by Eric Vall
“It’s like the tree has come to life on the page,” Penelope breathed with wide eyes. “My lord, have you ever seen a picture like this before? And can you read it?”
“The writing is in another god’s language,” I told the naiad. That seemed like a decent explanation. “And the reason the ‘painting’ looks so odd is because it isn’t a painting at all. It’s a picture, or more specifically, a photograph. It’s created using a special machine called a camera. The camera captures an actual image of what’s in front of it, and then you can print it onto paper…”
I stopped when I realized all three women had completely puzzled looks on their faces.
“I don’t understand,” Penelope said as she stared in awe at the picture. “It sounds like magic. It must be a godly item if it can create something so wonderful.”
Aleia picked up the glass rectangle and flipped it over to the other side, and then she gasped.
“Speaking of godly items,” the fairy said, “I think you need to take a look at this.”
“What is it?” Penelope asked as she leaned over the paper again, and then she gasped as a wide smile spread across her lips. “Oh, Jack, it’s you!”
“What?” I asked. “There’s a picture of me?”
“Yes,” the naiad giggled, “and you look very handsome. I’ve never seen clothing like this before, but I like it.”
“I need to take a closer look.”
It wasn’t difficult to spot my picture because the article about me was the main headline, and the photo of me dressed in a black suit and a patterned tie spanned half the newspaper’s front page. I had a big, cheesy smile on my face, and my hair was stiffly gelled in a way I couldn’t ever remember wearing it.
There was also another man I didn’t think I’d ever seen standing next to me in the background. He was wearing a suit as well, and he had dark hair and distinctively-thick dark eyebrows.
“Why don’t we take it outside so we can actually see it, my lord?” Aleia suggested. “There’s really no reason to spend any more time down here.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I agreed.
But there was the problem of me not having leveled up again. Did the women need to leave the tunnel? Was there something left to find?
“Let me have the light, Penelope.” Nicola took the flashlight from the naiad and shone the light into the darkness of the tunnel one last time, and then her face scrunched up into a frown.
“Do you see something?” I asked. “What are you looking at?”
“There’s something glittering in the corner,” the brunette replied. “I want to go look at it for a minute.”
“Here, let me help, sister,” Aleia said as she hurried to the edge of the trap door. “I’ll hold the light for you. Then we can get out of here more quickly.”
The brunette ran over to the corner where she’d seen the glint, and she picked up a small item.
“This is interesting,” Nicola said. “It’s a key.”
Suddenly, I got a flash in front of my eyes.
Level Up!
My phantom heart leapt in excitement.
So, there had been one last thing to find in the cellar before I could move up a rank, and if everything was riding on this little key, then it must be something special. How it could top finding an old newspaper of myself, I couldn’t imagine, but all my frustration about the cellar exploration vanished on the spot.
“Jack, I don’t really like it down here anymore,” the naiad said with her lip jutted outward. “The walls feel too close. You wanted us to leave, right?”
“Yep, that’s fine,” I confirmed. “Let’s bring the… glass box… out, of course.”
“I’ll try to climb up to push the trap door open,” the fairy offered. “I can also help the two of you climb out, if you need me.”
“Thanks, sister,” Penelope said as she shot a grateful smile at the strawberry-blonde. “I really wish there had been a treasure in this room. The… glass… is amazing, I suppose, but I really did want to find some gems and not just a dozen barrels. Exploring was still fun, though!”
“It was exciting,” Aleia agreed. “Minus the spiders, perhaps.”
“Yes, minus that.” The naiad shuddered.
The fairy climbed up onto the barrel directly under the trap door, and then she pushed upward until the heavy wood thudded loudly onto the grass.
“How did you do that so easily?” I marveled as bright, late afternoon sunlight flooded into the room, and the three women all squinted and put their hands over their eyes. “I guess it’s not stuck from this side.”
“It just seemed easier to push than pull.” The fairy shrugged from her position atop the barrel.
“Ouch, the sun hurts!” Penelope giggled. “It feels like we’ve been underground for a really long time.”
“It truly does,” Nicola sighed before she suddenly jolted. “Ew, I think I feel something on my leg, but I’m scared to look again. Aleia, just get us out of here!”
The strawberry-blonde hoisted herself out of the hole and perched on the edge, and then she looked down dubiously at the other two priestesses.
“I think you’re going to need to hand me your weapons to climb out of here,” Aleia told the other two women.
“Don’t forget the glass,” I reminded them. “Penelope, give that to Aleia now.”
“Yes, I suppose I’ll climb out next,” the naiad said as she picked up the paper and got up onto the barrel. “Aleia, take this and put it somewhere safe.”
The fairy put the strangely-enclosed newspaper carefully down onto the dry ground, and then she held out a hand to Penelope.
“Come on,” the strawberry-blonde told the blue woman. “It’s not that hard.”
Penelope grabbed Aleia’s hand, and, with a grunt, the naiad pulled herself up to the edge as a broad grin flashed across her face.
“Hooray!” the pale blue beauty cried out as she hopped up to a standing position. “It’s light again. Oh, sky, how I love you.”
“I can’t wait to get out of here,” Nicola grumbled. “Here, Aleia. Take this.”
The dark-haired woman gave Aleia the sword, the axe, and the flashlight, and the brunette’s long legs made it easy for her to climb out of the trap door. She sat on the edge for a moment and looked back down into the tunnel, and then she shook her head.
“That was an adventure, right?” the fairy asked Nicola.
“It really was,” the chestnut-haired beauty sighed. “There’s never a quiet moment around here, that’s for sure.”
“I loved it!” Penelope gushed as she snatched the glass box off the ground and hugged it against her chest. “Jack, you look so handsome in this picture. Not that you don’t always.”
I adjusted my vision toward the newspaper, but the moment I did, I realized something stranger than any article about myself.
The glass around it appeared to be shimmering in a way that I could only have described as futuristic.
There was an almost-invisible rainbow halo around the glass that reminded me of a translucent oil slick, and the sight was so strange, I began to wonder if I’d been onto something with my alien ideas the other day. Out of this world seemed like the only way to describe the shimmering halo in front of me.
Then I looked even closer at the glass, and I could have sworn it wasn’t entirely solid. Was that a crack running down one side?
“So, should we eat our supper?” Nicola asked, which brought me out of my reverie. “It looks like the coals are still hot over there. You could get a fish, Penelope.”
“A fish would probably be easiest,” the naiad agreed. “And you said you wanted to bathe, sister, and it will also help heal us after our battle. Shall we go down to the stream?”
“That sounds good,” the brunette agreed. “We should get down there before it starts to get dark out. I’m feeling spooked by those spiders.”
“Me too,” Aleia admitted. “I can’t wait to wash the venom off my body, let alone t
he dust. Would you mind if we go to bathe, master?”
“Of course not,” I replied. “But make sure you put that… thing… somewhere safe first.”
“Yes, my lord,” the fairy agreed. “I’ll put it on the altar on the way to the stream.”
The women walked off through the gate in the wall, and although I usually didn’t watch them, I decided to keep a closer eye on them tonight. Finding out we had massive, venom-spewing spiders near our land put me on my guard a bit, and I didn’t want to leave them on their own just yet.
“That paper was so interesting…” Aleia mused as the priestesses walked down the hill.
“You’ve seen something like it before, right, my lord?” Penelope asked.
“Not for a very long time,” I told the naiad. “Long ago and far away.”
That was what my old life seemed like, anyway. So long ago, it was entirely out of my grasp, and I couldn’t recall all of it even if I tried.
“What’s our next project, Jack?” Aleia asked. “The wall is built, the garden is growing…”
“We still need to build up your defenses more,” I explained. “Although, Penelope, you looked pretty good with that axe in your hands.”
“Thanks, my lord,” the naiad responded with a quick smile. “It was fun to carry.”
“I like the sling, and even the bow, but I wish I had something big and heavy to wield, too,” Aleia told us. “I like the feel of the flashlight, but I’d like something even heavier.”
“I wish the gnomes had another sword they could give us,” Nicola said with a slightly guilty expression. “I didn’t mean to take the only one they had to offer.”
“They have a whole stockpile of weapons,” I reminded the priestesses. “You never know what they’ll give you next.”
“That’s true, but I don't think we can just ask,” Penelope said as she skipped down through the trees. The women were only about twenty feet away from the water now, and the naiad began to unfasten her shirt.
“Hey!” I protested with a laugh.
“What are you doing here, anyway, Jack?” Aleia asked. “You never keep talking to us when we bathe.”
“I wanted to make sure you crossed outside the wall safely,” I explained. “What could be next? A thirty-foot-long snake?”
“Don’t even say that, master.” The fairy shuddered. “We’ve already had enough to deal with today.”
“I can’t wait to get the last remnants of this poison off my skin,” Nicola said as the women reached the banks. Then the brunette looked at the red marks on her arm and frowned. “It was only a drop, so it doesn’t hurt that bad, but there is a small abrasion.”
“My feet are a little sore,” Penelope admitted before she waded into the water and sighed with relief. “Oh, that’s so much better. I do love my stream so much. Here, sister, why don’t you dip your arm in the water, too?”
“I would love to,” the brunette replied. The dark-haired priestess was still dressed, so she stepped tentatively on the rocks to the side of the stream and knelt down. Then she cupped her hand to scoop up some of the water and splashed it on her arm. “Penelope, that’s so much better. I don’t know how you do it, but your water is wonderful.”
“Thank you, sister,” the naiad said as she smiled with pride. “But I’m not sure what to do, my lord. Am I not supposed to take my clothes off?”
“Go ahead, take them off,” I chuckled. “Maybe I will watch, just this time. Why the hell not?”
“But what if we want to talk about you?” Aleia teased me. “What if we want to say how good you looked in that picture?”
“What do you call that kind of clothing, anyway?” Penelope asked as she lifted her slim arms around the back of her neck to untie her top. Her cerulean breasts bounced as they swung free of the fabric, and I wanted to moan out loud. “The jacket, and that special kind of shirt?”
“It’s called a suit and tie,” I told the blue woman. “Why, do you think it’s hot?”
“Hot?” Penelope asked as a playful smile spread across her lips. She waded into the stream until she was submerged up to her waist, and then she ran her fingers down her belly as if she were going to touch herself. “What do you mean by hot, exactly?”
“You know, sexy,” I told the naiad.
“I liked it,” Nicola said with a smirk, and I realized the dark-haired woman now stood completely naked at the edge of the stream as she dipped her toe in the water. Her long chestnut hair almost completely obscured the top half of her body except for her golden-brown nipples and the dark patch between her legs.
“It did make me want to make love to you,” the naiad giggled, “but why do you think you were wearing the… suit and tie? How did you end up in that picture?.”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
“Leave him alone, Penelope,” Aleia laughed. “Stop asking so many questions.”
The fairy still wore her clothing as she stood on the banks of the stream gazing at the other two priestesses, and I desperately hoped she was going to strip down, too. Now that I knew about her wings, she might as well have been naked to me, and I wanted to see her in her entirety.
“Well, we’ve told our lord some things about our pasts,” the naiad pouted. “I want to know more about him.”
“Well, um, I don’t really know what there is to tell,” I hedged. “I’ve been a god for, um, many, many years now, but the three of you are certainly the best followers I’ve ever had.”
“Thank you, master,” Penelope giggled. “I’m sorry for questioning you so much. I know it isn’t my place, and I probably can’t understand your holy ways, anyway.”
“It’s fine,” I laughed. “I’m really not that complicated.”
“Are you going to get in, Aleia?” Nicola’s hair now fell in long, wet strands down her back. The sun had started to set, and the red in the sky cast a fiery glow upon the dark-haired woman.
“I will in a minute,” the fairy demurred.
“Do you like watching them?” I said in Aleia’s head, and I watched with satisfaction as the strawberry-blonde’s freckled cheeks flushed bright red.
“Jack, have you ever seen me catch a trout before?” the naiad asked. “You never watch when we come to the creek.”
“No, I haven’t,” I responded. “But hey, I’m here anyway.”
“And Penelope doesn’t mind,” Nicola laughed. “I think she’d walk around naked all day if we’d let her.”
“I would not,” the blue woman protested with a shrug. “I always wear my clothes. Well, usually, anyway.”
Penelope giggled as she raised her hands in the air and twirled around in the water, and I couldn’t help but stare at her breasts again. I didn’t think the baby could have already made her tits even bigger, but the naiad was certainly looking good.
Then Aleia finally tossed her top to the side and began to slowly shimmy off her skirt, and I raked my gaze over the fairy’s tiny body in awe. Her curvy hips and ass were in perfect proportion to her freckled tits, and all her insecurities seemed to melt away as she stood at the side of the stream with a small, proud smile on her face.
The strawberry-blonde waded into the water with her sisters, and soon they were all floating on their backs with ecstatic smiles. Their nipples bobbed just above the water, and although there was still a tinge of pain that felt like virtual blue balls, I tried to take a moment to enjoy the phantom bodily sensations of seeing gorgeous naked women.
The priestesses looked ethereal in the golden light of the setting sun, and I felt like I was looking at a painting in a museum.
“Come on, Penelope, hurry up and catch a trout,” Aleia urged the naiad as the fairy stepped into the water and dipped her head backward, which snapped me back to reality.
“Okay, watch this,” Penelope instructed me as she stood up and held her hands palm down over the water, and a whirlpool began to form around her. The stream quickly began to fill with what looked like large, dark spots, and I quickly realized a
t least a dozen fish had started to swirl around the blue woman.
“Whoa,” I breathed. “That’s amazing.”
“Now, look at this,” Penelope said, and she turned her hands over.
A giant trout sailed out of the water and into her outstretched palms, and the fish didn’t even twitch.
“You’re so wonderful, sister,” Aleia praised the naiad. “Your powers are so strong.”
“So are yours,” Penelope responded as she laid the large fish on a rock next to the water, and then she swam deeper into the stream and floated on her back.
Despite its muddy, clay-filled shores, the water in the stream was crystal clear, and I wondered if that was also Penelope’s magic at work. In any case, it gave me full access to the priestesses’ bodies, and I decided to take the opportunity to keep looking. I had denied myself glimpses of the women’s wet, glimmering bodies for so long that I couldn’t help but stare at their immense beauty.
And I still couldn’t believe there were three of them I got to fuck every which way.
As I looked at the curves of their mouths as they made happy chatter with one another, I envisioned all of their lips encircling my cock, and I felt my phantom body shiver.
“Alright, let’s go back and eat,” I heard Nicola say as if from far away, and I was sad that the women would have to put their clothing on again. “I’m really hungry.”
“Yes, sister, this trout is going to taste good tonight,” Penelope responded, and there was loud splashing as the three women climbed out of the water. “I’m just going to gut the fish quickly while we’re down here, and then we can go back.”
There was silence for a few moments as the naiad worked on the fish and the women wriggled their damp bodies back into their clothing, and then Aleia called out to me.
“Okay, my lord, you’re safe to look again,” the fairy giggled.
“Oh, I’ve been looking, but thank goodness,” I chuckled. “I do get overwhelmed from time to time.”
“I bet you do,” Nicola chimed in with a smirk on her face. “We definitely hold a lot of power over you.”