Chapter 490: Back to the fey

Night Eyes arranged Mason’s ‘reward’ with more fanfare than expected. He had Palacus and the Pathfinders arrange themselves in a line, then presented the male elven slave, and the corpse of the human civilian.

“He was killed in the attack,” the shaman said, shrugging. “We brought the corpse so you’d see we meant no trickery. You can see his wounds are…unnatural.”

The man’s head looked like he’d been chewed by a shark, so, yeah. Mason was pretty sure it wasn’t a centaur. Lila stood beside him, staring at the dead man with some combination of horror and satisfaction. Mason supposed it was at least one problem taken care of.

“These things happen. The elf and the knowledge are enough. How do we do this? Any chance you people make maps?”

The centaur all looked confused, and Mason sighed.

“I have a power called Wayfinder. My own scouts can…give me knowledge. Do you have something like that?”

Here Palacus and his scouts looked a lot more enthusiastic. He spoke in a low voice with Night Eyes, and even Mason couldn’t quite make it out with his hearing. The shaman nodded and held up a hand.

“We believe this is possible. But there is a ritual involved. And you must share blood or clan.”

Mason blinked. Blood or clan?

“I’m not marrying Palacus, if that’s what you mean. He’s not my type.”

The warriors exchanged looks before a few grinned.

“He is willing to give you one of his warriors,” Night Eyes said. “And you may take Lila in exchange for the dead human.”

“You saved my life,” Palacus said, putting a hand to his chest. “And a song bird should fly with her kin.”

Lila took Mason’s hand and smiled, a little wetness in her eyes. He did his best to be pleased, and he was, but the reality of bringing home another woman he was sleeping with was getting closer.

And though he’d been breaking his own ‘woman limit’ in spirit for quite awhile, by adding another civilian to his ‘harem’ he’d be

brazenly

breaking it. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated?

One of the centaur stepped forward from the line of scouts, and Palacus made a show of thanking and rewarding him. Finally he came forward and drew a knife, holding out his palm.

“For blood, and clan,” he said, slashing the blade across his hand. The scout and all the other centaur were staring like Mason’s reaction should be obvious. He took the knife, and slashed his own palm, but the damn thing wasn’t sharp enough to cut his increasingly superhuman flesh, even with a hard press.

He shrugged, and the scout stared at his flesh and blinked. Mason cleared his throat and handed back the knife with a tight-lipped smile, summoning his shorter Claw. With considerable more care, he cut his hand.

“For uh, blood and House,” he said.

The centaur held out his arm, and Mason was glad he had enough regenerative power not to worry about blood-related diseases. He gripped the creature’s hand. Apex Predator flared.

[Scout Agapi is attempting to form a Centaur Blood Pact. You may receive several benefits, but will also be considered a member of the Green Sea Clans. Do you wish to resist?]

‘Centaur blood magic’ hadn’t really been on Mason’s post-apocalyptic bingo. He’d have liked to know things like ‘can I later leave said pact?’, or possibly ‘will I have to deal with any more mental compulsion, or possibly contracts?’ But he suspected it wasn’t all that serious an issue.

After a long enough to delay to visibly confuse the centaurs, Mason winced and accepted the bond.

[Temporary title gained: Centaur Clan Blood Pact. You have been informally welcomed into the Green Sea clans as an honorary warrior. It may at least give the average centaur pause before he attacks you.]

[New follower gained. You have gained a centaur scout as a member of your house. New options available. Patron points gained.]

[Title gained: Horse-man Chief. You have gained a small number of centaur followers. +1 agility.]

Mason met the scout’s eyes and nodded, thinking he probably should have asked the creature’s name, though he supposed it was there in the system text. Before he pulled his hand away he watched his Wayfinder power blink. He opened the ‘tab’ with a thought, and his map sprawled across his eyes.

The centaur seemed to see it, too, and looked about as intrigued as Mason. His quick brown eyes scanned the map, then bits of grey started to fade. Mason grinned as the entirety of the ‘Green Sea’ plains started coming in with intricate detail.

Most of it was the sort of detail that would interest nomads—where the game was, where the clans roamed, the location of watering holes. But it showed the entire outline of the huge plains, as well as everything else around it.

It became obvious that Mason had just revealed a good quarter of the continent as the grey stopped clearing.

“You are pleased, then?” Night Eyes looked at him with a small smile, and Mason nodded.

“Very pleased. I’ll leave you now, but I…” His eyes moved north and he realized Palacus’ clan technically came from the very top of the plains. He frowned but figured it didn’t hurt to ask.

“One more request, and I’m happy to owe you for it. Would Palacus and his people take Lila and the elf to the Great Forest as they go north? I’m not going home yet.”

Night Eyes looked at the big scout, and the centaur shrugged, looking pleased if anything.

“It isn’t far beyond our lands. And it would give me more time to hear my songbird sing.”

Lila’s hands were roaming Mason’s chest, grabbing at him like she didn’t think this was quite as great an idea.

“You’ll be fine,” he soothed. “It’s pretty much all centaur land, and once you’re at the forest it’s safe. I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh it’s not that.” Lila lowered her voice. “It’s just…I’ll miss you. And I thought…” she was running her hands over him again. “I thought we’d get to spend some time together. On the road.

Under the stars

.”

Mason tried not to be annoyed. What for him had been mostly a great night was maybe something else for Lila. She’d seemed…the promiscuous type, not one to get instantly emotionally involved.

But he probably underestimated her loneliness, and the effect of his growing magic sex powers. He hated himself a little for not having more discipline.

Still, it was hard to be entirely unhappy. Here he was with a beautiful, high libido woman, who’s main concern was getting him on top of her for the foreseeable future. Lila definitely got his juices flowing, and he knew Haley would be absolutely thrilled…

The Australian’s eyes were locked on his, a complex cocktail of female emotion there he couldn’t begin to unravel. But he didn’t have time for it. He slowly extricated himself from her groping, trying to ‘guide’ her back to the centaur as gently and confidently as possible.

“I am Agapi,” said Mason’s new scout, his hand to his chest. “Shall I go with you now, chief?”

“I’m guessing you saw my knowledge of the world, when I saw yours?”

The centaur nodded with an obviously pleased grin. Mason might have been concerned about giving so much away a month or two ago, but now he’d honestly love to see what happened to a bunch of centaur if they tried to attack Nassau. He expected they wouldn’t get past the first walls.

“Go with them.” He gestured at the others. “If I don’t get back in time, go to the settlement you saw in the woods. Tell them I sent you, and ask for Carl. He’ll see your part of my house now. They’ll take you in.”

The scout bowed his head and walked away, and Mason went to Night Eyes, not sure what else he should say.

“You saved many of my people’s lives today,” said the shaman. “You are always welcome amongst the Green Sea Clans. At least as long as Night Eyes draws breath.”

Mason nodded, stretching out his arm as the scout had done.

“Then I prefer you keep breathing. And you’re welcome in Nassau. At least for a visit. If you can stand all the trees.”

The shaman took his arm with a small smile.

“My people are not well suited to forests, but I thank you.” His smile faded and he took a deep breath. “A dark time is coming, Hunter. I fear there will be many more windows to the shadow world. We may need your kind’s help again.”

Mason nodded. It was hard not to think of Blake’s attempt to rally the various humanoids of the world, supposing he’d sort of just helped in that cause by accident. But he had another thought: if he asked the Green Sea clans to fight Jeong, would they do it? And would they mostly get slaughtered fighting a small army of players anyway?

As usual, he planned for the worst. He had to be prepared to fight the eastern army on his own—with nothing but his house to resist them. But it was pleasant to occasionally make friends instead of enemies.

He gave the shaman a final nod, then smiled at Lila.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, walking to the nearby creek, knowing with his increased knowledge of the fey now that he could use it like a Great Tree.

“Where will you go?” Night Eyes shouted. “The water goes west to the sea, if you follow it. But there are darker things to the south. My people could go with you, if you wish.”

“Not where I’m going,” Mason called back, one last wave as he dipped a foot into the water. With a small smile and a final wink to Lila, thinking about how it would look, he took one more step before vanishing, body transported back into the fey.