The Traveler

by Xander Jade

  Nikki hesitated at first but then said, “Go ahead and give them my spot, Sarah. Something has come up and I won’t be able to perform my duties as your apprentice.”

  The dwarf sighed and nodded. “Thanks for letting me know. We’ll miss you around here. May your future be prosperous.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  The two hugged and Nikki took her leave.

  They walked away from the blacksmith in silence. Nikki led them to the Adventurer’s Guild. It was a busy place, full of all races chattering about different tasks and quests. Of course, most of them were female. As they came up to the door, someone called out, “Are you two looking for a group to join? We’re looking for two mages.”

  Nikki looked over to see a troll with blue hair, decked out in armor. The group she was with comprised a wolf beastkin, dwarf, orc, and a newt.

  “Sorry, we have to decline. Though we are looking for a group led by a demoness, Ariana to be exact. Have you seen her?”

  The troll thought about it and shrugged. “Not recently.”

  The dwarf spoke up, “She was here this morning.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  Nikki and Emoli walked inside the guild to see if they knew of her whereabouts. They waited in line at the desk. There were a few in front of them, but the wait wasn’t long and after ten minutes, they were able to talk to the clerk.

  “How may I be of help?” a muscled up high elf asked.

  “We need to see if you know where Ariana and her crew are?”

  The blonde-haired elf raised her eyebrows. “Oh? And why would you care to know?”

  “We have business together.”

  The elf scoffed, “Ariana is an ill-tempered demoness. Unless you really know her, then it would be wise to not seek her out.”

  Nikki was getting impatient now and let some of her magic out. Her black wings sprouted from her back, which caught the elf by surprise. “I know who she is. Now, tell me where I can find her.”

  The elf stammered out, “S-s-she is over a-at the ale h-house on Mulberry.”

  Pulling her wings back in, Nikki replied, “Thank you.”

  The nephilim turned and started walking away. People all over the room moved out of her way and Nikki rolled her eyes, knowing these idiots were frightened of her kind. When the duo made it outside, Emoli asked, “Is that how it always is when people find out about you?”

  “Yes.”

  They both walked away from the guild to their next destination. Emoli brought up her concern, “Nikki, what if she doesn’t want to help?”

  “Well, then we will find some others. I just wanted to give them dibs, they helped me out of some tough situations.”

  “Adventurers would be bored just having to work a booth or even a storefront, don’t you think?”

  Nikki grunted. “Maybe. Like I said, first dibs. If she doesn’t want it, then we will ask around.”

  They ended up at the Stinking Morsel, the alehouse on Mulberry. The women walked in and found the common room filled with patrons. The nephilim looked around to see if she could find her friend. It took a minute, but a loud cackle brought them to the back corner. A demoness was there with others, laughing and cutting up.

  Nikki smiled. “There’s the twat.”

  She walked towards the table, Emoli in tow. When they got there, the laughter stopped as all eyes fell on them.

  Ariana was wide-eyed. Nikki sneered and said, “It’s been a long time, bitch.”

  The demoness got herself back together. “It has skank. Come to pay your dues?”

  Nikki laughed bitterly. “No, I believe it is you that owes me.”

  There was tension in the air. No one wanted to move.

  Ariana got up and grabbed the nephilim in a bear hug. “Damn, Nikki. It’s great to see ya! What have you been up to?”

  She shrugged and said, “Nothing much, just wanted to see if you have a minute or two to chat.”

  The demoness narrowed her eyes to see if she could figure out what was going on. She then looked over at her compadres. “Guys, can you give us a few minutes?”

  They grumbled and complained, but eventually got up and went over to another table. Nikki and Emoli sat down. This was the drow’s first look at a demoness. She had deep red skin, her fingers were long and skinny, and her ears were pointed. She had long obsidian colored hair that match her eyes, but the standout feature besides her skin was the two four-inch horns protruding from her head. Since the demoness was sitting down, Emoli didn’t know how tall she was, but guessed she was over six feet like them.

  “Alright, what’s this about?”

  “We have come into something great. But before we get into that, how are you faring these days?” Nikki asked.

  Arianna shrugged. “Good days and bad. My crew are young, but they have gotten better.”

  “Are you getting tired of always running about, searching for dungeons and ruins?”

  “Sometimes. Why do you ask? You have some way of making a better living that isn’t dangerous?”

  Nikki responded with a grin, “Yes.”

  The demoness stared at her friend for a few moments before saying anything.

  “The only way to do that is to join up with a family that is settled and do things their way. Not my cup of tea, Nikki. Why are you here?”

  “To offer you a better living.”

  Ariana scoffed and then laughed. “I’m not joining up with some pussy that can’t think for himself or with stupid bitches that seem to think they can boss me around.”

  “I’m not asking you to. What we are proposing is that you work for us. We’re opening up a booth and need help. Either with selling the product or guard duty, maybe both.”

  The demoness looked at her longtime friend and sighed. “Why would I do that? It sounds boring.”

  Nikki sniffed and replied, “Because it gets you out of dangerous situations all the time. Plus, you get days off to do as you please. Do something destructive or dangerous on those days.”

  Ariana shook her head. “Who is having you do this for them?”

  Emoli jumped in and responded, “A male that is worthy.”

  Nikki looked over at her and smiled. “Yes, he is that and more. Look, I gave you first dibs on this because we go way back, but if it isn’t something that you want then we will not bring it up again.”

  The demoness thought it over for a few minutes even though it was hard to concentrate because of the noise coming from all over the tavern.

  “Let me think about it, Nikki, and get back to you. If you’re looking for others, then I know a few ladies that need a job.”

  Nikki nodded and wrote where they were staying. “Alright, let them know where we are, and they can come talk with us.”

  Ariana nodded. “Give me two days to figure out what I want to do.”

  “Okay. It was good to see you, Ariana.”

  Nikki sensed that her friend would probably not want to be involved in this. They both got up and hugged and the nephilim and drow left the tavern.

  A few minutes later, Emoli broke the silence between them. “You think she will join up?”

  Nikki shook her head. “No, but at least she is sending over others.”

  “Yeah, let’s talk to the booth rep. Hopefully, it won’t cost an arm or leg to rent one.”

  The duo left and went towards the market side of town, down a walkway into a wooden building that had many advertisements plastered on it. Both ladies came up to a counter where a gnome with blue hair was working.

  She looked at them and smiled. “Hello, what can I do for you today?”

  “We would like to rent a booth,” Nikki responded. “Can we see the pricing for each? Also, we will need a permit.”

  The gnome nodded and brought out her book to show the difference in each, starting with the smallest to the largest and even a storefront as well. Nikki and Emoli debated and decided on one. They haggled over the price and after twenty minute
s, the girls handed over the money for three month’s rent and the permit before leaving.

  “Alright, that takes care of the space. Now we’ll need to wait on the people Ariana is sending our way.”

  Nikki grunted before speaking. “Yep, we’ll just have to be patient and hope they will be legit in helping, otherwise we’ll be looking around for workers. When that’s done, we’ll head back to Dom’s place to get our inventory.”

  “Hmm. Hopefully they have some ready.”

  A couple days later, Ariana sent a messenger with a list of names that would be stopping by. Unfortunately they weren’t all in town at the moment.

  It was three weeks before they had enough workers. They had to send a few away because of attitudes, but were happy with their choices. They ended up with a gnome, a beastkin, a troll, and an orc. None of the ones they picked were anyone they knew. Nikki’s crew was nowhere near Strongfair, except Ariana of course, and she declined. They discussed the duties involved and wages before advising them when the job would start. The next day they set out for the farm.

  ~~~~~~

  While Nikki and Emoli were working in Strongfair, we continued on with our daily work. We expanded the garden again, adding more vegetables and fruit. I remembered a recipe for salsa. It turned out well and the ladies loved it. Also, I worked on healing poultices and potions. We needed lots of jars to put the finished products in. The ladies came up with a list of what we could sell. They brought up pelts as well. We had plenty to start with and had a plan, now we could get on with implementing it.

  During this time, I got to know the ladies really well, if you know what I mean. They had a schedule at night, but it was free for all during the day. If they didn’t drag me into my room, they pounced on me outside. It didn’t matter if it was out in the open or not, they could care less. The girls would give me stares or hints when they wanted alone time. They wore dresses all the time. Easier access, they said. I wasn’t complaining at all. Most of the time they bent over right in front of me and looked over their shoulder. They weren’t subtle, that’s for sure. Lily would drop down to her knees and pull my cock out for her to go down on then stare into my eyes, wanting to be face fucked. I smiled and grabbed her horns, then gave the beauty what she desired. That set off the other two to want the same treatment. I chuckled and shook my head.

  When I had time, I worked on my enchanting. I had found three rings that fit my fingers in my forge, which at first seemed weird to me, but I guess no weirder than anything else that had happened, so I took the rings and put different enchantments on them. One held a shield rune that covered my entire body, one held a speed and strength rune, and the last one was the nullify rune. If I didn’t have any weapons on me, then they would come in handy.

  At night, I used some parchment paper to draw up my designs, and the materials needed for each of the items. I need to get an official patent or whatever they called it in this world for these creations. I didn’t know how to go about getting it into the system, but would find out when we got to town. I would get one for the condiments, salsa, moisturizer, lotion, and other items. One of these other items was a sleeping bag. They had bedrolls but not sleeping bags, so I hoped it would make us some money since I couldn’t use enchantments right now. Toothpaste was another, they had something sort of like it there, but it was a powder. I was holding onto that and other ideas for now; I didn’t want to put all of them on the market at the same time.

  Thinking that the shaving cream and moisturizer would hopefully become somewhat well known, I tried to design other items for women since females were the ones running the world, but I hadn’t been able to determine the right materials to create them. Such as monthly flow pads (that’s what the ladies in this world call it, monthly flow), yeast infection and cramping meds. I also didn’t want to, um… ya know, really get involved in that, but I really needed something that would make a big impact on this world.

  “We need to go into town and pick up some items, especially jars,” I told them one morning as we were having breakfast. “William, get the Jutlands ready. We’ll take Coal and Buddy with us as well. Everyone, grab your bows just in case.”

  They nodded and the women started cleaning up, then went to get dressed, as did William, who basically inhaled his breakfast. I grabbed my weapons and went with William to the barn and got the Jutlands out. The wagon was hooked up just as Lily and the others came out of the cabin. I quickly went inside to get some money and put the gold coins in my small pouch, then hurried back to the wagon. William had Coal and Buddy ready as well.

  I sat in the saddle, riding next to William, watching the roads for any sign of danger. It was an uneventful journey, but my weapons were beside me just in case. As we came upon the outskirts, I noticed that Tianna had the reins and was guiding us in. The guards evidently didn’t give a shit as we passed by.

  “Pull up to the clothier.”

  She nodded and stopped us. I looked over at William. “Tie Buddy and Coal to the back and hop up on the seat, then wait for me. We’re going inside to talk with the saleswoman.”

  He nodded and tied the reins of the two horses to the wagon before taking the reins from Tianna. The ladies were confused but followed anyway. We stepped inside and I looked to see if Talia was around. The lithe bombshell saw us and came over.

  “Mr. Dominic, so good to see you again. How are you?” The elf took in my companions before looking back at me.

  I didn’t notice any disdain or prejudice from her, so I grinned and replied, “It’s nice to see you again as well, Talia. You’re more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”

  She gasped at my comment. “Mr. Dominic, it’s inappropriate for you to say that while others are around,” and then was silent with narrowed eyes. After a few moments, the elf continued in a low voice, “but thank you for the compliment. I haven’t had many of those lately.”

  My brow rose at her remark. Who would not compliment her all the time? I mean, damn! She was smokin hot! “Hmm… and why is that?”

  My ladies beside me were glancing at each other, having that silent conversation again. Talia replied but looked dejected, “I’ve been trying to get into the Smith-Wesson family for a while now, but they pushed me aside with the announcement of their new member at the town festival.”

  I knew who it was without her saying the name. She continued, “I thought I was still in the running, but they are actively pursuing a beautiful blonde water mage.”

  Huh. It seemed since they got Felicia, now they were going after Isabella. “I’m sorry to hear that, Talia.”

  “Thank you for that, Dominic. I’ve been feeling down for a few weeks, but now I need to get my butt in gear. Got bills to pay. By the way, thank you for the last purchase you made. That commission helped me pay rent for the next month.”

  I smiled. “Well, let me help with the next couple as well.”

  She was confused for a moment before responding, “Okay. I see you have some other ladies with you. Do they need some new dresses?”

  “They do. They have lost their suitcases as well and will need the same items as the lovely lady I had in here before. And with the lingerie, the raunchier the better.”

  Talia went wide-eyed at me, knowing what my statement implied. The others gasped at my brazen admission. I grinned at the elf saleswoman and leaned down to speak in her ear. “Yes, my dear Talia, those gorgeous women warm my bed.”

  She gasped and whispered back, “Understood, sir. I’ll get right on it.”

  The beautiful elf hurried away. The ladies I’d arrived with were staring at me.

  “What?”

  “You’re definitely different from any males around here,” Tianna said in a low voice.

  Lily sniffled and wiped unshed tears out of her eyes. “Yes, he is. He keeps surprising us. It makes me love him more.”

  The other two responded, “Ditto.”

  Their admission took me by surprise. Celina snickered at my expression. “What? You thin
k it takes a long time for us to be in love? No, sir. We’ve been waiting a long time for a male like you.”

  “That’s the truth, hon,” Lily added and smiled. “We know that it will take longer for you, but we hope that you’ll eventually love us as well.”

  I cleared my throat, struggling with complicated emotions. “I don’t know what to say ladies, but know that I will do everything that I can to take care of and provide for you.”

  I took out three gold, reached under their clothes and placed one in each of their bras, but before retreating, I went further and fondled their nipples. They each moaned their approval but grumbled when I took my hand out.

  “I will leave and let you ladies take care of the fittings. I’ll send William in to get new clothes as well.” I handed over another gold to Lily. “Please see that he gets what he needs.”

  “I will, babe. You know that this is way too much money, right?”

  “Yeah, whatever is left over, go to the cobbler to get shoes and boots as well. Buy anything else you want, and if it’s not enough, let me know the balance and I’ll pay it.”

  “Dammit, Dom. It isn’t supposed to be like this. We are supposed to take care of you,” Celina grumbled.

  Before I could reply, Tianna said, “We will make it up to him, Celina. When we get the booths up and running, then we will get some ideas together to make some money as well.”

  Lily relayed her thoughts, “Or we could just suck his dick. A lot. Maybe have him pound our pussies until we can’t move.”

  I turned my attention to her. I’d never heard any comments like that come from her before. Tianna and Celina laughed.

  “That sounds like fun to me, though it’s not really repaying him anything. We would do that anyway,” Celina said.

  Lily smirked, “I know, but I was trying to get laid more.”

  We all chuckled at that. “You’ll get plenty, Lil.”

  She gasped and gushed, “I love that nickname, hon!”

  “Alright, then I’ll call you that more often.” The other two muttered something. I glanced over. “Are you two actually envious of a nickname?”