"Alright, this gate is secure!" Aleda said loudly. "Get a few scouts to collect up the crystals. Goblin crystals can be sold at the Adventurers Guild. Orc crystals, except for these thirty or so, belong to that guy over there." They watched as Baris walked over from the nearby forest.

"Baris, glad to see you survived that dungeon." Aleda said with a grin.

"Well, your sister helped a lot. She leveled up twice too. It's too bad she's been a bit lazy. She has some good skills." He said with a smile.

"Lazy? Why don't you come in and rest? What level was she when you last saw her?" She asked.

"Well, she was a level twenty two before she went into the dungeon, but now she's a level twenty four. She still needs a few thousand XP to get to twenty five, but she can get that on scouting to get rid of those random goblins that will pop up for a while." He walked through the gate. "She did get poisoned by a blade, but that's taken care of. A guard watched over her, to make sure she was never in any real danger, though she didn't know about it." Aleda grinned.

"Then my sister is too stupid for her own good. She should have discovered that guard a while ago. Did they have any casualties in Noobville?" She asked.

"A few. The guards didn't pay attention, so I threw a stone through Alea's roof to wake her up. Nuella guided it, so she's fine." Baris didn't realize that he just sold Alea up the river, and more then once.

"Looks like I'm going to have to ride her ass a bit, and remind her not to get lazy again." She said in a low growl.

"I gave her lessons to fix her lack of planning, and foresight. She's better, but I don't know if her blood is boiling for battle. I wonder if she'll join me on the next dungeon run." Baris stretched his arms overhead. "If I don't rest soon, these levels are going to unravel."

"Just tell the innkeeper if you want something to eat." Aleda said. "How did you keep her from passing out from lack of food?"

"Your damned right I need something to eat. Alea ate nearly half a bear's worth of jerky while in that dungeon. It is damned hard to keep an elf fed." Baris said, at which point she smiled.

"It is when we're in heat, Baris. It must have been her time, and she didn't have time to take care of it before she went out to fight. Where was the dungeon?" She asked and saw his face close up and look quite sad.

"The grove. Bastards polluted the lake, and cut down all the trees." He sighed sadly. "Such a beautiful area destroyed by those green snots. I had to burn the entire area to cleanse it." Jaana and Neiren both paled.

"Nothing left?" Shaala asked incredulously.

"The lake water will return to normal on its own, but I will go over and replant the entire grove when I clear the other dungeon." He put his chin down onto his forearms. "I have surface cleanse magic. I'll purify the entire area, one foot at a time, or one stone at a time. I won't allow another forest to disappear in front of me."

"If you do that, you'll be able to claim it." Shaala said quietly. Baris frowned.

"Claim a forest? Did the fairies ever claim it as their own, or just live there, in balance with nature?" He shook his head. "I'll put an entrance on the part of the dungeon that didn't collapse, and use that as a home for the winter. Some day, I imagine that the fairies will be able to sit on the branches of the trees that I plant." He smiled a little.

"Birch. Maple. Oak. Pine. Chestnut. I'll also plant a few veggies, and let them grow wildly. I don't know anything about mushrooms, but I imagine they'll return some day too." He smiled and put his head down on his arms.

"He fell asleep. Just like that." Shaala said in surprise. "Don't think I've ever seen a human trust us so much." She said and sat down beside him. "Regenerate." Both Neiren and Jaana went in close and sniffed his body.

"Ha ha, don't be like that, girls. He's had some really hard battles." Shaala said quietly. "Full Body Cleanse."

"He was nice to me, Sha." Neiren said, and sat down on his other side. She laid her head down on the table, and watched him sleep. "No expectation of anything. He was just nice. Are you sure he's human?" She asked.

"He's human, girls." Shaala said softly. "Not sure if I like how my girls are making eyes at a human male, but I kind of understand. He's a puzzle, to say the least." She yawned. "Come on, girls. I'm sure the both of you have leveled up, as have I. We need some sleep."

"You're going with him, aren't you?" Aleda asked her. Neiren turned towards her, and sighed as she knew she wouldn't be able to talk Shaala out of it.

"Yes. You should send word to your sister, Aleda. Get her up here so we can both go level up again." She grinned. "You'll be able to ride her ass real good when she comes back. However, you can't leave. You're the highest leveled person here, and they need your power right now." Aleda growled.

"Fuck." She walked out of the guild and towards the west gate. She wanted to kill a few orcs before they were gone for good.

"So not fair that I can't go."

* * *

"Nuella said you have to go to Steepbell. They cleared the monsters at the east gate, and some are making their way to the west, towards Fairgate." Zentha said and watched her lover groan a bit.

"I ate a lot of his food, Zennie." She blushed and hid her face in Zentha's chest. "Nearly half a bear."

"You were in your heat, Alea. You always eat more when you're in heat. You've burned it off, right?"

"Most of it." She sighed. "Do we have time for a few more hours?" Zentha grinned.

"One hour. You need to rest, then travel. You'll need to take provisions. I have a feeling that this experience will put you into another heat, and we can't have him starving because you ate his entire cellar's worth." Zentha said and was quickly turned onto her belly.

"Mean old mare." Alea growled into her ear. "I'll make you respect your wife." Zentha rolled her eyes as her lover entered her.

"You haven't given me a collar yet, Alea, and you haven't accepted my band yet either." Zentha groaned as her stallion seemed to grow thicker and longer inside her. That monster she normally hid within her pouch was as long as her arm, and just as thick.

"When I get back, we'll exchange tokens." She said at her ear.

"And the spikes?" Zentha asked.

"I'll get spiked. To show that only you will do." Zentha groaned as her member throbbed within her, and pushed even deeper. "As long as you give me a colt."

Zentha lost her mind at that. Alea dominated her perfectly, and brought out the lust that most mares hid from the civilized world around them.

"Finally." Alea said as she bit her shoulder. After chasing her from their homeland to this low leveled land, and working beside her for over fifty years, Zentha finally gave in.

Her mare submitted.