The large, half-naked dwarf, Goliath, arrived on the scene in a few minutes, along with a bunch of his friends. He asked some of them to handle the bodies (Arabella put the succubus-sick cats out of their misery by then), told some others to escort the remaining Deadly Claws to the port at once (who he declared banned from town for extensive trouble-making), and lastly, he invited Chio and the others to his inn. Although they originally planned to move on from Murky Bay that very afternoon, they accepted the offer. After what happened, they needed it.

“People suck,” Arabella stated as she hobbled through town with her arms around Porco's and Chio's shoulders. Her left leg was probably broken.

“It do be like that,” Porco mumbled. It was supposed to be his abstention day; he had sex with Arabella the day before, on their way to the pirate town. But he felt like he had to help her out at least this way after what happened, after failing to contribute much in the combat. Even if her touch teased him a lot, even if it was kind of torturous, he didn't mind. He really did not want to lose this woman, nor the others, but especially her. He actually liked her a lot by now. Through the effect of her alluring spell, he felt a strong sense of genuine empathy for her – it was undeniably not just about his penis-needs anymore.

“We got unlucky,” Chio muttered. “But people are helping us now too. People... vary.” Her right arm was still limp; she concentrated all her healing ability on Terry, so she still wasn't in a great shape. She needed to rest.

“Unlucky... fuck, Chio! The last thing I want is for you to get hurt. And it happened again.”

“It wasn't your fault.”

Terry walked besides them by the side of Chio, his leg injury pretty much gone, carrying a bag on his back, and another in his arms. Although his wound was healed, the whole event was rather shocking to him, and he still seemed out of it. Friska was sitting on the backpack on his back, searching for something inside as they walked, finally rising with a potion of see-through fluid with sparky particles.

“What dumbasses!” the she shook her head. “Idiot cats. So Chio, drink this! Just a sip.”

They stopped, and the girl took some, then passed the small bottle on to Arabella too. They both immediately felt a little better.

Goliath, who was leading their way, turned back towards them, stroking his white beard and looking at Chio. He was an attentive man, his gaze was strong and kind of intimidating. “May I ask what kind of magic user you are?” he inquired.

“Uhm... I'm... well...”

“She was trained for healing magic,” Porco said as fast as he could, trying hard to ignore his penis-needs. He knew Chio was a bad liar, Friska was still quite drunk, Arabella was in a grumpy mood, and Terry was just Terry. But he, he could still cover for the angel, it was up to him. “And she has an enchanted item too. A secret one.”

“Must be a quite rare one. To have her way with those cats like that.”

“Must be.”

Chio nodded a little too enthusiastically. Fortunately, the dwarf left the matter at that.

In the inn, they were granted two rooms for free for the night. Arabella, Chio and Friska took out one, Terry and Porco the other. Their more battered female companions retreated to their place, so the boys too went to theirs, as they had nothing else to do. They lied down in their beds on the two sides of the room without covering themselves with blankets. It was afternoon still, night was hours away, they weren't gonna sleep just yet, just take a breather. Porco sighed deeply, scratched his head, feeling his boner, his beating heart. Terry was silent and pretty much still.

“What a life!” Porco said. “But good job, man. You did well.”

Terry slowly turned his head towards him. “What?”

“You did well.”

The villager boy snorted.

“Hey, we did our best, Terry. We risked our lives.”

“What for? I only made a fool o' myself.”

“For the girls. At leasts we bought some seconds for Chio to get back up. It mattered! In a situation like that, seconds matter.”

“I guess...”

“It's true. It was risky, but we did it, we made a difference.”

“Hmmm.”

Truth be told, Porco was also kind of convincing himself. He couldn't help but feel a bit useless after he basically just ran away. But logically thinking, they really did what they could, and it probably did matter.

They heard a sudden bang from the ground floor beneath, which made Terry flinch. But it was followed by muffled laughter. Just some tavern-shenanigans.

“Have you ever been in a fight before?” asked Porco.

“Nay. Not really.”

“Damn, this must have been a lot for you, then. You got one hack of a nasty cut. It will be a story to tell your grandchildren.”

Grandchildren?

They fell silent, and both wrestled with their thoughts and feelings. After about an hour, Porco got up and left, saying he will get them some food. While he was gone, Chio walked in. She seemed much better now, and after Terry told her where Porco was, she sat at the bed of the boy, and healed him a bit more, even though Terry swore he was all right now. Still, the sensation of the angel's radiant palms was pleasantly warm. She then got on top of him, they didn't undress, just snuggle. She murmured sweet, comforting words into his ears, calling him a good boy, saying that everything will be all right, kissing him, stroking his hair. She also reassured him that his bravery did account for something, it did buy them some time, diverting the cat-women's attention. Terry sighed deeply, loosening his muscles, letting his caretaker take care of him. Then Porco walked in with a pot and some bowls, accompanied by Friska, who just got up from a short nap. The angel quickly jumped to her feet instinctively, Terry flinched and reddened.

“Hmmpf,” said the fairy.

And then they had a late lunch. Chio ate with them this time, savoring the stew that Porco managed to get for free (Goliath was staying in the inn, and heard him inquire about food, that's how). Arabella joined them too for their company, but of course she didn't eat.

“I was thinking we should buy a donkey,” Porco said. “Just to carry our baggages. I met a guy who has a little farm at the edge of town.”

“A pirate farmer?” asked Arabella.

“I guess so.”

“That's a great idea,” said Chio. “Will be nice not having to carry our bags. Right, Terry?”

“Uhum.”

“Besides, I do like animals. Our neighbour had a donkey in my home village.”

“That reminds me,” the fairy dashed to the backpack with her stuff, and pulled out the bottle of donkey's tears again. “Good against hangover,” she explained, spilling a few drops into her little mug.

“That's cheating!” Porco smiled.

“Eh, it's a bit of a waste, but fuck it. We had a weird day.”

“That's for sure,” Arabella nodded.

“By the way, you still have money, right Friska?” asked Porco. “I do too. You guys?” he turned to Arabella and Chio.

“We got some gold from Hollard back on Midridge,” said the succubus.

“Let's split the cost, then!”

Terry didn't have any money, so the topic made him feel kind of embarrassed. He sped up his eating a bit too much, and choked. Chio was quick to jump to his side, stroking his back, then even getting a rag and wiping his mouth like she was his mother.

“Hmmpf,” said the fairy.

And so things seemed to get back to normal. They were gonna leave the pirate town behind the next day, armed with six human-sized bottles of rum and a donkey. Porco made the deal with the farmer guy that night, agreeing to pick up the animal the next morning.

As they went to sleep, Arabella was stopped in the corridor by the skinny halfling, Mouse, who told her someone wants to talk to her in the inn. She hesitated, still feeling kind of averse of strangers after what happened, but she thought she would rather see who it was, at least. Chio went with her too.

The person was the succubus from Murky Bay's small brothel, her name was Shreya. Apparently, she never met another succubus before, so as the news of the brawl reached her, she set out to meet Arabella. She was dark skinned like those rare southern humans, with long, braided hair, full lips, and big tits. She looked strong and cool, and she picked up on Arabella and Chio being lovers instantly.

They talked for an hour or so, mostly about Arabella's past, then Shreya's. The local succubus appeared in this world on Lion's Isle (where Carla, the poor tortured woman was from too), but she was quick to escape from that small land further south, where she ended up with some pirates. She was their exclusive pleasure-woman, but she had too much of an addictive effect on them, so that crew disbanded in a few months. Then for a while, she was just surviving on her own, feeding on some outcasts and explorers opportunistically, while Murky bay was still in construction. Eventually she met Goliath, who offered her his protection, and this job.

In the end, Shreya told them that she was gonna take on two men that night, and she invited Arabella over for a foursome. The redhead was a bit reluctant at first, but Chio encouraged her with a smile. “It will be good for you! Just go, have some succubus-fun!”

“Quite the open-minded girlfriend you have,” Shreya gazed at Chio curiously.

“Yep.” Arabella leaned in and kissed the angel, then turned to her newfound pal. “Let's get some dick!”

Shreya waned to make this foursome a surprise for her clients. As she already agreed on the price of the night with them, she didn't want to charge them extra, but she offered Arabella to split the money. The redhead declined – although they were about to buy a donkey, they most likely weren't gonna need money that much in the near future, and besides, she wasn't the biggest fan of being a sex worker, which felt quite restricting to her in the past when she was one. It somehow felt better not getting paid for it.

Shreya's clients were none other than Goliath and a faun friend of his. The dwarf was pleasantly surprised by Arabella being there, but the faun was taken aback a bit. Goliath assured him that being with multiple succubi doesn't really add to the strength of their charm, it's the same as being with one. Arabella wondered if he ever visited the succubus sisters on Midridge – how else could he know?

They quickly got down to business. The dwarf was eager and confident, his size was as big as one would have assumed, pretty impressive for a dwarf, and he was tenacious too. Arabella could tell he has a strong spirit. The faun got much more meek from their touch, which was also fun on its own way. They were at it for an hour or so, although the faun checked out earlier. Once Goliath was done too, he thanked them, and told Arabella she and her friends are always very welcome in this town, and that if they ever have any trouble here, let him know. Then the two succubi were left alone. Arabella reached for her clothes to get dressed, but Shreya grabbed her arm.

“Let me see your true self, and I'll show you mine!”

My true self? “Oh. Sure.”

They both transformed. The local succubus had pitch-black skin, her eyes turned pink, and her horns were quite large and twisty, like an antelope's. Arabella was of course dark-red, and with straight, black horns.

“I never saw another succubus,” said Shreya, eyeing the red demon up and down with satisfaction. “You look good!”

“You too. You're a badass.”

“Must have felt good to use your true power on those goons. I haven't got to use mine in a long time. Did you know that...”

“I wouldn't say it felt all that good.”

“You don't have to be like that with me. I understand wanting to hold back, living a virtuous life as much as you can. That's the path I chose too. But somewhere deep down, we have that part inside us, we always will. We are succubi, we were born to be dangerous and powerful. The bane of men.”

Arabella turned away, then she transformed back, grabbing her dress. “Thanks for the night. It was nice meeting you.”

“Were you hurt? Is that it? I'm sure every succubus who ever existed suffered a lot for who we are, I did too.”

“I just... have people I care about now. I'm done with danger. At least I wish to be. It's hard to shake it off though.”

“Of course it is. I'm afraid that's just life for us.”

The redhead sighed, and stared at the other succubus once more, who was still in her bare demon form. Primal, raw, proud, female. Shreya walked up to her and put her hands on her shoulder.

“You will always be cool, Arabella. The world might not see you that way, but what do they know.”

Arabella smiled, thinking of Chio, who certainly would have agreed with the statement. She knew that.

Later that night, she sneaked into the ladies' room when Friska was already asleep, climbing in bed with Chio. Her belly was full and her mood was much better, and the half-asleep angel was happy to see that.

 

Next morning, they went to that farm at the edge of town. Porco walked in with Arabella, who figured it's better if she is present when the business is done – she was now known as the “succubus visitor” in Murky Bay, so surely the guy wouldn't dare to scam them while she is there too. The guy did not intend to try anything like that, but he was a talkative fellow, and he gave them an enthusiastic a lecture about how to handle a donkey.

Meanwhile, Chio, Terry and Friska were waiting around on the dirt road by the farm's fence, looking over their bags.

“Did you sleep well, Terry?” Chio asked.

The boy shrugged.

“Oh, you didn't?”

“Had a bad dream.”

“Aw!” Chio hugged him warmly and stroked his hair.

“I'm good now,” he smiled.

“You're a damsel in distress!” Friska blurted. She was sitting with her legs crossed on top of the wooden fence, staring at the boy.

“A what?” Terry gave the little woman a puzzled look.

“A freakin... whatever.”

“You can say it!” Chio insisted. “A damsel in distress? That's like a woman in a story who gets saved, right?”

“A woman who needs a man's help, yes.”

“But I'm a man,” Terry said quickly.

“A boy, more like.” Friska sighed. “Look, I can't believe i'm doing this, but the thing is, the world doesn't work like this. I would normally say 'who the fuck cares' if someone made a comment like that, it's just that... do you actually plan to live the rest of your life out here with Chio and Arabella? Like, actually?”

“I... I don't know.”

“That's the problem. Cause if you ever wanna go back to your home, if you ever wanna make a family of your own, then... I have concerns.”

Terry looked at Chio worriedly, who instinctively reached towards him to reassure him, but her hand stopped, she blushed slightly, and she faced Friska.

“You think he... he might get too accustomed to me?”

“Look. What do girls like? Chio, I know you've been through a lot since you have been a regular girl, but still. What kind of man did you image for yourself back then? Do you remember?”

Terry gulped, and looked down.

“I... I get your point. That doesn't mean I don't love Terry!” Chio held the boy's head with both hands, turning him to face her, and looking straight into his eyes, smiling. “I like you the way you are, I always will. Don't worry! But it's true that I'm no regular woman. I'm really not.”

“Yep,” Friska nodded, and Terry too knew that those words were true. Chio was no ordinary girl, she was special.

“So... what should I do?”

“What should he do?” Chio turned to the fairy again.

“Well... fuck it, women are smaller and weaker than men, Terry. And women are very much aware of this. In wartime, men tend to rape. In peaceful times too, when they can get away with it. Of course not all men at all, thank god, but it happens enough. And for women, sex comes with great consequences. Pregnancy, giving birth... have you ever seen a woman give birth, Terry?”

The boy hesitated, but ended up shaking his head. He did sort of see a woman in his home village give birth, more or less. He was spying through a window with his sister out of curiosity when they were little, but he didn't get the best view, and he was pretty sure he was not supposed to see. What he saw looked kind of brutal though.

“It's brutal,” said Friska. “It's bloody and dangerous, then if they even survive, the woman is left with her offspring, who needs to be taken care of. I would never go through that bullshit, personally. But normally, women sort of need a man who can take care of them. Who can protect them. So they like confident men, capable men. Women don't just go around fucking horny boys who just so happen to have a hard dick, that rarely happens. Women need something extra, something... special. In stories, women are the ones who need saving, and regular women tend to be a bit drunk on that idea, for better or worse. But it makes some sense, I have to admit.”

“I tried to save Chio, but...”

“Yea, it was a total clusterfuck yesterday, whatever. Regardless, you need to grow. Us women like men who can somehow impress us. God, it's cringe to say stuff like that, but it's true. The way I see you, you are a boy who is yet to grow into a man. With Chio pampering you and healing you and carrying you around...”

“Ya think I should leave her?”

“No!” Chio said quickly. “That's not it, right?” she turned to Friska.

“No, you should just... I don't fucking now! I'm not a man. You should just not get too comfortable, I guess. As I said, you need to grow.”

“How about Porco?” Terry asked.

“He is a witty orphan who managed to make it, so to speak. He is different. And he is actively struggling through his weird addiction with Arabella, it's a trial in and of itself for him.”

Speaking of the devil, Porco and Arabella appeared from behind the farmer's house, leading their new donkey towards them.

“We can try to figure out some sort of... training plan for you,” Chio suggested. “We will see. You shouldn't worry about it too much, really. It's just... there is some truth to what Friska is saying, so for now, just keep that in mind, okay? But don't think you did anything wrong, it's not about that! You are good boy, really just...”

“A boy,” said Terry a bit sadly.

“A good one,” Chio emphasized, looking into his eyes again. “I want to help you grow. That doesn't sound too bad, does it?”

“I... guess it doesn't.”