“Damn I’m glad to see you guys again, sorry about running off like that, but I needed to clear my head,” Mateo says taking a drink of his mead.

  “Mateo, something has been nagging at me about the beliefs in your realm, Hell is a place for people to be punished, but where do the righteous dwell after death?” Okami asks.

  “That’s a little out of nowhere, but not an uncommon question for you, the religions I know, the kingdom of God, heaven, or similar places, is the reward for walking the righteous path,” Mateo replies.

  “The golden kingdom, Aurum, is where the righteous go to rest for many in this realm,” Okami states.

  Serenity grabs Mateo pulling him from his seat and shoves him against the wall near making him spill his mead. He places the pint on the bar as she shoves her tongue in his mouth, and grips her waist enjoying the ravages of her hungry passion. Their time apart has driven her desire for him to it’s absolute limit, and she cannot hold back anymore.

  Okami sighs turning back to Terror as he and Jade enjoy coffee and cookies. Stitches sits at a table alone sketching images on small scraps of paper. Okami moves to join her leaving the large Orcen man and his little goblin friend to their sugary delights.

  “You seem unsettled now that Serenity has rejoined Mateo,” Okami says.

  “I had him all to myself, and now I’m the girl in the background again,” Stitches replies.

  “I don’t know that I understand,” Okami says perplexed.

  “It isn’t a secret that I fawn over Mateo, but Serenity has already swept him up, he’s infatuated with her, not unlike Uzuki and Yoru,” Stitches pauses seeming more unsettled.

  “My apologies, I didn’t mean to hit that nerve,” Okami says.

  “It’s ok, I just, I just miss them sometimes, Yoru was a playful fox, and she would always cheer me up when I seemed down, I guess her playful and cheery nature is what drew Uzuki to her.”

  Okami wraps an arm around her rubbing her shoulder. Stitches leans in rubbing her cheek against the soft silver fur on Okami’s chest. He rubs his wolf like claws over her soft ears trying to comfort her.

  “He cares for you, don’t let your lust torment you, love is more than just a physical connection, I’m not asking you to wait your turn, or wait until he comes around, I’m asking you to be there when he needs you, because there will come a time when he needs you, Mateo is new in this world, you’ve been here for some time, experienced things, Mateo holds you close, not because he is leading you on, but because he cares about you, this world is alien to him, but you seem familiar,” Okami says pulling her into a two armed embrace.

  Stitches embraces him letting off a long breath.

  “Is that the only reason he wants me?” Stitches asks.

  Okami rubs his paws against her back laying his chin on her shoulder.

  “No, you’re more to him than a kitten young huntress, just take care of when you pounce on your prey, you don’t want it to flee just before you’ve caught it.”

  Huntress is a provocative term beast-men use to describe females looking to mate. It’s a slang term for women on the prowl. For beast-men courtship is a role reversal from humans and elves. It is often the women that seek out the men, instead of the men seeking women, with some exceptions. The kingdom of Satsuki often holds plays depicting this interaction between masked individuals. They are known as romance comedies, and are very popular amongst the younger demographic.

  Okami rubs her head and steps away leaving Stitches on her own. Mateo and Serenity venture into town looking for some entertainment after spending an hour, ‘reuniting’. The calm town of Heroldin is overtaken with dark clouds. A storm moves in as the gates open ushering in a tattered wagon with two wrapped corpses. The wagon stops near the gate and Mateo ventures toward it curiously.

  “Mateo, that isn’t any of our business,” Serenity says.

  “There’s something strange about the man and woman steering that wagon, Natalia senses they aren’t from this world,” Mateo replies.

  The wagon stops and a dark skinned woman with long silver hair, and a man of similar resemblance, load two bandaged corpses onto rolling cots. Mateo moves closer to observe and his presence is noticed. The silver haired woman takes note of him with a broken smile.

  “They are mourning, we shouldn’t intrude on them,” Serenity says pulling Mateo away.

  “You’re right, let’s go shopping for new gear and then meet the others back at the tavern,” Mateo replies.

  Besides the glum scene of two strangers wheeling corpses to the morgue, the rest of the day is quite cheery. The armorer has a sale on some low talon scaled armor that is slightly better than Mateo’s leather armor. It’s hard to find a replacement for his legendary dagger so he decides to keep it. His eyes are drawn to a gold banded bracelet with a curious enchantment. He consults Serenity before purchasing it.

  “This bracelet recovers mana from fallen enemies, it would be good for Stitches,” he says nervously.

  “Yes it would, wait, are you asking me if you can buy it?” Serenity asks.

  “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” Mateo says rubbing his head.

  “Ah, I understand, I’d fuck your brains out if you got me something like that, you don’t want me thinking you’re trying to woo Stitches behind my back,” Serenity says with a sly grin.

  Mateo steps back as Serenity’s eyes fill with a lustful hunger. She moves in on him like a tiger pouncing on her prey. The pleasant aroma of honeysuckles and cherry blossoms fills Mateo’s senses as she presses her lips to his ear whispering.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not threatened by the kitten, get her the bracelet, you’re warming my bed tonight sweetie,” she bites her bottom lip and her voice becomes far more seductive, “Mr. Ryusane.”

  A chill runs down Mateo’s spine as she pulls her lips away from his ear. Serenity steps away strutting off toward another vendor as Mateo stares at her nice ass. After purchasing the necklace they all meet at Lucky Knuckle. One of Heroldin’s more popular taverns.

  Serenity heads to the restroom after Mateo gifts the bracelet to Stitches. She’s more than grateful for it. It’s a peaceful evening until…

  An ebony skinned woman with long silver hair makes herself comfortable at the booth Mateo’s party is sitting at. She throws her arm around Mateo and grabs his mead taking an audible gulp before belching loudly. Terror glances over at her curiously as Jade scribbles on a piece of paper with colored pencils. She looks around the table raising her head as an informal greeting.

  “What’s up mother fuckers?” She says, her voice a near slur poised with intoxication.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Um, hi?” Mateo replies.

  “Oh sorry, I’m Balli, Balli Ballista, best Howitzermage in Gottes, only Howitzermage in Gottes,” she says with a wink her arm still wrapped around Mateo as if they are an item.

  Okami sighs as Serenity approaches the table her eyes alight with jealous fury. Stitches stands making a swift escape to the oasis of solitude provided by the restroom in an attempt to avoid social confrontation. Serenity stomps toward the booth, but is blocked by a tall slender man with features that resemble the young woman currently wrapped around her partner in intimacy.

  “Ranger Rick Danger at your service, Ranger is the game, Danger’s my name,” he replies tipping his feathered hat with a bow.

  “Oh gods please no,” Mateo says pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

  “He’s rather handsome, and tall,” Serenity says jealous rage diffusing into curiosity.

  Rick glides across the ground gripping Serenity’s hand in a gentlemanly manner.

  “And what name is given to the beauty with which I behold?” he asks with a cunning grin.

  “Serenity,” she replies blushing a little, the murderous rage dissipating from her eyes.

  Mateo, now removed from the booth and his drunken companion, grabs his hand from Serenity’s shaking it forcefully.

  “Name’s Mateo, nice to meet you Dick, we won’t take too much of your time seeing as you probably have a lot of danger you need to danger to death, or whatever you do that doesn’t involve touching Serenity,” Mateo says, now the jealous one.

  Balli stands draping herself over Mateo’s shoulder as if they are good friends. She looks Serenity up and down and a cunning look of desire spreads across her thick pillowy lips.

  “Hot damn that’s an elfess, or whatever you call a female elf, if I’ve ever seen one, sorry new boyfriend our relationship is changing from exclusive to open, on account of me needing to wear those ivory legs like a necklace while I-“.

  “Beatrice, are you already intoxicated?” Rick interjects.

  Balli, now known as Beatrice, holds up a bottle of alcohol she poached from Mateo’s booth and takes a swig letting off a moan of refreshment. Rick stows his hat in his inventory so he can run his fingers through his long silver hair as he sighs in disbelief.

  “My apologies, my sister can be rather aggressive when she’s been drinking,” he says.

  Beatrice slaps Mateo on the ass and takes another drink. He gives Serenity a glance of discomfort. Serenity steps over to him removing Beatrice from his shoulder with a forceful shove.

  “Oh, a feisty one, I was going to wait until we were all alone, but I gotta know now,” Beatrice says moving toward Serenity.

  “Gotta know wh-.”

  Beatrice grabs Serenity’s cloak pulling her close. Her warm lips meet Serenity’s in an awkward kiss. Beatrice pulls back seeming disappointed.

  “What, no tongue?” She slurs drunkenly.

  “Mateo, who the hell is this woman?” Serenity says wiping spit off her lips.

  “Um, the greatest Howitzermage in all of Gottes?” He replies.

  “The only Howitzermage in all of Gottes,” Natalia adds appearing above him.

  Beatrice moves toward Mateo and he catches her as she passes out drunk. Rick joins them in their booth were Jade is still scribbling on napkins with her colored pencils.

  “My apologies, Beatrice is not usually so, stupid, unfortunately I’m the dumb one, I had suggested that we find a party to travel with and she saw Mateo in her drunken stupor and was overtaken by lust,” Rick says.

  Beatrice drools in Mateo’s lap unconscious as he tries to enjoy his roasted chikus and boardrel. Serenity runs her fingers through the ebony skinned girl’s silver hair.

  “Her hair is quite soft, do you two condition?”

  “Indeed, again, my apologies for our rude introduction, if you are looking for additional adventurers we would be glad to join you.”

  Stitches returns to the table sitting by Jade and Terror seeing that the awkward social situation has been somewhat diffused. Jade pulls her into a coloring competition and Okami chimes into the conversation.

  “You’re realm-walkers without a pixie, might I ask how you escaped the void?”

  “We weren’t thrust into the void, when we came to we were in the abyss, it’s how we came to inherent the chaos essence,” Rick replies.

  Serenity pulls her fingers from Beatrice’s hair and grabs a large berry flavored alcoholic beverage seeking to enjoy her drink instead of the young woman’s silky silver hair. Mateo expects her to show jealousy, but she seems more concerned than angry.

  “Why don’t we all take a moment to unwind, I just rejoined my party, and you two seem to have just lost someone, let’s all take a breath together,” Mateo says.

  In the far kingdom of Drakvania.

  “Lord Dios, the vessel seems to be progressing, slowly,” Jessica says.

  “Then we need to expedite the process,” Dios replies.

  “How do you suppose we do that?”

  “Put out a few high ranking bounties with large rewards targeted towards creatures of the marsh, have Yasmina direct him to them.”

  “It will be done Lord Dios.”

  Beatrice wakes beside Mateo seeming embarrassed. She climbs on top of him clenching her fists.

  “Let’s fight.”

  “Fight, it’s the middle of the night,” Mateo replies setting down one of the tomes he stole off Stitches.

  Title: “The Lusty Kitten Maid”

  “What are you a pussy?” She replies.

  Mateo places his hands on her hips as Natalia appears above him. Beatrice sighs letting her guard down. She places her hand on Mateo’s bare chest with a smile.

  “Where’s the sexy elf girl?” She asks.

  “Drinking with Terror,” he replies.

  “Is that the green man, is he single?” She asks.

  “He is, are you feeling ok, you drank so much you passed out, I was worried after Rick told me about what you’d been through.”

  Stitches crawls onto the bed half asleep and wraps herself around Mateo. It isn’t an uncommon practice nor is it one that Serenity is opposed to. She sees Stitches as a good friend and is willing to share Mateo emotionally, and physically to limitations. If for nothing else, she’s a good spy to watch him when she isn’t there.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m ok, but you aren’t the worst I’ve woken beside, did we have sex?” she asks.

  “No, me and Serenity are exclusive,” he replies.

  “How unfortunate for you, I’m the best thirty seven seconds any man has ever had,” she says with a grin.

  The moon falls once more giving rise to the sky star. The warmth of light covers the land as Mateo steps out into it joining his new party. Serenity clings to him like a woman poisoned by love.

  “Seven is usually an expedition,” Okami says.

  “Me and Beatrice are a packaged deal, we are as one,” Rick says.

  A large shadow covers them and the group turn toward the sky. A massive scaled beast descends upon them and a familiar woman steps from it.

  “Yasmina?” Mateo asks.

  The woman approaches him glancing over at Serenity.

  “Damn, is that your girlfriend?” She asks.

  “That’s what I said,” Beatrice says.

  “Yasmina, I’m more than elated to see you, how have you been?” Mateo asks.

  “Worried, Lord Dios has bestowed a task upon me, I was to direct you to these bounties in the marsh, they are dangerous, but pay well, and they will help to advance your rank,” Yasmina says nervously.

  Mateo moves closer to her. He wraps her in an embrace, and she hesitates before returning the gesture. It seems dragon-knights aren’t accustomed to hugs.

  “What’s bothering you Yasmina?” Mateo asks.

  “I don’t trust the cult of Drakvania, and I’m afraid of how much influence that it has over my sister,” Yasmina replies.

  Mateo rubs his cheek against hers and Rayo rubs himself against her ankles like a cat. Yasmina smiles staring into Mateo’s hazel eyes.

  “You and your dragon are close, he feels your emotions, your trust, I’m surprised you trust me, and I would warn you not to trust my sister,” Yasmina says.

  “Thank you for the warning, and the bounties, I do need to get stronger, and I hope that you are there when I do,” Mateo replies.

  Yasmina leans in stealing a kiss as her lips press against Mateo’s. He doesn’t deny her the pleasantry, seeing it more as an exchange between friends than lovers.

  “Follow the wild flowers, they lead to moonlight, follow the moonlight, it leads to the sunrise, follow the rise of the sun, it leads back to me, and in the shadow of your darkest hour I will be the light that leads you from death’s door,” Yasmina says turning her gaze toward Natalia.

  Mateo stares at her confused. Okami steps in with a gleeful wolven grin.

  “You are inviting him to the Falling Moon Festival in Satsuki?” Okami asks.

  “If his fair maiden will allow it,” Yasmina says shooting a glance at Serenity.

  “I’m not opposed to it, are you going to kiss me too?” Serenity asks.

  “Maybe,” Yasmina says with a smile.

  “That harlot better not get any tongue, I didn’t get any tongue!” Beatrice yells.

  Yasmina turns giving the young dark skinned silver haired vixen a curious glance.

  “Who’s the girl?”

  “Not sure, haven’t had an intelligent conversation with her yet, she’s fairly horny, despite not having any horns, Stitches wasn’t pleased about her obsession with her tail, and every other word out of her mouth seems to be somewhat lewd, my brother would have been fairly infatuated with her,” Serenity says jokingly lowering her head to hide her own anguish at mentioning her brother.

  Yasmina steps closer to Serenity lifting her chin with her fingertips. Serenity stares into her eyes and they have an unspoken conversation. After a few moments Yasmina steps back and Serenity sighs.

  “Off to Satsuki then?” Serenity asks.

  “Off to the Falling Moon Festival,” Yasmina replies.

  “No kiss?” Serenity asks.

  Yasmina pulls her close kissing her passionately.

  “Why does she get tongue, cock sucking dragon knights,” Beatrice protests crossing her arms in a childish rage.