66

* And more of the story. Now with a surprise at the end, although some of you already know how it will end. ;-)

*

64 - A Thief in the Day

The girls half dozed in satisfaction on top of Ulric while their nether regions cooled down and tingled lightly in the aftermath, when a knock sounded on the door. 'We're coming up on a town.' said Caylais.

Iphigenia stretched. 'We'll be out soon.' she said, and pulled Ulric's sleepy face towards her and kissed him deep quickly. She stretched again as she stood up. 'It feels great to have my tallies all topped up, but recharging them is even better.'

Valdys giggled and kissed Ulric. 'Or being filled with strong and hot life.'

'To me, simply being at Master's side is already the best.' Kaui said and kissed the happy bloodwolf next, then muttered 'But Master inside is the honey on top of cake.' as she blushed.

Elzbieta and Conchim chuckled and kissed him hard as well, and they dressed while Ulric brushed Susi and Kaui brushed him at the same time.

They all joined Isazea and Caylais in Cat's cockpit and looked at the town farther away in a large, shallow and mostly grassy depression in the landscape. Valdys looked it up on the maps from her library. 'That would be Mangkuk.'

Iphigenia squinted at the collection of unimpressive buildings and the regular defensive wall around it. 'Doesn't look like much. The next piece is supposed to be there/?'

'The pieces pointed to there.' said Valdys. 'There might be some secret places there, or it's with someone who stopped there while travelling.'

Ulric stroked Susi's head. 'Wherever it may be, we'll sniff it out and find it, right, girl?'

Susi wagged her tail and pricked up her ears. 'Yes, daddy!'

Isazea parked Cat near the main gate to the town, while the guard gazed upon the strange, long wagon with confusion. It became worse when they watched two women in sexy black dress step out, together with two demon beasts.

Iphigenia turned to Elzbieta standing inside. 'When we find no sign of an elven bounty on you, we'll let you know.'

Elzbieta nodded. 'I'm sorry I can't join you, but I don't want to endanger the search and all of you.'

Ulric gave her a reassuring smile. 'Don't worry about it, my dear. Who knows in how much trouble we'll find all of us in the end.'

The guard had never seen an undead before, but his instincts told him the pale woman in the tight outfit was one, and a special one, while the normal human accompanying her was also nothing to sneeze at. In a way he wasn't surprised to see they owned two of the most dangerous demon predators as pets, and didn't dare to look the large one in the eyes, but there was something endearing about the smaller one.

Iphigenia showed him their party card. 'Is there a guild in this town?'

He quickly read the registration. 'No guild building here, but there's a desk in the community town hall where you can also find a few quests if you're interested in them.' He gestured down the main street. 'You'll find it at the centre.'

Iphigenia and Valdys gave him a smile and walked through the gate, and the guard leaned on his lance, already thinking about the fantasies he'll enjoy during his next rest.

The town hall was easy to spot as it also functioned as an inn, and a few people sat outside at a couple of tables, drinking in a subdued mood. They only glanced at the visitors and barely reacted to Susi and Ulric.

Ulric sat down to the side with his daughter.

'We'll wait here while you have a look around.'

Iphigenia gave him a veiled nod.

'It doesn't look like there's much excitement in the air.'

Despite the usual looks for an inn interior, the aura was a lot less cheerful. The girls went up to a counter at the side where a middle aged and hefty man with a short beard did some scribbling in a book. A plaque with a guild symbol and a small decorative rack with two old daggers provided the clues that this was where they had to be.

Iphigenia placed the guild card on the desk. 'Hi. We're Quaint and travelling through the area. Any interesting quests available?'

The man looked up and rubbed his beard. 'I'm Halek, representative of the guild and second mayor of Mangkuk.' he said, and leaned back in his creaking chair. 'We currently only have some minor regular quests open and one that doesn't pay much.'

Valdys looked around at the sombre faces of the patrons inside. 'One of them wouldn't be to cheer this place up a bit?'

Halek clasped his hands in front of him. 'The son of a local merchant family has been kidnapped, but they don't have much wealth to pay for his release. It doesn't look good for him.'

'That would be the low paying job?' asked Iphigenia.

He nodded.

'We'd like to hear more about it.'

Halek hailed a teenage boy working at the inn counter. 'Run over to the Cajuc's and ask them to come on over to provide some more info on Taji, will you?'

The boy hung up his apron and hurried out the door while Halek gestured at a free table. 'Have a seat. Someone should be here soon.'

Iphigenia and Valdys gave him a nod, and Iphigenia went over to the innkeeper while Valdys went over to the table. 'Wine for two, water for four, and meat for six. Our escorts have a good appetite.' she said, and everyone froze when Ulric and Susi came inside, and gazed in surprise when the two bloodwolves sat down on the bench at the visitor's table like regular people.

Iphigenia giggled softly when she sat down. 'This should draw enough attention to see if there are people we need to look out for.'

Ulric glanced around.

'If this kidnapping business has anything to do with our search, we'd have a good excuse to be involved.'

The teenager returned soon with a man wearing slightly more fashionable clothes than the others. Halek gestured at the table of the interested party members, and he approached it wearily while he glanced at the unexpected demon beasts. 'I'm Phal. You're the ones who wished to know more about the kidnapping of my son?'

Valdys gestured for him to sit. 'We're Iphigenia and Valdys, and these are our close companions Susi and Ulric. We're only travelling around and came here today, and just now heard you're in trouble. Can you tell us the whole story?'

Phal cleared his throat as he sat down. 'Not much to say actually. My son was on his way to negotiate a trade for produce we farm in abundance, when a message was delivered to me with his signature ring, stating he's being held for a large sum by the bandit group Avskun.' He sighed deep. 'We can barely scrape a tenth together, and for that I'd need to sell some of my more valuable possessions first. I tried to tell them that, but they won't budge and threaten to kill or sell him off soon.'

Iphigenia stroked the hunched man's shoulder while Ulric gave her a slight nod. 'We'll see if we can do anything about it.'

He looked up at her at once with hopeful eyes. 'Will you? Really? But I'm afraid I can't pay you as much as it's worth.'

'We can't promise anything, but we'll see if we can find a way to safely return your son to you, and don't worry about the payment.'

He took her hand in his and held it with renewed energy. 'I will be grateful for anything you can do that increases the chance of seeing my son again. The gang is large, so I don't dare to hope for much, but I'll grab at any straw now.'

Valdys laid her hand on his arm. 'Leave it to us. We'll let you know how it turns out.'

Phal thanked them again and hurried home to bring the good news, while drinks and the meal arrived at the table.

'Kidnapping case by a large group.'

said Iphigenia over the link to the others inside Cat.

'I think it's best not to reveal the presence of the three of you yet.'

'I agree.'

said Elzbieta.

'If anyone tells of us to those bandits, it's best they know as little as possible.'

'We'll have a drink and eat something here now, then return after we've observed the people here for a little while longer.'

'All right, we'll see you later.'

'Seems it's only humans around here.' said Valdys softly.

Iphigenia nodded. 'It's likely the bandits are mostly human as well then.'

A change came over the crowd when an ogre slipped into the room from the back. Everyone averted their eyes from the buxom green woman, who stood silently against the back wall with her eyes darting left and right. Ulric tilted his head.

'Hello? What have we here?'

The ogre slid along the wall while Ulric and the girls noticed the others shifted in their seats so as to avoid facing her directly, while keeping up some kind of conversation. She neared a table at the back, snatched a piece of chicken from a plate, and moved away to eat it.

Valdys gazed at the innkeeper, who gave a her a quick shake of his head.

'There is something special about this ogre girl.'

Ulric glanced again at her.

'It's definitely not because of her looks. She's pretty, even with her lower fangs sticking out and the bald top of her head, and her outfit reveals enough to show off a shapely pair of legs.'

Iphigenia sized her up.

'Might be because they're afraid she'll beat them to a pulp if they oppose her.'

'We'll play along and see what she does.'

They watched her sneak through the room, snatching a drink of wine and a piece of food here and there, before she stared at them.

Iphigenia shook a little from trying to keep a straight face.

'She's coming over here.'

She kept to the wall as she took a moment to observe the women and the bloodwolves, but when she stepped closer and reached out to the meat on the plate in the middle, Ulric sniffed the air and growled softly while keeping Susi silent with a paw on hers.

The surprised ogre withdrew her hand quickly, slid away along the walls, and slipped out of the room through the backdoor.

The innkeeper came over with a jar of wine. 'My apologies, but it's best to ignore her.' he said and filled Iphigenia's and Valdys's cups.

'Who is she?' asked Valdys.

The innkeeper glanced at the backdoor. 'Her name is Bunga, and she lived here since she was a young girl. We think she was stranded around here as an orphan because she was all skin and bones when she sneaked around the village the first time. We took pity on her when she stole only a piece of bread and not the whole loaf, and only small portions of other food. She looked so proud when we ignored her and made her think she was a successful thief. Ever since then we pretended not to see her when she sneaked around and snatched some food or something small she needed.'

Valdys sniggered. 'You keep on letting her rob you?'

The innkeeper chuckled. 'She's actually not a bad kid. She sometimes leaves game behind that she hunted, or returns lost cattle or does minor repair work. She does care about what she does, but she's awfully shy. The couple of times someone tried to talk to her, she quickly ran off.'

'Pretty and cute.'

said Ulric.

'I'd expect some of the young men trying to catch her.'

'She lives around here?' asked Iphigenia.

The innkeeper pointed in a general direction. 'You'll find a forest and a stream that way at the foot of the hills. There are a couple of caves there and we suspect she lives in one of them.'

Ulric and the girls looked at one another.

'It's not too far out of the way of the direction of the probable Avskun lair.'

said Ulric.

'I propose we see if we can talk to her and find out if she knows more about them.'

The others agreed, and they left soon after they finished the meal.

***

'How do we approach her?' asked Elzbieta while the party were close to the specified part of forest after walking there. 'They said she's friendly, but what if she's cornered? She might try to escape with violence.'

'I think I'll go alone first.' said Ulric. 'If she does attack me, I can take her on in the fight, but I hope she'll recognise me as friendly when I don't do anything.'

Iphigenia giggled and stroked his ear. 'Using your incredible animal magnetism might work. We'll stay close in any case.'

'I see her.'

said Conchim from high up in the air.

'She's at the stream dead ahead.'

Ulric spotted Bunga sitting on the low bank at a clearing later with her back to him, and he moved along the trees of the open area to one side of her. He sat down and watched her whittle twigs for what he suspected would become arrows. Her movements seemed sluggish and it didn't look like she had noticed him, so he moved slowly closer.

Halfway towards her, she was still focussed on her work, and Ulric thought she looked sad.

He moved closer again and sat down, yet she still didn't seem to notice him.

'I'm going to move up close to her. For a thief, she isn't very aware of her surroundings.'

He strolled up to her, and sat down next to her.

Bunga sighed as she finished one more arrow shaft and laid it aside with the others without looking up from her lap. She reached out to the small pile of the straight twigs she had cut earlier, and picked up one. She hadn't expected the very hairy tail in her hand.

With a cry, she spun around and tried to crawl back, but her hand slipped on the pile of arrow shafts and she slipped down the bank with her behind into the water.

Ulric tilted his head as she stared at him. 'I didn't mean to startle you, but you didn't even see me coming.'

She gasped. 'You speak!'

'And I can rather eloquently if need be, even if I do say so myself, fair young lady. It's an ability I gained thanks to a person who's very special to me.'

Bunga blinked dumbfounded at him.

Ulric cleared his throat. 'I came here because my party and I would like to ask you some questions. If that's all right with you.'

She nodded slowly.

He looked back. 'Here they are.'

Bunga backed off again into the stream at the sight of the group of women walking up to her, and Ulric raised a paw. 'Don't be afraid. They're really good people.'

She gazed at the bloodwolf. 'What are you?'

'I'm sort of a mishap, but it would be better for you to come out of there and change into some dry clothes before we continue our talk.'

She looked down at herself and realised she sat up to her waist in water. 'Ah, yes.'

***

Bunga gestured at a large bush in front of a rock wall. 'This is my home.' she said, and pushed the vegetation apart to reveal the cave entrance behind it. 'Follow me.'

Ulric and his girls, including Caylais, followed her inside the cave lit with the same kind of moss as they had encountered at the cave of the monster plant. A little farther in, the cave opened up to a larger chamber with some furniture and supplies. Bunga showed where Iphigenia and Caylais could drop the materials they had carried for her from the stream, then pulled another outfit made from skins out of one chest, and quickly changed into it while Elzbieta covered Ulric's eyes.

She took several cushions from another chest next, and offered them as seating.

Valdys looked around at the smooth structure and the soothing green light. 'It's pretty cosy here. Nice place.'

Bunga smiled a little. 'It's nice to stay here while it's cold or hot outside.' she said, and sat down. 'What did you want to talk about?'

Iphigenia sat a little forward. 'You probably have heard about the kidnapping of the merchant's son, correct?'

The ogre looked down and her shoulders sagged. 'Yes.'

'We've accepted the request to rescue him.'

She looked up at once. 'You're going to rescue him from those bandits? Really?'

Iphigenia nodded. 'They told us a little about them being a large group and round about where we might find where they hide, but we hoped you might know something more about them, seeing how you live here.'

Bunga pulled on the hide covering her hips. 'I've seen them pass through here before. One time I followed them close to their hideout.' She drew a bunch of short lines on the stone floor. 'I think there were this many of them.'

Ulric forgot again that he couldn't whistle, and smacked his lips when he realised it after the first nicker like a horse. 'Enough to put up a good fight.'

'Anything else you can tell us about that place?' asked Iphigenia.

Bunga recalled the memories. 'It's built into the rock, like a cave, and I heard a terrible roar from inside once. Sounded like a large monster.'

Ulric looked over at the others. 'We'll have to see if we can take a closer look at that place, or maybe gather information in another way before we attempt a rescue.'

'Ehm?' said Bunga. 'Can I come along and help?'

Ulric looked at his girls, then back at Bunga. 'Have you ever fought before?'

She shook her head. 'I always relied on my skill as a thief. Maybe I can do something with that?'

'Ah.' said Ulric and lowered his ears a little. 'About that skill..'

Bunga looked down. 'I know. I'm really not good at it. I only do it because the villagers expect it of me.' Tears fell down her cheeks. 'If I was a real thief I might have rescued Taji myself sooner. Now I'm afraid we're too late and I lost him.'

Valdys moved next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. 'You care that much about him?'

The crying ogre nodded a little. 'I've liked him for a long time, but I never dared to talk to him. If I was any good, I could rescue him and then be able to.'

Valdys looked up at the others. 'I think we just added one more reason to rescue Taji.'

65 - Releases

Bunga pointed at a wide crack in the steep rock wall farther away. 'That's the entrance to the Avskun lair. I have no idea what's beyond that though.'

Ulric looked along the length of the rock face and how much of the forest grew near it, then at Conchim. 'It's too out in the open to risk you flying around. They can see you and I don't want them trying to shoot you down.'

She gave him a gentle smile. 'All right, my dear husband. I don't think I could learn much more than what Bunga already told us anyway in this case.'

He turned to Caylais. 'You're ready to take part in this?'

She clenched her fists and relaxed her hands again. 'I'd be ashamed if I didn't try to fight alongside all of you and earn my keep.' She blushed a little. 'Especially when my ability improves little by little from the large amount of mana you pour into me.'

Iphigenia giggled. 'Oh, you haven't yet experienced just how much he can pour into you.'

Ulric blushed and slapped her behind. 'Don't you start teasing her.' he said and stepped in front of Caylais. 'Ready?'

She nodded, turned around and leaned back against him while he placed his hands on her lower chest, and Bunga noticed the blush and slightly nervous look in Caylais's eyes. Ulric poured a little of his mana through his hands into the feline, and certain memories of accidentally witnessing nightly encounters of couples popped up in the ogre's mind at Caylais's soft moans. She looked away in embarrassment and leaned closer to Elzbieta. 'Is that what he does with all of you?'

Elzbieta looked up. 'Well, he does this only with Caylais like this. He uses a, different, method with the rest of us. The transfer of mana is rather intense.'

Bunga glanced at Caylais pressing herself against Ulric and her hands on his paws while panting. 'I see that now.' she muttered.

When Caylais was at her limit and caught her breath again and the others were ready for the fight, they sneaked towards the bandit's lair along the rock wall. Ulric tapped on Caylais's shoulder. 'I'd like you to stay back with Kaui at first. If the whole gang comes out as I hope, then I'd like you to zap them down all at once.'

She nodded. 'All right, stud.'

He raised an eyebrow at her as she cleared her throat. 'I meant, all right, sure thing.' She pointed at her muzzle. 'I'm still a little nervous and bit my tongue.'