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Chapter 6...

"Good morning Captain," Rena greeted as the otter rode into the stables of the inn on a jet black charger, towing two saddle-tied packmounts behind him, "I thought you were going for none showy mounts?"

Aspenall grinned, "Morning Princess... I have done, but I couldn't resist this spirited mare. The market only had Fellericksy here to offer as a trained combat horse, but the ones the men have got are all strong, but butt ugly palfreys that the upper class would not be seen dead on. There was plenty of walking glue of course that looked as good as Fel here, but I am no idiot as I pointed out before."

Charles perked his nose up and whuffled the charger's nose in greeting, nearly getting his bitten off in the process. Rena chuckled as Aspenall reined Fel in, "She is certainly spirited...Not going to bolt is she if we are ambushed?"

Aspenall dismounted, keeping a firm hand on her bridle, "Look here," he spun the mare to face flank on to Rena, scars showing evident in several places where her hair was not lying flat, "She was a soldier's bounty, captured injured when brigands were defeated in a skirmish around six moons back. She has healed well, and has older ones in various other places, but they do not threaten her soundness. I would guess from her teeth she is around ten years old, and her teats tell me she has foaled in the past too. This could be her last ride out before she goes to grass, so I got a good price...I would guess that she has seen more combat than most. Your stallion there would make a good match, after all, you own her...I just acted as your intermediary. Foals from the two of them will be worth at least two gold a piece if they breed true, even unbroken."

"You chose well Captain, though I can hardly see myself settling down as a horse breeder...your recommendation shall be kept in mind though." She looked across at the doorway as Dante emerged into the yard, "Bout time you showed up, you ready to fly?"

"I was ready a mark ago, your provision packing was not though!" he gestured behind him as several of the inn staff emerged, each carrying a bulging saddlebag.

Aspenall covered his mouth to hide his grin, "Your provisioning was successful then?" he enquired politely.

"Satisfactory, yes...I still need to find a descent apothecary...The ones here did not have the poisons I prefer for my work...I will have to source them in Gilensia. I can get a decent focus stone from there to, to store my power when I don't need it," Rena replied in a nonchalant fashion, ignoring the uncomfortable look she got from the otter.

"Very well Princess." He handed the reins of Fel to one of the stablehands and went to supervise the loading of the bags onto the packmounts.

Dante swung his load off his shoulders and dropped the sacks into two empty saddlepacks, carefully making sure the four buckle straps on each were clinched tight before he handed them to the Captain to place on the front horse.

Rena finished grooming Charles in silence as she checked his tack over carefully for loose stitching. Two light packs now sat behind his saddle on his rump, and a chest plate of moulded leather covered access to his heart by sword stroke. That was all the armour she thought necessary, as her policy would be speed, not combat if it came to it. That was what Aspenall and the men were for.

Her own outfit was now something to be considered rather outré too. Though her familiar scabbards still hung from her belt, she was now dressed in a supple leather jerkin that hugged her body without restricting it, a tight skullcap helmet that still allowed her ears to be free, and a thick leather skirt made up of twenty four individual pieces that pleated together and were held in place by kids-skin strips. Her legs and arms were bare, though Dante knew she had acquired coverings for those too for when the weather turned cold...and Deity help the soldier who caught a glimpse under that leather skirt, as he knew from watching her dress, there was nothing under it but thin cotton. To finish off, she wore calf high boots, as hobnailed and tough as any soldiers. All in all, a warrior through and through by appearance, though not of the usual type, sort of the opposite of the males he knew would be accompanying them.

She walked over to the mounts, placing her hands, one on each muzzle as she closed her eyes, "Nisi forte animalia omnia quae ego praecipio vobis ut maneat afferat quies tu mihi sanguine teneantur ..." she whispered as her power flowed from her to be absorbed through their skulls. She lifted them as the horses settled, a slightly glazed look in their eyes as she took her Kunai and slit the tip of one finger, lifting the lip on each beast and allowing two drops of blood to smear on their tongues before she sheathed it again, wiping the cut clean on a hanky she produced from somewhere.

"They will not bolt now?" Aspenall asked her.

"Never, while I still live. The words that bind are...'I command you beasts to remain calm but strong through all that may assail you, by my blood you be bound...' No animal can break that geis short of being killed. Charles is not under such command as he is trained, and will act accordingly if attacked. So, I imagine will your Fel. It tends to dope sensitivity, so I will only affix the same to the other packmounts when the men catch up with us."

"I do not profess to understand mage-craft, but why did you cast that spell in the old language and not the current?" Aspenall queried.

Rena smiled, "I cast yours in the same language Captain, but in my mind, 'Ego imbuere tibi pugionem tenere domino vestro per suum sanguinem tueri et servire expediret Dante draco et me Rena Cresentstar ad periodum viginti quatuor lunas, nisi dimitti diluculo a vinculo isto per dissolutionem, vel mortem alligatio partis. Ne si summa temptare ac repudiata non te convertes a vobis sponte de te ...' I just translated them aloud so you could understand what I was doing to you. Beasts need not understand the geis, so I did not translate."

The Captain nodded, "I did not know that...I offer my apology for my query."

"You need not apologise Captain...just understand that a Mage need not be speaking to be casting a spell...they will have their eyes closed though. All magic is cast in the old language, it is just the way. A silent Mage is still a very, very dangerous one."

The sun just began to cast shadows in the stable-yard and Aspenall looked up, "We need to move...the men are all going to walk at dawn." Rena nodded and vaulted herself up into Charles' saddle. "I used to be able to do that," Aspenall continued, chuckling and he mounted Fel in a more conventional fashion.

Rena grinned before turning to Dante, "You going to fly out, or walk out with us?"

"Fly out...Polomavit has been a little too quiet for my liking, and I want to make sure there are no surprises waiting for you on the East road. He must have noticed the Captain's actions over the last few days, and he may just have the brains to work out something has been going on."

"Good point Sir," Aspenall replied, "I never thought of the possibility for aerial reconnaissance, usually we were looking up to watch for attacks."

"Go then, and circle. We intend on stopping just over the first rise to wait for the troop. If you spot anyone, join us before we crest that rise, so they don't see you land and report," Rena instructed, "We shall go and collect our bond from Frendrick before circling the walls to pick up the road."

Dante nodded, moving into the centre of the yard before flapping heavily and taking off, revelling in the freedom of the skies for the first time in days.

~~~~

Rena allowed Aspenall to take the lead as he tracked through the fields that surrounded the city walls, though she had no intention of being stuck in the centre of the troop when it came to general riding. The bond had been collected fully intact, but she had pulled one of the pearls from the bag and handed it to Frendrick as a thank you gift before she left. Flaughten winked at her as he deposited a large bundle of paperwork in the Captain's pigeonhole outside the barracks office before he headed out of the door with a satchel on his shoulders. She had made a hasty exit, half expecting the roaring to start from the bear any minute!

Dante circled overhead in the burgeoning dawn, the air was just crisp enough for his breath to be seen, and that of the furs below. He headed out in a long slow curve towards the East before turning so the sun was at his back and began back-tracing the road towards the townne at a height of around six thousand feet. He grinned to himself, Polomavit had been careless with the quality of the people he had hired, as they had not muffled their noses as three separate sources of breath were clearly coalescing from amongst the branches of a large oak tree directly above the road. He was fairly sure that as close to the townne as they were, they were not travellers who had decided to overnight in the crown. He headed back closer to the walls before dropping into a tight spiral to land on the road a quarter furlong from Rena and Aspenall, and waited for them to catch him up.

"I was right..." he said, greeting them.

"Ambush?" Aspenall asked.

"Ah ha...Three of them in the oak just over the rise. They are directly above the road," Dante reported.

"You sure?" Rena queried.

"They did not take your precaution and have not muffled their noses. Three separate breath sources."

Aspenall smiled evilly, "Good report...amateurs then hoping to drop from above and cut your throat or something. Probably thugs from the low rent district...How do you wish to proceed Princess?"

"Who owns the timber by the road?" Dante asked.

"This close to townne, Polomavit...Crown lands start at four leagues out. Why?" Aspenall asked.

Dante grinned, "Then I have a feeling that the fox is going to be one oak, and three thugs light in a few minutes, if Rena agrees..."

"You thinking of doing what I think you are thinking of doing?" she asked a smirk on her face.

"Only if you do not wish to question the ambushers..."

Rena chuckled, "Do it...We shall just wait here for a quartermark."

Dante nodded and took to the sky again, heading back to the East so the sun would again shield him from the tree's view. He began building his internal fires for a blast attack, not the usual controlled flame he normally emitted.

"Is he going to...?" Aspenall asked as Dante vanished into the sun.

Rena nodded, "This isn't going to be pretty. I was contracted to assassinate a whole family of nine two years back. The contractors wanted no survivors and to make a statement, so not a sneak and slit. Not a job I am proud of, but I didn't have much choice as I was badly outnumbered and at sword point when contracted, they surprised me. I bought a magnesium, nitro-phosphorous and saltpetre compression bomb from an alchemist and broke into the properties basement, lit the fuse and ran. To this day I comfort myself with the knowledge that no one survived the blast for more than a few seconds. I counted what was left of the burning bodies and then hightailed it out of there...none were recognisable. I did not know that three of the targets were children until that headcount."

"You did the Polarintales job?" Aspenall asked shocked.

Rena nodded, tears in her eyes. "I vowed after that I would die myself before I took another job involving innocents. That was the first and last one."

Aspenall swallowed hard, "I was leading the squad that arrived on the scene first. Took an alchemist to work out what had happened from the traces left on the burnt timbers. Who contracted you?"

"Makes no difference now, I collected my payment, and then I collected them, one or two at a time in the night for forcing my hand to unwittingly kill children. They are where Charles comes from actually, he was the leader's horse. Loparlines gang if it makes a difference to you. The Polarintales family head had skipped out on them a few years previously with a debt of eighty gold. I only found out about that as I cut Loparlines' throat," she sniffed, "Call it clearing my conscience for the deaths of the kids."

Aspenall looked a little sick, "I should turn you in for that alone..."

"You are no longer in the guard, and you can't now because of your oath. Trust me, I almost turned myself in...it was only my hatred of Kalaw that kept me from doing so. I will never use fire myself again either, unless in my capacity as a Mage." She looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun as a whistling began to build in the East, "I suggest you dismount, cover her eyes and tie Fel down hard, here he comes..."

Aspenall dropped from the saddle quickly and looped her reins around one of the fence posts on the roadside before chucking a jacket over her eyes, "That tree is nearly three quarters of a furlong away..." he commented before the whistle suddenly stopped.

"COVER YOUR EARS AND EYES!" Rena shouted, and did just that to hers and Charles' as there was a loud whump!

The explosion was impressive, even bigger than she was expecting. One of the dragons she had killed in her quest had attacked her with a fire-blast, but her mage-shields had held, so she half knew what was about to take place. The blast of heat swept over them, almost hot enough to shrivel the tips of their fur and the horses hairs before hot splinters and embers began to rain down steadily as they swatted at each and every one to stop them from settling burning through to the skin.

"Fuck me!" Aspenall declared as the smoke plume over the hill finally cleared.

Dante swept into land beside them, smoke trailing from his mouth, "Any injuries? Sorry it has been a while since I needed to do that and it was a bit bigger than I was anticipating."

Rena grinned up at him, "No injuries...and you have a gift for understatement."

"You want retribution?" He nodded towards the townne.

Aspenall stared at her for a long minute before she turned her head and answered, "No... Polomavit will have gotten the message. He will encounter me personally in the future if I ever pass this way again. You would take to many other innocents with him if we flattened the manor."

Dante nodded, "I would have refused if you had asked me to. I don't kill those who have not offended me."

Aspenall cleared his throat, "May I suggest that we ride on...quickly?"

Rena nodded, "Come then...the troop will have the sense not to use the road around the tree stump won't they?"

"I would imagine that the horses will not touch the hot ground anyhow," Aspenall replied, remounting and breaking Fel into a trot around the scene through the fields, the packmounts and Rena following in his wake as Dante took to the air again.

They stopped in a clearing on the roadside a furlong on, both of them taking sips from their water canteens as Dante landed next to them to wait for the hired men. Aspenall unsheathed his enchanted dagger and laid it across his saddle pommel as he let Fel's head drop to crop the lush ground. "Ma'am, I think we need to get some things straight before the others arrive," he stated seriously.

Rena looked across at the dagger and then looked deeply into the Captain's eyes, "Go ahead, speak freely." Dante came up to stand behind her.

Aspenall sighed, "I told you that I was owed favours, well I used a few of them with the record keepers over the last few days. You are not a Princess. There is no royal family with the surname Cresentstar anywhere in the recorded kingdoms. I do not question that that is your real surname, as that is the name you have bound me by, and magic can never lie...so drop the pretence from now on please. I know from what you have demonstrated that you are a more than competent warrior and mage...And from more research with the records office, a competent assassin too. You are the known killer of...Groundsell, Firehowel, Auwnsert, Mousnewel, Ployton and Trouwelinne, and you are suspected as being responsible for several more. In each of the above cases, your contractors gave your species and rough description up before they swung for hiring you, though none divined your age or name. I did not suspect you of the Polarintales' job as it was well outside of your usual modus operandi. You did well to keep your face and age hidden when taking the jobs, or mage-shield or not, I would have killed you in the inn if I had suspected you of the ones mentioned...I was looking for a wolf-bitch much older." He turned to stare at her stunned face, "The reason your magic is not turning my dagger on me now is that I tell you this for your own good, and not through malice. I know what vengeance is, and I know from your admission over the Polarintales' family job that you were only doing what you were trained to do, and that you took no pleasure from it. I have killed many more legally than you illegally. And yet I fear that the King himself would hire someone of your skills if his advisors could find you, as every job has been so neat and tidy. Now the question comes of course as to where your money has come from..." He turned slightly to face Dante, "The money is your horde isn't it?"

Dante nodded, "Yes."

"Then everything you spouted at the gate and the confrontation with Frendrick and Polomavit was total bullshit..." he held his hand up to stop her response, "Hear me out, or trigger my dagger now Miss Cresentstar." She backed down. "I don't like your profession, and I don't like your dishonesty...but I like you. I also like Dante for some reason I have yet to work out... maybe it is because he is the first of his species I have ever actually discoursed with. You are still my employers, and I have no intention of breaking the oath. I believe that you did indeed attack Dante, but I cannot work out why he should tie his lot in with you...You mentioned mystical issues, but I will not question his sanity as you obviously complement each other. I also know that only dragons can create a blood-oath...so he must have been the instigator of your tie. As the Captain of the troop you have now recruited I will say this now...To them you are a warrior Princess...but you would never pass for one in polite company unless schooled in mannerisms. I will school you in private in case you do run into decent members of the noble classes that your new wealth and false title will require you to mix with. As for me, I will only defer to you as Ma'am from now on. When we are attacked by roving bands, which we will be...We will not wipe out those that travel with them unless they are armed...no females, no children, no matter what you order." The otter stopped and stared at her, "Now you may respond...Ma'am, though I would like to know your true origins in the future."

"You are more intelligent than I took you for Captain," Rena said after a minute, before she looked at Dante, "What is your opinion on this situation?"

Dante looked down at her, "I think maybe you should think back to the conversation we had that night after we met the Captain here. I can carry no opinion of this, as I am ignorant of the fur ways. Do I trust him now? Then I would say that maybe I do...but further evidence must be presented in order for me to put my life in his hands alone. I do know though that if you lose him, you likely lose the troop as they could be coming to serve under him..."

Rena sighed, "My spell would have acted if he were lying...It seems I have little choice." She turned back to Aspenall, "This conversation stays between you and us?" she queried.

"It does," the Captain replied seriously.

"And when you are released from your duty?" she pressed.

Aspenall looked a bit uneasy for a minute, "The Polarintales' job is what makes me want to defer the answer to that..."

"But I told you that is the one job I regret the most...and it is avenged," Rena protested.

"Something I should know about?" Dante asked.

"Next time we have total privacy...It was a couple of years ago," Rena snapped at him, looking up at the still smoking hill-top as a group of riders lead by Flaughten picked their way around the site of Dante's attack.

Dante nodded, holding his silence, though there was obviously something else that had passed between Aspenall and Rena while he had been airborne, "Very well."

Rena stared at the otter, who just nodded, "I give my answer when the quest is over, but before you release me. That way your magic will know if it is the right one for you..."

"Turning me in would be against my interests," Rena stated.

"Would it? You questioned that yourself only half a mark ago...Anyway," he nodded towards the rapidly approaching men, "I suggest we leave it for now. If I survive this quest, I will give my answer, and we will see what your spell's reply is."

Rena shook her head as the troop came within hearing distance, "I have no choice then." She turned to the men, "Welcome Lieutenant, I am glad that we meet this time under better circumstances." She held out her hand and the tiger took it, giving it a firm shake.

"My pleasure Ma'am...I will admit it was a surprise when Horsthwock approached me and the others over this, but then as soon as Captain Aspenall's name was mentioned, we knew where the approach had come from. It will be a pleasure to serve under him again, even if we are no longer serving the crown. The men and I accept your generous offer with great thanks." Flaughten replied, saluting her after releasing her hand.

Rena smiled, "Well I am pleased that I was able to recruit men with experience, and not just a band of rovers with no proven history. You have all been vouched for by Horsthwock, and therefore in turn by Aspenall or he wouldn't have chosen you." She ran her eyes across the others, freezing on one particular wolf who shrank back into his saddle, "You!" she exclaimed, turning to face Aspenall.

"Is there a problem Ma'am," Aspenall asked, moving Fellericksy up to level with her and Charles.

"That would depend...What is he doing here?" she pointed at the scarred wolf.

Aspenall followed the direction of her fingertip, "Private Grillion? He is an excellent skirmisher, and I know that is what you asked for."

"I suggest that Grillion tells you why I am not happy to see him..." Rena stated, crossing her arms angrily, "He is treading a very, very thin path just daring to show up..."

"Grillion?" Aspenall queried as Flaughten and the other men backed off.

"I...ah...Answered Ma'am's knocking on the gate...I could have been a little more polite...But I thought she was an enemy...and she did use rather uncouth language herself..." the wolf stuttered.

Rena snorted, "You lot had just slammed the fucking things in my face, what language did you expect from me?"

Aspenall glanced at her and then back at Grillion, "Explain yourself."

Grillion flushed, "I...Ah..."

"He suggested Captain that I was not of the rank I was, and that he would like to do similar things to me that he does to those he pays for from the streets...only without paying," Rena answered for him.

"A word Ma'am...in private," Aspenall said, glaring daggers at Grillion before backing Fel away and turning her towards the woods.

Rena nodded, "Dante...introduce yourself and explain the mage-binding and quest more fully to the men please, in case Horsthwock was only able to give a rough briefing. Please." She said, before turning Charles and following the otter.

Aspenall reined Fel in and turned her when he judged them to be out of hearing range, "Ma'am, with respect I need to know one thing now. If I am to lead your protection, you will have to give me control of the troop's discipline? Obviously you or Dante can counteract an order from me, as you are my commander in chief, but for general issues, I need you to bow to my judgement."

Rena looked him over seriously, "My instinct is to place a dagger in Grillion's heart, as sending him back would be too risky. He is exactly the sort of scum that engages their mouths before their brains that I don't want my life to be in the hands of."

"I can assure you that once you bind Grillion in the way you have bound me, he is the best skirmisher the barracks had in their ranks. You must admit he doesn't lack courage for even being here...He was due to make Sargent any day soon..."

"He insulted me gravely, and I nearly killed him...In fact if I had not wanted a quiet entrance to the townne, he would have died at the gate with my knife through his skull for his words."

Aspenall sighed, "May I suggest that I put him on punishment duty then for the first two moons. Latrines, dogwatch, close camp and point march etc."

Rena huffed, "So you genuinely think he is worth the effort?"

"I do Ma'am...he is hot-headed, but an asset..." Aspenall replied.

"Then do it Captain...but tonight when we make camp as we will not make another inn today, he goes a round with Flaughten by the fire as well. I want to observe him move, and wail a bit when he is caught," Rena replied as Aspenall grinned in response.

"I think that is only fair...Ma'am." He broke Fel into a walk and they headed back to where the troop was waiting. "Grillion! Princess Rena will take you, not kill you on the spot. You are on punishment duties though for two moons! Think before you open your gob next time Private!"

"Yes'Sir!" Grillion replied saluting, "Thank you Ma'am!"

"One more suggestive word about me in my presence or behind my back, and the balls that brought you here will be stuffed in your mouth as you choke on your teeth!" Rena threatened with snarl, before she turned to face the East road again and started Charles walking without waiting for a response.

"Grillion, on point! Men, fall in behind. March!" Aspenall commanded, moving up to half a head behind Rena, "You not going to bind them now?" he whispered as Grillion trotted his mount past them to take his assigned position.

"Need to meditate to build my power until I get a focus stone," she replied, equally as low as the men formed up into a loose formation quickly, the pack horses in the middle of the group, Flaughten just behind her and Aspenall. She glanced at Dante who was walking on her left, "Take the air Dante. I do not fear attack this close to a townne, but I want you to watch the men for itchy fingers. Until they are bound, they could pose a risk. I have my skin-shield in place, but not the reserves to cast all the spell bindings now. I will tonight."

Dante nodded, "Will do Rena..." With that he moved off to the side slightly and took off, circling until he was barely a dot in the late morning sky.

~~~~

Dante looked on in concern as Rena cast her sixth spell binding of the evening. They had made camp in a clearing about a quarter furlong from the road. There was no track leading to it, but Dante had spotted it from above. A clean, lush verdure of grass and clover meadow concealed by the surrounding forest with a crystal clear stream babbling through the centre of it. Grillion had gotten a bit scratched up breaking through the undergrowth with his sword, but everyone agreed the site could not have been much more perfect. The watch would be set on the hacked entrance, as any other approach except from the air would create a racket that would wake the dead.

She had bound Grillion first, and he was currently digging a latrine next to the stream where it exited the meadow. A merry fire was burning high in a pit amid the semicircle of tents, and was being tended to by a rabbit called Hrruther who Aspenall assured Rena was the best cook amongst them. He didn't seem to mind that four of his feral 'cousins' were turning on spits near the flames as he created a stew from a haunch of venison and journey rations. The remainder of the deer had already found a happy home in Dante's belly! His blood mate was beginning to sweat, despite the fact the air was cool.

He moved closer to Rena as she finished binding the muskrat. "You need a rest?" he queried as the fluffed up soldier looked at his dagger in wonder, before sheathing it and moving off to where his comrades were lounging under the watchful eye of Aspenall.

"What? No...It just drains me of spiritual energy, that's all. When we reach Gilensia and I exchange one of your diamonds for a really, really good focus stone, I will be able to cast all day as long as I will have stored my excess in it each night," Rena replied, looking up at him a she wiped her brow.

"And you can't use a diamond as a focus?" Dante asked.

She shook her head, "No...some Magi can. Each one of us has a different mineral or stone. My master tested me and unfortunately mine is pure, unsullied amber. That is rarer than even your diamonds, though not as valuable...The bigger the piece, the more I will be able to store as a reserve." She looked up as a skinny looking weasel took the place of the muskrat, holding out her hand for his rather ornate dagger. She closed her eyes to focus, before snapping them open again, "Aspenall!" she shouted.

The otter hurried over from where he was re-stitching a loose band on Fellericksy's tack, "Yes Ma'am...problem?"

"We have a traitor or a trickster amongst us," she gestured at the weasel in front of her, "He has just presented this dagger as his...The steel's memory tells me it is not."

Aspenall glared hard at the Private, "Wealdon...explain yourself!" he ordered, hand half drawing his sword.

The weasel shrugged, "Can't blame me for trying Sir...You wanted me on board and I came, but you all know what I am."

Aspenall sighed, "Ma'am...meet Wealdon. Petty thief, scoundrel, spy, but all round good soldier as long as you watch his hands all the time." He turned back to the weasel, "Whose dagger is it?" he asked.

Wealdon grinned, "One of Polomavit's," he replied, "Nicked it from his personal salle when we were last up there."

Rena and Dante stifled a chuckle as Aspenall fought the expression of humour on his face, "Ahem...much as the intention was good, if I had cast the spell and then pierced your palm without noticing Wealden, you would have died in your sleep." Rena stated.

"Oh..." the weasel replied as the humour was wiped off Aspenall's face.

"Don't mess with mage-craft soldier, unless you understand it first." She placed the dagger on the grass next to her lap, "Give me your real one now, or I will use this one to end your contract before it has begun."

"Yes Princess, sorry Princess," Wealdon replied, unsheathing his own personal blade from where it resided in his boot, handing it to her.

"Mmmm...A pick blade," Rena remarked, examining the thin and flexible steel, "I guess you know how to use it too...?" Wealdon nodded, "Good. At ease Aspenall, I will take it from here."

"Yes Ma'am," the otter responded with a salute, and went back to his saddle-band.

"You want a boost if you don't want to take a rest?" Dante queried her quietly, reaching down and picking up the stolen blade.

She turned to face him, "What do you mean?" she asked as Wealdon watched, "I cannot borrow spiritual energy from another."

"Who said anything about borrow?" Dante replied, "We are bound by blood." Without warning he plunged the tip of the steel into the centre of his right paw until his life-blood flowed freely. He then turned the blade onto Rena, and pierced the minor artery that ran across her right shoulder blade, causing her to hiss in pain, and tear in shock as he then clasped his bleeding palm to her fur, "Per sanguinem animae nostrae partem ..." he whispered as her eyes opened wide.

"You can't do that!" she exclaimed as his inner power started to flow into her as his blood mixed with hers.

"I just did...Now finish your work for the evening. I will act as your reserve for the night," Dante replied as he settled himself into a comfy position, his paw still firmly clasped to her shoulder.

She almost burst out crying then for his gift, but instead bottled the feeling up within herself as she turned back to the weasel and closed her eyes, completing his binding in a record time as the seemingly unlimited power coursed through her heart and veins. The other three bindings were little more than a blur to her power soaked brain, and she almost collapsed in shock as Dante sparked his healing breath and broke their most intimate of connections with a single susurration that sealed their wounds as if nothing had passed. She was still buzzing though, every noise or movement amplified as if she had just come out of a three day meditation.

"Go bind the other pack beasts, and that should settle you a little," Dante suggested quietly.

"How do you live with it? That much energy?" she asked as she stood, wobbling a little on her feet as he supported her.

Dante shrugged, "It is just a part of me I suppose. If the old teachings are correct, it is what allows dragons to fly on such short wings, breath fire without burning up internally, and all the other things that should be impossible. Strange isn't it...I suppose it is the magic that holds our soul memories too...I know I was not taught this, but it is something that all dragons know from before they hatch. Not all dragons can use it externally in mage fashion, but I have the gift, if not the learning...Unless I do...This memory issue is fucking annoying at times. I could be the most powerful mage alive, and yet I don't remember anything important. This has drained me a little, I will not know I did it tomorrow, so I apologise in advance."

Rena shook her head, "I will solve that issue for you Dante...if it is the last thing I do."

Dante smiled, "I have lived with it for two or more centuries, I am sure I can continue to if you do not succeed."

"Won't stop me trying though...Partner." She turned and headed to where all the horses had been ground tethered to drain some of the power in the way he had suggested.

~~~~

Dante was half asleep when she returned, using the quiet of the horses to slip off and use the pit dug by Grillion earlier before it became unsanitary by the use by the men. She was still buzzing with energy, and an evil thought had crossed her mind as she balanced over the log and relieved her body of it's wastes in the dark, an unwelcome but familiar itch between her thighs alerting her to the need of swallowing certain herbs soon.

She strode back into the firelight and over to Aspenall as his head nodded in time with a tune being plucked out on a gittern by Flaughten...The tiger a completely different man now he was dressed in just a tunic and hose, the bulging muscles in his arms and calloused fingers caressing the strings as if he were a eunuch in his mistress' parlour. "Mind if I teach Grillion a lesson myself?" she whispered in the otter's ear, "And not hand him over to Flaughten."

Aspenall looked up at her, "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Is he trained like you and I are in hand to hand martial combat?"

"A little...was not on the training program. I was taught externally to the guard by my father before he passed on."

"Then I think this should be interesting, with your permission," she grinned evilly, "I promise he will be able to ride in the morning."

Aspenall chuckled, "Knock yourself out then Ma'am..."

"No...but I might him..."

Aspenall choked on a laugh as she stood and moved to the centre of the fire circle as Flaughten's fingers ground to a halt and everyone turned to look at her. Dante's eyes opening fully again as she took her helmet off and allowed her hair to spill free and dance in the flames' light. "Grillion...As part of my agreement with the Captain to allow you to stay, you were to go a few rounds with Flaughten in the circle tonight for my amusement." She paused and unlaced her jerkin, slipping it over her head and allowing it to drop on the grass where she had cast her helmet. The men's eyes dropped from her face to the cotton cups that were barely containing her femininity. "However I am feeling a little enervated after my blood-mate leant me his soul strength, and feel like a bit of fun myself..." She unbuckled her sword belt and cast it with its blades onto her jerkin before going for the one on her skirt, "Care to join me?" she asked as her fingers freed that buckle and the leather pleats dropped to the floor as every eye followed them to pause at the triangle of cotton that barely hid anything.

Grillion scrambled to his feet and stepped into the firelight with a supercilious grin on his face, "I knew you couldn't resist me..." he started as he closed on her.

Rena reached over placed a single sharp fingernail on his chin and closed his jaws, cutting him off mid-sentence, "Strip!" she ordered.

Grillion looked uncertain, "Should I not wait until we are in a tent?" he asked.

"And deny your colleagues their entertainment...I think not," she pouted and turned a slow circle before bending supplely and unlacing her boots, stretching the cotton triangles tight across her mound as she lifted her tail to give him the best view, "I ordered you to strip soldier..." she said as she faced him upside-down, her face between her ankles.

The wolf swallowed hard, and quickly threw his own clothes into a pile, his own cotton coverings showing a great deal of strain at the front now. Rena grinned and stood, turning to face him again, "You seem to have forgotten something Private...uncover your sword." She reached behind her back and untied the bow holding her breast cups in place, before letting the string dangle in her arms before placing the cotton with her other clothes, and her breasts swung free.

Grillion's jaw dropped, as did all the other soldiers, including Aspenall's. He shuffled over to Dante, "What does she think she is doing?" he hissed.

Dante chuckled, "I have no idea, but I have a feeling in my soul that she is not undermining your discipline! I am enjoying this show, though I have of course, seen her in this state of undress in the mornings."

Aspenall shifted, "If I were younger I would have the same problem Grillion has now..."

"I think all the men are suffering from that Captain, they are all shifting uncomfortably," Dante commented, as Grillion finally dropped his final item of clothing and turned to face her, fully unsheathed with his knot glistening.

Rena grinned evilly, "Not bad private...not bad..." She pulled the bow on her final piece of clothing and let the triangles unfold to drop with the others.

The gasp was audible from the rest of the circle. Grillion swallowed hard as she swayed and twisted in flickering light, the shadows it cast tantalizing everyone with each sinuous move. She stopped about a foot in front of Grillion and stared into his eyes.

"I am fairly sure you all watched my fight with Flaughten," she said loudly so all could hear, not dropping her eyes from the naked wolf in front of her, "And as you did, you will have heard me declare that I could defeat him naked..." Grillion swallowed hard again. "Well as you also all know, Private Grillion cannot control his mouth when he is addressing a Lady of my qualities...And suggested that he would like to fuck me like the slut that he presumed I was..." She let the pause hang pregnant in the air, "Well though he appears to have the correct equipment to do as he suggested, I most certainly am not a slut. I am in fact a maiden, pure and unsullied by the hands of a male. I did not have the time or interest to pursue bedroom arts while I was learning how best to kill others..." She ran a single nail down the underside of Grillion's chin, between his scarred but honed pectorals, and then down to his crotch and around his pulsing knot as he shivered under her touch. "To claim me as your prize Private...you must defeat me as we are, here in the circle in front of all. Pin me, and you may take me..." she turned to stare at Dante, "As I said with Flaughten, let him make the final stroke if he can," she directed as Dante nodded. She stepped back a pace then, the nail following the line of his fraenum until it dipped in the pre at Grillion's tip. "So claim me then..." she stated.

Grillion swallowed hard again, "But I apologized..." he said weakly, knowing what was going to happen next.

Rena grinned, "Not enough to defer the insult...come and get what is coming to you..."

He closed the gap again, before lunging without warning to try and plant a left hook under her chin. His fist contacted nothing, and as his momentum carried him forward he caught a brief glimpse of pink from between her thighs as she spun and revolved on one foot to catch him across the back of his head with her calf, nearly knocking him out as he face planted in the dirt. "Pitiful," she taunted as he got to his feet again.

This time he went for a hug hold, and she let him clasp her close to his body as his shaft pushed tightly between her legs and kissed her mound, "Gotcha bitch!" he exclaimed as she grinned at him.

"Wrong..." she whispered back, and plunged her thumbs into his pressure points over his thighs, causing his legs to collapse, and he dropped paralysed and howling to the floor at her feet. She straddled him, spreading her legs apart over his face so he could see what he had been so far from actually achieving, before she stepped off him. "Let that be a lesson to all...I am not even out of breath and yet one of you who is supposedly trained in combat cannot even take a naked bitch to bed...Never ever close combat with someone trained the martial way, unless you know how to counteract their moves with surety...or you will be left like Grillion there, writhing on the floor." She turned and walked over towards Dante and Aspenall, "You are all at ease for one mark, go take care of your needs at the clearing's edge, as I am sure you are all dreaming of your own aspirations towards me," she ordered. Every one of the men scrambling to their feet and shuffling off in different directions, bent over in a vain attempt to hide the truth of her statement.

"And you Captain?" she queried as Aspenall hadn't moved.

"You play a dangerous game Ma'am," he stated as she stood, naked in front of him.

"Dangerous for whom?" she asked and walked past him, picking up her sleeping rolls and spreading them against Dante's side as he lifted his wing, "Release Grillion from his nerve blocks in no less than a mark, and then dunk him in the stream, he stinks," she ordered.

"Yes Ma'am," Aspenall responded.

"Oh and Captain..."

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Your pants are as tight as the others..."

Dante chuckled as he lowered his wing to make snug tent over her and Aspenall shuffled off to find his own relief. He stuck his head into the enclosed space, sniffing deeply of his blood-mate's scent...it was more than alluring. She shifted slightly in her rolls as her eyes met his, "Do I want to know why your belly is not as smooth as usual near my legs?" she asked, pressing her back against his scarred scales.

"I would ask that you not ask...Or should I counter with the query as to why you smell as sexually pent up as all the men you have just dismissed?" Dante replied in a whisper.

Rena sighed, "I think then that we shall let both questions rest for the time being...that is unless you wish to join the men."

Dante sighed, "No...I am not inverted and exposed, just aroused internally. But as the wise Captain said, you played a very dangerous game tonight Rena...To gamble with your virtue almost lowers you to the level of the whores Grillion must normally rent..."

"Maybe...but I knew I would win. It is not a gamble if the odds are stacked. And I can guarantee one thing Dante...Not one of them will be a threat to my virtue in the future..."

Dante sighed, "We will see...we will see..."

She sighed and closed her eyes, safe in his embrace as she dropped off to sleep, a petite snore whispering from her lips.

"You forgot to include the one that now nurses you my little Princess..." Dante whispered as his arousal slowly subsided... "You tease my control on a daily basis...A dragon only has so much..."