The next morning I woke up to a suddenly flurry of hot breath on my face and a slobbering drool-covered tongue trying to go up my nose.  I hacked, coughed, and sputtered and was greeted with the sight of hairy dog ass and wagging tail as Buster playfully attacked my nose.  The little beast didn’t cause me any damage, but it’s impossible to sleep with a tusk stuck up your nostril!

Irritated, I tried to swat the little bugger, but both my arms were pinned under the weight of the girls.  Brandr was still snuggled up tight against my right arm, and Isabella was clutching frantically to my left in her sleep.  The soft warmth of the best parts of two lovely, naked females was pressed up tantalizingly against me – and unfortunately they had me pinned!  I was at the mercy of the little dog-beast from hell!

“Shoo!  Shoo!”  I tried to chase sim off, but Buster only got more excited and nipped even more enthusiastically at my face.  Drool was starting to drip off my chin, he’d gave me such a thorough doggy-bath already.  I tried to wiggle my left arm out away from Isabella, but it only made her clutch it even tighter.  Brandr was on my right arm and half on my chest, so I tried to pull her on up on top of me so I could free my arm – but that didn’t work either.  As I tried to roll her, the stupid dog yipped and jumped on my chest and tried to push her back down; his tail wagging tickling my chin.

Desperate to get the beast off my, I leaned up and bit its tail between my teeth – and it almost felt like I’d broken my teeth!  I’d forgotten how tough the little bastard was!  Apparently biting his nub gave Buster the idea to do the same, and he pounced forward and yipped at my crotch…

At which point I yelled, “OH HELL NO!”, jerked forward and flipped both girls for a loop, and grabbed the little bastard before he could try and bite MY nub!  He yipped, yelped, and I tossed the ugly little beast end over end and over the couch.  I heard a loud crash, intense playful yip-yapping, and the little bugger came barreling around the side of the couch to try and jump on my again.  

Isabella was rubbing her eyes, Brandr looked as if she was searching for enemies all around, and I grabbed the little hell-beast by his tusks and tucked it under my arms like a football as I staggered up.  “You little annoying ass!”  I was cussing the wiggling bundle of energy in my arms as I stormed over, tossed open the door, stomped out into the hallway, and threw Buster as far down the hallway as I possibly could.  

The little mutt flipped end over end through the air, finally hit the ground with a crash and pieces of tile and flooring flew in all directions, and then it tumbled and bounced several times before pouncing up and running back towards us.  What a little asshole!  “Yip!  Yip!  Yip!  Yap!”  Buster rushed down the hall, and the last I saw was the mutt tripping over its own ears and tumbling head over heels before I stomped inside and shut the door behind me.  Drool was still dripping off the end of my chin and nose.

“I’m… I’m sorry!”  Isabella rushed over and tossed herself at me, clinging tightly to my arm all at once and squeezing me half to death.

“Well you should be!”  My first instinct was to yell at her, in the mood I was in after getting attacked by a slobbering drool factory pretending to be a dog!  “For what?”  I asked a moment later, when I realized I didn’t even know what the heck she was apologizing for.

“I dunno!”  Isabella burst out into tears while clutching onto me like I was going to try and run away or something.  “Nothing.  Anything!  Everything!  I’m just sorry!”

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What the hell?!

How can a person be sorry and not even know what they’re sorry about?  “Are you alright?”  I asked, starting to feel a little concern for her.  I had no idea what the heck was going through Isabella’s head!

“Yes!  No!  I don’t know!”  Isabella was trembling as she cried endlessly against my chest.  Even the sparkles in her hair were dancing erratic shades of pale blues and violets.  She looked and sounded pitiful.  

Slowly, I reached out my arms and wrapped them around her.  Ever since The Crackening, we’ve all been under an immense amount of strain, pressure, and stress.  Everyone around us had died.  I’d died several times myself, and Isabella had completely lost her humanity and become a demon.  The world had ended, and the three of us were the only ones left in it that we knew of so far, who were still *almost* human.  All of us had an insane amount of tension, stress, and worry built up that we were trying to deal with – Brandr by becoming a slave; me by beating the shit out of things anytime I got a chance; and Isabella…

I was worried Isabella had finally cracked and had a breakdown for good!

The only thing I knew to do was to hold her, make gentle shushing sounds, and rock her gently from side to side.  “Brand,” I told her mind to mind, “why don’t you go out and take a look around for us.  Make certain there’s nothing out there that can be a danger to us right now.  I don’t know what’s going on with Izzy, but I’ll try to calm her down while you’re out there.  Just be certain to drop that stupid hound off with the goblins first if it’s still near the door.”

Brandr just nodded, grabbed her sword, and went out the door.  She didn’t even bother to get dressed, as she headed out to give me a little privacy to try to deal with Isabella.  For several long moments, I simply rocked Isabella and let her cry against me, before I finally eased back over and laid down on the floor and pulled her down with me.  Looking out the window, it was still dark out and the moon was still rather high in the sky.  I couldn’t see the clock from the position I was laying in, but I’d guess it to be sometime after midnight.  It certainly wasn’t morning time yet.

It took me an hour or so of comforting Isabella before she finally dozed off into a fitful sleep, and another half hour or so before I started to drift back off as well, when a sudden set of DINGs made me open my eyes and look at a system message.

Your slave, Zephyr Roseheart has been slain!

Your wife, Zephyr Roseheart has been slain!

Your party member, Zephyr Roseheart has been slain!

Wha…..

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And thus, we come to the end of the third arc of The 8th Day!  Arc four will be starting soon™!  (And sorry, no spoilers will be coming as to what happens next.  You'll just have to wait and see.)  :D