Servitude. That's what Terry started to slowly resort to. His training sessions with Porco were nice and all – they exercised twice every day, pushups, sit ups, stretching, and sparring with bamboo sticks. But to grow into a real man, was that gonna be enough? What was he supposed to do again? To be able to take care of women, to protect them, be something special to them?

As the males trained, the females of the group tended to watch, except for Friska who would usually rather read or write in her notebook at these times. That was her little productivity ritual. But Arabella always watched the boys from a safe distance with barely concealed interest. Her favorite part was the sparring, which she joined in too every once in a while. Meanwhile, Chio often acted as their one-person cheering squad. The angel would rather not join them though, as she knew how much more tenacity she has, and she didn't want to make them feel inadequate.

To a degree, both males did feel that way anyway. Terry was well aware that these supernatural beauties are above them in strength, which made him feel like he needs to figure out something else too.

Pay attention. Know yourself. That was the stuff Gloria told him. And so Terry asked himself: What do I want to do? He wanted to be useful to Chio, to feel needed by her. And then the though occurred to him that maybe he should just do things for her. He very much remembered how exciting it was when Chio was controlled and bound up by Arabella before they got interrupted, when she was in that subservient state, even towards him. It was so nice...

On the night of the fourth day after they left Murky Bay, Terry offered Chio to set up her hammock-bed. The girl was surprised, but she smiled and thanked the boy for it. The next day, he offered her a part of his lunch, some of the last of their dried vegetables and the cooked meat made from a grey hare Arabella caught for them. Chio tried to decline at first, saying she doesn't need to eat, and that it's really for him and Porco and Friska, but Terry insisted, and Chio smiled again and called him nice. After the meal, he even washed up her bowl by the river.

In their sex-sessions too he started paying a lot of attention to pleasing her, making her body feel good. It was a little bit awkward at first, since he was always more of a passive recipient of pleasure between them, so it was a new area for him, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do. But Chio quickly recognized his new efforts, and began to gladly take advantage of them. By the seventh day of their journey south, Terry was giving the angel back and foot massages in secret, while she relaxed and reassured him with cute little pleasant moans.

On the eighth day, they began walking up a proper mountain slope, from where several springs came together into that river they have been following. The tufts of grey grass got rarer as they ascended, but there were more and more thorny bushes, and they also began to see some cacti. It was a whole day of walking uphill, and they didn't even aim to get up to the summit.

At around noon, when the sun was the highest, they took a bit of a break. Porco grabbed his flask and drank like a camel, and Terry caught Chio watching him. He felt like for a moment she got in the mood of tasting some fresh spring water – perhaps the heat got to her too after all, just a little bit. And so Terry quickly jogged back to their pile of bags they just took off from Momo for the break, picking up his own flask and bringing it to Chio.

“Would ya like some?” he panted.

“You didn't have to run around like that just for me, but sure!” Chio smiled, reaching for the flask.

“All right, this is getting ridiculous,” Friska looked up from one of her books. “Terry, you don't have to be a freakin doormat, just stop!”

The boy pulled back the flask like he was doing something wrong. “What don't I have to be?”

“This isn't what I meant! Don't act like you are below Chio, or like you have to make up for things, that isn't it.”

“What's your problem?” Arabella stepped to them.

“They should get it,” the fairy said, picking up her book again.

“We just wanted to help Terry to... grow. As a man,” Chio explained a little bashfully. He knew that for Terry, the topic is kind of embarrassing.

“Heh, is that why you guys train now?” asked the redhead.

“I guess,” shrugged Porco while he fanned himself with Stefan Spring's diary (their only human-sized book).

Terry set his gaze down, but Chio touched his hand softly, then gestured for the flask, which the boy finally passed over.

“Ahhh, fresh water is really nice!” Chio wiped her mouth. “Should we find that creek again, to get refills while we still can? It must be somewhere past those thorny things,” she pointed to their right. A few hours ago they had to depart from the water due to those pesky plants.

“Go with her, Terry,” Arabella winked. “Get those flasks refilled.”

Chio manifested her wings to fly over the bushes, and Terry grabbed onto her.

“Hey, don't forget mine!” Porco yelled after them, and Chio had to turn back from the sky to pick it up.

They were quick to find the creek, it was just a few minutes of flying, during which Terry somewhat forgot about his freshly reawakened self-doubt. Being carried around by a cute, soft, powerful angel, being embraced in her whiteness, it was simply amazing. If he gets to experience that, what did any of that manliness stuff matter? But as they landed again, and it turned out he dropped one of their flasks without noticing, his head turned red, even if Chio said not to worry before she flew back to try and spot it. It took her about five minutes.

They did their refills in awkward silence, and then Terry walked up to the angel kind of defeatedly, ready to be carried back to the others.

“Hey... would you like to give me a massage?” asked Chio.

“What for?” the boy shrugged.

“I really enjoy it. I would like one.”

“But Friska said I shouldn't...”

“It's fine! I like it.”

Chio took off her toga, laid it down on the ground, then got on top of it, on her stomach. Only her white panties were on her body, such a lovely little sight below the vast blue skies.

Terry kneeled down by her touched her smooth skin with a boner.

“So ya disagree with her?” he asked eventually.

“Well I get where she is coming from, to be honest. You don't have to go out of your way to get my appreciation, you're an equal to us. Well, you should be, but if I'm not mistaken, you don't always feel that way. Which is fine, nobody could blame you for that, considering that I'm an angel. But... yea. On the other hand... ah, right there! On the other hand, I feel like you just love doing these little favors. Expressing your feelings like that. You mean well. So you don't really have to stop either. Especially not with... ahhh... this. If you don't mind.”

“Of course not!” Terry smiled, feeling a little better.

After a few more minutes of massage, Chio got up. A little further down the slope, there was a sudden drop, where the creek flew down in a small waterfall. The angel got a sudden idea, dusted off her toga, put it back on and led the boy there, right to the edge of the drop.

“Let's play a game! I'll act as a poor lost girl in danger, okay? And you will have to be my saviour.”

“Oh. What?”

“Just do it!” Chio winked, and walked some five meters away from the boy, where the roots of some of those thorny bushes were visible on the side of the dusty cliff wall. To Terry's scare, she jumped down and grabbed on of these roots.

“Help me! Someone, please help!” she yelled, or more like whispered loudly, as she didn't want the others, who were still not too far, to hear her and get the wrong idea.

Terry was a little slow to react, but he hurried to the edge of the cliff, kneeled down and extended a hand. Chio grabbed it, and he struggled to pull her up. It was a little more difficult than he assumed, but he managed.

The girl stumbled to her feet with an overdramatic sense of helplessness, grabbing onto Terry's biceps and looking at him, fluttering her lashes. “You saved my life! Thank you so, so much! May I ask what is your name?”

“Uhm.. you may.”

“So what is it?”

“Terry.”

“Terry, oh Terry!” Chio pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, closing her eyes, sighing. “I was sooo scared! If not for you, I might have fallen! Oh, how could I ever repay you? Please, ask for anything, good sir, anything, and I will do it!”

The boy was shifting his weight from one leg to another. He wasn't exactly the best actor either, but he felt like if he was to stick to the spirit of their game, asking for sex here would be a little strange. But then what?

“How about a... massage?”

“Oh. Say no more, you are in good hands! If you lie down... oh, but you shouldn't get on this dusty ground, we can't have that! Here, lie on this!” Chio got out of her toga at once, and once again spread it out on the ground.

The boy complied, but not before the angel undressed him too. She pretended not to notice his boner, and asked him to lie on his stomach, and then for the first time, she was the one giving the boy a rubbing. It felt better than Terry expected. After a while, the girl stopped using her hands, and got on top of the boy, her perky tits pressing against his back.

“My name is Chio. Thank you for saving me,” she whispered into his ear.

“Chio...”

After they had sex, they cleaned themselves by the creek, and Chio took wings again, carrying the boy. He was wondering what was the moral of this fun, but silly little story, what it meant for his quest of growth. He didn't really know... but perhaps it didn't have to mean anything. His soul felt lighter, and he knew that Chio has his back, and that was great.

 

On the other side of the mountain, the terrain turned much more flat, the grass got even scarcer, and there was a second line of mountains on the horizon. Chio was about to fly up to survey the land further, but Friska suggested that if she is supposed to hide her angelic identity, maybe she shouldn't do that, in case anyone else is out here. For once, Arabella very much agreed with the fairy, but when she said she will do it instead, Chio was the one to disagree, and for a similar reason: if there are any unsuspecting male exiles here, it would be a cruel end for them to witness Arabella as a demon. And so it was Friska who flew up, and she returned with the news that there is a bigger oasis to the south, nearer to the other end of this stretch of land. That gave them reassurance that their water-drinking members will be okay if they continue that way.

Next day, when they were around halfway through the wasteland, they came across a valley, which Friska did not notice. By the river in its bottom, a herd of black and white striped horses were drinking water, Friska said they are called Zebras. They ran away as the group of humanoids approached them. They also saw some big birds circling up above, vultures, and the next day, they came across a carcass of one of these exotic horses, which these birds were eating. Of course they were quick to fled too as the travelers got closer to them.

“There are some strange animals around here,” Terry noted, watching the big, long-necked birds kind of suspiciously.

“Animals are not really a concern,” said the fairy. “As long as we don't get ambushed by grey-mane lions in our sleep, we will be good.”

“Lions are more common further from the shore, aren't they?” asked Porco.

“Yep.”

“How about randos that might be out here? Shouldn't we keep watch at night anyway?”

“I think I could sense such danger,” said Chio, but as she spoke those words and thought about the others trusting her, the idea of it resulting in a disaster gave her second thoughts. “Or maybe not...”

Porco laughed.

“Let's keep watch then,” said Friska. “One person will stay up every night, okay?”

“We are only over a week into our walk, nice that we are getting basic survival protocol down so quick,” Porco smirked.

Friska waved dismissively. “It's fine, there were no issues so far.”

“Wait, you said someone should stay up every nights? Who?” Arabella jerked her head up.

“Someone else every night. We will rotate, of course,” replied the fairy.

“Come on! You guys know I sleep like a log, I can't be trusted with night duties!”

“Don't be ridiculous! What makes you think...”

“I'll take her night-shifts,” said Porco with just a bit of hesitation.

“I knew I could count on you, my man!” Arabella winked at him. “I'll be sure to make up for it,” she added, pressing her boobs together.

“Ew,” Friska couldn't resist to comment.

“Oh, you...”

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Chio quickly cut off her lover, and looked at Porco worriedly. “You are under a lot of mental pressure already, aren't you? You of all of us shouldn't do extra shifts, that wouldn't feel right,”

“But he offered!” the succubus argued.

“I'll help him too!” Terry straightened his back.

“Me too, then. Let's just skip over Arabella!” suggested Chio. “I'm fine with that.”

“I'm not,” Friska said stubbornly.

Since everyone else was, Porco and the fairy put their heads together and made some elaborate calculations so that Friska only has to keep watch every fifth night, while the other three will rotate around a bit more often. They drew the system down in the fairy's notebook. With that, they were ready to keep going.

Now that they mentioned it, it didn't take long for them to come across a “rando”. When they finally reached the oasis that afternoon, they noticed several simple wooden houses around the trees. They looked inside a couple and judged them to be abandoned at first, but as they approached the clear lake to refill their flasks and bottles, a robust orc woman jumped out from one of the buildings with a greatsword, charging towards them, letting out a fierce war cry. She scared the crap out of most of them, but Arabella was quick to react, grabbing one of the bamboo sticks and materialising her claws. She called out for Chio too. But their attacker was quick to stop too, she stood still some ten meters from them, lowering her blade.

“No fucking way...” She said resignedly.

“We are not here to bother you, don't worry!” said Chio. “We will be on our way once we...”

“Do you know who the fuck I am?” the orc asked.

For a moment, they fell silent. Then Arabella said: “Oh, I think I have a guess.”

“I fought you before, succubus. And you, eastern girl, you are one hell of a freak! Fucking hell's spawns, the both of you!”

“Who is she?” Porco looked at his companions.

“Which one were you?” asked Arabella.

“I wore the armor of a Dandenar guard. You cut my sister's throat with your claws, fucking demon! And that little bitch of yours killed so many of us!”

“The maidens of death?!” Chio realised at last. “That was...”

“To think you would fucking follow me here... what the fuck do you want, hell's spawns? To take my fucking soul too?”

“She sure likes saying 'fuck' a lot,” Porco noted quietly.

“We had no idea you would be here, girl,” the redhead replied. “Don't think you're that important to us.”

“You were just sellswords hired by our enemy!” said Chio. “It wasn't really your battle. I'm sorry about all that, I really am, but...”

“It was my fucking battle cause I was in it, you twat! I have no chance against you bitches now, so go on, take my life, but I will curse your souls with my last breath!”

“Come on, we...”

“Go to hell! Go to fucking hell after a long miserable fucking death!”

Friska flew a bit forward. “Learn some manners, you big old...”

“And who the fuck would you be? Those pervert brainwashed fuckboys,” she gestured towards Terry and Porco, “I get why they would lick succubus ass, but you, little fuck? You like your whole body sucked on by demons, or what?”

“The fuck are you...” Friska was taken aback.

“Eastern bitch, you really have a dick, right? Is it the right size for this little blue girl? I doubt you're THAT pathetic. You're surely not fucking her, are you?”

“I'm not...”

“I hope you fuck your fuckboys in the ass though, until they bleed. You probably do, the wicked little fucker you are. You boys enjoy it? Wait, I don't care. Damn you! Damn all of you!”

“Guys, I think we should leave her,” suggested Porco.

“Won't you at least listen to us?” now Chio stepped forward, with tears in her eyes. “We don't...”

“Fuck you! Fuck you fuck you fuck you! You ruined my life, broke my sisterhood apart, so kill me already or die!”

“Let's go, Chio,” said Friska, landing on the girl's shoulder. Arabella grabbed her arm, and they backed away, trying to ignore the orc woman's endless stream of cursing.

They walked for a few hours further south, mostly in silence. Eventually, Porco asked who this woman was exactly, and Arabella told him about their battle at Cornertown, where the Maidens of Death were hired by their enemy, Neia Silverlight. Neia needed a force that had succubus immunity, in other words, strong female warriors. They really did make things difficult for them. Terry and Friska listened to her explanation too with curiosity. As for Chio, she seemed rather affected by this encounter.

Once they set up their camp around the bottom of the next mountain range, agreeing to have two person keep watch on this night just to be sure, the angel suddenly stepped in front of the rest of them, and dramatically announced that she does not wish to give up so easily, swearing that the next day, she will try to talk to the woman again.

“You really think you can talk sense into that thing?” Arabella asked, exchanging a look with Porco, and with Friska too.

“She can take her time. We have time too, don't we? Please, guys, I want to do this!”

Friska shrugged. And so did Porco, then Arabella. Terry didn't – he was sure that the angelic Chio will be able to reach this strange brute's heart.