Dem’s home was just as he remembered it, though it lacked what he was looking for right this moment. His parents. As his party arrived, he could sense they weren’t within the hovel, and with the night cycles approaching they should have been barricaded inside. There was no damage to the exterior that he could see. Still he was worried, if they weren’t here, where were they? Had someone come for them because of him? Who?

The night cycles always made the ground soggy and wet, each of his steps caused a loud sucking sound as he pull his shoes from the muck to take the next step. The sound was deafening as he approached his home, afraid of what he might find within. He didn’t smell the usual stench of death associated with bodies, at least. Though just because their bodies weren’t here, didn’t mean they weren’t elsewhere. His heart was beating heavily in his chest as he pushed into the squat structure.

He use a illumination cantrip as he entered, brightening the gloom of the single wide room. It was cold and lifeless, and most of the easily taken things were gone, though no disorder could be found. Nothing was damaged. At first was Dem was totally confounded, but eventually he found a note left on a piece of bark-parchment. Its contents were simple. A messenger had found his parents through some bribery to one of their distant neighbors, telling them there was a home in the settlement ready for them courtesy of a business associate of Dem’s. Apparently it taken several messages and flashing some gold before his parents would believe it was true. Knowing how stubborn his parents, or more specifically, his mother was, it made sense they would be apprehensive. Ultimately, though, they had taken what they could and left to avoid the oncoming night.

He sighed in relief, still staring at the note. This was likely the work of Greer. Someone seeking his life wouldn’t bother with such a convoluted plan to get his parents. It occurred to him his paranoia was getting the better of him because, so far as he knew, all his enemies were dead or bent to his service. There was no one currently seeking his life, or so he assumed, yet his paranoia was undeniable. He didn’t enjoy the thought of constantly living in suspicion. He needed to set as much as he could right and then relax, lay low, and enjoy his recent increase in wealth and security.

The scare he had just, coming home to an empty place, was offset by the feeling of relief that Greer was ahead of schedule on their plan to get his parents to safety. He he would have to do his best to please the woman. He wondered, briefly, if she had any odd.. demands he would have to meet?

***

Dem left Ina and Graf in his parent’s home. They were probably the scariest thing this close to the settlement, so he had little worry about them. He could see Graf eyeing Wersa as they prepared to enter the settlement, but Dem let it go. What surprised him was that Wersa wasn’t entirely indifferent to the boar beastman’s gaze. Dem could only roll his eyes at the odd romance. Wersa had never struck him as someone who would be interested in beastfolk, but then again neither had he ever imagined he would be interested in beastfolk either. No words were exchanged between the two Warriors, and he was thankful they hadn’t hugged as they parted. Did Warriors hug? He wasn’t sure.

As Wersa and Dem moved towards the settlement he could see small lights in the forest around him. This was the only the time the people of the hamlets made their locations known with fires to ward against beasts who shunned the light. It was rather beautiful, the waning light above and the small bits of light in the distance. The vegetation tended to curl up, almost as if it were sleeping during night cycles allowing one to see much further into the distance. The smell of woodsmoke from these fires was always pleasing to his nose, despite what they meant.

Wersa, taking Karmis with her, had split from him and gone ahead. Karmis’ condition was bad enough he had decided that the only reasonable explanation was that she had been sickened at some point in their journey. There was no way of faking otherwise considering her inability to stand by herself. Wersa would have to do all the work. He had left Wersa with a stark, and unneeded, warning about what would happen if she failed or spoke of what had happened within their Party. He felt like some sort of bandit or criminal threatening her, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. His life hinged on making what had happened totally unremarkable to the outside observer. Wersa had even offered advice about how to handle Karmis’ decline.

In a minor act of cowardice, one he hoped he wouldn’t regret, he had told Wersa to handle Karmis’ eventual demise however she saw fit, so long as they completed the job with the Tower and she did not expose them. He told Wersa to take her time figuring out how to deal with Karmis, as he intended to lie low for a while and enjoy the safety of the settlement. Perhaps he would help his parents find new work, he wasn’t sure. It was doubtful his Da would want to do anything but cut down trees, but his Ma could find something new to do.

He still couldn’t just order Karmis’ death, despite its inevitability. There was something different about killing someone who could not harm you versus killing in self-defense. The latter was normal in the Wilds. If he had to be honest, both were actually both were pretty normal, but only the latter was normal to him. He had never had to kill a person before, but it wasn’t something that was surprising to him. The Wilds were that sort of place. Despite the cheapness of life, Banditry and criminality were more uncommon. The Tower would often put out bounties on the heads of the truly gregarious murders and thieves. Though, when the worst offenders were adventurers, the worst they got were fines and the suggestion they move on to a different settlement or city.

When Dem filled reached the line waiting to enter the settlement, its was thirty or forty people long. Wersa, as an adventurer, would have the right to skip it, but he did not. He had opted to enter in a low-key manner rather than try to follow Wersa in. It was best he wasn’t associated with the Warrior woman in the meantime. Perhaps he could have her seek his services later, when he was ready to make some more gold.

As he waited in line, he got the same occasional looks he had received the last time he was in line, but he ignored them. Instead, he looked at the bright lights of the bonfires steadily burning on the top of the walls of the settlement. He had always enjoyed the sight as a child. He was never safe in the hamlets, but the lights of the settlement were always, at very least, comforting. To him, the fire represented a kind of hope. The hope that safety did actually exist, and that one day he would gain it for his family. He smiled at the thought that he had finally gained what he needed, though it had come at a cost that wasn’t entirely yet apparent.

***

Other than the wait, entering the settlement had been no problem. As a freelancer for the guild he could enter the settlement, even right before the onset of night. If he wanted to stay though, he would have to show residency. He needed to prove either than he had rented a room somewhere within the settlement walls, or even better, he had a settlement home. There was he could do the paperwork later to confirm his residency. First, he wanted to find Greer and then his parents. In reality, he wanted to do that in reverse order, but knowing Greer, she would want him to see her first, before he got to see his parents. If for no other reason, than to flex her power over him subtlety.

He stopped by a local directory, spending a bit of silver, to find Greer’s home. Officials and merchants generally had publicly-known residences, so that they could be found by messengers, but of course the information hadn’t been free. He had kept some of the silver from the payment for his healing the amateur party, and he spent it now, buying Greer’s location and a meal for himself. He wanted to meet Greer on a full stomach. He even bought a bottle of fairly expensive fruit-wine from a local tavern. The woman proprietor who owned the tavern had gone out of her way to help him pick something good. She had stood a little too close to him, touch his arms occasionally to get his attention as she pointed out a particular good vintage. The woman was older than Greer, but was shameless in her flirting. He had trouble leaving the woman, as she had asked him a series of increasingly personal questions. She had offered him a room upstairs if he hadn’t a place to stay. He could guess what the room would cost. Turn her down in as gentle a manner possible, he was able to leave. Even as he left, the woman practically holding on to him.

The night was full upon them as he finally reached Greer’s door. There wasn’t much business to do during night cycles, and so merchants and officials would often rest during the night unless some emergency broke the peace. Craftsman would work through the night cycles generally, if they had enough raw materials stockpiled to last them.

He sucked in a breath and knocked on her door. Her home was rather fantastic, by his own humble standards. She had the entire top floor of a small four story building to herself, it even has a small garden on the roof. He assumed Greer was wealthy, but this was impressive. Several families could live in the space Greer occupied. Its sequence rent had to be in the tens of gold. More gold than he had earned in his life, up until recently anyway.

Greer had answered the door, her face lighting up as she took him in. She didn’t say anything, and neither did he, as he let her look him up and down. The smile on her face was the same one she used when she was evaluating a valuable piece of merchandise. He was glad he had cleaned himself before he arrived, because the next look she gave him was more predatory.

Her hand flashed out and grabbed the front of his leathers, and she pulled him inside.

***

Dem’s whole body would have been aching but for the healing he had performed on himself. The woman, despite being older than him, had been insatiable. She had ridden him in every room of her large home over and over again. Just when he was about relax, and maybe about to read one of her books, or go seek out his parents, she pushed him on the nearest flat surface, used her mouth to ready him, and then ridden him to their mutual completion. She had repeated these actions nearly every time he had the temerity to look like he was rested enough for another round. He assumed he would have to.. perform for Greer, for her help. He didn’t really mind, it had been something of a fantasy of his as he reached puberty, but this was something else. At least she hadn’t been selfish, always ensuring he finished as well. He had to heal them both several times to avoid chafing and soreness.

He liked to think he had given as good as he got, but it wasn’t true. On the occasions he had decided to initiate, he tried to tire the woman out, or at least show her she couldn’t be in total control of whatever relationship they had. His approach had been aggressive, more aggressive than he had been with Ina or Dice. There was something about Greer’s weak, soft, body, that appealed to him, and had driven him to bend the woman over a few times. His increased strength had left some bruises, but Greer had take his aggression without complaint, with a slight smirk on her face, only demanding healing later. If anything, she seemed to like it when he initiated. He felt no real gain to his Path from any of this, which told him he fundamentally didn’t believe himself in the dominant position in their relationship despite whatever he attempted. He could only surmise Greer was far more experienced than he was, and everything was going to her expectations.

He couldn’t understand the woman. This had gone on for nearly five cycles. Greer must have been pent up, to keep him here for so long. She had even spent silver to have meals delivered to them, which was surprising considering her obsession with currency. Though, perhaps her home was a testament the fact she also didn’t really mind spending money on her own pleasure. She had used a number of alchemists concoctions and tinctures to supplement their time together. He had to assume she had spent nearly a gold just keeping them there and supplied with food and tonics. He had been sure to use his contraceptive cantrip, and he assumed she was as well, but he had left his seed so many times in the woman, that he was still concerned. Contraceptive cantrips were afforded to everyone by the Tower, and had a good chance at preventive pregnancy, if even if one of the participants used them. If every participant used contraceptive cantrips then the chance for pregnancy was even less.

He wondered what was really going on here. Greer could have had any number of other men in her bed. She was attractive and clearly more wealthy than he knew. Unless the grimoire had done something beyond belief to him, Greer had other reasons for wanting him here than just his looks. He didn’t know what those reasons were and he wasn’t in a position to outright ask for her motives. He needed her good will. He also could admit to enjoying himself, though too much of a good thing was a problem.

Greer had been tight-lipped with him anyhow. She had only told him where he could find his parents after the first few times they had sex. Eventually, he even got her to admit that she had sold the elder snake beast core for an astounding sum of eight gold, minus her fees and the cost of having in appraised. This had been the impetuous for her rushing his parents into the settlement as it was a enough to fund their their living expenses for for the foreseeable future. He hadn’t actually gotten the chance to go speak with his parents yet, though he did speak to Ina and Graf over their bond. Wersa had left the the settlement with Karmis in tow, but had sent a messenger with a note saying she would return soon. He could sense vaguely where she was, or at the very least, in what direction she was heading, but he couldn’t communicate in words over their connection, whatever it was. He had tried to put all his concerns out of his mind over the last five cycles. Greer had even already filled out the paperwork to make her residence also his residence legally. He didn’t know how he felt about that, but it was already done. He would make up an excuse to go hunting as soon as Wersa returned. He never thought he would ever get tired of sex, but his life lately was full of the unexpected.

As he was considering the exact words of the excuse he would make, he could feel Greer begin to waken next to him. Her dark hair framed her face. She was more pretty than beautiful, or at least until she set her usual grin on her face. Then she was more.. Striking? Captivating? He didn’t have the words.

She wore nothing, as was her usual dress, while in her own home. Her bust trembled as she yawn, and she stretched her arms into a wide ‘V’, one bumping into him. They lay on a large bed, with light color sheets. The bed looked new, as if she had just bought it for the purpose of bedding him in as much luxury as possible. All around them strewn their clothes and various outfits Greer had put on and then prompt taken off.

Her eyes snapped open, and her face found the smirk he always looked forward to seeing. Immediately her hand began to seek something under the sheets. He pretended not to notice. Letting her play her games, while he considered the future.

“Lover, you look like you’re grappling with an important question. What is it?” Her tone was casual. Greer had taken to calling him 'lover', though she seemed to prefer when he addressed her in a less casual manner.

“Gree-r.” His voice broke slightly, mid-word. Her hand had found what it was seeking just as he was beginning to speak. Her grip surprisingly strong.

“It isn’t important, ah..” His voice trailed off. His focus elsewhere.

Moments later, just as the woman was about to mount him again, what number this was he had long past lost count, there was a hard knock at the door to her home.

“I-I better get it..” Dem stammered his words, as he left the too-big bed. Her grip on him slackened, as she let him go. Her face took on a slight pout.

“Hurry back, lover.” Her eyes predatory, staring holes in his back. He quickly slipped on his leather pants, and moved towards the door. As he was about to unlock and open the door, there was another great knock. This one was accompanied by a gruff voice, speaking loudly through the door.

“Demneh the Tamer, we seek Demneh the Tamer.”

Dem’s body froze up. Wasn’t he finally safe? What could they want him for? Was the Divine Humanity rescuing him from a life of sexual servitude? Did he want to be rescued? Why couldn’t he just be left alone to find his lost contentment?