The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (pdf to ebook reader txt) 📗

as she held her breath to stay perfectly still.

It... was impressive stealth for one of her kind.

This had been going on for two days now; ever since she’d saved the Ogre outside of the city of Greyhaven the lost monster girl had been trailing the Trog like a giant blue puppy.

But Kriss was done.

“Alright enough!” She called out in irritation; “How much longer do you intend on following me?!”

Silence for a few seconds, then a sudden gasp of air as Tora couldn’t hold her breath anymore.

“Not following nobody.” She pouted sullenly; “Just happens we go both in same ways.”

Kriss ground her teeth together as her deadly green eyes narrowed.

“Aright then, where are you going?”

Tora stepped out of the trees, shaking the ground slightly, then pointed down the road behind Kriss.

The Troglodyte crooked a thumb over her shoulder for confirmation.

“So you’re going that way?”

Tora nodded mutely, her deep blue eyes showing nothing of her clumsy guile.

Kriss smirked and gestured behind Tora.

“Good, because I’m going that way.”

She walked around the hulking Ogre, who now looked a bit panicked, and headed back the way she came.

She didn’t get far though before she felt the ground shaking again.

Kriss bowed her head in hopeless exasperation before turning around to see her stalker, the Ogre’s eyes shifting all around as she tried to look natural.

“I thought you were going that way?” The Trog observed with a sharp gesture of one claw.

Tora’s brow furrowing as her simple mind scrambled for an explanation.

“I... I forgot something.” She licked her lips as she tried to expand on her very obvious lie; “Have to go back for to get.”

“You forgot something.” Kriss declared flatly.

The Ogre nodded earnestly, her matted hair dipping as she did.

“Yeah-huh.”

“Where did you forget it?”

The Trog knew the question was a mistake as soon as she saw Tora raise her arm, one thick finger pointing down the road in her new direction.

“And if I were to turn around and head that way again? Did you forget something over there too?”

Tora’s eyes lit up at someone else giving her the excuses she needed, plausible ones too!

“Yes, I forgets stuff everyplace.” She swore with believable innocence; “Momma tells me all the time to renember, buts always forgets.”

A regular human would quail at the glare Kriss leveled at her, but she was oblivious to it.

“‘Renember’?” She sighed.

As she observed the Ogre her tongue habitually darted out of her mouth and her face twisted in disgust at what she tasted in the air.

“When is the last time you bathed?”

Tora’s cobalt blue cheeks darkened in shame and she looked away.

“Normally have wash every day. But can’t now. No tub, no water, no soap, no momma.”

By the time she reached the end of her list her face seemed to be melting with tears.

Alarmed at the emotional display, Kriss reached out and took hold of her arm, the Trog not accustomed to giving comfort, but not so heartless as to withhold it.

Though when Tora scooped her up in her arms and squeezed her tight to her breasts, she was not ready for it.

Naturally the Chameleon tried to break free, and her scales went through a myriad of colours as they reflected her rising alarm at being unable to.

Eventually she gave up and just let it happen, her skin changing to the same blue as Tora’s as the Ogre held her in her unyielding embrace while she cried herself out.

As her sobs turned to sniffles, she pulled away, settling the Trog back on her feet and looking embarrassed again.

“All better?” Kriss asked with as much patience as she could.

Tora opened her mouth to respond, but gasped when she saw the colour the Chameleon was sporting.

“Oh noes! Tora squeezed too muchly! Yous need to breathe! Stay breathing new friend!”

The Chameleon shook her head slowly and with a mental flex returned the minute scales all over her body to their natural burnt cinnamon colour.

“You really need a bath, and after you smooshed me into those big sweaty things-” She gestured at Tora’s impressive bust, barely contained in her dirty white tunic; “-so do I. There is a village a few miles that way. I was going to stop there for the night. They’ll have tubs, water, and soap.”

She left out the last thing on Tora’s list, her mother, knowing that it would just upset her.

“New blue friend want me to come with?” The giant asked with hope plain on her face.

Even the hardened Trog’s heart melted a bit under the weight of her puppy-dog eyes.

She cleared her throat to remind herself how tough she was and looked away.

“Yeah, I guess you are my problem for now.”

“Tora not problem!” The Ogre declared indignantly, her pleading expression falling away.

“Whatever, so long as you promise not to cry on me anymore, you can come with me. But only until I can find someone from the Aegis!”

The Ogre’s demeanour brightened considerably and she once again scooped up the Trog, ignoring her protests as she squished her tight to her sweaty cleavage again.

__________

As the afternoon waned, Nameless came down off the roof of their apartment, having been up there hoping to catch sight of Volka’s glowing form when she returned.

To his surprise though, she and the others were already inside, the sneaky Valkyrie having taken the stairs.

“Oh look, it’s the cheese guy. What was his name again?” Erica said with faux indifference.

Nina shrugged and gave him a flat look as he came down the stairs.

“Dunno. That the same guy who thinks he’s so special that he has to bond with every monster girl in the world? Guess we’ll just have to beat it out of him.”

He sighed at what was obviously happening,