Mason finished his tour with the menagerie with his girls by trying to get a little time alone with each of them.

First he took Rosa's hand and pretty much had to pull her away, ignoring the eye rolls and dramatic breaths until he had her alone and against a tree.

"I missed you," he said, waiting with his lips an inch from hers.

"Yeah?" she said. "Name's Rosa. In case you forgot. I'm the Mexican. The one after Haley and Rebecca? But before the elf."

"Oh you really are feisty, aren't you?" Mason said. "You know I don't have the time or patience for this shit, but here you are, ready to fight."

Rosa's lips came forward, just touching his, then moved to whisper in his ear as her hand moved down to his waist.

"Are you saying you don't like it?"

She grabbed his crotch as he kissed her, and he very seriously considered banging her against that tree. But he wasn't at a place like that with his girls. One day, he hoped, they'd all cheer them on or join in. But today was not that day.

"Tonight," he said. "You're in my bed."

"What will you do, hmm?” she wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her against the tree. “Fuck us in order?"

"Maybe," Mason said, putting a hand up her skirt. "But you won't be bored."

"Promises, promises."

The back of Rosa's head hit the tree as Mason slid a finger against the thin fabric between him and her sex. Then he took his hand out and put her back down, smoothing her skirt and hair.

"I have a lot to do. But I want you home with the others." He put a hand under her chin and grinned. "Unless you'd rather just be on your own tonight."

Rosa cursed him and tried to squirm away, but Mason held her. He put his finger to her lips, and she moaned as she took it in and sucked.

"I want to be with you," she said quietly, and he kissed her more intimately.

"Good," he said. "I want you with me. Always."

"I am," she said, sighing as the fight went out. "I like my life here. I like being friends with the girls, because I...haven't had many girl friends before." She frowned, thick lips almost pouting. "But I don't have to like the elf."

Mason grinned and let her go.

"She'll grow on you. You didn't like the others, either."

Rosa gave him the finger without looking as she walked off, and Mason couldn't help but laugh.

Talking to Becky was a lot easier. When you'd been through all they had, in dungeons and on the road, 'civilian' life became a lot less serious. He just gave her a one armed hug and kissed her cheek, whispering in her ear.

"Tonight. The chief's hall. I want you with the other girls. Like the nymph tree."

Becky gave him a quirked brow and a sigh, shaking her head.

"You must be the luckiest son of a bitch alive. You don't even deserve Haley, let alone the rest of us."

He grinned and slapped her ass as he walked away, not exactly disagreeing. Finally he went to Haley.

"All the girls are joining me tonight," he said. "No nonsense. Other than that," he shrugged. "I don't have any rules."

"All the girls?" Haley asked, glancing at Lexi and Aila. Mason snorted and shook his head.

"All the girls I'm currently sleeping with. That's already plenty. Pretty soon it's going to look like a sports team. I also made rules, technically speaking. Uh, what was the number? Three?"

Haley got a little more serious at that.

"Three civilians, yes. Though you didn't say anything about elves. Or players. Probably because there’s only one female player here for the moment. That reminds me, we need to talk about Tommaso. He has been breaking said rules. Again."

Mason sighed, not remotely in the mood. "Not a problem I'm dealing with today. Now I'm going to go look at the oracle building, the scout building, and maybe the crafters if I have time. Can you make sure the girls all..." he trailed off as Haley nodded.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"I'll get them sorted. You don't want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm good. I'm not looking for all the details today. Just want a look." He gave her a peck on the lips and bit of a grope, then whistled for Streak and walked to the exit. "Yes you're coming," he shouted, when he felt the wolf whine through their bond.

It padded up next to him with a grumble, and he put his hand on his friend's head.

"Because I like you, that's why. And because if I have to suffer through all this, then so do you."

Streak shot him a very human-like glare, and Mason laughed as they walked towards what now looked like the 'elven quarter'.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, he found Dariya inside the 'Oracle' building, which looked somewhere between a carnie tarot reader shack and a hunting lodge. He winced as he pushed aside some beads in the doorway, got hit by the smell of incense...and something that smelled vaguely like a drug. He did his best not to think this would be all total astrology-like horseshit.

"Ah, Baron. I wanted to come and thank you for taking my recommendation. It was a very wise decision."

Dariya sat by an actual glass-like sphere, just the kind you'd expect in some bad movie about a fortune teller. Mason took a deep breath and sat in the lone chair opposite.

"You're welcome. Now what exactly can you do with it?"

"Touch the orb, my lord. And I will show you."

Mason reached out and put his hand on the sphere, which was warm and felt charged with electricity. Dariya's eyes glazed, and Apex Predator flashed.

[Ancient Elven Oracle is attempting to affect you with mind power: Elven Oracle Sight. Do you wish to resist?]

Dariya's brow bunched in confusion as Mason delayed. He trusted the elves, more or less, but it was fair to say he trusted Dariya the least. He didn't think of her as malicious, exactly, but she clearly served her own interests and never fully showed her hand. She had also tricked him once (rather easily) in the fey, convincing him she was some helpless old fool, when he suspected she was anything but.

He eventually sighed and accepted the prompt, and Dariya's face went back to concentration.

"My order is older than Sharisse," she said, her voice strong. "Older than the magic used by the council. We were founded with the forming of the world. I need no portals to travel, not in body, not in mind. See now what your heart desires to see."

Mason blinked and stared into the orb, which swirled with color until Mason was falling through clouds. He looked out over a plain, his vision growing until he felt too close to the orb to be possible. He blinked and looked out over a wide horizon, seeing grasslands and hills, a coast to the east, lakes dotting the landscape.

Then he saw a city stretching out along a river in the center of it all. He moved closer, seeing a confusing combination of structures. Some looked like they belonged in medieval England, others ancient Rome, with towering structures in the center that were half skyscraper and half ancient ziggurat.

Mason's view came closer and closer, straight to the huge towers until he dove through a window and floated into the same hall he'd seen on the video screen in his meeting with the 'emperor'. A smaller group of men sat on one side of the long table.

..."their strongest players will be in the twos," said a male voice. "The best rewards are there."

"I agree," said another. "I'm tempted to put our strongest in the threes and sixes. With so few settlements, they're unlikely to be able to field many larger teams."

"What? So you're just accepting that their strongest will beat ours? Assuming you and I, say, couldn't defeat them in the 2v2?"

Some of the men winced until another spoke.

"You saw their leader. Not even Jeong glows with such an aura of...violence. They've been in some hinterland all this time. Hardly any humans. And still he's killed that many? Who knows how strong he is. We have no idea how far the peaks of tier 1 are. We have no measure of his power until we see it."

"Do you think Jeong will enter the duels? It's hard to imagine him losing. But he may not take the risk. If this Mason defeated him..."

"He won't fight him," said another man.

"But the rewards...and what does it say if he doesn't?"

"Hold." A tall blonde man’s head quirked and his eyes narrowed in concentration. "There's...some kind of magic in the air. It's strong, but I'm beginning to..."

Something yanked Mason backwards through the window, vaulting him towards the clouds until he blinked and pulled away from the orb with a bit of dizzy disorientation.

"Apologies, Baron." Dariya looked a bit dizzy herself. "I hadn't expected anything powerful enough to detect us. I had to end the spell early. Was what you saw useful, at least?"

Mason got the feeling Dariya could see and hear exactly what Mason saw, but he kept that to himself.

"It was. How often can you do that? And what kind of control do you have over what I see?"

"Daily. And none at all." Dariya grinned. "I can only show you what you yourself understand or desire. I am not in control of the godpaths."

Mason thought back to what the librarian had told him in Sharisse. About the 'evil' fey, or the Unseelie, like the one who'd sent him to the elven city. Their magic worked like that, didn't it? Not so precise, like the elven wizards. Operating more on feelings. Desires. Fears. Was that the kind of magic Dariya used?

"Is that all you can do?" Mason asked.

A slow smile spread across Dariya's lips.

"Oh no, my lord. I can show you possible futures, and the past. I can show you the true nature of those you love. I can show you the hidden places of the world. I can show you the many ways you might die."

Mason snorted, deciding a large portion of that would be useless nightmare fuel. He stood and noticed Streak whining at the edge of the room, apparently unwilling to come in. He was going to need to have a long talk with Naya about her oracle, he decided, even if her orb could be very useful.

"For the cost of this place, I want that orb used as much as possible. But I won't have the time. I'll send you other players, probably a scout named Kiaan. You'll help them understand how to use it, and start mapping this world to find anything valuable or interesting."

Dariya bowed her head and smiled.

"Very wise, Baron. I will of course do as you command."

Mason stood and walked for the Scout's Enclave next, trying to shake off the creepy feeling he had near the 'Oracle Stone' and its wielder. He grabbed Streak's jaw and gave him a little push for the door.

"I heard you whining," he said. "It's just an orb. You're embarrassing me in front of the elves."

Streak snorted like he’d smelled something unpleasant, one last dubious glance towards the old elf before chasing behind Mason.