Chapter 7 – FAMILY

Umbra Mortem – Erebus

***

The shower had felt amazing but nowhere as amazing as L’Sana joining him in it. To know she was home, to know she was safe had a calming effect on his Bloodline, a satisfied feeling from not only rescuing her but the knowledge his mate was at his side once more and his Bloodline was almost purring in his soul. That didn’t even touch the sex that came during and afterwards. It was a mix of tender followed by an almost animalistic longing and fervor. Unra would be raising an eyebrow when she noticed the BP expenditure to completely replace not only their sheets and pillows but the bed itself. They broke it in half somewhere in there and he hadn’t even noticed. That was for tomorrow him. Currently he had her in his arms, her chest rising and falling in a restful sleep. His eyes closed, content in all ways.

***

He groaned as what seemed a recurring theme materialized as he woke to two Shadowmoon Hounds assaulting his face with their tongues while a weight rested on his stomach with high pitched giggles. This time he didn’t wait as his High Perception told him all the culprits were in the room including the traitor who hadn’t left Ari’s side since they’d gotten back and with his new Transformer’s Abilities not as a makeshift necklace around her neck.

“I think I need to find a new Personal Assistant. His loyalty to me has become non-existent and has allowed me to be assaulted not once but twice now with no warning.”

Gideon kept his eyes closed while his hands fended off the two over eager puppies and the pressure on his stomach vibrated from all the giggles coming from the occupant and a couple snorts sounded off to his right while a different melodic giggle from her shoulder but he was struggling to keep his lips from upturning as a wail of deep sorrow and worry blasted out from the ground behind him and to the right.

“No!!!!! I told you. I told you. He’s now going to abandon me!!! I should have followed my instincts and ignored you all. Princess Arizelle hits me with those butterfly eyes and I cave to the pressure. Please Gideon!!!?? Please do not abandon me!!!!??”

The snorts hit a new level of volume but his Perception warned him he was just outside of range. Crying was happening now from Freddie’s location before a small hand slapped his chest, one he actually felt from an arm now backed by System Strength. Shira’s voice held a stern reprimand.

“Quit being a meanie Giddy, you making Uncle Freddie cry!!”

Ari’s voice now came from Freddie’s location as he sensed her zip off L’Sana’s shoulder like an arrow.

“Ignore him Freddie. He’s just kidding. No one’s abandoning anyone. Your my bestie and my hero, we come as a pair.”

Alright he knew when he was defeated. He opened his eyes pushing the dogs off him as they barked in excitement at him getting up and grabbed little Shira to his chest as he stood and she giggled. She was wearing her leather armor and Moon Mask and had both daggers sheathed at her waist. He kissed her forehead as she slammed herself into his chest tears streaming from her eyes. The motion hit him like a sledgehammer while he also noticed both of her pooches had doggie collars on, Shadow, a umbral steel one with spikes, Moon, a silver lunar one with moonstones.

“You saved them Giddy. You saved our family. I thought they were bye bye forever and then you went in and got them. I love you so much. I got my Big Sis and Sana back.”

His words were soft as he kissed her forehead again.

“I love you too Little One. I will always come for you all if someone threatens.” He motioned towards her pooches.

“Where did Shadow and Moon get those Collars?”

Gideon threw an [Identify] towards Shadow’s collar.

Umbral Steel Collar of the Defensive Stalwart – Epic -- +10% to all Physical Attributes – (Copper) – (Soul-Bound) -- (Growth-Item)

More tears ran like a river but a half-smile fought against the tears as she looked at her pooches and rubbed her eyes.

“Nanna let me finally open my looty box from before. It said two thingies and I had to choose. One was a Shard to give me super powers like the heroes in the comic bookies Uncle Freddie told me about, like you all have and the other was collars for my babies. I chose a present for my babies. Makes them strong forever so they won’t die and leave me.”

His heart cracked at the statement. She might look nine now but she was five, almost six, and what she’d gone through in those few years not even full grown adults should have to. His eyes also caught the still inflamed bruising on her right hand and knuckles from gripping the knife he’d remade. Being left alone, having more family ripped from her was her largest fear. His emotions and those around her were effecting her heavily with the Moon Innate Ability of [Empathy] and the low grade fear everyone but possibly him constantly radiated. A few more tears began as she couldn’t read his reaction, whether he was mad or disappointed in her choice. He gave her forehead another kiss.

“Good job Little One. The Collars will make your pups better able to protect you and the other children.”

A smile shot to her lips on the quick and she laughed. L’Sana came up and held out her arms to her. Shira leapt and clamped herself to L’Sana like she would disappear at any moment while Gideon caught Ari on top of her new perch of Freddie’s doggie head wiping a tear from her scaly face. Freddie kept looking at the ground avoiding Gideon’s gaze.

“Fine Freddie, you are forgiven so stop moping.”

Freddie hopped up causing Ari to squawk like some un-roosted bird then smacked Freddie on the back of the head. He ignored it and looked at Gideon with guilt but hope.

“I promise on my solemn vow as the best AI Personal Assistant to ever exist it will not happen again. I will warn you next time they precede to implement their Machiavellian plans of mischief.”

Gideon smiled. Moon jumped at Gideon from the bed while Shadow as usual it seemed took the space to lounge. He was almost twice the mass of his Sister, a slab of mostly night shaded muscle, Moon all lean limbs like a gazelle and silver fur with a black stripe down her chest. She was made to move while her Brother was made to hold space. Gideon wasn’t quite sure what they’d eventually develop as far as innate Abilities as they had shown none as of yet that he was aware of though they were still pups and Low Copper.

That would change no time soon and they would be stuck at the same level as Shira whom they wouldn’t be allowing to Level until her Buddy Tolk got access to the System which shouldn’t be for many years. Last time he checked Tolk just turned six a few weeks back and though Beastkin it seemed got access to the System a bit earlier than Humans or Shade Elves still the earliest had been clocked at thirteen so far.

Thinking about the pups and how much actual protection they could offer his little girl if someone serious came for her had him thinking it was not enough. He wouldn’t feel right till Shira had something in her own right to defend herself besides some elevated Attributes. She had the mask and the dagger he was able to craft for her, both Growth Items and Soul-Bound but still not enough in his estimation if the worst happened and she was somehow isolated. He felt no fear but his analytical mind still realized in the aftermath of L’Sana being taken that she was a weak point that could be taken advantage of, even more so than L’Sana and Ari.

She was being taught blade work by the Trainers of Umbra Mortem and on the side by him and his Uncle when they had the time to do so but still he’d made a decision in the aftermath of Sanguine Necropolis and their journey back home. He still had several Notifications to go through and he assumed a few levels but two things he’d already received and with a focus of his Will after a few breaths two Loot Boxes appeared at his feet.

L’Sana and Ari’s eyes both snapped towards the boxes as soon as they dropped and he might be imagining it but he could swear they were both drooling. Shira just had big eyes while her two pups were just looking around wagging their tails thinking the excitement might mean treats. Freddie couldn’t do much with Ari still squatting on his head and him personifying a big pillow. L’Sana’s husky voice held a deep rooted hunger that had him smiling, the warm feeling of having her back, safe and sound, the Loot Mistress.

“Loot time baby. Gideon, don’t keep your woman waiting. Open that shit up and gimme the deets.”

He saw this going differently but should have known better.

“You already went through all yours, didn’t you?”

Her eyes went wide while sniggering came out of Ari and a high pitched laugh shot out of Shira in her arms which had L’Sana ‘shooshing’ her on the quick. The mountain of guilt lacing his other half’s eyes said everything that needed to be said. His voice did its best to keep the humor out of it and appear stern.

“I thought we agreed last night we’d do it together when we woke up?”

He knew as soon as she’d agreed to it the night before it was never going to happen. L’Sana waiting on opening Loot was not a part of any reality he knew or would believe in. Her not opening it the night before was already far beyond the norm. Fucking him seemed to be one of the few things that out-leveled her need for loot which had him feeling special. The smile at the thought of her attempting to open loot while they fucked slid through his head. Her voice broke him from his reverie.

“Gideon, never get between a woman and her loot. You knew as soon as I said that, it was just ‘pillow talk’.”

Did she just? Her eyes slammed to Ari and Freddie, her voice tittering with humor.

“Did I use that right?”

Ari gave a claw thumbs up as Freddie’s voice answered.

“Perfect usage Lady L’Sana. A very underrated film The Army of Darkness, Bruce Campbell never gets enough credit for his contributions to the comedy horror genre and comedy in general.”

Ari’s voice lit up with excitement.

“The TV series was also a gem Freddie. I thought it nailed, like hammer to nail, the humor of the original film. It was the newest remake of the original I found very sad, sad and disappointing. It had all the humor of the originals stripped out of it and went for straight horror and failed in all aspects. It did not work at all in my opinion and lost all the campiness and funny of the original which was what made it work, that and Bruce’s comedic timing.”

“My Princess Arizelle as always is astute and spot on. I concur…”

Gideon sighed.

“Alright, enough you two. I don’t want a Roger & Ebert breakdown at the moment.”

L’Sana and Shira were giggling though at least the woman had held back on the snorting and not giving their little girl a liquid bath of bodily functions. Gideon allowed a small smile to play his lips. Her voice held a bit of guilt but not much.

“It’s not my fault Gideon you humans sleep so long while someone superior like myself only takes an hour or two. A woman has needs man‘o’mine, to be exact, loot needs.”

He sighed and clamped the smile and wink that wanted to flash out.

“Fine. At least tell me you got something good.”

L’Sana did a little dance and spin with Shira giggling in her arms then L’Sana tossed her up on her shoulders.

“You tell him what we got Shira.”

Shira giggled while Moon Danced below her around L’Sana’s legs and even the stalwart Shadow gave out some heavy bark approvals from the bed where he still lounged. Shira’s laughing voice reverberated in her version of a roar.

“We Got the Boom Boom Loot!!!!”

L’Sana snorted doing some more spins as they all started chanting.

“Boom Boom Loot!!!!”

Even Freddie joined in doing little robotic dog spins copying L’Sana while Ari did a little jig on his back, all of them repeating it over and over. Gideon sat down in front of his own loot boxes waiting for them to finish.

It took a lot longer than one would think people could dance to no music saying the same shit over and over again but you had to give it to them for commitment.

The laughter from all of them after they’d gone through so much was a balm to his soul. He decided to join in, if just a little bit. First he activated his new Path [Primordial Bane] hoping it lived up to its description in making anything he did, did not kick off any alarm from the System. He felt a churning of his two Soul-Pillars but something else as well, a ghostly presence that drifted off him not in the visual spectrum but nevertheless a palpable grift of shielding that was the bones of real to himself. He brought up the description.

Path – The Primordial Bane – S+ -- +15% All Attributes. Passive – Immune to all Divine or Primordial Presences. They have no effect upon The Primordial Bane. Active – When activated the presence of The Primordial Bane is invisible to all Divine and Primordial Senses except those that are physical in nature. In regards to the Multi-Versal System, any action taken by The Primordial Bane within the System’s purview will be considered mundane by the System. No alerts or warnings will register the actions, choices or broken boundaries created by their existence. You are that which is fear incarnate to all of existence. Cost to maintain – None.

That it had no actual cost was insane though when he’d tested it once before he’d noticed a fatigue deep in his chest, his soul, if he ran it too long though it wasn’t his Stamina or Spirit, neither of which was depleted. It was something else, something at least at Iron was undefinable.

Just in case he also activated [Mortal/Divine Shroud]. After that while the dancing and laughing and chanting was still going strong he spun up [Rune-Mastery – Umbral/Moon] and flexed his Will this time becoming comfortable in allowing his new Skills [Investigation] and [Intuition] to pull threads of Umbra and Lunar Runes, shaping it into a pure ethereal energy with no intent beyond visual expression.

His Will and Skills shifted as a memory of his childhood flashed through his mind, his Mother gardening with that smile she always held when he was near. Her fingertips extended towards him to show a butterfly lazily opening and closing its wings at the end of her fingertip before joyous laughter exploded from both of them as it lifted off and slowly drifted through the air towards some flowers a dozen yards away.

Gideon closed his eyes awash in the memory, in the love he felt from his Mother as he ran towards her only maybe six as her earth covered hands pulled him to her chest standing and swinging him around. He didn’t notice the silence at first, the laughter stopping, the sounds of dancing halting until still deep in focus and memory he opened his eyes and heard the whisper off Shira’s lips.

“Pretty.”

Silver and black butterflies filled the room, dancing and spinning in lazy circles through the air, small images of beautiful flowers forming between their flight, butterflies and petals both streaming afterimages of themselves and trails of silver/black ethereal behind their movements, a tapestry of dream and art, beauty, hypnotic. His eyes closed again the memory a golden moment when all he remembered was love and laughter and happiness in his Mother’s arms listening to her laugh.

Gideon manipulated the images for a few more moments before he felt an ache in his heart and soul and his Spirit hit Mid-Yellow. He reluctantly let go of the magic and the memory of his Mother. He felt a hand to his face soft and filled with emotion. He opened his eyes to see L’Sana’s violet orbs a few inches from his own. Her lips were soft against his. It was unusual for them, the softness of the kiss. It tended to be animalistic, filled with passion and intensity. She leaned into his neck with a whisper.

“I love you Gideon Sho. You complete me.”

The words was fuel to the flame she’d ignited within him what seemed like ages ago in the harsh world that was Erebus but in reality was less than a year by a long shot. When violence and death was a daily occurrence time stretched each moment to a thousand compared to a place where peace held reign. He stood then reached down and lifted her up. A glance told him everyone in the room held a quiet joy with the dream and memory he shared. It somehow resonated with him as if it was a gift from his Mother and not himself. It was the same feeling he had back then they were feeling in this moment as if she reached across the decades and shared her spirit with his family. A grin came back into his eyes and lips.

“So are you going to tell me what the boom boom loot was?”

The word loot always did the same thing, flames lighting her eyes and a deep rooted hunger but this time Ari answered as she zipped in front of his face on the wing.

“Oh my, let the Moon dance it’s itty bitty booty off Giddy. Sana took two Ability Shards and gave me one.”

Ari threw loving eyes at her Mistress before zipping to her shoulder and nuzzling her neck in affection while Shira danced in the background and Moon joined her while Shadow threw out a few more barks of encouragement still lounging and Freddie had shifted to his ferret mode leaping onto Gideon’s shoulder. His voice was etched with wonder and awe.

“You should see Princess Arizelle’s new Ability for her new Sub-Class. It is magnifico.”

Gideon was intrigued. He hadn’t even really seen much of even the Abilities she’d gained to reach Iron as she’d already received them and Leveled them by the time he’d pulled himself out of the Proving and she rarely used them. One was called [One with the Dream] and allowed her to become pure Moonlight and was only useful in certain situations.

The biggest boon of the Ability was her being able to fit through almost any space. She didn’t use it much as it was a Stamina hog and her Body wasn’t that high to begin with. It also didn’t make her much faster then she already was though it did give her a supplemental defense as no physical attacks would hurt her in that form. He could see it’s uses but she’d have to practice heavily with it till it would activate with a thought. All of them needed to train if he was being honest. None of them really used their Abilities as efficiently or as often as they should.

The other had been [Song of Lunacy] which would bring insanity to all who heard it and until it got into Iron didn’t differentiate between foe or friend. Even leveling it up L’Sana told him she had to go off on her own in the Ruins to be able to use it and again very situational in the sense it just made monsters and people alike go nuts, possibly attacking each other or her still, really anything close. Sliding into Iron had helped as it now differentiated between the two but still minimal help except against heavy numbers.

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If she hadn’t been unconscious it would have helped with the Revenants and Vampires but for Freddie to say he thought her new one was amazing intrigued him and he wanted to see what L’Sana got and what these new Sub-Classes did for them. He Knew Ari’s new Sub-Class [New Moon Huntress] brought some offensive bite for her, the Attributes at the very least finally giving her a bit of Body each Level which she sorely needed. She was too susceptible to being one-shot the way she was. Also L’Sana’s Sub-Class of [Ancestor’s Wrath] should be a good get. He could feel the vibes in the air, everyone anticipatory on Gideon’s loot and also showing off their new stuff. They would need to head to the Training Center next and take a look see then Gideon would move on to the Crafting area. In fact he threw a message to Orin through the Settlement menu.

He still hadn’t heard about Gritzdek on whether the mine was up and running and the finds. He hoped with everything he had on them finding more Rodium Copper. He also needed to take a deep look on the Lesser Soul-Stone and see if he could do anything with it. It was going to be a busy busy day and would all end with prepping for tomorrow. They would hit their first Iron Dungeon. Last night he’d received and read through the last couple days at Umbra Mortem. They had only cleared the three Copper Dungeons, running their still stuck in Copper people and low Ranked Iron Classes through with Iona, Dori, and Virasa taking turns chaperoning groups.

L’Sana’s grunt followed by her voice snapped up out of his mental day scheduling. He caught the flash of irritation and humor in her eyes with Ari around her shoulders and Shira and both pups sitting at her feet.

“You would think by now you would understand your woman better than this Gideon Sho. You do not and I repeat do not for what feels like the thousandth time I’ve said it, keep me waiting on the opening of loot.”

All of them had hard stares they were struggling to keep mean looking, even Shadow and Moon joining in with some low growls. It finally did the one thing that rarely happened and Gideon Sho laughed out loud, hard, which sent a cacophony of titters and giggles throughout the room. He didn’t really see what the big deal was but he let them have it. With a new Sub-Class there was only one thing he would choose just as they did though it was exciting to see what kind of Ability he’d get and do what he’d made his mind up to do.

Without fanfare he mentally opened both boxes and didn’t even wait for the entire thing to go through with the System analyzing bullshit. He pushed his intent and Will while activating [The Primordial Bane] once more followed by threading his [Scion of Fate] through [Rune-Mastery – Umbral/Moon] directed by [Investigation] and [Intuition] demanding with pulses of Will for at least one Shard with no Affinity. He felt a heavy hand pushing back but then the System notified him [Fate-Breaker] went online and the resistance shredded. Within a few breaths two brightly glowing Ability Shards landed in his palms, one dark and silver, the other, with a clear crystal white glow.

Everyone’s eyes glittered at the Shards. Shira looked entranced, Moon laying on her lap and Shadow curled around at her back his big massive head under her arm. Both Stamina and Spirit were at High-Red and he could feel it but was worth it. The Soul Fatigue or whatever it was thumped painful staccatos now and the butterflies earlier and he still wasn’t quite sure whether the sensation was dangerous or not. Sounded like a question for the Shadowborn. Worth it though a hundred fold for his little girl.

Gideon’s voice broke the loot hungry gazes.

“Shira, come here.”

Shira suddenly looked shy, eyes going down, hand sliding to the scars now covered by the mask he’d crafted her. L’Sana and Ari’s eyes lit up as they understood. Shira’s Class [Moonshadow Stalker] was an Epic Class so only a shard from him would work for her or Orin or Virasa but neither of them as far as he knew could do what he just did and force the System to hand out an Epic Shard with no Affinity.

The System as far as he’d seen automatically tuned Ability Shards from Loot to whoever the loot was assigned to. The only reason it worked with L’Sana and Ari was as she got the loot she would assign it to her Familiar. It worked fine with most of the Shador to share as they were almost exclusively Umbral but with Shira being Moon. There had been a chance with his Sub-Class he would have received a Moon imbued Shard but he hadn’t wanted to take the chance and it proved correct as the other Shard was a mix of Moon and Umbral and he’d already almost got Shira killed with doing questionable shit. L’Sana knelt down next to Shira as Gideon held out the clear Shard.

“This is for you, a gift from me for choosing to make Shadow and Moon stronger instead of yourself. I want you to have an Ability in case you need to defend the other kids.”

Shira got a big smile as he spoke and when Gideon hit protecting the other kids she ran at him arms held wide. He pulled her in and held her tightly. Tears were in her eyes as she pushed her tiny hands against him and looked up into his eyes.

‘Thanks biggie much Giddy. Love you, love you, love you. I haves best family ever ever. I love you and Big Sis and Uncle Freddie and my Sana and my bestie Tolk. And I protect all the kiddies. I won’t let no baddies get’em.”

He crushed her to him. This kid had more courage then most adults he knew, including his fellow military and FBI members. Alright the tough part. He set her down in front of him while everyone crowded around and her two pups crawled all over her. He pushed them back which earned him a few growls until L’Sana let out a low thrum growl of her own that had the two pups whining and backing up a bit. Shira looked at him with fear in the single eye he could see not covered by the mask. He put down the clear shard in front of her.

“Shira I want you to pick that up and hold it and focus. The System will say a few things and I want you to say yes. It will gift you an Ability like we have in one of your slots you have inside you. Can you do that for me?”

Her eyes showed a heavy dose of fear, flashes of all the pain she’d had to walk through. Her hand involuntarily went to her mask and her other hand ground itself into the grip of her knife to the point of her dark skin shading white from the pressure and wincing from the already bruised knuckles from doing it a thousand times. That was still something that needed to be fixed. He would need to check in with Unra about the progress there. Then she did something he’d seen in her before. Her eyes closed and she gritted her teeth. He heard words as a bare whisper from her lips.

“You not gonna hurt my family.”

She seemed to whisper it several times then her hand shot out and grabbed the shard and within moments she was off the ground surrounded by System energy. All of them had gone through it and knew it wouldn’t harm her. Freddie’s voice slid into his ear from his ferret form on his shoulder.

“That little girl is the bravest sapient I’ve ever known. Granted that is a limited source but her courage will see her to being powerful and her love and loyalty for all of us knows no bounds. Her Affinity of 95% in the Moon Soul-Pillar is insanely high and would have made her the Scion I have no doubts if she had qualified.”

Gideon wasn’t quite sure he’d registered that information of her Affinity when he’d heard it. He remembered the Epic Class and had focused on that plus L’Sana and them kept fucking with him and holding back information so he might not have actually heard it. It made more sense now with the Epic Class get and knowing what she’d been through at her age and her choices so far not even mentioning her history in the Shador’s old world that he had no inkling of. He had a good guess her Fate or Luck or whatever the System threw at her would be impressive. The Fredster had it right though. She was going to be a powerhouse when the time came and Gideon would do his best to make sure that was the case. With anyone who hit Silver Rank which was anyone with an Uncommon Class and above and the supposed hundreds upon hundreds of years that would add to their lives it meant his little girl would be in her Prime while they were still all knee deep in this shit and hopefully L’Sana and he would still be there to help her.

Gideon watched her as the energy kept Shira floating in the air, body stiff and stretched out as her two pooches circled her going nuts, not knowing what was happening, both of them growling and looking towards Gideon and L’Sana and Ari to do something. He smiled down at them and then the energy slowly fell off as she settled to the ground.

Shira’s one eye opened and her mask riveted with silver runes dancing about it. That was new though in reality she was the first time he’d ever watched someone slotting a Shard. As soon as the confusion shifted from her face she leapt at him wrapping her arms around his neck sending Freddie leaping off shifting to his owl form then landing on the ground morphing into his now very muscular and spiked doggy shape sitting next to the other pooches though still smaller then both of them.

“I got the bestest Super Power ever Giddy!!!!”

She was giggling and laughing and he set her down before her pups went ballistic as they leapt all over her as she laughed even harder than she lifted her head to L’Sana and Ari and ran at them arms open wide as Ari took to the air and L’Sana knelt down and took the little girl into her massive muscular arms. Gideon’s heart was warm. While they did that it was his turn as he pulled the other Shard. He tossed it up and used his Will to press against the spinning Shard.

Ability Shard – Umbral/Moon (Epic)

Numerous Empty Ability Slots have been detected. Would you like to absorb the Umbral/Moon Ability Shard (Epic) or place in your recognized Spatial Ring?

Absorb Umbral/Moon Ability Shard (Epic) Y/N?

Place in Bonded Spatial Ring Y/N

He mentally hit ‘Yes’. The System immediately shoved it’s way into his body riveting through veins and into his Soul-Space and he didn’t know if it was his new senses or his new Soul-Pillar or his Titles or a combination of all of them but all of a sudden he was there, in his Soul-Space. He could see vague outlines, structures within, patterns that slipped into a complexity beyond his ability to fathom them but then [Investigation] and [Intuition] once again activated themselves and a vast rush of clarity shifted through Gideon’s mind.

He could now register the patterns and the placements in perfect symmetry around his Umbral Pillar with an over-arching corridor of boundaries that encased all the patterns. Even with the boost from his Skills it was still beyond his Perception to fathom all the intricacies but he knew instinctively what he was gazing at, his Class and Abilities.

All the doors that opened up at the revelation were monumentous but he was distracted by the filter of flashing white light that roamed through the space shifting through all his Abilities then the shape of the boundary that was an intense black with small threads of silver that had to be his Class then shifted over above his new Moon Soul-Pillar and his eyes vaguely picked up his new Sub-Class, a thin, small, complex tapestry of silver threads with very light shading of umbral dark sifting through it.

The light from the System settled into the space above the Moon Pillar and below the Class Boundary and after shifting through it for a breath or two he watched it start etching thin almost transparent lines. Everything blurred out of nowhere as his consciousness collapsed into the dark, the last thing he saw [Apex Predator] being activated.

Gideon collapsed to the ground and heard giggling and a lot of snorting and a wisp of a husky voice.

“My poor Gideon. Everyone do a shot!!”

***

Gideon’s eyes flittered open to a leering, grinning L’Sana squatting above him with Ari on her shoulder throwing a claw thumbs up with an added giggle and Shira with her head poked through L’Sana’s muscular arm with a big smile on her face. She got excited.

“Giddy, Giddy, look what I can do? It called the Stalker’s Fangies and that means like big teeth like Shadow and Moon have.”

She focused for a moment and everyone had to jump back as Moon and Shadow became about three times their normal size, muscles expanding and rippling, Moon, looking like a thorough bred race horse and Shadow becoming a massive hound version of a young Arnold out of Terminator. They were only Level 4 like her and Copper but he could imagine they’d give a hard tussle to someone in High or Peak Copper.

And he got it, she was the Hunter and her two hounds were her fangs. It seemed her Class was all about the synergy between the two, Class and Companions. He was a bit disappointed that once again her pups were the recipients. He would rather have had her gotten an Ability for herself to use but he knew how much her pooches loved her and with the boost the only way someone was getting to her was over their corpses. Their bedroom though wasn’t the place for Ability testing. He already saw some indents in the flooring from Shadow pawing at it.

“Alright everyone. To the Training Center so everyone can show off their new Abilities and I’ll send a message to Danny and Marcus to meet us there so they can toss out their new toys as well.”

He hadn’t even looked at what the System had given him. He’d figure it out when they got there. Time to get some training then dealing with his Levels, next, crafting followed by the Soul-Stone tinkering, a catch up with Unra then some sleep before they hit the Dungeon tomorrow. They all headed out while two massively boosted pups tore up their floor on the way out.

***

Shira’s new and only Ability [A Hunter’s Fangs] lasted about a minute. So long before they reached the Training Center which had moved a bit by the magic-fuckery of the System as the Settlement grew and was now about five miles from the Fortress. Where there had been a couple buildings it had now turned into a single one that was something almost the size of the Coliseum in Rome.

Shadow and Moon looked as if someone hit them with the sleepy stick after the boost had worn off which was good to know. It had a hefty downside. Trying to get the info from a five year old was difficult but she was the only one that could see their [System Template] so it was what it was. The only thing they could get out of her was their Stamina was Low-Red afterwards and was very slow in coming back. A few minutes later as they got close to the Center their Stamina was just Mid-Red so obviously it produced some kind of debuff since Stamina usually came up a lot quicker than that out of combat.

Another thought for another day. The Ability was still good, most fights were quick and dirty and a minute was a long time especially if it was kidnappers or assassins she had to deal with and if they got past everyone to get to her it was highly likely a minute of whoever it was having to deal with a boosted up Shadow and Moon would be long enough for others to get there.

His Uncle and Danny were waiting in front of the massive three storied building. Gideon had never actually been inside the old one much less the new behemoth in front of him. He remembered they used the original buildings in a running fight during the Monster Waves as a defensive structure but that was about it. Danny had her mask in her hand which made this part hopefully easier as she was getting more comfortable. As they moved up Gideon asked her with his plan in the forefront of his head. He’d like to knock out one of his projects he’d committed himself to.

“Hey Danny, when we get done here I’m gonna go craft myself some new armor and I would like to see what I can do with your mask, make it a bit more than just magically adhering to your face if your open to it?”

She looked down at her mask then lifted her dark colored face to his and he actually realized for the first time, those eyes and nose were all her Father’s, even the half grin. She looked a bit sheepish.

“Gideon you don’t have to..”

He interrupted her.

“Stop thinking so hard about it Danny. You are one of the team, part of the family. What helps you helps us and I can tell that mask means a lot to you like little Shira and her mask.”

He tossed a thumb back at Shira who was being carried by L’Sana. Her little voice blared out as she touched her own mask.

“Yea Auntie Danny. You fam and we mask sisters. Giddy made my mask and it the best giftie I ever got.”

Her two wiped pups gave some half-hearted barks in support though it did look as if their Stamina was finally coming back online. He estimated the debuff was between eight to ten minutes before they got their giddy-up back up. That was a long time but he hoped as she leveled it up it would mediate some of that.

He turned back to Danny who couldn’t keep the smile off her face after Shira’s declaration. He sympathized. It was hard to be immune to the loving cuteness that was Shira. She handed him the mask as he focused and put it into storage. He put his hand on her shoulder which got him an involuntary flinch from her she tried to cover. It filled him with a mix of fury at the Senator and the bullshit that would still be making a woman flinch off a harmless touch and empathy for what the woman had gone through. It put the Senator’s face back in hard focus on needing to put him permanently in the ground. Gideon lifted his hand with an apologetic look.

“I’ll get this back to you in the morning before we head out to the Dungeon. I know how much it means to you Danny. I’ll do my best to give you it back better than I got it. No promises but I’ll do my best.”

She nodded and he saw her get misty eyed. He’d had enough of that this morning though he understood it. It was time to move onto fun stuff before he had to get to work.

“Let’s go show off our new Abilities then spend a bit of time strategizing and training as a team. I’ve already messaged Unra and they have a room requisitioned for us to use. Shira, you’ve already shown your Ability and it is awesome. Do you want to stay and watch or go spend some time with Tolk in the Playpen?”

That was a hard question for her to answer and his [Investigation] and [Intuition] auto-turned on once more telling him she wanted to stay but was feeling guilty for ignoring her bestie. He seriously needed to get a better handle on these new skills. They were definitely a big boon in more ways then he could count but the auto-turn on anytime he looked at anything with some interest was a bit much.

The night before when L’Sana and him had started going at it both Skills activated and started leading him into dissecting wants and desires and where best to touch her to make her writhe in ecstasy. He actually felt bad that he’d used them but the way she bucked and went nuts was an aphrodisiac. He spun his mind out of the pornographic memories. Gideon helped his little girl with an exit strategy to get the best of both worlds.

“Unra told me each room has a camera so I’ll make sure our training is taped. I also know the Playpen has been invited to a special viewing of the Sci-fi epic ‘Star Wars’ in the theater room Freddie here helped set up.”

Shira screamed shrilly her eyes zeroing in on Freddie in his ferret form on Gideon’s shoulder.

“Uncle Freddie is that da one you and Big Sis talk about with the glowy swords and mind magic and space shippies?”

Gideon could feel the reverberations of excitement rolling through the small metal body on his shoulder but Ari beat him to it as she reached her neck down so her head was next to Shira’s.

“Oh my yes!!! They call them lightsabers and Han Solo is my hero. He’s so cool. The first three films are gems. It kinda goes downhill from there a bit though it actually started in film three when they realized how much money they were making on toys and started writing the stories to sell toys instead of the young adult theme the first two films had. They tried to go back to in films seven through nine but it was different writers and so corporate by that time it just didn’t have the magic of the first two films. Still good overall and created an entire franchise, TV shows, animated series. So exciting. In fact I’d say some of the TV shows and animated series are far better then the last six films. Oh and they attempted to make some side feature films but again, mixed bag, too formulaic in my opinion.”

Freddie just had to throw his two cents in.

“See that’s why Princess Arizelle is my bestie. I agree with almost everything she’s said. Where we get in slight arguments is whether the Mandalorian was better then the animated Clone Wars. While both are brilliantly done, I am always a bit more partial to live-action then animated though the original Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scrolls….”

Gideon’s voice hammered silence from both of them.

“Enough you two.”

Both of the knuckleheads were oblivious to Shira’s utterly blank face in the deluge of information. Unlike the two cinephiles Gideon thought she’d only seen one or two in the new theater though supposedly it was filled all the time. They’d actually booked a slot for all the kids for this, most of whom were orphans though all had been adopted by people of Umbra Mortem who’d either lost their own or just good-hearted souls.

Gideon’s eyes clocked one of the Shades, the name for the soldiers of Umbra Mortem. He was wearing an image of a black crow in front of crossed blades with a full silver moon as background and forked lightning splitting each side of the image. That was new. The crow looked fierce, wings spread. Was that the symbol for their Settlement? He scanned his eyes and couldn’t believe what he saw above the gates miles away. It was too far to clearly see what was on it but he did notch what looked like the same symbol on two huge flags above each side of the main gate on poles that reached a good twenty feet above the walls.

He ignored it for now and flashed his eyes back to the soldier who was stationed near the large entrance to the training center. Besides the symbol on the black and silver surcoat he was a Beastkin on the smaller side of the race though still bigger than most humans, a bit over six feet. He wore a military pick at his side, somewhat of a clumsy weapon, and had a small heater shield on his back and a hunting knife on his opposite waist. He was wearing a dark basic chain and leather hauberk underneath the surcoat. Gideon waved him over since he was already eyeballing their group and had been since they’d shown up.

The man almost tripped over himself running over. Gideon wasn’t a master of guessing the age of Beastkin but he came across as young. The man started to kneel and Gideon waved him up. L’Sana started laughing behind him and even Danny and his Uncle were trying to cover their mouths to keep from joining the giggle fest but Shira being Shira didn’t hold back.

“He being silly Giddy. Why he getting on his knees? Does his backie hurt? I had that happen once when I fell really hard. It hurts so much.”

Shira had been mostly secluded in the Fortress since she’d been here from the get go with the rest of the Shador. It seemed like yesterday and at the same time forever ago. Shira had been in the Playpen or with Unra or with them almost the entire journey. They’d taken her once to the new restaurant but she hadn’t seen how quite a few of the people, especially the new people, looked at him like this and L’Sana and Ari. The statues/fountain didn’t help. The man looked embarrassed by Shira’s outburst. Gideon threw a bone.

“What’s your name soldier?”

He finally stood all the way up and awkwardly bowed stuck between bowing at his waist or a head nod.

“Shade Second Class Berkun Boneheart My Lord.”

A couple snorts rang out behind Gideon and he sighed.

“None of the My Lord shit Berkun. I work for a living. Do me a favor and Escort Shira and her pups back to the Fortress.”

He quickly bowed his head again.

“It would be my honor to escort Princess Shira My….Gideon.”

A small giggle rattled out behind him.

“Sana, did he just call me a princess?”

Gideon’s other half’s husky voice resonated with humor.

“He did baby. You are Princess Shira.”

Shira’s giggle was laced with awe like she was in a movie. Gideon turned his head and threw her a wink which had her giggling even harder and doing her best to wink with the only eye he could see. Her voice was filled with joy as L’Sana let her down and the Soldier moved over to stand by her side, a smile on his face, hand on his military pick.

“I’m a Princess just like my Big Sis Ari! So exciting!! C’mon Berkie. You take me and Shadowy and Moony to go see my bestie. We gonna watch da’ glowy sword movie.”

Gideon joined everyone else with smiles as they watched Shira take the man’s hand and lead him towards the Fortress babbling at him the entire way with the two pups dancing around them back to full energy once more. L’Sana’s voice was a hammer of passion as she slid up to him pushing herself into him and grabbing his crotch and squeezing getting a wolf whistle from Ari and stifled laughter from the others.

“C’mon Giddy. Let me show you my goodies and how impressive they are and then you can show me yours.”

With that she laughed with a half snort and led him by his crotch towards the doors of the Training Center. He sighed and after a few steps smacked her ass and pulled her hand off his cock. She just snorted and kept rolling with Ari on her shoulder looking back at him and throwing a claw thumb-up. Freddie’s voice was in his ear.

“Is that normal in your species for a woman to lead her man by his sexual organ?”

Whether figuratively or literally he had to think for a moment than face facts and reality.

“You have no idea Fredster.”