CH 65: Wreckage

Their brief break came to an end as Claire could feel her nerves begin to build up. Her stress levels were rapidly rising as she thought about what her Goddess had told her. Toni’s guard could cause them issues. If that knight causes a scene, this whole operation could go sideways. They’d be prepared for a fight.

With the grassroots movements that Elizabeth is planning, there is the surprise factor. None of the participating villages are on good terms with the Lady, so they keep quiet about the plan. If the element of surprise isn’t on their side, Lady Myrtle could call for aid. That would spell the end for their little revolution before it even began.

The only reason she wasn’t completely freaking out was because both Ana and Elsie were gently massaging her shoulders. They could tell she was in deep thought and stressed. Her shoulders were tense, and her eyebrows were furrowed. They were doing their best to help her.

Jasmine was holding the party up, she was still quite groggy from her earlier session. Her eyes still somewhat hazed as she watched Elsie. Elsie could feel her lustful gaze, even with her back turned. It wasn’t something she was used to yet, coming from Jasmine, at least.

Lily sat opposite of Claire, as the alchemist was also deep in thought. She was trying to remember what the lady they passed had told them. The driver passed signs of bandits, but Lily was too distracted to remember the details. She was interrupted by seeing Jasmine crawl towards the twins. Her eyes locked on Elsie as she licked her lips.

“Jaz. This is serious… as much as I like this looser side of you…” Lily said with a deep sigh. She could feel her chest tighten as Jasmine’s lustful gaze turned towards her. She watched as Jasmine’s eyes wandered to her greatest asset. Jasmine smiled and changed course, aiming for Lily now. “We need you to be serio-”

She was cut off. Jasmine was quite fast, even on her hands and knees. The silent assassin had used her skill to close the distance between the two. Her lips latched onto Lily’s as she pushed Lily to her back. Lily did her best to resist, but Jasmine was far stronger than her. She could feel her resistance fading as she felt Jasmine’s arousal rub against her.

She didn’t get long to enjoy Jasmine’s embrace, though. Jasmine was pulled off her by a shockingly annoyed Claire. Her eyebrow still furrowed as she commanded Jasmine. “Jaz. Not now. We need to be serious.” Claire’s annoyance was evident as she did her best to hold back. She wasn’t annoyed at Jasmine per se. She was annoyed at her lover’s timing. “Why are you like this now?”

Jasmine blinked rapidly. Her reasoning returned as she continued to blink. Her grey eyes came back into focus as she looked into Claire’s eyes. “Holy shit… that was worse than the first time… sorry, I let my lust take over… it won’t happen again.”

“Fuck no! Give in to it again, but find a better time!” Claire said, her annoyance fading as frustration fully took over. She wanted to give in to her own lust and satiate her lover’s lust. But again, the timing was the issue here.

Jasmine flinched at her voice but was able to recover with a smile. “I’ll try… remind me again what’s going on… I was too focused on your… never mind.” She said, wiping drool from her mouth.

“That Northern woman is near us, according to our Goddess. We need to be on the lookout for her.” Elsie said, crawling to Claire’s side.

“A-also… Toni might be in danger of setting our Lady off…” Ana chimed in, crawling up to Elsie’s side.

“We need to be on the lookout for bandits. That was the clue our Goddess gave us.” Lily said, completing the briefing.

“No. Fire. The lady said she smelt smoke.” Claire said before taking a deep breath. “I remember now. She was concerned because she couldn’t see the smoke or any signs of camping. I think… I was kinda distracted…”

Lily nodded, her face reddening. “Ah… sorry, I also lost myself to lust…”

Claire shrugged before stretching. “Well, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get moving.” She said, getting up and heading towards the driver’s seat. “Jaz, care to join me? Need your attentive eye.”

Jasmine nodded before shaking the rest of her lust off. Her eyes had wandered over her paladin’s body as she stretched her muscles. Even Claire getting up caused her eyes to wander to Claire’s butt. She focused on breathing as she joined Claire in the driver’s seat.

“I guess that leaves us to plan…” Lily said, breaking the silence.

“In case Toni’s guard sets off Myrtle’s?” Elsie asked. Lily nodded.

“We have to warn Elizabeth… but we don’t have any ways to reach out. We’d have to stop by a village for their communication device… gods… they need to make those things portable already.” Lily said, talking to herself. She was talking about the magic letter system. A magic tool created nearly a decade ago that allowed for letters to be delivered nearly instantaneously.

“C-can’t… nobles control the gemstones needed…” Ana said, answering Lily’s complaint. Lily tilted her head before turning to Elsie.

“Elizabeth say that?” Both twins nodded in unison. Lily smiled. “Course she did… well, we can focus on the northerner now and pray for Toni’s guard to keep quiet… then we need to find a village…”

Elsie nodded as she sprawled out the map. “We aren’t too far from Fyre, a city that definitely has one… but it's a three-day ride. The other option is heading towards Calyre, which is just west of the city…”

“But it might not have the letter machine…” Ana added. She was trying to recall its name, but it escaped her. “I-I say we chance the village… only a day away from here…”

While the trio were discussing the plan, Jasmine and Claire were carefully watching the sides of the road. Both were looking for any signs of a fire or smoke. They scanned the treelines, Claire taking the right side as Jasmine took the left. Looking for any sign of conflict or people in general.

It was a quiet twenty-minute drive before Jasmine’s nose picked up on smoke. She couldn’t tell the direction, but she knew there was smoke somewhere nearby. “Stop… let me scout before we get too close.”

Claire nodded, thankful that Jasmine was out of her lustful fervor. She watched Jasmine until she could no longer track her. Despite wearing darker clothes, she quickly disappeared into the vibrant greens of the treeline. Silence faded in as she heard the muffled voices of her party members. She could faintly hear them discussing worst-case scenarios as the Royal Guard piqued her interest. They’d be screwed if they showed up.

It didn’t take long for Jasmine to track the smell. She raced quietly through the woods before stumbling upon the obvious signs of humans. Branches broken, grass padded down, and broken sticks led her to the fire she was looking for. Her stomach clenched as the smell quickly hit her.

Burning flesh. She held back her gag as she slowly composed herself. Jasmine took a deep breath through her collar and kept going towards the burning smell that made her stomach churn. She quietly crept close to a grove and the source of the fire. She could see it now, wood burning in the clearing. Wood crafted by women. Boxes, pieces of a carriage, and wheels all on fire.

Her eyes focused on the horses as their dead bodies were being engulfed by the flames. She held back her gag again as she scanned the area. She noticed quite a few dead bodies scattered about, some of which were on fire. She steeled herself before readying to move.

Then she heard it. That loud, primal breathing. It sent a shiver down her spine as she crept closer to the noise. The northerner was close by. Was she still in combat? After almost two hours after the lady passed by here? Her questions were answered when she heard the stranger’s axe hit flesh.

Jasmine heard an inhuman cry pierce through the forest. A cry so loud, she didn’t doubt that Claire heard it. She readied herself before dashing to the sound. She scanned the bodies as she passed by. What was left intact were definitely bandits. They had the tattoos prevalent in bandit tribes, and the boxes were filled with contraband goods. She felt a bit of relief knowing that the Northerner hadn’t killed anyone innocent.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight before her. The northern woman, with her white hair, glowing red eyes, and tanned skin pulled her axe from a lifeless body. It had fur, matted and dirty. It looked like a wolf but stood on two feet. Werewolves.

The assassin pressed up against a tree, obscuring herself as she watched. The stranger pulled her axe free as another wolf pounced on her. She intercepted it with the shaft of her greataxe, the wolf biting down on her handle. She slammed it to the ground, next to the dead body that was slowly turning human. It was quickly shedding its fur as the strands of hair began to disappear. A lifeless woman now taking its place.

Not only were they bandits, but they were werewolves too? What in the fuck were the Knights doing? Lycanthropy should be snuffed out immediately by the country’s own laws, yet these bandits had it? She calmed herself as she observed, careful not to be seen by the remaining few werewolves.

But unfortunately, these creatures didn’t need their eyesight to find her. Their powerful nose and her obvious aroma from her previous activities gave her away. She only realized it when one of the three creatures sniffed the air and turned in her direction. A wicked smile filled with canine teeth greeted her before she turned to run.