“Thanks for the save back there. If you had been any later we would have been done for sure.” Aralen said, panting as he recovered from the adrenaline shooting through his body outside the dungeon. The bright sun and clean air were welcome after the damp, dark Keep, and not fighting a giant snake was a plus too.
“Well, you guys were making enough of a commotion that it was impossible for us not to know where you were,” she replied, a cocky grin on her face.
“Giant snakes are pretty easy to find, turns out,” Jyce said as he lay on the dirt, looking completely exhausted.
For some reason, the drow looked even more tired than Rylei, who had been fighting the snake, and both elves, who had been doing their best monkey impression. “Jyce, are you alright?” Aralen asked, and he just gave a weak grin.
“Don’t worry, kid. I’m just a little drained, that’s all. Buffing up Rylei that much takes some serious effort. I’ll probably be out of commission for a few days but after that, I’ll be good as new.”
Satisfied that the drow was unharmed, he turned his attention to the other elf in the party. Lithael had already equipped her armor again, the somehow still perfectly shining silver clashing with her dirty face and messy hair, but it still suited her more than her plain clothes did. She didn’t seem to be as fazed by the whole ordeal as Aralen would have thought her to be; her stoic expression had returned to her face, and she was calmly sheathing her sword, a polished black blade with green highlights on the hilt which Aralen had never seen before.
“Hey, Lithael, are you alright? You’re not hungry or hurt or anything, right?”
“Now that I’m out of that dungeon, I’m perfectly fine. Nothing really happened to me. It was just kind of dirty and smelly,” she responded before looking around confusedly. “Where are the horses?”
“Oh, let me get right on that. But, uh, they didn’t do anything to you? Nothing at all?” Jyce said, before sitting up with a grunt and rummaging for his portal stable item. “That doesn’t seem like Nylia at all.”
“She did seem a bit preoccupied with something else, to be honest. I just got thrown into that cell and abandoned there until she left. I have no idea how long I would have been stuck there if you hadn’t rescued me, though, so thank you.” She gave a polite bow to the two monster girl hunters, then turned to Aralen.
“But why were you the one to find me? Did the company send you?”
He shook his head in response. “No, they didn’t seem to care that much, to be honest. More interested in that letter you were carrying, I think.”
She scowled at that but didn’t say anything else and simply returned to checking her equipment. It was a little startling to the elf that she wasn’t more upset about that, especially given her status in the company guard, but he didn’t press further. If there were problems between her and the company, that was her business, unless she asked for help.
Jyce had retrieved the mounts after a moment, and the five people mounted on the three horses, with Aralen and Penora on one, Jyce and Lithael on another, and Rylei getting her hulking stallion to herself. As they rode away from the massive domed structure, Aralen cast one look back, glad that he wouldn’t be returning to that damp dungeon anytime soon. Of course, chances were still high that another dungeon was soon in his future, especially as a monster girl hunter in training, but Kurolen’s Keep had been a rather unpleasant first experience.
For most of the ride back to Alvode, the two monster girl hunters grilled Lithael on everything related to her capture and Nylia, though they didn’t learn much of importance. She had no idea where the succubus had gone, or what her plans were, and she had mostly been cooped up in a cell for the whole time. But while Aralen could tell that there was some level of disappointment from Rylei and Jyce about losing their lead on Nylia, it was clear that they were just glad to have been able to rescue the elf captain.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the city, they spotted the Auralin healer yet again sitting on the side of the road, lounging in a luxurious red armchair and reading a book that seemed very out of place on the dirty trail. The monster girl hunters directed the group towards her, where Selene performed some tests on Lithael, only to declare her all clean.
“That’s odd, though. Nylia doesn’t normally just… leave people be, right?” Jyce pondered, but Rylei just shrugged.
“I’m not going to complain. Beats having to deal with another poor monsterized woman,” she said before throwing a glance towards Aralen. “Trust me, it’s not fun. Much easier when they’re a natural-born monster girl like Penora there.” She nodded toward the dryad, who gave a smile in response.
“Lithael, dear, please make sure to let us know if you start feeling strange, or you have any issues. I would hate for something bad to happen because I missed something in my tests. And if you need somewhere to stay, feel free to come to my tower. It’s in the middle of town, you can’t miss it, and Mr Wilaen here is already staying there,” Selene told Lithael, who shook her head.
“Thank you for the offer, miss, but I’m going to return to the company. If I’m not mistaken, we’re still on a job so they should have lodging for me, and I’ll be able to catch up on anything I missed,” Lithael responded, and the group continued onward into town. Jyce went to drop off the elf captain, while Rylei, Aralen, and Penora returned to Selene’s towner.
“Good job, kid. You seemed to hold your own in that dungeon, so I think you’re about ready for some solo missions. No monster girls yet, of course,” Rylei clarified when she saw the uneasy look on Aralen’s face, “but simple beginner adventurer stuff. You can’t get too used to us being there to save you, after all. I’ll look into some good opportunities for you while we take a short break from your training and let you know when I find some.”
“Thanks a lot, Rylei, I appreciate it.”
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Aralen awoke the next morning to the sweet scent of Penora wrapped up beside him, and he simply lay there enjoying it for a moment. After the long day he had yesterday, he felt he deserved a bit of a day off. With Jyce resting as well, and his training on a short hold, he had the whole day to himself, which was a welcome break from the constant training he had been put through the last week. Maybe I’ll spend some time exploring the city, he thought to himself as he slowly stretched and started to get out of bed. He was stopped, however, by multiple vines coiling around his arms and legs, and two arms wrapping around his torso. Turning around, he saw Penora blinking sleepily at him with a soft smile on her face.
“Good morning, Darling. Where are you going?”
“Just getting ready. I was going to go out and explore Alvode a bit,” he responded, gently trying to wriggle out of her grasp, but she only pulled him closer, her monster girl strength apparent in how easily she did so.
“Oh, that sounds fun! Can I go with you?”
He hadn’t thought of bringing the dryad with him, especially since he wasn’t sure she should be wandering the city streets in the first place, but maybe if Selene did another test it would be fine. Seeing him hesitate, she pulled him even closer, their bodies pressed together with the vines locking him in place.
“You did say you wanted me to get to know you better, right? Why not bring me along, then? It could be like a date, where we walk around and hold hands and eat good food at a restaurant while staring into each other’s eyes, then we come back and have sweet, loving sex…,” she said dreamily, slowly getting more and more lost in her imagination as Aralen’s face got more and more red.
“A-alright, I’ll bring you along, but we have to stop by Selene first to see if you’re safe to bring into the city. But you have to let me go first. We can’t go if you’ve got me trapped in bed like this.” She beamed at him and retracted her vines as he stood and got dressed. As he did, he wondered what he should wear, since his normal clothes were a bit plain for a date. I can’t remember the last time I’d been on a date with a girl. Must have been, what, ten years ago? That’s not even that long for an elf, but for some reason I feel like it’s been ages.
He did eventually choose a slightly more classy outfit, with a light blue button-down and some black pants. Penora was wearing the same thing she always wore, a colorful flower-like dress that Aralen thought was maybe too revealing for an elven city, but he didn’t say anything. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if she had anything else, or if she could even take it off. Even during sex, she had been wearing the dress in its entirety, and it really did look like the skirt was made of large petals. It wouldn’t have surprised him if it was part of her in some way.
They made their way to the dining room, where Selene and Rylei were eating some kind of stew and chatting away. Surprisingly, Lithael was also there, eating quietly as she listened to the talk. Aralen shot her a questioning look as he sat down and Sam handed him a plate of pancakes, and the elf adopted a sheepish expression.
“The, uh, company said they didn’t have accommodations for me so I decided to take Selene up on her offer,” she said and Rylei giggled in response, to which the elf returned a fierce glare, which shut the cyclops up quickly.
“So the company abandoned you for over a week and then wasn’t even willing to give you a room at that shitty inn to stay at?” Aralen responded incredulously, and Lithael nodded grumpily.
“It’s unfortunate, but I suppose that’s what happens when you get kidnapped on the job. I can’t really expect them to reward me for messing up, right?”
Aralen disagreed with that sentiment, but it wasn’t worth it to argue with Lithael about it, since she had apparently accepted it already. Instead, he turned his attention towards Selene.
“Excuse me, Lady Selene, but I was planning on bringing Penora into the city with me, and I felt it would be safer if you could run your tests on her, just to make sure.”
“Of course I can,” she responded with a smile, “Are you two going on a date?”
The elf sometimes wished that Selene wasn’t so interested in his relationship with the dryad as his face reddened, but luckily, Aralen didn’t have to respond, since Penora took care of it for him. “Yes, we are! I’m so excited, we’re going on a romantic walk and then eating out at a fancy restaurant, and then we’ll come back and-”
“Ahem!” Aralen cut her off before she said anything more, but the damage was already done as Rylei was grinning at him with a sly look, and Selene was smiling widely at him too.
“I do hope you’ll let me take some tests afterward, as I think the data would be very informative,” she said as she went to stand by the dryad, her apparatuses magicked into her hand.
“I meant to ask yesterday,” Lithael started with a confused expression, “but why is this dryad here? Aren’t monster girls supposed to be dangerous?”
“It’s a long story, I’m sure Selene would love to tell it to you,” Aralen responded as he received the all good from the healer regarding Penora, and he quickly stood to leave their prying eyes. “We’re leaving now though, so we’ll see you later,” he finished, dragging the dryad out as Rylei laughed at him and Selene yelled out, “Enjoy your date, you two!” as they exited the tower.
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Walking around the city with Penora was a lot more enjoyable than Aralen had expected it to be. He had forgotten that she was from the forest, and every little thing about the city was fascinating to her, from the horse-drawn carriages to the buildings around them. When they went through the market, she took her time examining each and every stall, excitedly pointing out things she liked or stuff she didn’t know. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and he found himself smiling and laughing alongside her the whole time as they went stall to stall.
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“Ooh, I love that necklace! Can I get it, Darling?” she said, pointing out a beautiful golden necklace with a green gemstone in the shape of a leaf hanging from it. It wasn’t too expensive, especially after the bonus payment from the company after retrieving the letter, so he purchased it for her, eliciting a gleeful squeal as she put it around her neck.
Their exploration around the market took long enough that it was lunchtime by the time they were finished, so they began looking for somewhere nice to eat. It took a while, but they eventually found a place they were both satisfied with. It seemed to be advertising ‘Authentic Bosvoldian Cuisine,’ and while Aralen had heard wonderful things about the northern food, he never had the chance to try it for himself.
There were a lot of snow elves inside the restaurant, more than Aralen had ever seen in one place. He vaguely recalled from Jyce’s lessons that Bosvoldia was populated by more snow elves than most other places, so he supposed it made sense that they would want food from their homeland when living abroad. Meanwhile, Penora was delighted by the outfits the servers were wearing, a clearly foreign yet still very elvish type of dress with the barest touch of fur around the collar and cuffs. Aralen was also intrigued by their unique clothing, but Penora’s excitement outshone his own.
The elf’s meal was exceptional, with relatively normal ingredients like venison and potatoes brought above and beyond with spices that Aralen had never heard of before, let alone tasted. Penora’s looked even better, with colorful and exotically shaped vegetables cooked in a rich, sweet sauce, and neither of them found any reason to complain.
Conversation flowed freely as they ate, and Aralen found the dryad to be very easy to talk to. She listened attentively to everything he had to say, chiming in with an interesting comment every once and a while. And the topics that she brought up were fascinating to the elf, who had only recently ever left his hometown of Alugala. Stories of different nations she had traveled through to get to Estelia, of their different climates, and different creatures, all captivated the elf. It reminded him of the stories that his mother used to tell him of her journeys as an adventurer.
“That meal was amazing, Darling. Thank you for taking me out with you,” Penora said as they exited the restaurant, walking onto the bright streets of Alvode and towards a nearby park.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he responded as they approached the park. It was just outside the Alvode Castle, where the Duke of Armoes was said to reside, and the grassy area gave a wonderful view of the stone towers and elegant banners of the castle. They chose a wooden bench shaded by the nearby trees, and Penora leaned on his shoulder with a sign of contentment.
“I’m glad I met you, Darling. It’s so much nicer to be here with you than to be alone in the forest all the time…”
“I’m glad I met you too,” he responded automatically, before realizing what he said. But thinking about it, he wasn’t lying when he told her that. Despite his reservations about monster girls, Penora had been wonderful for the most part, and though he still didn’t really understand why monster girls acted the way they did, he had begun to accept it.
So when Penora turned her face towards him and leaned in, he accepted her kiss readily, her soft lips pressing into his. It was short, but he could sense the love she was putting into it, and he couldn’t help but reciprocate a bit. When he pulled away, instead of seeing her brown, lust-filled eyes like he expected, he saw surprise, which quickly transformed into pure glee.
“You… you kissed me back! You’ve never done anything like that before! I thought you were going to push me away or something.”
Something about the dryad expecting him to reject her stung a bit, even though she was right in her expectations, so he leaned in and kissed her again. She squeaked at this, though it wasn’t long before she was melting in his arms, the lust-filled eyes now making an appearance. When he pulled away this time, she giggled and wrapped her arms around his.
“You’ve gotten a bit bolder, huh, Darling? I’m glad, I was worried I would have to do everything.”
“You have been doing most of it, I will admit. I’m not used to this whole… dating thing, really.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind at all. I think it’s kind of cute how embarrassed you get sometimes. It just makes me want to do more,” Penora said with a giggle, as Aralen reddened from those words, only making Penora giggle harder.
“I still don’t understand you monster girls very well, but if I’m going to be living with you from now on, I have to get used to it, right?” Aralen said as Penora leaned into him again, their heads nestled together as they sat underneath the tree.
“I don’t understand much either, Darling, but I don’t mind. All I know is that I love you, and I want to be with you.”
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As much as Aralen had enjoyed their little excursion, he knew it couldn’t last forever. They eventually returned to the tower, where Selene promptly kidnapped Penora for some testing after some apparently necessary teasing. The dryad seemed more than happy to go along with it, but it left Aralen alone without any plans left for the day. Spotting Lithael, he was reminded of the Trading Company and decided to go visit. As much as his opinion of the company had fallen, he was still employed by them for the entirety of the current job, so he felt it would be prudent to go and check, just in case.
It was a bit weird how noticeable Penora’s absence beside him was now that he was walking around alone, especially since she had only been with him for a few days. It was almost like there was something inside him that went missing when Penora wasn’t by his side, causing a faint ache. Easily ignorable, of course, but it still bothered him more than he’d like to admit. Part of him wondered if it had to do with the Demonic Aura within him, and another part of him wondered if it even mattered.
He reached the inn where most of the Company guards were staying and stepped inside, the dirty and cramped lobby seeming even more so after staying at Selene’s tower for so long. It took a while after notifying one of the staff for Alae to show up, but he was eventually able to discuss the delayed trade job. She notified him that it would be taking place in approximately ten days, giving Aralen plenty of time to train and potentially go on a quick adventure.
Next, he decided to check in on Eirik, since he hadn’t touched in with him since he started his training. The snow elf was happily spending his free time relaxing, though he did say he started studying magic a bit more again, inspired by Aralen and his training to begin working on self-improvement as well. They spend a couple of hours catching up, with Aralen telling the story of his adventures, and Eirik listening with rapt attention. Aralen also brought up the idea of Eirik becoming an adventurer alongside him once their trade missions were over, but Eirik brushed it aside with his usual explanations. However, Aralen could tell that the snow elf wasn’t as opposed to the idea as he had once been, especially after hearing about Lithael’s treatment by the company.
Eventually, he bid his friend farewell, and returned to the tower, eager for a Sam-cooked dinner and some rest. Penora and Selene were both nowhere to be seen at the dinner table, so he assumed that they were still testing. Thinking nothing of it, he finished his delicious stew, climbed the stairs, and walked through the twisting hallways of the tower to his room.
He entered the room only to see the lightstones that usually illuminated the room had been dimmed to a warm glow, and wrapped up underneath the blankets of his bet was Penora, smiling warmly at him as he entered the room.
“Hi, Darling, welcome home. Care to join me?” she said while lifting the sheets invitingly and revealing herself to him as she sat up slightly. For the first time, she wasn’t wearing her usual petal dress, instead wearing a sheer green nightgown, matching the color of her hair and showing off her amazing body. The dimness of the room hid most of her body in the shadows of her blankets, but the parts that he could make out were amazingly enticing, with perfect skin and curves in the right spots. He had been spending so much time with her the last few days, and most of it trying to resist her advances, that he had failed to truly appreciate how stunning she looked, and now, with no other distractions and her lying in his bed seductively, it was the only thing he could register.
She seemed to mistake him freezing in place as he admired her body for hesitation, and her confident, sexy expression slowly turned sheepish.
“If you don’t want to do anything, that’s okay too. I was just hoping that after today you might want to spend some more intimate time with me,” she said quietly.
Even though Penora had clearly set up this scene in an effort to seduce him, her restraint and willingness to play it slow was more persuasive to him than any of her previous attempts. He slowly walked toward the bed, still taking his time to admire her, and her expression grew more and more nervous as he did.
“D-darling?” she said when he finally reached the bed, still having not said a word. Still silent, he reached out and cupped her face, causing her to squeak, before he leaned in and kissed her. Not like the shorter, relatively chaste kisses they had shared in the park, but instead a deep and passionate one, filled with desire that Aralen had been trying so hard to hide the past few days. But this time, there was no charm besides Penora’s natural beauty, and his head was clear, even as their lips parted and their tongues wrestled in their mouths, the sweet taste of Penora’s syrupy saliva filling his mouth. He was certain that he wanted this, and he wanted to make it up to Penora for being so cold in the days prior.
It wasn’t long until their bodies were wrapped around each other as Aralen lay in the bed beside Penora, their faces inches apart as they finally broke their kiss.
“Darling…,” Penora started, but he quickly shushed her.
“Penora, I’m sorry that I didn’t do this sooner with you. I know you wanted to so badly, but I wasn’t ready for it then, and even now I’m still not sure I’m entirely prepared. But I do know that I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to be living with you from now on, so I should be the best husband that you could want, right?” He smiled at her as she froze for a moment before she tackled him down onto the bed, her body pressed against his as she kissed him again, more passionately than before.
“Oh, Darling, I love you so much. Thank you, truly. I’ve been craving you so badly ever since you returned to me in the forest. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to hold back,” she said during the short breaths in their make-out session. Her hands were wandering as well, slowly teasing around the elf’s body as it tried to peel his shirt up and pants down. He did nothing to stop her, instead choosing to let his own hands grasp and grope at her curves, eliciting soft moans as their passionate kiss continued.
Her skimpy nightwear did nothing to protect her breasts from his hands, and he kneaded at them, causing Penora to break away with a gasp.
“Are you sure you’re inexperienced in this? Your hands feel amazing on me.”
He was sure, but it did feel good to be complimented like that, so he redoubled his assault on her tits, causing more moans. She didn’t let him get away with it for long, though, as her own hands started massaging his straining erection through his partially undone pants. Even though there was no aphrodisiac running through his body, it still felt amazing, and he dimly thought back to Selene’s comments on monster girl taming. She definitely seemed a lot more restrained, and his mind was mostly clear, save for the light lustful fog as he enjoyed the sensations she was giving him, but it was just as enjoyable, so far. Penora decided to take it even further as she pulled his cock from his pants, its head throbbing from his arousal.
“Ooh, someone’s excited. And you’ve been holding back this whole time. It must be so pent up, having to see me every day while I tease you,” she said while she began to stroke him gently, causing him to let out soft moans of pleasure. She smiled at his reaction, speeding up slightly as she leaned in to whisper into his ear.
“I’m so glad you finally gave in. I know we already had sex before, but now we can do so as proper husband and wife. So please, be gentle with me.”
With that, she pulled her hand away from his cock, giving him some time to breath while she took off her nightgown, revealing her body to him bare for the first time. He simply sat and stared at her curves, her perfectly sized breasts, just enough for his hand to grasp their entirety and topped with perky nipples, her flat stomach with a slim waist, her round hips that jutted out slightly before going down to her long, slender legs. He barely noticed her pulling his pants down entirely, followed by his shirt until he was fully naked, just like her, but he did notice her straddling his lap.
“Now, Darling, let’s make love,” she whispered into his ear right before lowering her hips down, her wet slit meeting his cock. They gasped in unison as the pleasure filled them, Aralen’s cock getting massaged as it pushed deeper into the dryad’s pussy. A sweet scent started to fill the room as the flower on Penora’s head slowly opened, though she didn’t seem to notice, occupied as she was with slowly bouncing up and down on his cock. Aralen barely noticed either, only appreciating the sweet smell as he thrust his hips in time with her, the pleasure building much quicker than expected.
The sensations continued to build as Penora slowly increased the speed of their lovemaking, the unbelievably soft sensation of her pussy wrapped around his member causing Aralen to lose his mind in pleasure. He couldn’t help but moan softly, his noises drowned out by the loud gasping coming from Penora as she continued to bounce, moving faster and faster, but they were both silenced when he leaned forward and captured her sweet lips again.
The sensation of having sex with Penora was infinitely better now than it had been in the forest, even without the charm spells she had put him under. The feeling that she really did truly love him was more than enough to offset it, and his own affection for the girl only added to it. A tiny voice in his head whispered that it was the Demonic Aura talking, that he wouldn’t care for her at all if it weren’t for its influence, but he shook it away. No matter the circumstances behind their union, her love for him, her kindness, and her beauty were enough for him to push those doubts aside.
The dryad’s breasts pressed against his chest, her legs straddling his own, her lips pressed against his while her tongue desperately searched his mouth, and her pussy grinding and milking his cock slowly drove his pleasure to a peak, his breathing growing ragged as his cock throbbed with finality. With a single, powerful thrust he came, shooting his seed deep inside the dryad, her own gasps of pleasure ringing out through the bedroom. Her orgasm caused her slit to clench down, milking every last drop of his essence out of him as he panted in pleasure, and they held onto each other as they rode out the waves of their orgasms.
Finally, they collapsed onto the bed, Penora’s pussy still holding onto his cock as they panted in the afterglow of their orgasms. Her brown eyes were inches away from his, filled with a love so pure he could hardly look away, and she leaned forward to give him one more final kiss.
“Thank you, Darling. You were amazing,” she panted, her chest heaving up and down before she collapsed into his arms, where he held her closely until they fell asleep together.