The full moon hung high in the sky, blanketing everything in the village in its white light. In any other context, being out here in this pristine peacefulness would have been very enjoyable. Sadly for Luka and me, that wasn’t the case.
“Luka….How are you holding up?” I said as I ran behind her. She was fast and had the stamina to match her speed; no doubt in my mind she was in the military at some point.
“I’m okay. I just need to focus on the task at hand if I think too much about it….. Less talk, more moving!” She snapped. I nodded. I wont disturb her, thinking I’ve only just managed to get her to stop crying.
We kept running until finally our target came into view: the village gate. As soon as Lukas eyes landed on the gate, she bolted forward with me laughably behind. Holy crap, she’s fast. Just how much was that tattoo slowing her down?
“Open up! Open that damn gate!” Luka yelled. I looked past her and saw a man sitting in a wooden box next to the entrance—the gate guard.
As we ran, the gate guard's head snapped towards us. As quickly as he could, he grabbed his weapon, hopped out of his box and stood to face us.
“HALT! State your business!” He ordered. I instantly dug my feet into the ground and skidded to a halt; however luka didn’t even try to stop. She barrelled towards the guard and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.
“Open this gate! My daughter has run away! I need to find her!” She yelled. The guard coughed and spluttered as his legs dangled off the ground. I quickly saddled up to Luka and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Luka, put the man down. I don’t think Kazeka will be very happy if she found out you killed one of her guards”
Luka's eyes opened as the realisation hit him. She dropped him as his feet touched the ground; his legs buckled, turning him into a coughing, spluttering mess on the floor.
“Sorry about that. My friend is just a bit overwhelmed at the moment,” I said as I knelt beside him dammit luka now I need to try and stop this guy from arresting us! “I’m sorry for this, but we really need to get through that gate. It’s important. Her daughter is missing,” I said, wrapping my hand around his shoulder as I did. The man's gaze snapped towards me with the venom of 100 cobras.
“Unhand me!” he snapped as he shot to his feet. I did the same.
“I will have you both arrested for that. Assault on a guard, attempted breach of the wall. You two will be seeing the inside of a cell for the rest of your life, you understand me!”
I winced. This isn’t good. “Sorry, officer, but maybe you can ignore this. What we said is true; her daughter is missing. Surely that counts for something, right?”
“The law is the law! You do not assault guards of this town. Now put your hands behind your back!” he snarled at us. I glared at Luka, who avoided my gaze. Seriously, what were you thinking, woman! Now he’s pissed and wont believe us! Let's see, I could try bribing him. It worked on my old campus guards when I was sneaking off to see my form tutor. Ahh, Mr Biggins. I would mind having your cock in me right now. Though you made it too obvious something was going on when you gave me 6 straight A’s in a row. But that cock though well worth the-
“I SAID HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!” He roared; shit, I trailed off again—focus, utaari.
“Easy! Easy! There's no need to be so rash. Look, we got off on the wrong foot. Why don’t you and I find somewhere quiet, and we can sort this out privately?” I moved closer to him, pushing my boobs against his chest and giving him a great view of my cleavage. I put my hands on his chest. He was very well built; I guess he has to be to have his job. Mmph. I can see it now; him taking me in the ass against that wall in front of Luka would be hot as fuck. Maybe I can convince him to-
“Hands off!” He ordered and pushed my hands and me away. rejected…..How sad…
“Hands up now, criminals, or I'll have no choice but to use for-“
“That won't be necessary, guardsman” Instantly, we all snapped our heads to the just in time to see a familiar feline creep out of the shadows.
“Such a racket during the night; you do know people are sleeping “
“C..C..Commander Kazekeka..... I....I” the guard melted in her gaze.
“At ease, explain to me what’s going on here”
“Well, these two-“
“WE NEEED TO GET OUT-“ I cut in.
“It's important, Rae's gone, she’s run away” I fumbled through my pockets for a few moments before finally passing her the letter she wrote.
Luka read the note thoroughly. “damn it, Rae. Always so rash. Guardsman take 30; I'll watch this post from here”
“Y..yes, Commander”
Instantly, he scurried off, leaving me, Luka, and Kaz. They must really trust her for them to not even question why she-
“Seriously, you two! You can't assault a guard trying to get out; there are rules, policies, and procedures in place for this!”
“Sorry, Kazeka, but we don’t have much time; we need to find Rae before she gets too far!”
“And how do you plan to do that?! The forest is as wide as it is long. 2 people are not enough! We best wait for the morning then I can form a search party and we-“
“NO!” Luka snapped “I have to find her! I'm her mom. I have a duty to do so! Ive never been in that girl's life much, but today that changes. I need to be the one who finds her. I owe Rae that much”
Kazeka glared at Luka. “Your face- no, everything is different. Something's changed; I can see it.” She turned her attention to me “She shouldn't be able to talk and act like this. You've done something, haven't you? What is it?”
I looked around “Ive done something, but this isn’t the time or place to tell you, okay. You just need to let us-“
Flame suddenly erupted from Lukas's back as she stepped in front of me “We don’t have time for this, Kaz. Let us go, or I'll have no choice but to go through you”
Kazeka laughed “This is amazing. You've even got your magic back. How did you do this, Utaari?”
Golden magic erupted from Kazeka's hands. “ Luka, you talk like beating me would be easy”
“I know it isn't; hell, it's probably impossible, but to find Rae, I'll take any chance. Even if it means fighting a friend” The flames on Lukas's back flared with intent; she was 100% serious.
Kazeka chuckled. “I’ve missed this part of you, fire; however, you know your way out of your league”
The golden magic around Kazeka suddenly surged, and my body suddenly felt 20 times heavier. I dropped to my knees instantly. How can one person be this strong?! It's nonsensical! I looked at Luka, who wasn’t even struggling at all. Just how strong is she?!
The two watched each other as the magic in the air ramped up and up, creating an atmosphere so thick it was hard to breathe. Luka glared at Kazeka with the ferocity of a mother bear guarding her cubs, whilst Kazeka was the opposite; she stood firm and unwavering like a wall. At any moment one of them was going to make a move. Every part of me was screaming to run and escape, but another part wanted me to stay and watch these two titans fight.
My heart raced as they stood off; however, out of nowhere, Kazeka backed off. “Nice to see it wasn’t a fluke” Kazeka's magical power dropped. And in an instant, all the weight on my chest was gone. I watched as the woman I bedded wandered over to the wall and pulled the nearby lever that opened the big metal gate.
“Go find that girl. I’ll stay and form a search party for the morning in case you find nothing.”
Luka helped me to my feet and gave Kazeka a nod. “Thank you, Kaz.” However, before she could say anything, Luka bolted through the gate. I was about to join her when suddenly someone grabbed my shoulder. In a flash, I was turned around and buried in a familiar set of boobs.
“I dont know what you did, but thank you. Thank you for bringing my friend back” Kaz was so soft-spoken, earnest; she really did care about Luka. She squeezed me tight and instinctively did the same. We held for a few moments before she let go.
She held my arms briefly as we stared at each other. Kazeka has no reason to be this pretty, dammit. I can feel my heart going, dammit. This is not good. I can't… or can I? Gahh, this is not what I need before
“sorry for earlier” she blurted out. “I looked back at her in confusion. “What are you apologising for?” You didn’t-“
“I did! It was too abrupt to spring that on you. I mean, we’ve just met, for God's sake. It wasn’t my goal to make you feel uncomfortable. It's just It's been a long time since I’ve felt so close to someone. I jumped the gun way too soon.”
I shook my head “Don’t apologise. The way I reacted... it wasn’t fair to you...i have…..it's me.... commitment is something......I’ve been burned a lot”
“I see. I understand” She let go of my hands and turned away and started walking. As she did, my heart twisted. Why does this hurt? Dammit..I don’t.
‘Are you really going to let her walk away like that, daughter of mine?’ I glanced at Kazeka's back, and before I realised it, I'd moved.
“Kazeka, wait!” I grabbed her back and turned her around.
“Once we've found Rae. Do you want to grab a coffee some time?”
She glanced at my hand for a moment before smiling at me “Of course”
“TICK TOCK UTAARI LET'S GO!”
I snapped around to see Luka’s flaming wings waiting for me past the gate.
“You should go. Don’t keep her waiting. My friend isn’t patient,” she said with a smile.
I chuckled and gave Kaz one last smile before bolting towards Luka, who was tapping her feet, waiting.
“S…sorry!”
“Tch! Took you long enough! Let’s go!”
“W….wait. Wait. We can't just rush off; as Kazeka said, the forest is huge, so we need to figure out a plan for how we'll find her. Let's start with a starting point. Rae is rash, but she isn't dumb. So I don’t think she’s going to be camping alone in the forest. So most likely she went with an experienced guide. Maybe we can check the guild and see who picked up her request?”
Luka shook her head. “At this time. No chance. And besides, a personal guide/protector isn't cheap, and looking through her receipt, a lot of the equipment she bought was low- to mid-end. She would go with what's affordable: a caravan, maybe”
“If she took a caravan, then she could be in the opposite town by now.”
Luka shook her head again, “Doubtful whilst you can probably do it one day. Nobody sane would do so. It’s too much fatigue on the horses, and trust me from experience, being in one of those things for an hour is torture. Let alone a full day. They would stop and camp out for the night. Probably somewhere near the road.”
“You seem so certain luka,” I asked, looking back towards the dusty road leading away.
She chuckled “All those years as a wanderer, you pick a few things, and one thing you do pick up is how to do travelling cheap.”
I nodded. “Alright, let's go.” I started to march when suddenly Luka grabbed me. I turned around and was met with a deadpan stare.
“These wings aren't for show, you know….”
I gulped. “Ahhh….”
A few moments later….
“AGHHHHHAAAAA! SLOW DOWN LUKA!”
The wind battered my face as Luka jetted across the night sky.
“THIS IS SLOW!” She yelled as she flapped her wings and shot forward again. My body shivered as the cold wind battered my skin; the only warm parts were the parts where Luka held me.
It was awful. Every time I opened my eyes, the wind instantly dried my eyes. I tried to fix it by looking down, but the second I did, I was reminded of just how high we were. I would probably survive the fall, but that doesn't make it any less scary. That mixed with the howling wooshing of the wind that sounded like the devil scratching his claws against a chalkboard. I hate this; I will do anything for this to end.
“I think I see something!”
“GOOD NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PUT ME ON THE GROUND!”
Without warning, she dove towards the ground. Instantly, my organs tried to leave through my back as we hurtled towards the ground at Mach fuck knows. All I knew was that the ground was approaching out of the inky blackness. I noticed something rustling to the side. Trees. Were too close to the trees!
“LUKA TREES! WATCH OUT FOR THE HYUUUHHKK”
Suddenly I was jolted upwards, forcing my organs to rapidly shift towards the front as we slowed to a complete stop next to a desolate caravan.
Luka gently dropped me to the ground as she landed right next to me with a flap of her red crimson wings.
I glared up towards her. “I’m never flying with you again”, I said as I tried to stand up. The moment I landed on my feet, the dizziness hit me like a truck. I held onto the side of the caravan as I tried to stabilise myself.
“After the spanking you gave me earlier. I think we're even.” She said. I couldn’t see her face, but something tells me she’s smiling.
I took several deep breaths and slowly stood on my feet.
“So has Rae been here?” I asked grogily.
“I’m not sure. Let's check around. Something feels odd about this…. Just where is everyone?” she said as she rummaged through some nearby bags. I did the same. Finding nothing of note, however, I was struck by the fact that everything was left like this. Did they leave in a hurry? If so, why?
“I have a bad feeling about this luka”
“Seconded. There's one more bag left. " Let's check it together” I nodded and walked over to the large brown rucksack fit to bursting. I undid the button, struggling for dear life to hold the bag shut, and immediately a torrent of clothes flew over us.
“Pfft! Hahaha, did they pack their entire life in here or something?” I said with a goofy smile.
“Yes… They did” I fell silent. As I looked towards Luka holding an old shirt with a drawing of a wizard on it, “Rae begged for this when she was a little girl. I fought so hard through the tattoo to try and find the will to buy it for her. The fact she kept even after I-“
“Stop!” I grabbed her shoulders. “We sent; we weren't going to do that anymore. This is a good sign; it proves that Rae was here! She’s nearby. Come, let's search the area.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the forest, and for the next hour or so we searched under every nook and cranny for Rae, but no dice.
“Dammit!”
I said, slumping against the carriage. I glanced towards Luka, who was still holding Rae's shirt. I could see her trying to keep the tears inside. She was failing.
“Luka. Don’t….” I wanted to tell her not to give up. But I just couldn’t not when I'm so close to doing the same. Dammmit, Rae, where did you go? If only we had a sniffer dog, then maybe we could….
I shot to my feet. Startling Luka.
“W..what is it?” She said tearfully.
“I know you want to give up. But don’t. I may have something, or should I say someone who can help find Rae.”
I looked up to the sky and yep, a full moon. This is perfect. I opened up my item box, and with a twist and a ripple of the air, a naked man fell out.
Luka glared at me and then the man.
“Why do you have a naked man stored…..somewhere?”
I chuckled. “Not just a man, a werewolf. And he might be the answer we need to find Rae….”