As I studied her narrow hips to make out the curve of her small ass movement caught my eye toward the top of her body. Mavi's arm moved deliberately as those red devil eyes focused on me. She carefully lifted a swath of the sleeping beauty's mane to reposition it over her bare buttocks.
Each of these female aliens were monsters in certain physical categories. Wings, horns, pointed ears, and so on. Yet in their hearts they were loving, caring women. Mavi was the roughest of all of them and she still protected her friend's modesty while she was sleeping.
I ignored the awkward moment and glanced toward the doorway with the red glow from above. I couldn't see Mixi out there but assumed that it was her turn at guard duty.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" I whispered.
"I was until I heard you stirring,” Mavi’s voice was even creepier as a whisper.
"How long until daytime?" I asked. She just tilted her head instead of responding. It must be a term they didn't use. "When the light gets brighter?"
"Soon."
"Any trouble during the night?"
"No."
I had more questions, but we were both encumbered with slumbering beauties. I laid back down and thought about how the day might go. I was still in the dark, figuratively, regarding many things in the lives of these strange but friendly women. From the sound of it, I should expect trouble today. Might as well get my mind prepared.
If a fight broke out, I would need to help despite instructions to remain non-violent. I would have done so down at the subway chamber if it hadn't ended so fast. But without a weapon, I might not be worth much. What I wouldn’t give to have my sword back. Hey!
"Mavi," I whispered to get her attention. She had closed her eyes again.
"Yes, Kashie."
I stymied a chuckle. I had never been called that before. Cashew, cash money, cash owed, yes all of those. "Where is the weapon that I had when I was kidnapped?"
"The long blade?"
"Yes."
"In a secure place. Why?"
"If there is trouble..."
"You will not be trusted with it," she answered. "Put it out of your head. We are sympathetic, not stupid. The account of you severing someone's head clean off their body is well known."
Well, that makes sense. If I were in their situation, I wouldn't trust me with it either.
"Can you get it?"
"I told you to put that thought away."
"I know that I can't have it," I explained. "But if you retrieve it, you'll have it on hand should you need my help. I don't have claws or magic stones."
"Magic?"
I forgot. To them the magical crystals were basic technology. Nothing special.
"If you need my help at any point fighting off enemies, I'll be much more capable with my weapon."
"That is true," Aeren's voice said. She still appeared to be sleeping, but we must have wakened her with whispers that had steadily increased in volume. A moment later the magical light grew in brightness to signify sunrise.
"Surely, you don't suggest..." Mavi started.
"Like he said. You keep it until the time comes," Aeren opened her eyes and very gracefully lifted herself to a sitting position, adjusting her hair with those ultra-thin arms. "It is quite possible that we will need his help."
Mavi looked shocked. "Even if, there is no way for me to conceal the thing, Aeren."
"Then give it to me," she replied. "I'll hide it in my hair somehow."
"That's preposterous," the devil lady said as she stood. "The blade will harm you easily. One of the women was already injured in bringing it below."
"It retracts," I said. I hadn't realized that they didn't know. Someone brought my sword down a tunnel with the blade exposed. I could definitely see the hazard involved there. "I can tell you how to make the blade retreat into the hilt for safe handling."
Both of them were bewildered by my statement. I was about to tell them to retrieve the weapon, then let me retract the blade, but that sounded too suspicious in even my mind. I needed to reveal how it worked.
"There is a button on the handle. Press it to retract the blade. Then it will be safe to handle and only about this big," I said placing my hands about a foot apart.
"Excellent," Aeren said as she turned back to Mavi. "Get the blade, push the button, then give it to me. I'll tie a thin vine around my neck and drape the weapon down my back. No one will ever know."
"How?" the black leathery demon girl asked rhetorically. "Why?" Then after Aeren remained silent, she finally answered, "Okay."
Honeysuckle finally stirred awake and asked what we were talking about. I instinctively gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. The dreamy look she gave me through her disheveled white hair was precious. I hoped to be seeing it again every morning for the rest of my life, however long that might be.
"That is very sweet, Kash," Aeren said. "Do all men of your kind greet their women like that in the morning?"
"No, they don't," Honey answered. Then the three of them stared at me like I was something special. Normally, I would take full advantage of that. But this morning I was mentally getting ready for battle.
"If things are getting dangerous for you here, why don't you leave?" I asked. "Are there other cities?"
"There are," Aeren answered with a sigh. "Not only are they far away, but we are not likely to be received well. From what I hear, everyone is having this reproduction problem. More females arriving only makes it worse. It is highly unlikely that they will consider you a potential solution, should we even be able to pry you away from here."
"It wouldn't take much prying," I told her. "I'm ready to go now. Is there any chance that the three of you could survive with us on the surface?"
"The surface?" Aeren answered with distaste. "That's where the animals live."
"Where I'm from, everyone lived above ground. We made tall structures to house people. Millions of our kind lived in them. Locked doors kept us safe from others and the animals outside. We drove around in cars like the one in your subway tunnel, only they had wheels."
I stopped talking because the blank stares I was getting suggested that they had no idea what I was talking about. It didn't matter anyway. Even if we could transform the surface of this planet to resemble what I was used to, it wouldn't happen during my lifetime.
"The point is that Honeysuckle and I are used to living above ground. We are much more comfortable there. If you joined us, I'm sure you will find it more than just livable in time."
"For the record," Honey said. "I'm used to living in a spaceship and on space stations. Not on a planet at all, above or below the ground."
The lack of recognition from Aeren and Mavi was even worse when trying to understand her world.
"That's not helping," I told Honey as I squeezed her to me. "My proposal is this. Help us escape this underground community, which is like a prison to us. Come with us. If we could survive and thrive in the land of dragons, we can certainly do so here. From the sound of things, the three of you need a fresh start anyway. Let's all make it together."
"Dragons?" Mavi asked. "Is that what you call those dangerous beasts that attacked us when Shardina and I were above ground?"
"Yes," I answered. I had forgotten that both of them had already seen our dragons.
"I like the idea," Mixi said softly from outside the doorway. She had been listening in without any of us realizing it. The others looked surprised by her statement. "It will be hard to leave our friends behind, the few that we have left. And our way of life. But we'd be together. If it turns out that we can actually mate with Kash and produce offspring, we'll be much better off. I'm getting very tired of the battle that we are fighting in this city."
Aeren and Mavi looked at each other and sighed heavily. I could see them taking Mixi's words to heart, and it could not be better news for me. A legitimate opportunity for escape. Three more women for my harem to replace the ones that I lost when our ship launched without us. And yet another new lease on
life. I did my best to contain my enthusiasm. But it was certainly challenging. My knee started bouncing uncontrollably.
"I will have to think about it," Aeren finally said. "It may end up being our best plan B."
"Regardless," Mavi responded. "We need to head into the city now to avoid additional issues. Are we really taking these two aliens with us?"
It sounded weird to be called an alien, but I focused more on the fact that Mavi did not shut down the idea of escaping with us. I felt like holding my breath for fear of it all crumbling down. I decided not to say anything more. Planting the seed in their minds went better than I expected. I only hoped that seed found fertile ground for it to grow. And I got them to agree to retrieving my special sword, too. This was the best I felt about our chance to survive this since we had been taken.
The five of us proceeded down the hallway to the left. The formation was not what I had expected. Mixi flew patiently slow at the lead, followed by Honey and I walking side by side. She reached for my hand and I held onto it for a few seconds before releasing. I wasn't sure what the effect would be on spectators to see us hand in hand, but I wanted to do enough to make her feel more comfortable. My message was to trust in me, we're going to be okay.
No one ignored us, but all stayed out of our way. The citizens of this underground community seemed to be as shocked that our little blue pixie girl was holding a weapon as they were at our presence.
I felt like we were in a ridiculously small parade. A spectacle. The fact that we met with no resistance along our path was a relief to me. But again, it made Mavdaios extra nervous.
We passed through several large chambers along our way. Some resembled farms. One large room was clearly a market. And another a recreational area with beautiful lighting effects from their bright and colorful stones amid the stalactites. We drew attention everywhere we went, but no resistance.
When Mixi stopped I looked around for concerns. It turned out that we had simply reached our destination. It was one of the farm-use chambers. Thick vines hung from the ceiling with broad flat leaves. Tall stalks grew out of the ground at regular spacing with five to ten large fruit in a variety of colors sagging on thick branches. I recognized some of them from our meals.
The aroma in the air was a mix of fruit, green vegetation and dirt. There was also the distinct scent of weed. Were they growing marijuana in here somewhere?
Yes, I’m a ganja planter,
Call me the ganja farmer,
Deep down in this planet me grow me ganja,
Then something about weed eaters and fertilizer.
"Is this where you girls work?" I asked.
Mavi acted like it was an offensive remark. Aeren, however, answered amicably, "Not typically, Kash. The three of us are no longer required to perform manual labor. However, we do like to set an example of doing our part. Each of us have been here a few times in the last hundred days."
"Oh, okay," I tried to readjust my mindset. "What is it that we do?"
"The two of you will harvest the blossom fruit with me while Mixi cuts ripe leaves from the vines above. Watch me a few times to learn the technique. It is not difficult, but we hate to waste anything edible due to mistakes."
She was right. It wasn't hard at all. We just needed to master the technique, like cutting open a coconut. I had certainly done less respectable work in my life, and Honeysuckle was a mechanic on a spaceship. Neither of us were afraid to get our hands dirty.
I occasionally couldn't help but look above me to see Mixi's tiny little body squirming with her effort to sever leaves from the thick vines. A few times I caught her wrapping those petite legs around the thick vegetable to get sufficient leverage. Honey made that fake coughing noise to tell me that I was being too obvious. Then she had to wave off inquiries to her health.
In time, other workers joined us but kept their distance. For a while I lost track of Mavdaios. With strangers so close by I decided not to ask. When she returned looking suspiciously around her, I barely noticed the shiny hilt of my sword in her hand. Quickly more than casually, she tied it to the strong thin vine dangling down Aeren's back as she worked.
For two hours we kept at it without a break. That was fine by me. It was better than lying in my cell. I didn't get uncomfortable until some of these monsters showed up solely with the purpose of watching us. There were a few checking out my nude body with desire in their eyes. Unfortunately, most of them displayed nothing but hate. Mavi did her best to chase them off without incident. I got the distinct impression that she was respected for her combat abilities. After seeing her in action I could understand why.
I was about to ask when we could get a drink of water when a disturbance caught my attention. Screaming could be heard in the distance. Two chambers away, I guessed based on the echo. The other workers heard it, too. I followed Aeren's lead and continued to work, but I could clearly see that she was as worried as me.
Several farmers, resembling lizards, left to check out the disturbance. I paid close attention when they returned. I couldn't understand everything that they said. They were speaking so fast. But I was able to pick out probably the most important words.
"We're under attack!"
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The screaming became a roar as people retreated from the attackers into our farm area. Then the roar became thunderous as dozens of panicked alien women scrambled to get away from danger.
"Who would attack you?" I asked Aeren. "Does your city have enemies?"
"Not really," she mumbled her reply in confusion. "Just the next city, but they would never attack us down here."
"Well, someone is," I told her firmly in hopes of helping her get a mental grip on this crisis. "Give me my weapon."
Whether it was my tone, or the fact that I made a demand instead of a request, she did not respond as I had hoped. She even took a step backwards, glancing around for Mavdaios to support her.
"This is why we brought the sword," I pleaded. "Let me have it now before it is too late. Please!"
"He is right," Mavi supported my request as she stepped up to untie the weapon from the string hanging down Aeren's back. The pointy nails on her fingertips made quick work of the knot. I imagined that they could do the same with human flesh.
I refrained from extending the blade once the hilt of the sword was in my hand. That could be taken as aggression toward my new friends. I definitely did not want that, especially with what I was about to say.
"This is our opportunity to escape," I told them urgently.
"No," Aeren replied. "We must help defend our city. Doing so will improve our standing here dramatically."
Mavdaios just kept looking back and forth between us. She was undecided. Then I saw the flutter of blue wings descending awfully close to me to the right. Mixi was joining the conversation as Honeysuckle was literally clinging to my left arm.
"We may never get a better opportunity to flee without reprisal," Mixi told her elfy friend. "There is no guarantee that fighting will help us with our cause. I agree with Kash. We should go now."
Mavi stopped glancing around and stared at Aeren instead. When she nodded her agreement with the angelic faerie girl, I finally saw acknowledgement in Aeren's eyes. And a bit of fear. Probably fear of the unknown more than anything else. Unlike me, they had never survived any place other than their underground city.
What happened next surprised the shit out of me. Actually, it was a grand series of events that I in no way could have predicted. I became mesmerized, bewildered and awe struck at the same time.
First, Aeren grabbed her long hair with quick fluid movements that suggested I might be no match for her in hand-to-hand combat. In a matter of a few seconds, she knotted her millions of silky thin strands into braids. Immediately I envisioned her spinning around and using her hair as a weapon, helicopter style.
Second, that same hair was no longer able to hide her ultra slim body. It was the craziest slender sexy form that I had ever seen, except m
aybe in comics. Aeren was practically an anime goddess.
Third, and this one was the real kicker, I heard a deep voice that boomed through the caverns. It was a sound that I had not heard in days. "Where is he?" the beast roared, speaking slowly.
It was Gako, my dragon friend. Was he alone?
"The fastest way out of here is toward the battle," Mavi told our small group like a tactical commander. "We'll have to retreat instead and go down lower to get past the attackers."
Monster Girls Page 15
