Our war council was coming along nicely. The respective leaders of each faction met with me one by one at the half-way point between Ellowyn, Lotherain, and Eudora's tower.
Alira represented the several dozen witches in Eudora's place. Gale was elected as chief bannerlord among the five bannerlords that came with her, representing the entirety of the demi-humans from Vessyra and outer Talmora. Kati abdicated leadership of his tribe to Clem and represented the demi-humans of Ellowyn.
Zathira would join us later. She and Custodian continued to mate day and night, producing offsprings for war. Regrettably, though the remsectnid queen had asked for two months, no one could afford to waste anymore time. Their forces would only number up to 100 by the end of Redvern.
King Ulric of Juna and King Marcus of Parthun would have joined us if things turned out differently. Regicide appeared to be commonplace during times of war. However, and though it irked me to have been played like that, Quinny and Lisette now ruled the Kingdom of Juna.
Although demons were among the list of enemies to face leading up to Edith Percouli, we had found an ally in Thelia whose penchant for subjugating lesser demons below her accrued a sizable force to serve our cause.
The combined forces we had raised was nothing to scoff at. Yet at the same time, it paled in comparison to the legion of demons that stood between us and Thanreas, as well as what awaited us within.
Fortunately, our fears were offset by the aid of former Piety knights, Noelle and Eleanor.
"We believe Lord-Commander Giselle Artoire has been led astray by the Crimson Witch Edith. As knights of the Order of Piety, sworn to stamp out profaned witchcraft and evil, it is our duty to correct her misactions," Eleanor declared, speaking for both herself and Noelle.
"Your assistance is invaluable. I can't thank you two enough for lending us your sword. It must have been a tough decision to resolve to fight against your own commander." I was able to sympathize with them well, and likewise they understood where I was coming from. For the longest time, we believed Headmistress Anora to be a role model to all witches. We were sorely mistaken.
Both the knights and witches were betrayed by someone we trusted.
"I don't know if Discipline is still herself anymore, but I would still like to give her a piece of my mind," Noelle said.
"You and I together. The commander must answer for her crimes. To our blades and to the gods above." Eleanor put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.
Both of them then nodded to me and returned to the tower to plan their own battle. That they would face Discipline in my stead was a load off my back. That woman terrified me. Her strength was something else entirely, possibly from having made a deal with a greater demon or worse.
The ones we had faced thus far were nothing compared to their deity-like masters. It was even believed that the witches of old grew so weak after subduing those monsters that the Council of Kings was able to overpower witchcraft thereafter.
"I'd like to slug our old headmistress a good one, but I'm guessing you have other plans for me and the girls?" Alira asked, crossing on leg over the other.
"This is a war between witches. The populace of Thanreas are as much victims as we are. Once we've touched ground and secured the Granite Promenade, I want you and the others to go around purging the demons." I marked every spot on the map Eleanor and Noelle had drawn for us where citizens were densely populated. No doubt demons would have amassed in the residential districts to terrorize as many people as possible.
What we needed were good optics. The better we appeared to the general populace's eyes, the easier it would be to earn their trust.
The last person to meet with today…
Gale had her nose turned to the sky. She had since taken off the grizzly helmet, but the savage armor she wore and crescent sword sheathed at her waist didn't make her any less intimidating.
"I didn't think priestesses were fighters," I remarked to her.
"Ceris and Sheila prefer not to do battle. I am what you would call an outlier. If we are to see Vessyra flourish again, then I must fight for it, the high priestess responded with conviction. She glanced over her shoulder where a massive encampment of tents and bonfires had been raised to shelter four-thousand warriors. "That the bannerlords answer to me should speak volume to my capacity to lead."
The army was impressive to say the least. Within me, Vessyra swelled with pride to see the fruits of her children's fertile prosperity. At the same time, she grieved for what was to come.
"If things go according to plan, your people won't see much fighting. We only need them as a threatening factor to keep most of the enemy's forces concentrated at the gates," I explained to both the goddess and Gale.
Night had fallen by the time the discussions concluded. So much to plan, so little time. How the hell did Eudora manage to do what she did?
When I returned home, Eileen and Mira were smoking skewered fishes on top of the cauldron of all places. Green, the most adorable of the three harpy sisters, was watching the descaled fish meat glisten and charr to a crispy texture. Mira then lathered and brushed a thin layer of remsectnid honey over them which caramelized quickly from the heat.
"Raa! Raaa!" Green cawed with hunger, tugging on Eileen's robes and pointing to her own mouth.
"Be patient just a little longer," Eileen said.
Mira plucked one of the smoked fishes and dangled it above Green's face.
"What do we say?" she asked.
"Raa?" Green cocked her head sideways. "Raank… rryoou?"
Satisfied with the answer, Mira handed Green the long-awaited meal.
"Good girl!" Eileen stroked the harpy's head.
"You're teaching her to speak?" I asked, finally revealing myself.
"Harpies are incredibly intelligent," Mira began, putting a hand on the harpy's head. "If they're around humans long enough, they can pick up speech patterns and intonations better than human children."
Amusingly, the harpy sisters had been hanging around Zeke a lot. The talking dragon might have taught them a word or two. Occasionally, I would hear him speaking to them when they fly around in the sky. His confidence was coming around thanks to their presence. What an interesting friendship they had going on.
"Having them around to speak with is nice, too. Isn't that right, Green? Or are you just here for the food?" Eileen asked the harpy.
"Raa, aahh!" she replied.
They had cooked enough fish for a banquet. Suffice to say, it tasted heavenly with the honey. We fed the rest to Green and her sisters, but they fought for every last bit down to the bones. The trio slept on top of each other on the couch, snoozing away their full belly. At the end of the night, Eileen retired to her room on the upper floor of the great hollow.
Mira and I laid in bed, her naked back pressed to my chest. Like me, she probably wasn't asleep yet. Probably waiting for me to make the first move to give her permission for another spicy night. But this much was enough for me.
"What are you thinking back there?" she suddenly asked.
"Certainly not whether I want to have sex with you right now. Nope," I lied, rubbing my erect penis in the space between her buttcheeks.
"What a happy coincidence. I happen to be in need of you." Mira turned around to face me.
We kissed once, twice, then ended up with her riding on top of me until I came. My dick was right at home inside her. Having a male sex organ was one of the best decisions of my life. Although sometimes, I was tempted to ask Mira to get one herself.
Now wasn't a good time. If I also became pregnant, it might put a damper on our plans to go to war.
Mira propped herself up on top of me. She stroked my cheek and stared into my eyes affectionately.
"You distract yourself too much of what might be. Here's an idea: what shall we name our first child?" she asked.
"Name, huh… Wait a minute. You said first like you're hoping for a second?" I raised an eyebrow.
Mira grinned. "I don't recall saying second. But since we're on the topic, I was hoping for five. Two from you and two from me. Once we've popped them up, I may consider giving Gurk my womb for one child."
"Oh. Now we're talking about having a goblin baby? I hope you haven't forgotten I was his first." I tapped her nose and returned the grin.
"I guess we'll have to ask him ourselves the next time he's in bed with us, won't we?" She chuckled.
