Chapter 170. All together now

Tarakona spent the trip back cheering me up and it worked. Well enough that I could spend the rest of my time as a Dragon tending to her needs, but it also meant that when we were done, I went straight into planning mode.

No cuddles, much to her disappointment.

"Tilty." I said a little loudly as I came into the communal room of our house. "I need to know everything you know about Dallas."

I was thankful I remembered to put on clothes because most of the girls were already present... After Tarakona had reminded me to put them on of course.

"Are you finally going to treat him like a threat?" She asked as she came out of the pillow fort she had made to hide in.

"Oh no. He's not a threat, more of a... Stone that I stubbed my toe on, I guess you could say." I said back. "But he has suddenly become a lot more interesting."

Zeldi was happily cooking something on the stove top not at all concerned with Kettu beside her chopping up vegetables. It was such a domestic sight I had to stop for a second to appreciate the view. Was that also because both of their butts were pointing towards me?

Yes.

"Does he always watch like that?" Kettu asked Zeldi while looking in my direction. An impressive feat because she did not slow down her work at all.

"Only when he likes the view." My mare giggled back swishing her tail.

Tarakona chose this moment to teleport in from her own room, having gotten bored being alone. She took one look at everyone before taking a seat beside Madu and Voras, who had claimed one of the couches.

"Before we begin I suggest we include Dríade in this as she could be helpful. Abelha as well." Voras blushed when the attention all turned to her.

"Great idea. I'll go get Abelha if anyone knows where Dríade is?" I offered.

"Follow the screaming." Madu sarcastically hummed. "I hate Fairies. They don't even taste good. Too much bone and not enough meat."

"I'll go get her." Voras volunteered.

"Get some more meat while you're out there." Zeldi called out. "If we're all going to be present we may as well make it a family lunch."

Tilty let out a groan at how blaise we all were about the situation, but we mostly ignored her. Kettu didn't, however, and finished up her task so she could pull the Fawn away.

I teleported onto Abelha's room to find the Queen Bee storing a bottle of her honey in the wall beside her throne as if trying to hide it away.

"Do not take it." She demanded, placing herself between me and the bottle and raising her fists.

"Not going to Abelha, it's your honey." I tried to pacify her, but she didn't move. Instead, I continued. "We're all gathering for lunch to go over a new... Potential problem if you would like to join us?"

"I will not be sharing my honey with anyone." She replied with a single step away from the wall. "Not even your Dragon."

"And you won't need to. I mean that, Abelha, your honey is yours. I only want the excess that you can't eat."

Abelha took another step so that she was very close. Her aversion to clothes was still something she continued.Instead of using words she grabbed my left hand and pulled me into a hug. I was a little confused as to why the situation warranted one, but I didn't complain. Especially with how much she pulled me.

"You were gone for too long. You missed your training." She growled into my chest. "You can teleport but still didn't come back."

I was a little shocked. This was a big step for the Queen Bee, but I also didn't think she knew quite what she was implying.

"I'm sorry. There was something I needed to do." I replied, pulling away only enough so that I could rub the spot just above her antenna. "Tonight for sure."

"You better." She growled again and pulled me in tighter. Her wings also stopped moving as she put her entire weight against me."You better." She repeated and pulled away. "So this potential problem. Can't you just send your Dragon to deal with it, or do you need me to punch it?"

"A good question, but hold off for now. I want to explain the situation to everyone at the same time." I explained.

Abelha nodded before looking down at herself. "I guess that means I need to put on clothes?"

I so wanted to tell her she didn't have to but I nodded instead, not quite trusting my tongue with words. She was just so squishy in all the right places.

"Beat me, then you can breed me." She said, turning around after catching my wandering gaze.

Again I nodded, just watching her butt bounce. She made no further comment.

Leaving was my only option, but the seriousness of the day was starting to get to me. Though with how safe we all were it wasn't too problematic.Zeldi was serving up plates of food when I returned and wordlessly smiled while handing me my own. I smiled back giving her a kiss before turning to the gathered group.

There were very few times we had all been together, but seeing how we had all grown was an enjoyable sight.Madu, Voras and Tarakona were all on one couch together with Voras more on the couches arm than the cushions, aided by a silk hammock of sorts to hold the rest of her body.

Zeldi took up over half of the remaining couch with her body with Kettu sitting beside her. It was obvious the Kitsune had figured out how the dynamic of our family worked, as she was constantly making sure the Centaur was comfortable. Zeldi was loving the attention she was receiving and had probably already planned Kettu's position in our family.

Dríade had taken a position by the wall more away from the group as was standard for her with Abelha coming in and joining her. Dríade had also returned to her monarch butterfly body after our return to the farm.

Tilty was the only one that seemed uncomfortable with the gathering as she kept looking between the girls with fear and what I was beginning to think was sorrow. Why she would feel sorry I didn't know.

"So... What's so important that we're all gathered here for?" Dríade started us off. "Because my Grove tell me we had a Fawn here not too long ago and I'm pretty sure any of us could kill him just by breathing in his direction. Well, excluding you, Zeldi."

Zeldi scoffed. "I may be pregnant but I can still send you flying with a kick."

"We're here because I want Tilty to explain who he is and then I want us all to work together." I interrupted the two of them before they could continue.

"May I ask why we're not just killing him?" Madu asked with a tilt of her head. "It wouldn't be hard and we can make it look like an accident if you're afraid of others noticing." Her snakes all nodded in agreement with her statement with one yawning like we didn't need to go through all this effort.

"We've already tried that." Voras scoffed a little. "He has a Livestock that has chosen to resurrect him and I doubt it was a one off thing. Killing him would be the easiest option but making it permanent will be a little harder."

Madu hissed at that.

"Why?" Abelha said softly. "Tilty makes him seem like... Well, not Clovek, so why bring him back? Surely his death would mean freedom for the Livestock under his control? And even if it didn't to what purpose would one ever be brought back?"

There were a lot of murmurs agreeing with the Queen Bee until Tarakona joined the discussion.

[Clovek and I believe it is not him the Livestock wishes to protect but someone she is close to.]

"Yeah he has some Holstaur girls and Harpies. Both had slave collars on and Tarakona says that means they will follow Dallas into the afterlife." I relayed to the group. "So I don't think it's the Livestock herself that she fears for."

There was an audible smashing from Kettu. The Kitsune held a strained smile as the entire plate she had been eating out of was shattered in her hands.Before I could ask what was wrong, she spoke.

"Please. Continue." She said without moving. The look in her eye promised violence towards anyone who went against her, and I did not want to test that.

"So we wanted to make everyone aware of what we were up against." I continued slowly.

"So you believe his Livestock doesn't want someone with a slave collar to die and is bringing him back to avoid that?" Dríade clarified. "I mean, that does make more sense than he magically found one that likes him."

"I would definitely believe that over the alternative." Voras voiced. "But we also want to get our hands on the Deed as well. More Deeds means more land for us."

"And the Holstaur girls will mean I don't have to feed my foals my own milk." Zeldi nodded. "Wait you didn't say what his Livestock was?"

"That's because we didn't see her." I answered. "Our arrival was a little unexpected and caused them to scatter."

"Oh yes, because a couple of Dragons just flying overhead is such a normal occurrence," Dríade said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"She does have a point." Madu hummed.

I shrugged. "I could always go back as a human. That way I could have a look around."

"Would this Dallas even show you his Livestock?" Abelha questioned. "We are all slightly different here, but it is my knowledge that Deed owners hide their Livestock so that no one steals their produced resources. Would he not be the same?"

"That's... A good point." I admitted before looking at Voras. "I don't mean to put you on the spot, but you'll know more about other Deed owners than I do. What would be the strategy he would implement?"

Voras bit her lip as she thought but eventually spoke. "I would like to know more about him from Tilty first. Then I can make a recommendation based on what I think he'll be doing."