The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (short novels in english .TXT) 📕

Erica giggled, then let out a plaintive yowl at the thought.

“Ah man, we should stop talking about it. You’re making me too horny!”

Milly cheekily flicked at her bond-sister’s nose, only to have Erica counter by tweaking at one of her nipples through her shirt, drawing a resonating moo out of her.

But just before their mischief could stumble completely out of professional bounds, the Minotaur’s eyes boggled and her jaw fell open as she looked over Erica’s shoulder.

“Paul!” She blurted out in absolute astonishment.

With one mental foot already in the bedroom, Erica let out another little yowl at the sudden outburst and the change of direction it represented.

“Paul? What about Paul?”

“Howdy Moon-Pie.” The old farmer drawled from behind the Katje.

“Ah! Oh, okay! That about Paul!”

There they were: him and his Cockatrices standing amidst the medical tents, as if this was just another day in Kettering, though the city around them was hardly the same backdrop, especially with the rubble in the streets.

Milly was on him moments later, letting out an emotional bellow as she hugged him tight to her chest.

“Now now!” He laughed as he struggled to get free of her embrace, slightly flushed from her overt affection; “No need to lose your composure sweetheart. Lovin’ the hat by the way!”

She lowed again as she hugged him tighter to keep him from escaping.

At the outburst, both the vocal one and the emotional one, Nameless came out of the tent only for his jaw to fall agape.

“What are you doing here?” he finally sputtered, flabbergasted.

Finally managing to finally pull free of the teary-eyed Minotaur, Paul offered him a wry smirk.

“Hello to you to, my boy! Ophelia’s still working on your manners, eh?”

He offered his hand for Nameless to take, but once again was surprised when the young man hugged him around the middle almost as enthusiastically as Milly had.

“Tarnation!” He exclaimed; “You city-folk are too handsy for my tastes. Gitoff!”

Nameless released him quickly, surprised at his own response at seeing the old man after so long.

A moment later he was distracted though as a couple of the Cockatrices pressed against his legs, cooing and buffeting him gently with their wings in greeting.

He smiled down at them; his eyes stinging with nostalgia as he remembered helping Paul locate them so long ago after a nasty storm had wrecked their coop.

Meanwhile Erica likewise gave the farmer a hug, though much more composed than Nameless and Milly.

“They were worried about you.” She explained to the dear old farmer, quite a bit more in control of her emotions than the others, though she gave him a couple of tiny licks on the cheek; “Nobody has heard anything from Kettering in a while, we thought you went missing or something!”

Paul gave up on avoiding the hugs and patted her on the back, then shook his head, bemused at her leather outfit.

“Not missing. Hiding. Once we heard what happened to Lipton Falls I started hollerin’ at anyone who’d listen to skedaddle. Made a real nuisance of meself to Magnus and that block-head of an apprentice of his.”

Magnus was the lawkeeper in Kettering, but Nameless wasn’t sure what Paul was talking about: last he’d heard he didn’t have an apprentice.

“That must be why Cordelia never heard back from Tom.” He speculated, his brow furrowed.

Nina came out of the tent then, shortly followed by Ophelia.

“Oh hey, it’s the old guy. We like the old guy.” The Gigas remarked.

It was at that point that they noticed that Paul’s face wasn’t the only one they recognized from Kettering.

Standing amidst the mixture of Antlions, Cockatrices and medics, a great many people in the crowd were from the small farming town.

Brandon Dixon, wearing the uniform of a lawkeeper, was standing next to Magnus, who in turn looked a great deal thinner than Nameless remembered.

“We do like the old guy. But he still hasn’t answered the question!” Ophelia rebuked as she finished her own hug with Paul; “Why are all of you here?”

His face fell and he shook his head.

“Because we got to talk to the Aegis. Wayfelt…” The old man had to take a second, clearing the lump in his throat; “Wayfelt is gone. And a whole mess of angry monster girls are squatting where it used to be.”

__________

Because Paul told them about the destruction of the farming community within earshot of several dozen Antlions, their queens all knew about it, and through them so did the leaders of the Aegis.

So it wasn’t a surprise that they were soon back in the mess hall, though now it was filled with even more people as several of the prominent citizens in Kettering crowded inside.

Nameless spotted Tom Loskins and his daughter Helen and felt a sudden stab of embarrassment tinged with guilt when he remembered what he’d gotten up to with his other daughter Cordelia.

But he couldn’t dwell on his family circumstances long.

As the story went, Paul had taken the entire population of Kettering into the woods northwest of the town to camp out. The children thought it was a blast, but that’s because children aren’t very bright.

The weather was nice, and the fear coming from civilization was all too real for them to risk traveling far, not to mention they were burdened with Janet Skinner’s Blomma garden.

It was while they were hiding out in the woods that they witnessed Wayfelt fall.

“-could have been a lot worse.” Paul was saying; “Had some forewarning from a number of terrified Lamba, fleeing their farm as the Tenebrae swooped down on it. So they at least had a jump on running away. Most of ‘em got out in time.”

“Most?” Volka suggested, knowing she wouldn’t like the response.

The old man drew in a deep breath, and surprisingly had