by ilo man
“They welcome us,” Atrixa gasped. “The sprites, they welcome us, protect us from the forest.” She was standing in the boat’s pointy bit, looking around in stunned awe. “Who are you, Vinnie?”
Vinnie didn’t have a clue what she was wobbling on about. He was Vinnie, rock star and fugitive, but he suddenly realized and stood and declared himself. “I am Vincent Iron Cock.”
Atrixa grinned at him, her face bathed in red light. She looked like she was going to burst with love, love for him, right up until she collapsed in fits of laughter. Sorrell dropped the oars, his shoulders heaving, but the both quieted when an ethereal voice floated out over the still water.
“We have been waiting for you, Iron Cock, your coming was foretold.” The voice was no more than a whisper, yet louder than the greatest shout. It curled into Vinnie’s ears, empowering him. The ranks of dancing red lights now mixed with emerald green, and ahead, beyond Atrixa, blue nymphs gyrated on the water.
“I have brought back Lavender,” Vinnie declared, his courage buoyed by his new title. The boat coasted into the lake’s embrace and was immediately mobbed, surrounded by the near see-through blue nymphs.
A chorus began as a low murmur but grew steadily. It was angelic, powerful and Vinnie felt infused with hope, pure hope. He pulled off his new robe, casting it aside, and reached into his pant pocket and brought out his rolled up Grand Sack of Holding and quickly called for his smaller sack. He stashed that back in his pants and bent over the edge of the boat, opening the throat of the Grand Sack. Water rushed into its inter-dimensional innards, and Vinnie waited, hoping beyond hope that Lavender was okay. Just as his hope was beginning to fade, a pastel blue hand shot out, grabbing hold of him, and pulling him down.
Completely unprepared, Vinnie toppled into the now nymph-infested water, Lavender pulling him down and down. He lost his grip on his sack and turned flailing, trying to reach for it, but Lavender kept pulling him, and he eventually gave up, trusting that it would slot into his items just like the game had told him it would.
Lavender looked around, beckoning him on. They swam down and through vast towers of reaching, kelp-like plants—a beautiful underwater forest, lit by the soft blue glow of the hundreds of nymphs that accompanied them. She was smiling, rolling, darting around in the water, holding on to Vinnie one minute and dashing away the next.
The depths of the lake plunged on down, and Vinnie suddenly realized he was still breathing. He started grinning back, tumbling, ducking through the vibrant, underwater forest and wondering if he hadn’t found the place where he should play the rest of his game.
Lavender swam towards a rocky outcrop, all bedecked in shellfish, with crawfish crawling, and tiny, brightly colored darting fishes swirling in shoals. She easily slid into a fissure, and he followed, and then saw she’d swooped into an underwater sinkhole, a luminous circle at its end. Vinnie darted down after her, Lavender pulling up, waiting, then holding his hand as they swam into a cave and up, breaking the water’s surface, it wet clinging to Vinnie like a soapy meniscus.
“Oh Vinnie,” said Lavender, draping her arms around him and offering her teal lips up, invitingly. “Oh Vinnie, I knew if anyone could get me home, you would.”
Vinnie brushed his lips against hers, a surge of passion running through him. “We made it,” he whispered, his breath coming back, spits of water dribbling from the sides of his mouth. “We made it Lavender,” he rasped.
Lavender giggled and led him away from the pool’s edge and onto a rocky path that led farther into the dark. Vinnie saw that Lavender was glowing, radiating blue, and he followed her into a narrow, rocky corridor, then up some shell-clad steps and through to a vast chamber. There, at its end, sat the most beautiful woman that Vinnie had ever seen…well, on par with Lavender, Velvet, Atrixa, and Cresta at a push. She had flaming, orange hair and Celtic skin. A shimmering tail of sequin-like scales spread light around the cavern like a gleaming mirror-ball.
Perception Check: Thetis. Queen of the Nymphs. Oracle. Player.
“Vincent Iron Cock, you have returned my child to me. Claim your reward.”
Vinnie couldn’t quite remember, but he was fairly sure Lavender had promised him a blowjob. He glanced around the room and saw all the expectant eyes of the awestruck nymphs who had filed into the cavern after him. Thetis looked down patiently. For a second, just a second, he was undecided, then he thought, Go with the flow Vinnie, and pulled his pants down, releasing his Kraken.
“Your quest reward, Vincent,” Thetis sighed, but her eyes lingered on Vinnie’s semi-intrigued member. “Such a fine reward it will be too.”
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Take Lavender back to the Dancing Lakes. You land awards you 500 XP.
“Five hundred XP, Lavender?” Thetis said, screwing her nose up. “A bit tight.”
“And a blowjob,” Lavender protested.
“I’ll offer you treble XP if you show me your ring,” Thetis said.
Thetis has offered you a quest. Show her your ring. Quest reward 1500 XP. Do you accept Y/N?
Vincent felt he’d already humiliated himself enough, especially as he was still standing in a cave packed full of nymphs, with his dick dangling down. Now this? It was possibly going a little too far, but then it was treble XP. “Are you sure?”
Thetis leaned forward, her tail twitching. She rested her chin on her upturned palm and smiled. “Oh yes, Vincent Iron Cock. I have waited a long time to get a glimpse of your ring. To touch it, to slide my finger through it.”
Vinnie raised his eyebrows, wondering if he shouldn’t ask for a little more XP, and also wondering how she could have waited for such a long time. Think of the reward, Vinnie, he told himself, turned, bent over, and parted his bum cheeks.
Thetis let out a howl of rage. Lavender slapped his hands away and spun him around.
“Not that ring, the one in your sack! The One Ring, the Master Ring.”
Vinnie desperately tried to remember. His sack—the first day—at Frederick’s Inn. There was a ring in his sack, an odd one, one that didn’t fit any of his fingers. He bent down again, the nymphs behind started to giggle, and he pulled his sack out of his half-mast pant pocket and opened its neck, peering in. “Oh this ring,” he said, jovially.
“Any blood likely to come my way any time soon?” Little Red hissed from inside.
“Busy,” Vinnie hissed back.
“You’ll regret that attitude,” said Little Red.
Vinnie didn’t doubt it and called for the golden ring. It appeared on his outstretched palm.
“Can I touch it?” Thetis asked.
Already humiliated to his core, Vinnie said nothing, just offered the ring to Lavender, who picked it off his open palm and staggered over to Thetis as if her legs could barely carry her. She offered it up to her Queen. Thetis laid her finger on the ring, running it around its edge, gasping in orgasmic pleasure. “Slip it on him, Lavender,” she said, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she shivered in wanton lust.
Lavender fell to her knees under the weight of the mystical ring, approaching Vinnie, her hand outstretched. He reached out to her, but she brushed his offered hand away, grabbing his cock instead.
“Quick,” Thetis shouted, “before it becomes too engorged.”
“The pleasure,” Lavender said, through gritted teeth. “It’s too much for me.” She shuddered and gasped, lifting his cock with one hand, slipping the golden ring on with the other, pushing it all the way to the base of his thickening shaft. Vinnie staggered back as the ring’s power pulsed through him. His engorged dick hardened, grew, filled by his racing veins. Lavender’s face glowed gold.
Vinnie looked down, his manhood now surrounded by glittering golden sparkles. The ring was clamped hard against his pubis. Lavender inched forward, her face so close now, teal lips parted in anticipation. She reached out, grabbing at his buttocks, pulling his glittering cock towards her waiting mouth. He looked around but was lost in the maelstrom of
pleasure that radiated out from the golden band.
He slid into her hot mouth, and she momentarily stopped as she encircled its head. Her own glowed amber as the ring’s power lit up her skull. She gasped, her lips trembling as she drew them slowly back over him. One hand grasped his shaft. She held it, appearing unsteady, confused.
“Oh, god,” she moaned, “the power, its power is too much,” but then she plunged her head forward, her mouth taking his shaft, his cock sliding into her throat until her lips kissed his golden ring. She held for the briefest of moments, then slid all the way back, her hand grabbing him again, steadying herself, her other dropping down as she took her own pleasure.
Vinnie reached for his manhood, his hand plunging into the crackling, golden magic. He touched his cock and felt its power. Lavender leaned in again, this time more urgent, working him with her lips, her tongue flicking, licking, and lapping. He pressed himself into her, urgently seeking the back of her mouth, wanting her to take his whole cock.
“Fuck her,” shouted Thetis from her throne. The Queen now slumped down, her fingers buried in her tail-crotch. “Fuck her right in front of me,” she growled.
Lavender pulled back, grabbing his shaft, pulling Vinnie with her. He fell to his knees, and Lavender slid under, licking at his balls, nuzzling his asshole, quickly withdrawing and scampering around the back of him. Her hands slipped under his armpits, pulling him down, laying him on the cool rock. She crawled over him, on all fours, offering him her tidy pussy, hovering over his mouth while hers met his throbbing cock once more.
Vinnie reached up, pulling her down on him and launching his tongue into her. He breathed in her aroused scent and became lost in her lush lips, tracing his tongue around and around, probing for her clit. He tried to get a rhythm going, but his pleasure was too much, the heat radiating from his cock ring, the intense tingling pleasure was just too heady.
Lavender slipped up his body, wanting him inside her, needing to obey her Queen’s command.
“That’s it, fuck that ring. Fuck that iron cock.” Thetis gasped.
Lavender guided him in, and Vinnie nearly passed out with the pleasure. The ring’s golden magic infused Lavender’s pussy making it crackle and spark in static ecstasy. She faced away, faced the queen, riding him now, for all she was worth. He watched as her perfect, pale-blue ass pounded up and down, watching as his now golden shaft was sucked in and out of her. She picked up speed, her ass a mere blur, her gasps short, urgent, screams dribbling from her in whimpers, and then she froze, and her scream exploded out, his too, and he flooded into her as she trembled atop him before slumping, spent, and resting her head on his booted legs.
Your Esteem value has changed! You old value was 4. You pleasured Lavender to the nth degree, where n is nuts-deep. Keep on track stud; great things are in store for you. The lands award one esteem. Your new value is 5.
“Shit, that was hot,” Thetis gasped, pushing herself up in her throne. “One ring to screw them all,” she muttered. “Where did you find it? It’s been lost for an age.”
Vinnie just lay there, spent, exhausted. What the actual fuck? He thought. Had he stumbled upon the cock ring to end all cock rings? Wait! He hadn’t stumbled onto it. It had been in his beginner’s sack. How was that possible?
“I just stumbled upon it,” Vinnie lied.
Lavender stirred and shuffled around. She looked spent, but content, and inched towards his groin, pushing herself up, grabbing his waning dick. She tugged at the ring, furrowed her brow, and then tugged again. “I think it’s stuck,” she said, looking up.
“What?” Vinnie cried, even though he understood.
“I think it’s stuck.” She gave it a good tug to make a point.
“Well don’t yank it! You might pull my cock off,” Vinnie barked, his euphoria well and truly over and now more than a little agitated.
“There’s no need to shout.”
“There’s every need to shout.”
Lavender tugged again.
“Will you stop!” Vinnie screamed, pulling his legs in, standing, backing away from her.
“But I wants it,” growled Lavender, all glassy-eyed. “I wantssss my ring,” she hissed like a deranged snake.
Vinnie grabbed his cock, pulling at the ring. “You’re right; it is stuck. I’ll try twisting it.”
His cock vanished.
“Shit, my dick’s gone.”
“Vinnie?” Lavender cried, looking around.
Vinnie gulped. He’d only vanished.
Lavender had mad eyes, Thetis too, both scouring the cavern for him and his magic ring. The other nymphs wandered around aimlessly as if losing the ring had robbed them of their minds. Invisible Vinnie scowled at them; no one was getting his ring, not now, not ever.
Your status with Lavender has altered. You have plunged from 3, indifferent, to minus 3, enemy. She wants your ring, and she doesn’t care how she’s going to get it.
Your status with the water nymphs has altered. You have sunk from 0, indifferent, to minus 3, enemy. Don’t go near the water…
“Where’s my ring, my precious?” Lavender growled, eyes wide, fangs bared. “Where’s my sacred ring?”
Vinnie pulled his pants up, quickly fastening them, and tiptoeing toward the shell-clad steps, then down to the little cave, to the pool at the edge of its rocky shelf. Carefully, he eased himself in, trying his hardest not to make a sound. Lavender was ranting now, standing at the top of the steps and screaming. She leaped down them, all bent and broken, grabbing at thin air, screaming for her sacred ring. He slipped into the cool water, waiting until he was completely submerged and then kicking away from the rock, swimming for dear life, desperately trying to get back to the boat. He surged through the kelp-like forest, aiming for the lake’s moonlit surface, bursting through its silvery ripples with a gasp, clawing at the side of the boat and pulling himself in.
“Get the fuck outta here!” he screamed, fumbling in his pants, twisting his ring and reappearing.
Sorrell began rowing like a half-giant possessed, carving a wake through the lake, then through the creepy brook and joining the main river. “Water,” Vinnie shouted. “Get us away from the water!” But Sorrell rowed on regardless.
Vinnie glared back at the boat’s wake, seeing glowing blue, knowing the nymphs were hot on their oars. Sorrell saw too. Atrixa loosed a few arrows but to no avail—the nymph’s were too deep. Sorrell beached the boat on a nearby bank, just as the first blue hands grabbed at its stern. They scrambled off, hurdling the pointy bit, running into the dark forest and putting as much distance as possible between them and any water.
Atrixa drew aside him.
“Do you just attract trouble?”
They escaped into the dank, dark woods.
Chapter Fifteen
Sorrell stomped around. Atrixa stirred the broth.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Sorrell moaned, looking around the clearing. “You sure there’s no water around here?”
“Not for a few hundred yards in either direction. Look, Sorrell, if Vinnie’s telling the truth and the nymphs are after him—”
“What do you mean if?” Vinnie interjected.
Atrixa fixed him a stare. “We’ve only got your word for it, and so far you haven’t told the truth.”
Your status with Atrixa has altered. You have gone from 3, relatively friendly, to 1, relatively unfriendly. She liked you Vinnie, but you fucked it up.
“I have,” Vinnie countered bravely, bottom lip trembling. He avoided her eye contact, ashamed to have lost his status with her.
“So, the nymph community was up in arms because you refused to bang the Queen, is that the story you’re sticking with?”
Vinnie had to admit, it was quite a fragile tale, given that he’d already banged a rabbit and a nymph and tried to bone an evil witch and two psychotic old hags, but on the spur of the moment, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. “Not refused, couldn’t—she had a sodding tail.”
/>
That’s it Vinnie-me-boy, no half measures, change your story completely. He mentally kicked himself. Idiot.
“Vinnie,” Atrixa pressed. “Mermaids, even freshwater ones, can still have sex, you just need to be inventive. You bundled into the boat like a Witherer was on your tail, and…let’s not forget this part, you were fucking invisible.”
She’s relentless, Vinnie thought.
“Okay,” he said, finally breaking. “A bit more happened than I’m telling you. Can I have a mug of ale?”
“Spill the truth first,” Atrixa growled.
“Seriously, I need some ale to spill the truth.”
Atrixa poured him a mug, and Vinnie pulled closer to the fire. Sorrell was drawn in too. The first couple of sentences enough to grab his attention.
Vinnie told them all about the ring.
Silence fell, just the crackle of hot embers, the squeak of a bat, the snicker of a half-elf and the chortle of a half-giant that, once started, descended into convulsions. Vinnie sat there, mortified.
Your status with Atrixa has altered. You have gone from 1, relatively unfriendly, back to 2, relatively friendly. It’s called a pity update.
He supped on his mug of ale and watched as Atrixa suddenly stopped laughing, staring straight at Sorrell, who suddenly choked and said, “No!” in a rather long and drawn out fashion.
If possible, Atrixa paled. “Show me,” she said, a tinge of nervousness running through her.
“What?”
“Show me the ring.” She stood, then sat, stood and crept around the fire, pushing Vinnie about and squaring up to him. “I have to see it, Vinnie.” Panic had grabbed hold of her.
Vinnie glanced at Sorrell. “With him here?” he asked her. “No offense Sorrell,” he told the half-giant.
