The Traveler
Author: Xander Jade
Date: 2021-02-07T22:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Speculative

Contents

Copyright

Title Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Copyright © 2021 XANDER JADE

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Cover design by: Alex_gavrilas

THE TRAVELER

BY

XANDER JADE

Chapter 1

It was another long, crappy day at Phantasmedia Software Company. Don’t let the name fool you, it was merely a name and just one division of our company. The other divisions were production, which handled our solar or photovoltaic cells. Then we had our mechanical division, which handled the implementation and maintenance of these, and other products designed by our company. I could work in all the above divisions. I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, lucky me.

My name is Dominic or Dom for short. I stand about six feet two inches, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a slim build, the result of years of doing martial arts, mostly Krav Maga. I graduated with a double major. Development and electrical engineering degrees. There are not many people who studied both these fields, so I found myself in demand at all times. Even though the pay was great at Phantasmedia, I was constantly annoyed by all the mandates and requests I received before I was done with a project. Since I was the team leader, everyone expected me to finish my duties quickly, but the ass wipes didn’t understand how hard the shit was they wanted done. Ugh!

Anyway, I was working with my team on a new photovoltaic cell, as our latest attempt had been disastrous, when the cell arc flashed. It was a good thing we were wearing safety gear, otherwise our group could’ve been seriously injured. We were damn lucky.

After cleaning up and disposing of the material properly, my team and I went to our lab to get back to the drawing board. We had a few more weeks to get the kinks worked out, and we would need every bit of time to get it functioning. Again, our lazy supervisors had no idea how fucking tough it was to develop these types of things in the time they gave us.

Shit, sorry, I’m ranting and getting off subject. We had to figure out how to fix and implement circuits for these panels because of the new electrical system they started using this past year. At the very beginning, I told them it would need to be a new photovoltaic cell design. The team I was in before this shit had handled software for the processing units that our test robots used. They were state-of-the art and I enjoyed that division immensely, but when our production side of the company came out with their latest product, they failed to tell anyone of the new enhancements. It would’ve been fine if they were discussed and planned out beforehand, but that didn’t happen. The consequences were found out quickly. The photovoltaic panels we had used in the past worked great for a couple weeks, but then they started degrading and within a couple more weeks, they just stopped charging. The higher ups were obviously in bad moods because the new electrical panels were supposed to be shipping out in a couple months. Now, when we finally figured out said problem, the consumer would have to buy the cell panel too. Lucky them. So, the bastards pulled me over and told me to fix it.

“We need to have this working quickly and proficiently. ASAP!” the CFO and COO yelled.

Fuckin pricks!  Now, I was going back and forth trying to come up with the solution and design of the new cell. The design wasn’t too far off from the previous, somewhat longer and thicker for the new circuits we needed to use. It had been a long and stressful week.

Sighing, I got back to cleaning up my workspace. Just thinking about that shit pissed me off, but I needed to concentrate on getting this done before leaving for the weekend. I was ready to get home and online to play the MMORPG game Nightleaf. My guild found the dungeon we were currently at a couple nights ago. It had been tough getting through the levels, ending up with us getting our asses handed to us by a Lich boss on the last level. That bastard was tough. Lily, our rogue, was determined to get through it that night, but I was skeptical. We needed more mages to take it down. Our team had been playing together for about a year now, players from all over the world coming together to do what we loved to do. Play video games. I liked to go home after work and relax, not worrying about our project. Somehow the company expected me to work until the projects were done, but on another note, it did make things interesting with all the overtime pay.

I clocked out on Friday at 4:30 pm and headed home on my moped. Yeah, I know, GEEK! Getting to my apartment thirty minutes later, I hopped into the shower, wanting to wash the day’s worries away. After completing the task, I made myself a chicken salad sandwich and sat down to relax for a few minutes to think about my itinerary. Since it was Friday, I was getting online with my crew, but was leaving the next day to head out into the forest to go camping. I was an avid outdoorsman. Any time I could get out and explore or hunt, my ass was there. My armory contained many guns and bows. Some people thought I was a little crazy but hey I didn’t give a crap. I was going to head out to my favorite spot in the Aurelia National Forest, and relax after the hectic three months my employers had put me through. Crap, I needed to get my gear together. Jumping up, I headed upstairs.

~~~~~~

An hour later, I sat down at the computer and signed in. My peeps were already on and waiting. When they saw I was on, they immediately went into the dungeon to tackle the beasts and evil doers. Everyone was in a good mood, but when we reached the boss level, the bastard Lich killed us again. The others were arguing about how to take it down; I was in the background just listening and wondering if we would ever get past this boss.

Two hours later, when it seemed our team would accomplish nothing else, we took a break saying we’d regroup in the next couple of days. I advised them about my trip and they told me to get some rest and be ready when I got back. Shutting down my computer, I went to bed.

Dawn came early and my alarm went off. Everything went as per my usual routine. A few minutes later, after dressing and brushing my teeth, I grabbed a muffin and a banana for breakfast, then left in my sedan down Hwy 23. Three hours later, I pulled up to the ranger station and talked with Roger for a few minutes before hurrying up to the parking lot. Grabbing my pack, I hiked up the hills to my favorite spot and set up camp. After getting the tent set, I went out to grab some firewood for later that night, and when satisfied that everything was in the right place, I pulled out a protein bar to eat for lunch. A few minutes later, I put a pair of binoculars around my neck, grabbed a bow with a few arrows for protection, then headed up the mountain.

Stopping frequently and searching for any animals or birds that were around, I saw a few foxes and rabbits, a couple doe, but not much else. After hours of hiking, I headed back to camp where I put away the equipment I’d used and pulled out my PPCS to start dinner. When the food preparations were done, I lit the wood to get the fire going for some warmth. It would be cool during the night.

When I finished dinner and the stove cooled down, I stowed it in my tent, then got up and walked into the forest about a hundred feet. I took some deep, cleansing breaths, and found the air pure. The sunset streamed orange, red, and purple across the sky. I smiled and just watched as the sun descended slowly, but in the northeast the sky was a deep black. I didn’t remember any mention of storms for the weekend and the sudden lightning ripping through the dark clouds was a sign of trouble. Walking back to the camp, I sat down on my stool and watched the storm coming closer and closer.

Night was approaching. My shoulders slumped. The outdoorsman in me saw my weekend shot from the impending weather, and I had no idea of the extent of it because I had no signal on my cell phone.

Lightning struck close by. I jumped up to run to the safety of my tent. Just as I was scampering inside, lightning struck my camp. I screamed from the excruciating pain. It felt like being stung by a thousand bees at once. I was in agony for over a minute. As the pain slowly dissipated, my heart started pounding. It pumped faster and faster, almost to the point where I felt like it would explode. An intense light appeared, blinding me for a few moments. Then it, too, disappeared and I felt as though my body was shutting down; my arms and legs were numb, my breathing slowed. So this was what it was like to die. Seconds later, the darkness enfolded me.

Chapter 2

I tried to open my eyes, but I felt groggy. My body was cold all over and I stretched both arms to figure out what was going on. I felt a wet substance as my hands flowed through what seemed to be grass. Okay, I must still be in the woods. I forced my eyes open, and groaned as I lifted my torso to try to determine the situation. I opened my eyes wide as I took in the surrounding scenery, a clearing filled with green grass and trees as far as I could see. This wasn’t my habitual camping area, but I couldn’t fathom how I got there and had no idea where I was. Getting myself off the ground, I took some deep breaths, giving me time to think about my current predicament. I looked up towards the sky for answers, but couldn’t get a good reading on the time of day as it was overcast.

I turned in a lazy circle, focusing on trying to find some kind of trail or road; maybe I could find something familiar by walking for a bit. After a couple minutes, I thought fuck it and moved towards a dirt path over to the right of the clearing. As I ventured off through the woods, I looked down at my attire. I was still wearing the t-shirt, khaki pants, and leather boots I wore to the campsite. But my pants were inches shorter, like they had shrunk, and my white t-shirt seemed tighter. I went through my pockets and my wallet and keys were gone.

What the hell? Did some bastards rob me and drop my body off to rot somewhere out of sight?  All I remember was that lightning strike and extreme pain before blacking out.

Gasping, I checked over my body to see how badly I was injured. I was stumped. No visible wounds or burns.

I was struck by lightning for god’s sake, that should’ve left injuries on my body.
Weird. Very, very weird.

I grumbled curses as I walked, but made my way through the forest, alert, looking around to make sure no one was following or sneaking up on me. After what felt like hours, but was probably only half an hour, the trail stopped. I thought over and over again about my last memories before I found myself in this forest.

Either that lightning messed with my brain, or I’m dead.
Well, maybe not actually dead. Perhaps I’m in a coma, lying in a hospital bed. I’ve always wondered what that would be like. Not that I wanted it to actually happen.

Shit, this is getting me nowhere, I’ll just keep going.

I scanned the area, trying to figure out what my next step was, and saw something further up ahead, a kind of structure. It seemed to be a cabin. I was heading that way when I heard something like a growl behind me. I whipped my head around and frantically looked in all directions, until I found the source of the noise. A black, malnourished panther. I looked around to see if it had a friend, but it seemed to be just this one. Not wanting to make any sudden moves, I stood stock still as the feline moved closer, walking around me to the other side. I didn’t really understand what was going on at that moment, so I just waited.

The damn panther was watching me and backing up. I looked towards where it was moving to and saw what looked to be a carcass of some kind. It made sense now; the panther thought I was going to eat its dinner. I almost laughed aloud but thought better about it and started easing my way towards the cabin. The sorry-looking cat was still baring its teeth but not with intent to kill, just warning me to stay away. It also appeared to be injured. Its front legs and hindquarters had fresh gashes on them which were bleeding. I guessed the critter had to fight for his meal and was recuperating when I came up.

Knowing I might not have much time, my feet took me quickly to my destination, and I took in the rundown structure before me. Damn, it wasn’t much of a shelter, seeing as the windows and some parts of the roof were coming apart.

I heard grumbling overhead. I looked up and scanned the sky. A storm was coming. Seriously? Another storm to deal with? I hurried towards the cabin before any rain came. The door was still on its hinges, but open. Inside, I noticed first off that it was furnished: couch, kitchen table, and chairs. There was a long bookshelf in the hallway that housed many books that looked somewhat taken care of. I looked closely at some. The titles were in a language that I didn’t know, but the illustrations gave me the impression they were some kind of training manuals. Maybe related to wood or metal.

Going further along the hallway, three rooms came into view with beds that looked like no one had slept in them for a long time. There was dust everywhere, the rooms smelled musty too. There were also closets in all three rooms, but aside from this furniture and a dresser in the first room, there was nothing else. Weird. But when I looked in the closets I found a multitude of items. One closet had clothes hanging, shirts, brown pants with strings to tie at the waist instead of buttons, and some leather boots on the floor. There was a dagger in a sheath on a shelf with a few other knives. I picked up the former and checked to see if it was useful. It was still in good shape, the edges were sharp, and the hilt was secure.

At least I can use this to defend myself. I put it to the side and checked the other knives. One was for cleaning animals and the other two were for everyday use. I told you, I’m outdoorsy, so I know this kind of stuff. Well, I can’t really take all the credit for this knowledge, my grandfather taught me everything I know. My dad died when I was eight, so grandpa took it upon himself to show me what it meant to be in the Williams family. At least until he passed away five years ago. I miss that man. Dad, too.

Shaking my head, I looked back down at the knives. Picking up the blades, I walked out of the front bedroom and put them on the table before going to look in the other bedroom closets.

The next closet only had a map of the area and I would look at it in depth later but the last one had books on the shelves, which was peculiar. Why not have these out in the hallway with the others?

I could read a couple of these titles, but the others were in another language. The names of the books I could read were Basic Understanding of Runes and History of Risona. Runes? What the hell would anybody use that for? I’d only heard about runes in video games, enchanters used them. I then had another confused thought. Risona? Where the hell is that? Never heard of it.

Putting those books to the side for a moment, I poked around some more and saw at the back of the closet, a recurve bow with a quiver lying to the side. Picking the bow up, I looked it over, then tried the draw and found it to be at least 50 to 60 pounds. A good weight since more than likely I would probably need it soon, especially if that panther was still out there. As I was taking the bow and quiver to the kitchen, I was startled by the loud thunder and lightning outside. I hurriedly put down the items in my hands and went to the window to see how bad the storm was. I pulled back the dust covered drapes and scanned the gloomy sky. Well, I wouldn’t be going out anytime soon it seemed, so I tied the drapes to the sides on the hooks provided, and went back to the table.

I plopped down onto the chair, uncertain if it would hold my weight since it looked worn out and old. Nothing happened, thank goodness, so I picked the bow back up and carefully looked it over. It had some type of script writing I couldn’t decipher and could swear it looked like some of those in the MMO games I played. It was in great shape, no splits or cracks that I could see. The arrows looked pretty new as well, which was odd considering by the look and smell of this place, it would seem that no one had been there for a long time. I picked up the dagger to examine it further. It had the same writing on it too, which I couldn’t decipher. I put the blade down, and tried to get things straight in my head.

I woke up not knowing where I was and not seeing my camping equipment anywhere. A dirt path led me to this delightful piece of property, out in the fuckin woods in the middle of nowhere with clothes and weapons that just happen to be here as well. A bookshelf with books in the hallway filled with what looks to be skills or crafts that are business oriented. Another hidden shelf in a closet that holds books with information about runes and the history of a place that I haven’t even heard of. Really, what the fuck is going on?

I huffed and went back to the hallway to further inspect some of the other books. They seemed to be about training with weapons and what looked to be some sort of itemized list of elements. At least it would seem that way from looking at the pics inside, since the language was foreign to me.

I shook my head. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but was going to find out. Outside the storm was still raging. I went back to investigating the house, but the only thing I found were leaks in a few spots at the back of the cabin. Not knowing where any tools were to fix or patch the problem, I went into the kitchen to see if there was running water. I stopped short and actually checked the appliances or lack thereof in the kitchen. There was an old-fashioned stove but no fridge or microwave, and also no faucet at the sink. A pump was in its place.

Curious, I went over and started working the pump up and down to see if any water was in the well. It would probably be rank or dirty anyway. After minutes of hearing air in the line and slurping sounds, brown water started flowing out into the sink. I kept on pumping the water for another thirty seconds and hit pay dirt. Well, clear water. Stopping, I went to the hanging cabinets and grabbed what looked like a cup of some sort and washed it out some before filling it up. After smelling it for any minerals or stench really, I found it to be clean, and ended up gulping down two cups. It had a bit of an aftertaste, not hindering, but different from what I was used to. Maybe it was from the well the water came from, but it didn’t matter at the moment since it quenched my thirst. Later on, when the storm passed, I would need to go out and get some food.

Putting the cup into the sink, my eyes caught sight of a door off of the kitchen, and being the inquisitive person that I am, I went over to open it. Before placing my hand on the knob, I saw something on the wall above the door.  Taking a closer look, foreign words were carved above two symbols.  Runes.

No, it can’t be. My mind is fucking with me.

I opened the door and peered into the darkness. The light from outside came in when I stopped blocking the doorway and stepped into the 10x10 room. The temperature dropped significantly.

What the hell? It’s like a refrigerator in here. A cold room.

My eyes scanned the walls, they were wooden but had what looked like grout or mortar in the gaps. Shelves lined the area. I guessed this was the area for perishable items. I wondered if this was the norm for houses in this area. Walking out, I closed the door and noticed an oil lamp on the counter. At least I wouldn’t be in total darkness because there was no sign of a light switch.

I went back to the table to sit for a few minutes, wanting to look at the rune book. I was curious to see what it contained. Maybe it would help when I got back online.

I opened the book and tried reading the table of contents, but the language was incomprehensible. Wait a minute, the title was in English but not the rest of the book. I threw my hands up in defeat and closed the book, huffing out a curse. I decided to check out the history book. To my dismay, I could actually read this one. I cursed again. I found history so boring. Shaking my head, I figured it would at least move the time along, so I started reading.

The book began with how Risona came into being. That caught my attention right off. There wasn’t any area on Earth named Risona. The further I read, the more confused I became. Risona was a world that held unique races. I didn’t really pay attention to all the names given, although a few stuck out in my mind. Orcs, mages, elves, dragons, beastkin, and fairies. My mind was all over the place. This had to be a fantasy book. I laughed for a couple minutes, then figured what the hell, I had nothing better to do, and kept on reading. Thinking it was an imaginary world, I became immersed in the descriptions of the races, then the cultures, what side everyone was on, and who fought whom.

Taking a break for half an hour, I got up to get a drink and watched the storm. It was getting darker. Night was falling. Lightning lit up the area and I saw the panther hunkered down by a tree watching the cabin.

Strange. This whole fuckin day has been so fuckin weird.

Shaking my head, I went back to the table to continue reading where I left off. I was now halfway through the book and at a part about the different battles that the world had endured, many it seemed were skirmishes, but some had resulted in many deaths. I kept scanning the headings, noting the dates ranged from 1626 BCE to 2267 BCE. They seemed to cover hundreds of years until I reached a section that was capitalized and in large font.

VIRUS SPREADS ACROSS RISONA, KILLING MOST OF THE MALE POPULATION

No one knew how the virus came about or how to treat it, so one after the other, males kept dying. The symptoms were nausea, vomiting, fever, blood coming out of the orifices, and finally, victims of the virus never woke up. Females weren’t affected at all. In the beginning, the sick were set apart from the other males in an attempt to help quarantine the others, but it didn’t help at all. After two grueling years, the virus just vanished, but its effects were devastating. Husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers died.

Wow, I wonder how that would affect the population then? It would seem the world took it upon itself to stop the fighting. Maybe it took out the males because they were the cause of so many altercations? Shit. What the hell do I care? It’s not real.

I chuckled and read on. The months after the virus disappeared, females of every race had to step up and handle everyday events and take up leadership roles, ending up in a matriarchal society. Another outcome of the virus was a tiny percentage of male births, one in ten to be exact. It seemed that the virus controlled the male population by slowing down the sperm carrying the Y chromosome.

As a result of all this, the leaders of clans and races made laws to favor men. They allowed them to take on multiple wives. The ladies would be the caregivers, hunters, farmers, etc. with their main interest to protect their mate or husband. It had been this way ever since, over a thousand years.

I went back and looked at the front page of the book. It had a date on it. 1178 CE.

I thought about those events for a moment. It would seem that these people were living in a polygamist society. Hell, just having one wife was hard enough, multiple was fantasy but very hard work when you thought about it. Not that I knew that for a fact, I wasn’t married. To tell the truth, I wasn’t a ladies’ man.  I only had a few girlfriends in high school and college, though I had the occasional romp with some of them. My longest relationship was with Donna. It was my first year with the company, she was great until we figured out that our schedules didn’t mesh. It was a mutual breakup, and at the time, I didn’t think too much about it.

I chuckled as I thought about Risona. Only in fiction does stuff like this happen. I went back to the tome, but nothing else grabbed my attention until the end.

Greetings Traveler! Welcome to Risona. We are happy you read the history of our world and know that you can’t read the other tomes. If you put your hand on the symbol in the top right of this page and say “Viatorem” then you will be able to read the other books left in this cabin.

What the hell? No fuckin way that’s real. I looked very carefully at the symbol that resembled somebody walking before shaking my head. I looked back at the paragraph to continue reading.

Yes, it is real dumbass, otherwise I wouldn’t have written it.

The fucking book is calling me names now.

I almost threw it at the wall.

This damn thing is making me crazy.

I rolled my eyes before putting my hand on the symbol and, feeling like a bit of an idiot even though there was no one there to see me, I said, “Viatorem.” I left my hand on the symbol for a few moments. My hand didn’t look any different. Stupid, I was following the directions to a fantasy history book. I felt a sudden burning sensation in my hand and screamed out loud as a shock went through my body. Wide-eyed, I dropped the book on the table and shot out of the chair, knocking it over to the floor.

Pacing, I looked all over myself to see if anything was off. After a couple of minutes and not seeing anything out of the ordinary, I picked up the chair and sat back down, opening up the book to where I left off. I turned the page to see another set of instructions.

Okay, glad you took the first step. Took you long enough. Now, let’s try another symbol that is on this page. Say the following phrases slowly while you put your right hand on the icon. You will feel some pain, but it will be worth it in the long run, so don’t be a baby.

“Cito discere linguas in Risona. Et emes ex eadem Scientia et artes somnia atque auguria. Transire faciendo artes armes insigne et comminus pugna ad viatorem.”

I laughed for a few moments at the sarcasm. Should I take the chance or not? Whatever, the shock was just a coincidence. Taking a deep breath, I put my right hand on the symbol and recited the phrase as best I could. When the last syllable was spoken, a sudden pain hit my hand, and I heard a sizzling sound. Pulling my hand up to observe what was causing the intense pain, I saw a mark forming there, like a tattoo. A minute later the pain stopped throbbing and became tolerable, and a symbol emerged on the top of my hand, behind the knuckles.

WHAT THE FUCK!!! I actually screamed.

It was a symbol I had never seen before and tender to the touch. The tattoo looked like a 3 with a small o attached to it and an eye on top looking down, the 3 and o looked to be in some sort of script form as well. When it formed on my right hand, my left wrist started burning. The pain was tolerable at that point. I looked down to see a tattoo of a man holding swords.

I was so angry that I almost threw the tome outside into the fuckin rain, but I held myself together and looked back onto the next page.

Well, I guess you weren’t such a pussy after all. Good for you! Now, stop your fuckin whining and listen up. We have given you a significant gift. Since you weren’t born here, we have allowed you the skills to become an enchanter with powers of a mage. Your mage powers are not all powerful though. Many you meet will have more command of their powers. Some will become close to you. Find them and invite them to join your family.

We also gave you language skills, which means you should be able to read, understand, and even talk in any language you come upon. Yes, that means orcish, elvish, etc. The most important part of this skill is the rune language. Read the book given to you, memorize it, because your talent in runes will allow you to earn a living in this world. The basic tome will help you begin your journey to be a Rune Master, but you will need to get more tomes over time or maybe learn from the dwarves, they are masters of the language after all.

One more thing. As a housewarming present, my colleague gave you hand to hand combat and sword experience to defend yourself, but it isn’t anywhere near a master’s skill.  Practice the sword techniques within your mind and commit them to memory, you will need them. Alright, my time is up. Hope you learn what you can and achieve many things in your new life. Have a wonderful day, Dominic.

P.S. The panther needs help, he will become a great ally if you show him some respect and compassion. PEACE OUT BITCH.

I read the page many times before letting the book fall to the table. I didn’t know how to process this information. This had to be a dream of some sort, I kept telling myself, even though I pinched my arm at least ten times to wake up and I was still there. I kept staring at the new tattoos on my hand and wrist, trying to calm down. It wasn’t a minute later that the markings disappeared. At least, I thought they did. Feeling where they used to be, I could tell they were just under my skin. Strange.

I went over and pulled a book off the shelf to see if the language barrier broke, and it did. I recognized the words on the page, so I placed the book back onto the shelf and browsed the selection. After a few minutes, I went into the first bedroom and dropped onto the dusty bed, falling asleep almost immediately, exhausted from the day’s events.

Chapter 3

Sunlight and birds chirping woke me the next day. Rising quickly, I hurried out to the table to see if my nightmare was real. My eyes saw the tome and other items that I left the night before and I immediately looked down at the symbol on my hand. Yep, the nightmare was continuing.

My stomach growled, hinting it needed sustenance. I went to the closet full of clothes and started changing. The boots weren’t comfortable at all, so I put mine back on. I pulled the trousers and tunic on, I believe that’s what you would call them, but they were a little tight. The whole attire felt weird to me. I stopped for a moment and looked down at myself; I had changed. My body appeared to have more definition to it. I was more toned than I remembered. Come to think of it… I grabbed my old pants and held them up to my waist. Why would I have a growth spurt now? I was twenty-six years old! Well, at least something good had come out of this.

Walking to the hallway bookshelf, I selected a book that described what vegetables, flowers, and wildlife could be found in Risona and grabbed my weapons and two small bags to hold my findings. I walked out the front door to see that it was muddy after the storm and scanned the area to check if any animals were around, but I couldn’t see any, not even the panther. I would have to go looking for fresh meat because it wasn’t going to come to me.

While foraging, my eyes caught sight of some stalks that looked to be wild onions and distinctive fern-like foliage, which hopefully meant carrots. Looking in the guidebook, it showed I was right, so I went over to my find and pulled the wild veggies out, then put them into a bag. My eyes scanned the area for any other potential food, maybe berries or nuts. After searching for around thirty minutes, I came upon some berries and began carefully arranging them in the veggie bag. When finished with that part of my plan, I went looking for wild game and ended up killing a few rabbits and a deer.

Starting back to the cabin after accomplishing my morning goals, I observed the forest to see if there were any other inhabitants. I saw nothing worth noting, and minutes later the clearing and the cabin came into view. I set my kills on the deck and strung up the deer on a nearby tree. I found a rope at the back of the cabin, sitting by the back door. Convenient, right?

I went inside the cabin to place the bags of goods on the counter by the sink, took the rabbits out, then went back outside after grabbing the hunting knife and a couple of plates. I started field dressing my kill and meticulously got all the meat off I wanted and placed it on the plates. While doing this, I picked up some kind of noise behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I spotted the half-starved panther nearby.

Deciding to follow the book’s advice, it had been right so far, I made sure the cuts of meat meant for me were put to the side, then got the carcass down and walked over to the big cat. The fucker growled at me, so I threw the deer carcass down by a tree and walked away, not looking back.

Collecting my plates, I strolled to the cabin, but stopped to glance over where I had dropped the deer. The panther was tearing into the dead animal; I shook my head and closed the door behind me. I placed the meat on the counter and pumped some water out to clean my hands really well before going out the back door to find some wood for the cook stove. After gathering a pile, I went back inside to start the fire. I would need to chop some wood later on. When it was ready, I placed some meat on the cooking grate, then headed over to the sink to clean and cut up the veggies. Spying a pot, I cleaned it out the best I could and put the onions and carrots in, filling it with water so it would make some stew. I didn’t have any flour or cream to thicken it, so I didn’t know how it would taste. Oh well. Placing the pot on the grate to cook, I waited.

I turned the sizzling meat over, and then sat down at the table to have another look at the rune book. To my surprise, the words jumped off the page and seemed to embed themselves in my mind. I memorized the symbols on the first page and knew what they represented. The book was a description for a novice like me to learn the rune language; the symbols given were for my skill level at the moment. The book described how the symbols would change when the enchanter’s knowledge changed, and moved from apprentice, journeyman, adept, and then to master level. The book also advised it would take years, if not decades, to achieve master level, if at all.

The most useful of the symbols in front of me, were those like strength, speed, durability, etc. I went back to focusing on my supper and when it came time to put the meat into the stew pot, I cut up what I needed, covered the leftover meat on the plate, and took it to the cold room. I would need to get some containers to put the meat and vegetables in from a store in town. I wondered how far it was to the closest town.

While the pot was simmering, I went back to learning. The tome taught me how to use the script and how to draw the individual symbols. The lesson went into the need for practicing before applying the script on items or individuals. The latter was supposed to be a master lesson, and it prohibited a novice like me from even trying. The book also had levels for each symbol, including the activation words for a limited or unlimited amount of time. It also had levels of durability and resistance to magic. All kinds of shit could be done to items to make them better.

The rune levels that were implemented came from the enchanter’s magic, which meant that their mana pool had to be extremely robust to enchant the item in question forever. I scanned over what it involved to apply a limited amount of time to the item, it would seem that the enchanter should give a time limit to each item in question.

Looking around, I found a piece of coal and ground it down to get as close to a pencil as possible. Well, it turned out to be closer to a crayon. I would have to get some ink or an engraver when I could. Finding something that looked like paper, I started sketching and it turned out to be harder than I realized. The exercise was tedious, but from what the book advised, if it wasn’t precisely done, the consequences could be deadly. The concerns could be anything ranging from the rune failing, exploding, or the object would become useless. Once I had successfully duplicated one sign, I went straight into drawing another. Soon, I was somewhat capable of three symbols. At least, that’s what I thought.

The meaty aroma in the cabin brought me back to the present, I got up and quickly made sure the stew wasn’t burning. It was close, but I took the hot stew pot off the fire and set it on a cooling grate, then went back to studying while my food cooled.

As I kept reading, I felt how focused I was. It seemed I could easily retain all the information the book provided. It stated that there were two ways that I could attach the rune then activate. The symbol could be etched on the item then activated with a spell, or the rune could be sketched on paper then transferred over with spell words from the enchanter. This was a multiple-step process. With a bonding spell, it transported the icon from the sketch to the particular weapon or material it was meant for. After that, the activation spell would need to be done.

From what I gleaned from the book, it seemed enchanters were rare outside of the dwarves. The process was arduous and needed specific talents to execute properly. The enchantments, as the tome called them, basically enhanced the original item. It gave some examples. Strength runes could be on shields in battle and they could make them last for some time without breaking, or I could engrave one to prevent even denting the metal ones. Mages could wear jewelry to have a backup mana source or a fire rune could be etched on swords. Basically, the book advised, if you could think it and implement the complex language, then you could either prevent or destroy, depending on your attitude. It was for this reason the rune language wasn’t well known outside the dwarves. People let emotions run their lives and things go downhill quickly when those are involved.

It was a disturbing thought that enchanting came down to morality and character. Evil minds could take this valuable information and destroy towns easily if their army fought with enchanted weapons.

Yep, good thing most people can’t read this language and decipher the codes. But, why the fuck would someone bring me here and give me this information freely?

I put the book down and ate two bowls of stew. I had nothing to cover the pot, so I placed a plate over it to keep unwanted critters out. For the rest of the day, now a novice enchanter, I taught myself the beginnings of the rune language. Even though I didn’t have an engraving tool, I practiced sketching the strength and durability runes, until I felt comfortable transferring the drawing to an item. In this case, it was an ordinary knife.

Once the sketch was complete, I recited the spell:

ferrum ferro ab rune transferrem ad vinculum.

It startled me when the paper disintegrated. I picked up the knife and saw the icons were being slowly engraved in small font onto the blade of the knife. Cool. Now for the actual test: signum activate.

A bright light flashed and blinded me. I ended up dropping the knife on the table, then blinked many times, trying to get my vision back to normal. After a few minutes I could see properly again, so I picked up the knife to test it. Raising my arm up, I drove the knife deep into the table. Not really thinking it would work well, it surprised me when it went halfway through. Whoa! Not expecting anything like this, I pulled it out and went straight outside to a nearby log that seemed to be durable and did the same thing. I wanted to test how many times it would take for the rune to malfunction. It took thirty times stabbing the log before the effect tapered off to hardly going in at all, and then the blade snapped. The test was successful performing at the lowest amount of time available, it also accounted for durability as well. The rune for durability would have to be etched too for the item to remain enchanted.

The enchantments were complicated. The enchanter would need to figure out what the item needed and transfer all the runes applicable. Sighing, I went back inside to check over those runes again. Two hours later, with two additional knives to test with, I tried again with the levels that would last for a month and six months when used regularly. When finished with those runes, I felt nauseous and dizzy. Sitting down, it took minutes to get my stomach to settle down and my mind to clear.

Wow, guess I got carried away. That crap about mana building was legit.

I took it easy for a while and when I could walk without stumbling, I went back to my testing. The first knife with the lower amount of time took almost two hundred stabs before diminishing, the second went for just under a thousand. It was eye opening for sure.

I moved on to the next lesson; it was about a rune that kept items sharp. Shrugging, I drew up the runes for strength, durability, and hone. I then spoke the enchantments on the knife in my hand. I had made this one the lowest level of power. After the bright light, the etchings were on the knife and ready to be tested. So, I did just that.

First, the table. The knife dug in further than before. After that little trial, I went outside to find another log. But first I pulled up blades of grass to try the hone rune to see how sharp it was. The blade went through the grass with no problem, so I tested after it declined in productivity. Twenty stabs later, it still worked. Thirty-one stabs later, the knife was basically back to its original form of strength and durability, but I tried the blades of grass again. It went through, but with more difficulty than before. The runes worked together for the time allotted and then diminished together as well.

The next lesson was on rune destruction. Picking up the knife, I spoke the words to destroy the strength rune: rune firmitatem atque delerent.

Another light flashed, and after a moment, I looked at the runes again. The strength rune vanished, and only the edge rune remained. Speaking the enchantment for the lower level again, I found a big rock and struck with the knife. The blade broke off. Now I had two pieces. Picking up a leaf, I took the broken off blade and easily sliced through the green foliage. Interesting.

Picking up the handle and blade, I went back to the cabin for more research. Laying the pieces of the blade to the side, I went back to studying and found the rune I wanted to try. I sketched the symbol until my mind was certain it would take on two pieces of paper, spoke the transference spell and the papers vanished. I picked up the blade and handle to see the repair runes on both broken pieces, and I wasn’t certain this would work. My theory was about to be put to the test. After activating the runes, I sat there waiting. The pieces remained in their positions, apart. A minute later, still nothing. I was about to give up when a slight movement caught my eye. The two pieces inched toward each other, and when they touched, a bright light blinded me again for a few minutes. Damn, I’ve got to remember to close my eyes. When my vision returned, I observed the knife had mended itself. Awesome! I grinned. My mind went crazy with ideas for lots of projects. But I would have to put off my plans for now until I could acquire the necessary test materials.

For the next couple of weeks, I followed the same routine: eat, study, sleep, and try to befriend the panther. He had somewhat allowed me to get close to him without snarling or trying to kill me. His wounds were healing, and the critter was gaining some weight as I fed him regularly. I ended up giving him a name, Scar, even though he probably didn’t want one. He was still leery of me, but the fact that he came closer and didn’t snarl made me think he was gradually starting to trust me.

I engraved my weapons with runes. Strength, durability, and hone for the dagger. Strength and durability for my bow. Speed and durability for the arrows. I would wait on the elemental runes to make sure my brain had them down precisely and not waste my weapons or materials.

When I finished etching the runes on the weapons, I tested them. Latching the dagger sheath on my pants, then picking up the quiver and bow, I headed outside to set up some targets to practice on. Taking the dagger out of the sheath, I tested the durability and strength on some fallen limbs. The dagger passed the test, so I went on with the bow test. I took a deep breath, grabbed an arrow out of the quiver, nocked and released. The target was a hundred yards away. When I let loose of the arrow, it left in a hurry and embedded in the target a little to the right of the center. Whoa, that was awesome! I ran down and checked where it hit; it was almost through to the other side of the target. If it went through with basic rune combos, what would an advanced rune combo allow a master to achieve? Shit, that’s scary. Shaking those thoughts from my head, I took the weapons back into the house and sat down, smiling at my accomplishment. I didn’t dwell on that though, I knew other things needed doing.

During these days, I traveled in the surrounding forest to see if anyone lived around me but couldn’t find any evidence of housing in the area.  Not one residence. It was surprising and at first, I didn’t know what to think.  I wasn’t always a socialite by any means but would need to have some adult conversation soon. My exploration wasn’t a total loss as I discovered a stream not far from the cabin. I also found two additional buildings out back. One resembled a barn, and the other was a forge. Checking inside the barn, I found farming tools, supplies for repairing the house and roof, metal ingots, tools for metalworking, replacement equipment for the forge, and fencing equipment for pigs or chickens. There were also many bags of seeds, with labels on the bags. The barn could also house horses and cows.

Hmm. It seems whoever placed my ass here wants me to survive, even though I’ll have to work for it.

Unfortunately, neither farming nor blacksmithing were in my resume. A twenty-six-year-old engineer geek/outdoorsman didn’t have a clue how to proceed in planting a garden or metalworking.

But guess what? I found books on those trades in the library. I took a couple days to read them and made plans for a vegetable garden and how to proceed to light the forge first, before trying any molds. I also found a book on healing remedies and it advised, by a legible note left in the book’s front, that I would need this skill and knowledge.

I came up with a design for my veggie and herb gardens. They would not be large by any means, but would do for little ole me and perhaps a couple others. I went out to the barn and grabbed the right tools to get started with breaking up the land for planting.

I found out quickly that the lightweight tools on hand would not work the soil properly. I would have to take a trip to town and see if they had a mule to purchase that could pull the plow in the barn. Sighing, I went and stored the tools back in their spots.

I checked to see if I could find any currency. I found a leather pouch on top of a shelf in one of the bedroom closets. When I grabbed it there was a clinking sound. Inside there were many gold, silver, and copper coins. There was also a crumpled note advising on the way money worked in this world. Ten coppers were a silver, ten silver equaled a gold, and a thousand gold was a platinum. No mention of paper money. I emptied the pouch and counted the currency on the table. The amount came out to be three hundred gold, a hundred silver, and a hundred copper. I wasn’t sure how much anything cost, but I had an idea that the gold was a steep price for things, unless it was for animals, equipment, or housing. That night before going to bed, I had devised my next step.

Chapter 4

Medum looked down at the world below him in deep thought, interrupted only when he felt a presence beside him.

“How’s the experiment going?”

“Ah. Hello, Alena. He seems to be doing okay, though he hasn’t realized that he won’t be going home. That will be troublesome for all involved.”

She sighed, “I hope this works, Medum. The others weren’t convinced bringing an outsider here would be the best way to test our theory.”

He nodded. “And you heard my response. I think I was clear about that. People that live in Risona, grow up with knowledge of the past. An outsider like Dominic, who doesn’t relate to that time, may be able to help with changing others around him.”

“I know, and I’m pulling for Dominic to achieve great things… Do you really believe that Risona has learned its lesson regarding war and genocide?”

“I hope so. Time will tell. Hopefully Dominic will help by setting an example for the males down there. Most of them need a backbone, the pussies. And the others need a lesson in humility, arrogant fools.”

Alena giggled. “You’re right about that. The women coddle them too much.”

Medum grunted but didn’t say anything further.

“I will leave you to your observation, do let me know if anything interesting happens! If not, I will see you at the next assembly.”

Medum nodded and Alena left.

He sighed, “I hope you prove me right, Dominic.”

He observed for a few more minutes before he disappeared.

~~~~~~

I woke up to a sunny morning and ate some leftover berries for breakfast, polishing them off in a couple of minutes. Standing up, I went to grab the map and check where the nearest town would be. It was named, Capena. Shit, it seemed to be about ten miles away. Well, no time like the present. I got dressed and walked outside. Scar was in his usual place over in the shade of the barn where the weather wouldn’t bother him. I took a breath and started making my way toward civilization a bit sweaty palmed, unsure of what I would find. I was finally going to talk to someone other than a panther.

I walked down the access road behind the barn area. I had discovered this when exploring the land around the cabin. It wasn’t that hot of a day, and I made good time when I found the road, then turned left, humming some tunes from memory.  One of them was Old Town Road and the other was pure hope: All Roads Lead Home. As I walked down this unfamiliar road I start thinking of trying to find a way home. This clearly wasn’t a dream and was probably not a coma either. Even though my life wasn’t that great back home, I missed talking to my friends and family.  What would mom and my sister Susie be thinking? Were they in a panic? Shaking the bad thoughts off, I continued down the road, humming off and on.  It was a couple hours before I actually came upon another being.

A covered wagon and escort were coming in my direction, so I got over and out of their way, then checked out the entourage as they passed by. It seemed to be some type of merchant going by the name on the side, Manny’s Trinkets. The guards around the wagon looked to be all female, at least that’s the notion I got from the armor they wore. Understandable, since this society was female driven. The man was probably inside the wagon. When they passed by, the guards stared for some reason, so I just nodded at them and kept walking towards my destination.

I observed the scenery around me, it was beautiful. Dotted with trees and shrubs.  I also recognized some of the plants and flowers from the manual at the cabin. My eyes picked out familiar oak and spruce trees in the distance.  Minutes later, I saw violets and geraniums. Flying insects were buzzing around as well, but I wasn’t sure what to call them. They looked to be a cross between a bee and hummingbird. They were strange. Some things were so familiar but these…creatures made me think I definitely wasn’t on Earth anymore.

I wasn’t even another mile down the dirt road before I caught sight of a dust cloud, more people coming my way. Another out of town merchant it seemed, more guards this time but I just went on my merry way, not paying attention to anything. The merchant wagon trundled down the road and it was quiet once more. Sometime later, the town of Capena came into view. I couldn’t really see how big the place was from where I was. Only a little more traveling and my feet could take a break.

As I came up to the outskirts, the town wasn’t like the cities I was used to for sure, but it was quaint and clean looking. I walked down the main path through the town, taking in the easy-going atmosphere and the noticeable families as they moved around the stores or merchant booths that lined the streets.

“Definitely more ladies than men, even a mixture of races it would seem,” I said in a low voice seeing a short lady with blonde hair, my mind picked out the word gnome. I also caught sight of a tall, thin woman with pointy ears talking with a short stocky lady with muscles. Elf and dwarf.

Walking around, I tried to locate the stores I needed, but had issues finding them. I strolled over to the nearest booth where a gentleman was selling farm goods. A couple of females were behind him. His guards, no doubt.

The merchant spoke first, “Good afternoon. What can we do for you?”

All three were staring intently at me and then for some reason looking behind me.

With my newly acquired language skills, I understood their foreign tongue.

I replied in their language, “I’m looking for the livery and general goods store. Can you point me in the right direction?”

The man looked at me for a few moments before responding. Then he pointed, “Keep going down the path to the end of town, livery and corrals are down there, can’t miss it. General store is three stores down on the left.”

“Much obliged,” I said and started walking away, but only got five steps before the females spoke out.

“Where are your women?”

“Why are you out here alone?”

I turned around. Both females, a blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty and a brunette with brown eyes, were standing there looking confused. I smiled, “I’m not alone, but thanks for your concern,” and turned to walk away quickly before any more questions were asked.

It didn’t take me long before I saw the sign labeled Brighton’s Premium Horses, and walked up to the front where a couple customers were waiting in line. I waited patiently before someone called out to me, “Can I help you, sir?”

Turning my head, I saw a middle-aged woman smiling at me. “Yes ma’am, I need a good riding horse and a mule with full kits, saddlebags, and panniers.”

“We can help with that sir, follow me and I’ll show you our inventory. My name is Helen Brighton.”

“Nice to meet you, my name’s Dominic Williams.” I followed the woman outside to the corral.

We walked around and the names of the breeds started popping into my head. Coming to the one I was searching for, I spoke out, “I want to see that black Friesian.”

Helen smiled, “Good choice. Let’s go take a look.”

I grinned when we got closer. The Friesian was magnificent. A tall, all black stallion. I looked over him carefully.

“He looks healthy. The mules?”

Helen nodded and walked over to another corral. I followed behind looking at the many choices, but came across a gray one that seemed to stand out from the rest.

“That one over there, the gray one.”

She nodded and together we looked the mule over and decided it was satisfactory.

“Alright Mr. Williams, the two with full kits, saddlebags, and panniers will set you back ten gold.”

I didn’t even have time to think about it before words started spouting from my mouth. I recognized it for what it was, bargaining, something these people – I would later discover – reveled in.

“You must have mistaken me for a novice ma’am. Five is the right price for this particular sale.”

I saw someone in my peripheral and looked over to see an absolute stunner. She was tall, sinewy, and tan. With this redhead with emerald green eyes standing there watching me, my mind stopped working for a few moments.

I didn’t hear Helen’s rebuttal and had to ask again.

“What was that ma’am? My mind was off in a different direction.”

Helen smiled and replied, “Sure thing, that price is unreasonable sir. Eight gold.”

Trying not to look at the beautiful redhead, I responded, “Six and five silver, and throw in a bag of oats.”

Helen grinned broadly and nodded. “Very well, Mr. Williams. Let’s go sign the paperwork.”

That language skill I’ve acquired must include bargaining. Awesome!

I nodded as she walked off, but turned back to the emerald-eyed woman. She was talking to someone else but looking my way in short instances. I bowed to her and walked in the direction that Helen went, wondering who she was and if she was taken. Walking up to the counter I found the paperwork was ready, signed it, and placed the payment in Helen’s hand.

“Nice doing business with you Mr. Williams. We will have you fixed up in ten minutes.” Helen put away the currency.

“Thank you. I’ll wait.”

Ten minutes later, I was leading the stallion, which I already thought of as Coal and the mule, Murry, down towards the corner store. I tried to figure out where engraving tools were sold since a jewelry store was out of the question, though they had booths selling jewelry on the street. I doubted they would be selling an engraver there, so decided to check out what looked like a hardware store.

After tying off the reins, I went inside where a few people gave me curious looks, but didn’t approach me. I walked down the aisles and picked up two of each tool: hatchet, saw, axe, hammer, vise, auger, chisel, planer, and awl. Knowing I would have to repair and build new projects, I was going to pick up some of those required items now. Putting those items on the counter, I went to try and locate the engraving tools. I found them three rows over, the display had an engraver and etcher. I wanted to see which one would be best, but couldn’t decide so picked up one of each. I made my way back to the counter, placed those items there and paid five silver, then carried out my purchases and stowed them in my saddlebags. Taking the reins, I led the animals towards the general goods store.

Coal walked us up the path and stopped in Branchet’s General Goods. Three women were out stocking the aisles with new products and filling spots that customers bought. I browsed over the selections and went to the counter.

“Good afternoon sir,” I called out.

A male looked up from the counter. “Hello, didn’t see you there. My name is Tom Branchet. What can I do for you?”

A female came up behind him, wearing an apron. She looked like a regular human and my mind didn’t spit out anything. She was a brunette, maybe 5’6” with blue eyes and a curvy figure. I wonder if she’s a mage.

Handing him the list I had made up, I said, “Good day to you, Tom. I’m Dominic. Can you fill that list?”

The woman looked over his shoulder because he was around the same size, and after a few moments, took the list from him.

“Tom, you’ve been working the counter long enough. It’s time for a break. Go and check on Lizzie for me.”

Tom nodded and said, “Yeah, my hands are starting to hurt from shifting product around this morning.” He massaged his hands. I took a closer look at him. The guy seemed to be lacking work ethic, to say the least. He reached underneath the counter to grab something, and when it came into view, I almost busted out laughing. It was a man purse.

I started thinking about the episode of Friends when Joey took advice from Rachel to wear a unisex bag to his audition. She said it was sexy and would help get him the part in a play. He didn’t get the part. It was funny then and it was funny now.

Tom left without another word, walking through a doorway to the back of the store, clutching onto his man purse.

And there it was, my first glimpse of how a male is treated in Risona. If that guy got a paper cut, it would take him out of commission for a few days.

The woman smiled at me and said, “My name is Marsha. Please, give me a minute to look over your list, Mr. Dominic.”

I nodded and waited. Marsha looked over the list for a couple of minutes before speaking.

“Yes, we can provide everything but the feed and grain. You’ll have to get those over at the feed store across the street.”

“Okay. How long will it take to get the order ready?”

“Not long, probably ten minutes or so.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Handing over the two silver, I watched while Marsha and her assistant filled the order. Others came in to purchase items. The males walked with their families, but never held anything for more than a few moments before handing it to a woman for them to hold.  A few of them also had purses like Tom. I shook my head at that. Wonder what else is ass backwards here?

It wasn’t long before Marsha called over to say my order was ready. They had my items in bags for easy carrying. Sausage, cheese, spices, sugar, flour, cream, coffee, tea, and other necessities. Also, I purchased a razor and shaving cream to groom myself. I walked out and stowed them into my panniers. My next stop was at the feed store for a couple bags of feed before heading out of town.

During the journey to the cabin, which I strangely thought of as my journey  ‘home’, I wondered about my real home. Was someone looking after my stuff? Perhaps they would consider me dead and sell off all my possessions. Bastards, I had some expensive equipment. Maybe someone called mom and she picked everything up. Shit, they’re probably still looking for my body. Mom must be beside herself, worried. I sighed and tried to occupy my mind with the tasks ahead.

When I got back, I unsaddled Coal and took the bridles off of both animals. I hustled them into the barn, fed them and closed the door. Hopefully, Scar wouldn’t bother them. Heading inside, I prepared my dinner then did some reading before heading off to bed. I wanted an early start the next day.

~~~~~~

The next couple of days I performed my daily chores, then went to work on my to-do list, and at the end I’d try to get the grumpy panther to hunt with me. I repaired some fencing, an issue with the cold room, and a couple other minor fixes. When my normal chores were done, the next priority was to build a workbench that measured 4’ wide, 6’ long, and 5’ high. It also would have a vise on each end. I enchanted the tools I had bought with runes of strength, durability, and razor-edge. When that was completed, I cleaned out a space in the barn to store my workbench. After a couple hours of getting the cuts right and getting used to the runes, my project was complete. It was portable, obviously, so when any big projects were needed, it could be moved easily.

The next priority on the list was a garden. Cleaning up my work area and putting away the tools and equipment used, I grabbed the plow and hitched it to Murry the mule, then went to my plot. Murry was definitely a great buy, the little bugger was as stubborn as was to be expected, but relentless with his work ethic since I made the plot larger than my initial design after purchasing him. After a couple hours of cultivating, the area was ready for planting. I steered Murry back, unhooked the plow and led him out to graze within the fenced in area. I put the plow away, closed the barn door and then decided to take a break.

Grabbing a snack from the cabin, I sat down and started eating the berries and nuts, thinking that I finally had a place to call my own instead of that outrageously expensive apartment I was renting. With that thought, I wondered if it was worth it to expand the cabin or build a new home. I scanned my land. It was glowing in the afternoon sun. The trees surrounding the area were at least forty to eighty feet tall and various sizes in diameter. I measured in my mind what it would take to build a home from the ground up, and clearing out some of the unneeded trees would be a plus. I decided to build. Good thing I had bought the tools already.

I walked back to the barn to get the grain and seeds. Going row-by-row dropping the intended crop into the tilled up soil, I finished and used my hands to cover the seeds. Not knowing how often it rained, I turned my mind to irrigation. I would need to get some irrigation pipe from town.

As I took the leftover seeds back to the counter in the barn and dropped them off, I thought about other crops to plant. Since I just planted beans, peas, carrots, okra, and lettuce, I’d pick up some tomatoes, squash, cabbage, peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers in town to plant as well. I went over and used the pump to wash myself and had a thought, a bath and shower. How awesome would that be? Sighing, I went inside to fix dinner and do some more reading.

The next day, I ate some sausage and cheese before heading out to feed Coal and Murry. After brushing them down, I got out my axe and hatchet, and headed out to the forest. The first item to complete would be the platform. I started cutting down the taller trees, they were all ten-twelve inches in diameter and eighty feet long. The dimensions of the house were going to be 40’x60’ with four bedrooms to start with and space for a rune workshop. I had it all worked out in my head. I wanted the house to be easily expandable if needed. Also, I was going to figure out how to install indoor plumbing with hot water. All this going outside to the privy was irking me, so I would put in a bathroom that would be at the back of the home where the well was. I would need to figure out how to heat up the water. Maybe a fire mage was needed?

I spent the day cutting and sawing the lumber to fit my dimensions. I figured out quickly that muscle was needed to drag the trees over, so I’d have to make a trip to town very soon. The planar was hard at first for me to get used to and I messed up a couple of test subjects, but after that it was like any other skill you learn. Repetition. When I finished with the last tree for the platform, I needed something to fill in the cracks and not let air through, either clay or mortar. I went down to the stream, walked around the area for an hour or so and found an acceptable amount of clay. Cool. I also found lime and sand but I was exhausted at that point and stopped for the day.

When the next day dawned I went out to feed Coal and Murry before fixing myself some food. My agenda for the day was to get some work horses and other items on my list. Fresh eggs and milk for breakfast? Yes, that would do nicely. I grabbed my weapons and coin, then went to the barn.

After I got Coal saddled up, I rode out to Capena. We weren’t in any hurry, just ambled on down the road and watched the lush green hills go by. A few deer ran across the road into the foliage, disappearing into the forest. Guess they do that in all worlds they live in. A couple hours later, we came into the town and went straight for the livery. Again, people were watching me, probably wondering where my women were. They would think differently on Earth. I tied Coal’s reins to a post and went into Brighton’s Premium Horses.

It was busy today, a line was formed so I walked to the back of it. I was in my own little world thinking about what needed to get done when a voice brought me back.

“What can I help you with today, sir?”

I turned to look in the direction of the voice. It was the emerald-eyed redhead, Damn, she’s hot.

I cleared my throat, “Hello, I need two draft horses and the tack to go with them. Also, do you have wagons here?”

She took a moment to answer as she looked me up and down, then replied, “Yes sir, we can help with that. Our sister store has wagons. It’s just behind us. Shall we go and take a look at the horses first?”

I nodded and we walked outside to the stable and fenced in area where many horses resided. All different colors, shapes, and sizes. I looked at each one individually and a couple breed names popped into my head.

“Pardon me madam, I don’t know your name, but I would like to introduce myself. I’m Dominic.”

The lady blushed. “My apologies sir. We’ve been so busy today that I forgot to say my name as well. My name’s Felicia.”

I smiled. “Well met Felicia, I’d like to take a look at those two Jutland draft horses over to the side behind the Ardennes.”

I was shocked that those words came out of my mouth, knowing I had no knowledge of those breeds of horses before.

“Wow, you know your horses.”

Deciding to play it cool, I replied, “Not really, just studied up on them.”

She nodded and we walked over to the two Jutland drafts, then did our inspection. After deciding the horses seemed healthy, she had me follow her inside to discuss prices.

“Mr. Dominic, the total for your two horses and tack comes out to be ten gold,” she said in a haughty tone.

Even before thinking of a reply, words spewed from my mouth, “You must think I’m daft or something. I’m in a forgiving mood though, four gold.”

And then the bargaining began, twenty minutes later we settled on a price of six gold, but I ended up with blankets and other gear needed for taking care of the horses.

When I handed her the currency, Felicia said, “Thank you for your business, sir. May I take an hour or so to get everything situated and ready?”

“That will be fine, I need to see about a wagon and some other goods. Where can one buy some milking cows and chickens?”

“You can get the cows at the Anderson farm a mile west of here and the chickens, two miles east on the Bronson farm.”

“Thanks for your help Felicia, it was very nice to meet you.” I winked and left the stables, heading for the wainwright building.

~~~~~~

Felicia stared as the vision of manliness leaving the stables. She hoped she hadn’t let on how he had affected her. When she first laid eyes on him a couple weeks ago, she couldn’t stop staring at him. And now, she had been caught off guard when Dominic displayed his knowledge of horses and also by his bargaining prowess. Felicia hadn’t felt like this since when she first met her late Evan, and that was eighteen years ago. Even though she had been a widow for five years now, she had a teenage daughter and thought her busy life would be enough for her. But after seeing Dominic, visions of things that were thought gone, started flowing through her head.

As a life mage, she had always wanted to work with animals, hence the horses she dealt with each day, and it also paid the bills. It wasn’t a great paying job, but it kept food on the table for her and Julia, her daughter. The circumstances of Evan’s death were numbing. It had been so quick. He caught the yellow fever and passed soon after. She wasn’t exactly heartbroken after his death, since they really just passed days together. Their coupling wasn’t anything special either, no passion or enthusiasm at all, just there. She had always thought it would be special when families came together, but living with Evan’s wives and children was anything but. He was always irritated about something one of his wives did or his children. After his death, the women decided to go their separate ways, as widows did, to see if they could find another family to join. But Felicia didn’t want to just jump into some other family this time without knowing them. She wanted to make sure Julia would be okay if she somehow ended up married again.

Julia was a seventeen-year-old spitfire, a life mage like her mother, though she hadn’t gotten a grip on her magic yet. Most offspring of mages have the same magic as their mother’s. Julia didn’t take shit from anyone, just like her mother. This was one reason Felicia’s marriage with Evan didn’t matter to her. He had always tried to belittle them, but Felicia refused to take his shit even though he was a male mage. Julia was her life now and she would make sure to take precautions if somehow Dominic got in the picture. Maybe she was moving too quickly in her mind, but from the minor discussion just now, she hoped to get to know him better. She was certain he was new to the area, but where were his women? He wasn’t so young, probably in his late twenties, someone had to be with him. She vowed to try to get more information when he picked up his horses.

~~~~~~

I walked up the steps to the wainwright building, thinking about all the crap I still needed to purchase as I stepped through the doorway. Two young women, a blonde and a redhead that had to be teenagers were on the left side of the counter. Over on the right side, a gorgeous blonde, late twenties, early thirties was smiling as I walked up.

“Good afternoon, sir. How can we help you?” she spoke out.

“Hello, I’m looking for a cargo wagon to haul goods. Can you help me out?”

“Yes sir, my name’s Isabella and the ladies next to me are Abby and Julia. I’ll show you our selection if you follow me.”

I nodded and followed the blonde bombshell, watching her sway her tight, firm ass in front of me. She was wearing a short skirt, showing off her lovely legs. Wow, nice. When she turned to look at me, I saw her smiling, knowing she had caught me checking her out.

“We have a nice selection of open and covered wagons. Which would you like to see?” She bit her lower lip.

I thought this might be some kind of play on getting a sale, rather than wanting to actually hook up. Thinking about that, I didn’t much care for the teeny boppers inside, they always were finicky and annoying with their whining and complaining. I would much rather have a mature woman that knows what she wants and goes after it. Isabella seemed to be one of those.

I scanned the inventory, walking around browsing. I approached a medium-sized open wagon and circled around it. I wanted to check all the connections to make sure it was durable, mostly to look like I knew what I was doing.

I looked up and noticed she was staring, which didn’t bother me in the least.

“I’ll take this one and the connections for the draft horses I just bought.”

She perked up. “Did you happen to buy them at Brighton’s?”

I nodded and she continued, “Awesome, then we can give you a discount on this purchase.”

She smiled and gestured me towards the front entrance again. “Let’s get you checked out, handsome.”

“Oh, you weren’t checking me out already?”

She smiled brazenly. “I was. You’re different than most guys coming around town. Handsome for sure but you have this mysterious vibe about you.”

“Thanks, I think.”

She giggled. “It’s a compliment. The ones that come here already have lots of women or they are just plain arrogant.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” I wasn’t sure if the rules about not asking a lady her age applied in this world.

“I’ll answer that personal question only if you answer one.” I nodded and she continued, “I’m thirty-four. I’ll ask my question now. Where are your females? You should be guarded.”

I laughed at her comment. “Don’t have any yet. It’s complicated, but that’s the truth.”

Her eyes bulged and she stammered a reply, “Mister, you don’t have any protection? Why are you out by yourself then?”

Gesturing to my weapons, “I can protect myself, but thank you for your concern. I’ve gotten that question numerous times already.”

She seemed to regain her composure. “Dominic, it’s just unheard of that a handsome male such as yourself doesn’t have a family by now. Since that’s the case, would you mind if I boldly asked you something?”

Shrugging, “Not at all.”

“Would you mind if we courted?”

Damn, that was bold. Of course, this whole world was run by females, so it was not so surprising. The males were coddled and protected it seemed. I looked at her closely. She was tall, with tan skin, light blue eyes and her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail that swished when she walked. She had just enough sass that made her someone I would like to get to know. “Sure, Isabella. I don’t know how that works though.”

She smiled broadly. “It’s no problem. We just get to know each other better on the chance it could lead to marriage. I’m tied up for the next few days, but can I see you on Thursday? That’s one of my days off.”

“That will be great. My mind has been jumbled the past few days. What day is today?”

Isabella replied, “Sunday.”

I nodded and being always practical, I said, “I’ll need to get more supplies by then anyway. Should I come here to pick you up?”

Isabella had a mischievous look about her as she walked back into the store over to the counter, but she didn’t answer me. The two teens weren’t anywhere around, I assumed they were helping other clients.

Isabella wrote up a ticket for the sale and had me look at it. “Alright, let’s talk about the price. That’s six gold, Dominic.”

I shook my head and smiled, it really was some kind of game for these people, or in this world. “Two.”

“Come on, I’m not making any money on this. You’re taking bread off my table, and here I thought you were a gentleman. Five.”

Tilting my head to the side, I replied, “Nobody said I was a gentleman. Three and seven silver, you throw in some oats for the way home.”

She narrowed her eyes and finally nodded. “Very well, but only if you take me out on a date.”

I snorted, “Sure. Can you send this over to Brighton’s and have them get everything ready?”

I handed over the money and Isabella nodded and took the payment.

“Yes handsome, I’ll take care of it. Anything else?”

I shook my head and told her I’d see her later.

~~~~~~

When Dominic walked out of the store, Abby and Julia came back in and ran over to Isabella.

Julia started talking first. “What’s his name? How old is he?”

“Yeah mom, he was good looking,” Abby sighed wistfully.

Isabella played it cool. “His name is Dominic. I’m not sure how old he is.”

Julia shrieked, “What?! You didn’t ask him out?”

Isabella giggled. “Of course I asked him out. He doesn’t have any women yet, which is quite odd.”

“Really? You don’t mind if I tell mom about him, do you?” Julia asked in a low voice.

“Of course not, sweetie. We’re both widows after all. She might’ve already talked to him since he bought some horses from Brighton’s.” Isabella smiled at her daughter’s best friend, thinking it would be great if Felicia and she were in the same family.

Julia smiled broadly. “I’ll find out tonight and let you know.” She turned to Abby and asked, “Before I forget, we still on for tonight?”

“Yeah, around seven.”

Isabella got back to herself after daydreaming. “Alright girls, let’s get back to work before the boss checks on us.” The three walked their separate ways, all giggling.

Chapter 5

I strolled back up the path and stopped again at Branchet’s General Goods. Tom was at the counter; the same women were about in the store. Marsha was with Tom.

“Good afternoon, Tom,” I called out.

Tom looked up. “Hello, Dominic. What can we do for you today?”

“I have another list of items to get.”

I handed him the list, he gave it to Marsha after looking it over. After reading the list she said, “It’ll take about thirty minutes to fill this.”

I nodded, holding in my smile. It would seem he relies on his woman to make sure he doesn’t make a mistake. Hmm… smart man. But can he actually do anything on his own? I handed him the payment, hopefully he could be trusted with that, then headed to get something to eat.

I ended up at Ariana’s Home Cooking, getting a steak, veggies, and some ale. I left with a full belly and went back to see if my team was ready. The horses and wagon were in front of the entrance. I walked inside to talk with Felicia. Seeing her speaking to a brunette, I waited until she was done before getting her attention. She walked hurriedly over to me, beaming.

“Welcome back, Dominic. Isabella came over and advised me about your purchase. Let’s go check out your team.” We walked out and visibly checked over the connections. Isabella had put the bag of oats in the wagon.

“As you can see, we have taken care of everything. Is there anything else we can do for you, handsome?” Felicia put a hand on her hip and raised a brow, somehow challenging me on something.

I checked her out again and knew that I would really like to get to know her better. “Well, how about a date? Unless you’re spoken for that is.”

I raked my eyes up and down the sexy female. Her long, tan, muscular legs were only covered by a tight brown skirt, ending above her knees. Her red blouse only slightly held her big tits in, completing the ensemble.

Felicia bit her lower lip, then she chuckled, “No sir, not spoken for. I was hoping you were going to ask me. But if you weren’t then I was going to ask you. Though I will let you know that I’m a widowed mother. Hope that doesn’t affect your mind any.”

I didn’t care if she was a mother already, I just knew that this lady was nice and real friendly.

“Not at all, Felicia. What days are you off?”

She thought about it and responded, “My next day off is Saturday.”

I paused for a moment and thought about the situation. As these two ladies both worked for the same people and things were bound to get out, I’d be better off being straight with them.

“That will be fine, but I have a confession to make. Isabella asked me out as well. Will that cause a problem between you two?”

She giggled and her eyes sparkled when she replied, “No. We’re kind of glad about that. She’s a widow too and also my best friend.”

My brow rose up at the remark that they had already spoken about it. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you in a few days, Felicia.” I winked and got up on the wagon then looked down at her.

She blew a kiss at me and smiled, “Can’t wait.”

I took the team over to load up my goods. Tom and his ladies had the bags ready with sausage, cheese, white and brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, apple-cider vinegar, spices, vegetables, raw steaks, bags of hickory and mesquite chips, and tea and coffee. I also splurged and bought two pots, a pan, a skillet, and a case of jars. I planned on canning vegetables and pickling some. They loaded everything onto the wagon and Tom’s other wife, Dorothy, put the grilling crates on for my upcoming project. A smokehouse. Also, I ended up buying a couple fishing poles with full gear, the total costing me another seven silver. I then went to the feed store.

In Crawford’s Feed Store, the women were filling orders while the man on the stool sat, filing his fingernails. Families came in to get feed, so I watched the men. They would let their mates take care of the heavy lifting, well, almost all of them. One blonde elf spoke with arrogance to a redheaded mage. He bet that he could lift more of the forty-pound sacks of feed onto their wagon. The mage took the bet and they each handed a gold to a mediator.

This got me curious, men acting like they actually had a pair of balls. Yes! The males were trying!  The elf started the competition, lifting only four and the mage only two. It was embarrassing, really. I sighed and shook my head in disappointment. What the hell is wrong with the males here?

When it was my turn to order, I requested twenty bags of grain, ten bags of oats and feed for the horses, cows, and chickens I was going to buy. I also picked up different seeds and plants for my gardens. I would wait on the healing ingredients for now, until the vegetable garden took.

When the ladies took my payment of four silver, they brought my purchases to my wagon. I declined help with the bags of grain and feed. The people that were around chuckled, thinking that I was going to be like the other two males. The idiots even wagered with each other that I couldn’t lift all of them.

I smiled and said to a female elf with dark hair, “I’ll wager three gold.”

She was the mediator. The crowd handed their coins over and most of them started snickering at me. I kept calm and waited. When all the bets were taken, I started lifting and everyone was chattering around me. But not long after I began, they stopped talking all together. I didn’t care what they were doing, my goal was to get finished and collect my money.  Five minutes later, everything was loaded onto my wagon and strapped down.

Wiping the sweat off of my brow, I looked around to see the crowd gawking at me. I sighed and stepped down from my wagon and went straight to the elf with the money. I put my hand out and she handed the money over without comment. I got up onto the seat and released the brake, then flicked the reins.

I left the town not looking back and headed west to see about purchasing a couple of milking cows. It didn’t take long before I saw a fence that held cattle in, so I turned my team down the access road to the Anderson farm. A few minutes later, I pulled up to the house. An older gentleman and his women came out of the front door, holding rifles pointing down.

One of the women called out, “Why are you here?”

Though I didn’t like her tone, I kept calm. “I was told that you had some dairy cows for sale.”

The male looked at the women, a graying blonde with gray eyes and a brown- eyed brunette, then visibly relaxed.

The blonde spoke out, “Yes sir, we have some for sale. Please forgive us, we’ve had some rustlers lately. My name is Alina, the lady beside me is Ollie, and the gentleman is Russel. Welcome to Anderson Farm.”

“No problem, my name’s Dominic and I just need two for now,” I responded with a smile.

Alina replied, “Sure, I’ll take you to see them.” She turned to the male. “Russ, go back inside, we’ll take care of this. Check on Lucille and Bobby, please.”

I watched the family and how they did things, I was seeing up close another male obeying the woman while the women took care of the sales and heavy lifting. I wondered if that was the way for everyone around here.

Alina and Ollie gestured for me to follow them, so I flipped the reins and had the Jutland’s trail the two ladies. They stopped at the barn entrance. I stepped down and entered with them.

“Mr. Dominic, these are the ones that are for sale,” Ollie gestured to the four stalls that were holding the bovine.

I walked over and inspected the cows. “Is there anything special needed for their upkeep?”

“No sir, just fresh grass, hay, or oats and plenty of water,” Alina specified.

“Okay, thanks for that information. What’s the damage for two of them with their harnesses?”

She looked at Ollie and laughed nervously.

“Well, we need to get them out so we can put the next few in. We would take five gold for the two.”

I thought I was going to spit something out, saying it was too much, but didn’t. In fact, my mind was telling me it was too low for having a supply of fresh milk every day. The two dairy cows normally would fetch eight to ten gold in pairs not counting the harnesses. I looked around and found the area, not rundown, but in need of some repairs. I knew that eventually my farm would need the other two anyway.

The two females were glancing at each other anxiously, since I didn’t answer right away.

Thinking of how much was in my pocket, I decided to make a deal.

I laid out my offer, “Tell you what ladies, I’ll give you fifteen gold for the four bovines in front of me and their bridle kits with some fresh hay thrown in. What do you say?”

Alina was breathless. She said in a low voice, “Sir, that is too much, way more than what we were asking. Why would you suggest that?”

Shrugging, I advised, “You were selling them way below what they’re normally priced at. Thinking about it, I couldn’t do that. What do you think?”

The two ladies suddenly had tears in their eyes and nodded. Ollie spoke out, “Bless you, sir. We will take you up on your offer and get everything ready for you.”

I smiled and nodded as they started bringing the cows out of the stall and securing them to the wagon. After a few minutes, the ladies were done when they stacked two square bales on. Handing them the money, I smiled and flipped the reins to get the Jutlands going.

I was out on the main dirt road and headed to the chicken farm, and hopefully done with this little adventure. At least until I got back to the cabin. Three miles later I came upon the access road and turned in. The chickens were out in their pens and I knew I was in the right place. I pulled on the reins to stop in front of the farmhouse. Two middle-aged females came out to greet me, one blonde and the other had brown hair.

“Hello young man, what can we do for you?”

I replied kindly, “I was told you have chickens for sale. Is that correct ma’am?”

The blonde responded, “Yes sir, how many ya need?”

“I was thinking thirty and one rooster. What would be the damage for that?”

“It would run you three gold with the cages,” the lady that hadn’t spoken replied.

I knew it was a good price, so I was quick to respond, “That’ll work ma’am. Can you put two bags of feed in that price as well?”

It shocked them that I wasn’t going to try and bargain with them, and both broke out into smiles after that. The blonde said, “Yes, thank you. It will take around twenty minutes to round them up. My name is Arlene and this is Mary.”

Pulling my pouch open, I counted out the coins and handed them over. The two ladies caged up the chickens quickly and I was off back to the cabin. When I got back, I went straight to the barn. After untying them, I placed the horses and cows in their stalls, unbridled, then fed and brushed them. Making sure the gates were secure, I closed the barn door and went back out to the wagon, running into Scar.

I sighed, “Listen big guy, paws off the merchandise. You’ll get fresh milk everyday as long as you make sure nothing else comes around. Deal?”

Scar growled and went to his place to sleep. I rolled my eyes and kept on unloading my purchases, placing them where they needed to be. I also stowed my winnings in my pouch. I’d profited fifteen gold.

When everything was put away, I started a fire for some food. I picked up a steak from the cold room and threw it on the cook stove. It started to sizzle and I thought about the smokehouse. It would take a couple days to build it, but would help keep the meat from spoiling. I thought about the women I had met that day. Isabella and Felicia, both widows and mature women. I wasn’t sure how everything worked, except for what I had read in the history of this world. What was the best way to approach this? The women were sure brazen enough. Of course I didn’t blame them since the ratio was one male to five females in this world.

I asked aloud, “Wonder what kind of mages they are?” Shaking off those thoughts, I looked around the cabin. The place was in disrepair and needed fixing. Good thing I was building a new one. I thought about what needed repairing while the house was not ready. The barn would also need to be expanded for more horses and I could feel my money just flowing out of my pocket. I’d go ahead and replace the roof with the materials in the barn.

Having your own place is swell, but not when you need to do repairs. At least with my apartment, that stuff was taken care of. I didn’t have to mow the lawn either. Huh. How was I going to do that? I didn’t have a lawnmower and I wasn’t sure they even had a gas-powered device in this world. I looked at the barn and chuckled, thinking about the animals in their stalls.

I have my own type of lawnmower.

Well, I made a decision. This was my home for now and I’d make the best of things while I tried to figure out what happened to me and how I got there.

Taking the food off the stove, I ate in silence thinking of the best way to handle all that was needed. After some time, I cleaned everything up and went to bed. I trusted the panther not to disobey me and would see if my trust was warranted.

~~~~~~

Julia came into the rooms that she shared with her mom at the boarding house, excited that a mysterious man was in the area. She had a ton of questions bouncing in her mind. Where did he come from? Why didn’t he have any women with him? Wonder what he’s like? All the other males she had been around were either pussies or arrogant pricks, some creeps even leered at her and Abby, wanting to know if they would join their families when they came of age. Even though the age of seventeen was the age of becoming a woman, she and Abby had no interest in joining a family. For one reason: they would be low on the hierarchy and would have to listen and obey the head of the household. The stories of some people she had listened to were just dumbfounding, even scary enough for her and Abby to dread the day where they would have to leave and be forced to conform to the ideas and commands of the family they were married into.

She sighed, shifted those horrible thoughts from her mind and returned to the subject of this new man. Maybe her mom would catch a break and he would be one of those rare males to share equally and the lead female would be just and loving. That would be great.

Julia saw her mom fixing dinner and called out, “Hey Mom!”

Felicia turned around and smiled. “Hello dear. How was work?”

Julia thought about her day and sighed wistfully. “Mom, it was boring until a good looking man came in.”

Of course her mom knew exactly who she was talking about. “He wouldn’t have been carrying a bow, have a dagger on his belt, and let me guess, he bought a wagon?”

Julia giggled, “Yes ma’am, he did.”

Felicia laughed, “He’s very handsome and looks like he can hold his own.” She paused before continuing, “He even asked me out on a date.”

Julia squealed and ran over to her mom to hug her. “That’s great Mom! Isabella asked him out as well.”

Felicia nodded and responded, “I know. We talked when she brought over the wagon. We’re happy about the opportunity to court him. Maybe it will become more.”

Julia smiled at her mom, knowing the look she was sporting. “Mom, you’re smitten already?”

Blushing, Felicia didn’t deny anything, instead said, “That’s none of your business young lady. One day, you and Abby will have your own courting opportunities.”

Julia blew a raspberry. “We could care less about that Mom. Our time is spent worrying about other things. Besides you know we take care of ourselves and even each other. The male hunt is way in the future, if at all.”

Her mom sighed, having had this conversation many times. “I know sweetie. Isabella and I do the same for each other when the urges overtake us. Don’t get me wrong, I love the intimacy we have with each other and it’s very fulfilling, but being with a male is different. I can’t fully describe it and you would need to have your own experiences before understanding.”

Julia didn’t think so. She heard her mom’s numerous conversations with Isabella about how she was never satisfied with her husband, but from the sounds coming from her room when Isabella came over, it would seem she was satisfied completely.

“Whatever Mom, Abby and I have heard your experiences with each other and know for a fact from the screams we hear from your room that we don’t need to rush into any marriages. We’ve overheard your discussions, and from what you say, and from listening to others talking about bullying from sister-wives, we aren’t planning on trying for a long time.”

Felicia wasn’t affected at all by her daughter’s comments.

“Did you think that would make me blush or be embarrassed? You have no idea young lady. I know that you’re wary and at the moment against marrying after hearing our talks about the men that we had, but the thing you need to know is, we haven’t given up on our dreams, honey. Having a family that takes care of each other rather than the women watching over the man all the time. The passion we can have with each other and the sharing of that passion. Not having to worry about money all the time. Having adventures together.”

Julia was shaking her head. “That sounds great Mom, but let’s be realistic. How many examples can you count of women who have that dream? I hope you and this new guy hit it off, maybe even marry. Hell, maybe you would let us have a ride as well, but I’m not counting on that dream.”

Felicia groaned and responded, “A ride, Julia? Really? What would happen if you had that opportunity to ride him, and you wanted more?”

She shrugged, but didn’t respond. Felicia spoke again, “Sweetie, I know this world isn’t fair and would change it if I could. Seeing as you feel this way, my mind is made up that we could share my next husband.”

Julia almost fell on the floor at that statement. “What!? You would share your husband with me if that opportunity came?” She couldn’t believe what her mom was saying.

“Of course, our way of life is hard and if that would set your mind at ease, then yes, we could share. He would have to be the right man, though.”

Felicia smiled at the look of shock on her daughter’s face, hoping this would make her think about courting a man. She wasn’t really going to offer up her next husband for a ride as Julia put it; the young woman needed to get her head right and find a man of her own.

Julia blew out the breath she was holding. “I’m not going to count on that ridiculous statement Mom, but thanks for saying it.”

Felicia grabbed her daughter and hugged her tightly. “I love you, Julia.”

She let go and went back to cooking dinner, while Julia, still dumbstruck over her mom’s statement, went to her room.

~~~~~~

The next day I rose early, knowing that yet again, I needed to get started on my to-do list. I decided on warm oatmeal and some berries with coffee for breakfast, then went out to the barn and got started on what would be my daily chores: milking, feeding the animals, and gathering eggs. Later it would be to go through the garden and gather produce from it.

After finishing the chores, except for the eggs, I went to the tool closet in the barn and got what was needed to build the chicken coop. Grabbing the wood and the fencing, I got to work. Hours and some cursing later, the coop was done. I picked up the cages and released the chickens and rooster to let them get accustomed to their home. I watched them for a couple minutes, then went to the next priority on the list. The other rows of my garden. I cleaned up my work area, put away the tools and equipment used, and grabbed the veggies and seeds before walking to my plot. Going to the next available row, I started planting the beans, squash, peas, tomatoes, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers. I finished as the sun was setting. Wanting to clean up, I went over and used the pump to wash myself before heading in to make dinner, finishing the night with some reading.

The next couple days followed a similar rhythm. I performed my daily chores, then went to work on my list. My goal at the end was to try to get the grumpy panther to hunt with me.

I repaired some fencing, an issue with the cold room, and a couple other minor fixes. Getting the roof replaced took longer than I had anticipated, but at least for now it wouldn’t leak. I also fixed the spots where the rain damaged the wall and floor.

After completing those tasks, I went back to building my home. Before going any further, I needed a way to lay some sort of foundation for my home. Not having a concrete contractor, I went up and down the creek looking for large rocks. Going back and forth for what seemed like forever, I had enough rocks to get started on the foundation. I was going to dig and place the stones close to each other. I knew of course they wouldn’t fit together, but the plan was to form clay all around in between the spaces to mold them together. It was going to take some time to finish, but I grabbed my shovel and started on the job. It was the afternoon when someone got the drop on me. I was concentrating on my task and didn’t hear any footsteps.

“Hello, neighbor!”

Flinching, I realized my weapons were in the barn, but turned around to see who it was. Two beings of a race I’d never seen before were at the fence, watching me. My eyes stared at them for a moment, two females it would seem. One of them was short, with brown hair and silver eyes. She had on shorts that just covered her curvy hips and a shirt that resembled a wife beater that showcased her big tits, but what set her apart were the horns that came out of her head and curled around her ears. A Ram Girl?  The other was of a feline family. She was tall with long, onyx black hair and deep blue eyes. She was wearing boy shorts that appeared to be spanx and a bikini top. Her pert breasts were on display. The black pointed ears and tail set her apart as well. A Cat Girl?  Beastkin. That was what my mind told me. Who cares, they were hot.

I roused myself, I didn’t want these ladies to notice me gawking, and replied, “Hello. What can I do for you, ladies?”

They both laughed, the cat girl said, “We see no ladies here, sir. I’m the area bitch, she’s a tease.”

Oooookay.

The ram girl started speaking, “Now Celina, be polite.” The cat girl just kept chuckling, but the ram girl continued, “Good afternoon, my name is Lilyann. We were walking by and saw you working, then decided to introduce ourselves.”

I bowed and responded, “My name is Dominic.”

“Are you new around these parts?” Celina asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Please cut out the ma’am stuff. This place has been abandoned for years, what made you want to live here?”

Not wanting to give away anything, I answered carefully, “Like you said, it was abandoned and was far away from town. I like my privacy so decided to give it a shot.”

Both females nodded. I walked over closer and Lilyann whistled. I forgot that my shirt was off. Celina purred when seeing me as well. I didn’t know how to take that, but didn’t deter them.

“My my my, look at that male specimen, Celina. He is well built.”

“He sure is. I bet he’s packing too,” Celina purred.

Both females giggled, after a few moments, Lilyann commented to her friend, “I wonder if he can take care of himself or is a pussy like the others?”

“He looks like he can hold his own. Where is your family? Are they around? We don’t want to be rude and would like to introduce ourselves to them as well.”

I smiled, knowing this would confuse them. “I can take care of myself, been doing it all my life. To answer your question, I don’t have one.”

The duo looked at me with a blank stare, before bursting into laughter. It took them a few minutes before they calmed down. I rolled my eyes and went back to my foundation. Getting back into the groove, I heard Celina call out, “We’re sorry for that. It was just funny. You must be good with the kids.”

I didn’t stop but said, “Not joking.”

They didn’t say anything for a few moments, but started whispering. Lilyann asked, “May we come over the fence and talk?”

“Knock yourselves out.” I went on putting the rocks in their places and digging the dirt out to make it level. The ladies came over and watched me.

“What are you building?” Lilyann asked.

“A foundation, it will strengthen my home rather than setting it on dirt.”

“Cool, never seen it before. Umm… were you serious about not having a family?” Celina asked politely.

I nodded and she went on, “Did they die?”

“Nope.”

Lilyann asked in a low voice, “How have you survived this long without help?”

I laughed. “Like I said, I can take care of myself.”

The duo went wide-eyed and whispered frantically back and forth.

“It’s just unheard of, Dominic. No one that I know has been without a family.  Are you an orphan?” Lilyann asked.

Grunting, “No, not an orphan.” I placed another stone and asked, “What about you two? Where are your significant others?”

They dropped their heads. Celina whispered, “We don’t have any, Dominic. Our mates have perished and we haven’t found anyone to replace them. It’s been a long time, our group has grown over the years. It used to just be Lily and myself, but it’s up to six now.”

That’s sad, wonder how old these two are. Not going down that road, though.

I stood up and looked over. “I’m sorry to hear that. You ladies need anything?”

They smiled sadly.

“We didn’t stop by to be a burden to you, Dominic.”

“It’s not a problem, Lily. Can I call you Lily?”

She smiled broadly, “That will be fine.”

“Cool. What do you need? Manual labor? Food?”

Both women glanced nervously at each other. Celina whispered, “Food would be nice. We’ve had trouble with thieves and assholes coming to take ours.”

Lily spoke after her. “The bitches keep bothering us. We may have to move if it keeps happening. We and the women at our home aren’t fighters, just want to be left alone.”

I remembered that they had said neighbor, when first approaching. “How far do you live from here?”

“We’re not close. We’re not really neighbors, we just said that because well, we were curious. Our home is on the outskirts of Capena. Celina and I wanted to get away for a little while and maybe try to locate some food.”

Nodding on that explanation, I asked, “Would you ladies like to stay for dinner?”

Both gasped. Celina spoke in a hesitant manner, “Are you sure, Dominic? Like we said, we don’t want to impose.”

I scoffed, “It’s not a problem. Let me clean up and we’ll go inside.”

They nodded and waited for me to get done. I picked up my shirt and walked to the cabin. An odd thing hit me, where the hell is Scar? Not seeing him around, I figured he must be out hunting. I led the women to the kitchen, started the fire on the cookstove and got the ladies some glasses of water. When they were settled, I went and got a couple steaks out of the cold room and put some spices on them. When the fire was ready, I placed the steaks on the cooking grate and got some potatoes, washed them real good, then sliced them up and threw them in a pot. I threw butter in and sprinkled paprika and salt on before placing the pot on the grate. Letting that cook, I put some butter in another pot and sautéed some squash, bell peppers, onions. When that was done, I let the concoction simmer on the grate. Turning the steaks every so often, I checked on the potatoes. Five minutes later, I took the pot holding the squash-bell pepper mixture off the fire and set it on the cooling grate. Five minutes after that, I did the same for the potatoes.

During this time, the women asked me numerous questions, mostly about where I was from and how I learned all the things without help. I told them that most of it came from reading and my family. I wasn’t sure if they believed me or not.

It was time to take the steaks off. I got some plates and transferred the meat and set them on the table. Grabbing the other pots, I put plates down on the table to let them sit on so they wouldn’t damage the table.

Lilyann and Celina had eyes big as saucers when I told them to dig in. I went and got them silverware before sitting down. They tried to not be hasty in getting the food, but I could tell it was hard for them. Hmm… I wondered how long it had been since they ate properly. We talked about their hobbies and jobs. Both liked to explore, cook, and take care of the home. The duo loved to grow gardens but since they lived near town, the gardens either got trampled or stolen from. Lily worked as a waitress at a cafe in Capena, Celina at one of the board houses. They wanted to know what I did for money.

I shrugged and answered, “Not much right now. Hoping to get the garden going so it will feed my household year-round. I’m also putting in an herb garden for spices and medicinal herbs.”

“That sounds great, but you didn’t answer the question,” Lily advised.

“Well, I’m a novice enchanter.”

The women looked at me with raised brows. Celina said, “You’re an enchanter?”

I nodded and Lily asked, “You serious?”

“Yes.”

“It’s just that particular art is rare and supposedly only the dwarves know how to enchant.”

“Like I said, a novice.”

They didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I just kept eating, thinking about everything I had to do the next day.

“Show us,” Lily said suddenly.

Raising my left brow, I asked, “Why?”

“We want to see,” Celina replied.

Not really caring, I got a piece of paper and drew the symbols for razor-edge and strength, then said the transference spell to the regular knife I was holding. I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming, and when it happened, the women yelped. I chuckled at them as they rubbed their eyes. It took a few minutes for the temporary blindness to go away. At that point I showed them the runes on the knife, but before they said anything, I thrust the knife into the table. It sunk halfway through. Lily and Celina stood up and gasped.

“Holy shit, he’s telling the truth,” Lily whispered in awe.

I pulled the knife out and placed it on the table, then went back to my steak. The ladies didn’t join me at first, but two minutes later they sat back down.

“Dominic, you have to keep this to yourself until you’ve got some protection,” Celina advised.

“I agree Dominic, you need to surround yourself with strong women. No one around has the ability that you just showed. If word gets out before you take precautions then others will come after you. Kidnap you, use you.”

Grunting, I nodded to them and they relaxed.

Lily glanced over at Celina. “It’s about time to go.”

Celina nodded and they were about to get up. I looked out the window. It was dark now. I turned to them and suggested, “You ladies don’t need to leave. I need to go into town tomorrow, I’ll drop you off.”

The women looked at me for a few moments. Lily asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you two don’t need to run around the forest in the dark.”

Celina smiled and said, “Thank you.”

I nodded and we cleaned up. The women went to the hallway and saw all the books on farming and such. Both wanted to get a book and read, so I nodded and let them. After a couple hours of reading, we went to bed.

“There are three bedrooms, you each can take one. Mine is the first.”

Lily sighed and nodded. “Thank you, Dominic. We will take you up on that offer.”

“Unless of course, he wants to join one of us or both at the same time. I’d be up for some lovin if you have nothing against beastkin. A big dick always makes me feel good,” Celina purred and stretched out on the couch, showing her long legs and delectable ass.

“You don’t know me, Celina. I could be a killer and bury my trophies in the backyard. Maybe that’s why I don’t have a family.” I smirked.

Lily scoffed, “Please, Dominic. You forget that we’ve been around for a long time and know people by their actions. You’re what? Late twenties?”

I nodded, “Twenty-six.”

Both put on a predatory smile. Celina came over to me and rubbed my biceps. “Honey, how old do you think we are?”

Looking them over in good detail, I shrugged and said, “Lily, thirty-three and you, Celina, thirty.”

The duo giggled.

“Thank you for the compliment, darling. I’m a hundred and five and Celina is a hundred and twenty.”

Huh. Definitely still hot though.

“Wow, you two age well then. Of course, I don’t know how old your kind can get.”

Celina was still touching me. “My kind can range from two to three hundred.”

“Two hundred for me.”

Grunting, I said, “You ladies are gorgeous and still in your prime. I don’t understand why you are having issues with joining a family.”

The ladies turned pink, or at least their cheeks did. Celina asked in a low voice, “You think we’re pretty?”

“Yeah. Who wouldn’t?”

The males of this world must be blind if there are beauties like this hanging around by themselves.

Lily cleared her throat. “Dominic, thank you for that compliment. To answer your question, most think having a beastkin in their family will disrupt their cohesion.”

“Cohesion? What’s that got to do with anything? Family means hard work, compromise, and yes, even bad days. But it also means love, compassion, and being there for one another.”

Celina shook her head, “You’re definitely different. And not from around here.”

I shrugged and they went to their rooms after saying goodnight. I walked to mine and when my head hit the pillow, I was out.

Chapter 6

Morning came early, my muscles groaned as I got out of bed. I was feeling the work from yesterday and today wouldn’t be any better. I sighed, knowing the kind of day that awaited me. Although it would be cut short, due to my date with Isabella. I was cautious about starting a relationship with her or Felicia. Not coming from a multi spouse society, I didn’t know what to expect. Hopefully I wasn’t going to embarrass myself, at least we were just hanging out to get to know each other. I was roused from these thoughts by a nice aroma. Mmm… bacon. I went straight to the privy and did my business before coming back to see both women up and cooking. Hmm. I like a woman that can cook. When they saw me, they smiled.

“Good morning, Dominic,” Lily spoke out. Celina chimed in after her.

“Morning, ladies. Sleep well?”

Both nodded in agreement. Celina was at the cook stove watching the bacon, eggs and onions cooking. Lily was cutting up fruit.

“Hope you don’t mind. We wanted to cook you breakfast,” Celina smiled, her tail swaying back and forth.

“No, I like a woman that can cook. Especially for me.”

Both glanced at each other and went back to what they were doing. I sat down after getting coffee.

“What time are we leaving?” Lily asked politely.

“It will be this afternoon. I have work to do beforehand, though.”

Celina turned the bacon and said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you going to town for?”

I thought about that and decided to tell the truth. “I’ve got a date.”

Both women looked at me. Lily questioned in a low voice, “We’re not hindering you in any way are we?”

“No. Why would you ask that?”

“Because we don’t want to start trouble for you,” Celina responded.

“Other women may not want others to mess with their courting,” Lily explained.

I waved a hand in dismissal. “Isabella and I just met, this is our first date, so you’re not messing with anything.”

They both relaxed and nodded. Lily asked, “Any others?”

“Yeah, Felicia. Met both of them in town the same day. They’re friends too.”

Both of the females sighed. Celina sounded hesitant when asking her question, “Can we come back and visit?”

I smiled and replied, “Of course. You are welcome, anytime.”

They grinned and we sat down to eat. Celina brought over bacon, eggs, onions, and cheese. Lily carried the bread and fruit to the table. The ladies made sandwiches, fruit as a side. The food was delicious and we talked about farming and what I was growing. After breakfast, we cleaned up and they followed me outside.

“We would like to help if we can, Dominic,” Lily stated while walking next to me.

“Sure, I need to gather the eggs and milk, then feed the animals.”

I took them to the barn and opened the door. We walked in and the women whistled. Celina commented, “When you do something, you go all in. Four dairy cows, Dominic?”

I shrugged and said, “I’ll need them later on. Chickens are out back.”

“Alright, where are the baskets? I’ll take care of that. Lily, you want to start milking with Dominic?”

Lily nodded and the ladies helped me with my chores that morning. Actually, I enjoyed the company. They were lovely to have around. When the chores were done, I looked around for Scar, but couldn’t find him. Odd, this was the second day. I guessed he was off hunting.

Celina was watching me and asked, “Something wrong?”

I shook my head. “No, just haven’t seen my companion around.”

“What companion?” Lily asked.

“When I found this place, a panther was in the area. He had a kill and was guarding it, but he let me be when I gave him some food. The creature was badly malnourished and healing from wounds.”

Celina whipped around. “Did you say panther?”

“Yeah, why?”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

Thinking about it, “Yesterday morning, before you showed up.”

Both nodded and Celina took off. I watched her run around, smelling everything. Lily stayed with me. “The panther is a beastkin. He should’ve shown his other form. The poor thing must’ve been either hurt or malnourished to the point where they couldn’t shift.”

“Wait, you guys can shift into your animal form?”

She nodded and replied, “Yeah. We don’t do it very often, unless it’s warranted.”

Hmm. That’s cool.

We waited for at least ten minutes before I saw two black felines coming our way. One was huge, the other, which I recognized, was half the size.

“A puma. Damn, Celina’s beautiful.”

Lily snickered, “Yep.”

Both black felines walked up and stopped a few feet from me. The two then shifted forms right in front of me. It took seconds but was no less cool. Celina popped her neck and back. Scar stretched out as well. He was a kid, maybe 5’3” with dark hair and a skinny frame with scars on his arms and torso. His eyes were blue, and he had pointed ears and a tail. The boy looked down but Celina popped him on the back of the head. He yelped and looked up at me.

“Sorry, mister. I… you didn’t seem to mind me being around and fed me. I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“Not a problem, but it makes me wary, son. What’s your real name? I doubt you want me to continue calling you the name I gave you.”

The boy answered, “William, good sir.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twelve.”

I nodded and looked over at Celina.

“William is an orphan. I’ve seen him in town, but it’s been some time. Must’ve been staying out here on his own.”

He nodded and asked, “Why were you out here by yourself?”

He let out a deep breath, “Don’t fit in at the orphanage, the women are mean and treat us like dirt.”

I looked at the two female beastkin for some information regarding this. Celina advised, “He’s not fibbing, they really don’t take care of them, especially our race.”

“Why don’t the leaders of this town intervene if it’s that bad?”

They looked at me like I was crazy.

Lily chuckled. “You really must not be from around here. The baroness could care less, she and her family run this town. They aren’t evil people, but they don’t take care of matters like this or involve themselves unless it makes them money.”

Celina nodded and said, “Yeah, our town could be great and flourish, but with those idiots in charge, it won’t change.”

Hmm.

“What about the magistrate?” I learned that title when reading about this world. I knew they didn’t have judges, they had magistrates. They had city guards instead of police.

All three laughed for a couple of minutes before Lily responded, “She’s even worse, the fat ass doesn’t even leave her office unless she has to, they only have trials when it’s convenient for her and her sister-wives.”

Huh, this doesn’t sound promising. If that’s the way here, then it may not be right to send the kid back to the orphanage.

I looked over at the boy. “Do you have any skills, son? Besides being able to shift?”

“No, sir.”

“It’s Dom, you don’t have to call me, sir. And ladies, call me that as well.”

They nodded.

I was tilting my head side to side, thinking about how I wanted to proceed and just thought fuck it, I will see if the lad can listen and work for his keep.

“William, I’ll let you stay here. But you will have to work for your room and board.”

He stared me in the eyes and breathily stated, “You’ll let me stay?”

“As long as you obey and work hard, then yes.”

He had tears in his eyes. I wasn’t sure if my offer warranted those. I went over and held out my hand. William winced at first, but took it and we shook hands.

“Welcome, William. Did you eat this morning?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, let’s have you answer a question. Can you use a bow or a blade?”

He shook his head and I advised, “Well, training starts today young man. If you are living here with me, then you’ll be able to defend yourself and others if need be.”

His eyes went big. “You’ll teach me?”

“Yes, is that a problem?”

Celina responded, “It’s out of the ordinary. Like we said, our kind isn’t respected in any way.”

“I was going to ask something about that. He’s a male but he’s a beastkin. Is that why he isn’t coddled?”

Lily answered, “Yes, exactly.”

“Alright, let’s go learn. Ladies, you want to join us?”

They both gasped.

Lily put a hand on her chest. “You would teach us as well?”

This isn’t rocket science, people.

“Sure, unless you would prefer not to.”

They both answered, “We’d love to.”

I took the trio over to my target area and set up the targets for them. It was slow going at first, but they picked it up fast. William was a good shot, with practice he would be great. The women were getting there. After our training session, it was lunchtime. The women went and fixed us sandwiches while us males picked up our mess.

William talked in a low voice, “They like you ya know?”

“Huh?”

“Lilyann and Celina. They like you.”

“Oh, well, I like them too. Nice women.”

He snorted, “No, Dom. They like you, like you.”

I thought about that and replied, “What? No way. We just met yesterday. Besides, those ladies are out of my league as are most women.”

William snickered, “Man, you’re blind then. They want to stay too. I can see it in their eyes.”

Grunting, I didn’t believe him. We finished with our clean up and washed up at the pump before walking inside. The ladies were setting the table.

“It’s nice to be inside,” William commented.

I nodded and thanked the ladies for their help in the kitchen.

“Not a problem, Dominic. We appreciate you letting us be here,” Celina purred. William snorted. I just shrugged it off and dug in. The four of us had decent conversation, most of it pertained to learning about William and the ladies. They told me a bit about themselves. I talked about the new house. William asked, “How many bedrooms are you going to have in your new home?”

“Four, but it will be easy to add on if needed.”

He looked over at the ladies and said, “More will be needed.”

The females blushed and looked away. William chuckled at their reaction. I drank my water and told him, “Alright, William. Let the women clean up, it’s time to get to work on the house.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dom.”

We walked out after thanking the women again. I started on the rock foundation and had an epiphany. Lime and sand were used to make mortar. I had seen a deposit of lime down the creek. Sand was all over the place across the creek. That would make a better foundation.

William called out while I was walking away, “What exactly is your plan, Dom?”

I turned around and explained my concerns about water or even the earth moving the structure in time. I wanted a solid foundation to sit my house on.

He was deep in thought for a few moments. “That sounds fine, but why not just have an earth mage come out to do this?”

“And how much would they charge for a project like this?” I started walking away at that response.

He shrugged and replied, “Probably wouldn’t be cheap. What about concrete powder blocks? You could use it for the walls to sit on instead of the ground.”

That brought me to a stop and I walked over to him, “You have concrete here?”

William looked at me as if I didn’t have all my marbles. “Yeah. They sell it and the blocks at the hardware store in Capena.”

Well, shit. I laughed and sat down, shaking my head. “I didn’t think they would have it. That changes my plan some.”

I got up and decided that it was still a good idea for the foundation to be somewhat level and strong for the walls to be built on.

“I agree with the concrete blocks to sit the walls on but the foundation still needs to be sturdy. Let’s see if my plan for the mortar and rocks will still work for that.”

He nodded and we went to grab the buckets from the barn. Both of us made multiple trips to get loads of each to mix together. I combined each carefully at first to see what the percentage would be for a finished product. Finally getting the ratio right, I started scraping the mortar out and placing it between the rocks. It took time to get even a quarter of the way done. I stopped and put our tools away before cleaning up.

“William, wash up. I have to head into town and drop the ladies off. I won’t be back for a bit.”

“No problem.” He walked off to start cleaning up.

I went back into the cabin to get dressed. Opening my closet, I looked at the clothing before me. I would need to get some different attire soon because the plain looking clothes I had now weren’t working for me. When dressed, I went back out and groomed, then hitched the Jutlands, Suede and Sandy, to the wagon.

The women were waiting for me in the kitchen as I walked in to get some water. Lily handed me a picnic basket. I had asked them for ideas about what to do on my date, as I had no idea of Isabella’s interests, and they had advised on a picnic. Inside the basket were skewers, some venison and ham sandwiches, and fruit for dessert. I smiled and thanked them.

“You ready, ladies?”

They nodded and I helped the duo up and onto the wagon, before climbing aboard myself. I placed the picnic basket on the floor and released the hand brake, led the horses out onto the access road and set out on a slow trot toward Capena.

~~~~~~

The days leading up to Thursday, Isabella was excited and tense at the same time. Her love life, if you could call it that, was little to none, unless you counted the trysts with Felicia. She loved Felicia, those times with her were filled with love and passion even though they weren’t sister-wives. Her late family had five sister wives and Ian, the male, she would describe as a pussy on one hand and a complete moron on the other. Ian ended up getting thrown off a horse he was trying to break. In the end the horse broke him.

Isabella wasn’t that distraught over losing the family, but was somewhat upset about having to get into another one. She was married to the idiot for about ten years. Abby was the best thing that came out of that situation, but being a widow was tough on them. Isabella met Felicia at one of the boarding houses and they hit it off immediately, becoming fast friends and loyal to each other. Their girls also became inseparable.

As the years went by, no man caught their fancy and since they already thought of each other as sister-wives, the women started taking care of each other’s private needs as well. Now that Dominic had come upon the scene, it was a different story. Both women desired him and wanted to see if they could end up together in his family. They’d had a long discussion the night before after one of their trysts. Felicia had told Isabella not to worry about anything and let it ride out, but Isabella didn’t want to be without her friend and lover. That statement had started to give Felicia concerns as well. Both ended up with some tears in their eyes as they had fallen asleep for the night.

It was now around noon and she was dressed in her best outfit, although it was worn out. Money had gotten tight the past few months, with rent and other items that needed payment, but she put a smile on her face. She didn’t care one iota about the way she was dressed, it was the gentleman that she was meeting that filled her thoughts. She had been daydreaming a lot since business had been somewhat slow that week, about how she could strengthen his family if he married her and she could somehow convince him to have Felicia as well. The kicker was that they had teenage daughters that were almost of age.

Isabella sighed. She’d had an argument with Abby and Julia last night about their coming of age, but both of them wouldn’t hear of it and said it wasn’t high on their to-do lists. Isabella and Felicia explained to them for the hundredth time, being with a female is totally different than a male. They advised, once you get that first dick in your cunt, then you’ll be hooked. The girls laughed at them and shook their heads, not caring anymore.

Isabella took a deep breath and waited for her gentleman caller, hoping that in the near future she would be getting a good dicking. She had missed it.

~~~~~~

We were silent at first, but halfway there the women started chatting.

“Dom, we know that we don’t have the right to ask, but can we come back during the week? We have work, but would come on our days off. Lily and I like it there, it’s peaceful and no stupid assholes will bother us,” Celina asked with hope in her voice.

Without thinking, I just said, “Sure, I like having company. What about those other girls? Won’t they miss you?”

“Well, would it be alright if we brought a couple with us?” Lily replied.

I’m not sure why, but I asked, “Are they as helpful as you?”

They giggled and Celina advised, “Yes, Dom, they are. In many ways. We all like to farm, hunt, and… give pleasure.”

I looked over at her, she didn’t flinch or look away. “Is that so?”

They both purred, “Yes.”

Celina put her head on my shoulder and whispered, “Now, we know that it’s early, but we wanted to let you know that we are into you. If you’re uncomfortable with it, please let us know.”

I shook my head, “No, not uncomfortable. Just not used to the attention.”

Lily rubbed my arm, “Take your time. If you want to pursue this with us, then we will let you. Our minds are already made up.”

Damn, these women are brazen. Both put their arms through mine as we rode to Capena. When we were almost at the outskirts, the women asked me to pull over and I did as asked.

“We will get off here. Our race isn’t allowed on this side, so we’ll head around to our side,” Lily advised.

“What? You’re not allowed here?”

“No,” Celina snarled.

I sighed. They kissed me on the cheek and told me goodbye. I watched them walk off for a few minutes before moving on. Prejudice was everywhere, I supposed. The rest of the way my thoughts were on the beautiful Isabella. A couple of miles later, the team rode into the town and slowed down to a walk as I led them to the wainwright. I stopped outside the front entrance and put on the hand brake before climbing down to head inside. The same three ladies who had been there last time were talking to each other when I stepped in. Their conversation stopped when they saw me.

Isabella grinned and walked over to grab my hand. “Hello Dominic, I want you to meet a couple of people.” She led me over to the counter and continued, “This is my daughter Abby and this is Julia, Felicia’s daughter.”

I responded to the introduction with a smile. “Good afternoon, ladies. It’s nice to meet you two, I hope you don’t mind me taking your moms out.”

Both of them blushed at my statement and giggled. Abby replied, “It’s no problem, especially for a handsome guy like you.” Julia nodded and agreed.

I tilted my head and stated, “Thank you for the compliment, it definitely builds my self-esteem coming from beautiful flowers like yourselves. You must have numerous males trying to court you.”

Both young women’s faces were deep crimson now. They couldn’t even respond to my praises, so Isabella broke into the conversation.

“Dominic, you mind if I call you Dom? Okay, would you like to go to lunch now?”

I smiled broadly at the stammering, shy teenagers and looked over to my date. “Yes. That would be great. I thought we could go for a picnic and talk, would that be alright?”

She cooed, “That would be fantastic; it has been ages since I’ve been on one.”

I held out my hand, Isabella slid hers into mine and we walked outside. I helped her up onto the wagon and jumped up onto my side, released the brake and flicked the reins. The draft horses trotted away and I spoke, “Where can we go to talk and enjoy some privacy out on this lovely day?”

Isabella stared at me for a few moments before responding, “There’s a meadow about a mile out on the main road; we used to go there when we were little.”

“Alright,” I smiled at the beautiful blonde. She grabbed my hand and held it as we rode through town.

Minutes later we pulled off the main road as she gave directions for the meadow; it was a tight fit for the wagon, but we made it through without problems. Helping her down, I grabbed the basket and blanket out of the wagon, found a spot for the picnic and then placed the blanket on the ground. Isabella set out the food and we sat down, not knowing who should start the conversation.

I began, “As you’re calling me Dom, do you mind if I call you Bella?”

She shook her head no and I kept talking, “Alright, tell me some things about yourself.”

Bella tapped a finger to her chin and started speaking. “Well, what can I say? I’m thirty-four years old and widowed. I work for a wainwright and have a seventeen-year-old daughter, oh and I’m a water mage. Not really picky at all when it comes to vegetables or fruit, well, food for that matter. Didn’t like my last husband, he was a pussy and wouldn’t even stand up for himself. I live at the boarding house with Abby, but would love to live out in the woods someday where it’s peaceful, maybe on a farm with a garden. My best friend is Felicia as you know and we try to do everything together. Didn’t think I would be courting anymore, it seemed I would have to uproot Abby and move to the bigger cities to do that, but didn’t want to leave Felicia and Julia.”

I hadn’t missed the double meaning but didn’t remark on that, instead, I said “Wow, you seem to be specific on your future home. Maybe it’ll come true for you.”

She smirked. “Dom, you don’t have to worry about any of that, not unless you want to keep going out.”

I nodded, “I’m enjoying your company and don’t have a problem defending myself. I’m not familiar with the intricacies of courting here. Can you enlighten me?”

“Sure, hon. When you have your first wife, they usually take care of recruitment. Their main goal is to make your family stronger. Some have large families with eight to ten wives or small ones that have two. It’s just what the male can handle, not necessarily just physically, but mentally as well. The wives have specific roles: the caregivers, protectors, and even taking care of the wealth. Pertaining to bedroom activities, most of the sister-wives take care of each other when it’s not their turn with their male, or a group session. Whatever the male wants, really,” Bella stated in a clinical tone.

I thought about what she said before answering. “Okay, if I understand you correctly, then my first wife would pick the others without my consent?”

She shook her head. “No. You would decide together, at least that’s what’s supposed to happen.”

“How long do you court someone before you go to the next level?”

Bella giggled. “Next level? Married, you mean?”

I laughed as well and nodded. She stated with a smile, “When the male is comfortable with his choice then they go into town and register. After that, you take your bride home and consummate the marriage.”

“Do people have sex before that? Or do they wait?”

“Wow, getting a little personal there bub, but yes if it’s consensual then it’s allowed. Do they not do that where you’re from? …Have you not lain with a woman?” Bella smirked and winked at me.

“They do. I was just curious.”

She nodded and bit her lower lip. I leaned over and stated in a low voice, “How about kissing?” Staring into her widened eyes, I saw her face flush. She didn’t say anything for a few moments. I continued, “Let’s eat, Beautiful, before the insects get into the food.” Her face was still crimson, so she just nodded.

We ate and talked of other things not related to courting.  I told her my hobbies and some of the projects that I was working on, giving the bare minimum of details on the construction. After some time of getting to know each other, we headed back to town and I stopped at the boarding house. I got down and walked around to help her down.

Not letting her go, I asked, “Would it be pertinent to ask if I could kiss you?”

She bit her lip and nodded. I pulled her to me and kissed her tenderly at first, but she wasn’t having that, and pulled me in for a deeper, more passionate kiss. When we finished, both of us were panting. As I was about to turn, she grabbed me and we went at it again. A couple of minutes later, I was riding away from the boarding house with a smile on my face.

Bella had a pleased expression when she walked up to her room, and didn’t notice Abby as she came in the door. Abby saw the look on her mom’s face and knew her date went well. She giggled and hoped the handsome gentleman would sweep her mom off of her feet. Thinking about that for a moment, the teenager went back to her book.

Chapter 7

I stopped my team at the hardware store and picked up twenty bags of concrete and twenty blocks before riding home. We went slow, as I didn’t want to hurt the Jutlands in any way. I arrived at my cabin before dusk and unloaded my purchases. William came and helped as well. It was late in the day and I was exhausted, so we went inside to cook.

I showed William how to use and maintain the cook stove, arrange the grates properly, and what utensils to use. I took him to the cold room and we went over what I wanted where. I took a couple steaks out and brought them to the grates, and he lit the fire for the stove.

While we were waiting, I discussed with him how my days go and the chores that needed to be done. The projects began with the top priority being the house, then we would work on the smokehouse, herbal garden, and other projects when we could.

While the meat was cooking, I had him cut up some veggies and fruit. The meat was done enough for me, I liked mine medium and the boy probably could care less how his meat was cooked. The meal was good, though there wasn’t much conversation. William cleaned up as I went and got some books off the shelf

I laid them down on the table and drank coffee while I waited. When he was done, I placed one in front of him. It was about farming.

“William, do you know how to read?”

“No, Dom.”

I nodded and thought that would be his answer. Taking the book back, I went and got some paper and a writing utensil. Carefully I wrote the alphabet of his language on a piece of paper.

“Every day we will practice your letters and writing, then we will begin reading once you are familiar with it.”

He looked at me in deep thought before asking, “Why would you do this?”

I smiled, “You’re living with me and those who do will know how to read and write. You will learn everything I can teach you, and so will others when they come here. I know other languages as well and you will learn those too. I’m not going to coddle you, my friend. Most people here think the males are weak and simple minded, or at least from those that I’ve seen. I’m not going to let anyone dictate what I do or try to guide me somewhere I don’t want to go. Therefore, I will do what needs to be done and no one will tell me otherwise.”

He smiled, “You are definitely not from around here. I would like to learn all you can teach me.”

I nodded and we got started. It was slow the first night, but that was understandable. The next morning, I fixed breakfast while he kept on with his letters. When we finished our meal, both of us went out and did our chores before working on the house. It was a long, but prosperous day. By the end, we were dragging. The foundation was done. We would have to let the mortar sit and harden before doing anything else on it. We marked the placements where the blocks for the walls would sit.

At dinner, I cleaned up while the boy kept working on his letters. I read a couple of books about carpentry and other trades that would help me on the house. Nothing about indoor plumbing though, which sucked. My mind brought up thoughts of how to accomplish this feat. I would need to purchase a few things, but it might work. I placed the books back onto the shelves and thought about the two beastkin females. The duo didn’t show up today, they probably had to work. Both of us went to bed early after the exhausting day.

~~~~~~

Isabella and Felicia were sweaty and panting after their love session. Holding and petting one another, they were silent for a few minutes, until Felicia voiced her concern, again.

“What if he doesn’t like me? Or if I’m not his type?”

Isabella groped her ass and tits before asking, “Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?”

Felicia slapped her lover’s hands. “I’m serious, Izzy. You had a great time on your date, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Isabella took a deep breath and exhaled before responding, “Hon, I don’t think you will have a problem with him not noticing you. Dom isn’t like others that we have met in the past, he’s mysterious and charming.”

Felicia whispered, “I just want to make a good impression. It feels like this is our shot, Izzy. Maybe our dreams will finally come true, the main one being that he will get us out of this hell hole. I’m tired of just getting by, I want us to live freely out in the forest or on a farm somewhere, growing our food and living off the land.”

Isabella nodded and said, “I’m in total agreement with that. Just don’t go into this with that as your main thought. He may be our ticket to freedom, but that man won’t grovel at our feet. Dom isn’t a normal male, he strikes me as someone that is independent and doesn’t need anyone around all the time to function. The man carries around weapons, so we know he can take care of himself or at least, seems to.”

“I don’t want him to grovel, I want us to be a family who talks and works things out as equals. Compromise.”

Isabella snorted, “That would be nice. But don’t forget, Felicia, we won’t be the only ones to catch his fancy. I have a feeling that he will have a huge family. He doesn’t seem the type to be picky and from our conversation, I know he is very intelligent. Be prepared for anything if he wants us to join him.”

Felicia scoffed, “I’m not racist, Izzy. If those women can help us to be stronger, then we will welcome them with open arms.”

“I didn’t say you were a racist, just making sure you’re not wanting a particular type of woman to join.”

“Yeah, I know. I guess we will have to wait and find out what he wants.”

They both sighed and kissed each other before going to sleep.

~~~~~~

The next afternoon, we stopped and gazed upon our work. I nodded. It was coming along nicely.

“Let’s go wash up, I’m going to take a trip to town.”

“Another date?”

I nodded and he snickered. I got the Jutlands out and had William get them ready for travel. I went to the cabin and got dressed before heading out to Capena. On the way to town, I wondered what we would talk about during our date.

It was an uneventful trip, the guards nodded as I went by, still curious it seemed. I stopped at the front entrance of the boarding house and walked up to Felicia’s room. Bella had told me what room she was in. I knocked on the door and she opened it. She was wearing a teal sundress that hung to her muscular body, barely holding in her tits. I was almost drooling. “Hello, Felicia.”

She smiled, no doubt at the lustful way I was looking at her. “Good afternoon, Dominic.”

I cleared my throat, getting myself back together. Damn, she was gorgeous. “Shall we?”

She nodded and we walked out to the wagon. I helped her up and got her situated before jumping up and sitting right beside her.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked.

“I figured we would take a nature ride or walk to get to know each other, then eat dinner at Brenda’s.”

She smiled and responded, “Sounds good. I feel like I already know you, at least what you shared with Izzy.”

“Izzy?”

“Isabella.”

“Oh, right. I was calling her Bella. Going to compare notes, huh?”

She smirked and had a mischievous glint in her eyes, “Of course, that’s what we do. Talk. Well, besides everything else.”

“Uh huh. Well, not going to argue there. Except what you should know about me is that I don’t need anyone to do anything for me. I’ve seen some of the males around here, some are helpless or lazy. I don’t fit that bill.”

“I can see that. It’s nice to meet a man that can take care of himself. What are your hobbies?”

I didn’t want to tell the whole truth, so I gave her half.

“Hmm. Right now, fishing and construction.”

She didn’t respond for a few minutes, she seemed to be taking in the beauty of the nature around us. The rainbow-colored flowers were flowing with the wind, as were the leaves of the trees within the green forest.  I also saw a few kids playing on a path leading away from the road. Finally, she asked, “What are you building?”

I looked over and stared straight into her eyes. “Little projects. A smokehouse is what I’m working on at the moment.”

“That sounds interesting. Of course, you know where I work.”

“Yeah, you like working there?”

She shrugged and said, “It’s work and pays the bills. I’m a life mage so I get the benefit of helping the horses.”

I nodded and we talked about other things. We rode outside the city for fifteen minutes or so. I found a clearing off the road and parked the wagon. We then followed a nature trail for some time. She got some answers from me. I told her that I enjoy camping in the forest, hunting, and fishing. We talked about our families, I gave her real answers and stated that my family was far away from there and wouldn’t be able to visit any time soon. She told me about hers. From what I gleaned, the woman was ambitious, a hard worker, but seemed to be somewhat naive. I always tried to give people a chance to prove trustworthy and would do that with her.

We rode back into town and stopped in at Brenda’s to eat. I ordered chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and she got the grilled chicken and vegetables. In the middle of our dinner, two ladies and a male stopped by our table. I looked up to see the woman I had bought the horses from standing beside me. The other woman had to be in her forties as well, brunette with blue eyes. She was around 5’7”, a lithe body with small breasts. The male was a short fucker. He was less than 5’3” but was somewhat muscular. The guy had blonde hair and blue eyes.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything over here,” Helen Brighton said as she looked down at us.

Felicia immediately brightened up, “Helen, how are you doing tonight?”

The mature woman smirked. “I do well, Felicia. Jen and I are taking Paul out, he’s had a hard week with the kids.”

I looked over at the man and saw him blush. What the fuck? The guy seemed fragile or at least sensitive. No, that’s not the right word, submissive would be how I would label this male. I’m not into that shit, I mean don’t get me wrong, others can get off on that crap, but not me. Although, thinking on what the women said, it would seem to be a role reversal compared to my world. Yes, of course I know not everyone was that way, but the dad wasn’t usually the stay at home caretaker. The history book of this world did say that the females were running it and calling the shots; it would seem that I had a lot to learn. Damn, I actually felt sorry for the guy.

Felicia smiled at the guy warmly and said, “Hello, Paul. How are the kids doing?”

“They’re doing great, though a few times during this week I wanted to throttle them,” he mumbled.

The ladies laughed and ignored him after that. I shook my head, trying to decipher what was happening here. The women carried on without us. Soon Felicia became engrossed in a conversation with the two women, completely ignoring me. I continued eating, not giving a fuck about them. Helen and Jen glanced my way a few times, but didn’t ask me anything. One bit of the conversation brought me back to attention.

Helen asked, “The Summer Festival is coming up. Have you given any thoughts about joining a family this year?”

What the hell does the festival have anything to do with joining a family? Felicia for some reason looked at me and said, “It’s looking that way.”

The mature blonde narrowed her eyes at me and said, “I see. Well, we better get on to a table. Paul gets cranky when he doesn’t get fed by a certain time. We’ll see you later.” They left, not even once saying anything to me.

“Bye, Helen!”

The redhead smiled and looked at me before going back to eating. The woman never even thought about involving me in the discussion they had, not that I cared. After that it became evident that Felicia thought her boss, Helen, hung the moon. It was Helen this or Helen that, when something regarding her job came up. That to me was weird, it even seemed like she may have feelings for her boss. Wonder if Bella knows? Something to keep an eye on. The festival and joining a family were in the front of my mind and I didn’t really pay a great deal of attention to what she was saying at that moment. I shook my head, not wanting to dwell too much on the implications of those words.

We finished our dinner and I took her home and helped her down off the wagon.

“Thank you for a wonderful time, Dominic.”

I nodded and replied, “It was my pleasure, Felicia.”

I took her hands in mine to bring her closer, then kissed her tenderly.

She smiled and said, “Goodnight.” I said the same and she walked up the steps into the boarding house.

Grunting, I got up onto the wagon and rode out of Capena, thinking what a different world it was from mine. I tried to think about how I treated the women folk back on earth and didn’t think it was like what just happened. One date came to mind. I took out Carla, my girlfriend at the time, to an Italian restaurant. We ordered and were talking when friends of mine, Brian and Celicia stopped by our table. The four of us chatted back and forth, even to the point of having them join us.  We talked and laughed with each other. I sighed.

This place is different and since I’m living here now, I will have to get used to some of it.  At least, until I find a way home.  If I can.

I made good time and when I arrived at the house, I put the Jutlands into their stalls. When I felt they were comfortable, I went inside the cabin to see William at the table working on his letters. Good boy.

“William, did you eat?”

“Yes, sir. Working on my letters.”

“Awesome. Let me know if you need help.”

He nodded and I went and grabbed a book to sit down and relax. After a few minutes, he asked, “How was your date?”

I put down my book and thought about my answer before replying, “It was okay.” I told him what we did and the conversation we had and being interrupted then ignored.

“Yeah, most of the women do that.”

“What about this festival?”

He shrugged. “Not sure, but from what I know it’s a celebration for the town and a chance for people to join with families. You can join at other times, but it lets others know if a family has grown or not.”

“Huh. Well, not going to care at the moment. I’m headed to bed. Tomorrow we’ll continue working on the house.”

He nodded and I went to my room.

~~~~~~

It was a couple of days after her date with Dominic and Felicia was at work. It was a slow day and Helen had her in the back to work on paperwork. As she was concentrating on getting all the data correct, she didn’t hear someone come up behind her.

She jumped as two hands began massaging her shoulders and then a familiar voice whispered in her ear, “It’s okay, dear. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Felicia relaxed and smiled. “Helen. You don’t have to do that.”

The older woman chuckled and responded in a low voice, “You look tense, just sit there,” Helen started kissing lightly on her neck, “and enjoy.”

Felicia stammered out, “What are you doing?”

Helen kept at it and started kissing further down to her breasts. Felicia gasped and moaned.

“It seems you need some release, hon. Let me take care of that for you.”

Felicia didn’t know what to do, it was wrong. She was trying to get into Dominic’s family, not Helen’s. But this woman was making her melt. She let Helen pull the chair out and kneel in front of her.

Helen spread Felicia’s legs and pulled her panties off and licked her lips as she gazed at her sex. “Mmmmmm. What a beautiful pussy. Isabella hasn’t been a very good friend, keeping all this to herself.”

Helen went down on Felicia, who was shocked still but this didn’t deter her from anything, the pleasure was too great. Before long, Felicia was hollering out in orgasm. The older woman got up and kissed her passionately.

Felicia could taste herself, as they swirled their tongues together. Helen broke off and looked into her eyes. “Feel better?”

Felicia gulped and nodded, not knowing what to say. Helen smiled and walked out leaving her to figure out what was going on. What was she going to do now? Isabella wouldn’t care, she’d probably join in. At least, she thought so… Dominic wouldn’t like it though. She sensed it. Felicia put her panties back on and took a couple breaths, pushing the incident out of her mind for now. It probably wouldn’t happen again.

~~~~~~

The next few weeks flew by. The construction on my home was coming along fine. The walls were up, as was the second floor. The two of us were working on the trusses now. I changed my plans. Instead of four rooms, there would be six. The two extra rooms were there for extra space or I could make them into workrooms. Two bathrooms, one on each floor, right above each other.

During this time, I went back to my rune book to learn some new runes. On a few pages, I discovered that the author left me some gifts, intermediate runes. The inscription said that I would need these and they were right, though to be careful because the runes would take more mana to accomplish. A couple in particular that caught my eye were magic enchantments of heat and waste removal. The heat enchantment could be used for many things but would be placed for a shower or bath. I would install a concrete well with the waste removal runes for my toilets to use and even trash.

The next group of runes that I was interested in were nullify, displacement, and disintegration. I particularly wanted to try nullify. This rune would cancel out any magic it touched. For instance, if you placed the rune on a weapon, magic would have no effect on it. Awesome, right? I thought so too.

I immediately etched the rune on all my blades and arrows. The one drawback was that you couldn’t put any magic enchantments on anything that had the nullify rune on it.

I had now gone on numerous outings with both Felicia and Isabella, separately of course. I guess we were trying to figure out if we wanted to continue or not. We’d had numerous make out sessions, but hadn’t gone any further. I was still picking up a weird vibe from Felicia. Isabella was great and we seemed to mesh well.

I was on my way to get some supplies one day, hoping to stop by and check on the two women. Grabbing the items that we needed, I stopped Coal and tied his reins to a post outside Felicia’s workplace and went in. No one was manning the counter. I walked outside to try and locate Felicia, but didn’t see anyone. It was lunchtime, so I guessed they were eating somewhere.

I started back towards the entrance and had almost made it back outside when I heard some noises coming from the office area. Maybe they were in there. I turned and strolled over. Coming up to the entrance, I saw the door was ajar so I pulled it completely open. To put it mildly, I was caught off guard.

At first it was just a blur of bodies and sounds as I tried to register what I was seeing, possibly the last thing I’d expected to see behind the office door. Isabella was on the desk, naked, her legs spread open so that Helen – I assumed it was Helen though I mainly had a view of her round ass – could bury her face in her pussy. Felicia was bent over the desk, tits bouncing up and down as Helen’s little husband fucked her from behind. There was a whole lot of moaning and grunting going on. I didn’t know how to feel about this at first, this orgy was so far removed from the staid world of work and supplies I had just come from. I watched for a few moments and then walked away.

I was about to get up on Coal when a voice called out my name.

“Mr. Dominic!” I looked over to see Abby and Julia walking over. I chuckled to myself. This ought to be good.

They came up and Abby started speaking at once, “Have you come to take our moms out on an outing?”

“No, I was in the area and just came to check on them.”

Julia nodded. “They both have been talking about you a lot.”

Abby smiled and asked, “Are you guys talking about joining yet?”

I shut my eyes and sighed, “We haven’t.”

Julia went on, “Well, we really hope it works out for you guys.”

I nodded and thought, Not a chance in hell.

When I didn’t say anything else, Abby tried again.

“How is your week going then, Mr. Dominic?”

“I do well, this week has brought me lots of eye opening experiences, especially today.”

They glanced at each other, Julia asked, “Have you seen our moms?”

“I have, they are in Helen’s office. Better hurry though, you may miss them.”

They told me good day and walked off. I grinned and shook my head as I left the area.

~~~~~~

Abby and Julia walked in, not knowing how to take the conversation they had with Dominic. They just shrugged it off and moved over to Helen’s office, but stopped when they heard moans coming from inside.

The duo glanced at each other before looking in, wide-eyed when they saw what was happening. Helen and her husband had teamed up to pleasure their moms. The two teens walked away.

“How stupid can they be?” Abby hissed, clenching her fists.

“Very, it seems. I suppose that was what Dominic meant about eye opening,” Julia replied as they walked back towards the wainwright building.

“Maybe they changed their minds? The festival is coming up,” Abby responded, trying to think of reasons they would do this. Julia shook her head and shrugged, she didn’t know.

Both were cleaning the counter and in their own thoughts when Isabella came in. She was smiling, seemed in a good mood.

“Girls, did you have a good lunch?”

They both nodded but didn’t look up, just kept on with their cleaning. Isabella cleared her throat and asked, “Is something wrong, ladies?”

Abby glared at her. “You tell us. I’ll ask the same questions to you, Mother.”

Isabella looked taken aback by her daughter’s attitude.

“Nothing is wrong and I had a great lunch.”

The teens glanced at each other and mumbled, “We know.”

Isabella sighed. “I can’t help with what is going on if you don’t tell me.” She looked from one to the other, trying to figure out what was the matter. “Well, let me know if I can be of assistance.”

The duo didn’t answer, so Isabella turned and went outside to check on a couple of orders that needed to be filled.

~~~~~~

I rode out of Capena, still wondering why the situation didn’t affect me. It was because of the strange vibe I was getting from Felicia. Huh, oh well. At least we didn’t join up as they say. I would’ve had to take matters into my own hands and do some immoral things.

As I was riding down the road, a movement to the right caught my eye. Someone was waving me down. I stopped Coal when we got near. A small, unkempt woman out of breath, came up to me. My mind spat out, gnome.

She gasped and said, “Please help us! My friend was attacked, she needs assistance!”

Without hesitating, I dismounted and grabbed my pack with the first aid equipment inside before tying Coal to a tree. “Show me.”

The little woman nodded and took off into the woods. We didn’t have to walk far before we came across the woman in need. She was wearing trousers and a blue tunic with blood all over it. I pulled the pack off and dropped to my knees to assess the wounds on the woman. I tried to find cuts and gashes as the small woman kept sobbing and asking me to help her friend. My eyes couldn’t see any wounds to explain all the blood. I lifted my head and was about to ask the gnome what was going on, when something bit into my shoulder. I groaned and turned to look, but fell to the ground after a few moments. My eyes closed and darkness took me in.

I heard voices around me, but my eyes wouldn’t open, so I went back to sleep. Later on, I finally did open them, but didn’t recognize the rock formation that I was gazing upon. I groaned as I tried to move, it felt like I hadn’t done that for a few days. The first thing that caught my attention was that I was surrounded by iron bars, the next thing was that I wasn’t alone. There was another being beside me. He looked like an elf. What the hell was going on? Not knowing how much time had passed, I tried to lift myself up off the ground.

The elf saw me and looked over before going back to staring at the wall. I scanned the area. We were in a cavern.

My voice was scratchy, and I swallowed a few times before asking, “Where are we?”

He laughed bitterly before responding, “Hell.”

The guy didn’t go on. I asked in his language, “Can you elaborate?”

“How do you know my language?”

I shrugged and smiled, “Educated, I suppose.”

The elf scoffed, knowing it was a bullshit answer. “We’re prisoners. Look around you, see those other cages? These bitches kidnap and sell us to the highest bidder.” He stared back at the wall. “If they like you well enough, then they will pin you down on that table over there and have their way with you.”

Well, shit. Rapists and slavers. Fuck, I let myself get caught. Trying to do the right thing and someone takes advantage, sounds like my old world.

I sighed, “How long have you been here?”

He didn’t reply at first, but relented and answered, “I believe two weeks. Two females were here but have been gone for a couple of days. Who knows if they will be back or not? Doubtful.”

I went quiet and meditated. I didn’t look up until someone banged on the bars, well over an hour later.

“Well, our hero has awoken.”

Others around laughed at her comment.

Four females stood before me. The gnome that suckered me into their scheme and an elf with blonde hair and pale skin. The other two, a green female with pointy ears and muscular body and one who had a human body from the torso up, but instead of legs, a long, serpentine tail, were surely orc and lamia.

The orc grinned. “He’s a handsome one, Espa. Can we keep him?”

Espa, the elf, smirked and replied, “I was thinking the same, Mikra. At least for a little while. The elf has run his course. Dolly, see if we can find a buyer for him.”

The gnome looked at the elf and shrugged. “Will do.”

Espa looked back at me and winked. “We’re going to have lots of fun with you, human.”

They all snickered and left, except the lamia. She stared at me for a few moments before leaving. Bitches.

The male elf sneered, “It would seem my time here is up. At least I’m done with those skanks.”

I didn’t respond. I went back to meditating. The night went on and the skanks came back sometime later. Espa and Mikra opened the cage door, the orc had a weapon in her hands.

Lightning started flowing over the elf’s hands. “Don’t try anything funny or I won’t have any issues using my magic,” she advised me sweetly.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. They escorted me out to a table on the other side of the cavern, lit up by torches and candles. They strapped me down. Espa made sure the straps were snug.

“Chalia, give him a dose.”

The lamia came over with a vial of something in her hands. She pried opened my mouth and a few drops of the liquid landed inside. I started to feel like I was drugged in no time. Whatever she gave me, it made me feel lightheaded and things became cloudy.

“You should feel good right about now. Chalia’s venom has different reactions, depending on how much she gives you. You know, she’s the one who bit you, making you pass out for a couple of days. If she wanted you dead, then you would be. Those drops she gave you will leave you aware of your surroundings, but you won’t be able to do anything productive. Luckily for us, your lower body will remain highly responsive. Especially your cock.”

The women easily pulled my trousers off and dropped them onto the floor. My traitorous cock sprung up and before I knew it, they each had their way with me. Climbing astride, rocking back and forth, tilting forward and back until they reached the climax they were searching for. Except Chalia, she didn’t join in. At least I don’t think she did; my mind was everywhere at once. The cavern was filled with moaning and hollering, I was drenched with all kinds of bodily fluids when they were through with me.

Later on, I felt like I somehow had my mind again. I flinched when I felt someone washing me. Chalia looked at me with something akin to pity. I stared at the ceiling.

I grunted and hissed as she washed my dick. It was raw, and painful.

She whispered in my ear, “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t respond. She kept going with her chore for a couple of minutes. She was almost done when she spoke again, “I really am sorry.”

She helped me get dressed and took me back to my cage. I sat down, taking care not to move my aching pecker at all. I closed my eyes and fell into sleep.

The days went by, maybe weeks, I wasn’t sure. The bitches came every couple of days to fuck me and then left me with Chalia. When I resisted, Espa used her lightning magic to persuade me. It hurt like a motherfucker. I screamed out as it burnt the skin in places all over my body. Chalia had a healing salve ready for the burns and to help junior recover. These women were really pissing me off. I would bide my time and strike back at the right moment.

During this time, the elf from the cage beside me was shipped out. I didn’t even get his name, but it didn’t matter. Chalia made it somewhat bearable. She talked to me and I found out that she was not a fan of what her gang was doing. Her sister was in a second group that was affiliated with Espa. I didn’t pay attention to what city they were in, but they were doing the exact same things. Neither of the two lamias wanted this life, but had nowhere else to go. Not sure whether to believe her or not, I didn’t say anything about it. One takeaway from the conversation was that the other group had five in it and they were predominantly elves.

Every night I tried to concoct a way to escape. One day, after being fucked quite vigorously, it finally came to me. My pack and a few weapons were lying on top of a table not far from me. There were also parchment and a pencil on the table. Chalia unstrapped me and let me be for a minute to get dressed. She helped me get stable and was about to lead me towards my cage when there was a loud sound behind me. All of the women hollered out at someone and they ran out of the area chasing them, except Chalia that is. Must’ve been an escapee. The lamia was over by the tunnel leading out, watching. I held onto the table where the items that I needed were and scanned the area to make sure no one else was around, then hurriedly placed the parchment and pencil in one of my pockets. Chalia came back over to me and helped me to the cage. She acted like she didn’t see anything. Good. After applying the healing salve, she locked the door.

I waited for hours, letting my body get back to normal. When the time came to move, I didn’t hear anything or anyone nearby, so I started to draw my runes. Minutes later, the lock disintegrated and I worked the latch to free myself. Taking a breath, I made my way over to my pack. Most of my stuff was still in it. My dagger was on the table with the assortment of weapons they had collected from others. One of them was my bow, the quiver was on the floor. I checked the arrows were mine and that they had the runes on them.

I crept out of the cavern, a grin on my face. I didn’t know where the others were, so I worked my way through the tunnel until I heard snoring ahead. I stopped by the entrance to the first room or what seemed to be a room. It was a cutout in the tunnel. In fact, there were four of them, two on each side, each had one candle burning to light up the room. I looked in and saw Mikra, a mass of muscles sprawled across the bed, snoring belligerently. Grabbing my dagger, in a succession of rapid movements I reached her bed, placed my hand over her mouth, then used my blade to slit her thick throat. Blood shot everywhere. I finished her off with a stab in the eye.

Going to Dolly’s room, I did the same thing. She actually squeaked when I cut her throat.

The next room up was Chalia’s. I bypassed hers and went straight to Espa’s. Not long after I entered, her blood was gurgling all over her bed. It had been so easy. They all slept like logs. I checked all three rooms to find anything valuable and stowed ninety percent of the coin in my pack and left the remaining on the floor of Espa’s room. It seemed to be a nice amount. I would count it later on when I was the hell out of Dodge.

I hurried on through the tunnel, finally making it outside. It was dark but I could see light on the horizon, almost dawn. Checking my surroundings, I saw a corral that held horses. Strolling over, I counted five of them, grazing. I was surprised to find Coal there. He neighed and I petted him. I looked around the area and found rope and saddles within the small barn beside the corral. Grabbing the tack, I put all the saddles on the horses and tied a trail rope together to connect them. I situated myself on Coal’s saddle and without looking back, I led the horses out.

I didn’t know where I was, but got some directions to the town from a merchant passing by. Thank goodness, I was near Capena. I looked through my pack and found the materials inside were ruined.  I sighed. I’d need to replenish those supplies, especially since I had grown a beard. Going into town, it was past dawn and people were starting their day. I hurriedly went in and bought the items needed and left the general store. Tom wasn’t at the counter, a woman that I didn’t recognize was manning it.

No one recognized me, thank goodness. I hope I don’t run into Bella or the others.

I placed the packages containing Shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and some essential oils such as lavender, mint, and lemon into one of my panniers. Vitamin E oil and a couple of razor blades, the last items on the list, went into the other. The people in the store gave me weird looks, guess it was the way that I was dressed. Looking down, I saw with clear eyes, blood stains on my filthy clothes, and they were torn in some places.  The bitches didn’t give me new clothes to wear, and wouldn’t let me brush my teeth or wash myself. I could smell my own stench and it was rank. Running a hand through my unkempt hair, it was tangled in places. I grimaced as I mounted Coal to head out.

Chapter 8

A couple hours after leaving Capena, I rode up to my farm and scanned the area for any trouble. I opened the corral, took the saddles off the horses and let them get some water. Placing the equipment to the side, I walked over and cleaned myself up. It took some time to get the grime off of me. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps. Looking up, I saw William, Lily, and Celina coming towards me.

Not caring who was looking, I took off my shirt and threw it down. The three gasped. I took a few breaths after finishing and walked towards my cabin. The trio didn’t stop me or speak to me, but they followed, and I felt how concerned they were. I got a cup from the cupboard, filled it with water and drank until my thirst was quenched. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths before opening them back up to see the three beastkin standing near the table.

“Ladies, how is your day going?”

The two glanced at each other, Lily voiced her concern, “It’s great now that you’ve come back. Dom, where have you been?”

I ignored that for now and asked, “William, how long have I been gone?”

He gulped and thought about my question before answering, “Almost a month, Dom. Lily and Celina came by a few days after you vanished. They’ve helped out since.”

I chuckled and said, “Well, I became a prisoner and was taken advantage of. A blow to the ego, actually.”

I didn’t really know how to feel. Back on earth, when women were kidnapped and taken advantage of, it was a traumatic event. Thinking how the roles were reversed on Risona was surreal. But instead of trauma, my emotions were rage and anger. I wasn’t sure if the experience would have any lasting effects, but I had got my revenge on the perpetrators and as of right now, it wasn’t on my mind.

They all looked horrified by my announcement.

I went on, “My dick is worn out as well. Stupid bitches.”

I went and sat down. They came over and slowly sat as well. Lily took my face in her hands and looked me over. Not finding anything wrong, she kissed me on the cheek. I hugged her and thanked them both for helping William. I shook William’s hand and told the boy he was doing well at his job. I asked him about his letters and sentences, and he said with some pride that he had been working on them every night.

I gave them some more details of what happened.

Celina cleared her throat, “Hon, are you okay? What are all those marks on your body?”

“The leader had lightning magic and that’s how they kept me at bay. If I resisted, she zapped me.”

I looked at the markings, they would probably scar since I didn’t have any salve to apply. I had a book that might help. I’d need to take a look later on.

“Dom, do you want us to stay longer?” Lily asked with hesitation.

“You probably need to get back for your jobs. I can take it from here, ladies.”

Both nodded but didn’t say anything. I sighed and went outside to check on my farm. The garden was almost producing, a couple more weeks. The animals looked well. I placed two of the new horses in the barn and brushed them down and did the rest afterwards. William asked if I needed help and I let him. It wasn’t long before Lily and Celina walked up.

I looked over and said, “Take two of the horses, it will take less time for you to get back.”

Lily shook her head. “We can’t take them. They’re yours.”

“Yeah, but now they are yours.”

They smiled and when they picked out which one they each wanted, I got them ready. We talked for some time before they left. I kissed them goodbye and watched them go.

“Are you alright, Dom? I mean, it’s just you and me now,” William asked as we walked back to the barn.

“Yeah, just pissed off.”

He nodded and we planned the rest of our day. My face itched. I needed to shave. I grabbed the razors that I’d bought and set them down on the table. Grabbing my rune book, I went to a page that I’d found the other day, or rather, the other month. It was a hair removal rune, the description advised that it would cut the hair without hurting the skin, at all. It sounded too good to be true. I was going to test it out. It did recommend moisturizing the skin afterwards.

It took a few minutes to get the rune onto the blade, it was harder to etch than I’d thought. I got together the ingredients that I’d bought and created my own versions of shaving cream and moisturizer. I smiled and pumped water into a bowl before getting in front of the mirror.

I lathered on the shaving cream and went to work with the blade. Not cutting my beard down with scissors, I wanted to test how effective this blade was. It wasn’t hindered at all. I put pressure on it to see if my skin would be cut, but all it did was push in my skin. I grinned and went to work and within five minutes, the beard was gone. This rune held potential, no more razor burn or nicks. Hmm… I would need to apply the runes to the other two razors too. I put on moisturizing cream and cleaned up the area before heading out for other projects.

~~~~~~

Isabella showed up to work early. It had been that way for some time now since her talk with Abby. Her daughter and Julia had given her and Felicia the cold shoulder for at least two weeks before the moms had had enough. Isabella and Felicia sat them down and hashed out why they were acting that way. She remembered the conversation vividly.

Isabella took a deep breath, “Girls, what has gotten into you?”

Abby scoffed and asked a question of her own. It was confusing at first. “Mom, are you choosing to join a family during the festival?”

Felicia glanced at her.

“No, we haven’t discussed anything with Dominic yet. Felicia and I wanted to gently push him in that direction.”

Abby and Julia burst into laughter.

Felicia demanded, “Girls, why are you laughing at what she said?”

“Because mother, that is a laughable statement,” Julia sneered at her mom before looking over at Isabella.

“Why is that, Julia?”

Abby went in a totally different direction, “We will get to that later, Mom. Now, you two have been getting in later than usual at night and going out more. Why’s that?”

Isabella gulped, but stared at her daughter blankly. “We don’t have to answer to you two, but I will. Felicia and I have been going out with some ladies. Dominic hasn’t been around lately, we were bored.”

Felicia nodded but was nervous.

Julia said in a sweet voice, “Yeah, we know all about what you’ve been up to with those ladies.”

Felicia snapped at her daughter, “Young lady, we don’t need your permission to go out and what we do during that time is our private business, it has nothing to do with you.”

Julia sniffed and drank some water before continuing, “That’s fine mother, you can do what you want, when you want. But if it will affect us, then you damn well better have a good explanation for it.”

Isabella couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell is going on girls? Why would you think anything we have done would affect you?”

The teenagers glanced at one another and nodded.

Abby came out with it. “We know that you two have been fucking Helen and her family.”

The two mothers went wide-eyed, both tried to talk but couldn’t. Julia went on, “Yeah, we’ve followed you on numerous occasions the past few weeks. So, yes, this affects Abby and me. That is the last family that you need to join, Helen is a controlling asshole.”

Isabella finally got her voice back, “Girls, we’re not joining up with her family. Felicia said it would be fun and it wouldn’t mean anything.”

They all looked over at the redhead and she blushed hard. “Yes, that’s what I said...” She cleared her throat a couple of times before continuing, “But Helen has asked me if we’re going to join.”

Isabella whipped her head around and stared at her friend for a few moments before asking in a low voice, “And what did you say, Felicia?”

She looked down at the floor. “That we would discuss it and get back to her.”

The two teenagers scoffed and shook their heads.

Isabella seethed, “What the fuck, Felicia? How can you be serious about joining up with them? We were supposed to convince Dominic to let us join up with him.”

She didn’t answer, but her daughter did.

“You won’t be joining up with him.”

Felicia and Isabella instantly looked over at Abby.

“And why is that? Did he say something to you about it?” Isabella sounded scared now.

It was Julia who answered with a sneer, “Because… he’s the one who told us about your extracurricular activities.”

The two women went pale. Isabella ran to the bathroom and made retching sounds. After a few minutes, she came back out. Felicia had her head in her hands, crying.

Isabella sniffled and asked in a low voice, “When did he find out?”

Abby grinned at her.

“Remember that day you came in and you asked us what was wrong?”

Isabella nodded, her stomach twisting in a knot.

“He saw you and Felicia in Helen’s office. We caught him outside when he was leaving and he told us where you were. We came upon the same scene that he saw earlier. You two were moaning like whores.”

Isabella dropped down into her chair and started with the tears as well. A couple of minutes went by before she spoke again. “That’s why he hasn’t been around.”

Isabella slowly turned her head to her friend. “You said nothing would happen, it was all sexy fun. What do you have to say now?”

Felicia sobbed, saying incoherent things.

Isabella wasn’t going to hear that. “You ruined my chance, bitch. Get the fuck out of my rooms!”

Felicia flinched and tried to come up with an excuse, but Isabella pointed at the door and she slowly moved towards it, her head down, still crying. When she finally left, Isabella closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths.

“Girls, it would seem that I have made a grave error in judgment. I just went with what Felicia said, but it’s my fault going through with it. If you see him in town, would you please tell him that I would like to talk with him?”

Abby and Julia nodded and went to Abby’s room. Isabella left alone, went to her room and cried some more.

Isabella hadn’t spoken to Felicia since that night. That had been over two weeks ago. She sighed and looked around the wainwright building before starting on her duties. Maybe Dom would forgive her. Only time would tell. But she had to shake off those thoughts and stop thinking about it before she got angry again.

~~~~~~

Lilyann woke up early and got dressed for the day. After taking care of her morning ritual, she went to the kitchen to get something to eat. The beastkin looked at her surroundings and sighed. She was living in a dump. It was definitely a place she wouldn’t bring a man home to, especially the male she had fantasies about. Just thinking about Dominic made her heart start beating faster. It had been a couple of weeks since they had seen each other. She and Celina hadn’t let the others know what had transpired on their excursions through the forest. Not yet. Especially when Dom disappeared, that was a horrible situation he went through and equally horrible for them as they thought they had lost him.

LilyAnn and Celina shared their place with Tianna, Sherie, Nana, and Yenis.

Sherie was an orc, just over six feet tall with an athletic body. She was muscular, not bulging muscles but defined, brown eyes and hair, green skin, pointy ears, and high cheekbones. Her breasts were pert and she had a petite waistline. Lily smiled, remembering last night’s tryst. The orc could definitely get her going.

Tianna was a female drow, or dark elf to most. A voluptuous 5’8” with d-cup breasts and an ass you could bounce coins off of. What made her stand out was her white hair, dark skin, and crimson eyes. She was also an earth mage.

Nana, the kitsune, was a mind mage, illusion her specialty. She was a petite 5’5” woman with small brown fox ears and two brown tails with white spots sticking out of her backside. The kitsune had small breasts and a round ass.

Yenis was a harpy. The woman was around 6’ tall and had a lithe body. Most of her body was covered in gray feathers and she had gray wings on her back.

All of them had great attitudes even though the last couple of years had been rough on them.

Sherie and Tianna both had daughters. Tianna’s daughter Emoli was over a hundred years old and Rosira, Sherie’s daughter, was almost fifty.

Lilyann found Tianna at the stove, cooking breakfast. She came up and slapped the drow on her ass. Tianna smiled and wiggled it at her. Both giggled and said good morning to each other. Lilyann got a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

Tianna placed eggs and ham onto a plate before setting it in front of her friend. “I just cooked the last of the eggs and ham, dear.” The drow smiled sadly and went back to the stove.

“How are we on money, Tianna?”

Tianna was the one who took care of their finances. She looked over her shoulder and shrugged. “We’re okay, the assholes took more for taxes this month.”

Lilyann ate some eggs before responding, “Give it to me straight, Tianna.”

She sighed. “If this keeps up then I’m not sure how we will make it. Nana and Yenis have already decided to leave.”

Lilyann knew this was coming. She ate in silence for a few moments. The drow sat down and ate across from her, both in their own worlds.

“What are your plans?”

Tianna looked over and replied, “I don’t know, Lily. I’ve thought about it over and over, but can’t come up with a solution. It might be time to separate, Sherie suggested it as well.”

Lilyann gasped, “She did?”

“Yes, hon. Matter of fact, I believe when Nana and Yenis leave then she and Rosira will as well.”

The beastkin sighed and closed her eyes. She thought about a solution to the problem while eating the last remnants of her meal. Nothing she came up with was right for them. But then a thought came to her and she smiled. “Tianna, when are they planning on leaving?”

“A couple of days or so. Why?”

Lilyann put down her fork and answered in a low voice, “Because I may have an answer to our problem.”

Tianna immediately looked up. “What is it?”

Lilyann had it in her mind that he would be okay with what she was about to say to her longtime friend. “I know of a place that we can work for room and board. They have a farm and a home that can room all four of us.”

The drow asked warily, “Where? And don’t say we need to join a family already established with multiple wives.”

She smiled at her. “No. Not an established family, but I will not say another word. It will ruin the surprise.”

Tianna looked at her like she was nuts. “You know I don’t like surprises.”

Lilyann giggled and replied, “I’m well aware of that fact, but be patient, will you?”

Her friend grunted. “Where is said farm?”

“It’s out of town, about ten miles from here.”

“How the hell do you know where this farm is that far out?”

Lilyann smirked and said, “Celina and I came upon it while rummaging in the forest.”

Tianna shook her head and thought it wasn’t a good idea, but they didn’t have any other prospects.

“Fine, but Emoli is in Strongfair with her friend Nikki. She’s due back tomorrow. You can show us this… farm then.”

Lily nodded and smiled, “You will love it there, Tianna.”

The drow grunted but didn’t say anything else. They left for work afterwards.

~~~~~~

The next morning William and I were up early, we had lots of work to do. After gathering the eggs and milk, I checked on the garden to see if it needed anything. It was really coming along. I had the boy start watering it and needed to somehow get water for irrigation to my crops. I had to add that to the list. I didn’t know how often it rained there.

I also needed to work out how to make cream, butter, and cheese from the milk before it spoiled. I wondered if one of the books on the shelves had instructions for creating those products.

Either that or take the milk to town and sell, but that would be a wasted trip in my mind. Maybe it was wrong of me to get four dairy cows. I sighed and told myself that others would be joining up.

We started measuring out the trees to finish the trusses. Cutting the trees up that were already down, we had the Jutlands help move them and get them into place. Time went by and before we knew it, the sun was at its peak. Huh, lunch time then. I got William’s attention.

“Let’s go eat, bud.”

He nodded and we had some ham sandwiches. Today I really had a hankering for mayo and mustard, hell, even ketchup. “William, do they have mayo here or mustard? Ketchup?”

He immediately asked, “What are they?”

Huh. That answers that. “They are condiments. You can spread them on bread for sandwiches, eat them on food.”

“What’s a condiment?”

I replied with a smile, “It adds flavor to the food.”

The boy nodded and said, “Like dressing for a salad?”

“Sort of, but what I asked for are used on lots of foods and they aren’t difficult to make.”

I thought to test out with some of the ingredients I already had. Ketchup and Mayo for sure, even barbecue sauce since I already had the ingredients when the ketchup was made. Mustard would have to wait because I didn’t have the main ingredients. Hmm. Just thinking about it, my mind knew the surrounding towns would go ape shit for those products. I smiled. I’d start tonight. I had some extra jars. It would be a great way to make some coin until I could start in metallurgy. Maybe I could make a deal with a blacksmith with orders of knives and daggers. No, they would get suspicious.

I did count the pile that I took from Espa’s gang. It was a pretty good haul, thirty gold and fifty silver. I had put the coins back in my pouch and then placed it back in its hidden spot within my closet. I had loosened a board in there and it kept my money concealed in between the walls.

I turned to William, “Are you done eating?”

He nodded and we cleaned up before heading back outside.

We continued to cut down trees, then shaped them to fit, and placed them into their assigned spots. We got the trusses done at the end of the day and went inside after cleaning up our work area.

William went back to his letters while I made some stew. While it was cooking, I prepared the ingredients for mayo and ketchup. Since I had taken a culinary class back on earth, I remembered a recipe for those two condiments. When the stew was done, we ate and afterwards, I went back to cooking. It didn’t take long before I had created my own ketchup and mayo. Taking a sample, it tasted like home. I smiled and let them set for some time. When it cooled down, I let William have a taste of the ketchup.

His eyes lit up and he said, “Wow. That’s good.”

I laughed and nodded. Grabbing a few jars, I poured the condiments into them and set them in the cold room. I then thought about delivery, it would need to be in a cold box of some sort. I would think about that tomorrow.

~~~~~~

Lilyann had woken up with Celina in her bed. It was a big day and the two beastkin were nervous but excited. They got up and dressed before walking into the kitchen where Tianna and Emoli sat at the table. Another female was there as well. They smiled when they saw them.

Tianna was the first to speak. “Good morning, ladies.”

Emoli looked almost identical to her mother, except that she was a few inches taller. She spoke up after her mom, “Lily and Celina, I would like you to meet my good friend Nikki.”

Both of the beastkin looked over and nodded to her. Tianna had told them about Emoli’s friend a while back. The drow advised that she was a nephilim. If they didn’t know this already, then they could think she was a human just by looking at her. Nikki didn’t have her armor or her wings out, though the bastard sword on her back and the dagger on her belt let everyone know that she was still dangerous. Nikki was almost the same height as Emoli with small breasts and an athletic body. Her blonde hair and emerald green eyes set her apart from everyone around.

Tianna brought the group’s attention back to her. “So, ladies, it was surprising, but you know that the others left yesterday to find other means to survive. I thought it would be at least a couple of days, but they decided to go ahead and make the change. Lilyann, I told Emoli and Nikki about the discussion we had. The three of us are still skeptical about this.”

Emoli spoke, “Yes, mom told us that you know of a farm outside of town. She also said that it wasn’t tied to a family. How is that possible?”

All three at the table watched the two beastkin. Celina and Lilyann glanced at each other and smiled before Celina spoke, “Does it matter if it’s that way or not?”

Tianna narrowed her crimson eyes at Celina. “Why is it so hard for you to come clean and tell us what’s so special about this place?”

Lilyann shrugged. “It’s time to take a trip, ladies. You in or out?”

Nikki shrugged and answered, “Doesn’t matter to me, I live in Strongfair. If Emoli needs a place to sleep then she can stay with me.”

Emoli smiled at her friend. “Thanks, sweetheart.” They kissed each other and got up when Tianna did.

She sighed and said, “I will follow you on this, but if it’s a shit idea then I will bolt.”

Celina responded with a smirk, “I guarantee it will not be a shitty idea. Let’s go.”

The girls left the horses in the corral at home and walked through the forest.

~~~~~~

I was up early and cooked breakfast before making more condiments. When I had enough ketchup then I started making barbecue sauce. Regular and spicy. Measuring out the paprika, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, vinegar, Cayenne pepper, and brown sugar, I got to work. It took some time to get the right ratio, but I figured it out and they tasted fantastic. We could even make the sauce with honey as well.  Hmm… something to think on. I moved the sauces and condiments to jars and stored them in the cold room. I then went outside to gather all the eggs and had William milk the cows before we met back in the barn for our next project.

“Since we finished the trusses, let’s start on the smokehouse. And a side project I thought about last night.”

He nodded and we got to it. I had him make the measurements on the boards that I laid out. We cut them to length and I also measured out the dimensions of my idea. We lined up the concrete blocks in a square three-tiers high, then built the wooden walls and door. We sealed the wood with clay and blocks with mortar. I would need to pick up some clay and fire bricks in town to finish up.

At that point we took a break and ate some jerky and cheese. I tested William with questions over our project and he answered them correctly. I smiled because he was paying attention after all.

When the break was over, I put together my creation. A cold box. Actually, two cold boxes. It took some time to get the boards connected before we were done, but they looked decent.

I grabbed my rune book and etched the runes for strength, sealant, and durability on the smokehouse. I then went over to the boxes and looked inside at the storage area. I decided that one would hold six of the gallon jugs and the other, eggs or anything that needed to be kept cold. Well, they would, when I enchanted them. Grabbing clay, I molded it onto the wood, sealing them and then left the two icebox wannabes out in the sun for the next few hours.

When I thought it was time, I went over and checked the boxes to make sure they were dry. I etched the same runes on the wooden carriers that I did for the smokehouse but added a cold effect. I had to sit down and eat to replenish my strength after activating them. Opening the lids, I checked the inside and it was cooling my hand. Awesome!

I looked over at William and showed him what they did, and he was amazed by the effect of the rune. I was too and we cleaned up our area of tools and leftover materials. I then had a thought and glanced over at William, “Let’s go hunting.”

He smiled, “I’ll grab the bow and your dagger. Can I use the knife?”

“The one that’s enchanted?”

He nodded and I said, “Yes, but be careful. I’ll see if there is a sheath for it in the barn.”

The boy hurried back to the cabin while I checked the closet in the barn for a sheath. There were a couple and one was attached to a belt that the knife would fit in, so I grabbed it. Walking out, William was ready to go. He handed me my sheathed dagger and bow; the quiver was on the ground. I handed him the belt and he attached it to his waist. I grabbed the quiver and we set out for the woods. I thought about the only hunting weapon we had and decided to get a few more.

“I’ll head to town tomorrow and purchase a few more bows and quivers, it seems that we’ll need them.”

He nodded and we silently made our way through the forest to hunt down some fresh meat. We saw a few rabbits. I had the boy shoot to get used to the bow. He missed a couple but got another two, not bad for his first time. I was looking for a stag or a boar, though we would need a couple of spears for the latter. The two of us kept inching along and finally found a few stags. I took the bow from William and waited for my shot. It didn’t take long, and I let my arrow loose. My target went down, and the others ran away. I slowly walked over to the downed stag to make sure it was dead.

William came up beside me, “Good shot.”

“Thank you. I’ll carry it on my shoulders, you carry the bow and quiver.”

He nodded and did as I asked. We strolled back to our cabin, smiling broadly.

Chapter 9

Lilyann and her group were tracking through the forest, Emoli and Nikki talking up a storm and saying how boring it was, Tianna quietly scanning for any dangers lurking.

“How much farther, ladies?” Emoli complained.

“Almost there, it should be right over the next hill and we’ll be able to see the farm,” Cellina replied.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the group came up on the outskirts of a farm and the feline beastkin halted their progress.

“Why are we stopping?” Tianna asked while scanning the area. She saw a cabin, barn, and what looked to be construction. A new house? The drow saw the garden as well.

“Just making sure someone is home,” Lilyann advised.

The group waited and waited before Nikki sighed, “Nobody is home. Where are they?”

Emoli agreed with her friend. Lilyann ignored them. “We will wait for a few more minutes before making our way over.”

They waited for another five minutes before Tianna got up and looked over at the beastkin ladies. “Time is up.”

They nodded and started walking towards the farm, but movement came from the east and they stopped to look over in that direction. Two males came from the forest, a young beastkin no more than a teenager was walking with a bow and quiver next to a grown male with no shirt on, carrying a stag on his shoulders.

Tianna whispered, “Holy shit!”

Nikki and Emoli went wide-eyed while Lilyann and Celina smiled.

Tianna got herself together first. “Who is that? And where are his women?”

“Yeah, man candy like that should have at least five hanging around,” Nikki agreed with the older drow.

Lilyann replied smugly, “He doesn’t have any.”

The new ladies gasped out, “WHAT?!”

Celina nodded. “Yeah, that’s Dominic. He told us that he doesn’t need anyone to take care of him. Looking at his kill and the work he is doing to this farm, I would have to agree with him.”

Although, since the man had got himself captured, he needed to get some help.

They all nodded and watched him start cleaning their kills. Emoli whistled, “Damn, Mom. That is one good looking man.”

Tianna chortled. “Yeah, hon. He is. I’m not sure I can move right now, if I do then a lot of fluid will be running down my leg.”

The rest giggled, Nikki nodded. “My thong is soaked as well, Tianna.”

Emoli smirked at her mom, “I’ll have to agree with both of you. My undies are wet.”

“We’ll wait until he’s finished dressing the animals before moving.  We don’t want to spook him,” Celina suggested, ogling the handsome man.

They all nodded and waited for Dominic to finish. When it was time, Lilyann spoke as she started to move.

“Let’s go, ladies.”

They followed after her, but Tianna asked with concern, “Are you certain that we’re welcome? We don’t exactly look like the typical women that he probably hangs around.”

Lilyann and Celina didn’t answer, just kept walking.

~~~~~~

We unloaded our kills onto the porch of the cabin. I walked inside to grab the rope as he put the bow and quiver away. There was a tree nearby, so I strung up the deer and cleaned it. The boy was curious, so I showed him my process. I had him clean the rabbits and we skinned them as well for the pelts. I didn’t know what people there bought yet, but had numerous inside the cabin to sell if permitted. I put the meat into butcher paper to store in the cold room. I was going to use the rabbit for stew that night.

“You think they’ll be back?”

I didn’t know who he was referring to, “Who?”

“Lily and Celina.”

Shrugging, I answered, “Not sure. They have jobs, so who knows?”

The ladies hadn’t been around in some time, over two weeks. I looked over his work and smiled. “Good job, buddy. Let’s clean up and go inside, you need to continue your letters.”

He groaned but complied. The boy washed up and started lighting the cookstove while I went outside to clean up. I was in the middle of washing the blood off when I heard a voice call out, “Hello, neighbor.”

I knew that voice and looked up to see Lily, Celina and three other women, all gorgeous, staring at me. Finishing up, I dried myself off and started walking over. Two of the newcomers had dark black skin, almost obsidian in color, with white hair and crimson eyes. The other was a blonde with emerald green eyes. My mind immediately spat out, drow and nephilim. I knew from the games that I used to play that drow was another name for dark elf. A nephilim was a hybrid, the offspring of a fallen angel and a human. Huh. I wonder if there are any angels around. I wouldn’t mind meeting one of them.

The three new ladies all looked somewhat astonished and Lily and Celina seemed hesitant.

I decided to be friendly and smiled at them. “Ladies, it’s great to see you again.”

Lily responded with a smile of her own. “Dom, it’s always a pleasure to see you.”

Celina smirked. “It’s definitely a pleasure.” The three ladies beside her nodded in agreement.

“Dom, let me introduce you to the others. This is Tianna. Her daughter, Emoli, and Nikki is a friend of Emoli. Ladies, this is Dominic.”

We all nodded to each other and exchanged greetings. They continued to stare at me.

I chuckled and said, “You’re just in time. William and I brought back some kills and are about to start cooking.”

The blonde, Nikki, spoke out in a husky tone, “We know, handsome. We were watching. Never seen a male take care of himself before, at least not without his women watching over him.”

My left brow rose. “Well, from what I’ve seen around here, it’s not surprising. The ones I’ve seen are weaklings, lazy as well.”

The five ladies glanced at each other and started laughing. I didn’t think what I said was comical and waited for them to stop.

Celina spoke out before I could, “I told you, girls. He’s different.”

The older drow, Tianna, responded to the feline beastkin, “He is at that.”

She looked me up and down, making me feel like I was her next meal. Not letting that get to me, I just stood there and said, “Well, I need to check on my ward to make sure he’s not having issues with dinner. Feel free to look around ladies, have Lily and Celina show you. They know where everything is at.”

I went inside to see William at the stove. He looked up when I came in.

“We have visitors.”

He smiled. “I know, heard your conversation.”

Huh, he must have good hearing to do that from here.

“Well, we have five extra joining us.”

William grunted and I walked over to the stove. Not knowing when the women would come in, I cut up the rabbit and threw it in a pan then placed it on the grate to sear. William prepared the veggies as I was watching over the meat. He placed them into the pot with water and gave it to me. When the meat was seared, I put it on a plate and took the pot of vegetables to place on the stove. While it was cooking, I threw some flour in to thicken the broth then spices and cream for a little flavor. I also poured the juices still in the pan from the rabbit into the pot.

Letting it cook for a few minutes, I had William start back on his letters and words. He was getting a handle on some words. I watched over the meal and felt someone come up behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Lily smiling at me.

“Hello, Dom. Celina is taking them on a tour.”

I nodded and kissed her on the cheek. She gasped but grinned. “How have you been?”

She lost the smile and looked down. I was confused by this.

“Are you okay?”

She sighed and said, “No, Dom. We’re not. Things haven’t worked out for us in Capena. They treat us like shit and take what taxes they want at any time. The others have fled to other towns in search of work. We will lose our home by the end of the month.”

I didn’t know what to say, that wasn’t right, but me saying so wouldn’t change anything.

Thinking it over, it was true I had plenty of room and would like to have adult conversation again…

After a moment, I grabbed Lily’s hand and spoke, “What do you need from me?”

She looked away and didn’t speak for a couple of moments. She finally whispered, “Can we stay here? We will work for our room and board.”

I hesitated. I looked over at William, he was following our conversation and immediately went back to his paper. “All of you?”

She shrugged, “Not sure, at least Tianna, Celina, and myself.”

“I have no problem with all of you staying. Are they hard workers? Because I won’t accept laziness.”

She had tears in her eyes and smiled. “Thank you. I didn’t know what we would have done if you said no.”

I put my arms around her, and she immediately melted into me. I kissed the top of her head and she shuddered. I let her go and she stepped back, tears streaming down her face.

“No tears, Lily.”

She nodded and sniffled while wiping them off. I went back to watching the meal. It was time to add the meat, so I scraped it into the pot and stirred it, then went to grab some water.

“What can I do to help?”

“We have lots of milk in the cold room, grab some and also some of the fresh fruit as well.”

She nodded and walked off. William came over and put his hand on my shoulder. “She’s yours from now on, probably Celina as well. They won’t ever leave until you tell them to.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

He chuckled. “Loyalty. Your house just became theirs. They will help in any way they can in exchange for making their lives better.”

I nodded and sighed, knowing this was about to get complicated. Lily came back to the room with milk and fruit. She laid them on the counter and washed the berries, humming to herself. Guess she was feeling better. I heard footsteps hurriedly coming towards the house.

They came rushing in, chattering non-stop. Nikki put one of the cold boxes on the table, reverently. Maybe she thought it was fragile?

“Where did you get this?” the nephilim asked in her husky voice.

William was trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Lily didn’t know why they were making such a fuss and came over to see the cold box.

She inspected it, then gasped and went wide-eyed as she looked up at me.

“I found it,” I shrugged.

Tianna scoffed, “That’s bullshit! There wouldn’t be two of them.”

“What’s the big deal, ladies?” I already knew what it was, they had never seen anything like it before.

Celina cleared her throat before speaking. “Dom, nothing like this exists here. At least, none of us have ever seen or heard of them.”

Tianna nodded. “Can you please be honest with us and let us know where you got these?”

I didn’t figure they would look in them when I left the boxes out. William just looked on, waiting for my answer.

“I made them.”

The ladies were shocked.

“Dom, you made them?” Lily was fascinated.

“Yeah, it’s just a small cold room. Again, not a big deal.”

Nikki scoffed and shook her head. “Dominic, this is a portable cold room. Nobody has one or can even make one. That skill has been lost, no one other than the dwarves has that knowledge anymore. Even then, in my thousand years of being alive, I’ve never seen this. And you stand there and act like this creation is of no consequence.”

Tianna spoke up after her, “She’s right. This device will change everything. How the hell did you make it?”

Celina and Lily were worried, they knew what my secret was. William stared at me, and I nodded at him. He immediately took the dagger out of the sheath and slammed it into the table.

The ladies went defensive immediately. The ground underneath the cabin started shaking. The nephilim sprouted black wings. Her hair changed from blonde to black and dark armor flowed over certain parts of her body, ending with a long bastard sword in her hands. It only took a few seconds and she was ready for battle. Damn, that was hot. I looked over at the drows, they were in a defensive stance. They had to be mages of some sort; the ground shaking wasn’t a coincidence.

The nephilim barked, “Why the hell did you do that, little one?!”

William cackled at the three in front of him. “You should’ve seen your faces.”

Celina went over and smacked the poor boy on the back of the head. “William, that was dumb. They could’ve killed you for that stunt.”

He shrugged. “It was Dom’s idea.”

They looked over and I chuckled. “Take it easy. It’s not like he threw the dagger at anyone. Instead of looking at the boy or me, how about you check out where the dagger is.”

They turned toward the table and gasped. The magic dissipated immediately and Emoli pulled the dagger out of the table to look it over.

“No visible scratches, nicks, or breaks. The edges are still sharp and… yep, there are runes on it. It’s enchanted.”

She let Nikki look it over and then Tianna checked it out. They shook their heads. Nikki was the first to figure it out. “You’re an enchanter.”

The drows gasped again and looked at Celina and Lily for confirmation. They just smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. I’m a novice enchanter, but I can also do this…” I spoke in elven and then nephilim. That threw them again. Nikki was shocked. Tianna and Emoli blinked rapidly. No one spoke again for a minute or so. I heard the stew boiling so I went over and stirred it, almost done.

While I was doing that, Tianna spoke up to break the silence, “You’re a very special individual, Dominic.”

Nikki nodded. “Yes, he is. Which brings up questions in our minds. Where are your women? Why don’t you have any?”

I scoffed, “Look, Nikki, I don’t need anyone to coddle me nor watch my every move. Thanks for your concern, though.”

Well, that was a put on because I actually needed help with things.

She shook her head and was about to respond when Tianna beat her to it.

“She’s not trying to belittle you, Dominic. You have rare gifts and our world is a dangerous place. You may be able to take care of yourself, but for someone with your skills, it will bring trouble.”

“Yes, Mother. We’ll need to keep this a secret. If someone finds out that he can enchant, everyone will be after him to join their family or kingdom,” Emoli said.

Well, damn. I sighed and shook my head while I took the pot off of the stove. The ladies whispered to each other. I grabbed some bowls and made sure they were clean before setting them on the table. I picked up the cold box and placed it in the corner for now, then went back to grab a towel to put on the table for the pot to sit on. Grabbing some bread, I sliced it and placed it onto a plate of its own before taking it to the table. The ladies for some reason had gone outside to talk. I snorted and grabbed the pot to set it on the table before sitting down.

“William, can you go and let them know the food is ready?”

He snickered and put his papers away before doing what I asked. I waited for them to come back in. Everyone sat down except Lily and Celina. The duo grabbed the milk and fruit to bring over to the table, then grabbed some cups out of the cabinet. I gestured for them to go first. Eventually I got some stew and devoured it with bread. There were moans all around the table, it would seem they liked the food.

Nikki told me about herself, that she wasn’t confined to one element of magic; she could create spells from different spheres. I then asked what that meant.  She advised that it was tiers of magic. The elements were air, earth, fire, and water. There was also mind, nature, and void spheres. Nikki stated we would go over all that later since I was unfamiliar with these concepts.  She seemed a little suspicious and like she didn’t want to reveal too much.

Damn, should’ve studied that book on the shelf in the hallway. Oh well.

Emoli licked her lips and said, “Damn, the man can cook too. Has anyone caught your fancy, stud? Can I put in my application?”

The ladies looked at her a moment before giggling. William chuckled as well. I shrugged and smiled. “What are your qualifications?”

That made it worse because the women cackled then, at least for five minutes. I just ate my fruit and rolled my eyes, waiting for the laughter to end. Finally, it stopped, and they looked at me, noticing my demeanor, they cleared their throats and went back to eating. I got up to clean, but Emoli stopped me.

“You cooked our meal, so we’ll clean up.”

They all agreed and started the work. I waited and drank some milk. It didn’t take them long since they worked together. They came back over and sat down when they were done.

Tianna spoke up after a few moments of silence, “Umm… can we talk about some things?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, first off, Lily told you of our situation. She relayed your conversation, and we just want to verify it.”

“I have no problem helping you ladies out. How many of you want to stay?”

Three responded immediately, Emoli and Nikki hesitated.

“I have a job and home in Strongfair. Emoli can live with me if she wants,” Nikki said.

I nodded and looked over at Emoli. She returned my gaze for a few moments before looking down.

“I don’t know what to do. I’ll probably go live with Nikki, but… if it doesn’t work out, can I come back here?”

I shrugged and replied, “You can come when you want, stay a few days or weeks. Just know that we will all chip in to keep this place running.”

She smiled and nodded.

Tianna asked, “Dominic, why do you have that many chickens and dairy cows?”

I chuckled. “Got a good deal on them and helped the families out at the same time. I want to make my farm self-sufficient. Eggs are a given, milk will help provide other supplies like butter, cream, and cheese. I won’t have to get those items from the store every few days.”

Plus, I knew that people would join me here eventually, but didn’t relay that information.

She nodded at my answer and then shook her head. “It’s just mind blowing that you have this setup here. To top that off, you’re an enchanter. Just crazy.”

Nikki smiled. “I saw your forge out there. Are you into metallurgy?”

“Not yet, read some books about it. It came with the land when I acquired it.”

The nephilim grunted. “The reason I asked is because I’m an apprentice.”

“Wow, that’s cool. When everything settles down, then I’ll try and make some daggers to sell.”

“Enchanted?”

I didn’t answer for a few moments, but nodded.

Nikki sighed. “I can only imagine what will happen when they circulate in our society. Things are going to change ladies and fast if our host keeps creating enchanted objects.”

“It certainly will. What are you going to use those portable cold boxes for?” Emoli asked.

“I’m thinking about opening up a booth in town to sell what I can. With all the surplus of milk, eggs, and vegetables, it would bring in coin.”

Tianna said, “It will keep the products cold, good idea. Will you let us join you on that?”

Lily and Celina nodded with the drow.

“Sure, I have no problem with it. You ladies can come and go as you please. Just because you’re staying here doesn’t mean that you can’t leave.”

They nodded and Lily asked, “What about the cold box? Are you going to sell them as well?”

The others looked intrigued at that, but I just shrugged and said, “I’m not sure. It may cause trouble for us. At least not at first, when we get settled and start bringing in coin, then we will vote on it.”

Nikki responded with a nod, “I think that would be best.”

Celina spoke up, “Dom, you’ll need to have escorts when you leave at any time. That way no one will be suspicious.”

She looked at me intently. She was concerned now that I had already been kidnapped.

Tianna said, “She’s right. Also, if you are going to have a booth then a woman will be in charge and start asking questions if you don’t have any ladies with you.”

Sighing, I said, “Okay, I’ll get some escorts. Any of you know anyone that would be inclined to help?”

I tried to keep a straight face when everyone at the table gasped and started yapping like Chihuahuas from back home. They argued that they were already there so why would I need to bring in anyone else right now? Celina and Lily were particularly put out by my question. I chuckled and told them that I had been joking.

“Okay, ladies. I’ve got chores and work to do tomorrow. There are three bedrooms, talk amongst yourselves over sleeping arrangements. I need to check on the horses. William, let’s go.”

He nodded and we walked to the barn. When we were inside the boy gave me his opinion, “Dom, I know that we haven’t known each other for very long, but I agree with those women. The things you can do are special, even though you can take care of yourself, that doesn’t mean you have to. Especially since you were kidnapped.”

I grunted and said to the teenager, “For one so young, you sure can come up with mature opinions.”

He chuckled and we made sure the animals didn’t need anything. The boy was going to stay in the barn tonight, giving his bed up. I nodded and told him it was a gentlemanly thing to do. I walked back to the cabin and saw Lily by herself in the kitchen.

She noticed me and came over. “Dominic, the others have gone to their rooms. If you let me, I’ll accompany you to bed.”

She definitely had lust in her eyes. I responded carefully, “Lily, is this what you want? I don’t want you to think that it’s a requirement for living here.”

“We know that it isn’t a requirement. The answer is yes, I want to warm your bed. We don’t have to do anything if you are uncomfortable…” After finishing her statement, she bit her lower lip.

“Alright, let’s go to bed.”

We went in and the door wasn’t even closed all the way before she stripped out of her clothes, leaving the pile off to the side. She didn’t take off her panties until I was looking at her, they were a string thong type. Huh, that was interesting, didn’t think this world would have anything like that but was glad to see it. The woman was drop dead sexy. Just thinking about holding onto her horns while I face fucked her was getting me aroused. She climbed up on the bed, crawling on all fours. She showed me her goods while looking over her shoulder at me.

“See anything you like?”

I chuckled and said, “As a matter of fact, I do.” I slipped out of my clothes and walked over.

Lily whistled and said, “Damn, you are gorgeous. It still blows my mind that you don’t have any women yet.”

“Well, it would seem that I have one in my bed.”

She gasped and hope was in her eyes. “What are you saying, Dom?”

“We will take it day by day to get to know each other, Lily. Would you like that?”

Lily smiled but lost it. “I would love the opportunity. What about Celina? Tianna?”

I turned down the covers and we got under them before I answered, “If they want the same then I don’t have a problem with it. It would seem that Nikki and Emoli are lovers, I don’t expect them to stay for that.”

She snuggled up to me, her big, soft breasts were just begging to be sucked on. “I’m not sure that they are lovers, though.”

I nodded and blew the candle out. At that moment, I thought about making a lamp or something for better lighting, but shook my head away from those thoughts. I had a beautiful woman in my bed wanting to do everything except sleep. It was going to be a great night.

Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning with a smile smeared across my face and gently got up, trying not to wake Lily. After taking care of my morning business, I went into the kitchen to find Celina and Tianna already making breakfast.

I grinned and called out, “Good morning, ladies. Did you sleep well?”

They looked up and smirked. Celina said, “It is a good morning, sleep didn’t come at first. Someone was making lots of noise throughout the night. Did you even get any sleep?”

I chuckled and nodded. “I did.”

Tianna snickered. “You must’ve worn the poor woman out, is she going to join us?”

I shrugged and sat down after getting some coffee. Celina brought over a plate of eggs and bacon. I thanked her and started eating. She put her hand up under my chin and gently raised it, “I’ve got dibs on tonight. You okay with that?”

Swallowing my food, I looked over at Tianna. She just stared back with no sign of emotion. I replied to the feline beastkin, “If that’s your wish, but it’s really not a requirement to live here, ladies.”

Tianna spoke up at that, “We know, Dominic. But if you don’t have a problem coupling with us, then I would like my own turn as well.”

Damn, brazen women. “I don’t have any problems with it, ladies.”

They smiled and went back to eating. Nikki and Emoli came in looking like they didn’t get much sleep. I chuckled but didn’t say anything, just finished eating. I was going to fetch William, but he came into the cabin.

“William, eat up. We have chores to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

The women glanced at each other, smiling for some reason. I drank two glasses of milk and washed the mug before walking to the barn. It wasn’t long before I had helpers. Tianna, Lily, Celina, and William came in and started in on our daily jobs. The work was done in no time.

“Dominic, do you have the tools and ingredients to make the butter and cream?” Lily asked while she was milking a cow.

Tianna snorted and said to Celina, “I thought you would have figured that he had the right tools for cream last night.”

Celina snickered and Tianna followed after a few moments. I smirked. Lily glared at the duo, “That’s not the cream I was talking about, ladies. If you need to know, he definitely has the right tool for man cream. He shot it all over my body, inside and out.” She turned back to me and said, “We can get started on them if you like.”

After laughing softly and thinking about it for a few moments, I replied, “I don’t have all the ingredients, but the tools are on a shelf in the closet right by the door to the barn.”

“Shall we go and get them today?” Celina asked as she picked up an egg basket.

I thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, we have a lot of stock. I also need to get some bows.”

Tianna questioned me, “What do you need more bows for?”

William replied before I could, “Weapons.”

I looked over at him. He hadn’t even looked up when he spoke. I nodded and said, “That’s correct. We’ll need them in the coming days.”

“I agree with Dominic. They’ll be needed,” Nikki gave her opinion as her and Emoli came into the barn.

I stared at her, but didn’t say anything else about it. Finishing up with the morning chores, we stored all the items in the cold room. The others went to the garden to see if any weeding needed to be done. I came back out to check on the smokehouse and Tianna came over to see what I was building.

“Looks almost done, what’s that space down on the ground for?”

“I’ll need fire bricks to complete it.”

She nodded and smiled. “Planning on getting a lot of meat, are we?”

I chuckled. “I suppose, but this building will help keep the meat preserved and also add flavoring too.”

Emoli came up with Nikki and looked over the little building. “Isn’t that what a cold room is for? Preservation?”

“Yes, but if we run out of room, we can use this as well.”

Nikki shook her head and turned to William who was standing nearby. “William, learn everything you can from Dominic. It seems that he is definitely smart. Finally, after all these years, I have met a man that doesn’t need his nose wiped.”

My right brow rose at her comment, the ladies snickered. William smiled. “I plan on it. He’s already teaching me my letters and we’re starting on writing words. In the afternoons if we have time, we go hunting.”

Tianna looked at me. “Wow, teaching survival skills and reading. You are a unique fella.”

I grunted and made a list in my head of the supplies I needed. “Does anybody need anything from town?”

The women said they didn’t, but in a couple of days, they needed to go shopping for some clothes.

I continued, “William, can you get the Jutlands ready?”

William bowed his head and did what was asked. I nodded to the women, went to the hiding place for my coin and grabbed what I thought was needed before walking out of the room. I picked up my weapons and went back outside to see if the wagon was ready. I got up on the wagon and sat down in the middle, but before taking off, Nikki sat down in a flash beside me.

She stared at me in a defiant manner for a few moments, then grinned. “Hon, you didn’t think you were going by yourself, did you?”

The other ladies snickered. Tianna came over and said, “Nikki is the most powerful of us, she volunteered to go with you. The rest of us will continue to work around the farm. Would it be alright if Emoli and I worked on the new house?”

I froze.

The two women are earth mages. I’m a dumbass.

“Yes, that will be great. Thank you.”

Emoli smirked. “Take care of him, Nikki. He’s very valuable.”

I scoffed and Nikki grinned. “I’ll not let him out of my sight. If we’re late, then don’t wait up for us.”

I shook my head as the entire group, including William, laughed. We drove out of the access road and headed to Capena, chatting the whole way. She was a lovely woman, beautiful, but so much more. Intelligent, sassy, and witty. Nikki asked me about my life, I only let her know about certain things.

“Why are you letting those women stay with you? Are your intentions honorable?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll have my way with all of them and when I’ve had my fun, I will have them go on their merry way.”

She gasped in mock horror, but then asked, “Me as well?”

I stared at her, trying to figure out if she was asking for real or not. The woman was good at facial expressions, but I saw in her eyes that she meant it. “You’re next. Matter of fact, on our way back I’ll stop in a secluded area to hide the wagon. Then I’ll rip your clothes off, suck on those lovely tits, eat your pussy, and thrust my cock into it until you scream my name.”

She was flustered now, starting to breathe heavily. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Dominic.”

“What makes you think I won’t?”

Nikki looked away and stared at the road ahead and to the east. “My kind is… well, let’s just say that we aren’t liked. I have lived for a thousand years and have only been a part of one family. Even then it wasn’t mutual, they just wanted my power to boost them. When Lucas passed, we split and went our separate ways. Over the years, I have only had a few friends. I’ve worked many jobs to make ends meet, just aimlessly moving around. Until Emoli came into my life, it was dull and boring. We became fast friends and eventually lovers. She keeps me on my toes.”

I nodded. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

She chuckled. “We’ll see, Dominic. Three women already want you, not sure if you can handle all of us from the beginning.”

She was probably right.

“Look, I’m not here to take in as many women as possible. They needed help and I will provide what I can. If and when they want to leave, then they can. I’ll help you as well if you need any.”

Nikki shook her head and said, “Unless you do something heinous or throw them out then they will be with you from now on.” She then spoke in a whisper, “if… I wouldn’t say no if you would allow me to partake in pleasure in your bed.”

I looked over and smiled. “What about out in the woods or on the side of the road?”

She stared at me in annoyance. “If that’s what you want, but I would prefer to keep it in private quarters.”

I smirked, but didn’t say anything else. We came up on the outskirts of Capena and I remembered what Celina had told me about not being allowed on this side of town.

“Celina told me they weren’t allowed on this side of the town or it was frowned upon. I can’t remember for sure. What about you?”

She shrugged and replied, “They won’t know unless I show them my true form.”

I smiled and bumped her shoulder. “Your true form is badass. It was definitely hot when you changed.”

The nephilim blushed and turned, but I caught a smile on her face. She said in a low voice, “Thank you for the compliment.”

I drove to the livery and parked the wagon. Making sure Felicia or Helen weren’t around, I paid the fee to have the Jutlands reshod, fed, and watered. We walked over to the smithy and bought the bricks that I needed, then went to the hardware store and purchased the items that were on our list. They kept our purchases behind the counter until we were ready to leave.

I looked over at the blonde bombshell. “Do you need any clothing, Nikki?”

She didn’t say anything at first, but sighed and responded, “Yes, Dominic. Like I said, making ends meet.”

I put an arm around her shoulders and guided her to the clothier. She tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t let her. We went inside and a dainty elf came over.

“Good morning. My name is Talia, how may I be of service?”

Nikki didn’t say anything, so I answered, “Good morning, Talia. This lovely woman has lost her suitcase with most of her clothing. She needs a full set of everyday clothing, riding skirts, dresses, and undergarments. The last that I named need to include garter belts, stockings, bras, and panties. Preferably transparent, lace, and thongs. Numerous pairs.”

Both women went wide-eyed at my order. Nikki started stammering excuses, but I sweetly told the saleswoman, “She’s embarrassed about this whole ordeal. My lady here needs these items. Can you help me out?”

The elf smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir. It will be a pleasure. Give me a moment and I’ll grab some outfits to choose from.”

We nodded and watched the elf walk away. Nikki grabbed my arm and pulled me down. “Why are you doing this? I can’t afford it.”

I patted her hand and said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s my treat.”

She gasped and her eyes went big. “No, Dominic. I will not have a man that I just met do this for me. When people are courting or joining a family, the woman is supposed to purchase everything for the male, not the other way around.”

I chuckled and shook my head at that, it was the opposite on Earth. “Are we courting?”

Her cheeks went crimson and she looked away, but didn’t respond.

“I want to do this for you. The others will get the same treatment.”

Nikki closed her eyes, but didn’t speak for almost a minute. “Okay. I will take you up on that offer. Just know that I will be giving a private showing later on, especially the undergarments.” I smiled and nodded, and she continued, “I mean it. No one has ever done this for me, Dominic.”

I winked and pulled out a gold coin, reached under her blouse and put it in her bra. She smirked and kissed me on the cheek. Talia came back at that time and shuffled Nikki to the back. At first, I just stood there waiting until they were done, but after a while I picked out a few items for myself.

An hour later, she was done, and we paid the saleswoman. She said, “It will be a short wait while we get everything packed up.”

“Nikki, are you hungry?”

“I am. Let’s go to the diner.”

I nodded and we walked out arm in arm. We didn’t make it halfway when I heard my name.

“Dominic!”

I looked over to see Abby and Julia running our way. Nikki scoffed and said in a low voice, “Who are they?”

I laughed softly. “Daughters of the women that I used to date.”

The nephilim didn’t respond with words, she plastered herself to my side as the teenagers came our way. Both of the young women were indeed beautiful. They were out of breath when they stopped in front of us.

“Ladies, how are you today?”

Abby took a deep breath to calm down. “Can we talk to you? Please?”

I narrowed my eyes, knowing what they were going to say, or at least some of it. Julia was looking back and forth from me to Nikki.

“Abby, Julia, this is Nikki.” They all glared at each other. I smirked. The teens would get slaughtered if it came to blows.

“We were just going to get some lunch. Would you care to join us?”

When they realized I wasn’t joking, they agreed. We strolled over and got a table. The waitress got our orders and brought us some rolls to eat.

“Now, what did you want to talk about?”

Abby went first, “We’re sorry about the bullshit our moms did to you. We gave them shit for a few weeks before we had it out with them.”

Julia went on, “Mom was the instigator, Dominic. Isabella was a victim. I know that she could have said no, but it happened. She blew up and hasn’t talked to my mother since. She’s depressed and withdrawn. The relationship that they were building with you was shattered.”

Abby continued, “Mom thought it was innocent fun, but Felicia had an ulterior motive.”

“Helen got to her.”

I had figured that out while I was in a cage.

The young women nodded and then shook their heads. While they were talking, Nikki was still hanging on my arm.

“What is it you want me to do?”

“Will you speak to my mom? Please?” Abby pleaded.

I glanced at Nikki, she shrugged. I grunted and spoke, “I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

They didn’t like it but nodded.

“Where have you been, Dominic? We haven’t seen you in almost two months,” Julia asked.

“Held prisoner.”

“What?”

I showed them the burn marks, “Yep. For almost a month, in a cage.”

The trio stared at me in horror. Nikki was the first to say anything, “Why didn’t you tell us? We would’ve hunted them down.”

The nephilim’s eyes glowed and I knew she was about to change. I immediately grabbed her and planted my lips on hers. Nikki didn’t know what to think for a few moments, but kissed me back, passionately. We split apart, and she calmed down and sighed. After a few moments, she rested her head on my shoulder. The teenagers blurted out questions.

“Damn, Dom. Are you alright?”

“What happened?”

“I’m fine. It’s kind of funny. The day that it happened was when I found your moms were doing naughty things. After I left …”

I told them the story as the food arrived. When I was done, they had stopped eating. I had no problems finishing mine.

Nikki said in a low voice, “You killed Espa’s gang?” and I nodded. She kissed me on the cheek and smiled, “Damn, hon. They’ve been causing chaos for years. Nobody knew where they were working out of.”

Julia nodded, shocked. “Yeah. We had a friend who was kidnapped a few years back. We’re glad you’re still alive, Dominic.”

I winked at her and they went back to eating. After dessert, we left. I had been thinking about what the girls had asked.

“Tell Isabella that when I come back to town, I’ll talk with her. It may be a couple of weeks though.”

They nodded and smiled. I kissed them on their cheeks before we walked away. The two teenagers blushed hard, which I found amusing.

Nikki and I went to the bowyer to pick up three more bows with quivers and then stopped at Branchet’s to pick up some supplies as well.  We picked up all of our purchases and piled them onto the wagon, then rode out of town.

Chapter 11

Nikki was quiet until we were a mile away from Capena.

“What happened with those women?”

I looked over and answered, “We were courting. I thought it was going well, but ended up walking in on them fucking a husband and wife. I had a weird feeling regarding Felicia, Julia’s mom. We were out to dinner and her boss’s family came up, they talked and completely ignored me, and the husband. Not caring at all, and for the rest of the dinner, she seemed to bring up Helen a lot. I suspected Felicia had feelings for her, so I made sure we didn’t get intimate before I was sure. It would seem that my judgment was correct.”

Nikki sat there in her own world. It was a few minutes before she spoke again. “Dominic, what are your goals in life?”

“To live off the land, make some money, and have a family, kids.”

“I understand that, but why now? I mean, you didn’t have any women protecting you, but it’s easy to see that you are prepared to take care of yourself. Why are you in the market now for contracts?”

“Contracts?”

“Yeah, you know, they are used for bonding husband and wives.”

Slowly nodding, I kept calm, “To answer your question, I’ve found that it will be difficult to move forward without a family to have my back. Also, you ladies don’t have to do anything. They asked for help and I’m doing just that.”

“No, Dominic, it’s much more than that,” the nephilim sighed. “You just bought me clothes and food, and you’re going to be doing the same things for the others. Not to mention, they’re able to stay at your farm. All you have to do is ask and they will hand you those contracts without a word. Of course, you need to have an official perform the ceremony, but that’s just a formality.”

I didn’t know what to say to that at first but responded carefully a minute later, “If they want that, then we’ll cross that bridge when it happens. They are beautiful and intelligent ladies. Not sure why no one has brought them into their families, but if it happens to be me, then I will smile and consider myself lucky every day.”

“And if Emoli and I wanted to join?”

My brow furrowed. “They have families that include mother and daughter?”

She nodded and said, “Yes, it’s rare but it happens.”

I thought about it and nodded. “If you ladies want to join, then we will talk about it. You and Emoli will have to discuss your intentions with the others first. Just know that I’m not a demeaning or demanding male.”

Nikki kissed my cheek. “I’m well aware of your character. I’m also very aware how you make everyone feel.”

“Okay.” I cleared my throat and asked, “And how do I make everyone feel?”

She gave me a look that said I should know, but replied, “You make us all feel welcome, comfortable, and relaxed. Not having to take care of an arrogant prick or pussy is exhilarating. All the women at your home almost swoon when you walk into the room.”

“What?” I scoffed. “Why would they do that?”

Nikki snickered and answered, “Because you have no problem taking any of us to bed.”

She got serious after that statement. “All of the women in Risona have one thing in common, even if they don’t admit it to anyone. We all crave a man’s touch.”

“Crave, huh?” I rubbed her back and she shuddered, guess she was telling the truth. We rode in silence after that. I was still scanning the area for any trouble because the last time I got caught off guard and I’d be damned if some stupid bitch was out in the middle of the road. I tensed and Nikki sat up straight.

I slowed down to a stop and watched the person, a barbarian. She had to be my height, dark hair and tan skin, standing twenty feet ahead of me.

“Stop right there, handsome. We mean no harm, at least not yet. We just want to talk, hand over your money and weapons.”

I almost started laughing at the irony of the situation. But held it in when eight more showed their faces. Five elves, two lamias, and a fuckin gnome. The elves had blonde, red, and white hair, tall as well. The gnome wasn’t even five foot tall with green hair. I recognized one of the lamias, as I placed my hands on my bow and quiver.

“Uh uh, nice and slow there hon. Where are the rest of your women? After what happened last time, they shouldn’t have left you out of their sight, eh Diedra?”

The blonde elf snickered. “That’s right. I say we kill the woman and take him with us. He’s already used to being a sex toy. We can take over here since Espa was taken out.”

The others agreed.

“Let the lamias live,” I whispered. “Everyone else we eliminate. I’ll explain when this is over.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, but nodded her assent. A calm came over me that I’d never felt before. It was like my body had been taken over by someone else while I watched in the background. I saw myself pull the bow up and had three arrows within my fingers, two were on the seat of the wagon. When did I lay those there?

Nikki sat there beside me, waiting for my signal. Not knowing if they had magic or not, I didn’t think this would work, but my body evidently had a different opinion. I nocked the arrows and activated the runes on all five of them then let go one at a time. Faster than I thought possible, all of them were aimed at the elves. It took less than five seconds to shoot the five arrows and I threw down the bow before jumping off of the wagon and walked towards them. Nikki let loose as well, she shot off the wagon and headed for the barbarian and gnome.

Not one female that I shot at, defended themselves. I guessed they had a magical shield up and thought it would keep them safe. My arrows flew true and the elves went down with an arrow sticking out of their skulls. Still not knowing what was going on, I looked down to see that I had brought my sword with me. Huh, I guess to make sure they didn’t get up. Silence came over the area. I looked around to ensure that Nikki was taking care of the other two.

I scanned over the elves to make sure they were dead before looting the corpses of any valuables. I found over fifty silver in their pockets.

The lamias gasped and backed away when Nikki came near them. I strolled over and stopped ten feet away.

“Chalia, it’s nice to see you again.” The lamia was nervous. I continued, “I left you alive so that you could get on with your life, even giving you coin to do that. You have one chance to convince me not to kill you this time.”

Both lamias gasped at my words. Chalia stammered out, “I was going to…the group showed up a few days later. I was trying to figure out a way to get Nila out of her group before leaving. When they showed up, the group demanded to know who was responsible for Espa’s death. I told them and was hoping they would leave but it didn’t happen. They wanted all the information I had about you. I’m sorry, but I let them know how we caught you the first time. They waited every day for you to show. When the wagon passed, well, you know the rest.”

The lamias glanced at each other. Nikki came over to me, still in her true form.

“Where are your provisions?” I sighed. “I’m assuming they came with horses?”

She nodded and pointed. I looked over at Nikki. “Watch them.”

The nephilim nodded and I made my way into the woods. Movement caught my eye. Six horses were tied to the trees and grazing on the forest floor. Good. Let’s have a looksee, shall we? I walked over and examined the equine, all of them were well taken care of. I peeked inside one of the saddlebags, there were silver and gold coins. Also in the bags were jerky, cheese, and bread. I went back to the wagon to grab some rope before returning. I made a trail rope and brought the horses out of the forest. Attaching the six equines to the back of the wagon, I went to the saddlebag full of coins and put a handful into one of the packs full of food. I then picked it up to make my way back over to the lamias.

I gestured for Chalia to come over and she hesitantly did as asked. When she was within reach, I threw the pack down beside her. “Take the coin and food, go home or wherever you want. If I see you with bandits again, then I will take your life.”

She nodded and both took off through the woods. Nikki waited and walked me back to the wagon. She had changed back into her human form, so I helped her up since she had a dress on, before jumping up myself. I grabbed the reins, then set off. It wasn’t even a minute later that Nikki grabbed my face and kissed me soundly. When she let go, I gasped for air and shook my head, trying to shake the cobwebs out. Before I knew what was happening, Nikki had my cock out, slobbering all over it. I moaned out something as she bobbed her head up and down for a minute, then stopped and rose up.

Nikki looked at me with lust. “I need you in me. Now.”

I was going to stop the wagon so she could continue off the road. The nephillim had other ideas. She raised her butt off of the seat and pulled her dress up over her hips, showing me the naughty woman had a thong on. She pulled it to the side and straddled me in the reverse cowgirl position, then impaled herself on my rock hard cock. Both of us groaned and with her back against me, she started grinding. I only held the reins in my left hand now, but after a few moments, she took them from me.

“I will be our eyes. You just sit there and fuck me with that lovely cock. Also, fondle me! I love for my tits to be played with.”

I chuckled and did what she wanted. It wasn’t long before Nikki screamed out her first orgasm. She didn’t let up. I held on to her and guided her as she bounced up and down on my cock. Two orgasms later, I let my seed loose into this beautiful woman. Nikki sat there for a minute before lifting herself up just enough to let my cock fall out. A glob of semen plopped out and fell to the floor of the wagon. She panted and handed me the reins again before putting her thong back in place. After making sure everything was where it should be, she sat down and put her head on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Dominic,” she apologized. “After that ordeal I was so fuckin horny that I took advantage of you. In my defense, whenever a nephilim fights, adrenaline rises and bloodlust takes over. But when the fight is over our bodies turn that adrenaline to arousal. If a desired being is near, then we let loose. After watching you take down those elf bitches, I just had to have you.”

I laughed and responded, “If that happens every time then I’m all for taking down elf bitches.”

“Oh, don’t worry, hon,” she explained with a smile, lifting her head from my shoulder, “I’m not done with you. When we get back to the farm, then I would like for you to join me in your bedroom. Can I have that privilege?”

“That will be great,” I replied without hesitating.

“You were wonderful, by the way. Dangerous as well, not just in fighting. I’ll have to watch myself around you and definitely will have to talk with the others.”

I was confused. “Why?”

“Because… I didn’t wait my turn.”

I glanced over. She wasn’t playing. “There’s a schedule?”

“Yep.”  She didn’t elaborate.

I shook my head and watched the road as we traveled. It was some time later that she asked, “How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Kill those elves with just arrows. Their magic should’ve stopped them. I also felt some force mess with my magic as well. Was that you?”

I grunted and told her my secret. “Because I put a rune on them that nullifies magic. The rune is on all of my weapons. It repels magic within a certain area.”

She whipped around, wide-eyed. Whispering she clarified, “You have a rune that cancels out magic?”

I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. No one is going to take me prisoner again.”

The nephilim said in a low voice, “Shit, Dominic. You can’t… no one can know of this. Dammit, you…” She stopped her thought and was silent for a minute before rambling on, “We’re going to need more help. A lot more.”

“What?”

She answered quickly, “Nothing, hon. Don’t worry about it. I’ll have a meeting with the others to discuss some things, no need for further discussion.”

I shrugged, “Okay.”

She disappeared into her own little world, whispering to herself for the rest of the trip. When we arrived at the farm, we slowly made our way towards the barn. I noticed some changes already to the house. Instead of the outside walls being logs, there was a layer of granite in place, I wasn’t sure how thick. There was also bedrock underneath the house, as a foundation. Hmm. All that work for nothing. Oh well. It would be better in the long run.

The others saw us and waved, until catching sight of the horses attached to the wagon. I stopped it in front of the barn and got down. Nikki joined me and before we could move, Lily and the others were right there.

“What happened?” Lily demanded.

I looked around the group, they were all worried.

“We were attacked again.”

They gasped and started asking questions all at once. I held up my hand and waited for them to stop.

“Ladies, I threw the packs on the back of the wagon, go through them. Needs can be met now. William, please take care of the horses and park the wagon in the barn. Nikki and I need to have a private conversation.”

They nodded to the first part but were confused about the last. I strode back to the cabin, Nikki right behind me. I made it to my bedroom first and closed the door behind us when Nikki crossed the threshold. We smiled at each other as she sat on the bed.

I went over and pulled her up, she immediately threw herself at me and we kissed passionately. The two of us made out for a couple of minutes before she stepped back, throwing her clothes off as fast as possible. The woman was gorgeous. Tan skin, firm body, and perky tits. No tan lines, either. Damn, I wondered if they lay out in the sun like in my world. She had a thick blonde bush down below, and I mean all over. Looks like my blade may be of use. Nikki smiled as I gawked at her body, but moved over and took my trousers down, pulling my underclothes off as well.

She then held out her hand and waved it in a pattern. A moment later a gold light surrounded both of us and flashed. It blinded me for a moment.

“Cleaning spell,” she explained.

I actually felt clean. Huh, awesome! Nikki stared at my junk for a few moments before whistling, “It felt big on that wagon, but damn. You have a mighty weapon here, Dominic.”

Junior was pointed straight at the ceiling and was hard as steel. She pulled me over to the bed as I started kissing on her neck, and down, working on her big tits for a few minutes. Nikki’s breasts were a work of art, brown areolas with nipples that stuck out at least half an inch. I kneaded and sucked on them for at least five minutes before working my way down. Her moaning and mewling was loud, definitely could be heard from outside. I licked all around her belly button down to her big pussy lips.

The blonde bombshell moaned as I slurped on her labia, then shoved a finger into her sex. Working it in and out, she started bucking her hips when I sucked her love button in my mouth. The moment I inserted two fingers, she shrieked and fluids gushed out of her cunt onto my face and neck. I stood, lined junior up and slowly grinded on the outside of her lips, making sure my cock was somewhat lubricated. I then carefully slid him in till I was balls deep.

I could see she was coming down from her orgasm. I gave her time, let her get her bearings. I started out easy, in and out, in and out, not too far in, until her pussy was ready for more and I could drive my cock deep inside her.

~~~~~~

Lily and the others kept their eyes on the front entrance, waiting to see if they would join them.

“Why would they need to have a private conversation? They were by themselves for ages,” Tianna complained.

Celina shrugged, “Maybe the wind was too loud, or they were in shock after their ordeal.”

They weren’t saying much when they heard loud moans coming from the cabin.

Emoli snickered and shook her head. Celina hissed, “What the hell? Is she taking her turn out of order?”

“Sounds like it,” Lily chuckled.

Celina was moving towards the cabin about to have it out with the nephilim. Even though she was more powerful, the beastkin wasn’t going to let this slide. Emoli got in front of the feline and stopped her.

“Wait! Hold on, let me explain what’s going on.”

“Make it quick, otherwise get out of my way,” Celina responded in an icy calm voice.

Emoli took a breath before speaking. “Nephilims have a certain quirk after they battle. If they are still alive after the fight, their bodies turn the adrenaline and bloodlust to arousal and lust. If someone is near that they want to be intimate with, they let loose.”

This explanation caught the others by surprise. The noises from the cabin were getting louder, but nobody said a word. Suddenly, the group heard Nikki shriek in pleasure, and they knew she was indeed letting loose.

William, who had been checking on Coal and taking a piss, walked over to them. He snickered when he heard the noises coming from the cabin. “Sounds like they are getting acquainted.”

Emoli smiled and nodded, “Yeah.”

The three older women walked back towards the wagon to do as they were asked. William and Emoli led two of the horses into the corral when everyone heard Nikki yell out, “Yes, baby! Fuck my pussy! OH... OH... YES! YES! I’m cumming, Dominic!! I’m cumming, baby!”

“Damn, sounds like she’s having a good time.” Tianna smiled and looked over at the two beastkin.

Celina just grunted. Lily snickered and said, “Yep. The man knows how to give pleasure.”

They looked in the pack and saddlebags and found lots of coin. Celina and the others gasped; Tianna shook her head. “He wasn’t wrong. This money will buy us what we’ve been needing and more.”

Minutes went by and the cries got louder, the nephilim shouted more profanity and begged Dom to go faster and harder.

“That bitch had better leave some for me,” Celina said in a no-nonsense voice.

Lily laughed softly.

“Celina, calm down. You’ll get your chance later on.”

Celina hung her head and looked at the ground. “I know. It’s just… umm… it’s been a while.”

Tianna put her arm around the beastkin. “I feel the same, dear. But we can’t let our emotions ruin this. Dom has been generous, and we have no right to say anything about what he does. We can just give him opinions or suggestions about our experiences. Even if and when we do become a family, I doubt he will let us quarrel about things like this.”

“Probably not. He’ll go on his own path, but we can be there when he needs us,” Lily added.

They found other packages in the back, looked through them and found new clothing and other items.

Emoli and William came back.

“Looks like our nephilim got a new wardrobe,” Lily said as they scanned the packages.

Emoli nodded. “Yes, but these purchases weren’t bought by Nikki. She couldn’t afford them, and…” she held up a thong and garter belt, “it would seem that she’s dressing up for someone.”

Tianna smiled as she held up a pair of stockings. “So, he’s into lingerie.”

“Wonder if we get the same treatment?” Celina asked while looking over all the clothing.

“I hope so. My clothing has gotten a bit drab lately…”

The three older women looked over at Emoli.

“Have you changed your mind, hon?” Tianna asked.

Emoli shrugged and looked at the ground. “Just being here the past two days has been great. I don’t want to miss anything.”

The others chuckled. Lily smiled and said, “We need to get to the requests that Dom made.”

Chapter 12

We collapsed onto the bed, sweaty and breathing hard. Nikki did her thing and both of us were cleaned. She then scooted over and plastered her body to mine.

The nephilim whispered in my ear, “That was fantastic, Dom. Even though I may be banished from here, it was worth it.”

“I doubt they would do that.”

She smiled and scoffed, “Getting pushed to the side by another woman is a big deal. Especially if there is a schedule and we agreed on it.”

“We’re going to have a discussion about that.”

Nikki didn’t say anything. I kissed the top of her head and changed the subject.

“I know that it’s a bit late, but are you on a contraceptive?”

I wasn’t sure we needed any little ones running around at this point.

“Birth control?”

I nodded and she continued, “We have a spell in place for that. Hmm… I may need to make sure it hasn’t lost its potency though. I’ll check with the others as well. If we need to put a new one in place, then it won’t be a big deal.”

I sighed, and Nikki smirked. “Not wanting any kids, Dom?”

“Eventually, but not this early.”

Nikki kissed me tenderly. “Good, because I for one want children. I’ve been aching for years to be a mother. Don’t take that wrong though. We will take some time to get to know each other and then when the time is right…”

“I agree to that.”

“Hmm… the others will want kids as well, Dom.”

I grunted and went another direction, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have a question about your pubic hair.”

She looked at me curiously. “What about it?”

I answered carefully, “Is there a reason that you let it go without grooming or do you like it that way?”

The blonde sighed and replied, “The blades nick me and sometimes pull the hair out instead of cutting it. It’s very uncomfortable afterwards and itchy. The same thing happens to my armpits and legs, but it’s bearable and I’m used to it. Matter of fact, every female on Risona has this problem unless they are without hair everywhere except their head.”

“Would you groom down below if it wouldn’t hurt you?”

She thought about it and was staring at me with narrowed eyes. “I would, but not going to happen. Why are you asking this?”

I smiled and asked, “Would you try something out for me?”

The nephilim sat up and asked hesitantly, “What?”

I advised her to wait right there as I hurried to the kitchen to get the items needed. A few minutes later, I had a towel, a bowl of water, the bottles of shaving cream and moisturizer, and my blade. Setting the bowl down on the nightstand, I gestured for her to come to the edge of the bed and sit on the towel.

I held up the bottles and my blade. “These three items are something that I made the other day. You’ve heard of shaving cream?”

The blonde nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t get any because it felt unnecessary.”

“You should always use it, but that is beside the point. The other bottle is a moisturizer, which should help with the razor burn if you have any. Now, the blade you see in my hand has a rune on it which only cuts the hair on the body.”

I could see Nikki wanted to protest, but held her tongue and just nodded. I continued, “Would you like to try it out?”

She just looked at it like the blade was poisonous.

I sighed, thinking that I needed to shave today anyway. “Would you like for me to demonstrate?”

She nodded and while I was watching her, my hand took the blade and without any cream, I went down my face quickly. Nikki gasped and yelled out, “Dom!” She took my face in her hands, expecting to see a gash.

“No marks or blood, just a clean path.”

She took the blade from me and looked it over. A minute later, she put shaving cream on a spot below one of her knees. The blade went slowly up her leg, she smiled after realizing that the blade wasn’t going to hurt and before I knew it, Nikki had shaved her legs and armpits. After that, she shaved my face as well.

Cleaning up the shaving cream and drying off, Nikki applied the moisturizer as well. She shook her head. “Fuck, Dominic. Another invention that has the capability to take the world by storm.” She took a breath and stood up, showing me her nice legs. “Thank you for that, hon. It’s a wonderful blade. … Will you step out while I shave downstairs?”

I chuckled. “Are you serious?” I could see her naked right now, what did it matter if I stayed in the room or not?

“Yes. Please?”

I rolled my eyes thinking that it was crazy, but I nodded.

“Alright. Just put the items on the dresser when you’re done. I’ll clean them and put them up in the cupboard later.”

Guess it’s a good thing that I enchanted two more razors. The others will want to use them too.

I got dressed and she winked as I stepped out. I got some water and drank my fill.

The items that we purchased were on the table. We could get the cream, cheese, and butter made now. The saddlebags and the packs were also inside. Heading outside, I saw everyone working on different tasks. Emoli was over by the smokehouse, Tianna at the house, Lily and Celina were in the garden. I didn’t see William.

Lily saw me first and started my way, Celina and Tianna right behind her. Emoli finished what she was doing and came up last.

“Where’s William?”

“In the barn, feeding the horses. We’ll need to let them out and graze in the field. Feed is running out as well,” Lily replied.

Celina butted in, “Tell us what happened.”

I told them about going into town. Tianna and Emoli asked about Felicia and Isabella, they didn’t know who they were but were nervous now. I stopped the conversation. “Ladies, you have no need to be worried. You’re here and they aren’t. The daughters are acquainted with me, they want me to talk to Isabella to see if we can patch up the relationship. Not sure what will happen, but this happened before we met.”

They nodded and I went on, telling them about the journey home, minus the tryst on the wagon. About us being attacked. At that point, Nikki walked up. “Ladies, please forgive me. I…”

Holding up my hand at the argument that was about to happen, I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m not used to this, but I will not become some play thing for you women to pass around. If you want to use a schedule, then I won’t fight it, but during the day if the mood catches me, or any of you, then it should just happen normally and without any friction between you ladies. Everyone understand?”

They looked at each other and nodded before looking down. Lily voiced her concern, “We just went with what was custom, please don’t think that we see you as a fuck toy. That’s far from the truth, Dom.”

Celina came over to me and wrapped me in a tight embrace. “Honey, we are very sorry. We should’ve known that things would be different with you. Please forgive us.”

I hugged her back and said, “There isn’t anything to forgive. If you ladies live here, then we need open communication and no fighting amongst ourselves.”

They nodded.

Lily changed the topic. “Dom, we’ve been thinking. We don’t want you to sell any enchanted items yet. We’re not ready.”

They all nodded and Nikki put in her two cents’ worth, “I agree. And you’ll be even more convinced when I tell you what happened with those bandits. What Dom hasn’t told you yet, is how we killed them.”

They nodded and I rolled my eyes.

“Why are you about to spill my secret?”

She smiled and batted her eyes at me.

“Because… you said we need to communicate. I'm just following your commands.”

The others chortled at her statement. I grunted as she continued, “Ladies, it wasn’t me who took out most of the gang. It was our man here. He took out five elves that were wielding magic with arrows.”

The group gasped and started talking all at once. I glared at the nephilim, she just smiled and winked at me. Putting my hand up, I tried to calm them down, but to no avail.

Tianna asked, “Dom, how is that possible? They had to have magical shields.”

The ladies all looked at me with concern, maybe fear? Even William was nervous. I sighed, “Because I enchanted all of my weapons with a rune called nullify.”

Emoli and Tianna put hands over their mouths, Lily and Celina backed up. William was confused at my statement and the movements of the others. He asked, “Why are you all acting that way? What does the rune do?”

FInally, Emoli broke the silence. “When the rune is activated, it cancels out magic. Making any weapon that is inscribed with it, very dangerous for magic users.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t have to be a weapon. It could be on anything, like a rock or a tree. I’m not sure what the affected area will be, but within a certain radius, magic will not work. If our kingdom broke out in war, most of the battles would be won because of magic. If that rune was implemented, it would end the war because both sides would be forced into combat, without magic. The mages, wizards, and sorcerers would have no defense unless they were armed, which most aren’t,” Tianna said in a low voice.

Wow, I didn’t think of that happening. Huh. That one rune could change the world if a tyrant had access to it.

I closed my eyes and took a few breaths before opening them again.

“Dom, can you give me some time to talk with the girls?” Nikki asked.

I looked over at the nephilim, and her eyes were pleading with me to say yes.

“William, let’s get dinner started.”

We entered the cabin and he worked on getting the stove lit while I went and got some meat to cook, thinking about what was discussed. I shook my head. I wasn’t going to worry about that shit right now.

~~~~~~

Nikki waited to make sure Dom and William were inside before voicing her concern, “We have some decisions to make ladies. Dominic didn’t tell you the whole story of our battle. I watched him through the whole ordeal. He didn’t have bloodlust, the man was calm and collected. Now, I’m not an archer, but in my logical mind, this is how I think it would happen. If five different targets were far apart then it would take time to aim. That isn’t what happened. He took out five arrows and shot them all within five seconds. He didn’t even wait to see the result, but jumped from the wagon with his sword, walking towards his prey. I got down when he did and killed the barbarian and gnome, mostly because they were in shock to see their people taken down so quickly. … Dom is a scary fucker, he had me leave the two lamias alone. He knew one of them, it was the chick who helped heal him. I thought he was going to kill both of them as well, but he gave them money to leave and to never return.”

The nephilim let them stew on those words for a minute before continuing, “The first item to discuss is whether or not we stay.”

“Why the hell would we leave?” Celina demanded, still thinking about how it was her turn to spend the night with Dom.

“Because… we’re all in danger at the moment,” Lily replied.

The others thought about it and nodded.

Tianna spoke out, “I for one will stay. I’ve been looking for a male like Dominic my entire life. Some of his methods are definitely unorthodox, but I can’t fault him for wanting to change society today. Hell, maybe if more males acted like him, then our world would be better. Not sure if that statement is accurate, but that’s how I feel. I’ll be by his side unless he tells me to leave.”

Lily and Celina agreed with her. They all looked at Emoli, she didn’t say anything.

Nikki sighed and spoke her concern, “Alright, I’m with you on this. The second item is this, I have put myself on his side and will protect him in any way I can. But we’re going to need help, ladies. The man is an enchanter and an inventor, look at the stuff he has made. … How are we going to keep him safe?”

None of the group spoke up to answer her. After a minute or so, Emoli asked to verify, “Are you saying we should get more people involved?”

Nikki nodded. “Yes. Not necessarily more people in his bed, but to help guard and even work for him. Just like the booth he wants to open, who will run it?”

Celina answered without hesitation, “I would think we would all pitch in.”

The others nodded.

Nikki shook her head. “Not sure, maybe, but Dom shouldn’t be there. Something will come up about one of his products. Maybe someone will say that it is extraordinary and ask where he came up with the idea or how he accomplished it. Dom will laugh then act like it is no big deal before he shrugs and says that he made it. Now, what will happen when people hear of some of his inventions? The portable cold box for example.”

They all sighed, and Lily replied in a low voice, “Everyone will know within a day or two, then it will spread all over.”

Nikki grunted before continuing, “Yes. With the inventions he is making, all hell will break loose sooner or later. He created a razor that only cuts the hair on your body. Doesn’t nick or cut anything else. Did any of you know that?”

They all shook their heads. Nikki pulled up her dress exposing her legs, “No cuts or nicks, not even razor burn. The bastard also makes his own shaving cream and moisturizer.”

The women looked at and felt her smooth legs. After a few moments, the nephilim went ahead and pulled her dress further up with one hand to show off her freshly shaved cunt. The shameless nephilim didn’t put any panties back on. Emoli gasped when she first saw it and the others did as well a few moments afterwards. They were all stunned.

“Yes, as you can see, my pubes are gone. No pain or cuts either.” She stroked her smooth skin before letting her dress fall back into place. “He’s a genius. That razor he enchanted is amazing.”

Lily cleared her throat, knowing she needed a good trim as well. “When did you learn of this?”

“He had me try it after we, umm… you know.”

Celina hissed but didn’t voice her opinion about being slighted. Instead she said, “So, where can we find this razor?”

Nikki giggled and pointed towards the cabin. “In his bedroom.”

The ladies that hadn’t used the razor all huddled together and lifted their right hands, then looked at each other. They nodded and started moving them up and down for a few moments before settling on their selections. Rock, paper, or scissors. They repeated this until they had a winner.

“Yeah! I’m next, bitches!” Emoli yelled out with glee.

“Alright, get it done. We’ll play again until we’ve worked out the order,” Tianna grumbled.

Emoli moved over to Nikki. “Will you show me where it is? And maybe tonight we could play together?”

Nikki smiled and winked at the elf. “That would be great. I almost summoned you to come and eat Dom’s cum out of me. The man shot a big load.”

Emoli kissed her and they went inside. Dom and William were getting dinner together as they walked by. Nikki got his attention. “Emoli is going to use that amazing razor that you have.”

Dominic nodded and they hurried into his room.

~~~~~~

I was getting dinner together when they came inside to wash up. William pulled the steaks off of the stove and placed them onto their plates. I pulled the baked potatoes off and put one on each before grabbing the pot of beans that was boiling. I doled a helping on to each plate and put the pot to the side on the cooling grate.

The women got the glasses and filled them with water or milk, whatever everyone wanted. I grabbed the bread and sliced some for the women before sitting down.

Emoli and Nikki came out of my bedroom. I looked up and saw them smile at me. I wasn’t sure what that was about but nodded to them when they walked over to the table. As we were about to dig in, William asked, “Where are the condiments, Dom?”

Everyone was confused at his question and before I could answer, Lily asked, “What are condiments?”

He explained to the ladies with a smile, “They’re flavor enhancers.”

I gestured for him to get them. He walked to the cold room and got the jars of ketchup, mayo, and barbecue sauce. Bringing them to the table, he sat them down and opened the lids.

“Ladies,” I announced, “these are condiments. You can put them on bread for sandwiches or really anything that you want flavor on. For instance, the one to the right is barbecue sauce. It can be used on steak and other meat. I would rather have steak sauce but haven’t figured out the right ratio for it. Anyway, sample them and tell me what you think. I’ll cut up some of my steak for you to use.”

I cut up pieces and sat them on a separate plate then spooned some of each condiment on the plate. They all looked at the plate, but didn’t many any moves towards it. I got up and grabbed some toothpicks, then set them by the plate of steak pieces. Picking a toothpick up, I poked a piece and dipped it into the barbecue sauce and placed it into my mouth and ate it. In my opinion, it was good. Celina mimicked my move, then hesitantly put it into her mouth.

At first, she didn’t show anything, but as she chewed, the feline beastkin started smiling and reached for another piece. The others were curious then and started sampling as well. All of them were making sounds of approval. Before I knew it, they had spooned their favorite into their plate to start on their steaks.

I glanced over at William. He chuckled and ate his steak without saying a word. The ladies were having silent conversation with their eyes. I just shrugged, tried to ignore it, and ate my meal. When everyone was done, the women cleaned up and let William and I relax though I had him keep working on his words and paragraphs. When the cleaning was done, they sat back down and looked at me.

“Dominic, where did you come up with those flavor enhancers?” Lily asked.

Not knowing what to say, I just shrugged and said, “My moms, they had a recipe for each of those.” Even though I had just lied my ass off, they nodded and accepted my explanation, but it wasn’t the end of the conversation.

“Where did you live before coming here?” Tianna asked. “The ideas that you come up with are foreign. Did you live across the sea? Maybe with one of the nomad tribes?”

Thinking about it for a moment or two, I replied, “Yeah. We lived on an island far away from here.”

“Where are your family then?” Emoli persisted.

“We had a falling out. They didn’t like the way I did things, so I left.”

I laughed inside at that, my family had no idea where I was at. Damn, wonder what they’re doing? How’s mom taking it? I sighed, not wanting to show those emotions and looked over at the ladies.

The women nodded.

“Well, the flavor enhancers are great. If you sell those at the market, they will be a hot item,” Celina advised me with a grin, showing me her canines.

The ladies all agreed with her.

I took a deep breath. Nikki butted in before I could say anything, “Even though it’s a great invention, you can’t sell the razor at this time, Dom.”

Raising my left brow, I waited for an explanation. She looked over at the others and they nodded. Lily finally voiced their concerns, “We can’t risk it as of right now. You may think it’s not a big deal, but it is. Although I haven’t used it yet, from looking at the results, it’s an amazing invention. We’re worried that it will get out that we have enchanted items, and everyone will want to know how we got them.”

Tianna continued, “The ones we have to worry about are the local bitches in charge, but it will eventually get to the matriarchs of the top clans. It will only be a matter of time before the queens will get involved.”

I laughed at that. “Ladies, do you seriously believe that it will get to that point?”

All of them looked at me like I was crazy. Nikki responded with a sigh, “Dominic, the short answer is yes. They will. We will need a system that keeps you out of the spotlight. Basically, hiding in plain sight.”

“And how are you planning on doing that?”

Lily replied instantly, “Workers. You will need more women, especially with the booth idea. Hell, maybe even open up a storefront if you want, but you can’t run it.”

I glared at her, she was defiant, and we had a staring battle for a couple of minutes. Lily huffed and got up to come over to my side of the table before plopping down on my lap. “You’re a stubborn male and we like that, it keeps us on our toes. But this isn’t something that we will compromise on. Yes, you can be involved, but won’t be interacting with the clientele. We don’t want you to accidentally say something that lets people know that you’re the mastermind behind everything.”

“We’re not taking credit for your inventions, Dom,” Celina explained. “The five of us are worried, that’s all. We want to be a family that trusts each other and lean on one another for support. If those items are seen and proven to be enchanted, then we could find ourselves in trouble.”

“I know of some women who may be interested in working for us,” Nikki suggested. “We could get a booth in town and start from there. If business goes smoothly and is showing a profit, then we could get a storefront.”

“You know people in Capena?” Emoli asked with surprise.

The nephilim shook her head. “No, in Strongfair.”

“That could work,” Celina commented while looking at me. “No one knows who we are in that town.”

“Yes, I agree with the suggestion. But we can also open one in Capena,” Tianna recommended.

Lily nodded and responded, “I concur. Just to see if one or both are profitable.”

I grunted. “Okay, then I will let you ladies handle that. I’ll trust in you to take care of it.”

Lily kissed me and got up.

Emoli said, “Nikki, are you going to continue to work for the blacksmith?”

Nikki glanced over at me for a few moments before responding, “Nope. I see great things being close to this man and he will need protection even though he doesn’t want it.”

I groaned as the others nodded. William spoke up then, “What about me?”

I made my opinion known immediately. “You will stay here and work with me, learning all you can with books and training.”

He hung his head. “That’s fine, but I need to be around some others my age. Will you let me accompany those who go into town to work a few times? I can be of help, maybe make some friends.”

I looked at the others around the table. No one offered any opinion on this. It would seem since he was my charge then I would be the one to answer. “Okay, I’ll agree to that, but you will do your chores before and will listen to these women as if they are me.”

The boy smiled and nodded, Lily and the others grinned. I rolled my eyes, knowing the boy would cause trouble at some point. He was a teenager after all. “Anything else to discuss? Alright, I’m relaxing for the rest of the night. William, check on the horses.”

Emoli and Nikki jumped in, “We’ll help him.”

The trio got up and left. Tianna and Lily said they had something to do and left as well. I nodded and looked over at Celina, she was fidgeting and playing with her hands. I stood up and walked over to her then held out my hand, “Would you like to join me in my room?”

I grabbed her hand to lead her to the bedroom. Closing the door, Celina sat on the bed silently. I walked over and stopped feet away.

“Are you sure you are okay with sleeping with me?”

I nodded and smiled. “I am. Nervous?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Don’t be.” I pulled her up and kissed her on the lips, softly. After a few moments doing that, she relaxed and started undressing. Not familiar with the feline beastkin, I expected her to have some fur on her body. I didn’t see any except around her tail that was above her ass and the furry ears on her head. That, and her hairy pussy. She was like Nikki, full bush mode.

She had b-cup tits with brown nipples, long tan legs, and a tight ass. The tail didn’t deter me at all, it even enhanced her sexiness.

“You are beautiful.”

She smiled and her cheeks turned pink. “Thank you.”

Gently guiding her to the bed, I sat her on the edge, knelt, and dove into her hairy muff. She purred and meowed. I almost stopped and laughed, but kept on. The feline mewled as I took her over the edge twice. Celina was still coming down from her orgasm when I stood up to take care of junior. Sliding him in slowly, she regained composure, but lost it again, gasping.

“Fuck, you’re big!”

Damn, she was tight. When her walls relaxed, junior went further in. I waited for a minute to make sure she was ready. She smiled and thrust her hips up for me to get to work. That’s all it took for me. I went slowly at first, but didn’t last long. Before I knew it, I was spitting my seed inside her.

Celina purred and pulled me down for a long, passionate kiss. “How long will it take for you to recharge?” Her tail came up and started stroking my cock, trying to get some life back into him.

I chuckled and shrugged, we made out for a bit before I was ready again. The feisty feline was loud and wanted all I could give her. Her yowls of joy could probably be heard from miles away. She actually wore me out. We fell asleep in each other’s arms, exhausted.

Chapter 13

The next morning, my eyes opened to sunlight coming through the window. I tried to move, but was pinned in place by a naked feline beastkin. Very carefully, I maneuvered myself to not wake her up and threw on some work clothes. I walked out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly. Turning, I saw Lily drinking a cup of coffee in only a shirt that barely covered her breasts and a white string thong. She smiled at me and turned to pour herself some more as I gawked at her fantastic ass.

I walked over and wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck. She moaned softly as I gently cupped her breasts through the fabric.

“Yes, baby. Like that. That’s it, play with my tits.”

I went up under her shirt and did as she asked, twisting her nipples gently and massaging them. I kissed the back of her neck and she gasped, “Don’t stop, Dominic. Hearing the moans and screams of pleasure from Celina got us all worked up. I’m still horny!”

I pushed down my trousers and bent her over the counter. Pulling her thong off, I lightly slapped her ass and got a moan from her. I spread her legs apart. Definitely horny, her pussy was dripping. I slid my long, thick cock into her slick sex. I waited for a few moments before slowly sliding junior in and out and was rewarded with more gasping and moaning.

Lily panted out, “Yes, baby... Momma needs your love. I’m so... fucking horny. Faster, Dom. Faster!”

That caught me off guard, but I chuckled. “Are we roleplaying today? Is that one of your kinks?”

She groaned. “Yes, you’re younger. Why not?”

I didn’t care. I whispered in her ear, “Does that get you hot and bothered? You want me to plow your little pussy? To breed you?”

Lily shuddered and hissed, “YESSSSSSS! FUCK MOMMA’S PUSSY! Harder! Harder!”

I did as she asked, and it wasn’t long before she came. Fluids gushed from her and onto my thighs. I worked her a few more minutes before she went over the edge again.

“Stop, Dom,” she said suddenly. I did as she wanted, but was wondering why she stopped. She got up and kissed me passionately, then guided me to the couch and pulled my trousers all the way off before pushing me down. I flopped on the couch as she straddled me and lined me back up, “I want to face you and ride that big cock while you suck on my tits.”

Lily impaled herself and stuck a nipple in my mouth, then she was off to the races. She moaned softly now, not wanting to wake everyone up, if they weren’t already awake from the noise she had made before, but she was getting louder by the minute. It wasn’t long before she had gasped out another orgasm, but I was too busy fondling and sucking on her breasts to care. She pulled my face up and kissed me, forcing her tongue inside my mouth. We kissed for a few moments, and the minx kept bouncing up and down on my cock. Within two minutes I warned her I was going to explode. She smiled and said, “Inside, baby. I want your seed in me.”

I did as she asked, shooting deep into her. I slowed us down and we sat there trying to catch our breath as we held onto each other. She kissed my cheek and neck before laying her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you for that, hon.”

“My pleasure.”

She laughed softly and got up, my dick came out of her cunt with a plop as did the fluids that were trapped up inside.

“I’ll get a towel and clean up.”

I nodded as she picked up her shirt and thong before heading to her bedroom to get some shorts. She came back out to clean up our mess. There was a big wet patch on the couch. I chuckled and went to get some coffee. I gave a cup to Lily and kissed her on the cheek and slapped her ass again. She giggled and I went to cook breakfast.

The cook stove was lit, so I went and grabbed some eggs and a half slab of bacon. Setting it down on the counter, I sliced it to my specs and placed them in the skillet on the grate. After the first batch was done, I put them on a plate and put more into the skillet until I was sure there was enough for everyone.

The eggs went into the skillet next and when the fried eggs were finished, I put them on a separate plate.

Lily came over and placed the pan of biscuits on the grate. As she walked by me she groped my ass and giggled as she got plates out of the cupboard. I shook my head and looked over as Tianna and Celina came out of the bedrooms. Both sat at the table after getting some coffee, they seemed like they were still shaking off sleep and didn’t say a word.

After a moment, they said good morning. I smirked and replied then turned to check on the biscuits. They weren’t quite done, so I waited and chewed on some bacon. A door opened and Emoli and Nikki emerged slowly. I guessed they weren’t morning people either. They at least said good morning before sitting down.

I grunted a response, got the pan off and placed it onto the cooling grate before walking to the front door to yell out for William. A minute later, he walked out of the barn. I shook my head. We needed to get the house done. It wasn’t right for him to keep sleeping there.

When he entered the cabin and passed the couch, he asked “What happened there?”

Everyone glanced over except me and Lily, we just smiled.

“I spilt my drink on it. Lily was gracious enough to clean it up for me.”

Lily giggled softly and winked at me. The others didn’t respond, they were hungry and too busy trying to wake up. Checking the biscuits and making sure they were done, I put them together to make bacon and egg biscuits. Lily put one on a plate for everyone and served them. I got mine and sat down to eat.

As we were chowing down, William asked, “What’s the plan for today?”

Tianna spoke first, “Expand the garden. Work on the house.”

“Yes, we’ll need more inventory to open up two booths,” Celina responded with a nod. “Especially if we include those flavor enhancers.”

They all nodded.

“We also need to start making the cream, butter, and cheese before the milk ruins,” Lily said.

I grunted my agreement. Nikki was about to speak but hesitated. She finally made a decision and cleared her throat, “I need to leave today to speak with Sheila and tell her that I’m not going to apprentice with her anymore. I’ll also track down some of the women I mentioned to see if they are interested in working with us.” She stopped and looked over at me, “If that’s okay with you, Dominic.”

I thought about it and responded, “I don’t see why not. Whatever you want to do, Nikki. Don’t think you need to quit blacksmithing on my account.”

She shook her head. “I want to work on getting a booth set up. It will be a relief to not have to work my ass off and have little to show for it. Thanks for letting me join in this endeavor.”

“You act like it’s a grand adventure,” I replied with a smirk.

The women glanced at each other, another silent conversation with their eyes.

“To us, it is an adventure. You need to understand that we’ve been struggling for a long time to survive. Now, we sit here with a male who is providing for us, but doesn’t ask for anything in return. It’s not supposed to be this way. In today’s society, we are expected to take care of you,” Celina replied.

“He also lets us warm his bed,” Lily commented with a cough.

The ladies snickered. I just shrugged and continued eating.

“Don’t just shrug it off like you always do, Dom,” Nikki chastised me, but then sighed. “It’s a big deal to us. Out here, we can be ourselves and feel free. You, sir, are the center here and we as a whole want to be here making this farm something wonderful. Look, I’m not one to get into feelings often, but I want you to know that we are here to stay. To protect, to work, or for whatever else is needed.”

The others agreed. I nodded and responded, “It seems that the consensus is that allowing you to stay means much to you, so I will not just dismiss any thanks or appreciation.”

They smiled and nodded then finished eating. I had a thought about the booths though, “Celina and Lily, you ladies told me that you’re not allowed in certain parts of the city. Where should we set up the booth?”

“In the marketplace, no one should bother us there,” Lily responded. “Tianna will need to be in charge since she’s an elf, the beastkin are frowned upon if they’re by themselves. But if she’s there, then we’ll be fine. Or if we hire a few others to work with her, then we can work in the background to make sure it runs smoothly.”

That shit is messed up. I went a different direction. “Nikki, what about in Strongfair? Any issues with beastkin working?”

“No, none that I know of,” the nephilim replied. “I guess the city doesn’t care since it is bigger or that Capena has idiots that run it and are jerks about it.”

I grunted and got up from the table to clean my dish. The women talked together. I walked outside and went to the barn for the daily chores. I looked around before heading to the corral to see the horses. Coal came strolling over and put his head on the fence. I smiled and rubbed his neck. He nickered and left to graze again. They needed to be let out in the pasture to run and have more space during the day. I went over and opened the gate. Coal immediately went out and the others followed. I watched for a little while and went back to the barn.

The others were already there, milking the cows and gathering the eggs. I got Murry and pulled the plow over to expand the garden. We went to a different plot and started. It didn’t take long to get in a rhythm, and I had the job done in a couple hours. As I was making the rows, the others were coming behind with seeds and planting them. When that task was completed, I placed the plow back in the barn then led Murry to the pasture to graze as well. Cleaning my hands, I went over and checked the smokehouse. It seemed that someone had installed the fire bricks.

“That’s where they go, right?”

I looked over to see Emoli beside me. “Yep. Did you put them in?”

“Yeah, me and Mom,” she answered. “We made it where they won’t move. The smokehouse is set as well.”

“Alright, awesome. We may have to go hunting today.”

She smiled and walked away. I looked at the house, walking around the walls. I checked the inside and the logs were still there. There were two more layers after the logs, the outer was granite and the inner was clay to seal any spots or holes between the logs. The women were doing an awesome job. I also noticed that they had added on to my design.

I didn’t see Tianna until she was next to me. She saw my curious look and said, “We made space for more bedrooms.”

I looked over to her and nodded, but didn’t ask why. They had also created the piping for the kitchen and lavatory. We would need to get the toilets, faucets, etc. from town. I wanted indoor plumbing.

“Let’s put some piping in for ventilation in each room. We will be installing a potbelly stove in all the bedrooms and front room for heat. Not sure what the winters are like here, but better to be prepared.”

“Good idea.”

“Also, go ahead and make the ground underneath the toilets like a privy. Make the hole with some bedrock or whatever is near. I will enchant the rock formation to remove the waste when it hits the rocks.”

“Wow, you can do that?”

I nodded. “Also, make two cylinders about a foot wide and four feet tall. We will mount them to the walls of the bathrooms. I will get some river rock to fill the cylinders up and enchant them to heat up the water that comes through them. We will have to put a valve in and connect the piping to the showers and bathtub.”

“Will do. That will be awesome to have, Dom.”

We went around the house and made some adjustments here and there, but overall, I was pleased with it. They were going to finish with the roof that day before Emoli and Nikki left. I watched them work for a little bit, then went inside to check with Lily. She was with Celina in the kitchen, putting the items together for her projects.

“Ladies, do you need anything from me?”

They looked over and shook their heads.

“What is needed for that shaving cream and moisturizer that you created?” Lily asked.

“Not many ingredients, the most important one is shea butter. Any reason why?”

“We were thinking we could sell it in our booths.”

“Hmm… I need to see if any trees grow around here. It would be awesome not to have to buy it at the store.”

“Can you tell us what the tree looks like?”

I described the leaves and then the nuts on the tree.

Celina spoke up, “I think we saw one on the way down here, a few miles from here in the woods. I would have to guide you.”

I smiled. “That would be great.”

A little later on, Celina and I set out to the forest. She was trying to remember where she saw the shea trees. It took us almost two hours to find them. There were a few. I pulled my bag off of my shoulder and started filling it with the nuts from the tree. Celina bent over to pick up a few of the nuts she had dropped on the ground. She was wearing a dress, her tail swaying back and forth through the hole made for it. The dress rose up showing off her long legs and some thigh. As I looked at her magnificent ass through the fabric, I wondered if she was wearing any panties. Visions of the previous night came to me and my cock went rock hard. Filled with lust, I bent her over against the tree. Celina yelped and caught herself before hitting the trunk. As she tried to rise up, I kept her from moving too much by putting my hand on her back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw my expression and her mouth shut. I pulled her skirt down to find that the minx didn’t have any undies on. Massaging her thighs and ass, I moved to her honey pot to find she was wet already. I petted Celina’s tail, too. She purred and said something under her breath.

Celina moaned as I groped her ass cheeks. I undid my trousers and pushed them down to my ankles, freeing my cock. I lined up and slid in. She groaned and started moving her hips. I began at a slow pace but ended up going hard and fast. The woman was horny and she wanted pleasure. It didn’t take that long, but she was smiling when I unloaded my seed deep inside her. Taking a few breaths, I let her up and pulled my trousers back on.

She kissed me tenderly. “Damn, hon. I love quickies. I was so horny walking beside you, thinking about last night. Umm… will this be common in your family?”

“Common? You mean spur of the moment?”

“Yeah.”

“Probably. You ladies are beautiful and I’m a horny male. Will that bother any of you? Me taking you when I please?”

“Oh, hell no,” she snickered. “I know for a fact that Lily and I will never have a problem with that. Tianna won’t either. Not sure about the other two, but if I’ve read them right then the duo will drop their panties anytime you want as well.”

“Yeah?” I laughed. “Let’s talk about the fact that you don’t actually have any panties on. Were you hoping something might happen when you got me out here?”

She smirked and a canine showed. “Yeah. A girl can hope that her man wants a romp out in the forest. With only nature around us, it’s a romantic setting.”

My left brow rose. “Your man?”

Celina’s cheeks went bright red. “Um… well, I… I thought you were our man.” She looked down and continued, “If you don’t want this then…”

I placed my finger on her lips to stop her. “If that’s what you ladies want, I’m not going to stop you, but no jealousy or fighting.”

The beastkin looked into my eyes for a few moments to see if I was telling the truth, then purred, “You won’t regret this, baby.” After a minute, she got serious, “All five of us want this. You know that, right?”

“No, but I won’t hinder anyone that feels that way.” Did I really say that out loud?

The sexy woman tilted her head. “Anyone? How many women are you planning on bringing to your bed?”

I started stammering excuses, but she laughed and said, “Dom, we know that you will add more. Will you let us have a say in who you recruit?”

Staring at her with a blank look, I cleared my throat. “The only one that comes to mind to join our group is Isabella, but I’m not really sure about that until I talk to her.”

I started putting all I could into the bags, and we set out for home. Celina walked beside me and wanted to continue the conversation, “Is that the one who you caught fucking someone else?”

“Yeah, but I believe her lover talked her into it. Maybe even let her know that it was okay to do it. I don’t know.”

She didn’t say any more about that as we made our way back. We talked about the booths and ways to make money. It wasn’t long before we came upon the farm. I stored the bags in the barn and went to check with Lily. She was in the cabin, cleaning up her area.

She smiled when we walked up. “Dom, how was the trip to the woods?”

“Very good. We got some exercise in.”

Both of the ladies snickered and I winked.

“Ladies, I have jars that are for pastes and poultices. Healing remedies, actually. You can have those at the booths as well.”

“Wow, you know how to do that too?”

“That will certainly help. Healing remedies will sell fast,” Nikki said from behind me.

Nikki and Emoli had entered the cabin.

I smiled. “Time to go?”

They nodded.

“Alright, take two horses with their tack. It will get you there quicker.”

“Are you sure, Dominic?” Emoli responded. “They’re not necessary but appreciated.”

“I’m sure.” I went over to the door and hollered, “William!”

He came out of the barn, “Yeah?”

“Saddle up two of the horses, Nikki and Emoli will need them.”

He nodded and did as asked. I went and grabbed a handful of silver before returning and handing them the currency.

“This will get you started.” The women came over and kissed me, then said their goodbyes. We watched them set out and then went back to work.

~~~~~~

Emoli and Nikki were silent for a couple miles after they left Dom’s farm, lost in their own thoughts.

“What do you think, Em?”

The drow looked over and replied, “About?”

“The past few days.”

“Well, it has been an eye opener for sure. He’s a remarkable man. Definitely lucky that Lily and Celina came upon his farm.”

The nephilim sighed and nodded. “I agree with that. Dom knows how to make an impression on someone.”

Emoli looked over at her lover. “Something the matter?”

Nikki didn’t immediately respond.

“Not really,” she said finally. “I know that I need to advise my master I’m quitting and start recruiting for us, but at the same time, I don’t want to leave.”

“I wholeheartedly agree with that,” Emoli grunted. “Hopefully it won’t take that long to recruit and set up our booth.”

“I don’t mean to sound like a downer…”

“It’s okay. The man has left his mark on me as well. Even though I haven’t had my turn, I know that he’s a male worth getting to know.”

“You’ll be hooked after your first tryst, darling,” Nikki snorted and giggled for a few moments. “I know I am.”

Both of the women laughed and set out at a faster pace, wanting to hurry to their destination.

Chapter 14

It was an uneventful trip for the duo. When they reached the gates of Strongfair, they had mixed emotions.

“Do you think Dom will have issues with us not recruiting the normal women?”

Emoli looked over confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know, humans or human mages, or any of the elves, with the exception of drows of course. Any of the normal picks,” she replied.

“Ah, you’re asking about outcasts?”

Nikki nodded. “Yes. The women I have in mind are not the typical family types.”

Emoli shrugged. “We aren’t either, and he accepted us. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it.”

Nikki was silent for a minute before responding, “Em, the women I’m talking about are a troll, a demoness, and an orc.”

The drow gasped and stammered for a few moments. “You know these ladies?”

Nikki grunted and nodded. “Yeah, friends of mine. Before we met, we hung out a lot. We went our separate ways to see if anyone could join a family.”

“Are they even still around here then?”

“Probably not everyone, but Ariana is. Last time I heard, she was working with the Adventurer’s Guild, helping with quests and searching for ruins.”

“Really? Sounds exciting, never had the initiative to do anything like that.”

“Me neither. Let’s get settled in for the night and seek Ariana tomorrow.”

Emoli nodded. “And which one is that?”

“Demoness.”

Both were quiet after that and left their horses in the stable at the back of their boarding house. The duo went and got dinner before relaxing in Nikki’s rooms.

~~~~~~

We worked on our projects before setting them aside for dinner. The ladies got everything ready while I washed up. Tianna sat beside me, touching me every so often. I smiled at her. She blushed and went back to eating.

“William, the extra room isn’t being used. You can sleep in there if you want,” I said as I took a morsel of venison and started to chew it.

He shook his head. “No offense, Dom, but I won’t get any sleep. You’re getting to know the women and I don’t want to hear all the noise from your bedrooms.”

The four of us glanced at each other, then chuckled at his response.

“I’ll put a soundproofing rune on the walls. If you still want to be out in the barn, that’s okay too.”

“If you can guarantee I won’t hear a sound, then I’ll sleep in the last bedroom.”

I nodded, and we finished eating. The women cleaned up the dishes before cleaning themselves. While they did that, I etched soundproofing runes on all the bedroom walls. I tested it out with William. With the door shut I couldn’t hear him when he spoke inside my bedroom, but from within we could hear everything outside the four walls. After the ladies were done, we cleaned up as well and got ready for bed. I walked with Tianna back to my room and closed the door behind me.

She didn’t waste any time and undressed quickly. I copied her and threw my clothes in a pile.

Tianna whistled. “The girls weren’t lying, you have a gigantic cock. Though from the moans and mewls, I should’ve known.”

I smiled and ogled her. She was the epitome of curvy. Her breasts and ass were spectacular, although her legs were sexy as well. The drow didn’t have any pubic hair. I wondered if she’d used my razor.

She saw me staring. “Like it? I shaved. That razor is amazing, hon.”

I nodded and said, “You’re beautiful, Tianna.”

She beamed and threw herself at me. I caught her, and we kissed passionately for a few minutes before I gently urged her to lie down on the bed. Not wasting any time, I dove in and started licking her pussy and she moaned in response.

We fucked for half the night. Tianna wanted it slow and languid, so I gave in to her wishes. She also loved anal. Not going to lie, the woman had a marvelous ass. I slapped it many times as we were getting to know each other, and we soaked the bed with our fluids. When we finished with our lovemaking, both of us cleaned up and put fresh linens on the bed.

While doing this, I started thinking about how since they didn’t have anal lube here, we’d had to use some oil Tianna had, but it had left marks on the linens. My mind started going a mile a minute and at that moment, it went straight to developing a lubricant that didn’t stain or leave residue. Yes, definitely with the ingredients I remembered, we could create it. I asked Tianna about the cleaning spell that Nikki used. She told me it wasn’t in her known spells but would ask about it when they saw each other next. As I hadn’t received a firm response from Nikki about the birth control issue, I asked Tianna and she told me that she and Nikki made sure the contraceptive spell was still intact. We went to bed and cuddled together.

The next morning, when I emerged from the bedroom, Celina and Lily were already up. Both were only wearing thongs with nightshirts that covered nothing. I shook my head and walked over to get some coffee. Both ladies saw me and smiled.

“Good morning, ladies. I love your morning attire. It shows off your sexy bodies.” They both beamed. Celina’s tail swayed back and forth. “But we have a youngster here. He doesn’t need to see you gallivanting about, showing your goods, ladies.”

They both looked confused. Lily asked, “Are you talking about William?”

I nodded. Celina scoffed, “He’s a beastkin. We see a lot of nudity, Dom. It isn’t anything for him to see us like this.”

“Besides hon, we’re much older than him. He doesn’t see us in that light. He sees you as his guardian, we are your women. Therefore, we’re more like his adopted mothers.”

I grunted. “And if other males come to live with us, what will you do then? I just need to know so that I can get my mind straight.”

“We will not be like this in front of other males,” Celina replied with a smile.

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee before responding, “That’s good, because I don’t share ladies.”

The duo gasped. Lily quickly said, “We would never do that.”

My left brow rose at her remark and I took a deep breath. “I’m trusting you, but if it comes down to it and you feel you want to stray or want something different then let me know. We will go our separate ways.”

They were wide-eyed and didn’t say anything in response. I sat down at the table to sip my coffee. Both came over to join me. Celina placed a plate in front of me full of eggs and bacon. She kissed me on the cheek and sat down beside me. Tianna came out at that time with a big smile and joined us. The drow noted the atmosphere and immediately knew something was up.

“What’s the matter?”

I said nothing, just kept eating. Lily and Celina glanced at each other and the former replied, “Dominic wanted to know if any males joined up at the farm, would we dress as we are now?”

Tianna responded without hesitation, “No other male will see my goods.”

Celina nodded and said, “We said the same. He also told us that if we wanted to warm the beds of other males then we would go our separate ways.”

I felt her looking at me. I just kept on eating my bacon. “None of us will do that to you. As of a few days ago, we are committed to you.”

I nodded. We ate in silence. When finished, I got up and cleaned my plate and chugged a cup of milk, then cleaned it. The ladies were finishing up when William came in to sit at the table.

Grabbing him a plate full, I set it in front of him.

“Eat up, we’ve got some repairs on the fence that need doing and minor details worked out on the barn before working on the other projects.”

He nodded, and I walked out.

~~~~~~

Nikki woke up and smiled over at Emoli who was snoring softly. It had been a late night. After a lot of discussion about what needed to be done and getting each other off a few times, they had finally gone to sleep.

The nephilim got up and went to bathe and hopefully be refreshed enough to have a sit down with her friend. It would take all her patience to get through it. The demoness always had something to say about everything. She sighed and did her morning ritual and was done when Emoli came into the bathing room. The drow wasn’t fully awake yet.

“Wake up, we’ll get breakfast and then head out.”

Emoli grunted and bathed herself slowly, trying to wake up. Nikki walked out and cooked eggs and toast for them. Wasn’t what Dominic cooked, but it was filling. Both cleaned up their area and set out. They walked down the pathways towards Industrial Blvd. It took them a bit to get to their destination, but finally they approached the door.

A bell rang as Nikki opened the door and went inside, Emoli following. They could hear the sound of hammering from the back. As they came up to the counter, a voice called out, “Be with you in a moment!”

A blonde female dwarf came up and wiped her hands on a cloth. She smiled when she saw her apprentice. “Nikki, it’s great to see you! Layla and Christine have been missing you. Come back to work? Or still need some time away to get your mind right? I’m not trying to pressure ya, but a few others have been interested in your position.”

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

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

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

The two hugged and Nikki took her leave.

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay, thank you.”

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

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

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

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

“We have business together.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

Nikki smiled. “There’s the twat.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright, what’s this about?”

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

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

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

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

Nikki responded with a grin, “Yes.”

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

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

“To offer you a better living.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hmm. Hopefully they have some ready.”

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

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

~~~~~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Pull up to the clothier.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What?”

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

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

The other two responded, “Ditto.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They didn’t comment.

“Tianna, how about Tia for your nickname? And for my feline beastkin, how about Lina?”

They smiled and nodded before kissing my cheek. I rolled my eyes and was leaving as Talia was bringing over some samples. Walking out the door, I got up onto the wagon and spoke to my ward, “William, head inside to get fitted for new clothes.”

“You… you will buy me new clothes?”

“Yeah, man. You need new clothing, what you’re wearing is worn out. Get some shoes and boots as well.” I handed him another gold coin and advised, “Give this to Lily just in case.”

He pocketed the money. “Thank you, Dom. Can I get a knife and dagger too?” The teen looked around to make sure no one was around before whispering, “Then you can enchant them as well?”

Taking a breath, I replied, “I will head over to the blacksmith and see what they have.”

William smiled and thanked me before heading inside. I had the Jutlands take me, and the two reined horses, to the livery. I had the woman on duty feed and water the horses. My thoughts went to Bella and not knowing how to proceed yet, I made my way to the blacksmith.

Chapter 15

Seeing the sign that let me know I was in the right spot, I walked inside to see multiple rows of weapons. I walked straight over to the knives and daggers, grabbing eight of each. The ones I picked weren’t special, not yet. I purchased sheaths for them as well and headed out with my bag of purchases. Taking them to the livery, I hid them in the secret spot within my wagon.

I had found a spot under the seat that was 10” wide by 2’ long and 8” deep.  Observing the hollow, I thought it would be a good spot to hide items of importance.  So, I inscribed runes on the seat and under, then inside the hollow, making sure no one had access to it but me.  When the runes were activated, the seat wouldn’t move. The wood around it wouldn’t bend or break either.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before making my way towards my next destination, which was the town hall.

When I entered, I got directions to the right department from the receptionist. Making my way down the hall, I noticed people looking at me funny. Not caring, I made it to the door and went in. I signed in and sat down to wait. Again, people were looking at me strangely. Ten minutes later my name was called, and I got up and followed the gnome with blonde hair to her office. Sitting down, she introduced herself as Mara.

“Hello Mara, I’m here to get a patent, charter, or copyright on some creations and inventions of mine. I don’t know what you call it here in Capena.”

She stared at me for almost a minute before speaking. “We can set up that for you here, Mr.…?”

“Oh, I’m Dominic.”

“Mr. Dominic. We call them copyrights, but you may call them patents. Whatever you prefer. Do you have the designs with you? I will give you the proper paperwork to fill out to make this official.”

“I do. And to ask a dumb question, will this be in the database for the continent and not just around here?”

“Yes, sir. Our database is continental, but it is also worldwide. We have locations in each city, and they’ll have these in their system when the process is complete,” Mara replied.

That was mind-boggling. I wondered how they achieved that. I guessed it must be some kind of magic.

I nodded and handed her my designs. She then handed me the paperwork. Looking it over, I filled in the blanks on the document and before handing it back to her, I glanced over the pages again. I had to fill out one for each item in question. We discussed the procedures and she let me know that it would take a week to get everything completed and processed. I handed her two gold for the fees attached to the copyrights.

“By the way, who is the best trader in town?” I wanted to see if I could make a deal with them on production.

The gnome didn’t hesitate, “Corrina, she’s across the street, four doors down.”

“Thanks.”

I was about to stand up and leave, but Mara cleared her throat. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Um… where are your women?”

“Getting items that we need. They didn’t have to come along. I can take care of myself.”

She nodded, unconvinced, and handed me a receipt and a copy of the paperwork. “Okay, have a good day, Mr. Dominic.”

“You too, thanks for the name.”

I left and walked back to my wagon to put the paperwork in the secret section with the daggers and knives. I had told Mara the truth, except that the primary reason they weren’t with me was because I didn’t feel like explaining where I got the ideas and designs from. Eventually, I would let them know, but not today.

Grabbing a copy of my designs, I walked over to where the gnome had directed me and stopped in front of the building. After taking a moment for myself, I stepped into the store and looked around. A few people were purchasing items, so I stood in the back and waited for them to get done.

Ten minutes later, a female voice spoke out, “Can we help you, sir?”

I turned to see a gorgeous female with red hair staring at me. She couldn’t be over five feet, which told me she was probably a dwarf. She was wearing brown trousers that were tight on her shapely form, and a blue halter top that barely covered her d-cup breasts. When she turned for a moment to put away some paperwork on a shelf behind the counter, I saw that the beautiful woman’s long flowing hair reached down to her pear-shaped ass.

Trying to focus on the matter at hand, I replied, “Yes, ma’am. I would like to discuss some business with Ms. Corrina.”

Over to my right, I noticed an elf with dark hair watching me.

The dwarf turned her attention back to me and didn’t respond for a minute, but narrowed her eyes, “I’m Corrina. How did you know my name?”

“Mara gave me your name. I’d like to talk to you about some new items that I want to sell. They are new ideas and I believe they will be a big hit and make a substantial amount of money for us. Basically, I would like to see if you want to become partners.”

She smirked and it enhanced her beauty. “Oh? Is that right? Before we get ahead of ourselves, will you tell us your name?”

She clearly didn’t believe me, but she probably heard this kind of thing all the time.

The elf came up behind Corrina.

“My name’s Dominic,” I offered.

“Dominic, nice to meet you. To my right is my colleague Nancy.”

I nodded, and the dwarf went on, “Now that we have the introductions out of the way. Where are your women? You shouldn’t be alone.”

I sighed loudly and was about to go on a rant, but calmed myself down and gestured to the sword on my back. “I can take care of myself, ladies. Don’t worry about my women, they’re nearby. Now, can we speak about my proposal or do I need to leave and go somewhere else?”

The duo glanced at each other and smiled. Corrina shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. Are these ideas still in your head? Or do you have some kind of design for them?”

I reached into the slot on my harness that housed the documents and handed them to her. The elf was curious and looked over Corrina’s shoulder. Both gasped after a few moments when they figured out that I was serious. It didn’t take long for them to open their eyes wide. They looked through the designs at least three times before they had one of those silent conversations with their eyes. Damn, can all the women of this world do that?

Corrina cleared her throat before speaking. “These are some great ideas. Especially the sleeping bags. What kind of terms are you looking for?”

“I’m not sure, but they are patented.” I didn’t want to say anything that would get me less than what was due to me.

She nodded and thought carefully about what she wanted to say. “How about this? We have the exclusive rights to sell these items and will give you thirty percent.”

Tha fuck? Does she think I’m stupid?

“I’m hoping that was a joke. If that’s your best offer, then I will leave right now.”

Corrina smiled. “You can’t blame a girl for trying. Okay, how about this…”

We haggled for almost an hour; they had customers to deal with, so I waited for that. We finally came to an agreement on each item. Her people would be in charge of production. I advised them that my women were setting up a booth in Capena and Strongfair to sell some of these products. The ladies didn’t bat an eye at that, they wouldn’t be hindered since they could go all over the continent. The only items we didn’t agree on were the healing items. I took those off the proposal. We would sell them in our booths. They got the exclusive selling rights for the sleeping bags. She didn’t give me the percentage of profit that I wanted for them, but I couldn’t really complain since they would do all the work. Corrina proposed to give me 33 percent on them, but she gave me 42 percent on the other items.

Corrina asked, “Do you have an account with the banking system?”

To tell the truth, I didn’t even think about it.

“No, not yet. Do they have locations in other towns?”

The dwarf nodded and replied, “Yes, all of the banks are linked across our continent, so you’ll be able to deposit or withdraw from any of them. Of course, the smaller towns may not have a branch available.”

A continental banking system, that’s convenient. Must use the same kind of process that the town hall uses.

I wondered what they called the government, a regime maybe? Or administration? Directorate? I needed to ask one of the girls about that.

“Alright, I’ll open an account today.”

She handed me a document. “Good. Give this to the one who opens your account and she will give it to Hanna, the account manager, to let them know our partnership is legit. We will also talk with Hanna regarding our partnership, and she’ll be able to transfer the funds to your account every week. Also, we’ll give you a statement to look over every two weeks.”

“Sounds great. It’s a deal then.”

I shook hands with the two of them and left.

~~~~~~

Nancy watched her lover stare lustfully at the handsome man as he left. She smirked and asked, “Are you aroused, hon?”

Corrina turned to the dark-haired elf with a flushed face. “Yes, I am. And if you really want to know how aroused I am, join me in the back and I’ll let you take off my soaked panties as you lick my dripping cunt.”

Nancy’s eyes widened. “Damn, girl. I’m all for that. I haven’t seen you like this for a long time.”

“It was the way he looked at me. And he didn’t back down on anything that I threw at him. I could tell that he knows how to take care of himself. That got me dripping, but the way he stood his ground when we bargained over his designs, had me gushing. Not to mention how much money we’ll make. Goddess! I need my cunt licked, now!”

Nancy looked around and hollered out, “Dana!”

A gnome with blonde hair came from the back to see what was going on. “You rang?”

Nancy snorted. “Yes, please watch the front for a bit. Corrina’s horny, so we’re unavailable for a time.”

Dana giggled when she looked over at Corrina. “One of our customers got you hot and bothered?”

The dwarf sighed and nodded, “Yes.”

“He was definitely a handsome man.”

Corrina and Nancy nodded as they hurried to the back where a private room with a bed was located. Dana could hear their soft moans from the front counter as she waited for the next customer to come in.

~~~~~~

As I walked out, I looked around the area and found the bank, then headed that way. Coming through the doors, I stopped until my eyes picked out an elf coming my way.

“Good morning, sir.” As usual, she looked around for my women.

I sighed. “They aren’t with me. They’re doing errands for our family.”

She nodded and smiled. “What can I help you with?”

“I need to open an account, please.”

“Of course, my name is Lydia. Follow me.”

I did, and she handed me some paperwork to fill out. I completed it and handed the papers back to her with my opening deposit of ten gold. That surprised her, but she took it in stride and gave me a receipt. Lydia also advised me about using the branches in the other cities and handed me my account number.

“I also have a business partnership with Corrina.” Grabbing the paperwork, I handed it to the elf.

“Very impressive to get a deal with her. I will put this on your account and advise Hanna, our account manager of this.”

“Thank you. Corrina said she would talk to her as well.” Lydia nodded, and I bid her goodbye.

When I came out of the bank, my mind went over what I needed to do. My errands were almost finished. I took a few deep breaths. Time to face the blonde bombshell.

When I got to the wainwright building, I took another deep breath and walked in. There were four women in the vicinity. Two I knew, they were the young women I had come to see. The other two were talking off to the side, so I made my way over. The duo finally saw me and gasped before hurrying my way.

Not realizing their plan, I was caught off guard when Julia threw herself at me and wrapped herself around my waist. Abby wasn’t far behind.

“We’re so glad you’re here,” Julia gushed while still hugging me.

“You are here for my mom, right Dominic?” Abby asked.

“Yeah, is she outside?”

“No. She quit a couple of weeks ago, said she couldn’t handle being around the people here,” Abby replied in a whisper.

“Really?”

Both let go of me and Julia replied, “Isabella has taken it hard, Dominic. She won’t fix herself up anymore, nor really eating anything. If something doesn’t change, we don’t know what will happen.”

Abby voiced her concern, “Mom won’t go out either. She won’t be able to pay rent if she doesn’t find work. I will help out as much as I can, but I’m not sure it’s enough.”

I closed my eyes and waited for a few moments before opening them. “Is she at home?”

Abby smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir. I will let you in,” turning to her best friend she asked, “cover for me?”

“You know I will,” Julia said and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek. The teen blushed and rushed away.

Abby snickered and shook her head. “She’s infatuated with you. We both are.” The teen led us outside to head over to the boarding house.

I scoffed and said, “And why is that?”

She answered with a shrug. “Look around you, Dominic. What do you see?”

I stopped and scanned the area.

“Families are coming and going.”

“Yep, but the main thing to take note of is that none of the males are walking by themselves. Think about that, stud.”

I rolled my eyes and grunted.

She continued, “You have women now, I’m aware of that since we saw that lady with you. But you’re coming to see my mom, maybe help her if I’m reading your intentions correctly. I’m blown away at that. Not one of those other males you can see would do that. So yes, Julia and I are enamored with you. Both of us have dreaded the day we have to join a family, especially since Felicia has joined with Helen’s. If we could join with someone like you, then our worries would go away.”

Not knowing how to respond, I waited to see if the teen mage would speak again, but she said nothing else. We got up to the floor where she lived and opened the door. It was dark inside. Abby led the way and had me stay in the front room while she went to the bedroom.

Opening the door, Abby announced her presence, “Mom, you have a visitor.”

A muffled voice called out, “I don’t want to see anyone.”

“They came a long way to see you.”

Bella replied, “Tell them some other time, please.”

Abby was at a loss. She threw up her hands. “She doesn’t want to see anyone.”

“Well, it’s worse than I thought.”

I walked towards the room. Abby called out, “She hasn’t taken a bath in a few days.”

Nodding, I opened the door and walked into a dark room. The smell wasn’t roses inside, but it wasn’t too bad. I strode over and heard a rustling sound. Sheets maybe. Either that or blankets.

“Who’s there?”

“A friend.”

Isabella gasped and whimpered, “Go away, please.”

“Why?”

She replied in a low voice, “Because I asked you to. Why are you here?”

“Abby told me you needed help. It would seem that’s the case.”

Bella groaned and said, “I need nothing, go away.”

“Don’t make me get you up.”

“Please, Dominic,” she sobbed and put a pillow over her head in embarrassment.

I went over and pulled the covers off her. I grabbed her arms and gently pulled her up. She had pajamas on. When I had the blonde mage out of bed, I forced her to walk out of the bedroom. Abby was still there, so I made my way towards the door. “Get your mom some clothes together, she’s going to take a bath and get refreshed. Where are the baths?”

Abby smiled and said, “The first floor, on the east side of the building. I’ll meet you down there.”

I nodded and pulled her out into the hall to head down to where the baths were. Bella tried to get me to stop and pulled away, but I pretty much forced her all the way, and then inside the door to the baths.

“Clean yourself up, Bella. We’ll talk when you’re somewhat normal.”

All she did was grunt and grabbed a towel off the counter before closing the door. I sat down in a chair outside the room and waited for the teen. It didn’t take long before she came down.

She gave me a sack of Bella’s clothes.

“Not sure what’s going to happen, but I heard that Helen’s family was trying to get Bella to join them.”

“Stupid bitch won’t leave her alone,” Abby responded with venom in her voice. “She even has Felicia trying to push her to join.”

I sighed, not sure that I wanted to get involved, but said, “It’s up to you, young lady. Your mom isn’t in any shape to make a rational decision. What do you want me to do?”

Abby sat down in the chair beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. The teen was distraught over her mom, so I stayed still. She whispered, “Can you take her with you?”

I put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her. “I can, but will this cause trouble for you and her in the long run?”

For some reason, the young woman snuggled into my side as close as possible and put her arms around me. She even smelled me, which was weird.

“It doesn’t matter at this point, Mom already told them no numerous times and quit her job to get away from Felicia.”

“Are you comfortable?” I asked with a smile.

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I am. It feels safe being this close to you. Julia will be super jealous when I tell her about it.”

I chuckled and shook my head but didn’t move my arm away.

“I’ll take Bella to my place, it’s far enough from town that hopefully no one will come looking. If they come to ask you for her whereabouts, tell them she went to Strongfair or another town.”

She grunted her agreement. We sat in silence for ten minutes or so before Bella called out, “Ab, can you help me?”

The teen moved out of my arms, but kissed me on the cheek before getting up, “Thank you for being you, Dom.”

“I’ll be back in town in a week or so, I’ll stop by and let you know what’s going on.”

“Sounds good,” Abby said as she walked inside the door to the baths with the sack of clothes.

It wasn’t five minutes later that they both walked out. Bella looked a hundred times better.

“Feel better?”

Bella didn’t look up for a few moments. “I do, thank you.”

“Okay, here’s the deal. I’m sure that Abby has told you what the plan is, so go get packed. I’ll be back in an hour to get you. I have others with me, so I need to check on them and explain what’s going on.”

Bella took a breath and released it. “I understand. I’ll be ready.”

I turned my attention to the teen. “Do you need to go with her and watch?”

That set the older woman off, she hissed, “I do not need my daughter to watch my every move, Dominic.”

“Good. Get going.”

The blonde walked off as Abby kissed my cheek again. I jokingly asked, “Taking advantage of me?”

“If that is on the table, we can go upstairs.”

“Damn, you’ve changed young lady.”

Abby nodded.

“Julia and I have learned that life is hard. Some ladies we see are alone or have trouble finding a family to join. We spoke to some of them and came out of those conversations disheartened. We didn’t want to join any family after hearing the things some have to do every day. The bitches in charge of the families take advantage of the others. But the ones that are by themselves have issues as well, such as no mental or physical support. Yes, Julia and I can take care of each other, but it may not be enough in the long run.”

“Both of you are strong, young ladies.”

She smiled sadly. “Thank you for that compliment. What if we want to move or buy some land? We won’t be able to afford it. The two of us will be stuck in a boarding house forever. Even if we move to a different city, we’ll still have to live in a boarding house. Jul’s and I want to get away from the city.”

I nodded but said nothing, just listened.

“I’m sorry to vent.”

“It’s fine. Life is hard, sometimes brutal, but lift your head up. You’re young, so take the good days with the bad. It’ll work out.”

Abby nodded, and we said our goodbyes. I watched her walk towards the wainwright building, deep in thought. Shaking my head, I went to check on the ladies and William.

~~~~~~

Walking inside the clothier, I could hear yelling from the back of the store. I made my way through the maze of clothing racks to find two women, one a tall elf with pale skin and platinum hair and the other human looking. I guessed she must be a mage. She was a brunette with brown eyes and was as tall as the elf. Their male companion was short, not even five and a half feet tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was scrawny, not really any muscle on him at all. They were berating the two employees, one of whom was Talia.

Lily and my group were off to the side, looking annoyed and angry. Hmm, I wondered if it had something to do with them.

“They don’t belong here, Brenda!”

“Anna is right, those people need to leave. They have their own shop on the west side of town.”

Brenda tried to calm them down. “We don’t discriminate here, Sheila. They’re paying customers. Please, keep your voice down.”

Anna hissed, “This is unacceptable. At least have the filth leave while we are here.”

That did it for me. As I walked over, the little male mouthed off, “They’ll need to disinfect this place afterwards.”

I activated the nullify rune on my ring and weapons, just in case these idiots took drastic measures.

“What did you say, pipsqueak?”

Everyone gasped, surprised to see me there. The trio looked over at me with disdain, until they saw the sword attached to my back.

Anna scoffed after getting over being interrupted, “This is none of your business.”

I nodded and responded calmly, “It is my business when people are slandering others that I care about.”

That set off another set of gasps. Brenda and the offenders had their mouths agape, Talia smiled.

The blonde male sneered. “This filth? They are with you? If that is true, you need to go as well!”

I walked over to the guy and stopped when I was in his personal space, towering over him. I was almost a foot taller than the twerp, so I bent down and was about to have a friendly conversation with the prick but decided on something different. I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. He wheezed out incoherent sounds while his women squawked and yelled at me.

I ignored them and spoke in almost a whisper to the little bastard, “Speak like that again and we’ll go outside to handle this. If you know what’s good for you, then your mouth will not open or speak in my presence. Do you understand?”

He tried to talk, but I didn’t let up on my grip.

“Blink twice if you comply.”

He did, and I was going to let him down, but his little group pissed me off, so I started walking towards the door still holding him. Not even halfway I felt something hit my aura and dissipate. I chuckled; the bitches were using magic. Good thing my runes were active. The skanks tried many times before actually running towards me, but they didn’t make it in time.

I opened the door and threw the little bastard out of the store. He landed face first on the ground and slid about three feet. His women were outraged as they came up to me, cursing my presence, but I saw something else in their eyes. Fear. They didn’t know why their spells didn’t work on me.

Being the gentlemen that I am, I held the door open for them. “You know, it isn’t nice for ladies like yourself to backstab others. Or throw spells at them.”

“How did you do that?” Anna stammered. “No shield was activated, our spells just evaporated.”

“Something isn’t right. I can’t use magic right now,” Sheila advised with a trembling voice. “Anna, we need to leave.”

Warily, they hurried away from me. The blonde male was whining and whimpering. Pussy. I let go of the door and made my way back to the girls who were whispering to the two saleswomen. William had a big grin on his face. When I walked up, the conversation stopped cold.

“Everyone done?”

Brenda cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, sir. Not yet. They interrupted us. William and Celina have a few more items to pick out.”

I grunted and glanced over at Lily, who was staring at me with hunger in her gaze. All the women were. “You want me to stay?”

She giggled. “I think you made your point.”

I shrugged and turned my attention to Brenda and Talia. “I apologize for making a scene, ladies.”

Brenda smiled. “It’s okay. They were the ones causing a scene, demanding things. Thanks for the help.”

I nodded and said, “Not a problem,” then looked over at my crew. “I’ll be at the hardware store. Lily, Tianna, I need to speak to you for a moment.”

They nodded, and we went to another part of the store to whisper.

“Alright, I went to visit Isabella. She’s had a hard time and kept herself locked up in her room for the past two weeks. Isabella’s involvement in the situation was bad, and I will explain later, but her daughter has asked me to take her away from here.”

Both nodded, Lily spoke first. “Knowing you, I’m assuming you told her yes.”

I nodded and Tianna broke in, “Sounds like she needs help. Our home is nearly finished, we will have extra room.”

Lily nodded. “I agree. She’s coming home with us today?”

“Yep.”

Tianna smiled. “Rescuing another damsel in distress?”

I grunted but didn’t respond.

“Is this the woman that you caught having relations with Helen?” Lily asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. She snickered and hugged me.

“We’ll tell the others.”

“Okay, I’m going to get her, and we’ll head to the diner. You ladies want to meet up there?”

“No, we still have to meet with the booth representative to pick out our spot and get a permit. After we get done here, then we’ll take care of that and get something to eat,” Tianna replied.

“Yeah, we will have plenty of extra money left over. They are preparing for the lunch rush on Chow Row, where the food booths are, we’ll just pick up something,” Lily agreed.

Both kissed me and walked back to help Celina and William. I walked out and made my way towards the hardware store. It took me some time to find the parts and connections I needed for the shower, bath, and stoves. I spoke to the clerk to order the potbelly stoves; she advised to only order a few since they were heavy. I ordered two to start. She said they wouldn’t be ready until next week, but they would have my other order ready within the hour.

As I was walking to the general goods store someone yelled, “Hey, you!”

I ignored them and kept walking. The voice yelled out again, “Beastkin lover!”

That got my attention and everyone else around. I stopped and turned to see a male elf with brown hair, around six feet tall. He was staring at me with disgust. The little blonde fucker that I threw out was beside him, wiping his bloody face off with a towel. His women were off to the side with three others I didn’t know.

Turning my attention back to the idiot in the middle of the road, I waited for him to mouth off something else. It didn’t take him long.

“Don’t have anything to say, now?”

“Well, I’m trying to decide if you’re worth my time.”

People around us laughed. The male elf went red and yelled, “You better watch yourself, pal.”

“I’m not your pal. You done yelling?”

He laughed bitterly. “No, I’m not. You see, Alex, my friend here, told me that you threw him out of the clothier.”

“Yeah, and?”

There was a crowd around now, and they started whispering. The male elf replied, “You’re going to go down on all fours and apologize to him. Then you will kiss his boots before begging for mercy.”

I laughed hard, bent over at the belly and everything. After a minute, I calmed down and spoke, “That will never happen.”

“Then prepare to die.”

The elf began the hand motions for his spells. I didn’t give two shits what he was doing, it wouldn’t harm me at all, but there were shouts from our left. I turned to see guards coming our way. The crowd parted and let three female guards through.

A redhead shouted, “Break it up, now!”

The crowd scattered. A blonde came my way and a brunette went towards the elf and little man. They had us stay where we were. When the street was less full, the redhead had us both come to her.

“Why are you disturbing my peaceful town?”

The elf started spouting off, telling the pretty ladies his side of the story. I waited and she turned in my direction.

“Is this true? You threw Alex out of the clothing shop?”

“Yeah. He and his bitches were making derogatory remarks about the people I was with. So, I choked the shit out of him and threw his ass out of the shop.”

The blonde and brunette snickered, but the redhead glared in their direction, which shut them up.

“I want you three to go separate ways and leave each other alone. If you disturb the peace again today, then I will throw your asses in jail for the next couple of days. Capiche?”

Huh, they say that here too.

We all assented and the other males walked off. I watched them for a few moments, knowing it wouldn’t be the last I saw of them. I was about to walk away but the redhead stopped me.

“You’re new in town, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s your name?”

“Dominic.”

“A word of advice, Dominic. Stay clear of Lamar, he’s bad news.”

“The elf?”

She nodded.

“As long as he and his pussy of a friend stay away from me, then we won’t have a problem.”

The trio glanced at each other, another of those silent conversations using facial expressions. It definitely must be a woman thing.

The blonde gestured to my back. “You know how to use that?”

I nodded, and the redhead chuckled. “Where are your women, Dominic?”

“Why does that matter?”

The brunette chimed in, “I’m sure that they’re worried about you. You shouldn’t be out and about by yourself.”

I scoffed, “I can take care of myself. Anything else, ladies?”

The redhead shook her head. “No, but you’re an interesting male, Dominic.”

“Thanks, I’ll be on my way now.”

They nodded, and I continued on my way to the general goods store.

Chapter 16

Still ticked off, I released my anger with curse words from the English language. People stared in confusion and whispered to each other as I passed them. Taking a few breaths to calm down, I entered the store where a few patrons were browsing the shelves.

While making my way to the first aisle, I bumped into a rack of newspapers. Huh… I was really missing my tablet and phone. Damn, what I wouldn’t give for the internet right now so that I could Google some things. I would definitely be on YouTube. I grabbed a newspaper to check inside, but the front page caught my eye. The headline read ‘MYSTERIOUS DEATHS IN FOREST.’

I stepped over to the side and read the article. Someone had found dead bodies when they were traversing the woods looking for herbs and plants. There had been an investigation to see if the incident involved foul play. I skimmed over the article when they went into detail about shit I didn’t care about. The scene baffled the investigators when they figured out the cause of death. They declared that arrows killed the five people, but they wondered why the magic users didn’t activate their shields. I stopped at that and figured someone found the bitches we left in the forest. Huh… At the end of the article it said that the magistrate set a reward for anyone with any information on the killers.

What the actual fuck?

A reward to catch the ones who killed those bitches. I wondered if the authorities were in on it, involved with the gang. Maybe getting a cut from the sales? Hmm… something to think about later.

I put the newspaper back into the rack and went to gather the items that we needed. After picking up some new cutlery, cups, and plates, I placed my items on the counter and went to get sugar, coffee, and other necessities. Paying the clerk, I headed to the boarding house to get Bella, but made a detour to the livery to put away my purchases in the wagon. I also placed the documents into the secret compartment. When that was done, I made my way to get the blonde bombshell.

I opened the front door and climbed the steps to Bella’s room. As I was about to knock to let her know that I was there, she stepped out with a bag on her shoulder. She looked refreshed and ready for the day, a hundred times better than earlier. She was even wearing makeup. Good, maybe she would try and get out of the rut she was in.

“Hello again, Isabella.”

“Dominic.”

I chuckled. “Feeling better?”

The mage gave me a look that said, ‘back off buster.’

“Don’t push your luck, mister.”

I put my hands up, “No problem. Let me carry your bag.”

“No thanks.”

“Alright, we’ll put it in my wagon and go grab some lunch. Is that okay?”

She nodded and we walked over to place her bags with the others on my wagon. We walked away from the livery, but instead of heading towards the diner, I made my way to the wainwright building.

“Why are you going there?” Bella demanded with wide eyes.

“To be friendly.”

I walked on and she reluctantly followed me, but stopped just inside, by the door. The teens were at the counter, talking with three other young people. Two females and a male. I leaned on the opposite end of the counter, waiting.

Julia saw me and smiled. “Dom!”

The other four looked over. Abby turned to see her mom by the door, and she had a broad smile as she watched Julia walk over.

“Come here, I want to introduce you to some friends of ours.”

Not interested at all in meeting them, I went over anyway and stopped by the group.

“Christy, Faith, Roger, this is Dominic.”

We greeted each other, then Roger asked, “Aren’t you the fella that was about to battle Lamar?”

That caused the group to gasp and go wide-eyed. Abby asked hesitantly, “Dom, tell me that’s not true?”

“Nah, it was someone else,” I replied, trying hard not to get into a conversation over that idiot.

The guy looked confused but shrugged it off. They discussed something else and laughed about other things. I was hungry, so I butted into the conversation and asked, “Girls, are you hungry? I’m headed to the diner. Come with?”

“Sounds good. We will meet you there,” Abby replied immediately.

I nodded and went over to Bella; we headed outside.

At the diner, the server guided us to a booth, but before we sat, Bella whispered, “Can I sit with you?”

Without hesitating, I replied, “Sure, hon.”

I let her sit first, then slid in beside her. Our server gave us a menu and took our drink order. A few minutes later, the two teens came in and sat on the opposite side. The server brought our drinks and took the teens’ order before heading off again.

“Mom, it’s so good to see you out and about,” Abby praised.

Julia nodded, “We’ve missed you at the shop.”

“It’s only been two weeks, girls,” Bella scoffed with a smile.

Abby looked over to me. “This scene looks familiar, Dominic. Trying to get in our good graces?”

I was taking a drink of water and choked on it when she said that. All three ladies laughed, I tried to keep myself from coughing up anything.

Abby leaned over the table. “You got mom out of her room, so it looks like I already owe you. We can meet in my room after this if you want to cash it in.”

I didn’t respond. The bold statement shocked Julia and Bella, the former’s cheeks went pink and when the latter got herself together, she hissed at her daughter, “Young lady, that is inappropriate.”

Abby glanced over at her mom. “Why? I’m of age, and he’s an attractive male.”

Bella stammered something. I just chuckled and shook my head. “Abby, don’t have your mom worry about you.”

The teen was serious when she responded, “Julia and I have talked it over. When you’re ready, big boy, then let us know.”

I turned my attention to Julia. Her cheeks were crimson now and she wouldn’t look at us. Not knowing how to respond, I took a breath to calm down.

Bella spoke up, “Ab, Juls, what has gotten into you two? Wait, I don’t want to know. Let’s just have a pleasant lunch.”

The teens giggled and nodded. I still said nothing, not wanting to get myself in trouble. The server brought drinks for the girls and bread for the table. We ordered our food, before leaving she asked, “Sir, I have to ask. My colleagues noticed you come in and wondered why you were about to fight Lamar?”

I groaned inwardly.

“You said that you weren’t the guy,” Bella chastised me.

Abby nodded, “Yeah, Roger kept saying that you were him, but I said it must be a mistake. Why did you lie?”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

The server commented, “Lamar’s a vindictive piece of shit. He’s evil.”

“Nice to know, but he doesn’t scare me. His small friend made some derogatory remarks to some people that are with me. I tried to be nice, but he kept going, so I choked the little bastard and threw him out of the clothing shop.”

The waitress was laughing softly. Bella shook her head. Julia wasn’t deterred in any way. “That was you? Christy and the others were talking about that as well.”

I rolled my eyes. The server left and Bella said in a low voice, “You need to be careful. Lamar is a dick and has a reputation for hurting people.”

I looked her in the eyes. “I will. Now, let’s talk about something else.”

Julia couldn’t help it, she was curious, “Who’s with you?”

I took a moment to answer. “Well, some ladies that needed help. A boy as well.”

Abby chimed in, “Are they going to join your family?”

Bella looked up at her question. I didn’t want to say anything out in the open, it wasn’t anyone else’s business.

“I don’t know. We’ll see. I took William in as my ward. He was an orphan and now I’m teaching him how to read and write.”

Abby smiled and shook her head. “There you go again, helping people.”

I grunted.

Julia broke in with her question, “Can we meet them? Is Nikki with you?”

Bella couldn’t keep quiet then, “Who’s Nikki?”

Her daughter replied, “A gorgeous blonde, she was with him the last time he was in town.”

Bella nodded, but kept quiet. I thought about Julia’s question before answering.

“We can see where they are when we’re finished here or do it the next time that I’m in town.”

Julia responded before I finished my statement, “After this.”

Abby nodded in agreement. “Are they from different races?”

Bella looked over at the girls with her brows raised. “Why are you asking that?”

“We’re curious about the women that are involved with Dominic,” Abby replied with a smile.

I chuckled at their banter. “Yes, they are from different races. Tianna is a drow, an earth mage. Celina and Lily are beastkin.”

Julia asked in a rush, “Really? What species?”

“Lily is a ram, and Celina is a puma.”

“Incredible! Has Celina shifted for you yet?” Abby gushed.

I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she’s deadly. William, my ward, is a panther.”

Both teens said in unison, “Cool.”

Bella asked in confusion, “The girls said that you were with Nikki. Where does she fit in?”

I figured that I needed to tell them about the others as well.

“There are two others that are living in Strongfair. Nikki is a nephilim and Emoli is a drow, and another earth mage.”

Julia whistled, “Damn, Dom. You have some deadly women hanging around you.”

I shrugged. We made small talk the rest of the time until the food came and ate in silence. It was great. Pot roast with red potatoes. When lunch ended, I paid our bill, and we left after leaving a tip. I didn’t know where the others were, but it surprised me to see them walking back from the livery. I guessed they had finished shopping. We met on the deck of the diner.

“Hello, Dom,” Lily smiled as they came up, “we just finished with our errands.”

I nodded and was about to introduce everyone, but they all did it themselves. Shrugging, I stepped back and watched. I noticed William look over at Abby and Julia many times, but the young women just nodded at him and listened to the ladies chatting. I chuckled to myself. It wouldn’t be long, and he would have girl fever.

As they were talking, I realized that I forgot to buy the jars. Shit. I turned to the women, “Ladies,” they stopped talking and looked in my direction, “I seem to have forgotten an important item from the general goods store. I’ll grab the wagon from the livery and stop to purchase them. When you’re done, then head over.”

They nodded and went back to their conversation. I laughed softly and walked to get my wagon. Coming up to the livery, I paid the fee for everything and made sure all the packages were tied down. Flicking the reins, the Jutlands slowly made their way over to my destination and stopped. The hardware clerk and an assistant brought out my purchases as I applied the brake, they put them on the wagon. I then went to the general goods store and hurried inside to get the jars. The clerk had five cases, so I bought them all. The clerk and his assistant helped me carry them to the wagon and secured the boxes. We had a full load, good thing we brought the horses.

I heard footsteps behind me and looked over my shoulder to see William walking up.

“Need help?”

“Little late, isn’t it?” I smirked.

He blushed and tried to come up with an excuse.

“It’s okay, they’re beautiful young women. You aren’t of age yet, though.”

“I know,” he mumbled and shook his head.

“Go grab your horse and let’s get ready to go. I’ve already paid.”

William nodded and hurried off. I saw the women coming my way, so I waited and got Coal ready. Celina got up into the back of the wagon and made a spot so she could sit near the front, the other three sat on the seat.

“We’re ready to go, Dom,” Tianna said.

“When William comes out with Buddy, we’ll head out.”

They nodded and waited, not for long though. When my ward came out of the livery, I started Coal out while Tianna flicked the reins to get the Jutlands going, headed home.