“We must do something about the tunnels.”

Jay looked up at Tegwyn as the Dryad collapsed onto the seat next to her. The man looked beyond tired, with an obvious droop to his shoulders that made him appear aged beyond his years. Or maybe not, since Teg was actually decades older than her, but still. For someone who was normally filled with youthful exuberance, it was strange to see Tegwyn looking so weary. Even his leaves looked wilted.

Without a word, Jay passed her friend the large waterskin she had just recently received from one of the camp helpers. She knew, having just wet her throat with it, that the water within was ice cold thanks to the convenience of magic. Tegwyn took the waterskin from her with murmured gratitude before drinking the draft in great, loud gulps. After having filled his belly, the Dryad poured the remainder of the water over his head, soaking his leafy hair and bare shoulders.

“Thank you,” he repeated with a sigh of satisfaction before passing the empty waterskin back. “I needed that.”

“I’m not sure what we can do,” Jay answered Tegwyn’s earlier comment as she set the skin aside. “We don’t have any way of finding the entrances ahead of time. At least, no one has come forward with a skill or plan to do so yet.”

“I know,” Teg nodded in tired agreement. “I suppose I am just putting voice to my frustration. The Demons in Weigrun did not use tunnels as they do here, and it is a terror to deal with.”

“Actually, they were using the natural tunnel system around Far Felsen,” Jay said as she thought back to her first few months on Oros. “But I don’t think any of them could dig new tunnels, just use what was already there. These Demons have the means to dig, and it’s really fucking annoying.”

“Yes, it fucking is,” Tegwyn emphasized the curse with an exhausted laugh.

Jadis knew that her Dryad friend was not the only one feeling tired after the long day that they had fought through, and that the shared weariness was well earned. Tegwyn had been one of the many brave warriors who had been running around the marching column of soldiers, fighting off Demon attacks and protecting the line. Even with all of the spells and potions being slung around to keep stamina filled and spirits high, thirty miles of constant battling was a long, long time to fight. Physical and mental endurance was strained for everyone.

On the bright side, the active combatants didn’t have to help set up camp.

The first stopping point of the march was a large, flat-topped hill that had been pre-cleared of any trees or large boulders. The location had been used by armies many times in the past, just not during the current Demon invasion. There was already a trench dug around the perimeter and pits dug for latrines. There was no wall, unfortunately, just an earthwork berm, but that was about the best that they could expect to have when camping in enemy-controlled territory. As soon as the army had reached the location, the two generals had ordered their men into a flurry of activity. How the soldiers still have the stamina to do so much after marching thirty miles, Jadis only had to wonder for a moment. Most of the eighty-thousand men were professional soldiers with classes meant for this sort of work. Thea had been a soldier, and she had skills that made it easier for her to march over long distances. The Voltonian soldiers likely had the same sorts of skills, and lots of training to boot.

Whether with magic, skills, or just a lot of determination, the military camp was set up and secured in a very short amount of time, far less than Jadis had expected, even with the assurances that had been given by Salvius. Less than an hour after reaching the hill, Jay had a campfire, a seat, and a bowl of something that tasted like a savory porridge in hand. While not everything had gone exactly as according to plan on their first day of the march, Jadis was pleased to see that her allies were not only competent, but highly capable.

“Where is everyone?” Tegwyn asked Jay as one of the camp helpers gave him a bowl of the mashed food and quickly moved away to keep serving. “It is rare to see you alone. Even when you are alone, there are usually at least two of you.”

Jay smiled at Teg’s joke, though her violet eyes slowly swept the camp.

“Mostly we’re all helping with the camp set up, though some of us are discussing what we can do to improve the march tomorrow with Wilhelm and the generals,” Jay filled Tegwyn in. “I’m honestly not sure how I ended up alone here, but I’m not going to waste an opportunity to eat.”

She put action to word as she scooped another mouthful of the interesting porridge into her mouth. Jadis still wasn’t sure what the stuff was, but it tasted good enough that she was already on her second bowl. The food was sort of like grits, a southern dish she had had at friend’s house once, though the Voltonian version was meatier. Jay quietly wished she had some hot sauce to compliment the meal but didn’t voice the desire.

“As always, you have the right way of thinking,” Teg agreed as he too devoured a portion of his bowl. Once he had put away a few heaping spoonfuls, he asked an idle question. “Did you gain any levels today?”

“Not me,” Jay shook her head. “Other than the dragon, I didn’t really do much fighting. Too busy being a ra—relay for communication.”

“I did a surplus of fighting, and I did not level either,” the man grumbled. “But with so many others in close proximity, I am not surprised.”

“Yeah, that’s not great for the bonus experience, is it,” Jay nodded. “But on the bright side, Eir leveled up twice.”

What Jadis did not say was that the levels were in two different classes. All the healing Eir had performed that day had given the elf a lot of experience, but healing Tefrathok had been enough to push her Beloved Cleric of Lyssandria over the edge to level forty-one. The other level had been in her newly acquired Bonded Saint of Jadis class, and that had likely come from all of the ambient bonus experience points flying around from fighting Demons. A jump from level three to four wasn’t much, after all.

Eir had gained one free attribute point from level four in her tertiary class, so she had put it into her Divine stat. A single point wasn’t much, but it translated to a bit more healing, which could be all that was needed to save just one more life. For her primary class, the decision had been slightly harder, though not by much.

Beloved Cleric’s Burst Heal Aura

Active Spell. Restore physical damage and 500 health points to twenty allies within 30 feet of you. This spell cannot regenerate lost limbs or completely missing organs. Once cast, this spell has a 6-hour cooldown period. Cost: 50 magic. Duration: Instantaneous.

Beloved Cleric’s Abstersion Aura

Active Spell. Purge all minor and lesser poisons and diseases from the air around you for one hundred feet. The efficacy of greater poisons and diseases is reduced by 0.5 while within the aura, and the efficiency of superior poisons and diseases is reduced by 0.25. Cost: 500 magic. Duration: 6 hours.

Both spells were useful, but the Abstersion Aura was certainly more niche than the Burst Heal Aura. A spell that instantaneously healed five hundred points of damage to twenty nearby allies was useful almost anywhere. Sure, Eir already had her Cleric’s Mass Flash Heal, but this new spell could do basically the same thing for a far lesser cost, making it more valuable in emergency situations. On the other hand, an aura that got rid of poisons in the air wasn’t likely to find use outside of Demon-corrupted territory. That said, considering how much time they were likely to spend in such ruined landscapes in the future, the Abstersion Aura would certainly be of help eventually.

Ultimately, Eir went with the Burst Heal Aura, but Abstersion Aura was shortlisted as her next choice, presuming leveling forty-three didn’t present her with a far better option.

“That’s good,” Tegwyn nodded along to Jay’s words. “I am glad for her, and for all of us. The more powerful she grows, the better off we all are.”

“Very, very true.”

There were a few moments of companiable silence between them as they ate their meals before a new voice joined them by the fire. Seeing who it was, Jay smiled warmly, even though the expression on her lover’s face was anything but pleased.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I am going to run through my entire stock of potion ingredients in a matter of days if this keeps up!” Amarantha complained loudly. “I’ll be a pauper before we’re halfway through this damned march!”

The catgirl was draped across her stone cauldron, head, legs, and arms dangling over the side as the construct slowly carried her forward. Jay couldn’t see her face since Ammy was lying on her stomach, but she imagined that she probably looked just as exhausted as everyone else did.

“Do you even pay for your potion ingredients?” Jay asked as the robe-wearing woman’s mount came to a stop next to her.

“No,” Ammy moaned. “The empire pays for everything. But it’s the principle of the matter! I know how much all of this costs and you’d be dying too if you knew the price of all the ingredients I expended today! Pet me…”

With a huff of laughter, Jay gently scooped the tiny catgirl up and transferred her to her lap. Amarantha remained as limp as a boneless fish, forcing Jay to arrange the Lares’ limbs herself to make sure she was semi-comfortable. When she was in a decent enough position, she began to rub Ammy’s back, which got a cute little purr to start rumbling in the catgirl’s chest.

“How do you even carry all your ingredients with you?” Jay asked as she attended to Ammy’s needs. “Your cauldron’s big, but not that big. And you keep potion bottles in it, too. Doesn’t seem like it would all fit.”

“I have a skill that helps,” Ammy sighed contentedly, eyes closed and ears twitching. “I can compress the ingredients into little cubes without altering their base properties. Helps with storage space.”

“Oh, that’s convenient.”

“Yup,” Ammy murmured. “Doesn’t work with liquid ingredients, though. Have to dry them. Not sure how that’ll work with your semen, but I’ll figure it out.”

A loud cough came from Jay’s left as Tegwyn choked on a spoonful of his savory porridge. She gave the Dryad an exasperated glare as he tried desperately to hold back his laughter, to the point that he looked like he was starting to tear up. Or the tears were from choking, could have been either.

“Not the most appropriate topic for public conversation,” Jay said dryly. “But is that even something you need to worry about?”

“Oh, I know I can get it fresh from the tap while we’re all working together here in Kastoria, but I’m just thinking about the future,” Amarantha lazily explained her thinking. “Once we’re done here, Wilhelm will drag me to go deal with Demons somewhere else and you’ll probably go in a completely different direction and then I might not see you for weeks and then what’ll I do? Just go that long without your cum? That would miserable.”

“I think Aila can introduce you to a certain brand of canteen…” Jay grumbled as Tegwyn continued to silently crack up. “Hey, you are talking about for potion purposes, right? Do you even have any uses for my stuff outside of the one potion?”

Ammy’s eyelids cracked open just enough to reveal the shine of her two-toned eyes. The slight curve of her lips and twitch of her tail caused Jay’s brow to furrow.

“Ammy…”

“What are you?”

Jay blinked, her focus on her feline lover broken by the new voice. Looking up, she saw that another Lares, this one the normal variety, had sat down on the small rock that was between Jay and Tegwyn’s seats. It took her a moment to recognize him thanks to the abrupt shift in concentration, but she quickly realized that the large dark Lares was Sirio, one of the older and battle-experienced of the fiery avatars. She hadn’t seen the man since she had met him the previous night, as Sirio had not reported for duty or come to either of the generals for orders on where to respond to Demon attacks.

Ammy tilted her head over the side of Jay’s lap, her head roughly in line with the older Lares’ gaze. Her ears and tail flicked in an agitated way as they stared at each other.

“That’s a rude question,” she said, the purr in her chest making the words sound more like a growl.

“Considering your actions and your choice of conversation, I presumed you had no care for rudeness,” Sirio replied in a tone that felt sarcastic to Jadis, though it was hard to tell. “Do you dispute me?”

“No,” Amarantha replied evenly. “I just don’t like old farts butting into my private time with my Nephilim.”

“Life is filled with disappointments,” he pronounced without any change in tone. “Get used to it.”

Shifting around in Jay’s lap, Ammy rolled onto her back so that her head was hanging upside-down as she spoke to Sirio. Jadis wasn’t sure if the move was meant to be disrespectful or not since she didn’t understand Lares body language all that well yet, but she guessed that the position showed just how unconcerned Ammy was. She certainly gave off an air of relaxed unconcern.

“Maybe your life is,” she said in a sing-song way. “Mine is pretty great. Anyway, I’m a Lares, of course. What else would I be?”

“Not like any Lares I’ve met,” Sirio shot back immediately, his tone slightly sharper than it had been before. “Answer straight. What are you?”

“Like I said,” Ammy replied with more patience than Jadis expected. “I’m a Lares. I just made a potion to make myself a little more… reasonably shaped for certain activities.”

The tip of Sirio’s tail twitched.

“You have altered the form our Goddess gave you into something wholly different. Do you believe her judgement to be flawed?”

“Not at all!” Amarantha exclaimed while pointing a finger at Jay’s face. “But she won’t fuck me when I’m cat-shaped! So, I made a potion to fix the issue and honestly, I’m pretty happy with the result. Thrilled, even. Possibly the best fucking decision I’ve ever made. You got a problem with that?”

“Not yet.”

With those final two words, Sirio jumped off of his perch and calmly strode away, his flames disappearing into the shadows between tents in a matter of moments.

“What was that about?” Jay asked as soon as he was gone.

“Ugh, don’t worry about it,” her catgirl lover said as she rolled over again so that Jay could keep petting her back. When Jay gave her a gentle tap, Ammy let out a forced sigh before offering an explanation. “There have been some Lares in the past who have… questioned why Ulya created Lares to look the way we do. It’s considered impious by some Lares to even ask that question, since it implies that Ulya made a mistake. Personally, it’s not a debate that I’ve ever paid any attention to, but I know some Lares can be prickly about it.”

Extending her arms, Ammy made grabbing motions with her fingers.

“Now that I’ve experienced having thumbs, I kind of get what some of them were maybe talking about.”

“That’s the only thing you like about your new form?” Jay smirked at the catgirl.

“Hey, I could always try to make a potion that will turn you into a Lares.”

“You know, I was going to say no to that, but now I’m kind of curious what it would be like to be a cat.”

“Never mind,” Ammy said after a few seconds of thought. “You’d probably be the size of a lion if I found a way to make you into a Lares. That’d just be ridiculous.”

“Maybe,” Jay laughed. “I’m still curious about how it feels to transform into other forms. I guess you would know about that sort of thing, wouldn’t you, Teg?”

The Dryad had been silent throughout the interaction with Sirio, quietly observing while keeping his thoughts to himself. He responded to Jay’s question with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

“I do indeed, my friend. For me, transformation gives me a sense of freedom. Should the opportunity come to you, I would suggest you take it. At least, just so long as you have a way to turn back. You may not want to be stuck in the new form you find yourself in.”

From there, conversation drifted to other topics between the three of them. From the dragon Tefrathok, who had flown away indignantly after the Dryads had managed to calm him down enough to explain the situation, to the many different attacks made by the Demons, to the problems they expected to encounter as the march continued and what they thought the solutions might be, they talked for close to half an hour in calm companionship around the campfire. If it weren’t for the fact that the soldiers were even at that very moment repelling stray Demons who were attacking the borders of their camp, Jay would have considered it a pleasant evening.

“Let’s just get Tiernan to dump a bunch of water down the holes,” Ammy suggested as she waved her flaming tail back and forth. “That should take care of the Demons.”

“Demons don’t breathe,” Jay pointed out. “The water wouldn’t drown them.”

“True,” the catgirl shrugged. “But if we use enough water, we can flush them out of the tunnels like pipes. We could even heat the water and boil the Demons at the same time.”

“The tunnels must be miles long, with an uncountable number of branches,” Tegwyn pointed out as he sipped on a cup of something stronger than water. “Even if the Demons did not plug the tunnels with rocks as they have done to stop Halvor and others from diving deeper, would Tiernan have the power to flush so many tunnels?”

“No, probably not,” Amarantha sighed in defeat. “Fine, bad idea.”

“No, it has some merit,” Jay corrected. “If he could respond fast enough, Tiernan might be able to flush a tunnel entrance and stop the myrmidons from pulling the tunnel down. It’s worth a shot, if we can get Tiernan to an entrance fast enough.”

“I just wish Halvor had gotten the Demon who attacked the dragon,” the Mystic complained. “I hate fighting smart enemies.”

Jadis certainly agreed with Ammy’s complaint. Unfortunately, Halvor had been stopped from diving far into the tunnel by the same trick that the Demons had used on other occasions. While he had been able to catch and kill several scythe wights that had been further inside the tunnel, the Demons had blocked further entry by pulling the earth down around them, which wasn’t something Halvor could fight past. How the skull blob Demon had managed to get to the nearby location so quickly was still a mystery, but it was clear that the enemy was coordinating their efforts. Jadis suspected that some other Demon with amazing speed that they had yet to encounter was ferrying the skull blob through the tunnels.

“Ah, sorry,” Jay said as she turned her eyes up to the dark night sky. “We can talk more later. I’ve got to go.”

“Go? Go where?” Ammy asked as she reluctantly slid off of Jay’s lap.

“Aila’s ready to perform her greater ritual and she needs all three of me to do it,” she explained as she stood to her feet.

“A greater ritual?” Tegwyn asked, his eyes lighting up with interest. “Here? Now? She has that ability?”

“Yup,” Jay nodded as her Succubus wings appeared. “It’s not going to be the same thing as the Walls of Eldingholt, but she designed it to help with this specific situation.”

“Can I watch the ritual?” Tegwyn asked as he stood up as well. “I have never seen one before.”

“Ah, no,” Jay laughed uncomfortably. “Aila definitely doesn’t want an audience for this.”

Curiosity turned to amusement as Tegwyn quickly read between the lines.

“Can I watch?” Ammy asked with a purr in her voice. “Or help in any way?”

“No, she was specific in her request in who she wanted for participants,” Jay grinned at the pouting catgirl. “Other than me, she only needs four others, and the positions have already been filled. Maybe you can take a spot at the next campsite. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you both soon.”

With a kiss from Ammy and a wave from Tegwyn, Jay departed the fireside and flew up into the air, quickly making her way to the Leviathan where it gently floated a hundred feet over the middle of the campsite. While she didn’t have all of the details yet, from what little Aila had told her, she was looking forward to participating in the greater ritual. After a long and stressful day, Jadis knew she could do with some lewd activities to cap off the night.

After all, who didn’t love a good sex ritual?