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Yaz felt himself struggle in his dreams. Something seemed wrong and even within his sleep he realized that he was dreaming and wanted to wake. He mentally shook himself, trying to claw himself out of a slumber that felt as if it had an unnatural hold over him. But sleep would not relinquish him easily.
He felt a feminine hand gently caress the side of his face
At last, he felt himself begin to break free of his dreams. He hovered in between sleep and reality for long moments, feeling himself being tugged back downwards, a deep need to return to his dreams almost overpowering him. But that strange, unnatural desire to continue sleeping alarmed him. So he fought against it.
He opened his eyes to daylight and then fought to sit up. He looked down at himself. He felt a few blades of grass tear as he sat up as if they had grown over his bones. He shook his head. At last, the fog left his brain, and he could think clearly.
He looked around. Why had he been sleeping? How long had he been asleep? His body was lightly littered with forest debris. A mouse scampered out from under his pelvis and scurried off. With a start, he realized that he must have been napping for days!
The last thing he remembered was arriving at a safe place with Arwin and the nymphs. Arwin had been injured. As they’d begun treatment, Kalla had pulled him away, outside of the tree circle to speak with him…and that was all he could recall.
They must have put him to sleep using magic.
Alert to danger now, he anxiously stood up and shook himself off. He strode away from the spot he’d been sleeping in, a grassy section not far from the tree circle. What had happened while he’d slept? What of Arwin?
Yaz dashed into the circle. He stopped short at the sight in front of him.
Arwin danced on the moss, completely naked, hand-in-hand with a pair of gorgeous nymphs, both of whom looked to be with child now, though that definitely hadn’t been the case earlier. The other nymphs, including Kalla, were nowhere to be seen. Arwin had changed, physically.
“Dammit!” Yaz groaned. He realized now what had happened. The nymphs had kept the skeleton asleep with their nature magic so they could take advantage of his new friend. Not a terrible imposition and Arwin was obviously enjoying himself, but the young man probably had no idea what was going on.
Yaz cautiously walked over.
The nymphs warily smiled at him but didn’t bar his approach, nor did they run off.
“Arwin!” Yaz tried to catch the man’s attention. “Arwin!” he shouted, waving his hands.
Arwin glanced up. “Hello!” he cheerfully greeted the skeleton. “Have you come to play too? Do! It’s so much fun!” He laughed and gathered the pair of delectable lovelies to him, kissing them both.
“Arwin, I’m sorry,” Yaz told him. “I forgot to warn you. It’s common knowledge, and so most people know not to do it. You never drink the milk of a nymph if they’ve gone into heat.”
Arwin laughed as if Yaz was crazy. “Are you kidding? It’s like drinking life itself! And look how happy it makes them when I do!”
Yaz ruefully shook his head. “Arwin, the milk does something to the brain. It takes over us. It changes us and makes us their reproductive slaves. Nymphs do this when they’re mating.” He was not overly worried because he’d woken in time before his new friend suffered any permanent effects. Recalling the touch that had woken him, this was likely on purpose.
“I love mating! And so do nymphs!” Arwin exclaimed.
Yaz looked at the nymph who was eagerly coupling with Arwin, and he saw the deep curve of her belly. With Arwin occupied, the other nymph wandered away a couple of meters and sat down on the moss, visibly exhausted. She was only watching and smiling, showing little interest in joining. No doubt she and the other pregnant female would wander off soon.
Yaz sighed, amused, and waited.
When Arwin finished, the nymph kissed him with thanks and wandered over to sit on the grass and rest by her friend; she also seemed to have had her fill now, both literally and figuratively.
Yaz tried to catch Arwin’s attention, which wasn’t easy as Arwin danced and sang under the sunny sky.
“Look at yourself,” Yaz gestured.
Arwin glanced down, then back up, evidently seeing nothing amiss. “What?”
Yaz chuckled. “Well, you’ve, um, probably grown substantially. You’re now hung like a horse. You didn’t think it strange? Also, you’re a lot dumber and only have one thing on your mind.”
Arwin frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Yaz smirked. “Right now, you’re part satyr. It’s the milk. Like I said, it changes you. Don’t you think it’s a little odd that you can keep having sex over and over again and never get tired?”
Arwin grinned widely. “I like sex!” He reached down and plucked up the arm of a tired but giggling nymph. She half-heartedly protested, unable to get up and run anymore in her condition. So Arwin happily joined her on the ground right then and there, and then the two of them were busy together once more.
Yaz stepped forward. He intended to keep talking to the man, but the remaining nymph awkwardly stood up and cut him off. She gave him a pretty little pouting frown. Grasping his bony hand, she gently tried to pull him away from Arwin.
Yaz relented. He might as well just wait it out. He didn’t want to anger the nymphs and risk conflict. It’s not like they were evil; what they were doing was just their nature. Arwin was obviously enjoying himself and didn’t seem to be in any danger now that the nymphs had just about finished with him. Any minute they’d all be finished, and he could peacefully get to Arwin then.
He allowed the nymph to lead him away. Then he smiled at her, which made her shiver, and gracefully exited the circle. She seemed happy to have diverted trouble and waddled through the trees back to Arwin’s side.
Yaz took his time, wandering through the forest and back to the enchanted path. He strolled back and forth, searching the brush for a certain plant with the medicinal quality that he was looking for.
He returned to find one nymph already gone and the last kissing Arwin goodbye and then pulling away. When Arwin tried to follow her, begging her to stay, she firmly pushed him back and shook her head. Then she melded into the forest and was gone.
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Arwin stood there, alone, dejected and looking lost. He clumsily backed away from the edge of the forest and looked around the glade, obviously with no idea of what to do now.
Yaz strode over. “Hey,” the skeleton greeted him. He studied Arwin with hollow eyes and saw how fraught and frazzled the man had suddenly become now that he no longer had a purpose. He nodded in sympathy, having been in this same position many years before. “Yeah, that’s the downside to the nymph mating frenzy. Like a great party, it’s all fun and games when you’re in the midst of it, but after it’s over, you start to crash.”
“They’re gone,” the young man moaned, bereft. “All gone.” He kept looking in all directions as if expecting them to return, desperate for it.
“I know,” Yaz told him kindly, patting his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s see if we can help counter all that nymph milk in your system.”
Yaz led him over to a tiny, nearby spring and bid him drink and drink fresh water until he could drink no more. Then he handed Arwin a handful of the herbs that he’d collected. “They’ll do a bit to counteract the magic in the nymph milk. Trust me; they’re otherwise harmless.”
Arwin ate the thin, green leaves. “They’re bitter and taste like grass,” he complained, but he swallowed them all. Then he curled up on the ground and went to sleep. A couple of hours later, he woke and looked up at the skeleton, blinking back to awareness. “Yaaaz?” he guessed, as if remembering the name.
Yaz smiled. “Good to have you back. Enjoy yourself?”
Now that the effects of the milk were dwindling, Arwin’s head must have been clearing. He would recall everything. The young man looked down at himself and saw the change the milk had wrought between his legs. “Holy cow!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’ll probably take a day or three for your body to change back to normal,” Yaz told him. “You’re lucky this was only a small tribe that got ahold of you. Drink nymph milk for too long, and the effects can become permanent. Not just the physical ones, but the mental slavery too. Acting like a sex and play-crazed satyr all day, every day would be your new normal.”
Arwin looked around in disbelief. “What happened?”
“I guess those particular nymphs probably hadn’t had much male company in a long time. Also, that rescue must have stirred their emotions as well. You seemed to connect with one of them. Kalla? Had sex with her?”
“Y-yeah. Definitely. A lot.”
“I’m guessing you caused her to go into heat, which then spread to the others and triggered an overdue mating frenzy.”
Arwin’s eyes widened in alarm. “A frenzy?”
“Kalla probably decided you would make a good mate and went into heat, which produced nymph milk, which makes you only interested in one thing, non-stop. Once she got pregnant, and you were already being controlled by the magical properties of the milk, it probably induced the others to follow suit. Like a whole herd going into heat once one individual does.”
“That’s crazy.” Arwin blinked. “Why? And why the milk? We were already having sex!” He rubbed his head, mind likely still slow to grasp what Yaz was saying.
“Nymphs and satyrs normally mate together,” Yaz explained, “though they don’t actually meet up all that often, living in gender-separate tribes and not always close to one another. And, as focused as they are on pleasure, they don’t actually reproduce anywhere near as often as you think they would, not nearly as often as humans, who, frankly, multiply like rats in a garbage dump. But to make it easier to have babies when the other gender isn’t around at the appropriate time, both have evolved to be able to mate with other species as well, especially humans, though the resulting children are usually only nymphs and satyrs, barring a rare, magical crossbreeding exception.”
“Where does the milk come in?”
“The two species use their natural physical attractiveness and charisma to induce men and women into mating. As you have experienced, this works really well. Most of the time, the sex is just for fun; they aren’t trying to have babies, just celebrating life. However, when they do choose to reproduce and go into heat, nymphs produce milk which then takes over the victim’s brain and essentially turns them into enthusiastic sex slaves with certain satyr qualities. That transformation in their partner allows that partner’s seed to impregnate them. They mate non-stop until becoming pregnant, which happens quickly, then the nymphs take off alone. They hide away in their natural environment in a kind of hibernation while the baby inside them grows.”
Arwin looked stunned.
Yaz continued, chuckling. “Satyr can do something similar. Normally, a satyr can have sex an infinite number of times and never get a non-nymph pregnant because the female, at that time, is sterile to him. But, once the satyr goes into heat, they cause the female to take on nymphish qualities, becoming more attractive and sexual, and extremely fertile, especially to satyrs, thus finally allowing her to get pregnant from the satyr, which she then desires with all enthusiastic haste.”
“But,” Arwin shook his head in awe, his mind still struggling, “they were pregnant. Actually pregnant. I mean, when we were together. I saw them. They became huge, like, within hours or a day or two, maybe. I don’t really remember the passage of time all that well.”
“Yes,” Yaz patiently replied. “From what I understand, the initial stage of the pregnancy is quite fast. That’s magical biology for you. But the hibernation phase takes about six months, I believe.”
Arwin glanced around the tree circle. “I haven’t seen signs of any children here. Or at the glade either.”
“Nymphs are forest caretakers and sexual, playful beings. They are not really suited to nurturing helpless infants for years at a time the way humans are. If they had human-style children, the babies would likely die of neglect while the mothers were being nymphly. So when the nymphs hibernate, the baby matures a lot more inside the mother. When the baby is born, much like a deer or horse, it can stand on its own right away and be self-sufficient in hours or days. Motherhood, and the growth of the children, only lasts a short time, during which the children eat and grow like crazy. I’m guessing by the time they’re a year old, they’re fully adult nymphs and become as sexually active as their mothers, who quickly revert back to their regular natures.”
Arwin’s mouth hung open in awe. “That’s fascinating!”
“It is. So, as one of your first acts in Heartstone, you’ve accidentally just fathered, what, seven or eight new nymphs?” He laughed and slapped Arwin on the shoulder.
Arwin’s face betrayed his shock and then panic. “Oh my gosh. What do I—? I mean, should I—? I’ll be a father—“
Yaz laughed. “Relax. Nymphs don’t have families when they live in the wild. You won’t have any fatherhood duties, and your children will never know you. You have no parenting responsibilities to worry about.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I guess. I don’t know.” Arwin looked conflicted. “It feels weird knowing I’ll have kids but not have anything to do with them. It feels kind of disappointing, surprisingly.”
“I understand. Try not to worry, though. It’s what the nymphs wanted. Like I said, given how easily this happened, they were probably eager for it. I’m guessing it was overdue. If you hadn’t come along, the next worthy male would have caused the same reaction.”
Arwin looked around the tree circle in silence, but there were no signs of the nymphs. “What an odd experience,” he muttered, “both physically and emotionally. I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of, in a way, the taking over my mind. I feel conflicted. Not about the sex; I’m thrilled at that. I mean, it was a dream come true in every way. I don’t mind at all that I’ve been induced into a continuous orgy for however long.” He paused. “But knowing that I might have been trapped in that semi-mindless state forever, helpless and against my will? Kind of scary. I don’t fault the nymphs for that; I get it; it’s simply their nature. They’re not evil. But I do feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. I see what you meant earlier. Ignorance in Heartstone can easily get you into unexpected trouble.”
“Sorry. It’s my fault. I should have explained—“
“No! No, no. It’s not your fault. Accidents happen. And I’m really, really, REALLY glad for the experience.” He laughed. Then he froze.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered. What about the goblins?”
“They said they would warn the locals. They take their role as caretakers very seriously. I’m sure they did just that. But the goblins will be swarming over this area looking for us. We shouldn’t stay.”
Arwin nodded, still staring at nothing, lost in memories. “You fantasize that running into a bunch of nymphs would be the greatest thing ever, and, in some ways, it was. But the reality of it is a lot more complicated than people dream about. Fatherhood, goblins, mind control. Crazy.” He ruefully chuckled.
Yaz relaxed. Arwin was going to be ok. “You know, they put me to sleep the whole time you were cavorting over here, having the time of your sex life. I have to say; I haven’t slept like that in a while. I feel very refreshed.”
“I feel completely worn out.” Arwin laughed again. Then he paused and looked down at himself. “I should put on pants.” He craned his neck, looking around for his clothing, eventually finding them in a pile behind a fern. He began dressing. “I can’t believe that I am going to have children walking around at some point. That just blows me away. Part of me wants to go and find the nymphs and get involved somehow. But, intellectually, I understand that’s not how nature works in this case. I get it; I do. But, emotionally, I think it might take some time to come to grips with that fact.”
“Understandable.”
“Maybe we should swing by here again someday.”
“So…you can have sex with your eight daughters? Because they won’t recognize you as their father.”
That froze Arwin. “Ok… Maybe we’ll visit a different tribe then.” Then his eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. “I just remembered. Her name. Kallalypsa. It almost sounds like Calypso, the goddess who enchants Odysseus in order to keep him on her island as her husband. It’s from an ancient story by a man named Homer, written almost three thousand years ago.”
Yaz thought about that. “Hmm. The portal to your world would have been open back then. Perhaps there’s a connection. At least in the name.”
Arwin smiled and shook his head. “This is turning out to be one really strange adventure.”