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

farming communities as they went, far too many of which had been abandoned in fear of the Chimera.

Nobody said anything about it, but they all knew.

They settled in for the night, bunking down in a series of simple tents that the Antlions set up in perfectly ordered lines.

Within their tent though, Milly was struggling to get to sleep.

“What’s the matter lover?” Erica murmured, not wanting to wake the others.

The Minotaur hugged her close, taking comfort from her lithe form and the deep purr that her embrace elicited in the Katje.

“Just thinking too much I guess.”

Erica nuzzled against her chin and neck, her tongue gently rasping against her jaw as she began to groom her.

“Feel free to elaborate.” The Katje teased while rubbing their cheeks together.

She waited patiently; knowing that Milly would tell her whatever it was that was bothering her so long as she was given the time to work through it.

“I know I shouldn’t have told Queen Julia that we could save her daughter. But she was so upset, and I just... I wondered if my mother felt like she did.” The Minotaur finally admitted with a sniffle; “I’d never thought about it until that moment. I missed a mother I never knew, but she lost a child.”

“Oh baby, that’s-” Erica’s purr faded as she looked into Milly’s eyes; “Okay, I don’t know what that is. I don’t remember anything about my mother except maybe the two of us playing with yarn. Assuming that was even her.”

“It... whenever I think about it now, I feel sad. Aren’t you sad?”

The Katje rolled on top of her, their bare breasts pressing together, their nipples exchanging loving kisses.

“I’ll admit, I don’t really think about it much. We have our master and we have our bond-sisters.”

But she could tell that the Minotaur was still discontent about it, so she nuzzled against her some more.

“One day Milly, when all of this stuff is over, I promise you that together we will find your mom. And heck, we can even find mine while we’re at it! Because maybe I do have some questions for her!”

Milly’s eyes brightened and she smiled, her melancholy forgotten as she kissed the cat over and over and held her tight.

Erica sighed and tamped down her body’s natural reaction to such affection, knowing that the two of them needed rest more than sex at the moment.

“But first we need to focus everything we have on helping our master and Volka save the world. Starting with this Avita chick.”

The breasts beneath her rose as Milly drew in a deep breath.

“You’re right. Let’s get to sleep, and then tomorrow we’ll do our best!”

Nearby, the angel watched them, her brow slightly furrowed as she remembered making a similar promise with Milly regarding her mother.

But in the end she too had to sigh as her priorities were organized against the Minotaur’s quest.

“After we save the world.” She repeated Erica’s words as an oath, too low for anyone to hear.

Chapter 22:History Repeats

On the morning of the third day after setting out from Garland they passed through Fairbright, where Nameless and Grant Semper had dealt with a teenager-driven wool poaching ring only a few weeks ago.

This time though they turned south and headed up into the mountains rather than following the road northeast towards Algrade.

“My bond-mate remains at my colony, protected by my Myrmidons.” Queen Julia was explaining to Erica as morning waned into noon; “I love my daughter but I could not expose her father to danger, no matter how much he begged me to.”

“Wait, there are more of you?” The Katje blurted out.

“Of course. These are but one dispatch of the Longinus legions.” Julia said with a raised eyebrow.

“Antlions are the most numerous of the insect breeds.” Miranda commented from nearby; “If you were thinking of Oldeera without wings, you were thinking wrong. I suspect that one Hornet hive would barely make a tenth of Queen Julia’s family.”

The Antlion monarch adopted a slightly smug expression.

“I do not know this Queen, nor how her numbers would stack up against mine but I would not say if I did, as only a foolish sovereign would reveal her strength so readily.”

Erica bit her lip as she thought on that, until finally she shook her head.

“But don’t they need to be close to your heartstone?”

Miranda sighed at the questions, but Queen Julia readily answered them rather than argue with the curiosity of a cat.

“No. Though it is a burden to communicate with my girls if the distance is too great, and eventually they would weaken and fade away if I do not return to them. But they can survive for some time away from my heartstone. I do not mean to be rude, Katje, but did you not learn of this in school?”

Erica shrugged.

“Nah, was too busy getting laid.” She replied drily; “I’ll stop with the questions though if they’re bugging you.”

“Actually, I... I appreciate the distraction. But we are nearly there. My workers await us over that rise.”

Following her directions through the mountainous terrain they soon reached a large plateau. At this point they were a few miles south of Algrade and from their vantage point they could actually see parts of the city in the distance.

When they arrived at the location of her daughter’s colony the queen’s antennae twitched as she received the reports of her waiting workers and she gnawed at her lip.

“They’ve excavated most of my Avita’s colony. But have yet to find anything.”

“Let’s get down there then.” Miranda suggested; “Call your workers out. It’ll be easier for Jan to sniff around without other scents muddling up the place.”

Julia frowned at having to rein in her frantic searchers, but agreed and without delay they followed the Wolfen’s lead and