As we're putting our clothes back on, my now limp member sore from having so much sex, the dawning realization washes over me that Ceris seduced me into a nightly romp. I should have known by the way she looked at me after the trial. Sheila probably told her all about me having a penis.

Belle was right about Ceris being unrelenting. Having a penis is still new to me, but as she was riding me, bouncing on it so much that I didn't want the pleasure to end. This woman is dangerous for sure. If I don't keep my wits about me, I might actually get addicted to having sex with her.

Judging by the position of the moon, a few hours have gone by since we came here. Mira and Belle must be worried, or drunk out of their minds.

"I think I should like to go to Parthun," Ceris declares. 

I nearly trip over myself hearing that. "Diplomatic means or no, demihumans aren't well-received there. It would be dangerous for you as a high priestess."

She walks over to the window and shuts her eyes, feeling the wind brush against her skin. It's getting chillier the longer we stay out.

"Your fellow humans are not so open-minded as witches. What they need is love from the Goddess Vessyra, which I and my disciples can provide. Then they will not see us as a threat," Ceris says, leaving the window to come to my side.

I didn't stop to consider that. When the armies of Vessyra arrive in Parthun, the other kingdoms of Talmora will see them as invaders. Edith and the Council of Kings will use that impetus to convince neutral kingdoms to their side.

Vessyra is not a foreign god to the human race. We just don't worship her as ardently as these demihumans do. Bridging alliances on shared gods may actually prove effective.

What we need to do is slowly wean off Edith's potential allies, and have them join us.

...with the prospects of sex from the demihuman race?

This sounds so outrageous, it might actually work.

***

The next morning, Ceris and I bring the proposal up to our colleagues.

"I suppose screwing your way up the ladder isn't an unfamiliar concept," Mira remarks, intrigued by the plan.

Belle is also in agreement. "If the gods are out there, you won't see me complaining about divine help."

The rest of us expected Ceris' fellow priestesses to be against the idea, but— 

"No fair! I want to go with the witches, too!" Sheila protests.

Gale chews on her thumbnail, muttering to herself. "A lush, new land. Rife with miserable humans to bend to my love and will…"

"You two must stay," Ceris says, pulling them into an embrace. "There will be a time when you can follow after me. But for now, our people here need guidance. Gale, you will sound the alarm to our oathsworn and bannerlords. Sheila, prepare as many of-age priestesses as possible."

We head to the chamber in which the teleportation circle back to the witch's tower resides. Our footsteps echoing louder than when we were last here. Beside the circle we arrived upon, there is another one next to it. There are already magic crystals on it, but the entire circle is inert and unpowered.

Mira taps her foot on the second teleportation circle to get our attention. "This one will lead to Lotherain as soon as I set up the circle there. It took an entire night even with Belle's help; the witches of old were no simpletons to have created so many in the past."

"Does this mean we may travel to and fro as we wish?" Sheila asks, brightening up.

"No!" Belle puts a finger in Sheila's face to keep her from stepping on it. "It must be used sparingly. The circle is too small to transport an army, they must yet travel on foot. Use the circle only for something important."

"Okay…" Sheila's feline ears droop.

"Come, bid me farewell." Ceris pulls the other two in for a three-way passionate kiss. 

Their tongues roll out, licking at each other's lips, slipping into one another's mouths in turn to nurse on. They lavish each other with deep kisses meant for lovers, not just colleagues or friends. Belle turns away, embarrassed, but Mira whistles at the sight. I swallow hard thinking that if I become a high priestess, they would be including me in that.

Once all three have had their fill, Ceris holds each of them in her arms, savouring in the warmth of the embrace. Then she takes to our side, standing beside us on the active teleportation circle.

"When next we see each other, it shall be on lands as fertile as Vessyra's womb," Ceris says to them, bowing.

The other two bow as well and offer their blessings, "Go with the embrace of Vessyra."

Etched runes beneath our feet brightens. We're sucked into the spell and come out on the other side, in a tower that is still chilly from the recently dispelled blizzard. Belle rushes to a broken window and returns to us confirming our suspicions.

"The unnatural storm is gone. There's still snow outside, and I want to be next to a hearth, but at least our magic isn't being sucked out of us." Belle says, relieved.

Our flight back to Lotherain is made in haste. There's no telling what could have happened during the half week stay in Vessyra. Eudora and the other witches are strong, but they aren't empire-strong.

Mira and I cling onto Rio while Belle flies through the air carrying Ceris on her back. A storm cloud underneath her feet keeps her afloat. It's a technique I want to learn, but to fine-tune ventus and aqua to enable flight isn't something anyone can achieve, especially without her… quirk.

As we get closer to the Lotherain by midday, I dread the thought of having to face the two knights of the Order again.

Abstinence.

The female knight who is the interim leader in place of Discipline. Last time we did battle, Abstinence was able to create projections of herself to attack. She isn't the only one here. Glory proved impeccably powerful, so much so that Mira and I had trouble facing him.

However, as we crest over the hill to see the city, there are no knights and witches doing battle, no armies camped out in preparation for a siege. In the time that we were gone, the Order of Piety should have had ample amount of time to march here. But they haven't. Not a single Piety knight or Juna soldier in sight.

Landing in the city square, the first person I see is Alira, busy directing her fellow witches and demihumans to rebuild the destruction left behind from the siege. From the looks of it, they've done a lot in a short period of time.

"Alira!" I shout, sprinting towards her.

"You're back!" she shouts in return, throwing her arms around me. "Eudora's been cooped up in the tower. She won't tell us anything."

"Did she say why?" I ask.

Alira shakes her head and gazes at the tower that is now on the northern end of the city, just beyond the wall. She suddenly pulls away, seeing the guest that we brought with us.

"Is that an elf? A real elf?! They're prettier than the books described." She buzzes around Ceris like a fly to a fruit. Alira isn't the only one, our new guest has attracted the attention of a crowd of demihumans and humans alike who have never seen an elf until now.

Either that or they are gawking at her essentially naked body because her outfit is so revealing.

Ceris doesn't appear bothered by the attention, likely accustomed to it being a high priestess in Vessyra.

I grab Ceris' hand and pull her towards Rio. "We're going to meet up with Eudora to get caught up. I'll tell you everything later, Alira."

"Aw. Killjoy," she says, moping.

"In the meantime, you will help us set up the teleportation circle." Mira puts an arm around Alira and Belle, dragging them towards the king's estate.

Ceris and I head to the tower, teleporting onto an empty gazebo. Before I take even another step, thick roots wrap around my ankles, tripping me to the ground.

"What the?!" I push myself up to see an adult dryad clinging to my back. She gazes at me with beautiful emerald eyes, grinning from ear to ear.

"Welcome home, Mama!" the dryad exclaims.

"Flora…? No— C-Cammy? You're so grown up!" I bring her into my arms, and her familiar thick vines entangle around my body.

"It felt like you were gone forever. I wanted to go find you, but Eudora wouldn't let me out," she says.

Her manner of speech has also matured. Equating her physical form to human age, it's as though she is in her late twenties. Time does slow down significantly, several days outside must be months in here. However, that shouldn't cause people dwelling within forged worlds to age any faster inside. Dryads age much slower than humans. Could she have gotten her tendrils on a growth enhance serum…?

I stroke her head affectionately. "There, there. I'm back now— mmph?!"

I'm taken by surprise as Cammy presses her lips on mine. Her tender kiss oozes with honey-like fluid. I can't pull away because her vines have me entangled in place. She finally releases me and smiles, her green cheeks taking on a red tint.

Cammy shares startling resemblance to Flora, albeit there are differences when it comes down to the finer details. The flowers growing in her hair are in full bloom, branching veins can be seen underneath the skin, instead of leaves her chest and crotch are covered in bark like makeshift armor.

"This is… a dryad? She calls you mother?" Ceris asks, extending a hand to help us up.

At full height, Cammy is almost a head taller than me.

"It's a long story," I answer, scratching my nose in embarrassment.

"Good that you are successful," Eudora announces as she exits her mansion. "At least, I should hope?"

Ceris tilts her head to one side, rightly confused at the sight of a child speaking to her.

I step in to clear up the misundering. "This is Eudora Faust. She's much older than this, and extenuating circumstances have led her to… taking the appearance of a young body."

Ceris places a hand over her chest and bows. "I am one of three High Priestesses of Vessyra. We have heard your call and accepted your proposal. Is it true that you can breathe life back into our lands with magic?"

"It is, but it will not be easy. Where are Parabelle and Miracella?" Eudora asks me.

"Working on a teleportation circle to connect Lotherain to Vessyra." I answer.

Eudora takes a few steps back and stretches out her arms. Tendrils of magic drop from her fingers, like strings to a marionette. They fall to the ground, forming a map of Parthun and the Weeping Expanse. Towers containing forged worlds rise from the earth, hundreds dotting the landscape.

It is the same interconnected web of mana lines she showed us before we left for Vessyra.

"Look carefully. See where they converge," Eudora says, continuing to weave magic into the map.

Deeper south into the Weeping Expanse lies a major convergence point that wasn't there before, on a tower that is significantly larger than the rest. And from that tower, a single connection leads east, then northeast, then north outside of Eudora's seeable map.

"The mana lines are all leading to one tower, which then redirects that energy north. What do you suppose lies north?" Eudora asks.

Between Grathir and High Saquin, the line leads to none other than the Council of Kings' seat of power— "Thanreas, the Eternal City," I answer.

Eudora's arms are crossed, brows furrowed in frustration. "I was wondering why Glory and Abstinence haven't laid siege to us. They have the perfect pincer attack sieging from the south with Juna from the north. Our coming to Lotherain was a miscalculation. The Order of Piety wanted control of the forest all along, because they now protect that grand tower. Whatever Edith is plotting, I don't like it…"