“Got the scent! I’ll have those lizards tracked within the hour,” Suka exclaims after a few minutes spent huffing the air. She then shapeshifts into her stallion-sized Cinderwolf form and bumps her head against Dura’s shoulder. “Hop on, or else you’ll slow me down.”

“You can make it all the way to the Eastern Desert running with a passenger her size?” I ask, impressed.

Suka snorts and proceeds to boast, “With my Ogre Strength Power Bond, I could haul twice as much!”

The Ogress wearing a fur bikini mounts her lupine companion and lover-by-night from a rival clan. “Dura strong, not fast. Quick’r run, quick’r get to smash stuff. Dura ride.”

“Flou1 reporting for duty, over,” the Fuzzy Slime announces from her place tied around Suka’s neck as a ruby-encrusted scarf flowing in the wind. “You’re clear to depart.”

“Already gone,” Suka says as she bounds off into the distance.

Lucinia the Lesser Siren spreads her wings. “Don’t worry, Alex. I’ll keep an eye on them. I owe my health to your Goblin wife’s herb lore. This is the least I could do for patching me up after the battle… but, if you wouldn’t mind, put in a good word with Mamma for me?”

“No worries, Lucinia. Unlike a certain other unfaithful siren, your loyalty has earned yourself a place in my household if you wish.”

With a last nod of thanks, the bird girl flies off after the eastbound party.

“This is where we part ways as well,” Gabby says, bearing her apprentice robe and a bandolier of eleven herbs and spices. “Don’t wish us luck; we won’t need it.”

Leaning down, I kiss the little green shortstack and say, “Have a good day at work, honey.”

Gabby returns my kiss and hums approval. “I like that attitude. Look forward to our date in the forest.”

“I will,” I say as I eye her spice rack with enough concern to make her respond.

She pats one of the pouches. “Did you forget my new Plant Growth spell? I managed to grow some hot peppers yesterday and quickly dry a few pinches’ worth courtesy of my Ember Magic. Ah-ah-ah, I know that look. Yes, my magic and garden could keep us fed through the winter, but feeding an army is well beyond the scope of my powers. We’ll need to find another solution in the woods.”

“I know,” I say with a sigh. Part of me still wishes this wasn’t the most expedient route to victory and I could go spelunking, deep sea diving, or visiting home instead. It is what it is. At least I get to spend time with Gabby later.

Cottontail hugs my legs until I nuzzle her long ears and return the embrace. As she backs away, I see Flou2 has bedazzled her black Playmate outfit with ruby rhinestones.

Megan in her pink jellyfish dress curtsies to me, her mouse tail bobbing up as she does so. “Thank you again for allowing me into your harem, though I intend to earn my place today.”

“I said you don’t have to earn anything. You’re my family. Now, go free yours.”

As the mouse girl nods, our Wicked Weaver lays a hand on each of Megan and Cottontail’s blond heads, petting them. The spider girl’s demonic blue coloration, black body art, and naked B-cup tits with large areolas are on proud display. She really does have a shapely rack since her evolution. “Spindle won’t let a hair on their heads come to harm. Consider it a Webling’s promise, and our word is our bondage.”

“…I think you mean, ‘Our word is our bond?’”

“She knows what she said, Vermillion.”

“Flou2 reporting in. All lines clear. Move out.”

The group of six turns to face the Warren entrance and begins descending one by one. Spindle faces the tightest fit since she gained a few inches in her evolution, but her spiderlike flexibility and many appendages allow her to contort herself and move through the bunny-sized aperture.

“Be safe, Megan,” Gale says as she waves her wings goodbye. The mouse girl waves back one last time before disappearing underground. “Alex, why does Gale’s chest hurt? Am I sick?”

I move to embrace my Harpy wife and she returns the hug, burying her face in my ample bosom. My fingers run through her blue and green locks. “You’re not sick, you’re worried. I know how you feel. It’s hard to let them go, but we need to support them if they want to apply themselves for a good cause.”

“Flou3 here, no issues maintaining connection,” my fur bikini dotted with ruby jewelry says. “Don’t worry, Gale, you’ll know the second there’s a problem. We’ll keep them safe.”

The winged girl nods, looking better by the second. “Come on, let’s go visit your mom.”

“Yeah!”

 

---

 

With her claws gripping my shoulders, Gale flies me to the summit of Harpy Mountain in a matter of minutes, fully trivializing my ascent from the day before. Avian men and women scatter before us. Either word spread that I defeated their Matron yesterday, or I’ve become a scary BAMF.

Then a massive shadow blots out the sun.

“Hold interloper! I rule this mountain… oh, Alex, I didn’t expect you so soon!” The elephantine vulture with granny tits shapeshifts to her demure, white-haired hot MILF form. “You look… different.”

I should expect so with my new Lizardman scales, Webling fangs, boob upgrade, and second-tier Photosynthesis.

“Momma! I’m home!”

“Gale, baby, so good to see you! Ah, where are my manners? Here we are flapping and chatting like a couple of birdbrains instead of welcoming our Mistress properly. Follow me.” Then Aello turns to address the staring crowd of airborne avian kin. “What are you lot staring at, GET MOVING!”

The Harpy Matron leads us to her nest on the flat top of the mountain where Gale deposits me before landing at my side. Ten feet wide and woven from the softest grasses, Aello’s nest is the equivalent of an avian penthouse.

“Please, take a seat,” the Matron gestures to the edge of the nest, about the height of a hay bale, but less irritating on bare flesh. My seat feels almost like a cushion. Gale seems surprised to be given this treatment. She was an average fledgling Harpy yesterday, after all.

Several of the Harpy boys and girls I recognize from yesterday land around us with servile expressions.

“Show our guests some Harpy hospitality.”

A tall, pink-feathered flamingo girl with ebony skin and long, sexy legs ending in bird claws kneels between Gale’s legs. “Um, hi?” Gale begins, but the dark-skinned woman eagerly devours my wife’s flower before she can get another word out. My Harpy love shivers, coos, and groans, her talons grasping and clutching at the straw floor as she’s thoroughly ‘helped’ by the exotic beauty.

(Skin color and body types are some of the few things passed along genetically back and forth between monster and human generations in a bloodline unless they have a Goblin’s green skin or a Kobold’s scales overwriting the trait)

“Gale, baby, I know you prefer women, so I prepared Rosie as your personal attendant.”

“I like boys too, Momma, but how did you know I’ve had a crush on her since I was a Chicklin?” I find Gale’s crush totally understandable. Maybe later I’ll ask for a turn.

“Your Momma isn’t blind, baby. As for the Mistress, I heard you dallied with my boys yesterday…”

“But variety is the spice of life,” I reply, not one to turn down a good time on offer. Especially when I don’t have a dick equipped to sew wild oats in unwanted places.

A girl approaches me, and I recognize her as Elder Grand Claw’s first pick from yesterday. She has the fluffiest, most colorful feathers of all her sisters, the creamiest pale skin, not to mention the meatiest ass. I think she’s some kind of pheasant with male coloration, though no dick swings between her legs.

“It’s an honor to serve, Mistress. And may I say you smell incredible,” she says, fucking me with her eyes as she kneels between my legs. Her hot breath tickles my crotch as her wings brush my legs. Her iridescent ponytail feathers bob as she rhythmically laps my slit. Warmth spreads from her soft lips throughout my core. It’s not the kind of cunnilingus that gets one off quickly; her technique is clearly designed to help guests pass the time pleasantly until a climax is requested. The rainbow-feathered Harpy watches my features for signs of my pleasure while sucking my labia and kissing the soft scales of my mons pubis.

“Yes, your aroma is a bit more potent than yesterday,” the Harpy Matron comments. Ah, that must be a side-effect of Maternal Allure. I’m fairly certain my Paternal Lure scent comes from precum, and I don’t have a dick equipped.

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” I respond, not wanting to reveal all my secrets so soon. She shrugs and moves on.

“Thirsty?” Aello asks. We both nod, Gale barely managing a coherent response while throwing her head back with another moan of delight. “Robin, Warbler, drinks for our guests.” A Lesser Siren with grey wings and maroon feathers on her neck and lower belly approaches me while another with creamy brown feathers goes to Gale. Both have stonking great tits, but neither has Lucinia’s beauty.

Their nipples leak a steady stream of sweetness as they lean in. Gale and I barely need to turn our heads to start drinking. I’m used to being the one nursing my harem, so it’s a refreshing treat to be pampered like this. It takes me back to childhood when the Taurine Milk Maids were so heavy with cream that they let students drink straight from the ‘tap’ for relief.

Ah, academy days. Every house in my Hometown gets a bottle of milk in the morning, but nothing beats nursing from a beautiful cowgirl. Unfortunately, they cut you off once you’re old enough to want sex, but too young to participate. That’s a missed opportunity I hope to soon remedy!

With our thirsts quenched, the two big-chested Harpies perch behind us and rub their creamy melons against our shoulders in a soft massage. Yep, this is the life! I could get used to such relaxation.

Wait, is Aello trying to impress me with her hospitality, or distract me?

“On to business,” I say, watching closely as the Harpy Matron’s eye twitches. Bullseye. “I can’t imagine it’s been easy implementing the hard cutoff I instructed.”

“Oh, you know,” she says as she rolls her shoulders in a relaxed shrug, “A few are more reluctant than others. There are whiners and complainers, but they all fall into line with a sharp claw in sight.”

“Excellent, excellent. I’d like to see your non-Harpy residents.”

“Excuse me?”

“All of them.” Our gazes lock for a moment, but Aello is quick to acquiesce.

“R-right away, Mistress! You boys heard her, spread the word. We’ll need a lot of wings to get them all up here.”

“All of them, Momma?” the red-feathered cardinal boy from yesterday asks.

“Are you deaf, son? Yes, fucking all of them! Now!”

“Y-yes, Momma!”

The other Harpies all quickly depart except for the four attending us and Aello.

I’ll address another topic while we wait. Not that I mind sitting here with a beautiful Harpy between my legs and another sharing skinship with me from behind.

“You haven’t seen Canary, have you? I need to have words with her.”

“That backstabbing bitch? She won’t dare show her face on my mountain again. Just like her deserter sister, that Lucinia.”

“Actually, Lucinia spent the night with me and my girls. I decided she fought honorably and had her wounds treated. You must not have heard her when she was crying for succor after the battle.”

“Oh, well then, that’s a relief. You have my gratitude, Alex, for sparing one of my brood. I’ll be sure to welcome her with open wings next time I see her. Thank you for telling me.” Aello gives me a brief bow before addressing her subordinate. “Cancel the banishment on Lucinia, but the ones on Canary and the Bloodwings stay.”

“Yes, Momma,” Robin says from behind me.

The first of the Harpy prisoners start arriving, dropped off by avians who immediately skedaddle. They see the Matron talking with a strange monster (me) and freeze in place. Not that there’s anywhere to run with cliffs on all sides and treacherous crags leading into the bowels of the mountain.

“Aello, there’s a human phrase, ‘trust but verify.’ I’m not doubting your obedience so soon after our battle yesterday but making sure there are no miscommunications now will save us heartache later.”

The Harpy Matron puffs up and gives me a hard look. “I’m a bit surprised you came here alone without your harem warriors. It’s mighty bold of you to allow yourself to be surrounded by sharp talons…”

Me from a day or two ago might’ve been intimidated after being reminded the girls servicing me have their natural weapons so close to my unprotected flesh.

“You mentioned I look different. Well, my magic is using experiences to become stronger. It’s a system not unlike ancient human Arr Pee Gee’s. I’m not the same as the one you fought yesterday.”

It’s a half-bluff. I reason that, if it came to a fight, I now have third-tier Air Magic to counter Aello’s as well as flight options and several new defensive buffs. I won’t say Aello is a non-threat at this point, but I can’t imagine losing my life to her today even fighting by myself.

Gale is completely unconcerned with the direction of the conversation as she’s brought to a keening, shuddering climax by the flamingo girl. My iridescent-feathered cunning linguist isn’t doing a poor job either, by any stretch of the imagination. Pleasant butterflies of pleasure flutter through me every second. All four of our Harpy attendants seem content to continue servicing my wife and me for the foreseeable future.

Aello nods to herself as if self-congratulating her decision not to betray me. “Your confidence speaks volumes, Mistress.”

“Actually, I came here for another reason.” Aello raises an eyebrow as I continue. “Yesterday, a horde of Servitors chased me out of the underground. My Webling lover tells me a ‘Would-Be-Queen Under the Mountain’ is amassing forces for a hostile takeover of the region. Your nests on the surface would be the Darkling army’s first targets when they come boiling up through the gaps and fissures.”

“I know of the Weblings, though they’ve been content with the scraps that fall through the cracks until now. I had no idea the threat was so dire.”

Well, I didn’t expect the Harpy Matron to have an underground intelligence network. “You’re welcome to take your people down to the Hut in Fuzzy Field. Otherwise, I can’t promise total protection so far from my home.”

She frowns. “Unfortunately, moving would destroy us as surely as the Weblings. We need high places to brood. You may not know this, being raised by ignorant monsters in that nameless little hamlet to the south, but Chicklins hatched below a certain elevation inevitably become Henlins.” That is fascinating, and a great tidbit for Gabby. “Obviously, half the mountain’s Harpies are with egg after Elder Grand Claw’s visit. Not to mention the difficulty in transporting eggs already laid.”

“Hmm. Hopefully, I can deal with the threat beneath us before it spills up and onto the region. In the worst case, you can evacuate your people to Fuzzy Field in an emergency.” I tap my chin, considering for a moment before continuing. “Send a flight of Harpies east to assist my Cinderwolf and Ogress. Lucinia is with them, but it doesn’t hurt to have some backup.

“If we’re going to live apart, there should be an open line of communication between us. I want Rosie and… who is this?” I point at the pheasant girl between my legs.

“Monal.”

“And Monal to be sent with us on our return. Throw in a couple of Harpy boys for my so-called harem warriors to play with… I mean, to serve as messengers.”

“Consider it done, Mistress.”

“Thanks, Alex,” Gale says with a sunny smile. “I can’t wait to show Megan how great Rosie is with her tongue!” The flamingo girl smirks with pride in her skills, tosses her head to throw a long pink braid of her straight-back cornrows behind her ear, and goes down for seconds to Gale’s effusive delight.

I grab a fistful of Monal’s rainbow ponytail, grind my clit hard into her mouth while pressing her nose against my mons pubis, and gush girlcum onto her pretty face as delicious warmth suffuses me from head to toe. After I release my grip, Monal gasps for breath and lays a pale cheek on my pussy while grinning up at me.

“Good girl.”

“Anything else, Mistress?” Aello asks. “Your wish is my command…”

A thought penetrates my post-orgasmic glow. “If that’s so, I heard you know something about the Misty Grove. What can you tell me?”

“Ah, yes, I can see why the shrouded woods drew our Mistress’s curiosity. Few dare tread past the curtain of mist, and fewer still return. My children tell of strange glowing lights glimpsed in the Grove at night.” I knew I didn’t imagine that! “Once or twice, they’ve reported seeing hooded figures through momentary gaps in the fog. Now that I think of it, Elder Grand Claw once mentioned something odd to me. He complained about a late shipment…”

Before I can question her further, Red grabs our attention by landing before us. “That’s all of them, Momma,” the cardinal Harpy boy reports.

With a sigh, I return my focus to the unpleasant task ahead of me.