Rebirth of the Nephilim

Jay leaned back in her giant-sized chair and let out a happy sigh of satisfaction. While sex and battle were her first and second favorite activities, there was definitely something to be said in favor of a hard day’s labor, so long as the positive results of said labor were so clear and obvious. She wasn’t going to turn in her battleaxe for a wood saw anytime soon, but she was proud of her recent accomplishments.

The main frame of the second airship in Fortune’s Favored Mercenary Company’s budding fleet had been completed. All the wool cloth panels had been attached and most of the enchantments were in place. There was still the matter of transferring the newly upgraded magic-powered engine into the engine compartment at the back of the passenger cabin, and the control panel wasn’t quite done yet, but most of the hard work was done. Sabina had said that the airship would be ready for its first flight in two days, maybe three if there were any unforeseen complications. Jadis was looking forward to it, since she was pretty sure this Mark II version of Sabina’s airship design was going to put the first one to shame.

“So that’s everything you’ve been up to,” Noll commented dryly before taking a bite out of a meat pie.

“Yeah, we’ve been keeping busy,” Jay said as she watched a few workers adjust the guidelines attached to the front and back of the airship. “From social to technological, we’ve made a lot of changes around here.”

“And yet you’ve barely leveled at all,” Noll grumped as he washed his bite down with a gulp of amber ale. “I expected more.”

“Seriously?” Jay gave the old wolf a deadpan look. “I went up by seven levels since you last saw me. How is that not huge? Doesn’t it take most people years to go up that many levels?”

“Five of those levels came from your tertiary class,” Noll pointed out bluntly. “You can gain those early levels in your third class easily with your power and all the Demons running around to provide bonus experience. You can do more.”

Jay’s next sigh wasn’t as relaxed as the first, but she didn’t complain. Noll was right. Jadis had barely done any real fighting at all since the battle at Cold Brook around two weeks ago. She hadn’t done much before Cold Brook, either, so by this point she was really feeling the itch to get out there and crush some heads.

“Well, you don’t need to needle me,” Jay informed her mentor with a lopsided grin. “I’ve got a plan, actually. I’m going to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Why would you kill birds with stones.”

“It’s just a—oh fuck off.”

Noll chuckled deep in his chest. The therion had known exactly what Jadis had meant. He really must have been in a good mood since he was teasing her, which morphed her half-grin into a full one. She was also in a very good mood, so there wasn’t much that could bring it down aside from maybe another unexpected Demon attack. Or Hraustrekr visiting.

The whole reason the second airship had been able to be constructed so fast was thanks to Bridget’s family. Clan Warsong had wasted no time at all departing from their disputed farmlands and coming to the capital. With the airship’s help, they had been able to bring the whole clan to Eldingholt in no time flat. Even better, multiple members of the clan who had been abroad as members of other mercenary companies had started showing up, accepting an open invitation that Jadis had sent out asking them to join Fortune’s Favored. The ranks of the mercenary company had swelled dramatically in a short period of time; there were far more people now than could have possibly fit inside just the one building their company had originally set up in the capital.

Fortunately, Eir’s father had been receptive to the business deal Jadis had offered him.

Margrave Aedraheill had provided Fortune’s Favored with a large sum of money which had been used to purchase the building directly to the left of the headquarters as well as the two buildings that were directly behind the headquarters. This created a large square of four buildings with a massive courtyard situated between them. Once the walls that had once separated the storage yards had been taken down, the space was more than big enough to act as a construction yard for new airships.

The Margrave’s generous funding had also provided for a practical army of carpenters, plumbers, and stone masons who had set to work transforming the three new buildings from workshops into apartment complexes. With the newly renovated buildings mostly completed, there was more than enough room for all of Bridget’s family as well as the families of any of her other lovers, and still more space yet for dozens of mercenaries like young Villum who chose to live inside the new compound rather than find their own lodging in the city like Terrance.

 In exchange for the mountain of coins Eir’s dad had pulled from his treasury, Jadis had agreed to build a new airship for him that was specifically oriented towards cargo transportation. Having an airship for his glass manufacturing business would give him a drastic advantage over his competitors, so it was a worthwhile long-term investment. While the current airship being completed was going to be a part of Jadis’ planned fleet, the next one to be constructed would be for Einer.

That was actually a big part of why Jadis had spent so much time in the forge for the past few days. All of the enchantments for the almost complete airship had already been completed. What Sabina was crafting at what would be a ridiculous pace for anyone else but her were the enchantments necessary for more airships. So far, with what they had made today, they had enough for five more airships in the same size class as the Behemoth and two in the size class of the newly upgraded model. Those five sets that were meant for smaller airships were all going to be sold to Kestil and Hraustrekr, both of whom were practically frothing at the mouth to have more zeppelins made. The two sets of bigger enchantments, however, were intended for Margrave Aedraheill and herself. If Kestil and Hraustrekr wanted the Mark II enchantments, they would have to renegotiate the cost.

Jadis wasn’t going to just give the newer, better models away for the same price, after all.

“Well?” Noll growled around the lip of his mug. “What plan?”

“So, with those cultists targeting me like I told you about,” Jay referenced her earlier explanation about Cold Brook, “I’m asking all of my lovers to move their immediate family members to our compound here. So far, Aila’s parents have moved in. They were staying with Eir’s parents, but with the apartments set up they’ve officially moved in here. Eir’s mom and dad won’t be moving in, but they’re super rich nobles with tons of experienced guards, so I’m not too worried about them. Eir’s mother is planning on staying in the city for the foreseeable future anyway, so she’ll be a lot safer than out at their country estate.”

Jay shifted around in her chair as she spoke so that she was leaning one elbow on the backrest while she looked at Noll. The old warrior wasn’t looking at her, but she could tell that he was listening intently to her words by the way his ears perked towards her.

“Thea’s mother is here, too. She, uh, is getting along very well with Tegwyn. Don’t bring it up around Thea, though. She’s still kind of embarrassed to think about her mother having entirely reasonable urges for a woman of her age.”

Noll let out a snort of amusement but didn’t interrupt further.

“Anyway. Bridget’s whole clan is here, for the most part. There are still a bunch of them who are in various mercenary troops, but most of them have come to join us here. Kerr’s clan is way far to the north in the Verdant Sea so it’d take a long ass time for anyone to even get to them in the first place. Besides which, Kerr told me they’re basically a small army, so we’re not too worried about them. She sent them letters to make sure they know what’s going on, but she doesn’t think any of them will be coming down here.”

The thought of Kerr’s family caused a slight frown to involuntarily tug at Jay’s lips. She and her feisty lover never talked too much about her clan, which was a boundary that she respected. Not everyone had good relations with their relations, so Jadis wasn’t going to push the matter if Kerr didn’t want to talk about them. Still, she couldn’t help but worry about Kerr’s easy dismissal of her family’s safety. Not because she thought that the archer didn’t care, but because it felt like she was pretending not to.

In any case, those thoughts weren’t for conversation with Noll, so Jadis pushed them aside and continued with her overview.

“Sorcha reached out to her family by express letter, too. We were going to go get them, but apparently, they’ve already packed up. Her mother, father, little sister and brother should all be on a wagon on the way here. She’s been writing letters to them pretty regularly and the news of everything going on has convinced them that they needed to come to the capital to, uh, show their support for their daughter.”

Jadis’ explanation for Sorcha’s family was much kinder than Sorcha’s own colorful description. The poor witch was dreading the encounter worse than she had the thought of being hanged, but that was just how it was. From the letter responses Sorcha had let her read, she could tell that the goblin’s parents loved their daughter but were just showing so parental concern from all the recent life choices she had made. Jadis doubted Sorcha’s family would be any worse than Aila’s mother when she had first arrived in the capital.

Hopefully.

“I don’t think I need to mention that we aren’t exactly worried about protecting Alex’s family,” Jay joked. “So that just leaves Sabina’s father to worry about. He’s in a city to the northwest, on the border of Volto, Glanum. His letters have made it clear that he doesn’t really want to leave his forge there. He says he’s already in danger because of the war, so he’s not worried about cultists coming after him.”

“Brave,” Noll grunted. “Or stupid.”

“Or just stubborn,” Jay nodded. “Anyway, we’re planning on flying the new airship to Glanum as part of its test run. Sabina’s nefarious plan is to ensnare him with the promise of getting to work on crafting airships if he comes back with us. Once he sees one in action, we’re pretty sure he’ll fold like a wet piece of paper.”

“Glanum,” Noll rumbled the name deep in his chest. “That’s about an hour from the coast of the Siren Sea. Not too many days of travel from Rubaline, either.”

Thinking about the world map she had in her head, Jay nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I think that’s right. It’s right on the front lines of the demonic invasion, from what I’ve been told.”

“Close to it,” Noll agreed. “It’s not as bad in Volto as Rubaline yet, but it’s bad.”

“Right,” Jay agreed. “So you see. Two birds.”

“One stone,” Noll held up a clenched fist as he bared his fangs in a grin.

“Exactly.”

Jadis hadn’t doubted that Noll would catch onto her plan. While they were in Glanum to retrieve Sabina’s father, they would also be taking the opportunity to slay as many Demons as possible. Not only would it be a way for her and her lovers to power through some levels, it was an opportunity for her B Team to gain levels as well. They’d all be going together.

As an added bonus, Jadis was pretty sure that her mercenary company being on the battlefield was going to make a big difference to the local garrison. She was hoping she could relieve some of the pressure being put on the soldiers around Glanum by her presence, in a similar manner to what the Hero normally did. Since Wilhelm and his party were still chasing down the cultists, he wasn’t around to provide support on the borders like he had in the past. Jadis was trying not to be overly egotistical about it, but she was pretty sure she could make just as big a difference, at least from a combat perspective.

Jay and Noll shared a comfortable silence as they gazed out over the huge work yard that stretched between the four buildings her company now owned. The two of them were sitting in chairs located on the top of the main headquarters building. Part of the renovation money that Jadis had gotten from Eir’s father had gone towards rebuilding the rear-facing roofs of all four buildings to be balcony patios, so that the residents could get some air if they wanted to. While this rooftop patio was only accessible through Jadis’ bedroom normally, she and Noll hadn’t had any trouble leaping their way up to the top of the structure. The cool breeze that came from being up high was as nice as the view, and even though she wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol anymore in solidarity with her pregnant lovers, she was more than happy with her sweetened lemonade. Jadis felt a deep glow of satisfaction in her chest from what she had accomplished so far, as well as a growing anticipation for what was to come.

“Are you sure about that Fetch you told me about?”

Jay glanced at Noll and recognized the subdued concern on his furry face. She appreciated his concern but was quick to allay it. Jadis didn’t regret hiring Maeve so far, and she didn’t think she would in the future, either.

“She’s trustworthy,” Jay assured him. When he gave her a look, she amended her statement. “She’s as trustworthy as you can expect from a disciple of Chaos. Maeve wants to help me because she thinks I’m more fun to have around than not. I don’t think she’s going to screw me over.”

“Fair enough,” Noll nodded, accepting her judgement with an ease that Jadis appreciated. “Is she here?”

“Maybe,” Jadis shrugged. “It can be hard to tell sometimes with Maeve. But she’s been working pretty hard at rooting out the assholes who’ve been spying on us, so she kind of comes and goes irregularly. If you’re staying in town for the next day, I’m pretty sure you’ll meet her.”

Noll seemed to think her statement over for a bit before he turned towards Jay with narrowed eyes.

“How about I stay for a few days longer and I ride your new airship to Glanum.”

“What, really?” Jay asked in surprise. “You want to ride with us?”

“Glanum isn’t far from where I need to go,” he replied in his usual growly tones. “The trail went cold on the centipede, anyway. I’ll be starting from scratch. Might as well start from there. Besides. I need to make sure you’re keeping up with your training.”

Jay grinned back at the dark-furred therion.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”