A Hero's Rebirth Ch. 11

Dear Readers,

Oh boy! I am so excited to be posting this! I hope you all like it! You know what you're here for and what you're getting into at this point, so I won't bother.

A MILLION thanks to my amazing editors: Pandemonium, ArmasNenharma, BowtieCharlie, Str8NotNarrow, Vivi, ThL, GoldenLab and Reading_addict! They have helped me improve this chapter so much and caught so many mistakes I made that I can't thank them enough. This chapter is much better for their help.

~NaughtyPaladin

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Chapter 11

The water stretched around us like a never ending sky. It felt like we should be able to see forever, but I knew that was an illusion. There wasn't empty water that far out. Even though it looked like blue, open skies, I knew the water actually obscured all vision before you got very far out at all. I couldn't even see the bottom beyond the initial dropoff.

"Now, we just need to reach the Sea Elves." I declared.

"Their first city should not be much further ahead." Tavorwen assessed. "If the old maps are not deceptive in their scaling."

"Great, so down we go." I sighed.

I'd hoped to avoid diving to ocean floor depths for as long as possible, but it looked like that had lasted all of ten seconds once we reached the ocean.

I actually took the helm to explain to Spiral what was going on, and we began our descent. It rapidly got darker as we did, and I used my bond to channel Amura's night vision to the entire crew. The thermal vision was difficult under the water, but it was better than pitch blackness.

"Oh, right." I realized. "Let's get temporary bonds with all the maidens so I can share Amura's night vision with them."

Othica was more practiced at it this time, and while I once again had to go through fondling all of the maidens, I tried to be professional about it, and soon enough everyone could see... at least as well as it was possible.

"I never thought the beasts of the deep would be so passive." Risavis noted.

I turned and nearly lost my shit.

A giant eye stared at us through the front window. Even in my current state, I quickly figured out what it was. A giant squid was lazily investigating this new invader of its territory.

"Should we hit it before it hits us?" I wondered nervously.

I was still working on how I thought attacks from within our sub would go. I really had hoped the voyage would be peaceful until we reached the Sea Elves...

"No." Risavis assessed. "It is doing no harm, so attacking it would only encourage him to attack-"

A great maw snapped closed on the squid, the motion of the water causing the sub to tip and move. I would have expected some sort of cry as the squid's blood was everywhere in the water now, but not a single sound was made, aside from a quick crunching sound as the toothed maw crunched through the squid's mantle. Then the squid and the mouth was gone.

"What was that?" I gasped, trying to right the ship.

"Sea Beast." Tavorwen gasped. "The Sea Elves may have names for them, but we do not know all of them."

"Goddamnit." I swore. "How are we supposed to fight something that we can't-?"

A groaning, moaning sound, kind of like that of a whale, but much deeper, washed over us.

I watched a creature, so large it had no right to move that fast, swim into the range of my Night Elf vision, like it emerged from the cold water around it. The last of the giant squid tentacles disappeared into its mouth, and it was still headed straight for us.

"FUCK!" I swore.

I'd never liked the Jurassic Park movies, but now I had a plesiosaurus coming at me, but this thing made the skeletons in museums look like a rubber duck next to an elephant. If I knew my dinosaurs, plesiosaurus usually had fairly small heads, but this one's head was big enough it could probably get its jaws around our submersible. And worse, it was opening its mouth to do just that.

"Likra vark!"

A bolt of electricity shot through the water hitting the plesiosaurus right in the mouth, as Milria commanded the magic from her window down the hall.

The beast recoiled, jerking from the shock, but it was still coming toward us, and it re-extended its neck, once again opening its jaws.

Narusil's voice rang out down the hall next.

"Calatrin hafra!"

Flames leapt through the water, a bubble of steam erupting around it as the flames lashed out. This time, the plesiosaurus let out a deep rumbling roar, and I could see blisters forming around its mouth where the flames had hit. Its tongue was undoubtedly scorched and it wouldn't be tasting anything anytime soon.

The plesiosaurus banked, the force of such a large body moving in the water still rocking the submersible, but it passed over us.

"I think we made it angry!" Risavis called.

Sure enough, looking out the other side of the front dome, the plesiosaurus was turning for another charge.

"Do not even think about death magic, Mavrin. A life of that scope would kill you!" Narusil called.

"I know!" Mavrin retorted from her own chamber, then her incantation began. "Meno vamir cal manto mor agas ra!"

Glowing spears that seemed to be formed of ice formed, one after another and shot through the water like it was air. A couple of them missed but if she had been an anti-aircraft gunner I would have been thrilled with that kind of accuracy. More blood clouded the water as the spears lodged in the neck and body of the great beast.

"I think that has got him!" Risavis called. "Wounds like that are likely to be lethal in the wild."

"I will see if I cannot put him out of his misery." Hallamarantha called.

"I will hold him." Jalleena called.

"Lavir toa essan!"

"Aerourn saveir!"

The two spells seemed to go off nearly simultaneously. Jalleena's spell caused yellow bands to appear around the plesiosaurus, and it froze in place. Then Hallamarantha's ray shot out and struck it directly in the face. There was a sound, like a great groan, and the yellow bands disappeared. Great bubbles of air escaped from its mouth, rising up and the great beast began to sink, faster as more air escaped its mouth.

"Was it just me, or were those spells more powerful than the ones I usually see?" I had to question.

"I believe that usually mages must be very careful with their spell selection." Tavorwen explained. "Choosing the wrong spell could do more harm than good if you hit your allies with the spell. However, here all their allies were kept safe in the vessel and they could use spells with broad areas of effect, to take advantage of the great surface area of our foe."

That made sense. Precision marksmanship as opposed to field artillery. Here they could just fire for effect.

"Let us hope the sinking carcass draws any predators away from us." Creadean grumbled.

"I hope so, but with it sinking... are we not going down?" Amura observed.

"Yes, but a well fed predator will not be looking for unnecessary conflict." Risavis explained. "If we are fortunate, then they will be far more preoccupied with the feast below."

"Additionally, we will be moving further out as we descend, so hopefully any squabbles over the meat are settled far away from us." Tavorwen added.

"Like that plesiosaurus wasn't looking for more after it got its squid meal." I grumbled.

"I have not heard that name for it before, but it looked to me like the descriptions of a leviathan." Othica piped up. "I have heard the fishers describe them when they returned from their trips down to the waters. Luckily a lone elf is not large enough to be a meal worth pursuing, at least not for a beast of that size."

"Well, let's hope the sashimi we just sent ahead satisfies any further nasties." I sighed. "Is a leviathan like that going to be the biggest thing we see?"

"I could not say." Othica answered when everyone looked at her. "But the fishers do say, 'There is always a bigger fish' so I do not believe we can count on it."

"But perhaps to anything larger, we will be too small to be worthy of notice?" Risivis suggested.

"Or maybe my Boon of Fortune will clear the way?" I chuckled. "I wish I knew how to actually use that, rather than just guessing and attributing everything good that happens to it."

We descended deeper and deeper. It was weird, because while I had the thermal vision, I could also see what my normal vision would provide. Where it had been getting darker and darker outside the sub, and we'd long since extinguished the internal lights to avoid drawing unwanted attention, as we got deeper, I began to see a faint glow through the depths.

"Oh good." Tavorwen sighed in relief. "That should be the city up ahead. While Sea Elves are able to see in the darkness, they do prefer light so... we... should... oh no..."

I didn't like the looks of things either. The glow allowed us to see things up ahead further than we had, and where I expected a full and bustling city, with elves swimming here and there among the buildings, all that I saw was what appeared to be dead, white coral. It was hard to see, and I realized there was something murky, or foggy, about the water, but I didn't see any movement.

"It is said the colors of the cities of the Sea Elves are a wonder to behold." Tavorwen lamented. "But it would appear this city is dead."

"Dead?" I clarified.

"Just as we grow our cities from trees, Sea Elves grow their cities from living sea stone." Tavorwen answered. "It is said to be colorful and a pleasure to look upon, but when it dies, its color bleeds away."

"What could have killed a city of this size?" I wondered.

[[I don't like it here.]] Spiral shuddered, [[The mother liquid is sad and sickly.]]

That drew my attention closer, to the foggy water.

"Pollution." I realized.

"What did you say?" Zynrin demanded.

"The waters here, the reason they're so foggy is because they are polluted." I explained. "Spiral really isn't a fan."

Luckily, wherever the leviathan had landed, it was well behind us. As we sunk down to the city, the pollution only got worse. The skeletal coral of the dead Sea Elf city was still lit by regular glowing stones, and some of the buildings seemed to glow as well. In the darkness, the glow was nearly blinding.

But the glow just made the pollution more obvious. The white skeletons of the coral were smudged and almost looked sooty. I remembered campaigns back on earth to try and save the coral reefs, talking about how delicate and frail ocean ecosystems were. Assuming the same was true here, it was no wonder everything was dead.

"What would be polluting the ocean?" I wondered.

"Could you give an example of what sort of things might cause pollution?" Amura asked hesitantly.

"Oil, or chemical waste being dumped in the water was a common cause of pollution back on Earth, but I can't say for certain here." I admitted.

Amura winced. "So, if my mother had smiths working night and day to make weapons and armor, and they dumped the slag and waste produced into the ocean... that could potentially cause something like this?"

I felt like this was more of a confession than a question.

"Yeah. That would do it." I agreed.

Spiral continued to grumble as we sank nearer and nearer to the dead city. It was clear that a lot of these structures indeed had hollow centers in which the Sea Elves would have lived.

"At least it appears the loss of the city was slow. There is no sign that the inhabitants were unable to take their belongings with them when the time came to flee." Othica observed.

It was true, there was no sign of anything other than the buildings themselves. For a moment I felt embarrassed that I had just accepted that Sea Elves didn't have any sorts of belongings, like how in the Little Mermaid, you didn't really see much in the way of possessions among the merfolk. But these were Elves, not merfolk... just ones that lived in the water.

"See there?" Othica pointed at a strange structure. "That overhang would have been our dock. Were it still alive a structure like that would have an air pocket above it. Once we placed our outer hatch within the air pocket, we would be able to open it safely and enter their city."

"Alright... I can see how that would work." I nodded. "So is the entire city full of air pockets?"

"If memory of the records serves, it was not entirely so." Othica admitted. "Only certain areas are maintained as air chambers. Sea Elves may exist with equal comfort in either air or water, so they only spend the effort to keep air where they believe guests will visit, and where they wish to facilitate their presence."

"So all they have to do to keep us out is flood the chambers and we're stuck." I grumbled.

Passing over the skeleton of the city, it reminded me of the ghost towns of the Western United States.

"So, if there are no Sea Elves here, where do we go next?" I wondered.

"I studied some of the old maps, while you were constructing our vessel." Tavorwen explained. "While our cartographers may have struggled with precise distances, general directions on the maps should be good. As such, assuming this was the Sea Elf city of Menadeil, if we wish to reach their capital of Phoreshaira, we should head north by north-east."

"You hear that Spiral?" I asked.

[[What is a north?]] Spiral asked as the thoughts came through from me.

"Oh fuck. Does anyone have a compass?" I asked.

"What is a compass?" Risavis asked.

"A device that tells us which direction north is." I answered nervously.

"Oh, that is a simple matter." Tavorwen assured me.

"Even I can manage that spell." Risavis chuckled. "Thome yefra."

As she spoke the words, Risavis held her palm up. A glowing yellow dot appeared in the palm of her hand, then it stretched like a compass point to one side.

"There. North is that way." Risavis declared.

"Most elven children learn this as part of their basic magical education." Tavorwen explained.

"Most Wood Elven children, that is." Laliera noted from the hallway. "My people teach no such things."

"Nor ours." Niyk chimed in.

"I am acquainted with a similar spell, but mine is a religious spell, not secular, like the one Risavis just used." Othica admitted.

"We were not taught such spells," Zynrin shrugged, "But a Cloud Elf always knows their directions, so long as they may see the sky. Which usually is far more useful than it is at this moment."

"Huh... nifty." I admitted.

At least we'd never lose our compasses.

We gave Spiral her bearings and I let Othica take the helm. The two seemed to get along. Othica wasn't overbearing, and Spiral didn't mind the way she gave commands.

The ocean floor was not particularly interesting. Mostly it was sand with occasional rocks. We had long since descended to depths that sunlight didn't reach, so no plant or coral life existed, except for what the Sea Elves cultivated. I was a little surprised how deep we'd gone. Weilkeir had made it sound like we wouldn't be going all that deep, but we were certainly deeper than the ocean of earth was, as far as I could recall from my times snorkeling and doing scuba on earth.

"Any idea how long until we reach the capital?" I wondered.

"No." Tavorwen admitted. "Our undersea maps are sadly vague."

I had other things I needed to do, so now seemed like as good of a time as any.

"I'll be away from the helm for a bit, but get me if anything of note happens." I ordered.

"As you wish." Tavorwen accepted.

I walked back, past where the mages were all keeping watch out of the various windows I had built for them, to the living chambers. The call was clear, and I knew exactly what was being asked of me. Not that it was hard. Being bonded meant that unlike most men on earth, I could kind of read my matrons' minds to know what they wanted, or at least their emotions.

"It is rude to make a matron wait." Amura grumbled, sitting naked on one of the hammocks, her hand stroking between her legs. "Or would you have come faster if it were one of the others?"

"Well, I might have made it back here earlier if you hadn't blocked me from knowing you were getting the urge before you were back here with your fingers doing that." I told her, undoing my belt and enjoying the sight.

"Old habits die hard." She grumbled. "Now get over here and inseminate me."

The hammock rocked back as I pressed against her, pushing her legs up and spreading them as I got in position. "So kind of you to warm yourself up for me."

"I know time may be short." Amura grumbled. "It would be nearly unbearable to stop half-UGH!"

My cock sinking into her pussy ended the discussion.

"Oh Master," she groaned. "That is so... good..."

"Sorry," I grunted, pumping hard and fast. "Like... you said... we don't... want to be interrupted."

Fucking on a hammock was new for me. Amura rocked much more with the fabric cradling her ass as I pounded her slit. It felt fantastic and the bouncing was fun, but as she had said, we didn't want to be interrupted. Much as I usually enjoyed driving my lovers wild with pleasure... All she really needed to be sated was cum. I could give her orgasms when we weren't in sea monster infested waters.

"There!" I grunted, thrusting deep and cumming. "Your pussy does not disappoint."

Amura bit her lip and trembled as my load flooded her depths, "Nor does your wellspring of seed."

I hardly had to turn to know we had observers. I could feel them behind us easily enough. Creadean and Nauveir both had the feeling of their weekly need.

"If you do not mind... it is still quiet. No sign of beasts." Nauveir pleaded.

"Of course." I assured them. "But we'll want to be quick."

Creadean let Nauveir go first, and Amura curled on her hammock to watch.

"It is odd," Amura noted, as I bounced Nauveir in her chosen fuck swing. "Not being nearly overwhelmed with pleasure so close as he inseminates her."

"Master spoils us." Creadean admitted. "I know most masters do not have the strength or stamina to give us so much pleasure, so I will accept what I can get to just silence my body's hunger."

"It... is... still... divine..." Nauveir groaned as I slammed in and out of her tight folds.

Luckily, I could manage quickly, and soon all three were sated.

I left them resting in the back chambers and returned to the helm.

"Anything happen while I was busy?" I asked, settling all my gear. Part of me wanted to not have my rifles slung, and my pack on me, but if anything happened to the ship, and I ended up lost at sea, the last thing I wanted was to be separated from my stuff.

If I could even survive at these depths.

"No, but I believe we have found a current." Othica explained. "It seems to be pulling us along. I would bet it will lead us to Phoreshaira."

"Then keep following it." I ordered.

It was eerie. How quiet it was. I didn't know what I expected, and I wasn't sure I wanted to be hearing beasts of the deep singing like whales, but the silence was something else entirely.

After a couple of hours, I made a call.

"Some of us need to start sleeping." I declared. "We don't know how far it is, and we need people to start rotating, in case this is a multi-day journey."

After some quick deliberations, shifts were set up, and the first batch of resters went back to try and sleep. Othica kept steering with Spiral and I watched out the circular windows of the helm.

"How deep do you think we are?" I asked Othica.

"I do not believe we are so deep as Uonavear is high, but we are certainly deeper than I ever believed I would go." Othica guessed.

"Do the oceans get that deep here?" I wondered.

I knew the Mariana Trench got deep, but I couldn't have told you how deep. Just like I generally couldn't tell you how high clouds flew. I knew some places the clouds hit the mountains, but other clouds effortlessly floated over them. Uonavear was on a pretty high up cloud, well over the mountains below, but I hadn't had an altimeter to tell you exactly anything. Plus, if we were comparing this to the Mariana Trench, then it was wild. The Mariana Trench was that: A trench. A narrow deep space. This seemed to just be the open ocean. If the entire ocean here was as deep as the Mariana Trench, then there was a lot more ocean water here. And part of me said that just might mean that this world was actually much larger than Earth.

But wait... wouldn't that mean that gravity would be much stronger here? That would fuck with everything, including the trajectory of my shots...

I shook my head. The math had worked out. My shots were hitting, and it didn't seem like I was operating under extra gravity. This was a world of magic, so for all I knew it was in fact a giant basin on a fucking turtle's back as it flew through space shooting rainbows out its ass.

As I looked around, I realized I had zoned out for a second, or more. That was dangerous. We'd already run into two sea monsters and one of them had been unfriendly.

"Look at all that sand." Truk's voice came from below the steering platform. "I can't tell if it would feel good to roll in it and get it to clean between my scales, or if it would be scratchy and never come out. For some reason it is always one or the other."

"What are you doing down there?" I asked.

"Watching the swimmers." Truk replied.

That response had me hopping over the edge to get down there and see what Truk was talking about.

The bottom of the globe of windows that was the helm of the ship extended just below the main body, so you could see back along the body. Truk sat watching a series of small fishy creatures that seemed to be riding along in our wake, just under the body of the ship.

"They don't seem to be hurting anything." Truk pointed out.

"Damn it. I wish I could actually see them." I muttered. "Thermal vision is great and all, but I can't see shit otherwise."

"Don't worry, their little glowing ripples seem friendly." Truk assured me.

"Glowing-" I noted, just in time to look down and see what looked like a giant sand worm leap up toward the ship.

There was no time for Othica and Spiral to dodge, and the thing was shooting up like it was shot out of a cannon. I focused on flexing that muscle in my brain, making it slow to near motionlessness.

Shit, shit, SHIT!

I needed to use magic, or what looked like two sides of a nasty set of pliers would be hitting the ship and maybe cracking the hull at way too fucking deep. I pressed my hands to the glass and tried to imagine something outside the ship. But what to do? Lightning would dissipate in the salt water, since salt water conducts electricity. I had a hard time imagining my fire burning through the water like Narusil's spell had. Ice magic just seemed like it would get stopped immediately by the water. Wind magic wouldn't even make it as far as the ice did, because of lesser mass!

Part of me screamed, "It's magic! It just works!" And I knew that. I knew magic just seemed to work.

But I had to think it would. I had to believe it would.

Then I had the dumbest, most intelligent thought ever.

"Do it!" I cried.

I willed it to work.

I couldn't see anything happen, but I felt the power of the magic working. Unlike with my rifle, I couldn't watch this bullet start flying toward my target. I could see absolutely nothing. I had to hope, had to pray, and I released my moment of super speed.

Things began to accelerate again, and I saw for one terrifying second, the giant sand worm lunge up toward us.

Then my spell hit.

One of the most incredible things ever discovered by man now became my tool of destruction: Hydraulics.

The very water surrounding the fucking worm compressed, as powerfully and as fast as I could imagine... and I could imagine things moving pretty fast. I was used to jet airplanes, artillery and firearms. With the force of, well, it looked like the force of an explosion, the water collapsed on the worm. Even as a creature used to the crushing weight of the depths of the ocean, the power of the water I had smashed him with was too much.

In fact, I probably overdid it. More than a little.

The worm exploded. The two mandibles that were opened wide to clamp and crush our little submarine shattered like they had just been pounded between two gigantic hammers. The worm's body rippled and popped like a chain of firecrackers, down into the darkness where I couldn't see it anymore.

Then the sound hit the ship, like a single thump on a great deep drum.

"What was that?!" Othica gasped.

"Did you see the worm!?" I demanded.

"No, but I see the cloudy water. Is that what is left of it?" Othica gasped.

"Yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard." I admitted.

"What was that?" Narusil and the other mages rushed in.

"Uh, there was a giant sand worm, or something that was trying to catch us from underneath." I explained. "I hit it with a spell and... I took care of it?"

That felt like a very mediocre explanation.

"What kind of spell makes a sound like that?" Naviena demanded.

"Well... I panicked because I wasn't sure which of my spells would work underwater... and I kind of improvised." I admitted.

"You improvised a spell so powerful as to make the water shake and our bones vibrate at... three coils?" Jalleena demanded.

"Um... yeah." I conceded.

"You will get used to it." Narusil assured her. "You should have seen when he dueled with Nixvarinth. He nearly killed her when she underestimated his magic."

"His spell burned through her clothes and nearly burned through her chest before she teleported away. That was with a spell of Time Stop buying her time to escape." Sevrina stated a little too proudly.

The maidens looked at me in awe.

"So what exactly did your spell do?" Narusil turned to me once again.

"Well, I panicked." I began.

"You had stated as much." Sevrina prodded.

"I don't know how your fire spells still work underwater, because water should just put the fire out. Salt water is conductive, so lightning should immediately disperse. Ice spears or such should get stopped, shredded by the water, or both. And wind doesn't have the mass to cut through water like that." I felt like I was babbling.

"So, I decided to use hydraulics. I... at least I think, I just created channels of water surrounding the worm and applied as much pressure as I could as fast as I could to crush him." I explained.

"Did you understand a single thing he just said?" I heard Milria ask Hallamarantha.

"I think I understood some." Hallamarantha admitted. "Water is used to extinguish fire, so he seemed to believe that fire magic should not work underwater."

"I know your fire magic works underwater." I informed them. "But I still don't even really know how my fire magic works, and I only had time for one spell. I had to use my Boon of Celerity to even get it off..."

I trailed off.

The recoil had never hit. I had used my Boon of Celerity, and there had been no recoil. Had I just cast my spell so fast that it didn't hit me? Was it because I hadn't really moved that much during the accelerated time? Damn it! I wish I knew more about my freaking boons!

"I see." Mavrin nodded. "Caution was warranted, but... what are hydraulics?"

"Um, so water can't be compressed." I explained. "So the idea is to use different sized plungers or tubes to multiply forces using the traits of water to accomplish your task."

The elves gave me the blankest, most uncomprehending stares I'd ever seen.

"I'll have to demonstrate later." I sighed. "This isn't the time or place."

"I will look forward to the lesson." Narusil accepted.

"Why do you think the worm attacked us?" Mavrin asked, leaning over the edge to look into the water.

The remains of the worm were far behind us at this point, well beyond the reach of our thermal vision, but what was still easily visible was the glowing fish.

"It's these blasted glowing fish." I told them. "Things in the deep don't really work off of vision, but when something glows it attracts attention. I don't know what they're doing, but I'm pretty sure the worm was coming for us because of them."

Narusil carefully lowered herself from the main platform in the helm and I helped her to the bottom of the glass sphere.

"I didn't think they were a problem." Truk admitted. "They are just being pretty."

"Pretty, but giving us away." Narusil agreed with me. "It may be a good idea to use your magic and give them a bit of a shock. That should encourage them to leave."

"I guess this is a good chance to practice and see how my magic works underwater." I accepted. "And their reaction will tell me how effective it was."

I reached out to put my hands on the glass, like I did when casting the hydraulic spell.

"What are you doing?" Narusil wondered.

"Well, it helps me think about the spell as being outside the glass." I confessed.

"How long has he been studying magic?" Callicka asked in concern.

"About a month." Mavrin piped up.

I heard all the maidens step back.

"It is alright." Narusil accepted. "Do what you must."

I put my hands back on the glass and started to draw on my magic. Concentrating and thinking about, well electric eels seemed a good place to start, I could feel the magic start to stir.

Suddenly, a spiderweb of electrical bolts shot out, and for a second, the light let me fully see the glowing fish. They reminded me of pikes or other long narrow fish I'd seen, but I couldn't tell if they had teeth like some fish did, or more of just a pinching mouth like others.

Then the light was gone, and all that was left was a lot of heat. The water seemed to spread the heat pretty fast, and all that remained was a small school of very crispy and very hot fish.

"Well done! For you, that was excellent restraint!" Narusil applauded.

"That was restraint?!" Naviena gasped.

"The Master you serve is a wonder." Sevrina smiled. "Yes, that was him showing restraint."

"Okay, but now they look tasty." Truk noted. "Like fried fish! Can I...?"

"No, you are NOT going out in the water right now." I told her.

"Awww..." Truk grumbled.

"I'll make you fried fish later." I told her. "Ones that I'm sure you can eat safely."

"Oh! Yippie!" Truk celebrated, racing around my leg and climbing up to my shoulder.

I easily lifted Narusil back up to the main platform and hopped up myself.

"Well, unless I am mistaken, that may have been our last undersea threat for the time being." Othica declared, pointing forward. "I believe I see the lights of the city now."

"Stay alert everyone, and remember to watch below us as well." I ordered.

The mages all returned to their battle stations, and I stood in the helm with Othica.

"How fast do you think we're going?" I asked.

"Well... " Othica struggled. "It is hard to say. If I were airborne I could guess far easier. But based on the formations on the ground, I would say we are traveling far faster than any Cloud Elf could fly."

Looking down, the formations were flitting past us like we were on an airplane, or a bullet train, not in a submarine!

"So... any idea how far we've traveled?" I wondered.

"There is a reason the cartographers were uncertain of the distance." Othica admitted. "And I doubt we will be clarifying that at all. Spiral is a marvel, but she has not been consistent with her speed. As she grows more comfortable, and bolder, we seem to be moving faster and faster."

"Well, we're getting where we need to go, and that's the most important part." I decided.

"That and the ability to get home." Othica agreed.

I didn't like the assertion, but she wasn't wrong. If we got lost down here, we'd be in trouble. Especially if we surfaced and couldn't figure out anything in a blank ocean of-

"Wait, if we surfaced... you and Zynrin could fly and figure out which way we needed to go, right?" I latched onto the idea.

"I suppose you are correct." Othica admitted thoughtfully. "We would not even need to fly. Once we saw the sky, we would be able to identify which direction the land is in, since it will be west of us."

"Good." I sighed in relief. "At least we have that."

The glow Othica had hoped to be the Sea Elf city got brighter and brighter as we got closer and closer.

Suddenly, the waters were full of fish. Schools upon schools of the widest variety of fish I'd ever seen. It was like Sea World on steroids. Especially since the fish ranged in size from the size of my pinkie finger to fish the size of whales. None of them seemed hostile, but more curious as we cruised through the middle of the swarm.

Then it was like we popped out the other side of a storm of fish. The water was empty around us, as we seemed to enter a giant bubble around the source of the light, and just as clearly distinct, but with no other visual sign. The fish just didn't enter this water.

The space below us was clearly indeed a Sea Elf city. Just like the last one, it was a series of coral buildings, but these buildings weren't white and dead. Instead it was a rainbow of buildings, some climbing like skyscrapers toward the ceiling of the bubble, with others far more modest.

Between the buildings, seeming like fish themselves, were the Sea Elves. It was hard to see them, but no other fish had arms and legs, so it must have been them.

One sea elf, riding the strangest beast, came toward us.

The beast was like what you'd get if you took a person who had never seen a seahorse, but was very familiar with horses and fish, and told them to draw a seahorse. If they were any good at drawing, you'd get this beast. It had what seemed to be forelegs like a horse, though the hoofs seemed more cupped to help it catch water. They seemed to cut through the water as it reached forward, then catch water as it pulled them back. Then it had a long tail with a wide fin-like structure at the end, more like a fish. In place of a mane, it had a ribbed fin.

"A hippocampus!" Risavis cheered, entering the helm. "I had heard the Sea Elves tamed them!"

That name sounded like something I thought I'd heard in Greek myth, and I couldn't tell if that was actually the name, or if my translation magic was doing its thing. Honestly, it didn't sound like an elven word, so that was my guess.

The elven maiden riding the hippocampus looked fascinating. She wore something akin to a two-piece swimsuit, with a top that clung to her chest and covered little more than her breasts in a band of fabric that wrapped around her body, with two straps over her shoulders, and two straps that went down to her bottoms. The bottoms looked more like boyshorts for women than a bikini bottom, but had straps linking them to her top, seemingly to keep both in place. Or at least that was my guess. She had dark hair that looked like it was braided, and tied back in something like a ponytail. Her skin was green and gray streaked like the skin I'd seen on the patron gods of the Sea Elves when they had appeared to me in Ealphamir. Her eyes were wider than the other elves, but only slightly, reminding me of "puppy dog eyes". And no, I'm not talking about a pug. It wasn't just the fact that her eyes opened wider, but every part of her eyes were larger. Slightly larger pupils, irises, and even more of the whites of her eyes showed. Flaps that were clearly gills, or something akin to them, fluttered on her neck as she breathed.

In one hand she held a short spear, with a clearly sharp head and an even thickness shaft just over half her height in length, the other hand held onto a strap on the hippocampus's saddle. Stirrups held her feet, though it looked more like she was holding herself on the back of the beast, than holding herself off of it.

She looked into our little cockpit, and seemed to accept what she saw there, and motioned for us to follow, guiding us down to a structure like the one that Othica had pointed out before. The docking station.

"Alright, the door should be in place." Othica declared.

I reached out and put a hand on the crystal.

[[Thank you for getting us here.]] I expressed to Spiral. [[I imagine the ship will be good to stay here for a while. Can you keep it here and safe, in case we need to hop back on quickly?]]

[[That shouldn't be a problem.]] Spiral replied. [[And I have to admit, this was a lot of fun. I don't know why the others get so grumpy about it.]]

[[Probably because most people aren't as nice as I am about it.]] I noted.

[[Huh... That would probably do it.]] Spiral admitted.

With that taken care of, I hurried to follow my matrons toward the hatch.

It was kind of bizarre, the hatch opening and us emerging into what seemed like a bubble. The very top of the submarine was poking out of the water, and the water was lapping around it, like the surface of the water anywhere.

Climbing out, there was solid floor just a couple of feet from the sub, making it a sizable but workable step for all of us to make, even my shorter matrons. Luckily, underwater as it was, there wasn't the bobbing and shaking you'd have on a floating dock, so that helped to make the step less intimidating.

Two guards stood beside a door on the far side of the room we entered, but neither spoke as we climbed out of the sub. The guards had on what I assume was more serious Sea Elf battle garb than the swimwear the hippocampus rider had worn. It was made mostly from what appeared to be blue-gray leather... maybe shark leather? From a belt around their waists hung a leather sheath for their short spears, each of them carrying three of them. Leather bracers covered their lower arms, with leather panels covering their upper arms, their thighs, and lower legs. Their hands and feet were bare, but they wore chestpieces that looked like tight-fit leather armor, with laces on the side to close them.

"Welcome to Phoreshaira." The sea elf maiden declared, stepping through what I thought was a window, off the back of her mount. "It is rare to see surface dwellers here. What brings a group such as this to our city?"

For a second I was surprised her voice sounded normal. I was also shocked because as she stepped through the wall of water, not so much as a drop of water escaped into the air filled space. Even knowing there were gills there, once she was out of the water, they closed and I couldn't see a thing. She just looked like a green and gray streaked elf maiden now.

The interior of the air space was well lit, and as her eyes adjusted, her pupils shrank down to a very normal size, leaving large beautiful irises that were quite striking.

"I am Thomas. I was summoned to this world to aid all the elves in their fight against Kathra." I introduced myself. "I come as a representative of the alliance that has been rebuilt between the Wood Elves, Wild Elves, Cloud Elves, and Mountain Elves. We are hoping we can speak with your leaders and that your people will be open to the possibility of joining our alliance, so together we will have the strength to defeat Kathra and end the cruelty and tyranny she has brought on all of the elven people."

I was feeling a bit proud of that little speech. I'd been trying to think of the best way to say it the whole ride down here. With my non-existent diplomatic training, I just hoped I was doing okay, and didn't piss anyone off by misspeaking.

"You seek to speak with the Yfaan then." She nodded.

This 'Yfaan' must be their leader then.

"Yes. That would be wonderful." I agreed.

"Very well." The maiden accepted. "Remain here. I will go and see if she will see you."

With that, she stepped back through the window into the water, remounted and rode away.

"You guys really need to set up radios, telegraphs, or something to be able to call ahead." I sighed. "I hate dropping in on people like this."

"It has worked out well so far." Zynrin shrugged.

"Yeah, but you did kind of almost attack us when we arrived in Uonavear." I pointed out.

"Sending messages ahead would have done nothing to stop that." Zynrin informed me dryly. "In fact, if we'd had more advanced notice, perhaps the factions less pleased at the idea of reunification with the races we deemed traitors would have had more time to organize. It was for the best, the way things happened."

The guards exchanged glances, and unless my reading of elven expressions was wrong, they were very nervous about something. Whether or not I was right about that, they didn't speak a word as we waited for the hippocampus-riding maiden to return.

About twenty minutes later, the slight splashing sound of someone entering through the windows drew our eyes back to where the rider had left.

Three Sea Elves stepped out of the water.

It seemed all Sea Elves had dark hair, though I was now noticing the difference. The maiden that had ridden the hippocampus had black hair. Both of the guards had dark, dark brown hair. The new elves had different colors however. The older Sea Elf, a matron or retired matron, had dark green hair, and the other Sea Elf, a younger Sea Elf maiden wearing a white suit instead of everyone else's black, had dark blue hair.

"Greetings, representatives of our sisters on the surface." The matronly Sea Elf greeted us. "The Yfaan will see you, but as you must travel our city to reach the Central Hall, we have brought this maiden to assist you." She motioned to the third elf in white as she said this.

"Thank you." I inclined my head respectfully. Then I glanced at the girl in white. "Forgive me, but how is this maiden going to help us?"

The Matron paused. "You have a bonding sigil on your left hand, and these have marks to match. Were you not bonded to your entire force before being sent to us?"

It took half a second for my mind to make the connection.

"Of course. The ability that can be shared from a Sea Elf is the ability to breathe and swim." I shook my head. "I should have realized that. Forgive me."

Luckily, we had needed to take care of that earlier and the temporary bond had already been extended to the new caster maidens.

The white clad Sea Elf Maiden seemed a little mopey about the arrangement, but I suppose that made sense. She was being exploited for her abilities, but it wasn't like she was going to be my matron. I could very much understand the discontent there.

As soon as the marks were made and I placed my hand on them, reciting the prayer from the last time I'd done this, I could feel the bonds form. I tried to not think about how it had required me to basically fondle them, but it was done.

"Very well, I will now transfer the bond." The Matron declared.

She held out her hand and a white light formed like a great drop of water in her hand. First pooling in her hand then forming a droplet in her hand.

This felt vaguely familiar, but I stretched out the hand with my bonding sigil on it, and accepted the bond from her.

Only when I felt the connection, and felt the heat run through my hand, down to my wrist and back around to the back of my hand, where the white sigil I tried my hardest to ignore sat, did I realize what was happening.

"She's a slave?!" I demanded.

"Of course." The matron scoffed. "You did not think we would toss around bonds with the free daughters of our people so freely with strangers? No. A bonding with a male is far too serious for that. However, Sefra is a murderer. She will tell you as much if you ask her. She has been commanded to speak truthfully. Her bond binds her to obey."

I swallowed and turned to the white clad maiden. Sefra.

"Is it true?" I demanded. "Are you a murderer?"

"There would be no point denying it now, even if it were not true." The maiden declared gloomily. "But yes. Keiraka was chosen as a matron in my place, and I killed her and fed her to the beasts in hopes that I would then be selected. I thought I had covered my tracks, but the magic I used to conceal my involvement was flawed, so the seers were able to see through my illusions."

The matter-of-fact way in which she declared it, and the undeniable truth of her statement I felt through the bond, was almost sickening. Yes, she had killed this Keiraka, and unless my understanding from her bond was wrong, they had been friends, close friends, before Keiraka had been chosen over her as a matron. She didn't regret doing it. She only regretted she had been caught.

"So her life is forfeit." The Sea Elf Matron shrugged. "But we do not execute, as a savage might. No, she pays her debt to society with her life. She will be yours for the duration of your stay. You may do with her as you please."

The surge of emotions from Sefra was almost as horrifying. It was clear that, unlike Amura, she didn't know how to keep her thoughts and emotions from me. Part of her was glad to be handed over to a male, because that meant she could be fucked. But her internal rage was greater, as she raged that being sterilized meant she couldn't even bear a child from being fucked by this random stranger. Not a care was given to her cravings after having sex, nor was there even a sign she cared that a child born to a slave would certainly have stigmas attached. There was only the selfish, craven desire for a child. The same desire that had driven her to murder her closest friend.

If I had harbored any doubts that "as you please" had meant just that, and that the Sea Elf Maiden fully expected me to fuck this slave, if I had the energy to spare, they were immediately banished.

"You are not elven, yes?" The Matron wondered, looking me over, and glancing from my sigil to the sigils of my matrons. "So many matrons. You must be vigorous indeed."

She turned to Sefra. "It's a good thing your core was taken, otherwise a stain on our people like you might have the pleasure of motherhood. It is too good for you."

Sefra's rage, pain, and jealousy only flared higher.

"Now, come. And keep the criminal in check. I see you are free with your other slave, but Sefra deserves no such leniency. She has strict orders on what she may and may not do. Her bond should not allow you to remove them, but if you do and she acts out then you will be held responsible." The Matron declared, walking to the window.

There would be time to process all of this later, for now I had a job to do.

Just like I had with Amura, I extracted the thread from my bond with Sefra and fed it into first my own bond, then all the other bonds, until we all had the gift of the Sea Elves. I was getting faster at it with all the practice I'd gotten in the mountains and now here.

As soon as it was clear that the gift was shared, the matron led us out into the water.

I just ordered Sefra to follow me,

It was so freaking weird, stepping out and into the water. I had to fight to keep myself from panicking as the water completely enveloped me. I expected the crushing weight of the water, and while there was pressure, it was more like having a weighted blanket on you, but on all sides, than the crushing weight I'd expect at the bottom of such a deep ocean.

It is magic, I told myself, it's okay.

I opened my eyes. I could feel that I was opening my eyes underwater, but there was no sting from the salt of the ocean, or even like opening your eyes underwater in a pool with chlorine. It was like I had a glass contact lens that kept the water off of my eyes. Also, it was much brighter out here. The light lit up so much more and the colors were even more vivid than I remembered them being. Looking over, Sefra's blue hair was brighter and more lively, with bits of silvery reflectiveness spread throughout. The hippocampus rider's hair now was more reflective as well, with streaks of red and purple throughout. The Matron's green hair had streaks of red and yellow to it I hadn't seen before either.

I had to force myself to take a breath, letting the sea water fill my mouth. Oddly, the saltiness didn't bother me, in fact it was hardly there. More like breathing sea air than breathing sea water. I could feel that it was liquid in my mouth, but my body recognized it as though it was oxygen and breathing was as easy as just that, breathing.

"Come, this way." The matron's voice sounded distorted underwater, but could still be understood.

Swimming seemed easier than it should be. My hands caught water easily and my kicks felt like they drove me more like they would with scuba fins on my feet than the small thrust they normally gave. It made swimming a million times easier and maneuvering felt easier too. I realized part of it was even desiring to go down, I sank and desiring to go up, I rose. Had my bond to Sefra given me a water bladder like a fish? Or something similar? Magic was wild.

I followed her toward a surprisingly nearby building, made of rainbow coral.

It was a large structure, with the different colors seeming to be where different types of coral grafted together to form the different parts of the building. Windows dotted the structure, but the fact that I saw Sea Elves entering and departing through a number of them made me realize that they were just air barriers, like what had allowed us to leave the bay where we had docked the submarine.

The matron led us lower and lower on the structure, until we were practically at the sea floor. Finally, she swam up to a bright pink bit of wall and entered, feet first I noticed. It was a good thing too. Stepping out of the support of water into the air, you kinda dropped and I almost lost my footing. I'd never thought of water as supportive or anything but it was like as I emerged from the water, suddenly I got dumped back in the air.

Luckily I recovered, and looking around, it appeared we were in a room similar to what had been outside the Cloud Elf throne room in Uonavear. Sure, the walls were pink coral, instead of white sky stone, but the elements were all there. The great door, the pillars, flags, and everything. The biggest difference, however, was how freaking colorful everything was here. Even the pink coral wavered between dozens of shades and textures making the walls vibrant and beautiful.

I realized the ability to see the extra color must be part of the gift of the Sea Elves, because even out of the water now, I could see the extra colors shimmering and gleaming in the hair of the Sea Elves. That made me look at my other matrons and, GODDAMN, were they even more beautiful. Their hair almost glowed with radiance, undertones I had never noticed now were plain to see, and their flawless skin was even more enticing. I didn't have time to really admire them, but I decided I liked this new addition to the ways I could appreciate their beauty.

"Is the Yfaan prepared?" The matron asked.

The guards did not answer, but instead just pushed open the doors.

The Matron walked through the double doors without so much as a glance back at us, but by the way the guards looked at us, I assumed we were supposed to follow.

The room we entered was much smaller than the throne room Ethcovir used, but I suppose that one was built for dragons to be able to join them in, and this one for smaller gatherings of Sea Elves.

My gaze focused on the ornate coral chair on the far side, only about ten paces in, where I had to assume the Yfaan sat. She was a matronly Sea Elf, and by the fact that there was what appeared to be a bassinet nearby, and a baby Sea Elf in her arms, I had to assume she was still of age to be having children. She wore what appeared to be a gown of vibrant green that matched her hair, though it had slits high enough up the sides that I could see that she wore shorts, like the maiden who had welcomed us to the city did, underneath the dress.

I tried not to look, but I was taken a bit aback. The queen, ruler, Yfaan, whatever you wanted to call her, of the Sea Elves had massive boobs! I'd thought Railyn had had huge tits, but the Yfaan's knockers were at least two sizes larger. They managed to avoid the heavy sag that most women I'd known with breasts that big had, though her gown didn't look like it should be that supportive. Honestly, I had to think of some of the bad anime I'd seen where the women had questionably huge boobs that never seemed to sag. At least seated, she wasn't bouncing and swinging all over the place.

I quickly made sure to get my eyes where they should be, because the last thing I wanted was to fuck up negotiations because I couldn't keep my eyes off the Sea Elf ruler's tits!

"Yfaan, I present to you a delegation from our sisters on the surface." The Matron declared, then turned and retreated to the right side of the room.

"Greetings, Yfaan." I stepped forward and did my best to bow respectfully. "I am Thomas, summoned by the Elves to lead the fight against Kathra."

"So bold." A cold voice came from the left side of the room. "At least they cannot be said to be anything but blunt in their stupidity"

My eyes slowly turned my head to the left side of the room. Seated on a smooth pink bench that looked to have been grown from coral, sat a Shadow Elf.

She sat leaned back, unbothered and unconcerned, with a look on her face like the captain of the cheer squad just caught a nerd in her clutches and was relishing how she was going to torment him before having her boyfriend beat the shit out of him. She had skin-tight black leather boots that came up to her mid-thigh, her legs were crossed like a man would on our world, unconcerned with decency only seeming to flaunt. Her bottoms were barely large enough to cover the Shadow Elf panty strip that I knew was magically affixed over her pussy and asshole, and appeared to be secured in place in the same way. Her wide matron hips seemed to make the garment even smaller. Her top was bare, except for what looked like two flaps of leather that wrapped around the sides, clinging to her skin like they were painted on, to slide up the curves of her matron breasts and barely cover the areolas on her breasts. I could only assume the mini-bra was secured using the same magic as her mini-panties. Her arms were covered in skin-tight, black, leather gloves that covered her from fingertip to mid-bicep. Her white hair was ornately looped around what looked like a carved bone crown in her hair. Her bright purple eyes ignored everyone else in the room and mocked me like a cat amused by her latest prey.

The only thing ruining her look was the fact that she was soaking wet. Not surprising considering we were at the bottom of the ocean, but her bone crown would have looked much better in hair that wasn't wetted down to her head, and I couldn't imagine wet leather was comfortable. Of course, magic was a thing, so who knows, but at least it did take her "scary" factor down a couple notches.

The only thing that might pass as a weapon was whatever the handle was that was sticking up next to her chair. That meant she was likely a mage. My enhanced vision quickly found runes engraved on every inch of leather exposed on her body. Then it found four rings on her fingers, a bracelet on each side and a necklace, all likely enchanted. Like all the other elves I'd met, her ears were unpierced. She even had two anklets over her boots, near her ankles. All of the jewelry was covered in runes. So her defenses were magical, her offense probably was as well.

"It is so amusing that you worms think you stand the slightest chance against the greatness of Ya'av's chosen." She gloated cruelly. "One minor victory and you assume you have momentum. The Sea Elves will not stand with you. They are weak and pathetic on land, and would merely be feed for House Nurvrak's beasts."

"We have not given you an answer as of yet." The Yfaan interjected. "Until such time as we do, you too are an envoy here, and will not interrupt this envoy's audience."

The Shadow Elf's smile faded and her lip quivered in a snarl. "You will pay for that, when Kathra's rule is acknowledged. Ten stripes."

"Speak, envoy." The Yfaan ignored the Shadow Elf's threat, though sweat did drip down her brow.

How much did I say? How much could I say? The enemy was right there! It was the most basic of basics that knowledge was power, and the more information I gave out, the less of an advantage we would have. At least my words hadn't given away anything she wouldn't already know, or be able to guess. I had Wood Elves, a Wild Elf, two Cloud Elves and a few Mountain Elves with me, so guessing I already had the support of those races of elves wasn't anything surprising.

"As you can see, we have already proved the value of our alliance to the other groups, and at last the vessel was completed that allowed us to come to you." I tried not to be nervous as the Shadow Elf emissary smirked at me. "We also saw the damage the pollution the Shadow Elves have done has caused you. The sight of the dead city we passed on the way here was truly tragic. We will do everything in our power to ensure such devastation does not happen again."

Finally, the cockiness of the Shadow Elf emissary slipped. Her smirk twisted into a snarl and her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Baseless accusations!" She snapped.

"Since you cannot hold your tongue, you may remain here while we go have a discussion." The Yfaan declared. "Envoy, you may bring three of your companions."

I almost objected, not wanting to leave my matrons and maidens alone with a Shadow Elf, but then I realized how many Sea Elves were in the room. In the shadows behind the throne were six Sea Elf guards, groups of two were on each side of the Shadow Elf probably two yards away, and there were eight more, along with the matron who had guided us, along the other wall. If eighteen Sea Elves couldn't keep the Shadow Elf in check, we were in worse trouble than I realized.

I thought fast. I looked for Tavorwen, Amura, and Othica. They each met my gaze and nodded. Tavorwen was my most trusted advisor, and Othica seemed to know a fair amount about the Sea Elves. I was not about to leave Amura in the room with this viper of a Shadow Elf.

"How precious." The Shadow Elf spat, her words dripping venom. "Clee'Amura, now the savage's pet whore. Your mother is very disappointed in you. You should have found a way to murder the summon and return. You disgrace!"

Amura flinched as if she had been struck.

I almost lost it, but I noticed the Yfaan's look.

As much as it pissed me off, I just followed the Yfaan as she beckoned me out another door, on the wall behind her throne, but off to the side. The Yfaan carried her child with her as she walked out of the throne room, and into the antichamber.

My bond with Amura was absolutely still. I couldn't get a single emotion from her. Her face was blank and emotionless, a mask and a shield. I'd seen that face before when we'd come into villages where warlords had crushed resistance, plundered the area and all hope was crushed. I'd seen it on the faces of women whose husbands had been shot in front of them, their children taken to be child soldiers, and all they could do now was await death. She was disassociating. Trying to separate her consciousness from the horrible suffering and horror that she had been pulled into with those few statements from that blue bitch in the other room.

"Amura." I whispered. "I won't let her touch you."

Amura's eyes flickered to me, then straight forward.

Goddamnit. I'd have to break down her walls and get her to let me in again.

Later.

Right now, I had a negotiation with what might be a hostile leader of a foreign nation.

The Yfaan walked across the room, to a table that looked to be made of polished red glass. She sat on one of the matching chairs, rocking her baby in her arms.

She looked over at us. "Come, sit."

I hoped I approached respectfully, and sat cautiously.

"So, Audriul finally sends emissaries to us." The Yfaan sighed. "We feared we would be forgotten and spurned, abandoned at the bottom of the ocean."

I blinked. Her tone was completely different now. In the other room, she had been cold, distant, judgemental, and harsh. Here, she almost sounded relieved.

"No, we want your help too." I assured her. "It just took time to make a ship to get here. From what I understand, the Wood Elves haven't had a vessel that could reach here in years."

"Centuries." The Yfaan corrected. "Before even the Massacre. Unfortunately, we cannot tame the ocean anymore than our sisters tame the plains, the sky, the mountains or the forest. This world was not made to be tamed, and it would be a fool's errand to attempt it."

She shook her head and met my gaze. "But my manners escape me. I am Yfaan Seiafra. My mother regretted leading our people in our rebellion ever since Kathra and her ilk emerged from the great caverns of the earth, though she did not live long enough to receive you herself."

"Yes, that is much the same story I've heard as I went to each of the elven peoples." I assured her. "And with the Wood Elves we've realized the real fault lies with Kathra for every misunderstanding, miscommunication and sabotage that lead to the Massacre."

Yfaan Seiafra sighed, her eyes dropping. "But our people were the first to allow discord to be sown. We sent our emissaries to our sisters with our discontent, blaming our forest sisters, when we should have known better."

"So you'll join us?" I asked.

"We will spend our days atoning for the mistakes we made." Yfaan Seiafra assured me. "I may not have been queen when the Massacre happened, but I was heir apparent, and I was just as foolhardy as my mother. If our sisters are willing to accept us, we will return. If our entire people must bear slave marks as a mark of atonement-"

"Absolutely not." I snapped.

Yfaan Seiafra was taken aback. She bit her lower lip, worried. "Even that is not enough?"

"No. That is too much." I informed her. "And more importantly, I refuse to accept terms like that."

Yfaan Seiafra's face softened in confusion.

"As I said, I am a summon." I told her. "I understand that things here are different from where I came from, but as far as I am concerned, to enslave a person is one of the worst crimes you can commit. Hundreds of thousands of my ancestors died to end slavery on my world. I won't let anyone be enslaved on my watch."

Yfaan Seiafra tilted her head, her mouth opening, then closing again. She took a minute before responding. "How do you punish criminals?"

I hesitated. Okay, so prison wasn't far off from slavery, especially since many prisons had work programs, and forced inmates to work to support themselves. But, no one owned them, not like I was currently in possession of Sefra in the other room.

"You could argue our prison system is a form of slavery, but we do our best to reform criminals and return them to society." I answered. "Unless they have committed a crime worthy of the death sentence."

"I see. Your moral justifications and ours differ." Yfaan Seiafra accepted. "We find the killing of a murderer, or other criminal, to be a worse fate than slavery. You disagree. I would enjoy discussing this more... but that is a discussion for another time."

"Fair enough." I accepted.

"So, if we may not atone through slavery, how may we atone for our crimes against our sisters?" Yfaan Seiafra asked. "What restitution can we make?"

"Help us defeat Kathra." I answered simply.

Yfaan Seiafra's eyes hardened. "But that is a selfish act on our part. Six of our thirteen great cities, and most of our smaller villages have perished before the black waters. The black waters came and drove us to rebel against our sisters, who we believed were ignoring our pleas. We now realize that Kathra is behind the black waters, though we do not know how. If we are to prevent it from spreading further, we must aid you in defeating Kathra. So it cannot be restitution, because we would do it selfishly, alone even if we could."

"Yeah, but the Wood Elves were blind and didn't see Kathra causing you problems." I countered. "The Wild Elves, Mountain Elves and Cloud Elves all had their own issues, and no one actually managed to talk to one another. No one people is at fault. If you want restitution, help fix it and don't judge others for making the same fucking mistakes you did."

Yfaan Seiafra stared at me, mouth partially agape. "You... will have to forgive me. I am unaccustomed to negotiations where the person with whom I am negotiating so willingly throws every advantage at my feet. You confuse me, summon. What is it you are attempting to accomplish here?"

"I want to beat Kathra." I declared simply. "I was summoned to beat her, and as far as I'm concerned, that is my first duty here."

Yfaan Seiafra sat back, her child stirring in her arms, and began to rock the child again.

"To beat her, I need every ally I can get." I told her. "I'm in a foreign place, a foreign world, without the support of my country to fall back on. Normally in a situation like this, I'd have a bunch of resources to draw on, and they'd send someone actually trained for this. I'm a soldier. I led my squad, but we were given targets and we took them out. If I'm going to win a war here, I need soldiers."

I looked over my shoulder back at the other room. "The Wood Elves are hurting. This war of attrition has decimated their population, from what I can tell. The Wild Elves and Mountain Elves are even worse off. The Cloud Elves... Well, Othica, how are your people doing?"

"Our High Houses are a shadow of their former glory." Othica admitted. "We can field perhaps an eighth of what was sent to the Massacre. Kathra's forces harried us night and day. And while only the Shadow Elves capable of flight, or with flying beasts, could reach us... it was enough."

"I see." Yfaan Seiafra noted. "It sounds as though even though we considered ourselves vulnerable and weak, here in our ocean, we may have fared the best or near the best of all our sisters."

She laid her baby across her shoulder and patted its back to soothe it. "Though we have lost six of our cities, the majority of our people were able to evacuate in time. Our population has stagnated, and diminished somewhat, but nothing on the scale you speak of."

At last! A break! If the Sea Elves could form the bulk of our army, then we might have the numbers to stand against Kathra.

"However, outside of the water, we are the weakest of our kin." Yfaan Seiafra admitted, apparently reading my mind. "While we may contribute a number of soldiers, they will not be able to stand against Kathra. They will be as a fortress of sand upon the beach when the waves come."

I frowned. Meat shields. That's what she was volunteering her people to be. It would be like having an army of farmers standing against a charge of medieval knights. They'd get slaughtered. Sure, they might buy time, but that's all they'd really accomplish. I was not a fan of the idea.

"Let's avoid throwing away lives needlessly." I asserted. "We have time before the Respite is over. So we can figure something out."

"How was the Respite accomplished?" Yfaan Seiafra asked. "The Shadow Elf emissary has refused to speak of it."

"I kicked the hornet's nest." I explained. "I hit them when they weren't expecting it, and after I caused enough damage, they used the Respite as a get-out-of-jail free card."

Yfaan Seiafra blinked.

"Master Thomas took the war to El'Muth'Ran." Tavorwen explained. "He alone killed scores of Kathra's soldiers, and when they had no answer for him, they invoked Respite to buy them time."

"You alone were such a threat?" Yfaan Seiafra repeated, looking me over with a lot more respect.

"He has grown stronger since." Othica declared proudly.

"But Kathra isn't stupid." I interjected. "I caused mayhem because they didn't know what to expect, and may have thought they killed me." I remembered that poor Elf girl who had been turned into a bomb to attempt just that. "This time, they know I'm alive, they've seen what I can do, and they might manage to come up with an answer. I don't want to take any risks. I want to crush Kathra completely and decisively, and do it with as few casualties as possible. I need every tool and every ally I can get to do that."

Something wasn't right. This was too easy. Every people before this, I'd ended up with some sort of trial or task before they joined. If the Sea Elves were so open to join us, where was the task going to-

"There is also the matter of the Shadow Elves." Yfaan Seiafra admitted. "As envoys, I cannot simply imprison or expel them. A Respite necessitates the ability for our peoples to communicate with one another. Envoys are a protected element of the Respite."

I paused. "So why hasn't Kathra sent envoys to each of the other races of Elves?"

"She has not?" Yfaan Seiafra paused. "They assured us they had."

Shit. If there were envoys trying to undo all my work, I was going to be pissed.

"When did they arrive?" I asked.

"A week ago." Yfaan Seiafra answered.

"Did they tell you when the Respite began?" I wondered.

"They said they came as soon as it began." Yfaan Seiafra replied.

"The Respite is in its seventh week." Tavorwen informed her.

"With their magic, they navigate the waters well enough, I doubt it took them so long to arrive." Yfaan Seiafra noted.

"Them?" I clarified. "How many Shadow Elves are here?"

"More than they are willing to admit to, but we cannot be sure." Yfaan Seiafra explained.

"They are from House Inganvith." Amura spoke quietly.

I turned and paused, waiting for her to say more.

"They belong to Kathra's House. To my house." Amura whispered.

Yfaan Seiafra's eyes flicked from Amura's neck to my hand and understanding clicked. "You were the princess paid as tribute for the Respite?"

Amura nodded.

Yfaan Seiafra's eyes narrowed. "You brought this Shadow Elf Princess into our negotiations. I did not consider myself in a place to question it, but is this any different from holding these discussions in front of that eel out there?"

"Amura is my matron." I told her. "And your gods have declared her a Night Elf, not a Shadow Elf."

Yfaan Seiafra's eyes opened wide. "A Night Elf?"

Othica nodded. "It is true."

Yfaan Seiafra looked over our party again. "You have been busy. If you are willing, I would hear the tale."

"Might I, Master?" Tavorwen requested.

"It will probably make more sense coming from you." I admitted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ga'Vedra was livid. How had the summon and his whores arrived so quickly? The Shadow Claws had seen no sign of a sea vessel, but there it floated, docked here.

She kept her serpent grin affixed.

These whores could not see her frustration. She had already erred in allowing them to see her as she scathed Clee'Amura. It was a mistake, but she had recovered.

The whores did not have the proper fear of her that they should. They looked at her with anger and defiance. She'd see their eyes burned out with steel pokers for such audacity. If it weren't for this accursed Respite, she would see them dragged over burning coals until their skin fell off like layers of shale off a shelf.

The worst was the treasonous slut. Clee'Amura.

She walked in with head held high. As if she had anything to be proud of. She was a whore, a slave and a waste of Elf-flesh. She wore clothes above her station, and dared look her better in the eyes! She would suffer to the edge of death, be brought back, and suffer again, a hundred times over! She should have slain the summon and returned to serve the rightful Queen of the Elves and the True God with every breath of her worthless body.

Ga'Vedra's eyes flickered once more out to the whore vessel the summon had arrived in. It was a strange vessel. The woodland whores had never had a vessel like it for as long as her people had surveilled them. She did not know enough of such vessels to know the quality of the vessel. But what she did know is that those windows had to be Diamond glass to survive the pressure of the deep. She had to very carefully tune her spell to withstand the pressure, so she was well familiar with the pressure this deep in the ocean. The sea-sand whores may have been accustomed to it, and apparently utilizing the slave had granted the summon some manner of protection as well. This was good information to have. She could capture some of these sea-sand sluts and drag them back to El'Muth'Ran. They would learn how the summon gained this protection and gave it to his whores, then use it to lead an army down here to exterminate the sand-lice.

Her eyes darted to the door the sea bitch had retreated through with the summon. As emissary, she had limited protection, from what documentation they had found that had survived in the libraries of El'Muth'Ran. She knew she could not actually inflict the violence she dearly wished to on this city and its people, and they in turn could do nothing to her. However, if she overstepped, she would lose that protection... and the whores would not.

Perhaps... yes... that was a plan...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you ever had a friend tell a story of your exploits, and you were embarrassed because they insisted on blowing everything out of proportion? The jump on the bike you took that broke your arm was a twenty-foot jump where you did a triple flip and almost landed it, instead of jumping a few feet and biffing it hard? It was even worse when it was to an authority figure you wanted to take you seriously. Well, Tavorwen's recounting of my accomplishments since arriving here was the most exaggerated and ridiculous tale ever, way worse than I could even imagine.

"Truly?" Yfaan Seiafra marveled, stroking her chin. "A tale of wonders to be sure."

"Othica, you can correct anything you found inaccurate." I offered, hoping she would save me.

"Sister Tavorwen's retelling was beyond reproach." Othica assured the queen. "Every event since I met Master Thomas was given truly factually. But Tavorwen could not tell you of his majesty as he negotiated with the Cloud Dragons."

"That's quite alright." I cut in, heading off even more crazy exaggeration of my deeds.

"I see now how you have been able to unite our peoples." Yfaan Seiafra admitted. "I am filled with hope for our future."

"Now, all that is to be accomplished since you are willing to join our alliance is a trial from the gods." Tavorwen declared excitedly. "So that they too may grant Master Thomas their boons."

"Truly, you believe Cranatha and Zilmanthan will grant him boons as well?" Yfaan Seiafra marveled.

"All of the previous members of the host have." Tavorwen nodded. "Though X'Thallion took the first feat Thomas accomplished to bestow his boon instead of Abarith and Mythrin. We will learn what trial they shall ask of him soon, I am sure."

"I spent all my adult life in the military." I sighed. "At this point I should be used to being volun-told what to do."

"If this is the case, I believe your task for our people to earn your boons is clear." Yfaan Seiafra declared. "Rid us of the black waters and save my people. Then you shall be given as many matrons of my people as you will accept, and surely our gods will bestow their boons."

Well, it's not like I didn't expect that. It was as easy to guess as that it was going to be wet outside at the bottom of the ocean.

"For now, we'll keep it to four. That's all I took from the Cloud Elves and Mountain Elves." I told her. "And I guess that makes sense for a task regardless."

"Tonight, you should rest however." Yfaan Seiafra told me. "I will have a residence prepared."

She looked at the door back out to her throne room. "I wish the emissary would violate the terms of Respite. I am helpless to cast her out until she does."

"We'll figure something out." I told Seiafra. "We can't have her here when we begin preparations to fight Kathra."

I turned to Amura. "Before we go out, is there anything else you can tell us about these Shadow Elves?"

Amura looked at me, a touch of her emotionless mask slipping, letting her fear show on her face. "She is among the High Sisters of House Inganvith. Her name is Ga'Vedra. Ga' meaning that she is a mage. A religious mage, you would call her. She wields Ya'av's will as sword, shield and lash of punishment. She is cruel, ruthless and cunning."

"What was that she said to you when we came in here?" I asked.

"You remember how when I was given to you, I was ordered to wait until you dropped your guard, then I was to kill you and return to El'Muth'Ran?" Amura asked.

"Yeah. I'm glad we figured that out before anything bad happened." I admitted grimly.

"I only gave you the first of ten commands." Amura admitted. "Each was an attempt to snake my way through any command you gave. I was to find a way to use one of them to kill you. Your command to counter them was all encompassing, and protected against any attempt I had been ordered to make. I admit, I have since thought of ways I could have been commanded that would have circumvented your order, and still been able to do you harm, but by then... I had no desire to do so, and I would never have dared suggest such commandments to my mother regardless."

"Okay, and she didn't like that?" I guessed.

"Worse." Amura admitted. "She said my mother was disappointed in me."

I paused. It seemed odd to me that "my mommy is disappointed in me" carried such weight here. Yes, people always said having your parent say they were disappointed in you was crushing, but that seemed small when compared to joining an enemy force fully intent on going to war with that same parent.

Apparently my confusion was evident on my face because Amura sighed. "In El'Muth'Ran to disappoint the Great Kathra, is to be subject to her wrath. Such individuals rarely live long, and from the moment of such disappointment to their end is usually a test to see how much suffering can be inflicted upon them before they are too broken to continue living. New torturers are often tested against such individuals, and if they fail to impress Kathra, they become a test subject for the next new torturer."

"Ah. The more I hear about your mother, the more I wonder how the hell she is in charge." I shook my head.

Amura shrugged. "She has Ya'av's blessing. To oppose Ya'av is to volunteer for death. Since Kathra is Ya'av's chosen, to challenge her is death... though many have tried to win Ya'av's favor by unseating her. My mother is cautious, however, and none of the assassination attempts have been successful."

"Okay, I'm getting the picture." I assured her. "Now, this Gavin girl out there-"

"Ga'Vedra." Amura corrected me.

"Yeah, her. She's a mage. Religious mage. But dealing with one Shadow Elf shouldn't be-" I began.

"Ga'Vedra would never come alone." Amura cut me off.

"We know of five attendants she has brought." Yfaan Seiafra informed me.

"You know of?" I questioned.

"She has been given a residence for her time here as emissary." Yfaan Seiafra explained. "She had three attendants with her when she arrived, two others that were not with her at the time have been spotted scouting out the city."

"Then she has a full retinue." Amura murmured. "That would be twelve maidens."

"Twelve? But you've only seen five." I noted.

"The two would likely be flogged if it was known they'd been detected." Amura assessed. "Nine Shades. They likely are concealing themselves with magic."

I froze. "Wait a minute, they could be doing the same thing in Ealphamir!"

"The generals have been alerted to the possibility." Tavorwen assured me. "Steps have been taken."

I turned to her. "Why wasn't I told?"

"You have been far too busy." Tavorwen explained defensively. "It was deemed beneath your notice."

"Have any Shadow Elf spies been caught in Ealphamir?" I demanded.

"Last report was seven were now secured in the Warden Tree." Tavorwen answered, her gaze dropping.

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I got agitated. This is just information that would have been very important to know. I know you weren't intentionally keeping me in the dark, but I need to know details like that. It's going to make all the difference in the fight to come."

"But why?" Othica wondered.

"Before I got here, as I understood it, the Shadow Elves didn't know where Ealphamir was." I turned to Amura, who nodded her confirmation. "But now we know they know where it is. That means when the Respite ends, the Shadow Elves can move straight on Ealphamir. No more hiding in the woods, no more security through obscurity, just a target to be hit."

"I can see why that would be problematic." Yfaan Seiafra admitted. "Here on the ocean's floor, there is little to hide us but the breadth of the ocean. But among the trees your location was much harder to find if it was unknown."

I stroked my chin, "Amura, do you know how good Kathra's sea maps are?"

Amura thought for a moment, "I do not believe she has any."

My mind raced. "How good are your people at cartography?"

"Making maps? We mapped out much of the depths of the earth, but I do not believe we could use the same techniques to easily map the ocean. We would encounter much the same problems our sisters did when they attempted to map the seas themselves." Amura guessed.

"Kathra need not find us here in Phoreshaira." Yfaan Seiafra pointed out. "They could find any of our cities and begin to slaughter my people. Take a single slave and that slave could lead them to our other cities."

"That would be the Shadow Elf way." Amura agreed.

"How likely are they to be reporting back?" I wondered.

"Ha! Not likely." Yfaan Seiafra snorted. "Salt water is not a good medium for communication magic to traverse. It is one of the reasons we relied so heavily on messengers, and were so easy to prey upon leading up to the massacre. Especially at this depth, the words would come out as raked sand on the far end. We have watched for teleportation magic, and have seen none, so they are not returning home to report."

Salt water made communication magic static-y and garbled? Good to know.

"Then all they'll learn, they'll learn when Gavin-"

"Ga'Vedra."

"-Ga'vedra returns home." I assessed.

"If only we could prevent her from doing so." Yfaan Seiafra lamented. "But the Respite protects all emissaries."

"I'm working on it." I assured her.

"You will not find an answer in a day." Yfaan Seiafra declared. "And we have much and more to discuss. I will give you a residence as I gave Ga'vedra. So you will have space to live while you are here."

"Thank you." I accepted.

We walked back into the throne rome and Ga'Vedra was livid.

"How DARE you!?" She screamed.

My hand fell back on my sidearm, but I didn't draw. My matrons and maidens sat on seats that had been brought out on the side farthest from the Shadow Elf emissary. Ga'Vedra looked like she had been pacing, her spiked scepter was now in her hand.

"I don't know what you mean." I answered honestly.

"You feign ignorance! What is THAT!?" Ga'Vedra snapped, pointing her scepter out one of the doors/windows of the throne room.

Risavis was having to try very hard to contain her laughter. Purin was smirking evilly as she glared daggers at Ga'Vedra. All the others had the dignified air of blissful ignorance as they avoided looking at the commotion.

I looked out and it took me a minute to realize what I was supposed to be seeing. When I did, I realized why the others were so amused.

"Well, it looks to me like you sent a couple of your agents to try and steal our ship and Spiral took offense at that." I explained simply.

The dome of our submarine was easily visible from here and the glass allowed easy vision into the helm. The still forms of three Shadow Elves hung encased in water as Spiral's tendrils of her liquid form swung them around.

"THE RESPITE FORBIDS THEIR KILLING, BUT YOU HAVE SLAIN MY SERVANTS!" Ga'Vedra exploded.

"Oh no." I protested, realizing the beauty of the situation. "I didn't do a damn thing. It seems you sent your servants into an area with a loose and unassociated elemental, and that elemental decided to take matters into her own hand."

Ga'Vedra deflated like a punctured lawn inflatable. "A loose... unassociated... elemental?"

"Yes." I told her. "I find no need to bind the elementals that help me. Spiral is free to move about the ship, and moves it only as she pleases. Oh, and only when asked nicely. I bet your servants busted in, didn't even bother to say hi, and started trying to order her around. Spiral has gotten to know my household quite well, so she knew these strange intruders weren't my friends, and so... she did as she thought was best. Unfortunately, it seems the Respite doesn't extend to my friends that aren't elves."

"Emissary, it is most unacceptable for an emissary to attempt to steal the vessel of another." Yfaan Seiafra scolded as she laid her baby in its bassinet and took her place on the coral throne. "Should such a grievous offense against our law be observed, I would have to rescind our hospitality and punish you in accordance with our laws."

Ga'Vedra fumed. She'd clearly lost this round, and she was a very sore loser. She stormed past my household to a window (which I could only assume was nearer her temporary residence), spat out a few words I couldn't hear and went to step out into the water.

It was at this moment I learned some of these Sea Elf windows actually had glass.

Ga'Vedra's face bounced hilariously off the actual window and she began shouting profanities, some of which actually didn't seem to have direct translations to English.

"Fuck! Tak'meir! Proc'ta'meithara! You whores!" She screamed as blood poured from her nose.

"Guards, that language is not suitable for the throne room, see her-" Yfaan Seiafra began.

Ga'Vedra was not waiting to be dragged from the room. She ran, looking far less dignified than she had attempted as she had gone to step out the window, and the guards opened the door to let her out.

"I hope the salt water burns in her nostrils." Yfaan Seiafra snipped.

Watching out the windows, I saw her clumsily swimming away. She clearly did not have the same benefits we did, as instead of breathing water like a Sea Elf, Ga'Vedra had a bubble of air around her face. The way she clawed at the water said she had little experience swimming and her legs kicked wildly, providing most of her thrust.

"It's hard to believe they managed to do that all the way here from the shore." Yfaan Seiafra snorted. "It is almost painful. Like watching a freshly hatched hippocampus try to run in the dry."

"Wait, they swam here?" I repeated.

"We cannot be sure they swam the entire way here." Yfaan Seiafra admitted, "But at least the last five furrows, they clawed their way like that."

No wonder they wanted to steal our ship.

"Ikva." Yfaan Seiafra called.

One of the maiden guards stepped forward.

"Guide them to their residence." Yfaan Seiafra ordered. "The Teal Grotto."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to check on our ship first." I requested.

"Very well, guide them to their ship, then to their residence." Yfaan Seiafra accepted. "Tiila, take a few soldiers to deal with the remains of the trespassers on their vessel."

"As you command." A second maiden moved to obey.

Spiral was only too happy to see us.

"Strange walking ones came!" Spiral proclaimed, still out of her gem, "They tried to command me to move, but I didn't like them, so they drew their shiny teeth and went to cut me! I didn't know what to do!"

The elemental was almost in hysterics.

"You did exactly what you should have." I assured her. "Those were bad elves and they wanted to do bad things. No one is mad at you, except the bad people."

Spiral calmed down a bit. "I guess bad people can be mad at me."

The small dome that was her "head" seemed to look from one Shadow Elf corpse to the others.

"What do I do with these now?" Spiral asked.

"These good elves have come to take care of them." I told her, motioning to Tiila and the guards she had brought with her. "You can set them down now."

"Oh good." Spiral sighed, laying the corpses on the platform. "I'm going back inside."

And just like that the water that was Spiral re-entered the gem in the helm.

"You speak to the Elementals?" Tiila marveled.

"I'm a summon." I shrugged. "The magic seems to let me talk to just about everyone."

The corpses were collected, and we checked the rest of the ship. Nothing seemed out of place.

I returned to the helm and put my hand on the gem.

[[Spiral?]]

[[Yes?]] She replied.

[[Can you tell the difference between us and the Shadow Elves that came on the ship?]] I wondered.

[[Well, there is one with you like them, but they are different.]] Spiral answered.

[[So if any elves like them try to get in the ship, go ahead and deal with them like you did these ones. The only elf like them that should be getting on the ship is Amura. The one in our group.]] I explained.

[[Okay. I can do that.]] Spiral accepted.

I paused.

[[By the way, did you get bigger?]] I wondered, hoping I wasn't offending her.

[[You noticed...?]] Spiral seemed... Was she blushing? [[I've learned so much and seen so much, I think I have grown. I'm glad you could notice...]]

I wasn't sure what to think about that. [[Well, I'm glad that you did. As small as you were before, I'm not sure you could have dealt with them.]]

[[There is plenty of mother liquid.]] Spiral explained. [[If I need to, I can borrow some. Not for long, but I can do it.]]

Note to self, I mused, never fight a Water Elemental in the water.

[[Thank you, hopefully this won't take too long, but we might be here a few days.]] I admitted.

[[I like watching the lights and the fish and swimming walkers. Elves. The swimming elves.]] Spiral noted. [[I don't mind being here.]]

[[Good.]] I sighed in relief. [[We'll try to check in regularly.]]

With that all resolved, we followed Ikva as she led us to the Teal Grotto.

The Teal Grotto, unsurprisingly, was a teal structure, with a shimmering array that I could only call a teal spectrum. Stepping inside, there was a chamber I was guessing was a meeting or visiting room, then a back room with stairs down to layers of living quarters. The first layer had something very much resembling the kitchen in my home back in Ealphamir, and checking, the cabinets were stocked with very similar staples to what we had available back there.

Good. So we'd be able to cook our own food.

My matrons and the maidens all spread out through the lower levels, claiming rooms, and I was betting splitting by race. Much as I wished to push the issue and integrate them more, have them get to know each other more, and maybe foster some more mutual respect... now was not the time.

"So, when are you going to enjoy your privileges with me?" Sefra pouted, but through her bond I could feel a mixture of dread, excitement, and curiosity.

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly.

"Need I spell it out for you?" She scoffed, cupping the fabric that covered her boobs and giving them a little jiggle, "They told you, I am yours to do with as you please. I can refuse nothing you desire. You are not elven, and between that and the number of members of your household you are bonded to, I suspect you have a ravenous appetite for inseminating females. So, I suspect I'll be ravished a number of times before you leave. Sterilized as I am, my body will not hold onto your semen, so you may inseminate me at your pleasure, as frequently as you wish, instead of having to wait for me to purge, as you must with your matrons."

I couldn't tell if she was lamenting her situation in life, or auditioning for the role of my personal living fleshlight, cumdump, cocksleeve. Her emotions were a jumble.

"Aren't you concerned about your cravings after I leave?" I wondered.

She shrugged. "I assume my custodian will reset me once I am returned."

I paused. "Reset?"

Sefra nodded. "You know? Turning off those desires and returning me to a maiden state?"

"They can make you a virgin again?" I demanded, confused why the other elves didn't do that.

"Oh, my hymen will remain destroyed, but I will have my urges returned to the levels of a maiden." Sefra corrected me, clearly confused. "Have the other Elves not told you of this?"

"No, it seems they don't even know about it." I told her.

"Huh... I had assumed they pursued magic as vigorously as it is here. With sufficient magical skill it is a simple thing. Or so I've been told." Sefra shrugged.

"Okay." My mind was reeling a bit with the revelation that this was possible, but I also realized none of my matrons would want that. They all wanted to be fucking me regularly, they were all overjoyed at news of a pregnancy, and every time we fucked, I could feel them clearly hoping that they would be the next to have their pregnancy proclaimed.

I paused again.

"You said you were sterilized?" I prodded.

That definitely soured her mood. "Yes. You need not worry about siring offspring with me. I am incapable of that now." The admission made her miserable. I knew motherhood was the dream of all elven maidens, so it made sense that losing that possibility would be crushing.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did they do it?" I swallowed.

I needed to know. It was true, the other elves had seemed unfazed by Amura's slavery. When I'd met Fheu in the mountains, the entirety of the Mountain Elves had been willing to submit to slavery if that was what it took. The Shadow Elves had shown that slavery could be weaponized and some people fully embraced it. I would not stand for it, and if the procedure they had done to this she-elf was as barbaric as her slavery was, I was going to have issues. If I looked at it as the Sea Elves using temporary slavery to take the place of ordinary prisons, where the prisoners could be said to be slaves still, and Sefra was just sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder, then I suppose I could see it. I could maybe work with that.

Sex slavery as a form of prison still presented problems, but if slavery included cruel and unusual punishments, like being cut open and having a forced hysterectomy performed or something... I hadn't seen evidence of sterile surgical environments, so while someone might survive a process like that with magical healing, I didn't think it would be pleasant at all.

That's what I was hoping to not hear.

"What is there to say?" She muttered bitterly. "After I was collared as a slave, I was placed in a spell circle, and just like that everything that could make me a mother was taken. I suppose all the days since have been my opportunity to mourn the children I could no longer produce."

"Was it painful?" I pressed.

She glared at me. "Yes, losing my life's purpose tore my heart in two. It is more painful than you can imagine."

So emotionally painful, but she wasn't even thinking about the physical pain.

"Answer me simply." I ordered. "Was there physical pain from the spell that sterilized you?"

"No. The spell caused no physical pain." She answered hoarsely, like she didn't want to admit it.

So a criminal, a murderer, was angry that her actions had consequences. I almost asked her if she regretted murdering her friend, but I already knew the answer to that. She only regretted getting caught.

This put me in a position I couldn't tell if awkward, interesting, or conflicting was the best word for. I had been a soldier. I had been a squad leader. I made calls and people died. I guess you could say I was used to playing judge, jury and executioner. Jailor, punisher, or whatever you wanted to call my current role with Sefra, I'd never been in that position before. The more I thought about it, the more the idea of life in prison turning into life in slavery wasn't that crazy to me. In prison, you lost your freedom, had to do as you were told, and could be physically or psychologically punished if you disobeyed. Technically, I had heard it referred to as the only legal slavery still allowed in the United States. However, unlike in the United States, where imprisonment meant that you weren't a contributing member of society, here magically enforced obedience through their slave marks allowed the criminals to still be in society and contribute, they still just lost their freedom. Some might think that was worse, but I wasn't sure I was ready to judge that harshly yet. And even if slavery was worse than confinement, Sefra was a completely unrepentant, remorseless murderer. I wasn't sure the worse punishment wasn't in order. I would have supported the death sentence for the premeditated murder, with efforts to hide the body by feeding it to sharks, in order to get rid of a romantic rival.

So, while I wasn't sure if I was going to yet, accepting that her slavery was justified left me with more questions. If a condition of her punishment was to be used as a sex toy by any male she was given to, would it be wrong of me to use her that way? She seemed almost excited to finally get to experience sex. She was angry it couldn't get her pregnant. She was angry she'd never have children. Nervous because, unless I was misreading things horribly, she was a virgin with a strange man, but the actual sex she seemed excited for.

So would fucking her be a reward or a punishment? I'd never been into harsh bondage style sex that could be used as a punishment. I wasn't going to force my cock down her throat until she passed out. I guess, if she wasn't expecting it, anal could be a form of punishment. It sounded like she had essentially been given a magical hysterectomy, painless and probably very complete, which meant I wouldn't slam into her cervix and make sex unpleasant that way. Sure, popping her hymen could hurt a bit, but that hadn't even been the case with all of my matrons. Some of them had barely felt it.

Sure, I suppose there was the humiliation factor, being used as an orifice for sexual satisfaction, rather than being in a loving relationship. Or at least an adoring relationship, because while I was very fond of all of my matrons, I wasn't sure I could say I had fully fallen in love with some of them. Not that I was thinking anything but good about them, I just hadn't had time to fall in love with some of my more recent matrons. If I fucked Sefra, it would just be getting my rocks off. Sure, I'd probably play with her tits, but because I liked playing with tits, not because I was trying to make Sefra feel good. I guess cumming inside her would feel good either way for her, but I wasn't about to put the effort into fingering her, giving her oral, or anything else to actually drive her towards a normal orgasm, all she'd get was that final satisfaction. Assuming losing her womanly internal organs hadn't taken even that from her.

"So, when should I expect to be called to your bed?" She wondered.

"I'm still deciding if I'm going to." I shrugged.

She paused. Her emotions tumbling all over again. Hope of maintaining a piece of her dignity, fear of missing what might be one of her few opportunities to experience sex, even further curiosity about what it might feel like, and more all bounced around in the angular elven head of hers.

"Very well," She declared, trying to put on an emotionless face despite all the emotions I could feel. "I will be here whenever you need me."

And she stood there, trying not to stare at anything in particular.

"Is there a reason you aren't picking out a room?" I wondered. I had to assume since she was mine for the duration of our stay, she'd be living with us until we left.

"Unless ordered otherwise, I am commanded to remain close to my custodian to ensure I can do my duty as an enslaved." Sefra informed me dryly. "This also prevents me from running away."

"Ah." I accepted, and went to work. I wasn't a marvel in the kitchen to be sure, but I wanted to try and make something, since most of my matrons hadn't eaten since before those who had gotten to sleep had done so on the ship. There were undoubtedly a lot of hungry elves, and I'd promised Truk I'd make her fried fish.

Tavorwen and Laliera joined me and we began preparing the meal. Once I explained I was making fried fish for Truk, and anyone else who wanted some, they let me be. I had already found fish, flour, salt and a few other promising smelling seasonings, and oil in the cabinets, so I started heating the oil, and preparing batter for the fish. Once the batter was ready, I started cutting and battering the fish and dropping the filets into the sizzling oil.

Sefra sat nearby watching idly. I wasn't sure I trusted an unrepentant murderer to help prepare our food, so I was content to let her watch.

"What dish is this, Master?" Tavorwen wondered, watching me carefully remove the crispy breaded fillets from the oil with a pair of metal forks.

"Fried fish, or as close to it as I can make here." I told her.

I preferred beer batter, but Elves didn't partake of, or keep, alcohol so far as I had been able to find, so I just made do. It should still be good, and it smelled delicious.

"Might I sample the dish?" Laliera wondered.

"Yeah, I'd let them cool for just a minute, but then you should be good." I assured her, realizing I probably needed to make a lot more.

Laliera waited as directed, at least long enough she could pick up the first piece without burning her fingers, and she took a bite.

"Oh! It is delightful." She mumbled through her mouthful.

"Could I partake?" Risavis wondered.

"Are they eating my fried fish!?" Truk demanded, rushing into the room from wherever she had wandered off to.

"There will be plenty for everyone." I assured them all.

By the time I was finishing pulling the last of my several plates of breaded fillets out of the oil, all of my house had assembled and was talking about the dish. I assumed feeding Sefra was a part of being her current custodian, and she seemed to like the fish as much as the others.

"Has no one ever thought to deep fry fish before?" I wondered.

"What is 'deep frying'?" Tarilla wondered.

I guess that answered that.

When I finally got to try some of my own creation, I was actually surprised how good it turned out. It seemed like there was a little inherent sweetness in the flour, and the seasonings that I used gave it just enough sharpness that it paired beautifully with the savory fish.

"All we need here is a good tartar sauce." I assessed.

"What is that?" My eager eaters asked.

"One day, I'll have to introduce you to more Earth Cuisine." I laughed. "Damn, kinda makes me wish I was more of a chef. All I could do was make a basic batter for this."

"That deliciousness was basic?" Purin questioned with raised brows. "I may need to be careful, overindulging like this too much may lead to gaining weight."

"I'd think you're active enough you'll be fine." I assured her. "Weren't you sparring with the others half the time I spent building the ship?"

"I was, but I spent no time hunting, and moving among the trees is far too easy." Purin protested. "I haven't had to climb a vertical face since I was bonded."

"Huh... well, I know another workout I can give you." I teased.

"Really? What is it?" Purin demanded eagerly, my innuendo flying cleanly over her head.

"Nevermind, I'll tell you later." I sighed.

"I shall await it eagerly." Purin declared.

"Yes. Yes, you will." I assured her.

The maidens all chipped in to clean up dinner, and everyone turned to me.

"So, Master, have you already determined the best means of accomplishing the Yfaan's request?" Tavorwen wondered.

"I mean, I have ideas." I admitted, "But the first thing I'll need to do is confirm my suspicions about what the black water actually is."

"You previously called it 'pollution'." Zynrin noted. "Was that not sufficient confirmation of your suspicions?"

"Not really." I answered honestly. "Pollution can be any number of things. That's like saying something is dirty. Could be dust, could be soot, could be just about anything."

"Then we are no closer to knowing what we must do than the Sea Elves are." Creadean assessed.

I saw Amura trying to make herself as small as possible.

"No, we have some facts at our disposal that do make that easier to figure out." I told them. "I know not everyone heard what you said on the ship, but Amura could you help us out again by telling everyone what you said when I mentioned the pollution on our way here?"

Amura squirmed.

"You have done nothing wrong here." I told her. "This was your mother's doing, and you aren't responsible for her."

Amura sighed. "My mother has been making weapons and armor much faster than we have done it in the past. With the abundance of resources on the surface, she has been able to ramp up production, with the smithies working night and day, with rotating shifts."

Everyone watched her intently as she spoke.

"I believe the slag and detritus that is produced when turning raw ore into metal is being dumped into the ocean as a means of disposal." Amura answered. "That is from conversations I overheard while serving my mother as her slave."

"Then it is easy." Niyk shrugged. "We need merely destroy Kathra's weapons and armor smithies and the pollution will be gone."

"That might be easier said than done." I admitted.

"How so?" Niyk scoffed. "You are a great warrior, and I have heard tales of your wondrous magic. It should be a simple matter for you."

"If that was all there was to it, then absolutely you'd be right." I told her. "But what would it be considered, if I was to blow up the smithies and kill all the Shadow Elves inside?"

"I do not understand what answer you are seeking." Niyk answered in annoyance.

"It would be an act of war." I told her.

I saw recognition flash on the faces of several of my matrons.

"Why does that matter? We have been at war with Kathra and her people ever since the Massacre." Niyk scoffed.

"But we are in a Respite." Othica prodded.

"Oh." Niyk accepted, her brows knitting together in thought before shooting up. "OH! It would violate the Respite and the Enlightened Host would be forced to punish us!"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." I noted, using a finger gun to point to Niyk.

The reference clearly confused them. I sighed and moved on.

"So we can't cut the pollution off at its source, and we can't attack the Shadow Elves to stop it." I clarified, "And even if we do cut it off, the pollution will naturally take years to resolve itself."

"So, what are we to do?" Laliera asked.

"I have an idea, but I need to check with people who actually know your divine law to verify it will work." I noted hesitantly. "So, Othica, as our resident expert, tell me what you think. My idea is..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ga'Vedra was livid. She had been humiliated and made a laughing stock by the Yfaan. She would see her enslaved and used as a pleasure toy by the giants until it killed the sea-breathing whore.

Almost as bad, the moisture of the water was deeply inset into all her leather garments, making them far less comfortable. Somehow the forest whores and their assortment of pets from the other races had managed to preserve their clothing in the wetness. Their hair had come dry into the Yfaan's chambers, where hers was a sodden mess.

She would discover what strange magic they used. It would not only assist her as she sabotaged these sand whores, but it would aid the army when they came to cull the bitches. The best they had come up with was the spell that allowed breathing underwater. That and the magic they had developed to stop the water from crushing them. That had only been discovered as a need after the first emissaries had gone missing, only to be found later dead. The magic that had allowed them to witness the emissaries' final moments had been gruesome, as they had been deep enough when they realized the problem that they were no longer able to easily surface. And then during their frantic climb from the depths, they had all been seized upon by horrible seeming pain, as their body was seemingly petrified and they perished before their corpses were filled with air and returned to the surface by that magic that had been prepared to keep them alive.

"Report." Ga'Vedra snapped.

"My lady." The Shade lowered her head further as she knelt before her mistress. "We have found the residence the Summon and his whores reside in. They are being monitored now. It is a short distance from here, but the water still interferes with our magic. We have not been able to reach El'Muth'Ran, nor any of the other settlements."

"What of the ship?" Ga'Vedra demanded.

"It is built incredibly sturdy... and we have lost two more Shades as they attempted to puncture the hull, or crack the viewing windows." The Shade answered cautiously.

"HOW!?" Ga'Vedra screamed, shooting to her feet. "There is a RESPITE! We are protected!"

"It seems the magic failed and they drowned," The Shade answered hesitantly.

"I cast that magic." Ga'Vedra snapped. "It could not have failed. Why do you believe this?"

"There was no wound found on their bodies, and it appeared as though they died from an inability to breathe." The Shade answered. "We had to vacate before the Sea Elves arrived to deal with their remains, but I did bring belongings so that their end could be scried."

"At least you accomplished something of value." Ga'Vedra snapped, holding out her hand.

The Shade produced blades, the weapons of the fallen saboteurs.

Ga'vedra took them, and stormed over to the table. She laid the first weapon out, setting the other aside. She grit her teeth, illusion magic as not her strong suit.

The words were chanted, and the vision opened.

The Shade swam with her partner, and Ga'Vedra almost decided she deserved her fate for being so at ease in the water. Both of them swam far better than she could.

The two reached the vessel the Summon and his whores had arrived in, and after a few of the Shades' handsigns, they split up to go sabotage different parts of the ship, as they had been directed. This Shade swam up to the glass dome that was the front of the ship, she carefully positioned herself, and pulled out a hand drill. She placed it against the glass and began to spin it. The tip was designed to cut glass, but seemed to struggle against the clear surface, finding no bite.

"Impossible. Only diamond glass could withstand our drills." The Shade gasped. "Such a quantity of diamond glass would take years to assemble. It is not possible."

Ga'Vedra nearly strangled her on the spot, but that would make her lose concentration on the vision. She had to know how her servant had died.

The Shade tried again, this time, Ga'Vedra noticed movement inside the ship.

It was that thrice cursed elemental again! The elemental slipped from its pool and seemed to flow out of the helm of the ship.

The Shade gave up and put the drill away, instead drawing a small vial of liquid. Before she could unstopper the liquid, whatever it might have been, suddenly the bubble of air around her face and mouth split. The Shade's eyes widened and she began to choke, holding her throat, as she slowly suffocated.

"Damn him and his damn elemental." Ga'Vedra cursed as she allowed the image to fade.

"What happened, why did your spell fail?" The Shade wondered.

Ga'Vedra backhanded the impetuous wench, sending her sprawling across the floor. She nursed her bruised hand before speaking the words of magic to heal herself. "Fool! Did you not watch what I did? My spell did not fail, but it was not intended to turn aside the wrath of a water elemental!"

She disregarded the injured maiden, the pain would perhaps teach her a lesson, and began the chant to verify what happened with the second Shade. The vision started out much the same, but when the first Shade had headed to the helm, she headed to the center of the belly of the ship, a place likely to have a storage room that could be entirely flooded before the ship realized the danger. It was odd how many windows this vessel had, but that wasn't what Ga'Vedra was looking for.

The Shade reached a spot, pulled out her own drill and set it to the wood. She began cranking on the drill, and while the drill seemed to bite into the wood, she struggled to produce the force to drill into the vessel without spinning herself.

Ga'Vedra ground her teeth, operating underwater was far more difficult than she had believed it would be. So many of their techniques and tricks did not work as they should. If that Shade had not been underwater, that drill should have easily bored a hole in the cunts' ship.

Then just as suddenly as the other Shade had, this Shade's air bubble was split by the water as well. Ga'Vedra could see where the elemental had pushed the water into her mouth and nose, as the bubble still covered portions of this Shade's chin and most of her eyes.

Ga'Vedra dismissed the image in frustration. She returned to her seat in frustration. That was five of her nine Shades wasted. She now had less remaining than she had lost.

"Slave, attend me." She barked.

A Shadow Elf with the white collar of a slave approached.

Ga'Vedra barked the command to release the magic holding her crotch cover and vrothan in place. She spread her legs and motioned toward her sex.

"Serve me." She commanded the slave.

The slave winced as she clearly didn't wish to do so, but the magic of the collar forced her hand. She scooted forward and extended her tongue to lick her owner's exposed sex. Ga'Vedra grabbed her by the hair and pressed the slave's face into her sex.

"Please me or be disposed of." She snapped.

That did at least motivate the slave maiden to do better.

Ga'Vedra lamented being unable to bring a male with her. But even in El'Muth'Ran, and even belonging to House Inganvith, she still only had her allotment of male rations. That did not include a months long voyage to the deep, and frankly Kathra may or may not have expected her to die before returning, so sending a male with her would have been a waste.

So instead, she gave her two slaves' tongues regular workouts. At least to start.

It was pleasant, but not truly satiating. That required the feeling of ejaculation. Even Shadow Elves could not deny that. What Ga'Vedra most desired here was the slight relief of the craving for time to think.

The Summon's ship was too well guarded by that elemental, and attempting to fight a water elemental at the bottom of the deep was suicide, as the Shades whose fate she had just witness testified. That and the magic they used to traverse the underwater city was still unknown. Too many factors were outside her understanding.

She needed real relief if she was to comprehend this.

"Come, slave." Ga'Vedra barked as she released the maiden's head, allowing her to at last pull back, gasping for breath.

Ga'Vedra led her to the bedchamber and laid back on her bed. The slave followed, glumly aware of what was to happen. This wasn't the first time she had been forced to perform this duty. The slave stripped off her clothes as she entered the bedchambers.

Ga'Vedra smiled and began her chant. Illusion magic was not her specialty, but transformation magic was.

The maiden groaned and twisted as the magic coursed through her. Finally, the slave stopped and stood upright, a male appendage hanging between the slave maiden's legs, at least for a few minutes.

"Now, service me properly." Ga'Vedra ordered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is bold, but it could perhaps work." Othica admitted, wide eyed and skeptical.

"Bold is a light word for it." Lorai muttered.

"We know you have had some success, but our people have attempted for generations-" Ufra began.

"I have advantages none of them have ever had." I pointed out.

"You are mad for even thinking of it." Zynrin informed me dryly. "But if you had told me I would itch for your touch one day, not long ago I would have called you mad myself."

"So, do we think it is worth a shot?" I asked.

"Perhaps, but I do not think that our first attempt can be against Ga'Vedra." Tavorwen admitted.

"I am against it, but I do support our Master, so if he says this is our path, we walk it." Niyk declared.

"Why not against Ga'Vedra?" I asked.

"It seems to me to be less likely to be successful." Tavorwen admitted. "It will be far less persuasive of circumstances."

I mulled that over. "I can see where you're coming from. And maybe the first success will lead to a second."

"Perhaps. For now, we should be cautious." Tavorwen declared.

"None of us want to lose our Master, least of all to a fool idea that we should have been smart enough to know better." Zynrin grumbled.

"So, if we aren't dealing with Ga'Vedra right now, how do we keep her in the dark?" I wondered.

"You saw her attempt at swimming," Laliera chuckled. "Do you truly believe she can keep up with Spiral when Spiral wishes to move?"

"Good point. Let's do it." I decided.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ga'Vedra laid back, pleased with how well that had worked. The thin, clear liquid leaking from her sex was no semen, and she could bear no child with it, but it was close enough to fool her body, and now she was once again satiated for a week.

The slave lay panting and convulsing on the bed at her feet. The magic had run its course and the maiden's body was returning to its normal state, the male appendage gone already. The magic was not kind to its host, but Ga'Vedra wasn't concerned. She was just a slave after all. A Shadow Elf slave, but a slave nonetheless. Who cared if she was suffering the effects of an incompatible transformation. The slave was miserable, but she was satisfied.

With a kick, she pushed the spent slave from her bed, then collected and reaffixed her garments. She stood and walked back into the outer room. The Shade was nursing a swollen face, and much as Ga'Vedra wished she could just kill her and replace her, she was not in El'Muth'Ran. The thought that perhaps that was why the Shade was so brazen angered her, but she had already lost more than half of her Shades.

"Ovael i' taiel." Ga'Vedra grumbled, resenting the Shade for being injured so much by a simple strike.

The Shade's face calmed and returned to normal, and she worked her jaw to loosen stiff, freshly healed muscles.

"Question me with such brazen insolence again, and you will pay with your life." Ga'Vedra snapped.

The Shade bowed.

As she took her seat, head clear and once again able to think, the door opened and a soaked and dripping Shade slipped in.

"The Summon and his house returned and had a brief word with the Yfaan. Now, they make way to their ship and depart!" She warned.

"WHAT!?" Ga'Vedra bounded to her feet.

This made no sense. They were here for a purpose. There was no way that they could have accomplished the task so quickly! Or did she completely misunderstand their intention?

What was that summon thinking?!

She dearly wished to pry his skull open and root around in the gray mess that would be inside.

"Can we tail them?" She demanded.

"We could try and plant a tracking stone on the ship." The Shade speculated. "But it moves far faster than we are able. We would have to wait for it to return, then plant the tracker."

"No. We mustn't touch the ship again. I can lose no more Shadow Elves to that elemental." Ga'Vedra hissed.

There was too much she didn't know and the ocean had far too many options it presented, and traditional tracking magic was worthless when the water bearing the essence of their passing scattered so quickly.

"By the hells..." She cursed. "Watch for their return... and let me think."

This assignment was not supposed to be this hard...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood at the helm as Spiral took us off toward our goal.

"Thanks for your help, Spiral." I chuckled.

"No problem. I'm happy to help with this." Spiral replied.

She seemed to be able to now both occupy the gem and have at least a part of her body out and in her pool. That meant she could now steer and communicate, at least with me, without contact with the gem.

Spiral's reaction when I told her the plan actually was very encouraging. In fact, not only was it encouraging for me, but some of the others actually started really getting on board.

"I never would have guessed, but you might be on to something." Niyk had muttered.

"This does feel... a touch underhanded, does it not?" Othica worried.

"I don't think so." I countered. "After all, Kathra has been doing everything she could to undermine the Respite, so why do we have to play nice?"

"I just hope the Yfaan's faith is well placed." Sefra muttered. "Besides, it is reckless to leave at such a time."

"What time is it?" I asked, looking around in the dark water and finding no context to tell.

"It is just after the end of day meal." Sefra scolded. "If it will take nearly as long as you say, it will likely take us a day or more to return, and we will be nearly collapsing from exhaustion."

"Okay, mages! I need you guys doing shifts. Half of you get to sleep now, the other half, stay at your windows." I called, using my military commander voice that echoed through the ship. "I want coverage, but I need you to be alert. Talk amongst yourself and find who is the most tired, and let them rest."

"What about the rest of us?" Laliera wondered.

They had all wanted to come along, and I couldn't blame them. Being left among the Sea Elves would have bothered me too.

"Well, there are enough hammocks for some of you to get some rest too." I pointed out.

"But what about you?" Risavis wondered. "I do not think you have rested for at least two days since we left the forest and started this expedition. The rest of us have all taken turns resting, but I do not believe you have."

I blinked. Huh... that's weird. I wasn't even tired.

"I'm fine, I promise. I'm not even really tired." I assured them.

"If you are feeling vigorous..." Niyk commented awkwardly.

"Oh, you purged, didn't you?" I noted, feeling through my bonds and finding the one that had pulses of need. Yep, she had purged.

"I can manage with Spiral." Othica assured me. "Go and sate her."

"You sure?" I questioned.

"I think Spiral and I are getting close to truly understanding one another." Othica reported happily. "Regardless, she can understand the directions I have, so she can manage the ship."

"Are you okay if I leave you with Othica here for a few minutes?" I asked.

"Yes, I like the white-feathered one." Spiral answered, half poked out of her gem so we could speak..

"Take your time." Othica urged. "We all miss the feelings..."

A glance around at my matrons told me that it was no lie. They had become accustomed to mind-blowing orgasms, and the quickies I had done yesterday with Amura, Creadean and Nauveir just hadn't hit the same.

"Alright, keep us safe so I can." I laughed.

Niyk raced to the chamber that had been set out for me. She was already topless, as were all of my Mountain Elf Matrons, but she quickly shed her belt and loincloth. I started undressing, but she quickly took over. My Wood Elf matrons were the fastest at stripping me, then were the Cloud Elves, and it was hard to tell if Laliera or the Mountain Elves were the slowest, but it still happened faster than the horniest college slut had managed on Earth.

Since Niyk clearly had claimed the task of undressing me, I took the task of warming her up. She shivered as I began to gently fondle first one breast, then both. She paused, her head lolling back in as I pinched gently at her nipples, then she redoubled her efforts, quickly landing me naked.

I reached around and got both cheeks of her ass in my hands, lifting her and carrying her the few feet to the hammock, planting a solid kiss on her lips as I did. She melted in my arms.

"Such a strong male..." She purred, "What fortune is mine."

I laid her down on the swaying bed. I'd made my hammock nice and wide, so her head and shoulders were still on it, as she was laid broadside across it with her hips and bum just on the edge. I kissed her more and one hand ventured from the curves of her rump, to the wet folds of her pussy. I swear, it will always surprise me how fucking wet an elven matron got when she had purged and was ready for more. I wasn't even aiming to, but she was so slick two fingers just slipped into her, despite her tightness.

She moaned, and the primal part of me that wanted to make my lover swoon and shake with pleasure accepted the command. My two fingers curled, stroking her g-spot on the top of her insides, as I was once again glad that elven women had the same pleasure spots as human women did. Niyk muttered something that sounded a lot like she was cursing, as her eyes fluttered and her hips bucked up into my hand. I kept stroking her as I leaned down and gently nibbled at the base of her neck, making her waver between scrunching small from the concentrated feelings invoked by my fingers in her sex, and stretching from the erotic feeling of my tongue and teeth on the crook of her neck.

Niyk's body exploded in orgasm, as she screamed in pleasure. I moved down to suck on her nipple as I kept fingering her, shifting from stroking her g-spot to deep thrusts, my fingers gently brushing against her cervix as I pumped in and out.

I remembered Niyk being a bit wild our first time, so I got curious. As Niyk came down from her orgasm I reached my pinky down and gently stroked her anus, as I kept pumping her tunnel. Her pussy was drooling enough that her anus was slick with her own lubricant.

"Are you going to inseminate my anus?" She panted, looking down at me. "The others have spoken of it... I... could allow it."

"No, not today." I assured her, pumping my fingers more in her pussy. "I'm going to give you what you want today, but I figured I could introduce you to this."

And with that, my pinky slipped into her tight little asshole. There was hardly any resistance, as she had been made aware of my intentions and was trying to keep herself calm about them, so it just slipped in. Niyk's eyes twitched and rolled upward at the strange new sensations, but did not object. Almost immediately, my pinky was pumping her backdoor as two fingers pumped her pussy, and the response was almost as instant. Nyk was twitching and spasming with pleasure she was unaccustomed to. I could see her mouth move as she tried to form words, but all that came out were moans and whimpers of pleasure.

Then I added my thumb on her clitoris, and she was gone. Shaking and spasming as wave after wave of orgasm washed over her. Her bond was a percussion solo of pleasure, beating in my head. I could almost tell if the orgasm originated from the clitoral stimulation, vaginal stimulation, or anal stimulation based on the tone of the pleasure. It was fascinating.

But, as with all elves, simply orgasming out of her mind wasn't truly satisfying for her. So, once she was a drooling, whimpering, hot mess I extracted my hand, placed my cock at her entrance and glided in. I could tell some part of her recognized the shift, and was eager for it, as her legs wrapped around me and tried to urge me on with little tugs, but she was so lost to pleasure that she could manage no more.

My hands returned to her breasts, fondling and pinching, as my cock hit every nerve of pleasure her pussy had to offer.

It was incredible, as always. Quickly driving me to my peak, not that I was far away with the amount of pleasure I had received through our bonds, and the raw, primal, male satisfaction of causing your lover such intense pleasure. I grunted, thrusting deep and allowing myself to cum, and cum hard. I couldn't tell if I was getting cocky, or if it really was true, but it felt like I was cumming even more now than I used to with the boon.

Niyk's orgasm was as explosive as my climax, her legs tightening to hold her important parts in place as her arms flailed, trying to find anything to anchor herself as she was blown away in pleasure, her neck trying to hold her head still and failing as the spasms shook her.

I could almost feel her womb accepting my deposit, as it seemed like pressure would build, then her depths would take a deep drink from the pool, only for it to be refilled again. Then she was filled, and the excess started leaking around my shaft, two rivelets of cum, then streams of cum, trailing down the grey curves of her rump.

The gong of her pleasure was a ringing force in my head, and the reverberations continued until after I was done, and really only started diminishing after I pulled out.

Niyk was gone. Conscious but spaced out in pleasure like the weed heads after taking way too much of the Lord's Lettuce. At first I worried the bed would be too soiled to really enjoy laying in, but I remembered that Lymarith had been offended at the thought of sending us off ill-prepared, and had enchanted the hammocks the same way the beds were. I could watch the excess of my cum slide down Niyk's thighs, but shortly after soaking into the hammock's material, the magic made a pass and the wetness was gone. Which was good, or she'd have been laying in a small pool at this point. So, I shifted her to now lay length-wise across my hammock, before I climbed in to cuddle with her. I hadn't had much opportunity to truly bond with my Mountain Elves, and this seemed like a good chance to connect with her emotionally.

She responded, even in her current state, cuddling into me and curling to press her cheek into my chest.

Her left hand rested on my forearm as she sighed in contentment.

I looked at the glowing sigil of our bond on her ring finger. With my sense enhancing headband, being the only thing I still wore, my vision began to focus on the dim sigil. I had always thought of the sigils as simple glowing rings, but now, looking at it more in depth, it was more akin to the sigils that I had from my matrons. I almost laughed as I saw what were clearly eagles, with wings wide spread, circling her finger, with bits of fire, lightning, and what seemed to be gemstones intermixed. The gold light was dim enough that it barely lit any of her finger, perhaps illuminating a couple millimeters of her finger on either side dimly, and I found that when I actually went to inspect it, it allowed itself to be viewed, much like their bands in my sigil.

Eagles, flames, lightning and gemstones. I could almost hear "America, FUCK YEAH" as I looked over the bond, but the gemstones seemed out of place.

Neat, I thought to myself and closed my eyes to just enjoy the cuddle.

Niyk's skin wasn't quite as soft as my other matrons', but I suspect that was a Mountain Elf trait. Seeing as how they were tougher than the other elves, running around half-naked all the time and seemingly immune to cold, it made sense that the price they paid was slightly less delicate skin. Now, don't get me wrong. Niyk's skin was still soft as any woman I'd been with on Earth, but I was realizing I was getting spoiled with the incredible softness of my other matron's skin. So while most elves would be insulted to be downgraded to having skin "soft as a baby's bottom", Niyk and likely the other Mountain Elves would have to deal with having skin as soft as a woman's after a fresh massage and lotion, without the residue left behind by that lotion.

The hammock kind of pressed us together, until somehow Niyk ended up the little spoon, and it wasn't until my hand started idly massaging that I realized my right hand had ended up on her left breast. Niyk certainly wasn't objecting, so I enjoyed my free little fondle. Niyk was sated, I was feeling pretty content too.

It was odd. I knew if I wanted to, I could get it back up, and could probably, if I pushed myself, hit every single matron in my house in a single day. My Boon of Endurance would keep me going, and seemed to turn my balls into instant sperm factories. It also occurred to me that I hadn't actually slept in... what two days?... since we'd come underwater, but I wasn't particularly tired. However, even knowing I could keep fucking for hours, having satisfied Niyk and cum more than I ever had in one session on Earth, I was content. Sated, as much as Niyk was. And though I knew I could sleep, and cuddling with Niyk I could feel it coming, I wasn't tired. It was like I knew I could eat, and if I did I'd feel my hunger, but I was content to not.

"Forgive me, Master." Tavorwen poked her head in, "But we thought you'd want to see this."

I extracted myself from Niyk's embrace, much to her displeasure, dressed quickly and then followed Tavorwen to the helm.

As we walked, I couldn't help but look at the sigil on Tavorwen's finger. I had to do a double-take. Where Niyk's sigil had eagles, gemstones and fire, Tavorwen's was a series of mystic looking arcane sigils. They blended in a kaleidoscope of geometric shapes, seeming bizarre and incomprehensible.

I didn't have long to contemplate the differences in the sigils, both representing me, as we walked through the doorway and got a look through the front glass.

"I can see why." I noted as I looked around the helm.

We had risen enough in the water that we could actually see in color again, and the water all around us was tainted. Black ribbons of oil, grease, and sludge were as thick around us as snow in a storm.

"I think your theory about the origin of the pollution is gaining merit quickly." Sevrina noted grimly.

"Well, we're still a ways out from our destination." I admitted. "With any luck we'll still be able to get closer without being detected."

"I don't like this at all." Spiral admitted, partially emerging from her crystal. "It feels so wrong."

"I'm sorry. You'll have to tolerate it a little while longer." I admitted sadly.

"I know, and if your course is successful, it will help the mother liquid greatly." Spiral admitted. "I still don't like it."

I smirked as she returned to the gemstone. She was starting to sound like a teenager.

"Alright, skeleton crew time." I declared. "This close to the surface, I feel like we should be safe from the monsters from the depths, but we'll keep three mages in battle stations. Everyone else, get some rest. If everything works out, you shouldn't be needed, but I'd rather have you available at full potential and not need you than need you and have you be exhausted."

My matrons reluctantly agreed, and I was left alone in the helm.

"Do you truly think you can convince them?" Spiral wondered.

"If they are reasonable, I think so." I answered. "But... at the very least, I think I can bring enough of them around to make a difference."

"I hope so." Spiral answered.

We had to get them to stop dumping dross into the ocean. My plan felt almost underhanded, but it was Kathra and her forces we were dealing with. It wasn't as though their hands were clean.

For the last couple of hours of daylight, and through the night, I kept Spiral company.

"Hey Spiral, do you sleep?" I wondered.

"Sleep? What is sleep?" Spiral asked.

"When you just stop doing things and rest. I guess it is a time for recovery and healing." I answered.

"Strange. I do not know. I have never needed to heal, so perhaps that would require me to sleep, but I do not even truly know what that entails." Spiral admitted.

"Well, if you haven't done it yet, I suppose you don't truly need to," I mused.

We stayed at least twenty yards below the surface as we maintained our course. As predicted, the pollution of the water got worse and worse, until we had to rise until we were barely below the surface to still have moonlight to travel by.

My matrons returned as the morning sun was piercing the waters. They were looking rested and ready for the day. Especially Niyk.

I had Spiral bring us up just a touch, so that the dome of the helm barely crested the surface.

"Looks like we've made good time." I announced.

Ahead the coast looked like the Orcs from Lord of the Rings had taken up residence and Saruman was building an army to crush the world of men. The hills were all mud brown, or ash gray. Every tree had been torn down and there were at least five enormous stone buildings with smokestacks belching smoke into the sky. A cart loaded with wood and pulled by some type of giant beast approached one of the buildings, and a cart from another building backed up to the water, and tipped, dumping a wagonload of dross into the ocean.

"Let's submerge again, before they see us." I urged Spiral.

The ship dipped once more below the waves. I gently guided Spiral as close to shore as I dared. I didn't want to get the ship stuck in the mud and rocks that the seafloor became as we approached the shore.

"I'm going in." I declared. "All of you stay here."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Creadean protested. "If anything happens, we'll be too far away and have water in the way. We won't be able to see, and would never reach you in time."

"I have my boons." I told her. "If the worst happens, I will use my Boon of Celerity to run. But if I take any of you with me, it will just make me that much more likely to be seen."

"Alright." Tavorwen accepted, and the Head Battle Matron's acceptance killed the further objections I could see the others having to swallow. "Good hunting."

"Thank you." I acknowledged.

I turned to the navigation gem. "Spiral, keep them safe and where they won't be noticed, but don't get too far away."

"I can do that." Spiral accepted.

I walked to the hatch.

"Do you truly think you can exit the vessel underwater?" Zynrin wondered.

"The theory is sound." I shrugged. "If water starts coming in, then I'll know it isn't working and I can tighten the hatch back down."

Zynrin was unimpressed.

"Now, shush. Let me concentrate." I hissed.

I followed the most basic advice I'd been given most of my life. "Keep it simple, stupid." I imagined a simple bubble around myself, bigger than would fit in the space leading out of the hatch. Drawing on my will to give it power, I felt... something go. So I reached up and began to spin the wheel that tightened down and locked the exterior door to the sub. When water didn't immediately start rushing in, I was encouraged.

The door opened and it was kind of surreal, climbing out, underwater, with a bubble of air I knew I was making being the only thing between me and the second grossest water I'd ever seen. Third world cesspools were worse, but not by much. The water looked like it belonged in a video game in their "toxic sludge" level.

"Everything okay?" Zynrin called.

"Yep, everything is going according to plan." I assured her. "Now, close the hatch behind me."

I helped her close the door and heard the gentle squeaking and grinding of the locks being engaged, giving a slight tug once it was quiet to verify that it was locked. It didn't budge. I stood back and concentrated on shrinking my bubble. When there was no air leakage around the tightly closed hatch, I was content it was fine.

I turned and walked to the edge of the sub, taking my tiny bubble of air with me. I contemplated jumping down and walking to shore, but I didn't like the look of the mud, so instead, I revisited my stint as Iron Man, and used my fiery propulsion to gently, and slowly hover in to shore. About twenty feet from the water's edge, the mud turned to gravely sand and rocks, so I landed, grateful that I was getting the hang of minimal propulsion and hovering, instead of having to hurtle at rocket speeds ahead.

I crouched as I approached the shore, staying low and mobile as I emerged, still dry, from the disgusting water.

The ground was torn up like an industrial tractor had just tilled everything for a new planting, except not nearly as neat and organized. There were plenty of hills and rocks for me to hide behind, and I looked at the Shadow Elf fortress in the distance. I moved, cover to cover, closer to the fortress, until I found a spot where I could be right at the water's edge. The filthy water lapped over my boots which, luckily, were water proof.

"Alright, time to see if I can pull this off." I whispered to no one in particular.

I put the fingertips of one hand just into the disgusting water's surface, and the other hand I placed carefully on dry land.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. New magic was always weird, but it took me several minutes to even manufacture the thoughts of what I was actually trying to do, so I could feed my will into it.

I felt the magic start.

It was showtime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kre'Mansai stood overseeing the great furnace at work. More iron and steel was produced in a single day here at the Great Kathra's wondrous smithy than they had managed in an entire year under the surface. Kre'Mansai was extremely proud to have been put in charge of such a critical task. The sweat ran in rivelets down her brow, neck, between her cleavage and over her bare stomach. High rank as she was, it was only proper for her to wear the bare minimum, as additional clothing would indicate she lacked influence to get properly enchanted clothing and required mundane protection, in addition to being a fashion statement of inadequacy. The sweat continued to crawl down her bare thighs, until it reached the fashionably tall boots that covered her legs from toe to mid thigh. Even the magic of her garments couldn't keep her completely cool. The coolness at least was strongest where she was covered. Her duradra, wrapping around her back and covering just enough of each breast to hide her nipples, was more enchanted for defense than comfort, but it kept the area under it cool at least. Her vrothan cooled her rear and intimate places, and being actually enchanted for comfort, it kept those areas clean and cool. The additional area covered by the vrong, on top of the vrothan, was still better than her bare skin, but again, the vrong was enchanted for defense, not comfort. Her boots, at least, had surface area to allow more enchantments, so the sweat was purged the moment it slipped into the leather sheath over her legs, and her legs were cool.

Kre'Mansai clicked her tongue and pointed at one of the workers below. The message was relayed and the slacker cried out as the serpent fang whips cracked, the fangs of the whip biting into the worker's skin through her worker's attire. The full leather apron and cotton shirt were torn, and blood could be seen.

"Get back to work!" The half-clad overseer ordered. "No resting until your relief arrives."

The maidens all redoubled their efforts, their own clothing's magic likely the only thing keeping them functioning in the heat. Most of them were low born enough that they could hardly afford clothing, let alone well enchanted clothing that would allow them to flaunt their beauty. None of them belonged to the High Houses, or the work would be well beneath them.

"Governess..." An overseer approached and bowed.

"Speak." Kre'Mansai barked.

"I have been granted time with a male." The overseer declared. "May I go and partake?"

Kre'Mansai almost refused her. Males could wait. And the weaker sex was far too delicate to even think of coming here, so there was no way she could simply be inseminated as she worked. The Overseer was of House Hromnor too, so it was bold of her to make such a request when her Governess was of House Inganvith.

Additionally, Kre'Mansai wasn't so foolish she couldn't recognize her own jealousy. She had yet to be permitted to breed and this lesser overseer was being given the privilege? She ought to flog the overseer for her audacity... but that would disrupt the work.

Kre'Mansai feared angering Kathra with low numbers more than she wished for retribution, so she just gave a hissing snarl and jerked her head.

The overseer rose and hurried away.

At least a child of the high houses would be worth something. Either a maiden to fill out the army or a governing office, or a male to be traded around and used for breeding purposes. Unlike the children of any of the whore sub-elves who the weapons built today would help slay.

Kre'Mansai at least took comfort in the knowledge that soon, her successes would surely see her rewarded with a male, maybe two, to do with as she pleased. She'd be able to breed to her heart's content and trade services beyond her needs for favors, even better food, and other treasures.

"Um, Governess..." One of the guard maidens stammered shakily.

"What?" She spat as she turned on the maiden.

"There is a problem outside." The maiden responded.

"By Ya'av's bleeding folds... can you resolve nothing yourselves!?" She fumed, trying to ignore the tingle beneath her vrothan... She couldn't get her own male soon enough.

She stomped after the fleeing maiden, and stepped outside.

"Oh." She breathed, her eyes widening.

Beneath her the waters were pulling back from the dump track. The waters writhed, the dross and byproducts of smelting they dumped swirling and concentrating and the majority of the water clearing as the water rose into an enormous form. Pits resembling eyes seemed to form on the water's surface along with something akin to a mouth.

"MAGES!!!" Kre'Mansai screamed. "What are you waiting for!?"

Lightning, fire and ice blasted from the ramparts below. The great water being, an elemental, now stood at least three coils high. The elemental's roar, like the crashing of angry waves, told Kre'Mansai that they were managing nothing but to anger it.

"Where are the Conjurers!? Get it bound!" She ordered.

"Governess... look!" The guard gasped, pointing.

"I have bigger matters at... hand... By the Goddess..." Kre'Mansai trailed off.

This was impossible.

Greater elementals generally stood between a coil and a coil and a half tall. Only the term "Primordial Elemental" could describe the water elemental before them. Because it must be an elemental of great age and power to grow to such size, as it was twice the size of a greater elemental and still growing. Such beings were nightmares. The creative delusions of an overactive mind.

But not only was there a monstrosity of water now moving toward the water's edge with arm-like pseudopods that were starting to lash out, striking barriers her mages put up... But another was rising on the shore.

This new threat was at least four coils high, and was composed not of water, but of dirt, mud, rock and stone. It had a clear head, with great round stones, rolling like eyes, and a mouth full of jagged "teeth" of stone.

This new creature, too large to be called an elemental, reached down, grabbed a handful of earth the size of a house, and flung it towards her facilities.

"Mages! Get that-" Kre'Mansai screamed, but her voice cut out as she was blasted off her feet by a slurry of dross and sludge. She coughed and retched trying to expel what had gone in her mouth, but before she could even manage that, the earthen projectile hit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I almost felt bad for the Shadow Elves.

I watched from my position, crouching behind the cover of a small hill, as the elementals unleashed their fury on the Shadow Elf forges. You could see flashes and particles as the Shadow Elves fought against their attackers.

"Now I guess it makes sense why they were so afraid of Spiral." I chuckled, wincing as Rockslide threw another ridiculously big hunk of dirt and stone. "Sheesh."

It had been surprisingly easy to convince the elementals to help out. Once I summoned them, they immediately got pissed about the state of nature here, and then I just had to tell them who had done it.

Now *I* wasn't attacking the Shadow Elves. My new buddies, or at least I hoped we'd still be buddies when they were done, were.

"Hiring Railyn was a mistake." I told the emptiness between me and the fortress as Squall finally reached the wall on the seaward side and with a great slam, punched a hole through the ramparts. "I didn't even have to pay these guys though. You just pissed them off for me."

The plan had been simple. Summon Elementals until I found ones pissed off enough to help. Turns out that had been overly critical of how eager elementals were to wreck anyone who spoiled nature. I was glad Othica's information had been correct about earth elementals. They loved good, fertile soil, loved living plants, and hated desolate places. Barren soil was a tragedy to them, as soil wanted to be full of life and that meant plants, animals and insects. Rockslide had needed to be convinced to wait while I finished talking with Squall before they had gone at it.

It had also been interesting to see them grow from the size I'd summoned them, to the size they actually were. Now it was like watching a stone godzilla and that one bald kid with the arrow on his head when he went water form... whatever show that was... just absolutely wreck these Shadow Elf facilities. The Shadow Elf spells might as well have been small arms fire against an armored warship.

Squall cried out in anger, and looking I could see glowing chains leaping from a nearby section of the wall to start wrapping around Squall.

"Unbind me, you defilers!" Squall screamed.

This could be a problem. I knew I still wasn't allowed to directly interfere, if they could-

A stone the size of a tank slammed into that section of wall and the chains dissolved into nothing.

"Atta boy, Rockslide!" I celebrated, pumping my fist.

Movement drew my eyes to the inland side of the facilities. It took my eyes a second to focus on something so far away, but I could see a small mob of Shadow Elves, all in what I'd consider to be modest work clothes, like leather aprons, thick padded clothes, and even some metal plates that were clearly form over function for protecting from spray or other shrapnel involved when, I would at least guess, they were working steel. They were clearly running in blind panic from the bedlam behind them.

Watching one of the smokestacks, probably at least a hundred and fifty feet tall, or about one and a half times the size of Squall, and just bigger than Rockslide, fall and break on the ground below, I couldn't really blame them.

Then Rockslide seemed to see them, and before I could do anything, a boulder bigger than any car was sent crashing through the throng. The aftermath looked like a swarm of ants that a child had just danced on. Since there were still large numbers of fleeing Shadow Elves, Rockslide threw another boulder, then a clump of earth that seemed to shatter on impact, sending a grapeshot of smaller projectiles through the fleeing elves. After that, I didn't see any movement among the fleeing Shadow Elves.

I tried not to think about it. Part of me screamed that I needed to protect them, these were women, but among the elves, women were the majority, and did the dangerous work. Those were military aged adults, decimated by a powerful foe, yes, but still military aged adults from the dominant military gender. They were enemy combatants, just like any other.

I couldn't let my objective fail just because the warrior gender in this world was women, at least among the elves.

Seeing the fires that the smokestack had been taming, I wondered if I could add a Fire elemental to the mix.

Looking around there wasn't much, but I found a small root, lit it on fire, extended my hand toward it and channeled my will.

"Please, answer my call." I asked.

The fire flared, two yellow points appeared in the flame.

"Who are you...?" The tiny flame asked.

Given the fact that Rockslide had been about the same size at first and now was a 120 ft tall Godzilla, I wasn't too worried about his current size.

"I am Thomas, and I hope I am a friend." I told him.

"You... called... no prison." The fire observed.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You may call me-" The fire crackled for a second before my magic could translate, "Wildfire."

"Hello, Wildfire." I greeted him. "I wanted to give you an opportunity to have some fun."

Wildfire's little pinpricks of eyes turned toward the chaos. I lifted the root to make sure the tiny fire could see.

"I am... uninterested." Wildfire dismissed, and turned back to me. "I see others already are 'having fun'. But there is no appeal to me here."

That rapidly put dampers on my hopes of perhaps summoning an army of elementals when Kathra came. The Elves, or at least the ones I was on good terms with, took good care of their homes, the elementals would have no reason to be mad at them, and if Kathra's destruction got close enough to Elven territory, then we had a world of other problems already. I wasn't about to compel elementals to fight for a world they had no stake in.

"That's just fine. I can send you back home." I assured Wildfire.

"What are you?" He asked, ignoring my offer.

"I'm a human. I was summoned by the Elves to help fight against bad Elves, but I'm not about to make you fight if you don't want to." I assured him.

"You are strange, flesh man." Wildfire declared. "I was curious when I heard your call, and my curiosity remains unsated. However, there seem to be no answers here. How disappointing."

With that, the fire diminished and I could feel Wildfire disappear well before the flame was snuffed out by a passing breeze.

I had been hopeful, but it seems Elemental motivations weren't quite as easy to manipulate as I had hoped. Maybe if I got close to El'Muth'Ran again, then I could maybe pull on another earth elemental, but it was starting to feel like I'd gotten lucky.

Rockslide was now moving into arms reach, no longer content to take chunks of the earth the size of houses and chuck them at the fortress. His stone and mud arms crashed into the buildings, knocking building blocks down in the same way a child might crash through a foam block wall.

The flashes of magic, and signs of resistance, were long gone. All that was left was for me to sit back and let my new friends do their thing.

"It is almost a shame, isn't it?" The Elf sitting at my side lamented.

"Yeah, if they had just done things smarter, this could have been incredible." I agreed. "With magic, you could turn the slag into something useful and then I couldn't have just unleashed the elementals and..."

My head snapped around. Where had this elf come from!?

Then I recognized him.

"X'Thallion, you really need to announce yourself." I grumbled, settling back to watch. "You very nearly just got shot."

"It would be interesting to see how much damage your weapon could do, but I do not think it would do either of us good." X'Thallion admitted. "A weapon such as that could never kill me, but might cause enough pain to anger me. So at best your faith in your tools would be shaken, and at worst, I would lash out and ruin our relationship. Neither seems desirable."

"Wait, gods can be killed?" I speculated. That had sounded like what he had implied when he said that a weapon like my guns couldn't do it. That meant there were other weapons that could.

"To kill a god is a serious thing." X'Thallion cautioned. "No god would willingly volunteer the information on how to do it to a mortal... but I will not deny it is possible."

"I'll be careful then, if we ever spar." I snorted.

"Your world's humor is strange to me." X'Thallion admitted. "But to believe that you would require caution is the height of arrogance. Should you ever find yourself facing down a god, you must not hesitate. Battling a god requires perfect union of perception and movement. Even the time required to think would slow you enough that you would perish."

"Yeah, sounds like a problem." I admitted. "Let's avoid that."

"I will certainly avoid it, and will advise my matron goddesses and children to do so as well." X'Thallion assured me.

We sat for a second.

"You haven't felt the need to show up before." I pointed out.

"There was no risk of you violating the Respite before." X'Thallion replied. "Sending an avatar to remind you that you are not to harm any of my children during the Respite seemed preferable to the mandated divine retribution should you violate the sacred law."

"You know Ya'av and Kathra are just using it against you, right?" I pointed out.

"It is the domain of Evil to exploit the conscience of Good." X'Thallion nodded, somewhat grimly. "Where Evil gains advantage by utilizing tactics that would break the righteous soul, Good gains advantage through strength of virtue, power of unity and shelter of law. If we surrender that which differentiates us, then we become what we seek to destroy."

"Stare too long into the abyss and the abyss stares back into you." I repeated the phrase so often used it was now an old trope.

"Precisely." X'Thallion agreed.

"So, does this all hurt?" I wondered, my eyes wandering over the field of Shadow Elf corpses.

"Of course." X'Thallion admitted quietly. "Just because your children reject you, does not mean that they no longer hold a place in your heart. But I was rejected, and so I could not protect them. Yavoria, their mother, the one whose place it was to protect them... now Ya'av... she chose not to. Her energy is reserved for other uses."

"What's she doing?" I wondered.

"She does not share that information with me." X'Thallion replied. "My faithful matrons share all that they are and have with me, so of them, I may know at any given moment what is happening, but Yavoria and Golera... Ya'av and Govarinta... They have closed off our bond."

"So I am still going in blind." I sighed. "I'd love a little bit of intel here."

"She is as blind to you as you are to her." X'Thallion consoled me. "Which is fortunate, because it means that perhaps your tactics may still be of use to you."

"Perhaps? You don't know?" I asked.

"I see, you believe gods to be omniscient. All knowing." X'Thallion nodded in understanding. "Convenient as that would be, it is not the case in this world. Even gods with domains of visions and oracles of the future do not know all, and cannot know all. Their visions contradict and change each other. The mere act of prophesying changes the subject matter. It is why we have not bothered with prophets among our people as some races do. Too often it ends in confusion and misunderstanding."

"So you don't know if I'm going to be enough." I summarized.

"No." He answered simply.

"Do you know if any of my matrons will survive?" I added quietly.

"It is impossible to know." X'Thallion admitted. "Even my daughter, Evenshtara, the Fate Weaver, can only tempt fate, she cannot leash it. Were it so, every god of fate would be in endless war and there would be no peace among the gods."

"Am I at least doing what you want me to?" I wondered.

It wasn't like I worshipped him. I barely worshipped Jesus, and he was the god for my world. But... I was now banging more than twenty of his daughters. Frankly I'd be going for the balls of any boy who did that to my daughters...

... Holy shit, one day the children I was having would have these same polygamous relations... fuck, that was going to be tough getting my head around.

"You have performed far better than I had hoped." X'Thallion assured me. "It is most fortunate that your summoning succeeded, and it was you who was summoned. Many other summoned heroes would have already perished, or would lack your capacity to bear our boons. For in a coming day, you will need all that you have been given and more."

"Is that a prophecy?" I prodded ruefully.

"Not a prophecy, a prediction." X'Thallion assured me. "Your path is on course for events that will test the very limits of your soul, and should you fail, it will be a catastrophe unlike any this world has seen."

"How comforting." I grumbled.

"I believe you are up to the task. You have won over the rest of the host quite nicely." X'Thallion comforted me. "They too have faith in the champion that seeks to save our people."

He stood. "But the time is come for me to leave."

I looked up at the chaos. "What happened?"

"You can no longer break the Respite here." X'Thallion answered. "For none of my daughters who once were here remain. Since there are no adversaries for you to transgress against, there can be no breach of the Respite."

I turned back to him, but he was gone.

"Goodbye to you, too." I grumbled. "Who do you think you are? Batman?"

With a sigh, I started walking down toward where Rockslide and Squall were still thrashing the remains of the forges.

By the time I got there, not a single stone stood on top of another. It looked like all the steel and iron had been reduced to shards and slivers. Rockslide was now half submerged in the earth and where he passed, the trail he left was dark brown topsoil. Squall was in the bay, where once had been a ramp and the Shadow Elves had dumped their sludge and slag.

"Thank you!" I called to them.

Rockslide paused, turning to me. "WE DID NOTHING FOR YOU, MORTAL. THE LAND CRIED, AND NOW IS SOOTHED."

"THE WAVES STILL WEEP." Squall protested angrily. "IT WILL TAKE MANY GREAT CYCLES FOR THE MOTHER LIQUID TO HEAL."

"Let me see what I can do." I offered, jogging down to the waterfront.

I dipped my fingers in the water and tried to concentrate. Damn, I wish I was better at chemistry. I'd taken one class, for one semester in High School. I could tell you that the periodic table was a thing, and probably most of the higher up elements, but I couldn't have recited the whole thing. I knew there were a couple types of bonds, and electrons did everything electric-wise, but it wasn't like I knew how to take apart this slag and transform it into something useful. I couldn't even tell if the sludge was oil, or some kind of petroleum, or just... ick.

I pulled my fingers out, coated in black gunk, and concentrated. I needed some way to purify it, make it clean, maybe just a bit of energy would-

The gunk caught fire.

"Ack!" I protested, flipping my hands, propelling the flaming goop off my fingers and stomping on it to extinguish the fire. Well, I had confirmed that I was not fireproof. Dammit. My fingertips were burnt now. I was definately getting blisters.

Well, wasn't burning just water expanding and bursting membranes? I remembered enough of biology to know that I was made of cells and cells survived by having a barrier around them. If I recalled correctly, burning them was like putting an egg in the microwave. As the liquid heated up, pressure built up faster than it could escape until... pop.

I tried to imagine the cells, tried to imagine them coming back together, membranes healing... And I fed the will that gave power to my magic to that.

And it was like trying to push yarn through a pane of glass. There was no way for the will to enter the thought. I tried for about two minutes before I gave up.

"How the hell does healing magic even work?" I grumbled.

Wait a second. Maybe I was being too pedantic about this. When I made fire in my hand, I didn't imagine the molecules vibrating super fast. I imagined fire. Sure, for my boosters I imagined the air splitting into oxygen and hydrogen, then I put them together at the end to make the jet fuel I was using... though I'm pretty sure real jet fuel is petroleum-based, now that I think about it.

I tried to imagine green healing energy, like Jacob's games always showed, covering my fingers and the blisters going away. Then I took a thread of will and fed it into that idea.

This time the energy took! And in a moment, my fingers were healed.

"Well, that was productive. Figured out at least basic healing." I muttered inspecting the now completely returned to normal fingertips.

Back to the task at hand.

I dipped my fingers in the water. But now, I had an idea. Just like how I didn't need to bother exactly with the "how" of healing, maybe I didn't need to worry about the "how" of cleaning the water. So I just imagined my power passing through the water in a great wave, the blackness turning to clean water and... sand falling out the bottom, clear and healthy. Sure, that seemed good. I took my will and fed it into the idea.

Have you ever watched a small child walk a large dog? They seem to be going along just fine, until the dog sees a squirrel, and then suddenly the dog is having a great time, and the child is body surfing on the grass and hanging on for dear life. That was what it was like when my will entered the idea. My will was pulled, almost violently, into the idea. I could feel myself draining as the idea drained more and more.

In front of me, a wave of light shot through the water, not electricity but pure light. Magic. It felt like my soul was getting sucked out my fingers like a straw, as the light expanded further and further until I couldn't see where it was extended to. But the drain kept going.

Shit! I didn't think to put some kind of limit on it! The magic was now going wild, and I couldn't seem to cut off the flow of my will into it! I could feel myself getting cold, as the magic kept pulling and pulling more out of me.

I couldn't tell you how long I crouched there. I could no more pull my fingers out of the water than I could stop my will from flowing in a thicker and thicker stream into my magic.

At last, I collapsed, the magic done. I was cold. So cold. And sweating too. I started to shiver, and tried to stand but my limbs had no strength.

"YOU HAVE HEALED THE MOTHER LIQUID." Squall declared. "WE THANK YOU."

"No problem." I panted.

At least I did something good, if this was the end. What a stupid way to die.

Squall moved around me, looking kinda like that one character... Bob? Bob the Ooze from that Monsters vs Aliens movie, was it? It was something like that. He kept all the water he was composed of together and formed a being more tall than wide, and his water flowed down the slope to the water, going around me, and when he entered the water, he submerged, then I could feel his presence no more.

I could feel the bonds of my matrons getting closer, and I was certain the ship was going to surface any second now.

"Well, this was quite helpful, however it does somewhat cause a problem." A feminine voice muttered.

"It does indeed." A male voice agreed.

Turning around, I found two Sea Elves standing there, looking over the destruction the elementals had caused.

"Let me guess... Cranatha and Zilmanthan?" I greeted them.

Othica had made sure to give me a little bit of an exposé on the Sea Elf Deities during our free time on our voyage to the depths.

Cranatha's title was "The True Healer" as she had been the one to introduce healing magic to the Elves. The Cloud Elves had better affinity for healing than the Sea Elves, but apparently the Sea Elves were still deemed proteges when it came to healing magic because they were almost as capable when it came to healing as their winged sisters, and they did it using secular magic, instead of religious magic. The other races could try their secular spells for healing, but they never seemed to work right.

She was a prime example to me of godly domains not seeming to match up with the people the god represented. Cranatha not only was a goddess of healing, as a patron of a people with minimal skill with religious magic, but she was also a goddess of the sun, but was the patron of a people who lived in the sunless bottom of the ocean.

Zilmanthan made more sense for the Sea Elves, as the "Faultless Navigator". One of X'Thallion's sons, he was one of the second generation of the gods, and as of yet was still matron-less, though it seemed like there were factions like nuns of every people who had a patron who was one of the matron-less male gods. They believed the gods were just waiting for virtuous and worthy maidens to be made into matrons of the gods. Othica had said that was not how divinity worked, however. When I had mentioned "demigods", Othica had looked at me like I had grown a second head, so at least this world didn't have to worry about a god deciding to "go Zeus" on a bunch of mortal women.

Zilmanthan had the domains of Air, Earth, Protection, Travel and Water. Air and Earth had confused me at first, but then I realized that the sea-based "Navigator" being able to control winds for sailing vessels actually made a lot of sense. And Earthquakes were part of Poseidon's domain, so that wasn't that crazy to me either.

"Indeed. We thank you for aiding our daughters." Cranatha inclined her head in acknowledgement. Her garb looked like the swimsuits the other Sea Elves wore, and having seen how the garbs handled water, it now made sense.

"However, you discovered a means to overcome our trial that required too little on your part." Zilmanthan confessed. "Were we to reward your works with boons after such a meager effort was required on your part, the boons would not carry sufficient strength."

"So that's why I need to do these stupid tasks?" I sighed. "The more effort the task requires, the more powerful the boon?"

"In general, that is true. However, the true measure of the strength the boon will bestow is set based on the expected effort required, not what you had to expend to accomplish the task." Cranatha explained. "However... it was not truly you who accomplished the task we laid before you."

"Though cleaning the ocean was a nice touch." Zilmanthan admitted. "But given that the natural processes would have purified it, in short enough a time, that granting you the boons based on that would also be insufficient."

"Is the fight with Kathra really going to be that tough?" I demanded. "I can already go super speed and just cut her down, or shoot her in the fucking face, can't I?"

"It will not be so simple." Cranatha sighed. "Even Evenshtara cannot fully foresee the events to come, but it is known you will require every bit of power we can give you. For this cause have your tasks been so monumental."

"Ridding the plains of the kanegs, bringing peace between Cloud Elf and Dragonkind once more, defeating the army of Ya'av's gorgons... Each task was selected to push you to your limit. Regardless of the ease with which you accomplished them, no greater task could be laid before you." Zilmanthan explained.

"So, now you have to come up with an even greater task for me?" I sighed.

"Perhaps..." Cranatha murmured, tapping the first knuckle of her bent pointer finger on her chin.

"Mother, you cannot be considering..." Zilmanthan protested.

"It is all that remains." Cranatha answered.

"Surely he could..." Zilmanthan began, but he seemed to struggle to actually provide an alternative.

"All other tasks are forbidden by the Respite." Cranatha shook her head.

"Yeah, about that. If I wasn't supposed to summon allies to take care of all this, how was I supposed to take care of it?" I demanded.

"Simple." Zilmanthan scoffed. "Sneak in, destroy the forges, and get out undetected. The Forge was the problem, not Ya'av's children, though perhaps it is best that her children's capacity was fully crippled in this way. The smiths could have restored the forge to function within weeks, but with at least the majority of her smiths annihilated, it will take her longer to recover."

"Like the saboteurs that Kathra has been sending into Ealphamir?" I surmised.

"Much the same, though we were hoping your efforts would be more fruitful." Cranatha admitted. "Luckily, Abarith's daughters have wisened to the threat hidden in the shadows of their forest."

That did actually make a lot of sense. And the task had been given to me just after I'd learned about the Shadow Elves sneaking around both Ealphamir and Phoreshaira. I could see where the gods would assume that would be my tactic. And I'd already used stealth in my attack on El'Muth'Ran, but I doubted a ghillie suit would be helpful when moving through the stone halls of the Shadow Elf factory.

"This seemed more efficent." I shrugged. "Besides, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of having to run if I got caught. This was the only way I could think of to actually fight them."

"The Lorpin female gave you the idea?" Cranatha assessed.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "Kathra was able to bring in outside help to try and take me down, and Railyn suffered no ill effects from breaking the Respite, because she isn't a part of the Respite. Well, Spiral didn't suffer any ill effects from killing the Shadow Elves who tried to hijack our submarine either. So seeing if I could get elementals to help seemed like the smartest path."

"It was bold of you to summon Primordial Elementals with so little protection." Cranatha noted, watching as Rockslide continued to fertilize and clean up the area around what used to be the great forge. "However, given your power and the lack of fear you showed seemed to gain you a measure of respect."

"Alright. Great. Cool." I sighed. "So what is my next task going to be?"

"You must slay the Great One." Cranatha declared.

"Great One?" I repeated, my eyebrows raising.

"Yes. They are known by many names, but the Great One is a monster of the deep. He is a beast of enormous size, like unto a dragon, but without wings. He swims the depths, breathing blue fire and emerging only to rampage and destroy until he has consumed enough to return to his slumber." Zilmanthan explained.

That sounded one hell of a lot like...

"I have to kill Godzilla!?" I demanded.

"God... zilla?" Cranatha questioned.

"A legendary monster from Japanese... nevermind." I sighed

"That is the only task remaining that could earn you sufficient strength in our boons, in regards to our children, but remains possible despite the circumstances of the Respite." Zilmanthan explained.

I sighed. "Any hints about how to kill your kaiju?"

"Were we to provide that, it would lessen the task and lessen the resulting boon." Cranatha lamented.

"I'd wondered if that was how that worked." I admitted. "The Cloud Elves had theories, but they also thought... hey, am I becoming a god?"

The pair of divine beings turned and gave me a confused look.

"No." Zilmanthan stated bluntly. "While there may be paths for you to divinity, you are currently not on any of them. Why do you ask?"

"The Cloud Elves thought I was a developing god or something." I explained.

"Oh, they perceived thy soul?" Cranatha nodded knowingly. "The god of your home has bestowed upon his children much more potent souls than any soul of this world. We all treat our worshippers as children, but it is as if your spirit were directly created or endowed by your god's power and authority,"

"Though with how rough about the edges your soul is, even now, it seems as though you have not exercised it greatly before obtaining your boons." Zilmanthan noted. "Even the most basic of worship would have tempered your soul and made it more suitable... perhaps more adept would be a better word... with your boons."

"Dammit." I swore. "I guess I should have been more of a Jesus-person."

"No matter, your soul is progressing nicely in its adaptation to the boons." Cranatha comforted me. "The exercises you have engaged in the past week and more have done great things for your soul."

"Last week... all I did was make the ship!" I protested.

"Indeed." Zilmanthan agreed. "You exercised your boon, learned and adapted. Was not the final day of construction far more productive than the first?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but paused. That first day I had barely managed to make anything, and by the end I was... well, making large portions of the ship each day. I had gone from struggling to make a single marble's worth of diamond glass to making entire panes of diamond glass that were freaking thick and the panes had taken less out of me than the marble had.

"So you're saying I have to spend that kind of time training with all my boons?" I sighed.

From what I'd been given to understand we had six months, each comprised of five weeks, or a total of thirty weeks, from the start of the Respite to the end. We were in the eighth week, meaning I had twenty-two weeks left. If it took a week and a half to train with a single boon, and I was getting one from each of the members of the Enlightened Host, without gifts from Ya'av or Govarinta, that was fourteen boons. A week and a half for each was twenty-one weeks. That was incredibly tight and I wouldn't have time to really do anything else,

And I hadn't even beaten this fucking sea monster yet!

"What an odd assumption." Zilmanthan mused.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"When you train your body, does your performance in all areas not improve?" Zilmanthan pointed out. "Why would exercising your soul be any different?"

"Well, pushups aren't going to help me do pull-ups." I pointed out.

Zilmanthan tilted his head. "But these push-ups you mention, do they not improve your overall bodily health, and then that same bodily health provides you energy and endurance to perform other actions. Your lungs and heart are strengthened... and perhaps you are able to maintain a more ideal body weight that assists with your performance in other actions, even if they are not directly related."

"Okay, so you are saying that training my soul will help with all my boons, not just my boon of creation, or whatever else I'm doing?" I clarified.

"Indeed. Your soul is more unified in function and strength than your body, for training your legs or arms may not strengthen the others, but your soul's strength is singular." Cranatha explained.

"Well, that is a relief." I sighed.

"Indeed, for you have just started your training." Cranatha added. "You have much progress still remaining before you will be prepared for the Respite to end."

I didn't like the sound of that. I already thought I was pretty busted. But it sounded like the Elven gods were still disappointed in where I was at. What the hell was going to happen at the end of the Respite?!

"Nine boons remain that you must receive, with sufficient strength, to add unto the seven thou hast received," Zilmanthan declared. "Learn them well, but thou canst not afford to devote every waking moment to their mastery."

"Wait... nine?! You don't mean I am going to have to get a blessing from Ya'av and the other Shadow Elf goddess!" I protested. "They'd never do it! Why would they give me more power to beat their people?"

"A way shall be made." Cranatha declared with authority.

"Fucking hell..." I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

When I dropped my hand, the gods were gone, and I could feel the bond with my matrons getting closer.

"Mortal, your guests have left." Rockslide noted.

Looking at all the ground he'd been running over, you never would have guessed this was once nearly a modern factory. I mean, instead of concrete there had been stone pavers and walls, but other than that, it had basically looked like a factory in any industrial district I'd seen. Now, instead of stone and barren soil, the green buds of new life, grass, trees, bushes and who knows what else, were already starting to sprout. The torn up fields were smoothed out and all the stones that had been spread everywhere were nowhere to be seen, probably buried.

"This land still requires my attention. I shall remain until such time as my work is complete." Rockslide declared.

"Alright," I accepted. "If that's what you want to do, I don't have any problem with it. You can leave anytime you want, right?"

"The earth is a gateway I may pass through to return to my home, so I indeed may leave as soon as I desire." Rockslide agreed.

I heard the sound of the submarine surfacing, and I turned and walked to the water. I thought for a second of videos I'd seen of Criss Angel walking on water and fed a little will into it. As my foot reached the water, the water was as solid under my foot as dry ground and I walked out to the sub.

I was Special Ops Jesus. Fuck yeah.

I took some pleasure in the looks of amazement from my matrons as I reached the sub and could see them through the glass as they were gathered in the helm, except for some of the casters that I at least hoped were still manning their posts.

I climbed up, and Creadean opened the hatch for me. Climbing in, I walked to the helm.

"You all liked my little trick?" I smirked.

"What trick?" Risavis wondered.

"... Walking on water?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh, that is a common spell." Narusil dismissed, "However that... that is far from common."

I looked and Narusil was pointing at Rockslide, resuming his work, half submerged in the earth and cruising through the soil.

"Rockslide? What is so unusual about him? I mean, Spiral is right here." I pointed out.

"Spiral is between the size of an average elemental and a greater elemental." Sevrina explained gently. "She could grow up to twice her current size and still be within our expected parameters."

"That is a... Gods... I don't know whether to say blessed or cursed... Primordial Elemental!" Hallamarantha blurted.

"What is a Primordial Elemental?" I wondered.

"The most ancient of elementals." Mavrin answered carefully. "Their power is on the same level as greater dragons, or perhaps lesser gods."

I looked at the moving construct of dirt and mud the size of a multi-story building. "Oh..."

"How did you summon him and bind him to your will?" Tarilla marveled.

"Well, I just went to summon an earth elemental and he was the one that answered... same thing with the water elemental." I admitted.

"You summoned TWO Primordials?" Hallamarantha gasped, leaning against the rail for support.

"Yeah, Rockslide and Squall were happy to help out. The way the Shadow Elves were abusing the land pissed them off." I admitted.

"Please, Master, tell me you somehow bound them to your will...?" Narusil pleaded.

"Of course I didn't." I snapped. "Just like Spiral isn't."

The casters all took a step back.

"You unleashed two Primordial Elementals, with no control and no means of protection?" Jalleena asked with a quivering voice.

"Look, Squall already went home, and Rockslide is just cleaning up the area before he goes home." I answered flippantly.

"If they decided to go on further rampages, they could have caused a potential catastrophe on the level of the Massacre on the entire continent." Callicka assessed, her eyes locked on Rockslide.

"Yeah, but they didn't." I answered. "And Cranatha and Zilmanthan didn't seem concerned."

All heads turned from Rockslide back to me.

"You spoke with the Patrons of the Sea?" Naviena asked, somewhat awed.

"What did the Hosts tell thee?" Othica asked reverently.

"Well, apparently this wasn't how they thought I'd deal with the issue, which causes some problems." I admitted, motioning to Rockslide.

"I can see how this was outside their expected methods." Creadean snorted.

"Yeah, well, they had wanted to give me their boons after this, but it turns out that they need me to do acts worthy of the boons, or they can't give them to me, at least not with enough power." I sighed, leaning against the rail.

"We were RIGHT!" Othica celebrated.

"However, you said there was a problem?" Tavorwen pressed.

"Since I didn't do the work, I am not getting the credit." I sighed. "Even cleaning the water wasn't good enough. So I need to accomplish a new task to earn my boons."

"Did they tell thee what divine task you were appointed to?" Othica asked, once again in reverence.

"I apparently have to kill a monster." I sighed.

All the ladies shared concerned looks.

"They told you which monster you must kill?" Tavorwen pressed.

"They described a Kaiju, and called it 'the Great One'." I huffed.

Sefra fainted.

"Yeah, I kind of expected that." I sighed.

...

We were well on our way by the time I finished my explanation.

"That is no simple task." Tavorwen acknowledged.

"Yeah, but I have magic, my weapons, and... well, my boons... to try and kill this beast." I assessed.

"It will still be no simple task." Creadean re-emphasized.

"I believe it." I conceded. "But they are convinced I need the boons that I'll get out of it, so it's not like I have other options."

I looked out the glass dome of the helm. "By the way, why are we following the coast?"

The line of rock and sand we were moving parallel to was obviously the shore.

"We have not time to return to Phoreshaira, so we return to Ealphamir for the night." Tavorwen explained. "At the speeds Spiral travels, we will make Ealphamir just after nightfall, by our estimation."

"I suppose that works." I accepted. "But it will be a bit weird coming back before we accomplish the objective."

"It will be a great relief to those who remained home that we remain safe and have made contact with the Sea Elves." Tavorwen explained.

"I could see that." I nodded. "And we can dock the... have we not named this ship?"

"We have not." Creadean answered. "We assumed you would name it, as you did the Interceptor, were it in accordance with your traditions. We did not wish to offend by naming it for you were there no traditions you followed in that regard."

"After all, you did create the ship entirely on your own." Risavis pointed out.

I ran a hand over the rail. I couldn't remember what the submarine was called in Atlantis, and this ship wasn't quite like that one anyway. This one had wings that moved kind of like a manta ray and was mostly propelled by Spiral's elemental magic. I could dub it "the Nautilus", as in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but that didn't feel right either. The only sea heroes I could think of were Aquaman and Namor, but neither of those felt right. Poseidon would be cool, but I was already messing with too many gods as is. For all I knew I'd name the fucking ship that and he'd pop up and start demanding tasks from me too.

Ships always had such cool names... at least before modern times. The "USS Elphamir" didn't make sense because it wasn't a part of the US navy. Old time ship names were so cool. The Flying Dutchman, The Queen Anne's Revenge, and more all sounded fucking badass. But... Was it the name that was badass, or the reputation the name had garnered?

Fuck it. This is why I'd been in the Army Special Forces, not the Navy. Hell, the Navy would probably just call it "that rinky-dink tin can" or something. It wasn't exactly a nuclear class submarine...

"What kinds of sea monsters are out there?" I asked, turning away from the shore and looking out into the deeper waters.

Cleared of impurities, it still turned into a blue fog after what seemed like all too short a distance.

"Depends upon your definition." Sefra shrugged. "There are creatures like The Great One, and other such monstrosities, then there are simpler foes like giant squids and octopi. Sharks of various sizes, eels that reach lengths of a hundred feet, jellyfishes..."

"How big do the sharks get?" I wondered.

"No more than thirty knots." Sefra answered.

Some quick math told me that was about twenty feet, so about the size of a great white shark.

I grinned. "Then this ship is hereby named 'The Megalodon'. The Meg for short."

"Meg-a--la-don?" Tavorwen took the word for a ride.

"Master, what is a mega-ladon?" Othica asked.

"An ancient shark from my home world. They could get almost the size of this ship." I grinned.

Sefra rubbed both palms over her head then started massaging her neck. "Your home world sounds like one of the hells."

"Oh, they died out millenia ago." I assured them. "No one has actually seen one, and since shark bones are made of cartilage, all we have are teeth to know about them... or do we have jaws too?" I couldn't remember.

"How do you know anything from teeth?" Sefra demanded.

"I see..." Mavrin muttered. "You use the tooth for dark magic to summon a shade of the beast, then study the shade... an interesting method of study."

"Not quite." I chuckled. "There's no magic where I came from, so we just compare it to other teeth and use that to make educated guesses.

"So a megalodon could be twice the size you expect, or more?" Risavis assessed. "After all, every animal has their own unique traits and nature. Such an assumption would be very dangerous... especially if presented as fact."

"I guess." I shrugged. "I wasn't a paleontologist."

That required me to explain what a paleontologist was.

"Necromancy for the purpose of learning seems simpler." Mavrin shrugged.

We reached the mouth of the river we had taken down to the ocean and the Megalodon headed up the river. We watched again as we passed all the same things we had on the way down. The dire crocodile was once more fascinated, and swam with us for a ways, then turned back to return to whatever the fuck a reptile of that size did all day.

"Has anyone seen Truk?" I asked.

"Not since we said that we were returning to Ealphamir." Tavorwen admitted.

"Likely she is hiding so she can go with us once more." Risavis laughed.

"Absolutely not." I sighed.

And so, I spent the rest of the voyage up the river playing a version of hide-and-seek with Truk.

"NOOOO!!!" Truk wailed, as I finally caught her and pulled her from her hiding spot. "I wanna come with you!!!"

"Yes, but I'm not about to piss off your parents because you 'wanna' anything." I told the dragonling.

"Your voyage was swifter than expected." Weilkeir greeted us.

"We aren't done. But we had an errand that took us to shore again, and we decided to spend the night here as opposed to returning to Phoreshaira." I explained.

"I see." Weilkeir accepted. "I also see you did indeed find the missing wyrmling."

"Dammit." Truk cursed. "You told my parents, didn't you!?"

Truk's tone turned very accusatory.

"No, as a matter of fact, they contacted us." Weilkeir responded, amused. "Apparently, Uonavear has nearly been taken apart, stone-by-stone, in search of you."

"Oh..." Truk wilted.

"Let's get you to the portal and take you to your parents so they don't start destroying things." I sighed. "The last thing we need is them torching Ealphamir because they think you got kidnapped... again."

"Shall we come as well." Tavorwen asked.

"No need." I assured them. "You guys head home, I won't be in Uonavear long."

"I wish to come and visit our family." Othica requested.

"I had better come too then." Zynrin sighed.

The matrons and maidens took Sefra, after I gave her strict instructions to follow orders from the other members of my household, and headed to our home.

Keeping a firm grip on what would be Truk's scruff if she was a dog, we marched up to where the portal to Uonavear sat, and were quickly let through.

"We shall send word to the queen." Was all the guards said as they saluted their greeting.

Othica and Zynrin headed off to visit their family and I marched through town, and was greeted at the door to the castle by an attendant who led me to the throne room, Truk in tow. Ethcovir waited for us there, along with a very miffed looking Torin and Yhur in their elven forms. Truk curled into something resembling the fetal position when she saw her parents.

"Once more you have solved our problems." Queen Ethcovir greeted me, using her royal tone. "It is heartening to know the child was under your watchful care during the time of her... disappearance."

"Bring our daughter to us." Torin requested.

"Help... me..." Truk's little voice squeaked from the center of her curled form.

"She really was no problem, it just would have been dangerous to send her back alone once we discovered she'd stowed away." I explained as I walked over and handed Truk to her mother.

I almost felt bad for her. It didn't help that where I had grabbed her by the loose skin at the base of her neck, her mother got a hold of one horn and proceeded to carry her like a hunter would a rabbit they had bagged by the ears as she left the room.

"That child is headstrong and foolish." Yhur apologized. "I hope she did not cause you too much trouble."

I rubbed my neck, "Actually she was pretty helpful. She saw things we wouldn't have otherwise and may have saved the expedition."

Yhur paused. "Truly? Our unruly child was not a hindrance in your ventures?"

"Honestly, no." I admitted.

"Regardless, she left without permission and without so much as a note." Yhur noted sternly. "Discipline is required. To be a dragon is to wield great power. Great responsibility accompanies such power, and discipline must temper one's nature."

I chuckled, "Just like Spiderman."

Yhur gave me a questioning side-eye.

I nodded, amused. Of course he didn't know about Spiderman and Uncle Ben. "It is a fantasy story from my world. A man is given great power at a young age, and his uncle tries to warn him, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' But Spiderman was young and stupid, and his lack of responsibility led to his uncle's death and that is one of Spiderman's greatest regrets for the rest of his life."

"That may be a fantasy on your world, but it is reality here." Yhur cautioned. "Reckless youth are among the greatest dangers to the old. Especially among dragonkind."

"Well, I'll leave you to it." I shook my head in amusement.

"Linger a moment, I pray thee." Yhur requested.

I paused. "Couldn't hurt."

"Am I to understand then that the Sea Elves have joined our cause?" Queen Ethcovir asked.

"Not yet." I admitted. "Just like everyone else, they have a task I have to complete, but I apparently accomplished the first one too easily for the gods to be able to reward me properly, so I have a second one."

"A second task?" Queen Ethcovir marveled.

"Pardon." Master Xaldin interjected. "But when you say the task was accomplished too easily for the gods to be able to reward you properly, what did you mean?"

"Well, I was supposed to neutralize a Shadow Elf forge, one on the coast..." I began.

"Ah, I believe we are aware of that facility. It belches smoke into the sky day and night." Ethcovir noted.

"But the Respite is still in effect, so I couldn't just blow it to smithereens." I explained. "However, I had an idea."

All the present Cloud Elves were listening intently.

"While I was working with the Mountain Elves, a Lorpin assassin came after me. I beat her, but it was a way Kathra circumvented the Respite to still attack me." I explained. "I decided to employ a similar tactic, and I summoned elementals that weren't particularly thrilled about Kathra's people destroying the land and polluting the water. Once I let the angry elementals off the chain, they did the job for me."

I recognized the next speaker as Wharid Crovi, Tieara's uncle... or something.

"How many elementals did you summon?" Wharid wondered. "We have flown over that facility and it was not small."

"It only took two." I explained.

"Do you take us for fools?" A Cloud Elf Priestess demanded. "Two elementals would be defeated readily before they could even damage such a facility."

"You address my master, Priestess Puratha." Queen Ethcover scolded sternly. "You will address him with the proper respect."

Priestess Puratha bowed her head but said nothing.

Did I need to go further? Probably not. But if the way she had just acted reflected poorly on Ethcovir, I felt the need to defend her honor.

"Two Elementals were more than enough." I answered Priestess Puratha, "Especially because both were Primordials."

You could have heard a pin drop.

"I beg your pardon." Yhur finally spoke. "But did you say you summoned two Primordial Elementals, and earlier you stated you 'let them off the chain'? Am I to understand you summoned Primordial Elementals and allowed them to act uninhibited or controlled in any way?"

"I did." I answered. "Rockslide and Squall were most helpful, and Squall immediately returned home after helping with the facility, where Rockslide stuck around a while to mend and fertilize the land."

Yhur gave me the look a father gives his son when he finds out his son bought a muscle car at 20% APR.

"Are you aware such foes would prove a match, even for me?" Yhur asked.

"I am now." I answered.

"Controlling a Primordial is a task requiring complete mastery of the highest levels of magic, beyond most mortal capabilities." Yhur informed me. "Summoning one should not be done lightly."

"Honestly, I just attempted to summon normal elementals. The Primordials simply were the ones who answered my call." I replied. "I negotiated with them, they agreed to the task, and then I sat back and watched them work."

Several of the priestesses had to sit down, creating stools of cloud stone to do so.

"And they kept to their agreement?" Yhur pressed.

"They did." I answered.

"And what did they gain by serving you?" Queen Ethcovir questioned.

"Earth Elementals despise anything that destroys the earth, and Water Elementals hate anything that soils the sea." I answered. "They got to destroy things they hated and protect things they love. Is that not the greatest desire of most beings?"

Yhur paused. "There is merit to what you are saying... were I given the opportunity to protect my beloved family and to defeat those I despise, I suppose it would be a simple matter for me to agree to such terms."

Queen Ethcovir nodded, "And lacking any attempt at compulsion may very well have aided in these negotiations."

"That is another truth." Yhur admitted. "You negotiate without guile or trickery. It is one of the traits I respect about you, Thomas. Perhaps the primorials had the wisdom to perceive you as I do."

"Well spoken, Master Dragon." Queen Ethcovir agreed.

We waited for a few minutes, then Torin returned with a very disciplined, but not visibly injured Truk padding behind her like a sad, droopy cat.

"You have remained, Thomas." Torin seemed surprised.

"I have been given to understand that our child performed admirably during her time with Thomas." Yhur declared.

"That is excellent news." Torin accepted with a smile.

Truk raised her eyes and gave me an expression that read a teary "thank you."

"If Thomas and his allies might benefit from her further company, might we grant her permission to go with him once more?" Yhur asked his wife.

Torin's face hardened.

"Truk has been reprimanded for leaving without permission, but if she were to go with Thomas with permission, does that not set a better example of correct behavior?" Yhur clarified.

Torin paused to consider this.

"It is true that often modeling and encouraging good behavior is preferable to punishing poor behavior." Torin conceded, tossing a glare at Truk who winced.

The mother dragon considered for at least a minute.

"If she misbehaves, you are to send her home at once." Torin declared. "And she will be disciplined as she never has before."

Truk made herself very small, but cast a hopeful eye at her mother.

"But I will allow her to go with you, on the condition she ceases to sneak away ever again." Torin decided. "And swears to it on her dragon blood."

Truk shuffled a bit, "Very well, I will swear."

Truk and her mother walked back out the same door that they had before.

Man, it was almost impossible to tell what was a door here in Uonavear, and that might be complicated by the fact that something that wasn't a door a second before could be made into a door with their cloud magic. It kind of made sense that a city built of cloud would be ephemeral and changing, but that didn't make my desire to map everything out being thwarted any easier to deal with.

"Is swearing by her dragon blood a big deal?" I wondered.

"Being a dragon is a dragon's greatest pride." Yhur answered. "For we are the apex race in all of Elendel. To swear on your dragon blood is to put that on the line. Luckily, this oath is easy to avoid transgressing, so Truk was willing to agree. But she must greatly desire to travel with you to do so."

"Wait, so if she breaks the oath, she just isn't a dragon anymore?!" I exclaimed.

"She will not be acknowledged as such by any dragonkin that sees her, and she will have forfeited the right to claim any draconic lineage." Yhur answered solemnly. "Once she is of age, she would likely take the form of a humanoid, like I have here, and try to forget she ever was a dragon."

I tried not to gape at him. "She's what? Ten years old?"

"Five." Yhur corrected.

"Five years old and you're letting her... No, not just letting her make an oath like that, you're making her take an oath that serious?" I protested.

Yhur cocked his head in confusion, "Would you not trust a child with five years to have learned the world with such an oath?"

"I would barely trust a twenty-year old with something that serious!" I protested. "On my world, eighteen was the youngest we'd recruit soldiers, and that was considered robbing the cradle. Getting them to enlist before their frontal lobes fully developed and they realized it was probably stupid!"

"In his defense, Master Dragon," Ethcovier piped up, "We do not consider our children to be of age to make binding oaths and vows until they have at least reached their hundred and tenth year. Many times delaying until their hundred and twentieth year."

"Peculiar." Yhur noted. "Within a year, a dragon is capable of understanding the world such that such vows are viewed as reasonable."

That just boggled my mind.

But before I could think on it any further, Truk came scampering back into the room.

"I get to go with you again! And this time I don't have to sneak!" Truk declared happily.

Torin wore the worried face of a mother whose child was leaving the nest as she returned to Yhur's side.

"You really swore that oath?" I questioned Truk.

"Yeah, Mother and I worked out the conditions and terms, but it isn't a big deal because I'm allowed to go with you now." Truk declared happily.

"You're allowed to go with me now, but that doesn't mean you always will." I cautioned. "And if you swore not to sneak away for more than just the one time, which it would make no sense to even ask for the oath if it only applied now when you have permission... that means you get to go now but you might never get to again."

Truk paused. "The oath only lasts for a hundred years. So, that shouldn't be too big of a deal, right?"

I glanced at Torin.

"Consessions had to be made." Torin admitted. "I wanted it to be two hundred, but I relented."

I would never understand dragons. I was pretty sure about that.

"Whether it be for business or pleasure, I am happy to have received you for your visit, Master Thomas." Ethcovir broke up the discussion with what was clearly the beginning of a dismissal.

"I'm glad I wasn't a bother." I replied, and did my best elven bow.

I quickly figured out Ethcovir's intentions. They had just established friendly relations with the dragons. The last thing she wanted was me sticking my nose in an issue of how dragons parent their young. Torin and Yhur were some of the dragons we had the closest relations with, and getting between a parent and their children was a fast way to ruin that.

Truk didn't seem overly bothered with the contract she'd made, and I doubted I could do anything to change the conditions anyway... so we left. I had expected to leave the young dragon behind, but Truk rode high and proud on my shoulders as I walked back through town to the portal, then stepped through and started walking through Ealphamir to return to my home and my matrons and maidens.

I could feel the desire as I trekked through the city. One... no two... of my matrons had purged, and they'd be wanting their satisfaction before bed. The sun was already mostly set, so I'd need to eat, get on that, then go to bed.

"Now, Truk, after dinner I'm going to need some alone time with a few of my matrons." I told her.

"Yeah, you smell like you usually do before you come back smelling like bad fish." Truk noted sagely. "Tavorwen says I'm too young to learn about that stuff yet."

"She's right." I agreed, then paused. "When do dragons start having children?"

"Huh? Um... I think we can start laying eggs at about three hundred years old... I think." Truk muttered, scratching her ear with her hind leg like a dog, on my shoulder.

"Yeah, when you turn three hundred, we can teach you what that smell means." I told her.

Truk's head turned to look at me and her eyes grew wide. "WAIT." She pulled as far away from me as she could while still being perched on my shoulder. "You aren't..."

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." I cautioned.

"Uck!" Truk gagged. "I'll meet you back at the house...."

With a flap of her wings, Truk became airborne and flew off toward my tree-home. I could hear her muttering, "ew, ew, ew," as she flew.

I chuckled and really hoped she wasn't now regretting making such a serious vow to spend more time with me.

Tavorwen gave me an unamused look when I got home. "Truk told us what occurred in Uonavear, and briefly mentioned her conversation with you as you returned. Do you really think it wise to tell a dragonling so young what occurs between you and your matrons?"

"I didn't tell her anything." I refuted. "I told her she'd learn when she was older and she pieced it together. I didn't think she'd know enough to figure it out, and since she did, obviously I didn't teach her anything she didn't already know."

Tavorwen sighed. "Well, Diamiutar and Risavis await you in your chambers. They both have been struck by strong desires this week."

"We are hoping that means that they are prepared for your seed to take root." Lymarith gloated, rubbing her own belly where our child was still very early in the stages of its life.

"So sex first, dinner later?" I laughed. "Have they...?"

"They ate quickly before returning to your chambers." Tavorwen told me, "You may send them to the gods with pleasure without guilt that you are causing them to miss a meal."

I really couldn't complain about that.

As I walked through the hall past the kitchen, Truk looked up at me from the fish she was tearing apart, then quickly looked away wide-eyed.

I opened the door and found a naked Risavis on one side of the bed and a naked Diamiutar on the other. The smell of horny pussy was so strong it was almost like walking into a room full of marijuana smoke. Except instead of getting a high from weed, it was a horny high. The high of "I'm about to have incredible sex."

"Fuck, I love my life." I sighed as my cock finished getting erect. It was getting hard to NOT walk around with an erection constantly whenever I could feel the desire through my bond. Honestly, I wished that people on Earth could experience this bond. Knowing EXACTLY how desperately your partner wanted you to absolutely fuck the shit out of them was an incredible turn on.

"Master... please...?" Risavis pleaded, laying out on the bed. She spread her legs wide and inviting, ready to receive me. I slipped my two fingers into her tight entrance and started stroking, but Risavis whimpered and reached toward my crotch.

Wow. She really was in the throes of intense breeding urges. I wasn't going to complain about getting my cock in her sweet hole a bit faster.

Risavis let out a sigh of relief as my cock split her open and drove home. I went straight for groping her tits as I pounded her pussy like I was trying to knock her up... because I was.

Part of me still had that old "we should be wearing a condom" or "prepare to pull out" mentality I'd had to have on Earth, but I don't think any of my matrons would easily forgive me for pulling out of their pussies and shooting my load on their stomach or backs when they wanted knocked up.

Risavis was quickly panting and sweating as the lesser orgasms induced by the normal fucking rolled through her, but I knew better than to stop. Risavis was starting to hook her heels around my hips and pull me in, begging me to just do it and cum in her when I felt Diamiutar's hand wrap around my balls and start gently massaging.

"Oh shit." I groaned, thrusting deep into Risavis and feeling my head lightly kiss her cervix as I shot my load straight through it and into her womb. The ringing of Risavis's pleasure was stronger than usual, and as it rolled through me, I saw Diamiutar's back arch as the pleasure hit her too. Diamiutar's hand deftly kept massaging my balls, and I swear she induced me to cum even more than usual. It fell into a rhythm, Risavis would orgasm, Diamiutar would massage my balls, and I'd shoot more cum into Risavis, starting the whole process over. It was incredible! It felt like I spent entire minutes cumming in Risavis and sending her pleasure soaring. When I was finally done overfilling Risavis's womb, and pulled out, Diamiutar was reeling with the aftershocks Risavis's orgasms had given her.

I turned as Diamiutar laid back on the bed.

"Do you want me to just hit it too?" I asked.

She had to think for half a second. "No, I think I would prefer your usual ministrations." She decided.

Then her gaze fell to the side and I felt a twinge of sadness. It was like Diamiutar believed since Risavis had been so desperate to be fucked and she wasn't so bad off, she was less likely to be impregnated this time.

"Orgasms can help your body prepare for getting pregnant." I told her.

She raised her brows in surprise, "Truly?"

"I'd be willing to bet." I grinned. "And if I'm wrong, you're still having fun."

Whatever response she wanted to give was cut off as I ran my tongue the length of her slit and swirled her clit. She moaned as I sucked on her clit and swirled it with my tongue. Two fingers penetrated her and I felt around, quickly locating her g-spot to tease in time with my tongue.

Diamiutar's thighs made fabulous earmuffs as she wormed her fingers through my hair, pressing me more intensely into her pussy as I happily complied, lapping and suckling as I felt her pleasure like a third instrument in the chorus of pleasure playing out through our bonds.

I couldn't resist and I pulled out my fingers, so I could dip my pinky into the highly lubricated wetness of her pussy for just a second. Then my fingers were back and I gently eased my pinky into the pink starfish of her anus. Diamiutar's emotional response was unclear, but not opposed, so I started pumping the two fingers in her pussy and one in her anus, my tongue and lips never stopping the stimulation of her clitoris. My free hand wandered up to grope her breasts and lightly pinch her completely erect nipples.

The "volume" of Diamiutar's pleasure was now quickly rising almost to the same loudness as Risavis's aftershock orgasms, and I could feel the two of them feeding into each other.

"Can't... much... more..." Diamiutar managed to groan.

"Then let's go to the main event." I accepted.

Feeling much better about my foreplay this time, I sunk balls deep into her soaked, tight pussy. I started thrusting fast and deep, pushing to give her what she wanted.

I could manage more orgasms than I'd ever had need to perform at this point with my boons, but after the way Diamiutar had milked me into Risavis, it still took me longer to reach climax a second time. Diamiutar's eyes became unfocused as she was fucked into oblivion, waves of pleasure radiating from her core and reverberating through our bond. I took full advantage and groped and teased her breasts, more because it turned me on than I had any delusions that she needed the extra pleasure. I doubt any man would argue that it is easier to climax with a sweet pair of melons in your paws, so I took no small satisfaction in groping to my heart's content.

"Oh fuck... here it comes." I grunted and thrust deep in my head matron.

Her eyes re-focused as cum flooded her body, only to unfocus again as she was once more washed away in pleasure. Spurt after spurt shot into her and now there was a two cycle engine of orgasmic pleasure as both orgasming matrons twitched on the bed, their thighs all coated in cum, Risavis's a few seconds old and Diamiutar's fresh as it leaked around my dick. Their bodies were both full and what excess their bodies couldn't hold leaked down to the bed, where after a moment the magic triggered and it disappeared. Each time one came, the reverberation hit the other and their body pulsed, pushing a bit more of the extra cum out.

I flopped down between the two, wondering for a minute if they'd ever stop orgasming, but after what seemed like ten minutes, the orgasms finally grew weak enough they couldn't keep the reactions going.

Instinctively, they both curled up in a ball of sexy, post-orgasmic bliss.

It kept me trapped for a minute before I could extract myself. Great as it was, they'd probably be there for a while, and I was hungry. They had already eaten. I had not.

I rose and dressed. Now that I was satisfied and there were no more feelings of need, I could address my own hunger. As I returned to the kitchen, I could feel the glow of pleasure from all of my matrons. Joining the others, it was clear the orgasmic pleasure had not been limited to the confines of my bedroom.

Truk looked minorly traumatized.

"THOMAS!!" She wailed. "I didn't know what it was before... but now that I know... EW!!!"

"Now that you know that the pleasure comes from... that... you're bothered?" I chuckled.

Truk sat on her haunches and held her little head between the hands of her forelegs. "Ew, ew, ew... why do they twitch like that and smell like that out here... and ew! You smell like... THAT!"

"I'll take a bath after dinner." I assured her.

Ignamith brought me a bowl of a thick soup that tasted kind of like beef and mushrooms, along with a roll stuffed with ground meat that tasted incredible when dipped in the soup.

"You know the elves need... that... regularly once they do it the first time." I pointed out. "It wouldn't be good or healthy for them if I stopped."

Truk just shivered, and gave me a dirty look. "I'll talk to you when you don't smell like icky fish." With that she fluttered off down the hall.

I enjoyed three of the meat buns and cleaned my bowl before I was done.

True to my word, I went and soaked in the bath. I was kind of used to my matrons joining me, so I was unbothered when the door opened, and someone slipped into the room.

"I am grateful you have returned safely." Heilantu spoke softly.

I startled and sat up, turning to look at her. Heilantu wore a simple white dress. Far simpler than anything I'd seen a Wood Elf wear in my time here. She didn't look any the worse for wear after her days in a coma. There had been so much on my mind, I hadn't gone to check on her yet!

"I'm glad to see you up and about." I told her. "I'm sorry I hadn't had a chance to check on you since I got back, I was-"

"Busy." Heilantu asserted. "I became very aware. I do not begrudge them their satisfaction. Nor do I blame you for any resentment you bear me."

I leaned back in the tub full of soapy water. Not sure this was the right time or place for this talk, but this was what Heilantu had chosen.

"I don't think I've ever resented you." I told her frankly. "Was I pissed off that you treated the matrons who weren't Wood Elves like they were beneath you somehow? Yeah. Yeah, I was."

Heilantu drooped.

"But I get the feeling that the person who did and felt those things isn't the real you." I added. "And the gods seemed to think it wasn't the real you either."

The mark on Heilantu's forehead still was clear and striking, more cleanly printed on her skin than any tattoo I'd ever seen. Heilantu's hand rose to touch it.

"I have been a fool." She whispered tearfully.

It was then I noticed a thick tome in her other hand. I didn't need to have my gift to translate a title for me to guess it was a book of Abarith's scriptures. Heilantu had likely been studying the scriptures non-stop since her awakening.

"It is a simple matter to take any possible interpretation of the words of the divine to say that which you desire." Heilantu muttered somewhat bitterly. "But the words the First Mother spoke to me made it clear that I have been twisting her words to conform to my own arrogant desires, not allowing them to correct me and bring me in line with the First Mother's true wishes..."

"Confirmation bias." I nodded.

Heilantu looked at me in confusion.

"That's what we call it on my home world." I told her. "It is easy to accept something you agree with because of your confirmation bias. But anything that doesn't automatically agree with you, you tend to reject immediately at first. It can be hard to overcome."

"Worse, perhaps." Heilantu lamented. "Given the breadth of scripture, myself and many of my sisters cannot devote the time to reading it all ourselves. Only priestesses and scholars who study the word truly have read the entire libraries, and even then only of one people. I accepted the words of others that I believe I knew deep down in my heart were wrong, because it was easier to belong. To be a Forester..."

"A Forester?" I questioned.

"One of the factions here in Ealphamir." Heilantu explained. "We... Foresters believe that as bearers of the title of 'High Elves', we Wood Elves were created as the superior form of our race. That we were created to rule over our sisters. That we are somehow more beautiful, more intelligent, and chosen by the gods."

"Ah, yeah. I remember you talking about that with the gods." I recalled. "So there's an entire group that believes that bullshit?"

"Yes. And it is not a small faction." Heilantu admitted. "There are priests, elders, and many high ranking generals that belong to the Foresters."

"Great." I sighed. "They aren't looking to put down the other races, are they?"

"No, that would make us no better than the Shadow Elves, but... I must confess that many Foresters view the other races as... the closest thing I would compare their view of the other races of our sisters would be that they view them as akin to livestock." Heilantu stated sadly. "They view it as most desirable for the other races to prosper, but losses among the other races are viewed as unfortunate at most. They are our sisters, but are lessers. Or so the Foresters teach."

"So, at least I don't have to deal with a genocidal faction in my allies." I sighed, rubbing my face.

"Absolutely not." Heilantu nodded. "If our sisters perish, we will have no one to rule over and our role will have failed."

"So, what do you think now?" I asked her.

Heilantu clutched the book of scripture to her chest. "I don't know. Not yet. I have to actually read more of the scripture, and think about what the Enlightened Hosts said."

Her face grew tight in thought. "But I know the Foresters are wrong. The gods made that very clear. I do not know if the Championists are correct. The Zealots, the Aefratis, the Commandaunts, the Artificers, the Ecoists, the Magicists... any of them could be correct, or all of them wrong."

That was... eight fucking factions I needed to deal with? Holy shit, this was going to be a pain in the ass.

"So what will you do for now?" I asked.

"Well, there was one thing that the gods made very clear, and that was that they supported you." Heilantu let out a trembling breath. "I do not know if that means that I am now a Championist, but... for now, you have my total support."

"Championists?" I wondered.

"Ever since your arrival, a faction has formed of those who believe that you have been brought here, given a divine mandate, and you are leading us toward an ideal future. Those are the Championists. They put all other allegiance aside and lend you their total support." Heilantu explained, then a wry smile spread over her face. "Your continuous successes have made this a very popular faction."

Well, that was some fucking good news at least.

"I'm glad my fans are doing well." I sighed.

"More than anything, I came here to apologize." Heilantu's face fell. Her hands tightened on the book again. "In retrospect, I can see how my actions have made your efforts much more difficult, and I have sown discord in your household."

I could tell she had more to say, so I stayed quiet.

"I understand fully why you declared that should I transgress once more I would be ejected from your house." Heilantu spoke with a trembling voice. "Fully understanding this... if you wish to cast me out, simply due to my previous violations of your will... I understand."

She braced. Her body prepared for the devastating news.

I had the epiphany that knowing what she knew now, if she was in my place, she believed she would 100% eject the matron sitting where she sat.

"Absolutely not." I shook my head.

That Heilantu was shocked would be a severe understatement.

"But my sins-" Heilantu protested.

"Are things we can work through." I cut her off. "I'm not about to throw the mother of one of my kids out on her ass because she fucked up, especially because you seem like you figured out what you did wrong, and are doing the work to change."

Heilantu bit her lip, her eyes watering.

"I'm not getting rid of you." I told her.

She broke down and cried, the immense relief clear through our bond.

"You are kind and merciful, Master." Heilantu finally choked out.

"Besides, I don't like wasting effort, and we just went through the process of getting you a chat with your gods so you could get straightened out. It would be stupid of me to go through that effort, then not give you a chance." I chuckled. "And from what I've seen, I think you're going to be fine."

"Thank you, Master." Heilantu murmured, trying to get her emotions under control.

"Besides..." I murmured, reaching out. Heilantu was close enough I could reach out and tap the mark on her forehead. "... Abarith marked you as important. I'd be a fool not to accept a gift from the gods."

Heilantu reached up to touch her own forehead. "It is true, I suppose. And if I can be of value to you, and assist you in your tasks, I would be more than happy to. If this increases my value to you, I am immensely grateful to Abarith for granting me the honor."

"I don't know about anything like that." I shrugged. "I know the others were very impressed about you becoming a disciple."

"It is a rare and significant occurrence." Heilantu admitted. "Though usually it is an elder and a priestess who is granted the honor. I am far younger than most who are so honored, and my religious magic is not strong enough for me to be deemed a priestess."

"But you know some?" I questioned.

She nodded. "Basic spells of healing. Closing minor wounds. Curing minor diseases. That is all that I can accomplish."

"Maybe Othica could give you some lessons?" I wondered.

"If that is your desire." Heilantu accepted, inclining her head in a minor bow.

"If your concern is your religious magic, I want to help you with that." I explained.

"You are benevolent." Heilantu murmured. "It reminds me why I first developed affection for you."

I smiled. "How are you feeling? I know you were out for days."

"I awakened a day and a half hence." Heilantu informed me.

I paused. "Wait a minute. How long was I gone?"

"This is the third day since your departure." Heilantu informed me. "Based on the words of those who were not deep in sleep at the time."

I paused. Had I really gone for three days without sleep? I had made sure the others slept, but I had just not been tired. It was bizarre.

"Might I assist you in your bathing?" Heilantu asked, setting her scriptures aside.

"I'm not going to complain." I accepted.

Heilantu came over and used a cleaning rag, like a wash cloth, and soap to start scrubbing me down. Her hands and the rag felt nice as she kept working over my entire body.

"I really need to make a bigger bath." I sighed. "One that can fit more than just me."

"Such a bath would be expensive, but likely would be good, as such sizable tubs are useful for Cloud Elves, like Tieara, to be able to cleanse their wings." Heilantu observed.

"I can probably take care of it myself." I assessed.

"I had heard that you created the entire ship yourself." Heilantu murmured. "Is that truly a boon you were given?"

"Yeah." I told her. "All I have to do is..."

I held up my hand and remembered my time making the sub. With minor effort a small quantity of diamond glass formed, floating above my hand. I looked over at Heilantu and with a little bit of concentration the glass took shape. I finally leaned over and draped the diamond glass necklace around her lovely throat. The first bit I had produced, I had turned into a heart shape that sat over the fabric of the relatively high neckline on her dress, where it would have hung at the top of her cleavage with a lower neckline.

"See. No biggie." I told her.

Heilantu gently lifted the diamond glass necklace I had pulled out of nowhere. "This symbol... What is it?" She asked.

I paused. "That is a commonly used symbol to represent the heart, and it represents love."

Heilantu lowered her head and clutched the heart. "I will strive to be worthy of it, and give you no reason to withhold it from me."

"I am rooting for you." I assured her.

...

When I emerged from the bath with Heilantu, I was quickly grateful for all my practice making materials for the Meg. They didn't say anything, but the hurt and jealousy that none of them had jewelry from me was painfully obvious through my bond.

I made a mix of rings and bracelets for my Battle Matrons. I figured they would get in the way less. All of my Household Matrons got necklaces like Heilantu. I had to start with Diamiutar, who recovered from getting fucked out of this universe while I was bathing, and Tavorwen, as I understood the dynamics of elven heirarchies. I didn't need a bond to tell that the maidens wanted them too. So I made them much more simple variants.

As I sat back having made the last of the necklaces for the last of the household maidens, I had to marvel. When I had first gotten the Boon of Creation, I couldn't have made a single one of those, but now... I just pumped out one for every member of my house.

Then I had an epiphany.

"I hope you don't feel like your gifts are less than the necklaces because of their sizes..." I worried.

All my battle matrons looked at me in confusion. "But master, if anything ours are more a demonstration of your skill in the craft." Tavorwen protested.

She held up her hand to show the ring on her right hand. It was clear and perfect, like it was crafted out of diamond... which I wasn't sure if diamond glass was glass made of diamonds or diamond-like glass... but around it I had decided to do a spiral, intermingling the branches and leaves of Tavorwen's band in the sigil circling my finger and the arcane sigils and geometric shapes that were my band around her finger into a single band.

"The blending of our bonds on the ring is a beautiful thing to behold." Tavorwen declared.

Each matron had the lines of their band in my sigil mixed with the markings that my sigil made on their finger intermingled similarly. Creadean's bracelet had the wind, leaves and arrows of her band in my bond mixed with the lightning and shields that I manifested on her finger mixed. Flendreir's flowering, thorny vine mixed with the suns, stars and comets on her finger to form the design for her ring. And so on.

It had been interesting taking a second to look at all of the different sigils my bond manifested as on the fingers of my matrons. Every single one was different, though a few elements were common. Eagles, fire, lightning, shields and arcane symbols were common. A few had crystal looking things that were either gemstones or ice, hard to tell, and some had different animals, and the bonds on the matrons that weren't Wood Elves seemed very different too.

Laliera's bond on my finger was what appeared to be a herd of bison-like creatures charging through a zig-zag of grass, and my mark on her finger was a cat chasing its tail, one paw batting at the tip. Zynrin's band was a series of clouds, with bolts of lightning ending in fists as it wrapped around my finger, and my bond on her finger was what appeared to be a series of figures, either dancing or doing some sort of martial arts form. Othica's representation on my bond was a series of wings stretching out from regularly spaced books, and on her finger I was represented as a winged snake, wrapped completely around and either wrapped up in the tip of its own tail, or tied with it. Purin's bracelet was a mix of the string of mixed beast fangs that was her sigil on my hand and the antlers, with flowers decorating them, that was wrapped around her finger. Niyk's ring was decorated with the fire and hounds that represented her in my band, and the eagles and elements that were on her finger. Lorai's bracelet I thought turned out one of the best, with how well the vine covered in numerous strange fruits that was her mark on me mixed with the leaves, flowers and beast skulls on her finger. Ufra's ring had a great heron, or stork I couldn't tell which it was supposed to be, from the line that represented her on my finger, and what appeared to be sticks with fire on both ends, making me think of Polynesian fire dancers.

"I cherish my necklace, but one day I hope to have one like theirs as well." Diamiutar admitted.

Amura sat off to the side in silence. She was getting better about opening up to me, but right now, she was completely shut off.

"I hope you like yours." I prodded her.

She turned and looked at me with tear-filled eyes. "How did you know?"

Her bracelet I had been forced to try and actually be creative instead of just copying and mixing her bond and mine. Her bond on me had turned into a beautiful array from the night sky, with stars, moons and planets, and I was happy to use that. But looking at the spiked "barbed wire" sigil around her neck, I couldn't think of a single way to incorporate that. I had meditated for a minute on our bond and a series of strange looking runes had come to mind. I wasn't sure where they came from, or what they meant, but I had put them intermingled with the stars and moons.

Now I really wondered what it was, and hoped that... those didn't look like angry tears. They were either happy tears, or sad tears, and I couldn't tell which they were.

"The runes?" I asked.

Amura nodded, still tearful.

"They just came to me..." I admitted. "What do they mean?"

Mavrin leaned over and looked at Amura's bracelet. "Those are runes... Let's see."

"Eil... eil... mafe... dai... magai..." Mavrin started reading the tiny runes.

"Be still, be still, sweet little one." Amura began to sing tearfully. "The world is cold, the world is cruel, but tonight you are safe and warm."

The words didn't really sound all that musical once the magic had translated them, but the tone, cadence and sound of her voice still made it beautiful.

Amura's voice broke and she could not continue.

"It sounds like a child's lullaby." Lymarith observed.

"It was the lullaby my nurse sang to me when I was young." Amura choked out. "She was perhaps the one person who ever treated me kindly in El'Muth'Ran."

I worried for a second. "Is she still around?"

Amura shook her head. "Mother worried she was making me soft, so she made me watch as she was flayed. I was still a disappointment... so her suffering served no purpose."

It was Heilantu who swept Amura up in her arms and cradled her against her chest as Amura lost it and began to sob.

"I hope I didn't hurt you..." I worried.

"No... Ors'Raia only sang it to me when we were alone. No one else knew. No one else could know... So it is as though her voice comes to me from the distant past... I was... not prepared." Amura sniveled. "Either the gods were watching over me even then, and gave you the words now, or... Ors'Raia can see me now, and she knows I am happier than I have ever been, and she is happy."

Othica tilted her head in thought. "I could not say. When it comes to our Master, it could be anything."

Amura pulled away from Heilantu and came and buried her face in my chest. I put my arms around her as she clutched her arms close to her chest. "Thank you." She whispered.

I held her and felt her melt against me.

Based on the happiness and approval I felt through my bond and the way the maidens were all treating their gifts as though it was a treasure told me, the jewelry had been a success.

...

The one problem was that with all of my matrons feeling clingy, we all slept in one very full bed. Not that I minded being in the middle of a giant pool of sexy female elf-flesh, but I worried some of the matrons might get crushed.

However, the people who say you sleep easier when you're close to someone you love absolutely know what they are talking about, because despite feeling energized and alert moments before, once I was cuddled by all of my ladies, I fell right to sleep.

I felt it when the first of my matrons woke, and a peek told me that it was still early, but Diamiutar, Lymarith, and Heilantu slipped from the room, and Tieara tried to follow, but upon realizing I, along with a few of the other matrons, were laying on her wings, she relented and resumed her cuddle. It only took her a few moments to drift back off to sleep.

I was comfortable, and the feel of all my matrons pressed up against me in their thin nightgowns was pleasant to be sure, but now that I was awake, I was almost itching to do something. But with matron arms wrapped tight around my arms and legs, I was as stuck as Tieara was. However, I struggled to get back to sleep.

So, when my matrons shifted, and I was able to slip free, I imagined hooks in the ceiling with magical cords that connected to me, and carefully used magic to lift myself free. Suspended in the air in my improvised spell, I was able to latch to another imaginary hook over the door and pull myself to it. That let me slip out of bed without seeming to bother anyone.

As I closed the door behind myself, I chuckled at the thought of me, just casually improvising a spell and it worked! I had managed levitation, which was important because my only other method of "flight" was turning myself into the human "iron man" rocket. That would not have been good, laying in bed with my matrons, because I was pretty sure the flames I produced to do it would a hundred percent have burned my matrons.

I slipped down the hall, and found Diamiutar, Heilantu, Lymarith and the household maidens busy in the kitchen starting to make breakfast.

"Really, it is not needed for you to busy yourself with chores." Diamiutar urged.

"I may be a disciple, but I am our Master's matron first." Heilantu declared stubbornly. "Do not deprive me the privilege."

"As you wish." Diamiutar accepted.

So that's where the three of them had slipped out to. And that's why Tieara wanted to go too. She was a Household Matron as well. I don't know what all she had done for Ethcovir in Uonavear, but here she got to just be another woman of the house.

ETHCOVIR!!!

I had not made her a bracelet, necklace or ring, because she wasn't here! She would absolutely be jealous if she didn't get one, especially because she was stuck being unable to actually participate in the highly desired matron privilege of getting fucked brainless.

I slipped into the sitting room and sat, looking at my bonding sigil. I knew Ethcovir liked just being a matron when we were together, getting to escape the burden of the throne for a little bit, which made me very glad that she was a Household Matron, not a Battle Matron, so if I was following my regular course, she'd get a necklace, not a bracelet or ring with our mixed bonds decorating it. Not only could I not do that because, like the fool I was, I had only recently realized that the rings on their fingers weren't just glowing rings of light, and every one was different. I had no idea what my mark looked like on Ethcovir's finger. And looking at my finger, her mark on me looked like a fucking crown or tiara wrapped around my finger, with ornate loops and swirls encrusted with glittering jewels. I doubted she wanted that on jewelry right now, rubbing her status in more.

So I just sat back and held up my hands, forming the heart pendant first, then forming glass feathers to fill out the necklace and connecting them to each other with a thin chain like I had the others. As I held it, I realized to my amusement I had made the chain out of freaking mythril. I was just popping out rare materials left and right nowadays. And thinking back, I had wanted a strong, light chain for all the necklaces, so it made sense that that was the first thing that had met the criteria.

"It's a good thing that stink washes off." A grumpy voice grumbled from behind me, and a second later Truk climbed up onto my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. But that stink comes from me doing my job here. One of my jobs anyway." I informed the tiny dragon.

"Ugh... do you have to talk about it?" Truk groaned, rolling over and draping her head down my chest as her tail and flanks hung off the back of the couch I was sitting on.

"You brought it up." I pointed out.

"I was happier not knowing." Truk grumbled.

"At least you didn't learn by walking in while we were in the process." I told her.

"Eeeeewwwwww...." Truk groaned.

"If you don't want to be around because of it-" I began.

"Hey, it isn't that gross." Truk declared, popping up to glare me in the eyes. "Just try not to be noisy. I don't want to hear you mortals egg-making if I don't have to."

"I'll do my best." I assured her.

Luckily, most of my matrons weren't screamers.

Now that I had the task of Ethcovir's necklace sorted, I had another thought.

I wandered down to the room Anbethir and Flendreir had stored all the extra weapons in. I had my usual blades, the two-handed blade that usually sat over my left shoulder, and the hilt of the light sword that was above my handgun on my right hip. I guess I had my dagger too. But if I was going to be fighting Godzilla at the bottom of the ocean, I might need more.

My guns would be useless underwater. Anyone who did much at all with guns knew that. A few feet of water would stop even massive caliber firearms, disintegrating the bullet and eating its momentum. Not that I was hoping to fight Godzilla at point blank range, but I had a strong feeling blades would be more useful than guns here. Hopefully magic would be my main weapon. If magic didn't work, for whatever reason, I'd be forced to try and cut through its skin and either hope I could bleed it out, or... wait for an infection to bring it down? That sounded like a poor plan, and probably wouldn't actually count for the gods' plan.

There were a few blades that I had trained with Anbethir and Flendreir to use, and while they had laughed at my clumsy attempts, I wouldn't be fighting a graceful, skilled and technical opponent. Against something on Godzilla's scale, I just needed something sharp and strong. Many of these blades had magic runes, so maybe that would make them not break on the monster's hide.

The first blade I picked up felt too flimsy, even with its magic runes. I knew magic could do a lot, but if my time here had taught me anything it was that magic had its limits.

I went through several blades before I had an array I liked. I leaned my sniper and combat rifles against the wall, and loaded up with my new kit.

I didn't think the elves would try anything, but leaving weapons I wouldn't use here in the armory in my barracks, I mean house, seemed safest. If nothing else, my matrons and the household maidens knew they were dangerous and they wouldn't touch them.

So, properly outfitted for the coming fight, I went to lounge in the sitting room.

One of the household maidens, Quierian, was the first to notice I was sitting out in the front room. I saw her stop dead and backtrack toward the kitchen, and a moment later Diamiutar came hurrying over.

"Forgive me, master, I did not realize you had risen." She apologized with an elven bow. "You are awake quite early."

"You were up first." I pointed out.

"Yes, but you are to depart at first light, are you not? We needed to prepare a proper meal to send you and the battle matrons and maidens on your way." Diamiutar explained. "There will be time for us to rest later."

"Yeah, well, I went three days without sleep without even realizing it, so I'm pretty sure my Boon of Endurance is strong enough now that sleep is entirely optional to me." I explained.

Diamiutar considered that for a moment, "I do not know whether to say that is a blessing or perhaps a bit of a curse."

"I think it is a blessing." I assured her. "After all, I didn't have any trouble falling asleep when I wanted to with everyone."

Diamiutar blushed, "We were all feeling quite affectionate and it did not feel right to not be close to you when we felt so strongly."

Tieara came down the hall too, apparently she finally got her wings free and could slip out.

"Ah! Perfect." I called to her, motioning her over.

She approached curiously.

"I made this for Ethcovir." I told her, holding up the necklace, "I thought you could deliver it and visit with your good friend."

I looked at the sigil and picked out her recently brightened band among the others. The trail of alternating stormclouds and sunshine seemed a beautiful analogy, and I wondered if it reflected the matron's outlook on life.

"Plus, I don't believe you've had the chance to visit your family since you became pregnant." I told Tieara, handing her the necklace.

Tieara's hands barely closed enough to hold the necklace. "I... have not... they will be most pleased to hear the news. It is hard to believe I am with child after such a short time."

"That is what the sigil says." I told her.

She sat, feeling overwhelmed and amazed. "I only just became your matron a few weeks ago... it is a miracle to be sure." She was somewhere between denial and so incredibly happy that she was numb.

"I mean, I've only been here, what? Eight weeks and already... what? Ten of you?... are pregnant?" I laughed. "Back home I would have some angry mothers... but... I guess I did marry you all, so maybe not?"

Diamiutar and Tieara looked at me confused.

"Well, my people don't have quite as strong and as urgent mating needs as you do, but we do like sex all the same." I told them. "And, well, sex before marriage, or bonding, is far more common on Earth than it seems to be here. And sometimes you would have sex, and the relationship didn't work out, so the girl would be left pregnant without a husband... and it isn't and wasn't great."

"Did you do that?" Diamiutar asked, shocked.

"I didn't father any children on Earth." I assured her.

"Good. Because to take a maiden, unbonded, and leave her without aid or support would be... unthinkable." Diamiutar declared.

"That's also why it took me a second to get used to your ways of bonding." I told her. "On Earth, you spend months or years getting to know one another before bonding. Here... well, I've been here eight weeks and have so many matrons and ten of you are now pregnant. And you're happy about it."

"I do recall you having some initial hesitation." Diamiutar admitted. "But you got over it quickly enough."

"Well, you all are irresistable, so how could I not?" I laughed.

Both matrons blushed.

"I will bear your gift to Ethcovir after you have had a chance to eat." Tieara decided. "It will be good to see her again, and to visit my family."

"Sounds good to me." I accepted.

...

It was still a while, probably over an hour, before the rest of the house woke up. I realized that when we were here, the Household Matrons and Maidens must get up early to make sure the meals and everything was ready in time.

Tieara spoke to the others of the chance to speak to her family about her pregnancy and I found out most of the other pregnant matrons had already had the chance. Laliera and the Mountain Elves were the only exceptions.

"While it may perhaps have been better if it were a son, any child of the Hero will be a blessing on my House forever." Tieara struggled to put her thoughts together. "I know I was afforded this chance to help redeem my House, and in this way, I think I have."

"So, when do you lay the egg?" Truk asked.

I let the matrons explain to her that elves didn't lay eggs, not even Cloud Elves. Even if they looked like birds, they didn't lay eggs. Then that led into a discussion about childbirth, and Truk walked away a little wild-eyed and shaky.

Breakfast was finally served and it was a load of... well, I'd call them pancakes, but more like those fancy Japanese fluffy-as-hell pancakes, and they had them filled with fruit jellies and other sweet sauces though none were maple to my minor disappointment. I ended up eating four, and even if there was no maple syrup, it was still delicious.

"I am to return to Uonavear." Tieara declared. She had the necklace wrapped in a fabric square to keep it safe, even if as far as I was aware diamond glass was nearly unbreakable. That was why we used it for the submarine windows.

"And we're off to return to Phoreshaira." I declared.

Tieara walked out the door, coiled her legs and leapt, her wings taking her airborne with a single great flap. The rest of us headed off down toward the dock where The Meg waited for us.

Everyone seemed excited to go, except for Sefra, who seemed glum to be returning home. I reasoned she probably expected her time with me to end soon, and she hadn't had the privilege of getting fucked by me even once. I wasn't sure I cared. She was an unrepentant murderer after all.

Othica requested permission to man the helm, and I let her. She and Spiral got along well enough.

"I actually wanted to try something." Sevrina requested.

"Oh?" I wondered. "What is it?"

"I may have developed a way for us to communicate with Spiral." Sevrina admitted.

"Really?" I marveled.

"It may or may not work, but I have... forgive me... been attempting to analyze some of the magic about you." Sevrina flushed in shame and embarrassment. "And one of the most everpresent magic is the magic that allows us to understand one another. I do not think my spell will be nearly so powerful, and I believe you will have to speak to Spiral first to allow the spell to capture the language, but... I think it will work."

"Oh, so because I speak it, and you understand me..." I thought I saw where it was going.

"Yes, the magic records both the words you say, and the words as I hear them and should enable a manner of translation in this way." Sevrina nodded, "Assuming the spell works."

"Well, let's give it a try." I accepted.

Sevrina cast her spell, and I called out to Spiral. "So, we may have a way for you to speak to the elves."

Spiral extended a portion of her body out of the gem. "Oh?"

"The spell is going on right now and should hopefully let you start understanding them, and them understand you." I told her.

"How will we know if it worked?" Spiral wondered.

"I-I-I... I understood her!" Othica gasped.

Spiral pulled back in astonishment. "And I understood you!?"

The matrons and maidens all rushed to actually meet the elemental they were relying on to get them through the deep.

As things began calming down, and Othica and Spiral, who had already gotten along before they could speak to one another and now were quickly becoming friends, pulled us out into the river, I noticed someone else lingering.

"What are you up to, Creadean?" I wondered.

She paused, then sighed and brought out the large parchment scroll she had been trying to be discreet with, despite its size. "I wanted to attempt to add depth indicators to the river on the map I made."

I took a look at the map and while the trees made it busy, I could kind of ignore them and realized she had made a full topological map of a massive portion of the forest. I couldn't say how much of the forest it actually was, because I was pretty sure it only reached the edges of the forest along one side and a bit of the top, but it was significant.

"That's pretty impressive." I told her.

"Maps of the forest have existed since Ealphamir was built." Creadean dismissed. "But I know of none that map the river depths, so I wanted to add it to my map."

"Were you going to try and map the distance between the coast and Phoreshaira?" I wondered.

Creadean sighed. "Once she leaves the river, Spiral moves too fast to reasonably allow for mapping. I could try and estimate speed if she kept perfectly to the sea floor, but that would also need a steady or reliable increase in depths, and as I recall the underwater cliffs do not facilitate that. I could not calculate distances with such unreliable information with sufficient accuracy."

"I'll take your word for it." I accepted. I had used maps, but never tried actually making one.

"If I had a high enough quality chronometer, I could perhaps manage, but I do not possess such." Creadean shrugged.

Yeah, I knew precision watches were complicated as shit. I could probably make all the components, but I didn't know what I needed to make. I didn't even know where to start.

The river life seemed to have accepted the sizable vessel moving through their midst. This time the fish didn't bother to hide from us. There were fish that looked like everything from specks in the water to trout that fishermen back home would cry to be able to hook. Just like everything else here, they seemed to grow to enormous size. I swear there were trout that were over eight feet long and plump and delicious looking. And that was in the river. I knew the deep sea fish got even bigger.

Spiral seemed more comfortable with the path too, and I saw Creadean frantically marking her map to record depths and shapes of the river bottom. I swear, elven hands were working on crazy time. I didn't know how she made her inkpen move like that.

We emerged from the river into the ocean, and Spiral seemed to immediately set a course.

"Wait, do you know exactly where Phoreshaira is?" I asked.

"The city deep under the mother liquid? Yes. It hasn't moved. The mother liquid assures me it is still there." Spiral answered.

"That is so convenient." Othica praised.

Creadean started making calculations and making notes on a piece of paper.

I decided to leave them to it, and I lowered myself to sit at the bottom of the glass dome. Looking out into the water, I finally had to face the fact that I knew what my task was.

I had to kill a freaking deep-sea kaiju. I could borrow Sefra's ability to function underwater, which was good, because even if I'd named it after a megalodon, I wasn't sure that taking the submarine was the best choice for fighting Godzilla at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. I didn't have a mech, or anything else, to level the playing field. It was probably going to be me, floating in the water, where my guns didn't work, and where physics was going to make things tough, against a giant freaking... probably magical instead of radioactive... lizard-beast-thing.

That highly limited battlefield, with me definitely being on this lizard's home turf, had me worried. Sure, my hydraulic column blasts had worked well enough against the sea worm, but I wasn't sure how well it would work against something as big and strong as godzilla.

I wished I had actually watched more godzilla movies. I'd seen two that had been released in theaters, and the first had made godzilla actually seem pretty easy to defeat. A couple of missiles from fighter planes had done it in. The other movie... yeah, that godzilla wasn't going down so easily. As such, I was fairly confident that this giant lizard thing wasn't going to be quite like godzilla from the stories, movies and such on Earth. But my brain said maybe there would still be good ideas about how to face him in the movies and crap.

... Wait, wasn't Godzilla not the villain in one of them? Damn, it had been too long.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Just thinking, Truk." I replied.

The tiny dragon clambered up my back and laid across my shoulders. "What are you thinking about?"

"The gods have given me a task and I'm not sure how to accomplish it." I sighed.

"What do you have to do?" Truk wondered.

"There's a great beast of the deep, the gods called it "the Great One". It is a huge lizard, they said it's the size of a dragon, but without wings, and it swims and breathes blue fire." I informed her.

"Oh... that's a problem." Truk noted solemnly.

"What? Is it a relative of dragons and I'm going to get in trouble for killing it?" I wondered.

"Oh, no. We hate those guys." Truk snorted. "But... it usually takes a great dragon, or many great dragons to fight them... I think I'll stay back. Are your non-egg-laying mothers going to come too?"

"No, I'm not putting them in that kind of danger." I stated.

"I'll stay with them then." Truk decided.

"I just... I have no idea how all my spells will work underwater." I admitted glumly. "The lightning I used to fry those glowing fish worked well enough, and the worm got obliterated by my water cannon, but... I'm nervous."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you." Truk told me, matter of factly. "I'm just a baby."

I chuckled. "I guess you aren't wrong there."

"I would object to being left behind," Niyk called from above, "but I really don't like swimming."

I hopped up, caught the edge of the platform and pulled myself up to see who all was up there. Most of my matrons were huddled just close enough to listen. The maidens were there too. Everyone who wasn't manning a battle station, ready to blast a sea monster, was sitting there listening.

"If you're going to listen, I could use suggestions." I sighed, and lowered myself out of the "pull-up" position to resume my brooding at the bottom of the dome.

"I do not know what the gods are thinking." Sefra admitted. "The Great One is a terror and a force of nature. He sleeps in his caverns in the deepest depths of the ocean, and when awakened, he comes and destroys entire cities, consuming their inhabitants and leaving ruin in his path. He is incredibly strong, resistant to magic, and is intelligent enough to be dangerous."

"And how does Sea Elf magic compare to the other races?" I wondered.

"Sea Elves are among the most proficient of the races of the elves when it comes to magic." Sevrina explained.

"Only where it pertains to secular magic." Othica protested. "We Cloud Elves are the best at religious magic."

"Great." I sighed.

"But, surely the gods knew you to be capable enough to accomplish the task, otherwise they would have given you another." Tavorwen pointed out.

"Except I was given another, and I fucked it up." I pointed out. "They didn't seem particularly thrilled about giving me this."

There was a lot of quiet thinking for the rest of our return to the Sea Elf city.

...

"I have already received reports that the oceans are cleansed of the black poison." Yfaan Seiafra informed us upon our return. She sat on her throne with a thin veil covering her as she clearly nursed her child.

Ga'Vedra was sitting in the corner, thrusting her barely covered breasts out and reminding me of a male bird trying to attract the attention of a mate by flaunting their desirable traits. However, I doubted very much that she wanted to be my matron. It felt more like the positioning and flaunting of men in power trying to convince you they were too strong to want to fight. Like when North Korea puts on parades, but has soldiers with flashlights bungee corded to rifles instead of the right accessory. Just like in that case, Ga'Vedra was not actually accomplishing her goal.

At least, that was my assessment.

"We went to the Shadow Elf forge, and confirmed it was the source of the pollution." I stated, purposefully not looking at Ga'Vedra. "The forge is no more, and the pollution won't be a problem for you anymore."

"Impossible!" Ga'Vedra snapped. "Even if it was the source of the so-called pollution, the Gra'maen're Forge is an impenetrable fortress, armed and defended by soldiers from four High Houses. And the Respite still stands, does it not? How then could you have destroyed our forge?"

"Perhaps you don't know divine law as well as you think." I countered. "Or I understand divine law better than you think. I did not break the Respite. But there aren't two stones still standing on top of one another of what was once your Gra'maen're Forge."

Ga'Vedra was speechless, her eyes flickered over the group, seeking any kind of weakness that might betray that I was lying.

"Then we stand ready to join your alliance." Yfaan Seiafra declared. "You have been true to your word, and demonstrated actual value for our allegiance. As opposed to some who breathe threats and promises, both equally empty, and demand our subjugation."

"You will regret this decision." Ga'Vedra snarled, her face twisted in fury.

"And you are no longer welcome in our city." Yfaan Seiafra declared. "By the end of the day, you are to take your sisters with you and depart, or you will be considered spies and trespassers and will be jailed accordingly."

Ga'Vedra was fuming. But she rose, and slowly stalked out of the room.

"So, I see all of our sisters have been permitted to give you matrons, perhaps to seal the alliance?" Yfaan Seiafra noted, almost gleefully.

"Yes." I relented. "I have restricted it to four from each race for now. I know I have more from the Wood Elves, but I accepted them before I realized how many duties I would have that I needed to split my time between. As much as I would love to have a hundred matrons, and spend each day doing nothing but inseminating them all... that has to wait for now."

I thought I was picking up on how elves talked fairly well, all things considered.

Yfaan Seiafra smiled. "I suppose that is acceptable."

"And... I feel like I should wait to take them until I am actually done here." I told her.

She paused. "What do you mean? You have earned our allegiance. What more do you need to accomplish?"

I sighed. "I need to earn Cranatha's and Zilmanthan's boons."

Yfaan Seiafra sat back, bouncing her baby as the child continued to nurse. "That is... most unexpected."

"Well, when I first arrived, I started taking matrons, and soon enough X'thallion gave me his boon." I informed her. "Then, when I went and visited the Wild Elves, Cloud Elves, and Mountain Elves, when I had accomplished my goals and done what was asked of me, I took matrons from each group. After each bonding ceremony, the gods of each of the groups gave me their boons."

"So why is there now additional work you must do for our people? Are our gods being obstinate?" Yfaan Seiafra seemed bothered by that. "Why must our maidens wait to take their place in your household? Our mages have determined that many among your number are with child already. If mere weeks can result in such great bounty, then every day that our daughters are deprived is longer before our people, too, can receive of this bounty."

I felt bad. She deserved to know.

"I found a method that was too easy to accomplish the goal." I told her. "It turns out, the gods have been carefully selecting the tasks that I had to accomplish, and I managed each with the level of effort that they expected... until I got here. I found a way that took less effort on my part, and if they granted me boons based on the accomplishments I have achieved since I got here, the boons would be lacking."

Yfaan Seiafra thought about that as she switched which breast her child was nursing on. "So, what task now lies before you?"

"I have to kill the Great One." I told her.

Yfaan Seiafra paused, her child actively complaining about the lack of teat in their mouth. "That is a task, to be sure."

She finished getting her child nursing, then gave me a look that said she was trying to decide if I was a dead man or not. "Perhaps it would indeed be a good idea to wait until you return to bond our daughters to you."

I sighed. "Regretting joining the alliance already?"

Yfaan Seiafra chose her words carefully. "I do not regret joining the alliance against Kathra. Truly, there was no other wise course before us. Kathra must be defeated, and weakened as all our people are, we must needs stand together against her... but I would lament if a maiden tasted being your matron, only to lose you immediately to the Great One."

"Your confidence is comforting." I noted sarcastically.

"You must understand, the Great One has been the scourge of our people for eons beyond reckoning." Yfaan Seiafra explained. "If defeating him were a simple task, he would have been slain thousands, or tens of thousands of years ago."

That sounded about right.

"But take comfort." Yfaan Seiafra seemed to try to encourage me. "Even if you fall, we will still march with our sisters against Kathra."

That was not comforting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ga'Vedra slipped into the water, her mind racing. Using magic to conceal her presence and listening at the door had been the correct choice. This was perhaps the very opportunity that she needed! If the Summon had to face such a terrifying foe... she was certain she could find a way to ensure that he did not succeed. Heal the beast when he harmed it, provide strengthening augments and protection against the Summon's terrifying magic and the beast would accomplish for them what Kathra and all of El'Muth'Ran had failed for all these weeks.

She clawed at the water and kicked her legs, propelling herself toward the residence that would no longer be hers soon. It could not happen soon enough. She wished she was already back in El'Muth'Ran, reporting having successfully killed the Summon.

She hated how clumsy and inept she looked in the water. She grit her teeth as she saw the mocking smiles of the painted whores. When their people were brought low, perhaps she would ask Kathra for a contingent of these sluts to breed, torture and execute. It would only serve them right for mocking their betters.

At length she made the sanctuary of her temporary residence.

"Assemble all of our agents." Ga'Vedra ordered. "I have found our method to kill the Summon."

She could do no harm directly to him, but as far as she knew, healing his enemies would be no violation of the Respite. Nor would using augmenting magic to make them stronger. He had mocked her for not knowing divine law, and she would see him eat those words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... and then you will arrive at the cavern of the Great One." Yfaan Seiafra finished giving me directions, and pointing to the spot on their map where I could find the monster.

I was not encouraged by the size of the hole represented on the map. The hole was bigger on the map than the mark that represented the entire city we were in.

"Alright, I'll go as soon as everyone is settled." I decided.

"You do not wish to plan more for your fight against the Great One?" Risavis suggested.

"At this point, it would just be procrastination." I shook my head. "I need to just do it."

This felt like a big mission back on Earth. You gathered as much intel as you could, developed a battle plan, assembled all the gear you would need while trying to not overburden yourself, and then if you sat around with your thumb up your ass it never helped anything. Best case, the enemy had more time to prepare, worst case your ideal window of opportunity might pass.

All too soon we were escorted back to our temporary residence. I got everyone settled, made sure Sefra had orders that would keep her from doing anything I didn't want, and made sure any of my matrons or maidens could order her if needed. I felt a little hypocritical, with the difference in my treatment of Amura and Sefra, but Amura had been a victim of her environment, Sefra had been raised among decent people and had chosen to become a murderer. Once Amura had been given the opportunity and proper support, she had turned her life around. Sefra had murdered her best friend and still had not a shred of regret about the act, only about the consequences.

"Try not to die." Truk advised me sagely.

"Thanks." I snorted. "I'll do my best."

Well, this was it. I left my pack, and everything except the blades I'd brought to fight this beast, with my matrons, and walked to the door of water.

With a farewell crew of all my matrons and maidens, I stepped out into the water and began to swim. I was still amazed how the magic of the bond made swimming so much easier. I found myself moving swiftly through the water with ease that I had never had in any of my time in the water during training, exercises or when I'd actually gone to beaches or pools for leisure. Even not being fond of the water, I was fond of babes in bikinis, so I'd spent a fair amount of time swimming. I'd even rubbed shoulders with a few olympians and I'd seen how fast they could go. It was hard to tell, being the one moving, not one of the observers watching the olympian fly past, but I was pretty sure with the magic of the bond, I was setting a pace that would have been a major issue for any olympian I was set against.

Of course, my Boon of Strength and Endurance also gave me an edge, but this felt like more than that.

Even cruising like I was, I was sure I was still going way too damn slow. In the darkness down here, away from the city, I was going to have little reference for the passage of time, but I wasn't about to waste more time than I had swimming to the contact point.

I thought of devices I'd seen for Navy Seals that were propulsion assists, maybe...

I imagined water slip-stream devices on my forearms. I fed my magic into the concept and felt the force pulling me forward. I got faster and faster, and luckily, the force of the water didn't seem to actually reach my eyes, but I did feel the pressure on my shoulders and face, like sticking your head out the window of a car when going crazy fast. Only water is much denser than air, so the force was even more pressing. Luckily, I was able to push through and keep cruising at high speed underwater.

This made the trip from the city, along the bottom of the ocean, to where I arrived at the unmistakable entrance to the cave, much faster than anticipated. Now, like I said, there wasn't any light from the surface that reached this deep, but I'd estimate that it took about an hour instead of the four to five they had estimated for a strong swimmer.

The yawning pit beneath me reminded me of a strip mine. The pit was at least five hundred yards, or about four hundred and fifty meters, across. The bottom was covered by sand and fine gravel, but I had a strong guess that a short way under the sediment, the cave of Godzilla would reach deep into the crust.

This presented its own set of problems. I had planned to sneak in, see what the sleeping bastard looked like, and see what I could pull. I hadn't used my special light sword since I fought the kanegs on the plains, and I had wondered if I might be able to find a major artery or something and cut it as my opening volley, so the beast would be bleeding out the rest of the fight. However, if I had to blast, tunnel or dig my way through this, something told me that Godzilla wouldn't be happy with someone fucking with his front door.

I descended toward the bottom of the pit. I took note of a few crabs, with bodies that were shaped like a football, but the size of a soccer ball or basket ball, with long gangly legs. They picked over the gravel, and the deteriorating bones drifting around showed why they were here. For whatever reason, this seemed to be a place where currents brought carcases, and the crabs were here to scavenge. That also would explain all the sediment, as the same currents that deposited carcases would also deposit the sediment.

I let myself drift down to the very bottom, and I noticed that as I reached the lower depths, the crabs would not descend this far. It was eerie. The walls, where they weren't covered in sand, had deep grooves, like they had been carved by enormous claws. It felt like a scene straight out of the horror movies that they would put out during a deep sea week, like shark week.

I couldn't help but chuckle. This was the point in movies where I always said the main character was an idiot for not just turning around and getting the fuck out of there. I didn't really have a choice, or I would.

Finally, I reached the bottom. As my feet touched the bottom, they sank into the sand. It looked solid, but was actually still just particles floating in the water. That wasn't particularly helpful, as a little probing with my two-handed sword revealed it got more solid about two feet down. I was relieved, because if my path in the beast's lair was literally holding my breath and sinking through silt, I'd rather wake the beast blowing holes through solid rock than actually doing that.

"Well now what?" I asked, my voice gurgling through the water.

I looked around to figure out what my options were, when I noticed the top layer of the floating silt actually had something like a current. I followed it, and found, on one of the edges, a thin spot. My two-handed sword could completely pass through. I closed my eyes, resigned myself, and slipped through the floating silt.

It was almost like walking through a waterfall. A short discomfort and a great opening on the other side. The cavern before me was open wide, and behind me a mountain of silt had almost completely buried the cave opening.

The cave was enormous. Large enough you could have put a few two-story houses on top of each other and still had space. The walls were all a crisscross of the same claw marks that had dug out the pit outside.

"Guess I'm in the right place." I grumbled.

Hunting a monster in its own den. This seemed like a really bad idea, but if I woke Godzilla and lured him outside, even if I could fight him, the odds of him escaping if the fight was going poorly for him were not in my favor.

"If the fight was going poorly for him" the idea was almost laughable. This was a monster that made geological structures that would have been "natural wonders" back on earth, but they just called it their den. I was going up against a force of nature, a supernatural force of nature, and I was arrogant enough to think it would be "going poorly for him."

Maybe, once I got in a little ways, I could fire my "railgun" spell and see if I could just launch it as an opening volley. The cave seemed to be going straight, and it was getting quite warm. We must be getting close to depths that would be near the mantle and molten core of the planet. The ocean was incredibly deep here, and we were tunneling fast through the crust, so it couldn't be much-

All the warning I got was a flicker of blue light.

The reverberating roar that accompanied the flood of blue fire felt like sledgehammers against my eardrums. All I could do was pull my arms and legs in front of my body, and brace, pushing out with as much will as I could and realizing this was my death.

The sound of the flames and the steam that was the instantly vaporized water was almost as deafening as the beast's roar. But... the excruciating death from radioactive fire I was expecting didn't come. As I opened my eyes, I was astounded to see a shimmering layer of something magical around me. The fire passed right over it, and the heat couldn't touch me. I was falling as the water vaporized around me, but I wasn't dying. The stream of blue flame followed me down to where I crashed to the stone floor of the cave. I tumbled a short distance before I could stop myself.

I just poured more of whatever I was feeding into this armor of bluish light. The stone around me was melting, and the stream of fire wasn't relenting, but I was still unharmed. I wasn't complaining. Not even the drop and the impact on the stone, and rolling over the rough stone, had hurt me. I was still whole and healthy.

It didn't make sense. I hadn't been able to form an actual spell in my mind, and this didn't feel quite right for one of my spells it was...

... More like one of my boons. Like my Boon of Creation. But I didn't have any defensive...

"And I offer you my boon, the Boon of Fortification." Prinasear, the Perfect Swordswoman, had told me.

I looked at this glowing armor. "Well, I'm certainly feeling fortified." I declared. "Thank you, Sword Goddess!"

Finally the flame died out. Now my thermal vision had a better subject to see. I realized the problem with my vision, and why I hadn't seen the beast before, was that its thick exterior skin had cooled to match the ambient temperature. I couldn't see it because he was thermally identical to the water around him. Now, however, he had just released a stream of fire. Not only had that heated up his head, but a series of crystal spikes along his spine.

Okay, my Godzilla comparison can only go so far. Yes, he was a lizard. Yes, he had just breathed blue fire. But he looked more like a salamander than a... what, was Godzilla supposed to be a mutated iguana? The Great one had a bulbous head, rubbery looking skin, four eyes that I could see glowing a faint light blue with my normal vision, and four stubby legs capped with webbed six fingered hands. The claws on those suckers looked normal, but then I realized he was still probably quite the distance away, meaning he was in fact huge, and those claws were likely the size of a semi-truck's trailer. Fuck he was huge. Not as intimidating a presence as Godzilla, but still a massive freaking monster that had just evaporated a few dozen olympic pools worth of water, if not more, in his attempt to swat a fly that had made its way into his lair.

Well, my best bet was my "railgun" spell, so I set my arms and got ready, but then the water that replaced everything he had just vaporized hit me from behind. I realized his breath attack had served two purposes. First, kill me if it was going to be that easy. And Second, if I survived, I would be swept right to him as the water rushed in.

I drew my shorter sword and plunged it downward. It skated across the surface for a moment, before it stuck fast in the rock, keeping me from being swept to the beast as it opened its maw. I was honestly surprised the blade didn't immediately break. I heard the cadence of the silt and gravel hitting my armor, like an entire drumline doing a speed competition, but the armor held and I felt no pain.. The pull of the water was still incredible, like a tsunami washing over me, but with my enhanced strength, I was able to hold out. I pulled myself up and looped a leg around my anchor-blade, since I was still maintaining my armor, and I hoped it would protect me from the sharp edges as well as it had for everything else.

This was far from ideal. Ideally, I would have snuck up on it and gotten the first blow. Ideally, I would have known that the thing's fucking fire breath could vaporize all the water in the tunnel. Ideally, I'd know more about it than the general fucking description. Looking down at it, there were two rows of the crystal spikes down its back, branching out to each side. I had no idea how it breathed, but with the amount of surface area it had, it could even probably pull the "I absorb oxygen through my skin" bullshit that I knew some amphibians did. There were so many "unknowns", and not nearly enough "knowns" when it came to this beast.

But I didn't have a lot of options.

Held in place as I was by my leg locked around what was left sticking out of the rock of my blade, I held my arms out and began imagining the railgun again. A plasma projectile so hot it would vaporize the water too, spinning faster, compressing more, and building up the magnetics-

Like a coiled spring, the Great One shot from his place at the end of his den, and blew past me. I barely managed to get ahold of my blade to keep from being swept away. The Great One had gone from hundreds of yards away, to blowing past me in seconds. It had almost seemed like the water had been pushing me aside before he even got there.

Fuck. Did he have magic that allowed him to achieve supercavitation? If so, he could keep water around him when he wanted it, and split the water ahead of him to achieve speeds underwater that shouldn't be possible. If I'd known more about the experimental weapons, I might have been able to make rounds that supercavitated for a while, as I knew scientists were developing them, but the publicly released information had only shown rounds able to achieve this for a few yards. Nothing I was aware of in nature on Earth could get close to this. For something of his size to pull this off...

Plus, I was now aware of another danger. The Great One's tail. I hadn't seen it in my initial appraisal. The bitch was twice as long as the rest of the creature's body and had a fin along the top and bottom like an eel had. And it whipped it around at mach fuck.

In a video game, or at least the ones I'd seen, a creature of this size would be balanced by being slow as shit. You'd run up the arms or something to attack it. The great one moved with the speed of a weasel, hyped up on caffeine, not a million ton monster ready to attack Tokyo!

The magic was ruined, dispersed harmlessly. And I worried that my railgun spell really was too slow to use here. With its speed, power and size, I couldn't sit there for a minute and charge. I'd have to figure something else out.

But now I knew I had another problem.

At the speed he had just blown past me, the Great One was now in open water. Not only would I have to fight him on his turf, but on his terms and in the portion of his turf that was most advantageous to him.

I yanked my sword out of the stone wall, and used my arm water jets to propel myself after him. I struggled to maintain my armor and the magic for the jets at the same time, and I couldn't let the beast get away untouched, so I had to drop my armor. I traversed the entire cave I'd had to enter blind, and emerged into the pit. All the loose sand, gravel and crabs were gone. Probably washed away when the boiling steam came bursting out and the water had to rush in to take its place.

The Great One was nowhere to be seen.

I emerged and looked around. Even with my thermal vision, it was still like a lot of undersea footage I'd seen. I was blind after a few yards. Nothing lit up to show me where the beast would-

I dropped my jets and manifested my armor at top speed as heat flared to the west. Another gout of unthinkably hot blue fire roared around me. I dropped down to the ocean floor as the water around me boiled away. Man that was annoying. I had to be careful not to get my feet stuck in melting sand and rock as the flames followed me to the ocean bed.

Amid the torrent of fire, I held out my arms for one final attempt. The flames were consistent and pushed against me, showing me the direction to the beast.

I formed my plasma projectile once more, pouring as much will power as I could into it, and felt it charge up. With this much juice, it was screaming and threatening to release itself much faster, but I wanted it off before the fire relented. Once the fire stopped I was going to have an ocean dropped on my head.

I held out as long as I could, then released, and drew two swords to plunge into the molten rock that had been the sand I'd been standing in.

Even among the blue flames, the plasma blast showed as a step above the surrounding heat to my thermal vision. The blast shot off, and way too fast to be a miss, I heard and felt it detonate. The shockwave in the water probably would have killed a normal man, and even through my armor, I shook.

The water rushed in and I had to brace to avoid being swept away again.

The mess of all that heat dissipated, and I saw the beast. I had missed the head, instead taking out a shoulder and leaving one massive arm free. Hot blood rushed into the water. This could work!

Then to my confusion, bones sprouted from the gaping wound around the shoulder, then connected to those, and so on, until the entire bone structure was returned. Then muscles, veins and everything else a body needed flooded back over the bones. Within a matter of moments, the beast was fully recovered from my blow.

Dammit! Did I have to take out its head? Its heart? What was this bullshit!?

I could already feel that the strain of the magic armor was starting to build. Not crippling or a danger yet, but problematic all the same. I'd have to only hit my armor right before the blows hit, that was insanely risky.

I was immensely glad I'd built the Meg. If I hadn't spent all that time, which I guess had been me training with my boons, I wouldn't have the stamina with my boons that I now had. But even this wasn't enough.

I wanted to use my Boon of Celerity. It was probably the only thing that would get me close enough without the Great One just flipping his tail and shooting off at mach Jesus. But if the rebound hit me and left me immobile and paralyzed, I was dead.

Fully recovered, the spines along the Great One's back lit up. Well, at least he had the same tell for his atomic fire breath, or whatever the hell his blue flame breath was, as Godzilla had.

That meant I had time to launch another-

The beast shot towards me and I barely had time to grab my swords and put up my armor before that massive, probably multiple hundreds of feet long, tail slammed into the ground. Not only was the new stone platform I was on picked up, shattered and launched with the full force of a natural disaster, but the area around it was broken like a meteor had just struck.

I was bouncing between rock segments like a fucking pinball. My head was starting to spin. If I passed out, I was dead.

Luckily, as soon as I got free of the spray and started getting myself under control, I felt my Boon of Endurance kick in. Thank the Host that worked here. I didn't have anything else that would count as healing. So I would take the Boon of Endurance saving me where it could.

I spun around, trying to orient myself, just in time to see a great maw coming. It was already around me starting to close shut.

I had no other choice. If I allowed myself to be swallowed, a creature of this size would have a tough interior. I wouldn't be able to cut my way out. I already knew I had limits on what I could pull off with my boons. I would be dead.

I flexed the muscle in my brain, and time slowed down. Or, I suppose I sped up. I used my arm jets to get the fuck out of his mouth. My best shot was turning around and launching as many of my "railgun" blasts as I could before-

The maw slammed closed behind me.

I looked back. The Great One was still moving! Sure it was drastically slower, but even at my hyperspeed, he was still fast enough that he wasn't just stationary.

Holy Fuck! How was a normal person supposed to fight this thing...?

... That was just it. A normal person would stand no chance. This thing had size, power, speed, agility, and apparently regeneration! That was too fucking OP. Whatever fucked up god had built this thing needed their creation privileges revoked.

But, it was now a speed I could work with.

I knew I didn't have time for a railgun blast. But my brain thought back to my time in the military. If you couldn't one-shot the bitch, you just hit it until it couldn't take the hits anymore. This thing wasn't an armored tank. I had damaged it. It had just grown back. If its growing back was slowed down too, I could just tear holes in it until it couldn't keep growing back. That would work.

Or I'd keep hitting it until I died. But I was hoping that option didn't happen.

Well, the first thing to do was see about all this water in the way.

"You're not the only one with serious fire!" I declared.

I imagined the most powerful flames I could. Directed explosives. I didn't really know all the nitty-gritty details, but I'd seen enough "boom" to imagine it. I poured will into the idea and threw it out. The explosion moved fast enough I knew it was going to hit. But just in case, I threw out another, and another.

Lightning! Lightning would cut through it, maybe be able to reach vital organs without having to blow through hundreds of feet of muscle and bone. I started conjuring images in my head of lightning and just throwing everything I had at it. I felt like a clip I'd seen of Goku where he was throwing hundreds of little fireballs at his enemy, though instead of fire, mine were bolts of lighting. Even the lightning was slowed down, we were moving so fast.

The flames reached my opponent. Lightning was rapidly making its way there. I wanted more. I needed this thing dead.

Hydraulic hammers. I made them like I had for the fucking worm, and I started them in from all sides, making a ball completely surrounding the Great One. This meant even if he tried to run, he'd still get hit.

What else could I throw at him?

Ice!

I imagined great spires of sharpened ice, like spears, and poured power into them until they were big enough, and moving fast enough toward him, that I was confident they would hit, and had hopes they'd accomplish something.

The Great One's tail was flipping toward me, I didn't have much time.

Uh... what else!?

My bullets! They showed all the elemental types this world had. Let's see I had done fire, ice and lightning... Which left acid, sonic and force. Maybe my hydraulic hammers would count as force.

Acid it was next. I imagined acid, strong enough to burn through a creature of this size, hoped it was possible, and threw my magic into it. An orb of clear liquid formed in front of me, and I poured everything I could into it. I found it odd it was clear, shouldn't acid be colored something so you knew it was dangerous? Whatever. Soon, it was the size of a vehicle, like an APC, or Armored Personnel Carrier. Not as big as I'd like against a monster bigger than a professional stadium, but it was what I could do.

I launched it, hoping everything would pin the Great One in place so it could hit.

Last sonic. Directed Energy. Hopefully my vague ideas would work as the foundation for my magic. I tried to feed my will into it, and for the first time, I felt my will skid off an idea. No matter how much I tried, apparently I couldn't imagine a directed energy sonic weapon clear enough to actually make it a spell.

Dammit!

The lightning had reached the Great One now, and I saw the maw open again, and this time, it was to roar. It seemed like a roar of pain so something was working.

I relaxed the muscle in my brain a little, not enough to let time fully return to normal, but I wanted to see what all that magic did to him. I'd thrown a few massive explosions, what seemed like a hundred lightning bolts, about three dozen ice spears, a cage of hydraulic hammers and a glob of acid the size of a large vehicle at him.

Please, let that do something.

As time sped up a touch, the Great One started moving way too quickly. He twisted, which meant the aim of my spears was probably off. His tail was still coming, but it hit the hydraulic hammers, and the crushing weight of water slammed the Great One into a single spot.

Hell yeah! That pinned him exactly where everything else would hit. The lightning was arching through him, The icicles made contact, and started tearing through his skin. Though for him they were more like Ice Slivers. The acid struck and I realized that a bit of acid that size really shouldn't-HOLY SHIT! It was burning a hole straight through him! GODDAMN!!!

My attacks had been effective! The pressure of the water dissipated and the Great One was looking in rough shape! Had I actually done it!?

I let time return to normal and got hit by a freight train of exhaustion. The Great One's blood splattered in every direction in the water. His scream made the water vibrate. His movement slowed. He was dying!

This time, I noticed it! As the healing kicked in, it wasn't just his body naturally healing! There was magical energy enveloping him! It was almost like what I'd seen when I'd been healed or when I'd seen the elves heal each other. There was nothing on the beast that seemed to indicate the magic was coming from him...

Even wracked by the nearly paralyzing recoil of my Boon of Celerity, I could manage to turn my head. I looked around in confusion. What in the world was...

A tiny flash of light was all that gave them away. There were individuals here. The faint glow matched the glow on the beast. Once I saw them, I noticed more movement. A non-caster was chasing after a group of fleeing hippocampus. The Shadow Elves had stolen mounts from the Sea Elves to follow me! By the glimpses of light, there were multiple casters, and they all seemed focused and intent on keeping the Great One alive.

Well, they needed to go! I powered through the recoil, which wasn't quite as bad as I remembered it being, and turned toward them, starting to charge my railgun blast.

"Wait!" It was the voice of the Elven Goddess, Cranatha, sounding in my head. "Those are Shadow Elves! They are under the protection of the Respite! You cannot attack them!"

"What? But they're..." I protested.

"The same technicality that allowed you to summon primal elementals against their kin allows them to intervene on the Great One's behalf." Cranatha actually sounded apologetic.

Fuck!

I felt the recoil fading, it had never lasted long, but if I had to keep leaning on my Boon of Celerity to keep this fight even, I was going to be hurting. Eventually, the recoil was going to build up and bury me. Luckily, it seemed that along with everything else, my excessive use of my Boon of Creation had made my Boon of Celerity easier to use. So maybe I could last long enough... especially if I only drew on it a little, just enough to match the Great One.

The Great One snapped back to function and my fight with him resumed.

I had to re-engage the Boon of Celerity immediately. And my pondering about only using "enough" Celerity to match him quickly became irrelevant. A flicker of blue light washed over him, another gift from the Shadow Elves, and he was fast enough I had to use everything I could.

The sea boiled as my blasts of red fire traded with his gouts of his blue flame. I threw hundreds if not thousands of bolts of lightning. He would go to slam me with his tail, and I'd burn a hole through it with acid. Luckily, sharp and strong as his claws were, they were too big to really be employed against an opponent as small as I was.

It was fuckin' annoying, how he kept trying to eat me! Not in the fun way.

I kept having to switch from combat magic to mobility as he'd lunge and try to chomp me. Luckily, evenly matched as we were with speed, I was able to escape the enormous maw each time.

But no matter how badly I burned him, how thoroughly I electrocuted him, or how much pain and agony I caused, that damn healing light from the Shadow Elves popped up. This level of healing magic was ridiculous! How were they...?

Then I noticed something. Was that even possible? Flickers of light, like a trail of fireflies, were being drawn from the Great One to where the Shadow Elves were huddled, casting their magic. They were leeching power off him to use to heal him! That's cheating!

How was I supposed to defeat him if the Shadow Elves were... what? Reducing his immortal lifespan to slightly less immortal?... to fuel the magic to keep him alive and fighting? Infinity minus a thousand is still infinite.

I hit him with another round of blasts, bolts, ice and acid...

What was I supposed to do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ga'Vedra trembled at the sight of the conflict before her. She was casting as quickly as she could and could barely keep the being that was near a god of nature alive.

"I need power faster!" She ordered her companions. "Increase the siphon!"

It was no wonder some lesser tribes worshipped beings such as this one as gods! The beast the Summon had called the "Great One" was terrifying! It was a wellspring of nearly limitless magical energy, with flame attacks hot enough to boil great portions of the sea. That skin was thick, and sturdy enough that many attacks would bounce right off. No fortification built by her people could withstand the raw force and destructive capabilities of its claws and tail alone, and that was without its flaming breath.

Part of her wondered if she shouldn't allow the Summon to slay it.

But therein laid the problem.

The Summon was winning!

Crazy as it was, were it not for her intervention and that of her sisters, the beast would have been slain! Had they not commandeered the sea horses, they would not have arrived in time.

"Keep the image pearl recording!" She ordered between spells.

One of the Claws she had brought whose skill at magic was insufficient to be of use here, despite her request that all the claws she was assigned have such skills, held the magical item, preserving the visuals of this battle for later study. If the Summon did defeat the beast here, despite their healing efforts, they would at least be able to study the recorded images and learn about how the Summon fought.

Sweat would be running down her body, but the seawater carried it away. Her head was still feeling hot from the effort. That she was able to keep casting at all was only because Kre'Mira was sapping the beast's own magic to fuel its healing.

They were also lucky to have been able to place transmission runes on the beast and it had not bothered to resist them. Screaming those runes through the water as they arrived had been a strain enough, and their magic barely reached. With them, however, their magic could easily reach beyond their normal range.

Even so, the beast had appeared to realize their magic was assisting it. A beast of its power could likely with ease resist any spell they cast, but it was allowing the exchange of its magic for the healing they bestowed.

The Summon was flitting about like a dragonfly, if dragonflies vomited out hellfire, a maelstrom of lightning, spears of ice and more.

Gods... if only she could get a slave mark on his neck.

The forest whores had stolen the relic and performed the summon. He, by right, should belong to the Shadow Elves. Kathra would have seen him properly collared when he arrived, when he seemingly was much less powerful. Then the male could have been shared among the worthy daughters of Ya'av, not squandered by the leafstained cunts.

Ga'Vedra had to admit, she could see why the whores all gave so many sluts to the male. She could hardly keep up with him, and the amount of magic he was throwing out was mind-boggling. He showed no sign of slowing or faltering. If his performance in bed matched that of his performance on the battlefield, he was a desirable mate indeed.

But how he had gained such power, and so quickly, was a mystery. Or had he always been so powerful? He was a summon. They were believed to be powerful and capable. He had been dismissed and discounted, because he was a male and most males were weak. However, he had humiliated Kathra's forces, out maneuvered whatever Kathra had going with the other races of sluts, and out maneuvered her here. He was not to be underestimated more...

... No matter how curious she was about what she could compel him to do in her bed.

Ga'Vedra swore and began chanting another spell of healing. The Summon was pushing hard, and the Great One was clearly struggling. Only one hand was required to maintain contact with her rune of transmission, so with her other hand she motioned to Kre'Likra, demanding more enhancements for the beast. Ker'Likra motioned back, she could do no more.

Ga'Vedra returned her gaze to the two forces locked in combat. How was this possible? Such power packed in such a normal sized body... it should be too much to bear. Even channeling a fraction of the Great One's power was exhausting, and she was starting to feel pain from more power than her body was accustomed to. The pain ran from where Ker'Thevaria's hand touched her back as Ker'Thevaria channeled the power into her, and to her arm and down to her hand, reaching out to her fingertips where the power left to return to the Great One in the form of healing.

Ga'Vedra's mind raced. She had been so focused on coming here and thwarting him, she hadn't bothered to really comprehend why he'd even come. She had only overheard bits and pieces, being careful to learn the details of WHERE he was going, but hadn't paid attention to WHY. What would drive a male to do something so crazy and reckless as facing this beast? Surely, he had known it would be difficult. Even without their intervention, surely this wasn't a simple side task for him.

She looked from the beast to the Summon as the beast's spines lit up and the Great One prepared to breathe the brilliant blue flames once more. Her eyes opened wide as she realized his plan.

"Oh, SHIT!" she swore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd had about enough of these Shadow Elves healing this giant fucking lizard, amphibian, thing...

I had done enough to kill it at least a dozen times and the wounds from the last attempt were almost done healing.

For the third time, I had to release the Boon of Celerity. Luckily, I could keep the Boon of Fortification up, or I'd be dead. The recoil was the nastiest it had ever been, but this had been the most extensive use of the boon I'd ever done. I grit my teeth as the pain paralyzed me.

The Great One nailed me with his breath again. I couldn't tell if it was worse, being protected in the midst of the flames with the force of the flames rattling me, or the drop that came as all the water around me evaporated.

My eye glanced over at the Shadow Elves, too busy healing to hide. If only I could actually do anything to them. It seemed no wound on this beast was instantly fatal, so they always seemed to heal it just fine. So this is what a real elven mage could do. I suppose I had never pushed my caster matrons, and especially Othica, to their limits, but this was incredible.

An incredibly huge pain in the ass.

I plummeted, but high as I was, I got caught by the water before I hit the ocean floor. It was like being stupid enough to do a belly flop contest with a nasty hangover. My head hurt from the use of the Boon of Celerity, and it also made my body hurt. Both would pass quickly enough if I could stop using it, but that was not a freaking option.

The recoil passed and I used my arm jets to try and maneuver before I had to engage it again.

Luckily, the Great One seemed to have taken great offense at this "insect" that was causing it such pain. It made no attempt to flee, just trying harder and harder to end me. It seem particularly keen on fucking eating me, even though I was proportionally less than a grain of rice to him. I wouldn't exactly provide much nutrition to him.

The Great One paused, seeming to notice my decrease in speed, and he charged for another blast of that freaking blue fire.

Then I had it. The epiphany to end all epiphanies. I raced into position and waited. The Great One turned to face me, opened its maw and that extreme blue flame came shooting out in a beam that went straight through me.

I turned and watched as the flames shot past me. I was glad the Shadow Elves had lost control of the hippocampuses, because now as the flames shot past me and engulfed them in the crossfire, no innocent animals were harmed.

Honestly, it was embarrassing that I hadn't thought of it earlier. Just like how I had used the Primordial against them, and they were trying to use the Great One against me... well, the Great One owed them no allegiance. Hell, he might not have even noticed them or cared if they existed. He may not have connected that they were the source of his healing. If he knew they were healing him, he didn't see them, or vice versa.

"Now, we can fucking end this!" I cried.

The dramatic moment was somewhat ruined by how much the water garbled my actual words.

I had started getting an idea of what actually hurt him, and exhausted as I now was, I was itching to end this fight, so I could go back to the fucking Sea Elf city and sleep. Rest. Whatever.

I engaged my Boon of Celerity, and shot up toward him. He started opening that dumb mouth, and I veered up.

"Eat this!" I garbled into the water and I blasted him with a stream of the most potent acid I could make, right in the middle of his four dumb eyes.

Fire, sure it burned him, but it was mostly surface damage. Lightning caused pain, but wasn't really seeming to do that much actual damage. Ice wasn't feasible to make big enough to really do serious damage...

But acid? Acid was burning holes straight through the bitch. And when the stream of acid hit his head, it did just that. It ate through skin, then bone then its fucking brain. Even at speed, I could only keep the stream of acid on him for a moment, and I hoped it was enough.

My boons had carried me this far, with the Boon of Endurance doing the herculean task of keeping me going, and my new Boon of Fortification keeping me from dying one of any of a dozen gruesome deaths the Great One had tried to give me. But using as much of my magic as I had, and using the Boon of Celerity this much.... I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on.

The Great One recoiled, thrashing and twisting. If I hadn't killed him, I'd certainly hurt him. His tail whipped around and the wave off that sent me spinning.

I once more engaged the magic of the jets on my wrists and pulled myself out of the spin. I quickly oriented myself and turned to see the Great One falling, belly up, towards the sea floor.

I had done it. The Great One was dead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yfaan Seiafra stood at her window, watching the sea roil. Even at this distance, the battle between the Summon and the Great One was having an impact. The living stone of their homes creaked as the tides rolled unnaturally. The water carried the sound of the distant conflict to their very doorstep. The Great One had not been active in 500 years, so he might have continued to hibernate for another 500 years, or he could wake in ten, and there was no way to know when it would have happened.

The Great One's roars were horror made manifest. She rocked her wailing daughter, but could not blame the child for fearing. It was as though that roar triggered an instinctual fear in her and all those of her people, though she could not vouch for the others.

"Gods, protect him in his fight." Yfaan Seiafra prayed.

"Do you think he can win?" Master Zaldin asked, coming over to hold their daughter.

"I do not know. Which is why the mages are on standby for evacuation. If he is defeated and the Great One begins to rampage, the teleportations to our safe zones will be initiated. We will just see how many complete in time." Yfaan Seiafra admitted in frustration. "We never even knew when he was summoned, let alone when the Respite started. Perhaps our seers could have spied and observed his capacity, and then I could make a prediction, but as is."

Another roar of the Great One shook Phoreshaira. Another sharp pull of the water caused the building to tremble.

"All we may do is wait and pray." Yfaan Seiafra declared solemnly.

"Have you decided what to do about the matrons we may provide him?" Master Zaldin questioned.

"You are a male... what do you think he desires in matrons?" Yfaan Seiafra wondered.

Master Zaldin snorted. "He may be male, but he is not an elf. I cannot conceive of being able to support so many matrons. You and your bed sisters are all I can manage, and there are but three of you. Were I he, I would desire no more, but you said he willingly offered to take more?"

"Yes, and he said this was for now, implying more in the future." Yfaan Seiafra added.

Master Zaldin paused.

Yfaan Seiafra knew his struggle. Not only had he to contend with the potential desires of this most desirable master, but those of their people as well. Four was a reasonable number for a master to take, but those positions would be hotly contended. The nobles would try and claim as many as they could, and if not afforded enough, would throw their passive aggressive tantrums. The common folk would desire those positions as well, and with the growing tension between the commoners and nobility, if at least some were not allocated to commoners, there could be riots. She herself had her two oldest daughters she could consider, and selfishly, she would desire both to be bonded to him. And none of that even touched on what would make him approve of his new matrons, and help them draw his favor to her people.

The matrons and maidens he brought with him were of little help as well. They were all of them combatants, meaning the Wood Elves had revived the practice of having battle matrons for him, like the Wild Elves and the Mountain Elves. There had only been one Wild Elf, so either they had maintained their foolish practice of only having a single matron for each master, or three remained behind, likely in Ealphamir. The Cloud Elves clearly had split their matrons, and Yfaan Seiafra knew less of their people than she would wish, to know why the two present were selected. The four Mountain Elves were all young, fierce and they had loyalty in their eyes. The array of Wood Elves was staggering. Diverse as the people of the forest in appearance and capabilities. The Summon had explained the discrepancy in representation, and she was unsurprised that the Wood Elves had exploited his ignorance of the world to get more matrons. They had clearly been the ones to summon him, so some would say their greed was justified.

And perhaps one day he would have as many matrons from each of the races. Gods, to have such vigor and virility...

Then there was the matter of boons. She had been told all previous members of the host had bestowed boons upon him, and there was no knowing what boons he'd been given and how that affected his perception of each of their peoples. It was also impossible to know what boons their gods would bestow. Surely, the gods knew the gifts they gave would influence the Summon's perception of their people, so she was hoping that they would choose good boons.

She almost laughed to herself. "Choose good boons", what a joke. No one truly understood how boons worked, so for all she knew their boons were determined eons ago when they became gods. Which if that were the case, then she hoped the choices made all that time ago were ideal and applicable today.

None of that, however, helped her with the choice before her. If she put forth trials of merit to give commoners an equal opportunity, the nobles would object, and if she made the decisions herself, the commoners would object. However, if she wished to win over the Summon, perhaps gain some measure of favor for her people, she would find maidens most appealing to him.

It was a struggle. One she was still conflicted on how to deal with. She had her answers for now, but she did not know if she thought they were the best answers.

Another roar shook the city and the waters shook in their own way.

Yfaan Seiafra stared out into the water. There was one thing she knew for certain.

A lone mortal that could stand against the might of the Great One was no one she wanted as a foe. She had been right to join their alliance. Even if all other points had been foolishness, she did not want to be on the opposite side of a battlefield against him.

The Great One bellowed, and pain could clearly be heard.

Gods, the Summon was actually doing it.

Surely every maiden in Phoreshaira had their womanhood tingling. Even if he was a physical combatant, as was indicated by the sword he carried on his first visit, and the fact that when he returned he had carried more. Mages were far preferred as partners in the ocean, but for him... it might not matter. By the gods, such a male...

The rumors that he would be taking four matrons, and perhaps maidens in addition, from their people had spread like wildfire. The guards were smart, but their excitement had been too great to contain. From what she had heard, some of the rumors even included his "for now" statement. The maidens of the sea would be preparing themselves until such time as this Summon's harem was full.

Normally, a master's household was not considered as such, but for him... could any other word suffice? Even the unit of battle matrons were so insignificant as to be left behind in Phoreshaira while he went out to face the Great One. They may have some purpose they served, they were more than simply breeding females, but with him... their actual function seemed minimal.

Yfaan Seiafra bit her lip.

Kathra still moved against him...

What did that witch have planned?

One more great cry rang through the waters... then stillness.

"Good gods... I think he's done it." Master Zaldin marveled, rocking their still scared daughter.

Yfaan Seiafra's resolve was fortified. The Sea Elves needed his favor...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of me wanted to yell, scream, and give that fucking bastard a piece of my mind... But I was too exhausted to give a goddamn fuck at the moment. Hollywood loved showing celebrations after a hard fight, but reality just wasn't that fucking glamorous.

Also, I had to make sure the fucker was actually dead. Wasn't entirely sure how to do that with a carcass of this size. I bet I could swim through its arteries, like they said you could with really big whales. So it wasn't like I could put a couple of fingers on its neck and check for a pulse.

I realized in all my swimming it had never occurred to me that I wasn't really using dive weights or anything. I could just sort of want to go up or down and it worked. Having neutral buoyancy was just my natural state. It must have come along with the rest of the perks from Sefra.

I figured the Great One moving would be pretty fucking obvious. Something that big in the water displaced too much for it not to be felt. I had something else I wanted to check on first.

I descended to one of the numerous patches, where the sand and rock of the ocean floor had been melted into a plate by the Great One's fire. I quickly found what I was looking for.

Jesus... How many Shadow Elves had there been? I counted corpses. There were nearly twenty of them. Burnt nearly beyond recognition, it was fascinating to see what had actually survived. It seemed magic indeed made a lot of pieces of their gear durable enough to survive.

"Well, it isn't like you're using them anymore." I grumbled. Plus, we might be able to learn something from their effects.

It was fairly easy to tell what was still good and what wasn't. If it crumbled to ashes and washed away, the Great One's fire had destroyed it. If not, I figured it was worth taking.

I got a new appreciation for my Boon of Fortification. I had tanked dozens of blasts of the Great One's fire, and I hadn't even lost my eyebrows. These Shadow Elves took one, and only one of their outfits even survived. The elves themselves were charcoal. Even their bones were toast, which I knew meant that the flame was insanely hot. It had only taken... a few seconds... of me pointing the Great One's breath the right way, and they were as good as cremated.

But I investigated each blackened form. The slightest touch and they started to crumble and wash away. I was just grateful I couldn't smell them under the water. I'd seen enough death and horror as a soldier, I was a bit numb to the reality that these had been people, and they were dead... because I called in an artillery strike accurately. Before I'd led my team, I had done that multiple times. And I'd been one of the ones who'd had to go in and confirm who died in the strikes, as much as was possible. So I was fully aware of what I should be smelling, and I was glad the water stopped that.

One of them, I could easily identify by the clothes that survived. The rings, the bracelets, the necklace, the top, the Shadow Elf wrap that was little more than nipple pasties with a strap around the back, and the leather crotch strip. All of that had been enchanted enough to survive, but the elf wearing them disintegrated and washed away. It was fascinating how untouched the magical equipment was, considering how complete the destruction of the wearer had been. Like, the exterior crotch strip survived because of how enchanted it was, but the interior one was obliterated.

Luckily one of them had a small bag I was able to get everything to fit in, except for the things that obviously couldn't. A few blades, staves and such, which were in no way even plausible to fit in the small bag.

"I guess when you're basically naked, your clothes don't take up much space." I chuckled.

It had all fit so damn nicely. I needed a way to hold it, so I went to stick the bag on the end of the staff. I figured I could tighten the drawstring or something to secure it.

The bag swallowed the entire staff.

I blinked. I stared.

"What the hell!?" I demanded.

I stuck my hand in the bag and I could find everything I wanted... But I could also stick my arm in, up to my shoulder, into a bag that should have struggled to reach my elbow, and that is if the bag was completely empty.

"Holy shit." I laughed. "A super bag."

Weilkeir had talked about extradimensional spaces, and I knew we had made several on the ship, otherwise we would've had to make the Meg bigger. But the fact you could put one in a bag was neat!

I paused. Wait a minute, if bags could be made into extradimensional spaces... why was I carrying most of my stuff in a normal backpack!?

I'd be asking some serious questions when I got back.

Now that I knew I had a super bag, I packed up everything of the Shadow Elves' that had survived, and headed over to the still unmoving remains of the Great One.

It was very encouraging that deep sea crabs had already found the carcass and were trying to claw at it. They seemed to be struggling with the skin, however, so it wasn't until I got around to where I had burned a hole in its head that I saw stuff actually eating it.

Now, chemistry had never been my forte. I had struggled with what little I'd been forced to do in my various science classes, and had avoided actual chemistry classes through high school. Like many soldiers, I had gone straight into service, and while I had used some of my GI benefits to do a bit of college, I hadn't taken it quite seriously yet, because I still had a long time before I had to retire, and well, the military had been the place I'd felt I'd belonged the most. Even with my time at college, I had avoided chemistry. Sure, I knew how the propellant in my rounds worked. I could reload my own brass. But I guess there was a difference in my head between "When the smokeless powder ignites, it produces force" and "if you take four carbon atoms and have them fuck some helium"... I don't know, like I said, I didn't do fucking chemistry.

I don't know how my magic made the acid. I don't know what it was made of, how concentrated it was, or any of the other bullshit the chemical people talked about. I had never worked with a CBRN Specialist, or a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Specialist. Not more than having them go over a few things with us. So, I couldn't give you a fucking formula to make the freaking acid I had burned into the Great One's head with.

What I could tell you, is that shit ate brains like a private on leave at a strip bar went through cash. The Great One's skull was a cavern, and the scavengers were just getting inside.

Damn, I hope no one on Earth ever weaponized something like this. I had no idea how you'd protect against it.

Then I had a thought. I knew about atoms. That was fucking knowledge most grade schoolers had. Protons, neutrons and electrons and such made up everything. But... as far as I knew, for every number of protons in an atom, there was a matching element. I had never memorized the table, and other than "they stick together", I couldn't tell you why or how. But I did remember hearing that the higher the number of protons in an atom, after a certain point, the less stable it became. That made me wonder... just what were admantine and mythril? If the periodic table on earth could account for every number of protons until there were too many protons in a nucleus to be stable, and the number of protons in an atom determined what it was... were adamantine and mythril made of something other than protons? What other elements were made of... whatever else? What did that mean? How would I confirm it? But...

My head was starting to hurt. I was way too tired for this bullshit.

I almost left, but then I thought... I needed a trophy or something. Something to show I'd killed the Great One. But I was sure, having gone off to poke the bear, that the Sea Elves would want some sort of evidence that the Great One wasn't about to come cruising in to eat them.

I looked at the crab-filled hole as the scavengers really discovered where the tasty brain matter that my acid had left was, and decided that was a "nope". Floated down to one of its arms. The claws were too massive to make good trophies. Maybe some leather?

I cut off a few squares of the hide, which even with my magic blades and my Boon of Strength was a task and a half. The skin was thick, but still workable. I didn't know what actually made for good leather, but I had hopes. They rolled up and slipped into my handy super bag. Once you got a cut started, it wasn't so bad, and the work was kinda relaxing, so before I knew it, I'd lost track of how much I'd gathered, and I'd gathered a section that was most of its arm. Then I was curious, and sure enough, the stomach had different textures, so I harvested an area that was at least twenty feet by twenty feet, though I didn't keep it as a single piece. Then I wondered about the back.

The Great One was laying on its back, but with a bit of creativity and a bit of magic, I got it flipped over. Turns out the hydraulic magic I'd used before, when applied with less velocity, still worked pretty well.

First I set out to see if the back hide was different from the arm skin, because it was nothing like the belly skin. So I harvested that for a bit, then I bumped into one of the giant crystal spikes on its back.

The crystal bit me.

Okay, "bit" was not right. Shocked. Jolted. Prodded.

It didn't feel quite like electricity, and I wondered if it was atomic. Godzilla's blue fire had been because of radioactivity. So maybe it was the same?

No, that wasn't quite right. I wasn't sure what atomic bullshit felt like, but that shock had felt somewhat familiar... more like my magic, but not in a fun and cooperative way.

Wait, these spikes had lit up every time that the Great One had used its fiery breath. Were these spikes... giant magic batteries?

The idea seemed crazy, then not. Sure, magic for me was a lot of thought and willpower, but maybe that was just how I thought about it. Willpower wasn't a physical thing that you could feed like electricity through a wire, but that was basically what I did for my magic. What if "willpower" was just a form of energy that as a being in this universe I possessed now. And if it was just energy, energy could be stored. So why couldn't these giant crystal spikes be basically magic batteries?

Well, that was it, I was taking them with me. Call it bad decisions because of exhaustion or whatever, but I was taking these small building sized crystals with me.

The first one took forever to cut out. All I really did was manage to peel the skin away from the base and cut a little at the meat. I had no idea how deep the crystal went, so I had no idea how long it would take to remove.

It was at this moment, it occurred to me that I couldn't just put a crystal the size of a house into this bag smaller than a basketball. Even if I could, theoretically, fit it into the magic space inside the bag, it would have to fit in the opening. I floated up to the top, opened the bag and just to show myself how stupid and futile this was, I put the bag over the tip of the spike. See, it wouldn't fit, and-

With a sound like a beatboxer trying to beatbox through a sneeze, my arms jerked, and the crystal was gone.

What... the fuck?

After that, collecting the spikes went much quicker. Twenty spikes, twenty house-sized crystal structures, and now twenty holes in the back of the Great One that the crabs and gathering fish were all only too happy to exploit to reach the meat inside that thick skin.

With that... I think I was finally done.

God, even with the Boon of Endurance... I think I need to sleep after that.

...

Arriving back to my temporary residence in the Sea Elf city, I groggily walked in, allowed them to lead me to a room, and I flopped down on the bed. It felt so nice.

I was pretty sure I had sex, maybe twice... but I was too tired to do much. My memory was a bit hazy, but I think they told me they purged and asked if they could get some. Who was I to say no to pussy? Fuck. They were all hot. I let them do the work. I think... one was a mountain elf. I'm pretty sure the other was a Wood Elf, but honestly, I think I came, pulled her close to me, and passed out.

When I woke, I realized with some concern, that coming home last night had been the closest to feeling drunk I had been since I had come to this world. I'd been that tired before, during intense training camps back on Earth, and once or twice in the field. I was functional enough, but it still kinda sucked. Like I said, I was pretty sure I had sex, twice, but I hardly remembered anything, and I was certain I hadn't lived up to my standards when it came to pleasing them.

Until I actually found, or made, alcohol in this world, I never wanted to feel that again. Then again, if I was drinking enough to get drunk with all my boons, I had a feeling I'd be pissing out straight moonshine before I got even close to drunk. Maybe it was best I'd landed here with elves who had no appreciation for alcohol. I didn't mind being sober, and honestly, fucking my matrons was better at relaxing me than drinking ever was. Plus, there were all the stories I'd heard, or could tell as I'd watched a drunk private think they could do something crazy, and they ended up hurting themselves or others. With my boons, was it really wise to risk it? Perhaps I'd just steer clear of alcohol going forward.

Not that the elves were providing it, but it seemed like a solid choice regardless.

I emerged and found all my matrons and maidens present.

"Good morning everyone." I groaned. I found myself fiddling with one of the surviving items the Shadow Elves had left. It was a small, white orb, that kind of reminded me of a pearl, but didn't feel like a pearl. It felt more like a marble.

God, I sounded terrible.

"We are glad you returned safely, Master." Tavorwen greeted me as I joined the group.

"I tended to you and made sure you had no pressing injuries." Othica explained. "You returned safe and uninjured. Which was a relief to all of us."

"She speaks the truth." Zynrin admitted. "Listening to you fight for an hour was nerve wracking."

I must have misheard.

"Excuse me, but I could swear you said I fought it for an hour." I protested, rolling the pearl between my fingers. "There's no way I lasted an hour."

"We could hear the whole thing from here." Risavis protested. "It was an hour that we heard the explosions and felt the sea shake."

"The water proclaimed your battle for all to hear." Othica nodded.

I could still feel the tiredness from my fight in my bones. While it had felt like hours I had spent blasting, zapping, and frying the damn lizard, I had assumed that was because of my Boon of Celerity. You know, move at super speed and normal speed slows to a crawl, right? But I guess even with that, it had still taken me that long?

Then I noticed something.

"Where's Sefra?" I demanded, my hand closing on the pearl.

I didn't feel any real affection for her, she was surly, greedy and spiteful, but she was our ticket to underwater breathing and mobility.

"She was caught sneaking into your chambers and attempting to steal an insemination." Zynrin answered bluntly. "The Yfaan was not pleased and she was taken away."

"As she ought to have been." Laliera huffed. "I have accepted that I must share my mate with his appointed matrons, but for a maiden so brazen as to seek that which she has no right to... you ought to have let me end her."

"She was not ours to punish, and the Yfaan is seeing to it she is punished appropriately." Niyk answered, somewhat gruffly. "Or she had better."

"Wait, she tried to rape me?" I almost laughed at the idea.

Sure, the two who had sex with me had done so while I wasn't all here, but I remembered telling them they could. And I remembered, somewhat, enjoying it. Couldn't tell you which two maidens had taken turns bouncing on me, but it had "good enough" consent as far as I was concerned.

But if Sefra had snuck in, while I was passed out, and had sex with me... there would be no way that wasn't rape, right?

All the maidens and matrons gaped at me.

"Sure, such acts are more common among my people," Amura noted in concern, "but how do you laugh at the thought of such abhorrent violence?"

"I'm just surprised. She told me they performed a magical hysterectomy on her. I didn't think she'd really have a reason to go so far." I shrugged.

"A hys-tor-ak-to-mi?" Othica struggled.

"A hysterectomy. Where a female has all her reproductive organs removed." I explained.

The horror was palpable.

"It is so common among your people you have named it?" Purin winced, holding her lower stomach.

"Yeah... I mean, what do you call it?" I wondered.

There was silence for a moment.

"A fate worse than death." Othica finally answered.

That was fucking grim.

"Now is not the time to discuss such things." Tavorwen clapped her hands and changed the subject. "As I understand it, those who will be selected to join us as your new matrons are being assembled as we speak. We should go to join the process."

"How?" I wondered. "Without Sefra, I can't share the ability to breathe underwater with you all, or even have it myself."

"That should not be a problem, Hero." A voice declared from behind me.

Turning there were six Sea Elves wearing roughly the same thing. All wore what looked like a breastwrap, made of a dark green fabric, and a skirt, made of the same material, that looked like a wide single piece of fabric that had been passed through their legs, then secured at the top with a belt of cords that it draped over. The sides of the front and back were then tied together to make it less of a loincloth and more of a skirt. The Sea Elves had the air of more mature maidens, and I would bet money they were mages.

"We will escort you to the proceedings," their leader declared.

We walked to the entryway of our residence and two of the mages stepped forward and began to speak in the magical tongue. The bubble of the door extended out, and a floor of ice formed. The mages stepped in and onto the ice, and the remaining mages motioned for us to follow. The floor was definitely ice, but it was textured so as not to be slick. In fact, it was grippy enough that I felt quite secure on my feet.

The two mages maintaining our bubble transport began chanting again, and the bubble broke off from our home and began to float, accelerating gently, through the water. The bubble felt like one of those amusement park rides where the cart was on rails.

"There is a great deal of competition for the role of your matron." The maiden who was clearly the lead mage chatted idly. "Not as much as there could be, because while the fact you are a hero is not in dispute, mages are far preferred as partners, and as you are a melee fighter-"

"What gave you that idea?" I wondered.

All of the mages' heads turned, even the two who were still chanting and guiding our bubble vessel.

"You carry swords." The lead mage pointed out.

"They are a fallback." I shrugged. "I'm still pretty new to this world, so I'm covering my..." I almost said 'ass', "... back."

"Do you have some way to show that?" The mage questioned. "If you could, all reservations about becoming your matron would vanish."

"I'm still exhausted from the fight." I admitted. "Maybe I could throw down something... But I'm not sure how flashy I could be."

A few of my matrons couldn't hold back a laugh.

"What? I'm certainly not at my best." I grumbled.

"Even not at your best, you are plenty impressive, Master." Narusil assured me.

Somehow that felt like a girl telling her man, "it's okay, the big ones hurt."

"What have you recorded on that image pearl?" One of the mages wondered.

I held up the orb. I guess it was some sort of pearl.

"I don't know." I admitted. "Ga'Vedra and her Shadow Elves came to try and stop me. They were healing the Great One as I was fighting him. They got caught in one of the Great One's fire blasts and this was one of the things I recovered from them."

"There may exist a recording of your fight with the Great One!" The lead mage gasped.

I looked at the orb and realized that would be very likely what they would have done. Having video footage of how an enemy fights was invaluable. And if the Shadow Elves had gotten away with the recording, there was no telling how they might have prepared for me.

"How long can an image pearl record?" I wondered.

"Well, as far as I know, we are the only people to produce them, and most of them were lost during the Massacre." The mage admitted. "Those image pearls could record great periods, some as much as a day. Though far more common varieties could hold only a quarter of that. They were used to distribute messages, since the excess of salt water between our cities and the surface impedes our ability to communicate."

"Do you know how to get the record to play?" I asked.

"I do." The mage nodded.

"Could you show us?" I asked, offering the orb.

"We have arrived." One of the navigating mages declared.

I handed the lead mage the pearl and our bubble docked with something that looked to me like an underwater version of an indoor football stadium. That is, if a coral reef had started growing over the top of the oval bubble of the stadium.

"Come, we will share it with all our people." The lead mage declared excitedly.

I followed the mages inside, through a few halls and into a great room, much like a football field with no grass. Inside was a throng of Sea Elves. Far more maidens and matrons than masters, but even masters were in attendance. The majority of people seemed to be moving into stadium style seats, but four groups, two massive groups with hundreds of maidens, and two smaller groups, were assembled down below, with a number of people gathered around the outside.

"Excellent timing." Yfaan Seiafra greeted us. "We have just finalized the groups of supplicants from which Thomas's matrons will be selected. Word spread and maidens gathered from as far as Keilmeira and Seiphalimoor. We have quite the turnout."

"Finalized? That is a shame." the lead mage proclaimed. "For the hero believes that the group of Shadow Elves we had cast out followed him, and recorded his fight with the Great One with this image pearl. I believe it will be revelatory."

I'd say that caused a buzz, but it was more of a roar. The acoustics in this place were fantastic. I bet the mage's voice was audible to most of the Sea Elves present.

"If true, that would be incredible." Yfaan Seiafra celebrated. "But it is not certain?"

"That is true." the mage admitted, inclining her head.

"Well, display the images for all to see, if it is the battle, we shall watch, if not, we will save the contents for later review." Yfaan Seiafra decided.

Oh god, I hope a Shadow Elf sextape wasn't about to be blasted in front of this mass of Sea Elves.

The recording opened with a blast I immediately recognized as the Great One's fire. So that fear could settle.

"Quickly! Healing!" One Shadow Elf called.

"Oh Ya'av, Preserver of Darkness, let not our foe's corrupting light fell our ally." I recognized Ga'Vedra's voice. "Keep the image pearl on the summon! Kathra will reward us for the knowledge if she does not for our success in slaying him!"

It was kinda neat. I mean, even though it was broadcast as a 3D image large enough to fill the stadium, I looked tiny next to the Great One, who filled most of the stadium. But with the image pearl not really showing the water, it looked like I was flying. I zoomed around it, explosions and lightning in a kaleidoscope of light as they hit the Great One. I saw him swing his tail, and... Yep! There was the acid blast, cutting a hole so the tail swept past me harmlessly.

I did get flung around by the water the tail displaced, but that was nothing.

This had started early in the fight, and I got to watch most of it.

I was kicking myself now. How had it taken me so fucking long to think of using the crossfire of the Great One's flame to take out the Shadow Elves. It was so obvious now, but it had taken me so long in the moment.

"How are you defending yourself, master?" Tavorwen gasped, her eyes full of fear as I tanked another fire blast. She kept her voice soft, but I'm sure a few people heard.

"I figured out the Boon of Fortification." I answered in a whisper. "It is quite the boon."

I noticed Yfaan Seiafra shoot me a glance that told me she had heard, but her face was unreadable. All I could get was... was she concerned? Worried for my health watching the recording or something? That was silly. I had survived and was right here. Spoiler for the end of the recording, I guess.

The recording went on and on. I'd blast fire, lightning, hurl ice spears, and blast with acid, then the Shadow Elves would heal him. It was almost painful to watch, knowing how easy it would be for me to aim that blast, or that one, or that one, at the Shadow Elves and just end the whole thing.

Well, the Sea Elves let the whole thing play. After a while, I lost interest. It was kinda like watching a video of you as a kid playing sports. "Come on! Just do the thing!" But little, dumb you just doesn't do it.

The Sea Elves were entranced. It was like they were watching a Marvel movie for the first time. Blasts of fire from both sides, color coded for viewer clarity, and lightning and everything else was only coming from me.

Finally, the maw of the Great One turned toward the camera and BLAM! Then the recording went dark.

There were a good ten seconds of silence.

Then an angry cry filled the stadium. It took a second for me to actually hear what was being yelled.

"Reopen the selection!"

"My daughter would have participated if she'd known!"

"You kept his magic a secret!"

"This isn't fair!"

The objections seemed to primarily come from a specific area of the arena, though a few people spread through the crowd also objected.

"SILENCE!!!" Yfaan Seiafra bellowed, in a voice that shook the room. Her voice then quieted to an angry roar. "You were, all of you, told the Hero was a mate most desirable. You would not be here otherwise. If you believed your status as a mage family was more important than representing our people, I have no sympathy for you now that you have learned of the Hero's incredible magic. The selection is closed. The decree was made, you all agreed, and it has been finalized. Perhaps in the future, you will choose more wisely when gambling with the bonding of your daughters."

A few objections were still raised. "But he carries swords!" and "But we could not have known!", but the guards quickly gathered those people and ejected them. Even the ones wearing what were clearly the nicer, more expensive, and more covering garments. Some with extremely complex and ornate hairstyles that I could only guess were the rich and maybe highborn. Anyone who tried to oppose the Yfaan's decree was ejected.

"All who are not supplicants presented for the selection, make your way into the stadium." Yfaan Seiafra ordered.

Gradually, the ring of people around the arena moved into the stands.

"Well, let's see how the Sea Elves do it." I mused as the Mages led us to a set of arena-side seats. There was one for each matron and maiden, and several to spare. Amura sat on one side of me, and Tavorwen was going to sit on my other, but she moved one seat further when she saw Yfaan Seiafra making her way over.

"I hope I was not too presumptuous." Yfaan Seiafra apologized. "But you said you would accept four matrons from our people. It sounded as though we were permitted to make the selection."

"Well, that has varied from people to people." I admitted. "The Wood Elves and Mountain Elves allowed me to make my selection. The Cloud Elves and the Wild Elves selected their matrons for me."

Yfaan Seiafra looked out at the proceedings as older Sea Elf Maidens guided different groups around the arena, with one group moving to the center. Wait, was she chewing her lip?

I looked out at the proceedings. Was she worried I wasn't going to be happy with the matrons because I didn't choose them?

"I have yet to be presented with matrons I was unhappy with." I assured her.

"Let us hope we are not the first race to disappoint you." Yfaan Seiafra spoke with strain in her voice.

An announcer with a sultry maiden voice called out, "The first selection, maidens, line up in your designated order and prepare your gifts."

"One of the selection positions was reserved for a maiden of noble lineage." Yfaan Seiafra explained, as the maidens formed an orderly line, each carrying a box, tray or sack. "As the maiden in question will represent her family, the gifts are more indicative of the family's wealth and influence. As such, the gift, or maiden, that pleases you most will stay. Each subsequent maiden will either replace the former, or be dismissed. All you need do is bid each maiden 'stay' or ' be dismissed'."

Oh boy.

"To prevent undue favoritism and pressure, the maidens have been instructed to only give their given name, not their family names." Yfaan Seiafra added.

Not that I knew the families for the names to mean anything.

The first maiden approached. "Great Hero, I am Ghafra. For a gift, my family has prepared these..."

She opened the box she carried and presented a box full of tiles. Each tile was only about two inches tall and about an inch wide, with a hole for a necklace string or chain. Runes covered the surface of the silver amulet. The box had enough space that there were twelve stacks, and depending on how thick they were that could be an awful lot of tiles.

"Pregnancy tiles." Ghafra declared when I didn't respond. "If a matron wears one of these when being inseminated, she WILL be with child as a result. Though each tile will only function once."

There was an impressed murmur that went through the crowd.

Realizing how infrequently Elves ovulated, and how devastating it was to not be pregnant and get your period, I could see the value. But my matrons were getting pregnant left and right without them, so probably not as impressive for me. But I could see the value.

"Ghafra, as the first maiden presented, remain here, until you secure your place, or Master Thomas dismisses you." Yfaan Seiafra declared.

These Sea Elf maidens were all well dressed. This one in particular wore a full dress, snug in all the right places to show off a narrow waist and wider hips. As I've said, no elf maiden was huge with double Ds or anything, but as far as maidens went, she was blessed with bosoms. Her black hair was pulled up into a crown of loops and curls, spilling down around her face and framing it. Her amber eyes studied me carefully.

Looking over the noble maidens of the Sea Elves I realized two markers of wealth in the ocean were long hair and being able to afford more extensive clothing. Covering your legs, stomach and shoulders seemed like something that was exclusive, or nearly exclusive, to this group of young elves. Most others wore variations of swimsuits. Everyone covered the important parts, there weren't exposed breasts, crotches or asses, but there were variations that showed more hips, or had lower necklines. However, those pieces had other ways they covered. For example, like a one piece, there were some that had a piece that looked like it was passed between the legs and wrapped up, meeting its other half at the shoulders where each shoulder had ties connecting front and back. The sides then had regularly spaced ties that held the fabric wide and tight over the body. This meant the stomach was covered as were the breasts, but the crotch kind of had a single layer that covered the lady bits, but it didn't start tying at the sides until about the lower ribs. This left hips completely uncovered.

Realizing this, the full dress, and I noticed the hem was secured to anklets, so even if she swam, the skirts would continue to cover her legs, that Ghafra wore must have been a real show of wealth.

The next maiden stepped up, and gave a dipping bow.

"I am Jeela." She introduced herself. "My family's gift is this."

She held out a tray. On the tray was a large glass bottle, at least half a gallon in size, filled with a faintly glowing teal liquid.

"This potion, if taken daily, increases a master's stamina, allowing him to sate his matrons and have energy to pursue his studies. Only a cap full is required for a single dose." The maiden proudly proclaimed.

I felt intense unease from a few of my matrons, and I had to carefully not laugh. If I had more vigor, my matrons certainly would have a lot more work to do, especially if that thing was any sort of aphrodisiac, which wouldn't surprise me.

The next several gifts all were similar. "Aids" for some sort of function in the bedroom. Formulas for increasing sperm production, a recovery tonic for after sex... and so on.

I think Yfaan Seiafra figured out that these gifts were... missing the mark a bit, after the fifth gift. I hadn't replaced the first maiden yet, because fuck it, if one of my girls was getting really depressed about how long it was taking her to get pregnant, I could use the tiles. But thus far my rate of impregnation compared to expected time to pregnancy among elves was quite favorable.

The gifts were each set in a pile to the side of our seats. Sea Elf maidens, who apparently weren't being presented, perhaps because a few of them looked too young and the others on the old side, took care of taking the gifts and placing them in careful piles.

The tenth maiden stepped up.

She looked, perhaps, a bit on the poor side? Her hair was trimmed to shoulder length, at least the parts that weren't looped back up into other parts of her hair. Her top was a piece that had a pair of crisscross loops of fabric on each side, sort of making a hammock for each breast to rest in, before wrapping around her torso, recrossing for extra support for each breast and looping up to tie behind her neck. Her bottoms were something akin to tight shorts, attempting to make up for a lack of skirts with a myriad of thin cords that all started at the end of her very short short legs and ending on a pair of anklets. Her hair was a dark, navy blue with streaks of white in it, and her eyes were a dark emerald green. Her skin had more of the green streaks than the gray that all sea elves shared.

She stepped up, and somewhat embarrassed, opened her box. "I am Dynea. My family offers this gift."

Inside the box was what appeared to be a dagger sheath.

"This sheath will resize to fit any blade and will hone any blade placed inside to as sharp as the metal can hold." She explained with downcast eyes.

Really? That sounded fucking awesome! I hadn't used a lot of blades on Earth, so while I knew enough to keep a small blade from rusting and sharp enough... a magical sheath that would take care of my blade maintenance? Sign me up.

"May I?" I asked.

The maiden and the Yfaan looked at me startled.

"The gift is yours. You may do with it as you please." Dynea answered, holding the box up and lowering her head further.

I rose, and walked to her. I took the sheath from the box, and noted it was light, but solid. It had some sort of inlay with a pattern of a sea serpent of some kind.

I drew the enormous two-handed sword from my back and placed the tip at the entrance to the sheath. The sheath immediately began to expand, both in length and size, until the blade slid in. I felt the handle hum for a second, then I pulled it out. I knew the guys back home who really wanted to test how sharp their blade was would take the edge and shave a small part of their arm. Trying this with the great blade left a bare patch with a single pass and no effort. That edge felt sharp as hell.

"I like your gift." I told her. "You stay."

Ghafra, who must have been feeling pretty secure in her place, gaped.

"THAT!?" She demanded. "THAT IS THE GIFT THAT UNSEATS ME?"

"The Hero has spoken." Yfaan Seiafra scolded. "Return to your family."

I replaced my old sheath with this new one and returned to my seat. Dynea with wide and confused eyes took her place, standing just a few feet from us.

Now many of the maidens still in line were eyeing their gifts. Many either wondered if their family had chosen more poorly than they had initially thought, or if they had perhaps chosen better than they had believed.

Dynea glanced into the stands and following her gaze I found a master quietly celebrating.

"Before we go on." Yfaan Seiafra held up a hand. "Might we be blessed with the knowledge of why this gift pleased you so? Do you not enjoy your role as Master? You seemed... unimpressed... with the previous gifts."

Oh boy, how to break this to them.

"Well..." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "... the gifts all sought to remedy problems I don't have."

All the Sea Elves stared.

"Could you clarify?" Yfaan Seiafra asked delicately.

I swallowed. "Well, there is something of the assumption that I struggle with capacity. You will notice my matrons..." I swept my arm behind me. "... and that there are more than one for each day of the week, and I have more who take care of my household back in Ealphamir."

I saw nods from the Sea Elves, and realized they were assuming "yes, that's a lot, you obviously need help."

"If I spent the day from dawn to dusk, I could service all of them in a single day." I corrected them.

The eyes of all the Sea Elves widened in astonishment, and I saw my matrons just nodding confirmation of my words.

"With vigor to spare." I added.

"Oh my..." Yfaan Seiafra breathed, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.

"As for my production..." I chuckled, and looked back at my matrons, "Do you think you could handle me producing more?"

"Master, most of us struggle to handle what you put out, even now." Tavorwen declared.

"It's not that bad." Amura rolled her eyes. "The excess just leaks out."

"Excess?" Yfaan Seiafra confirmed.

"Master Thomas could soak a mattress in his excess." Amura nodded seriously.

"This isn't fair! We didn't know that!" Ghafra protested from her space a few paces away. "None of us were told he was a mage or that he was so... prolific!"

"None here knew, so all was fair." Yfaan Seiafra retorted. "I myself am only now learning of this."

"Then how was your daughter so well prepared?" Ghafra demanded.

"Master Zaldin, would you care to share the reason you chose this gift for our daughter?" Yfaan Seiafra questioned. "I left the matter entirely in your hands."

The master in the stands stood. "Of course, your Majesty." He bowed then answered. "The hero was seen bearing swords and strange metal tubes. The nature and function of the tubes is unknown, as they were not open on one end, as a blowgun is, so I could assess no way to augment them with a gift, but he also carried a sword. When he returned to face the Great One, he left the tubes and carried more swords. Such was common knowledge, was it not?"

None of the Sea Elves protested.

"As summons are frequently powerful beings, and the swords were not mentioned to be legendary, I did suppose that the swords were not his primary weapons..." Zaldin did admit. "And seeing the recording in the image pearl did confirm that. However, I did not see him using a staff or wand for his magic, and he did seem pleased by the gift I chose, so I suppose I chose well enough."

"See? Simple logic that anyone could have known. I could not have guessed any better." Yfaan Seiafra declared. "Can any fault be found?"

"But a master's primary concern is impregnating his matrons! Any master should be happy for such gifts!" A matron from the crowd protested.

"Again, I believe viewing the Hero's actions answers that objection nicely." Yfaan Seiafra retorted with amusement. "Did the Hero come seeking new matrons to impregnate and solve our people's problems once that duty was satisfied? If the Hero has impregnated a single one of our people before this moment, he should be condemned, for no bonding has occurred. But I tell you this, he came seeking to give aid, succor, and secure the allegiance of our people, and taking matrons and impregnating them is more a duty born of equality... is it not?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I am very much looking forward to inseminating and impregnating all my soon-to-be matrons." I assured the crowd, "But yes. I need to facilitate the defeat of Kathra first, then I can see about taking as many matrons as each race deserves, providing every race with children as plentiful as their matrons will allow. For now, these matrons will serve to seal the alliance between the Sea Elves and the other races."

"And so, since this has been his straightforward desire since his arrival, the only ones to put forward that the Hero's first goal is the insemination and impregnation of the matrons he receives this day are each of you. Your gifts tell as much." Yfaan Seiafra refuted. "As such, no time will be allocated for gifts to be reselected, and those who have given gifts must stand by the gifts they have given. Let this temper your future decisions when courting the Hero's favor."

"At least some of our gifts are still of use." Ghafra hissed.

"Guardian Yelva." Yfaan Seiafra called. "How many of the matrons who arrived with the Hero did you proclaim to the others were pregnant?"

"Your Majesty, I let it be known I found five of the matrons accompanying him to be with child." The nearby guard answered.

"This information was told with no expectation it be kept quiet?" Yfaan Seiafra verified.

"It was." The guard answered, her voice a little tight.

"I know no noble house of my people would neglect such a morsel of court gossip, so I expect every noble house present has confirmed that rumor themselves." Yfaan Seiafra noted. "And from what I hear, that is only half of the matrons he has with child... and in only a matter of eight weeks. I'm sure some matron of his will find waiting to be found with child unbearable, but a blink of time such as eight weeks hardly seems to merit such distress."

Ghafra stormed off.

"I'm really not looking to make enemies here." I protested weakly.

"The Tideshaper family is not so petty as that." Yfaan Seiafra dismissed quietly, her voice cast into the dirt. "They will bounce back, striving even harder to earn your favor when next you come for matrons. Ghafra herself is highly competitive. A loss is not an easy burden for her to bear, but she takes that burden and carries it until it makes her stronger. I just added weight she will carry to success... whether or not you become her Master."

"Now, another matter has been made relevent." Yfaan Seiafra declared, this time projecting her voice to be heard by all in attendance. "It was intended that the Hero would not know which houses allegiance he is securing through this bonding, but it has been disclosed that Dynea is my daughter, and while she is not currently next in line for the throne, this knowledge does taint the proceedings. How are we to proceed?"

I could detect, faintly, a touch of distress in her voice. Seiafra didn't want her daughter disqualified. But she was also trying to be fair, which was admirable from a ruler.

"Honestly, a person's station doesn't mean much to me. I don't care if she's your daughter, if a better option comes, I'm taking it." I told her.

"That is the Hero's word. Does anyone doubt him?" Yfaan Seiafra questioned.

Honestly there were only a dozen maidens left in the group. This was the smallest group by far. Which made sense. Nobility was always a tiny fraction of the population, and it sounded like some of them had thought I was a brainless muscle head, and hadn't wanted their daughters associated with that. If this Master Zaldin had been the only one to actually think about it and not give me a "fuck my daughter better" gift, Dynea would sail through this.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what kind of gift could top this scabbard thing.

Of the remaining twelve, eight were the easiest dismissals ever. More sex gifts. Pills to help a male get erect (which made me laugh that even elves had to deal with ED), various tonics to help the sex do the thing in various ways to try to increase the odds of pregnancy, and one interesting one, a type of sex toy that was supposed to help me "naturally prepare" for sex by basically being a fleshlight. True it was powered by magic instead of electricity, would clean itself and me, and it self lubricated like a natural pussy, but... I'd rather just fuck my matrons. Even if they all got pregnant, we'd figured out anal and oral worked for them while pregnant.

The remaining four actually made me take time to consider.

Before my fight with the Great One, and figuring out my Boon of Fortification, how it worked and how easy it was to use, the maiden that gifted me armor would have won. It looked like chainmail, weighed little enough I was sure it was mythril, and the thing was packed with magic. But the Boon of Fortification was easy enough to use and complete enough that the scabbard still won.

Then there was the staff. Every boy at some point finds a stick and is a wizard for the day. The staff felt so cool... but I was going to have to figure out if it even helped with my magic. I was going to have to learn to use it. She was a close second contender, and I told her as much, which pleased her greatly for not quite making the cut. The scabbard was just immediately useful.

One gave me hippocampus reins, enchanted to give strength and vigor to my mount. However, they did explain it would only work for a hippocampus. She was very understanding when she was dismissed.

The last gift that was a contender with the scabbard was the third to last gift. It was a map. It became immediately apparent that my location, facing, and even elevation was marked. The map covered from a point in the ocean at least twice as far out as the furthest Sea Elf city in the east, to well past the Wild Elf lands to the west, and showed two other lands to the west. To the northwest was Derger, land of the Hewmans. The terrain looked pretty uneven and mountainous, but places like that on Earth were still habitable. It was strange, even with my translation magic it read "Hewman" not "human". To the southwest was Keshish, and it looked like another forest.

I sat for a long time, thinking here.

"Were we at peace, your gift would have won." I told her. "Knowledge like what this map gives me cannot have a price set on it. However, before I can truly get that value, I have an obligation to take care of Kathra. For that reason, I cannot put your gift higher."

The maiden seemed content with that. She definitely was happier than the maidens who had to present me with sex gifts after it became evident such gifts were not winning tickets.

"And so, Dynea secures the first spot as a Matron of the Hero, representing us all. Represent us with dignity, grace, wisdom and temperance." Yfaan Seiafra declared happily. "You have done well, my second born."

Dynea was finally able to leave her place standing, and sit among my household. Tavorwen patted the seat next to her and began conversing with the girl too quietly to be heard.

I'd have to figure out if my assessment on how wealth was displayed was wrong. Because Dynea had the shorter hair and less clothing that looked like it was associated with a lesser standing. But being the second princess should have come with better station and standing.

Oh well, that was one of four matrons selected. What next?

"Next is the largest cohort of maidens." Yfaan Seiafra explained. "Where your first matron represents the nobility of our people, the second will represent the commoners."

"So, how will they be chosen?" I wondered.

"The fairest way we have found is through one of our people's most beloved pastimes, shared by nearly all." Yfaan Seiafra explained. "Dance."

I liked the sound of that.

Musicians took their place on one side of the arena, and a group of twenty-four young Sea Elf Maidens stepped out to form a six-by-four grid. It was easy to know how many there were because as they stepped out, glowing symbols appeared over their heads, and a moment later my translation magic changed the symbols into numbers.

"With five hundred and four maidens presenting, groups of twenty-four will function to produce twenty-one first rounds." Yfaan Seiafra explained as a mage brought me a board and two small stones, one black, one white. As I picked up the board, the twenty-four symbols appeared, then were replaced by glowing numbers. "Each round you may select three maidens to advance. Nine times, you may select an additional maiden, even after selecting your three. Then there will be three groups of secondary elimination where eight shall be selected. Then in the final round you will eliminate competitors until only your new matron remains."

That math worked out for me.

"You may indicate that you have selected a maiden to advance by touching the white stone to her number. This will make her number shine and she will know she is selected. If you touch the black stone to a number, it will be extinguished, and the dancer will know she has been eliminated and leave the floor." Yfaan Seiafra finished explaining. "Once the first rounds have all been completed, the dancers will be assigned new groups and perform once more."

"That makes sense to me. Do you do these dance competitions often? It seems you were very well prepared for this." I noted.

"Indeed. There are seven such dance festivals each year, with great rewards for the champion dancer, but this competition is likely to be fierce, as no prize has been so great as a position as a matron before." Yfaan Seiafra admitted with amusement.

The music kicked up to start off the competition, with solid drums starting us off. Then horns and strings joined in. I couldn't tell if the string instruments were closer to Western style violins, cellos and guitars, or Eastern style string instruments. Some were played with a bow, others were strummed. A few Sea Elves played something like pan pipes, and the combination was lively and bouncy. Somehow, all I could think of was, "Is this what it would sound like if an Irish folk group merged with a luau?"

The dancers immediately took off.

It seemed like there were four major styles of dance among the Sea Elves.

The first I saw was a twirling, spinning dance, that took advantage of their quick, precise limbs to do spins that would put ballerinas to shame. I'd seen dancers spin that fast on earth, but only with a partner spinning them, and usually with arms and legs drawn in to facilitate it. The Elves could manage alone, which meant their arms could be out, and they used rods with flowing wide ribbons trailing from them, to turn themselves into twirling flowers.

The second style was less flowing, and reminded me more of Hawaiian or Polynesian dances, where the girls would get those hips going and keep 'em going as they performed the steps of their dance. I'm sure matrons had more hip and ass to jiggy with, but mobile as these Elves were, they still were doing it for me.

The third style was more slow and measured. For a second, I thought it was going off every second beat, or something, then I realized that there were subtle things, mostly with the hands, feet, wrists and ankles that were keeping with the beat. It must have been a more folksy style, and I could almost immediately tell the dancers each had a story. All three dancers using this style were telling definitively different tales.

The last style was more akin... to hip hop? Fast, showy steps, sharp arm motions, and looked to be the most "fun" to dance. It was in sharp contrast to the slow, story driven dance of the third style as the motions seemed to be more driven by feeling and connection to the music than any sort of desire to tell a story.

I'm proud to say I did not just grab a maiden doing the second style because DAMN if she could do that while riding me it would feel incredible. I did take one dancing that style, but honestly, I did it because she made it look good. Shakira had nothing on her. Shakira would have to bow and respect that comparatively, Shakira's hips were lying and this maiden's were the real deal.

The second maiden I picked was one of the twirling flowers. Again, she just seemed to be doing it the best.

I was tempted by a second hip-dancer, but next to my first choice, this second dancer just didn't cut it.

Instead, I chose one of the story-dancers. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something alluring about the story she was telling, even if I had no idea what it was.

And so it went. I actually chose five maidens in the third group, four in the seventh, six in the fifteenth group, four in the nineteenth, and my last extra maiden was picked in the twentieth group.

"On to the second round." Yfaan Seiafra announced, and there was an almost smug satisfaction to her as she did.

"Do not drool over your new matron options too much, Master." Amura teased.

"It is alright." Yfaan Seiafra protested with raised hands. "Some were worried we were visited last because we had somehow angered him, or he found us unappealing. So in that way it is good to see his pants bulge in desire for our maidens. And such a sizable bulge..."

I could see Dynea blush bright red, but her eyes couldn't help lingering on my crotch... which only made the swelling bulge worse.

Starting in the second round, things got a lot harder. In some of the groups of the first round, half the maidens had clearly been inferior dancers, so I was already down from twenty four to twelve. In the second round, they had all given my stiffy a throb or two and shown that they knew how to dance.

"So these maidens are to be household matrons?" Tavorwen noted.

"Not necessarily." Yfaan Seiafra cautioned. "Just because they believed dance was their most likely chance to matronhood does not mean they are not accomplished mages. Most children of our people study secular magic, and most who do so are capable battlemages. They could serve in the household or the battlefield, at the Hero's pleasure. Though I will not deny there are likely some less fit for the battlefield here. But Dynea could serve in either role. She will be bringing her retainers along, household maidens, who could assist her as she works in her master's household. Or her retainers could be prepared to receive her when she returns weary from the battlefield."

Okay, that was interesting.

I had to start actually using the black stone to dismiss dancers, to try and figure out which third got to stay. I decided it was a good thing I'd never been a judge for a beauty contest. I didn't feel any threads of fate, or whatever, leading me to choose, so I was left to choose which of these sensual, graceful, erection-inducing beauties I was going to have to let go.

"And now on to the final round." Yfaan Seiafra finally declared.

I could tell, the long period of dancing was hard on them. They were starting to really get tired. It was interesting, seeing their friends, family, or whoever it was, tossing water on them, and seeing them perk up like a dramatic houseplant.

"So drying out is problematic for your people?" I noted.

"Yes, it is our greatest weakness." Yfaan Seiafra admitted. "While in the water, or properly hydrated, we can match the Wild Elves or Mountain Elves for strength and physical capacity. However, it is difficult to maintain that once we leave the water."

"Interesting." I noted.

A mutli-person bathtub was seeming more and more likely in my future. Maybe sleeping pools too, where these new matrons could sleep submerged in the water.

"This chamber is one we may flood or expel the water from," Yfaan Seiafra confessed. "There are many of the competitions usually performed under the water. The dancers do not overheat, nor dehydrate that way, though some of our dances work better or worse when submerged."

One maiden stuck her entire head in a barrel, luckily, her shorter hair was pinned or tied back, so it kept its shape.

The twenty-four final dancers, now wet and dripping, returned to the center of the arena.

Much as I hated to do it, if there was a chance that I was going to be taking this maiden as a battle matron, I'd need her to be capable, even if a battle ran long. I started eliminating dancers who clearly had reached the end of their rope. Each time their number went dark and disappeared, the devastation on the dancer's face was tragic.

That whittled down the final twenty-four down to ten. I couldn't tell if they had the best endurance, or simply hid their exhaustion best.

The remaining dancers were finishing their first dance of the third round, and started into a second.

With this second dance, one caught my eye. She was the shortest dancer there, with a decent amount of ass and hips for a maiden. Her hair was dark red, but as it had dried out last round, I'd seen it lighten to a color reminding me of Ariel from the Little Mermaid. She wore light green shorts with ruffles to imitate a skirt and getting her hips going, as she moved from a seductive story dance to one of the crazy hip dances, it really made her hips pop. She was also the only one bold enough to dare such a high energy dance so late in the competition. The determination on her face was almost as sexy as her gyrating hips.

I didn't make a decision right away, but after eliminating two more, I kept coming back to her.

Fuck it, I decided. I'm making the call.

Yfaan Seiafra seemed surprised as I set down the black elimination stone and picked up the white selection stone.

Lucky number seven, I thought with amusement as I placed the white stone, how appropriate.

The maiden's face lit up with jubilant joy as her number shone bright and all the others went out. She leapt up and began to twirl in celebration.

"Come forward, our champion dancer." Yfaan Seiafra called.

She gave a final twirl, then came hastily walking over.

"What is your name, maiden?" Yfaan Seiafra asked.

"Keifeira, Your Majesty." She answered with an elven curtsey. "Keifeira Opaltide."

"Matron Keifeira, take your seat." Yfaan Seiafra motioned to an empty seat by Laliera.

Keifeira was almost giddy at "matron" being applied to her name. Her amber eyes shimmered and she nearly cried with happiness. Laliera greeted her with a smile, and Keifeira threw her arms around Laliera in a big hug.

She'll fit right in, I decided.

"Now, as to the next group... it may be presumptuous of me, but I hoped you would take a matron from among those most in need of the position." Yfaan Seiafra prodded hesitantly.

"I mean, most likely." I declared hesitantly, looking at the two remaining groups. Something was somewhat off about one of the groups, I mean the elves were hot, and beautiful, and sexy. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with them either. If anything, they looked hotter than they should somehow. "Depends on what you mean."

"You see, while we were able to mostly evacuate the cities that were lost to the Shadow Elves' pollution, we were not without losses. Significant losses. At least to us. Many masters were lost, and while we lost matrons too, the imbalance has been highly problematic." Yfaan Seiafra apologized.

That's what it was! This was the one group of Sea Elves that had boobs! Not that I didn't like the A and B cup sizes on my current matrons, but it would be nice to get some bigger ones to enjoy every once in a while. It was hard to say from here, but the matrons out there with the smaller tits were probably on the bigger size of having C-cups. D-cup, DD-cup, and maybe a few with DDD-cup sizes, or bigger, were all out there.

Now, I'd come to accept that after my matrons were pregnant for a bit, they'd start getting curvier. I figured if the itty-bitty-titty club was just a phase, I should enjoy it while it was here. Eventually my whole household, at least the matrons, would be joining team MILF, but there was also something to be said for the "young, skinny, and innocent" side of sexy. So I was enjoying what I had, as I looked forward to what would be.

The idea of getting a matron-bodied matron was unsurprisingly appealing.

"Oh, I have no objection to that." I assured her.

It was as if the entire section of matrons let out a collective sigh of relief. Only one of them would be chosen today, but I had promised I'd take more and that was more opportunity for them.

"Thank the gods." Yfaan Seiafra sighed. "It is a relief to know you are unopposed. Some masters object, claiming they want no part of a matron another master has claimed. Many are as understanding as you, but not all. That at least one less of my subjects suffer the need for insemination is a relief."

I paused. "Sefra said there was magic to relieve an elf who had engaged in... insemination... and was later denied. She said it reset the elf back to the level of desire before she engaged."

"Sefra was a whore, desiring that which she could not have." Yfaan Seiafra declared with fury. Her fists trembled in her wrath. "She knew she was sterilized. She would receive no mating pleasure, but have no craving. She vainly believed she would receive the pleasure, and consequences be damned."

That was the most angry I think I'd ever seen an elf, including when the Shadow Elves had turned that poor girl into a human bomb. Tavorwen had been pissed then, somehow this touched an even more sensitive nerve and Yfaan Seiafra was livid.

She took a few breaths to control herself.

"It is true that we have magic that can lessen the pain of our body's demand to continue reproducing, but any of these matrons will tell you, it is quieted, not silenced." Yfaan Seiafra continued. "I cannot ask you to relieve all their burden-"

Honestly, an orgy with... it looked like twenty-five... horny MILF elf matrons sounded like a damn good time.

"-but I am happy to know that one more shall find a home with a good master." Yfaan Seiafra concluded.

"Yeah, I'm happy to help." I assured her.

"And you needn't worry, none of these matrons will be burdening your household with children not your own." Yfaan Seiafra added. "Unfortunately, the children were usually the first to succumb. We also kept this selection to younger matrons. The older matrons know that if nothing else, the relief of exceeding the age of reproduction comes sooner. But among younger matrons... it is a long time to bear the burden. We have already lost many good matrons, sadly, by the tragic loss at their own hands instead of facing untold years suffering from endless hunger."

I looked at the anxious widowed matrons. "How long have they been dealing with this?"

"It does depend." Yfaan Seiafra declared delicately. "We first noticed the taint intruding on our waters seventy-five years ago. The first life was lost seventy-one years ago. We evacuated Fiurnasa fifty-seven years ago."

Then some of these matrons might have been dealing with the cravings for more than sixty years. I couldn't imagine. Like I knew people who couldn't handle more than an hour without a cigarette, and these she-elves had gone over half a century.

"Well, I'm definitely not opposed, so how do we want to do this?" I asked, admittedly excited for my first matron who'd have "matron" assets.

"We had thought to have them perform, or present themselves as the others have, but even with suppressing magic, the boundless craving leaves many weak. It is all some may do to make it here and make themselves presentable." Yfaan Seiafra explained, floundering.

"Then I'll go to them to make my choice." I asserted. "Assuming you don't object."

"Not at all." Yfaan Seiafra seemed surprised and pleased by the offer.

I rose and walked toward the small crowd of matrons seated in the arena. I had planned on letting them sit, as it seemed like these matrons were suffering in ways I couldn't quite understand, but they all rose as I approached.

I don't know if you've ever seen elf porn anime (I think it's called hentai?) but I'd found plenty when googling wank material. I'd always thought it ridiculous and extreme how big the tits on some of those elves were, but I swear, some of the heavier chested matrons could give them a run for their money. Honestly, that was a bit too much boob. Didn't believe I'd ever think the words "too much boob" but here we were.

I'd thought it would be great to be down here among the MILF elves, but now that I was down here. How was I supposed to choose? Boob size? Who had the most bangin' hips? That hardly seemed like a fair way to see who got relief from the only suffering severe enough to make an elf choose suicide.

I felt like I was on a show like MILF Manor or something. I knew whatever matron I chose would only be too happy to submit to me, so it wasn't like that was an issue. And personality-wise I already had a fair amount of diversity in my household. It seemed like elf society had nailed down this "diverse women coexisting while sharing a man" thing.

My eyes settled on a matron. She had a strong face on, but I could see from her legs she could barely stand. But she was lovely, and I felt an instant connection.

I wasn't joking when I said she was beautiful. Her hair was a stunning white, with the sort of radiance of pearl. Her eyes were a deep, dark blue like the ocean outside. I won't deny she had tits, and okay, I know sizing is weird, but they were nice and big. I'd say they were each the size of a large grapefruit, enough they'd definitely be bigger than my hands. On a 5' 3"-ish Elven matron, they looked just about perfect. The hourglass form of her waist and hips was also doing some great things to my pelvic blood flow.

If I could only help one of these elf ladies, she seemed like the one.

The watery pools of her eyes looked up at me, daring to hope. Her hands tightened, clasping one another as I approached.

"May I know your name?" I asked her.

"Valuria Schoolsong." She answered in a quiet and demure voice.

"If you accept, I believe I'll take you." I told her.

"I accept." She blurted, jumping on it the instant the words were out of my mouth.

I'd seen that desperation before. On the mountains when the elves were willing to submit to slavery if it meant their suffering and misery would end.

I had to see what I could do for the others. Several were devastated, and they as much sat down as their legs gave out and the seat caught them.

I felt terrible. I knew each of the races had experienced losses. I knew some of them had lost masters. For all that they seemed to have the largest population I'd seen, the Sea Elves were the first ones desperate enough to fling widowed matrons at me.

I hadn't even thought to ask. I mean, they had told me how bad it got. I knew, intellectually, that matrons suffered if denied. Seeing these she-elves, otherwise healthy, on the verge of collapse because of their unsated and constantly growing cravings, if that was a strong enough word, was really rough.

It was like being told about how bad war was, versus the first time you saw a comrade die on the battlefield. One was unfortunate, the other was haunting.

Valuria moved to follow me, but her legs were still unsteady, so I scooped her up, knees over one arm and my other arm behind her back, and carried her back to the seats.

"Well, chosen." Yfaan Seiafra approved. "Valuria was chosen young to be a matron, at but a hundred and twenty-seven years of age. She was a matron but five years before her master was lost, she lost her only child just before, and has now been without a master for sixty-two years. We feared she might not last much longer."

Othica moved to sit next to Valuria, and laid a comforting hand on the widow's cheek.

"One more, then we can perform the bonding and I can get her some relief." I pressed. "What is next?"

"As you may be aware, secular magic is a proud tradition among our people." Yfaan Seiafra explained. "As such, the final matron position we have been allotted shall be filled by the maiden who wins a tournament of magic."

"That sounds like it's going to take a while." I noted. "Let's get started."

The magic competition was a straight, one-on-one, single elimination tournament. I worried about them hurting each other, until I saw how the actual contests went. It made sense that some forms of magic would have advantages and disadvantages against others. The Sea Elves eliminated this by bringing out small glass-looking orbs... kinda like the ones the Goblin King played by David Bowie messed around with in that Labyrinth movie... and suspended them between each set of maidens. The two then channeled their magic into the orb, like a kind of tug-of-war. Except the more powerful mage, instead of pulling the orb, pushed it away, meaning the maiden who had the glass orb touch her first lost.

The maidens paired off, one on one, in their group of... I'd say at least three hundred, maybe four hundred. So not quite as many as had danced, but still a fuck ton of Sea Elven maidens.

The rounds actually didn't take that long. In most cases, the stronger mage won in seconds. The first round only had a couple of pairs that took a full minute, but the second was slightly longer. It was sort of like watching an arm wrestling competition. When peewee Jones took on gym-bro Tom, Tom smoked Jones. But in the next round Tom was facing Jerry who had smoked Scott as easily as Tom had smoked Jones. The number of Sea Elf mages dropped from the three to four hundred we'd started with to one to two hundred, then somewhere between fifty and a hundred, then halved again, and again, and again. A couple of maidens had to do an extra match, bringing us down to the final eight, then four, then the last two.

All the while, the sultry announcer coordinated and commented on the various matches. There were several upsets. And I gather the anticipated winner actually lost in the fourth round. From the sound of it, some of the maidens from the other cities were severely underestimated in their match-ups against more well known maidens from the capital.

The last match was between a maiden with medium length sea green hair and one with long almost bleached blonde hair.

"Begin!" The announcer called and both maidens raised their hands, pointing a staff at the orb floating between them. The matches had all started about fifteen feet apart, probably half a coil, and this last match was no exception.

At first, it seemed like nothing was happening. The orb just hung between the two of them. Then I looked closer and noticed the orb wasn't lazily bouncing in the air like they did when they were waiting for the match to begin. Instead it was stopped still, like it was smashed between two great forces. No, it wasn't still... it was vibrating.

With my enhanced vision I, like all the elves present, could see the perspiration forming on the two competitor's faces. Droplets raced down to their sharp elven chins and dropped to the floor. They seemed evenly matched, and neither was willing to relent.

Honestly, I was cool with who won either way. Green hair was basically wearing a bikini bottom and a sports bra, and damn she was looking fuckable. The blonde was wearing one of the one-pieces with the ties at the side, and I wanted those hips to sandwich my face. Both were gorgeous, and both were obviously powerful and skilled so I won either way, no matter who won.

I kinda just wanted them to finish so I could be bonded to my new matrons and take care of Valuria.

The orb finally started moving, inch by inch away from the blondie. Green hair's eyes remained intent and focused, but a grin broke out over blondie's face. She pushed her arms forward harder, pushing against an invisible wall, and you could see she could taste the victory on her tongue.

"GAHHHHH!!!" Green hair screamed and even at this distance I could feel the pulse of power.

Maybe blondie had gotten overconfident. Maybe green hair had been holding back. Whatever actually happened, that glass orb didn't inch, it shot across the distance and bounced off blondie's chest.

The blonde's knees gave out and she sank to the ground, clearly devastated. Tears of frustration ran down her face, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed.

Green hair however, didn't celebrate. She barely could. She toppled backward to be caught by two Sea Elf maidens who ran out to her. A third carried a bucket and they immediately began wetting her down.

"And Palaneia Riptide is the winner! Claiming the last spot as the Hero's matron, and ending our event today! Thank you for coming everyone, and may the blessings of the gods find you all as you return home." The sultry announcer called, her voice magically amplified from... wherever she was.

There was a roar as the crowd stood. Clearly some had objections.

"I have been asked to remind everyone," the sultry announcer piped up again over the din of the crowd, "that only those with family members who will be bonded, and those directly invited by Her Majesty, are invited to attend the Hero's bonding ceremony. All others are to abstain from rushing the Temple of the Host, despite the rumors. Please, return to your homes as you are able."

"What was that about?" I wondered.

"You openly discussed receiving boons from the gods after each ceremony in front of the guards." Yfaan Seiafra smirked. "As I stated earlier, I expect any such facts to be spread as gossip to the far reaches of the cities of my people before I could so much as make a proper proclamation. If permitted, all would surround the temple out of desire to catch but a glimpse of our gods. Not only would that be most inconvenient, but we understand it to be quite a strain to behold a god."

"You don't know what it's like?" I wondered. "It seemed like each of the other elves had at least a few who'd spoken with the gods."

"Our specialization in the secular has led to a... reduction in our religious focus." Yfaan Seiafra admitted. "As such, our priestesses are few in number and while I do what I may, they are lacking in support. I doubt any of them would be more than a drop in the ocean compared to the priestly capabilities of our winged sisters. And I would very much be surprised if any of them have previously seen our gods. Heard their whispers? Perhaps. But beheld a physical manifestation? Certainly not."

"Well, let's get going." I accepted her verdict without argument. "I have matrons to bond and one in desperate need of the honeymoon suite."

"The honey... moon?" Yfaan Seiafra questioned.

"A honeymoon is a period on my world where usually newly wed, or bonded, individuals do a lot of insemination." I explained. "Usually multiple times a day, since they are finally allowed to."

I left off the fact that it was becoming less of a thing in the modern era. Sure, people still took it off and enjoyed it, but most of them were not having sex for the first time.

"I see. An expectable outcome." Yfaan Seiafra nodded.

I could tell she was actively trying not to look at her daughter. I imagine she had some mixed feelings. I had no idea how old her daughter was, but she was about to hand her over to me to be another one of my matrons... my fucktoys. Now, fucktoy might not be right, after all, they were so much more than just sexual partners. They were my comrades in arms, guides in a strange new world, and my support system. But they definitely enjoyed the getting fucked to cloud nine, so I didn't feel too bad about it. And from what she had learned earlier, I am sure Yfaan Seiafra knew her daughter was about to start her life getting fucked better than most elves could dream of. I hoped that, at least, was something a mother could be happy for her daughter about.

...

Carrying Valuria because she still struggled to stand, made me all the more impatient to get to the temple and be done with this. She needed relief and I had the tool, but I wasn't supposed to use it until the formalities were done.

But getting out of the stadium, when we had been front and center, meant getting through the massive crowd.

"You will have to forgive me." Yfaan Seiafra apologized. "I did have a bonding dress prepared for Dynea in, shall we say vain hope? Since she was selected, she may indeed make use of it, so I will take her to be prepared for the ceremony. It should not take us long."

With that, mother hooked daughter's arm, and they and a few guards headed off in one direction, while the mages and guards guiding us led us another.

"Do you have bonding outfits?" I asked the other three.

"This is fine." Valuria assured me, "I am just happy beyond words."

"It is not common for the lowborn, such as us, to be in possession of such luxuries." Keifeira admitted. "We are bonded in our daily wear, if we are fortunate enough to be bonded at all."

"It is true." Palaneia concurred.

"Make way for the Hero!" One of the guards called.

But there were just so many elves, it wasn't like there was anywhere they could go. So it was like trying to get through bumper-to-bumper traffic in a big city, getting from the arena floor to the exit.

Most of the Sea Elves just stepped through the bubble-like barrier between air and water, but it took a moment for the mages to once more conjure the ice platform and make the bubble for us. Once we were on it, we finally got moving.

"Please, Master, I may stand." Valuria offered.

"Right, and then you'll fall over." I scolded.

"I could lean against you..." Valuria suggested.

I knew, to her, this was backward. Masters were asked for sex and little else, and the matrons were supposed to support and provide for him. I was literally carrying her instead.

I didn't want her feeling bad, so I reluctantly set her feet down and helped her lean against me.

The Sea Elves swam much faster than our bubble moved. I could watch them zip around like fish in the water, and realized my "good" swimming while sharing Sefra's gift, had still been horribly clumsy. Like a fish out of water, or more like a baby in the water, I'm sure I had looked ridiculous to them, but that didn't really matter. I'd made it work. I suspected we wouldn't be down here much longer.

Then I'd be making true water beds and a giant bathtub... which now would serve a purpose beyond just bath-fucks.

We arrived at another large structure, this one with spires and a number of windows, reminding me more of the mermaid city in The Little Mermaid, but... made out of coral instead of gold. Atlantica? Had that been its name?

As we pulled up to one of the doorways, and stepped off the ice platform, I saw that we had been beaten here by a number of Sea Elves.

"Then we just await the Yfaan and the Princess?" A Sea Elf maiden in a green robe, clearly one of those few priests the Yfaan had talked about, asked.

"Who are all of these people?" I wondered.

"Nobles, officials, and family of your soon to be matrons." The priestess replied.

"Illydia! You aren't related to me!" Palaneia called out to someone in the crowd. "Don't pretend you are!"

Guards moved in and began filtering out those who claimed relations to the soon-to-be matrons.

Goddamnit! This was taking forever! Valuria needed fucked and we were stuck dealing with wedding crashers?!

"I apologize to have taken so long." Yfaan Seiafra apologized again, drawing Dynea into the temple and out of the water.

"You were fast as far as I am concerned." I replied, and glancing at Dynea, I was floored. "Dynea, you look gorgeous!"

Dynea's bonding dress looked like they had taken mother-of-pearl and spun it into thread then woven a dress out of it. As I'd seen both other Sea Elf dresses, the skirts were all secured to anklets to keep them from floating up and revealing parts that shouldn't be. Her hair had been redone, now sitting like a lacy lattice around her head. It would have taken a woman on Earth hours to achieve that look, but they had managed in less than fifteen, and then swam here with the look staying intact. I suspected magical intervention, but I was not complaining.

Behind her, Master Zaldin, and what looked like an entire nursery of younger Sea Elves. One was clearly Dynea's older sister, and another two looked like they were almost of age. Counting the baby that Dynea's older sister carried, that was twenty family members! Mom, dad, and eighteen kids!

I was reminded how large my progeny was likely to be, assuming I lived that long, and thought... you know, I'm okay with that.

"Allow me to formally introduce my Master, Master Zaldin, and my oldest daughter, Myrena." Yfaan Seiafra motioned.

She then listed out her children's names and ages, ranging from Myrena at a hundred and forty-two down to her youngest at half a year.

That explained why there were so damn many family members here for just the three other matrons.

Once it was established that everyone present was either invited or related, the priestess led us back into the main chapel. An altar stood at the front, with massive windows letting the light in. It took me a second to realize that the light was not generated here, but was somehow the light of the surface channeled down through water it could not penetrate to light the temple. I could tell the sun was well past its peak and descending toward the horizon. Between the windows, were pillars upon which resided statues of the Enlightened Host. The spots for Ya'av and Govarinta were surprisingly not empty.

I gathered these were their personas before they fell. Ya'av had a basket that seemed to be full of stars and Govarinta had a scythe, but far from giving a "grim reaper" vibe, she had the vibe of a farm hand, helpful and happy. Both seemed happy and honestly were portrayed as among the most attractive of the gods in these statues.

"Blessed Children of the Host," The priestess intoned, "We gather here, under the watchful gaze of Enlightened Ones to bind these souls together and bless their union."

The ceremony was almost routine at this point. Each new matron happily supplied a finger to be pricked, then the blood was drawn up into an orb that turned golden. I stretched out my hand, and the golden orb fused with my bond, and now... I officially had four new matrons.

Good God, when Valuria's urge hit me, my knees almost buckled. THIS was what the craving, no WITHDRAWLS, felt like!? No wonder she could barely stand. If I didn't know I was tossing her on the bed and fixing this the moment we got back to our temporary residence, it might have started driving me mad. It was like my stomach was a black hole. The hunger clawed through my body and I could feel it in my bones, like they were hollow and sucking the very life out of me. And that was just the portion I shared through the bond!

God, I needed to fuck her. Just a bit of dick and a shot of cum and it would be gone.

How did they live with this?

"You have done well, Hero." Cranatha's voice filled the chapel.

Light formed on the statues of the Sea Elves patron gods, and both manifested.

Zilmanthan smiled at me, "After all the work we bid you do to earn them, you would not refuse our Boons. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, I'll accept them both, then I need to talk to you." I declared sternly.

The gods exchanged glances, but accepted that.

"Very well." Cranatha nodded. "Upon you I then bestow my boon, the Boon of Life."

Cranatha brought her hands to her mouth and pressed her fingers to her lips, then lowered her hands and blew across them, like she was blowing me a kiss.

I felt the boon reverberating through me as it joined the rest in my core. Last time, the boons had almost been painful, and nearly taken me off my feet. This time, it wasn't "almost". It felt like a net of needles was dragged through me, each one catching on the things that made me Thomas.

The difference was, this time the pain was a fraction of what I was already feeling from Valuria's suffering.

"And I will bestow upon you the Boon of Navigation." Zilmanthan declared. He raised his hand, extending two fingers and slowly lowering his arm to point the fingers at me.

When his fingers finally were on target, it felt as though a rain of bullets tore through me from every upward facing surface. The pain was no joke, but again... it wasn't the bone throbbing agony that was Valuria's suffering.

"You accept the boons well." Cranatha congratulated me.

"I'm getting there." I declared grumpily.

"Now, your voice was most serious, Hero." Zilmanthan noted. "What is it thou wouldst speak of with us?"

"Look, I just need you to get cool with something real quick." I informed them.

The two blinked.

"And what pray tell is that?" Cranatha questioned.

"You have a lot of matrons with dead masters." I declared. "And you're going to have to get cool with me fucking them."

"It is very generous of you to accept so many matrons, but I'm not certain you can-" Cranatha began.

"I didn't say I'd bond them and take them as matrons." I corrected her. "But from what I can tell, once is enough to sate. And even if I can only come once a month until Masters can be found, it will get them out of this fucking hell that you put them in."

"Insemination among our children is only to be performed between bonded-" Zilmanthan protested.

"But I'm not one of your children, am I?" I pointed out. "If Lorpins can have a crack at your daughters, just as a perk for your daughters beating them, then it is fucking stupid that I have to leave dozens of your daughters feeling this... bullshit! Why the hell did you build this into your daughters? What possessed you?"

"It was a matter of survival." Cranatha explained. "Without it, and the desire for motherhood, the first elves were threatened with extinction. As the first masters were willing, the change was wrought upon our daughters, and it brought the salvation of the elven race."

"At the cost of poor fucks like these widows?" I yelled. "They did what you asked of them? Why do they have to deal with this!?"

The two gods exchanged a look.

"Remain here." Cranatha instructed.

In a flash of light the two disappeared.

You could have heard a fucking pin drop. I had to focus to feel my bond with my matrons over the overwhelming agony from Valuria. There was some serious anxiety and fear.

"One does not speak to a god in this manner." Othica stated nervously.

"Well, they deal with it from me." I countered. "They brought me here to solve problems, not kiss ass."

The light in the room grew even brighter. To the point it was blinding, and I had to close my eyes.

A feeling, like a knife's edge, cut through my bonds and suddenly for the first time in weeks, I was alone in my head.

"THOMAS, HERO AND SUMMON OF OUR PEOPLE, MY SECOND MATRON AND SON TELL ME YOU HAVE QUALM WITH THE GODS."

X'Thallion sat on a throne that looked like it had been carved from a tree the size of a fucking mountain. I stood in a valley and looking around, I was surrounded by 16 thrones. Two sat empty, but the rest were filled with the Elven Gods, each standing thousands of feet tall.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I declared, trying not to sound intimidated. But gods that literally could squish me with a toe, and I'm not sure I could have gotten out from underfoot, even with my boons...

I could not even feel my boons.

Fuck.

"Look. All I'm asking is you give me permission to-" Don't say fuck! "-inseminate the matrons that have been left masterless." I called up to them. "I'm not one of your children. Make an exception! Let me reset their clocks! I can't take in all the widows you've let have their masters taken, but I can at least make a difference. I can give them hope."

The gods looked down at me with unreadable faces.

"You've given the Lorpins the privilege, why can't I have it?" I protested.

"OUR DAUGHTERS ARE NOT TOYS FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH AND DISCARD." Vreshair's voice boomed.

"I'm not asking for free rein! I'm asking for the authorization to help those in need, who I'm perfectly capable of helping!" I retorted. "I've felt a portion of Valuria's misery. I wouldn't wish that on someone I profess to love. I've come across a few bast-... bad men I'd subject to that, and I promptly did my best to send them straight to hell."

God, it was rough trying to censor myself. I was asking a big favor here. And if I was being honest, it was entirely for selfish reasons. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep at night, knowing there were dozens of widowed matrons out there, dealing with that kind of a living hell, and I was perfectly capable of fixing it, but I didn't.

"Look, if this was just a sex thing for me, I've been given plenty of your daughters for that." I pointed out with upraised arms. "And the matrons I have been given have shown that they are plenty willing to do whatever it takes to keep me happy and satisfied."

"WE ARE AWARE." Abarith declared.

Well, I hope they weren't overly displeased about the bit of anal and oral I've had them do. Honestly, it was just good, adult fun. And we were fucking married, or bonded whatever you wanted to call it, so what was the big deal?

"Then you should know I have no reason to need these widows for extra pleasure and entertainment." I declared. "I'm doing this for them! Sure, I'll enjoy it, but I'm not the one with my stomach tearing me apart with a hunger that no food can satisfy!"

"ENOUGH." X'Thallion raised a hand. "HEAR OUR DECISION."

Really? Not even a pretense at a discussion? He was just going to, what, bang his gavel and say his word was law.

"WE WILL BESTOW UPON YOU A HAND OF JUDGEMENT. THOSE THE HAND MARKS WITH THE SYMBOL OF VIRTUE, YOU MAY GIVE THIS ASSISTANCE TO. HOWEVER, ANY MARKED WITH THE SYMBOL OF VICE, YOU MUST NOT TOUCH. DO THIS, AND IT SHALL BE ACCOUNTED UNTO YOU AS RIGHTEOUSNESS ACCORDING TO OUR LAWS AND THE LAWS OF OUR CHILDREN." X'Thallion declared.

He extended one hand toward me and my right hand felt a pulse of magic. Not quite painful, but not exactly pleasant. A symbol, like a yin-yang, but with a stair step ascent on each end, rather than a graceful curl, appeared on the back of my hand. Around it were a series of symbols, which must have been arcane in nature, because my translation magic couldn't show me their meaning.

"BEHOLD, THE SYMBOL OF VIRTUE." Abarith declared and held out her right hand.

Above her hand appeared an eight-pointed star, with long stretched tips, though only the upward and downward tips were so stretched.

"BEHOLD, THE SYMBOL OF VICE." Abarith instructed, her voice a bit tight.

Her left hand extended, and appearing above it was a symbol that looked like a simple rectangle with a jagged line down the center. No... the top and bottom were slightly ovular, and the top was an empty circle. Was it a broken cup?

"PLACE YOUR HAND UPON THE SKIN OF ANY SHE-ELF, AND BID HER TO ACCEPT HER JUDGEMENT, AND SHE SHALL BE MARKED BENEATH THINE PALM." Talnir instructed. "THE MARK SHALL REMAIN UNTIL A WEEK HAS PASSED, OR UNTIL ANY CIRCUMSTANCE IS INFLUENCED THAT MIGHT ALTER THE RESULT."

"THINE HEART IS TRUE, AND THINE WORDS EARNEST. WE HEREBY BLESS THOSE WHO SEEK THINE AID IN FULL SINCERITY OF HEART." Abarith's voice was somehow soft, despite making me fear hearing loss just from the volume. "BUT CURSED SHALL SHE BE WHO INTICES HER BODY TO CRAVE THAT SHE MAY LAY CLAIM UPON YOUR GENEROSITY WITHOUT MERIT. SHE SHALL SUFFER, AND FIND NO RELIEF."

Well, that was still pretty harsh, but I'd gotten what I came for.

"Thank you." I gave a reflexive salute, then realizing that this was not the right place for that, I switched to an elven bow.

"NOW, RETURN UNTO OUR DAUGHTERS." X'Thallion instructed. "AND PERHAPS SPEND MORE TIME WITH OUR DAUGHTER, OTHICA, THAT THOU MAYEST KNOW BETTER OUR WAYS AND CUSTOMS..."

The light flared again, and when it dimmed, the familiar white noise in my head of my bonds was back, although so was the much more prevalent agony of craving.

"MASTER THOMAS!"

As many matrons as could threw themselves into a mass hug, and those who couldn't fit in the hug did their best to get their hand on me.

"Where did you go?" Mavrin worried.

"You must have left the plane for our bond to be unable to find you." Narusil sniveled. "We were so scared."

She wasn't lying. There was legitimate fear coming from all my matrons.

"I get the feeling the Enlightened Host didn't want to inflict that discussion on everyone here." I answered delicately, glancing at the audience in the pews. Several Sea Elves who had come to attend the bonding were looking pale, like a new recruit who had been made to run a mile more than he thought possible. I was honestly surprised a few of them hadn't thrown up.

"What discussion?" Othica asked in distress.

"We can talk about it later." I told them. "We are now bonded. Valuria, I think you've waited long enough."

"Very well." Yfaan Seiafra conceded, "But once you have had an opportunity to do your duty as a master, my advisors and I will be a party to the discussion you have with the Priestess."

"Oh, you can bet your ass you will be." I told her. "Valuria, let's go."

The mages were already making the ice platform when we arrived. The bubble vessel got started moving and I was tempted to grab the blessing of the Sea Elves so we could swim, but where I was certain the Sea Elves could swim faster than the bubble, I wasn't sure I could.

Just a few minutes... then Valuria and I could both be free of this agony...

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To be continued in Chapter 12...

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Present Cast list

(Who you should know for this chapter, and status at start of chapter):

MMC (Male Main Character)

Thomas Nord

Race: Human

Eyes: Dark Green

Hair: Dark Brown

Boons (Giver): Strength (X'Thallion), Magic (Noriva), Endurance (Elglathar), Celerity (Drukalir), Fortune (Evenshtara), Creation (Brenhallar), Fortification (Prinasear)

Battle Matrons - Physical Combatants

Tavorwen Treestrider

Role: Head Battle Matron and Guardian

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Green

Creadean Windarrow

Role: Battle Matron and Tracker

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Honey Gold

Eyes: Deep green.

Flendreir Swiftblade

Role: Dual Wielding Duelist

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Light green

Anbethir Truehand

Role: Blitz Duelist

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Golden

Eyes: Green

Nauveir Surehand

Role: Archer

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Risavis Lightfoot

Role: Tracker and Tamer

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Benavur Bladedancer (Sitting out this mission)

Role: Bodyguard

Pregnancy: Daughter

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Bright Red

Eyes: Emerald Green

Laliera Meadowbreeze

Role: Mounted Combat Specialist

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Wild Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Skin: Brown

Zynrin Strigi

Role: Unarmed Combat Specialist

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Cloud Elf

Hair: Blonde

Wings: White

Eyes: Silver

Purin of the Young Moon

Role: Tracker, Cave Diver

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Mountain Elf

Hair: Brown and Gray

Eyes: Brown

Niyk of Vengeance

Role: Melee Fighter

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Mountain Elf

Hair: Brown and Gray, with shaved sides

Eyes: Blue/Gray

Lorai of the Red

Role: Lethal/Non-Lethal combatant

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Mountain Elf

Hair: Brown and Gray, many small braids

Eyes: Red/Brown

Ufra of Joy

Role: Melee Fighter

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Mountain Elf

Hair: Brown and Gray

Eyes: Pink

Battle Matrons - Casters

Narusil

Role: Warder and Blaster

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Hazel (Green/Brown)

Sevrina Flaresmith

Role: Elemental Specialist

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Auburn

Eyes: Red flecked green

Mavrin Spiritbreaker

Role: Dark Magic User

Pregnancy: Daughter

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Strawberry blond

Eyes: Honey brown

Othica Strigi

Role: Priestess

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Cloud Elf

Hair: Blonde

Wings: White

Eyes: Silver

Slaves

Amura

Role: Ransomed Princess

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Night Elf

Hair: White

Eyes: Grey/purple

Battle Maidens - Physical Combat

Zanantha Swiftcloak - Battle Maiden

Role: Stalker

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Light Brown

Eyes: Green

Ulamir Houndrunner - Battle Maiden

Role: Tracker

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Honey brown

Eyes: Light Green

Battle Maidens - Casters

Milria Sparkweaver

Role: Precision Damage Caster

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Green

Jalleena Peacecaster

Role: Debuffer

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dirty Blonde

Eyes: Brown

Tarilla Clearmeadow

Role: Area Blaster

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Light Brown

Hallamarantha Calmwind

Role: Ray Sniper

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Auburn

Eyes: Hazel (Blue/Green)

Naviena Boltwind

Role: Elemental Manipulator

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Fiery Red

Eyes: Deep Blue

Callicka Vineborne

Role: Single Target Control

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Light Blue

Household Matrons:

Diamiutar Firehair

Role: Head Household Matron

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Red

Eyes: Brown

Lymarith Moonsilk

Role: Enchanter

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Black

Eyes: Light Green

Heilantu Kindheart

Role: Healer, Disciple of Abarith

Pregnancy: Son

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Honey Gold

Eyes: Light Brown

Queen Ethcovir

Role: Queen of Uonavear

Pregnancy: Not Pregnant

Race: Cloud Elf

Hair: Raven Black

Wings: Pure White

Eyes: Piercing Icy Blue (almost gray)

Tieara Crovi

Role: Maid

Pregnancy: Daughter

Race: Cloud Elf

Hair: Black

Wings: Black

Eyes: Dark Brown

Household Maidens

Valentrine Goldenhair:

Role: Enchanter

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Honey Gold

Eyes: Brown

Sarvourn Quicktongue

Role: Healer

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Dark Green

Tellarin Leaftender

Role: Cook

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Green

Ignamith Frosthair

Role: Enchanter

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Platinum Blonde

Eyes: Emerald Green

Wyrin Hearthsoul

Role: Baker

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Hazel (Green/Brown)

Xephriea Flowerbreeze

Role: Confectioner

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Flucrean Greenwhisper

Role: Herbalist

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Bright Red

Eyes: Green

Quierian Lifesong

Role: Midwife

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Auburn Brown

Eyes: Green

Velentreur Barkdust

Role: Woodcrafter

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Brown (Blonde Streaks)

Eyes: Brown

Jeulhavua Tinkiln

Role: Metalshaper

Race: Wood Elf

Hair: Strawberry Blonde

Eyes: Green

Dragons

Truk

Role: Adorable Troublemaker

Race: Cloud Dragon

Age: 5

Yhurvin'svar'thak

Role: Truk's Father

Race: Cloud Dragon

Age: Over 1500 years

Torin'fa'clue

Role: Truk's Mother

Race Cloud Dragon

Age: around 600 years

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