My Cats Take Me To The Next World - Book 1 by D.A. Sanford - HTML preview

Chapter 11: Harem Honeymoon

Everett has a fool proof plan that involves his fools, the expendable ones. This will draw out that bastard. Stage highway robberies all over the area. The scum bag will surely foil one and rescue people. Target high status families. Once rescued from the bandits the nobles will start to blabber the name of their rescuer. It will cost a few more men but that's what expendables are for. I need to station people in all the villages near the sites of the robberies to listen.

The marriage fresh in the minds of the other four wives of the newly christened Clan of Martin, have been chatting away as now five wives. Justin was driving the carriage. He was being ignored. He knows that there is trouble brewing for him over the horizon.

They are talking so loudly that it was impossible for me not to hear them. Imagine that. They really forgot that I was there. Ya, right. I knew I was in for a rough ride. They were talking about how wonderful the ceremony was. That Sorra looked beautiful. I heard, coming from each one how they were claimed. Mostly came out, to paraphrase, he threw us down, drilled us and then bit. Yours was so affectionate, romantic. The only thing I was clear about is when each said,

"I wish our marriage was as romantic as yours was"

I don’t remember it being that way. I thought it was very affectionate and romantic all night.

Having been married, in the old world, for fifty years, I learned to just shut my mouth.

"I did not hear a thing." I said out loud. "You hear that?"

Teenagers!

I knew what was coming so when they finally realize that I was still on the same carriage, we only had this one, they turned at me as I looked through the driver’s window. Each and every one of them had the sad puppy dog eyes. Even Missy and she is felid. No racial prejudice there.

I was hearing that they would like a wedding like that. I started to say something.

I look up then yell that there is trouble ahead. We had just come around a bend in the road when we came upon highway men robbing another coach. The men were out of the coach with their arms up. They were being searched for valuables. The robbers looked startled when they saw us. Instantly they had eight, what they must have perceived as, assassin's coming at them. They died quickly.

The passengers were indeed “important” people. They thanked us over and over. Shaking all our hands they said “Please tell us your name.”

To which I replied "Justin Martin and these are my team and these ones are also my wives.”

gesturing to those beautiful ladies. “This is my brother in law and his wife” pointing out Chip and Abigail. They continued to thank us to the point that we made our excuses and left.

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When they got back to their town, they started to retell the story of their harrowing experience and the hero’s that saved them. “Justin Martin and his troupe were our hero’s.”

Other ears were listening. Those ears rode out of town soon after that going towards Cannerten.

It was a quiet ride for the remainder of the trip home. I was beginning to think that the whole ceremony thing was dropped. I could not have been more wrong. Back at the manor there was a harem meeting and it felt like I was in the presence of the inquisition.

“I love you all, but” I accidentally said the wrong word.

“Justin Martin! Please explain the wording of your statement!” Missy demanded.

I’m in a hole that cannot be dug out of. Time for emergency plan Z. The others won’t work. I took the cowards way out.

“I was trying to say I love you, but I do not need any formal ceremony to say now it is official. I know that each of you are my wives. You are all dear to me and if you want a wedding here is what I will agree to. At the wedding, each of you will marry the harem which means you will be married to each other. I will in turn marry the harem meaning all of you and, if any are added, future wives, they will only have to marry the harem to be married to all of us. How does that sound?”

After a moment of silence, they all said that they would agree. My wives just wanted some form of a wedding.

I announced to the happy women that they were to gather a few days’ worth of clothes that included both fancy and casual attire. We will not waste any time, otherwise I would be in mortal danger.

“We are going to Beall tomorrow to arrange the festivities. That's the final word as head of the Clan of Martin.” and I walked out.

I went to Chip and told him what transpired.

He laughed. “What do you need me to do?"

“You can hitch up the carriage tomorrow morning. Put the big tent on plus two smaller ones. All the necessities for us to camp out for a week.”

“So, food for eight for a week”

I interrupt “food for six. This is not a mission of fighting action. The only action will be man vs.

ladies. I would like you to stay here and enjoy the quiet down time with Abigail. When those kittens are born you won’t have any free time.”

Chip agreed with me so he will stay here. “But why the two small tents?”

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“One is for a ladies’ latrine and the other is for the private one on one time. When I go to Beall, I will meet with that village's chief. I’ll ask him to officiate. We’ll rent a hall and I’ll let the women arrange the food and decorations. After the wedding we will go to some lake in the area to spend the week on a honeymoon.

Speaking of which, you make sure that Abigail enjoys this week as a honeymoon. Any food that she wants, have the cook make it. The wine cellar is yours. My bath is large enough to fit all my ladies and I, so be romantic. That is an order”

“Yes sir”

Beall

The next day, I drove my harem to Beall and met with the chief. A very friendly gentleman. It seems that his wife was also one we freed so he was more than willing to help out. I explained the ceremony to him. He would have no problems. He called his wife in.

She immediately recognized Missy and Beez. She was introduced to Christine, Hilda and Sorra, also my wives. I told her that the women needed to find a hall, order food, decorate and find wedding dresses. The chief’s wife said that it was no problem but how many people would attend. I asked as to how many people belong to the town?

“You’re inviting all of the town?”

"Yes, these women want a festive wedding. Everyone that wants to come can come. I figure in a small village the word is probably already made out to almost everyone already.”

Her answer was “You are most likely to be correct. So, if you men will excuse us, ladies, we have work to do.”

They leave both the chief and myself alone.

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“I want to take them to a very secluded area that has a nice lake. Even better if there is a suitable hot spring near it.”

The chief said he knew just the spot but it was privately owned.

“Wait here I’ll get the owner” and he rushes out.

No more than a few minutes, he returned with the owner of the land who turned out to be the merchant, John Bagley. He was happy to see me. I explained the situation, that the chief said that the property was yours so he could not give the permission to use it.

“That is where you come in. What is the size of the land and is it being used for anything?”

John says “It’s around fifty acres in a remote area around a half a day by carriage. It is not being used for anything. For what you did for me and no bill for your services you can have it with my thanks.”

I tell him, “I cannot accept it free of charge and feel right about it. Land around here goes for a silver an acre if I’m correct.”

The chief agrees with me. I take out ten gold which is double the going price. They both look stunned.

“It will be a vacation spot that I will develop for my family. Will you accept this?”

He does, for the reasons I gave him. The chief wrote up the simple bill of sale. We both sign it and John leaves happy with ten gold in his pouch.

“That is more than he would make in a few months here.”

“It’s for my women so if it makes them happy, it is worth it. In a few months I’ll be back to hire locals to clear and build a large lake cottage.”

It makes me a little nostalgic, a lake cottage. This time it will be slightly larger. Oh, hell it will rival the manor. Why not.

Everett finally gets the word that his scheme not only has netted him some serious loot but the man who delivered the message he wanted to hear did not go tumbling down the stairs but walked down, now having some gold in his pouch. Justin Martin. I need to locate him and find out what we would be up against, find any weakness such as family. Family was always fair game for Everett. They were useful in persuading and eventually profitable when sold. He may even have a female worth keeping. Everett chuckled.

“I am going to love crushing you before I kill you personally.”

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A happy harem makes for a happy life. My wives were happy. They now had the hall. They hired a few local women to decorate it. The word had spread that everyone was invited so food was being prepared. A whole cow was now being gutted and would be soon being roasting over a fire. They hired some teenage boys to turn the spit as the cow roasted.

By tomorrow morning my wives would have new gowns for the ceremony. The five were bubbling more than a sparkling wine.

There were cheers of joy when I told them about my purchase.

“There is a hot spring also.”

Wonderful hugs and kisses were showered on me. All my wives are around my age but I found out you ask when their birthday is, not how old. Poor taste and dangerous. But when I told them about the honeymoon site, the teen age girls are back.

The cow was done, the hall was prepped and my girls were ready. I thought it would be, to my advantage, a nice idea, that we had a kind of parade up the hill so we, in our finest wedding attire, walked the short distance to the hall.

Most of the town’s folk were there lining the street. We heard,

"Congratulations"

"Best of luck" some wise ass "With that many wives you'll need it"

"What a beautiful group of women you have."

"You lucky man" comments, others fun and some downright taunting, in jest.

It turned out to be the big event for the town. Wedding, good show, and good eats. What makes people happier than a celebration.

When we returned the rescued women, we did not hang around long. We didn’t know if they did any celebration, publicly. Now their heroes were in town. A celebration was happening so of course they turned out. If only to show their gratitude for the rescue but mainly just to celebrate.

A good time will be had by all including the stranger in town.

The wedding started with each of my ladies having their own speech they wrote. It went in order of joining. Meaning Missy went first and Sorra went last. All of what they wrote was basically the same. Their vows were full of love for their sisters and for me. They spoke of respect and friendship.

Each said that had no greater honor than to be married to this harem that had, looking forward to a long and happy life with many children. There were tears in their eyes by the time Sorra finished. I knew their feelings but hearing them made me swell with pride but humbled at the fact that they were mine.

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Then it was my turn. Looking at each and every one of them as I spoke

“All of you have enriched my life. I could not be higher than I am now with all of you in my life. I am surrounded by beauty. I don’t mean your outer beauty, which you all have, but your inner beauty. You all have kind and beautiful hearts. Fierce in battle but compassionate in spirit. I am so very lucky to have each of you as my wives. I vow to protect the harem with my life if necessary. I declare that I now wed the harem and officially claim each of you as mine. By the way, I will not be biting again”

To which I swear that I heard at least a few sighs from one or two of my ladies.

I am glad that I caved in to them about the wedding. We needed to publicly declare it. The chief declares us wed as a harem. We each sign both copies of the proclamations. One to post and one for us. Each of them signed with the last name Martin. Funny, I never thought to tell them the needed to use my last name. Missy, Beez and Hilda never said if they had last names.

It seemed now to me that they did not because of the satisfaction they showed on their faces while writing their last name. Once that was done the crowd erupted in cheers. Now for the food, I’m hungry and I hear other stomachs growling, especially Hilda’s. It takes a lot to fill that tank of hers. Maybe we should have done a pig also.

At the head table were myself flanked by the five brides. And then the chief and his wife. We were served first. Much to my surprise they did do a pig. The plates had beef pork potatoes and vegetables. The spread was simple but really delicious. The dessert table was crowded after the main meal was finished Our table has one platter for my wives and myself.

For others it was self-serve seconds but Hilda was on her thirds. Even though she probably could have had eaten more, she politely daubed her mouth with the napkin and whispered

"I could have eaten more but did not want to appear unladylike"

I damned near did a spit take on that. Don't say things like that when people are taking a drink! I could have choked. Instead, I just said

"I think that's for the best."

The looks I got from the other four. I need to say no more.

After socializing with everyone I excused myself and brought up the carriage. My now official brides are each assisted by the chief into the carriage and we start the journey to our new property. The time passes and then the coach starts rocking but the road is smooth so far.

I open the driver's window slat which is behind the seat to peep through the window. Much to my pleasure, I see my five women in various stages of undress. They were changing from their wedding dresses into their casual clothes.

I could not help myself, " Do you need my help? I can stop the carriage."

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Sorra shouts at me "Just keep your eyes on the road! There could be robbers lurking."

I close the window slat saying "Yes madame." in my best official servant voice. I hear a multitude of shoes hitting the now closed window slat.

With the directions and map I received, I was able to find the side road that led to the property. It was more of a logging road. It showed that it had not been traveled on for a long while. No need to travel this far for fire wood or lumber when that town was surrounded by forest. The only sign of life was deer tracks. The deer bent over grass on the trail. On the property line there is a stone marker so I announced to the now quiet crowd that we were on our property and would be on site shortly. Shortly was longer than I thought. Looks less distance on the map. No GPS in this world.

There it was, an open meadow that had to be quite a few acres. Towards one edge was the crystal clear spring fed lake. We would find out in subsequent trips that the lake was slightly warm in the winter because of the source of the hot spring but since it was midsummer the water was warm anyways.

Off to this side of the lake was the source of the winter warmth. It was the hot spring. At some time in the past someone had made a flat stone surround around it. They also made shelves in the spring to sit on. Standing, the water was stomach high. Sitting puts the water up to the neck.

It was hot but reasonable enough to have around twenty minutes before you pass out from the heat. It will have to be individual one on one’s in the pool but it would fit us all comfortably close, for bathing purposes only.

We set up the main tent and the smaller tents. After explaining the purpose of the one that is the latrine, I caution them about sleep walking to the other tent. That's for other purposes. They find it not funny and tell me I better not forget.

To which I reply with the man's creed

"For men the whole world is a bathroom. I may not even use a bush to hide."

I thought they left those shoes in the carriage. Wait they are clumps of dirt. They hurt.

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In the end, they thank me, going behind a bush could be dangerous at times there are snakes, bugs and such, but when on the road you cannot set something up. thinking back to the old world, maybe a long poncho and a collapsible stool for their privacy in a group. In a camp the extra tent works better. Needs to be worked out.

After the basic camp was set up, we all took the time to walk around. Looking at the flowers.

Listening to the birds and smelling the fresh scent of the meadow. I do notice, since it is almost too hot out, that they are now back to various stages of undress.

Wouldn't you guess, Missy is the first one. I hear her say "what the hell" and stripped.

She raised her arms to the sky and stretched until I thought she would put something out of joint.

"This feels so much better. No one else is here for untold miles so why not be free."

The others think about it and follow suit until I was up to my elbows in buck naked ladies. Again, my life is good. They look at me with very greedy eyes. Ganging up on me. I was being stripped.

"Ladies, don't tear that shirt I will need it later"

It is good that I brought more boxers because they are now shredded, fit only for bird’s nest material. They started chasing me all over the meadow. I wasn't running to escape but let them chase a little while before catching me.

"Good thing that this is not a cow field." I thought as I tumbled to the ground becoming the bottom layer of a female grope fest. My life is really good.

We now spent most of the time like that. Skinny dipping in the lake, soaking in the spring and just lounging around. We got dressed only to do some hunting in the forest for some of the deer that we saw tracks from earlier. I will say that I never was a nudist in the old world and also here, so I dismissed the feeling that we were being watched. Old morals showing up.

It was a very enjoyable honeymoon We were very relaxed. We had a good time this week. Even planned where the "cottage" would be along with a boat house and improvements to the spring area. We'll hire villagers for the builds and a caretaker that will visit the compound regularly keeping clean the areas around the cottage, this side of the lake and the spring.

That caretaker would prep the cottage when we are coming for a vacation or just a small time visit. Now it was time to pack up and return to the manor. I hope Chip and Abigail had just as much fun. We were all packed up, fully dressed and ready to go but that feeling of being watched is back. I look around carefully and see no signs or hear no sounds. Strange. We start for home.

While driving, that feeling back there started to bother me. I opened the window slat to ask if anyone else felt it but they fell asleep so I shut the slat. No sense waking them. I'll talk to Chip when we get home and settled in. See what he thinks.

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The drive back was totally uneventful and the welcome sight of our home was before us. Chip and Abigail came out of the manor to greet us. They had a real glow about them so I did not need to ask.

"I see that everyone is fully relaxed and doing well" Chip was smiling as he said that.

"I see you did not burn the house down with the heat you generated." as I shoulder bumped him.

He helped unload as the seven women went in to exchange their lurid tales of debauchery. Chip is looking around more than usual. Seeing nothing he shrugs.

After things calmed down, we were all together in the sitting room. I asked the group

"At the lake I got the occasional feeling that we were being watched. Did anyone get that feeling at the lake."

One by one they all raised their hands and said that at different times they felt it but chalked it up to the passion of the moments. Turning to Chip

"How about you. Anything happen out of the ordinary while we were gone?"

"No" he said "but since you got home, I did get the urge to say something or someone is out there."

"Just in case, I need a full sweep of the manor's surroundings. There were what I thought were animal signs on the overgrown road leading up to the lake but they may have been an intruder.

If the intruder was skilled, you would not have seen anything, but carelessness is the signs of someone who is an amateur. Just what Everett would hire. I want the team to run the boarder right now while signs would be fresh.

So, the team did just that. We even went into the brush and trees. As long as you could even remotely see the manor, we searched it. Each one of us had a section to search. Each section abutted the other so we did not mistake team tread imprints for someone else. One by one we return to the manor. As we checked in it had to be said that nothing was found.

We only had to hear from Abigail who hadn't returned yet. We figured that being a scout herself she was taking her time. As we were speculating, she walked in.

"Found what looked like fresh tracks but I also found this." She is holding a broken branch that had an old torn fragment of fabric still attached. "The cloth is old and dirty but this break appears to be fresh. You were followed."

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Chapter 12: Under the Two Clans Protection

After the tension of the potential spy had somewhat passed, there was no indication that anyone was still following us. The manor returned to a somewhat normal routine. There was the morning training, breakfast and then my joy of joys, no I don't mean that. That is the wonderful world of paperwork.

Chip makes it a point to capture me before I can evade his grasp. Some days I almost make it. Good practice of evasion skill. The thing that the authors in the old world did not write about is the official paperwork needed to run the manor as well as the business of the team.

Financial, inventory, reports, paper, paper, mountains of paper. If they wrote about that, it would only sell to the officials who create the reasons for my paperwork. If I thought there would be this much paperwork, I would have dreamed about a life as a vagabond. Enough about paperwork.

A part of my work as the team leader is to go through the mailed requests for the team. Most are from individuals but some come from the local village officials. Those are mostly pest problems. The majority of those can and should be handled by the village itself but this morning one caught my eye. It was from a village called Sexton. Yes, the name is what first caught my attention.

It seems that there was an abandoned farm a quite a few miles from the village. It is way off the normal road so far that it cannot be seen from the road but people passing by see and hear strange things coming from that area. Those sights and sounds are out of the ordinary.

The village tried to get some of the people to investigate but when they came near, they ended up not wanting to get any closer. The Sexton chief had heard about us and decided to reach out to us.

What piqued my interest is the fact that it is an abandoned farm house. Beez's rescue came to mind, then, Everett's mode of operation over road the rescue thoughts. There were the missing women from the goblin infestation that still have not been accounted for. Interesting.

This may be the break I was looking for or it may at least prove to be a worthwhile experience. Ten gold plus expenses is a good selling point also. Time to have a meeting of the team.

In the war room, on the table is the usual, a regional map of the area that the chief was talking about. One thing I have been meaning to ask Chip is where did we get these sophisticated maps? Very accurate and topographical. There again I do not want to hear the answer, I feel it will be the usual culprit. At least I can say thank you, under my breath.

I explain the letter and the request that has been made. Sorra, thinking she needs to show that she is pulling her weight

"Why don't I fly up there to see what I can find"

"No one goes on a solo mission. We are a team my dear Sorra. A solo mission is not on the table. Suppose you get into trouble, solo there is no back up. We scout when we are near but all that way out of the question."

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"I wanted a reason to use my sonic flight. I have never had such a thrill as that."

"Why don't you go visit your father. The last time you went, you said that the half a day flying that you father would take only took you less than an hour. You can have that feeling, but safely. You need to remember the harem and the team."

"I was just there a few days ago." She looks like she is pouting. Adorable.

I tell the team about my concerns that this may be an Everett hide out and then again it may not be. “

We need to approach as if it is. The need for scouting will be a ground one by Abigail. She is never heard. I jump, “What the heck?!"

Abigail appears behind me as if teleported. "Just practicing" she says smugly.

"Abigail! Come back here and sit." Chip scolds pointing to her chair. To my surprise and everyone else, she squeaks out

"Yes sir" then sits down.

I think "Way to go Chip. At least you can control her. I have not been able to fully control certain few of mine. Missy in particular. I need to get some tips from you later."

I finish the briefing. It was decided to take the horses along with a few pack horses. More people more provisions.

"Yes Sorra, you have to ride also." I answer her before she even asks. "Get used to it. We stay together."

Missy can't help herself "Sorra, isn't that obvious. He has the large tent."

They giggle. "Well then I guess I'll ride." the teenagers are back.

Missy then throws in a last quip "Are you calling dibs?"

Is that pee I hear hitting the ground. Must be the horses as the entire harem and Abigail laugh hysterically.

We ride the day. stopping periodically to rest the horses and eat. Coming up on a good spot. It is our usual preference. A large clearing for our safety. Good water and this time there is a hot spring. Beez still does some rearranging of the spring to accommodate a larger group.

"Why don't you two get hunting."

It is the usual command from the ladies once we set up. By now, both of us unwanted men know that we need to get lost. We do because, unlike teenage boys, we mutually decided it 91

was better for us not to peek. He did not want me to see his naked wife. Out of mutual respect and the fact I have five of my own that I did not want him to see naked, we went hunting.

Coincidentally we came back to camp with the supper meat to find everyone clean and dressed. Again, they did not seem to care if each other's husband was seen washing themselves.

The next morning proved to be just as weird as the yesterday. We were done with a simple breakfast, had broken down the camp and were in the process of loading the pack horses.

We heard noises at the edge of the field. That put us on alert but we would never have expected to see what came out of the woods.

Out came three goblins with a white flag. I wave them in

"Keep a close watch and be ready for anything." I instruct the team.

They get close and the leader speaks, "We demand that you release the goblin slave you have to us. She is needed by us."

He is trying to puff himself up and look fierce. It is all we can do to hold in our laughter. He repeats "Give us the goblin woman!" now making a gesture with his weapon.

I have never seen such a pitiful sight as those goblins having repeated shots of fire then ice bullets shot at the green dangles as Beez yelled at them.

"You stupid poor excuse for goblin males! No, you are typical goblin males, I'll hit you in your brains" and she continues to blast away at their sacks.

"I'll see that stupid does not continue to reproduce." They run for the woods and I don't think that they stopped running until they were miles away.

"The nerve of them coming here and demanding. Pick up their weapons." looking at the two of us poor males. One felid and one human.

"Their weapons are almost as worthless as they were but at least the weapons are stronger than they were." Both Chip and I gather the weapons.

"Yes mam." is our only response.

Chip whispered "Sometimes I worry about your safety."

"Don't, they won't kill me. They'll come close with the nonstop night assault" I think sleeping under the stars again would be my best bet tonight. I hope it doesn't rain.

After that start, the rest of the day went peaceful. We set up camp as usual. We hunted for the supper meat. After supper I bedded down for a night of stargazing when I felt myself being dragged by no less than five sets of hands. If there is truly a Watcher, please help me. I need the sleep. Be careful of what you ask for echoes through my mind.

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The next day we reached Sexton. I needed to talk directly with the chief. It looked like any typical village. A collection of styles that were at one time put up with what materials then repaired over and over again.

Christine was first to notice. There are a lot of people walking like zombies but with handkerchiefs to their mouths. Most have a cough.

"Oh shit, they are here" she exclaims. "We need to get out of here right now. Forget this town it's doomed."

"What's wrong Christine?" I desperately ask.

"They're here. Some sickies here. I recognize a lot of my former patients here. They are from sick town!"

Christine is so upset but also so mad so Missy suggests that the harem retreats to the field outside of the village. I agree and say,

"I need the harem to leave now for my peace of mind. Please take care of Christine. Make sure she is not around anything that she could use as a torch. We can't have this village burned down just yet. Abigail, I would like you to accompany them."

They all leave which makes me feel relieved. Now where is the chief.

Chip and I find the chief's office. He was very thankful that we were here and he gives us the latest information. that we will leave for the site now that we have the up to date information.

The chief suggests that we stay the night and enjoy the village. I tell him that members of my team recognize some people here and they feel uncomfortable around them so we will camp near the site and observe.

"Oh, by the way" I add as I am leaving. "One of my team is a healer. She knows most of those sickly people as former patients of what the region called Sick town. They are like a moral plague. Their feelings are infectious."

We leave feeling that there will be another town that we find burnt. Maybe we should send one of us back to collect at least expenses up to this point.

Meanwhile, outside the village, the women are waiting for the two to emerge from the village.

Christine is seething as she exclaims

"If they are not out of there in another hour, I'm going in and burning each building until they are found."

"Why is she so angry at this village?" Hilda asks.

"You, Abigail and Sorra were not even with us when we were hired to find a village's healer."

Missy answers.

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"Those bastards, I thought they would have died by now. So did they!" Christine remarks.

"It turned out that they were almost enslaving Chris. She was let out when she needed to gather more medicinal herbs"

"I should have poisoned them all! They thought they were dying. Poisoning would have made them happy. Me too!"

"Chris, please, your scaring Hilda." Missy cautions Chris.

"Chris told them that she was going to be gone for a few weeks because the medicinal herbs were in a valley at the foot of the mountains. After only a few days they hired us to find her and bring her back. They ended all sentences with, ‘we are sick you know’. We found Chris and she joined us. We went back to the village so she could get her belongings. They had burnt down their own village because of a so called curse that was causing them to be sick."

"Yes, but they did not stay in their homes and die."

"Okay, Chris, we get it, you’re mad that they didn't"

"They are the curse. I believe that this is not the first time they burnt down a village. I believe that the come to a village, drive the good out by their insensate wining about being sick until they are the only ones. After some time, the cycle repeats. This village is next."

"We need to warn the good people of this village that they need to drive those locusts out.

They are actually serial arsonists."

"If it bothers Chris that much, I'll help her burn it down" Sorra comforts her.

Hilda adds "I agree if the men are not out here sooner than the hour, the harem, Abby, this time you're included, will storm the town. Burn it to the dirt."

Five minutes later, the men come out. "Damn, it's good they are coming out but I wanted to burn."

I look at Chip asking, "Why do they all have torches?"

It's nearly dark so we set up camp. It was decided, by the women, that we needed to put as much distance from the village for Christine's sanity. The camp is not quite as close as we wanted it but we can see that on the horizon, there is a sign of light and we hear noise. Abigail asks if she could scout the area after it becomes full dark. I agree

"Be cautious of traps and such."

"Yes mom"

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"Even though you are not a harem member as such, you are valuable to the team and my brother in laws wife. I'll worry until and after we retire from this line of work."

Abigail came back with news that we were really not expecting. She informed us that it is not ghosts that are haunting the area.

"It is gnomes. What appears to be a large colony. There are houses they have built so they have really been there for a while. No one saw me, so how do we proceed? I will say that they appear peaceful. There does not seem to be any fortification."

"First, since they have a peaceful appearance so we are not going to charge in. This calls for a totally different approach. This is probably the rarest thing in this world. Gnomes travel, they don't settle, let alone build. I haven't heard of anything other than a temporary rest area. I'm going to think about this. We will go midmorning. Christine, will you calm down by then?"

"Yes, as long as none of them are wearing masks."

"Let's get some sleep, I will have a plan for you by morning."

Around sunrise, I brief the team during breakfast.

"This is how this is going to happen. Like I said last night, we go midmorning. Usually, people are awake and by midmorning, they should be going about what they're work is. We are going to slowly walk up the hill until we reach the crest. We make a show of dropping our weapons and raise our hands showing that we do not intend to hurt them. When they see us drop our weapons, I will announce that we would like a meeting. Then we wait."

Hilda suggests "Maybe we should sit away from the weapons. That gives a further impression that we mean no harm."

"That is acceptable. For us dropping the swords and daggers really doesn't add risk since we all have other talents."

“If they show at the foot of the hill, I will go half way then stop. Hopefully their counterpart will do the same. Then I will try to have them talk with us. It will need to be out in the open due to our size difference."

The tallest recorded gnome is barely over two feet. Hilda, being the tallest of our group, over seven feet, asks if she should hang back below the crest.

"No, you need to be with us. If you stay out of sight, they may have some of their people scouting. If they see hidden people, they may just run. We don't want that. I ask all of you to trust me. I'm going to do some improvising. You know that I can take care of myself so trust me on this,"

Reluctantly they agree.

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We start going up the hill making some noise. Don't want the impression of sneaking up. As we start to appear at the crest, the team makes a line so they can see the eight of us. All at once we could see gnomes looking at us.

"Please don't run" I whisper.

Weapons in our hands, we drop them in a display manner like the old world mic drop. At the bottom there approaches eight gnomes. They stop at the bottom.

I announce "We have come in peace. As you saw we are now unarmed. Will you grant me permission to come halfway down. Then you can come halfway up so we can talk.

Their leader nods and motions with his hand for me to come down which I do. Then their leader comes up.

"I am Justin Martin and these are my team. Most of the women are my wives. Only one is not, she is mate for the other male. As I said we mean no harm."

"What is the reason for your intrusion on our homeland?"

"We were hired to find out about the noise and lights coming from this area. The town thought it is haunted and were afraid to come here."

"That is just what we want. We want to be left alone."

"May my team come down to this spot. We, as I said, are unarmed."

He laughs with almost contempt. "We can sense the magic coming from all of you, but you have the strongest aura. We know that if we harmed you, your people would destroy us,"

Before he could continue, I yell up the hill

"They are afraid that if they hurt me, you will wipe them out, I order all of you to stay put,"

Then I offer my arm and say "Take your weapon and cut me."

He does and as discussed; they all sit on the ground.

"Your people obey you so your words are true. Both you offering that demonstration and your people’s response, we will grant you a meeting."

"Can we have it hear? We do not want to risk damaging anything."

He says that they were going to suggest that because of our giant. Hilda guessed it but so did I. He continues

"We sent some of us to check out your camp. There was no one in hiding. Even though you could have wiped us out you dropped your swords. All signs of honesty."

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"This is the first time I have ever heard of a gnome settlement. Your people are nomadic, I have heard that you refer to yourselves as traveling gnomes. Why now have you settled?"

“The people of the traveling gnome is our proper title. Our ancestor, it was told, came from another world where he was known as the traveling gnome. When he was transported here, we adopted his ways."

I say "That sounds familiar to me. Why have you settled here?"

"Our tribe has a seer who is in contact with a spirit that looks out for us. The seer told us that she was told that we could stop traveling and live here. She was told that a miracle would happen. We would meet a person that would do great things for us. That person would see to it that we were never disturbed and would protect us. The land would be ours forever."

My women are giggling and I heard them all say that name, The Watcher. I can't fight it.

"May I show you something?" I ask him. He told me yes.

"Sorra, would you please come here." Which she does. I had told her to retract her wings until I gave her a mission. She would know when to spread them.

"Sorra of the Clan of Martin, I now ask you to go to your father, the chief of the Clan of the Dragon. Tell him that the Clan of Martin needs our brother clans help. Ask him to come here himself. Time to use your sonic flight. By the way, on the return trip don't leave him in your wake. Slow down. You should be able to get there and back in a few hours. Now go." Sorra spreads her wings and is off in a flash.

The leader of the gnomes was puzzled. I told him,

"We were guided," bit my tongue on this one, "also by an entity that my wives call the Watcher. They have given me their signal that I can do that miracle for you."

You could have heard a pin drop. All the gnomes have gathered.

"The wife that just left is the daughter of the chief of the Clan of the Dragon. My Clan, by the way, it may be a little late but I am Justin Martin. chief of my clan I am joined to Clan of the Dragon by marriage."

"I would like to wait until Chief Drako comes here with my wife. When he gets here, I will announce to your village my proposal. Then I will ask you if you would give me permission to do it. This is all I will say. My team and I will wait here. You need to go and brief your village that they will need to decide or how ever your system works. I will tell you that you will be delighted."

We waited. The gnome leader talks to everyone. By the time Sorra and Drako came every man, women and child of the gnome village were on that hillside. Sorra landed and Drako, in full dragon form landed a short distance away then, after changing into his humanoid form, 97

walked to us. Sorra most likely told him something on the way back here because he started the talk with official tone.

"The Clan of the Dragon is honored to answer the request of their brother clan, The Clan of Martin."

I pick up on the tone. "Chief of the Clan of the Dragon, it is an honor to greet you. I have something I would like to ask of my clan brothers."

"Ask and it will be granted."

"This is the leader of the People of the Traveling Gnome" and they both exchange greetings.

"The People of the Traveling Gnome have been instructed, by their guiding spirit, to settle here and live their lives in peace without the need to travel anymore, I am giving them my clan's protection and request of my brother clan to do the same. With both clans sworn to protect them, these peaceful people can finally have a place to call home."

Drako pledges his Clans protection also.

Then I tell the leader of the gnomes, "The Clan of Martin will purchase one hundred acres which contain their village and cede it to the People of the Traveling Gnome for their use in perpetuity."

To say that all gnome jaws had dropped would be an understatement. I then looked at their leader

"What say you? Is this alliance acceptable to the People of the Traveling Gnome?"

A resounding yes came from all of them.

"Then, with that you are now under the protection of the Clan of Martin."

Drako added "You are also under the protection of the Clan of the Dragon. By this bonding, the People of the Traveling Gnome are brother to both clans. It will be posted clearly on your boarders. My clan will regularly be flying over as a warning to all stay out. The Dragons will stop at this spot and will ask you to let them know if there is any outside trouble or any urgent needs. Our bonded clans are now sworn to help each other."

With that said I then also asked the leader "I will go into the village tomorrow and purchase the land. My brother Chip will draw up the cede proclamation and we will sign it to make it official. What I ask is would you take my wives, my brother and his wife under your protection while I am in town?" The leader bowed deeply and said that it would be an honor.

Drako said his good byes to the gnomes then turned to me and said,

"My daughter has chosen a good man." Then he took off to fly home.

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While I have him here "Leader, why the lights and sounds."

"We like to celebrate. The sounds and lights are how we celebrate. If it keeps others away all the better. Now I must ask you Why do you do this? For a people that you never saw before?"

"The Watcher tells my women when something or someone is good. I could tell that you were true. That you were cautious for your people. I respect that. I do believe that your seer’s spirit and The Watcher are talking together for the good of both of our people. Would you want to make your seer’s spirit upset by not listening to what it said? I would not dream to upset my wives let alone the Watcher."

"You are a wise man, Justin Martin. for your information our seer talks to a female spirit."

We end up going to our camp now with an escort of ten gnomes for our protection. I hope they don't mind noise. It will be coming from the two tents.

The next morning, I went into town. The land was owned by two different owners but since the land was haunted, they both sold me the land. Now the one hundred acres were officially mine so I dropped the bomb.

"Let everyone know that the land is now under the protection of the Clan of the Dragon and my clan, the Clan of Martin. Both clans are joined through marriage. I married King Drako's daughter. The dragons will regularly patrol the area anyone that is caught trespassing will, let’s just say, they will never be found. Dragons eat people and other life"

The chief was visibly shaking.

"Oh, by the way while we were here, we recognized those people that are sick. Be aware that one of my wives was their healer. She was in servitude to them since they paid for her training. She went to gather herbs some distance from the village. They hired my team to find her and bring her back to them. By the time we returned to the village, they had burned the whole village down as being cursed. Chief, they move from village to village, cause the good locals to leave due to their incessant whining then after a while they burn down the village and move to another. They are in your village now. Keep an eye on them, a close eye."

As I turn, he chief tells me that there have been a few house fires.

"So, it's started" I remark.

I return to the gnomes, give them the papers and tell them that we will try to make regular visits. I will have Sorra as messenger. They say that we are welcome anytime. Then we head for home with a great feeling of satisfaction.

As we passed the village, we see that the villagers are driving the sick people out.

"Before you get a chance to burn us down, get out of here." The villagers tell them.

"But this village is cursed. It needs to be purified by fire."

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That only makes the villagers angrier and they drive the last ones out. The sick people start dragging their sick bones towards the next village. Then they see Christine and start to chant

"Christine help us we're sick, help us we're sick."

Christine goes into a berserker mode. I thought that only Missy and I could but Christine has not displayed the claws yet but the language was less than lady like. She jumps off her horse and takes out her sword. She was yelling to Beez,

"You can use fire, purify the mother fuckers. Burn their asses to ashes. The bastards are arsonists we will be doing the world a favor. I would bet that those piss ants would have a shit eating grin as they died. They would say with their last damned breath ‘See we told you we were sick.’ Burn, you cock suckers, burn."

Hilda, Missy, Sorra and Beez all caught hold of her and her horse dragging her in the direction we need to go. They get her back on her horse. She yelled one last curse at them as we rode away,

Her hair was flying on its own. There was no wind. She started screaming like a banshee.

"I HOPE YOU LIVE LONG AND MISERABLE LIVES. YOU ARE ALL DAMNED! SHIT

HEADS! YOU HEAR ME, YOUR ALL SHIT HEADS, FUCK YOU!"

Then she calmly said "I needed that. Now what were we talking about?"

It was a fun trip home after that. Chris was finally relaxed.

100

Chapter 13: So No One Dies Today

I decided that we needed a break when returned from the last quest. "What would you say to a rest day and go to Beall for some fun?" It was an overwhelming response.

"Yes."

So it was decided that we would take the carriage in the morning. A quick day trip for no reason is exactly what the team needs.

The next day we arrive in town. We were immediately warmly greeted by several of the locals.

The women chatted. Local gossip, weather and how much they liked the wedding. While the men talked about the state of the country, hunting and the crops. Enjoyable to just not talk shop, so to speak.

While the group was talking, there was the sound of something happening far down the street. Loud laughing, something that sounded like taunting with the sound of things tumbling.

It caught our attention. On of the older women said with disgust,

"Those damned hooligans!"

"What's that about?" I inquire.

"We have five young boys that have gotten too big for their britches. They think that they are going to own the village. They try to flex their muscles."

I need to see this. "Let's go down there to see this for ourselves."

Our group walk down to find that there are five boys, the oldest can't be more than fifteen years old and the youngest barely looks like he is in his teens. They are hassling the general store owner, our one time client and now friend John Bagley.

"John, you need some help?"

Before John could say anything, their apparent leader, the oldest, tells me

"If you know what's good for you, you'll mind your own business"

When he realized who we were he changed his target from John to me

"You're that idiot that married that bunch of misfits, aren't ya. Don't you have any pride. You even married that green dog. I'm sorry" he says after a short pause. "I did not mean to insult dogs."

"What did you just say about my wives?" There was anger in my words that he just ignored.

He looked at Christine "And you, what the hell are you thinking. Leave that zoo and come with us. We'll show you what it is like to be with real men."

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"A zoo you say!" They now have pushed the wrong buttons.

I look at Beez then I turn back "You do not know what your..."

I stop there because, over their laughter I hear Hilda tell Beez

"Why don't you show them what a poor weak small green lady can do"

Their response is "What's she going to do? Bite our ankles?" as they continue to laugh.

I again turn to Beez " Their limbs must remain attached along with their heads. Also don't break anything except their egos. You have my permission."

Beez nods then pulls out her daggers and hands them to Hilda,

"It's a shame but I won't need them. Please hold on to them for me"

My wives shout various forms of encouragement. Now the boys look happy. They are going to show this town what they are made of and why they rule this town.

"This is going to be fun" the leader remarks.

Beez starts towards the boys who are all taller that her. They look better built, muscular wise.

There are several of the people that have gathered that gasp and turn away. They do not want to see this small lady get beat up but they notice that Beez looked at Chip and gave him a thumbs up.

Chip smiled and said "Go for it"

The boys came at her. Within what seemed seconds and a whirl wind of precise moves all five of those boys are on the ground, in bad shape, moaning." She looks at them and yells

"How does it feel to be whooped by a 'worthless' little green lady!" Beez then sarcastically says to me "they are still intact. Much to my regrets. I just found out that those extremely tough, in their minds, men did not have even an idea what it was to fight. I would have liked more exercise."

The crowd erupts in cheers and out right laughter when she grabs a bucket from the store porch, fills it with water from the horse trough and throws the water on them to wake them up.

With a start the sleeping beauties wake. Tears in their eyes they run away towards their homes.

A short time later, the parents of those saints come to us with anger. Most of the crowd is still in front of the general store where we are talking to John

"We treated you right and this is how you pay us back by releasing that savage on our boys. It was an unprovoked attacked!"

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I choked, "Unprovoked?"

The leader of the boys told the parents that they were just hanging around when she attacked them. The parents outrage continued to spew out of their mouths until John shouted

"STOP THIS AND SHUT UP! Those choir boys of yours were harassing me. This was just one of a number of times that your little innocent babies have caused trouble in this town."

Quite a few of the bystanders voiced their agreement. John continued

"They were hurling insults at both him and his wives. They were very crude and vulgar while hurling racial trash at them. They even had the nerve to proposition one of his wives." as he pointed to Christine.

I then added my side ""That is what happened. They called my wives a zoo while trying to get Christine to leave us and go with them for some 'real fun'. Beez was directly targeted for some of the vilest racism that I have ever heard. Just what have you taught those children?

That is why I allowed Beez to show them only a little of her skills. You should be thankful that she did not go all out on them."

One of the women in the crowd spoke up

"Now that I think about it, I remember that when we were freed from the slave collars, this woman proceeded to incinerate the remains of the slavers. Reducing them to ashes in seconds. Then she washed the ashes away with a water force that I have never seen. If she really went all out, you would have wondered why your children ran off leaving no tracks to follow. Monster food you would wonder for the rest of you lives."

That statements from a respected members of the community made the parents look at their children and caught hold of them as they tried to run.

I then added "They did not realize what they got into when they picked on her."

I asked Hilda and Beez to step forward.

I whispered to the both of them "Take out your weapons and strike a battle pose. Let’s impress them all."

They did, not only did they look impressive and also very deadly Looking directly at those boys

"Just for your information my wife Beez, that goblin you insulted because of her size and race is the low in the high low twin terror. With the double dagger works of both my wife Beez and my wife Hilda they become a meat grinder. Any enemy that comes close become just barely recognizable body parts. Oh, by the way Beez is one of the most, if not the most powerful mages in this world. I will not tell you all her magic skills but I will tell you that she is an expert in all four elements,"

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I continue as I point to each one "My team consists of a sword master and martial arts master, a combat specialist, a healer, a mage par excellence, a scout and superior sniper, a flying abattoir, and last but not lease a feline fighter." I give Missy a quick kiss.

With the looks I am getting from the rest of the harem, I tell them "Later girls"

"You better" I hear in mass.

The parents are convinced that their saints are really sinners that played them as fools. This does not bode well for the boys. They demand that their children apologize to each one of my wives and to me. They do and the parents do likewise.

The chief steps out to the parents and boys.

"This incident is done. These boys have been causing a lot of trouble in this village. What are you parents going to do to curb future trouble from these men? I say men because if there is further trouble from them, they will be chained and taken to the capital for trial. You know what they think of the rural community. Most likely, all would be found guilty and sold as criminal slaves that can be worked to death without repercussions. These men would last maybe a few months but not more than a year."

Before anyone could answer I presented a potential idea to the chief and especially to the parents.

"What they need to learn is discipline. How to be an asset not an ass. We will return to our manor for today. Tomorrow morning, I propose that these five be here at sunrise in the dirty clothes they are wearing now. We will return shortly after that with a wagon and our carriage.

As you may know, I bought some property from John while we were here to get married. My proposal is that you let us take these boys to that site. You know our talents so they will be somewhat safe. We will see if we can show them just what respect means. Respect for others but more importantly respect for themselves."

"They will come back here tired, bruised and they will come back sore but above they will all come back intact. We would be there for around a week. There is nothing there but the wild.

As you know, if you don't respect the wild, the wild will kill you. You need to know that to be out with the wild. I propose that they learn that lesson by learning to hunt, prepare their own food and basically learn to be self-sufficient. They need to learn how to rely on themselves and others. We will show them the value of the other races. We will change their thinking. You won't recognize them as the little boys that they are now. We should be able to return men to you."

"What do you think Chief? Should we trust these people?"

He replies to the parents

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"A trip that makes someone know what it really takes to survive and gives them helpful skills to face the future is just what they need. A week will tell us whether we will have good people or slave fodder, as the town chief, I say it is a good deal."

The parents agree over the objections of the five.

We return home and chuckle. What a week this is going to be.

After the prep, planning and a somewhat good night’s sleep, we return to Beall.

There in front of the chief's house stood the five boys. As instructed, they are in the same dirty clothes that they had on yesterday. Again, by arrangement, the parents have left leaving the boys in the chief's custody.

Chip is driving the wagon and I am driving the carriage. The boys start to try to get in the carriage. The women stop them.

"You are not getting in here with those dirty clothes. Get on the wagon."

First indication that it will not be a fluffy week for them they climb aboard the wagon. Then we set off for the lake.

Making sure that the wagon hit every bump, sorry Chip, we slowly made our way forward.

After a long bumpy ride, we reach the boarder of the property. I stop the carriage. Turning so I could see Chip.

"Time to dump them."

Chip tells them to get out of the wagon and go forward to me. I toss them a sheathed knife.

"Site is just up this wild wooded road a few miles. We will be waiting up there. Time for you to stretch your legs because you will be put right to work when you get there. Remember, we are in the wild now. Keep an eye out and listen, that way you can be ready to protect yourselves."

"Where are our knives?" The other four ask

"Guess you need to rely on someone and that someone needs to protect you. See you at the camp." We leave them there with their mouths open.

Completely out of their view, Abigail jumps out of the carriage and disappears into the woods.

As the boys are walking towards the camp. They start to hear things. Twigs snapping, growls and howls that had to come from some terrifying monster. Brush moved and the five start to pick up the pace. The more they hear the faster they go. They look but do not see anything.

They know that whatever it is it's not alone and must be a man eater. They break out into a full run for their lives.

105

As the five enter the meadow they see tents set up, a camp fire going and something starting to cook. They are safe. Then they jump out of their skin when they hear the sound of something charging out of the brush and a howl straight out of hell behind them. Suddenly a few of them have a wet stain appear in their pants. Let’s us just say they wet the bed.

They turn to find Abigail behind them. She tells them that the first rule out here is be aware of your surroundings. Just because you're back in camp, you are not out of danger. She lets out another howl, sprints towards where we are but she refrains from laughing because this is training.

I motion for them to come to the camp. When they get there, I ask

"What did you learn?" They did not say anything.

"Let's put it this way, you were listening which was right. I imagine that you somewhat looked"

Abigail says "They did but they did not investigate. They ended up running."

"We only had one knife so we ran."

"Fair choice but what about clubs? There was plenty of wood lying around. A decent size dead branch will work on the lower level threats. For a person trying to hurt you a big branch used as a club can do real damage. Clubs are the chief weapon of goblins and they kill with them. There are a lot of monsters out there that can out run you."

"Abigail, what would you have done if they had, for example climbed a tall tree?"

"I would have come out and have had them come down. We would have had a nice safe walk here."

"You see running sometimes is not the best thing to do. Wolves, bears and most others cannot climb but they can out run you. If you can, find out what is out there, then get a plan together. Better thing would have been once you were put off the wagon, you should have discussed what would you do in what situation. Use the talents that you each have. That is what we hope you learn this week."

As I was talking to the five, my wives have broken out and began to practice on targets. Some were going through their routine that they had for their prime skill. High and Low were spinning and displaying shining blurs that are knives and daggers, they never are more than a few inches apart except when someone tries for their back then one turns and that threat is gone and that one returns to their proper position. Sorra was flying through the sky at great speeds swooping down with spears and swords attacking straw dummies. Christine was using the bow and arrows.

All the team gather around the five. One of the boys asks Christine

“I thought you are a healer but you were using the bow and arrow with great accuracy. You also have a knife strapped to your belt."

106

She stops him there "In battle I am just a target. Yes, I am a healer but my first job is the safety of my team mates and myself. I need to defend myself. During a battle, I will go to an injured team mate and heal them. I will say here and now that, as a healer, after a battle I will also treat an enemy."

The boys hear snickers from the others as she adds a final portion.

"But it seems that I never find an injured enemy. They all seem to be dead."

The team wanders off to different areas but Beez and Chip don't leave the exercise area, only separate a little. The boys see Beez go into her solo routine. She starts with the targets.

Without any incantation, she sends a fire bullet at the first target. A large whole is dead center.

They are mesmerized at the site of what happens to the targets with what appears to be little effort on her part.

Water cutter, Ice wall, wind shear, dust storm all the four elements. As per the preplanning, she does not show the other three, light, dark and time magic. They do not have the need to know. As Beez is practicing magic, Sorra dives at her and launches a spear, again per the plan. Beez erects an earth wall to block the spear then launches wind shear at the spot where Sorra was a millisecond before. Beez then stands and stares at the five,

They jump as I state

"That is that green lady that you inferred, no outright said that she was inferior to humans.

Now, why don't you show what you can do, Any of you? No, then learn this one thing, never under estimate your opponent. Now that you have seen her in action, if she had gone all out on you where would you be?"

All they could squeak out was "We would have been dead."

"Another lesson learned."

“Would you like to learn some of what she has shown here? Why don't you go up to her and ask. I bet that, if you ask her right, she will be more than happy to show you."

They go up to Beez both regretting and fearful. Regretting what they said to her and fearful that she holds a grudge. She stares at them then gives them a cordial greeting. This time they gave a humble and sincere apology for what they said and their actions. Then they asked her to teach them because they did not know how to properly defend themselves.

She tells them "It is stupid to racially judge. It is humble to sincerely apologize. It is courage to ask someone for help. It is intelligence to say I am lacking teach me. Yes, I'll teach you."

On queue Hilda steps forward. Beez asks the five

"Does this person look strong? Does she look like she can take care of herself? She showed the ultimate courage and intelligence. An Amazon came to a goblin and said teach me the dagger dance."

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Then the over seven foot Hilda bend down and hug the under five foot Beez passionately.

"Thank you, sister" Hilda said then went away with some tears in her eyes for the praise she just received.

Choking back her own tears, Beez tells them

"Chip is the one that is teaching me the martial arts. He will start to show you the basics. So, you, you and you go over to him."

Those three were, when they went to Chip, told to watch Beez and the two.

"The both of you, with me." Beez takes them to another part of the field.

"I want you two to stand perfectly still don't move anything. The only thing I want you to do is breathe slowly in and out, in and out. Keep your eyes open. Breathe in and out. Now here goes the demonstration"

They think demonstration and before they think anything more, they start to see flashes of polished metal along with that metallic smell and whistling wind, they freeze as Beez says

"I'm giving you a demonstration of what it is like to be on the receiving end of the dagger dance."

All they see is a blur. Her motions are fluid without any waste. She tells them as she continues to dance around them,

"I will not even touch your skin so don't worry but don't move."

They are like a marble statue in the garden.

Finally, after what seems like hours for them but was only a little under two minutes, the wind stopped. They were out, still standing. Their eyes were rolled up so far that they were staring at their own brain.

Beez tells the two "come on, I told you to breathe, so breathe."

That seemed to bring them back to the real world.

"I thought I saw my grandparents waving at me from the other side of the river."

The second boy returning from his deep slumber, looked at Beez then looked at his friend. All he could say was,

"What happened to your clothes? You only have your boxers."

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The first one looked down and saw that indeed he was only wearing boxers when he came over fully dressed. "What happened to my clothes? Your clothes are gone also."

Standing in front of Beez were two young boys almost naked for the exception of their boxer shorts. She tells them to look down. There on the ground were shreds that once were their clothes.

"It's time. Go over to the other three and tell them that I want them over here now."

She watches as the almost nudists walk over to the other three. She sees them laugh at the two but recoil in horror and shake their heads no, vigorously, waving their hands all saying no.

Chip says something to them and they come over to Beez's area hanging their heads and trembling.

In a relatively short time, there are now five boys in just their boxers. The women are whistling and whooping as the boys cross to the group, when they get there Beez says to her sisters,

"They did good by standing there. While I was close enough to shred their clothes. Now looking at those boys. Boys it took trust in my abilities. Even more so with the three that came over knowing what was going to happen" she couldn't help herself "with no protests."

"I asked if you thought Hilda was strong and you said yes. You had an encounter with Abigail would you say she is strong?"

They answer yes. Beez goes through the remainder. Sorra, yes, Christine, yes, and Missy, yes.

Then one of the boys ask,

"No one has told us how we are to address you."

Missy thinks then answers "I think it would be too confusing if you were to call out Ms. Martin since there are five Ms. Martins."

The other wives know what she is going to say,

"We allow you to call us by our first name while you are here but in the general public you should address each one of us as Mrs. Missy Martin. Use our full name. It is only polite."

The same boy then asks, “Ms. Missy"

She smiles "I like that" she says.

"Ms. Missy, what is your skill? We have seen the others"

I have joined them "My wife Missy's talent is the red mist."

They look confused but I continue

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"She gets angry when family is being attacked. She will get so pissed that she becomes a wildcat, a tornado of teeth, claws and a pissed off"

I hesitated here deliberately I figure that what I was going to say would have sent the wrong message so I rephrased it, slightly,

"Let me say that better than what I wanted to say. She becomes a tornado of teeth, claws and pissed off kitty. An enemy comes near to that tornado, they become a red mist. All you will find is a red puddle where there was once an enemy."

Missy asks "Raise your hand if you think your strong."

Not one of the boys, who days before would have raised their hand now stand with their arms by their side.

She says "Good. Then how many of us do you think are strong?"

With one voice they say "All of you"

Missy then asks the same thing of the women

"Who of you think they are strong?"

No hands go up among the team. That shocks the boys.

Christine then takes over.

"Individually we are weak and we know it. It is only when we unite as a team do we become strong. Remember this, individually you may seem strong to others but you can be beaten by someone stronger. Only when you act together you become unstoppable. You look at us fighting, it looks like we are acting individually but we are not.”

Abigail then says,

“If you look at a clock’s works taken apart, it is only a collection of individual gear wheels but when assembled it is awesome. We fight and hear one of us call one or all go to that one. We still use our talents but now in coordination with the other. Best example is when Hilda and Beez get together for high low."

Sorra adds "We want you to remember, there is always someone stronger that comes along.

All six women and Chip are strong but not invincible."

"How's that?" one of the boys asks. "You look invincible to us."

Hilda tells him "We only became truly invincible when we were found by him" pointing to me.

"I should say when we were guided to him. Don't ask about guided. That's a harem secret."

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I wince at that. The Watcher.

"Justin is the key stone to our arch. Each stone of an arch is strong but without that keystone they are just a pile of stone."

"Planning and strategy make you invincible. Planning everything including when everything looks bad. Have two or more fall back solutions." I say,

"You had an interesting day today. I want you, well I was going to say strip but you are almost there so go down to the lake, wash off your sweat and dirt. Then jump in the hot spring. Only ten minutes in there and no more. We don't want to return you home fully cooked. you will find new clothes and towels down there. New clothes for a new beginning."

The boys go running off towards the lake.

"Ladies of my harem. If you remember the last time we were here by ourselves, the dress code here was nonexistent. We have impressionable boys so cover the interesting bits at least."

Chip asks "does that include us?"

I fire back "Abby give him a smack off the top of his head for me."

"Maybe later in our tent. But you need to keep your ladies muzzled at night. They're very loud."

"You are too!" our harem spokesperson gleefully shouts.

The time here was well spent. All of us could see a marked change in the five. Abigail, after taking them into the woods to give them first hand experiences in tracking, came back astonished.

She tells us with the boys present,

"When they focus, they are all fast learners. It's like a door has opened for them and they have entered their own bright new world."

Others commented almost the same. They learned the basics of war fair, martial arts, all forms of blade work including cooking. These boys were on their way to being self-sufficient adults.

It's now at the end of the week. The boys are both tired and disappointed. Tired from the workout they went through this week but disappointed that the training camp was over. They were now like sponges soaking up everything they could. After the camp was broken down and loaded onto the wagon, I gathered everyone together with the five the center of attention.

"You five boys started this by being young boys. Stupid remarks without thought got you here.

Now you five boys, no correction, you five men leave here with a better understanding of what 111

it means to be a true adult. You showed great respect for all of us, yourselves included.

Remember, you have learned the basics. Being far from experts, you know enough to get yourselves into a desperate situation. The one strength that you have now mastered is the ability to think and know your limitations. We have had fun this week."

Now I surprise even my people.

"It is my intention to build here next spring. I will be hiring locals to do the building and take care of this place when we are not here. The big news is that I intend to have summer long training camps for the young ones that want to learn what you have learned. How would you five like to be instructor assistants?"

They have a large smile,

"That would be nice, we would be happy to do that but we are not skilled enough." their leader comments."

"That's correct. You know yourselves and responded correctly. You don't know enough, yet."

Looking at them and my people seem to know what I am going to say.

"I would like to offer you an opportunity to train with us one day a week. We can set that up if you want. Just let Chip know what day you are all available. You can train with us all day, heck we'll even feed you."

That gets a chuckle.

"If you are serious, I want you to discuss it with your parents, then come to the manor. You should be able to walk there in a short time. I want to see, in your faces, the determination when you have your answer. We go on quests regularly, so when we are not there you still can come to train. Our staff will oversee your safety. No parties."

That said we leave the camp and return to Beall.

The men come the very next day to tell me what day is okay. They have their permission from the parents. They ask something unexpected.

"Would you be willing to teach us to read and write?"

They told me that being able to read and write will be needed to be complete. Of course I agreed. Since they were here already, we had some exercises then, after we washed up, Chip assumed the task of teacher.

It was a few weeks after that we received a visit from the village chief.

"What did you do to those boys?" he earnestly asks.

"Why? Did they do something wrong?"

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"Something wrong? No, those onetime hoodlums have been helping everyone since they got back from your camp."

"Then what's the problem?"

I'm confused. The team drifted in. The chief continued

"A child wandered off a few days ago. While we adults were getting organized to search, those five were coming out of the woods with the child. It had been only a matter of an hour between the time we got the mothers frantic news of the missing child and the time they came out with the child.”

“When I asked about how fast they found the child, they answered that when they heard the mother calling for the child and asked her what was wrong. We went looking for the child. The tracking skills that Ms. Abigail taught us, as well as the other skills we have been taught, it wasn't hard to pick up on the child's trail. That's how we found the child so quickly."

Abigail was beaming with pride as she wept.

"I made a difference" she softly said.

The whole harem was crying also. Definitely summer camp instructors and extremely possibly future team members.

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