Chapter 81 - Leaving A City Defenseless/ Mcillians Love

I calmly turned my head to look at all the apes who appeared out of the shadows and started running towards me and Hannah.

"Honey, you can start now." Is all I said before a flash of purple light concentrated on the ground appeared and started to sizzle.

Within seconds a hell hound and a large purple scaled snake crawled from the dirt like some kind of zombie flick. When they completely left the ground it started to close back up like nothing ever happened. 

"Spot, Sheila, make sure none of these apes survive. Make sure to leave enough for the rest of us to eat tonight.." Hannah spoke in an almost otherworldly tone. I looked at her and could see her eyes had started to glow a faintly purplish tint. 

'She is really started to grow into her powers. She will become a powerhouse in the future.' 

'Hell yea she will, I promised her parents that I will take care of her and treat her like my own. That's just what I'm gonna do. I don't care if this whole world burns, aslong as my family survives it will all be worth it.'

'Wow, pretty dramatic don't ya think?'

'Shut up'

I gazed around after ending my mental conversation and could see that almost half of the apes had been killed. Some looked like they had been crushed to death, while others had deep gashes across their whole bodies that still gushed blood. I was started to salivate at the thought of what the cooks were going to make tonight. Hopefully this village has a kitchen of sorts that we could commandeer. I wasn't above taking what I wanted when I was already pushed to kill. 

"Hannah honey, leave the big one for daddy ok? I got some questions that need answered."

She nodded before hopping down off my shoulders and walking over to the dead bodies and looking back at me.

"Is it ok if I raise a couple of them for my collection? Spot and Sheila are strong but when they get outnumbered like this I want them to have backup." She asked while turning back to look and examine the bodies. 

If I didn't know anybetter I would swear to god she was a 100 year old necromancer that was looking at a great test subject. Jeez the things I watched and read are really influencing me here haha.

"Yes honey go ahead but I gotta ask, when did you name your summons? You called them doggy and snekky up till today."

"Oh, well that's what they told me to call them."

... What? "Hold on so they have their own consciousness? Do I need to figure out a place for them to sleep when we get back to base? What do they need?"

She started laughing at me. "Silly daddy, thank you for caring but no. They survive off my mana alone. They say that when I don't need them they can go back to their own space inside my soul where they lay dormant. They can also stay 'actively summoned' but that constantly drains mana from me. They also can eat food to help reduce the draw but right now it's just easier to unsummon them." She said matter of fact like. 

I was still curious but before I could keep talking I heard a whimper from my right and when I turned I saw the lovebird assassins tying up a very terrified head guard.

"Haha, good work you two, I'll take it from here." I raised my hand and as I did I leaked out mana and changed it into 2 sturdy strands of mana rope that wrapped around the sniveling ape and brought him closer to me.

"Now I gotta thank you for providing my family with a good sized meal tonight. But as for you I'm sorry to say that you're not gonna be on the menu.... for now. Question 1, where is your lord, and 2, why is it that I got the impression that this wasn't the first time you tried to abduct outsiders for breeding purposes?"

He only stared at me with fear so I shook him around a bit, but that only intensified his fear to the point he shit himself and I heard a distinct plop on the wet ground.

"Ew, dammit does everybody have to soil themselves when I do something like this? I mean I haven't even started the torture yet." I said while holding my nose with my other hand.

"It's because you don't take your time and instead show off first thing. You don't leave them any room to stay sane." Howy said as he walked up to me and pointed a finger at the steaming pile of shit and shot out a ray of light that destroyed it. The smell was terrible but atleast I won't step in it on accident.

He still wasn't talking and his eyes glazed over, I could tell he had mentally broken so I was shit out of luck. Dammit I screwed the pooch but with Hannah here one of my question will be answered anyways as I had her direct us towards the concentration of spiritual energy. I still had the head guard wrapped up and was dragging him behind me. I was hoping someone had psychic powers that could either rehabilitate him or get the info from his head. 

"Should we call in support? Just in case something unexpected happens? I know your super powerful but what if this guy has traps that even you can't escape from?" asked Liosa as she stepped out of the shadows for a quick second. I guess she can't interact with the real world in any way when she's shadow diving.

"Yea better safe than sorry, Go ahead and run off and tell Sondar to start the commandeering of this village. Have Mcillian meet me at the area up ahead so I can have him with me."

"Understood, leave it to us." Then woosh as they both stepped into their respective element and was gone.

"Those two are extremely good at that. Wonder if I could do that someday." I said with no one particular in mind.

"Someday you can, I believe in you." Hannah said. I smiled and looked down at her and bent down to pick her up and put her on my shoulders.

"If you say I can do it, than It's only a matter of time." I laughed before taking a running start and leaping through the air to gain a bit of ground. I ended up creating a crater as I landed in what looked like a town production center. All around us were men and women and they were all staring at me with fear.

"No need to be alarmed. My name is Vexsus and this is my daughter Hannah. I assume you heard my lovely exchange with your head guard here. I just want to know where the Shaman of this village is and I'll be on my way."

I kept staring at them for a couple minutes as my patience started wearing thin. But thankfully before I lost it completely one of the smaller men sheepishly walked up to me and pointed at a shabby looking hut that was almost invisible as the trees around it were merged into it.

"T-t-that is the Lord shamans h-hut. Please... Don't hurt us. We are only doing what we had to too survive." 

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and was about to ask what he meant by that but was interrupted by Mcillian showing up.

"Hey I hear you wanted to see me..... Hold on, why is the head guard tied up and looks like his soul has left his body. What the hell happened after we left."

"I'll explain it later but right now this little guy just hung up a juicy steak filled with gossip that he had better spill before I get antsy and lose my patience." I said while staring directly into the small mans eyes. I was mentally repeating the words 'spill it' over and over again in my head as I started staring more intensely and he started to squirm.

That was until a huge female came over and grabbed the man and pulled him behind her.

"You Lizardmen are all the same. Thinking your better than us Apemen and bullying the weak. Why don't you fuck off back to your swamps and take this sorry sack of shit with you." She said that while pointing at Mcillian. When I looked over at him he had his head down and was looking dejected and sad.

I was a bit confused but after a second I put 2 and 2 together. "I'm gonna guess Sherylla was this woman's sister correct Mcillian? So when you say a short stint of time as this guy's mercenary, Just how long is short to you?"

He looked up at me with shock in his eyes but was soon replaced with sadness again and he nodded before speaking. "Three years." Then he looked at the women but she huffed and stormed off with the smaller man behind her.

"How the fuck is that a short amount of time? Well thinking on it you are a Alligatorman and from what I remember Alligators can live for a long time. So yea I guess that can make sense.... But damn man that's still a long time, I'm guessing that during that time you fell in love with one of the Apewomen and because your love was forbidden you hid it. Oh and then she got married off to the shaman but then you found out that instead she was a sacrifice for one of his rituals and you went and tried to kill him after you found out. How close to the target am I?"

I was hoping that I was wrong because that meant he had lied about a couple of things. Or atleast omitted some details. But I had an eerily good sense of figuring out plots to movies and books and this just made sense when I started connecting dots. But hey I'm always down to be proven wrong..... it keeps me humble lol.

'You're an idiot.' The other Vexsus said to me.

I nodded but didn't say anything as I kept my eyes locked onto still hanging head of Mcillian. I knew he can feel my stares and even the stares of the surrounding Apemen but I didn't give a shit about them. My child had just killed their strongest guards without batting an eye so what can the workers do to me.

He looked up with tears welling up. "You're right... I fell in love with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I was on patrol one day and stumbled onto a hidden grove where a field of flowers grew, and my god it was the most wonderous thing to see." His tears were falling now without restraint but he continued. "Surrounded by the flowers of bright blues and deep reds, and ethereal yellows was a woman that could make even the gods jealous. She was just humming a song while bending down to pick the best flowers and she put them into a basket next to her. I was awestruck from it all, it was just to much for a guy like me, it was a total overload on my heart. She finally noticed me and without fear she smiled and waved at me and even started to walk over to me."

------Mcillian flashback-----------

"Hello, my name is Sherylla, What's your name?"

"Umm, umm, 'AHEM' My name is Mcillian, I'm a new mercenary recruit for lord Drumos when  heard you humming and came to investigate what the sound was.... I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Hehe, It's ok Mcillian, I was just finishing up anyways. Here, I think this color suits you perfectly."

She takes a couple of red and blue flowers and with expert handling creates a small ring that fits almost perfectly around my wrist. I could only stare down at it as she started to chuckle.

"Do you like it? I usually sell these flower jewelry at the market but something in me told me to make you something. If you don't like it I can take it back." She said before blushing and looking down. 

"Oh, oh gods no, I love it, I mean.... I've just never recieved anything like this before. Back home the women were to focused on combat training and so were the men so there wasn't really a need for beautiful things like this." I just sputtered out nonsense after that hoping that she wouldn't find me annoying. Something about this woman was so.... I don't know but I felt drawn to her and my mind just kept blanking on what to say as my chest started beating faster and faster the more she would laugh at my stupid jokes or would answer one of my questions. 

"Well, unfortunately I have to go and get ready for the market.... but I would love to see you again Mcillian. Could you meet me here tomorrow?"

"I would love to, but lord Drumos said not to mingle with the villagers. I'm already in big trouble if somebody finds out about this." I said while remembering who and where I was, Then I started to look around in a panic before her gorgeous laughter drew my mind back to her.

"I can assure you that nobody knows about this grove. I found this while walking through the forest with my siblings one year and ever since then I've done my best to keep it a secret. Well I guess since you found it It might not be so secretive but then again I did put up a sound barrier that should have kept noise from leaving."

"Huh? A sound barrier? Shouldn't only people who knew magic be able to do stuff like that?" 

"Oh, silly me yes, ofcourse." She smiled and lifted her hands, then instantly in the center of her palm was a small blue flame that puffed into existence. I was so startled I stepped back in reflex and ended up stepping on a spikey bush filled with the beautiful red flowers.

Ofcourse with my thick scaly hide it didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable to have so many things poking into me. 

"Oh no, the flowers. I'm so sorry, here let me help you." She said while offering her hand towards me and with her help I was able to get up out of the bush. She then picked off some of the thorns that stuck in the gaps of my scales and I started to blush a little as she wasn't aware of how low she was getting. I had on covering over my stuff down there but my kind has always prided ourselves on how tough our scales and hide are so we never really believed in armor. 

'Ahem' I coughed to stop her as she picked one more thorn from my midsection in the middle of where the apemen had abs.

She looked up at me and I swear to gods my heart stopped before she looked down and with a sudden rush of red on her face she started backing away and shaking her head.

"OHNO, OHNO, OHNO, I'm so sorry AHHH..." She said before screaming as she stumbled on a tree root. I raced over to her and helped her up. I had knelt down to get a better grip but I misjudged how tall she was and when I had pulled her into a sitting position we were shockingly close.

"Ummm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen Sherylla. I think it would be best if I go now." I said as I started to stand up but then she grabbed my arm.

"Can.... Can you still meet me here tomorrow?" She said with her blushed face pointing down.

"Haha, ofcourse I would, I wouldn't miss it for the world." I said before I helped her back up and I walked out of the hidden grove and finished my patrol.