Chapter 157 Fury

Chapter 157 Fury
Koth roared as he understood what his father was implying. He wanted to rip the heads off all three males who had planned this. The cold steel against his stomach was the only thing holding him back. He couldn't leave Irin on her own to deal with all of this.
"You will wait until we have a child and then take it from us? Is that your plan?" Irin asked. Her voice was weak, as if she couldn't comprehend what she was saying.
"Yes. Koth was already halfway grown when I found him. Both Mika and Jasper were younger, and they have always been less trouble. If I could raise a baby, they would be completely devoted," his father said.
"It will never happen!" Koth growled. He could feel his blood boil. His orc side was getting tired of just sitting around while these people threatened not only Irin but also their future children.
"I don't see that you have much of a choice, son."
"Don't call me that. I have tried to keep the peace in the family, but from now on, we are no longer family. That goes for you as well, Mika. There is no bond of brothers between us," Koth told them. His father shrugged, as if it wasn't a loss. Mika, on the other hand, flinched and looked over his shoulder at Koth.
"What about Jasper?" Mika asked.
"I'm thinking there's a reason he isn't here. You didn't tell him about your plan, did you? Of course you didn't. He would never have gone along with it. He is the one who always tries to keep us together, and he likes Irin. He would never force her into something so twisted," Koth said.
"You haven't left us any choice!" Mika accused him. "First, you ran away. We counted on you, on your magic, to give us the upper hand in the feud among the families. Then, when we found another way, you stole it from us. You refused to give it to us, despite our pleading. You even destroyed it. What choices did you leave us?"
"What? You couldn't control me, and you can't use the undead soul of a warlock as your plaything, and that gives you the right to use me as breeding cattle?" Koth asked, his anger barely contained.
"It needs to be done," Mika insisted.
"My family, the temple, Koth's friends – they will all come looking for us," Irin said.
"In Behenoth, none of them hold any power. In the city of criminals, there is protection for our kind," Koth's father said.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Irin said. She sounded as if she were genuinely going to throw up any second. Koth's anger turned to worry in a heartbeat.
"Irin?" he asked. She waved her hand.
"Stop! I don't want her to be sick all over me or the wagon," his father told Mika. Mika halted the horse, and Irin got off and leaned against a tree. "She might already be pregnant!" his father excitedly told Mika. Koth was fighting to get down to check on her.
"Let him, just keep him away from her," Mika told Maglo. The warlock grunted, followed Koth down from the wagon, and kept the knife against him.
"No closer!" he demanded as he and Koth stood a little more than an arm's length from Irin.
"Irin?" Koth asked again.
"I'm fine. Probably motion sickness from the bumpy ride. It just stopped on its own," she told him, standing up and turning around. "Oops!" she exclaimed as her foot seemed to hit a root and she stumbled forwards. She reached out her hand to steady herself and then grabbed Koth's arm.
"No!" Koth's father screamed. Maglo stabbed with the knife, but Koth knew what would happen before he saw it. As soon as Irin's hand had touched him, he had felt her familiar magic spread over his skin. The knife didn't sink into him; it hit something hard, and the tip of it broke. Koth grinned. It had all been a distraction to get close to him and shield him. He burst out laughing.
"Oh, you are in so much trouble," he laughed.
"You may be alive, but you still can't use magic," Maglo pointed out.
"Oh, I'm not talking about me. No, no. The one you need to worry about is my lovely wife. Well, soon-to-be-wife," he said, and took two steps that took him behind Irin. She had drawn her sword, and both it and she were glowing with a deep green glow. She was pissed. "I would not like to be you. You have made her angrier than I have ever seen her. You aren't just facing my amazing wife; she walks in the goddess's shadow. You will face both of them," he said in a cheerful voice.
"Who should I kill first?" she asked in a low voice. It was barely above a whisper, but heard by everyone. Maglo huffed.
"Looks impressive, but you're a woman. You don't have what it takes," he told her as he raised his hand that still held the damaged knife. Irin slashed down with her sword. The blade was nowhere near the warlock, but the energy emanating from it cut his arm clean off just below the elbow. He screamed.
"That hand tried to kill Koth," she growled. Koth had never been as turned on in his life as he watched the goddess before him.
"Koth! Do something! Calm her down!" Mika called.
"Me? Oh no. I like my dick attached to my body. I won't try to stop her. In fact, I will cheer her on," he told his former brother.
"Koth, you need to see reason. We only did what we thought was right. It's the only way forward for the family. You are a part of that family," the man he had called father pleaded.
"Do as you please with them, love. They are all yours," he told Irin. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.
"Thanks, honey. I'll be ready in a couple of minutes," she answered. He loved that woman to eternity and back, he thought. She focused on Maglo.
"So, this 'Tears of Nee'ndal' was your idea from the start?" she asked.
"Yes. I mean, no, no, not my idea," he tried.
"You almost made me lose Koth once before," she growled.
"I'm sorry! Please, please, forgive me!" he pleaded. Koth didn't know if it was the fear of Irin, the blood loss, or the pain, but the man seemed to have forgotten he had magic abilities.
"Too little, too late. It's time to reunite your old group," she told him. She swept her sword in a fluid motion from the hip and upwards. Maglo's head rolled off his body. "One done, two to go," she said, turning towards the two men still on the wagon.
"Irin, dearest. We are family," Koth's father tried. He had put on the voice he used when doing a con. Koth hated it.
"You saved Koth when he was young – that is something," she admitted.
"Yes, yes, I did that," he agreed.
"But then you sent men to kill him and me, and when that didn't work, you came up with this horrid plan. Your former virtue has cancelled out," she continued.
"No! No, it's just a misunderstanding. We all love Koth; he is family, and as his wife, so are you." Irin looked back at Koth. He knew she was worried about him.
He gave her a calm smile.
"It's up to you. I will love you whatever you choose to do," he told her.