She splashed Rose as she got into the river. Rose grinned and splashed her back. They both giggled.

“We could charge people to watch that,” Voekeer said.

Rose splashed him, causing everyone to laugh. Anna put her arms around Rose and pulled her close.

“I think you’re pretty, and you have nice boobs,” she said in her ear.

Rose smiled at her and then dunked her under the water. Anna came back up and breathed out the water she’d breathed in. Rose started to scrub the filthy little eldritch horror.

Anna had been driving the wagon for weeks in the wilds, and the roads had turned mostly dirt. She didn’t wash herself very often. She didn’t really feel it, so her friends had decided to wash her at the next river. Rose volunteered to do the worst of it this time. They threw dice, but the men were exempt for some reason.

A huge tentacle shot out of the water.

“Stop fucking around, child,” Barika said.

“IT’S NOT ME!” Anna shouted.

She picked up Rose and tossed her to Thokri. She squealed as she flew through the air. Thokri caught her and then ran for the shore. The rest of her friends were closer than they were so they made it out quickly. She was pulled under the water and deeper into the river. She twisted around to see a huge mass of tentacles with a massive beaked mouth.

I’m naked and in the water. Oh yes!

She summoned her own huge tentacles. One grabbed the tentacle wrapped around her leg and snapped it. The monster’s tentacles were nothing more than muscle and bone like any other living thing. Her tentacles were made from dreams and couldn’t be broken.

She started to crush the beast’s tentacles with her own. A few of the huge ones she summoned wrapped around the writhing mass that made up its core. The huge beast started to thrash around. She pulled so much power from her black core that the water started to boil around her, but she didn’t feel dizzy or anything, so she started to summon more of them. Eyes appeared as well. She looked at the monster to see what it really was.

It’s just a big animal. Oh well, I guess I shouldn’t torment it.

The tentacles squeezed and black blood streamed out from it as its bones were crushed. The thrashing ceased, and she sent the tentacles away. She swam to the surface and then back to shore. Her still naked friends gawked at her for a moment.

“TOSS ME THE SOAP!” she shouted.

Thokri snapped out of it, picked up a chunk, and tossed it to her. She started to scrub with the help of her tentacles. The others didn’t seem to want to stay near the river anymore, so they packed up and got back on the road.

“What was that thing?” Anna asked.

“River kraken I think,” Thokri replied.

“The sailors used to talk about krakens. They said they ate ships,” Anna said.

“I’ve heard there are huge ones in the sea that can do that, but the river ones don’t get much bigger than a wagon,” Thokri replied.

“That one was. It was at least three wagons,” Anna said.

“I wonder what it was eating?” Thokri asked.

“Lots of whatever it was,” Anna replied.

A few days later as they rode through the forest, she noticed something off to the side. She threw a piece of war shot into the forest. It struck an elk in the side of the head, blowing it clean off. She pulled the wagon to a stop.

“What is it, lass?” Thokri asked.

“Dinner,” Anna replied. She handed him the reins and walked into the forest to get the carcass.

Maybe I can make some jerky out of this. We’re running low, and I don’t want to have to worry about if the others eat or not. Though they know more about food than I do, needing it and all, but still, I’m sure they’ll like some fresh whatever this is.

She’d thought it was an elk at first, but it was way too big for that. Not only that, but the blood that was pouring out of its neck was filled with sparks of mana. She shrugged, tossed it over her shoulder, and walked out of the forest, trailing blood behind her.

She walked out of the forest and over to where Thokri had pulled the wagon off the road.

“What in the fuck is that?!” Thokri asked.

“Donno. I thought it was an elk, but I guess it’s not,” she said, dropping it on the ground near the wagon. It was bigger than the horses, and somehow more blood poured out of its neck as it lay there.

“Is it safe to eat?” Voekeer asked.

“I’ve never heard of anyone getting sick eating a magical beast,” Elaine said.

“Neither have I,” Lyreen said.

“They’re safe. We need to get this bled before it goes off though,” Barika replied.

The party went to work getting rope and other things they’d need to butcher such a large animal.

They had the carcass strung up, gutted, and skinned within half an hour. They built smoking racks and then started the fires while it bled out. They would need large smoky fires to preserve all of the meat. Once they finished preparing they took the carcass down and cut it up. A few large chunks of meat were kept to roast that day the rest was cut into thin slices and placed on the smoking rack.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I think these racks are bigger than yours,” Lyreen said.

“Just a little,” Anna replied. They both chuckled and then headed over to see if Thokri needed help.

He had built a huge fire pit to roast the choice cuts they had saved for dinner. She had gone into the forest to collect tasty wild herbs as well. He let the fire burn down to a bed of red-hot coals. Then he put the meat on the spit and put it over the coals. A tentacle appeared and started to turn the handle. Her friends looked at it and grinned.

“Now that’s handy,” Voekeer said.

“More like tentaclely,” Elaine replied.

“It works either way,” Barika said.

Thokri went to the wagon and got out a small barrel of ale he had stashed way along with mugs for everyone. He jammed an iron spout into the barrel and filled the mugs. He passed out the mugs. Once he finished, he held up his mug.

“You’re the best crew I’ve ever worked with,” he said. They tapped mugs, and everyone took a drink.

Wow! He broke out the brewbelly stuff! He must really be in a good mood! Better not spill any.

They drank and joked around while the food cooked.

I really like this. Everyone is so happy. Maybe we should do this more often.

Rose squirmed for a moment and then pulled off her shirt. She undid her wrap, letting her breasts bounce free. She took a deep breath afterwards.

“You don’t have to wear that all the time, child. It’s just us,” Barika said. Rose smiled at the priestess as she put her shirt back on and then sat down.

“Why do you wear that thing?” Lyreen asked. Rose pointed at her eyes, then jigged her breasts, and then waved as if she wanted someone to stop.

“She doesn’t like it when people look at them,” Anna said. Rose pointed at her and gave the thumbs up.

“If I looked like her, I’d dress like a two-copper whore,” Elaine said. Rose gave Elaine a look.

“What?” Elaine asked.

Rose pulled up her sleeves and held out her hands, wrists up. The scars from the chains she’d worn most of her life were still visible.

“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry. I don’t know when to keep my mouth shut sometimes,” Elaine said.

Thokri chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Elaine asked.

“Someone paying you to suck their cock,” Thokri replied, laughing harder.

“I know, right? She spends more coin on sex than I do on food,” Anna added.

“I DO NOT!” Elaine shouted.

“I only spent a few silver a day on food. How much did you spend on men?” Anna asked. Elaine chewed her lip for a moment.

“Shit!” she replied, causing everyone to laugh.

“Just find a blind man. It’d be cheaper,” Voekeer said.

“Oh, fuck off!” Elaine replied.

After everyone laughed for a few minutes, Barika turned to Rose and smiled.

“Just wear whatever makes you comfortable, child,” she said. Rose smiled back.

Anna stood up and started to undo her belt.

“What are you doing?” Lyreen asked.

“She said wear whatever makes you comfortable,” Anna replied.

“Not you, child. Keep those things covered,” Barika said.

“Fine,” Anna replied, sitting back down.

“You think that meat’s done yet?” Elaine asked. An eye appeared and took a look.

“If you like it red, then yes. If not, I’d give it a few more minutes,” Anna replied.

Barika and Thokri got up and went to the spit, slicing off large chunks of the meat onto wooden plates before sitting back down. Barika cut hers up and popped one of the pieces into her mouth. She groaned with pleasure as she chewed.

“Fuck it. I’m getting mine now!” Elaine said.

The rest of the party hurried over and cut chunks from the roasting meat. She was last but didn’t mind. There was plenty, and she didn’t really need to cook it, so the red still bloody chunk she ended up with didn’t bother her all that much. She cut it up like Barika had done and took a bite.

Oh, wow! This IS the best meat I’ve ever eaten.

They devoured the first serving and the second. Rose started to giggle after she ate the second plate. She smiled at everyone when they looked at her. Soon Voekeer was grinning and laughing loudly.

“How much did you give those two?” Elaine asked.

“Just a mugful, lass,” Thokri replied just as confused as the others.

After a while, the others started to act giggly just like Rose and Voekeer. She was perplexed by this. First, none of them had all that much ale, and second, they weren’t really acting drunk, just silly, like Lyreen when she smoked the sparkleweed.

She took another bite of the meat and watched them act weird. Rose fell over giggling. Elaine tried to pull her up, but she just fell right on top. They both broke into laughter, and after a moment, started to kiss.

Nope, not going to happen.

She knew that sometimes drunk people would do stupid things or have sex with people they normally wouldn’t, and then regret it the next day, so she stopped them by picking Elaine up by the waist and setting her next to Thokri who didn’t look too bad off.

Thokri steadied her while Anna pulled Rose off the ground and dusted her off. Once she was sure Rose wasn’t going to fall back over, she sat back down.

“What’s with you all?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know, but I like it!” Lyreen replied.

Anna looked at Thokri who just shrugged. No one seemed all that concerned, so she just sat back and enjoyed the show. Once she was sure everyone was done eating, she stuffed them in their tents and then cleaned up. She tended the smoking meat and wandered around, looking for tasty herbs, making sure to stay close enough to the camp in case her friends needed her.

Oh, eggs, nice! I can fry these up with some of the sausages for breakfast. Everyone will love that.

She collected the eggs and the bird that attacked her as she did so.

Don’t worry. You’ll be with your babies again soon.

She stuffed them in the sack she’d brought with her and poked around a few more bushes before heading back to get a fire started.

Once she got back to the camp, she climbed into the back of the wagon and rummaged around in the supplies until she found the sausages. The others moved the food stuff around constantly for some unknown reason.

She popped back out of the wagon and went over to the fire pit they’d cooked the roast over. After starting a small fire and letting it burn down some, she put the sausages in the pan and let them heat up, rendering some of the fat out.

Once they were good and crisp, she put them on a plate and broke the eggs into the pan. Using her fingers, she scrambled the eggs. She washed them first, so it was okay. Scrambling eggs was easier than flipping them when you had little fat and you were using your fingers.

She ripped up a few of the herbs she liked and mixed them in with the eggs. She let them all cook until the eggs were firm and the herbs were soft before dishing them up on plates.

Once that was finished, she gutted the bird and ripped off its skin before looking at it and then back at the dishes of food.

“Guess you’re lunch then,” she said and hung it on the back of the wagon to keep it away from critters. She walked over to the tents, surprised that no one was up eating the food yet.

“WAKE UP, SLEEPIES!” she shouted, though not too loud.

She heard Barika groan in pain. Anna rushed over to her tent and opened the flap. She was covered in sweat and holding onto her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asked.

“Poisoned,” Barika rasped. Anna fumbled around in her bag and pulled out her ring.

“No, child. Mana poison must use herbs to clear it,” Barika said, pushing herself up. Her whole body glowed some as her blessing aided her.

“Can the goddess help?” Anna asked.

“Maybe for me, child, but I can’t cure the others,” Barika replied. Anna fished around in her belt and pulled out a few powerful cure potions that should take care of just about anything.

“Will these work?” she asked. Barika took one.

“They can’t hurt. Let’s give them to the others,” she said and then downed it. Anna went to each tent and gave her friends one of the vials each.

They were out of it. None of them even complained about how nasty that stuff is!

She ate the eggs and sausages, not wanting them to go to waste, and waited to see if the potions worked. Barika cried out in pain, and she rushed over to help.

“It did work, child. We need the Erakt flower!” she said.

“What does it look like?!” Anna asked.

“The size of your palm, five orange petals, and three long red stalks sticking out of a deep well in the center,” she replied.

She rushed out of the tent and summoned an eye and large tentacle. She made it so they’d keep her friends safe and then ran into the forest to search for the flower.