Surrounded by his girls, Raven sat on comfy bedding with support of his back as he leaned against the tent. Wearing only his pants with no top, he felt much lighter especially since that coat was off of his shoulders. With a deep breath, he looked at the map that had been passed onto him since the Mistress’s return. Committing everything to memory, he paid little heed to the girls clambering on his body, but once Rose’s lips made contact with his, he couldn’t do anymore and decided to pull her on top of him.
Laying on his chest, the mature woman showered Raven with kisses, all the while Brenna and Aerin busied themselves with his other side and the elves massaged his legs with their heads resting on top of his abs.
"A moment’s calm, always more precious than any treasure of gold..." Rose whispered, her voice a tad bit husky from the wine that she’d been drinking to soothe her nerves.
Accompanying Raven and the army hasn’t been easy for the civilians, and Rose, Brenna, as well as Aerin were somewhat shaken by the whole trip. The desert had been no less harsh on their minds and bodies, a handful of horrors had assaulted the army in the path, but with so many experienced soldiers and the blessing of Athenia over the holy order, nobody was injured.
"True that," Tanya whispered, naked to the bone and pouring everyone another glass by the only table in the tent.
Standing beside her, Aura was still shaken from the journey and the arrival, and since she didn’t drink often, if ever at all, the bluntness of the journey was affecting her the most. Finally breaking her sobriety, she snatched a bottle from the table and brought it to her lips. The red liquid dripped down her chin and stained her fair skin. Curling around her breasts and then following a straight line that led to her belly button, she downed more and more despite hating every bit of it.
"Alrightttt, that should be enough," snatching the bottle from her hand, Tanya moved the bottle behind her back. Holding it right above the curve of her ass, she glared at her sister who seemed ready to yell at her, but also confused about what had happened. "Enough, just go and sit next to him. I’ll bring you a glass if you need, but you’re not drinking like some drunk in front of your sister!"
"Ughhh, whatever, fine!"
As the wine settled in her belly and made its way through her system, Aura was the first to retire to the night. Sleeping soundly with her worries finally drifting away while the others still bid their time. A glass of wine, a warm body under their arms, the sound of his heartbeat and the comfort of his company, that’s all they needed right now. Nothing more, nothing less for another day and this feeling would be lost, and who knows who dies and who gets to live.
"Can I ask you something?" Out of nowhere, Brenna placed a thumb onto Raven’s lips and turned his head towards her. Looking him in the eye, she forced a smile on her lips and spoke what the wine brought out of her mind. "I heard you died once. What happens if it happens again? Will you come back and can any of us come back? There must’ve been something beyond this right? Apart from hell, of course, I think we’ve all experienced far too much of it to discount its existence."
With a raised eyebrow, Raven stared back at Brenna’s face. Reflected within them was worry, a kind of worry that edges on uncertain insanity.
"I...I just," shaking her head, she took a deep breath and sighed. "Before tagging along on this journey, I thought I’d seen whatever this world could offer, but those monsters that we saw through the windows on those ships, they..."
The face of a crying baby being carried along by a feminine horror with a slit belly flashed in front of her eyes. As a wet nurse to many childbirths, the sight was now burned into her mind, so much so that her hand kept crawling down to her belly and checking if it was slit or still intact.
"Sorry, forget I asked." She whispered, but placing a hand on her shoulders, Raven saw through the facade of bravery.
"I’m here, alright? I’ll never let anything hurt you or anyone from our family," he responded, rousing comfort in her heart with his gift.
Brenna’s eyes still lingered on Raven’s chest for a while, but as his word of promise set in, she wore a weak smile and nuzzled close to him. The rest had heard the conversation as well, and of course their minds wandered through that possibility. Raven could die, and so could they. For once the weight of their mortality was making them feel an existential horror, and so retreating in his warmth, the girls decided to sleep.
Raven wasn’t blind to their worries either, but with the last life giving necklace gone and there being no way of coming back once a horror consumed your soul, he knew his cunning was all he had to rely on, and anything rash or without proper planning would only get him and his people killed in this war against the demon general.
’Demi-gods, I can’t wait for all of you to sit on that throne and live with me forever.’ Looking around at everyone, he ran his fingers through their hairs, planted a few kisses on their forehead before closing his eyes momentarily. ’But for now, I have to do this. I have to do whatever it takes to get to that point in the first place.’
A mortal dreaming to become immortal, Raven wasn’t the first to chase such a distant dream. But would he be the first to achieve it? Well...with the whispers of betrayal drumming in the army, who could tell, really? However, for now, it was time to rest for today had given him a lot to think about, and tomorrow he had a few people to meet, and a few places to visit.