Chapter 100. Madu

Ummmm. What?

Prepare to go to the falls immediately. More livestock are required.

Don't I need to complete the quest first?

What part of immediately was hard to understand?

Ummm the part of why it's happening now. Not that I'm complaining but isn't there a whole process of completing quests that I need to follow?

Plans have changed. Risks and sacrifices must be made in order to secure additional Livestock and Deeds.

Ah. There it was. Purple wanted more Deeds.

"Well let's go get Zeldi and Voras. Apparently the Deed wants to send us all to the falls now." I motioned towards the house because unlike the girls I had to be in there to travel to their rooms.

Immediately.

My surroundings changed and I was deposited on a large platu overlooking a waterfall that was only half the size of Tarakona.

"Got it Deed. We will go immediately." I sarcastically said with a shake of my head. Not that it could hear my thoughts anymore, it never seemed to talk to me outside of the farm.

Behind me I heard Zeldi squeak in surprise and when I turned around I found her, Voras and Tilty all lined up. Tarakona was there of course but due to her size she was  a little bit further away.

Zeldi and Voras were in the process of putting on some red clothes and I realized they must have been hiding in the same room together to avoid Tithalia. The red clothes were to try and resist her fire though I don't think it would have done much of the Dragon had gotten serious.

A shiver ran down my body as I realized my own clothes had been melted. I could feel a slight bit of embarrassment wash over me as the thought that I had been partly naked in front of Tarakona's mother for the majority of that conversation without even realizing it. Well calling it a conversation might be a bit of a stretch.

Thankfully without needing to be asked Voras quickly spun me some new pants. Nothing special but at least I wasn't hanging free.

Tilty was looking anywhere but at me once she realized I was bare and I took a quick look around but couldn't find Dríade. Did she not count as one of my Livestock yet?

"Okay then." I sighed putting on the pants. "So Tarakona's mother is a little scary."

"Only a little?" Voras dryly commented with her additional layer now on.

"No she was completely terrifying." I corrected. "But the worst part is that she can fully interact and possibly kill the Deeds. At least based on the threats she made."

"How is that possible?" Zeldi asked while each of the girls that hadn't been present gave equal looks of confusion and concern.

[My mother is old. Old enough that she was probably around when the first Deed came to be. And even if she wasn't, the control of both her fire and magic she had was leagues beyond anything I have come across. It wouldn't be a stretch to say she could do whatever she wanted to whomever or whatever she pleased.]

"So with that the Deed has panicked and basically said we need more Livestock and Deeds. So here we are at the falls Voras described close to Mada? Am I saying that right?" My question was aimed at Voras.

"Madu, not Mada. She will be at the bottom of this waterfall close to that edge." Voras pointed at what looked like small area just beside the pool at the bottom of the waterfall that gave way to a very steep drop and was covered in shrubbery growing between the rocks.

[That seems...]

"Dangerous?" Voras finished. "It was ment to be hard to reach even if someone knew where it was. Madu can scale the cliff quite easily so it just made sense when we chose this location."

[I feel I will be unhelpful with moving around the rock face. My size is good for some things but not others.]

"Pfff like I'm going to try either." Zeldi agreed tapping her hooves on the ground. "I vote those that are pregnant get to enjoy the sun on this platu while everyone else goes to get the other Deed. Master, you go try and get us another Livestock Tarakona and I will sunbathe."

"Sure." I said with a shrug before making sure Tarakona saw that I was looking at her expectedly.

[Sister Zeldi will not come to any harm under my watch my love you don't need to worry.]

I gave a nod as a bit of weight on my shoulders was removed. The protective instincts I was feeling towards Zeldi were a lot worse now that we weren't on my farm. Might have to see if the Deed could send everyone but her next time just so I could keep my sanity. She might hate it but I'd rather she hate me for it than hate herself for letting something happen.

[Tilty. If Clovek does come to any harm I am expecting you to agree to his resurrection. I don't think I need to warn you of what would happen if you disagreed?]

The temperature dropped significantly.

"Nope! You don't have to worry about that!" The Fawn chattered her teeth at the biting cold.

I almost saw a bit of her mother in Tarakona as she did that.

Needless to say Tilty joined Voras and myself as we climbed down the side of the waterfall in the direction Voras had indicated. Well I say climbed but it was more absailing using Voras's silk than actually climbing. Significantly easier though.

"So anything I should know about Madu before we meet her?" I asked trying to get Voras to open up a bit more with just the two of us. Tilty didn't count. "Like, is she like you and will try and kill me to moment we see each other?"

"Gods I hope not." The Arachnid woman muttered under her breath. "She will hopefully like you right away though if she doesn't with how you treat everyone she'll be begging Zeldi soon enough."

That's progress. She's talking to me.

"But what's she like?" I probed.

"Well she had a wanderer for a father and has a funny way of speaking because of that, but other than having a very long body even according to her species she's pretty unremarkable." Voras said listing off things on her hand. "Good camouflage because she's green, even without her eyes she can track anything based of heat, and her hair is just as poisonous as her fangs."

Right. Gorgon. The whole snakes for hair thing. At least looking at them won't turn me to stone.

"I presume that whatever method you alluded to about harming Livestock was done to her so that her eyes wouldn't heal, even though she is technically a Deed owner?" I asked as we came around the waterfalls edge and headed towards the shrubbery. I really hope she's close because absailing down the waterfall was fun but anything bigger and I'd probably go join Zeldi and Tarakona.

"You would be correct." Voras replied without continuing that train of thought.

Tilty jumped at the mention of that and I took that to mean she had no idea it was possible. Probably for the best as I had no intention of figuring out how it was possible. My girls didn't need that.

"So..." I was interrupted by the bolt from a crossbow hitting the ground just a few centimeters from my foot and sinking deep enough I felt the phantom flash of it actually hitting me.

"Arrêtez-vous là où vous êtes.(Stop right where you are) Ah shit I mean stop where you are!" A voice came from the shrubbery as the unmistakable sound of a crossbow reloading could be heard.

"Was that French?" I asked in bewilderment as Voras ignored the warning and kept moving forward. Tilty and I however did the smart thing when confronted with someone you couldn't see that had a ranged weapon and raised our hands.

"I said stop moving Intrus!" (Intruder) The voice came again.

"Ah I'm so scared." Voras mocked. "Please don't shoot me!"

"Quoi? (What) Voras is that you?"

"Possibly. Could be another random Arachne that knows exactly where you dwell Madu. Or, and this could be my favorite. I'm the woman of your dreams that's come to sweep you off your tail." Voras laughed towards the shrubbery.

"Tu n'aurais pas pu me prévenir que tu venais? (Couldn't you have warned me you were coming?) When the hell did you get here? I would have prepared something. God's I missed you."  The owner of the voice popped up from in the small bushes with a hood fully extended and a tail that ran at least ten meters away from her.

And by hood I literally mean that part of her body expanded around the sides and above her head like a King Cobra in the same dark green as her scales.

"Glad to see your aim is getting better." Voras continued like this was all normal.

Madu abandoned the cover of the leaves to embrace her friend in a hug that used every part of her tail to entrap Voras. The spider woman was wrapped up tighter than the many clothes she was wearing.

Four snakes came down the sides of her head with two on either side looking like dreadlocks on the inside of her hood. These snakes each gave Voras a lick before they locked onto Tilty and myself.

"And you brought friends! Now are these ones I can hug or are they ones that need to be squeezed?" Madu followed her snakes to look in our direction and I could finally see that her eyes were shut with faint scaring around the edges. She however licked the air and still managed to locate us with pinpoint accuracy as if she could still see.

"No they are definitely hugging friends. If you squeeze them to death I will not be stopping the Dragon they have from killing you." Voras replied as her limpit was redirected in our direction.

"Yippee!"

Madu quickly unwrapped herself from Voras and immediately set herself on a warpath in my direction. Tilty was of no help as she dived to the side to avoid the Lamia woman and I was left taking her full weight.