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  Annoyance bloomed in Terry's chest and he set a hand down to push himself up, but as he did so the tail of Prada's sash whipped up and faced him as it morphed into the head of a snake. He instinctively froze, and they stared at each other in silence for a long second, then Terry thought, 'This had better not be you threatening me.'

  'This is a warning, Husband. I needed to make sure I had your attention. You are quick to defer to Yuri in the dungeon. Defer to him here as well. He knows what he is doing. You do not. Trust him.'

  Terry bared his teeth, but Prada did not waver, staring at him with serpent's eyes as she thought, 'You have better sense than this. Know when to fight, when to run, and when to HIDE. This is not cowardice, it is wisdom.'

  Out beyond where he could see, the chittering had risen into a cacophony of sound that now seemed to surround the wagon.

  Terry's eyes bounced around the wagon, but there was little for him to see aside from several spiders that seemed to be watching whatever was happening out there from atop the barrels and from spun webbing inside the eaves and along the metal loops that supported the canvas above him.

  The smallest of these spiders was the size of his hand, the largest the size of his head.

  What the hell are those guys eating? It's only been a few days.

  Prada's thoughts were somber. 'I think you know.'

  He winced as he realized he did know, and the thought that these were his kids, at least technically, flashed through his mind again.

  A strange new voice, female, strident, and commanding, rose above the chittering and stilled it. Whoever it was spoke the common tongue as she said, "You have slain our pets and made incursion deep into our territory without consent. We are not inclined to grant mercy."

  Yuri's voice was calm, but certain as he replied. "It was not our intention to come here, but we are fully prepared and well-equipped to defend ourselves. We travel in the company of a dragon proxy, as you can see. Do you truly wish to bring her wrath down on your heads?"

  The chittering resumed, but then fell silent. There was a pause, then the voice said, "So I see. May we presume to ask the dragon's business in the Yamna'yan Jungle?"

  "You may not."

  Asturial's voice was imperious to the point of being domineering.

  "May we presume to ask the dragon's name?" the stranger asked. "We have peaceful terms with our neighbors, but we have not seen a red-scale here before."

  "You may not."

  "Be aware that we shall learn. Do not attempt to leave this clearing. You may be beyond us, but the forces accompanying you are not, lady dragon. An emissary will be sent within the day who has the authority to treat with your kind."

  A general rustling seemed to signal the departure of whomever, whatever, had threatened them. Terry waited with all the patience he could muster. Eventually, Mila crawled up and into the back of the wagon and crouched near him, looking into his eyes.

  Her face was almost entirely feline, though when compared to Yuri's, her's had a certain slim, soft quality his lacked. It was difficult to frame, but her slitted, feline eyes were beautiful, and Terry got a bit lost in them until she spoke. "You will have to stay hidden here. I am sorry, but if you are seen it will complicate matters, and there is no question that there are watchers in the jungle. Even with your mask, we cannot be sure no one will spot you. We will replace the tarp and ready the tent, but you will have to remain out of sight until we figure out what to do."

  "Who were those guys, and where are we?" Terry asked. "I heard the woman who challenged you call this place the Yamna'yan Jungle?"

  Mila shook her head and said, "That is part of the problem. Yuri has never heard of this place, nor have I. Even Asturial seems not to know it, which means we are truly far from where we were. Celestine is vast, and if there is a complete map of the world, I have never seen it. We may be on the other side of oceans thought to be impassable. If so ..."

  Mila's ears flattened into her hair as she stared at him, but the implication was clear.

  "I got us into this mess, I'll find a way to get us out," Terry said softly. "I made a promise. I keep my promises."

  "I believe you will try, Terry. For now though you should rest and recover your strength. Shy and I must discuss what can be done — if anything — to hide us from the jungle dwellers. They are four-legged insects with an upright thorax and great, scythe-like appendages on their arms. They have chiton armor, and look very dangerous. Even Yuri has never seen or heard of their like before."

  Mila got up and started rummaging. Terry couldn't help but wonder — as he watched her tail flickering idly through a hole in the back of her cream-colored robes — what her ass looked like.

  'You could always just ask to see,' Prada thought at him, the amusement in her tone coming through loud and clear. 'Your curiosity makes ME curious. Perhaps I'll ask her myself.'

  Don't you dare.

  Terry shut his eyes. His intention was simply to keep Prada from looking through them, but once closed, he felt disinclined to open them again, and soon slept.

  13

  The Plan

  Shy listened to the Rod of Arcs impugn everything about her from her magical ability to her lineage as a dryad. She had learned not to answer the staff, and had not physically abused it in several days. Instead, she accepted what it told her and took it on faith that eventually — if she was patient — the staff would come around.

  Or perhaps I could follow up with Tee about discovering whether his theory about wiping a staff's memory has merit.

  'You would not dare.'

  Of course not, Shy thought absently. Because after all, your company as is wants nothing.

  The rod actually seemed to hesitate a moment, then surprised her by changing tactics.

  'I did as you asked during the fight. You should have no complaints.'

  Shy nodded, unsure if the gesture would be recognized or not, as she projected all the warmth she could muster into her reply.

  That is true. You did well.

  Mila offered a welcome interruption to her commune with the staff as she came to the back of the wagon and said, "We have replacement canvas, and a tent that we can set up, but it would be beneficial if we could perhaps establish a wall of brambles around the camp. Do you feel up to attempting a small ritual with me?"

  "Your ritual will do little good."

  Asturial straightened from her crouch and confronted the other two as she added, "I have affinities for chaos, air, and fire. I presume the dryad has life, earth, and water affinities. What are your peculiar talents, Mila Kolenko?"

  "I only have a nature affinity," Shy said, feeling somewhat ashamed to have to correct the dragon. She had always loved magic, but her only affinity for it was with regard to the natural world, and not in its primacy, but its secondary. The four prime elemental affinities were fire, air, earth, and water. Then there were the coin affinities, so called because it was impossible to have both sides of a given coin. The coins were morality, life, and agency, and their affinities respectively were good and evil, life and death, order and chaos.

  Beyond these prime affinities were an almost endless variety of secondary affinities ranging from the common to the all but unheard of.

  It was a rare mortal who possessed any prime affinities, but equally rare was the eldritch who did not. Shy had no prime affinities, thus her shame. Secondary affinities were a mixture of two prime affinities, but their effects were inherently weaker. Nature — a relatively common secondary affinity — had shades of water, air, earth, life, and chaos, and it was the only affinity she had. She could cast spells that did not rely on her affinity presuming she knew them, but doing so would cost her more mana and the spell would have a reduced effect.

  Asturial was looking at her with something akin to pity in her eyes, and Shy buried her shame and held her head high. "I am not to be faulted for the choices of fate."

  The dragon did not answer her. She simply turned her attention to Mila and asked, "Wha
t are your affinities?"

  Mila glanced from Shy to Asturial before she said, "Abjuration and Healing."

  Shy offered a wan smile as she caught the tiger woman's furtive glance. Abjuration was a secondary affinity involving order and earth primacies, while healing involved life and chaos. While the rule regarding the coin affinities was iron-clad, secondary affinities could dip into either. Mila had an exceptional gift for magic as far as mortals were concerned.

  The dryad resisted the urge to congratulate her. Just as one did not fault those cursed by fate, one did not praise those blessed.

  It is what one does with one's talents that matters.

  'You should hope not, Shy Willow, for in over five hundred years of life you have done precious little with yours.'

  Her hand tightened around the staff, but she resisted her urge to slam it against something, concentrating instead on Asturial.

  "With abjuration, nature, and air, we should be able to craft a powerful spell of misdirection between the three of us. One that should send folk purposefully moving in the wrong direction. That will serve to keep us hidden much more effectively than a bed of weeds."

  With a glance at Shy, the dragon asked, "You both are capable of rote memory casting?"

  Mila and Shy answered in unison.

  "Yes."

  "I will craft the spell and come to you again in a short while. Prepare your minds."

  With that, Asturial turned and strode away toward the reflecting pool. As she did, Shy heard Prada's voice, and turned to the bed of the wagon as the blood devil said, "I would like to speak with you, Shy. Laina as well."

  Mila glanced around and said, "Laina's with Marcus, tending the horses. I'll go get her and send her to you."

  Shy settled her butt on the tailgate of the wagon and leaned against one of its sidewalls, looking at the now diminutive ruby droplet as she asked, "Is this about Terry?"

  Prada's bulk seemed to shift from one side to the other and back again as she said, "Mostly. There are decisions to be made though, and he is ill-suited to make them."

  "I don't know if I like the sound of that," Laina said as she strode into sight around the wagon and leaned her ax against one of the rear wheels. "What do you want?"

  Shy watched as Prada grew unnaturally still, then fizzed, her words seemingly stripped of all inflection. "I would prefer Euryale be present as well, but I do not think this can wait. We need to decide how to handle increasing Terry's bonds. He is inherently resistant to the idea of a harem, and I do not believe we will ever be able to truly break him of some of his objections. Instead, I would like to propose an alternative."

  Laina folded her arms under her chest and Shy shifted, pulling one thigh up and hitching her elbow over her knee as she looked down at Prada and said, "I'm listening."

  The minotress nodded, and Prada continued.

  "As I demonstrated with Ephe, I can carry his seed short distances. I propose to bond Asturial in this way. Terry will object. I need your support if I am to have any hope of convincing him to do this."

  "Astur's got problems, that's why Boss doesn't want her bond," Laina pointed out, her expression one of flat skepticism. "I think she might come around, but not if she gets what she wants."

  "I don't care if Astur comes around," Prada replied. "This isn't about Asturial. This is about Terry Mack. He needs the power a dragon could give him. We all do. Increasing his survivability is paramount, especially now. I was cut off from him when he did battle with the death seed, and as a consequence I could not help him control his mana flow and he almost killed us both."

  "If Astur gets what she wants, she can just leave," Laina said. "You telling me whatever Boss gets will be worth losing her power and experience?"

  Shy blinked as she considered the minotress. This wasn't the first time she had demonstrated a penetrating mind. Prada froze again, then wavered but said nothing.

  Shy exchanged a look with Laina and said, "I think she's got a point, Prada. Tee might have problems with keeping many women, but those problems revolve around his desires for our happiness."

  She grinned, then added, "And to keep his own sanity. To him, the women in his life are all relationships that deserve his full attention, which is why he doesn't want more."

  Glancing down at the ruby slime, Shy said, "You should know this. You spend more time with him than anyone else."

  Prada seemed to hesitate before she answered, and when she did speak her voice was still somewhat uncertain. "I have access to what he thinks about, and his memories, but his thoughts and mine don't sync very well, so unless he thinks about something specific, I don't necessarily know how he will feel about something. How can you be so confident in your impressions?"

  "I have a sense of him, that's all," Shy said, uncertain how to explain it. "I spent most of my life watching people interact. I know emotions when I see them, and with Tee ... well, it goes deeper. When we touch, we can share thoughts, but even now I can tell things about him."

  "Like what?" Laina asked. She shifted as she spoke, sitting on the tailgate next to Shy. The back of the wagon creaked in protest.

  Shy glanced toward Tee as she said, "Well, at the moment, he's having a nightmare."

  "Does he ever have good dreams?" Laina asked as she looked back at him, her concern naked on her face.

  Shy hesitated to answer, but Prada didn't.

  "No. He does not allow me to stay with him anymore while he sleeps, but I watch him closely. Since our initial contract, his dreams are bad."

  There was more to it than that. Shy didn't have visions — not precisely — but she did get definite impressions. The most common bad dream he had was maze-like, and he was always overwhelmed in the end. He had made no secret of the fact that his dreams were why he didn't permit any of them to sleep with him.

  He doesn't want to burden anyone with his weakness.

  As soon as she had the thought she inwardly winced, but to her surprise the Rod of Arcs made no comment.

  Prada said, "To the matter at hand. Asturial needs to be groomed. Terry doesn't want to tell her anything, but his hatred of her is deeply rooted. If we do not help the dragon to understand what is required of her, I doubt she will ever come to the proper conclusions on her own. Even I would never have understood, had Terry not expressed his frustrations with her to me."

  Shy nodded as she said, "She would probably catch on in time, but she doesn't have any real frame of reference when dealing with mortals. It is a common problem for eldritch — particularly those whose bodies make them unsuitable for co-habitation."

  She could tell she was losing Laina as she met the other woman's eyes, so she added, "Eldritch don't typically feel sympathy or empathy like we do. They are self-reliant, and see those who need others to be inferior and generally unworthy of any true consideration."

  "How come you aren't like that?" Laina asked.

  "I love people," Shy said with a soft smile. "I was ... weaker than all my siblings. Dryad children do not necessarily follow the disposition of their mother. Mine was an oak. She was a refined but stoic and lonely woman. Most of her children were oak as well, but I?"

  Shy shrugged. "I left the grove when I was young, and found myself at one point offering shelter to a pair of young lovers. They stayed under my branches for a week, and as I watched them, I fell in love with the idea of falling in love. I came to crave the company of mortals and, as the years passed, I moved closer and closer to human settlements. In exchange for answering questions about my kind, I was allowed to take root at the academy where I spent the bulk of my years. People lived and loved under my branches, and for centuries I indulged in social contact. I was content."

  Pausing, Shy took a long breath and let it out slowly. "The Zone ended all that, and no one outside of a few scholars would even remember that academy now. People tend to feign ignorance when they see evil and decide not to intervene."

  'Like you.'

  Like me.

  The Rod of Arcs made
no further comment. Shy had accepted the barb, knew it was justified. She had abandoned her home rather than fight for it, and were it not for Tee stumbling across her she would still be wiling away the years near a waterfall, watching the rainbows playing in the spray as she pretended she could forget.

  Laina reached over, scooped Shy up and pulled her into a bosomy embrace as she said, "I'm glad Boss found you, Shy. No one deserves to be alone."

  Shy sank into Laina's warmth without a second thought, letting the feeling of belonging sink in. "Mmm, thank you, Hon. I love you too."

  "I hate to be the one to have to insist here, but we really need to decide how to handle Asturial. Terry will not tell her what is needed, but she must be told if we are to make use of her. Again, I stress, without help, she will not understand."

  "We should trust Boss," Laina said, relaxing her hold on Shy a bit but not letting her go. "Going behind his back isn't going to fix anything."

  Shy thought about that, and wondered. Tee was stubborn about some things and not others. But with Asturial he had been adamant. His hatred for her was very real, and very dangerous.

  "We already keep secrets from him," she said, her voice lowering as she looked over at him to make sure he was still asleep. He was, and deeply in the grip of the nightmare now, though it was difficult to tell simply by looking at him. Some of his dreams showed through. This one didn't. Several spiders were crouched around him, watching him with a strange intensity. Shy shuddered and looked away as she asked, "How many more should we keep?"

  Prada asked, "What secrets?"

  Shy exchanged a glance with Laina, then summarized what had happened with Shu for Prada, explaining that after the two had shared relations, he had gained a gift ... and she had turned into a phase beast and lost her mind. Shy had been there when Yuri had been forced to kill her.

  "We didn't tell him because he was already going through the wringer," Laina said as Shy finished. "He's been better these days."