“An ant girl doesn’t want her own pheromones to help induce pregnancy with other females,” she recalled. “So her pheromones will change to prevent that.”
“Correct,” Daniel agreed. “After all, if she used her pheromones out in the wild near humans, they may run around and try to mate with other humans or even monsters that may be nearby. That wouldn’t help her but rather her rivals.”
“But how does that mean that we won’t get pregnant now?” Alyssa asked shaking her head. “Daniel came inside all of us.”
“Yeah, like a lot,” Triska reminded with a small smile at Daniel. He glanced to her with a weak smile in response before shaking his head.
“Yes, but you were all near Squeak last night when that happened,” he pointed out.
Triska and Alyssa looked at him confusedly before a smile came across Specca’s face.
“Her pheromones will only act normally when she’s alone or by related ant girls,” she remembered. “When she’s around other females her body will change the pheromones to prevent her victims from impregnating other women by accident.”
“How though?” Triska asked. “Daniel went wild with lust last night, just like all the ant girls’ victims do from the pheromones. What was different about that?”
Daniel chuckled and glanced down to his penis with a raised eyebrow.
“The pheromones change so that the men will lose all their potency,” he said, with Triska and Alyssa looking to him with confusion before down to his penis with wonder.
“What?” Alyssa asked.
Specca giggled and nodded as she looked to Squeak with a relieved smile.
“During the period of lust-induced hysteria the men will become sterile when having sex if any women other than the ant girls are nearby. Daniel’s semen, under the drug’s effects, would have lost all its potency. As long as we’re around Squeak her pheromones won’t let Daniel impregnate any of us with their effects.”
The group turned to Squeak as she tilted her head with a curious expression before she glanced to her abdomen with a raised eyebrow. Daniel nodded with an amused smile then looked around at all the girls.
“I knew that as long as she used her pheromones I would still be driven to have sex with all of you with all my strength,” he reasoned with a shrug. “But none of you would have been impregnated with me doing so. I know if any of you have a baby now then traveling with me would become almost impossible, so of course I wouldn’t risk that happening last night.”
“You knew,” Specca concluded with a curious smile at him. “You knew that with Squeak’s pheromones being used you would have made love to us completely, while also ensuring that we couldn’t get pregnant so early in our journey with you.”
Daniel nodded before noticing Triska and Alyssa staring at him with frightful expressions.
“Wait,” Alyssa nervously said. “So you’re saying you’re sterile now?”
“You’re never going to be able to have children again?” Triska cried out while grabbing her hair in a panic.
Daniel blinked then shook his head with a weak smile.
“No, I’m perfectly fine. With the pheromones gone now my body is acting normally, that was only a temporary thing,” he assured, with Triska and Alyssa then breathing out in relief. All the girls looked around at each other with warm smiles before turning to Daniel again, with him slowly rubbing the back of his neck as he wasn’t sure what to say at a time like this.
“So, is this what you wanted, Daniel?” Triska asked with a smirk.
Daniel glanced to her then looked around at all the girls as they slowly gathered together in front of him, all of them watching him with knowing smiles.
“To have all of us as your lovers?” Alyssa asked coyly.
“Or did you only say what you did last night because of Charlotte being here?” Specca asked with a worried smile.
Daniel watched as the four girls showed some concern with Specca’s words as their smiles faded slightly, all of them remaining silent and waiting for his answer. He slowly looked from one girl to the other, seeing all of them naked before him and feeling a strong, unyielding connection and desire for all of them. Remembering how he nearly lost each and every one of them, Daniel understood that he did feel love for all of them, equally. The idea of losing even one of them, having to see them walk away or die before him, was too much to bear. Knowing this, he felt he had the right, and only, answer to Specca’s question.
“No, Specca,” he answered, with all the girls watching him curiously now. “I said I loved you all because I do, not because Charlotte was listening. I know that this isn’t how you all wanted it to end, with me choosing all of you rather than one, but-”
“No, we actually prefer it this way,” Triska interjected while shaking her head.
Daniel paused for a moment then looked at her with confusion.
“Wait, what?”
Triska giggled then shrugged with an innocent smile.
“Daniel, we told you before,” she reminded. “If we have to share you with each other to have you, then we’re alright with that.”
“Yeah,” Alyssa agreed with a hop. “Since you can’t pick one of us, you’ll just have to love us all.”
Daniel looked at them with stunned silence for a while before shaking his head slightly.
“But, wouldn’t you all have preferred me choosing just one of you?”
The girls looked to each other then to Daniel while shaking their heads with worried smiles.
“No, we wouldn’t have,” Specca replied. “You see, the truth is if you had picked just one of us, the other three… would have had to leave. We would have lost each other, and three of us would have lost you.”
“We told you we all love each other, and we do,” Alyssa said with a shrug. “It took us a while to admit it. I mean we were fighting over you so much.” She then looked to Triska who glanced to her with a smirk before turning back to Daniel.
“Triska especially,” she mentioned, with Triska jumping a bit then looking to her with annoyance.
“Hey! You were just as bad! And we were fighting each other most of the time, remember?”
“Triska,” Alyssa lectured while shaking a finger at her. “Now’s not the time to discuss that. We all love each other now, right?”
Triska opened her mouth to speak before Specca quickly rested a hand on her shoulder, with Triska looking around to seeing the nixie and Squeak just shaking their heads at her.
“Seriously?” Triska asked tiredly. “We’re just going to let that slide with her?”
Specca and Squeak merely nodded while Alyssa smiled proudly at Daniel. Triska held in her grunt and glanced away with a dull expression on her face as Alyssa then continued.
“And we’ve come to realize that… we really don’t want to say goodbye to one another. If you had picked one of us, we would have had to, and we would have been sad because of it.”
Daniel stuttered some form of response, which wasn’t anything coherent, then shook his head before showing a bewildered look on his face.
“But… I thought me picking all of you was a cowardly and pathetic thing to do,” he nervously said. “I mean, couples in love normally don’t involve more than two people, right? Isn’t the man supposed to just choose one woman to love in his life?”
Squeak started squeaking something at him, with the group watching as she showed a saddened smile and gestured around at all the girls one by one with strange and indecipherable hand signals before she motioned to Daniel and shook her head with a shrug as she kept saying something in her own language. After a while of silence passed Daniel just showed a nervous smile at the girls.
“Am I tripping on Squeak’s pheromones still? Is this a dream?” he asked, with Squeak showing a puzzled expression as she failed to see how her reassuring words didn’t reach the boy at all.
“No, Daniel, you’re not dreaming,” Specca said with a small laugh. “This is how we really feel. And you’re not cowardl
y with picking all of us, it’s actually what we wanted all along.”
“We love you, and we love each other,” Alyssa agreed with a hop. “This is what we want. You made the right choice.”
“You said you loved us all equally,” Triska reminded with an accusing smile and shaking a finger at Daniel. “That you couldn’t pick among us because we were all so special to you. Well, Daniel, we’re fine with that, but you’d better take responsibility.”
Daniel looked at her worriedly then around at the other girls as all of them showed promiscuous smiles.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked carefully.
“You’d better love us all, Daniel, just like you said you would,” Specca replied before all the girls tackled him down onto the bed together, the boy shaking his head a bit before seeing all four girls smiling down at him with loving eyes.
“We’re all yours, Daniel,” Alyssa giggled. “So you’d better take good care of us.”
Squeak nodded and squeaked something that was presumed to be in agreement.
“This is all your fault, Daniel,” Triska said softly. Daniel looked at her curiously as she gently rested a hand on his cheek.
“You’re just too desirable.”
*****
As the morning light slowly crept across the land a few rays from the sun pierced through the leaves and branches of a small woodland, the sounds of birds chirping before flying off from their nests in the trees being heard as a calm breeze blew by. Lying on the grass in a small clearing Forrus was on her back while her tail twitched slightly as the warm sunlight rested on it. After a while the lycan slowly opened her eyes with a quiet yawn, her arms stretching out as she awoke from her slumber. Almost instantly afterwards she quickly sat up and looked around, seeming to panic for a moment before seeing Sasha sleeping against a tree nearby. The reptile girl had her sword struck into the ground at her side while her arms were crossed in her lap, her tail resting next to her while her chest moved only slightly with each quiet breath she took. Cradled in her arms was the artifact that had been entrusted to her, with Forrus slowly standing up and watching as Sasha seemed to hold the relic close even in her sleep. Glancing around the lycan saw no sign of Daemon or Rulo, a quiet nervous whine escaping her lips as she seemed troubled by something.
“My lord, where did you go?” she asked looking around quickly.
Turning back to Sasha she slowly approached the reptile girl, watching as her fellow companion remained perfectly still while holding the artifact close to her. As Forrus got closer Sasha’s eyes snapped open, seeming to pierce right through the lycan’s with a cold stare that caused the monster to halt instantly.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Forrus said curiously. Sasha merely stared at her while remaining silent, with the lycan looking around quickly then back to her with concern. “I just awoke as well, where is-”
“He’s around, just as she is,” Sasha interrupted as she looked down to the relic in her arms, her hands slowly moving to hold the object with a gentle touch.
“Did he sleep last night?” Forrus questioned while looking around again with confusion. “I remember him standing guard nearby while I drifted to sleep, but that wasn’t too long ago.”
“He sleeps when he wants to, never before,” Sasha replied, seeming very cryptic at the least as she just examined the relic in her hands.
Forrus looked back to her curiously then over to seeing Rulo walking back towards the clearing with her hammer held over her shoulder while dragging a dead bear behind her, the large animal trailing blood behind it from where its head was smashed in from the orc’s weapon.
“So the mutt’s finally awake. About time,” Rulo said dryly before she dropped the bear down next to Sasha, the reptile girl merely glancing to it briefly before looking back to the artifact.
“You brought us a bear for breakfast?” Forrus asked with wonder.
Rulo scoffed and dropped her hammer down to the ground with a heavy thump.
“No, I brought myself a bear for breakfast. Go get your own food,” she snapped before she looked to the large animal with a hungry smile.
“Rulo,” Sasha commented dryly. “You know how you get when you eat bear. Go find a deer or even a horse if you’re that hungry.”
Rulo rolled her eyes then knelt down by the bear as she ripped open its side with her bare hands, blood and tatters of flesh pouring onto the ground and her hands as she licked her lips in anticipation.
“Weren’t any around. Besides, I’m hungry,” she replied causally before she just stuck her face into the animal and started eating with heavy grunts and oinks.
“When she eats a bear she does so like a pig?” Forrus asked flatly, with Rulo glancing back to her with a loud oink and a glare before resuming with her meal.
Sasha stood up while holding the artifact in hand before she grabbed her sword and yanked it up from its resting place sharply, taking a moment to glance to Rulo with a dull look then walking away.
“If you think an orc smells bad to begin with, I wouldn’t recommend being around her when she eats bear meat,” she mentioned as she walked out of the clearing.
Forrus watched her go then looked to Rulo with an uneasy frown, watching the orc just eating her meal like a wild animal. Not wishing to find out just how foul the air around Rulo would get soon Forrus quickly followed after Sasha, the reptile girl walking out of the wooded area and stopping next to a boulder as her eyes slowly gazed around at the rolling fields before her. Forrus slowly walked up next to her before the reptile girl leaned back against the boulder while looking to the artifact in her hand, seeming to guard it as if it were her own newborn daughter.
“Have you nothing to carry that treasure in?” Forrus asked curiously. “We shouldn’t let something as important to my lord be seen in plain sight.”
“If I did I would,” Sasha replied. “However we travel with only the necessities, nothing more.”
Forrus looked at the artifact with a careful eye, seeing the relic’s indentations giving off a faint blue glow briefly.
“So that’s part of the key to the City of Eden,” she cautiously said. “It’s quite unsettling to know what that accursed thing will unlock.”
Sasha just kept looking at the artifact in silence before her eyes quickly glanced over to the side, with Forrus then turning to see Daemon walking towards them. He had his hand resting on his sword’s handle while he was looking around the area with a casual eye, the two monster girls watching him closely as he walked by them in silence. After a few more steps he stopped and glanced back to Forrus, the lycan then smiling gratefully with a small bow.
“My lord,” she humbly greeted. “It’s good to see you on this morning. When I awoke you were gone, and I feared that… well, never mind.”
She turned her head away with a worried smile and held her hands behind her, her tail slowly wagging from side to side as she took a calm breath. Daemon just watched her for a moment before looking ahead at the nearby woodland.
“You won’t be abandoned out here with us, if that’s what’s concerning you. However, you slept longer than needed. We should have been on the move by now.”
Forrus jumped with a small gasp before shaking her head with pleading eyes.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of-”
“I know you’re not aware of our ways,” he interrupted. “So I let that slide and had Sasha watch over you until you woke up. From now on though we do need to keep moving, our rest stops during so are limited. Keep that in mind.”
Forrus looked at him with wonder then to Sasha, the reptile girl still just keeping her eyes on the boy without even glancing to the lycan.
“Master,” Sasha warned shaking her head. “Rulo found a bear this morning. I wouldn’t recommend going in there for her.”
“Sasha,” Daemon said expectedly.
Sasha flinched then looked down with remorse.
“I mean, Daemon,” she said softly.
Forrus glanced to her then
to Daemon with a curious eye.
“My lord, may I ask you a question?” Daemon merely nodded while slowly gazing around at the area, remaining silent while Forrus watched him carefully. “How is it you can keep going each day without resting? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you sleeping once since I’ve joined you and your companions with your quest. Aren’t you tired at all?”
“I’ll rest when I need to, and not before,” Daemon replied while still keeping his eyes away from the lycan.
“Told you,” Sasha mentioned flatly as she looked to the lycan with a dull stare.
“But, my lord,” Forrus worriedly implored. “You haven’t even eaten anything since we first met, aren’t you hungry at all?”
Daemon paused for a moment then slowly looked to her with a blank expression, the lycan eyeing him over curiously as she felt something wasn’t normal about him.
“I don’t understand how,” she questioned. “A human, and even a monster, would need to feed and rest to keep their strength up and mind sharp. You have done neither for so long, yet you show no signs of fatigue or wear.”
Daemon turned to face her before slowly walking towards the girl, with Forrus then showing a nervous expression as the boy’s cold blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.
“I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of line,” she pleaded. “I just don’t understand how you’re able to-”
“Forrus,” Daemon interrupted, with the lycan halting and trembling slightly in fear that she may have angered him. Sasha merely looked back down to the artifact in her hand while Daemon lightly drummed his fingers on his sword’s handle.
“I’ll eat when I’m hungry, I’ll sleep when I’m tired, and not before. Is that understood?”
Forrus slowly nodded as the human turned to glance up at the sky behind him, watching as a bird flew out from a tree into the air with a few chirps.
“If you are hungry I suggest you find something to eat quickly, we will be moving out again very soon,” he said, with the lycan watching him curiously as he waited for a while before turning to her with a raised eyebrow.
Chronicles of Eden - Act IV Page 43