Chapter 5

"You have some visitors," Rhadoviel growled. He stood in my doorway, and for no reason I could name, he looked small. In that moment, he appeared as a shrunken, bitter old man, with the power he'd always worn like a cloak gone. It was as though his centuries of existence had caught up with him in the hours since I had seen him last.

I sat at my table, doing reading I didn't need to do. There were no lessons in his books that I could practice now. I glanced out the window at the Gray Ocean, for a moment believing my visitor was Thalalei. The ocean breeze caressed my face, a feeling I knew since I was a child.

"Visitors? Who?" I asked.

"I'm your personal secretary now, am I? They're out front. Go talk to them yourself." The old man wandered off, returning to his lab. He moved more slowly than usual, leaning heavily on his staff.

Curious, I descended the spiral staircase through the various levels of Thunderhead to the ground floor. Oddrin extended his wings, then folded them again, reflecting my own nervousness. I opened the door to meet three women. I recognized their type. Adventurers, turned up on my front door, and unlike the last batch, they were as young or even younger than I. They stood on the muddy path that reached from the north end of Thunderhead and stretched east into the interior of Rhandonia.

The last time I'd been down that path, I had ended in the arms of Tarasynora.

The shortest of the three adventurers stood in front of the small group. Youthful and pretty, she was fair-skinned, with plentiful freckles across her cheeks and I would later find over her shoulders, arms and legs. Big, green eyes sparkled with curiosity from her heart-shaped face. Her coppery hair was done in long vine-like plaits, bound in a single tail. She wore a costume of brown leather, tight over a supple body, open to reveal a flat abdomen. A green cloak hung from her shoulders and a small green kilt covered her from hip to the top of her thighs. A shortsword hung on either hip.

The one of middle height was shorter than me by a few inches, and was as voluptuous as the first was lithe. Heavy breasts, full hips, and soft hindquarters were apparent even under her black dress and cloak. Her long black hair hung free. Her skin was as pale as milk, but marked with elaborate tattoos around her pale eyes, down her cheeks and chin, and over the little skin I could see. Her black gown was belted at the waist and she carried a curved dagger. She dripped with small fetishes: beads, skulls, feathers and other items of small magic. Though she was mostly human, she carried with her a few subtle hints of her more exotic origins.

The tallest, taller than me, was broad-shouldered and powerful. Her upper arms and thighs, where the most of her bronze skin was revealed, rippled with lean muscle. Her cheekbones were high, her lips full. Her blonde hair was cut short. She wore a leather breastplate with metal riveted to her shoulders, steel bracers and greaves, light boots, and a fur cloak. She carried a spear with two small prongs near the head, and a circular shield hung on her back. She watched me with bright golden eyes.

"You are Belromanazar?" asked the redhead.

"I am."

She smiled. "I am Alia of Freeport. These are my companions, Xeiliope, daughter of Xelyphe, and Velena Grimm," she said, indicating first the blonde, then the dark-haired witch.

"You're adventurers," I said.

"Going to be," Velena said. "How well do you know of the history of this place?"

"Thunderhead?"

"This area of Rhandonia."

"Very little," I admitted. "Rhadoviel doesn't place much value in local history and lately my studies have largely been concerned with Old Qammuz."

"Old Qammuz?" Alia asked, cocking her head.

"A hobby," I said, not ready to speak of Zhahllaia. She was still my secret, and I could keep her close to my heart. I knew the time would come eventually when I would share her, but I wanted to forestall that day. These women would one day be three of the greatest friends I'd ever have, but I did not know that then.

"He makes a hobby of Old Qammuz," she said, her eyes sparkling. I smiled back at her unbidden.

"This part of Chassudor is covered in tombs from the Second War of the Ascension a millennia ago," Velena said. "You know the name King Jacobal the Fourth?"

"The Unholy," I said. Rhadoviel had neglected such teachings, but everyone had heard of the bloody handed tyrant whose name was still a curse in this part of the world.

"The same," Alia said. "Legend had it that he was buried with certain items of incredible value."

"And his evil is certain to attract all manner of foul creatures," said Xeiliope.

"I understand," I said. "Why do you bring him up?"

"Because," Velena said, "I have acquired a map to what is believed to be his tomb."

"Really," I said. The rewards and dangers would be great. I thought of my first adventure, the one that had ended with Mira in my bed. The road called to me, and I wanted to answer, to get away from this place where I was stagnating. "What do you want with me?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Velena said. "We need a wizard."

"How did you find me?"

Alia stepped forward. "You know Black Mira Sauret. I'm her..." she searched for the word, "protégé. She recommended you."

Warmth bloomed in my heart with the realization that Mira still thought of me, even in a professional capacity. "I served on a trip into a barrow. It's gratifying to hear she had good things to say about my service."

"She said you filled in well."

I coughed. "I suppose, yes."

"What say you, wizard?" Xeiliope asked. "Will you join us?"

I wanted to say yes immediately, but I knew I would have to ask the old man. This would be the end of my apprenticeship. I knew that as well. As much as I wanted to be away from Rhadoviel and Thunderhead, it had been the majority of my life. I wanted to walk that path, but the anchors that kept me home were no less heavy for being invisible.

At times I wonder what I would have done had another group come to request me. The answer I have come up with is that yes, I would have gone. But I would not have stayed for the years I ultimately spent with Velena, Alia, and Xeiliope.

"I need to speak with my master," I said. "In the meantime, would you like to come in? I do have to apologize. We don't get many visitors, I can't offer you much. We have beer from Burley Shoal?"

"Is that a fine vintage?" Xeiliope asked.

"No."

I brought them into the little kitchen on the ground floor of the tower. I fetched them mugs of beer and a loaf of brown bread. If this went well, the old man wouldn't need quite so much food around this place and he wouldn't notice the absence of a few pints and a single loaf. The three women gathered around the table, sipping the beer and nibbling the bread. I left them there and climbed the stairs into the old man's laboratory.

Rhadoviel was hunched over his worktable, measuring a foul powder into a glass bottle of green liquid. His familiar, Ephlin, was half out of his own bottle, his eye focused on the wizard's task, then flicking to me as I entered.

"Going away, are we?" the old man asked without looking up.

"You knew what they wanted?"

"Only one thing they could want. I had my adventuring days too. My group wasn't nearly so comely."

"May I go?"

He turned and I wondered if the ghost of affection I saw on his features was real or imagined. "Your lessons are complete, boy. You know everything you need. It's time to leave me in peace. Nothing for you here anyway. You've already found everything in my library about freeing djinn."

"You know about that." I thought that I would feel fear, but he released me. I felt only faint amusement at my own foolishness.

"Nothing happens under my roof without my knowing. I know about that nereid too. Getting up to more than my other apprentices, I'll tell you that."

"And the rogue of course."

"What rogue?" He frowned.

"Not important."

He snorted. "Go out, sow your wild oats. I'll likely see you at a symposium in Iarveiros someday. I don't think I would mind that. Don't embarrass my name more than you have to."

An unexpected earnestness welled up within me. "I will do my best."

"No," he said with dead seriousness. "You will do better than that."

"Yes, I will," I said, and I meant it.

As I went upstairs to fetch my things I realized I didn't have a home anymore. It was terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. I would never feel that brush of wind through my window again. It was, in fact, no longer my window. This was no longer my room.

I knelt, peering beneath the table at the heart Mira had carved. I would be leaving that as well. I kissed my fingers and touched it, silently thanking her for sending Alia and her allies to me.

With my possessions nearly squared away, I summoned Zhahllaia. She stepped out of the mist, and when she saw my expression, she fell silent. I explained to her what was happening.

"Yes, this is right," she said, nodding. "You gain nothing by staying here."

I cursed her intangibility. All I wanted was to fold her in my arms, to hold her against our farewell. We had been constant companions since she emerged from the lamp, and though I knew I would see her again, even the prospect of this period of absence stung like one of the old man's spells. "What would you have me do with you?" I asked, my voice catching.

"Leave me in my lamp until you are alone next." Her eyes held the same love I felt in me, and the same gentle sadness at being apart. "Do not tell them of me. Not yet."

"As you wish. You'll have to be hidden for longer than usual."

"I shall miss our evenings," she admitted, offering a brave smile, "but we will have time in plenty. You need to grow in power and reputation. I will bear my confinement well."

I kissed her forehead, the trill working its way through my body, and she leaned up and our lips met. In that moment, I felt like I could feel her, truly her, the airy flesh of the djinn. Her gold-flecked eyes were filled with tenderness, and though I would see her again, I already missed her. Then I wished her into the lamp and hid it in my pack, carefully wrapped in a spare robe. With Oddrin on my shoulder and Spire in hand, I rejoined the newly fledged adventurers. Their mugs were empty and the bread was crumbs.

"You have your wizard," I announced.

"Wonderful," beamed Velena.

"Let's go," Alia said. "There's enough daylight to make it a good way up the road."

***

That was how I became a founding member of the group that would eventually be called the Mythseekers.

It has come to my attention that the founding tends to be ignored in favor of our exploits, especially the one that marked the end of our association together. I tell the tale here, because I think that what is important in this volume is not what is important elsewhere and vice versa. The tales that matter to this volume are the ones between our adventures. The ones mentioned in other chronicles as merely a night passed, a hurt tended, a quest commenced.

Reality though, demands that I truly introduce these women. They were dear friends of mine until the day each of them died. I hold them in affection and esteem, and think of them often, their memories a warm place inside me. They deserve to be described as they were, as flesh and blood, not these creatures of myth as they are known elsewhere. Although that would have pleased Velena especially, to one day be a legend sought after by foolhardy young adventurers.

I should start with Xeiliope, because she would have it no other way. She hailed from the island of Axichis, which is why we would be drawn into that damnable war. The legends speak of Xeiliope's skill at arms and I will not gainsay them. I have known few warriors I would consider her equal, few I would rather have at my side. But what the legends fail to mention is her warmth. She was the picture of a stoic Amazon, yes, but she was kind to her friends, animals, and children, always quick to offer support.

Velena Grimm came from the deep woods in Esmia. The legends remember her as the witch whose village cast her out, the exile who became a hero. She was a changeling, conjured from magic and tears. The legends sing of her wisdom, but they ignore her sense of humor. No one was as quick to laugh and make others laugh as Velena. Her counsel saved our lives many times, but her humor saved our minds.

Alia was from Freeport. There's a saying: "You can trust a Freeporter with your life but you would be mad to trust them with your coin." That was Alia in brief. The legends call her the greatest treasure hunter Chassudor has ever known and she is undoubtedly this. She was also the most joyful person I have met. For Alia, every day held new wonder. She sucked the marrow from life, and I have often tried to take this lesson from her.

Our first adventure went well enough, though as always was the case, it was a great deal more complex than it initially appeared and did not provide the amount of treasure we'd hoped. The story that I wish to tell now occurred during what I think of as our second adventure. We'd annihilated a band of hobgoblin slavers and sent their newly freed captives to Burley Shoal with provisions. We were now on the trail of the whole operation, which would eventually lead us to the frozen sepulcher of a rising evil.

The four of us walked through the mountain pass, Velena at the head, following the trail the slavers had taken on their initial foray out of the mountains a week ago. Xeiliope fell into step next to me. "If you plan to fight with that weapon, you will need to train," she said, nodding to my ironwood staff.

"Then train me." My eyes went to a slice along her bicep.

"The methods of Axichis are not gentle," the Amazon warned.

"Water nearby," Velena said, staring into a small crystal that hung from her neck. She guided us through a fold in the rock, a pathway I could have walked within paces of and missed entirely. A waterfall spilling into a crystal pool surrounded by granite stones and lush grass. Fish darted through the waters, and a gopher peeked out from the mouth of its burrow. "We rest here. I will clean all of our injuries so that nothing festers."

Velena went to the shore of the pool where a collection of flat rocks provided a convenient table. Without hesitation, she undid her gown, pulling it down and off, revealing her pale, plump body. Her milky skin was covered in tattoos, symbols that traced the magical lines of her body. Her breasts were heavy, her hips and posterior round and soft. At the apex of her thick thighs was her sex, bare and modest. Alia, Xeiliope, and I stood at the mouth of this oasis, staring at Velena, who was now inspecting her voluptuous curves, finding small cuts from the battle, and dabbing them in a fragrant salve.

She looked up at us in mild annoyance. "Go on then, strip down. A single missed wound can cause trouble. And all of you could use a bath."

Alia and I exchanged an unsure look, but Xeiliope went right to another rock and started to disrobe. With another one of us obeying, it became easier for the two of us. And since I met them I had been keenly interested in seeing these beautiful heroes in the nude.

I sat down and pulled my boots off, sighing as the mountain breeze cooled my sore and overheated feet.

Xeiliope undressed with martial efficiency. She removed boots and greaves first, then undid her armored kilt, then doffed her boiled leather breastplate and pauldrons, then finally took her bracers off. Beneath her armor she wore a garment that looked to be linen. I later learned the fabric was called pellos, produced only on Axichis. Softer than linen and stronger than leather, it made an ideal undergarment. A single piece, the shift went over her shoulders and down to her upper thighs. Then, without hesitation, she untied the belt and slipped the garment off and over her head.

The Amazon towered, nude before us. She was an impressive sight, looking like nothing so much as a statue come to life. Lean muscles bunched and relaxed beneath supple bronze skin. Her body was powerful, but did not sacrifice grace. She stretched, and in the sun, I was entranced by the perfection of the light playing over her sculpted form. She turned, revealing a ruff of honey blonde hair between her legs, a shade darker than that atop her head, and the only hair on her body below her neck. Her body was striped with shallow wounds, evidence of the battle she had won.

I tore my eyes away. Xeiliope was a friend, and though she seemed to have no shame at her nudity, it did not feel right to ogle. But I had nowhere else to look. Velena was already nude, beckoning Xeiliope over from a stone by the water. They were an incredible contrast, one ivory and soft, the other bronze and hard.

"Xeiliope, you had the worst of it, so you're first," Velena said.

I turned to find Alia unwrapping herself. She wore a costume of brown leather and green wool, perfect camouflage in natural spaces. Her body came into view in inches. First her breasts, small and high on her tiny frame, her nipples tiny and red. Her muscles were as impressive as Xeiliope's in their way, but lissome, revealing themselves when she moved. Her underarms sported a small coating of red hair, and when she unrolled her pants, I saw that shade was matched by the curls between her legs.

"They were poor warriors, used to fighting those unable to defend themselves. They landed not a single significant hit." The Amazon sat down on the rock next to the witch. "But I will avail myself to your inspection if it pleases you."

"It does."

"Bashful?" Alia asked me, sliding into the water.

"What?"

"You're not undressed. Velena said for all of us to do it."

"Yes, of course." I looked about for some support from Oddrin, but the little demon was fishing upstream. I sighed, pulling off my clothes, layer by layer. Over on the rock, I had to peel my eyes away from Velena gently rubbing salve into the cuts along Xeiliope's thighs. I removed my breeches, in my shame noting that my arousal would be obvious to any observer. I quickly sank into the water, desperate to hide the evidence of my rapidly-thickening staff. Alia's eyebrows went up, but soon my manhood was out of sight as I hunkered down to let the cold but refreshing pond cover me to the shoulders. My few wounds gave distant stings, but it was nothing compared to the pleasure of the moment and the victory. We had done a good thing that day.

Alia dipped below the water and surfaced again. Her eyelashes clumped together, wreathing her fetching green eyes. She ran her hands down her long plaits, untying them and letting them fall loosely about her shoulders. I watched the water beading on her chest and was overcome with the desire to take one of her breasts in my mouth. See if her nipples tasted like cherries.

"Are you all right?" Alia asked.

"Nothing to worry yourself over. The fellow with the whip didn't like me, but he only landed a single hit that stings."

Alia giggled. "Before you set his whip on fire."

"A worthy punishment," Xeiliope said. "I enjoyed the sense of...irony."

"He was pretty frightened," Velena agreed, smiling but keeping her attention on the Amazon's wounds.

"I wasn't the one who fought that big brute," I said. "Now that was impressive."

Xeiliope shook her head. "He was big but unskilled. No match for a daughter of Axichis."

"Take the compliment," Velena scolded absently. "You were magnificent."

"Your curses slowed him. As did little Alia's blades. Slices behind the knees at the outset of every engagement is an excellent strategy. Hobbled opponents are easy prey."

Alia laughed. "I didn't want them to get away."

"And they didn't," Velena said mildly. She gave Xeiliope a slap on one buttock. "You're done. Now bathe some of that road stink off you."

"If you were anyone else, witch..." Xeiliope said, sliding off the rock and into the water. She reclined, letting the water pool on her taut belly.

"Who's next?"

"Our wizard," called Alia quickly, her eyes twinkling.

"Very well. Come here, Belromanazar. Let's see what that slaver vermin did to you."

"Coming." I sloshed over to the shore, trying to ignore the three pairs of eyes now on me.

"How cold is that water?" Velena asked.

"Quite!" Alia called back.

"I see," Velena said. I was right next to her now. Her heavy breasts were inches from me, her pale pink nipples pebbled with gooseflesh. Her sex was hidden in her sitting position, but I was acutely aware of its presence. "Where are you hurt?"

I showed her the shallow slice along my ribs and the one over my palm. She leaned close, filling my senses with her scent, like a garden of herbs. Her touch was gentle as she massaged the salve first into my hand and then to my ribs. I imagined sweeping her into my arms, of taking her on the rock, of clutching her soft haunches as I plunged into her again and again. I felt myself twitch, begin to swell. I tried to think of anything else, but she was so close.

"Thinking of something?" Velena asked lightly, the mischief clear in her voice.

"Just going over our fight."

"You turned red. An adorable color on you, wizard. Now stand." Was her voice rusty? Or had that been my imagination? I obeyed. She was now eye level with my swelling manhood, and her gaze alighted on me. A smile quirked her lips, and then she continued to inspect. "Turn. I want to make sure we have everything."

I obeyed, and noted that both Alia and Xeiliope were looking over at me. Alia grinned, while Xeiliope frowned, looking at my staff in confusion.

"Good, only two wounds. You're finished. Last one. Get up here, you little hellion."

Alia swam over, getting out of the water, and scampering to Velena. She reclined on the rock. "Do your worst, witch!"

Velena turned her over and gave her a hard smack on the rear. Alia yelped. "Respect your healer," Velena said.

"A wise lesson," Xeiliope said. She turned to me. "Belromanazar, I must apologize to you."

"For what?"

"You were hit twice. In our next skirmish, I pledge that none will touch you."

"No apologies necessary. Once you've trained me properly, I won't be hit."

"That is true," she said. She regarded me frankly. "You are the first man I have ever seen nude."

I coughed. "That's...how is that possible?"

"We have only a few men on Axichis and none are warriors. I thought of your kind as more like...trolls than proper women."

"That is accurate," Velena said, inspecting Alia. "There is nothing wrong with you. Were you not hit?"

"Nope!" Alia said happily.

"Then why did you say nothing?"

"You enjoyed looking at the others so much, I didn't want to take that away from you."

"I'll show you enjoy," Velena said, raising a palm for another slap.

Alia squealed and jumped away, plunging into the pond. Velena rose, stretching her body. Then, her hips and breasts swinging, she waded into the shallows and sank into the pond.

"I've heard stories of course," said Xeiliope to me. "Still, seeing your nudity was surprising."

"Not too unpleasant I hope."

"On the contrary, wizard. You are as a tent sister to me now." I would not know what this truly meant for years, but at the time I took it as a comfort.

"We will remain here for a little longer," Velena said, "but then we must be back on the road. I wish to arrive at the hobgoblins' camp before their masters realize they are missing. We'll take them unawares."

***

This became our custom after skirmishes. We would find the most peaceful spot available, we would strip and Velena would tend to us. My shame vanished and I was able to take time to appreciate my companions. We grew easy around one another. It was not as though I grew tired of the sight of them--an impossibility--but rather that we were completely comfortable in our nudity. Our secrets fell away with the frequency of our clothes.

The night everything changed was at the end of the quest that commenced with those very slavers. It led us to the frozen tomb of Vexacion the Iceheart. In the rugged mountains of the northernmost regions of Chassudor, where it grew so cold that tears would freeze upon your face, we descended into that dread necropolis.

That adventure, of finding Vexacion rising from his centuries-long slumber and raising his army of ice-wights, has been well chronicled elsewhere. I have quibbles with a few of the details, but they are accurate in the broad strokes. I feel the best of these can be found in the first volume of The Fourfold Chronicle by Phanio Maior. He managed to be accurate on the most important points, and I believe it to be a diverting read besides. I have long enjoyed Phanio's obvious love for Alia of Freeport, and I believe that to be a sign of his excellent taste.

For the purposes of this chronicle, but a few things must be known. As we first battled Vexacion's slaver gangs, then his cultists, then his spawn, then finally him, we all gained in power, as Zhahllaia had wanted, each of us finding one of the treasures for which we would be known: Xeiliope's Valkyrie armor, Alia's blades Fire and Ice, Velena's Shadowform Bangle, and of course my Shattered Mirror.

After we slew Vexacion and cast his black city into the abyss, we followed the one trail that we could only hope led to the surface. Through these caves of ice and stone we hiked in near complete darkness until we found ourselves at the shore of an underground lake, the waters black and still.

"We will make camp here," Velena said. "We can go no farther without rest and I must tend to your injuries."

"A black lake," Xeiliope said. "Evil within."

"I sense nothing," Velena said. "Belromanazar?"

I murmured a few words, reaching out with my magical senses. The lake was not dead, but I sensed none of the mammoth evil things that lurked in dark and watery places. "Nor I."

We built our fire and raised our tent. Velena foraged, returning with edible mushrooms, while Xeiliope fished in the shallows, catching a few blind and pale eels. We ate our supper in silence, each of us no doubt dwelling on some memory of the battle we had just won. I will never forget Vexacion's howl of rage as we cast him into the dark. Something about the way the dead king looked into my eyes...I did not believe I had seen the last of the Iceheart.

When we were finished, Velena ordered, "Into the tent and everyone undress."

"It's cold," Alia complained.

"It will be warm inside the tent. With the heat of our bodies and our furs, cloaks, and bedrolls, we will be fine. The wounds put on us by the dead king's legions are more likely to fester than others. I will tend them now and you will stop complaining."

"I fear no cold," Xeiliope said, entering the tent.

I exchanged a dubious look with Alia, but we went in next, followed by Velena. We unfolded bedrolls and set out our furs and cloaks. Oddrin immediately burrowed beneath the biggest pile, his glow muted. The rest of us started to disrobe. Cloth whispered over skin and this time all of us carried wounds. Xeiliope was first as always, while Alia huddled in furs, hugging herself, her teeth chattering. "I'm f-f-freezing," she stuttered.

"Come here," I said, waving her over. "Bring that fur. Two are better than one."

Gratefully, Alia came to me, huddling in my lap, folding the fur around us. She leaned back into me, the heat from our bodies intertwining. "This is nice," she sighed.

"It is. It's been a while since I've been this close to someone."

"Same," she said. "The last time Mira and I were together."

"Mira? You were with Mira?"

She nodded. "She taught me about thieving...proper thieving, mind. Tombs and the like. And she taught me proper fucking too."

"She taught me as well," I said.

Alia giggled. "Explains her smile when she told me about you. Oh!" I felt her shift her position and the reason wasn't difficult to divine. I had swelled to half-mast thanks to the memory of Mira and the proximity of Alia.

"Sorry about that," I said.

"No," she said. "It's interesting. Mira taught me a bit of how to handle them. I practiced on a candle."

"Did you?"

"You're bigger than a candle."

"I'm afraid so. Do you like it?"

"I find myself thinking of it," she said, biting her lip.

"I think of you as well," I said softly, acutely aware of her body pressing against mine.

"Would you like to do something about that?"

"I think I will."

I moved aside the plaits, exposing her pale neck, leaning down and brushing my lips over her pulse. She leaned back and sighed again. My hands glided over her belly, where her feline muscles tensed and relaxed. Alia lifted her chin, and my mouth found hers. Her tongue traced around my lips before darting into my mouth. I held her tighter. I was fully hard now, and ready to take my friend.

"You're finished," Velena said, breaking into my consciousness. "Alia, Belromanazar. One of you, come here if you're not too addled."

I groaned in annoyance. "I'll go."

"I'd rather you stayed," Alia said, pulling my mouth to hers for another kiss.

Reluctantly, I lifted the little rogue off my lap. She made an irritated sound and wrapped herself up defiantly in the fur, trapping my heat. I emerged into the cold, my staff turgid. I passed by the Amazon, her wide eyes on my manhood.

"Are they all so big?" asked Xeiliope.

"Our wizard is gifted," Velena said offhandedly. She patted the furs next to her. "Now sit, wizard." I obeyed, and Velena inspected me. "Sorry to interrupt what you were up to with our rogue. I was enjoying the show as much as you were enjoying one another."

I looked over, and now Alia and Xeiliope were cuddling, the big warrior cradling the little rogue as I had done. A lovely sight and one that did nothing to diminish my staff. "She looks to be taken care of."

"This is quite distracting," Velena said, taking my manhood in one gentle hand. I swelled under her attention, regaining what I had lost since being stolen from Alia. Velena gave me a gentle stroke, her hand soft as velvet.

"That won't make me less distracting," I said.

"I know," she said mildly. She kept a hand on me, but maddeningly refrained from moving as she tended to the few wounds on my body. "You're finished, wizard. Alia, come here."

I got up, annoyed by Velena not only taking me from Alia but in refusing to stroke me. I brushed past her, a bare caress over Velena's nipples. I felt them harden and relished the intake of breath. Alia squirmed free of the furs and I joined Xeiliope beneath them. Her breath came quickly, her skin hot in the confines of the fur.

"I have never been so close to a man before. I find myself curious. Would you mind if I examine your spear?" she asked as I was finding where to sit.

"Of course." I turned about and leaned back into her, so that she could easily see me jutting up before her.

"Interesting?" Velena asked with a wry grin. She had finished with Alia, leaving her panting and her eyes glazed, but the two of them remained cuddled beneath their fur.

"Indeed," said Xeiliope. "We have tools on Axichis, sculpted of bone or wood and then enchanted. Some women enjoy them as part of lovemaking."

"They can be fun," Velena said. "I had one of those myself. Sadly lost during my exile."

"I have used one on occasion, but they are not so...detailed as our wizard." Xeiliope said.

Velena grinned. "I like the detail. Your devices can be so abstract. They also don't respond as prettily. Let me show you." She freed herself from her fur and crawled to us. Though Alia was sad to see her go, she watched Velena's creamy rump as it moved away. The witch took my staff in hand, stroking me speculatively.

"Your tools," she said, "lack the most important part. The head." She flicked her wrist at the end, I groaned. Then, with a sparkle in her pale eyes, she opened her mouth and took me inside, her tongue sliding over me. She expertly brought me in, deeper and deeper with each bob of her head. When she found her rhythm and I felt the fire stoked in my loins, she lifted her head up with a pop, running the back of her hand across her mouth. "You see what I can do? Make it grow, change its color. And best of all, I can make our wizard look at me like I am the only woman in the world."

"You have wanted me for some time now. Since the day at the pool?" I murmured.

"Since the day at your tower. When I saw your wand, I merely wanted you more."

"Then take me," I said, moving her head back to the tip of my spear.

"Silly boy. Did you think I would finish you with my mouth?"

"You will finish me," I told her, her eyes sparking with desire at the assurance. "If not your mouth..." I hauled her over with a growl. She was so soft, her breasts squashing pleasantly against my chest, her big nipples hardening. I kissed her then, hard, and I felt her melting against me, growing pliant. I turned her around roughly, and the two of us were on our sides, facing Xeiliope and Alia, who had crawled over to join the Amazon. I reached around, caressing Velena's soft breasts, my other hand reaching between her legs. Her creamy sex opened easily as I traced her lips and dipped inside. She pressed back into me, her hips writhing. Her hand took me again, and she guided me between her chubby thighs. She craned her head, lips meeting mine. Her skin was cool. She was always cooler than the room, her changeling nature betraying her.

"Take me," she sighed.

I did. She devoured me to the hilt, her brow furrowing, her mouth opened in surprised bliss. She was still for a moment, and then the movement started again, a circular shimmy in her ample hips. Velena was a skilled lover and I fought not to lose myself too quickly.

"You have her, wizard," Xeiliope said.

Velena reached for the Amazon. "Come here," she commanded.

Velena gripped Xeiliope, drawing her into a searing kiss. Small hands gripped my chin, pulling my face aside. Little Alia's lips on mine, her tongue insistent. My staff inside one woman and my tongue in another, my mind was overheating. I broke from the kiss and my eyes met Alia's. The way she watched me, it was like she could feel me inside our witch.

I wrapped an arm about her, drawing her close as I continued to thrust into Velena. "I will make you mine," I murmured to the rogue. I held her, my arm running down her back, over her hindquarters, finding the sopping wet fleece between her legs. She uttered a surprised moan as I penetrated her, grinding into my hip as I found her center.

The pleasure within me built as I eased into Velena over and over. Xeiliope kissed our witch, and I felt her teasing Velena's sex, occasionally brushing over me. Velena was already losing control, her motions jagged, her gasps more desperate. She cried out one final time, her control gone, her body consumed in shudders. Her insides gripped me, her shivers running through her sex and into mine. Bliss spiderwebbed through me and then boiled from me in hot spurts. I clutched both Velena and Alia, my own cry of pleasure devoured by the hungry rogue.

The tent was now heavy with our mingled scents, Xeiliope, like polished bronze, Velena, like an herb garden after a hard rain, Alia, sharp and womanly. I rested there for a moment, buried inside Velena, the only sounds our labored breathing.

Alia firmly rolled me onto my back, her green eyes alight. She climbed over me, gripping my staff, running her tongue up and down my length. I sighed, my arousal returning swiftly with her wanton attention. Her little body was bent double, her orchid open and wet, and her little pink rosebud winking seductively. She continued to run her tongue up and down me, driving me into madness. Velena had teased and now Alia had taken things up. I straightened, ready to take her then and there, but she crawled over me like a spider, kissing an insensate Velena. It was Xeiliope whose mouth found me next, her tongue powerful, conquering. "You are the first man I have kissed," she said.

"He's going to do more than kiss you," Alia said, giggling. She had turned her body, now presenting her red-furred sex to Velena. The witch had come to her senses, and lifted her head to explore the little rogue's body. Alia sighed happily.

The strangest part of this, of laying with my three best friends like this, was how natural it felt. This was inevitable. We had trusted one another with our lives. To have denied ourselves this release would have been far stranger than succumbing.

"She's right," I told Xeiliope.

"There is no spear that frightens a daughter of Axichis," she said, nibbling my lip.

"Good. You shouldn't be frightened. You should crave it."

I kissed her hard, and she was momentarily stunned by my fervor, falling onto her back. My thigh came up between her legs and I found her soaking, evidence of the effort Velena had put in. I shifted, spreading her honey blonde sex open.

"'Tis an honor, wizard. Many men have begged for an Amazon's favor."

"I am honored," I told her, my mouth finding hers with a hunger I barely understood, "and when I bring you bliss, you will thank your goddess for my spear."

She took my bottom lip between her teeth, giving me a stab of pain, then a long and low pleasure as she released. "You have the soul of a warrior."

I slid into her easily, so wet was she from Velena's attentions. She gasped, her eyes going wide with shock. "Goddess! I am so full!"

Next to us, Alia was on top of Velena. She bent over, her mouth finding Velena's sex, still dripping with our juices. The little rogue sought out the pearly strands, teasing her as she drank us, an embrace of our love. The two of them had begun to moan as they circled the other's bliss.

I grinned, giving Xeiliope none of the tenderness I had with Velena. She moaned in happy surprise as a serendipitous movement of her hips made me penetrate her completely. Her golden eyes went steely and she rolled us over easily, her muscles standing out on her sculpted skin. Now she was straddling me, driving me deep into her. I sat up, lavishing attention on her pert breasts. She lifted herself up and down, kneading me with her hips.

"Harder," she growled. "I want you deep."

"Different position," I gasped. She got off me, and I guided her onto all fours. She groaned, her face close to Velena's wet sex. She gripped Alia's hair, pulling the rogue from her oral attentions. Alia's face was shiny with Velena's nectar as Xeiliope united with her in a kiss.

I impaled Xeiliope, gripping her hips as I drove myself into her. She uttered a throaty groan, and then her mouth was at Velena. Alia sat up, her eyes opening and meeting mine, her little hips gyrating over the witch's questing tongue. She smiled, her chest heaving, and then her eyes snapped wide open and she cried out, shivers taking her body.

I continued my stroke, long, even, and most importantly hard. Alia climbed off Velena, and the witch, her face shiny with juice and eyes smoky with desire, hunted about for more. She clutched at Xeiliope's head, still buried between her legs, then disengaged, moved about. She disappeared beneath us. Then I felt her mouth, her cool tongue, at the base of my staff as I plunged in and out of the Amazon.

I broke first. The sight, the incredible sight of it would have been enough. The Amazon's sex was powerful but unskilled. Velena's mouth was the soft to Xeiliope's hard, and the storm hit me suddenly, spilling out and into the Amazon as I gripped her haunches. At the first burst of my own pleasure, Xeiliope began to shudder, and then Velena, as though it rushed through the two of them like lightning,

I sat back, and Alia was atop me in an instant. "You're not finished until I get a turn."

On another night, perhaps I would have been spent, but this was magic. We were cementing a bond. None of us would be finished until we lain with each member of our group. We would be united by chains of pleasure, knowing one another as intimately as one could know another. And so I never softened and Alia guided me to the gates of her red-furred sex.

"When you're ready," I rasped to her.

She nodded and slowly sunk over my staff. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a surprised O. I was glad this was not earlier in the night, as I might have taken her, brought her to my hilt swiftly rather than enjoy this. My explosions had given me control. Alia was tight, tighter than the others, and for every inch she descended, she pushed herself back up. I watched my head appear at her lips, then be swallowed, again and again as her body adjusted to my intrusion.

"Bigger than a candle," she gasped with a self-conscious chuckle.

I caressed her thigh up to her hip and waist. Her muscles stood out against her pale skin, every part of her using that astounding control that made her so good at robbing tombs and disarming traps. She was poised over me and though every muscle and tendon were tensed, she did not so much as quiver as she took me in. Her belly tightened, a grid of valleys appearing there, attesting to her power.

The tremors ran through her body, rebounding, combining as she slowly sank over me. When she reached my base, she stayed there, shivering, her eyes closed. I brought her to me, kissed her mouth, her neck, her shoulders, her breasts. A thrust, and she cried out. Another, and she flexed her body, coming back up off my staff, revealing it inch by glistening inch.

"Wizard," Xeiliope murmured, kissing me. She gently pushed Alia back and I saw what she wanted. I shifted, and now Alia was on her back, me kneeling over her, taking her. Xeiliope knelt over the little rogue. I was treated to the sight of Xeiliope's muscular buttocks thrusting into Alia's face. Xeiliope's flesh shined with sweat, her sculpted body showing as she found her bliss on the end of the rogue's tongue. It was quick. Mira had taught Alia well.

The Amazon moved off her and now Alia looked up at me, green eyes wild, mouth hungry. I thrust into her deeply, again and again. She hooked her legs around me, drawing me deeper with each thrust. She was so small, in my mind, I had gone past her womb, and was now lighting her spine. Soon, I would be behind her eyes. I would fill her so full with my flesh, we would erase the distinction between the two of us. Her mouth met mine, and I relished the taste of Xeiliope's bronze on her tongue.

She began to buck, a cry torn from her, and I was soon after, filling her with my juices. We fell onto the furs, and Velena and Xeiliope gathered us up. The four of us lay peacefully in that cave, fragrant with our love. Sleep was easy that night. We were not troubled by what we had done or had been done to us in Vexacion's dread city. Laying together had healed us in a way that nothing else could have.

Sex became our custom. We did it to celebrate victories, to pass long nights, to stay warm, and occasionally simply for fun. Most often, it was the four of us in a group, though from time to time we paired off. We were not couples, but a group of four, and any twosome was merely temporary.

Velena put the three of them on night tea so that they would not fall pregnant. Each of my companions were fun in their different ways. With Xeiliope, our sex was a struggle, the goal to bring the other to bliss first. With Velena, it was a surrendering of her responsibilities, a chance to care for another by being cared for. Alia was playful above all.

We were companions before then, but after that night in our tent, we had forged an unbreakable bond.