Many of the younger elves, or those too injured for the hard labor of clearing land, were sent fishing. I’d found the elves couldn’t fish in the river, filled with iron as it was, but they were able to fish without issue from its local tributaries. The local streams were abundant, and it was easy enough to catch fish with your bare hands if you were dedicated. With a net you could pick up food by the bucketful.
In truth, I was beginning to suspect the food shortage we were all worried about was just in our heads. This land was abundant enough to support all of us. The Songstone Clan just needed to toughen up and learn to live in the wild. I kept those ideas to myself though. It was always good to have an abundant food supply. We’d need to have something to trade if we wanted tools and supplies.
Nela was more interested in using the fields we cleared for some special plant seeds she’d saved. Apparently, they had been grown in the garden of the Songstone Clan, though no one had cared for them much. The Songstone had been focused on their mines, not their trees. Shortly after our talk though, Nela had pulled out these seeds, one of the most precious things her people had managed to save from their clan, and prepared to get her hands dirty. Apparently, these fruits were special because they accumulated zeal in a high density and in such a way that it could be transferred efficiently to whoever ate the fruit. Nela had realized that if she could grow them successfully, her clan would grow in strength and have a valuable trade good. She’d even taken to asking Sava for advice on growing plants in the forest. I was glad to see the two of them talking.
I also immediately saw the value in such a resource. Having fruit like that growing in our backyard would mean we would have access to a resource that would improve the spellhearts of the clan as a whole. More than that though, we could continue to grow it and expand our orchard of sacred fruits as the clan grew. It was a good plan that I fully supported. Sadly, sacred fruits didn’t grow anywhere near as fast as normal fruit trees. And that was assuming magic was involved in their care. Even with days of work, they’d barely sprouted. I ended up abandoning the dream to Nela. It just wasn’t something we could work on in the short term. Maybe the young clan matriarch would be able to make something of it if left to her own devices. She’d certainly taken to the task with a surprising degree of dedication.
As the person with the highest cultivation base in the clan, and the only surviving member of the bloodline of leadership, she had been made the default matriarch of the new Songstone Clan. But I don’t think she was at all ready for this responsibility and realized it would be better if she was given time to get used to it. In the meantime, I secured my position as patriarch in the hearts and minds of the Songstone Clan members.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BEFORE I KNEW it, two weeks had passed in hurried construction. I’d started missing Mac and regretted that I hadn’t had a chance to head deeper into the forest to get in contact with him again. I would soon, certainly, and maybe I’d even bring Sava along.
I’d had a small office set up in one of the few furnished buildings, though my table and chair were homemade from compressed dirt. Maybe I’d have one of the wood aspect heart wielders make me something out of wood as soon as work started slowing down.
Despite the poor choice of materials, they gave the appearance of an office, though not the comfort. I wanted to look professional as the new patriarch.
The Songstone elves had largely accepted me. There were only two holdouts of note, the swordswoman who’d fought with Sava and one of the fire-wielders who’d acted as Nela’s biggest guns. Both of them resented me defeating them in the way I had, though I’d tried to get everyone to put that unfortunate meeting behind us. There may have been others who resented me, but they weren’t important enough to care about. As the days passed I was sure I’d convert them to my side eventually. Nela had been mostly keeping to herself. She’d been cultivating to increase her bond with her spellheart, pushing to the very limits of what could be done with a spellheart. She already advanced to the eighth layer of zeal accumulation as she bonded further with her spellheart, and once she finished she’d immediately be able to push for the mage acolyte realm. A mage acolyte was something the Songstone survivors desperately needed. She assured me that this would go far smoother the second time, which I took to mean she had been a mage acolyte before her clan’s downfall. How had she lost that?
My biggest concern was Yorik. The orc had been acting more and more cagey lately, until today when she refused to leave my side under any circumstances. It didn’t take much thought for me to guess what was bothering her. Still, I didn’t want to voice my concerns out loud, not with potential spies hanging around. That’s why I waited until today to bring it up, after I had sent everyone off on their various tasks. The settlement was empty, with everyone out and about handling one job or another. Even still, I took Yorik inside the building with the thickest walls and closed the door behind us.
“So, what are... you know... up to?” I asked Yorik.
“Don’t know,” Yorik shook her head, “no sign or scent, but Yorik knows they’re here. They followed. They know.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Last night, I hear the snapping of a twig and jump awake, but when I do, no one is there. Before that, somebody bumps into me, but I don’t see them anywhere.”
I frowned. “You think they’ve got some invisibility power?” That wasn’t good. I hated being spied on. I glanced around the room we were in, suspiciously inspecting the walls and corners, looking for any small disturbances.
But before I could begin a thorough investigation, Yorik interrupted me. “No. Not invisibility. Spell of not seeing.”
“Ah, so it’s less along the lines of being physically unable to observe someone and more a shroud of inconspicuousness. You wouldn’t be able to duplicate the spell by any chance?”
Yorik held up her spellheart, clutching in between her fingers. After a long moment she gave me a feral grin. “Did it.”
I blinked. Nothing happened. Yorik was still there in front of me.
Yorik shook her head. “Mind spells don’t work on you.”
It made sense. I’d have to bring in Sava or one of the Songstone elves to help me test Yorik’s spell for effectiveness. In the meantime, I’d just have to take her at her word. Still, it was good to know that I could ignore the effects of this inconspicuousness shroud. If there were invisible spies sneaking around the camp, it would be up to me to spot them.
My second private meeting was much less expected. Nela approached me out of nowhere. She hadn’t said anything to me in the past few days, and I’d chosen to ignore her. She was clearly still shaken up by the destruction of her clan and hadn’t accepted her new leadership role. She was ostensibly the new matriarch of the Songstone Clan, and she was important to me because she was the figurehead. It was only because of her consent that I was able to officially wield any power at all over the Songstone Clan members. I let her know that I’d help with the day-to-day organization while she focused on making herself stronger. Nela and the other elves approved. Apparently, that was the norm in this world. Clans were organized by subordinates while the matriarch cultivated her power and protected the clan with her strength and reputation.
“What is it Nela?” I asked her.
Nela hesitated for a long moment. I realized with surprise that she was actually blushing. “You... you haven’t performed your duties as the most powerful male of this clan, Theo.”
“What do you mean? I’ve been organizing and building our new settlement, and getting shelters arranged for everybody, at the same time I’m... oh!” I wasn’t that dense. It only took me a few moments to figure out what she was alluding to.
“Well, it’s still the middle of the day. A project like that could... take the whole night. I don’t want to take you away from your meditations and horticulture. Those mystic fruits won’t grow themselves,” I made a few excuses. The truth was I still felt a bit awkward about this arrangemen
t. The way I understood it, the entire Songstone Clan was essentially one big harem for me. They were all sexually eligible. The thing was, I had been with Sava, and I couldn’t shake the mentality that I was with her as a partner. Doing anything sexual with anyone else still felt like cheating.
Nela’s expression fell. “You don’t want to. I knew it.”
“No, no, it’s not like that,” I said reassuringly, “nothing is wrong with you, it’s just that I have a lot to do today. I can’t be lying around when the rest of the Songstone Clan is out working.”
Nela gestured at herself. “So, what’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you, Nela. You’re fine as you are. It’s me that has the problem.”
“I could order you to sleep with me you know. I am still the matriarch of this clan you know.”
I let out a long sigh. I’d long since come to the decision that I wouldn’t hide my earthly origins. I already had a target on my head for being a chaka, so what did it matter if people realized I was from another world as well. From what I’d gathered, every orc and goblin was from one of those other worlds speckled throughout the sky. There was little point in trying to pretend I was a native. I was still wearing my worn jeans and t-shirt after all.
I began to tell Nela about society on earth, and about the concept of monogamy.
“So, where you come from, there’s a man for every woman?” Nela asked with a raised eyebrow, blinking away the redness in her eyes and trying to crack a smile.
“It’s true,” I replied seriously. “Actually, I think there are slightly more men than women overall. It was a real big problem in ages past. In our history, the male population was kept down by wars and conflicts. Having more men than women has been a major problem for any society. Young men get rambunctious if they don’t settle down and start a family, you see. They often turned to banditry or just lived lives of crime and debauchery.”
“What a strange place. If you’d tell me where it is I could probably sell a map there for quite a bit of money. Your homeland would be invaded by an army of elvish women before the moon could be made new again.”
I grinned. “I don’t doubt it. Heck, many of the men back home would probably thank me for it. Unfortunately, my home isn’t exactly the kind of place you could walk to.”
Then Nela took the initiative. In one smooth motion, she leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips. Her lips were soft and warm. I only spared a second for surprise before returning the act of affection.
Nela looked into my eyes and I looked into hers. The morals ingrained in me from years of living in a monogamous society were still telling me that this was wrong, but another, more primal part of me was telling me that this was very right. Eventually I gave in to those urges. I let the beast free and immediately it sent a hand crawling up Nela’s shirt.
She was beautiful. I’d been ignoring it for a long while now, because I kept mentally thinking of her as unavailable to me, but now she was right here. All elves in general were stunning, and that probably had to do with the fact that they didn’t age like humans and that the zeal naturally present in this world made their bodies stronger and healthier. I hadn’t seen a single elf that was anything less than healthy and fit since coming here. That being said, Nela was even more beautiful than the others. That might have been because she’d bonded with a more powerful spellheart and thus had larger quantities of zeal flowing through her body, it could simply be a natural gift, or the product of a wealthy upbringing. At any rate, my hands eagerly ran over her jade-like flawless skin, cupping her lush breasts in my hand.
With a tug, her top came off, and the rest of her clothes soon followed. I added my shirt and tunic to the pile rapidly forming on the ground.
Nela guided me towards her, before pushing me down onto one of the straw and blanket mattresses that the clan had assembled for bedding. She straddled my waist, leaned over so her lips could remain in contact with mine.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
“Theo, coming to this place to try to kidnap you was my idea. This is but one more task I must do for the future of my clan.”
While I wasn’t pleased with the less-than-passionate answer, Nela thought that was explanation enough. She plunged downward, impaling herself on me with a moan of pleasure. She got midway down when I suddenly felt some resistance, but Nela simply let her full weight down again, and I burst through the barrier. When I spotted a droplet of blood, I realized that Nela had been a virgin. Had been being the operative phrase. I’d just popped her cherry.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Nela breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s supposed to be enjoyable.”
Nela bit her lip as she continued, her pleasure growing. “It’s a strange sensation, feeling you there. But… not bad. I can see why my mother spent every other night with at least one of the clan’s males. I’d often wondered why I had so many sisters.”
She moved her hips back up uncertainly. I noticed the expression on her face and decided she needed some encouragement.
“You’re doing great, Nela.” I said, giving her a warm pat on the thigh.
“Sorry. I don’t… what do I do now?” Nela asked.
“Here. Let me demonstrate.” I flipped us around so Nela was lying on her back with me on top of her. She squirmed at the sudden shift in movement, but didn’t resist. I pulled her hands up and placed them on my shoulders, then wrapped my arms around her bosom.
“The idea is,” I gave Nela a kiss on her neck, “you do what feels good.”
“T-that’s it? N-no stances to follow? No script?” Nela stuttered uncertainly.
“That’s it.” I smiled. “Like right now, I think I want to do this.” I cupped Nela’s left breast in my hand, feeling its weight and massaging it with my fingers. I bent down and flicked her nipple with my tongue. Nela’s eyes went wide at the sensation and I knew I’d pushed the right button.
“Ahh…” she panted, eyes still wide.
“Do you like that?” I asked. “Want me to do it again?”
Nela gave me the tiniest nod, but I didn’t need any further prompting. I wrapped my lips around one nipple, toying with her breasts in my hands as I suckled her. Nela let loose a small moan.
I reached under her, running my hands down her neck and over the small of her back. Up and down, touching her skin as I worked her body to see what made her moan.
Having warmed her up, I took my member in hand and returned it to its previous location. Nela was far wetter now that I had shifted this encounter from a matter of tribal duty to one of personal pleasure. I pushed my shaft into her, thrusting in.
Nela drew in a sharp breath, but smiled at me. She was enjoying herself and the uncertainty she started with was gone now.
“I think I get it now,” Nela said, “do you think we could switch again?”
I shrugged and turned to lay down. Nela straddled my hips lowering herself onto me with more certainty than before.
“That’s it.” I grinned. “We’ll make a real cowgirl out of you.”
“Cowgirl?” Nela tried to push herself down onto my member, but was struggling to get it right.
“That’s what this position is called. Because your role has some resemblance to riding a horse, I’m told.”
“Oh!” Nela looked suddenly glad. “So there are stances! Like riding a horse…” Nela adjusted herself, and soon she was bouncing up and down on my shaft with surprising skill.
“You’re doing it!” I wrapped my hands around her ass, guiding her along. Not that she needed my support. She was still an elf with a spellheart, and this cheap bed would break before she got tired.
Nela’s face turned a deeper rosy color. “Ohhh!” She let out a particularly loud moan.
Ghessa, the swordswoman, burst in worried that something was wrong with her matriarch. She left with blushing cheeks when she saw what was happening. I winked at her as she left and she glared at me.
Soon Nela climaxed, and I quickl
y followed suit. Nothing miraculous happened like that one time with Sava, but life zeal still flowed out of me into her. Nela rubbed at her spellheart, eyes lighting up and she no doubt felt the sudden burst of progress she’d made. She looked at me with eyes of renewed vigor and kissed my on the lips.
“By the heavens…” Nela muttered, “you truly are a blessing, Theo the chaka.”
“That I am.” I agreed. “But not so fast there. I need a short break in between rounds.”
Nela did not allow me that short break. Nor the next one.
When we climaxed together for the third time, something strange happened. There was a glow, reminiscent of what happened when I had slept with Sava a few weeks ago. But now it was much stronger. It was like there was a resonance between the two of us.
By the time we finished, the sun was starting to set. I looked around, suddenly worried about where Sava was. Nela clung to me like a puppy, which I didn’t mind. In fact, I took the moment to wrap an arm around her waist. She’d made a lot of progress, and found doing her duty for her clan wouldn’t be so bad after all. I wasn’t sure if this closeness would last, but I hoped it could.
I sat with all the elves by the campfire that night. We were having steak from the moose Yorik caught. I hadn’t seen Sava around, and I suspected she was avoiding me. I decided to corner her while eating that night.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I said, taking a seat next to her.
“I thought it better if I stay away. You’ve got new company to keep after all,” She didn’t gesture, but I knew she was talking about Nela. She must have seen the two of us together. That wasn’t much of a surprise. Half the Songstone Clan was waiting outside when we emerged.
“Are you mad?” I asked. Sava blinked in response.
“Mad? No. A bit jealous really, but also ashamed.”
“Ashamed?”
Sava shook her head. “I thought I could keep you all to myself. I thought if we just stayed hidden away in the woods we could eventually found our own clan together, from the ground up.”
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh: A Cultivating Gamelit Harem Adventure (Spellheart Book 1) Page 21