When Lana's soul weapon went off, she was blown back a few feet but Shalt was there, so she didn't fall or get hurt. What the others saw was a pointed log come out of Lana's hand that entered the body of the beast. What happened next defied logic for them. The log that entered the body of the beast came out of the beast in all different directions. It had the effect of having ripped it to pieces.
Shalt was the only one who was truly able to appreciate the full effect due to his vampire eyes. The others were still able to appreciate the explosive power of Lana's soul weapon.
"Time to head back," Lana announced. She had a big smile on her face. Without knowing how long Sil would be gone for, this would be a daily thing to make sure she was gaining crystals but able to be back in case he came home. She figured one week of such excursions should be safe. After that would be pushing it.
Once they got back to safer territory, Lana put up the kitchen and had the new plant masters grow all the food then assist in cooking.
On the way back, she had the girls do the same thing with the beasts. By the time they got back, each one had 4 basic tier crystals and 2 intermediate.
All three were getting better at their armor and fighting. Their whips were becoming more accurate. All in all, Lana had no complaints about this trip in terms of the hunt. The bigger issue would be the same problem she had with Caser. The babies were 3-months old at this time. The time seemed to have flown by with all the things she had going on and having them both strapped to her chest was cumbersome and she didn't dare attach one to her back as would be normal.
On the way back, she decided to pull Dobin and Shalt aside over dinner and discuss options. By the time they arrived back home and got their crystals loaded, it was dinner time. Lana took care of the babies while Shalt cooked her dinner.
Lana got them down in their cribs but they seemed to want to play round a bit. She gave them their rattlers and a few other toys. They were of course rolling over and such on their own. She knew better than to put them in the same crib but she had found them in one crib on more than one occasion in the past week. They weren't even crawling or rocking back and forth so she had yet to figure out how they were doing it.
She invited Dobin over to eat to discuss the twins with Shalt included in the conversation.
"I wanted to ask your opinions. As you know, I don't like the idea of leaving the twins behind when I go out. What do you think of me having Alex design seats that can sit on Caser's back for them?"
Shalt responded, "that would mean Caser can't engage in combat if it's warranted."
Lana nodded.
"Those kids have no business being out in a combat area anyway. Lana, you need a babysitter and leave them here. I'm sure the orphanage would take care of them while you're out. All the kids there are of school age so they have little to do during that time anyway."
"They use that time to clean, laundry, all the things," Lana responded. "Tending house and taking care of children is no small job."
"Actually," Shalt chimed in, "how about you leave your apprentices and the babies in the shelter while we go out for the dangerous things. They can handle the things close to us and we won't be too far away."
Lana nodded, "I think I like that one but I like them being on Caser's back as well. Perhaps we can do both. I'll go to the Cursed Ship tomorrow and ask Alex."
"Another thing, today is Caser's first birthday. I think we need to go on a hunting trip tomorrow to get him a king-tier."
The food Dobin was chewing when flying across the table. "Did I just hear you say you wanted to give caser a king-tier as a playmate?"
Lana laughed, "no. He evolves like the other beasts. Eating their crystals makes him stronger. He has been going out on his own since we got here. He doesn't stay inside all night, every night. He just makes sure not to be gone long but the weaker creatures will make him take a lot longer to evolve. So, I thought for his birthday, we can give him king-tier crystals."
"That's a lot of danger for a birthday present." Dobin stated.
"He's worth it. I'll talk to Alex in the morning and see how the day will go from there."
They finished their dinner. Dobin volunteered to handle the dishes so Lana could get some sleep. Around 2 in the morning, Lana woke up sitting straight up in bed to hear cooing and baby-giggles followed by a clapping of hands.
Lana walked into the nursery and turned on the light. Sure enough, Olivia had joined Owen in his bed. Both babies were quite happy with this arrangement. Then she watched as Olivia shot a vine into the air and Owen giggled and clapped. Her daughter joined her son in the middle of the night to entertain him… She suddenly began to understand the potential of why she and Dobin were too much for the men who found her mother to handle.
Lana picked up Olivia and placed her to a breast so she could eat. A while later she switched babies and boobs. She then changed both diapers and put them back in bed. Just then, Caser came in licking his chops. Lana sang a lullaby while Caser placed a tentacle on each of them and purred. They were soon sleeping.
Lana went back to bed and was asleep quickly despite the shock her kids just gave her. She had already acknowledged the strangeness of her family. No reason to shun it now. Caser lay on the bed next to her to cuddle. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of fresh kill from his breath but even that couldn't stave off sleep.
The next morning, after Qi meditation and breakfast, Lana, Caser, Shalt and Fiza went to the Cursed Ship. What they found shocked them. There were dents and marks all over. Some walls were actually damaged. Fiza took off running to find her mother. Lana took off to check on the kids. She found them in their training room like normal as if nothing happened.
Apparently, one of the Pure leaders were killed in the duel by Quinn so they came to get their revenge. The kids had been instrumental in repelling their attack. She gave them all a high-five for doing so well and reminded them this was why they could not stop their training. Several asked when they could come back to her shelter and she had to reply she didn't know. That was up to Sil.
She bid everyone goodbye and was off to see Alex where she got another surprise.
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