The next hour or more was a pleasant time where Brandr and I simply enjoyed being with each other and healing. My wounds from the battle still weren’t fully healed, and neither was hers, but each moment that passed we recovered a little. She isn’t naturally a talkative person by nature, so after I’d finished rocking her up and down in my lap and satisfying my ‘man-blade’ in her ‘sheath’, we just sat, held each other, and relaxed together.

We were still sitting and relaxing on the chair when Isabella finally came bouncing into the room. “The halls all clear out there,” she informed us. “Those little ones are a bit hard to get started, but once you get them to working, they work diligently for you.”

“That’s good,” I told her. “Did you find anything worth keeping in all that mess?”

Isabella giggled. “Lots and lots of candy! I hope you like fat girls, because I’m going to turn into a pig! I’ve eat sweets until I think I might poop sweets!” With a light little laugh, Isabella leaned down past Brandr and breathed onto my face, and the scent of rich chocolate and candy greeted my nose.

Giggling, she finally bounced back and off to the side to mess with something. I couldn’t tell what she was doing exactly, as she was off to the side and I didn’t feel like moving Brandr to turn and watch. I figured I’d find out in a moment, if it’s anything important, and sure enough, after about half a minute Isabella bounced back around the side of the couch and gave Brandr a tug backwards.

“Blonk!” With a thump, Brandr flopped backwards out of my lap and onto her back on the floor. Her knees were still up on either side of mine, and she was arched backwards giving me a perfect view for a few moments until Isabell lifted her legs and unceremoniously flopped them off to the side. “Move it. It’s my turn,” is all Isabella said as she snuggled up into my lap and took Brandr’s place.

Isabella was giggling lightly as Brandr got up with another of her unreadable blank expressions on her face. Slow,y I wrapped my arms around Isabella and I pulled her up tight against my chest. This girl! Opening my legs wide, I pinned Isabella’s against the side of the chair’s arms, and then I leaned back a little further to pull her up and a little tighter against me.

“Go ahead,” I told Brandr through the party chat.

Brand looked at me, then looked at the position I had Isabella trapped in a snuggle in, and a slight smile twitched at the corner of her lips. With a resounding “THWAP!”, she drew back and smacked Isabella across her well exposed butt-cheeks. Izzy tried to move, but I had her trapped tight in my arms while Brandr spanked her multiple times across both sides of her cheek. I counted twenty loud smacks before I finally told Brandr, “I think that’s enough this time.”

Isabella was sniffling and a few tears dripped from the corner of her eyes as I finally released her and she leaned back to look at me with a quivering lip. “That was mean,” was all she said as she pouted.

“And what you did to Brand was mean too,” I coldly told her. “We don’t treat each other like that.”

“Well…” Isabella pooched her lower lip out at me, and I was tempted to lean forward and kiss it – but I resisted. “It shouldn’t be a big deal. She’s your blade and I’m your woman. She should make way for me to have my time with you.” Slowly I pulled her back down in my arms and held her. “Besides,” she continued, “she’s been there all morning. Don’t I deserve some time now, too?”

All I could do is half shake my head and laugh. “Izzy, no one is going to take your spot. You’re both special to me, and I married both of you. Remember?” Slowly she nuzzled back into my arms and nodded slightly. Who would’ve ever believed that she’d have a slightly jealous side? At least it seemed like jealousy to me.

“You’re both my wives, and you’ve got to share. Be nice to each other. Understand?” I stroked her hair lightly as she nuzzled warm against my chest.

“I understand.” She still sounded pouty, but cute somehow at the same time. “But it is my time now. Right?”

I couldn’t help but laugh and squeeze her. “Yes, it’s your time now.”

“Well good.” Isabella wiggled against me a few times and when I finally let go of her she turned and wiggled her butt down into my lap and nestled her back against my chest. I knew better than to say anything to Izzy about how ‘if Little Man stands up, he’s going to go spelunking your anal regions’, because that’d just make her giggle and squirm until it happened. Brandr might not care if I put my ‘man-sword’ in her ‘sheath’, but Isabella didn’t care where my Little Man explored. Inside, outside, front, back, top, bottom, sideways or backwards – Izzy had made it perfectly clear she was happy with any and all of those things. Izzy’s only quirk was that when my volcano exploded, she preferred it inside so her body could convert the ‘seed of life’ into energy, and not outside.

Somehow, just thinking about how lucky I was to have found a girl so open – and enthusiastic -- to indulge my desires made my lower half twitch and rise to attention once more. And, let I’d came to expect, Izzy simple giggled and wiggled her butt down upon it and then she started to rock slightly. With Brandr, I had to rock her myself, but with Izzy she’d pounce on the first opportunity to pounce on me!

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s been overly active all day long, and he won’t seem to settle down for more than a few minutes at once. It’s never been like this before.” Had I eaten anything different? Was those banapples the weak ones were making some sort of new world Viagra?

Isabella just giggled and kept rocking. “It’s all your fault you know.”

“What is?” I asked confused.

“Him being like this today,” Isabella told me while giggling and squirming her hips back and forth. “You went to sleep last night with those silly pants on.”

“Pants?” I couldn’t quite follow her reasoning. What’d my coveralls have to do with my loins being super active this morning?

“Uh-huh,” Isabella moaned lightly. “I couldn’t get to him last night and help deal with him while you were sleeping. Why do you think you always woke up with me making him happy each morning?” She half giggled and moaned at the same time. “Do you know how many times I normally feed from you each night while you sleep peacefully?”

“Uhhh.. Once maybe?” I’d never considered it.

Isabella giggled and even Brandr looked like she was smirking somewhat. “Let’s just say you’re dealing with part of the fallout today simply because the problem wasn’t addressed properly last night. Hadn’t you ever heard the story of how succubi feed on a man’s seed while he slept?”

“I think I’d heard that legend somewhere.” From the way it sounds, I can confirm that it wasn’t just a legend anymore. Apparently, it was a nightly ritual for Isabella and me – and I hadn’t even noticed!

Laughing lightly, Isabella continued the rhythmic rocking of her hips. “Well, you are the healthiest teenage boy in the world. In fact, you’re the supernaturally healthiest teenage boy in the world. Don’t you think the healthiest teenage in the world might also have the healthiest concupiscence also?”

“I suppose so.” I guess. I think what’s she saying is I’m the healthiest guy in the world, with the healthiest wang in the world. Isabella just likes to make things complicated sometimes.

My volcano finally erupted once more; Isabella’s hair sparked that same electric blue once again. It was odd and kind of embarrassing in its own way. Every time I got my relief, her eyes and hair sparked as if I’d cross the wires on a battery somewhere. There were always fireworks with her whenever we finished doing the deed.

“Feel better?” She giggle lightly and settled back down in my arms.

“I always feel better with you in my arms,” I told her honestly.

Isabella stuck her tongue out at Brandr, who didn’t appear to notice. “Brand, go grab that bag of stuff and bring it around here and we’ll look through it all together. We actually found a lot of goodies with the ‘Christmas Event’, so let's see what might be worth making use of now.”

Brandr nodded and then walked off to the side where Isabella had been before, before coming back a moment later carrying Santa’s bag over her shoulder. She sat down in front of us and laid the bag off lightly to the side. Reaching in, the first thing she pulled out was the severed rat champion’s licorice tail.

“This looks like it’d make a whip, and seems much stronger than what you’d imagine,” Isabella told me, seeing what Brandr had pulled out. “From what I can tell, the parts of the candy creatures are edible, but they’re also magical. Parts of them like the claws, or this tail, are simply too hard and durable for a person to consume. I think if you were to chip off a piece of that tail and eat it, it’d behave much like a screw or nail in your stomach. If anyone would like to learn to use a spiked whip in battle, I think it’d make a good one.”

I looked at both the girls, but neither seemed interested in it. “I don’t think any of us care for a whip,” I told her. “But, we’ll save it. Who knows; if we find more survivors one of them might want to learn it or we can trade it for something later.”

“That’s what I was thinking also,” she confirmed. “Same with that large axe. It’s almost too big to use inside the building here, so I really didn’t think anyone was interested in it either, but it’d be something we could save for later. Outside the school, it might make an excellent tree chopper if we need anything like that later.”

I just nodded in agreement, as Brandr placed the whip off to the side and began reaching into the bag again. Isabella giggled and then turned to lean back and places her hands over my eyes. “No peeking,” she admonished me, and I sat there for a couple of minutes wondering just what the heck was going on. When she finally moved her hands, Brandr was standing in front of me in a new outfit. “Santa has a great taste in clothes,” Isabella exclaimed! “He’s got a dozen or so suits of these in his bag!”

The outfit that Brandr was wearing was what one would instantly call a “sexy elf” outfit. A loose red miniskirt that barely covered the length of her ass, with a large ruffle of white fur at the top of it like a belt. Another strip of white fur around the top of her breast with a very loosely hanging red fabric barely covering her bosoms. She was wearing knee-high stiletto heeled boots, which were made of that same white fur design. Brandr spun in place, and the cloth on both the top and bottom lifted suggestively, highlighting all the best parts that they barely concealed before. My jaw dropped open and my eyes grew wide. Isabella simply giggled and Brandr had fun taking a few moments to bend and touch her toes and other such things just to befuddle my poor mind even worse.

“And the best part,” Isabella giggled, “is that they’re actually quite useful in their own way. The red material in the cloth can help protect against fire and heat. The white fur helps protect against cold and ice. And the shoes have an enchantment on them called ‘Sure Step’. Even though they’re heels, they’re magical and they won’t slip on slick surfaces. Wearing those, you could walk across oil or ice just like it’s naturally smooth and level land!”

“It may take a while to get use to them, but I like them,” came Brandr’s soft voice in my head. Seeing her wear them, I liked them as well!

“So what about you Iz? Are you going to be wearing those from now on?” I asked curiously.

“I don’t think so,” she told me. “I’ve been improving my enchanting, and I may be able to move the enchantment from them to something else with a little more practice. I don’t think you can wear them, as they’re not large enough for a guy to squeeze into, so I’ll practice moving the enchantments into a set of rings for me and then I can put them into your coveralls or something similar for you. Not having to worry about getting hot or cold could be something really important for all of us once we leave the building here.”

“And there’s how many sets of those?” I asked.

“At least a dozen. They also have neck collars and wrist and ankle shackles that match the set, but they’re not magical and no one really liked those. Apparently Santa was going to gift those gifts as a set to the girls he liked the most, like Flibi and Lucy.”

“That’s not a bad idea honestly,” I told them. “Sometimes clothes make us feel a little more human, and even though they’re not the best things for a person to wear, it might be better than nothing for the two of them.”

Isabella nodded and agreed. “I’ll get them in a set soon. I don’t think it’ll do much for them the way they are currently, but it couldn’t hurt. Honestly though,” she sounded sad as she said it, “I think they’re just beyond saving.” Truly, I agreed, but we had to try to help them – especially since we were using them to make fruits and grow the mushrooms and all for us.

“Anything else in there of interest?” I asked to change the subject. Truly, the less I thought about the ‘weak ones’, the happier I was.

“Well, what sort of Santa would he be without some games and stuff?” Isabella asked. “There was a set of dice which I tried to appraise, but all I could get out of them was a title: “Dice of Fate”. The name for them alone was enough for me to leave them alone. Who wants to take a chance and gamble with fate? Sounds to me like it’s a case of ‘roll good, something good might happen’, ‘roll bad, and you’re doomed’! We just left them inside their little bag and stuffed them into the bottom of Santa’s bag.”

“And then,” she continued, “there was a set of blank playing cards and a paint set. I can sense the magic in both, but I can’t identify what they might do at all. The 54 cards are completely blank, so I figure they must represent the 52 cards in a normal deck plus the two jokers, but I can’t be certain. The paints are a complete set of colors, with several small brushes and even a mixing palette for them, and they have a truly strong magic on them. I just don’t have a clue what they might do or be used for.”

Isabella shrugged lightly and seemed a little disappointed. “I’ll just have to improve my appraising ability for magic a bit more and see what I can learn later about them. For now, I’d recommend on leaving them alone like the dice, since we don’t know anything more about them.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” I agreed. “This new world likes to screw us over every chance it gets. Let’s not give it an extra chance to bite us on the ass, if we can avoid it.” Both girls looked at each other and then nodded in agreement. We’ll sort out the cards, paint, and dice at a later date.

Isabella giggled and half hopped in my lap. “Brand, go grab what we found in the rat’s room! I think Drake might really like what the rats had!”

Brandr nodded and sashayed off to the side and out of sight again. Those heels might be magical and make the ground easy to walk upon, but watching a woman stride in them was rather enjoyable all by itself. A moment later, Brandr came back in front of us and held out another oversized book! I almost hopped myself – perhaps it’s finally a chance for me to get a class and grow into more powerful. Brandr held the book out towards me, and I took it reverently. Slowly, I opened the first few pages to see what was inside…

DUMPT! DUMPT! DUMPT!

You do not have the Mysticism sufficient enough to use that!

Bloody Hell!

Apparently, the rats had once again dropped another magic book. Even if I could learn it, I had absolutely no desire to stand back and do the finger-wiggling thing. I wanted to stand in the front and keep everyone safe. My shoulders slumped as I handed the book back. “It’s another magic book like Isabella’s. You need mysticism to make use of it, and that’s not me.”

“Oooohhh.” Isabella squirmed excitedly in my lap. “I wonder if it’ll have different spells which I can learn if I take time to study it later. The more I learn about magic, the better I can identify it and work with enchantments and such. That book might help me grow quite a bit more versatile and powerful for us! Who knows, it might even have a way for me to make fruit or food for us.”

There was a moment of silence as we all thought about the implications of that last statement. If Isabella could make our food, would we even need to keep the others alive any longer? Would they be better off if we simply put them out of their misery at that point? Shaking my head, I tried not to think about it. We’ll cross that bridge when, and if, it ever happens. We don’t even know what types of magic or contents the book even contains yet.

“Then I guess, when you get a chance, you’ll want to dig into it then.” I told her, smiling.

“I will,” she assured me. “But first I want to finish learning the last few spells in the other book. No need to have to lug them both around later, if I can finish one of them first.”

“And I guess that’s all the goodies found?” I asked.

Brandr got up once more and shook her head from side to side. Swaying, she sauntered over to the kitchen counter and came back holding the oversized ball that I’d pulled out of Figgy earlier. The pudding had either been cleaned off it, or dripped off it by now, and I could see that the thing was a solid ebony black ball with what appeared to be a single crack around the equator of it.

Brandr came back, sat down in front of us, and placed the ball on the ground. Isabella got up, moved over to the side slightly, and sat on the ground as well, so I’d have a better view of the thing. “Should I try and open it,” came Brandr’s curious thought.

Slowly, I got up and sat down on the ground with the girls myself. We formed a small triangle, with the ball in the middle of us. Since I’d found it, I figured I should be the one to open it. Slowly, I reached out and tugged on the top half of the ball, but nothing happened.

I rotated it, pulled on one side, and then pushed on another. It rolled slightly across the ground, but didn’t open. I tried to get my fingernails in the crack and pry it open, but all to no avail. Finally, I got up, walked over and picked up my tail spike and the new spiked-whip, and sat down and tried to use the tips on them as tools to pry the two halves of the ball apart.

After what felt like an eternity, the two halves shift and slid apart a few millimeters. Encouraged, I worked even harder to try to force it apart. Isabella and Brandr both got themselves a set of the goblin knives, and they helped pry on their respective edges.

All at once, the two halves of the ball flew apart with a loud, “PLOP!”, and a small wiggling-waggling puppy rolled out of the center of it and onto the ground where it yipped and wagged its tail at us.

WHA………