Ch.73

[Loredas, 26th Hearthfire, 4E: 221]

“Sheesh, you’re still nervous?” Birnil questioned the nerve-wracked Imperial Commander.

“And you’re not? How can you stand beside these Sentinels?” Heralous, the Imperial Commander, retorted with her own question concerning the Night Sentinels.

“I work with their Queen, who’s our general, who tends to throw our doctrines of war out a window if she has to sometimes. You get used to it and learn that she and her people conduct war very differently.” Birnil answered with a snort as they walked towards the Command Center.

“And you’re fine with that? How do you know they aren’t planning something once this is all over?” The Imperial Commander pressed, but was soon choked-slammed against the wall.

“You suspect too much and it’s testing my patience. If they really wanted to conquer all of Mundus, they would’ve made it known to us. But no, they don’t want to and they know better not to!” Birnil snapped at Heralous with a growl of frustration, getting his point across before letting her go. “Can you just be thankful we came to help you?”

“Is there a problem, sir?” A patrol of Defenders came around to see what was all the ruckus about. Heralous flinched at seeing these titanic beings.

“No problems besides the usual political nonsense. Now then, Commander, you’re about to meet our general. Don’t be such a tight-arsed idiot and everything will be fine.” Birnil pulled the woman off of the wall and practically frogmarched her to the former Warden’s Office of the Imperial Prison. This was where the citizens of the Imperial City had been evacuated when White-Gold Tower had practically flooded with daedra. Even freed prisoners were helping.

“Birnil, how are the defenses looking?” General Berserker in all her armored dutiful glory questioned the instant the doors opened while going over a map of the city practically buried under colored pebbles representing the forces in action.

“They’ll hold, that’s all I can say after that mess we had rushing from the Wayshrine right outside of the tower to reinforce the Legion here. What news do the pegasi bring from the Synod?” Birnil questioned since he was in charge of helping the Legion shore up their defenses, not the campaign inside the city itself.

“It’s not going well. Since the Synod is less an institution of teaching magic and more one of hoarding its secrets, they’ve put up a fairly pathetic resistance. There’s no point in trying to mount a rescue.” Miun-La huffed in disapproval, which Birnil could understand. Miun-La works in a city with a prominent magic college where great mages graduate every year.

“You’re not the first to be disgusted by what rose from the ashes of the Mage’s Guild.” Heralous huffed with a shake of her head. “Forget them, it’s best they die so that hopefully a more competent organization comes about in their place, perhaps a new Mage’s Guild capable of training proper battlemages again. Even if the Empire is done, we must still serve and protect the people of this land as is our duty.”

“An Empire an Emperor does not make.” Golnis sagely stated and everyone nodded. “Since we are not going to bother attempting to aid them, we’ll focus everything on securing the city surrounding the Tower, which will be easiest from the Market and Arena districts. This is due to the Market being connected to the Prison and the Arena with the gladiators giving the daedra what-for.” To think, the average citizen thought the Arena was just a show.

“Commander Heralous, still twitching?” General Berserker asked and Heralous winced from the question. “I’ll take that as a yes. You’re gonna have to get used to it, a lot of things are going to change soon.”

“Such as the Empire dissolving into a democratic neutral ground instead of a sovereign power. I know. I can live with that so long as I can still serve and protect Cyrodiil’s people.” Heralous declared with hurt pride. She loved the Empire, as bogged down in bureaucracy and questionable leadership as it had been, it was her home and she would die to protect it.

“It’s not just the Empire, but the world in general. I won’t be making changes, influencing some things maybe, but the bigger changes must be done by the people of this world. You. It all depends on whether you want it or not.” Berserker clarified to the Imperial Commander.

“Rather, whether we want it or not. Things must change, even a young woman like me can see that in the few short years of service I’ve seen.” Heralous sighed and tapped on the map. “Please tell me these pebbles mark breach parties for the sewers. There’s a maze down there usually full of goblins that we task adventurers to deal with.”

Because of course no self-respecting soldier would go into a dark shitty hole if given a choice.

“Don’t worry, none of you need to go down there. My own will handle whatever’s crawling in the sewers.” Berserker assured the commanders.

📜

I didn’t even know Neethsi could get drunk! “Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roaring' waves, together undivided but forever we'll be free~!” Also, Flogging Molly lyrics are mixed into some of the sea shanties of this world. Even slurring, she was delivering those songs with incredible clarity.

“Please stop.” Shade begged our future wife and even tried to hold her jaw shut.

“Aw, but sea shanties are good.” I joked with some honesty. I love sea shanties, especially ones that carry a good tune and rhythm. “Besides, we’re still hungry and she’s not about to stop us in her current state.” I pulled up Neethsi’s horribly messed-up robe to expose her heaving hooters that held a delicious bounty within for us manavores.

“Fine, besides, she’s still humming anyway.” Shade let go of the goddess’s mouth and joined me at her chest where we sucked and groped her boobs, causing Neethsi to go from sea shanties to moans and groans of pleasure as we got our meals.

📜

“Scour these fetid sewers! Skree! The others are too cowardly of the stench and tight quarters! We Skaven will rout the invaders and claim it as our home!” Choruses of rodent cries cheered! Besides, they heard this place was disgustingly inefficient and needed to be reworked anyway. Who better for the task than the inheritors of the Dwemer?

“What are we going to do down here?” Snarled a squadmate as she fired her ‘steam’ powered rifle at a group of fleeing goblins. “We fix this place up and then what? Clear this shithole out every now and then?!”

“Wait, do you hear that? Heavy footsteps.” Another squadmate said as his ears twitched in the direction of the sound.

“I can feel the ground tremble with every step and it’s getting closer. Look!” The Skaven squad saw the goblins fleeing in terror, not from them, but from something else.

“Be prepared to fire!” Their Squad leader snarled, priming a shot as the others followed suit. Aiming down range, they waited for whatever monster was lurking down here, but were surprised that it was a group of hulking mechanical beings stomping through. “I thought we were the only ones down here!”

“Don’t they belong to one of our goddess’s husbands or wives?” The female Skaven questioned as the Terminator squad passed by without paying them any mind.

“Should we report this?” A Squadmate asked.

“What? No! Don’t you see; with them down here we can clear these sewers out more quickly! Maybe that’s why they’re down here.” The Squad Leader snapped, smacking the back of his squadmate’s head. “Now c’mon! Let’s follow them and watch their backs!”

📜

“My dear, what are you doing with Brennie’s Haven Box?” Mara asked Akatosh as he tinkered with the dimensional magical box with his magic.

“Oh, you know, just giving it some upgrades for all the hard work she and the girls have done so far.” Akatosh replied with a toothy grin.

“Like what?” Mara raised a brow as she eyed the golden dragon suspiciously.

“Time fuckery.” Akatosh answered without hesitation.

“Darling-.” Mara started to speak but the God of Time stopped her as he looked at her.

“Mara, my sweet, need I remind you that we are responsible for setting them all on this course? Their actions have exceeded all of our expectations and done more good for the world at large. Even Brennie’s people went into Oblivion to get back at Molag Bal-bags, regardless of the risks involved, that sort of defiance will spark the rest of Tamriel to follow suit and perhaps bring him back.” Akatosh sighed as he went back to working on the box, Mara watched on in silence and thought of what her beloved stated. “Right now, I’m giving them a place where they can take their time to recover and relax without having to worry about what’s happening in the real world. Because it won’t be moving on without them.”

“I see.” Mara muttered, lost within her own thoughts.

“Regretting your decision?” Akatosh questioned after he was finished with the box, teleporting it back to the room where he obtained it.

“I don’t know. Have we placed too much responsibility on them? On her?” Mara inquired with uncertainty. This also led Akatosh to thinking as well...

📜

“I really wish I wasn’t so busy and had to miss all of the silly things you got up to.” Rarity sighed with amusement as she undressed from her ‘business’ blouse and trousers to put on one of her sexy nighties. “I hope you don’t mind if I sneak in and snuggle.”

“Mm, c’mere.” I mumbled as I moved slightly away from spooning Neethsi’s side so Rarity could crawl between us and snuggle. When she did, she smooched my nose and nuzzled into my neck to settle in. That was when Daniel and Samantha entered and crawled into comfortable spots in our already crowded girl-pile of a bed.

This filled me with great warmth and contentment, but then I remembered my other two children still in Molag’s clutches. I still feel too groggy though, but now I’m all sad. Here we are as happy as can be for the moment while the other two kids are still trapped. I hope we save them sooner rather than later.

*Thunk!* Huh? I sat up, disturbing Rarity, to see Brennie’s Haven Box on the floor. Wait, that’s right. It was on the bed with two Haven Bags inside. When did it get moved? I can’t really remember, but it would explain why it wasn’t on the bed. It seemed different too, like the wood now has scale-like gold capping the corners and an hourglass engraved on the top.

“Oo! Mama, let’s use it! It’s timey wimey stuff!” Samantha shouted and hurriedly hefted the box onto the bed before she opened it-whoa~! It’s like the usual, only even more disorienting! We all landed on a giant bed, only for me to realize it wasn’t a bed, it was the floor! The floor is a giant bed! “Wee~! It bounces!” Sammy cheered and I watched her jump and play with her brother on the soft yet springy surface.

“Goodness! This place is both absolutely garish yet immensely comfortable.” Rarity stated as she stretched like a sexy super-booby kitty before she snuggled against Neethsi, who had promptly snatched Shade into a cuddle and went back to sleep with my sister giving in.

“Oh, hey! There’s a note from...Akatosh and Mara?” Daniel announced as he read it. Can he read? He hasn’t had any schooling. “Cool! This place is now temporally isolated from the world outside. We can be in here however long we want and no time could pass at all in the real world if you really don’t want it to.”

“Wow, neat! Is there anything else, bro?” Sammy asked her brother.

“Just to use the box to have fun.” Daniel handed it to me and the note did say that, only for the end bit to change to ‘use the box to fuck like rabbits’, so I burned it with a spell and blew the ashes towards an empty corner.

“We will for sure. Now then, let’s get to sleep. If we can exit the box at a time of our choosing, then I want us to exit in the morning as usual, but this box means sleeping in isn’t actually sleeping in.” I told my kids and they giggled before going back to the pile of sexy ladies that I joined my little hooligans in finding ways to insert into the snuggle.

To think, with this, no possibility of facing a day without good sleep exists.

📜

“Mother, I’m hungry…” Her little hatchling mewled pathetically and she could only offer a hug as condolence as her own stomach protested. She looked around at the others on the ship. Like her and her child, they too were unnaturally thin, almost skin and bones. She leered and bared her fangs, letting them know that while starved, she was not weak enough to become food.

One of the older ones collapsed and they all pounced on the weakness, rending the poor soul limb from limb with bare hands and fangs. She made off with one of his arms and hurried away from the ravenous melee, ripping the severed limb apart at the knee in a display of adrenaline-fueled strength before giving her child the calf and began to eat the thigh.

It was only when the desperation, the starvation and the adrenaline died down that she felt the remorse, the regret, but could not come to hate herself for doing what she had to for her child and her survival. In this way, she was thankful to the old snake for surrendering his body, for it would let her and her hatchling survive another day as they awaited news from the emissaries sent to Tamriel.

After all, every time before Akavir went there with so many ships, it was for invasion. They could only pray that they weren’t all doomed. Her hopelessness was interrupted by calls to action from conch shell horns being blown and the crewmates, purposefully kept at least fed the bare minimum to be able to work, began hurrying into the rigging and deploying the square sails as the anchors were raised.

She felt hope, for the first time in several weeks since they fled Akavir and the endless tide of the Kamal. She could see the ships of the Tang Mo and Ka'Po'Tun also taking the wind into their sails. “Excuse me, honored sailor! Are we finally safe?! Will we reach Tamriel soon?!” She pleaded desperately of the wiry underfed male who was not fresh from a full meal like she was, so he couldn’t just shrug her grasp away.

“Yes! Now release me!” He hissed and she complied before hugging her child joyfully. Hopefully soon they would no longer be starving. The ship ran out of proper flesh and other rations not reserved for the sailors almost a week ago. She would thank any deity willing to listen for their salvation, for they had remained moored just over a day’s sail past the eastern shores of Tamriel and soon they may be in their new home.

“Mother, you are squeezing me too hard. I can feel the honored elder’s flesh trying to creep back up my throat.” Her child mewled and she relented. It wouldn't do to waste the elder’s sacrifice, even if it was due to his age causing him to fall before the others. “Mother, will we be landing in the lands of the lizard-folk of Tamriel?”

“Yes, my hatchling. For while their land is inhospitable to most, our own immunity to most diseases will make it perfect for us. I do not know where the Tang Mo and the Ka'Po'Tun will go, but that is for them to be concerned with.” She nuzzled and petted her child’s smooth golden head, her own golden scales glimmering in the sun-.

“Zaeza!” She stiffened at the sharp call of her name and she stood promptly with her head bowed towards the approaching male who had hissed her name. “You live! Good! The Captain needs your presence along with your son.”

“Yes, honorable first-mate. I will do so immediately.” Zaeza nervously took the hand of her son and guided him past the disdainful sneer of the brown-scaled sailor. Once past the male, she entered the captain’s cabin without hesitation, for like most naval soldiers he had no patience for ‘proper’ nonsense that slowed things down.

“Zaeza. You have survived. Good, then you will be useful.” The bronze-scaled captain of the ship, that she never bothered to learn the name of, commented idly as he read through the scroll. “Tell me Zaeza, do you have an objection to sexual encounters with females?”

“A-ah...I...this is such an uncomfortable question…” Zaeza meekly protested as she covered her son’s ear-holes and then licked her dry lips before shaking her head. Was this why they asked for her? How did they know she had a preference for females while still enjoying male company? Was she being whored out to secure her people’s safety?

“Then as you can imagine, we have offered many things so that the people of Tamriel do not butcher us in our weakened state. One of which was a potential marriage between one of our own and a prominent member of their society.” M-marriage?! She is despoiled! Unfit! She has a child! How is she-?! “The criteria was simply that it be a woman with no reservation of being intimate with another woman.”

“But my son! Won’t he be an...issue?” Zaeza asked painfully as she kept her hands firmly clasped over his ear-holes.

“Not at all. If anything, your son is actually a benefit. The person in question happens to adore children, so your son will be gaining loving parents to join you in caring for him.” The captain informed her and Zaeza felt anticipation and more hope fill her flat and withered chest, only to wonder, who could she be getting matched with? She wasn’t even someone of note; a commoner. Wait, parents?! Plural?! She was being matched into a harem?! Zaeza felt faint.

What sort of person would take her as a positive gain in this sort of deal?

📜

“*Achoo*!” I jolted awake from a sneeze! I haven’t sneezed once since I’ve been Re-Displaced as an argonian! “How is this possible?”

“Argonians need to have a way to clear clogged sinuses too in case too much gunk gets in while underwater. Now go back to sleep.” Neethsi muttered and I noticed we’d all spread out some on the bed/floor.

“Yeah, all that talk about no wake-up times and you wake us up. Go to sleep, sis.” Shade grumbled into Rarity’s cleavage and the unicorn nodded while I found Daniel and Samantha crawling close to snuggle me again.

Mm...yes, blessed sleep...

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