It would be a stretch to say that Daava continued to constantly jizz up the back of my shirt for the next couple hours of our trip. It was, however, an ongoing affair. Such that by the time we caught a distant glance at the village we were sent to help, cum was dripping down all the way to my ass.

I’d also been rewarded each time with another piece of the milk candy, leaving me both horny and craving more sweets. And my breasts tingled with the magic of the milk meant to change me.

Eventually, the group came to a stop ahead of us; so we ceased our secret games to catch up to them.

Once we did, I was confused for a moment as to why we had slowed down. Then I heard it, a distant and guttural cry to the right of the path—from a rocky outcropping adjacent to some more grazing fields.

“That’s us,” Faublien said with a heavy sigh as he made eyes at the bulltaur. He reached into his bag and pulled out a lasso. With a single flick of his wrist, it whipped into a knot. The lasso was clearly enchanted. But it still made me happy that Faublien had decided to consider my idea for winning the bulltaur over.

Faublien shrugged casually as he dared, “Yes, we’ll have the missing farm animals rescued out of that cave in a few hours. Maybe … you would all like to accompany us back to the school when you’ve finished your own quest?”

The bulltaur watched the lasso, and I noticed an eyebrow raise.

However, it was the student Mystery was making eyes at that spoke up first. In a southern drawl that surprised me, Caid said, “Thank you for the invitation. We would have loved to, but we’re likely going to be around in these parts for a few days.”

“Oh?” Mystery said, clearly trying to cover up a grimace.

Caid nodded. “We took a quest here because we heard rumors that some villagers spotted someone who looked like an ancient dark lord we’ve been hearing about. We knew we had to check it out. But if y’all like, we can meet up another day?” He glanced at all of us.

I felt a low grumble from Daava that couldn’t have possibly been heard by the group.

However, Mystery said, “We would love to!”

Faublien gave the others a wave, “Best of luck Caid, Freja, Bubbles … Boros.” He lingered on the last name.

The four of them waved back and continued their trek down the road, this time staying closer together. I found myself glad that I had nothing to do with any of that Dark Lord mess.

Faublien let out a gasp, a pink glow briefly lighting his otherwise blue face. "That wasn't too much was it? Was I laying it on too thick? Kactagro's nuts, no, don't tell me."

“Caid is so hot,” Mystery added, biting their lip, oblivious to their guplium companion's minor meltdown. “All serious and in command like that. Going out to fight some ancient power.”

“Irritatingly perfect little shits…” Daava muttered under her breath.

I giggled.

“Hm?” Mystery asked, seeming genuinely to not have heard.

“Our quiet walk with them was nice,” I interjected.

Fortunately, both Mystery and Faublien seemed perfectly content with this answer.

Daava gave a gentle squeeze to my ribs—signaling me to begin walking. She directed me toward the woods by my earring reins, and the others quickly began following behind us.

As we walked, I noted a smell of sea water … meaning we weren’t far from the coast. As well as a few rusted minecarts sitting out in the field. Broken pickaxe handles lined the stony ground further one. And it was another minute before I heard another guttural scream from the direction we were headed.

The sound echoed between the growing number of rock-faces.

“Hold,” Daava said, pulling gently on my reins. She waited until we heard the sound again before signaling me to continue walking.

This went on for a few minutes, until we ended up at a mine entrance with rusted tracks and long-extinguished torches. Sure enough, the sound seemed to come directly from it.

Daava gave me another candy and said, “This is our entrance.”

“It’s … a bit dark,” Mystery said, voicing similar concerns to my own.

“I’ve got that covered,” Faublien said with a grin. He closed his eyes for a moment. Gradually, his skin took on a shimmer … before beginning to outright glow.

Faublien shrugged and said, “What can I say? Our travels have left me with plenty of extra magical reserves.”

“Fuck yeah,” Mystery said. They reached into their canvas backpack and pulled out their enchanted mace. Again, their eyes shimmered.

It took a moment, but I gradually noticed movement from the cave. It took Faublien reaching a glowing hand inside for us to see that the walls and ceiling were now lined with cave-crickets—all staring at Mystery.

Mystery smiled excitedly and said, “I’m doing this!”

I smiled for them.

“Are you able to get a read on what they are sensing?” Daava asked, taking a gentle teaching tone that reminded me of how the professors at the university spoke.

Mystery wrinkled their face and then said, “Maybe? It’s … like an itchiness in a certain direction. Like they are aware of a place in the mine where there’s a noise but no food. At least, that’s what I think … it’s hard to tell. They don’t think like us—like at all.”

“It’s a good start,” Daava said and then gave my sides another squeeze.

I swallowed and took my first few steps into the mine. The first thing that struck me about it was how narrow it was.

I felt a bit claustrophobic for the first few minutes of travel through a corridor that felt barely wider than I was. The crickets travelled with us—which didn’t help matters either. I pulled my shoulders in as much as I could to avoid touching them.

Daava had to crouch low in her saddle.

Eventually, we reached a place where the mine opened up a bit. Judging by the stalactites and stalagmites, my guess was that this was a natural cave that had been tunneled into. There were a few tunnels from here—some seeming natural and others not. As I waited for another cry to tell us which direction we were supposed to go, a loud clanging sound made me jump.

I turned around, startled, to see Mystery standing very still and in an awkward pose. Their mace was outstretched and resting against the wall they had evidently struck.

Directly beneath their weapon was a humanoid skeleton. Bits of skull were at the skeleton’s feet … feet which were twitching.

Twitching?

Only as there was more movement did I notice that the entire wall was lined in skeletons of various shapes and sizes—all standing at attention.

They had been hidden from our immediate view by pressing themselves to the wall adjacent to the entryway we had come through. They also seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, the same color as everything else in the cave. They began to move quickly, blocking the only way we knew to be an exit.

“What the fuck are those!” Mystery screamed, swinging their weapon at yet another skeleton reaching at them.

Daava nudged my sides urgently, and I began to run toward one of the tunnels. Firmly, she said, “Whatever you do, don’t stop moving!”

“Agreed, we’re right behind you,” I heard Faublien call out. “Why the hell would they send us on a first quest against boners!”

I couldn’t think long enough to enjoy the pun. My heart raced, my limbs and face felt hot, my skin itched. Definitely the start of a panic attack.

I wasn’t ready for any of this—we were in real danger! Tunnel vision took over my sight, and suddenly, the world became more distant.

“… hear me? … you … horns! What’s …”

I heard only scattered words, mostly from Daava. The pulse in my ears was drowning out almost everything else.

Then I saw more skeletons … in front of me. One was trying to cut off my escape into the next tunnel!

It reached for me.

My vision faded and I realized only too late that I was holding my breath.

Daava launched from her saddle and landed a flying punch into the its skull.

The boner flew backwards—striking hard against the back of the cave. Rocks crumbled and buried the skeleton … but it did not stop there.

The whole cave began to rumble, and its shaking overtook the sound of hostile boners marching toward us.

Suddenly, I felt palms on my ears. They drowned out most of the sound. I felt one of the palms lift only slightly, and then heard Daava whisper, “It’s okay, Lilly, it’s okay. I know you’re scared. But I need to trust me and keep running. Can you trust me?”

I gave my best nod, my eyes watering.

Trembling and fighting everything inside of me, I continued to charge as fast as I could.

“Can you tap into your powers?” Daava asked, briefly uncovering my ear again when she spoke. “You’ve been such a good little cow. And you know what cows use to defend themselves?”

Magic? Right now?

I didn’t think I could, especially with how scared I felt. But then I felt Daava begin to stroke my ears and gently penetrate them with her cool, smooth claws again. It wasn’t as arousing as it had been when we were not in danger, but it did remind me of all the fun we’d had on the way here.

I tried hard to focus on it … tried to focus on my shape …

Without warning, however, I felt my magic interrupted by a sudden shift beneath my feet. The ground beneath me was ... vanishing! I tripped forward as the cave ground crumbled beneath me.

I briefly saw Daava as she flew off the saddle.

Then my falling body struck the crumbling stone—knocking the wind from my lungs and what working thoughts I had left in my brain. Then there was dark as I began to just free-fall into darkness, surrounded by falling rocks.

The only thing I expected next was something along the lines of horrific pain as a crash broke every bone in my body. That, or maybe an end to existence.

What I didn’t expect was a sudden splash, followed by having to claw my way up to the surface.

I was … alive?

I could see nothing; but I could taste salt-water. For a moment, I was just stunned. I could vaguely feel myself moving. Then, like a light switch, my desperation for survival kicked in. I swam desperately in one direction, trying to feel for anything I could use to climb out of the water.

“Lilly!” I head Daava scream from far above. When she called a second time, her tone was frantic ... and more distant.

I tried to call back, but water just flooded into my open mouth.

I had to get out!

I had to grab onto something, anything!

My hands found a grip on a very cold and slick rock. I grabbed desperately. However, my body did not stop even briefly. The current ripped me away—and I felt the rock slice into my hands.

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck … I could feel heat in my hands. Even without seeing them, I knew that they were badly injured. Still, this was secondary to my desperation to get free of the current. I reached out again.

“Stop,” said an unseen voice.

I could hear it perfectly, even through the splashing water and my head again dipping under. It was feminine and ephemeral. But what it was saying … stop?

I couldn’t stop! If I did, I knew I would drown.

I tried to reach again … only to have my knuckles battered brutally by a rock jutting from the rest. I shouted it pain—my mouth filling again with water. This time, I accidentally swallowed some, the salt lighting up my senses and making me feel immediately nauseous.

“Land creature, I know that you’re scared. But if you don’t stop, you will drown,” said the voice again.

My eyes burned with tears and I tried to scream, “Help me, please!” The water was starting to tug me under.

“There’s a place near the end where you can get free, but I’m unable to pull you from the tide until you reach it. You have to survive until then for me to help.” The voice replied, still coming through the rushing water perfectly.

I wasn’t strong enough.

Not for this current, not even enough to keep from swallowing more water. Even in a world of such ease—a second chance from the life I had before—I still managed to be so weak as to be killed by it almost immediately.

I began to tremble from fear and cold.

Suddenly, I felt something that was as old and familiar to me as it was unwelcome. It came about in my darkest moments—a pressure. It felt as if a balloon were being blown in my skull. It displaced everything else, making all thoughts feel squished against the sides of my head.

“Smaller creatures than you have made it out,” the voice said, though it now seemed far more distant than before. “Just listen to my instructions, and you’ll at least stand a chance.”

My teeth chattering, my lungs desperate, my hands throbbing, my body aching, my eyes burning, I tried to consider her words.

Somehow, I gave a zombie-like nod. I wasn’t even quite sure what I had agreed to, but I didn’t think it would matter for too much longer.

“You have to float,” the voice said. “You can’t fight the current, so let it take you. You’ll avoid most of the jagged rocks if you’re not dangling beyond the necessary edges of the stream. Rest your body, let it take you.”

Even in my dazed state, the idea of this terrified me. Was I really supposed to give up what little control I had left?

The voice seemed to hear my thoughts. “You have no control of the water, land creature. The only control you have is of yourself.”

I had never been good at floating on the water. Much less so with it now splashing on the surface. Still, I tried. At first, it still felt very much like I was drowning. Yet ... I was starting to float.

Until a rock struck my back, slashing open the skin.

I screamed, unable to keep myself from losing my floating pose.

“You have to keep going. Float again. Even as the rocks strike, hold on as best you can.”

I didn’t know she was telling me the truth. I didn’t even know that she wasn’t the result of whatever concussion I had probably endured before falling.

But I remembered how scared Daava had sounded as she screamed my name.

My limbs trembling, I forced my body to open up again and float. I was rewarded with a splash of salt-water up my nostril.

It hurt, and it was all I could do not to thrash in fear when it happened.

I took another breath … and then a third.

A rock caught the top of my foot, and I felt it rip.

My instincts ached for me to grab my foot and at least try to stop the bleeding. To fixate on that pain … and the pain in my hands … and in my back … and in my brain from how hard it was to manage all this fear.

“You are doing well, land creature,” The voice said, like it was trying to be encouraging despite its own fear. “Just a bit longer.”

I cried out loud with every breath I was able to get. I didn’t think I could do this. I didn’t think I could bear the fear and the pain. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to.

Yet, for a reason I could no longer remember, I used the very last ounces of will I had left to stay floating.

Then, I felt a slippery hand clasp mine.