by Lia Nox
Her face softened. The Erin I knew peered through, looking at me serenely. She was back. “Do you mean that I’m yours?” she asked quietly, voice warming.
“Yes. That’s it! By the Cosmos, I thought I’d gotten good at this…!” I tried to keep my disposition light and humorous; I wanted to encourage her further out of her shell. It was working, albeit very slowly. I didn’t care if it took me all day and night, it was worth the time.
At this moment, I wanted to make love to her. It seemed like the perfect way to emphasize how she didn’t need to hide from me anymore.
She could let go, none of us would ever hurt her. If our bodies were pressed together, feverishly searching for comfort, for familiarity, I’d be able to bring her fully back to me. But while I second guessed myself, Roth and Talos returned into the fold.
Both of them looked more relaxed than when they’d left, Talos especially. It was good to see them back to their old selves. However, they immediately noticed the atmosphere between Erin and myself.
I was worried that they’d ask us point blank, but Talos seemed to grasp the gravity of what was going on and stopped Roth from interfering. As pragmatic as Roth could be, he still had a tendency to push when tenderness was needed. And, in doing so, all hell would break loose.
Now that they were back however, it allowed me some time to step back and observe; they’d all had their moments, yet I’d been expected to suffer through. I knew they thought me playful, full of exuberance and untouchable, but they were wrong.
Things could weigh on me too.
Right this moment, what concerned me most was Delia.
I almost hated her for showing up.
As bad as it sounded, her finding Erin had spoilt everything—we'd gone from building a strong bond to chaos. For every movement towards unity, there were doubts to send cracks in the wall.
And all because she’d revealed to Erin that she wasn’t alone. I knew that I should be happy for Erin, that it was selfish to sulk about this.
But how could I come to terms with the possibility that she might leave? She’d even admitted that she was still thinking about it.
I considered how our lives used to be before our chance meeting with a poor, lost human girl. When it was only the three of us.
It had been simpler.
It had been harsh too, cruel almost. The Masters had made us their personal pets to do with as they saw fit. They could command us and we’d obey, even if it meant killing. Nonetheless, at the heart of it all was a wonderful simplicity.
We’d known our purpose. We never questioned, living our lives from one day to the next: we’d sleep, we’d eat, we’d fight. We’d repeat the process. Every aspect of our lives had held a specific meaning, however basic it might have been. We didn’t seek more for ourselves because there wasn’t a need to.
Some teams had gone that way, but most of them had ultimately paid with their lives. For us who’d stayed on the straight and narrow, it had been black and white.
I missed the comfort of such familiarity.
Now all we had were hundreds of questions but no one to answer. Partner this with a human companion who didn’t know why she was here, and it was a royal mess. Was it chance her being here, or was it intentional? She knew as little as we did.
As much as I loathed to think it, I wondered if this was the reason the Masters’ had ruled every aspect of our lives: to keep us contained. Unaffected by outside forces. If we didn’t know anything else, we’d never yearn for anything more. It was an uncomplicated and effective system.
If I asked my brothers what they thought, I was sure that they’d say the same. There was no other explanation for Talos being so hung up about finding new teams, about finding Delia.
Her name felt like poison on my tongue.
I didn’t need anyone else to tell me how awful my behavior was. Every logical atom of my body told me this, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from mentally wishing none of them had come here.
Erin included.
What I felt for Erin was beyond anything I’d experienced before. I could go my whole life again and never meet another like her.
But I was starting to wonder if that was such a bad outcome. If I’d never met Erin, I’d never have been in this situation, meaning that this life we were leading might never have come to pass.
In the same vein, it could also mean we’d have been much worse off, slaves to the Masters still.
However, that didn’t bother me as much as the thought of losing Erin to another human. They had a closeness, a natural affinity, we’d never share with her.
We couldn’t. We weren’t of the same genetic makeup.
In an instant, Delia had stolen from me that which I held most dear.
Worst of all, she hadn’t even tried to do so.
Talos patted my shoulder while Roth walked over to Erin. “You seem as puzzled as I am.”
“You’re still confused? You seem fine to me,” I retorted; my foul temper was becoming a habit. I needed to get rid of it before it tainted me forever, changing me into someone I wasn’t meant to be. “Sorry, I’m not dealing with this well.”
“Neither am I, nor Roth. We’re all unable to see the truth through the lies, and now that we know at least one other human is here—”
“What does it mean…?” I finished for him, the question lingering between us.
Our voices had remained low to avoid drawing Erin’s attention, but Roth kept looking our way as if he knew the content of our conversation.
The result of his preoccupation was his absence from Erin: he wasn’t fully there to interact with her. Fortunately for him, she’d failed to notice. She too was consumed by her own inner turmoil, her problems bigger than the four of us combined.
Talos and I shared a brief nod before walking over to join our loved ones; even in the midst of this uncertainty, it was good to be among them. We belonged together. In realizing that, I uncovered the error of my ways.
I couldn’t blame Delia, nor could I be mad at Erin. We were all learning new things about ourselves as we journeyed in search of answers. Sometimes that would mean facing unpleasant realities. Truths we’d have preferred to remain hidden. But it also meant we could work through them and come out the other side.
Maybe all hope wasn’t lost just yet.
Looking at Talos, then Roth, and finally Erin, I began to believe.
Erin
I knew I’d caused problems. Kern didn’t have to say a single word to me on the matter, I still knew that I’d upset him. I’d never been so certain in my life.
It wasn’t my intention to upset anyone.
Even more so the men who were both my protectors and my partners. Yet I’d done so because fear had gripped my heart, allowing doubt to set in.
The doubt was still there, but not as strong as before. Although he didn’t know it, Kern’s vexation had opened my eyes to how I’d closed myself off.
This didn’t mean that I was about to rush over and share all my deepest thoughts, however it showed me that I was making progress.
When Kern and Talos came to my side, it was Kern who wrapped his arm around me first. His instinct was to be constantly touching me, whereas the other two took a more hands-off approach.
Smiling, I met Kern’s arm with my own, the two of us interlocked as we stood together. He looked down into my eyes, his grey irises shining with immeasurable devotion.
In seeing that, it wasn’t the first time I wondered if what we had was becoming more. Nobody had spoken of love, but the word was there on our lips all the same. The problem was who would be brave enough to break the silence on it first.
I didn’t want it to be me.
It was too bold a move for me to make.
“I’m sorry I left.” Talos spoke to us all, although his eyes searched out mine. They pulled me away from Kern’s in a way I can’t describe—I was helpless, unable to fight the power they wielded.
“Has Talos shocked you?” Kern joked.
“You could say that,” I admitted, my eyes still fixed on Talos. He gave a quick smile, knowing all too well how we’d each worried about him.
He was too proud to blush, but the fact that he’d acknowledged what had happened was enough for me.
I was naive to hope for more from him now, yet I held out hope while he offered me his awkward smile. Even upon his brooding features, it was a masterpiece that I wanted to examine every inch of.
He was so handsome. Unusual too. But his rugged looks were what stood out most about him. Yet here I stood. Surrounded by three of the most beguiling men I’d ever met, and not one of them was human.
“We should eat now,” Roth interrupted.
It was a blunt way to end the conversation, and yet it fit perfectly with how they both acted. Being blunt was what they did best.
They didn’t know how else to survive, it was how this world had shaped them.
“We’ll need food first, Roth,” Talos mocked while he side-eyed him; Kern fell about laughing at this.
His humor felt too on the nose for my liking, almost as if it wasn’t as authentic as it sounded. However, it was a welcome sound to hear one of us so happy. Right now it didn’t matter if it was a bit forced.
Roth shrugged his broad shoulders, the way they moved mesmerizing me as I thought about how firmly he could hold me down.
“I’ll go in search of food, you two stay here with Erin.” Roth gave the order without a second thought, then turned on his heel and left in search of dinner. Given how many beasts we’d felled during the storm, I felt sure he’d find something shortly.
And if he failed, it would provide another distraction for us all to sink our teeth into. If we were busy doing that, we couldn’t give in to our own personal despair.
It was a win-win.
As Roth became a small blot on the landscape, I mused at how such a large, foreboding man could become so tiny, so insignificant. This world of theirs could really make you feel tiny and unimportant. Most perplexing of all was how it did so without even trying. It naturally tested the boundaries of what your mind could sanely cope with; it knew no other way.
Now that Roth was gone, Talos and Kern looked unsure of what to do with themselves. Talos had apologized, but there was still an awkwardness to our group; something was off with us.
I couldn’t place who was most at fault out of the three of us, but I didn’t intend to explore it deeply enough to find out. My emotions were too exposed. They were torn skin, the blood underneath oozing out so that it covered me in a fine coating.
Luckily, Kern wasn’t keen to let the weirdness lie between us either. In fact, as he strolled around the camp we set up at the entrance to the cave, he started pulling faces as he picked over the supplies drying on the ground.
He was doing it all for comedic effect, but it helped to steal a laugh from me. Then more laughter broke through. Soon, and without me thinking or being able to control it, I was giggling. All while he continued to make faces behind Talos’ back.
Talos was aware of him doing it. There was no way he couldn’t be. However, he was gracious in how he dealt with it. I think, deep down, he needed the gift of Kern’s humor too.
This was what I needed right now.
Good, honest fun. And it was Kern helping to make that happen.
Before I had a chance to think more on this, Roth was on his way back to us, shoulders draped with a mountain of food. Given how easily they could devour a meal, I didn’t expect any of it to last long.
Nonetheless, it was still good to see how successful he’d been. As for his demeanor, upon him seeing us so at ease with one another, he immediately loosened up. He became the tender Roth I’d seen glimpses of since that first encounter we’d shared.
Laughing, I walked over to Roth to take some of the load from his arms. He arched an eyebrow at me before speaking. “Someone seems in a better mood now.”
To my amusement, he didn’t know just how accurate his words were. I did feel better, about everything. I now just needed to spend time with them all.
Together, as a group.
Then we’d be back to normality. . .or whatever passed for it here.
Roth
The next morning, harsh sunlight ripped through the entrance to the cave, its light so bold that it felt as if we were outside of our shelter rather than still entombed within. The richness of the orange that cast a fiery aura all over the gritty floor was blindingly bright, too much so for my liking; as I squinted against its rays, I found that all I could see were flashes of yellow, orange and red.
So far it was only I who’d been woken by it, the other three strewn across the floor as if they were sleeping atop a plush bed. What had my men become! At one time they’d have given sleep a fleeting thought, if one at all, yet now they lay fast on in a deep slumber, their bodies coupled with Erin’s.
She was changing us, but what was it we were transforming into?
Able to view her without interruption, I began to drown in the clashing emotions I felt for her, all of them so immense that they piled one on top of the other.
I’d already become enlightened to my love for her, although, in truth, it had been the most eye-opening journey I’d ever traveled the path of, and yet I still anticipated that there was more to come.
If that was the case however, I wanted to be able to give Erin a token of my affection that she’d be able to carry with her always. The braid Kern had crafted was one such item, but it was small and unassuming. I wished to go bigger and bolder. It needed to be something that would amaze her.
More light forced its way in, the skin where it hit going from the gray-blue of its normal complexion to a more yellowy tone. As its warmth spread out on these particular bits of my flesh, an idea of what we could do lit up inside my mind’s eye; I could see exactly what we needed to do for her.
Not a gift of a thing. Rather, a place.
Now came the arduous task of rousing them all from their dreams so that we could begin putting the wheels of my plan into motion. Talos was so easy to wake, though he looked a tad ashamed of himself for having slept for so long. It was Kern who proved the most difficult. Try as we might to shake him awake, he just wouldn’t budge from his spot beside Erin.
Eventually our rough handling of him disturbed her, her lids wincing against the sunlight to see what the hell we were doing.
When she saw how we struggled to wake him, she gave a small, carefree laugh and immediately took her hand to his crotch, her flesh finding his as if she had a homing beacon to it.
Kern bolted awake, a look of confusion followed by satisfaction at what he found coaxing his cock in a new and powerful way to greet the day.
Unfortunately for him, and rather amusingly for us, Erin moved her hand away the moment he had regained full composure; the frown that decorated his face was a picture. If I could have captured it I would have, it was so priceless.
Not able to follow why she’d stopped, he queried her through a series of confused shrugs and exasperations, Erin dutifully watching as if it was no trouble to her in the world. When he’d done flapping his arms about, my chortling booming around us, Erin finally let him in on what was going on.
“They were trying to wake you,” she explained. “You wouldn’t get up.”
Kern was most unamused. Before he could get up and attempt to throw a punch, which I sensed he really wanted to do, Talos held his hand up between us.
“Come, Roth has a task for us to complete before we head out.”
A piece of me felt conflicted that we weren’t telling Erin where we were headed later; she’d asked all three of us several times, but all we’d done was ignore her to focus on other matters.
Chiefly, of getting some kind of clothing. Thanks to Talos having destroyed hers, we had to fashion a new outfit from the garments he’d ruined.
It was a hard task, one which left Erin now covered by the skimpiest of outfits, nothing more than a thick band of material covering he
r bosom and around her waist down to her upper thighs. She looked phenomenal dressed in such a revealing way, but even I knew that it was a poor choice if we ran into any enemies.
There was still the armored chest plate we’d made for her, but Kern had fretted about it bruising her skin, and so we’d left it behind. I was fearful it would be a decision that would bite us in the ass before the day was through.
“Where are we going?” Erin asked curiously.
Talos sighed beside me, clearly done with having to inform her of how she’d find out soon enough. Personally, I found her feminine whining beguiling—it restored some of the power balance I felt had been taken away from me before. I thrived being in charge, knowing more than others, and so this type of interaction suited me well.
Talos was about to scold her for yet another time when I intervened. “You’ll soon see, Erin. Please, just trust me.” I understood her frustration, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise I had in store for her.
It was a rare chance to show someone who hadn’t already seen it before this location, and so she was to be a spectator to one of the best views this entire planet had to offer its guests.
“We’re here,” I informed everyone, a joyous gasp escaping from Erin as recognition set in that she could finally see what all the fuss was about.
In front of us was a thick wall of leaves, the span of their size enormous even to creatures as large as ourselves. I raised a hand to shift the dense greenery from view before stepping aside to unveil the scene that lay beyond it.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “It’s stunning.”
That it was.
Stretched out in front of her for as far as the eye could see were thick trees in different shades of bright green, some rich and vibrant while others were dark and dusky. Peppered between the trees, the various shapes and heights of them already varied enough, grew a meadow of multicolored wildflowers. A peaceful valley, the bottom filled by a still, clear lake.