Tribe Master 2: A Fantasy Harem Adventure Read online

  ‘Wait for what?’

  ‘I need the perfect shot…’

  The first of the sirens from the deck reached the mast and began to climb rapidly.

  The gap in the deck was still filled with snatching sirens.

  I groaned out in pain. My back felt like it was about to tear open.

  An opening appeared for mere seconds.

  ‘Arcania!’

  My final charge whipped through the air, channelling into the pit towards the deck.

  The sirens on the walls shielded their eyes from the purple flames, dropping back down to the Mossley’s deck.

  The fire slipped through the gap.

  A single screech bellowed out from an unseen siren, and a moment of silence followed, then-

  BOOM.

  The explosion below deck sent splintering wood in every direction. The sirens’ shrieks were drowned out completely, and a profound ringing coursed through my ears.

  The wreckage of the Mossley had been through a lot, but now it finally relented against the barrage of collapsing and breaking and beating.

  The entire carcass of the ship exploded and crashed down into the depths of the pit.

  The heat and the force of the blast was unbelievable.

  I couldn’t hold on with one hand any longer – the power stone slipped from my hand as I adjusted my grip on the rope.

  ‘NO!’

  It fell in slow motion – and a blue hand reached out and grabbed it.

  Elera thrust it into the pocket of my pants then took a hold of me once more as the rope retracted, bringing us out of the caves.

  ‘HEAVE!’

  Ariadne’s voice sounded out from above through the ringing in my ears.

  Before the final pull I chanced a look down into the pit.

  It looked a lot more like hell now. The flaming wreckage of the ship had landed upon the pursuing sirens below, taking almost all out.

  A few howls remained, but they were drifting into nothingness in the tunnels that we had escaped, receding into the dark.

  Elera and I reached the peak of the pit and clambered up. The mud had dispersed and sank into the earth since the collapse of the ship, but there was still a thin layer that we had to drag ourselves through.

  We pulled ourselves up and into the swamp. Only a little of the mud remained, but not enough to stop us in our tracks. The rope gave, but instead we were greeted by two hands – one belonging to Ariadne, the other to Lara.

  I staggered onto the path by Elera’s side and fell onto my back. Elera and my wives did the same, panting and groaning with the aftershock of the effort.

  Everything ached, but I was alive.

  We all were.

  ‘We thought you were dead,’ Ariadne said, she and Lara pushing messily to my side and wrapping their arms around my tightly.

  ‘How the hell did you survive all of that?’ Lara asked.

  ‘A little help. This is Elera.’

  I heard a cough from behind me and looked back to see five of the expedition crew brushing themselves down, with Mavis, of all people, coiling up the very rope that I had been clinging to moments ago.

  ‘So that’s how you managed to get me out of there,’ I panted. Seven of them working together had brought us up. ‘I know you don’t like visitors, Mavis, but I appreciate you… You know, saving my life and everything.’

  ‘You have gotten rid of those bastard sirens,’ Mavis said. ‘For that I could afford you at least one favour.’

  Chapter Six

  ‘My friend! You are looking a little worse for wear than you were this morning. I told you not to go into that place.’

  ‘Believe me, Captain Archie, I’ve learned my lesson.’

  ‘And I see that you have made a new friend.’

  ‘Just get us back to the cove, Cap.’

  ‘Very well. The currents are not too strong, which acts in our favour, but we are heading upstream, so all will need to grab an oar.’

  Night had fallen, and I had no desire to hang around near the Black Patch any longer than I needed to. Even if I was exhausted, even if I was injured and covered in blood, fish guts and dirt, I still helped Cap turn the boat and began sweeping at the water with an oar the moment we had our heading.

  Together we fought against the waters until we arrived back at Ichabod’s Cove. By the hundreds of torches that lit the community at night, I led my group of girls back to The Drunken Steed.

  The troll doorman had grown used to our presence by now, but given our dirtied appearances he shot us a sceptical look before stepping aside and letting us into the building.

  It wasn’t as chaotic as the night Alorion had brought the house down, but the place was still bustling. The moment Rook saw us he nodded and ushered me into a storeroom behind the bar while the girls headed upstairs.

  ‘I hope I haven’t let your little group head upstairs without rent being paid,’ Rook started. ‘You look like you’ve been through hell, kid.’

  ‘You could say that,’ I remarked.

  ‘Smell like it, too.’

  ‘You got a bath somewhere?’

  ‘There’s a private yard upstairs with a tub and a well out the back. Small spot but it does the job.’

  ‘Music to my ears.’

  ‘A successful trip?’

  I brought up the trading window and dropped 17 bottles of Old Molly into my side, holding on to 3 for myself. The girls had transferred them over to me on the journey back.

  The moment Rook saw what I had to offer, his eyes went as wide as I had ever seen.

  ‘By the gods… Where did you get this?’

  ‘Bit of a stupid question, isn’t it? You told me where to find it.’

  ‘Well, yeah, but… I didn’t think it would be real.’

  ‘You mean you sent me out there without knowing if this was anything more than rumors yourself?’

  ‘What can I say? I’m a gambling man.’

  ‘Me too. I just try not to gamble with other people’s lives.’

  ‘Hey, it’s done, and you’re alive. Do we have a deal or not?’

  I looked Rook up and down, then placed the additional 1300 GP I owed into my side. Even after that, I had 5392GP in my pocket.

  A few seconds later, two items appeared in exchange for the liquor and gold.

  Deeds to The Drunken Steed – Apartment Annex

  Apartment Annex Key

  I pressed accept, and everything changed hands.

  ‘A good deal,’ Rook said. ‘I told you, real estate in the cove is a fortune to come by these days. Nobody’s selling.’

  ‘That’s why I wanted it so much,’ I said. ‘I need an outpost out here. Somewhere to store things or take a break in the event that we’re moving items and products through.’

  ‘And to look after those many, many lady-friends of yours.’ Rook raised an eyebrow suggestively.

  ‘Yeah, I think the conversation’s done here,’ I said, turning and heading back to the bar. ‘Pleasure doing business, Rook.’

  ‘And you, tribe master.’

  I headed upstairs, pulling off my burdensome equipment on the way up. There was a small door down the hall from the apartment, opening onto a tiny yard with a surprisingly unused bath occupying it, just as Rook had said. I washed myself down with the supply of water from the well, getting most of the dirt off my skin, and picked up my belongings.

  By the time I had reached the room, Ariadne and Lara were already dozing to sleep on the bed. They had stripped off most of their dirty clothes. Nearby a fire had been lit, and Elera was sleeping close to it.

  Lola was the only one who wasn’t asleep. She was seated in the small balcony that overlooked the cove, and turned to look over at me as I entered and closed the door quietly.

  ‘Good evening,’ she said.

  ‘Evening. You don’t want to sleep?’

  ‘It has been some time since I have looked out over the beauty of the land. I am tired, but I wish to drink it in a little longer.’

>   I took up a seat next to her and relaxed for a moment.

  ‘You are a very strange man,’ she said.

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘You risk your life doing things that many others wouldn’t dream of.’

  ‘I just had a similar conversation downstairs. Sure, I take gambles, but only with my own life, and only when the reward will pay off.’

  ‘The reward?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘And what reward is worth your life?’

  ‘The one that keeps my people safe. The one that allows me to build defenses and better resources. I only allow people into my tribe who I can trust. Otherwise I might wake up with a knife sticking into my neck one day.’

  ‘Such is the nature of power,’ Lola said knowingly. ‘The elders of my old tribe, the one Ariadne and I belonged to, have a madora.’

  ‘I don’t know what that means.’

  ‘It is, uhh…’ She paused, searching for the right word. ‘A phrase.’

  ‘Oh, a saying?’

  ‘If this is what you call it.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘We have a madora – it is the powerless man who sleeps most peacefully.’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Sleeping peacefully is a gift given only to those who have nothing to worry about. The powerful man with a wide-reaching empire is cursed with constant thought. He may sleep in the comfiest bed with the most beautiful women, surrounded by piles of gold, but his mind is always elsewhere; the next battle, the crop shipment, the livestock herd. Be honest with me now. Your mind is elsewhere at this present moment, is it not?’

  ‘Hey, I don’t need any analysis of my mind, all right? I respect that you’ve known Ariadne for a long time but I don’t need this.’

  ‘I do not mean to press, Jack. I have been around for a long time. I have seen how this world works.’

  ‘A long time? How long?’

  ‘I celebrate my 82nd year in a few months.’

  ‘... What? You’re 82 years old? How is that even possible? You don’t look a day over 50.’

  ‘We do not age the way you humans do. However, I appreciate the compliment. That said, let me say now that I have no interest in lying with you.’

  ‘Lying with me?’

  ‘Having sex.’

  ‘What? Oh, no, no - I didn’t mean anything like that.’

  ‘You are a little too young for me.’

  ‘And you’re... Well, no, you’re not too old for me, but... Well, no, you are, but I don’t mean that in an insulting way…’

  Lola raised an eyebrow at me and finally cracked a smile, following it up with a hearty laugh.

  ‘So, tell me - what are you thinking about now?’

  I exhaled deeply.

  ‘I’m thinking that I’ve got a job for you, if you want it. How are you with animals?’

  ‘I am... Reasonable. I enjoy working outside, so anything of such a nature that you have upon your land is something that I can assist with.’

  ‘That’s good enough for me.’

  She nodded at me and smiled. We shook hands, and I accepted Lola into my tribe.

  ‘If I’m being honest with you I didn’t think that you’d say no. Not because it’s better than the expedition, but because Ariadne would sooner kill you than let you out of her sight. She doesn’t get emotional, but she told me about what happened to your tribe. I promised her that we’d follow any leads that led to your people, and that’s what I plan on doing.’

  ‘I appreciate that. You are a kind man. When you jumped onto that old ship I deemed you reckless, but now I see that we could not have found a better master than you. Ariadne was distraught when she thought you were dead. You may think that she does not let her emotions get the better of her, but when you fell into that pit she almost went running after you. If I had not stopped her I fear she may have.’

  I smiled and looked over at Ariadne. She and Lara were sleeping peacefully on the bed.

  ‘I think that I shall join them in sleep, master.’

  ‘Already with the master?’

  ‘I follow rules by the book. In my 82 years I have learned that if we do not have order, all things fall apart. I am old enough to remember the war and its full effects, and have no desire to repeat such things.’

  ‘Take the sofa,’ I said.

  ‘Are you sure, master?’

  ‘Yes. I’m going to have a drink downstairs.’

  She stretched out on the couch and was asleep within minutes. Elera was still curled by the fire, sleeping peacefully.

  There was no way that we could stay here. First thing in the morning we were going to head back to the land.

  In the meantime, I headed down to the bar and ordered a drink from Rook. I took up Lara’s usual seat in the shadows of the corner and settled in. I needed a moment of peace after the day’s events. There was enough room in the bed upstairs to fit me, but things were becoming crowded up there and it seemed a little weird with Elera and, more so, Lola, in the room.

  I told myself that I would head back upstairs soon, but after a few more drinks the bar began to go quiet, and with it so did my mind.

  I drifted off in the steady din of the place, and suddenly it was seven hours later and I was being shaken awake in the morning light that flowed in through the windows.

  ‘Jack. Jack.’

  My eyes flicked open, and with a stiff neck I looked up to see Rook.

  ‘Shit... Sorry for falling asleep down here.’

  ‘I don’t care about that.’

  ‘Do you ever go to sleep?’

  ‘A few hours. Never needed a lot. One of your women just ran through the bar.’

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘Not Lara. The blue one.’

  Shit.

  ‘Where did she go?’

  ‘Didn’t see. Heard a splash, though. It’s still quiet out. If she’s gone for a morning swim I’d get her out of their fast. Folks round here don’t take kindly to people swimming in the bay.’

  I thanked him and jumped up from my seat, hurrying to the door and out into the early sunlight.

  I hadn’t drunk enough to be hungover, but heading out so quickly had me squinting and left me with a brutal headache.

  I scanned the water the whole way down to the dock. It wasn’t Elera that I saw first, but the commotion that she had caused. At the eastern end of the dock, just beyond where Arabelle was parked with the cart, there were two sailors looking into the water and laughing hysterically.

  ‘How about you come up here and wrap those blue lips around my cock, nymph?’

  ‘I get her first. Like I want your seconds on me after you’ve finished in her.’

  I approached quickly, keeping a few yards between myself and them.

  Looking into the water, I found Elera bathing herself. She seemed to be ignoring the men, and it was only making them more agitated.

  ‘Answer me, blue bitch,’ one of the sailors said.

  ‘Hey, get the fuck out of here,’ I shouted, pushing the closest sailor into the other.

  ‘Fuck you, peasant. What are you going to do if I don’t?’

  I may have been groggy, but the prospect of an oncoming fight always woke me up.

  ‘How about I cut your fucking heads off?’ I shouted, instantly retrieving my long sword and readying it in my hand. ‘It’ll probably me more action than both of you assholes have had in a lifetime.’

  The sailors both staggered back. It was early morning and obvious that they were both drunk.

  They exchanged a look and took off quickly back up the dock, muttering under their breaths.

  Once they were out of range I put my sword away and headed to the edge of the dock.

  ‘Sorry you had to hear that.’

  ‘Hear what?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. What are you doing down there?’

  ‘I need water.’

  Elera dipped beneath the water abruptly for a few seconds, then asce
nded again with her head back, brushing her dark hair behind her head. It was like a shot from a fragrance ad.

  ‘Look,’ I said. ‘You need to be careful. You can’t just go running through the cove and diving into the water.’

  ‘But I am drawn to it.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I can find the water, even when I cannot see it. Either way, I must be near the waters of the land in order to keep my mind and my body in good health. I am a nymph, after all.’

  ‘Okay… Just be careful.’

  ‘I will stay hidden.’

  ‘Good. We’re leaving in half an hour, okay?’

  ‘Yes, Tall-man.’

  By the time I got back to the apartment, my wives and Lola were already dressed and ready to go.

  I assigned Lara to look after Elera, then gave Ariadne and Lola some of the tribe’s funds to go in search of potato and carrot seeds from the early morning vendors.

  I locked up the apartment and we split up. I had one destination in mind, a place I had only been to once before.

  The den with the moonseed users hidden within the rock face wasn’t as busy as it had been when Lara and I had first visited. I made the route through the rocky hideaway and up to the door where the necromancer resided who had first taught me how to perform Arcane Blast.

  I knocked and waited. Nothing. Another knock.

  ‘Ughh… Who is it?’

  ‘Jack Hawthorne. You helped me out with a spell a few weeks back.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘For you to provide your services. Why else would I come into this temple of virtue?’

  ‘Gods… Fine. Just give me a few minutes.’

  I folded my arms and leaned against the wall by the door. Ten minutes and a lot of shuffling from within had passed when the door finally creaked open.

  ‘What the hell were you doing in th-… Oh, I’m sorry…’

  Instead of the necromancer I was greeted by two female elves who ducked under the doorway, towering above me. Admittedly they were pretty hot; both were dressed in nothing but their underwear beneath thin coats that hung shamelessly from their shoulders, exposing lingerie that hugged their firm breasts and thin waists.

  ‘Hi,’ I smiled dryly. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Well,’ one smiled.

  ‘You come here often?’

  ‘Regularly,’ the other said.