Truth

by Prax Venter

  “This gear has the highest protection,” the Vulpath painter said, her focus then going to the beast-women behind him. “It’s also going to be hot where we’re going.”

  “Let’s go break some boats,” Jezebel said as she stood to remove her cloak.

  - 15 -

  Mark, Sasha, and Jezebel each reached out to touch the soft fur on Audra’s arm before she broke a tiny blue seashell between her claws. One moment he was surrounded by the cramped yet cozy Vulpath painter’s studio, and the next he was bathed in sweltering humidity with the bare sun warming his face. Shielding his brow from the light, he checked his new surroundings.

  All four of them stood around a primitive, yet intricate fountain covered in colorful seashells in the center of a small town. White wood-and-plaster buildings clustered around them, and Mark saw several tan-skinned humans going about their business or sitting in the shade. A squeal of laughter from behind pulled his attention to a group of children chasing each other across the hot sand. It was the most humans he’d seen in one spot.

  One of the children stopped playing with the others, and as soon as Mark turned his focus on him, he sprinted into one of the houses, yelling “Strangers!”

  “Follow me to the Job Board,” Audra said, pushing her paw into the warm sand and heading for a wooden billboard just off a nearby sandstone road.

  “The Job Board…” Sasha whispered.

  Audra nodded and tapped an old, weathered posting among a few others.

  “Good, it looks like the one we want is uncompleted,” the Vulpath said, distracted as she ripped it off the board. “Probably because the reward isn’t that great. A free meal.”

  “Is this like a quest hub?” Mark asked, looking at his succubus. There was something about this thing that made her uneasy.

  “Yes,” Audra answered, offering him the posting, “you’ll collect substantially more essence for me if we also complete the local quest while we search for the Void Clam shell.”

  Mark took the ancient piece of paper, his brows furrowed as he read it.

  “Quest is to remove all living driftwood from a madman’s home on Seagrave Beach. Reward is an all-we-can-eat seafood meal at a place called The Four Hooks.” He lowered the paper and looked at Jezebel and Sasha. “Why haven’t we been abusing these Job Boards?”

  The satyr put her hand on her furry hip. “I don’t know. Perhaps we’ve been too busy running for our lives or flirting with goddesses?”

  Mark handed Jezebel the paper and shot her a playful grin. “Yeah, you’re right. It actually feels nice to be, what- doing a side quest?”

  Audra had been watching them, and Mark noticed her large ears were back slightly.

  “Goddesses?” she asked.

  “Yup,” Mark said and produced his ethereal club for their new party member. “We should all know our capabilities before we head into battle, right?”

  The experienced Vulpath’s eyes went wide and her tall canine ears perked forward.

  “That’s… an Awysai ability. But you’re human… and a Lover!”

  Sasha leaned in close to him, her heavy breasts squishing against his arm.

  “Mark isn’t your typical Collector.”

  Audra turned her intelligent eyes to his, her tail slowly waving again. “Can I touch it?”

  Mark didn’t expect that.

  “I don’t know if you can, actually,” he said, “But go ahead if you want.”

  Mark held his bumpy club still for her. The Vulpath reached out and tapped the glowing blue weapon with one of her black claws. He felt resistance as she pushed.

  “Ohh.” She made a surprised noise as she slid her furry fingers down its length. Mark felt a shadow of tingling pleasure as she made contact.

  “I want to touch it!” Sasha said, grabbing hold of his stiff shaft of magic. The instant she did, he felt a much stronger echo from his succubus. They were certainly getting a slight erotic jolt from touching his summoned club. Jezebel wordlessly stepped in to join in, and all three of his Enthralled were now stroking his ghostly weapon.

  The sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind them, and Mark turned to see an obese man in spotless white robes standing with the kid that ran off earlier. Rough, black stubble covered his huge jaw and his dark eyes scrutinized Mark and his team, settling on the translucent club.

  “No way you four are here for the Line Cook posting. I’m Mayor Vello, and this is my son. Here to finally rid us of that bitch of a boat?”

  “Yes,” Mark said, unsummoning his weapon. “Nice to meet you both.”

  The mayor nodded, relief settling into his posture.

  “Good. Sailors can be a suspicious bunch of bastards and our port has lost a lot of trade from our haunted driftwood problem. Come see Mert at the Four Hooks over yonder when it’s done.” Vello cast his eyes over the three beast-women again, but Mark detected respect in his gaze instead of desire. “I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

  Everyone seemed to assume they were a group of experienced warriors.

  The round mayor gave them a quick nod before, taking his wide-eyed child by the hand and turning away.

  “You’re right, Mark,” Audra said, pulling everyone’s attention back to her. “We really should get our roles straight before combat. I’ve fought many battles and seen some powerful beings, but I’ve never seen a Collector like you. And you can still use your Heal?”

  Mark answered by holding up his ring and demonstrating to this older woman just what he was capable of. He spilt his Heal between the back of her neck and her inner thighs before blasting her body with a modest dose of power. He didn’t want to come off as grabby by going right for the naughty bits.

  Audra doubled over, and her pink tongue came out, panting.

  “Impressive…” was all she managed to say once the effect was over.

  “I’m a Destructor,” Sasha said. “I blast stuff with electricity and will be splintering a lot of wood with kicks from these.” The Techno Succubus slapped her chrome thigh.

  “I’m a Druid,” Jezebel said, “I can immobilize with Vines and take some hard hits with my Bear Form.”

  Mark glanced at the freckled satyr. Her tan skin looked made to drink in the sun, and her blonde hair reflected more copper tones in this light. He’d never heard her say she was a Druid before.

  “Very good,” Audra said. “You three are pretty balanced- despite Mark filling two roles. I haven’t picked my starting skill yet, and I cannot stress enough how disappointed I will be if I need to blow that crucial choice on a combat skill. My role will be watching our backs and minor damage support. My innate Unarmed attack will be serviceable in an emergency, but you three will be doing all the work. This has basically turned into an escort quest.”

  Mark looked around at the three AI beast-women and wondered just how different Audra was from Sasha and Jezebel. Her whole life had been running quests and all this was considered normal, but would she understand she was only an NPC in an erotic sex game if he sat her down and explained it? How would she react if she learned her whole universe was solely created for his benefit?

  The thought hit Mark hard. The people of this world seemed very real- too real. From the moment he woke up in this simulation, he’d been bombarded by their deep and complex emotions and rough pasts. His mind crawled to a standstill. The ramifications and moral complexities-

  “Mark?” Jezebel said, worried.

  “What? No, I’m fine,” he said, coming back to the present.

  “We’re moving out, Lover,” his bombshell of a succubus said, pulling him along by his arm.

  They stepped onto a narrow sandy path through some palm trees and ended up on a long stretch of beach. A vast dark ocean spread out across the horizon, its frothy waves rolling into the shore. It had been just about noon when they left the brisk atmosphere of Thomellia, but it felt like the sun had reset back to morning in this tropical paradise. She did say they were moving west.

  Mark took
a deep breath of warm fresh air and put all that worrying about moral quandaries away for a while. This was his reality now. His life was also now a game. They had a job to do, and he needed to focus. He was also itching to smash something with his magic club.

  “Where are we?” Jezebel asked Audra as she turned her green eyes out over the ocean.

  “Down in the tropics of the Zithean Coast. It’s a lower-danger area isolated by difficult regions on every side. A relatively safe harbor considering The Penultimate Vortex is so close.”

  Sasha laughed. “Penultimate? So, there is an Ultimate Vortex out there?”

  Audra turned to face her. “Yes. The two whirlpools exist on opposite sides of our world but pass through the middle and are joined together inside the core. It’s not common knowledge, but you’ll understand once your group gains more travel experience.”

  Mark put up his hand. “Wait, are you saying this world is a doughnut?”

  “I suppose you could…” Audra trailed off, her cream-colored ears perking forward and snapping to something ahead.

  Following her attention, Mark noticed what appeared to be a crab dragging a larger piece of wood. When they caught up with the little creature scurrying on the wet sand, it turned out to be a magically animated pile of gnarled driftwood bits held in the vague shape of a crab.

  As their shadows fell across its path, one of its parts began clacking against another with slowly increasing speed before it dropped the washed-up debris it had been hauling and hopped toward Jezebel, aggressively.

  Sasha moved in and stomped the little monster to splinters, causing to Mark feel the faintest amount of essence enter his body.

  “That’s one down,” the experienced Vulpath said.

  Jezebel nudged the lifeless pile with her doe hoof. “It was carrying a larger piece of wood somewhere. I don’t like what this behavior suggests.”

  Audra turned to continue down the beach and spoke over her shoulder.

  “There will no doubt be bigger versions to dispatch before the quest is complete.”

  Mark watched the swish of her tail for a few steps before following his new, temporary Enthralled.

  Sasha crushed two more of the crab-sized animated driftwood monsters under her sharp black hoof before they arrived at a series of rough stone steps leading up to a house with peeling, baby-blue paint perched on a small bluff. The area was all sand and sparse brown grass, but further down the coast gray boulders began to take over, squeezing out the beach against the dark waves. Mark looked around, repeatedly sparking his club into his hand and then dismissing it, hunting for something to smash.

  “The Void Shell I seek is rumored to be in the Workshop somewhere within,” Audra said, climbing the first stair.

  “Wait,” Mark said, and the Vulpath turned to face him. “I’m going first, I want Sasha up front with me. You and Jez hold the back.”

  “You’re right,” the painter said. “I’m too used to scouting. You should have seen this Wind Dash I had…” She stopped herself. “In any case, I’ll be following you from now on, Mark.”

  He gave her a quick nod and took point with Sasha clomping up the stone steps right by his side. With a swift chop from his hand, his succubus lifted one of her thick, chrome legs and kicked open the front door, sending splinters everywhere.

  Mark summoned his ethereal club as he hopped into the living room of the beach house, ready for battle. Standard objects registered in his mind; fireplace, couch, table, model ship on the mantle… then movement caught his eye, and a dog-sized pile of wooden flotsam rose from the floor.

  “I got this one,” Mark said as the bizarre construct began to vibrate pieces of its wood together, making hollow clacking noises, like chattering teeth. The living driftwood found its bearings and then faced Mark. The clacking increased as it pulled itself into a tighter, more aggressive formation and launched its magically connected parts straight for his legs.

  It was like watching an impossibly skilled puppet master bring a vicious and cornered creature to life. Mark noticed a glowing red spot where its head should be and quickly brought his glowing weapon down with confidence.

  The creature was faster, however, and raised one of its sun-bleached twists of wood to deflect the attack. Mark’s magic club was more than enough to destroy that particular piece but missed his intended target.

  Sasha’s sharp hooves clomped up behind the creature and the distraction of a new threat gave Mark just enough time to bring down another sloppy swing and spectacularly shatter the magical creature in a chain reaction of destruction.

  The driftwood pieces clattered to the ground, and then everything was silent again.

  “What, are you a Berserker too?” Audra said from behind.

  “Got the job done,” Mark said with a grin. Sure, he needed a lot of practice, but the lightness in his soul told him that mastering his destructive ability would be a joyful hardship.

  “Let’s find this workshop,” Jezebel said, scanning the area. “The building doesn’t look to be too big from the outside. Should be easy.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they found only furniture, clothes, and knickknacks a person would acquire over a lifetime. They also discovered a collection of tiny animals carved out of wood. Thankfully none of them were alive- or at least they didn’t move while he was watching…

  There was a kitchen, a bedroom, the living room, and a small pantry. But no workshop, no more animated monsters, and no magic shell.

  “There has to be more somewhere,” Audra said, crossing her leather-clad arms. “Maybe there’s a shack out back or a hidden door. There’s always a secret hidden door.”

  Mark liked her. It was like she was an avid gamer, but this had been her life. It was his life now.

  “Secret hidden door…” Mark mumbled to himself as he stood in the living room, slowly turning. He poured confidence into his new eye, willing the universe to pull back and show him the true way forward.

  His attention snapped to the model ship he’d seen before resting on the mantle. A faint splash of an unnamable color throbbed once and then it was gone.

  “Maybe something with this fireplace,” Jezebel said, squatting down and studying the hearth. “Everything is old and used, but this hearth is too clean.”

  Mark smiled. His research-AI satyr puzzled it out before he could even cheat. He walked up beside her and saw her doe tail poking out between two round hips. She looked up at him.

  “This has to be it,” she said.

  “I agree,” he said before delicately picking up the intricate model ship. There was a slight resistance, and Mark noticed a length of twine connecting the base of the ship to something through a hole in the wall. The next thing he knew was sharp, stabbing pain in his hand as the living model ship began to move.

  He dropped the miniature construct with a curse, summoning his weapon. The ship sprouted stubby legs and attempted to run off the mantle, but the string was still attached and prevented it from going very far. The creature yanked on the twine that held it as a dog would fight its chain.

  In his moment of hesitation, a bolt of bright and destructive electricity obliterated the creature, leaving only a curling wisp of black smoke and a lot of charred mantle. He looked to see a silent snarl of anger pulled on Sasha’s lips, exposing a fang, but her face softened instantly when she turned to him.

  Her blue eyes dropped to his bloody hand. “Mark, you’re bleeding.”

  He looked down and spent his heal on the two puncture wounds.

  “Yeah. I should have known better than to just grab the wooden boat when we’re here to kill living boat-monsters.”

  Jezebel puffed out a breath of air, extinguishing the small fire on the mantle and inspected the remaining bit of twine. She gave it a tug and a deep thud sounded within the wall. A moment later, the fireplace emitted a series of mechanical clanks as a section of floor lifted and slid horizontally before locking into place.

  All four peered down into the newly revealed sh
aft to see that the only way forward was a few yards of wooden ladder into darkness.

  “Nicely done,” Audra said. “The real Workshop must be down there.”

  “My summoned weapon can provide some light, I’ll go first,” Mark said, getting their attention. “Then Jez, Sasha, Audra.”

  Everyone nodded and he hopped in.

  Mark climbed down quickly, even dropping the last few rungs. His ghostly club sprang to life when his boots hit the dirt, and he scanned the area. The ground was sand, and a long tunnel of dry dirt surrounded them. The man-made cave continued in only one direction away from the ladder for about fifty yards before veering to the left- and into darkness.

  Mark was worried that Sasha’s or Jezebel’s hooves would have trouble with the ladder, but they were both sure-footed and agile. Holding his blue club outward, he led the three beast-women forward through the sandy cave until they came upon a section where the walls flared out, making room for what appeared to be a storeroom. There were a few crates and coils of rope, but what worried Mark was the carefully arranged piles of driftwood.

  There must have been hundreds of pieces, from gnarled logs taller than him to finger-sized twigs, and all of it was sorted into orderly rows.

  “Looks like we know where the driftwood crabs were going,” Jezebel said.

  “I smell fresh sea air,” Audra said, her canine nose held high. “He was a boat builder. He would have had access to the water.”

  “What was this guy’s name?” Mark asked.

  Before Audra could answer, four distinct collections of dry wood assembled themselves out of the piles in the center of the hidden passage. He noticed they were settling into a vaguely humanoid shape before they charged forward, their wooden feet kicking up showers of sand.