The whirling sensation of movement was back and worse than normal.

I’d learned in the past that closing my eyes didn’t really diminish the sensation of movement or the spiral of colors that surrounded me. A chorus of discordant noises sang out for what felt like both an instant and an hour in the same breath.

Amidst all the chaos, I caught sight of a shape that I thought was a Gothic cathedral, but done in a photo-negative color-palette, before it vanished as a swirling rainbow of light crashed into me. At that point I got the dubious joy of ‘tasting the rainbow’ in the most bizarre way.

Apparently the color blue tasted like chicken, who would have guessed?

The whirling stopped a moment later and I landed on a soft carpet with an ‘oof’. I was in a dimly lit room that looked familiar, but was hard to confirm at this odd angle.

“Liam! Wait wha…” Kassandra’s happy cheer confirmed my location before that happiness devolved into confusion as she sailed directly overhead. Her brick-red and earth-brown patterned tail trailed after her to land on the other side of me in a heap. It took a second for my brain to process what had just happened but I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up when I made the connection.

Kassandra had made it a bit of a habit to greet me rather exuberantly whenever I arrived from a summoning. That usually resulted in her attempting to knock me over with a flying hug that had quite a bit of force behind it. Despite being a ‘dwarf’ breed of lamia, meaning she was smaller than a standard lamia, she still had quite a bit of mass behind her. I’d gotten the hang of catching her and turning with the movement to let her coil her serpentine lower half around me, rather than knock me over, but that was only a recent development.

Apparently, my prone arrival had thrown off her normal greeting. That had resulted in her leaping before she looked and her subsequent graceful flight over me.

“Where…oh! Liam are you okay?” Kassandra had landed rather nimbly for someone with several hundred pounds and almost ten feet of serpentine tail. A scowl started out on her cherubic face but that quickly changed to concern as she caught sight of me lying flat on the ground. She hurried to slither over to me. The auburn bombshell curls that surrounded her face bounced at the sinuous movement, matching a similar animation to her curves.

“I’m fine, Kass.” I was able to say quickly before she repeated her previous tackling maneuver, this time aimed properly and with me unable to dodge.

Kassandra landed on my chest with a delicate ‘oof’ of delight followed by a happy squeal. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a kiss that left me with the distinct impression that I’d been missed. Pinned down as I was by her long body that was now piled over my lower half, I was at her mercy for the time being so I didn’t fight it.

Woe is me, I know…

Kassandra spent an indeterminate amount of time happily wriggling against me while we kissed. Don’t ask me how long it was, I didn’t have enough oxygen to think straight, let alone available blood to carry said oxygen. It was all being press ganged elsewhere in my body.

When my happy partner finally surfaced for air, it was with a heady giggle and a strong enough blush that it hid the dusting of freckles I knew graced her cheeks and the little button nose she had. Kassandra had foregone wearing her silver-rimmed spectacles, of which I was thankful as they’d have hurt to smack into my face, and her inquisitive, slitted eyes glimmered down at me like a pair of chocolate diamonds.

“Hello, Liam. I missed you.” She purred, wiggling on top of me before burying her face in my neck and squeezing me closer again.

“Missed you too, Kass.” I murmured back to her, letting the tight hug that I’d wrapped her up with relax, though I left one hand in her hair while the other stroked her lower back. Kassandra made several happy moaning noises into my neck at that, her hips rolling back and forth in a very enticing way from where they rested on my stomach.

Because of her smaller size due to being a ‘dwarf’ lamia, Kassandra’s human half was a good deal smaller than normal. At her normal height when moving about she was only around three to four feet tall, coming in under my rib cage when we stood side by side. Despite her smaller size and stature though, she was fully a woman. Her curves left nothing to chance in that regard. It had taken me a bit of time to get my mind around the fact that despite being so small in height, she was a fully grown adult of her species. Not that Kassandra made it hard to believe, given her ribald sense of humor and blatant flirting that had gone on.

A flirting that was even now making it difficult to marshal enough blood up into my higher brain from where it was hanging out in my lower brain so I could actually talk intelligibly. I could tell from the sensation of two hard points digging into my chest that Kassandra was only wearing a thin shirt, something in a light peach color as it blended in with her skin.

“Kass?”

“Yes, Liam?” The mumbled reply came from my neck and the vibrations sent a rush up my spine that made it even harder to think. I blame that for what came out of my mouth next. To be fair, I’d been thinking about it all week, but at that moment it just grew legs and made its escape from inside my chest via my mouth.

“Love you, Kass.”

The silence that fell a moment later only lasted long enough for me to begin to realize what I’d said and for worry to start growing before an excited squeal deafened my left ear. The arms around my neck promptly hauled me into another passionate kiss while her serpentine body thrashed happily, twining around each of my legs to firmly lock me in place. Whether she just wanted to cuddle closer or was trying to keep me from escaping, I wasn’t entirely sure and had better things to think about at the moment.

“Oh, Liam. I didn’t expect you to say that already.” Kassandra panted as we separated to stare into each other's eyes. Her slitted eyes danced with affection while the blush that had taken up residence on her cheeks looked like it was settling in for a long-term stay.

Deciding that I had already stuck my foot in it and that I wasn’t about to back down now, I continued while looking into her eyes. “It’s the truth, Kass. You are funny, sexy, and so open with your affections. I don’t know where it’s going, but I know that I’m falling for you harder every day we spend together.”

“We will figure it out as we go, Liam. I know there will be hurdles with my rank and you being a Traveler, but that is a problem for another day.” Kassandra reassured, leaning back down to press a kiss on my forehead, each cheek, then onto the tip of my nose. “I’m in no rush to hang signs on us, I just know I share that feeling with you. My big, strong protector.” Kassandra purred happily, nuzzling under my chin with a giggle like the ringing of a silver bell.

“As adorable as the two of you are, we did summon him here for a reason, Kass.” The dryly amused tones of my other bonded companion came from somewhere on the other side of the room. It was followed by the quiet shush of leather slippers on the wooden floor before Rieka peeked over the back of the nearest couch at me, her ice-blue eyes twinkling with amusement while her wolf ears were perked straight upright. I could still hear a quiet sound of movement and could imagine her fluffy tail shifting back and forth as she smirked down at me.

“You are welcome to come join us if you want, Rieka. I don’t think Kass is going to let me up any time soon.” I suggested doing my best to maintain a straight face. I wasn’t blushing nearly as badly now around either girl. I expected it was a side effect of being caught in the middle of an intimate moment with Kassandra the previous weekend by Rieka herself.

“Yes, Rieka! Join us.” Kassandra sang with roguish glee, not shifting at all from her spot under my chin. The innuendo was so heavy in Kassandra’s tone that it felt like it had a physical weight in the moment. Rieka blushed slightly but locked eyes with me and gave me a questioning look. I gave her a wink and gestured at Kassandra with one hand and then at my belt, concealing the motion as shifting to tuck some hair back from her face.

Rieka grinned and padded quickly around the sofa while still blushing slightly, clearly having gotten my message.

“Don’t mind if I do, Kassandra.” Rieka replied blithely while yanking the belt of her silk breeches open and letting the metallic buckle fall to the floor with a clatter after having pulled it loose specifically for that reason.

Kassandra stiffened slightly in my arms and turned her head to eyeball Rieka suspiciously. Seeing she was still fully clothed other than her belt being loose and a wide smirk on her face, Kassandra sighed at her friend.

“Aww, you had my hopes up, Rieka.” Kassandra said with a faux pout. Rieka just rolled her eyes and knelt down next to Kassandra to poke her in the cheek that wasn’t currently pressed to my chest.

“Come on, you. Let our human up so that we can talk. You can cuddle him up on your lounge better than here on the floor and I guarantee you can wrap him better there too.” Rieka reminded Kassandra, who made a great production of sighing before unwrapping me and slithering off to let me up. Kassandra did make it a point to slither up and over my face, which resulted in first her full breasts being pressed into my face, then her tight tummy and finally the skirt covered mound of her womanhood before she slid to one side to let her scaled length slide over my shoulder.

“Minx.” I grumbled while Rieka offered a hand to help me up.

“Yes, but well…we both knew she was to begin with.” Rieka commiserated with a grin, bracing herself carefully to help pull me upright. “Good to see you again, Liam. Kass really has been sulking about the academy this week.”

“With good reason!” Kassandra grumbled from the large, round couch that she preferred to curl up on. It was honestly more like an oversized ottoman than a couch since it didn’t have a back, but the specifics didn’t honestly matter.

“Missed both of you. I also agree with Kass that it was with good reason.” I pulled Rieka into a hug that had her sighing happily and leaning into me. The tips of her wolfish ears tickled my chin lightly while I heard the gentle shush of her tail wagging back and forth pick up speed. The wagging only increased further as one of my hands settled between her ears and began stroking gently. I’d learned previously that Rieka really enjoyed headpats, but refused to accept them in public as it wasn’t seen as ‘dignified’ for a princess.

I half-expected Kassandra to protest or cut in with some bawdy comment or thought, but when I glanced up she was just grinning at the both of us with a satisfied tilt to her smile. However, her mischief would not be denied.

When Kassandra realized I was staring at her, she quickly gripped the bottom of her shirt and yanked it upwards to expose her full breasts and their hardened peaks. It had come up at random during one of our conversations while traveling, that bras did not exist here, just basic breast-bands and corsets. I was rather happy with this discovery, as was reconfirmed today. Not once, but twice already. At least in the case of the mischievous lamia.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Coughing in surprise, I must have disturbed Rieka because the wolf kin woman released me and turned to glare at Kassandra, who had already lowered her shirt and concealed the ‘evidence’ of her misdeeds.

“Kass!”

“What?”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Kassandra’s face was a mask of complete innocence. “Anyway, we summoned Liam here for a reason, Rieka. Stop monopolizing our human!”

The fact that Kassandra delivered the line that Rieka had used on her earlier with such a straight face left the fourth princess gobsmacked and staring at her.

Deciding to play peacemaker, as was rapidly becoming my role with these two, I wrapped an arm around Rieka’s shoulders and urged her to come and sit down in the chair I knew she preferred from my previous visits.

With Reika settled, Kassandra yanked me onto the couch with her before wrapping her serpentine body around my waist twice and ending up snuggled across my lap and into my right shoulder with a happy sigh.

“There we go, much more comfortable. I knew moving off the floor was a good idea.” Kassandra continued with unrepentant mirth. This time though, Rieka did not rise to the bait and instead just rolled her eyes before picking up a sheet of parchment that was covered in her neat writing.

“So, there are two or three major things we needed to discuss with you, Liam.”

“That’s good, I actually had one to discuss with you girls too.” I added, stroking Kassandra’s hair lightly while she remained snuggled into my chest.

“Oh? Which of us should go first then?” Rieka asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Mine is just a quick bit of information and I figure it will need some thought from both of you so no rush. That’s a lie actually, I want to rush on it but I also know it is best not to.”

“Go ahead, Liam.” Kassandra chirped, shifting so she could look up at me in curiosity, though she didn’t release the hold her arms had on me.

“Well I had a new power open up and my case-worker told me it was best to get in touch with you two about it. Apparently, I hit a threshold after our recent trip that lets me invest in an ability called Manipulate Elements (Minor) that should let me use magic, as well as one that is called Mana Reservoir that will apparently let me retain mana internally in a small, regenerating pool so I don’t need to use coins like you girls do.”

The silence that ensued lasted for several seconds while the girls both stared at me. Kassandra even leaned back enough to stare up at me in surprise. It was Rieka who finally broke the silence though.

“What element did it offer you?”

“Ah, that’s the thing. I can…well…pick?” Both girls' eyes widened further and I rushed to elaborate. “At least from the four basic elements. I have to pick one of them but I was told that I could force it to aspect to a higher form like you two had.”

“Liam, that is unbelievable!” Crowed Kassandra, lunging upward to wrap her arms around my head with the speed of a striking snake. This resulted in my face being buried in the plush valley of her breasts with only the thin barrier of her linen shirt between our skin, so I wasn’t about to complain very much.

“Well, the unbelievable does seem to be par for the course with Liam.” I couldn’t tell since my face was firmly wedged between two soft mountains, but I thought I could hear the laughter in Rieka’s voice.

“What did you pick, Liam?” Kassandra demanded from above me. I tried to speak but the pressure of her hug was such that I couldn’t really form the words properly. Tickling her sides got a giggle out of the dwarf lamia and she loosened her grip, sliding back down to ‘sit across’ my lap like she had been earlier. “Tell us!” She demanded again, poking me in the chest several times.

“I haven’t picked yet.” I protested, batting at her hands gently to try and make her stop without hurting her. Kassandra just laughed gaily and went back to doing her best to tickle me.

The easy affection from the redhead in my lap was just as soothing to my exhausted heart as her cuddles and loving words had been earlier. I couldn’t help but pull her into a tight hug of my own. Kassandra let out an ‘eep’ of surprise before snuggling into the hug.

Rieka just watched from her seat, a delicate porcelain teacup in her hands and a smirk on her face.

“You figured out how to shut her up finally.” Rieka said delicately.

“Oh I knew of ways I could use before, but this is more polite than the other ones I knew of.” Rieka tilted her head to one side in confusion while sipping her tea, so I elaborated more. “It doesn’t require me to drop my pants at least.” A blush danced across Rieka’s features at that and she choked on her tea in surprise. A muffled giggle came from Kassandra, still wrapped up in my arms.

“Not as much fun though!” Kassandra managed to mumble out before I released her. “Seriously though, Liam. Which did you pick?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I remembered you had said before that if I had a magic that matched one of you, I could help bolster it. Since you two have advanced aspects, it wouldn’t be immediate but I could pick up the precursor of one of your powers and work to aspect it to be able to help you. Or I could pick one that you don’t already have to help round us out.”

“Fire!” Kassandra immediately demanded, just as I had expected.

Rieka took a moment to consider the situation, leaning back into her seat for a moment before reaching around to fish out her tail and bring it around to lay in her lap. When it was there, she stroked the fluffy mass gently while she thought.

“While I hate to steal Kassandra’s dreams…I think you would actually be better served with earth as a specialty.” Rieka said at last, looking up from where she’d been finger-combing her fluffy tail.

“Boo! Earth is boring.” Kassandra grumbled and then sighed. “But I have to agree with Rieka. Depending on how much you use it and what you use it for, earth might be the best choice for utility.”

“Care to elaborate?” I poked one of Kassandra’s puffed-out cheeks, bringing a smirk back to her face before she captured my fingertip with her teeth and growled playfully.

“Earth magic is generally very straightforward. It tends to be short-range at times, until you get the hang of it. And finally, it allows you more freedom to manipulate the engagement through creating pits, sinkholes, mud bogs, or concealed spikes.” Rieka ticked the ideas off with her fingers while she talked. “For example: You are being charged by mounted warriors or even one of the centaur tribes, if you are quick enough you can prepare the land in front of the charging enemy and can create a large number of small holes in the ground to trip or lame. With the crag hunter we encountered, if you could transmute some of the ground under it into mud then it would have lost a great deal of speed and maneuverability.”

“My concern is the small amount of mana I’ll have to work with. Is ten mana points going to be equivalent to ten iron coins? Ten silver? Or is ten points only one coin worth? The Mana Reservoir is far more expensive than the elemental one. Heck, I could pick up two elements right out the gate easily and still be able to afford the Mana Reservoir after all.” Both girls listened to my complaints intently and considered what I had said.

“Can you fill us in more on the power? What its apparent limits are and the like?” Rieka asked after a moment. Closing my eyes, I read off the information to them directly from the System interface.

“Hmm…I’d focus on just one element for the moment.” Kassandra said when I was complete. “I don’t like that it measures mana differently than we do, but that is unavoidable. I also want to know what your regeneration rate is. But it doesn’t state that either.”

“Yea, just that it depends on your environment.” Huffed Rieka with a frown.

“So I should grab the earth magic option and the Mana Reservoir? I can always pick up fire later if I have time.”

“Yea, I think that is best. While having two elements isn’t uncommon, it does divide the focus of the caster. Most times people will pick one to be their major and just use the other to supplement it. I know a few people who have a split earth/water that work to balance it since both can be used in healing, though water is still considered ‘better’. It ultimately comes back to having the mana to practice with each element.” Kassandra said at last, burrowing back into my side and resting her cheek on my chest with a happy sigh.

“Well, if you think so. I’ll need to practice a lot to get used to it. Speaking of, what's the plan for this weekend? You two did summon me to do planning after all, right?”

“I summoned you for other reasons, but Rieka insisted we do some planning first.” Grumped Kassandra cutely, though the grump faded immediately when I pressed a kiss to her forehead and she rose up to demand one on the lips as well.

“Yes, we had planned to focus on collecting funds to improve our camp gear and get a dimensional pouch to help store supplies make camping easier. Helping with the camping setup is something else you can use your magic for too, depending on how much it costs you. Making a campsite more comfortable and the like. I know there are some masters of earth magic that can throw up stone fortifications with ease, so smoothing or softening ground for comfort should be easy if you go that route.”

“Plus, we need to start looking into supplements for him.” Kassandra butted in.

“Supplements?”

“Yes, there are certain things that summoners can give their bonded companions that will help their powers grow. Mana aspected crystals are one thing, as are some types of pills, herbs, or foods and the like. The intent is to help the bonded creature grow faster. It’s part of the project we are working on for our class and something we’ll need to summon you for to help get an appraisal from the instructor on. Though I have no idea if it works the same with a Traveler.” Rieka explained, setting her teacup aside for now and leaning forward to rest her arms on her knees.

“Fair point. I can ask Cari about it, she’s my go-to for information on Travelers after all.” I said with a shrug, making a note to send it to Cariad later.

“Besides that, I think we should change plans for tomorrow, Rieka.” Kassandra said, her voice serious. “If Liam is picking up an element, he needs to practice with it. If we bring him here tomorrow, we can see if one of the girls that has earth mana will walk him through the basics. Then, if everything goes well, we can do a close-loop mission the day after.”

“That…actually would work.” Rieka tapped her fingers to her lips lightly in thought before nodding. “Yes, I think that is a good idea. I can talk to Miss Cedarfall and see if she could spare us a few hours. I know she’s been wanting help on some of her utility water magic to keep her skills balanced. She’s one of the lucky ones to have two elements. If she’s not available, then maybe I can talk Jane Carsan into it?”

“I’d prefer Cedarfall if we can. I like Jane, she’s super cute with those big mouse ears, but she’s so nervous around me…” Kassandra sighed despondently, but cheered up when I squeezed her closer in a hug.

“I’ll approach Miss Cedarfall tonight and see if she’s available for tomorrow before noon for a few hours. She can get Liam started on it at the very least and give him a talk on earth magic and you can work with her on water in between while Liam rests to recover. I’ll bounce between you two to help out, that way it’s fair for all involved.”

“Except for you two, since you are paying to summon me just to have me trained.” I protested.

“Investment, Liam. Besides, you train back home for us as well. It doesn’t hurt to have you trained here on occasion. Besides, Kass and I can write it up that way for class and that will keep the instructor happy.” Rieka said with a shrug.

“You should go and track down Cedarfall.” Kassandra suggested after a moment of silence. “I need to put Liam to work here, that way he gets his ‘payment’ for fulfilling the task he was summoned for.”

“Oh?” Rieka blinked in surprise at her friend. “What was that? I thought we summoned Liam for planning.”

“You wanted to do some planning, but I summoned him for something else.” Kassandra purred, nuzzling into my neck and pressing a kiss to the underside of my jaw. The sensation made a shiver run down my body.

“Ah yes…well I will let you get to that, Kass.” Rieka muttered, rolling her eyes as she got to her feet to head for the door.

“You are welcome to join us whenever you want, Rieka.” Kassandra called at her retreating back, causing the wolf noblewoman to trip on the rug. “Just don’t bring anyone else with you for a bit. I don’t mind sharing with you early though.”

“You are nothing but mischief, Kass.” I gave her a squeeze to distract her from teasing Rieka, letting the wolf kin woman escape through the door of Kassandra’s rooms.

“Not just mischief. I’m also full of desire, Liam. I’ve got another two hours on the summon…Let me get the door locked and a spell or two up to block the noise…then I want you to make love to me again. Show me what you can do with a bed this time?” Kassandra husked, looking up at me with hooded eyes.

The edges of my vision flashed and a message scrolled across my view.

Assist your contracted companion, Kassandra Silverscale, with her desires.

Reward - 100 SP

Now that is a mission I’m happy to accomplish. I thought with a grin and pushed myself up to stand with Kassandra still wrapped tightly around me. The dwarf-lamia gave an excited squeal as I rose upwards, clinging to me as I crossed the room to lock the door.

“As you wish, Kass.” I murmured in her ear as we crossed to the bed. Kassandra had enough presence of mind to grab her spell rod and quickly cast her contraceptive charm as well as another spell at the walls before I settled onto the bed and drew her into a kiss.