"Now you got thinking I'm crazy... Kat, how the hell did you manage to get sothing like this without telling anyone?!"
Jahi lood over and tugged on my collar, the Demoness rubbing her thumb overtop the new gemstone that I had embedded in the empty space as she gave a look that demanded an answer of so kind, and specifically an answer that would satisfy her.
Pursing my lips, I stared into those athyst eyes that I had grown to cherish as one of the most beautiful things in the entire world, drowning myself in their seriousness and losing myself to their brilliant gleam as I eventually managed to mutter "I... acquired it on my own..."
"Uh huh... and how might you have acquired a gemstone as incredible as this one, Kat? This doesn't exactly just grown on trees, and you know that."
She was scolding like a parent would do to their naughty child, and the intensity in her gaze was rather high, to the point of making turn away as I muttered "I um... prayed for it... and the gemstone I had got a little bit more... juice..."
The tent fell quiet for a few monts before Jahi let out a sigh, and that was only followed by the sound of hitting the bedrolls as she pushed down and began to strip, the purpose of her coming into the tent returning to being front and center in terms of priority as she settled down with for the night.
Like we had suspected, the Jackalkin only finished up a re hour before we set off to return to the Sultana, with Leone coming back rather spent but still eager for more soti in the middle of the night, after having apparently helped Anput finish so other things for the last few hours.
When the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon and illuminate the desert once more, we began to break camp and stow everything away on the Jackals, preparing to set out after a nice and hearty breakfast.
During that ti we also were given our new armor, with Leone and I being able to fully switch over while Jahi was given a pauldron and single bracer; now she had her giant tower shield on her left arm and a bulky piece of armor on her right, ensuring she could withstand so attacks on either side.
The leather cuirass Anput gifted had a scaled tal coating overtop of it that was fascinatingly light and seed rather strong, and the red hue to it all was much to my liking as I swapped it out for my older, more plain scale mail armor.
Even if her thods had been a bit more unconventional and selfish Anput made amazing armor that fit perfectly, and while I was certain she was regretting her choice to emphasize my bust a little more than was needed right now, I didn't mind it at all, even more so since the scale didn't catch my cloak as I threw it on above the armor.
Just like she had wanted though, the Jackalkin was secured atop my mount and facing backwards as she buried her face into my bosom, sleeping soundly as we made our way over to the location that the Sultana had wanted us to head to when we were done.
Jahi continued the questioning from the previous night on the way towards our new location, trying to understand how I had acquired my sapphire before finally relenting when she sowhat got the answer she wanted and understood that I was even more reluctant to say when there were others around.
That was what she needed to know about it, understanding that this was another 'unexplainable' appearance that she just needed to accept before it beca sothing that neither of us would know how to handle in a topic of discussion going forwards.
Not because it would lead to an argunt, but because it would lead to a whole can of worms that I was still both reluctant to open and one I just didn't want to touch anyways since it just felt unnecessary for all parties involved.
Perhaps one day we would discuss it, but that day wasn't today, and it most certainly wasn't anyti soon either.
Upon arrival at the final staging grounds for this war against the Fingers, we were greeted with quite the sight from both sides of said war; a large city pressed against the northernmost border of the Sultana was currently occupied and overrun by thousands of cultists, rcenaries, and monsters alike, while the desert around it was ho to dozens of
encampnts all bearing the Sultanate's colors.
"This was not what I was expecting..."
I couldn't help it as I muttered that out loud, causing Anput to stir as she blearily looked up at before turning around to see what had caused to awaken her, the sight sending a jolt through her that got her fully awake as she spun around and leaned forwards to get a better look at everything.
"Holy hells... how did they get that many..?"
My mate's murmur was exactly what I was wanting to say, but our attention was pulled from the enemies fortifications and instead redirected to the plethora of soldiers marching around in preparation for the battle to co, with many stopping to salute us and point us towards the Sutlana.
As if she wasn't easily seen what with her being taller than Jahi by a hair alongside easily being above the rest of her troops, but I was still grateful for the directions as we approached the lithe Jackalkin, who was standing atop a wooden platform laden with maps sitting on tables or pinned to boards.
"Welco. This is it, the last hurrah of Fingers. To what end they decided to group up here is still unknown, but what is known is how they shall no longer exist in a day or two. I do hope you aren't still tired, because we have work to do... and a lot of it."
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