Viridian Ninja - Part Four

‘It’s just as the hunter claimed it to be,’ Taki reasoned as she eyed the ornate building on the edge of town while safely hidden at the edge of the tree line. Her sharp eyes could easily judge the location of the two guards stationed outside, but the large open space between her and the building would make sneaking up difficult. Best to wait the short time until nightfall and use the cover of darkness to get closer. Once near enough she could leap up and take them out from above, where they would not be expecting an attack.

“Is that the place they are holding him?” Aryana asked as she pointed to the large building. The centaur wrinkled her nose in disgust, “it reeks of torturous death, the kind of scent given off only by painful and slow killing. It’s utterly offensive to any hunter who prides herself on honorable hunting such as myself.”

“It is time for you and your mate to go back,” was Taki’s answer. “You can no longer help me, not with what I plan to do.”

“Myself, and Clark, to a lesser extent, are master marksmen,” the centaur countered, reaching for the bow on her back. “We can disable the outside guards at least, even in low light.”

“No. I do not plan to disable.”

“Taki…” Aryana widened her eyes.

“The scent of quick death will come from there soon.”

“I thought you were going to use stealth to sneak in?” Clark reminded her from his place atop the centaur’s back, sounding uncomfortable with the implications of her words.

Taki didn’t look back. “Stealth will allow me to surprise them, but if it is anything like what I was told then there will be no getting to Carter without dealing with the enforcers. If I merely maim them they may be able to still sound the alarm, and if they all were alerted then the battle would not be winnable. I must use speed and stealth to take them out one or a few at a time in rapid succession.”

“You really plan to kill them all?” Aryana asked, her proud tone softened. “You could well die yourself in the attempt, even with surprise on your side.”

Taki’s expression grew colder, even frightening, the killing aura of the monsters of old emanating from her as her senses screamed out Carter’s location deep within the walls of the building. Clark actually stepped back as a wave of instinctual fear briefly rushed through him. It was only then he realized how true it was that monster girls were descendants of races whose killing skills had in ages past decimated whole human civilizations.

“They took him from me… they plan to kill him, though his only crime is leaving their evil behind. Would you not do the same as I in my place?”

Aryana bowed her head, it was true, she would indeed do no less if necessary. Still Taki continued.

“What’s more you said yourself the place is full of cruelty and death. It would be their just reward to die for their crimes. Carter told me himself what these men are like, and I have seen the people they associate with.” She paused, her deadly intent softening slightly, “even so… if any make no effort to sound the alarm, if they lower their weapons and flee, I will spare them.”

“But as for the others…”

The cold, terrifying glare emanated again.

“They brought this on themselves.”

Her scythes extended out, gleaming in the waning light.

“They are scum, with no chance of redemption.”

---

Carter had no idea how much time had passed since he had been placed in this room, bound and blindfolded in a chair. He only knew the sound of the door opening meant his wait had ended.

The door shut, the sound of a lock sliding into place following it.

“Ah Carter Carter Carter… the prodigal servant returns.”

His blood ran cold at the voice, a voice he had hoped to never hear again. His blindfold was removed, and as his eyes adjusted to the light streaming above, the only light in the darkness of the room, he found himself staring face to face with the man he had known as master for as long as he could remember.

“Jiro…”

“And he remembers my name!” The well-dressed criminal mocked. Middle-aged with a fairly handsome, charismatic face and well-groomed long brownish hair, the look in his cold blue eyes was anything but friendly. He grabbed Carter’s face roughly with one hand. “Good, I wondered if fucking monsters had left your mind intact or not. This means we can have ourselves a nice chat.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” he tried to hide the fear in his voice. He had to not give Jiro the satisfaction, he owed it to Taki to do that much at least.

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really now? But I have so much to say to you, especially after all the work it took to get you back. Or maybe I should say there is a lot I have to do to you. But first I have one question to ask.”

He leaned in closer, his glare penetrating.

“Why? Why would a brat who’s never known any other life run away from me? Did someone put you up to it?”

Carter’s voice quivered but he steadied it. “Y-you’re not in control of everything! Did you think I’d never find out how other people lived? I just wanted to have a real life!”

“And you thought you could get that running off into the forest? Was having your brains practically raped out by a monster in some shitty hovel in the woods really better than being my personal errand boy?”

Taki’s face flashed in his mind, memories of the evenings they spent cuddled together, watching the stars come out and making love. And how she would listen to him so intently, even when it was obvious she had no interest in what he was talking about, she was always such a good listener…

“Yeah…” he said in practically a whisper, “it was…” He looked up wishfully, finding the light source above him came from a solar stone in the ceiling. It figured Jiro would use magical lighting for an enclosed room like this, it was just more proof of his extravagant nature that he would use such an item for a torture room.

Jiro ignored him, continuing to rant. “I rule this town, there are tons of brats out there that would kill to get close to me! Heck, if you’d ever shown any initiative I might have been inclined to give you more status. Yet you never changed, always a weak doormat. You say you wanted a real life? I say you’d be pushed around regardless, you’d always be worthless. Yet for some reason you still found it in you to run, just like your mother.”

Carter gasped. “Wh-what are you talking about?” His mother? She’d never run away, had she?

Jiro smirked. “It was my policy back then to not allow any of the whores in my employ to have children. If one got pregnant she was to abort it or kill it at birth. Your mother though, I guess she really thought you might be able to have a better life than hers. It was amazing really. She kicked the drugs I had her on after she found out she was pregnant, stole enough money to support herself, and ran away. She was pretty good at it, actually managed to stay on the move and avoid my mercenaries for the rest of her pregnancy, but they eventually dragged her back, with you in tow.”

Carter’s throat was dry, too shocked to form words as Jiro continued his story.

“She was quite a sight, begging me to not kill ‘her baby.’ Being a whore, she didn’t have any idea who the father was, and far as I know hadn’t even come up with a name for you and she still acted like she cared so much.”

“So in a moment of mercy I decided to grant her wish. You would take her place, not as a whore but as my servant, my errand boy for life. I guess that wasn’t what she had in mind as she really went off at that, so I slit her throat and had other whores look after you. The rest is history.”

Carter was silent for a time, struggling to take in the horrifying revelations. “Why… why did you tell me she died of an overdose?”

“I figured if you knew the truth you might get some stupid idea to escape in her memory, or maybe even try to kill me. It’s a moot point now though, as you followed in her footsteps anyway. You though I plan to make a long and public example of, once we’re done with this personal session and you’re too weak to even scream I’ll finish the torture in the main hall in front of all my boys. A broken traitor begging to die makes an excellent motivator for obedience.”

He knew that much was going to happen, but right now he had only one concern. “Then my mother… Who was she? Tell me her name you-”

Jiro interrupted him with a brutal punch to the face, then smirked again. “You’ve gotten sassy in your time away boy. I also make it my policy to never remember the name of a dead whore. I think she did go by ‘Trixie’ or some other cliché when working though.”

“Why tell me all these things now?” Carter questioned, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his jaw.

Jiro answered with another punch, this time to his throat and Carter was left gagging. “I wanted you to know how futile all this was. Running away didn’t work for your mother, and it hasn’t worked for you. It will never work. I’ll make sure you say as much before you die.”

“Now then, since this is your first time in the torture chamber let me point out a few things.” He gestured proudly to the darkness around them compared to the single light above. “Not much to see is there? Really gives a sense of just how alone you are. In addition this room, much like my private office next door and the holding cells, are all enchanted to be soundproof. No matter how loud you scream it won’t carry beyond these walls, let alone outside this building. That means I can do whatever I want with you for as long as I want without disturbing the work of my underlings or attracting unwanted attention.”

Carter tried to ignore his threats and simply vented his frustrations. “Why couldn’t you just let me go? Am I really so important to you?”

This earned him another hard punch to the face that left Carter tasting blood from the busted lip it gave him. “You idiot. Isn’t it obvious this was never about you or your mother or anyone else who has tried to leave? I can get another errand boy easy. What I can’t easily get is a reputation for absolute ruthlessness. Right now everyone in this city is scared to death of me because of that reputation. That’s not the kind of power you can buy, but it is the kind that can be lost all too easily. I lose credibility if anyone, even my lowest servant, dares to defy me and goes unpunished.”

Jiro stood over him to his full height, and sneered. “You’re worth nothing, you are nothing boy, you always have been. The most you ever achieved was being my personal carter for whatever crap I wanted you to move. That’s all.”

Carter shook his head. “No… I’m more than that. I have a real name now, a family! A woman I love!” He wouldn’t think of Taki in the past tense, he couldn’t… not yet.

“What nonsense are you spewing now?”

He smiled, even as blood dripped from his cut lip and bruises started to swell on his face, his eyes moistening. “I am Carter… I am Carter! Of the Viridian Mantis Clan!”

For a moment Jiro’s confident expression was shaken. He had never seen Carter speak with such resolve or passion before. Yet the reality of the situation remained, which led to a mocking chuckle from the crime boss. “Well now… I guess the monsters somehow managed to fuck a backbone into you. So be it, I’ll enjoy breaking your will down bit by bit no matter how long it takes. Then once you’re nothing but a sniveling worm begging for mercy I’ll execute you myself in front of all my subordinates. You’ll be more useful as an example than you ever were as my errand boy.”

Jiro made a show of pulling out from his pocket a small knife, one of many he had on his person at all times. “Now then, beating you is entertaining, but what to do next… Maybe I’ll cut out your eyes. Just think, I’ll be the last thing you ever see, and it will make for some real good shock value when I present you to everyone else. On the other hand, I’d like you to see ahead of time some of the things I’m going to do, so maybe I’ll just take one eye first. Decisions decisions…”

Carter clenched his aching jaw, preparing for the worst.

However, Jiro found himself interrupted by a crashing noise as suddenly a large section of ceiling nearby fell to the floor. The meager light of the starry night sky could now be seen through the resulting hole.

The crime boss responded by tossing several hidden throwing knives through the hole, only to hit nothing but air. He glanced down at the fallen roof piece, it looked as if it had been cut out cleanly as well as quickly. A brief whoosh of air signaled he and Carter were no longer alone in the room.

Now an eerie silence descended as Jiro raised yet another knife in his hand. He knew not to call for help, he would not be heard in here, plus the noise could disguise the attacker’s approach.

Carter had been watching in confusion, but now his eyes widened as he caught sight of the silhouette of his scythe-bearing lover crouched upside-down on the ceiling above and behind Jiro.

‘She’s alive... the hunters failed.’

With utter silence she stood, still upside down, and extended her scythes. However, her mate’s reaction did not go unnoticed by Jiro.

Jiro reacted instantly, dodging aside just as Taki leaped down, narrowly avoiding her slash, stepping behind Carter and putting the knife to his throat as she stood to rush at him. She paused in mid-step at the sight of her mate’s predicament, scythes still raised, then retracted them against her arms. Jiro relaxed slightly, confident he had the stronger position now.

“You’re really okay…” Carter breathed in relief, ignoring the knife at his neck.

Taki didn’t answer, all of her attention focused on Jiro, her fierce golden eyes seemingly luminous. She was cloaked in semi-darkness beyond the light of the solar stone and stars above, few details visible.

Jiro sneered. “I take it you’re the one who was fucking Carter all this time? Theron and his men will pay for this incompetence.”

“They already have. Now release my mate.” Her tone was stoic, it held no doubt or fear, it was unnerving how uniquely menacing this made her sound.

Jiro stared at her for several moments before he started to laugh, pushing aside the nervous fear that welled up in him from the mantis’s glare. “Sorry, I’m just not used to being ordered around… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though that some savage bitch like you would be stupid enough to threaten me. In case you didn’t notice, this brat’s life is in my hands.”

“And your life is forfeit if you harm him,” she stated in promise, taking a small step forward.

Jiro again put on a show of bravado. “Given how you just tried to take me out I doubt you intend to let me go whether I harm him or not.”

Taki didn’t answer, so Jiro continued. “Regardless, you won’t attack while I have him like this. That puts us at an impasse, so let’s talk for a second. You have to understand the situation I’m in. If all a man who ran away from a debt with me had to do to get out of paying the price was hook up with a monster, well they would all do it, and I’d lose all respect in this business.”

“I don’t care what your reason is, you are threatening the life of my mate. Release him.” She took another small step toward them.

Jiro practically growled at her lack of compliance, his anger now getting the best of him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to sneak in here and make demands bitch. I consider myself a patient man but you’re really pissing me off. You think just because you got rid of some hired hunters that you got any power here? I’ll have those scythes of yours ripped off! I’ll fuck you senseless and sell you to a brothel!”

Having said this he appeared to speak to the wall behind Taki. “Spell nullification order, Jiro!” He called out, and there was a gentle hum of energy as the spell that soundproofed the walls was deactivated. “Enforcers! Get in here! Enforcers!”

Dead silence was the only answer.

“They won’t be coming,” Taki stated in monotone. “After seeing all you went through to get to him I knew your pride wouldn’t let you stop or be reasoned with. So I took the liberty of killing your men one by one, then I entered this room via the roof, making you believe I bypassed your men when in fact you’re all that’s left.”

“No… the soundproof walls-” he sweated in realization.

“Disguised my actions,” she finished for him. “I could sense Carter was here and from the strength of his mana it was clear he was not in immediate danger. I knew that as leader you would be located near the center of the building, and I knew from one of your hunters that your detention areas were also located there; all those areas being soundproofed, so I knew to leave this area for last. That way, you wouldn’t have the chance to use Carter to threaten me.”

“Well I am now bitch! I’ll cut his throat if you don’t cut your own!” He cried out, looking and sounding quite unhinged at what he’d just been told about his organization’s top enforcers.

“Entering from the roof gave you a false sense of security, as it made you believe your enforcers were still outside. You’ve let me get too close.”

“Bullshit!” He screamed back, desperate. Yet the truth was all too clear now.

‘I’m dead either way…’

With that reasoning he slit Carter’s throat.

Or rather, he tried to. True to her word, Taki was just close enough to react to the movement in time. Indeed, retracting her blades earlier was not a sign of submission but a preparation movement, as they were fastest when rotating out of their “cocked” position. In the blink of an eye she threw her right arm forward, extending her scythe as she did. The speed was such that she didn’t need to make direct contact, the rush of air enhanced by the mamono mana that always surrounded her was strong and precise enough to cut deeply into his hand and nothing else, causing Jiro to drop his knife, having himself only made a shallow cut in Carter’s neck.

In shock and pain, Jiro stumbled to the side, mostly out of the light of the solar stone. Her expression of cold resolve unwavering and obvious even in shadow, Taki stepped toward him, crossing her scythes over each other in an X shape.

“Wait- let’s talk about thi-“

“Die.”

Her voice was cold as ice as she spread her arms out, each scythe’s inner blade catching a side of his neck. The sound that followed was one Carter hoped to never hear again, as Jiro’s head was severed in a messy fountain of blood, his body dropping to the floor.

Without so much as a second glance at her fallen enemy, Taki proceeded to move behind Carter, swiftly cutting the ropes that bound his arms and legs.

Carter was in shock even as he massaged his sore wrists. He was overjoyed to be reunited with Taki, but the things she had said and done gave him pause. He found himself afraid to turn around and look her in the eye. “Is it true? You… you really killed them all? Because of me?”

Taki’s voice continued to betray no emotion. “I spared those few who did not try to fight me or warn Jiro, but yes, I killed the rest. This disturbs you?”

“Yes!” Carter turned around, to see that Taki was still standing largely hidden in shadow, but he was too upset to question this. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

“Protected what is precious to me,” she replied simply. “Should I apologize for saving you from torture and death? For killing horrid men like these?”

Carter felt the anger drain from his body as rapidly as it had come. He felt shamed. “No… But why… why for me… you put yourself in this much danger, and even abandoned your territory… if you’re gone for too long you could lose your home. I’ve done nothing to deserve you making all these sacrifices…”

“That is for me to decide, and I have decided my territory is worthless if you are not a part of it. There is no risk, no danger that can come between you and me.”

Carter’s shame increased. “No… it’s only because we had sex you feel this way!”

“And why did I have sex with you?”

He was silent for a moment, her question stunning him. “You… you needed a mate…”

“And I chose you,” she finished for him. “I took you in out of convenience, but I would not have consummated with you if you had not appealed to me and my instincts. If I had found you less than suitable I would have never given you that ultimatum.”

“But you said you wanted a warrior-“

“I was wrong!” she snapped at him, rare anger in her voice. “I was confused then… I didn’t understand what my instincts were telling me, I thought it was just the desperation from the past seasons of not mating.”

She calmed, her voice softening. “Yet just as my mother said, a part of me knew you were who I wanted, from the moment I laid eyes on you. Your past is pitiable, yet how you managed to grow despite those circumstances… it shows a valiant spirit as powerful and admirable as any warrior. That spirit showed me my own heart and helped it grow. For those reasons and so many more I can truly say I love you.”

Carter felt overwhelmed by her uncharacteristically emotional words, unsure of what to say. “Taki…”

“You are…” her breath suddenly grew ragged, “much too hard on yourself, too ignorant of your own worth. It really is quite annoying…”

“Taki?” He took her hand in concern, pulled her into the light and was shocked at what he saw.

She was covered in blood.

Much of it was not her own but it was clear she had been cut and stabbed a number of times. An older, partially healed but particularly nasty stab, the stitches having broken from her exertions, oozed blood from her upper chest. “These wounds…”

“I didn’t manage to surprise them all...” she winced, a clear sign she was hiding much more pain. She began collapsing into his arms and he lowered her gently to the floor.

“Don’t talk, I’ll get you some help, I know where to find some medical supplies.” He hoped they hadn’t been moved since he was last here.

She grabbed his hand, her grip the weakest he had ever felt from her.

“No…” she whispered, her voice suddenly lonely and forlorn, “don’t go… don’t leave me all alone again…”

He gently removed her hand from his and caressed her face, wanting to at least seem strong for her. “I have to. It’s my turn to help you. I promise I’ll be right back.” He turned to leave the room, leaving Taki staring after him.

---

Opening the torture room’s door, he glanced up to see that sure enough Taki had created a hole in the ceiling there to make her way to the roof. There was no time to be impressed with her plan though, he had to move.

Carter tried to ignore the grisly scenes that seemed to present around every corner. Body after motionless body lay where they had fallen, many in various states of dismemberment. In places the floor was slick with blood. He was glad he had not been fed since his capture, as the sights would have surely made him vomit otherwise. Even if they deserved it, the slaughter filled him with guilt.

He forced the feelings out of his mind. The fact remained he needed to save Taki, he had to at least have the guts to get through this and do that for her after all she had done for him.

Thankfully the medical supplies were where he had remembered, in a closet not that far from where he had been held. Bandages, ointments, stitches, he grabbed handfuls of everything he could think of, even though he had limited knowledge in how to use much of it, then hurried back to Taki.

He found her lying on her back, blood pooling around her. Swallowing back his panic, he tried to stem the flow of blood where he could and began making tourniquets, but the stitches were useless to him, his hands were shaking so much from stress that he couldn’t have used them even if he knew how to.

Taki stirred as he worked. “The marriage thread…” she spoke in a daze, “I lost it during the fighting…”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll make one just for you later okay? We’ll go home to the tree house, everything will be okay,” he tried to reassure himself as much as her, his eyes moistening as he finished bandaging what he could.

Her breath hitched. She gasped and he could practically see the life drain from her bloodied body.

No… This couldn’t happen…

He stifled a sob. She was fading fast. “Taki I don’t know what else to do! What can I do?!”

“Energy,” she replied weakly.

“What?”

“Your human mana… it will feed the mamono mana within me… make my body stronger… it may be enough to stabilize me. You need to have sex with me… now.” As if in emphasis the pseudo clothing around her privates began receding.

“I… I’ll try Taki but… I-I-don’t know if I can do it like this.” Even as he said this he dropped his pants and underwear and began to desperately stroke himself, to no avail.

Taki smirked at the sight as she weakly extended her hand to grasp his shaft, her blood-slicked fingers still deft as ever. “Thankfully your body can ignore the situation provided the right stimulus is provided.”

He gasped at the sudden arousal. “Taki! What if I just hurt you worse?” he cried even as her hand somehow managed to make him hard.

She returned his plea with a steely glare, desperate hunger visible in her eyes. “This is about survival. I’ve been bandaged and I can handle the pain. Now ignore my wounds and fuck me with everything you have!”

The exertion of her command was too much, and she began to cough blood. Carter threw caution to the wind and straddled her even as she continued to weakly hack. He entered her, hoping he could stay hard as he realized her pussy muscles were not reacting like usual. This was nothing like he normally felt from her, her pussy seemed as weak as her own body, grasping him so lightly he could barely feel it. Still, so long as he could cum, it might be enough… it had to be enough.

Further, the desperation he felt to save her provided a stimulation of its own. He held her tight and rammed into her with all his strength, ignoring the pain Jiro’s beating had given his own body.

“Kiss me…” she gasped weakly, “I can absorb a bit of energy through your saliva as well.”

He did so, trying to ignore the taste of her blood in his mouth. Somehow, within a minute he managed to cum, and was overjoyed as he felt her pussy come to life, gripping and pumping at him with renewed strength. His happiness clouded with fear though, as he realized the rest of Taki’s body grew still weaker, as if what little life she had left was being diverted to absorb his energy. She was still on a razor’s edge between life and death.

He could feel Taki flinch under him, the pain from her wounds clearly affecting her, but with time the pleasure of sex seemed to cloud both their senses, her body focusing on pumping out as many orgasms as it could from him, and he doing all he could to help them along.

He came and came again, straining with all he had to remain conscious until he finally couldn’t anymore. “Taki…” he moaned as he fell unconscious beside her, hoping this would not be the last time he looked in her eyes in this life.

---

Carter awoke to an unfamiliar male face.

“Aryana, he’s waking up!” the man called out happily, adding to himself “wow, this is kind of like one of those déjà vu things isn’t it?”

“Who are y- Taki! Where’s Taki?!”

The red-haired man put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a water pouch. “Easy there friend, she’s going to be fine. You need to take it easy too, her body squeezed every drop of mana out of you. Looks like it was just enough to save her.”

Carter closed his eyes and sighed in relief. “Thank goodness…” he took the water pouch and began to gulp it down, trying not to go too fast despite the ravenous thirst he was now aware of.

“I’m Clark by the way, and that stately steed is my wife Aryana,” he noted, pointing to the centaur. “We’re your neighbors. When it was clear the fighting was over with and Taki hadn’t come back out, we headed in to rescue you two before the rest of the city was alerted to what had happened.”

“It’s quite admirable what you did,” Aryana noted in a vaguely complimentary tone, her arms folded in a posture that somehow accentuated her large breasts and proud demeanor at the same time. “One can never die simply from having their mana drained during sex, but you pushed yourself as close as one can to it.”

“I see…” he certainly felt beyond fatigued, it was a struggle to keep his eyes open and he doubted he could stand. “Where are we and where is Taki?”

“We are quite a fair distance into the forest. Taki’s safe and getting fixed up by some other friends of ours, come see.”

“Other friends?” he questioned warily. It seemed he was meeting a lot of new people now, people he had no choice but to trust.

The man beamed. “Can’t have too many, right?”

With his weary body supported by Clark on one side and Aryana on the other, Carter was led into a nearby clearing where he immediately noticed Taki lying motionless on a bed of moss. In front of her stood what at first appeared to be another centaur, this one clad in a bright white gown. The single horn protruding from her forehead revealed she was in fact a unicorn, a rare and mysterious monster famed for its healing abilities.

Her hands were clasped in front of her, her eyes shut in concentration. Behind her a tall man in a white robe was in a similar pose.

She began to speak in a melodic tone. “Great Eros, we your humble servants ask thee to guide and strengthen my power that this woman may be restored to health and reunited with her mate, that their love will be allowed to bloom and flourish as ours has.”

Slowly her horn began to glow a blazing white, stray arcs of energy passing over Taki’s prone form until it began to glow as well. The manifested purity of the unicorn’s mamono mana built up to a greater and greater degree, until Taki’s body was lifted off the ground by the energy surrounding her.

One by one, the streaks of power from the unicorn’s horn, now blindingly bright, entered into Taki’s many wounds, the bandages falling off of her one by one. The mantis groaned slightly but otherwise did not react, while her cuts shrank and closed one after another. A minute later and the energy from the unicorn finally dimmed, Taki’s body floating back to the ground softly.

Feeling invigorated simply from being near the healing energies, Carter forced himself to stand on his own and immediately ran up to check on his mate’s condition, amazed at how much improved she appeared. He looked back up to the clearly exhausted but brightly smiling unicorn.

“It is done,” she proclaimed. “Her wounds were extensive, so I fear that some scars may remain, and she must rest for some time, but she will regain her former health.”

Tears fell from Carter’s face clearly now as he held Taki tightly in his arms. “Thank you… thank you so much… I…” he paused, realizing he didn’t know either of their names.

“Fiona, devoted servant of Eros, Goddess of Love” the unicorn replied sweetly.

Her husband took her hand, “and I am Amadeus, fellow servant of Eros and proud spouse of Fiona.”

They both seemed to radiate kindness. Carter had heard and read of adherents of Eros, followers of a tender goddess who accepted human and monster worshippers equally, but their ideals were not exactly in keeping with those of the criminals who controlled his home city and thus he had never met any before.

“Well done, both of you,” Aryana noted as she stepped into the clearing, Clark following. “Though I expected no less from the best healer I know.”

Fiona chuckled, “You flatter me. I’m just glad she was stable enough for you to get her here in time.”

“So, shall we invite you over for supper?” Amadeus suggested.

Now Fiona took his hand. “Actually darling, that healing I just did drained me greatly. I require…” she blushed slightly as she pressed her substantial bust against his arm, “a special meal, in private.”

He chuckled and gave the others an apologetic look. “Ah, well in that case my friends, you will need to excuse us. Forgive our rudeness, but I can’t let my wife’s needs go unmet now can I?”

“Course not,” Clark agreed with a laugh, “I remember the last time I tried to make Aryana wait when she wanted some, my hips were sore for a week.”

As Aryana proceeded to slap her mate upside the head, Carter felt Taki stirring in his arms.

“Carter?” she asked weakly, her eyes slightly opening.

“I’m here, everything’s going to be okay now,” he assured her, no doubt in his mind anymore. “Though I gotta say, we really lucked out with your choice in friends.”

Fiona paused on the edge of the clearing, turning to look back at him. “It was not luck, Eros moves to protect and bless the lives of lovers who worship her, as well as those who befriend them. Evil may win some battles, but love will always win the war. Every trial and tribulation makes love stronger, and Eros takes special interest in helping those who struggle most.”

“She assists and guides circumstances, but she won’t do things for you,” Aryana added. “I and Clark wouldn’t follow a goddess who treated her servants like they were helpless.”

Carter looked at them in confusion. “You’re adherents of Eros as well?”

Aryana huffed. “Of course, after all, it takes divine protection to keep this buffoon’s incessant generosity from getting him seduced left and right.”

Clark rolled his eyes, “there are other reasons you know…”

Carter had never really considered devoting himself to any of the gods before, but if Eros had indeed influenced the various lucky coincidences he and Taki had experienced in what were otherwise horrible circumstances, well… he was certainly grateful if nothing else.

He looked down at the mantis in his arms, sleeping soundly again, and smiled.

“Let’s go home.”