“What did you do to her!?” Elly bellowed.

Nora was pinned in the air against a wall in the living room trying, unsuccessfully, to move the powerful arm choking her. The lunch she had been carrying had been discarded on the floor.

“Let her go!” Roesia screamed as she almost hung from the muscular arm that wouldn’t budge.

Yvain quickly set the plates he was holding aside on the table and was about to stop his master, but Nelimir was quicker to react.

The Draconian’s Tavern leader tackled Elly to the ground, Roesia yelped as she was flung off by the force, and Nora dropped.

Yvain rushed next to her as the goddess coughed and tried to breathe normally again. He himself tried to remain calm. The last thing he expected was to come into the living room and find Nora being choked by Elly. They didn’t get along, but he didn’t think it’d be to such an extent.

“Enough!” Nelimir yelled as Elly tried to push him aside and jump back on Nora, rage rolling through her eyes.

“How can you defend her even after this!? Do you not see Roesia!? How is she supposed to live in Emryon now!? How is she supposed to face her family!?” Elly spat.

Nelimir still held her in place, but in his eyes Elly’s questions were reflected. He looked back to Nora and Yvain before looking at Elly again, “That’s why we’re going to have a meeting after lunch. Roesia did this to herself, not Nora. What we need to find out is what our next move will be.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Roesia screamed to Elly, sniffing growing tears away.

His master didn’t lose her anger, but she did falter at the sorceress’s words.

She’s raising good questions though, Yvain thought. Regardless of the consequences he would stand besides Nora and his guild, but how were they going to handle the situation? The most logical step would be to just keep both women inside the carriage at all times while they went out to look for information. Though Roesia was supposed to be helping Nora regain her human form. As much as it bothered him, if she managed to change herself like this, maybe she would be able to safely change his girlfriend.

“Is lunch ready!?” Selt popped out of his room almost instantly. The kid looked around the room before laying eyes on Roesia.

“You poor fool,” he said with a chuckle as he walked out. “They’ll skin you alive.”

“Shut up,” the sorceress said as she rubbed her eyes with her robes.

“No one is getting skinned or choked or shunned from their family while I’m around, do you all understand?” Nelimir said as he stood and offered Elly his hand.

The muscular woman debated for a moment whether to take it or use the opportunity to attack Nora again, but Yvain looked back at her with a promise that he wouldn’t allow it.

“You’re lucky I just went through pretty rough training,” she told Nelimir as she grabbed his hand.

“I can imagine, you both look like you went through a life or death battle,” he said with a smile. “Come help me clean up the mess you made.”

“That’s what you get,” Selt said while laughing.

Elly just rolled her eyes and went with Nelimir to pick up the food and plates that had fallen on the floor.

“Are you okay?” Yvain whispered to Nora.

The goddess nodded while rubbing her neck; she was glaring at Elly, holding back her own raging words.

The current situation came to be only because she was so weakened by yesterday’s exertion, he was sure she understood that. But he also couldn’t imagine that being so easily choked stung any less.

“Please go easy on her. Roesia is basically like a sister,” Yvain said while caressing his lovers head. He didn’t know if it was said touch, or his words, but Nora’s expression quickly relaxed as she pushed herself into his arms.

“You’ll have to make me forget about this transgression,” she said.

“It’ll be my pleasure,” Yvain said and took the chance that no one was looking to pinch one of Nora’s nipples, making her stiffen against him and swallow a moan before relaxing again.

“This is all my fault, I’m sorry,” suddenly a tearful Roesia was kneeling right next to them. Her turbulent, warm breath, as she attempted to calm herself down, crashed against Yvain’s self-control.

He had managed to somewhat ignore the full force of her presence when he and Nora went to prepare lunch. Even when he entered the living room and the whole debacle began. But now that his lover was okay, and everyone had calmed down, the sorceress’s allure returned.

He stared at her as Nora smiled and put a hand on the woman’s shoulder, “Think nothing of it.”

Roesia’s sniffs became a bit deeper as she reached the edge of bursting out in tears. She did her utmost to keep it together while Nora’s hand and smile reassured her that everything was alright.

“What are you looking at?” Roesia said as she rubbed her eyes for the umpteen time.

Yvain almost looked away in guilt, but he held the sorceress’s eyes, “It’s jarring to see you like this.” It was more than jarring. It felt like having another Nora in front of him. At least where his dick was concerned. Roesia wasn’t Nora though. And somehow who she was mattered to Yvain like never before. As if he had always seen her, but now every inch of her being came into focus. How could he have ever questioned her place in the guild?

“Yeah well, get used to it because I’m not changing back,” Roesia said stubbornly, she then looked to Nora. “We didn’t get the chance, but thanks to this breakthrough I might have also found a way to give you back your human form.”

Nora smiled excitedly, “Should we try it out then?”

“You guys should actually go do that now,” Nelimir cut in while holding one of the dirty plates and its contents. Elly was carrying the other.

“Elly and I will go redo the two lost lunches,” he said.

Selt had already grabbed one of the plates that Yvain set down and was stuffing his face.

“Come on, let’s go!” Roesia said as she stood and pulled on Nora’s arm.

Nora laughed and followed the sorceress as Yvain anxiously trailed behind them.

On one hand he was worried at what was about to happen. It seemed that Roesia really managed to perfect her concoction, but could she make Nora look like a human again? On the other, he kept looking at both women’s behinds. Did Roesia always have such a large ass? It wasn’t as big as Nora’s, but it definitely betrayed the rest of her small body. His cock was itching to be buried in it along with the bigger one.

“Will your new form even be permanent?” Nora asked. Everyone had arrived at Roesia’s hidden room.

“Only time will tell, but this feels much different than my past impromptu transformations,” the sorceress said as she moved and flexed her arms.

“How do you feel?” Yvain asked.

Roesia looked back at him with a grin, “Lighter.”

Nora smiled at the excited woman, “You weren’t wrong to think that other races had higher physical strength. You shouldn’t be as strong as Yvain, Elly, Nelimir, or me, but you should definitely be close to the pinnacle of a normal male human.”

 The sorceress eyes opened wide, “Really?”

Nora nodded, and Roesia looked at her hands.

“That can’t be right,” Yvain said. “A simple potion can’t give you that type of boost.” He wouldn’t be surprised if it could thanks to the sorceress. But an ingrained idea of hard work, something he went through for years, was buried inside his subconscious. Could she gain strength that easily?

“It’s true that it isn’t that simple,” Nora said and turned to Roesia. “Should we tell him?”

“Tell me what?” Yvain asked.

The sorceress’s head snapped up. She looked hard at Nora, as if she wanted to protest something, but she then looked to Yvain.

“I’m… an actual dragon now. I didn’t just change how I look,” she said.

Oh stars, Yvain thought. Was this why Elly was so riled up? It wouldn’t make sense; how could his master have known? He wasn’t angry like her at least. Yet, while he was no expert in anything related to science or magic, the sorceress’s words brought about one question.

“It’s permanent, isn’t it?” He might not have an understanding of the how, but he understood the who. Roesia didn’t get as excited as she had become over things she wasn’t sure of. And while he didn’t know why she had a fixation over transforming into different animals, he knew that her end goal was to become part of the beast races. It’s just that no one thought she would actually manage it.

The sorceress looked at him as if she wanted to cry and looked down, playing with her fingers like a repentant girl about to be punished.

Yvain’s cock twitched but he shook himself into focus.

“Yes,” Roesia said in a small voice.

Nora raised her hands to her mouth with wet eyes before rushing to take the sorceress in her embrace. Due to their height difference Roesia was taken off the floor and hung limply in the goddess’s arms.

She looks so startled, Yvain thought with amusement. They really looked like sisters now. An intrusive image of Nora riding his face while Roesia rode his dick knocked through the corners of his mind unbidden.

Focus Yvain, he thought as he ran his hand across his face.

“Elly had a point. How are you going to live in Empryon now?” he asked.

“Do not worry my dear,” Nora said. “Whatever happens you’ll always have a home with me.”

“You both need to calm down,” Roesia said and gave a small tap to Nora’s side, prompting the goddess to release her. “I don’t understand why Elly felt the need to say that. None of us planned on staying here. Just a few days ago we were ready to leave the country. As for my family, they’ll have no problem accepting this change.”

“What makes you so sure?” Yvain asked.

“Have you not met them already?” the sorceress asked back with a questioning gaze.

Yvain was about to throw a retort out of reflex, in answer to the challenge in Roesia’s eyes, but he had met her family. And while they lamented the ‘eccentricity’ of their daughter and sister, it was plain for any outsider that the whole lot had a spice of abnormality. Even if it wasn’t apparent to the people involved.

“What’s your family like?” asked Nora.

“You’ll find that out when we… ” Roesia began, but she then looked at herself.

“Oh,” was all she said and looked up at Yvain, as if he held all the answers to her new questions. “How am I going to get to them inside the city?”

“Now you’re starting to think,” Yvain said while holding himself back from lifting her up and shoving his tongue down her throat. How in the stars didn’t he notice how adorable she was in the past?

“We’ll figure something out,” Nora said as she put a friendly hand on Roesia’s shoulder.

“We will,” Yvain said. “And there’s something we can find out right now.”

He looked at Roesia and took his usual brawling stance, “Attack me.”

Nora didn’t show any disapproval in his actions, but Roesia was startled. No surprise, as she had never attacked anything in her life. The sorceress shifted her eyes to Nora who only nodded at her with a smile.

“A single punch will suffice,” the goddess said.

Yvain thought Roesia would refuse, but an unusual, determined look appeared on her face. It was hot, he couldn’t deny. He and the sorceress had also never fought, so he was curious as to what possibilities her changes brought.

Yvain decided to forgo his stance, considering his opponent, and just puffed out his chest theatrically, “Give it your best shot, squirt.”

Roesia’s eyes squinted at him and, throwing all caution to the wind, closed the distance between them. The sorceress pulled back her fist clumsily and punched out so predictably and slowly that Yvain almost laughed. The attack landed, and nothing happened. Only a small thud sounded out from the point of contact as he didn’t budge one inch.

Roesia sighed sadly.

“How is this possible,” Yvain said.

The sorceress looked at him in confusion.

“I can’t speak for other races,” Nora said, “but dragons are able to exert large amounts of power with minimal training. Take Elly for example. She’s strong, stronger still with starlight. But that is mostly backed up by her harsh training which brought about her current body. If she and I were on equal ground, I would come out the victor if we only measured raw physical strength.”

Was that the reason she managed to beat Elly? If racial traits were something he had to also think about, measuring an opponent would become more difficult when starlight became involved.

“So that means?” Roesia asked looking from Nora to Yvain.

“I felt it,” Yvain said. “I don’t know if you’re as strong as a male human, but that attack you just landed on me felt much too powerful for having not trained at all.”

Roesia showed doubt at first, but neither Nora or Yvain showed signs of teasing, and so her reservation was slowly pushed away to be replaced with awe. The sorceress looked at her hands again as if she was seeing them for the first time in her life.

“He’s obviously too strong for me to measure this accurately,” the sorceress said as she stared down. “Is there a better way to gather information?”

“That’s easy, lift him up,” Nora said nonchalantly, yet inside Yvain a mini panic attack formed. Lifting him up would require Roesia to wrap her arms around him. He didn’t think he was ready for that type of contact with her without getting a massive boner. Already he had to fight his dick from showing its contours in front of everybody.

What is happening to me? Yvain thought. He had had better self-control when Nora first came into his life.

The sorceress didn’t take stock of his feelings though, lost in the haze of discovery as she always was. She encircled him with her arms with no hesitation and bent her legs, preparing herself to use all her strength. She didn’t pay attention to how hard he was getting nor to how his length was literally rubbing itself against her face. She also didn’t pay attention to her hands clutching onto his ass for leverage.

Nora was fully aware though. The goddess walked around the couple to get a better view as she covered her mouth with slitted eyes, trying to hold back one of her laughing fits as Roesia attempted something she had never been able to do before.

Yvain could only give the goddess an exasperated look and keep quiet.

Roesia gave a slight adorable grunt and lifted Yvain off the ground.

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” she said.

Nora gave the sorceress an encouraging smile as Yvain did his best to not be too embarrassed. He hadn’t been held up like that since he was a kid and it made matters just a tad more awkward when it was Roesia doing so.

He wouldn’t have to be embarrassed for too long though, as in her excitement the sorceress didn’t take into account the shifting body weight of both people and tripped.

She gave a shout as both her and Yvain fell to the ground. He could have easily maneuvered himself to land safely, but in a snap decision opted to allow his dick to land along with her face. It rubbed just a bit harder against her, sending slight pleasure running through him, but his weight also forced her head to hit the ground harder.

Yvain lifted himself off the sorceress quickly, scared that he might have hurt her, but she was calmly looking up at the ceiling in a daze.

“That didn’t hurt,” she said.

“We also have good endurance,” Nora said and winked at Yvain.

He shook his head while smiling, thinking of the time he slammed his girlfriend’s head against the shower wall by accident as he fucked her.

“How’s everything going?” came Nelimir’s question from the entrance to the bedroom.

“I guess we took too long,” Yvain said with some relief. Nora would try Roesia’s potions eventually, but he was more than happy to let that moment arrive later.

“I guess we did,” Roesia said almost quietly as she sat up. “You guys go on ahead, I don’t feel like eating right now. I’ll come up for the meeting.”

Yvain debated telling her to come up and just eat, a slight worry for her well-being he hadn’t felt before making itself known in his chest.

“Take your time. Call for me or Yvain if you need any help,” Nora said before he could speak and walked up the stairs.

Why me? Yvain thought as he took one last look at Roesia, who was again looking at her own hands while opening and closing them, before going up the stairs. If anyone could guide the sorceress well regarding her new form it was Nora, not him. Though he wouldn’t deny a plea for help, especially from her.

Nelimir came into view, already the question of where was Roesia forming itself on his expression.

“She’ll join us for the meeting,” Nora said. “She needs some time to adjust to her change. It’s not every day a human turns into a dragon.”

“That’s alright, she can eat then,” Nelimir said. “Did the potion not work?”

“Oh, we got sidetracked investigating her new changes unfortunately,” Nora said.

Nelimir motioned for them to sit at the table as he asked, “What are these changes?” Nora began to list out what the trio discovered as they sat and began to eat.

Elly was already sitting on the table eating her food, ignoring said conversation. But Yvain could see the goddess eye his master from time to time as her friendly discussion with Nelimir continued.

Selt was thankfully gone, probably into his room after he finished eating. His usual banter would have been incredibly grating on already stretched nerves.

Elly didn’t look at anybody. She just focused on her plate, even after she was done eating. But not for a lack of want or nervousness.

Yvain knew that she had a million thoughts running through her head. Something that rarely happened. But when she had her current look, it meant she was about to make a serious decision.

How much would Yvain give to know beforehand what that was. The first time it happened she decided to train him, the second she left him for two years while he was a young teen, the third was when she joined Draconian’s Tavern. What was it to be now?

After the rest were done eating, Nelimir went and knocked on Roesia’s door, who promptly answered and took her usual seat by Elly. His master looked relieved when the sorceress did so before going back to staring at her plate.

“We’ve been having an awful lot of meetings since Nora joined us, haven’t we?” Nelimir began. “But that’s just a part of recruiting new members into our team, any team. And Nora is a part of this guild.”

“Not officially,” Elly said, prompting a warning look from Nelimir.

“That may be, but we’ll be arriving at Triven tomorrow. We’ll go to the Cosmos branch and officially make Nora a member,” he said.

Elly didn’t disagree with their leader, but she didn’t look happy about his choice either.

“The question is, how are we going to get her inside the town and the building? Nora has to be there,” Yvain said.

Roesia immediately reached into one of her coat pockets and took out a vial containing a bluish, almost transparent liquid.

“This might be the solution,” she said.

“Is that what I think it is?” Nora asked, almost at the edge of her seat, ready to bounce up and snatch the potion.

The sorceress nodded, “I put it together while you guys ate. The process is the same as the one I made for myself. The one contrast is that I used my hair instead of yours.” She pushed the vial toward the goddess. “But I have to warn you, my changes should currently be considered permanent until proven otherwise. Our biological make-up differs, so I don’t know how effective it’ll be, but you need to be prepared to be turned into a human for good.”

“You cannot drink this,” Yvain said immediately. He would have her turn into a temporary frog rather than see her become permanently human. He would not allow Nora to cross such a line.

“Please don’t say that,” Nora said almost sadly.

She grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes with unexpected, heartbreaking despair, “Please allow me to drink it. I need to search for my daughter, you know I do.”

“I know that. But… ” He didn’t want to see Nora turn human at any cost. He couldn’t explain why. Yes, throughout his life he had had a general dislike for them, but all he needed to do was keep his distance. Something that wasn’t hard to begin with considering his predisposition. But to think of Nora turning into one of them almost made him sick to his stomach.

“I can at least make another potion like the one I drank if this one proves to be permanent,” Roesia chimed with an appeasing voice. “It should undo the effects of this one.”

“So you can change back into your original form,” Elly said.

Roesia looked away with a pout, “In…in theory.”

Yvain ignored the two women and looked into Nora’s eyes.

“See? Nothing will go wrong,” she said.

He had a mind to just grab the vial and smash it into the ground, but it wouldn’t sit well with the rest. It would hurt Nora. And he did want to help her find Charlotte, despite his feelings.

With a sigh he finally acquitted, “Drink it.”

Nora beamed from ear to ear and gave him a deep kiss along with an all-encompassing side hug.

“Then let us see if we’ve at least found a solution for Nora,” Nelimir said and gestured toward the potion. “If you please.”

Nora didn’t take any time to grab the vial, open it, and drink its contents. She set the glass down and closed her eyes.

Everyone held their breath as they stared at the goddess. Even Roesia who created the potion, which didn’t help calm Yvain down, and Elly who was the least invested in all of this.

The goddess’s horns suddenly, and to his dismay, receded into her head. Her tail too, looking as if it was shoving itself into her behind, leaving only a hole in Elly’s torn pants and a view of her ivory skin.

“It worked,” Yvain said with harsh disappointment.

“It did more than that,” Nelimir said with astonishment.

Yvain looked up from Nora’s tail and found that her hair had turned blue. As blue as Roesia’s before her change. When the goddess opened her eyes, their electric yellow had faded to be replaced with a brilliant sapphire.

She was beautiful still, even with the change. Yet Yvain looked on in horror as every ounce of attraction he felt toward the goddess trickled out of his hands no matter how much he attempted to keep it gathered.

He felt like he wanted to cry. He felt like he wanted to punch his dick. He felt ashamed. Horrified. When he looked to Roesia, what was lost for Nora was still there for her. It bewildered and pissed him off to no end.

How in the stars was he supposed to face Nora like this? How would she feel when she found out that he didn’t want to have any type of physical relationship with her anymore? He had just asked her to be his girlfriend.

One slim comfort was the fact that he still felt an attraction to her. But it was that of friends. He still wanted to help her, he still considered her a part of Draconian’s Tavern. But would that give her any solace when she learned the truth?

A gasp of wonder brought Yvain back to reality and out of his depressive spiral.

Roesia stared at Nora as the goddess turned back into her original form. Every color and every appendage came back. With it, Yvain’s raging need to pound her through a wall.

He stared at Nora along with Roesia and everyone else. He had never been beaten toward an inch of death before. He had never basked in the grace of drinking in the joys of life after suffering such an experience. But from what Elly had described to him in the past, if any of it was true, then this had to be it.

“I forbid you from drinking that potion ever again,” he said.

Yvain expected Nora to protest, but instead she just said, “It’s not like it worked anyway,” with downcast eyes.

Her acceptance made him relieved, if not happy, but he still didn’t want her to look so defeated.

“Roesia,” Yvain began before looking at her, “what’s the difference between this change, and the one she had gone through when we first met her?”

“I can’t say for sure,” she said while scratching her cheek, “but considering at least hair color, and the fact that using up starlight made her turn back, it’s possible that her change was closer to an illusion, rather than metamorphosis.”

Roesia sounded confident enough, which meant he only needed to know one more thing.

“Can you recreate such an effect?” he asked. Nora had changed to look human before, yet he had still been attracted to her. It was a subdued attraction compared to how he viewed her now, but that was miles better to the emptiness that threatened to consume him just a minute ago.

“Maybe? I would need to study her more though and I’m lacking when it comes to illusions. It would probably take weeks, or even months,” the sorceress said. She then looked at Nora apologetically, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to treat you as a test subject.”

“No need for apologies, I understand there’s a process,” Nora said in an unusually reserved manner.

It hurt Yvain to see her like this. It was his fault, but he couldn’t bring himself to take back what he said.

Instead, he grabbed Nora’s hand. “I’ll do everything in my power to help you, we all will. Regardless, most of the work we’ll need to do only require those who are familiar with Empryon. You can do your part when we finally locate your daughter.”

The words seemed to assuage some of Nora’s gloominess, and she gave him a small smile.

“You’re right, it’s not like I currently have the strength to fight anyone either,” she said.

“How long until you regain it?” he asked, more than happy to shift her focus.

“I won’t know until I star absorbing starlight again,” she said. “It’d probably be a good idea to start as soon as possible.”

“Then let’s not tarry,” Nelimir said. “In the end we’ll really just have to leave you both inside the carriage while the rest of us go out. It’s a shame, Nora, but your official inauguration will have to wait.”

“That’s quite alri-”

“I’d like to apologize,” Elly cut in, forcing everyone to look at her. Yvain’s master was focused on Nora. “I’d like to apologize for the way I’ve treated you since you first got here, for jumping to conclusions, and attacking you.”

“Oh,” was all Nora said. She was obviously not expecting such words now. Even less from Elly herself. Yvain couldn’t blame her; he was just as shocked. But his master pinned the goddess with a patient stare as she waited for an answer.

“I… I accept your apology,” Nora said, though obviously with some hesitation.

Elly nodded and continued as if that was all that needed to be said, “I have a way to help you both get around the problem your changes bring. It’s simple and risky, but it’ll at least take care of your horns. For the eyes we’ll need to grab contact lenses in Triven when we arrive, and I can’t imagine it’ll be difficult to hide the tails.”

The large woman then looked to Roesia, “Are you sure you won’t change back? You already said Nora could do so if that potion had worked, so don’t tell me you can’t. It would make all of our lives easier.”

The sorceress looked as if she was stuck between a sword and a rock. That look slowly transitioned into one of someone drowning as she looked from Nora and Elly. The poor woman obviously wanted to help, but she probably had her own reasons as to why she couldn’t or wouldn’t take the logical path.

Yvain would have condemned her in the past. But after what he went through just now, he was instead sympathizing with her.

“Forget I asked,” Elly said as she flicked the sorceress’s forehead, making her give a yelp.

“Sorry,” she said sadly as she rubbed the small bruise.

“What’s your plan for handling their horns?” Nelimir asked.

Elly looked at both women, now sporting a mischievous grin, “Follow me.”

 

----------

 

“I am not subjecting myself to such humiliation,” Nora loudly proclaimed as she paced back and forth inside Yvain’s room.

He was lying on his bed, smiling softly as he recalled the image of Nora and Roesia with their hair perfectly wound up into twin tall spirals that covered their horns. Such a hairdo would seem impossible in anyone’s mind, but Elly somehow made it work. That didn’t stop it from looking ridiculous though.

Roesia didn’t mind and even merrily laughed, making Yvain want to hold her body in the air and pry her pussy open with his dick. But Nora looked like she had eaten something rancid.

Nelimir had done his best to hide himself, but his shaking shoulders had made the goddess’s expression even more mortified.

“It’s only for when you’re out and about,” Yvain said. “Think of it as an obstacle you need to overcome to rescue your daughter.”

“There has to be another way,” Nora said and bit her nails as she looked into one of the walls in the room for alternatives. “For the sake of stars, I’m a goddess and empress.”

She has it rough, Yvain thought absentmindedly. Nora was just throwing around fumes though. It was certainly embarrassing, but she wouldn’t let that stop her from doing what needed to be done. And even better, the whole ordeal seemed to have cheered her up.

He stared at her form. The bright horns, fiery hair, and flexible tail wordlessly showing themselves off at him. Then a picture of blue superimposed itself, making him scrunch his eyes before opening again to find Nora’s appendages and colors back in place. He couldn’t believe how much power something so simple had over him.

Could he honestly say that he loved her? It should be a hollow proclamation, yet it didn’t feel like it was. It only became so when she took that damnable potion. And such an occurrence begged the question, could she be under similar circumstances? Could she, at any moment, completely lose her feelings for him? Not gradually, but in the snap of fingers.

The idea terrified him. She had to be his at all cost, always.

Why do I feel like this, the creeping yet simple thought slithered its way into Yvain’s mind; not for the first time, but with more consciousness.

For that matter, why did he now feel as he did for the sorceress? All that had changed about her was her looks. Considering how he felt for Nora when she transformed into a Roesia lookalike, maybe the key lay there. Yet, when he first met his girlfriend, she didn’t have any of the appanages and he was still attracted to her. What was different between both instances? The possible illusion Roesia mentioned? Something as simple as hair color? That didn’t sound right at all.

Yvain didn’t know where to even begin. The more he thought about it, the more complicated things became. And he would never dream of telling Nora that he lost his attraction for her. Even if only for a few seconds.

He got out of bed. At the very least, any use of potions on her had been put off for hopefully months, and thanks to Elly they had a solution which may extend that period. Instead of losing his mind over things he couldn’t understand or control, and that didn’t need to be addressed at the moment, he would focus on what was right in front of him.

Nora’s meaty ass was waiting and rather than try to console her over her hairdo, he would just make her forget about the whole thing altogether. Stars knew he had waited long enough. Being riled up by her was one thing, but now he had to contend with Roesia too. His dick would come by itself if things kept up as they were.

Yvain stealthily moved closer to the goddess who had her back to him. Just the bed should have alerted her of his movement, but she was so lost in her frustration that she stood in place defenseless.

Was she doing it on purpose? It didn’t matter. As soon as Yvain was within striking distance, he tackled her and latched onto her tits. Nora gave a slight scream, grunting when he mercilessly pinned her against the wall and used the solid surface to crush her breasts deeper into his hands. His dick was already fully erect, and he didn’t let his nor her clothing stop it from wedging itself between her ass cheeks, twitching at the thought of what would come next.

Nora’s hands pulled back to grab onto his hair, “Oh master how I’ve missed you.”

The thick liquid between her legs was soaking his dick through the cloth already. Had she been wet from the start? Or did she become wet now?

“You haven’t fulfilled your duty yet,” he said and ripped the goddess’s pants out of the way with one hand while the other kept holding her by the tit slightly above the ground.

Elly won’t mind, he thought as the clothes were discarded. The garments already had a hole in them anyway.

Parting Nora’s ass, Yvain aimed his dick at her pussy and plunged right in. She gave an enthusiastic moan, her hips pushing hard against him before he pulled back and slid his full length in again.

On the third thrust she shook while coming all over him. Such a small number of pumps, yet it could be said that she had taken longer than usual to orgasm. But said fact was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. He had more than enough to give, and he would see her orgasm to unconsciousness before the day was over.

He wanted to come too though, and the familiar itch that always ventured through the head of his dick, toward his legs, was already there the moment he entered Nora.

Yvain again fully grabbed on to both her tits and knead them to his heart’s content, her nipples stabbing into his palms to make themselves known, before setting Nora down. He grabbed her thighs from the inside and spread her strong legs open as he lifted her up.

“You can’t treat me like this,” Nora gasped and grabbed again to the back of his head, this time for balance rather than lust. The goddess was still facing the wall, but she was high in the air mimicking a squatting position.

It was a weird thing for Nora to say, considering all the things Yvain had done to her already. But something in his girlfriend’s voice asked him to dirty her even more. It wasn’t the submissive one she had used to call him master, but one akin to a ruler. To someone used to being held in high respect that had just been shown contempt and liking it.

“Treat you like what?” Yvain said as he thrusted into Nora once, making her tits bounce high.

“Oh stars how does a simple plunge make me feel like this,” she moaned. Her tail was draped across his chest, gently slapping him with its full length, almost as if it were twitching in waves.

Yvain gave a slower but deeper thrust, “Answer me.”

Nora ground her hips once he was fully sheathed, her legs trembling and toes curling, “Like I’m someone who doesn’t deserve your worship and adoration.” The goddess’s breath came heavy as she spoke, “You do not grab an empress like this and-” Nora didn’t get to finish her sentence as Yvain pulled back and slammed his dick into her depths with his full strength. The goddess gave a guttural moan which turned into her usual screams of ecstasy as he began to piston into her.

Yvain increased his speed and soon she was coming with her legs shooting outward completely as they strained themselves against the barrage of passion, her tail moving all over the place as if it was trying to escape. But it couldn’t, and neither could she. The goddess was again forced to come countless times against her body’s unconscious attempts to find low anchor.

She was completely lost on his dick, trying her best to rip his hair out as she also held herself up against him.

Unfortunately, the pulling flipped a switch inside Yvain. A switch that was in the dark always waiting to be activated. And so, he pulled her hands away, ignoring how they ripped some of his hair out, and slid his arms farther into her thighs. Far enough that he reached her back and then her head.

Nora’s knees now stood over her horizontal back. She looked almost like a frog as she was being held up only by Yvain’s arms. He debated grabbing onto her vermillion mane at first, but why do that when there were two perfectly good handles he could use.

Grabbing onto his girlfriend’s horns, he again began to pound her into mental depravation. Unlike before though, he had access to his full strength. At least, his full strength after the fight with his master. Regardless, it was enough to fuck her at the intensity that he liked.

It’s closer to combat than I thought, Yvain told himself. No matter how they had sex he always enjoyed it. So did Nora. But just like the goddess, who preferred to be treated roughly, he had his own preference which was to expend the full capability of his muscles.

Not all positions allowed him to do so though. He had to try out new ones and adjust to the circumstances. The one they had tried just before felt good and his girlfriend clearly enjoyed it, but he could only push her up and let her fall, allowing her weight to do most of the work while his hips assisted.

But now this ‘empress’ was truly his plaything. She was a servant to all of him, and he made sure she knew that as he tried his best to rip her horns out of their sockets while driving her back and forth on his dick, her pussy making it slick. With his hips having even more leverage, he knew that any other woman would have been truly ripped in half.

Nora wasn’t any other woman though. She took all of him just as he ventured to take all of her. Her pussy constricted around him enough that it felt like his dick would be ripped off. She howled and came in an endless loop, covering his legs and floor in her juices.

“You’re always making a mess,” Yvain panted.

“For…give…me!” Nora cried out; each intonation pitched by his unforgiving thrusts.

Her submissive form and apology unexpectedly sent Yvain over the edge; quickly pushing him through ground that still needed to be steadily covered. His dick exploded and cum fiercely shot into his girlfriend’s womb as he grunted and continued to pump her.

Nora’s muscles went slack, her arms dropped lifelessly, and her tail fell like cut string onto her back. She had fainted. Yvain fucked her through his orgasm regardless until his balls were fully spent.

It was still a mystery to him how and why Nora would sometimes fall unconscious after he came inside her. Did that happen to other women? Would it happen to Roesia? His dick twitched at the thought of the sorceress moaning and screaming herself hoarse before he came inside her and she blacked out.

Maybe I should ask her when she wakes up, Yvain thought.

His balls must have filled up already because his dick regained its full hardness while still inside Nora, and he knew he could go another round. Had to. It was business as usual, and he gently untangled his lover before bringing her to bed.

 

----------

 

Roesia held back a moan as she bottomed out her asshole on her dildo and came, twitching all the while. She was inside what she called the Unexpected room. It was mostly pitch black. Its only source of light the crystal that made all of the carriage and its amenities possible. The oversized crystal they had unexpectedly found Selt hugging when they first met him.

From that same crystal an image was being projected on the wall in front of her. It held a moving, but silent picture of Yvain abusing Nora again.

It isn’t abuse, Roesia had to remind herself as she watched her friend take their newest member to bed. She slowly lifted herself from the squatting position she had been in, the dildo easily sliding out of her ass until a slurp sounded out and she was standing straight on slightly wobbly legs.

Her muscles weren’t used to the strenuous act of shaking her own hips up and down while squatting, but this new body of hers had allowed the act to at least happen.

Roesia raised her arms and stretched with a satisfied grunt. She had figured out how to see every corner of the carriage from inside Unexpected through her study and tinkering of the crystal. She had never abused this power, neither had she told any of her guildmates about it. It was when Nora first arrived, a strange woman Yvain met through strange means, that things changed.

It hadn’t even been on purpose. She and the crystal had some type of mental connection and it always showed her every detail regarding the status of the carriage. Oxygen levels, water levels, electricity, how many rooms are available, how many more could be created, how big, of what material… It also warned her of temperatures.

When Yvain’s showerhead rose to extremely dangerous levels for anyone to endure, she rushed from her bedroom straight to Unexpected and opened a screen to his bathroom.

In hindsight she should have known that he could handle such heat, or she should have at least told Elly and have her knock on his room, or something that didn’t include her invading his privacy. But she was worried and acted before thinking.

What she found was Nora getting her brain fucked out of her ears.

Roesia had immediately closed the screen with a small gasp, but curiosity gripped her by the neck.

What was she supposed to do? She had dedicated all her life to the pursuit of knowledge. There was never time for relationships, for love, for sex. She had studied it enough, but experience was always king, and she had none.

What she did have was a massive dildo and the libido to match it. And watching Yvain’s massive member, which just so happened to be close in size to her equipment, violently go in and out of Nora awoke a newfound itch she needed to scratch.

And scratch she did. Every time. Only once did she almost stop when Yvain literally slapped Nora across the face and she began to cry. Roesia had to do a lot of self-convincing to not go stop what was happening immediately and give herself away. But to her shock, Nora was soon back on his dick moaning like…like.

A wanton whore, Roesia thought.

The image on the screen called back her attention. Yvain’s upper body was now on top of Nora, his dick inside her mouth and her head handing off the edge of the bed. It was the same position the couple had taken in the morning before being interrupted by Elly.

Of course, she’s unconscious, Roesia thought with a resigned smile. The pervert was playing with the goddess’s gigantic tits and nipples to his heart’s content. Biting and licking everywhere.

Roesia looked to her own small breasts, touched her already hardened protrusions and shivered.

She couldn’t judge. Most of their escapades turned her on immensely. And while she wasn’t romantically attracted to Yvain, he was still an attractive man. It was difficult not to imagine him having his way with her, even before Nora joined them.

Yvain suddenly stopped what he was doing and instead thrusted his dick deeper into Nora’s throat. The goddess moved her hands to grab his thighs, indicating that she was finally awake.

Roesia knew what would come next, her pussy moistening with expectation. So, she lay down, raised her legs, and fully exposed her sphincter, deciding to use the dildo as she was used to.

Grabbing the bottle of lube by her side, she covered the equipment once more in slick liquid. She used her arms to push her legs even farther back and tentatively pushed in the head. Yet her body easily gave way, and the false member went inside completely.

Roesia moaned deeply. Her head bent back, and all her muscles constricted in pleasure. The new horns slightly scrapped the ground, but she quickly looked back to the screen where Yvain was fucking Nora’s mouth.

How could she take something so massive? Did she not have anything inside her neck? It should be reaching even her stomach.

Roesia had actually tried to do the same with her ‘toy’, but it was no use. Something so big would never fit her that way. Neither could she go at the intensity the couple seemed to enjoy.

It was still a sight to behold, and she began to pump her dildo in short bursts as Nora’s throat inflated and deflated.

Yvain was for all intents and purposes doing his best to cave the goddess’s face in. Would she be able to handle that type of abuse now that she was part of Nora’s race? Probably not. He would just succeed at the attempt instead.

Curious as to what expression Nora was making, Roesia moved the view towards Yvain’s behind.

“I knew it,” she breathed to no one, her hands speeding up just a tad more. The goddess’s eyes had completely rolled back. The same had happened before as she was being manhandled in the air, the same happened every single time Yvain jumped on her. But it was only today that Roesia had found it weirdly attractive.

It also made her hornier. A faint thought of ‘could I make her do that?’ mixed itself along with the usual physical attraction toward Yvain and the dildo began to lengthen its path as she pulled it farther back before pushing it in.

When Yvain’s semen finally exploded out it was as plentiful as always. Roesia quickly moved the view all over as she took in the convulsing goddess forced to orgasm and drink the white spunk, some of it flowing onto the rest of her face, hair, and horns.

Yvain held Nora’s body in place as he kept pumping her mouth without mercy and her tongue worked hard to lick everything.

Roesia violently shoved the dildo into her anus as her legs twitched nonstop.

What if it was Yvain who was gaping my ass? she suddenly thought, startling herself but pushing her arms to the limit of their strength as she imagined his dick savagely penetrating her. His muscles crushing her small body as she moaned like a wanton whore. Maybe even let him fuck her pussy, something she had wanted to save for the man she would marry.

As if I could stop him from taking it, Roesia thought and gave a loud moan as her own body convulsed, squirting for the first time in her life. It wasn’t as copious as Nora, but it came out with enough force to spray out toward the screen, the liquid passing harmlessly through.

She tried to keep pushing the dildo in but the trembling and the sapping of her strength after the orgasm didn’t allow it. That wouldn’t have happened with Yvain. He would have made sure to keep fucking her, probably into another, stronger orgasm.

With a disappointed sigh, Roesia remained supine, twitching as she thought of such things.

A knock brought her out of her reverie. It was Elly. She could tell just by how heavy the sound was, even if the muscle head wasn’t pounding on the door.

She raised her head a tad, just enough to see the mess she had made, and laid back down with another sigh. It would need to be cleaned up later.

The knock came again.

“Coming!” she said, even though Elly couldn’t hear her.

Roesia quicky stood and went up to her bedroom while trying to appease the insistent knocks.

After getting dressed, she opened the door.

Elly looked up and down at her, an obvious complaint threatening to leave her lips. Roesia was ready with a retort if the words did come. But the tall woman just said, “Busy?” as she raised an eyebrow.

Roesia tried her best to not roll her eyes. Why did she always treat her like a little kid? Sure, she couldn’t fight, and needed to be sometimes reminded of manners, but she was just as much a part of the team as her. Why was it that Nelimir and Yvain could be treated as such, but not her? She didn’t voice any of this of course, and maybe therein lay the problem.

“I still haven’t forgiven you,” Roesia said with a slight frown. She had received a happy surprise when Elly apologized to Nora, but where was her apology? No matter how many times she had explained the situation the tall woman just kept on choking her new friend.

“I’m sorry,” Elly said. She was as stoic as ever, but Roesia could see the slight downturn of her eyes and lips. It was so miniscule anyone else would still see her frowning. And she was sure the poor woman had never learned that she clicked the top of her nails whenever emotions were involved in a conversation.

And just like that my disgruntlement is gone, Roesia thought, a bit disappointed in herself. She just didn’t have the heart to see her friends suffer any type of setback. And Elly was being honest. She was sorry, and that made her happy.

“What do you need?” she asked, harsher than intended.

Elly raised her arm to show a darkening bruise on her forearm, “I need to wrap it up until we get to Triven.”

“What happened!?” Roesia asked as she rushed to grab the arm but pulled back when Elly gave a painful grunt.

“It’s just a bruise from training,” she said. But Roesia knew better.

“Why do you guys always need to go so hard at it?” she asked. “It’s supposed to be training!”

“Accidents happen,” Elly said with a shrug of her shoulders.

With her and Yvain? Unlikely. Roesia might not know the first thing about throwing a punch, but her friends were well near prodigies in combat. If someone got hurt, it’s because the other intended it to happen. Stars, not even this tower of muscles nor Nora hurt each other past bruises. And the latter was supposed to be stronger.

“Wait here,” Roesia said and walked around Elly, a bubbling rage building in her pit; the image of Yvain slapping Nora across the face stoking the flames as she pounded her fist on his door.

A minute past and no one came to answer. She hammered the door even harder.

“I said I’m coming!” Yvain yelled before he opened the door, looking straight and past Roesia.

He was naked, typical. Roesia’s open palm flew ahead of her logical thoughts and slapped him across the face.

“You are not the only one who lives here! No one wants to see your thing flopping around!” she yelled. Her voice felt foreign yet satisfying. Like finally understanding a formula that had stumped her efforts for months. “Please go and at least put on some pants!”

Despite her words though, in the back of her head she was feeling breathless excitement while looking at his hard dick in person. She was so small compared to him that it could easily reach her mouth. But that wasn’t important right now.

“Once you do so, I want you to come back out and apologize to Elly!” Roesia stabbed her index finger into his chest to emphasize every word while pointing back at the tall woman who was still standing by the open door to her room.

Yvain held his cheek so dramatically, his eyes full saucers and mouth slightly agape, that Roesia’s anger subsided a bit to be replaced with miniscule amusement. He looked from her to Elly and back again before wordlessly going back into the room.

In the sharp silence that followed Roesia stood in place, holding silent fumes that were quickly dissipating to reveal her actions. Her breath went from quick to slow and steady, and with the steadiness came the formation of tears. She began to blink them back but more and more forced themselves out of her eyes irrespective of her wishes.

How could I do this? she had just slapped her friend. She judged him for hurting Elly and Nora, but here she was, doing the same thing. It didn’t matter that she was weaker. The intent was all the same.

A violent bout of crying, which Roesia would be hopeless to stop, was quickly arriving when the heavy hand of Elly landed on her shoulder.

“Turn around,” she said and Roesia followed her instructions. “Hold it in until he comes back. Once he opens the door start walking to your room, don’t let him see you crying.”

Roesia nodded. Having a goal in mind staved off the worst of it and she managed to keep herself somewhat composed.

Yvain’s door opened and she began to walk, trying to keep her gait stable and not seem foolish.

“You heard the lady,” Elly said with a grin Roesia could clearly hear.

She really wanted to see what face Yvain was making right now, but it would be impossible to keep herself cool if she did so. So instead, she opted to stop with her back still facing the other two and wait for his answer.

“Sorry,” came Yvain’s actually apologetic voice. It was so small that Roesia couldn’t help herself from looking back but he was already closing the door. What was he thinking right now? Did she hurt him that much? Were her words so harsh?

Roesia couldn’t hold it in anymore and began to cry. She tried her best to do it silently, but somehow that made her feel even worse. Like a little girl who had something to be ashamed of.

“Damn it,” she said aloud and rubbed her eyes with her robes furiously.

“Come on, I still need to get this wrapped,” Elly said as she walked back and warmly smiled at Roesia.

“Should I apologize to him?” she asked.

“I think there’s been enough apologizing today,” Elly said and patted Roesia’s back. “It was high time someone told him what you just did anyways. No one wants to see his dick flopping around by the dinner table.”

The words forced a snort and then a laugh out of Roesia as both women walked back.

Once inside the room Roesia went to grab the small trunk that held their medicine and bandages.

“I assume your laboratory is down there?” Elly asked.

Roesia had forgotten to close the door leading down in her rush. Or maybe she just didn’t care anymore since everyone else already knew about it. She would have told Elly sooner or later if the others didn’t do so first anyway, and the entrance to Unexpected always closed automatically every time she left the crystal’s room.

“Yeah, want to check it out?” she said.

Elly nodded with visible curiosity, so Roesia grabbed the bandages and went down the stairs, the tall woman following behind while trying not to bump her head with the lower ceiling.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be passing through here at some point,” Roesia said as the women reached the laboratory.

“It’s not an issue,” Elly said and simply sat on the floor near the long desk by the wall holding Roesia’s vials. “I guess this is where you come up with your crazy schemes.”

“Excuse me? All my schemes are thoroughly researched and planned,” Roesia said as she went to stand next to Elly. “Saying they’re crazy implies that I don’t know what I’m doing. Show me your arm.”

Elly raised her bruised forearm. The swelling had become angrier than before.

“It’d be nice if we had that professional Yvain mentioned,” Roesia said sadly. She had heard in the past of healing magic, but it was only in passing. She hadn’t the faintiest idea on how to do something like that, they could only depend on doctors.

“We’ve gotten along just fine without one. Just go to the kitchen and wet the bandages with cold water to reduce the swelling. Tomorrow we’ll deal with it,” Elly said.

Roesia was about to do as told but she suddenly remembered Nora’s words on how magic could be used. Using the minute control she had on starlight, she willed cold water to pour out of her hands. Then she slowly passed the bandages through it.

“She was right,” Roesia said with a bit of excitement. She felt just a bit less useless.

Elly didn’t ask who she was talking about, but it was obvious she knew.

“Thanks for making amends with her,” Roesia said, not expecting her friend to answer.

“I still don’t think she should join us,” Elly said to which Roesia was about to protest yet was cut off, “But you’ve all accepted her into the guild. I’m outnumbered. If I can’t have my way, even by force, then I can at least act professional and just do my best to keep us safe.”

And to that, Roesia couldn’t argue. They knew who Nora was, yet they accepted her regardless. Elly couldn’t be faulted for wanting to have nothing to do with the problems the goddess’s existence brought.

But she should also understand what we stand for, Roesia thought. How could Nelimir or any of them make amicable contact with the beast races and create a good example if they simply abandoned a mother looking for her kidnapped daughter? Leaving her race alone, just that fact should be enough to offer help.

Roesia kept counsel though as she finished bandaging the arm and creating a makeshift sling with the same cotton cloth.

“I guess I shouldn’t have to tell you to not move it,” she said.

“No promises,” Elly said with a light laugh.

Roesia just rolled her eyes before going upstairs to put away the rest of the bandages. Why did she even try to keep these people from falling apart?

When she got back Elly was half squatting, half standing over the long desk and vials with a sad smile.

“Just ten years ago you were walking around academy grounds…” Elly laughed and shook her head, “studying old dissertations written by the professors for fun.”

The hunched woman turned and slightly raised her bandaged arm, “Thanks.”

“I told you not to move it!” Roesia said.

“It won’t happen again,” Elly said with a chuckle and went for the stairs.

Roesia stepped aside to let her pass while staring at her profile.

How weird, she thought. Elly wasn’t one to reminiscence. She couldn’t remember a single time the woman had done so.

Once the door to her bedroom closed, Roesia sealed the one to her laboratory and opened the one leading to Unexpected in order to clean up the mess she had made.

 

----------

 

“I can’t believe she slapped me. Roesia of all people!” Yvain was rubbing his cheek while Nora rested her back against his chest. The couple were sitting under the scalding shower relaxing after their second bout of sex inside of it.

“It sounds like it was a devastating blow,” Nora said with a husky laugh.

“Hardly,” Yvain said a bit too defensively to which Nora giggled with a hand on her mouth. It truly hadn’t hurt at all. No matter how much physically stronger Roesia became, she was still miles bellow him. He was also used to much worse beatings. The emotional aspect on the other hand…

“Is it embarrassing?” Nora suddenly asked.

“Not really,” Yvain said.

“Then what has you riled up?”

Yvain had been searching for the answer to that questions for some time now. When he barreled for the door, he had expected to find his master standing tall and angry as always. And he did, by Roesia’s door. Suddenly a sting, so weak his head didn’t even move, graced his cheek. Yet it felt like he had somehow just lost a fight.

From annoyance and slight anger, to confusion, and then shock. Several emotions went through his head as he stared at the small tearful yet furious woman reprimanding him for his actions, including horniness and excitement, but mostly, and unexpectedly, shame.

Shame that he was caught off guard, shame that he made Roesia so angry and sad, shame that he actually thought of her words as right and followed her demands.

And it wasn’t the first time that the sorceress had chastised him. For as much as she was annoyed by Elly and her nagging, she could dish it out just as well. But never with such intensity, never so straightforwardly, and never through violence.

“I don’t know,” was all he could say.

Nora shifted on his lap and grabbed his hands before putting them on her chest. “That is just as well, with her physical changes also come emotional ones. The woman you once knew will remain the same for the most part, but there will be differences nonetheless.”

That was when Yvain remembered what Nora told him about the dragon race.

“She’s going to develop obsessions?” he asked with worry.

“She should,” Nora said. “But this is completely new ground. She’s a human turned dragon. Usually, younglings go through a process of discovery that is abated and channeled by the older dragons. I don’t know if she’ll go through the same thing, or if her established personality will be amplified.”

“I bet she hasn’t given a second thought to any of this,” Yvain said. One of the things Roesia lacked the most was the ability to ask herself if she should rather then just rush ahead with her experiments.

Nora caressed his hands as they rested on her breasts. “Do not worry. You won’t find a better guide than me to help her. I’m the goddess of dragons, remember?”

“How could I forget?” Yvain said and grabbed Nora’s tail that had been wrapped around his waist before lightly biting it.

Shivers ran through her back, “You should do that more often.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he said with a chuckle. “For now, we should get ready, don’t you need some time to prepare before we train tonight?”

“You are correct,” Nora said with some disappointment.

Yvain understood her longing all too well. If it wasn’t for her current state, they could have at least put a few more poundings in between now and later.

“Do not fret,” Yvain said and gave his girlfriend a few pats on the back indicating for her to stand up. “Once you’re doing better, I’ll have you…” then he remembered.

“Why do you faint so much when we’re having sex?” he asked.

Nora was half-way out of the shower reaching for one of the towels. She looked back with an ‘isn’t it obvious?’ expression and said, “Because you quite literally fuck me into oblivion?” before fully exiting the shower.

“Oh,” Yvain said. He didn’t know why but he expected something more. Not that the fact that he made Nora lose all notion of control didn’t fill him with pride.

Yvain got out of the shower and began getting ready while running images through his mind of himself doing the same thing to Roesia.

 

----------

 

It was Nora’s second night as part of Draconian’s Tavern. She and Yvain had spent the rest of the trip, before stopping for training, absorbing starlight on top of the carriage as it moved.

In the goddess’s own words, absorbing large amounts of starlight was difficult during the day.

During the day and inside a carriage? It was nearly impossible.

Yvain had asked Nelimir and Elly to join them, but Nora barred their leader from absorbing anything until she was available, and Elly outright refused.

They were all again sitting in a circle outside of the carriage except for Selt who was lost to his own devices.

Nelimir was in the middle with Nora, trying once more to effectively absorb starlight. Roesia was looking on with worry while holding Nora’s sword. Elly and Yvain were on standby in case anything happened that required their assistance.

The sword itself was probably just a way to pacify the sorceress, as Nora had told Yvain in private how what occurred yesterday could not be repeated. It was pure luck that it worked, and even if it wasn’t and she could somehow recreate the life saving effect, she didn’t have anywhere near enough strength to do it.

She had actually shown misgivings about having Nelimir try to absorb starlight again so soon. Even Elly had surprisingly backed her up.

When that didn’t work, the goddess began the lesson of the night and gave an even more detailed explanation on what it meant to absorb starlight. How it was affected by our personal wants and needs, some of which we might not even know ourselves. How hours of meditation and emotional maturity was needed. A mental balance of sorts. How that became exponentially more difficult with traumatic experiences.

That, just maybe, a better teacher than her could be found with time and patience. There were many methods of absorbing starlight out there and hers was just one of those.

This part Yvain paid extra attention to. He became more confident in his deduction and ability to create new ways to absorb starlight on his own.

But their leader was stubborn and threatened to just do it by himself. In his own, apologetic way of course. He understood the dangers, but there were things that just had to be done regardless of death. And if he didn’t start becoming strong now, he’d just die later rather than sooner.

Something Yvain wholeheartedly agreed with.

Both women stopped trying to talk him out of the attempt then. And so here they were, nervously awaiting the possible death of their leader and friend.

Yvain noted how eerily calm he was. Maybe he was just that confident in that things would be alright? The same couldn’t be said for Roesia though. She was clutching Nora’s sword so hard he thought she might actually snap it in half.

Yvain stood and walked toward the sorceress. She didn’t notice his presence up until the point he sat right next to her. The sorceress moved her head slightly away, trying to dodge his gaze.

“He’ll be alright,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” she replied curtly.

She was right of course. He was only saying empty words to help her calm down, but it seemed to have immediately backfired.

It was a weird sensation. Nora was the first woman he had been attracted to and it was extremely easy to communicate with her. Yet now he was attracted to Roesia too, but she didn’t feel the same way for him and he had no idea on how to talk to her through the filter that were his feelings for her. Or at least that was his guess as to why he felt so awkward.

Not knowing what else to say he just looked on at Nora and Nelimir in silence until a new thought entered his mind.

Maybe she’s still mad about earlier?

“Sorry about this afternoon.”

“Sorry for slapping you.”

Yvain spoke and his voice overlapped with Roesia’s. The sorceress somehow hid deeper into herself with embarrassment, her scaly tail furling onto itself.

Yvain, unlike her, didn’t really suffer much from social embarrassment and just smiled as he said, “That really hurt you know.”

The sorceress looked up immediately with genuine worry, “It did?”

“Um…” How Yvain didn’t smash his lips against her at that moment was beyond him. His plans of teasing her flew out the window in wake of her doe eyes.

“It didn’t. Sorry, I was joking,” he said.

Roesia gave a sigh of relief and said, “That’s not funny.”

Yvain bent forward a bit to look directly into her beautiful, yellow, slitted eyes.

“Come on, did you really think you could hurt me? You might be stronger now, but you have a long way to go before you can keep up with me,” he said.

“That doesn’t matter, I still hit you and…you sounded a bit sad afterward,” she said quietly at the end.

Did he? Was that the overall reason as to why he was so out of sorts? Why he felt such a wave of emotions? He was sad Roesia slapped him? The more he thought about it the surer he became of that being the cause and the more he became scared of how such a huge reaction came from something so insignificant.

Yvain was about to reply when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

Nora had released Nelimir completely. He was still covered in dark and stars, but the goddess was obviously relieved.

Soon after the darkness began to recede until it was completely swallowed up into Nelimir’s stomach. He let out a slow breath.

“I will certainly need to work on some things in the future,” he said.

Nora nodded, “You did well regardless. But this doesn’t mean that you couldn’t lose control at any moment. You need to train your mind. Make it as steady and powerful as you can. Focus on the small things and move up from there.”

“In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew,” Elly added.

Nelimir nodded seriously. “I won’t fail you all. I won’t die from just absorbing starlight.”

“See to it,” Nora said with an amicable smile and then looked to Roesia, “Seeing as Nelimir should be able to start absorbing starlight on his own, along with the rest, I should be able to help you get started after a few more nights of recuperating.”

“Take all the time you need,” Roesia said.

Yvain observed her. She was still holding tightly onto Nora’s sword. None of her nervousness had left.

Nelimir was okay though. What had her riled up? He was about to ask her, but the sorceress stood and took the sword to Nora.

“You guys will probably remain awake most of the night, but I need sleep. I’ll see you all tomorrow at breakfast,” she said and left for the carriage as everyone bid her a good night.

Well, she’s probably perturbed. Yvain couldn’t expect everyone to look on at such a phenomenon, a blackness covering your whole body, and remain calm.

Elly was already covered in her own, absorbing starlight at a steady pace, regardless of her sling impeding perfect form.

“I’ll remain here as a guard,” Nora said. “Always remember that if you train in the open someone needs to keep watch. When absorbing starlight, you are completely defenseless to outside attacks.”

“We appreciate it,” Nelimir said. “Don’t fret too much though, this side of Empryon knows no crime and the wildlife steers clear of the main road.”

“I also doubt anyone will pass through here at this hour,” Yvain said and looked to Nora. “If they do though, make sure to hide in the carriage. Nothing will happen to us.”

“I’ll at least hide out of sight, but I won’t abandon you,” she said.

They were sure she could manage that easily, so they both agreed to her terms.

 With that, Yvain, Elly, and Nelimir fully began their journey toward higher power.