What followed was, as expected, a rather lavish dinner. Fan had worked some truly wonderful magic on the wagyu wolf meat, and it tasted amazing. Unfortunately, however, my enjoyment of the food was marred by the fact that the girls weren't with me. The slaves had their own table, away from the main event.
"I have to say," Bob, the former guild instructor who also gave us lessons on fighting monsters and handling swords a while back, said. He looked at me in between bites of steak. "I was a bit skeptical when Ted said you suggested we hold the ceremony here, at Fan's. You see, his food's okay but," he leaned in, "it hasn't really been up to par lately. Until tonight, it seems?"
Ted laughed in the exaggerated manner one uses when they are performing, pointing at me. "You should know, Sol here has at least as much merit as the cook himself. You see, he was the one who provided the meat."
"Really?" Bob asked.
Both faces turned to me. Along with them, the other people sitting at the table also subtly shifted their attention to me. The game was on.
"Yes," I said. "It's a skill of mine that I have trained diligently for years."
"And what can it do?" the instructor asked.
"It can turn normal wolf meat into what you're eating, for starters," I said. "And it can do much more. You'll see. I planned a demonstration for you all to see, later."
"A demonstration?"
Ted took over, grinning. "It's gonna be his induction gift to the three-letter club, Bob. Told you my protege would be bringing us some mean coin and, you'll see, you'll see."
The ceremony began in earnest after the dinner. There was a speech. Ted, a human, and an elf babbled on about integrity, morals, the betterment of the Three Great Races, hinting at a connection with the Three Letters but never quite delving into it. It felt like some sort of esoteric knowledge, hidden under the surface, talked about only in passing, mentioned but never explained. Some of the people at my table nodded in subtle understanding, while most others didn't, and looking around I saw the same happening all throughout the lavishly decorated room.
When the speech was over, names were called one by one. I followed the first person, a human, with my eyes as he walked over to the small platform, taking place under three flags hanging on gilded poles behind his back.
"Sharply dressed, with hints of Chasmer fashion," Ted whispered when he returned to our table, making a face. "See, he's trying to send a message that he knows people down there. No doubt he will mention that in his speech."
Right on cue, he began to speak. First came the Oaths, to be loyal to the club, to further the interests of the club, to improve the status of civilization, to preserve the Great Races, to fight for enlightenment and brotherhood, and many more.
I felt the System stir at his words, hovering around the room like a hound. The place was spacious and lavishly decorated, with crystal lights and tapestries everywhere. Fan had really outdone himself, not wanting to squander the opportunity I gave him by mentioning his place to Ted.
However, right as the Oaths were spoken, I felt trapped and claustrophobic. I wasn't the only one. Even Ted, usually composed and carefree—amused, as he always put it—looked distressed.
"The System doesn't know what to do," Calla told me through the bond. She too was distressed.
"How so?" I asked telepathically. "What's the problem?"
"It has no more safeguards preventing it from acting," the dryad said, her voice monotone as she communed with the strange magical entity. "It wonders if it should intervene and enforce the Oaths."
"Tell it not to," I said. "If it even cares to listen."
Not a moment passed before I felt the System retreat, and the room let go of the breath it was unconsciously holding.
I guess that answered it. It seems the System listened to its only agents. For now.
"It wonders why you told it not to interfere," Calla said.
"It's too early to make big changes. The battery it's hooked up to is cracked, and who knows if acting out of line might attract attention from other, still corrupted sectors?"
I felt the other girls mull over my words, while my eyes looked at the speaker. He recovered from the momentary setback, fake smile projecting confidence despite the strange mood of the room.
Then he launched into a speech about how good the club had been to him even though he'd barely been a provisional member for six months—I had to do a double-take at that, six months? I had been a member for much less time and yet, here I was.
Whatever.
My eyes almost glazed over as he droned on and on, but everyone was listening intently, or at least pretending to. With nothing else to do, I found myself looking at the flags behind him as he droned on and on.
One was the flag of the Guild, recognized as the ever-present power across the civilized lands. The other was the flag of the city, which I had actually never seen before. The last, at the center, was the three-letter club official emblem.
Three golden letters, very much unlike the written word of this planet, were drawn over a circle that encased two stylized keys and a lock. The letters looked familiar, and their sight made the bond explode with emotions and chatter from the girls. They all seemed to have something to say about the letters and the symbols, although none of them had any more clue than I did.
It was a mystery to be unraveled later. Or not. We were still wary of getting entangled in these things, although perhaps it was too late to think such thoughts now.
"…and of course, I will put my great network of acquaintances and business partners to the full disposal of the club," the man said, finishing his speech.
"As predicted," Ted grumbled. "That's his induction gift. His clothing gives it away for anyone who knows enough to understand. He doesn't only know people. He knows people in Chasm city. Fool."
"Is he a fool because the club hates Chasmers?" I asked.
"Oh no, none of that," Ted said. "He'll fit right in. He's a fool because he's a fool. As for his gift, don't underestimate the power of connections. All it takes sometimes, is knowing the right people. You should know."
I nodded.
"Although," he added, "it remains to be seen whether his connections are worth anything."
The applause was lukewarm. The next person was an elven woman. She strode to the broadcasting crystal like she owned the place, staring down at the tables full of members as if already above them all. She too had a speech prepared, which was longer and more verbose than the previous, and then a gift.
"A stash of rare creature cores, nice," Bob said. "We can never have too many."
It went on and on. Finally, it was my turn.
◈◈◈
Vespera was fuming. "Fucking assholes," she spat.
Zery was roaring with laughter.
I was propped against the wall opposite the cracked core, watching the demon pace circles around the bound dragon, occasionally sidestepping an amused angel and a rather worried dryad both sitting on metal chairs we found and salvaged during our explorations of the underground tunnels.
"It's fine," I said.
She glared at me. "Fine?" she asked. Then, working herself up, "FINE? You showed them a hundred fucking doses of Green, for heaven's sake! You transmuted a block of that concrete bullshit they use to build the walls and turned it into nigh-indestructible blackstone or whatever it's called, pledging to do the whole OUTER WALL through contracts that heavily benefit the club, and nobody fucking reacted!"
"Ted and Bob did," I said. The two had clapped, sparking a polite applause from the rest of the crowd that, in turn, had sparked murmurs.
"My induction has been too quick," I said. "Ted told me it could happen. They don't trust the gifts from someone they don't know."
"The dwarf assured us we did better than he could ever hope," Elyra said. "Things are, as he puts it, in motion now. We already have meetings lined up with a few masons and even a representative of the Freebuilders."
"Did you see Ted's face when he told us that?" I asked.
Vespera smiled faintly, fangs showing. "He looked like he had just swallowed a slime. He really does hate Freebuilders. But still," the demon grumbled. "We had a tail getting out of the city. A tail!"
"It means they did take us seriously," I said.
The demon plopped down, sitting on the ground near Zery. "Stupid club."
She leaned back, and rested her head on the dragon's leg, using her muscled thigh as a pillow. Zery was naked, as she usually was after we learned that her body needed a steady air flow to regulate temperature. Her scales were slightly moist, but it didn't bother the demon at all.
Shifting a little, Vespera dug into Zery's flesh with the back of her head and then rolled to the side, rubbing her cheek on the scales. Yeah, she really liked the wet moisture of Zery's scales, which made sense once I recalled how easy it was for her to clean herself with magic. To anyone else, it would have been a nightmare without running water, but to us it was just pleasant shenanigans that left no permanent marks.
"You're soft," she moaned softly. "Just the thing I need to de-stress after that dreadful dinner. A dinner! Can you believe it?"
I sat on the ground, so that I was in front of them both. Although, admittedly, to look at Zery in the face I'd have to crane my neck quite a bit. Fortunately the bond came to my rescue, as I could simply link senses with either Elyra or Calla and look through their eyes. They were on chairs far enough away that the huge dragoness was comfortably in their field of vision, and the bond also ensured that everyone knew I was looking at her face and not talking to a leg or a knee.
"They are more than dinners," Zery said. "Important things happen there. They remind me of the dragon court, in some manner."
Elyra perked up, scanning the bond for information.
"I don't remember. Sorry, little angel," the dragon said. "The mental connection ends in a cliff, and I can look no further."
"It's okay Zery," Vespera said, as if the dragon needed comfort. She rubbed her cheek some more, then touched her face and realized she got fluids on her skin.
Instead of being disgusted, she turned around and rubbed the other cheek.
"I couldn't stand the asymmetry," she said flatly. "No, wait, that wasn't me. Someone in the bond got some mild OCD or something?"
I shrugged.
Her eyes locked onto me. "It's you!" she said.
"Who?" I asked. "Me?"
Then her head swiveled and she looked at Elyra. "And you!"
The angel played coy, looking away.
"Whatever," Vespera said with a grumble.
She went to hug Zery's leg, arms wrapping around the powerful muscles of a leg that was so thick, she almost didn't reach the other side.
But reach it she did. And, perhaps she had not realized that with the dragon kneeling and resting her weight on the balls of her feet, the inner side of the thighs was very close to a certain place.
I looked at her mischievous grin and amended my thoughts. She knew perfectly.
"My my," she purred. "Sol's not the only one who runs hot, is he, miss dragon?"
She shifted her fingers and brushed against Zery's crotch, making the dragon shiver.
"It's… your heat," Zery said, flustered.
"Sure is," Vespera said, pushing herself into the leg so that her fingers had more reach. "If it hurts your pride as a dragon to admit you have the hots for us, then I'll let you pretend. The result is the same."
NSFW PREVIEW
The demon woman untangled herself from Zery's leg and slid between her legs. The dragon's pussy was already leaking, and the demon's hand hovered right beneath it to collect all the fluid coming out.
"Oh," she said. "You weren't lying. It's cool. Can I…?"
"Go ahead," said a now very flustered Zery.
Vespera gingerly touched the soft, yet firm flesh of Zery's outer lips. She ran her fingers in circles, feeling the shape of the tiny scales that gave way to normal flesh and skin, pushing and kneading and making the dragon moan.
"So strange…" she said.
"Us dragons," Zery began, then had to catch her breath as Vespera's fingers brushed against her pussy. "Uh, our temperature changes often," she said. "It is a struggle to regulate our body temperature. Arousal certainly doesn't help."
"And these miraculous fluids of yours," Vespera said, caressing Zery's pussy and slowly inching closer to her clit. "You told Sol that they promote virility and fertility, do they not?"
She shifted again, now lying on the ground with her face right beneath Zery's crotch. She grabbed the dragon's thighs with her hands and pulled her down until her face was buried in her flesh. Moaning, she began to lick, her long tongue extending and unfurling, entering inside and twisting against the tight walls of her insides.
I felt it all, as did the others. The bond was wide open, and my erection rose in my pants until it threatened to tear them apart.
"Did you know that when Sol drank your fluids," Vespera said between licks, "it also affected us?"
"D-did it?" Zery asked, suppressing moans.
"It did!" she replied. "Elyra, tell her."
The angel was beet red. "I must have climaxed five times while you two… went at it," she said.
"As did I," Vespera said. "And Calla? Poor Calla. She came at least six or seven times. Your stuff is crazy, Zery. And I want it."
Continues on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/Luca_DR) (warning: some denial kink - wasn't planned but it just... happened. You know, the characters becoming alive against the author's will?)