FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter seven: knight together

Diana woke startled to the sky black except fireballs exploding overhead. She reached for a weapon out of instinct and soon found James sitting on the blanket they were sharing looking up. Seeing him not afraid made her think this was a show, not an attack. She relaxed as she moved to his side. " Awake are we now?"

Diana nods as she lays her head on his shoulder. " Are you opposed to us getting married?"

Diana raised back up surprised to the question. " What do you mean by that?"

James scratches his chin a moment. " Well now we know each other a little. I need a wife and your family wants you a husband by the sound of it. I am just saying when we get you home. We should talk about it again. But you can bring it up next time. Every time things approach being, personal, well you go all red face."

Diana punches him in the arm angry and he only smiled at her as he rubbed it. Diana then paused giving what he said some thought. " Did you watch over me while I slept? You did not do anything, ungentlemanly did you?"

James shook his head. " I closed my eyes for a few seconds and found you asleep. So I been sitting here all day."

Diana blushed as she moved back to his shoulder as more fireballs exploded in the sky in a colorful arrangement over them. " They are beautiful."

James smiled as her hand grabbed his as someone pounced on them from behind. " Here you are! I been looking for you all day!"

Diana felt Kira's huge breasts on her back and shifted to the side to let her land on them, but that did not faze her much as she went to all fours and moved to James lap. " Master, thank you for being so good to me."

Diana looked at her angry a moment before seeing the sincerity in her eyes. There would be nothing she would not try to do for James she realized in that moment. He put a gentle hand behind her ear and started scratching gently as she started purring. " She really cares for you doesn't she?"

James chuckles a moment to the thought. " I guess she does. She seen the others of her species. Even in town. I think everyone deserves better than life as a slave."

James then smiled as Diana smiled as well as they looked into each others eyes. His face suddenly sours a little as his cheeks go red and a licking sound was heard from James lap. " I think we should get back."

Diana raised up embarrassed and hurried to get to the wagon.

Diana set the horses for the night before getting back inside James home. He carried Kira upstairs when they discovered she was asleep in the back. She pauses thinking of her licking his groin back by the lake and shook her head trying to get it out of her head. She barely got under control as James came back downstairs. " Sorry, things got strange."

Diana blushed a little and looked away. " That is fine. I appreciate you doing this trip with me and my grandfather. I hate to be ungrateful."

Diana starts to move her dress off her shoulder and she looked where James was before and found him looking away. " I have respect for you you know. How do you think this makes me feel?"

Diana looked sad as she remained motionless. " All I got to give is my body. A knight repays kindness."

James sighs. " If you think this is how I want repaid then you do not know me as well as I thought."

Diana shed a tear sad hearing that as she put her dress back on her shoulder. Without saying anything else James heads back upstairs. Diana watched stunned feeling rejected. " So you have noticed?"

Diana jumped startled to her grandfather speaking behind her with a sword in his hand. " Grandfather, how long have you been there?"

Howard shook his head. " Long enough. You should have known he would not."

Diana turned and took to a seat and Howard moved to the table as well and sat down. " I am changing grandfather. No one told me how to handle these changes or how to deal with them."

Howard shook his head and puts his sword on the table. " After he saved my life I gave James my sword."

Howard taps it as he looked at it. " I insulted him by the action, but he was graceful as well. He took my sword and said that when he gives it back that I must use the sword as a knight. That he needed my help to protect his property." Howard pushes the sword toward Diana. " Bare this role for me. That is how you can start paying your debt to him. And pay mine while you are at it."

Diana smiled amused hearing that and took her grandfather's sword and took it out of it's sheath. She felt heat coming from the blade. " A flameburg? Or is that magic imbued?"

Howard shook his head. " It is a plat sword. And imbue debuffs do not work on it. Mana fade and magic item break has no effect either. It is as if James fused the power of fire right into the blade."

Diana examined the blade a little more before covering it back up. " I have much to be thankful for and much to repay. Grandfather, thank you."

Howard nods happy as he got back up. He puts a gentle hand on Diana's shoulder before going back toward his room and she felt she needed to rest in private as well and started heading upstairs. Half way up them she found James sitting there and he looked bored waiting. " Sorry, you two were talking and I did not want to interrupt. I am going to sleep in the shop. Kira is in a mood."

He raises up and walks past her. It is almost as if he forgot what happened earlier.

Chapter eight: on the road

Sense Diana had her own horse she rode point to the wagon. Howard control the team of horses that pulled the wagon. Kira slept so she could be the night guard and James worked. Before leaving James met with the wyvern keepers and arranged for Jeffry to be cared for. He was not happy seeing his master go but knew also there was no way to keep him while on the road. He viewed this as an opportunity to surprise his master by how much he improves when he returns. Diana reviewed the route they were to take by the memorization of James map.

Three days to the boarder, four weeks to the Marjon Mountain Pass, where they will spend the winter underground, and in the spring at the end of over five months of journeying, baring a bad winter season, they will make it to the estate of her father. That was not all on her mind as her sword banged against her hip as her horse moves. The added fire effect did not seem natural or done in the normal imbuing methods and could not be countered by them as well. The same went for her new armor. The note with it said Kira got her measurements and that was annoying but also they fit better than what she left her home with over a year ago.

Diana had done growing sense then, as both a person and a woman. As they went along the road was quiet she noticed. She was cautious because even well patrolled roads like the one they were on has bandit attacks on it and a wagon with a small escort was a good target. Her grandfather was just as weary as she went for her sword to unlatch it. The moment she did an arrow lands in front of her horse. It reared up but she kept it under control enough to not fall off or it take off after being startled. " Who goes there?"

A pair of three men appear. An archer and two highwaymen. Kira grabs her sword as the stage of combat is set as her grandfather gets his own bow and arrows and prepares to fight as well. Sense she was on horseback she should move first with the highest speed but instead the back of the wagon opened and James appeared with a strange weapon on hand. It seemed to be a strange club and he had a shimmering blue aura around him. She figured he had some sort of skill that made him attack first in an engagement. " Timer count fifteen seconds. Three seconds load; buck slug slug slug. Two seconds take aim at highway man 1 and shoot. Two seconds take aim at highwayman 2 and shoot. Two seconds take aim at highway man 3 and shoot. Three seconds assess damage done."

As soon as he said that a timer over his head appeared and he starts reloading as he got to her side. He takes aim at the closest highway man by shouldering his weapon like a crossbow and firing. The loud roar the weapon made made her horse jump. It took everything in her to keep it under control and the second roar was almost as bad as the first. The third roar she was forced to dismount to keep the horse from running away.

Those on the wagon was having similar issues. She turned to James again seeing two left on the timer. " Quick shot." Diana covered her ear as she was near the weapon as it roared again and watched the last attack tear into the two left standing. The first downed had a hole in their head and the other two had similar holes on their body as well. The rain of damage with the last attack finished them off and James sighed annoyed as he put a hand on Diana's shoulder to signal she should finish the battle. All that was left was the looting and they only had a few seedz on them. The arrows were still good so she took them as well and marked the kills to be cleaned up later by the patrols.

Later in a road side inn the four sat in a room James paid for for them. Being on the road all they encountered far more enemies that they hoped to while on the road. Only when they seriously outnumbered Diana did James come out again. As Kira stuffed her face the other three did maintenance on their weapons. As Diana wiped her sword she looked curious at the array of parts and pieces that was James weapon. He noticed her look of curiosity. " I call it my boomstick. Think of it as a merge of a magic staff and a crossbow."

James lifts a tube and shoves a cloth and brush into it to clean the barrel. " So what was that magic you used to act first?" James kept quiet a moment as he lowered the barrel to check another part. " Call it a mix of initiative and haste. I have an amulet that allows me to increase my speed by three times at the start of the fight. However after my first turn that buff is removed and replace by a steep penalty. I also have an accessory that increases my health by five hundred but that health is nonrestorable in combat. My clothing is made up of a light weight material that is high in almost elemental protections at the cost of overall defense. Sense my amulet reduces projectile damage by half I am an overall tank because of this I guess."

Hearing James speak made her think. The way he spoke made perfect sense to her. With the exception of very fast range melee attackers he was well suited for almost all roles. " Can I ask? Why did you not come out every fight then?"

James considers that as well as he starts to assemble his weapon again. " First unless Howard said you seemed in trouble I was busy working in the back of the wagon. Seconds,"

James holds up a shell for the weapon. " I do not have a lot of these. They are easy enough to make all things considering, but they are expensive. With a lack of materials of late as well."

James looks at it annoyed a moment. " That is one reason why I am coming on this journey. I am hoping to find contacts with suppliers of elemental crystals. Each crystal can make a different type of shell. Which does a different action."

James shows her the shell again. " This is an iron crystal. It does a lot of damage to a single target with half armor penetration."

James lowers it and brings up another shell. " This is a wind crystal. It does varied damage over a large area of enemies and does little against armor."

Diana remembers him using those in the first fight. He brings up another shell. " This is a fire crystal shell. This one causes a lasting aoe effect area damage that ignored armor but is low damaging overall."

James thinks a second looking for a last shell. When he could not find it he sighs. " I have the ability to make one more, but I seem to be out of them. With water crystals I can debuff an enemy with cold damage and slow them while it does it. Hit them enough times with the cold damage and they freeze. Taking them out of the fight for a time and more susceptible to damage."

Diana blinks surprised hearing his weapon was surprisingly similar to mage craft. " So how do you make the shells?" James ignores her and starts to work on his weapon again. With the reinsertion of screws at key points it was back to working order. He did a few actions with it to check to be sure it operated properly and Diana figured it foolish to ask about one of his trade secrets. He puts a single shell into it before taking to his bed. It was clear his willingness to talk was over for the day. Kira relaxed and retracted her claws from her bowl of leafy greens glad her master found no offense to her curiosity.

Chapter nine: border check

The days wore on them with little change to pace. If a structure or town was not found by late day they would set up a camp by the road. Diana was still curious of James weapon but only learned that each shot was fairly expensive. She decided to drop the subject by then and it was near midday when they arrived at the boarder checkpoint. The post was rather large and had well over a hundred soldiers in it. Which meant the post was more like a military town than an actual checkpoint.

Sense the location was possibly the last friendly place they could be for a while it was wordlessly agreed to spend the night and rest up before the rest of the journey. Howard went to the inn to get them a room and James hit the local markets to find materials for his work and also send his power cores to the market he can sell them in. Sense they had his lights and heating systems even this far it was no surprise to him the local markets took them. Kira and Diana decided to care for the wagon before joining up with Howard at the inn.

By the time James got back to the inn it was starting to get dark and he found the two ladies at the bar eating. Kira's appetite gone unchecked caused four plates to be piled up in front of her and a fifth half way threw. By the look and smell of them they had a bath before eating as well. James joined them for a plate and mug ready for an evening of casual chit chat. He decided to kick it off with a safe topic. " How is Howard holding up?"

Diana smiles thinking of him. " Good, the activity is keeping him alert. He is also proud of my skills."

Diana thinks on the sword at her side and James notices. " Diana there is something I want to tell you about the sword. However this is not the place."

Diana picked up the hint that she should not use the sword here if challenged and nods. After their current plates and a second to follow the three were content on their meals and decided to listen to the music from the bard box. When the guard change from the day guard to night occurred it became noticed that the inn's dining area got filled with hot and tired men wanting cold drinks. It quickly started to become rowdy and Diana and James raised up to go. Kira raised to follow them. They were half way to the stairs when a loud feline yell occurred. " Rrreeeerrrr hhhsssss."

James turns to find Kira ordering another drink by her hand signal and one of the guards hand on her rump. Her eyes were locked on her gropers. " Now don't be like that kitty kitty." James rushed to her as she continued her low tone hissing. " Hey Tom I see you met my lady."

Kira rushed away from the guard with all haste and got behind James both scared and angry. He felt her claws digging into his clothing. The guard looks at James a little unamused. " Hey we were only looking for a little fun. No need to but in."

James signals the barkeep. " Drinks for Tom. On me." The barkeep pauses hearing the name but not knowing it. The guard and those nearby look at him confused as well. " Tom?"

James acts like he did not notice him saying that. " Apologies, I have trouble sometimes with your tongue. Tom means friends."

Many of the guards heard that and realized they were about to get a free drink and became excited. " I rather have a sample of her."

Kira dug her claws into James deeper, enough to sting. " Tom does not want my drink?"

The hostility new in James tone was noticed as he sounded insulted. The neighboring guardsman grabs the others shoulder. " Come on man. He is paying for the first round. Ease up."

The guard Jame is talking to rolls his shoulder to reject the hand. " No, Tom does not want your damn drink!"

James balls his fists and considers punching him right there as the barkeep yells, " Take it outside." James nods and starts heading for the door. Giving the advantage to the guard when they get outside. " Master!"

James starts to turn almost at the door as a chair breaks apart as it hit his arm. He was lucky he took a stance as he turned to brace for an impact so it looked like it had little effect as the guard held the top of the chair shocked. He did not move as James took him by the top of his chest plate and threw him outside. James went to follow and by the time he got outside the guard was already up the street. The inn's dining occupants became disappointed. James sighs and goes to Kira and scratches behind her ear. She melts into his arm happy. The other guards mock their colleague as they go back inside behind him. Finding Jame still paid for their drinks but not the chair.