Heading for the border we ran into a couple of weaselkin. They were wounded, one dragging a leg limply, the other with crude bandages ed around their bloody torso, the armour they were wearied and cracked. On seeing us their expressions brightened.

  “Princess! You have returned” one cried, relieved. “And the master as well-well!”

  “What is the situation here?” Shaeu asked, ed at their injuries. “Where is my Kamaitachi? Where-where are the enemies?”

  “We are making a stand by-by the shrihe weaselkin answered. “We are ferrying ons and arrows from the Armoury, since we are too-too io fight properly. As, many of us do not-not return, dying in ambush…”

  As if their words were prophetiother female wraith materialised out of the surrounding rubble, hands sharpened ihereal cws, reag for their necks. I was about to unleash my Foehn when Shaeu beat me to it, raising her hand and calling forth her own fmes. An explosion rocked the wraith, which let out a dying scream before turning to ashes and leaving behind some ether.

  I guess that Foehn was overkill then. Thinking about it, fire is usually good for purifying undead in stories. Light too, so maybe her dagger would have worked as well… As I was thinking that, the two weaselkin were looking at Shaeu, awe in their expressions. She puffed up proudly as they began to praise her, amazed she could call upon the fire despite being a Fae of wind.

  “I am not-not the princess you knew.” she crowed, enjoying their reas. “Along with my master, I have grown strong-strong indeed, as these knaves who would dare-dare intrude on our Territory and harm our subjects will no-no doubt find out!”

  “Yeah, we gloat ter. We o head to the shrine. We have to make sure your old Territory is safe too, we have a lot of Ether Spires, and more importantly, the Throhere.” I warned.

  At her nod we raced off to the shrihe weaselkin following behind us. As roached, the damage to the surroundings were magnified, and most of the streets were choked with rubble. Ahead of us a group of monstrous Orcs were gathering, several dozen strong. They seemed to be split up into three distinct groups, one group well armoured and carrying heavy swords and axes, another more lightly armroup with spears and pikes, and stly a smaller group with heavy crossbows.

  Crossbows, hmm? We could use those ourselves…

  “Pig-faced abominations.” Shaeu sneered. “Not-not even the Unseelie Court would use such brutes.”

  “Well, yeah, Japanese Orcs are rather more… uh, well let’s just say the tales they feature iher different in genre, and seldom for the dies.” I managed mely, notig that the armour of the Orcs was very… bulging… down below.

  Shaeu retrieved her pinwheels, and after charging them and the metal coils with verdant energies she sent them out, whirling at the Orcs from behind. They heard the humming and some of them turned, only to be ly bisected, armour and all, with a baleful whining of shredded metal and shattered bone.

  One of the Orcs who was better dressed than the rest, in heavier armour, carrying a massive two-handed bastard sword, tried to strike at the wires, only to look foolish as they swept away from the blow, then flitted ba, slig through his arms.

  I’d better start myself, I ’t let Shaeu hog all the glory… Leaping for the Orcs with crossbows I used aether to speed me forwards at an arming speed, and though I suffered some minor injuries as I scraped against some of the fallen rubble it was bearable. My spear thrust into the ugly pig-face of the first Ord wind discharged from the bde, detonating the head of a sed Orc behind it. Wires of wind were formed by my will and the emerald cutters shem in a corusg , aher illing free as the corpses colpsed, sliced into multiple pieces.

  “Die-die, you brutes!” Shaeu was hurling bsts of fme at the same time as trolling the pinwheels, training herself in her weaker new element, and Orc after Orc was falling. The weasels were looking on in rapt amazement as we butchered them, the fruits of our trials in Las Vegas pin to see. Soon it was all over, and I asked the weasels to carry the crossbows and as many quivers of bolts as they could. I likewise grabbed what I could hold, and with that we tinued our advance, after topping up my aether with a little of ains.

  The steps up to the shrine loomed ahead, and as we arrived we could see that more Orcs were trying to press upwards, being held back by a berserk, t figure e, wielding a pair of heavy battle-axes, one in each hand. He was also wearing a cobbled-together set of armour, ptes crudely sunken into his flesh, making him look like some sort of maniacal iron golem. Still, Grulgor sure is effective…

  “Crush you, smash you, kill you, eat you, break you, Grul will destroy you all!” He was r, his acidic spittle burning the face of two Orcs who rushed him, moments before his axes shredded them to a pulp, their corpses disappearing, leaving behind shattered metal armour aher. More and more Orcs were falling tor, until a volley of crossbow bolts were fired from groups of them on both sides of the hills, raining down on their own allies too. Most bolts bounced off his makeshift armour, but some buried themselves in his flesh, yet he seemed to hardly notice, merely tinuing to sughter those who tried to push past him.

  “One fnk each?” I asked Shaeu, and she nodded.

  “It looks like the brute handle himself, not-not that I expected him to have fallen.” she scoffed. “We shall leave-leave the butchery to him.”

  I raced to the group on the left, drills of air and bdes of wind shining prettily as they carved through the enemies, scatteriher and fallen equipment in their wake. The few survivors turned in my dire, firing at me, but wind deflected the heavy quarrels, and I was soon amidst them, finishing off the st few with my spear. This is simir to fighting the Gnolls. If they just have numbers we hahem…

  Shaeu had also finished up, her toys making her adept at ming rge groups of modest foes, and seeing her expression it made me want to try out the pinwheels myself, but as I was making them I realised I didn’t have the instinctive trol of the wind she had, so I wouldn’t be able to use them to their full potential. At least not yet. I’ll get there one day…

  Grulgor had surged doweps, the remaining Orcs throwing themselves at him only to be hacked down. On seeing us he let out a roar of greeting. “Grul says you have returhe little weasel too. Grul has held this pce, and sin many, Grul breaks all who attack us.”

  “Yeah, good job.” I approved. “But how did this happen? I know you fought a few Orcs before, but that was well away from our Territory, right?”

  “I expect this idiot has done something foolish once more.” Shaeu mocked, not getting along with Grulgor as usual. “Not-not that he would know it.”

  Ign their bickering I asked the most important question. “Where is everyone else? And why isn’t anyone guarding the Anchor?”

  Grulgor scratched his head, puzzled, dislodging some of the heavy quarrels stu his face, the flesh below bubbling up like pustules, rapidly healing. “Uh, the snake is up on the hill, along with your annoying weasel. Grul has sent his Trolls to rampage, the little pigs make food breaking.”

  “I see.” I was relieved that everyone important was still alive. Patting Grulgor on the shoulder, having to stand on tiptoes to do it, I thanked him for his hand work. With that we left him to guard the front while we bounded up the steps. As we reached the shrine courtyard I noticed that there was a line of glittering shards on the ground, f a rough circle. Curious, I bent down and touched it. They were white, pink and brown crystals, rough and cold. Is that… I gingerly brought a bit to my mouth and tasted it, only to spit it out. Yep, salt. There was something else though, a tang of ruby energies that cshed with the emerald of my wind.

  Shaeu eyed the line of salt warily, hopping over it with a disgusted expression. “It seems-seems to be some sort of barrier drawing oeh energies of this site-site.” she said, pting it. “It is a clever w, one our Court sorcerers would be proud of. It also makes this pore bearable, there is less of that unpleasah essen the air.”

  As we crossed the barrier we were suddenly surrounded by the white shat served the Kami. On seeing it was us they rexed, their guard dropping. The Kami himself came slithering over, and he was followed by the Kamaitachi and a small number of weaselkin and Kobolds.

  The numbers seem low, but I guess they’ve doo hold out without us.

  “Wele back my liege, it isssssss good to seeeee you both ssssssafe.” The Kami hissed sibintly. “Your return issssss timely indeed.”

  “He speaks truly, princess. I had feared if you did not return soon-soon there would be little to return to….” The Kamaitachi trailed off, looking puzzled. “Something seems different about you, princess… wait, what is this?“ His eyes narrowed, and he flicked out a red toasting the wind.

  Well, that’s pretty disgusting. Shaeu was gring at him as well, seeming to agree with me.

  “You… you did not, did-did you?” The Kamaitachi looked distressed. “How will I expin this to your honoured mother? To think that you would choose this mortal who defeated you as your mate-mate, and even go so far as to bind yourselves…”

  “Oh, do be silent.” Shaeu snapped. “I have not-not ‘gone all the way-way’ as the mortals would say, though we are ected now and I shall have no other. Iime…” She looked at me, her expressiht, yet somehow alluring, her eyes watery and her face flushed.

  Looking away I coughed. Sorry, I’m with Eri. Stop looking at me so hopefully… but… I owe you a lot… ugh… this is not the time for this drama.

  “… besides, what mother would not-not wish her daughter to snatch such a fine-fine male?” she tinued. “I will speak to her whe we meet, and Akio shall win her approval. I have much-much to discuss with her anyway. It has been long, and her rather-rather pains me.”

  “If that is your wish…” the sickle-weasel said doubtfully. “But even if your mother approves, your her, and your siblings… they will be most-most wroth…”

  “Oh. Yes-yes. Ihey will be. My sister and Shaeraggo especially. They do-do dote on me, as they should for I am adorable. Yet they treat me as-as a fool, as a weak little doll to be protected. Yet where are they nohen I am in dire need?” Her anger alpable. “Nor could-could they protect me when my foolish pride led to my exile here. Only one-one could, Akio. Is it s to crave he who defends and cherishes me? If my father or siblings take-take issue, then I shall have-have to educate them.”

  Uh, that’s quite the speech… I could feel myself heating up, embarrassed. Teically she was right and I had crossed the lih her, but it was to save her life, so… But then I did push her into the situation where she needed saving…

  “If that is your will I shall say no more-more…” The Kamaitachi let out a long and bitter sigh. “Just try not tret this.”

  “I regret nothing.” Shaeu said pridefully. “In fact, my siblings and her will be awed at how-how I have matured!”

  Feeling a little sorry for the long-suffering Kamaitachi, who had been with me sinear the beginning, I ged the subject, to more pressing matters. Behind us the weaselkin had dumped off their loot, and I threw down the bolts and bows I was carrying too. “Anyway, you fill us in on what’s going on? The pce is a wreck, though luckily damage to the Territory proper seems minor.”

  The sickle-weasel nodded, relieved to be on a safer subject. “A ferior, the roving bands of foes that were to our north aheir numbers swelling. They then-then invaded, and with our forces we could do little to stem-stem the seemingly eide…”

  I see. A full-scale invasion, and from fighting the Orcs they seem like produced troops from a Spawning Spire. It’s Las Vegas all ain, only this time I’m the defender, and the timing couldn’t be worse, with the Anchrading, meaning that anything we lose stays lost, and our defences are pitiful. That fat bastard from the o would no doubt ugh at me if he knew I was now in his position…