Chapter 35: Home Defense

Eli POV

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This caused quite the stir among the assembled audience on the porch.

"What happened?" Joey's father cut through the creeping panic.

"The damn ants ran into a troglodyte cave. A few of the bugs ran off in this direction when their fight was lost and the brutes eventually made their way here chasing them. Now they're in a blood frenzy and we're the closest humans for them to smell. They're coming straight towards us, Mack." The scout reported.

"All right lets all pile into the carriage. It'll be tight-" Joeys father, Mack, started but the scout cut him off.

"They're coming directly down the road, we got about 10 minutes before they get here." The scout said.

"Well, looks like we'll be leaving on horseback. let's untie all the horses-" I started.

"Why do you think we have the barges? The rivers too deep to get across and we're in the culdesac of a sharp bend in the river." Rick curtly retorted.

Mack looked around and saw the barges laying on the river bank.

"We can use those and get across the river," Mack said.

"No, we need to unhook the smaller barge to get those hooked up to the chain. That would take a good 20 minutes." Rick said, his voice getting a slight tremor.

"What about that smaller barge already hooked up?" Mack said, his voice getting the faint signs of panic. Joey just looked scared shit-less.

"It's only made for 2 or 3 people." Rick almost shouted.

"All right, I'm pulling rank. Me, Joey and Eli will head towards the far bank while you lot try to fend off the beasts." Mack said as sweat dripped down his forehead.

A blond-haired woman, fair in appearance with a long scar across her cheek and green eyes like emeralds came out. Her white gown covered her belly that was swollen with child and a smaller boy came in behind her. He had her soft cheekbones and green eyes while having his father's black hair.

"Honey, what's the problem?" She said, her voice betraying her trepidation.

"Nothing, go back inside." Rick said, clearly trying to keep himself from screaming.

The rest of those assembled didn't look any more thrilled about what was happening. Apparently, fighting the troglodytes was basically being told to go die. Since there was no way I was taking the place of a pregnant woman on the proverbial lifeboat I decided to go set up my mines in the abandoned barn.

"Hey, where are you going?" Mack yelled at me as he and Joey made their way off the porch.

"GO!" I yelled to the pregnant woman as I pointed towards the barges.

"Wha-" She said before Rick pulled her and the boy towards the barges, his face showing clear gratitude to me. The others looked impressed while Mack threw up his hands. Joey just made a mad dash towards safety.

I laid my mines around the four corners of the barn while setting up a ladder towards the second story rafters. Setting down my staff I came back out and saw Rick with the boy coming towards me and the small barge on the chain with Mack and Joey pulling the chain to move across the river. The pregnant woman was crying as she yelled how she loved Rick and Henry, the boy apparently.

I looked questioningly at Henry then Rick.

"Too much weight, so now what?" He said.

"Shelby! What do you know about troglodytes?" I yelled towards the small crowd.

"Big, tough, and stupid. They also have a penchant for going after children, even when others are around." She said as she made her way down the porch, giving the boy a meaningful look at the last part as she came near.

"Any ranged attacks?" I asked.

"Nope just a lot of muscle." She said.

"All right we need to maximize our ranged abilities. Can any of you shoot on horseback?" I asked the crowd on the porch. They all shook their head in denial.

"Fine, let the horses go, they'll just get in the way of our arrows when they start stampeding everywhere. The archers need to be on the roof while the melee fighters need to be in the house to hold them off. Shelby go to the other side in the forest and prepare to draw them to you when the archers start firing, use this when they get close." I tossed her the cane. Off to the side, the carriage drivers were getting the carriages out of the way further down the river and releasing all of the horses.

"Press the knot of wood on the handle then the hole and it will encase you in a cocoon of stone. Once you've drawn them towards you, Henry, who will be hiding in the barn, will then shout when they get close to Shelby and-"

"Woah, what the fuck? You can't be serious." Rick said.

I got on my knee and looked the kid straight in the eyes.

"Listen kid, we're in a bad spot right now. We need someone to distract those monsters while we try and kill them. Are you up for it?" I asked the kid. He was shaking but he put out his chin and puffed up his chest.

"S-Sure mister." He said, putting on a brave face. I smiled and patted his black hair.

"Now Ho-" Rick started.

"We don't have ti-" A deep heavy bellow off in the distance interrupted me as I was interrupting Rick. It was far off, but too close for comfort. Far too close.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" I yelled. Everyone else scrambled into place but as I was explaining my bubble grenade to Henry and how he had to throw it behind him when he got through the barns back exit another woman came through the front door.

She had short wavy brown hair, soft purple eyes, and a small sharp nose. Her full pink lips with a mole on the right side accentuated her looks as did her sharp eyebrows. She came up to my height a few inches short which was actually pretty tall for the women around this region. But the skin showing out of her elegant brown dress and white undershirt was only lightly tanned so she obviously wasn't used to outdoor work like the other women here.

"Where is my husband?" She asked.

Then she looked out over the river and saw Joey and Mack with the pregnant woman just making it onto the shore. Her face went red and she looked at me with a question in her gaze.

"Troglodytes, you need to get back inside," I said as I saw several of the men get onto the roof of the log house.

"Oh. So that little shit and the coward left me? Those two are going to know what it's like living with an unhappy woman in the coming weeks." She said between gritted teeth. Then she stomped back into the house and slammed the door shut.

Damn, now I had to survive. There was no way I was going to miss seeing Joey get humiliated and raked over the coals by his mother.

After the eternity of 10 seconds passed the hard thumps of something big running came into earshot, multiple somethings. Then around the bend, large shapes that looked to be covered in moss came into view. They looked like huge apes with enlarged eyes that held a sort of primal lust and thick eyebrows, but their faces came with a mouth in a sharp V shape brimming with razor-sharp teeth with thick tongues running over them. Their bodies sized to about 7 feet as they lumbered forward on muscular arms and legs. Coming closer I could see all of their bodies were covered in dark green fur that was also peppered in bites and sticky goo that must have been from the ant fight.

I shot the leading troglodyte in the gut with my lava tube, bits of his rib cage got exposed but he was too tough to just die. He roared in pain from the wound but still charged toward me. I sighed and shot again after a second. This time it took him in the face and he went down. But the mob was still about 7 strong if my quick count was accurate.

Working my way back I managed to get off two more shots before the archers on the roof let loose their arrows. I had hoped they would start firing immediately but apparently they were stunned by the giant apes coming towards us, with Rick being the lone shot when they first came into range.

When the overgrown apes were trying to decide on where to attack, Shelby started unleashing her crafts as well. The fireballs, rock shards and nasty wind blades couldn't kill them but it left a lot of them angry enough to charge her.

I made my way into the barn and up the ladder as Henry shouted by the barn's entrance. When I looked out the window of the second story I saw the stone cocoon cracked but still intact as the troglodytes went wild and charged towards my barn. There were only 5 left now as the other 3 apes lay in the dirt, their bodies riddled by arrows or the wounds of magical crafts. Henry was already out the back entrance which was now covered in the bubbles of my grenade when the first troglodyte made its way in. I immediately started the mines as the platform I was on rumbled from the sheer seismic tremors of the coming stampede.

Unfortunately, the enemy didn't seem to understand the concept of a single file entrance as the entire front of the barn exploded in a frenzy of fur and bulging muscle. I immediately jumped out the window as bellows of pain emanated from the quickly burning barn as it collapsed on the inhabitants. When I had designed the staff I knew the ropes could easily burn so I had the mines hold mana batteries to run for a good 10 seconds even with the connection to the staff cut off.

A burning mass of muscle came bellowing out of the wooden wreckage and tried to force its way into the house by caving in a window. The scream inside told me Joey's mother must have been watching from that window. I shot the beast with the hair-thin line of water from my arm craft.

The distance was great enough that I didn't cut into him but the sheer kinetic force of the water left a small line of bruising and slight tears on the patches of bare skin as I ran it over his body. He turned to me but as he readied to charge the round of slag from my shoulder cannon blew lava and his enlarged eyes into the back of his skull.

The men on the roof gave a cheer with Rick amongst them and I saw Henry peeking from behind the houses back with a smile on his face.

"Stay sharp! We can't relax until we know they're all good and dead." Waving my hands aggressively at Henry telling him to get back.

The top side of the destroyed barn, now nearly a full floor shorter than it had been, hadn't fully caught fire. But there was still the odd movement and crunch that told of things pushing and struggling underneath. I used my water glove to make a small water shield on my left and proceeded to systematically blow hole after hole in the ruins with lava missiles.

Eventually one of the monsters crawled out, so burned he was barely recognizable. I still put up my shield and shot it in the head with my lava tube. After a while, the archers gradually slacked their bows and I saw the barge with the three who escaped earlier coming over. Well one of them escaped, the other two ran away in a panic.

I still went at it. The water shield was gradually made into a shell covering my whole front while staying out of range of my jet to allow it to pass through. It wasn't until I had cut through the wreckage and found the charred bodies of the other 3 troglodytes and cut their skulls clean in half that I finally relaxed.

It took a good hour of bucket moving and water craft using until the ashes were considered extinguished. It was during this that I somehow managed to find my bubble grenade. The smooth stone was worn down like it had spent a good year in rushing water until it was barely larger than a pebble.

"All right lads, dinner is on us. Tonight we feast and tomorrow we boast." Rick said to the gathered crowd.

"Aye, we'll be covering the refreshments, as a token of thanks for the bravery you've all displayed." Mack put in.

There was a moment of tense silence but I broke in with a cheer, which everyone else followed up with. Whatever he may or may not have done, he was offering free food and that was enough for me. By now some of the horses were trickling back in and had to be calmed or the rest brought back by their owners.

Mack and Rick went to secure our dinner in the carriage. Once everything was back in order the rest of us went to work on the damage and recover any valuable bits from the troglodytes. Eventually, the carriage came back filled with food as I was changing into my chain mail veil. We men went over the whole battle and our other experiences in the large living room as the women prepared the food.

"I gotta say that was a hell of a way to get rid of the old thing." One of the men on the couch said, which drew some light chuckles from the others.

"Yeah. Man when they charged through the front, I thought Eli was out of work." Rick said.

I raised an eyebrow at this phrase.

Rick saw my expression and ran his finger across his throat while spewing out a gurgling sound.

"Enough, Rick. I swear, sometimes I think I'm raising two boys. Dinners ready." The pregnant woman called from the dining room.

As we sat around the table eating various pork chops, chickens and vegetable dishes the feeling of discomfort started creeping back into me. I liked these people, except Joey, but having to constantly look at their faces was wearing on me. Towards the end, Mack tapped his glass and called attention.

"Tonight we celebrate a great victory. We owe it all to the hero of the hour." He said looking towards me. I stood up and gave a light cough.

"Indeed, Henry's bravery during this crisis was something we should all aspire to." I raised my glass to the boy as everyone else raised their glasses to him and cheered. He went beet red and leaned into his mother as we all clapped for him. We drank, sang, and laughed for a while even as I drew more distant and weary. Eventually, the sky went orange and we all had to make our ways home before dark.

I was out by the woods taking a leak when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Woah. Sorry, but this tree is currently taken." I said, still feeling slightly ashamed that I had to relieve my self on such a priceless thing to get any sort of cover.

"It's all right kid, I don't have the equipment needed to take your spot." The voice of Shelby said behind me.

"I just saw your leather armor pants by the forest and when I didn't notice you were around I came looking to make sure you weren't getting into any trouble." She finished.

"Well, I would typically bring my full armor into a fight. Showing strength in battle is important but showing off that kind of prowess is not typically helpful." I said dryly as I tied up my rope belt around my cloth brown pants.

"I wasn't talking about that brand of trouble," She said before sticking an odd vegetable in my hands. It was more of that yellow-edged, celery thing I found in that one crate after the guild trip.

I raised an eyebrow at this and just looked at her.

"Do they not have Yook root where you're from? Well, for your information, it's a conception controlling vegetable that prevents a woman from conceiving for day's afterward once chewed." She said in a very formal tone.

"Well I'm flattered, but wouldn't the guild say something about our rendezvous?" I said, not sure if she was being serious or not.

She gave me a swift kick me in the shin. I was determined to not give her the satisfaction of seeing pain on my face so I remained stoic.

"Not me, you cur. Beth" She huffed.

I just gave her a blank look.

"Mack's wife. She was quite forward in her intentions of 'sating the hero' when her husband was out of earshot." She said sounding completely serious as she turned and walked away.

At this, some faint visions started flashing before my eyes. Writhing mounds of human flesh wriggling in orgies covered in neon-colored dust and flashing lights. Long nights with women in hot sweaty movements as our faces were covered with masks of varying colors and designs. And at the later part, cold nights of crippling loneliness even as my body was covered in the heat of others.

I blinked away the sights and went back towards the house. Coming out of the forest my leather pants were not where I had left them. Looking around it took me a good minute before I realized they were on a branch by the embroidered carriage.

As I went to pick them up from the branch the carriage door swung open and a hand grabbed my outstretched arm. Whirling around I found myself face to face with the purple-eyed woman from before. But what really stood out was the slight taste of honey and cinnamon on my mouth as she moved her pink lips under my veil and forced her tongue down my mouth.

She had managed to get her arms around me in a pretty impressive wrestling maneuver to lock my arms in place as she leaned back and dragged me half into the carriage, pressing the covered mounds of her chest against me the whole time. It was completely dark but Beth moved her left foot over one of the benches and the mana crystal in the middle of the roof lit up.

At this, she kissed me more deeply as she ran her tongue up and down my mouth and throat. Unless I hate my future children enough to give them Joey as a half brother, I need get out of this situation quickly before I do what the blood coursing in my veins is screaming at me to do. When I tried to use my tongue to push back she gave me a sharp pinch and became more forceful in her penetration as she ground against my erection.

I had thought about pushing back with my arms but then I considered the consequences of putting bruises on a married woman when I was on top of her in her own carriage. After a good minute, she opened her eyes and looked at my red hot face. With that look, she stopped her oral motions and stared into my eyes like they were a newfound treasure.

"Oh my, I thought we merely had a similar fashion sense but I see now how truly inferior I am. Tell me who is the healer who managed to work in such hues of pink and deep purple with... are those flecks of gold?" She said as she cooed in wonder.

'Well, they're actually vision aiding sensors designed to-' I started thinking but then she took the Yook root from my hand.

"Ah, this is what I was looking for....but looking at you now." She said with a question in her gaze. She hummed in thought for a few seconds.

"Well, our child would have the most wonderful eyes. So go make caster and we can make a baby with eyes so beautiful they'll blind all who see them." She said before chewing on the vegetable.

"I don't think making a-"

"Don't blink!" She said suddenly after swallowing a mouthful of the vegetable.

She looked into my eyes with a sheer intensity that was intimidating. When I had to blink again she pushed her mouth forward and kissed my left eye.

"Here, I can at least feel them when I can't see them." She said as she kissed my right eye.

This went on for a while. I could only lay there as my first sexual experience in this world took its very weird course. It was tough at first as she kissed and licked my eyes over and over. Fortunately, the sensation was becoming less perturbing as it went on but I could only wonder when in my life I had done enough evil to deserve this.

"Goodbye."

"Thanks again for your help gentlemen."

That sounded like Mack and Joey going out the front door of the house. I quickly moved to put my leather armor pants back on as Beth made herself decent. They were still talking on the porch so I had ample time to make my way into the forest. But before I turned to go Beth took my head in her hands and gave me one long last look before shoving her tongue in my mouth.

"All right boy, go. I have two men whose lives I need to start making miserable." She said once she finished. The carriage driver was coming out of the house now and making his way towards us.

I just dashed into the forest as quietly as I could. As I looked at the carriage taking off I saw Beth starting to lay into Mack and Joey with exaggerated finger-pointing and a mouth twisted in a growling expression. As satisfying as that was to see I heard someone laughing off in the distance which I went to investigate.

Leaning against a tree was Shelby. She had her hands around her stomach as she shook and rocked back and forth across the slanted tree. I gave a light cough to interrupt her.

She just laughed for a few more seconds.

"Damn, that was a tale for the ages. To think your eyes would be getting more action than your cock." She said as she breathlessly continued laughing at my expense.

As an ancient and wise being with eons of experience, I was, of course, above such petty antics and took my leave. Making my way back to the house Rick came up and shook my hand.

"Thanks, man, you really pulled through for us in the end. Mack is going to be paying for all of the damages so all's well that ends well." Rick said.

"Yes dear, thank you so much." His wife said as she hugged me.

Henry was between the two of them looking rather shy. I got on one knee and gave him a firm shake when he came forward.

"Make sure to keep watch in the future kid," I said.

He got a serious look and then went back to hug at his mother's leg.

Then I and Shelby went into the carriage and made our way back to my place we both were too tired to talk and just enjoyed the ride in silence. When I was jostled awake from the nap I was unwittingly taking I saw my warehouse out the carriage window.

I got out and waved goodbye to Shelby as the carriage pulled away from the front of my home. When I went to sleep in my hammock, a half faded memory of vast skylines filled with skyscrapers came to me. The dark streets snaking around the steel mountains were filled with various drug dispensing fountains, piles of nude bodies in varying states of sensual pleasure, unending streams of the neon powder in the sky and strobe lights pulsating against the various buildings as a vast party that had never started or ended raged on before it all faded to black.