Chapter 11 - Plans gone Awry

A sudden forceful blow. Roul collapsed inward, hand on his stomach. A groan escaped his lips. "Up and at 'em. You're leading us, you don't get to sleep in, buddy." Roul rolled out of the pallet and crashed onto the floor, groggily cursing the man for kicking him. He left laughing, and Roul dressed. Boiled leather and hardened mail were donned onto his form. A helmet, one he hadn't worn in a while, rested in his hand, he debated bringing it. He chucked it behind himself and snagged his sand gear. The tan cloak swirling onto his back with a quick movement, the face cover left down so he could speak.

Outside was a decent day, the wind was calm, the sands stirred only where men and beast walked. The sun, however, beat down upon them from a blue sky, wave of blistering heat tormenting them with its unkind blows. The cook needn't even use fire to heat the food, the sun did it for him. Around the camp men awaited orders, dressed to the neck in battle gear, weapons dangling from sheathes at hips and shoulders. Roul's own blade hung from his hip, the tip nearly dragging to the ground, the shield slung across his back. Both were plain and un-ornamented, sole purpose was for battle, not for fancy dueling.

Slightly distant from him, Roul spied the general raging at men who were doing nothing. They scattered to do whatever it was he was demanding of them. Roul ducked into the large tent of the cook, retrieved his bowl of soup and hungrily consumed the concoction. It was not exactly pleasing to the taste buds, but it got people through the day, so it couldn't be all to bad.

The sun steadily rose higher, and the General forced the soldiers into their lines and formations. Row upon row of steel and iron at the beck and call of Roul was more power than he wanted at his whim. However, he knew it would help for what was to come. He would have Aeris. Nothing would stop him, he would travel through the Malestrom to save her, if that was what it would take to save her.

Leather boots crunched sand as they began to march into the expansive desert. Four soldiers were astride a mount. Roul, who guided from the helm of the force, directing it toward the cave. Walter, who had come along to supervise, and lend his aid in combat, and his powers to helping those who took blows he could help with. Third and Fourth were two women who had arrived the night before. Both had come in together, wrapped from head to toe in robes. One woman, with a slightly twig like form, was cloaked in crimson, all the way up to the top of her head. No skin showed through, gloves covered her hands, and a thin strip of cloth covered her eyes. Roul wondered if she was blind or could see through it.

The other girl was decorated with a midnight blue sash, she wore not gloves, and her pale skin showed through, bright in the sun. A veil covered her face, except for a small stray lock of blond hair and blue eyes. Her form was slightly more filled out. But both were slight of figure, but as two of the few women in camp, the men made googly eyes at them anyway, even though they couldn't see them, or tell much of their looks beyond their height and weight.

Out in the desert they trod, and before long, the wind found its energy and picked up again. Stronger than usual, it seemed determined to make up for the peace it had given them earlier. Roul called to the man closest to him, "Get one of the Mages to give us a bubble of calm." That's what the two women were, Mages. The man, eager to get out of the wind, bolted back to ask for the cover. Moments later it was provided, like the eye of a storm, calm was only directly around them, no further. Soft streaks of magic occasionally danced around the Blue Mage, Roul assumed she was the source of the bubble.
-
Aeris rubbed her belly, hand making soft stroking motions, it was already large with another set of her children. Her gaze, however, was locked onto three large ovals before her. Each one was pulsing, a dark orange translucent skin stretched over it. Inside a small creature rested, floating in some kind of fluid, fetal position. Small nubs dotted across its skin, plates of chitin half formed. One red eye opened. A flash of growing teeth, almost a smile. A tail coiled around it, and it drifted back to sleep.

She had given birth to the things, of course the eggs had been smaller at the time, but all the same. They were her favorite out of all she had loved. They were the most like her. They were her 'real' children. The pregnancy had been similar, a little slower, than the others, but they were a real mixture of her DNA and the Brood Father's.

The sand next to her feet shifted and sunk in, a beetle popped up. It clacked to her the information of a force of soldiers headed to the cave. She halted her thoughts, and pondered new ones. She became conflicted. She knew who it was, and what he was here for. Aeris glared, a decision made. She would not go to him, her conviction to her children was not weak, as it was the night before. She would stop him here. With a swift telecommunication to the beetle, he broadcasted through the hive mind her orders, to bring up a company of beetles to fend off the attackers. With her at the helm.

With brisk steps she progressed through the network of spiderweb tunnels that was this hive. She traversed it without a single hesitation or misstep, she knew the ways by heart now. In the Brood Father's chamber, she retrieved her spear, and alerted him to her actions, though he probably knew through the mind. A swift turn brought her face to face with the opening into the exit tunnels. The sand around her fell in, and out swarmed beetles, their chitin clacking as it hit another's, mandibles clicking and scratching at everything around.

She smirked to herself, teeth flashing for a moment. Eyes narrowed in anticipation, she slowly encroached upon the exit. Feet noisily crunching through sand, black exoskeleton spreading across her body. The spear's tip drug in the sand. Her hand twitched. The halberd spun through the air for a few moments, twisting wind and sand around it in a mini-whirl. Another twitch, and the pole-arm was at the ready position. It's wooden shaft sliding through Aeris's grip with ease, polished to a sheen. The flat-leaf tip glinted when a burst of orange light was fed through the walls. These bursts illuminated a trigger-ready Aeris and her small company of beetles. Rays of sun light loomed ahead of them, and her victorious laughter softly floated into the open air.
-
Roul stared from the top of a dune they had recently crested. It sat just before the cave, providing a nice scouting spot. What he saw did not increase his mood. He gazed upon a battle-armed Aeris, with a troupe of beetles out for blood. Roul was glad she was out there, it would be easier to snag her, but this meant that she would be fighting, and that was not something Roul was looking forward too. He swallowed is distress, and ordered everyone into position. The Mages slid to the back, preparing sorceries to contain and disarm Aeris.

She stood in the sweltering sun, gleaming in dark chitin. The material covered her arms, neck, legs and back, but oddly left open her, pregnant, stomach and sexual parts. Her eyes scanned them with an intensity, locking onto Roul. A quick grin, she had expected him. Roul worried himself, staring at her. His eyes drifted up and down her body, glaring at the obvious presence of off-spring to be. The wind, raging outside their bubble of calm, tousled her hair all about, giving her a wild look.

Roul distracted himself, re-instating what he was here for, in his head, and reassuring himself that he would have her once this mess was over with. She would be his, at any and all costs.

His soldiers were in formation, a wave of meat, iron, and hide, their eyes stared forward with terrible looks, directed at the beetles. However, quite a few found their eyes to have a tendency to be looking at the exposed woman, rather than their enemies. Roul stomped past them on his horse, snapping them back to attention. A swift trot brought him to the down-slide of the hill, and from there his voice boomed out, "Aeris, Brood Mother of this Hive. We ask that you come with us as a prisoner of war, without shedding any blood. You will be treated with respect and more as a guest than prisoner, should you accept this offer. Otherwise, we must be forced to steal you away in a much more prisoner style, and comforts will be retracted." 

She snarled in response, waved her hands to form the beetles around herself. Roul watched her, she was not the greatest tactician amongst their original troupe. "I will never bow to the will of those who would do me and my children harm." Her reply was spat with venom, eyes narrowing to slits. All around, hands gripped weapons tightly. Eyes locked on enemies. She snarled again, and the black chitin fully covered her body, a mask decorating her face, formless in design. The wave of insects surged forward. The company of humanoids rocketed ahead.

They met and all hell broke loose in combat. Men and beast a like slashed at all things moving. Men cut down the bugs, war cries at their throats. Insect parts flew in abundance in every direction, the fluid inside scattering like rain amongst all those around. Every soldier had his target, and down they fell, in a slaughter. But, the beetles focused fire, taking down the soldiers one at a time, eating the entire body in a matter of seconds. So both sides were taking heavy blows as time progressed.

Aeris roared, and the beetles pressed forward again, shooting past those of the front line and tearing into archers. Blood soaked the sand, coagulating it into large clumps of bloody mud. Bones stuck around, a graveyard torn up by a hurricane. Steel snapped through the air, slaying the lives of all the Silithid who got in its way. Pincers sliced into flesh and bone, eviscerating any in range, a whirl of piercing points.

A flash. All were blinded. Bolts whizzed through the air, striking down the beetles. In the back the Mages were firing off rapidly, tearing through the creatures with astounding speed. Aeris snarled again, and leapt into the air. Roul gazed at the sun, looking for her. A thud shook the ground to his right. Two soldiers were crushed and two more had been sliced open by a landing spear turn.

She leapt again.

Purple sparked into the air, zapping Aeris in mid-flight, and bringing her back down to earth in a heap. She went unconscious from the impact. The beetles fell back, no longer having a central command to guide their focus they were easily dispatched in the confusion.

The blue Mage, a traitorous human, straddled the fallen Aeris. With some help, she flipped the Hybrid onto her back. Someone swung the flat of a blade and slapped her leg. Nothing happened. The chitin protected her. Men snarled and struck repeatedly.

Blue Mage spoke something unintelligent to the Horde around her. The Blood Elf Mage understood her, thankfully, and translated it into Orcish, "She wants someone to break off a shard of the exoskeleton." Her voice was dripping honey. A few men openly gawked at her. Behind her veil, a small giggle escaped. Suddenly, a crack blasted their eardrums, refocusing everyone on Aeris. The chitin shard had been painfully pried from the armor.

Traitor to the Alliance she may be, the Mage was helping the Horde. With an appreciative nod, she took the fragment with thin fingered hands. Her left hand let go, and reached up to her face. A rustle and a click, her veil fell open. Ruby red lips and a pale face looked out behind it. White teeth shone in the sun, as her mouth opened and half of the shard was stuck in it. Deliberately, she closed her lips slowly around it, sucking and twirling it around with her mouth, much to the delight of present company. Extracting it delicately, a thin stream of saliva hung from it, but it had changed. Where once it had been a jagged shard, now was a smooth, finger design.

She drew on Aeris with the finger, and slowly the chitin dissipated, a black smoke. She groaned, now exposed and weak, her lips parting and a soft noise from her throat. The Mages giggled, and the men raised their eyebrows in wonder. A few shrugging, dismissing it as the oddities of Magisters.

With their prize in tow, the party departed back for the camp, the two Mages keeping a close eye on their captive.
~
Roul was furious. In his tent he sat cross legged on the bed. Behind him was the Blue Mage, who giggled (They seemed to do that a lot) at his anger. Her voice slipped out, a slow, broken orcish, "Why you so angry?" Her voice, though speaking improperly, sounded with a seductive note to it. Considering the other Mage, Roul wondered if they were altering their voices, or if they just sounded so wonderful naturally.

"Because the love of my life, that I had capture, is chained up in the middle of this camp, for the mounting pleasure of everyone. Except me. And there's not a thing I can do about it." He grumbled, eyes downcast in anger. The General had somehow figured what Roul was up to, he planned to take Aeris away and live with her peaceably, but the General saw this as a better course of action.
-
Eerie quiet was settled around Aeris. Though she was stripped, and chained to the post, set up for the pleasure of anyone who wanted her body, not a single person came near her. They were to afraid. Fearful of what, she didn't know, but they were afraid. She wanted to mock them, but that could anger them into doing something cruel to her, something she didn't need at the moment. Aeris decided she would wait it out, see how long this went on. Someone had mentioned a plan, so it had to be progressing, she hoped.
~
Night drifted at the edge of their current twilight. Aeris was still left alone, in fact, no one was near the center of the base. She laughed quietly to herself. A cold hand was against her back. She jumped out of her skin, nearly. Eyes wide, she snapped her head to look behind herself. The Red Mage stood behind her, a wicked grin on her face. She too had removed her veil, displaying a perfectly tanned face, and crimson lips.

Deftly, the woman untied Aeris of physical bonds, but then bound her with magic ones, guiding her through the camp. Tent alleyways they navigated, the moon poking its bald head up, in the distance. The warm sun faded and cool darkness descended upon them. At the end of their short trek, Aeris found herself facing a... Normal Tent. She sighed, how anticlimactic, she thought.

The Red Mage pushed her through the flap and she landed face first into the dirt of the tent, her rear in the air. Inside, as she fell, she caught a glimpse of Roul and a flash of royal blue behind him. She grumbled intelligently into the dirt. Aeris caught the faint flash of blue as magic snapped into the air.

"Hey!" Roul cried out, she could only guess what happened, till Roul spoke again. "Why'd you bind me up?" He inquired, exasperated. The Mages giggled in response. Aeris was deciding that she disliked that giggle.

The two spoke simultaneously, using the same words. Roul was convinced they were using magic. "We're partners in crime, you see. We work as Mages for the military, but we do lead a rather nice life together, in Silvermoon." They both flashed a grin at this point. The Red Mage picked up, "And the General decided to give us an... Extra task." Her hand was Aeris's rear now, and faintly the girl on the ground felt her taunting the flesh there. "He wants us to do what none of the men will do. Take our right over Aeris. And Madison thought it would be absolutely brilliant to let you watch, considering what we gathered from your past." The Blue Mage smirked at them, and picked up, her orcish now perfect.

"And Kate thought we should do it right in here!" They hugged in each other, celebrating one another's scheming. Roul and Aeris groaned. A second hand was added to the one on Aeris's rear. She shivered involuntarily, they were both ice cold.

Speaking as one once more, "So, Aeris Hawkrider, prepare for some fun, some magically delicious fun."