After a rexing night at the mansion, which was excellent for destressing, and made a mockery of the fact we were fighting a war, although once we finally started peing deeper into Myid Territory we would likely have to camp out in enemy nds, we moved through the Seelie Court to the border a couple of miles further along, and started our attad sample colle once more.

  Initially the fungal forest responded just as previously, giant aggressive pnts and other beasts responding to our intrusion, the numbers rapidly esg until the forest seethed with them, but after just a few hours we started seeing Myid Scouts.

  “They would have to respond more quickly to our attack this time uhey are idiots.” I told Shaeu as I unched aone sniper shell through the trees, exploding the Scout I had spotted. Meanwhile, Shaeu swung her one pihe other left back at the Fae Stones, seg aest-subject for Hyath) and the whining wire, shimmering with green and yellow energies, sliced through another Myid effortlessly, the smell of charred mushroom filling the air along with its spores. At their deaths the surrounding wooded inte.

  “Die-die, you treacherous scum.” Shaeu smirked, finding immeisfa in sying the Myid and its monstrous troops. Even so she was not done, and trees fell around us as she swept a clearing free of enemies, ether scattering around us.

  “Careful, don’t get too excited, you nearly chopped me up too!” I joked, but I had ducked under her swings iy of time.

  “Su attack ot-not phase you now.” She grinned. “Look, more pany!”

  “Yeah, I see them!” Fmes roared free, and this time I decided to use Foehn. Corrupted trees spotted with mushrooms, toadstools, fungus and worse erupted into fmes, the liquid bze spreading into the onrushing hordes, turning them into living torches, where they bumped into others, spreading tongues of greedy fire. Soon a rge stretch of forest several-hundred metres across was an o of bziru. “Sweet, there’s that level-up I knew was ing. Fifty-Three now.”

  “We should-should retreat!” Shaeu decred. “The heat here is unbearable!”

  “Yeah, Foehn in a forest is devastating. Still, I won’t use it often.” Too much ce of it destroying aherites that might be lurking around. I’m greedy. “Also, notice how the fires seem strained? Everything is giving off spores as they burn, and they seem to be slowly choking the area the Foehn is spreading too…”

  As we retreated, we crossed paths with Grulgor once more. He raised his dripping ma a salute, before heading off to find further prey to destroy. “Well, it’s too soon to retreat yet.” I observed, watg him go with a surprising fondness for the insane brute. He’s been with me almost as long as Shaeu has, and while we haven’t spent much time together, I guess I see him as one of my own now. I just hope when we finally meet Duke Formor we work things out.

  “Indeed, we should cause more destru, wear-wear them down!” Shaeu approved. Massive truck-sized wooden hedgehogs, with narrow, spear-like fungal towers instead of spines, were shuffling towards us through the treeline, and behind them I could see more Myids, including oh a red-and-white spotted head, carrying a long, gaff.

  “That one’s new.” I observed. Myid Shepherd [Dark Fae] was its description in my Eye. “Oh well, the more we take out now, the less we have to fight ter.”

  It was then that arrows made from living mushrooms were fired as us from two dires, and I realised that the wily Myids had ambushed us. Shaeu called on her Emerald Wind Prison, surrounding us with a whirling dome before the arrows could pierce us, and they exploded, filling the area with a b of spores so dense and toxic they were actually visible, through the wind quickly swept them away.

  Myid Ranger [Dark Fae] was the title of our attackers, and I could see as many as a dozen surrounding us, smaller, wiry mushroom-people with giant limbs resembling tree roots, pulling ba strangely shaped bows, the arrows sprouting from their very bodies. As the remains of her barrier died down, Shaeu spped me on the back, signalling her i.

  “All right, I’ll take the Rangers, you stop the hedgehogs!” I called to her, and she responded, just as the wooden hogs began to unch the mushrooms from their backs like artillery, explosions around us intense, acidic slime spttering everywhere. I called on wind and rock walls, fending off the worst, and rushed the first batch ers, elling a little fire into one of the pistols Ixitt made for me. The first ranger released its dying spores, then a sed. I was clipped by an arrow, but the mail held, proteg the rubber suit underh.

  “Burn, vile Unseelie pawns!” Shaeu yelled, feeding fme energy into her wind-weasels until they glowed like the sun and grew to a giant size, as thick as her own torso. I see Shaeu is growing strooo. Nice. Showered by debris from the artillery she stood her ground, and then the fming weasel-headed serpents of wind and fire surged forwards. The first hedgehog burst apart, the sed bored through. The third was beheaded, and the strands of fming air split apart then, her trol exquisite, f a cage that quickly surrouhe Shepherd, slig and crushing it to death.

  “I have to keep up…” I elled Aether, expanding my vision, like I had done a few times in the past. I felt quite the headache, but pared to before my enhahought-processes could ha. Seeing the position of the enemies, I exploded the grouh them, and the air was thick with the stench of their deaths. Twers and a Scout were fleeing, but with bullets of wind and stohey did not make the safety of the trees. A couple of the Scouts did make it out though, and over there… Myid Observer [Dark Fae] was watg us from a fair distance away. This one was mottled blue and white, with a single bck orb set in the fungal-cap that was its head.

  It's a bit of a long shot, but… f another roiper, I unleashed it. the Myid was moving as soon as it saw me preparing an attack, and it almost dodged, though it mao survive, only an arm and a leg being ripped apart by the forpact. It didn’t escape the sed shot though.

  “I think we should retreat!” Shaeu cried, the spores driving the surrounding forest mad. Even some of the fungus-ied trees were starting to attack us, roots breaking from the mould-crusted soil beh us and trying to snare us, reminding me a little of Hyath.

  “Yeah, we’ll regroup. How are your elemental reserves?” I asked, busily h up the spoils of our battle, verting around a quarter to aether to keep me topped up, the rest going to my Territory.

  “I tinue for longer!” Shaeu insisted, bag up her words by whipping her pinwheel bad forth, severing roots. As oree colpsed, ripping up the dead earth, I caught a glimpse of a glitter of green. “Damn, a greeherite! Jackpot!” Trusting Shaeu to cover me, I leapt for it, elliher to pull it to my hand.

  “So greedy!” Shaeu snorted, wind drills bsting a path back through the thick mass of enemies.

  “You know it! I have big pns. Right, let’s split.”

  ********

  “Well, that was fun.” I breathed out heavily through the respirator, not fetting to top up the wind energy within the drained cartridges for the gas-mask.

  “Hardly.” Shaeu sniffed, her armour so soaked with green gore and covered in fibrous pnt material, you could almost mistake her for a shambling mound herself. Though I doubt I look much better.

  She tinued, looking down at the small, brackish pool of slime-filled water that would no doubt have beeiful, long ago. “I hate the filth here already and it has barely-barely been two days. This is not a fit pce for a princess.”

  She was holding an e Etherite she had retrieved from the vile muck. Passing it to me sourly, she sat down, catg a moment of rest. We had been fighting across various shallow parts of the forest for hours now. Several times we crossed paths with Grulgor, and his armour was starting to accumute damage, as he too had been ambushed, and sadly uo kill most of the Myids, who were crafty and attacked with traps and ranged assaults. The st time, I had sent him back to Ixitt so he could have field-repairs.

  “I get it.” I rubbed her sodden head, though through her hood and my gloved hand there was little fort there. “I’m just gd Eri and my sis aren’t here for this battle. They’ll have to fight eventually, but… not here.”

  Shaeu nodded. “Indeed. Hinata as well. Motoko and Natsumi too-too. Kazumi will wish to protect Hinata here also, I expect.”

  I held in a sigh. “I’m still a little cut up about that. But… I guess there’s no point looking backwards. As for Motoko and Natsumi. I’ll not make the same mistake again. I’ll talk to them, their family, our family, and do what’s right, and more importantly, what I want.” The rustling of the trees around us was growing more intense. “Oh well, that’s for ter. Looks like break time is over.”

  Hordes of giant ivorous pnts were rushing our way, the numbers seemingly endless as always. Though in the back I could see a pair of Shepherds, their sticks shining with a dark, corrupted energy, very remi of Hyath when she was using her Weal and Woe during our initial csh, before I saved her. Around them the nd withered, trees turning to dust, but then horrific thors cmbered out of the ground as if being birthed, bears, wolves, hedgehogs and worse.

  “No wohey never seem to run dry.” I charged forwards, the Twin Fangs in my hand cutting and slig through a bear-beast. Briars fell around me, and suddenly I was caged is exploding into jagged thorns that were aiming for me like a twisted iron maiden.

  rick. Sadly I’ve seen this one already today… I hurled the twin fangs, aether speeding them on their way, and one Shepherd fell, cut in half by the spatial rending. The sed dodged, only for Shaeu to s, a wind bullet blowing a hole in its torso.

  Wind and fme bined, cirg me like a series of cutting rings, and I pushed through, dying pnts screaming soundlessly all around me, spores puffing into motes of fme. Grabbing my thrown swords, we cut our way through, finally heading back towards the edge of the forest…

  ********

  “he box of Etherites now taihree yellow ones as well as the green I had grabbed earlier. Ixitt was fussing with the cracked and twisted vacuum, Hyath bowing and sobbing. She had taken her mask off and her hood was down, so I could clearly see the tears running down her cheeks.

  “Hyath didn’t mean tooo!” she insisted. “The mae is sooo weak, it just broke!” she went to sm her head into the ground, but Shaeu stopped her, a surprising act of generosity from her towards the former Unseelie. As Hyath looked at her with teary eyes, deg that “Any servant whooo destroys masters’ property is a bad, wooorthless servant!”, Shaeu shook her head, her freed amber locks flowing in the gentle breeze of the Seelie Court. e to think of it, there is little to no breeze in the Boundary, but here the weather seems somehow more… normal, even if it is always twilight due to the moon overhead.

  “If you do this, you will just-just upset Akio. He does not-not wish you to hurt yourself. Besides, we uand this is a hard task. But a vital one! Akio is relying on you.”

  “Yes, master is needing Hyath!” she decred, her mood as geable as ever, tears fading and mad smile returning. “I dooo it, I will”

  I gave Shaeu a thumbs-up, and she grinned back at me, exhausted from the series of brutal running battles we had ehe end of the sed day of fighting was drawing to a close, even Grulgreat stamina having failed him. Still, we had a lot to show for it.

  Firstly, levels and loot. I got a sed level-up, it seems Myids give det xp. It’s still WAY slower than before I hit fifty, but at least it is still climbing. In terms of ether, we’ve mao gather a fair few Etherites, and we must have sent tens of thousands of ether back to the Territory over these st two days. That was nice, but what was more important was the intel we had gaihe pnt-creatures were seemingly endless, but it was the Myids, or more precisely the Shepherds, that were creating them, and to do so seemed to exhaust their corrupted forest. So eventually they’d have to run out, not that I want that sort of endless war of attritioe the rewards.

  “The Myids still don’t sider us a real threat.” I mused. “Sure, their attacks are growing fiercer, and they are itting greater o each ambush, but still, it must only be bare fras of their numbers. It makes sense, as we are only peing shallowly into their nds, but still. Something doesn’t sit quite right with their strategy.”

  “Perhaps they are simply surprised we have not-not yet succumbed to the vile spores they spread, and are waiting for that death to cim us? We are also not-not threatening their heartnds, around the Spring and the Inner Groves.” Shaeu mused. Grulgor was silent, this talk b him, and Hyath was busy capering around. Ixitt, still engrossed in fixing the vacuum, offered his opinion though.

  “It may well be that.” He agreed with Shaeu. “Also, sider that we are few in number, and though you are powerful, they must be fident that were you to advaoo far, they could easily surround and crush you. At present, we are just annoyahat will ge if this persists, I am sure. Hmm…” he peered at the cracked gss before adding some strange sealing liquid from his supply bag. “… that should fix it.”

  “It just seems so wasteful of life, letting the Myids face us a few at a time.” I sighed.

  “Unseelie and their allies are such vile fiends that lives, eveheir own, mean nothing to them!” Shaeu asserted. “Do not-not try and uand them, for it is futile!”

  No, I think there is more to it than just reckless disregard for the lives of their fellows. Oh well, we are still in the probing stages. “So, Hyath, you move the spores, even without being able to see them?” I ged the subject. Hyath jumped up to attention, pushing out her chest proudly.

  “Yes, I move them bato the gss ball! I knooow because when Ixitt turns the knobs I see them! But… Hyath breaks masters’ property, her trol is bad! I’m sooorry!” She started sniffling again.

  “There, there, it’s all right! You cleared the stage! Tomorrow, you’ll try the third part of my pn.”

  “I am curious as to hoe will deal with the endless numbers.” Shaeu asked. I hadn’t really expined Hyaths’ role to her, but now it was time. “Sooner or ter we will be overwhelmed, unless you have a ing-ing pn indeed.”

  “Well, it’s not so much ing as cruel as hell, and totally against the Geneva Protocol. I guess I’m moving up from killer to war criminal.” At the straerm they all looked puzzled. “Let’s just say, tomorrow… Hyath, I want you to make spores!” The praded Kobolds are in for a terrible time indeed…

  “Make them? How does that help-help us?” Shaeu cocked her head, eyeing me quizzically. I was about to answer when Ixitt barked a ugh, a sound I was still getting used to, since his hag, bloody cough was healed.

  “I get it. Ingenious. Frightening. Dreadful!” he chortled. “Truly, it is no wohe Fae were driven from the mortal realms, with minds like yours there.” He grinned, bearing his teeth. “It isn’t that he wants to make spores to kill us, he wants Hyath to ge them so they kill them! It’s bsphemous, vile, but somehow so very pragmatic.” He shivered them, tail shing. “I simply must be part of this. Unseelie nature arts from Hyath, mortal knowledge and sce, and devices I have helped create! I thought these masks and suits were the pinnaortal Engineering, but how foolishly na?ve I rincess, your sort is someone I truly respect. Just for you, he will wipe out aire race of Unseelie!”

  “Hyath must do what nooow?” she asked, but I waved her to silence. Shaeu was looking at me, her expression solemn, and I o give her my attention now.

  “That is quite-quite the pn.” Shaeu said slowly. She stepped in to me and grasped my hand. “Does that not-not hurt your sce, Akio? I know you are quite-quite kind and prefer your eo bee your friends. Would this dreadful art not-not wound you? I do not-not wish for that.”

  Pulling her into a hug, I held her close, taking a deep breath, smelling the st of her. “Yeah, it doesn’t feel good, but… look at it. Their very existence spreads death. I don’t think we e to a peaceful solution. I have other pns too, some of which we might have to use, but… if they surrender and abandon the Spring, I won’t pursue them. Depending on what happens when the Boundary merges with the Astral and our world is imperilled by invaders, I may have to do worse to defend us. So I’ll learn now and desensitise myself. Just… I need you and Eri, and Hinata now too, I guess, to make sure I don’t go too far, and start doing cruelty without reason, being that which we are fighting against.”

  “Do not-not worry. I shall never allow that. Nor will Eri, or Akio, or your family and friends. I grieve that I am burdening you with this-this. But…” her eyes grew soft, and she kissed me, Hyath looking on enviously. As we parted, our saliva still moist on each other’s lips, she sighed. “… it is necessary, you are right. I have never been in a true-true war with the Unseelie, or the Wild Hunt, but I know you must be ruthless, lest you lose all you love.” She perked up then. “Tonight, in bed I shall spoil you greatly, so your mind a are at-at ease!”

  “Hyath toooooo!” she whined, and I thought Shaeu would shoot her down as usual, but she surprised me.

  “You have not-not ear yet. Do what Akio needs and… well, good servants get rewards, do they not-not?”

  “Mistress is kind!” Hyath was taken aback, used to Shaeu treating her harshly. At my stunned gaze, Shaeu shrugged.

  “What does-does it matter if you give her a reward? I am not-not asking you to marry her. Even Eri could not-not pin about some harmless love shown to a servant who works dark miracles for you. It is not-not as though Hyath will steal any of her time, is it?”

  “I think you’d be surprised at how badly Eri would pin, but…” Actually, Eri has been taking things better than I thought she would retly. She surprised me with Hinata. Even so, I’m not going to give in just because Shaeu is pushing me. Not this time. I do learn from my mistakes, albeit slowly. So if I don’t want to do it, I won’t! I sidered Hyath carefully. She had shed her mail, but was still wearing the rubber suit. It g to her ample curves and slender legs, and her beautiful face with her strange eyes and hair was like a work of art. She’s certainly beautiful. She reminds me of Shiro a little, though even Hyath doesn’t reach her heights. So the question was, would I want to sleep with Hyath, not just to reward her, but because I wao have sex with her as well? If I didn’t want to, then I wouldn’t, that was my new-found resolve.

  Under my lard Hyath blushed, shifting awkwardly, her arms hugging her amble breasts shyly. “Master, sooo lewd.” She grinned. “But a brownie o warm the bed and relieve him ooof his cares!”

  “Eri has to agree. I’m not going behind her bay more, even if it is just a casual thing.” I said finally. I ’t deny it. I’m a healthy man, and of course I wonder what making love to a beauty like Hyath is like. Every otaku dreams of having a maid service him, and Hyath is the hottest maid there is. Still, it isn’t like I’m a beast, I could resist the temptation easily enough. Eri and Shaeu satisfy me plenty, and iure Hinata will join them. “I feel pretty lousy right now, having to admit my own selfishness, that I would even sider another woman for pleasure when I already have you and Eri. I like to think… I like to think if I had held fast to just Eri, I’d never sider cheating on her. But… now I’ve had you, Shaeu, and in time Hinata, I guess… fuck, I don’t know what I mean. I could easily justify it to myself by saying I o do this for a reward, so it isn’t cheating, just like I did with Hinata, getting pushed into it. But no. I’ll own this, and I’ll do whatever Eri wants to make it up to her, assuming she even allows me in the first pce. I o make it clear to her, this isn’t something she o agree to, it's entirely up to her sd mine. I like Hyath, and she’s attractive, and it’s o be desired, it makes me feel good, but I’m more than happy to find another way to reward her.” I paused, my jumbled thoughts a mess. “Though I admit, I definitely do want to reward Hyath for the horrible task I’m making her do. Even so, I could hardly bme her if Eri went and cheated on me iurn. I’ve ly kept my promises to her. Even suggesting this to her will hurt her. In fact, maybe it’s a bad idea after all, I should fet it…”

  “You think too-too much. But I believe it is progress. You are at st being ho. As for Eri, she will never seek another male. After all, you have kept your oath to her, to make her happy. And that happiness will st forever, and is too precious to keep all-all to ourselves.” Shaeu patted my head gently, her small hand stroking my hair, just as I often did to her when she was sad or stressed. “Now, shall we return? I must keep-keep my word and heal your weary body and soul!”

  At that I could only smile. War criminal. Murderer. Cheater. Damn, I thought I was the hero of this story, but maybe I’m actually the vilin?

  ********

  After quite the night in bed with Shaeu, where she was more seductive and eic than usual, I did feel better. The maids in the mansion were still a pain as always, but we headed out for the border as phis time, Hyath and Ixitt set up outside the Fae Stones, as there was no way we’d be dug these potentially fatal experiments that could cause widespread ination inside.

  “It is very hard to dooo, master!” Hyath panted, once more in full gear. Her efforts had just left the grassy field looking like a warzone, deg vines fading bato nothingness piled everywhere amidst the tround.

  “Don’t worry about it.” I reassured her. “We are still in the early stages. Keep at it.” Turning to Ixitt, I advised him to tinue sug in the air aroutempts, and when she finally mao create some spores, they could be tested on one of the poor kobolds, to see if the spores were as virulent as the ohe Myids use. “All right then.” I said to Shaeu. “Shall we go into battle again? This time I want to go a little deeper, scout harder. Obviously we o gather resources, but the aim should be to kill as many Myids as possible. We o thin out their numbers if we are to win this guerril war. I also have some hypothesis to test that may help us ter.”

  As we raced into eerritory we immediately came utack. Grulgor had gone before us and was likely riling them up, but as I attacked with bsts of my freshly replenished wind and fme, turning ps into so much chopped and burned wreckage, it took my mind off what a bastard I was being, even thinking about Hyath in that way. Seriously, father would be so disappointed iill, I’ve not done anythi, although, the minute I seriously sidered having Hyath, no matter the reason, I crossed the line. Fuck, screw it, I’m going to transfer all my rage and self-loathing to the Myids…