Euric and Rydel returned with me to Windemere. The [Prince] went straight to the Academy, but the kitsune [Bard] followed me as we took the tree teleporter back home among the clouds. Unfortunately for him, we met my father in the palace lobby. Helger Stouthammer’s gaze shone in recognition as they glanced at the furry scoundrel and the dwarf immediately started to fume. He cursed and dashed, fists white from the pressure.
“You! Bastard son of a gunk troll! I’m going to kill you!”
I’ve never seen the dwarven [Smith] move that fast in my life. Rydel looked at me begging for help or succor and found none. I crossed my arms and glared.
“You deserve what’s coming, Mr. Lilac,” I shrugged with a wry smile. “Don’t worry. If he kills you, I’ll bring you back to life.”
Helger’s opening punch fell like a massive divine meteor of judgment, raining down righteous pain upon the wicked. Teeth and blood flew out of Rydel’s snout and the [Bard] was flung like a ragdoll across the palace room. Giving relentless pursuit, Helger pounced on him. The kitsune shrunk on the floor and endured his due punishment. The dwarf roared incongruently, possessed by anger and grief. Like hammers on an anvil, he pummeled the orange ingot of flesh and fur into submission.
“You fucking bastard! If it weren’t for you, Nozmizla would be alive now!” Helger cried as he pummeled the [Bard] underneath him.
“Daughter, please!” Rydel whimpered.
“Don’t call her that! You have no right!” The fuming dwarf drove a hook down on the kitsune. “Wretched lecher! If you'd simply kept your grubby paws out of Nozmizla’s petticoats!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please stop!” He begged.
Helger wouldn’t have any of that. I saw him powering an attack perk and blocked it with a golden tail. I hugged the dwarf and gently peeled him away from the sperm donor.
“That’s enough, father. Killing him won’t bring Fangor or Nozmizla back. What’s done is done. Let him reflect on the consequences of his licentious adventures while he nurtures his wounds.”
Immobile on the floor, Ridel Lilac whimpered and sobbed. I used {Healing Waters} to staunch his bleeding, cleanse his body, and heal the most critical injuries. Locked in my arms, Helger growled with each breath like a furious hound. I knew that if I let go of him he’d be on the [Bard] again.
“It’s over, father. Beating Mr. Lilac any further will be an act of cruelty. He is thoroughly defeated and your fists made your point crystal clear. I doubt he’ll ever forget it. Let go. Trust me, I know the feelings of the dead intimately. If Nozmizla regretted anything, she’d have risen as an undead. I remember what I saw in her in the brief moments following my birth. She was elated she’d had me.”
The dam broke. The stalwart and level-headed dwarf finally let his emotions overflow. Helger hugged me and buried his face in my shoulder as he shamelessly let his feelings and grief out into the world. He’d lost too much that day. He lost his best friends, he lost hope, he lost the future of the Axejaw clan. I don’t doubt my grandfather’s decision to betray Windemere was in good part motivated by grief too.
“You’ve honored them, father. You searched for me, you gave me shelter, you gave me your name. You taught me the ways of our people. Vugh Tarim survived the coup without too much bloodshed because of you. I took up the hammer because of your guidance. Nozmizla is proud of you. Labraid showers his honors and blessings upon his beloved son.
“Lift up your head, Helger Stouthammer. Before my eyes, you are worthy. Inside my heart, you are my beloved father.”
Helger groaned and then wiped the… environmental moisture that accumulated in his face. The sky island was incredibly damp that day. Maybe it was the onions growing in my garden, they were releasing too much acid into the air. I found the acidity from the onions, definitely onions, too much even for my five stacks of {Acid Resistance}.
We found Rydel staring at us. The pain in his eyes drove a dagger in my gut. He knew what he’d lost. By choosing a life of freedom and reckless carousing, leaving a mistress in every tavern or settlement he visited, he would not know the warmth of familial bonds. While I could feel empathy for him, he’d never truly become a father. That lofty podium had Helger firmly ensconced on the first place. But he was way above Fangor Battlehaven the mariticidal idiot.
I sang a {Chord}. I healed, cleansed, and soothed the [Bard]. The waters vanished once the combined spell did its job. Rydel couldn’t take his eyes off the ground and face us. Contrite, he held both hands over his stomach and kept his head down.
“Let me talk to him, father,” I kissed Helger’s forehead. “And let go of your grief and hatred. That only leads to the dark side. Let the lessons of the past guide our steps toward the future, but not drag us down into the abyss.”
His rough hand caressed my cheek. We shared a smile. Nozmizla’s loss would never truly stop hurting but we had each other. And while I hated Fangor, Helger regarded him as a twin brother that fell into madness. His loss was twice as big as mine, not to mention the baggage and experience I carried with me from my past lives. But my mommy issues piled up with each one of them I saw suffering before me.
At least I could give Eathelin purpose and a loving family. I should go visit Atlantis.
“I’ll be at the smithy,” Helger grumbled. “I suddenly have the need to forge some copper.”
As he said ‘copper’, he glanced at the kitsune man and Ridel shivered. Helger lumbered away, leaving the two of us alone. I struggled to move my feet and approached the [Bard].
“I’m sorry, Haru,” he mumbled.
“I know. The songs don’t exactly tell what happens to the distraught ladies the dashing scoundrel leaves behind as he goes onward in search of new adventures and love, do they?”
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He chuckled-whimpered. I cast a numbing spell as I put my hand on his shoulder. Pouring magic into his body, I healed the rest of his wounds, fixing his ribs and regrowing his teeth. It would itch like crazy if I didn’t numb him first. I removed all spells from him once he was as good as new.
“Thank you, daug-- sorry. Haru.” He flinched at his Freudian slip.
“I don’t hate you, Ridel. But it’s too late to build any parent-sibling rapport.”
He raised his eyes, involuntarily making the puppy face. It was easy when you had a canid’s head. “I understand. Should I go?”
“No,” the word escaped my lips before I could think properly. I clenched my fist and pushed his chest without any strength behind the gesture. Even with the full {Pinnacle} set of Perks keeping my ridiculously strong mind and emotions in check, I still teared up. Just like some men had the need to punch the wall to vent their emotions, crying came naturally to me as a relief valve.
Ridel hugged me. I didn’t push him away. “You offered the mercenaries atonement. Please, Matriarch. Guide this foolish [Bard].”
I could see a sequence of runes in my mind. An epiphany, an enchantment that would give Ridel Lilac the redemption he wished for. I gained a point of [Enchanter] and [Rune Scriber] to push me into making it a reality.
I held Ridel’s arms and gently detached him. Looking into his eyes, I gave my verdict.
“It’s all fun and games if you keep moving forward, Ridel. Hundreds of ladies left in the wake of your travels, longing for the captivating and mysterious kitsune [Bard].”
He preened for a while before he remembered the gravity of the situation and reined himself in.
“But once you backtrack, the hideous reality rears its dreadful head. I know I’m not the only child you left behind, and Nozmizla wasn’t the only lady that suffered because she slipped out of her matrimonial vows to have some fun with you.”
Ridel grimaced but nodded.
“Your punishment is to trace back your steps. Walk the roads you traveled backward and seek the ladies you laid with. Some will be elated to see you back, some will hate you. A few might even have children with you. I bet these children need help, growing up without a father. Seek them, redeem yourself. Gather my siblings.”
He shuddered at the thought. I bet he fled many bedrooms with his clothes bunched up in his hands. But in the end, Ridel nodded. “But how will I find them?”
I started to walk deeper into the palace, “Follow me to my workshop. I will make you an item to help you travel and sense them.”
I made him an amulet. An ordinary ring didn’t have enough room for the runes I saw. The amulet would guide Ridel, enhancing his travel speed and let him sense both the women he laid with and his blood descendants. Should any of my siblings require aid, I gave him a storage ring with blankets, healing potions, clothes, and money. The ring was also enchanted to not let him withdraw more than ten silver coins per day unless the amulet sensed a child nearby. The ring would also safeguard his soul should he die. Something told me to not add the Ethereal travel enchantment. Instead, the ring would let me know something happened so I could go there myself.
“No matter how long it takes, find them. Learn the consequences of your love adventures, Ridel. Finish this assignment and you’ll be rewarded with inner peace.” His pleading eyes bored a hole in me. I reached out and grabbed the white tufts of hair on both of his cheeks. Staring into his eyes, I declared, “I don’t hate you. I stayed with Nozmizla for a few minutes after my birth but I remember everything.”
“Fangor promised he’d kill me if I ever returned to Windemere,” Ridel confessed. “He got close to doing that once he found out I was seeing his wife.”
I nodded. “I think another enchanted item is deserved. It’s an easy one too.”
The third enchanted item I made for him simply sterilized his sperm waiting to be ejaculated. So long he wore the ring, he’d not sire another child. Since I found a bit of room after I was done, I also added a bit of resistance against venereal disease. The basic ring (without the disease resistance) was easy to craft and engrave. I decided to spend a few days crafting thousands of them later, to sell around.
I led Ridel out after nightfall, so he’d draw less suspicion. He activated the fast-travel option of his amulet and dashed down the main street, each step carrying him dozens of meters. I knew in his heart that he was dead set on making things right.
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One year later, in the frozen northern reaches of the Auvanini continent
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Ridel Lilac traveled to the south, visiting the inner valley before turning around and going north along the coast. He found several of his lovers but only a handful of his children. Usually, the child of a kitsune with another species was just fox-kin but his animal and magical heritage were strong. His kitsune progeny usually didn’t have an animal face like him but were full-bloodied half-kitsune nonetheless, just like Haru. The few living offspring he found he entrusted to the Matriarch priests, who would see to their safety and welfare. The amulet Haru made for him opened the doors of the temples.
Many of his former lovers were eager to see him again and he made sure to do it right this time around. He refused to lay with the married women but rekindled the embers of passion with the others. He was quite proud of his ability to please a lady. And he earned more Exp the more she was enraptured by the moment anyway.
He was two kingdoms north of Pruinvel when he finally gained a level.
> You reached Songborn Kitsune level 15
>
> [...]
>
> You reached Lucky Minstrel level 15
>
> […]
He set the free Attribute point to Luck, admiring his score of seventy-three. He spent the Species perk on {Mental Magic Affinity}, gaining a mushy gray tail, his fourth one, which he promptly hid. The Class Perk he invested on a Perk that increased his odds of finding treasure along his travels. Ridel knew his Luck score was the reason he was alive this long. And with how much he would still travel, he was sure he’d find a lucky cache or more.
He traveled for another day, thanking the Matriarch for his thick fur coat. He chuckled as he thought that the creator of his species was actually his daughter. His mirth only increased when his amulet tingled. He’d found another of his offspring… In the middle of the white snowy fields.
That was strange.
Ridel followed the directions and left the main road. He dropped on all fours to walking on the fluffy snow without sinking too much. His body was more like a bipedal fox than a person anyway. Stalking ahead and paying attention to any threats, he found the signal. This close, he could tell it was two instead of one. And one of his former lovers too.
Underneath him. Ridel shook his head. Was it an underground burrow? Only one way to find out. He dug the snow and shook in horror at what he found. Underneath a meter of the frozen water flakes, he found the cold bodies of two kitsune children, a boy, and a girl, cradled against their mother’s belly. They were partially covered by a thick fur blanket which did not avail them against the terrible cold.
Ridel felt his heart clench. He’d rather get pummeled by that brute dwarf again than see it. As he sniffled and his tears froze, the bodies' eyes shot open. An eerie red light shone in the otherwise dead eyes and they moved. Too fast for him to dodge, six cold hands grabbed him as the ice ghouls pulled him closer to feast on his warm flesh.
He struggled but it seemed Ridel was out of luck. He slipped one arm free but the ghouls’ poisoned fangs had already delivered their noxious paralytic toxins to his system. Struggling, he tried to cast a spell but the adult ghoul bit his throat when he started to sing. Soon the dread message appeared in front of him as his body and soul were sucked into his storage ring.
> You died