Chapter 28: High Noon

The home’s shadows welcomed her, each stationary, though varying in intensity under waning gaslight. Mistress H’s silhouette fell over the cell block door, little different from the sleek black suit of her reality. A smile crossed her face as she opened the door and invited Khukri inside. “Welcome home. Go get settled; once you’re locked in, I’ll come by and bring you dinner.”

“Thank you, Mistress H.” Khukri stepped through, tail folding beneath her as she surveyed rows of cages running down either side. As she crossed the room, she watched her packmates look up from their bowls one by one as they caught sight of her. When she reached Maya’s cell, Khukri stopped, ears folded and head lowered. “Maya? I’m back.”

Maya quickly stood, giving Khukri a warm smile. “Don’t stand out there like a stranger, girl. Get your ass in here and give me a hug.”

Khukri hesitated, eyes falling to Maya’s food bowl, which didn’t have so much as a grease stain. The door clicked open, easily letting Khukri enter and present herself for inspection. “My previous owner didn’t take me hunting much this season, so my value’s fallen, but I’m prepared to prove I still have what it takes to serve the pack.”

“Oh, knock that off,” Maya ordered, hugging Khukri before stepping back to get a better look. “Of course, you’re in the pack. Everyone knows where you belong: at the top, with us.”

A sliver of fear flicked through as Khukri breathed a sigh of relief. “Really? Just like that?” Khukri was the best, even if her price didn’t show it, and perhaps it was that simple. Or perhaps Mistress H had ordered Maya to play nice, since without Khukri’s cooperation, what hope did they have of finding Ruari?

Maya nodded, passing her to open the door. “When Mistress H told us we’d be hunting you, we’d thought for sure you’d gone feral. I’m just relieved… Ah, enough of that, we’ve got all year to catch up. Go on, get some rest.”

The rest went unsaid. ‘Get some rest; there’s a hunt tomorrow.’ A lump formed in Khukri’s throat as she exited Maya’s cage. “He’s returned me to get money to run. What if I can’t find him?”

The lock clicked as Maya pulled the door shut, rubbing Khukri’s shoulder through the bars. “All we expect is that you respect the order. Personally, I hope he does escape, for your sake.”

Khukri gave a relieved smile, then wandered back to her cell and locked herself in. The straw pile she sunk into wasn’t quite as plump as the one Master… the one Ruari shared with her, but there was a strange relaxing feeling that came with familiarity, something only reinforced when Mistress H filled her bowl with a standard portion of sausages a few minutes later. She settled in, biting one in half. Damn… she’d miss Ruari’s taste-plants. At the time, she’d thought him wasteful; using resources to keep her happy. She’d have been equally loyal regardless of what he fed her, but it’d been nice. When she finished, she set the bowl down and sunk deeper into her straw, staring at the bars above. “Good luck, Master,” she mumbled, cracking a smile as she imagined him stumbling ass-backwards into becoming a knight of Sibir.

***

Khukri rounded a corner, hurrying down the corridor to the lobby where Maya’s pack was already assembled, halfway through strapping and tightening their armour. Unusual, given premium hunters had the luxury of preparing and assembling where they chose.

The protocol was different for abnormal hunts like this. First, their target wasn’t necessarily outside the outpost, so their guard needed to be up the moment they exited the front door. More importantly, Maya wasn’t leading this hunt, Via was. A tingle of disgust rippled through Khukri as she remembered Ruari’s weight in her arms as she carried him off that ship, put there by the woman that held her leash.

Judgement had no place in a premium hunter. What Mistress did to Ruari wasn’t her concern. Owners got to take what they wanted, and Ruari sold his weapon, knowing it’d fall into his enemy’s hands. All she needed to do was maintain that order.

“Maya.” Khukri hurried to her Whip’s side. “I’m sorry I took so long. I went to the armoury, but no one’s provided replacement equipment yet.”

A few girls looked her way, but a sharp glare from Maya made them far more interested in their own gear. Once the others knew to stay out of it, Maya offered an apologetic grimace. “You’re going without gear this time.”

Those few small words were all it took for the room to feel small and crowded, like this wasn’t her home anymore. She smiled nervously, stepping back to view the pack, most of whom wouldn’t be here without Khukri’s tracking. How could anyone doubt her commitment? She’d spent three years at the bottom of the pack, and all she’d ever needed was a few warnings not to overstep her station. “It is just for this hunt though, right? I’m still a part of this pack...”

“Khukri,” Maya warned, making Khukri fold her ears and stand down. “You’re a premium hunter, one of us, part of my pack.” She stepped forward, resting hands on Khukri’s shoulders and looking her in the eye. “It’s just this one time, for our safety. We’re hunting your former owner, one that was good to you.”

“I’ve never disobeyed an order, ever,” Khukri insisted. “I’m loyal.”

“And this lets you prove it.” Maya offered a reassuring smile and patted Khukri’s shoulder before retracting. “It’s normal to have feelings for the people you’ve met, so you track, and we engage. Next hunt, I’ll make sure you have a full kit.”

One hunt. Her tracking ability against whatever Ruari came up with, then things could go back to normal. She could keep it together for one hunt. Khukri nodded with an uneasy smile.

“Good.” Maya turned, raising her arms as she addressed the rest of the pack. “Everyone! Gather round. Khukri’s spent the last two months as the target’s only hunter. Let’s listen to her report on what we’re up against!”

The rest of the pack turned her way, settling in as they diligently watched. I’m sorry Ruari. “The target is a male deer in his early twenties. He’s armed with melee weapons, but relies solely on deception and a rudimentary knowledge of traps for his survival. With a day’s head start and a sizable coin purse, he intends to get smuggled out - tonight.”

“Not much of a threat then?” Annah asked.

“If we can catch him, he won’t put up much resistance.” What little she’d been able to teach him wouldn’t help against a warrior who’d trained all her life, let alone thirteen.

A knock at the door pulled everyone’s eyes away. After Maya opened it, she stepped back, lowering her head to the woman who stepped through. Via wore abyssal scale armour, virtually identical to the one Ruari let Khukri wear, down to the pearl-handled blade strapped across her abdomen. Her features were angular, with black ears that stood straight as she surveyed her pack, finally settling on Khukri.

“You,” Via said, looking down her nose as she stood over Khukri. “You carried the boy off my boat the last time we met.”

“I was his hunter, Mistress. He returned me so he’d have enough money to escape.” Khukri stared at her new owner, impassively waiting for a command.

Via’s nose wrinkled, fearlessly bringing her face close to Khukri’s. “You know where he’s hiding?”

“As of midday, yesterday,” Khukri admitted. “But he knows you’re coming, so he won’t be there.”

Mistress sucked in a long breath before pulling her hood up. “We’ll start there.”

It’d been so long since Khukri traveled with people like her that the speed caught her off guard. Without having to cover her tracks or slow down for Ruari’s benefit, the world grew smaller, letting them clear the distance to District 4 in no time at all. Some part of her roiled as she entered the district, an uncomfortable tightness admonishing her for doing the exact thing she’d spent weeks preventing.

Khukri had been compromised, though she’d never admit it. It wasn’t the first time her emotions tried to stop her from following orders, and it wouldn’t be the last. A lifetime of suppressing wolven urges served as practice, and once Ruari was gone for good, Maya would be there to put her back together. She was the best, damn it, and she wasn’t going to let some man who gave her a few good meals ruin that.

Khukri stopped at the storage building, lowering her head to Mistress. “This was where we hid, Mistress.”

Mistress briefly glanced through a window, then motioned for the pack to proceed. “Search the building.”

Ruari’s den, once their paradise, had become a hollow shell overnight. Her pack quickly swept through each level, echoes of their clawed steps resounding through the space alongside shouts that they’d found nothing. Khukri didn’t bother going further than their bedroom, looking over the myriad of storage boxes and personal effects around a pile of straw. She smiled as she realized he’d taken the sword she’d gifted him. May it serve you as well as I did.

The fur on Khukri’s neck raised as Via stepped past, examining the room with a scoff. “So this is where he hid? Holed up in some abandoned building like a skitterling? Fitting.” A grin crossed Mistress’s face as she crossed to the wall, lifting one of the mist wraith’s claws to look down its length. “And you found yourself a mist wraith? Not bad; looks like I’ll get a little bonus on this one.”

It took a moment for Khukri’s clenched fists to loosen before she returned to the barricade. Most of it stayed as she remembered, though some of what went missing surprised her. Apparently, Ruari had foregone the expensive beast remains, along with tobacco and ale, to take all the marijuana with him. Hesitantly, Khukri knelt before his old trunk and peeked inside, revealing the abyssal armour he’d let her wear along with the pair of blades.

Her eyes narrowed as she stood. Something wasn’t right. He’d taken these yesterday, only to leave them for Via? Without an escape plan, he might have dropped everything to travel light, and with one, it made sense to bring the most valuable or useful items. Hastily, Khukri rushed to a specific box and tossed the lid aside.

Mistress followed, snorting derisively as she stared into the box. “That’s rich. Brought himself a little light reading did he?”

“These are Ma… my previous owner’s holy books. If he could’ve taken anything, it’d be this.”

The laughter from Mistress intensified as she turned away, heading for the entrance. “Is that what he told you? They’re trashy stories for children; there’s hundreds just like them in the Dusk Empire. Come, wolf. You’ll have time to load this into my boat after we’ve added the crown jewel in our collection.”

Khukri gave the books one last worried look before hurrying outside with the rest of her team.

“You found him on my boat by tracking his scent, didn’t you, wolf? Start by seeing if he’s nearby, then find me a trail.”

It’d be beyond stupid for Ruari to hide anywhere in District 4, knowing she’d be hunting him. The freshest trail would likely be to the ladder behind the farm, letting him swim over the flooded district. That’d buy him some time, but with fifteen girls, they could separate and search for a trail along each wall to see where he… no. Khukri knelt, eyes closed as her senses stretched out, immediately identifying his scent.

“You have something?” Maya asked.

Khukri swallowed, slowly opening her eyes. “He’s in a building close to here. Next to the flooded district.”

“You look nervous.” Via slowly circled Khukri. “You’ve found our quarry. Shouldn’t you be excited?”

I’m nervous because Ruari’s about to get killed for being too damn stubborn to listen. “It’s a trick,” Khukri said, masking hope as confidence. “He’s had a full day to run and knows we’re coming. He’s weak, not stupid. This has to be a trap.”

Via let out a low laugh and marched into the street, gesturing for Khukri to lead. “Premium hunters are a cold-blooded lot, aren’t you? I agree. I expect he’s thinking he can kill me, leaving the rest of you without orders to follow. Cut off the head and the body will die, as they say.”

Khukri stopped the pack at a half-destroyed building across the street from their little farm. “That’s the one.” Khukri peeked around the corner, searching for anything out of place to indicate a trap, but everything seemed the same as the day before. Unless he had fifteen traps between that stone archway and wherever he was hiding, this wasn’t a last stand. It was suicide.

“Good.” Via leaned against the building, gesturing around the side with her head. “Bring him to me - alive, if possible. At this point, I’m not picky.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Maya lowered her head in respect before turning the corner and approaching the building with the pack close behind. They crept to the building, silently crouching outside the entrance when Maya gave Khukri an uneasy look. “Khukri, if he resists, I’ll need you to stay out of the fighting.”

“He’ll resist,” Khukri warned, a bitter smile touching her lips. He’d once said that in order to keep his family safe, either Via died, or he did. Now, she’d brought her pack directly to him, proven her loyalty, and all that was left was to watch him fight to the bitter end. He would go out like that, wouldn’t he? The self-sacrificing idiot, repaying his imagined debt by giving her the only thing she’d asked for. “I won’t interfere.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Maya nodded curtly, then slipped into the building, spear raised.

On her bark, the pack sprung into action, surging into the building and hugging the walls as they surrounded their target. Ruari knelt in the centre, surrounded on all sides by knee-high wheat, yellowed with age, rippling in the wind and glowing under the midday sun. The black, misshapen plates of his velkammer armour were strikingly out of place among the golden field. The sun’s glare highlighted the rough, organic nature of the chitin, distinguishing it from the knight’s plate mail it mimicked. It exposed Ruari for what he was; a child playing with toys, staring down warriors so above him he couldn’t imagine how out of his depth he was.

Why couldn’t you listen to me, Master? Just once?

His absurd costuming included a cloak draped around misshapen pauldrons. In place of a spear, he’d selected a heavy black shield accompanied by his old sabre. He rose, heavy plates clacking together, leaving a finger-fused glove resting on his sword’s hilt, passively watching the pack.

His visor rose, revealing hardened eyes that gazed around the arena, then took a deep breath before settling on Maya. “You’ve come to kill me?” He played the part of a man stoically ready to die, but Khukri could practically smell the fear.

“Stand down!” Maya ordered. “We’d prefer to take you alive!”

Ruari turned, locking eyes with each girl who encircled him in turn, weighing options. When he settled on Maya he spoke clearly. “I am Ashling of Eriskay, holy knight of Deianira.” His voice resonated from the walls, reverberating through the battlefield. “Submit - or face the wrath of a god.”

Among her pack’s bewildered looks and scattered laughter, Khukri sighed. This was how he wanted to go. Not as a coward on his knees, but as the warrior he aspired to be. Apparently, this truly was his purpose, and there was only ever one way his story could end.

To her credit, rather than laugh, Maya only shook her head. “I’m sorry Khukri, I tried. Advance!” The pack inched forward, jamming spears into the ground every two steps to check for pitfalls.

Ruari sighed, stepping into a wide stance and setting the sword across his shoulder. “I don’t blame you.” His determined voice was directed to everyone, though Khukri felt its sting as harshly as if it was just for her. “Premium slaves don’t think, they follow the order.”

The pack closed in, pressing closer to Ruari without finding pitfalls to slow them. Before they reached striking distance he spun, sword sweeping low into the wheat, giving off sharp cracks and sending glass flying. The familiar scent of gas lanterns registered for a second, then the field caught. The blaze spread unnaturally fast, racing away from the armoured figure and his flaming sword.

A wall of fire rolled forward, scattering the hunters’ formation as they retreated from the blaze to the path around the field. Ruari’s naivete was almost admirable. The trick was innovative, but a few broken gas lamps on a flammable field did little more than slow them down. Before the last shard fell, they’d seen through the transparent ploy. Endless hours of training, drilled into them over the years, let them react with precision, darting from danger in perfect sync.

He stood in the inferno, pacing around the empty circle he’d carved in the wheat. Gleaming firelight radiated off his suit as he spun his sword, struggling with his visor before letting it fall back over his eyes. His stay of execution was short-lived. As fast as the fire came it fizzled out, leaving the pathetic field a blackened husk that matched Ruari’s armour. The bright light and shimmering waves of heat faded into plumes of smoke and floating bits of blackened grass.

Smouldering ash kicked up in clouds as the girls dashed in unison, surrounding him in a wall of sharpened spears. Ruari met them in a stance she recognized from his holy books, taking a glancing blow on his breastplate before wildly flailing in an uncoordinated strike. In contrast, the pack swirled in a graceful dance of death. The girl he’d swung at nimbly jumped back, easily evading the threat while another closed in behind him, spear poised for a deadly strike.

This was why his makeshift armour was such a poor choice. It offered excellent protection, but he was already too slow to land a hit, and the extra sixty pounds made every strike that much clumsier.

Suddenly, Ruari spun, turning the spear aside with his shield before taking a step toward the nearest girl and swinging wildly. Khukri cocked her head as she watched. He moved in tight circles, using the least effort possible to execute a flawless block, then threw another haphazard slash that had no hope of hitting. What initially looked like luck rapidly evolved into a dazzling display of defence. It wasn’t possible. Not only was Ruari not a fighter, but his limited practice with a weapon was her spear training. Even if he was, somehow, secretly a master swordsman the entire time, the field was filled with smoke and his helmet dramatically cut his vision down. He shouldn’t have been able to see, let alone repeatedly repel thirteen premium hunters. Then it hit her.

He wasn’t blocking perfectly because he was that good; he knew ahead of time where the strike was coming from. Each time he swung the sword, no matter how poorly, counted as a potential threat. That meant the girl being targeted needed to retreat. When a hunter retreated from a threat, the girl closest to his back would attack to keep the enemy from focusing on any one hunter. With the absolute precision drilled into each premium hunter, there was always a perfect angle of attack, so before Ruari even swung his sword, he knew who the next attack would come from, and what angle they’d use.

The display dragged on, practically comedic, once she’d seen through his deception. They weren’t fighting a beast anymore. This was a man who read their limited tactics like a book, and he’d be felled the instant those tactics changed. Of course, that’s not what the order demanded. There was one way to fight as a team, a single path that brought them victory over the terrifying monsters of The Direwood, and a good weapon attacked as a wielder ordered. Khukri shook her head, snapping from a daze as the rhythmic back and forth entered a hypnotic pattern. He’d still lose. Even if he knew the exact spot the next attack was coming from, it was ultimately meaningless. The girls were still too fast to get caught by the blade, and unlike Ruari, they could keep this pace for hours. He’d wear down, one swing at a time, until he was too exhausted to stand.

Khukri coughed, shaking her head as a puff of smoke released from her irritated nose. Deianira help her, he probably planned for the smoke too, giving him a minor edge by irritating the hunters’ sensitive noses. Wait, what the hell was that smell? With a moment to think, she realized this didn’t just stink of ashes, but of something more, something familiar. She knelt, closing her eyes as she entered a trance, focusing on the scent so hard she felt dizzy. It wasn’t something she’d smelled often, but she’d known the scent recently. One of Ruari’s unique plants? Oh! A grin spread across her face, leaving her tail flapping like a pup at how skilled she was. She’d smelled this when he was serving drinks back in the outpost! This was marijuana! So this was where he’d moved it; he’d scattered the boxes’ contents into the field where… where… oh fuck.

Her eyes flicked open as a loud crack resonated across the field. The whole building, all the smoke, all of it was drugged. She staggered from the swirling cloud, tripped, and fell on her butt as she watched the fight degenerate into chaos. The crack was Ruari’s shield connecting with a girl, sending her to the floor in a plume of cinders. As she tried to rise, he closed in, taking a spear in the back as he slammed his foot into the downed girl’s gut and sent her to the floor coughing and gasping for breath.

The spear stuck into his back with a loud thwack, but he only turned with a halfhearted swipe. The girl he ‘attacked’ massively overreacted, leaping back wildly. He stood over the girl he’d dropped, glaring at the rest before dipping his blade beneath his cloak. When it emerged, a square of bamboo fell to his feet, kicking up a cloud. Ruari then stepped away from his hostage, raising his shield and sword once more. “Charge,” he demanded.

They had to retreat or change tactics, anything other than attack the exact way he knew they would. She opened her mouth to warn them, but nothing came. Khukri was the lowest among the pack, and you didn’t speak to those above you when engaging a target. The order needed to be followed. No, that didn’t make sense. They were the best of the best, and they were losing to a man. A man with no combat experience! Why the hell were they following a path she knew led to their doom? Deianira help her, it was hard to think.

Khukri’s back clenched as she returned her focus to the fight. Ruari flowed through the smoke like a shadow, dropping one girl after another as they approached. They’d stab, slash, and scratch, but nothing fazed him. One girl tripped over a fallen packmate as she tried to jump back, then screamed in terror before he pressed a foot into her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs as she desperately scratched his armoured boots.

“W-what the hell are you?” Maya slowly retreated among the bodies of her fallen warriors, staring down the unstoppable juggernaut marching fearlessly forward. His muffled voice was twisted and dark, stripping Ruari of his softness. “Are you thinking, slave? Mistress said ‘attack’, didn’t she?” He tossed the sword and shield aside, releasing billowing plumes of smoke and ash. “Obey the order! Attack!”

With a primal roar, Maya charged, raising her spear. The point glanced across his breastplate, leaving a long gash as he grabbed the haft. Instinctively, Maya tried to jump back, but couldn’t pull the spear away before he grabbed her throat. Her friend’s panicked yelling increased in pitch, joining the frantic scratching of claws on Master’s carapace.

The heavy glove slammed into Maya’s gut, causing her arms and legs to fall limp as she gasped for air. Ruari crunched through the undergrowth, dragging a gasping and wriggling Maya in his wake. When he stood before Khukri, he flung Maya to the floor, then tilted his head. “Get up, Khukri. The fight’s not over.”

Khukri scrambled to her feet, staring him down with bared teeth. “Why didn’t you run? You were supposed to run!” Her claws flexed. With her knowledge of how his armour was constructed, and his tricks laid bare, she had a chance to beat him that the others didn’t. All she needed was a single weak point to exploit.

“Supposed to?” Ruari asked. “I’m getting real sick of people telling me what I’m supposed to do. Since when is violence not an option?”

“Since it means I have to fight you!” Khukri backed away from the advancing titan staring through her with an emotionless black mask. “Since you put Via above me in the order!”

“The order?” Ruari laughed, stalking forward, heedless of the threat she posed. “The one that put you on the bottom of the pack? The one that sent thirteen of The Direwood’s finest at me before I put them in the fucking dirt? Fuck the order!”

She whimpered as his fingers closed around her collar, pulling her close, banishing all plans of fighting back. “No!” Tears formed as she cowered. “I can’t disobey the order… I’ll go feral!”

He pulled his visor up, revealing the clear layer of mist wraith skin stretched over his face. “Yeah? Your pack’s gone, Khukri! What happens if you go feral?”

“I’ll go insane,” she whimpered, writhing in his grip. “I’ll rip my owner apart!”

“Do you like your owner?”

Her soul cracked as she stared into Ruari’s distorted face. This man wanted her, and only the order stopped her from giving herself away. Both her heart, and something horrifically primal rejected her place in this. What difference did it make who The Direwood Syndicate told her to obey? Why should she care? What gave them the right to dictate who was worthy of wielding her? “No,” Khukri said, eyes widening as though this were some sort of revelation. “No… I fucking hate Via.”

Ruari released her, pulling the helmet insulated with film from his face along with his cloak and remaining bamboo squares. “Then forget what they told you.” He held up Maya’s spear, smiling. “Via’s alone; we can take her together. Just like the lizard.”

Khukri stared open-mouthed at him. “Everything they said about the order is bullshit...”

“Yeah.” Ruari’s smile widened. “Yes, exactly! They’re just shitty people who’re using you!”

A wild grin crossed Khukri’s face, a lifetime of weight falling from her as she shook off her chains. “I should decide who uses me!”

His smile faltered. “Uh… wait. I thought maybe you could be free. That’s an option-”

She didn’t remember leaving, but the clean air rushing through her fur felt invigorating. A manic smile, closer to a snarl, graced her lips as she burst from the building at full speed. This was what it was like! Freedom! All that time she spent wondering why wolves went feral and it was right in front of her! This feeling, this power, unrestricted by lesser creatures who sought to control that which they should fear. How could anyone go back?

Via looked up as Khukri rounded the building, but by the time she’d registered the threat, Khukri was on her. It wasn’t a graceful thing, with techniques and moves perfected over years of practice. This was coldly brutal. They rolled on the floor, shredding each other with claws and snapping their jaws. Via pushed up, jaws snapping at the wolf's face. Khukri pulled back, then slammed her head into Via’s nose, cracking it against the ground.

In the moment it took Via to recover, Khukri’s teeth sank into her throat, tearing it out in a shower of blood. Planting a hand on the woman’s chin, Khukri went in again, and again, devouring flesh from the woman’s long after the gurgling stopped. Warm, wet liquid pooled under her, bubbling past her lips and dying her fur red.

This was what she’d been so worried about? Going feral? She ripped another hunk of the woman off, savouring the salty metallic taste as it slid down her throat. She’d killed her owner, and it felt fantastic. She was a weapon unbound, just like her savage ancestors, just like everyone always warned her. No one would want her now; she was a blade too terrifying to wield.

Khukri lost track of time, idly crouched over the mutilated corpse, chewing on its open ribcage. Only paying attention when a new threat entered her view.

Master slowly walked around the corner, surveying the carnage she’d caused. He’d removed his silly armour since she’d last seen him, returning to a normal deer, more or less. Of course, unarmoured, he was helpless and vulnerable, an easy next meal. He approached, crouching next to her meal while she let out increasingly vicious snarls.

He couldn’t control her anymore, no one could! He’d been afraid of her when the order was on his side, and now that she’d gone feral that fear was justified. Magic powers or not, he could never trust her to serve again, no one could.

He smiled, raising an empty hand as he looked her in the eyes. “You okay Khukri?”

No matter how tightly he wore that mask, it wasn’t fooling her. She could see the disgust and fear, the horror of a prey species watching civilization stripped away so nature could take its due course. She released a warning growl, preparing for—oh?

Master lay his hand on her head.

Oh? That was nice, actually. She was gonna miss this part of being civilized.

He scratched behind her ears.

Oh! That part was nice too! Ok, he couldn’t give her orders, but he could pet her. Oh, also feed her. And wash her. And sex.

“Aww. That’s a good girl.”

Khukri rolled off the corpse and into its blood, cuddling Master’s thighs while he played with her. Okay, he could give her orders too.