Nex, do you want to have sex?
Yeah, no. That probably wasn’t the way to ask about that.
Nex. I heard you’re part succubus. Do you need sex to live?
Of course she didn’t; otherwise, she’d have died long ago. Nex never left her side. But recently, she'd been giving Liliene and Laura privacy in the evenings. Maybe she was using this opportunity to meet people?
That probably wasn’t the case, right? Nex was her maid.
Except Nex wasn’t exactly a maid, and the setup was just a public performance. A fact Liliene had seemingly forgotten.
“Nex… When you go out, you know? To scout. Do you… meet people?”
Nex observed Liliene silently for a moment. She knew. Her princess had mulled over something stupid on her own and had reached a bizarre conclusion. She just didn't know which one yet.
“Yes?” Meeting people was something that could happen in towns.
“Oh…” Liliene’s voice came out as a small, wounded noise.
Liliene was happy her big sister had a life. Definitely.
“Princess. We’re in goblin territory. Let’s focus on the task at hand.”
“AAAHHHH!”
A woman’s voice. The scream cut their banter short. After a single nod of agreement, they rushed toward the sound.
So much for discreetly entering the cave. At the opening, a group of four was already fighting their way through. At the rear, a blond woman wearing a white robe sat sprawled on the ground, gripping her bloodied shoulder, where an arrow was neatly embedded. A muscular man with short, black hair knelt in front of her, his wide shield providing cover from the few arrows flying their way.
The third man, blond as well, shot the woman a worried glance before nocking an arrow and shooting it up a tree. A few seconds later, a green creature fell limp and hit the ground with a dull thud.
The last man, with his shoulder-length chestnut hair held back by a bandana, held his own against two creatures. Now that Liliene saw them, they sort of looked like kids. Well, ugly green kids. The man made two clicking sounds with his cheek, and a dog sprang into action, biting the closest creature’s leg. The opportunity was enough for the man to cut the creature from his shoulder to the middle of his belly.
Nex sighed at the scene. “I suppose we’re helping?” she asked neutrally.
“Yes!”
“Princess. You focus on protecting your girlfriend.” She held Liliene’s gaze with an unusually grave look. “If she’s in danger, don’t hesitate for a single second about using your blood. I’d rather kill four witnesses than endanger Miss Laura.”
Nex let her backpack fall on the ground, and she was gone in a blink, her stance low as she dived into the melee. The second goblin was too busy exchanging blows with the frontliner to notice her coming. The creature dropped after taking a sword in the back.
Surprisingly, the bandana man only widened his eyes for a second before nodding. “Thanks!” He gathered his wits and switched targets without asking for context.
“Let’s help them,” Liliene said to Laura, pointing toward the trio at the back.
The shield guy was busy protecting their downed member, his eyes barely peeking over the top of his shield to check for incoming projectiles. Their archer dove and shot, taking cover loosely behind the man between arrow shots.
When Liliene noticed three green guys closing in on the trio, she took Laura's hand and circled the clearing, keeping herself behind the trees as stealthily as humanly, or as vampirely, possible.
“Stick close to me, okay?”
Laura could only nod wordlessly, her hands trembling from how tightly she gripped her sword. She let go of her girlfriend’s hand and pressed her body against a tree.
Liliene took a few seconds to check the sun’s angle and the cover the canopy would provide. The sun was still up, but low. By keeping herself to the edges, she would be fine. She emerged from the undergrowth, ran straight toward the three goblins, and tried to behead the rightmost one in one swift strike. The plan was to do more than try, but they weren’t that big, and the angle was sort of awkward because of it. He still fell, gurgling and holding his neck.
Her sudden appearance startled the other two, who turned, shrieked, and lunged at Liliene, showing off their pointy yellow teeth. One fell after a single step, an arrow embedded in his back. She jumped back to avoid the other one’s lunge. Now committed to his leap, he was an easy target; she twirled and kicked him away, sending him flying.
Laura had stayed hidden behind a trunk the whole time. She knew she would be nothing more than a liability in a real fight.
“Lili, duck!”
The best she could do was survey the battlefield.
Liliene didn’t hesitate and instantly dropped on all fours. An arrow missed her by a breath.
She turned toward the direction it had come from. Two goblins were flanking another one, taller. He held a cross-shaped staff with one hand, a small skull dangling from each point. With the bottom firmly planted in the ground, the goblin moved his staff in a circle, murmuring something incomprehensible. Over the palm of his free hand, a ball of fire gathered.
Liliene paused for a breath. It was the first time she'd seen magic like that. Her trance didn’t last. Out of ideas on how to reach him, she threw her sword toward him.
She had expected it to fly straight toward him and pierce his body. But apparently it only worked in stories. Still, it bonked him quite hard on the head. The spell grew out of control and engulfed him and his two guards, leaving only panicked screams and the scent of charred flesh.
Good to know that magic worked like that. She wouldn’t hug a spellcaster if she were to meet one in the future.
Liliene nodded to herself, proud— then screamed. She had forgotten the last one, the one she had only kicked, as if a mere kick would have killed him. He hadn’t forgotten her and had crawled to her feet. Now his short sword was deep in the ground. Also in her foot along the way.
“Fuck,” Liliene groaned.
And she had just thrown her sword.
Before she could kick him away, Nex appeared, wearing a dark frown Liliene had seldom seen. Her maid grabbed the goblin by the head, dragged him away, and pressed his body against a tree. Unfortunately for the green monster, he was the last one; Nex had time, and nobody had the stomach to watch what came next.
Laura rushed to her girlfriend, who knelt on the ground. Her palms hovered over the sword hilt, not daring to pull it out for fear of the pain.
“Lili! Are you…”
“Somewhat,” Liliene chuckled. “It hurts, though.”
“Thanks, girls! You alright?”
The one wearing a bandana jogged toward Liliene and Laura and winced when he saw her foot. He glanced at the wounded woman along the way, then nodded to his group. He didn’t act right away; instead, he studied Liliene, Laura, and Nex for a short moment. He nodded to himself when his eyes landed on the insignia pinned on each of their clothes. Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
“Let me,” he said, kneeling in front of Liliene. “On three. One—” he pulled the sword out as quickly as possible.
Liliene winced, her vision blurry with tears, and grabbed at her foot. “You said three…”
“Trust me. Works better that way.”
He grimaced when Nex came back, the white parts of her maid uniform now noticeably greener.
“Thanks for the help. I’m Bran. This is Roland,” he said, pointing toward the shield guy. “That’s Michel, our scout, and his sister, Michelle, our mage.”
Nex clicked her tongue. She would have found something, but their parents apparently beat her to it by twenty-five years.
“They have the same name?” Liliene asked, more to distract herself from her foot than anything.
“Nah, doesn’t spell the same. They’re twins, so it’s apparently tradition or something. Saves time when calling for dinner.”
“Woof!” the dog protested.
“Oh, sorry,” Bran said, ruffling the dog’s fur roughly. “That’s Bill. Our… support.”
Laura was prepared this time and opened her bag to take out some bandages.
“Lili, remove your boot. I’ll do something about the bleeding.”
Liliene obeyed. She could do something about the bleeding herself, but… witnesses. She let Laura wrap her foot, her gaze fixed pensively on a dead goblin lying in a pool of his dark, greenish blood.
“You okay, miss?” Roland asked.
“I… I’m not that hungry.” Somehow, she thought she’d never drink a goblin’s blood.
“Ah. First time? It’ll pass,” he said, patting her shoulder once.
When Nex knelt in front of Liliene, Liliene avoided her gaze.
“Sorry. I messed up.”
“No. You did great, My Lady,” she answered with a small smile. “A messy battlefield isn’t a duel. It’s hard to keep track of every opponent. You took down five. Well, four and a half. That’s more than I did.”
Liliene beamed. She had killed more than her! She had killed…
“Oh.”
“My Lady?”
Liliene looked sideways at a corpse. Not a hint of feeling came.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” She forced a smile. Her hand naturally circled her girlfriend's waist now that she was done with Liliene’s foot.
“Thank you, by the way. You saved me.” In public or not, Liliene would kiss her girlfriend for that. And she did, eliciting a startled whimper from Laura as Liliene’s lips crashed against hers. Laura melted into the kiss.
“Ehh… Do you want to join us for a while? We also have a wounded member,” Bran asked, looking conspicuously at the sky. What a weird way to hold a conversation, Liliene thought. Then again, humans had weird customs; she had learned that.
The trio looked at each other. Nex shrugged; Laura shook her head while pursing her lips. Why did they keep delegating decisions to Liliene? She knew she was terrible at it, so her companions should know that too.
Liliene wanted to use her magic; she felt it stronger than before. Nex would be a one-woman army in a cave with her power. She thought that her Laura would be safer with just the two of them and their powers than with a bigger group. Still, she had no good reason for refusing them. Not without sounding slightly suspicious.
“Sure! I’m Liliene. This is my maid, Nex, and my lover, Laura.”
“I had inferred that much.” Bran chuckled. Laura was beet-red. “Welcome to the team. What do you do?”
Liliene tilted her head curiously.
“In a fight. We need to know how to work together.”
“Oh. I cut things. Nex cuts them better.”
His gaze fell on Laura next.
“I… I don’t do much,” Laura said, lowering her head.
“Damn. You brought a non-combatant?” His voice held a sharp edge that hadn’t been there before.
“I can protect her!”
“Girl, you can’t protect your own foot.”
“Watch your words…” Nex hissed.
“Alright…” He held his hands in the air and sighed. “She’s your responsibility,” he said, retreating toward his team. “And you have first watch for tonight.”
Well, so much for teamwork.
***
The two parties, now gathered as one, sat around a campfire with a view of the cave’s entrance. Their scout, Michel, had strung wires, hung bells, and set up other things Liliene had never seen before. According to him, if more goblins came out, they would know.
Liliene rested with her head against Laura’s shoulder, enjoying the warm waves of heat coming from the campfire. Her bandaged foot still hurt, though it was a distant pulsing pain. She wished she could feed on Laura. The urges she had to fight off were telling her she would heal faster if she were to drink blood. Red blood. Maybe it was like wine. Nobody had ever heard of green wine. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
“Do you wish to study at the conservatory, too?” Liliene asked the strangers, hoping to strike up a conversation.
“Nah. We’re delving full time,” Bran answered for the group. “Been ten years by now.”
“Really?” Laura perked up. Though she kept on cuddling Liliene. “You must have found so many things? Any rare artifacts?”
“Hm,” Bran hummed, pondering. “Watches… so many watches.” He shook his head. “But we’ve seen some pretty shit. Like the glowing water,” he said, turning to look at his group.
“Yes.” Michelle nodded with a dreamy look on her face. “There was that wide room filled with water. There was like a well, going much deeper. The bottom shone a vivid blue. It was so pretty, I threw a coin inside it.”
“Huh? Why?” Liliene asked.
“For good luck?”
Liliene turned to look at Laura, who nodded. Humans truly had weird traditions.
“Well, that’ll be it for us,” Bran said, yawning without covering his mouth. Rude. “Wake me up in something like three hours.”
“What should I do? If there are goblins?”
“Scream?”
Made sense.
“Miss Laura, I suggest you take on the first watch. It’s the easiest one. You’ll get six full hours of sleep without interruption.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Liliene offered.
Nex didn’t protest. She sat with her back against a nearby trunk and closed her eyes.
“Wake me up in two hours then, My Lady.”
Liliene’s gaze drifted toward the party. They were sleeping in a tent. A tent. Such luxury.
“Laura…” Liliene whispered, her breath tickling Laura’s neck. “I want… you know?”
“Lili, we can’t,” Laura said, pushing weakly on her girlfriend’s head, though her heart wasn’t truly in it. “What if they see us?”
“It’s okay. Everyone’s asleep—”
Someone cleared his throat. Loudly.
Liliene gave Laura a quick kiss on the neck and pulled back. She watched the fire crackle, her uninjured foot tapping against the ground.
“But I was hungry…” she muttered, her lips pursed in a pout.
“Later. When it’s Nex’s turn to watch, we could take a walk in the woods and… I’ll let you do whatever you want.”
After her offer, Laura kept her face buried against Liliene, unwilling to let her see how red she was. It had sounded less lewd in her head. But surely Liliene wouldn’t take her up on that kind of offer, especially near a goblin’s nest. Laura pulled back a tiny fraction, just enough to timidly look up at her lover’s face. She reddened even more. Oh. She’s definitely going to take it.
***
The following day, a very refreshed Liliene stretched as the first rays of sunlight brushed gently against her face. It felt good for one whole second.
“Ouch-i-ouch.”
She quickly scrambled back to hide behind the tree. Laura, who was sleeping peacefully against her shoulder, hit the ground as she lost her support.
The scene happened under the mildly bewildered gaze of Bran, who shrugged at their antics.
“Lili?” Laura asked, rubbing the side of her head. “Are you okay?”
“Hm. Mind passing my parasol, pretty please?”
Fortunately for Liliene, the sun was still pretty low. As long as she kept herself on the other side of the clearing, the foliage should keep enough of the sun away.
“She’s like that every morning?” Bran asked Nex.
“That’s youth for you.” Nex nodded.
Bran raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”
“I’m well into my thirties.”
“What?” Michelle exclaimed, shooting up. The sudden movement made her wince and grab at her shoulder, but she kept walking toward Nex. “What’s your secret?” she asked, her eyes intense.
“I’m part succubus. We don’t age to stay attractive to men,” Nex answered flatly.
“Gosh,” Michelle said, laughing, and weakly slapped Nex’s shoulder. “I’d believe you. I’d give you twenty, at best.”
Laura exhaled slowly, looking intently at the ground. Liliene, meanwhile, noticed Michelle’s injury and rolled her own foot in the air. She’d have to remember to fake limping.
They quickly made a plan before diving into the cave. Michel would scout, Nex and Bran would hold the frontline, and Liliene would keep some pressure off Roland to protect the back.