Chapter 300: Hearth and Home

“Hail!” A deep man’s voice called out, the sound muffled by the snow that was falling faster and faster as the day progressed.

“Hail!” Willa called back, riding her horse ahead of the expedition, both Jaxton and Landry riding next to her. Then, by way of introduction, she shouted, “Captain Willa, returning with the mercenary company Fortune’s Favored from their expedition to search Kalters Wall for Nephilim survivors.”

“Of course you are,” a different man’s voice, one that Jadis very well recognized, said just loud enough to be heard but just quietly enough that it was obvious that he should have been keeping his mouth shut. “Can’t mistake those three great big giants for anyone else, can we?”

“Shut it, Ludwas,” Captain Renz, the first voice, snapped. “Captain Willa! With permission, we will scan the expedition with our detect stones before proceeding. It seems there have been additions made to the group from when last you passed by the fort.”

“You have no idea,” Jay mumbled under her breath as Willa called out her agreement.

In short order, Captain Renz and the seven men with him all began quickly scanning the expedition members to confirm none had been possessed by demons. The men were all business, moving quickly and efficiently to get the job done. Once the soldiers moved close enough, Jadis found that her suspicions had been proven right. Both Gerwas and Ludwas were among their numbers, though none of the other men were anyone she recognized other than Captain Renz. The two brothers smiled and nodded at Jadis and the others, but otherwise stayed professional and didn’t stop to converse, instead focusing on getting everyone scanned. To help, Jadis made sure to ask Sabina and Sorcha to come out of the wagon.

Better that the inspectors didn’t go inside the wagon and risk seeing something that they shouldn’t.

“Level fifty now, is it?” Ludwas said quietly as he stood near to his niece, Aila. “What in the frozen skies have you all been up to for the past few weeks?”

“More than you can imagine,” Aila answered just as quietly.

“I can see that…” Ludwas drawled as his gaze flitted between the giant goats, Tegwyn, Noll, and the Reavers.

“We’ll talk once we get inside the fort,” Aila assured her uncle.

“No, no we won’t,” Ludwas said, drawing a slight frown from the arcanist.

Jadis frowned too, though in the same moment as she was overhearing Aila and Ludwas, she was also a part of a conversation between Renz and Willa. Between those two, she was given more context.

“The magistrate has ordered we escort you back to the city immediately,” Renz told both Willa and Jay. “No delays. We’ll need to push on through the snow.”

“What’s the rush?” Jay asked, folding her arms across her chest. “We’re within our expected travel time, aren’t we? Did something happen?”

“The orders came four days ago. I have no official word as to why, simply that we are to escort you back to the city as quickly as possible. We’ve been keeping scouts on the road looking for you. They were only driven back due to the blizzard.”

“No official word,” Willa repeated, her own frown creasing her brow. “What’s the unofficial word?”

Renz’ face was hidden by his helmet, but by the way he shifted on his saddle, Jadis got the impression that the man was uncomfortable, either with the question or the answer.

“Nothing definite. There’s been a lot of scuttle around the barracks in the city. Arrests have been made in the army. Multiple ships departing in the night. The magistrate is furious.”

“General Egilhard?” Jay asked, drawing a sharp look from Willa.

“Still in the city so far as I know,” Renz answered. “Why?”

“Best not talked about here,” Willa cut Jay off from saying more. “Not where the seeds of rumors will grow.”

“Fine,” Jay agreed, not seeing the worth in arguing. Egilhard was probably going to be out on his ass or locked in a cell soon enough. Jadis could wait to talk shit about the asshole a little longer. “If we’ve got to push on, let’s do it. Unlike the rest of you, I’ve got three asses freezing in this snow and I want to get somewhere warm as soon as possible.”

“What was that?” Renz asked, his voice perplexed.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ve been lying about the whole triplets thing. I’m actually just one Nephilim with a skill that gives me three bodies,” Jay announced matter-of-factly. “Cover’s been blown, so, yeah.”

Captain Renz sat very still on his horse for a moment before his head tilted to one side.

“Is this some kind of jest?”

“It is not,” Willa answered with mirthless chuckle. “I’ll explain as we go.”

With a course set, Jadis moved quickly to get the expedition across the final leg of the journey. To get as much speed as possible, Jadis unhooked the goats from their harnesses and put them in Tegwyn’s care. She also had the horses unhooked from the smaller wagon as well. Considering her vastly increased Strength, Jadis knew she was more than capable of pulling the Behemoth with just two of her bodies now. In fact, she could probably manage with just one if she had to, though that would have been a strain.

Jay and Dys took the Behemoth while Syd took the soldiers’ wagon. With everyone either in or on a wagon, or on horseback, Jadis rumbled forward like a freight train. The snow, more than two feet deep by that point, was only an inconvenience to her, not a barrier. She was certain that most wagons would have had to stop under such weather conditions. Maybe Vraekae had even intended for her and the others to leave the wagons at the fort and ride on without them for the sake of speed. A consideration made unnecessary thanks to Jadis’ explosive growth.

With Jay and Dys in the lead, the expedition plowed through the heavy snow. Syd and her smaller wagon followed behind, then Tegwyn in his goat form along with the slightly smaller stone crusher goats. By the time all of them had passed, captain Willa and captain Renz, along with everyone else on horseback, had a clear path to move through. A fortunate circumstance, considering how fast Jadis was moving.

“You fuckers better hang on tight!” Kerr shouted into the wind at the Reavers who were on top of the Behemoth with her. “If you fall off, Noll is going to have to pick you up and he won’t be happy about it!”

Noll ran next to Jay and Dys, easily keeping up as he bounded through the snow like it wasn’t there. At Kerr’s words, he sent a glare up at the archer. A glare that Jadis was sure would be interpreted by anyone else looking as a threat backing up Kerr’s words, rather than the annoyance that the old wolf was probably feeling towards his obnoxious kinswoman.

Even with the blistering pace that Jadis set, it still took a long time to get across the Broken Hills and all the way to Far Felsen. The road was winding, straight lines impossible through the unnatural landscape, and she couldn’t run the whole way. The horses were only normal beasts. Even with enchanted barding to help with their speed and stamina, they were only capable of so much.

By the time the walls of Far Felsen had come into view, the sun had already fallen below the horizon and night had taken full possession of the sky. With how hard the snow was still falling, Jadis couldn’t even see the torches along the walls and towers until she was practically on top of them. The gates stood closed against the dark, but as their wagons rolled into the glow of the firelight, calls went out from watch towers. The massive double doors swung open at their approach, not even necessitating Jadis to stop.

In short order, the whole expedition was inside the walls of Far Felsen.

Everyone was cold. Frozen, really. Even Aila and Bridget who had skills to deal with the extreme temperatures looked chilled to the bone. They hadn’t stopped to eat, either, so Jadis was sure the stomachs of her companions were rumbling just as much as hers were. At that moment, Jadis was thinking fond thoughts of Hans and his meat pies.

“To the city hall, then?” Willa huffed, her breath freezing in the air.

“We should, yes,” Renz nodded as he started to urge his horse forward.

“You all can do that,” Dys said, waving her hand dismissively in the direction of the civic structure. “We’re going back to our headquarters.”

Both Willa and Renz turned in their seats to look at Dys.

“Jadis—” Willa started, but Jay cut her off.

“It’s late. It’s cold. We’re all tired and hungry. Whatever Vraekae wants can wait until the morning. Or, if she needs to see us that bad, you can let her know where to find us.”

“Your orders were to escort us back to the city, right?” Dys pointed to Renz. “Not to Vraekae directly?”

“…That is true, but I still—”

“Don’t be a stick in the mud, Renz,” Dys groaned. “Let us at least eat

before we have to deal with whatever bullshit Vraekae has waiting for us.”

Tossing a look at Willa, Renz heaved a sigh before motioning towards Gerwas and Ludwas.

“You two. Stick with the Nephilim. We’re going on to report to the magistrate.”

“Get the prisoners down first,” Willa ordered her own troops. “We’ll take them straight to the dungeon to be held until proper proceedings can be done.”

Unfortunately, Willa’s orders included Sorcha too. It made Jadis uncomfortable to see the goblin women taken away with the rest of the Reavers, but the captain assured her that Sorcha would be kept separate from the others. She had defected, after all, and thus there was a real risk of reprisal. Sabina wasn’t happy to see the witch go, but Jadis told her that they would check on Sorcha in the morning. Jadis had every intention of following through on her promise to get Sorcha remanded to Fortune’s Favored as soon as she could. There were other priorities, however. Not the least of which was getting Alex into their private building where there was less chance of any unwelcome surprises happening.

Leaving the extra wagon behind, Jadis and the rest of Fortune’s Favored parted ways with the soldiers. There weren’t any hugs or tears, but Jadis did feel strongly that she would see the soldiers soon. They had proven themselves to be stalwart allies over the days and weeks of the expedition. At the very least, she owed them all a round of drinks.

Tegwyn and the goats came with her as well, of course. The Dryad wasn’t registered as a mercenary yet, but he would be soon enough and Jadis had no qualms about hosting him in their headquarters. Where exactly they were going to find a room for him, she wasn’t sure. The building wasn’t large and the second floor had basically been converted into a single bedroom and bathroom meant just for Jadis and her lovers. They’d figure something out, she was sure. Though where the hell they were going to keep the goats, Jadis couldn’t quite picture.

Noll also followed along. Jadis wasn’t entirely surprised, though she had thought the old merc would have headed off to his own accommodations in the city. She thought about asking, then realized there was no point. Noll wanted to be near her in case Vraekae really did come calling in the night, she was sure.

He probably wanted to eat some of Hans’ pies too.

The streets were empty due to the blizzard and they made their way to the two-story building Fortune’s Favored called home without issue. There was nowhere else to park it, so for the time being Jadis just left the Behemoth in front, blocking off more than half of the road with its bulk. While Dys moved to unload the crate containing Alex from the wagon, Syd showed Tegwyn the way to the back courtyard they owned. The goats would have to stay there for the time being, and Tegwyn would need help getting food for the big animals.

Jay, along with everyone else, piled in through the open doors of the mercenary hall, making a huge clatter of noise.

“Thank the gods,” Kerr sighed in relief as she collapsed onto her knees in an overdramatic fashion. “I need to sleep for about a week, starting now. Jay, carry me to our bed.”

“Why don’t you carry me?” Jay laughed as she pulled her helmet off, shaking the snow from the dark metal. “You’re strong enough to do it.”

Kerr looked up at Jay, towering over her figure, still geared in her heavy plate armor.

“Take all that shit off and we’ll talk.”

“Hans? Are you—oh! You are here,” Aila called out, her sentence interrupted as the barman pushed his way out of the kitchen carrying a platter of food. “Good. I’m glad you kept the fire going for us.”

He looked surprised to see them, which was no shock to Jadis. It wasn’t as though they had had any way of giving the man warning that they were on their way. They’d told him approximately when they would be back, so she supposed he had been ready for their return since they were in the correct date range. Jadis appreciated greatly that he had been preparing food for them just on the chance that they might return that night, though if he had been doing that for days now it was probably a bit wasteful.

Then again, looking at the platter the man carried, maybe it wasn’t meant for them and was instead his own dinner. It was only one meat pie, along with a mug of ale and a… bowl of milk? An odd combination, Jadis mused as she looked over the sight. Well, hopefully Hans could get them some kind of dinner going on short notice, even if he didn’t have enough pies ready for the whole lot of them. At least, as Aila had pointed out, Hans had kept the fire going in the hearth.

As everyone continued to shake the snow off of their cloaks and boots, Jay moved towards the fireplace on one side of the large room. The hall was still fairly empty since they hadn’t had time to fill it with furniture before their departure on their expedition. But there was a nice fire glowing brightly along with a few simple chairs placed around the fireplace.

Maybe placed a little too close to the fireplace. Was one of them on fire?

To Jadis’ utter shock, a ball of fire was burning on the seat of one of the three chairs that they had scrounged up to put near the fireplace. Only, the chair itself wasn’t burning. There wasn’t even any smoke coming from it. Instead, as Jadis watched, the ball of flames uncurled itself, two paws stretching out before it as a tail rose high in the air. It took a second for her to process what she was seeing, but finally the strange sight clicked in her head and Jadis realized that the flames weren’t just fire, but fur.

Sitting upright, the creature turned bright green eyes in Jays direction, a gentle purr filling the room as everyone else took notice of the odd apparition.

“Oh, my,” the fiery cat said as it smiled kindly up at Jay. “It seems Ulya has once more guided me true. I’m so pleased to finally meet you, Child of Lyssandria. My name is Vita, High Priestess of Ulya’s Temple in Eldingholt. May I have a word with you?”

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