Extermination (Daniel Black Book 3) (28 page)

So many complications. This trip was just one damned thing after another. I was really looking forward to getting home.

Yeah. Home. Tina would greet me with that innocent smile of hers. Avilla would whip up some amazing meal in five minutes flat. Then I could stumble off to bed, and sleep for about a week.

Kozalin was under siege.

A column of smoke in the distance had warned me that something was wrong well before we’d come within sight of the city. But we were barely a mile from the walls now, and the tiny black dots swarming in the fields outside had long since resolved into an army of ape men.

“I count forty-two thousand andregi, and perhaps three thousand thunder beasts,” Tavrin said gravely.

There were five camps spaced at intervals around the city, each protected by a dome of magic much like the one that the first army had employed. Maybe half the enemy were there, or manning the siege engines I could see lobbing rocks at the city. The rest were currently assaulting the walls of the Trade District.

Kozalin still had something like twenty thousand troops manning its defenses, and even odds are generally bad news when you’re trying to assault a fortified position. But the enemy were tougher than humans, and had a lot of magic on the field. Groups of elite ape men who climbed the wall to attack the defenders. Giant dinosaurs swathed in leather armor, that tried to batter their way through. Groups of minor mages who conjured clouds of insects or corrosive gas to sweep sections of the wall clear for their assault. They hadn’t managed to get into the city, but there was fighting on the wall in several places.

“Do we bomb them?” Cerise asked.

“Not with a hold full of refugees on board.”

The Griffon Knights were out in force today, fighting an air battle against a swarm of ape men riding giant pterodactyls. I couldn’t tell who was winning, but I had no interest in getting the
Intrepid
snarled up in that furball.

“There’s no need to risk our involvement,” Tavrin agreed. “The city will hold today. The attack on the wall is already beginning to lose momentum, and the air battle is a stalemate. Give it another hour, and both sides will retreat for the day to lick their wounds.”

“What about those guys?” Cerise asked, leaning over the control panel to point at another column of andregi marching up the road from the east.

“Look at how their advance parties are moving. They’re heading for the encampment nearest the road, and the sun will be down before they could lay out a campsite and reorganize for an assault. I expect they’ll be back tomorrow, though.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. “Loop us around to the west, Cerise. We’ll stay over the river as we approach the island, and try to avoid the fighting.”

“Damn. Oh well, looks like we’ll have plenty of excitement later. One thing I don’t get, though. Why aren’t the mortars firing?”

I frowned. “Good question.”

Things looked normal enough on the island, not that we could see much from the air. The place looked eerily deserted after all the work I’d done to minimize the need for people to go outside. No traffic at the gate to the city, either. I’d have been concerned except that there also weren’t any signs of an attack.

Of course, the stonework would repair itself if it was damaged.

We were dropping in to land in the courtyard beside the arcology block when I finally say movement. The big gate leading into the street level swung open, and an armored skimmer floated out to take up a position to one side. A squad of troops followed it out, and lined up on the other side of the door with their guns pointed skyward.

“Guess they’ve had some trouble,” Cerise said.

“Figures.”

She adroitly dropped the airship into the courtyard, and turned it around to back the rear doors up to the gate. That would give the guards an eyeful of our own damage, since those damned dwarves had ripped the doors off the back of the ship and run off with them during our fight. I’d had to replace them with sheets of iron, and the tail gunner’s position was still a wreck.

“Stop us outside the doors,” I said. “I want to talk to whoever’s leading the guards here for a minute.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

I climbed out the bridge hatch the moment the
Intrepid
stopped moving, and bounced over to the infantry squad. Sergeant Thomas took his eyes off the sky at my approach.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, milord!” He said. “The Captain was getting afeared you might not make it back.”

“Yeah, this whole trip was one damned thing after another. The ape men giving you trouble?”

He nodded. “Them flying lizard things is trouble. They’re tried us twice, dropping troops atop the walls with them, and they bombed the mortar positions with some magic crap that eats metal. Took out two of the mortars, and the Captain’s been saving the rest. Them magic folk you took in saved our asses in the second assault, milord. I never seen no one fight like Demetrios.”

“Well, he’s had a few thousand years to practice his swordsmanship. The girls are alright?”

“Yessir, we took good care of the ladies. That Miss Avilla of yours is something else, kept it together and kept everyone moving in the same direction through everything. Good to have you back, though, milord.”

“Good to be back,” I replied. I eyed the gateway, and turned back to study the
Intrepid
.

“Let’s get this ship under cover before the enemy decides to bomb it,” I decided. “It looks like she’ll fit through the doors if we’re careful.”

He followed my gaze. “Won’t be room to get the skimmer past it, milord. I’d better get it back inside first, then.”

Of course, the
Intrepid
had a regrettable lack of rear-view mirrors. I ended up having to disengage the anchor spell and push it around with my own force magic to get it lined up right, but fifteen minutes later the ship was safely parked in the street. Sergeant Thomas got his squad to close and bar the gates while Cerise and I headed back to open the ship’s cargo doors, and I conjured an iron ramp so the elves could debark more easily. Tavrin and Sefwin were just following us out into the street when a redheaded missile collided with me.

“Daniel! You’re back! You’re safe! I was so scared but I knew you were alive and you’re home now thank the goddesses and everything’s going to be alright because you’ll fix everything and I’ve missed you so much welcome home.”

I kissed her, which stopped the babbling. God, I’d missed my girls. Had it really only been a week? It seemed like so much longer.

“Hello, Tina. I’m happy to see you, too.”

She was wearing a new dress, a pretty one with a lot of ruffles that made her look young and carefree. And pregnant. She was really starting to show now, but it only made her look more radiant to my eyes.

I realized she hadn’t been the only one to approach us, and turned to find Avilla and Cerise lost in each other’s arms. Pelagia had arrived with them, and was watching the byplay with a surprisingly gentle smile on her lips.

Tina giggled. “I think they might need a room. Oh! Welcome home, Elin.”

Tina abandoned my arms to sweep up the ramp and give Elin a warm hug. Then the witches finally came up for air, and we traded off again. These five-way greetings involved a lot of hugs and kisses, didn’t they? Not that I was objecting.

“I’m guessing this is the rest of your coven, Daniel?” Sefwin asked.

“Yeah. This is Avilla, and the cute redhead with the big smile is Tina. Girls, this is Sefwin, and that’s Tavrin. Tavrin is the head of Clan Nethwillin, and Sefwin is his heir. Avilla, where can we put up forty-odd dark elves and a hundred human retainers until I have a chance to build them a proper home?”

Avilla bit her lip, and looked at Pelagia. The elder nymph smiled easily. “We set up a temporary residence for them on the ninth floor, my lord. Nothing fancy, since you weren’t here to do the stonework. But it’s warm and safe, and I had a work party build a few walls out of those conjured bricks so it isn’t all one big room. That’s an ingenious scheme, by the way. If you can make a device that conjures doors to go along with the brickmakers we’ll be able to finish out whole floors without having to bother you.”

I shrugged. “I copied the idea from someone else, but I’m glad it’s working out. So, you’ve been helping Avilla organize things?”

She looked down, and her hand played nervously with a lock of her long hair. “Yes. I hope that’s alright?”

“Of course,” I said firmly. “I appreciate your willingness to help out. I’ve got some things I need to talk to you about later, but for right now can you help Tavrin get his people settled in?”

“I’ll be happy to take care of it, my lord.”

Tavrin shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m listening to the Mistress of Bloody Thorns call a human ‘my lord’.”

She smiled mysteriously. “Time changes all things, Tavrin. Daniel is not the first man I have acknowledged as my lord, though I doubt my youthful misadventures are recorded in your histories. Now, shall I show you what we have to work with?”

Tavrin nodded, and immediately started organizing a work party with his typical preternatural skill. I turned back to the girls, and noted that Daria and Embla had joined us.

“How are you doing, Embla?” I asked.

“Much better, milord. Lady Elin finished healing me up a few hours ago. Thank you very much for saving me, both of you.”

“I was just doing my job, Embla,” Elin protested.

“Maybe, but I’m still very grateful. I’d do anything to thank you,” she purred suggestively.

Elin blushed. “I, um, that’s quite alright, Embla.”

The wolfen girl grinned. “I can’t believe you’re still so shy, milady. If I was as pretty as you I’d be taking advantage. Well, I suppose we should let Gronir know that we’re back.”

“I suppose,” Daria said sourly. “Come on, then. Unless you need us for something else, Daniel?”

“No, you go ahead. I’m sure I’m going to be busy talking to people for the rest of the day.”

Tina watched her go with a puzzled frown. “What’s got her all upset?”

I sighed. “She spent half the trip trying to seduce me, and I kept putting her off.”

“I still say you should hit that,” Cerise put in. “Those wolfen girls are wild in the sack.”

“But she’s with Gronir,” Tina protested.

“If she doesn’t care, why should we?” Cerise replied.

“Because he cares,” I said firmly.

“Exactly,” Avilla agreed. “Why don’t we all go back upstairs? We have a staff meeting in an hour, so you can all bathe and rest for a bit before you have to deal with anything else.”

“A hot bath sounds great,” Cerise agreed. “You definitely need to fit in some kind of bathing room on the next airship, Daniel.”

“How about we let the dark elves run the airships?” I suggested. “They seem to be good at it, and that way we can just stay home.”

“Aw, but I like flying.”

“Then we’ll just have to put our heads together and figure out how to get your wings to work properly, won’t we?”

“Sold!” She announced eagerly.

After a week on the airship a hot shower was heavenly. Cerise and Elin both rushed through it so they could go soak in the tub, but I spent quite a while in the spray just letting the hot water run down my body. Despite my magic I was exhausted. Maybe I could find time for a quick nap before this meeting?

No, an hour wasn’t long enough. No rest for the weary.

I emerged from the shower to find Cerise missing, and Tina soaking in the tub with Elin. Her artless smile warmed my heart, and I noticed she was still going out of her way to make the shy girl feel welcome. If we were a sentai team, her power would definitely be Heart.

“Come join us, Daniel.”

I hesitated. “I need to get ready for this meeting soon.”

“You’ve got time,” Tina insisted. “Avilla laid out fresh clothes for you in the changing room, before she dragged Cerise off to welcome her home.”

“So that’s where she went. I’m surprised they bothered to leave the room.”

“I’m sure she didn’t want to make Elin uncomfortable,” Tina explained.

“Ah.” I sank into the deep water with a groan. They had the water jets on, so it was just like a hot tub.

Tina giggled. “See? You made the magic tub, you get to enjoy it too. Hecate wants you to make her one.”

Now there was an image. Probably not wise to dwell on it, though. “Does she, now?”

“Mmm hmm. She looked just like that.”

“You watched her bathe?” Elin said incredulously.

“I just came in to ask if she needed anything,” Tina said defensively. “She was in here for hours after you left. Poor Avilla was a wreck, worrying about if she was going to stay for dinner. Besides, she likes me. She said I’m a cute kitten.”

“She got that right.”

Tina was in as close to a pure human shape as she could get at the moment, with just the cat ears and tail revealing that she was no longer human. But my gaze was drawn to her mountainous breasts floating in the water, bobbing up and down with the currents. Damn, had they gotten even bigger somehow?

“See something you like?” Tina shifted, sitting up and leaning forward a little. The movement brought the upper slopes of her breasts out of the water, and her pink nipples bobbed just below the surface. My reaction was inevitable.