coming from just the heart of a Tier 1 Beast, even though the guy¡¯s snake was at least a Tier 2 Beast. It was just a qualitative difference in Bloodlines.


    The Beast¡¯s master didn¡¯t even have to say anything to his snake. As soon as the heart appeared and it''s aura started wafting from it, it took it¡¯s fangs from Leslie¡¯s throat and started uncoiling rapidly. At the end it must have been about thirty feet long, not the biggest for even a snake before the Apocalypse, but it more than made up for it in sheer girth. It had to be as wide around as a fully grown oak tree. It had to have balanced it¡¯s weight perfectly on it¡¯s coiled body or it would have crushed Leslie to goo with one wrong move


    Fen tossed it high in the air, thankfully diagonally back and away from Leslie to make sure that she wasn¡¯t hurt in it¡¯s frenzy to evolve. The snake¡¯s head and part of the front of it¡¯s body literally sailed through the air in pursuit of the alluring morsel. With a chomp, it¡¯s dislocated jaws clamped around the heart, and then it let itself crash heavily to the ground, digging a large furrow into the earth before it came to a complete stop, though it looked no worse for the wear despite it''s heavy impact.


    I called out to Fen through our link, ¡°Take her away, but just far enough so she can¡¯t see us. She doesn¡¯t need to witness what I¡¯m about to do. Protect her in case he has any other Beasts under his control. Worst case, her life is more important than her feelings. Take her into your shadow and jump as far away as you can. You know I can handle myself, at least against this scrub and his snake.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Fen didn¡¯t bother wasting many words. ¡°For you big brother, it is done.¡± He loped quickly towards Leslie, grabbing her up by the back of her shirt gently between his teeth, almost like a mother wolf picking up her cub by the folds of skin in its neck, and then he lightly tossed her up and around with his neck so she landed perfectly astride his back. He then took off like a rocket, until he had disappeared over the horizon, even utilizing my perception to the max. My enhanced vision didn¡¯t really allow me to see further than about three miles while on the ground, but that was due to the curvature of the Earth. But, my eyes could now zoom in kind of like binoculars, so anything that I could see, I could see like it was right in front of my face,


    Now that Leslie was safe, I had some business to take care of. I turned around slowly, limiting myself to my pre-Integration stats, so the man could see every bit of what I was about to do.


    My thoughts must have revealed themselves on my face, because he started backing up with a fearful expression on his face. He quickly looked past me towards his snake, which when I quickly turned my head, actually lay convulsing.


    ¡°Man, I was saving that heart for when Leslie got strong enough to eat it and gain the Basilisks ability through her Mutation. That snake better survive, and it better be at least as powerful as it¡¯s donor, or it¡¯ll just be a waste of the blood, sweat, and tears that I shed during the hardest battle of my life.¡±


    ¡°My Leslie¡¯s safe now. I fucking told you what would happen if a hair on her head was harmed! But you just couldn¡¯t bear to be the loser in this situation, could you, and now you¡¯ve crossed my bottom line. I think this time, I might actually enjoy this,¡± And with that, I shut up. There would be no further words wasted on this cretin.


    ¡°But we had a deal! You gave me your word! Does that mean nothing to you?¡± He finally realized the situation he had let himself get into, He could have just stayed hidden, seen what I wanted before he tried to start a dick-measuring contest with me. He would have realized that I was only there to help the survivors, and him, if he would have just given me the time to let me make my intentions clear, but noooo.


    I finally started walking towards him, savoring every little expression of fear I could see shift across his face.


    ¡°You¡¯re slipping Cade. I¡¯ve remained silent long enough throughout this fiasco. This isn¡¯t who you are Cade, but doing this will probably be the thing that tips you over the edge,¡± came a voice I hadn¡¯t heard since before I had left Leslie where I thought she would be totally hidden.


    ¡°Be quiet Heph, this doesn¡¯t concern you. How could you possibly understand how I feel right now? Even the incarnation of Love couldn¡¯t stand you, so how could you?¡± I didn¡¯t realize until I saw a look of confusion cross the giant man¡¯s face that I had replied to Heph out loud.


    Finished speaking, even to the voice in my head, I burst into action. Moving at my top speed, the Mutant could again not even begin to react before I was right in front of him, until I came to a complete stop with my left hand gripped around his right wrist in a vice grip, with my right hand placed between his shoulder and neck for leverage, and my legs using his knees as a foothold.


    He could probably guess what I was about to do, because he gasped out two words, his voice breaking, ¡°Please, no,"


    A smile crossed my face. It was much too late to beg.


    With the slightest bit of effort, I jerked the hand wrapped around his wrist downwards in one smooth motion, and then an instant later, I was soaked from head to toe in the blood spurting from the slight stump where his right arm used to be. I quickly grabbed him and faced him away from me to stop any more blood getting on me.


    ¡°Damn, shouldn¡¯t have slowed my perception down so much to enjoy my revenge, Could¡¯ve dodged the blood and saved another outfit from the fire.¡±


    With him now faced away from me, I tugged him down to his knees so now he was now almost at my height, now just a little shorter than me on his knees,


    ¡°Open your mouth,¡¯¡¯ I said, reaching into the denim drawstring bag I had stuffed in my pocket, which was filled with a few spare health potions, the ones that I didn¡¯t have Fen store in his shadow. ¡®It¡¯ll stop you from bleeding to death, so drink it, or I¡¯ll bust your teeth out and do it for you¡± I held the bottle up to his lips and poured about the entire bottle between his now open mouth.


    ¡°This should be enough to sustain his life through what I¡¯m about to do to him. I did tell him I would leave him in Fen¡¯s shadow for eternity, and I can¡¯t do that with him dead, now can I?¡±


    I could see the profuse bleeding from his stump slowing down to a bare trickle in real time, and then stop completely.


    I moved in a flash until I was again facing the giant again, towards the direction where Fen had taken off with Leslie. I looked past the kneeling man to where the snake still lay thrashing around in obvious excruciating pain.


    ¡°I knew that it would be painful for a normal Beast to try and upgrade to a King Beast bloodline, but damn. It¡¯s stuggles are still going on strong though, so it must still have plenty of energy. Maybe there is a good chance it will succeed and upgrade it¡¯s bloodline. That would be awesome, that way there¡¯s still a chance for Leslie to gain the Basilisk ability, and probably a level out of it too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not done with you yet. You can thank one of your sentries for giving me the idea,¡¯


    I said in a monotone voice. ¡®But this is starting to bore me, plus I want to go check on Leslie, so we¡¯re gonna have to speed this up.


    A second later, the man that could no longer ever be called a giant again thudded to the ground, then tipped over almost like a felled tree, with nothing left to keep him upright anymore.


    A scream so shrill I almost pitied the man''s vocal cords erupted from the now supine man. The scream cut off and he started bawling, taking in deep shuddering breaths just to continue screaming/crying.


    ¡°Eww, get a hold of yourself man. You made your bed, I just tucked you in.¡± I quipped, feeling quite proud of myself for coming up with that one on the spot.


    I could hear the sobs start to peter out, and then stop completely.


    ¡°Dude must have passed out, the health potion will stop him from dying. Alright, guess my fun¡¯s over.¡±


    I stepped around him so I stood blocking the light from reaching the now much smaller man.


    Reaching out to Fen mentally, ¡°Fen, he¡¯s in my shadow. Take him through it instead of coming back yourself. It¡¯s not pretty,¡± He didn¡¯t bother to ask what I had done, because he would find out soon enough once he was placed in Fen¡¯s shadow.


    I watched as the now quadruple amputee sank into my shadow, and then a few seconds later Fen was standing in front of me with Leslie still on his back, but only for an instant before she swung her leg over Fen¡¯s back and she slid off in one smooth motion. She strode up to me until she was in front of me, and it looked like she didn¡¯t know whether she should kiss or slap me. I guess my killer face-card won her over, because her softer instincts won out, and she leaned in to wrap her arms around my sides, and stand up on her tiptoes with her lips puckered towards me for a kiss, which I obviously reciprocated, I could feel her melt into my arms, and I felt a heavy weight that I hadn¡¯t even known I was carrying lift from my shoulders.


    After a few seconds of sweet relief where the world around us disappeared, leaving Leslie as the center of my entire world, I pulled away, and the world came back into focus.


    ¡°Baby, I-, I was so scared I was gonna lose you,¡¯ I half-sobbed into her ear,


    ¡°Sshhh, sshhh, it¡¯s okay, my sweet, sweet avenging angel,¡±


    I half-chuckled at that.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s blasphemy baby. Wrong pantheon, remember?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I could call you my Nemesis,¡¯ she said giggling beautifully. ¡®First off, she¡¯s a woman, and you are very much a man, and secondly, it sounds like I¡¯m calling you my enemy.¡¯


    She pressed herself up to me and reached towards my junk and gave it a gentle squeeze.


    ¡°Damn woman, am I just a piece of meat to you? Hands off the goods.¡± I said, though with zero heat in my voice.


    ¡°Filet mignon though¡± she replied straight-faced


    I snorted saying, ¡°This is what I get for loving someone who shares my sense of humor. Let¡¯s go find a place to bed down tonight, and if you¡¯re good, I might do that thing you like before we go to sleep,¡±


    She drew in a sharp breath, and then started breathing shallow and quickly. ¡°That thing you do with your tou-?¡± I cut her off with a hand to the mouth.


    ¡°Shush, little ears around. Fen¡¯s a few feet behind you, and you know how good his hearing is, even compared to mine. But yes.¡± I spoke, laughing. I finally looked past Leslie towards where Fen was now sitting on his haunches. He pulled apart his lips in his imitation of a human smile.


    I averted my eyes in embarrassment. ¡°Gods, he must know. If his mom was still alive she would probably tear my throat out for perverting her cub¡¯s innocence.


    Approximately a couple hour later


    A scream split the night, ¡°Aaaagh, God¡¯s above!!¡±


    ¡°Good night babe,¡± I whispered into the dark a few seconds later


    ¡°Night, baby¡± responded Leslie in a whisper a couple notes higher than usual.


    A final thought crossed my mind before I turned over on my luxurious Beast furs.


    ¡°Hehe, still got it,¡±