by Jason Cheek
The ““Ah burn!”” chorused out from all of my friends listening to the back and forth as I turned three shades of red. It was a pretty good burn and completely caught me off guard without any smart comeback to get even with him. Instead of getting angry, I shook my head and took the jeering as I climbed to my feet to offer Phoenix a hand.
“Are we good,” I asked as Phoenix stood up.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Phoenix said, clasping my hand, “Sorry about being an ass.”
“Me too man,” I agreed as we stepped back from one another and shared a grin.
“Though, if you say kissing Eza is like tonguing a dog again,” Phoenix said, shivering at the thought, “we’re going to have to throw down.” Seeing my arched eyebrow, he held up his hands to forestall whatever I was going to say, “and I promise to stop freaking out about the whole four-legged thing.”
“Yeah … yeah … yeah,” I said, lowering my voice so only he could hear my next comment, “you’re just jealous that she has a bigger rack than you do.”
“Probably some truth to that,” Phoenix admitted as we both chuckled. As I leaned back, Domenic stepped up to us with the female Dwarf at his side.
“If you’re finished eating,” Domenic said, stepping back to introduce his companion as Gutirrg silently watched on with an expressionless face, “Oksana’s ready to give you a hand.”
The whole Gnoll companion thing was throwing me off somewhat. Partially, that was due to my first experience with the aggressive race being so bloody and savage. Not that I didn’t know my feelings were a little hypocritical. The negative response that Helgath and Fylreh often received was directly due to the aggressive interactions many Humanoid species had throughout history with both of their Demi-Human species. The current situation with the horde invading notwithstanding so I simply ignored him beyond offering him a polite nod.
“Thanks Dom,” I said, my words covering the breadth of everything that had happened that evening.
“No problem, Jay,” he said flashing me a knowing grin
“What are you guys up to,” Phoenix asked, curiously looking back and forth between me and my friend.
“Setting up some quick baths,” I said as the Barbarian’s face lit up at my words.
“Holy shit, that sounds awesome,” Phoenix excitedly said, “I swear I have a stank-ass swamp growing between my legs.” Domenic’s face turned into an impressive mask as Phoenix did the guy wide-leg stance twitch without success. “I swear that sweaty sticky pussy lips are a whole lot worse than sweaty sticky balls.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh at the visual that Phoenix had just given us or to cringe. Not that everyone didn’t have similar physiological issues with their bodies when getting dirty and sweaty, but the casualness that Phoenix had dropped that visual bomb with had caught both of us by surprise. Though, in that brief moment, I was once again glad that I hadn’t decided to roll a female toon.
“Let me drop my gear and I’ll be right over,” Phoenix said, before rushing away to start packing up her gear.
“Hmm, sorry about that,” I began to say as Domenic simply gave me a deadpan look. For some reason, I knew exactly what he was thinking, “Not a word about my female toon back in World of Warcraft.”
“I didn’t say a word,” Domenic deadpanned with a twinkle in his eyes. Instead of saying anything more about the subject, he continued nonchalantly, “When are you planning to log in?”
“Around seven like usual,” I replied, choking back a yawn.
“See you then,” Domenic said as I nodded for the female Dwarf to follow.
Heading over to the flat area where many of the troopers were already busy setting up blankets for the night, we dropped our gear and laid out some sleeping hides, before Helgath got to work. Oksana curiously watched and followed without making any comments. Within a minute of pacing the width of the trail, the Half-Orc found what she was looking for and quickly explained to the Earth Shaman what she wanted.
As the two women talked, I stretched my fledging Water Shaman skills and tried to feel for the underground stream like Helgath had done. With a little effort I found it easily enough, and to my surprise, I was able to follow the opening in the stone that the Earth Shaman was making by following the water. I’d been curious as to how the Half-Orc was going to make a consistent water flow without the use of runes or her having to babysit the baths for the entire evening. The practical application of basic physics principles that were used was easy enough to follow.
If I read the flow right, Helgath had the Earth Shaman design an angled tunnel through the bedrock to the underground river. The simple design automatically pushed the water out of the small hole the female Dwarf bored through the stone with her magic. The initial spray that came out of the opening was at first like a geyser, but within a minute or so, the Earth Shaman had altered the small tunnel into an opening that was two-yards wide cut through the surface rock that released a steady flow of water at the speed of a quickly moving stream.
Oksana continued to work on the design to Helgath’s specifications, and within a few minutes, there was a series of hollow depressions that somewhat resembled a mini-rice patty field. Each step was wide enough for a few people to bath in. To finish up the design and stop any odd flooding, Helgath had the female Dwarf drop another shaft through the stone to route the water back into the underground stream.
Within five minutes, they’d finished the work. Not that Oksana had said more than a handful of words. I had a feeling that there was some racial tension going on between the female Dwarf and the Half-Orc. Whatever, I thought with a shrug, as long as it didn’t interfere with getting the job done. After my fallout with the filly over the Half-Orc’s soulbound bond and everything that had occurred afterwards, I was starting to understand that some of things that I was trying to do within The World wouldn’t change overnight, working together without direct disrespect or animosity was a respectable beginning.
As soon as Oksana left us, Helgath, Neysa, and I got to work on stripping off our gear and getting it washed down the best we could in the icy water. I was still somewhat bemused at the ease at which the two of us stripped off our clothing. Helgath had no body modesty whatsoever. That was due, I knew, to the prior slave status that she’d held in Orc society.
The water was truly icy cold. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see chunks of ice floating on the surface. To counteract the cold air and water, I hurriedly climbed out of the thigh-deep water and began using my Fire magic to heat the larger boulders around the makeshift bathing area. It only took half of my mana, but in no time at all, there was a ring of nearly glowing-hot stones radiating heat around the bathing area.
As I climbed back into the freezing cold water and got to work on cleaning my gear, I found my eyes wandering over Helgath’s green-skinned body as she silently worked. The Half-Orc seemed to have fleshed out in the short span of a day. Her thighs were now quite muscular and filled out with the first beginnings of an actual ass. Not that there was an ounce of fat on her, but she no longer looked like a recent Auschwitz survivor. If anything, she had an eight pack that wouldn’t quit. Mostly, that was due to her lack of body fat, I knew from personal experience, which was something that I now had due to my lack of a reasonable caloric intake to what I was using via my use of the Egg.
‘Like what you see,’ Helgath sent, giving me a smirk as she glanced up at me between the long dark strands of her hair to catch my eyes.
The Half-Orc was still bent over scrubbing the excess viscera that had dried onto my breast plate throughout the day. While a part of me registered the extremely erotic nature of her bent over position as she worked, my thoughts didn’t go beyond that. My sole concern was on noting her physical recovery and nothing more.
Sounds strange, I know, but it was nonetheless the truth. Unlike other injuries in the game, physical damage from a life of severe abuse and starvation wasn’t simply corrected by the cast of a heal spell. It was a curious phenomen
on that was very close to my heart. The only thing that seemed to help repair Helgath’s body of such egregious injuries was a regular intake of food over time.
‘Yes,’ I sent back giving her a wink. Even though I tried to hide my thoughts, I knew she could feel my underlining concern for her recovery, ‘it’s good to see your body is filling out so nicely.’
‘I will never look like Fylreh,’ Helgath said as she stood up and cupped her nascent breasts.
‘Thank goodness,’ I sent, laughing it up as Helgath gave me a slightly wounded look. I could feel a self-consciousness inside of her that had never been there before as I hurriedly explained what I meant, ‘I don’t even want to hear the complaining from my friends about being soulbound to a four-legged Half-Orc after that last fight with Phoenix.’
‘That is not what I meant,’ Helgath sent, unable to hold back her own laughter as she pictured how that would even look, which just so happened to stop the comparison that she’d been contemplating about the busty filly. Talk about dodging a bullet, I silently thought, as Neysa’s mental laughter flooded over our shared link.
‘Come on,’ I sent to Helgath as the Silver Dire Wolf rolled onto her back in the icy pool and began kicking her legs into the air in laughter, ‘let’s get her cleaned up while she’s still wet and half submerged.’
Neysa’s roll only lasted for a second. As water ran up her nose, she flopped back over and began hacking the water out of her lungs as I began hurriedly wading over to her. To my surprise, Helgath darted to the rocky side first, before helping me wash down the oversized Silver Dire Wolf. As the Half-Orc caught up to me, she threw me a bar of soap.
‘I borrowed this from the bath in Palnisdale,’ Helgath sent as I managed to snatch the soap out of midair.
It took a lot of work, but the two of us managed to get Neysa’s grungy matted fur cleaned up in short order. I don’t know why Neysa took so much joy in fighting being washed. She could’ve easily sprung out of the shallow water at any time she wanted, but instead, she constantly pushed us down to wrestle playfully as we cleaned her up. Not that I was really complaining. No matter how large and scary she looked, Neysa was still a big puppy at heart.
Though, by the time we were finished, Neysa gladly waded out of the water to lay down next to one of the larger glowing stones. Even though half of my body was numb from the cold, Helgath and I began cleaning each other up. Another surprisingly intimate activity, I thought in the back of my mind, that we did without a second thought. Just as we were finishing up and gathering our wet gear to climb out of the pool, my lips started chattering uncontrollably from the freezing water.
‘Fuck … fuck … fuck,’ I chanted, scampering over to the thick sleeping hide that I’d brought with us at the base of a glowing stone. Hurriedly wrapping the warmed hide around my shoulders, I held it open for Helgath to join me as I quickly wrapped us up tight to share body heat. I swear my lips had turned blue as I mentally shivered out, ‘so fucking cold.’
‘A reason why slaves don’t usually take baths,’ Helgath jokingly said as she pressed her icy body against my chest, ‘At least, not during winter.’
Before I could reply, an odd sound came to my ears. It was the clop of hooves against stone overlaid by Phoenix and Fylreh’s animated voices. Looking towards the sounds, my mouth dropped open in surprise at the sight of the two women chatting easily with one another as they walked over to us.
“Hey Star,’ Fylreh greeted as she eyed Helgath who was wrapped in my arms.
“Looks like you might have some shrinkage going on there,” Phoenix said in an amused tone as she took note of my chattering lips.
“It’s cold,’ I warned, wondering what change in attitude had gone on between the two of them.
“But at least we can be clean,” Phoenix said, not overtly concerned.
“I was wondering if you want to help me wash up,” Fylreh suddenly said, giving me one of the most direct looks that I’d ever received from the filly as the two of them came to a stop at the edge of the makeshift bathing area.
“Umm, thanks for the offer,” I choked out, feeling Helgath stiffen in my arms as the filly began undoing the wrap around her massive chest. Next to her, Phoenix began stripping off her armor too. While a part of me wanted to enjoy the show, my danger sense was going off in a major way. I didn’t know what the filly was up to, or Phoenix for that matter, but I didn’t need any emotional stress or distractions with everything else going on right now, “It’s late and I really need to get some sleep for tomorrow guys.”
Without looking back at the two femme fatales stripping down to the buff, I hurriedly began scooping up my wet gear. With Helgath’s help, we were able to get everything loaded up into our arms as Neysa trotted over to us. Not an easy feat when we were both still wrapped in a large hide, but not too difficult with our mental connection either. While a part of the Half-Orc was relieved that we were leaving, another part of her was having a good laugh with Neysa at my embarrassed reaction to the two women’s nudity, especially when they knew that Phoenix was actually a guy in-real-life.
Sometimes emotions and bodily reactions were complex things, I sagely thought, with my soulmates cackling ringing in my mind over our shared link.
By the time we’d made it over to our sleeping hides, the girls had settled down. In truth, we were all exhausted from the physical exertion from the day of riding, charging, and fighting. Dropping our gear in a heap, I opened the hide wrapped around us enough to lay down as Helgath stayed close enough to take up her normal spot in the crook of my arm, before I wrapped the sleeping hide around us again. Not to be left out, Neysa plopped down on my other side as an “oof” escaped my lips. Her fur was still wet and now cold as her massive head snuggled up to my other shoulder.
There’s something incredible about cuddling up with those you cared about for the night, I silently thought, as I wished my girls sweet dreams. That very Human and Earthly thought triggered another round of giggles from my ladies. Through our shared link, I quickly understood why. The idea of wishing sweet dreams after the day of slaughter that we’d been a part of was somewhat comical in its own right.
I couldn’t help but to laugh along with them. It was pretty funny. Not because this was all a game. The horde had invaded the Kingdom of Kader and begun to slaughter, eat, and enslave everyone in their path. Men, women, and children, it didn’t matter. In their eyes, Humanoids meant nothing more to them than food or slaves to use as they saw fit. The whole fighting for the survival of your race gave you a sense of importance like nothing else I’d ever experienced before. Hence, why I had no qualms killing them as needed. The humor of it all came from the comparison of the brutality of The World, the day that we’d just survived, and even the danger that could sweep over us at any time to the heartfelt wish for sweet dreams.
As I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but think that Earth was starting to feel more and more like the made-up world, while The World grew more real to me with every passing day. I know that sounded ridiculous but it was nonetheless true. Some people might take that as a warning sign that I was spiraling down a deep virtual world hole but I didn’t see it that way at all. I’d always lived the virtual MMO worlds that I’d played. At least, to an extent. It was just that The World blew them all away, including reality. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d ever felt so complete in my entire life, I silently thought, as I enjoyed the weight of both Helgath and Neysa snuggled into my chest.
A part of me wanted to just stay logged into the game and enjoy the sensation of being held throughout the night, but that wasn’t possible, not if I wanted to be in shape for tomorrow’s day of constant fighting. As I laid there, there was an inkling in the back of my mind that felt like I was missing something but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Opening my eyes, I focused on my HUD to trigger the log out sequence as my vision turned black.
The Egg opened to my darkened silent office that was only lit up by the lights of the red lava
lamps that were churning on the desk was a truly depressing sight. At least, it was compared to being cuddled up with a full belly with Neysa and Helgath. Closing my eyes, I sighed almost feeling the phantom body heat left from Helgath’s body and Neysa’s furry face snuggled up into the crook of my neck.
At the thought of food, I felt a gnawing pain in my stomach as my body let me know it was starving. That, and my bowels were quickly making their presence known that they needed to be emptied immediately. Opening my eyes, I stood up and downed the glass of water in one go, letting the room temperature fluid drip down my chin. I started the process of releasing the straps to my suit as I hobbled my way to the bathroom.
The waste pouch was noticeably full as I laid the suit over the side of the bathtub and sat down to take care of my business. An unsurprisingly messy affair after the impromptu breakfast that I’d wolfed down earlier that morning. While I was incredibly hungry, this time it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t take the time to hop in the shower to clean myself and the suit up.
Stepping out of the shower feeling like a new man, I wrapped a towel around my waist and slowly made my way to the front door. The muscles of my legs and ass hurt like I’d been sitting in a saddle the entire day. Seeing the box that I’d set there this morning filled with pizza boxes made me nearly light-headed in excitement as I dismissed the pain and snatched the treasure up, before quickly making my way to the breakfast bar. Taking out the top box and ripping the lid off, I used the bottom half like a huge plate and snagged a bite of heaven.
Even if it wasn’t piping-hot like I normally liked, it was still delicious as hell to my starving body. The first piece went down in the blink of an eye along with the second. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the third piece that I could pause my feeding-frenzy long enough to grab some cold beer from the refrigerator. Fishing out two bottles of Paulaner, I bit into the remaining portion of my slice as I carefully popped the lid open on a bottle and poured it into a tall beer glass. Not even waiting for the foam to go down, I took a deep pull of the golden nectar not caring that I mostly got a mouthful of head, before finishing off the piece of pizza in my hand.
