(Adam)

"Something I just thought about," Caleb says, and I look over at him. "We should've told Jamie to get us cloaks and masks, too."

"Cloaks and masks?" I ask.

"Yeah," he nods. "It's something demons will occasionally use to enter the settlements of those with weaker senses. They can't tell we're demons that way, and unless they can see enough of us, they can't use Appraisal on us."

Really? I didn't know that. I wonder how often demons actually don those outfits so they can sneak into settlements to do stuff. What do they go into them for? How long can they put up with clothes for before they get agitated?

I know Caleb shucks his clothes once Jamie's fully asleep. He's fine with flaunting his torso in front of Jamie, but feels hesitant to show off the rest of his stuff, especially since he wants to get used to clothes, so that he can live in a settlement with others, and not bother them.

Speaking of demons and their traits…

"How are you holding up?"

"What?" He looks over at me. "Holding up?"

"I know you lied to Jamie," I tell him. "There are some things demons just can't resist. We're six hours from those villages – less than an hour if we go at top speed. "

"Villages?" He looks confused. "I thought you said there was only one?"

I did?

"Uh," my cheeks heat up. "I guess I did, didn't I? Jamie's going to have an interesting time. Knowing that there's one small village of non-combatants would be enough to set off your urges. It wasn't originally inherent, but it somewhat is an inherited trait, now – your desire to kill, to destroy, to rape and murder and consume. A village of weak, defenseless creatures… I know you must be struggling, despite your calm face."

"It's so hard," he leans forward, staring into the embers of our fire. We should probably add some logs to it, it's getting dark out. "Knowing you're around has kept me, keeps the primal side, from giving in when it's just us, and I'm grateful for that, because I don't want to hurt Jamie, but… fighting it isn't really something I can really put off for long.

"The worst part," he continues. "Is that I can't even get off properly. Masturbating alone isn't quite enough for me, and even a few hours of it isn't enough to satisfy my demonic sexual stamina."

And stopping is probably rough for him. Demons, once they get going, have a very, very difficult time stopping until they're completely spent. He only gets himself off once a week, with Jamie around, because he doesn't want to freak Jamie out more, and so does it only when he's absolutely sure Jamie's asleep.

That boy possibly doesn't realize just how much we're into him, and we don't want to spook him, in case he really doesn't know.

Caleb probably has an easier time stopping because he's only masturbating, but if he started doing more, he likely wouldn't be able to stop. If it was with Jamie… the human wouldn't be able to keep up. It's part of why demons are regarded as such dangerous creatures – they'll keep going until the victim is spent, then just toss them aside and grab another.

Demons feed off the fear and pain of others, for the most part. To them, raping and pillaging a village, town, or city is more than a source of pleasure for them – it's a source of power, too. Demons have abysmally low regeneration rates for Mana, but a single pillage could refill even those with massive Mana pools.

The temporary boost to their full power as well is tempting to them, and demons don't resist easily. The longer they resist, the harder it becomes for them to.

"Which side are you?" I ask, and he gives me a confused look. "Do you prefer to penetrate, prefer to be penetrated, or both?"

"Prefer to be penetrated," he answers. "But either way, whatever Jamie is, he wouldn't be able to keep up, and I'd just keep going until I finally finished, and he'd-"

"So you're hoping to be a member of a male harem with him?" I ask. "And get satisfied… how?"

"I'm not sure," he groans, leaning back and staring up at the canopy above. "Realistically, everyone in his harem, if he got one, would rather be a bottom than a top, so that'd make it hard. I'm really just hoping that being around him and not being able to give in will give me the Demonic Resistances needed to let me travel freely without worry."

"Demonic Resistances?"

"Demonic Sexual Urge Resistance," he explains. "For resisting the powerful need to satisfy myself that way. Demonic Fear-Instill Resistance, to resist the powerful need to instill fear in others and feel the power flow through me. Demonic Tormenting Resistance, to resist the powerful need to torment others for sheer amusement. There might be others, but I'm not sure. I can't get Demonic Sex Continuation Resistance unless I'm actually having sex and successfully resist going until I'm completely spent enough, so that's out of the question, but if I get the first one, it won't matter too much."

It would once you gave in… since demons have sexual stamina second only to dragons, it's said.

I'm not sure where I compare on that scale. I've only ever known my hand, and most certainly not a full dragon and a demon.

"You might be close to the first three," I realize. "You are feeling the need for them, around Caleb, right?"

"Yeah," he nods. "But it's not as much as it normally is. The knowledge that there's a half-dragon around who is into him and protective of him is keeping that somewhat dulled. We'd probably need to be here a week or two, with me unable to go after the villages, knowing they're there, for me to gain them."

He falls silent, and I think about our surroundings. His face turns crimson, and he quickly looks away.

"What?" I ask.

"Is it true that half-dragons have huge dicks?"

"I've only ever seen the dicks of my people," I tell him. "So comparatively, I couldn't tell you. I think… Papa said that we fall on the high end of average to a little above average, when compared against humans.

"There's a tribe of wolf beastkin not far from here," I tell him, and he snaps his gaze up to me, eyes wide. "Not quite humanoid enough to fully satisfy, but I'm sure if we asked nicely, they might let you sit inside their village to resist the urge."

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"If they attack us when we ask," I stand and stretch. "We could always just kill them."

"You say that like it's normal."

"I'm half-dragon," I say. "Razing villages to the ground is in my nature. It's not as strong as a demon's need, but when a village pisses me off, well, I'll get that urge. Last time, it was a tribe of goblins. That was so satisfying, especially because goblins like their treasures, so I got to add it to my hoard."

"How big is your hoard?" He asks, then frowns. "I've never heard of any draconic creature giving away bits of it as freely as you do. I'd expect you to be very, very tight with your money."

"I'm weird like that," I shrug. "I like building up my hoard, but unlike others of my kind, I don't have to protectively keep every last bit of it. I'm able to spend it without problems, though I can't let it go below around ninety-eight percent of the largest it's been, or it starts to bother me."

"Do you keep it all in your spatial pouch?" Caleb asks.

"Huh?"

"Your hoard," he gestures to the pouch on my hip. "Do you keep all of it in there?"

"Oh, this is just a gate to it," I tap the pouch. "We could actually use it to travel to my hoard directly. I can also reach in and pull out whatever piece of my hoard I want. It's nice. Papa enchanted it for me, when I started building my hoard.

"The only problem with traveling to my hoard through the pouch," I say. "Is that then we'd have the pouch just sitting out on its own, unless we had someone protecting it. So I'd rather not do that, especially since it meant someone could move or destroy the pouch, or come in after us.

"Anyway," I gesture to him. "Let's go ask if they'd be kind enough to let you train your resistance to your urges there. Being in a village would be a lot better for you to train over just knowing they're nearby."

He stands up, and we put out the fire, then begin walking. After a couple of hours, the moon high in the sky, we alert the beastkin scouts watching the woods around their cave to our presence, and stop walking, holding our hands up.

They attack us, running on all fours, their fur-covered, muscular bodies rippling in the filtered moonlight. We try to tell them we just want to talk, but they ignore us, snarling and slashing at us with clawed hands.

No matter how hard we hit them without injuring them, no matter how much we try to get them to listen, they just attack, and more of them attack us, including their young. In the end, we kill all of them.

Caleb stands where he stopped fighting, after the last one fell, his head tilted back, his eyes closed. The high probably isn't much, but he's probably happy about it, considering how long it's been since he's felt the power of terror.

"Caleb," I say, and he doesn't respond. "CALEB!"

He jumps, looking at me, his eyes reverted back to their true, crimson color, slits for pupils. A small smile plays on his lips.

"Are there any more?" He asks, his breathing growing heavier.

"Cool it, Cay," I say. "Gotta take what you've got."

"I know," he says. "The rush… it's so strong."

"I'm not used to clothes, either," I tell him. "We didn't have them, where I was, seeing as we were, you know, not 'civilized' by their terms, but one thing I've learned is that if you don't get the blood out quick, it'll set and stay. Let's head back to the river."

"I need more," his breathing grows heavier.

Do demons need to exhaust themselves in battle, too, before they can stop?

I rush him, and he can barely move to try to defend himself, but by the time he's moved to block my strike, I've moved behind him, striking the back of his neck. He freezes, then drops to the ground. I throw him over my shoulder and carry him back to camp, stripping off his boots and pants, then taking them to the river.

I strip off my own clothes as well and start washing them, along with Caleb's pants.

Once I finish getting the blood out of our clothes, I hang them up on a string to dry, then grab Caleb and throw his naked ass in the water. He wakes up with a yelp, then quickly rights himself in the water.

"Calm?" I ask, then go on-guard when I notice his eyes are still crimson.

"Yeah," he shakes his head, shaking water out of his hair. "That thrill… it was so amazing. It's been so long since I've had that rush. Thanks for knocking me out."

"Let's wash up," I wade back into the water. "Get this blood off us. Our clothes are already taken care of, and set out to dry."

"Thanks, Adam," he says, then frowns. "I thought half-dragons still had draconic names? Appraisal yields a human one for you."

"We can change our names, remember?" I ask. "I changed it to something more human when I had to flee home."

"Flee?" He asks. "I thought you ran off for an adventure?"

"My village was butchered," I shake my head. "High-level adventurers went after us. I'd managed to escape, but don't know if anyone else did. It took me two weeks to lose the party chasing me. You demons have it lucky – stay in the demon realms, and no one bothers you. Those of us of draconic heritage? We get hunted actively just for being what we are, and can't establish our own realm – there simply isn't enough of us to hold our ground against high-level Adventurers raiding us, and we're too scattered and far-between to really group up.

"That's why," I start scrubbing the blood off of me. "I like traveling with Jamie. He's human, but he doesn't care that I have dragon ancestors. He's cool, and nice, and wants to help me find a place I can settle down. He'll travel with me, even if it means he'll be ostracized, attacked, and possibly even killed."

"As long as he has us around," Caleb starts washing the blood off of him. "He'll be mostly safe."

"Unless he goes into a town," I say. "That's why next you should've told him about the cloaks and masks. If he gets found out while in a town, it could end badly. I know you just didn't remember, though."

"We need a Dungeon," Caleb nods, then frowns again, looking at me.

"How long before your eyes return to blue?" I ask.

"Huh?"

"Your eyes," I say. "They're in their true state."

"Dammit," he mutters, then gives me a shy smile. "The blue was a glamour. Not enough to get me the Skill for it, unfortunately, but still a glamour. You come off as more of a top to me than a bottom. Am I wrong on that?"

"No," I answer. "I'm a top."

"But you're letting him lead the party?" He asks. "Doesn't that mean that eventually, you would-"

"Not necessarily," I shrug. "I could always be a part of his harem, if he starts one. Maybe he prefers both? Plus, it'd be useful for you to have someone else who will penetrate you, since Jamie is, well, human."

"You'd be willing to fuck a demon?" He asks, looking confused. "Even though I'm a demon?"

"You're a good demon," I say. "Don't you really just want to travel the world? You can't help the demonic urges you have, and you're pretty damn hot in either form. I can only hope I still look good in my draconic form."

"You don't know what you look like?"

"I'm not powerful enough to unlock it," I shake my head. "I need at least 100 INT and WIS for it. The INT for the sheer power of the spell, and the WIS to actually cast it. Oh."

"What?"

"Uh," I give him a shy smile. "I don't think Jamie knows we know he's gay. He hasn't really talked to anyone but us since arrival."

"Oh!" He laughs. "I wonder if we've been making him uncomfortable, then?"

Probably.

"If you really don't have an issue," he says, face turning a little red. "Would you, um… would you mind helping me out? The hand just isn't enough, and it's getting harder to resist, even with you around dampening it."

"I don't promise to be good," I say. "Since I've never done it before, but I'm sure I can handle satisfying you, stamina-wise."

He smiles, and we move to the rocks. His crimson gaze moves down to my dick, actually looking at it for the first time. I'd say his own is around average in size, and a little slender. Mine's certainly a little longer and thicker than his.

"That's thick," he comments.

"Don't want me to?" I ask.

"No," he lies down. "I want you to. The thicker it is, the more I'll feel it. I prefer it that way."

Really?

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Eighteen," he answers. "Like my stat says."

"Uh…"

"I'm a spawnling."

I stare at him.

"I spawned into existence," he says. "Not born. I was born fully adult, with knowledge and skills I would've picked up through childhood, such as speaking and feeding myself and such. However, we spawnlings gain access until we turn eighteen, for whatever weird reason the System has, even though we're adults from birth."

That's… strange.

"Will you ever age?"

"Nope," he shakes his head. "A spawnling lives the same age until it's destroyed, unlike other classes of demon. Can you start? I really, really need this."

I spread his legs apart and kneel between him, lifting him up. I'm sure I'm probably missing something I'm supposed to do first, but Caleb doesn't tell me I'm doing anything wrong, so I go right in. He grits his teeth, his face contorting in pain, but when I start to pull out, he tells me not to.

"You're in pain," I shake my head.

"I like it," he says. "More."

It isn't the only thing we do, but damn does it take a lot – and several hours – for him to finally stop forcing himself onto me. The sun is just beginning to rise when he finally collapses, exhausted, onto the stones.

I'm so sore, and exhausted, too, and collapse next to him, breathing heavily as I try to calm myself and stay awake.

I don't succeed, waking when the sun is high in the sky. Caleb's still unconscious.

I stand, stretch my stiff muscles, then step into the water to clean up. As I do, Caleb wakes and joins me, humming a dark tune to himself. It sounds familiar, but I can't place it.

"Where'd you learn that tune?" I ask.

"Hm?" He looks at me. "Oh, heard it a couple of years ago, when I was in a raiding party. I like learning and seeing new things, which is why I chose to run off and explore the world. The tune was interesting. We killed a bunch of Blood Knights, and that was a battle hymn they used to grow stronger. I didn't catch the beginning of it, and nor can I really play an instrument, but I still like the tune."

"It suits you," I say, and he looks up at the sky, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I can sense another moon," he answers. "It just approached. It's not one I know."

"It's not?" I look up. "I don't see another moon."

"It's like Vaefar," he nods. "When it first approached. It's concealing its presence. My particular type of spawnling is highly sensitive to celestial movements. Nouvu and Treinar are both around, and concealing themselves, but another one just approached."

Nouvu and Treinar? The green and gold moons? I knew Treinar was, but didn't know Nouvu was around. My kind can always sense Treinar. He's been around about as long as Vaefar's been showing himself.

"All five moons," I try to see if I can discern the moons in the clear sky. "Around at once, and then another one shows up?"

"Itimar," a voice says, and we both turn to face the shore, where a boy around ten years old, dressed in shades of red, stands, his hands in his pockets, looking at us casually. He focuses on Caleb. "That is the name of the crimson moon that hides itself."

A moment later, it's as if he were never there, and Caleb and I look at each other.

"Did that just… happen?" I ask.

"Yeah," he nods. "I couldn't sense him at all."

I sniff the air, but there's nothing there. Leaving the river, I try to see if I can smell any trace of him, but there isn't one. Caleb and I look at each other.

"What just happened?" He asks.

"I'm not sure," I say. "Who the hell was that?"

And why are all five moons around, plus one that's never been heard of before?