NOVEL NEXT Vol 3, Ch 28. Centaur Trainees
The next morning, Tamanna joined them for breakfast again.
Afterwards, when they were planning the training mission, the ferret suddenly hopped up and scampered to the window. “There’s a ship.”
The white and gold ship wasn’t a tanker or cruise ship like Bonny imagined from Earth, but it was bigger than any of the other boats on the lake. It was adapted for travel along the wide, slow rivers through the plains, so was built wide and shallow, and was headed toward the north docks, where the wealthier districts were located.
“I assume boats like that are rare?” Bonny asked.
“Yes. They usually carry diplomats from neighboring territories. They sometimes visit us and Kama assigns them this room and they tip really well. I should let her know someone may come.”
“Do you need us to clean up and vacate the room?”
“No." She paused in thought for a moment, then continued. "Well, I’ll leave that up to her, but I don’t think so.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” Tamanna scurried for the door.
Bonny frowned slightly while staring out the window at the ship. The white and gold paint gleamed in the morning sun.
“Iss ssomething wrong?”
“No.” Bonny shook her head. “Not really. Just a feeling.”
“It sshouldn’t have anything to do with uss. We’ll be away mosst of the day.”
“You’re right. We need to concentrate on the trainees first. Freja, what does your friend think about advancing to tier two?”
She shrugged, a guilty look on her face. “I haven’t talked to her since you’ve arrived. Her name was on the list of centaurs that Kiros gave me.”
“Oh. Well, I’m looking forward to meeting her.” Bonny turned to Miu. “Since I’m going with you this morning, do you want to wear your leash?”
Miu blushed and nodded.
“Great. Willow, do you …” Bonny paused, looking at Willowbelle’s groin, where her clitoris still poked a couple inches out of her folds. “You didn’t reduce it?”
Willowbelle glanced down. “No?”
“Is it still …?” Bonny hopped over, knelt, and kissed it.
Willowbelle flinched, shivered, and let out a small moan.
“Yes. Still sensitive!” Bonny sang. “Do you want to fuck me again? We can make time.”
“No. It’s … I don’t have the energy. I’m tired, Bonny.”
“Oh, you mentioned that last night. Are you alright? [Analysis!]” Bonny looked over Willowbelle, then added, “Nothing seems wrong, you look healthy.”
“I’m fine. It’s just, I haven’t slept much since we left the forest. Normally I would merge with my tree at night, but I can’t until she grows taller.”
“Oh, we’re about to go back to the forest, should we take you to your old tree? Or can you stay with Grandma Oak?”
“Either would be fine.”
“Okay. Sorry for not noticing earlier. I should have checked on you last night.”
“It’s fine, Bonny. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. If we do a lot of walking, your, uh, clit is going to bother you. Can you, like, fold it down or something? When the dildo first attached itself to me, it kept getting stimulated and was super annoying. I could numb your groin, but I would have to refresh it periodically."
"I could try." She concentrated, but nothing changed. "Maybe I will stay at the training buildings today."
Okay, that's fine.” Bonny pulled her into a hug. “Now, let’s get you watered and head over there.”
Violet split from the group and went to the mage tower to spend the day with Nestor. She was planning to deliver the two crystals she had synthesized and work with him to construct a wand for Bonny to test.
The rest of the party met Altha and Helem at the new school. The plan was to provide alternate instruction to people who didn’t want to kill things. Everyone knew the value of true healers after the recent attacks and the two priestesses had volunteered to help teach at the school.
Bonny would take turns teaching as well, but not until after she returned from her visit north.
Iolana, the two priestesses, and several guards that wanted to try and add healing skills to their class all stayed in the first building when Bonny and the rest of her companions exited to meet up with the trainees.
Four centaur stallions were already facing off against each other in the training ring. A gray and a chestnut sparred on the side near them and two bays seemed to be having an archery competition on the far side.
An appaloosa mare waved and headed their way when she saw them.
Freja’s childhood friend was colored like a Dalmatian, with black spots on a white coat. She wore a light leather jacket, so her torso wasn't visible, but her hands were bare and pale with more spots. Her face was pale and clear, but her white hair had black streaks that matched the spots. It was braided into the same long pony tail that Freja used. She had several weapons and a shield strapped to her sides, also like Freja tended to do.
Freja trotted forward to meet her and they exchanged greetings and a hug, before she led the spotted centaur back and introduced her to Bonny.
"Jaela, this is Bonny. Bonny, this is Jaela."
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Jaela eyed Bonny up and down, clearly disturbed by both her lack of clothing and the leash that led to a very embarrassed Miu.
Bonny shrugged, then smirked as Jaela’s eyes tracked her breasts as they rose and fell. She hadn’t put on her robe that morning, thinking that she would be out of the city all day. It wasn’t like she could get into any more trouble after the fiasco the day before.
“It’s been hectic, though I’m hoping things will calm down now. Freja mentioned you last night. How do you feel about today?”
Zeal knelt behind Bonny while she was talking and Bonny sat down without looking.
“Is that … Is she the dragon?”
“Oh, yes. Sorry. This is Zeal.” Bonny grabbed Zeal’s horn and turned her to face the centaur.
“I lost friends because of you.” Jaela growled to the dragon girl.
Bonny released Zeal and waved her hand between them to pull Jaela’s attention back to her.
“I’m sorry about your friends. I tried to save as many people as I could. The two acolytes that just went into the building helped as well. Zeal’s sorry too, but Wrath had control of her and she didn’t have a choice.”
“That sounds like an excuse.”
Bonny sighed and tugged Miu forward by her leash. “This is Miu. She saved me from goblins. ”
“Nya. You saved me. Mistress.”
“We saved each other.” Bonny pulled Miu’s face down to give her a kiss, then untied the leash and handed it to her. “Can you go check on the two archers?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Jaela watched Miu leave, then glanced between Bonny and Freja. “Do you treat all of your friends like that?”
Freja blushed, her dark, glossy skin visibly reddening and her star turning a bright cherry color.
“You too?” Jaela advanced on Bonny, her fists tight and fury plain on her face. “I should …”
“Stop!” Freja grabbed Jaela and held her back. “It’s not … I mean, I asked for it.”
“You what?”
“I, uh. It’s hard to explain. Courage asked me to assist her and …”
“Courage? Your goddess?”
Freja nodded. “You’ve heard about the gods reappearing, right?”
“Yes, but …”
Bonny interrupted. “I’m going to spar with Eloisss and let you two work this out on your own. Jaela, it was nice meeting you. Freja was right when she you were very pretty.”
“You said I was pretty?” Jaela continued to talk to Freja and didn’t respond to Bonny.
“You are! Of course I did.” Freja responded.
Bonny hopped up and motioned for Eloisss to follow.
They sparred off and on for a couple hours. Eloisss, Miu, and Freja each took turns alternating working with Bonny and the trainees. The five centaurs were all stat capped and ready to advance.
Near noon, Bonny summoned food for everyone, then ate quickly and excused herself and Kanae, who was still in fox form. They headed into the second building, which was still mostly empty but would eventually host the martial side of their training program.
When they returned a half hour later, Kanae trotted beside the bunny, wagging her four tails and licking her lips.
Jaela was still speaking with Freja. “You’ve always had a big appetite, but I’ve never seen anyone eat that much.”
The table was empty.
“I’ve been extra hungry lately.” Freja blushed slightly. “Training guards and fighting demons is hard work.”
“Is it scarier than fighting with the patrol? More of a challenge?”
Freja nodded. “It would be, but Courage gave me a blessing that resists fear. Bonny and Eloisss have been blessed as well.”
Jaela leaned in to whisper to Freja, but Bonny’s exceptional hearing still picked up her question. “How do you stand her? The … Elois. Her snake tail is creepy. And the way she moves …” She shuddered.
Bonny hopped over and slapped Jaela’s ass with a loud crack! “Don’t talk about my friends like that.”
Jaela spun to face Bonny, but Freja caught her before she could retaliate.
“Stop! Eloisss is nice, but she’s very, very protective of Bonny. If you were to hurt her, I’m not sure I could protect you.”
“I can fight now. You don’t have to always protect me.”
“No. You can’t fight her. I can hold my own, or could, before she skilled up a few days ago. Now …”
“I don’t believe you. No one has ever defeated you. I still don’t understand why you abandoned the patrol.” Jaela stared at Freja.
Freja sighed. “Even if Eloisss wasn’t here, remember that Bonny killed Zeal. Don’t try to fight her. Don’t make either of them angry.”
“Her?” Jaela pointed at the very obviously alive dragon girl kneeling on hands and knees beside Bonny.
“Yes! I was there. I left the city to protect Bonny during the fight.” Freja insisted. "Bonny is a healer. A really good one."
Jaela’s gaze flitted between Freja, Eloisss, Bonny, and Zeal. “It’s time to go, right? I’m sure I’ll see for myself.”
She turned and trotted off, heading north, toward the forest.
The group gathered up and followed, quite a bit slower, finally catching up to the rebellious centaur at the edge of the farmland encircling the city.
Bonny turned to Zeal. “Shift and scout for us.”
Despite the three auras covering the five centaur trainees, who were all included as allies, all five flinched back when Zeal transformed into a dragon.
== Haruto ==
Haruto was the first to disembark once the boat was secured. A cool breeze from the lake ruffled his mane and tugged at his hakama. He drew in a deep breath of the fresh air and frowned at the nearby guards when none of them came forward to greet him.
His kimono and hakama were both white and embroidered with golden thread. It wasn’t the traditional color for an iaido uniform, but white was the sacred color of the gods. White was also the color of death.
He was a Hero and a Demonslayer, and he planned to bring death to the demonic presence that infested this city.
“We should speak with the local lord before we begin our hunt. Kori, inform the guards who we are are and ask for directions.” He turned to head into the city without waiting for a response.
A young sheep kin with golden eyes ran to one of the nearby guards and spoke quietly, then ran back to join him.
She took her place one step behind him on the left, as was proper for a woman. The rest of his retinue followed in order of acquisition. There were twenty four of them, one from each city he had cleansed. All had golden eyes, symbolizing the mercy of his god.
