A Book of Blades: Rogues in the House Presents by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rogues in the House Podcast
Published: 2022-07-05T16:00:00+00:00

I reached the surface before my daughters. Moonlight illuminated the vacant courtyard while I stood in the unlit hearth, alone except for stone-Travis and his corrupted mother lying on the bier. Behind me, Miriam moaned. She did not have the energy to sit up, let alone open her eyes.

Fae, dear wife, what have our daughters done? I loved my triplets, especially since I designed them to aid humanity with me. However, they developed into independent creatures rather than partners. At first, they were identically molded, but then their personalities took over. Ember loved her aesthetics, wearing masks and scarves. My darling Leech, plain as could be, was a meticulous physician and alchemist. Then there was the grungy Melanie, with her tumultuous, roiling aura and aversion to humans; her crawling left her scarred, bruised, and coated in Underworld oil. Unbeknownst to Ember and Leech, I called Melanie here to join us. She had access to subterranean ingredients we would need to quell all this chaos. I had a plan.

Leech arrived first. She gasped as she saw Miriam’s body stirring. “You took her out? You will ruin my experiment.”

“Hush. I will allow you to concoct one more amalgam from her momentarily. Are you prepared?”

She assented by showing her bowls and utensils. Leech asked. “Is it safe out here?”

I scanned the landscape from the ramparts. The Grotto Borough appeared locked down. Bird calls came from the verdant gorge beyond the marshes. White peaks from adjacent ranges wrapped the horizon. There, winged things circled the skies over three nests. “Not for long. The demons cluster. They will begin to hunt in packs.”

Ember added while she strutted forward, still nude: “As long as that fire is cold, and my body is cool, then the gargoyles have no scent to follow.”

I sighed. “How does scent play into this?”

My apprentice explained, “Her coming into womanhood has changed her aura. Could you not detect that?” Even with my golem-sight, Ember’s aura looked as it had a year ago. I suppose fathers were inherently blind to particular developments. Leech added, “It is not her fault she matures.” The implication that two more daughters will develop, and will then misbehave, was understood.

“I caused the joy you call ‘unrest’,” Ember explained. “My mere presence is an aphrodisiac. Burning enhances my influence. Humans and gargoyle respond alike.”

“Hush! I am your father and need not know this! You flirt with danger. Have you no shame? Or fear?”

Ember crossed her arms. “You carved me, my sisters, from living stone in the humans’ image! Did you not want us to act like them?”

“And to learn how their bodies, and blood, function?” Leech offered.

“I suppose,” I said. “Yet your behaviors exceed expectations.”

Ember laughed. “Would you rather I let the gargoyles have me? They obey me, Father. I could call one now and have my way with it.”

She was toying with my sensibilities. “That’s not natural.”

“Why? Leech assured me that their blood does not react with ours. Their nails cannot pierce my flesh. They cannot impregnate me. So, it would be safe.

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