by Prax Venter
His palm pressed against her perfect ass as he ran one of his fingers back and forth over her soft pussy lips. Before long he started to feel wetness on his finger and then began to massage her pussy juice into her clitoris. She unconsciously bent over slightly and bit down on her lower lip, trying not to make a sound and drawing unwanted attention.
They walked like this for a little while, Mark using the motion of her silky thighs to assist the strokes of his finger.
He leaned his head close to hers and made a quiet, “shh,” sound into her ear as he slipped his finger inside her soaking, fabric vagina.
She bit down hard on her lower lip trying to remain silent as once again he used her gait to influence the motion of his hand in her pussy. He thought about using one, or many, of his abilities on her. Not only did it seem unfair to Roo and her attempts to remain quiet, but they were still in a strange area where combat might break out at any moment, so he decided against it. He used one hand to rub her soft forearm as it wrapped around his waist and used the other to dig deep into her hot, wet pussy, hoping it would be enough to get her off.
The thrill of being secretly fingered in public was good enough for her, though, and after a while, Mark began to feel the muscles in her pussy contract intermittently. She was very close. He tried to use two of the fingers that were on the outside to pinch her clit as she walked and the sensation drove her over the edge.
To her credit, she kept walking while she came all over his hand, but if anyone had been looking, they would have thought she had found a bad patch of particularly uneven ground.
Mark held his finger inside for a few moments after her pussy had stopped spasming, just to make sure, then pulled his hand out into the relatively cool air.
He disengaged from her so they could walk a bit more naturally and brought his fingers to his nose. Mark drew in a long breath of her scent, filling his lungs. Compared to the lingering stench of the swamp, her floral fragrance was heavenly.
Roo looked straight ahead, her hand lightly resting on her chest above her soft cleavage and tried to catch her breath. A warm, little smile lit up her masked face.
After a little while of just holding hands, they rejoined the rest of the group and continued to make their way to their destination.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, and Mark was surprised when he saw a massive stone structure ahead of them in the distance. It was essentially a giant cube of stone and mortar.
“Welcome to Auxiliary Academy, home of the Georath,” Lennit said, as they stepped onto a flat, dry area around the imposing building. The walls had no windows, and only one oversized, iron door at ground level broke in its otherwise flat surface.
Radder walked up to the door and banged on it with a gloved fist and backed away. It didn't take long before the door opened and a giant of a man stepped out of the darkness, holding what looked like an empty, glass fish tank.
His skin was a dark slate gray, and he had a blue, crystal formation on his head instead of hair. The same crystals served as eyebrows over glittering eyes that had to be sapphire gemstones. He had long pointed ears and an angular face like an elf. He wore blue silk robes that projected an air of simple elegance.
“He's so pretty...” Roo gasped, to Mark's right.
The strange crystal elf turned his eyes to the velvet-girl. His eyebrows twitched ever so slightly before he searched the rest of the group and came to rest on Mark.
“A Collector,” he rumbled with a deep, monotone voice. “Interesting.”
Lennit stepped forward, his mask clasped in two hands before him.
“He's a healer, sir. I told him I would bring him to talk to you about the dome after healing my wife. His name's Mark.”
As soon as Lennit finished his sentence, Mark was hit by a minor rush of essence from the air around him.
Side-quest complete, he thought.
“Gas first. Payment. Then I will take him to Evoker Oris. Present your sacks to me.”
Ahnix snorted at that last bit, but the gas trappers all moved forward with their leather balloons. Mark noticed that the fish tank was a perfect square with no opening as the Georath held it aloft, near the floating sacks of gas.
The crystal elf spoke the word, “Verilith,” and streams of yellow energy traveled from the leather balloons and into the glass cube he was holding.
In moments, the sacks became shriveled as raisins, and the cube glowed with newly-contained, yellow energy. Once the transfer was complete, the leather sacks fell from the sky, and the men began to fold and store them away.
Lennit took another timid step closer to the tall Georath and held out his hands, cupping them together. The slate skinned creature switched the glass box to one hand and held out the other, palm down, a few inches over Lennit's waiting fingers.
Eerily similar to Mother and her magic bean trick, the crystal elf uttered the word, “Sorinth,” and silver coins began to rain down into the greasy man's outstretched hands.
Once the appropriate amount of coins were paid, the Georath spoke again in his monotone voice.
“Transaction complete. Collector, follow if you wish.” The tall slate-skinned elf turned back two the door, and Mark got the feeling the invitation had a time limit.
“Thanks, Lennit. Good luck and good fortune, everyone.” Mark held up a hand in parting with the gas trappers and caught the eyes of his enthralled. They all lined up behind him to enter the through the iron door to Auxiliary Academy, but before they got very far, the crystal elf turned back around and held up a large, stony hand.
“No Enthralled.”
“What? You won't let my team in with me?”
“No weapons, no Enthralled. No chaos in the Academy.” His monotone demeanor implied no exceptions.
“I don't like it,” Ahnix said.
Roo stepped closer to Mark and Vale was staring the Georath like she was trying to start him on fire with her mind.
“This might be the only way forward,” Mark said, handing Ahnix his crossbow. “Besides, I'm not getting a 'skin-me-and-eat-me' vibe from this big guy.”
Mark turned to the big guy in question. “It's safe outside around here, right?”
“Nowhere is safe. Come or not. Now.” He turned back to the door.
“Okay, my lovelies, why don't you all go home, and I'll just pull Roo to me when I'm done. If it goes bad in there, I'll just pull you all.”
They all nodded, and Mark backed away from them towards the door. A sudden panic slammed into his brain as the thought of losing contact with his entire battle harem. This was the first time they were all going to be in another dimension without him.
He sighed and walked through the iron door after the Georath. It closed behind him with a bang of finality, and they were gone.
- 7 -
Mark walked behind the tall crystal elf through the drab stone halls of the Georath stronghold. Glowing crystal formations grew on the walls at regular intervals, illuminating everything in ethereal blue light.
The layout was logical and orderly with grids of hallways and doorways. There were no windows, tables, chairs, tapestries or decorations of any kind. After a short walk, they turned a corner and came to an open, cylindrical room. Mark craned his neck and saw that he was in a tube that reached the top of the structure, hundreds of feet up.
The crystal elf stood in the center and turned around.
“Ehoora- Prime Study,” he said, and Mark had a brief moment to wonder if this was like an elevator before he felt a similar sensation to being teleported by Ahnix. He blinked his eyes, and he was standing on a circular disk, facing into an enormous room.
The first thing he noticed was the glowing river of purple energy flowing up from a fountain and into a reservoir on the ceiling. Bookshelves covered the walls, but the books were all black and uniform in shape and size. Various complex devices of unknown function were arranged around the room, and in the center was a simple, wooden desk. Sitting at that desk was another Georath, and he
stood when he saw Mark.
“Inform me, Trev,” he said, remaining behind his desk.
“Evoker Oris, Mark, a Collector. Possible solution to problems Iyne, Xev, and Rin”
“Understood. Acceptable,” said Evoker Oris, then grunted with a quick nod. Apparently, that meant the one holding the yellow box filled with gas was dismissed.
“Enter, Collector Mark,” the crystal elf behind the desk uttered, in the same monotone voice.
“Thank you for meeting me, Evoker Oris,” Mark said, as he approached the desk. He looked for a place to sit down but didn't see any chairs, so he just stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The Georath named Oris studied Mark as Mark studied him back. He was nearly identical to the first Georath he met, and Mark wondered if they all looked the same. Blue crystal hair, dark, rock-like skin and gemstone eyes. Except this one was wearing a white, silk robe.
Mark took the initiative. “I am here in this swamp to collect the piece of the Crystal Heart that lies within your magic dome. Please let me know how to get inside.”
Oris looked down at him, motionless, as if he was processing Mark's words.
“Dangerous for two reasons; contains the Great Tear, contains deadly creatures. Substantiate Crystal Heart statement.”
These guys didn't mince words. Mark pulled out the diamond compass from his pocket.
“This points to the closest fragment. And I'm not worried about the tear or the creatures. I can close the tear, and my Enthralled will shred the creatures.”
Evoker Oris looked down at the compass in Mark's hand. His gemstone eyes lingered for a moment before he lifted a finger towards the compass and uttered the word, “Lysat.”
Mark looked down at the object in his hand a noticed a blue glow surrounding the compass.
“Where did you come by this?”
“Mother, a spirit of the forest. Er- maybe the spirit of all forests, Not quite sure there.”
Oris lowered his long, gray finger and the glow disappeared. Mark slipped the compass back in the pocket of his silk pants.
“Intriguing. I calculate mysteries of the tears.” Evoker Oris turned his sapphire eyes downward and gestured to the thousands of intricate swirls and sharp angles covering the parchment spread out across the surface before him. “The Great Tear decimated Georath home and people. I see nothing else for 254 cycles and will resolve cohesion. Chaos is only order we are ignorant of.”
The crystal elf's eyes darted around the parchment faster and faster until they just vibrated in his head. Mark took a step back, unsettled by frantic madness he was feeling from this creature.
Oris looked up instantly and pinned Mark down with his now motionless eyes.
“You can assist, Collector. Complete quest, retrieve Inception Sphere. Solution becomes much closer, potentially. Containment barrier obsolete when solved.”
Mark blinked. “So, let me make sure I understand. You want me to find this Inception Sphere. If I bring it back to you, it will speed up your... research. Then you open the dome?”
“Soon after, potentially.”
Mark didn't like this potentially bullshit, but this quest was moving things in the right direction at least. If anything, he'd probably get a pile of essence from the quest alone.
“Okay, deal. Now, where is this sphere and what will I have to do to get it?
The crystal elf waved a gray hand and said, “Sea cave, due east. Possessed by powerful entity. However, powerful Enthralled.”
Evoker Oris nodded his head with the last sentence, and Mark knew the Georath was throwing his words back at him. He sighed.
“Wisdom for entity defeat?” Mark asked, playing his game.
“Solinite,” Oris said, before turning his gemstone eyes back to the parchment on the desk.
Mark got the impression the conversation was over. He walked back towards the elevator platform where he entered, giving the purple energy fountain a wide berth. He stood in the circular chamber, trying to remember the command that Trev fellow used to activate the teleportation. He gave up and just decided to use Harem Recall on Roo. Evoker Oris seemed busy focusing on what was in front of him, and no one else was around, so Mark was sure he would get away with having a girl in the boy's only club for a few seconds.
He thought of his velvet-girl, always so full of life and curiosity about the world she had only just stepped into. They were similar in that way, both experiencing this new world with its strange inhabitants. He was looking forward to exploring it together with her, and her soft, supple skin. He pictured her black eyes sparkling at the thought of a new dress, and he imagined her perfect puffy lips on his. He locked Roo's faultless, masked face in his mind and there she was, standing in the Prime study of the Continent Academy with him.
“Oh! Mark. That's- jarring,” she said, blinking.
“Sorry. Hey, open a door, please. You're not supposed to be in here,” he gave her a sly smile. She nodded, gave him a half-smile of her own, and held her hand out.
Black dust emerged from thin air and coalesced into a wooden door. Roo opened it, and they both popped back home with no one the wiser.
“Welcome home, master!” Vale said, picking up a storage barrel. He noticed her armor had since been deactivated, and she was wearing the translucent silk outfit he thought of as her “Princess Vale” costume. He watched her swaying ass move the barrel into a shadowy room Mark had never seen before. Roo had been busy in the short time he was gone.
“That was quicker than I expected, how did it go?” Ahnix said, walking up from the storage tables behind him. She was holding his crossbow out, stock first. He reached past the weapon and grabbed her furry arm, pulling her into a surprise embrace.
He just held her for a moment, nuzzling her neck. She leaned into him, and he could hear the faintest, rumbling purr from her chest.
“Being away from you- all of you. It's horrible.” He said, into her sleek furred neck.
Vale returned from their new pantry and noticed the embrace.
“I want some of that,” the giant naga said, and joined in, wrapping her arms around them both.
Mark looked over at Roo and waved her in, making a space for her by holding one of his arms away from Ahnix.
Roo dove right in, and Mark was completely surrounded by his girls. He breathed a content sigh, just trying to lock this moment in his mind.
After the moment was over, they all split apart, and he took his crossbow back.
“Okay,” Mark began. “Their leader said he would probably be able to bring down the dome if we retrieved something called an inception orb, or sphere- whatever, it doesn't matter. There is some powerful entity, weak to solinite, in a sea cave due east of that Academy.”
“Solinite?” Roo said, her eyes narrow.
“Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he said.”
“It's a rare ore, Mark. Raw thulium needs to be exposed to the sun for hundreds of years. Hard to come by and expensive.”
“How-?” He began.
“Metalmancy.” She tapped the top of her porcelain mask with two fingers.
“Right. So that's out,” Vale said.
“Let's just go get this magic ball already. My claws thirst for combat,” Ahnix said, drawing everyone's eye, her words a stark contrast to her disinterested resting-bitch-face. “What? Besides that frustrating spirit, it's been a while.”
“Fair enough,” Mark said. He caught Roo's eye and, with a nod, they both walked over to the map room.
“Can you add Auxiliary Academy to the map,” he asked, pointing. She closed her eyes and held out her hand to the huge, painted map. After a moment a gray cube rose out of the table.
“Perfect,” he said, impressed at the new, three-dimensional aspect of her addition. He drew a line across the large island of Chrysalia from the cube, directly east and ended up at the ocean.
“Here.” He lifted his eyes to meet hers.
She nodded again, her short lilac hair moving slightly. Her puffy lips dist
racted him while he watched her focus on making a door to the side of the table. He couldn't remember if she had ever wrapped those perfect lips around his dick. He tried to scan backward through all of the fun times and essence transfers, and he didn't think- “Oof.”
He jumped, his thoughts scattered by a slap against his gut.
“Focus,” Ahnix purred into his ear, from behind. “Plenty of time to explore her supple mouth, later.”
Had she been reading his thoughts? Mark shook his head, and as she walked passed, he swatted his open hand at her leather-clad, toned ass. She could have easily dodged, but she flexed that one cheek instead, and it felt like slapping a bowling ball.
She looked over her shoulder at him with her small-mouthed frown and half-lidded eyes and knew they were going to have some fun tonight.
Vale came weaving in, her Star Scale Mail already deployed. They were ready to go. Roo pulled open the door, and they all stepped through.
The first thing Mark noticed was a steady warm breeze coming from the ocean, the kind that heralded a coming storm. They had exited the door right on the edge of a cliff looking out over a vast body of water. According to the map, this was the Alimic Ocean, and its dark surface mirrored the angry, gray clouds rolling out across the sky. The ground below his feet was short, green grass and held a welcome firmness to the wet, spongy swamp.
“We're looking for a sea cave, and I'd like to find it before it starts raining,” Mark said, eyeing the fast-moving clouds. Looking out over the ocean he could see diagonal, misty lines dropping from the clouds indicating distant, falling rain.
He crossed the handful of yards to the end of the grass and carefully peeked over the edge. The drop was dizzying, and he was suddenly glad the wind was gently pushing him backward. Far below he saw white, frothy waves crashing against jagged, chunks of black stone. But no cave.
“It's magnificent,” Roo said, standing next to him. He looked over and saw her fearless smile and twinkling eyes. Her sense of wonder was contagious, pulling his own mouth into a matching grin.
He turned his head the other way and saw Ahnix, her black tail slowly waving behind her as she peered over the edge. Wondering where the giant naga was, Mark turned back to see her watching them from where they started, her eyebrows arched with worry.