The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

Chapter 53: Welcome Home

(Monday, July 19th Game Day / Monday, March 8th Real Day)

A week had passed, a real week, by the time I finally came within viewing distance of Dragon's Breach. It had been a long journey despite the short distance of it all, a hundred miles shouldn't have taken me more than ten hours by myself… the problem, were the bovines. They were slow, unbearably so.

Stopping to rest every so often plus their slow walking pace made for an arduous journey, thankfully it was finally over. In between the rest breaks I hunted small game here and there, but for the most part it was mindless walking, daydreaming or reading the news. Heck, I even had the time to watch videos with the in-game browser… a truly uneventful trip by all accounts.

I had finally reached my destination, and well, it was good to be home.

Opening up my friend's list, there was a secondary window that contained my companions that I could communicate with, as long as a Soul Link had been achieved. Thus far I had only met those requirements with Selene, which left the list rather empty. My friend's list was fairly empty too though, with Ellieby, Barik, Alan, and Ethan the only ones on it. A short list sure, but a quality one.

I preferred quality over quantity, anyhow.

"Hey Selene, are you free to lend a hand?" I messaged telepathically, as it differed slightly from communicating with actual players. "I'm just south of the village now."

A few seconds passed before I heard Selene's voice, as she asked with slight hesitation, "ah, Sigurd is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," I replied out loud, despite not needing to.

"Um, do you require significant assistance?" she questioned almost immediately.

"A hand or two would suffice," I said, realizing that I didn't actually need a hand after all. "I can manage if you're busy, it would just speed things up."

Nothing but silence came from her end as the birds continued to chirp off to the side and slightly above me in the trees. The sounds of the river were quite loud at this time of the year, no doubt related to the rising temperatures and recent rain fall, yet even if that was all I could hear, it was a pleasant thing.

I missed these moments, out here in nature.

Peace and quiet, free of human interference as far as the eye could see… well, so long as you weren't looking at Dragon's Breach. But, that was my territory, and since that was the case, it didn't quite count, it wasn't the same.

Yeah, this was home.

"I'll be right there," replied Selene after a minute or two had passed, much to my surprise. For a moment, I figured she was ignoring me… I had been gone for a while after all, it wouldn't be unheard of for her and Katherine to be upset with me. Leaving them in charge of managing the village while I played at being an adventurer wasn't exactly fair to them, but I was the one in charge!

So, hah!

About half a mile out from the village, the figure of a woman started to develop on my visual horizon. A few minutes later, and Selene was not only fully visible but within shouting distance as well.

Raising my voice a bit, I yelled out, "Selene! Come to welcome me, have you?"

She continued to walk in silence as her hips sashayed from side to side, a feminine walk, clearly practiced to perfection yet one that didn't help her lack of curves. That wasn't to say that Selene had no sex appeal, but flaunting nonexistent curves wasn't the way to do it. Well, that's why I bought her a nice little gift.

I could help her out in that regard.

"Sir Sigurd… to welcome you, you say," she said with a bit of attitude. Tilting her head slightly to the side as she placed her hands on her hips, she offered her rebuttal.

"You were the one that requested assistance, lest you've forgotten, so soon."

As she continued to meander on over, I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true," I said with a grin.

As she stopped in front of me, I reciprocated and slowed my pace to a halt.

She stared at me in an odd way, as if she were expecting something.

Standing there silently, waiting for me to do something.

Ah, maybe.

Taking a step forward and leaning in slightly, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in, embracing her quickly and planting my lips on hers with a swiftness that denied the possibility of retreat. She had no intention of retreating or pulling back anyway, as she relaxed in my arms and succumbed to my advance.

After breaking off for a chance to breathe, she nudged me as she returned a hug.

She whispered softly, "you sure know how to make a girl wait."

"I'm worth the wait," I replied with a coy smile.

Pushing me slightly, she stepped back and turned to look over the caravan that was in tow. Three cows and a bull, plus seven curious looking fuzz balls of liveliness that could melt any sentient creature's heart. There was also a mound of furs and hides piled high on top of my make-shift sled, though I figured that wasn't very important to her.

The kittens were of course, the singular focus, as they instantly caught her eye. As she focused her gaze on them and forgot all about me, I felt a little jealous.

I wanted to continue where we had left off, but the kittens were winning.

Pulling her back in, I put my arms around her waist and tried to get her attention, but she wasn't having any of it. She didn't break her gaze from the forest cats that were perched on the back of the cows, clearly more interested in what I brought, than me, myself. That was a little depressing, in itself.

"You can wait," she said after pushing me aside. "I'm more than worth it."

Ah, I guess my attempt to be coy, backfired.

I laughed, silently in my head, so as to ensure that I wouldn't earn her wrath or dig myself into a deeper hole. The last thing I wanted, was for the gifts to become apologetic in nature rather than as a reward and out of good faith. They were the best companions I could have asked for, and Selene was a little special at the moment.

Even if she was an NPC with an Artificial Intelligence, she was special.

They had grown on me, both of them really.

"What are these things?" she asked as she picked one up and held it in her arms.

"They're Northern Forest Cats, barely a few months old now," I answered without restraint. "Pick one, they're for you and Katherine, and the rest I'll probably breed and give out as gifts, or sell if the price is right."

Selene had started to giggle as the kitten mewed and pawed at her finger, clearly enjoying each other's company. There were a lot of ways to soften a woman's heart, and a cute and cuddly animal was one of them.

The mission, was a success.

"I get to pick one?" she asked, somewhat dubious of me as she raised an eyebrow.

"Did you want to pick two?" I countered with a grin.

"No, no… one is enough," she replied as she turned around and started to walk towards the village. "I think I'll keep him, I'll name him Mewers."

"Ah, Barkley and Mewers," I mumbled a bit as I ushered the bovines to follow. "I think, I'm beginning to understand your naming scheme now."

"Is there a problem, Sir Sigurd?"

"Ah, no, not at all Miss Selene," I said with a bit of a concealed laugh.

Yeah, there was no problem here.

Silence filled the air once more as we began to head towards the village.

"Walk slowly if you will," she said after a minute had passed. "Katherine's request, she wishes for me to slow your advance, so she can tidy up, to be presentable and what have you. It wouldn't do if you arrived too soon now."

"Is that so?" I asked with a feigned innocence. "What is that silly woman thinking."

"You very well know the answer to that," Selene replied, somewhat seriously.

"Quite right you are… I'm not really sure what to do about it."

She stopped for a second as she turned to face me, clearly wanting to make sure I heard her correctly. "If you keep pushing Kate away, I'm afraid she will lose all confidence in herself… the least you could do, well, I think you know what I mean."

What, was that supposed to mean.

Elaborate, please.

I wanted to ask, but the gist of it sounded like I should not turn her advances away and actually accept them… that, didn't sound right. Was she encouraging a harem? Was she in league with these developers, or did they code that into their personalities as a way to free up the polygamist route for players to pursue.

This was all insane to me.

As much as I wanted to though, I wouldn't dare ask her to describe to me in detail what she was requesting. She didn't seem to enjoy saying it as her face wore a complicated expression, one that seemed torn by her decision. If my intuition was right, Selene was stuck between being a good friend and wanting to monopolize me for herself, the latter of which was perfectly reasonable.

I was on the same page, until now.

Now, I was confused.

As I was busy thinking, I didn't even notice that Selene had crept up beside me.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Selene said with a devilish grin.

With the kitten in one arm, she twisted to the side and put the other arm around my neck, hooking me forward and down into her. A deep, passionate kiss followed as she took the initiative and left me speechless. Then just as quickly, with her lips near my ear, she whispered seductively, "welcome home."

I think my heart skipped a beat.

Yeah, it was good to be home.