The fire is crackling nicely as Thea and I cook a modest meal. Sarge and I had ended up killing a small pig like creature shortly after we stopped. According to Jacob, it's called a pugiten, whatever the hell that was. They are considered a pest more than anything from what he told me with a tendency to dig wherever they go, disturbing waterways, and farmers fields as they found them. Luckily, they are actually pretty tasty, or at least Jacob said they were. My mouth is watering from inhaling the smell of meat cooking. It may not be pork from my world, but it sure smells like it.

"Ok, you have to admit this is just mean now." Jacob is sitting beside Shiva as he's been trying to calm her down since we stopped. The red headed cat girl is glaring at me angrily from where she lays on the ground. She tries to say something, but the gag in her mouth makes it come out as a muffled mess. I hadn't planned on gagging her, but Thea had gotten tired of hearing her cuss me. So she had chosen some cloth to stuff in her mouth.

"I would have let her go already, buuuutttttt when I went to untie her, she kicked me in the face. I'm tired of it, so she stays tied till she learns some manners." I can't help but grin as I explain my reasoning to Jacob. I know he doesn't want to see his friend like this, but I am done with her attacking me.

" I know she can be hot headed." Jacob starts to speak again, but I cut him off.

"She can be untied anytime she wants. All she has to do is apologize for kicking me in the face and promise not to do it again. Simple really, I don't think I'm asking for much." I rotate the meat on the skewers as Thea continues to fry the root vegetables in the pan beside me. They looked similar to potatoes before they were peeled, but had a weird reddish color after.

"But how can she apologize if she is gagged!?" Jacob seems to be really hung up about this his face is flustered.

"We will take the gag out to feed her. Till then, she is fine." Thea sticks her tounge out at the cat girl as she replies to Jacob. At the sight of Thea sticking out her tongue, Shiva starts to struggle again. Sarge who had been watching all this with a bored look from under the truck, let's out a loud huff.

"See, even he is tired of your shit." I point at the relaxing dog as Shiva shoots me a death glare. "Keep looking at me like that and I'll leave you like that all night." At my words, Shiva looks away, but before she does, I see something I don't recognize in her eyes.

"This is crazy! I'm taking her gag out!" Jacob starts to reach for Shiva's gag as he shoots a glance in my direction.

"Ok, that's fine." My nonchalant response causes him to pause. His fingers are nearly touching Shiva's gag as he stares at me. Shiva seems to realize how close his hands are and struggles to close the distance.

"Ok, that's it? Just ok? I thought you said she couldn't have it off till the food was done?"

"No what I said was, we will take the gag out when we feed her. I never said you couldn't take it out." Shiva lets out a muffled squeal of anger when I finish speaking which makes me realize she is probably going to be loud as soon as the gag comes off.

"Why didn't you tell me I could take it off earlier?" Jacob looks confused as hell as he sits beside Shiva.

"Why didn't you ask?" I shrug as I go back to cooking. "If she yells right off the bat, the gag goes back on. It won't come off till we are done eating then." I look in Shiva's eyes, making sure she is listening. "Understand?"

She stares at me angrily for a second, but finally nods. Jacob wastes no time undoing the knots on the gag. Shiva works her jaws as her mouth is freed. She gives Thea an angry look as she continues to open and shut her mouth.

"May I please have some water?" Her voice is nearly a growl, but she seems to be trying. I give Thea a nudge and nod towards Shiva. She huffs before handing me the wooden spoon she was using. Opening a bottle of water, she tilts the bottle to Shiva who quickly drinks half of it.

"Should have listened to me." Shiva nearly chokes as Thea speaks to her. She gives her an angry look as she caps the bottle.

"Will you please untie me now?" She pulls against the cord around her arms, wiggling around on the ground.

"I didn't hear an ‘I'm sorry’ in there. Didn't hear a ‘it won't happen again either’." I can't help but grin as I see Shiva bite back a stream of curse words. She is going to be pissed as hell when she finally gets loose. It would probably be a good idea to keep an eye on her after we cut her loose; just to make sure she doest try and get some form of revenge on her own.

"I am sorry I kicked you in the face. I promise I won't do it again. Are you happy now? Will you please let me go?" Her tail is whipping back and forth again, like it does when she is agitated.

"I don't know, that doesn't seem very sincere to me. What do you think?" I look over at Thea, who is barely holding back a smile. Shiva growls from her spot on the ground, wiggling herself around.

"Come on, please." Her voice takes on a pleasing tone as she begs now. "I need to go to the bathroom, please. I promise I won't do it again and I'm sorry. I know I'm a pain in the ass. Just please let me go right now." I look down at Shiva and notice that her squirming has gotten more active in the last little bit. She keeps squeezing her thighs together even though it causes her hands to be pulled roughly by her ankles.

"Ok, but you pull a stunt like you did again and I'm tying you like this again." As I walk around the fire to untie her, I hear her mumble something under her breath.

"What was that!?" I take her face in my hand and force her to look up at me. It causes her neck to stretch tightly, her throat moving exaggerated as she swallows.

"Nothing." Her eyes are nearly slits as she looks up at me.

"What was it? If I'm going to have any problems, tell me now. I'll leave you like this all night if you give me any shit this evening. Understand?" I have to fight not to readjust myself, having Shiva tied like this is causing my mind to remember lots of fun times in my past. My mind starts to drift to thoughts of Thea and binding her in different ways. Shiva's voice pulls me back to the moment before my mind wanders to far.

"I promise, I'm not going to give you any trouble." Shiva swallows again, drawing my eyes to her throat as she does.

"Ok then." I start to untie her legs, careful of her feet in case she decides to kick me again. This time she keeps her feet to herself and doesn’t try to hit me. Coiling the paracord in my hand, I twist the end as I tuck it which leaves me with a compact loop. Her hands are unwrapped just as quick, and she is standing as soon as her hands are free. For a moment, she doesn't say anything and just stares at me.

"I really am sorry." She disappears into the trees near the camp. As I coil the cord from around her wrist, I turn back to Thea. The blonde elf is watching me closely, her eyes shifting from my face to my crotch.

"You ok there?" She smiles as she watches me tuck the cords into an empty mag pouch on my vest.

"Fine." I clear my throat and step in close for a kiss. From behind us, Jacob is muttering something I can't quite make out. I ignored him and focus on Thea who pulls her arms around me. She leans in close and whispers in my ears.

"You seem to really enjoy that rope of yours." I groan as she runs her hand over my stiff shaft through my jeans.

"Not going to lie that I was, but I was picturing you all tied up." She stands on her tiptoes, nibbling on my earlobe.

"Don't forget to bring it with you tonight then." She steps out of my grip to check the food still cooking on the fire. I have to take a moment to calm down, so I don't take her right there.

"Did you have to keep her tied that long?" Jacob is looking towards the woods where Shiva disappeared. I take a deep breath and turn the skewers again to keep them from burning.

"Probably not, but I want her to understand I'm not going to be a punching bag for her. I have no problem with her correcting me when I fuck up. I need her to honestly because I don't know enough about this world. I can't have her just hitting me all the time." Jacob stares at me for a moment, his face screwed up in thought.

"I don’t think it’s having the effect you want." His voice is low, almost a mutter under his breath. I cock my head to the side, wondering what he meant by that. I'm about to ask when Thea cuts me off.

"Food’s ready." She hands me one of the tin plates before handing another to Jacob.

"Should we wait on Shiva?" As I ask, Thea is already scooping fried vegetables onto her plate.

"She is liable to take a while. We should just make sure we save her some." Jacob grabs a skewer for himself as Thea scoops some of the vegetables for him. I struggle to load up my own plate, but I did grab a pair of skewers for Sarge and I. As I lean against the front wheel of the truck, I hand Sarge his skewer. He tears into it viciously, downing the meat in record time.

"Well, Sarge likes it anyway." I chuckle as I take a tentative bite of my own skewer. It's good with pork like flavor, but it's obviously not the pork I'm used to. The meat is surprisingly tender as it nearly melts in my mouth. The char from the fire gives it a nice crunch and the spices Thea had rubbed on it gives it a little heat that pairs well.

The veggies taste like a cross between potatoes and carrots which makes them a little sweet, but kind of starchy. The crispy edges crunch nicely under my teeth. Sarge nips the few I offer him from my hand and seems to enjoy them as much as I do.

I look around as I finish eating, realizing that Shiva still hasn't returned. I look around seeing no one else seems to be worried. So I lean back, wrapping my arm around Thea's shoulder. The sun is just starting to set. I cant believe how long the day has felt. The way it had started was nice, but between the fighting and running, it had dragged on.

"Sarge, go check on Shiva." At my words, Sarge stands and shakes himself before trotting off.

"Why are you sending him off after her?" Jacob looks a little confused as he scrapes the rest of his plate off into the fire.

"She has been gone awhile. I know she is probably just calming down. Or possibly killing some animals to work out some anger, but I will feel better if she has someone nearby. She seems to get along with Sarge, and he can be quiet. He was the best choice." Jacob nods at my explanation, taking Thea and my plate to clean them.

"Hopefully she isn't too far away right now." He wipes the plates down with a damp rag as he stares into the trees.

Sarge's point of view.

I don't know why boss and I were brought here. Most of the time, I am just surprised that I understand so much more. I wasn’t stupid back home, but being here, it's obvious I know so much more. I don't know what caused this, but I don't mind. Boss seems to be handling it pretty well, at least as far as people do.

The pointed ear one, Thea, she is nice to me and boss. The two of them are spending a lot of time together. It's good for him because he needs someone to hold him together. The cat one though, she wants boss too. I don't know what he is going to do about that.

As long as I have known him, he has always been with just one person. I know he watched those people on TV with more than two people back home. He never brought two women home though, so I don't think he is actually interested.

It's too bad really, the cat shiva is actually nice too. She doesn't yell at me like she does boss and she pets good. If she didn't keep doing things in front of me, she would be perfect. Seriously, she smells like she is in heat half the time. I know boss can’t smell like I do, but he has to know, right?

Even now, it's the smell of her doing those things that I'm following. She is close, I can just see her leaned against a tree. I don't want to disturb her, so I just lay down out of sight. If something gets to close, I'll let her know. Until then, better to leave her alone.

My mind is wandering as I wait for her to finish. I like this place, not as much as home of course. Here, I get to run a lot more and we have a lot of fun. Boss doesn't leave me at the house alone anymore either. Looking back, I know he had to. Just at the time, it was sad. I had to protect our home, I know, but I wish I could have went with him.

Shiva is taking a long time and it sounds like she is just mewing now. My eyes drift back towards her as I scan the surroundings. Yep, still against the tree, but now she has collapsed on the ground. She really needs to do something about this or get boss to help.

I know Thea doesn't seem to have to keep doing that. So I think boss is doing something right at least. If Shiva would just ask, I'm sure he would help her too. She does keep saying his name out here, it's kinda creepy.

What's that? Something just cracked past Shiva. I stand and start to creep around her, not wanting to bother her if it's nothing. There, just behind another tree, I see the thing. My hair stands on end as I stiffen my muscles. It's one of those ugly cave things, boss called them goblins.

This one seems to be alone, clutching some kind of sharpened stick. It doesn't smell as bad as the ones from the cave and I'm so thankful for that. It took two jumps in the river as well as a day and a half to get rid of the stink. I hate those things, and everyone else seems to as well.

It's just standing there, not moving any closer to Shiva. One hand drops from the stick, rubbing itself between its legs. I have to stop myself from huffing at the sight. Another thing just obsessed with it's own junk. I can't say much though, I haven't exactly seen any females of my kind here yet. For all I know, I'm going to be worse than boss about sex.

I pause my stalking of the goblin for a second. Nah, I have a little self control and I won't be that bad. Shaking my head gently, I start to move again and make my way quietly behind the goblin without it noticing. I look around, using my eyes and nose to check for any more.

As far as I can tell, it is alone, but I can't see very far through these trees. As I turn back towards the goblin, I hear Shiva let out another loud groan. She is obviously finishing up again and good for her. The goblin seems to be getting close, its breathing getting ragged.

I tighten my muscles to prepare to pounce on the goblin. Right as he is getting close, I crash into it. It doesn't have a chance to fight back as its mind is too distracted. It's like it can't decide if it should finish or go for its stick. I don't give him a chance to decide before I tackle it to the ground.

Shiva is yelling and cursing as I drive the goblin to the ground. She at least knows what to do as she is pulling up her pants before running to try and help me. I don't need her help though, the goblin is very weak compared to me. It’s barely struggling on the ground beneath me.

My teeth have shredded its skin in my jaws. I shift my grip on the back of its neck and twist my head sharply. There is a satisfying crunch and the goblin stops moving. I give it a strong shake before dropping it.

"The fuck are you doing here!?" Shiva is yelling again and it causes me to roll my eyes. I give her a bark which makes her jump.

"Did Jim send you to check on me?" I nod my head at her, then turn to head back towards camp. Behind me, Shiva is cursing and calling boss all kinds of names.

"Wait a minute, you!" At her words, I stop and look over my shoulder at her. "How long were you watching me before you saw the goblin?" I stare at her, not sure how to answer her. I mean, she knows I can't speak, right?

"How much did you see? Did you see me when I was?" She motions her hand back towards the trees behind her. I stare at her for a second, then nod once before turning back around.

"You can actually understand us can't you? It's not just simple commands you understand everything, don't you?" I turn my whole body around to face her this time, staring into her eyes. After a moment, I nod again. I figure it can't hurt for her to know.

"Shit! Does anyone else know?" I try and shrug my shoulders like boss does, she seems to understand.

"You don't know if they do or not?" I let out a short bark and nod my head.

"Do you want me to tell them?" I can see the fear in her eyes as she asks. If she tells them, she will have to tell them how she knows. I realize that she is willing to tell everyone, even if it embarrasses her.

I think about it for a moment, sitting on my rear as I do. I finally shake my head and Shiva lets out a breath at my answer. She walks close to me, scratching my head as she kneels down. Her yellow eyes stare into mine as she leans her head against mine.

"Thank you." At my confused expression, she starts to speak again. "Thank you for saving me. I know it was just a goblin, but I was distracted. It could have easily injured or even captured me if it had actually tried. Also, thank you for not asking me to tell the others. It would have been embarrassing explaining how I found out." Her hand digs in behind my ears, scratching that perfect spot.

"Now come on, let's get back to camp." I let out an excited bark and run around her legs as she tries to walk. She laughs and takes careful steps so she doesn't end up stepping on me. After a few seconds of teasing her, I stop running around her. Instead, I take up the same position I do with boss.

I look up at the sky, seeing it turn a reddish orange as night starts to fall. Of all the things I love about this world, that's one of the biggest. I love to see the world in color, not just the blue yellow, and gray of the old world. I love the reds of the evening, and the greens of the trees around us.

As we make it back to camp, Shiva ends up complaining about the amount of food left for her. I give her a huff, causing her to shoot me an evil look. It doesn't bother me as I know it's just a tough act. She is feeling more alone as time goes on, so she acts tough in front of the others. It probably would have fooled me, but she let a lot slip before she realized I could understand her.

I go to lay down by boss, and of course him and Thea are flirting. Boss is breathing in quicker, and his scent is changing like it does when they are about to mate. As if that wasn't enough of a clue, Thea's scent is even stronger. I wouldn't be surprised if she was leaking through her robes like she did the other day. I huff as I lay down under boss's truck, stretching out to relax.

As I lay under the bed, I start to practice moving the mana inside me. Boss and Thea had worked on it several times, and I listened while she explained. It took a long time for me to learn how to make it shift inside me. When I did, I started practicing every chance I could. I love boss, but he is lazy when it comes to practicing anything he doesn’t think is fun.

I channel the mana inside me into my eyes first as I feel my vision sharpen and pull everything into focus. Like this, I can see something surrounding everyone as they sit. The first time I managed this, I nearly freaked out and barked at everything. I can still see everyone, but they have a moving shimmer around them.

Boss's is huge, a giant bright white light surrounding him like a bonfire. Thea's is a warm amber color. It’s not as large as the boss's, but arching out towards him. Shiva's is a deep green, close to her skin as it barely reaching out past her. Jacob his is a dark blue and it doesn't move like the others either. It coils around him, wrapping around his limbs and body.

I couldn't figure out what I was seeing for a long time until I overheard Thea talking to boss one day. That's when I realized I was seeing the other’s mana as it moved around them. When Boss had fought in the outpost, his mana had scared me. It swelled so much that I could barely see his body inside it. I ended up having to stop channeling my own mana to watch him.

Now seems like a good time to practice. By watching Thea and Boss, I know there is a way to touch other’s mana. Between the two of them, there is always a single thread connecting them. It looks like it is made of both of their mana, and always seems to be there. I'm pretty sure it's a connection between the two of them and that tells me something important.

It tells me there is a way to make a connection between two beings. If Thea can do it with Boss, then I can too. With a sigh, I start my usual practice, expanding the mana inside me outwards and stretching it towards Boss. When it leaves me and stretches towards him, I can see it, like a long thin flame made of white that reaches out to touch the Boss's mana.

As it gets close, Boss's mana reacts, curling and wrapping around mine. It never connects like Thea's and that confuses me. What is the elf doing that I'm not and how do I do the same? Something inside me is telling me I need to connect my mana with Boss's. It's a feeling I can't explain, like the need to smell nearly everything around or to stay at Boss's side.

I give up on connecting with Boss again for a while. Instead, I look out into the night through the trees. Boss and Thea stand up and walk off quietly through the trees. Judging from the smell coming off the two of them, they are going to be gone a while. Boss's hands are rubbing over Thea, giving her small kisses and bites as they walk.

I stand up and shake myself, then walk over to Shiva. When I reach her, she looks at me with a raised eyebrow. I let myself fall over next to her, the air coming from my lungs in a thump as I hit the ground. Laying my head on her lap, I stare up into her eyes.

She starts to absentmindedly scratch my head as she watches Boss and Thea walk away. I wish I could talk right now so I could tell her to go after him. It’s clear she wants them by the way she is staring. She looks down at me as she continues to scratch my head.

"You think I should tell him, don't you?" I just roll my eyes at the redhead. If she is looking for someone to make a decision for her, it's not me.

"Yes, I've told you at least a dozen times now you should." Jacob, of course, assumed she was talking to him. The two start to argue as I stare off into the night. Something is moving out there, just past where I can see or hear.

I stand up, circle the camp site slowly, and stare out into the dark. My muscles are tense as whatever is out there moves closer. I don't know how I know it's there, I just do. Fighting back a sense of pure terror, I let out a low growl as I come to a stop. Whatever this thing is, it's right out in front of me somewhere.

"What's wrong Sarge?" Shiva comes up beside me, her hand on the hilt of a dagger. My eyes stay focused on the dark ahead of me and my growl getting louder. Part of me wants to stop growling, to go quiet and slink away. This is Boss's camp and his friends which makes it my job to protect them. I stand my ground.

"It's probably nothing. Just a stray goblin or something." Jacob passes between the fire and us as he looks out into the woods. By his tone of voice, I know he doesn't believe anything is out there.

"Sarge doesn't growl at goblins." Shiva believes me that something is out there. The quiet of the night is broken by a shrieking laugh. Shiva retreats back toward the fire as the echoes of the laugh fade.

"Fucking Lamia!" Shiva runs back towards the truck and snatches up one of the burning branches in the fire. She spins around the camp with eyes open wide. The burning branch is in her left, her slim dagger in her right.

"Where is it?" Jacob grabs a branch of his own, shortsword drawn in the other. I want to run back to them, to hide under the truck. That's not who I am and it's not how I'm trained. The thing is moving and circling the camp.

I trot along the edge and follow its moves. I'm not sure how I know when it’s moving or where it is, but I'm sure I am right. Shiva starts following behind me, staying close as I move.

"You can feel it can’t you?" My growl is low and she takes it as the yes it is. A break between trees is cast in deep shadows near the edge of camp. My eyes stare at the gap in between them. It's there and it’s waiting.

"Bitch!" Shiva tosses the burning branch as she yells. The fire illuminates the pale face of a woman between the trees. She is beautiful with long black hair and blue eyes. Naked from the waist up, she is more endowed than Shiva or Thea. The waist down seems to be where the problem lays.

At the point where her hips should start, scales begins to form. Her body goes from the slim attractive human to a snake’s tail. The snake portion of her body is wrapped around one of the trees. My best guess is that she’s nearly twelve feet long, maybe more. It's hard to tell with the way it keeps moving.

She hisses at Shiva and me, her body swaying back and forth gently. She slowly moves around the camp, staying just inside the light from the fire. Shiva pulls me back. I'm snarling and trying to pull fess from her grip. I don't know if I can win against this thing, but I know I need to try.

"Fuck, what is that doing this far north?" Jacob moves closer to Shiva, covering her back as he watches the Lamia. The two turn in a tight circle and keep the snake woman in their view.

"Maybe it is being drawn by the dungeon? Fuck, how the hell am I supposed to know!?" The monster is nearly to the truck now, its body still swaying in the light. When it reaches the point where Boss and Thea left, it stops. Its head turns to look over the ground where they had walked.

"Oh fuck." The Lamia turns back to look at the camp, smiling at us. Without warning, it lets out another bout of shrieking laughter. It turns quickly and slithers away in the direction Boss and Thea left. It's moving fast, faster than a normal man at a run. Shiva let's me go, urging me to run after it.

"Find Jim! You have to warn him! It can follow body heat and it's going to go right to him!" I'm moving before she gets the first word out. The last words barely reaching me before I'm out of hearing range. I know I have to get to Boss, to warn him.

I tear through the branches and underbrush as I run. I'm forced to swing wide through the trees for a minute, avoiding the snake woman as she slithers through the trees almost silently. She lashes out at me as I pass her, nearly catching me with her sharp claws. With a final burst of speed, I'm past her, pulling away and getting close to Boss.

I have to let him know this thing is coming behind me. I have to try and keep him safe as we make our way back to camp. Shiva and Jacob will know what to do about this thing. Just have to get Boss and Thea back to them.

Jim's point of view again

My fingers dig in to Thea's hips, slamming her onto me. She's biting down on my shoulder as I thrust into her. Her moans and screams barely being muffled by the mouthful of my flesh she's biting down on. I pull back, feeling the flesh under her teeth stretch before she lets go.

Her back is against what looks like a walnut tree, hands above her head. I bound her hands together after I stripped her down, and looped the cord over one of the many branches above her head. When I had stepped back, the very tips of her toes had almost been scraping the ground. Leaving her suspended in the tree, her mouth is even with mine as her fest swung off the ground.

I hung my plate carrier and my rifle on a nearby branch. I had taken my time trying to drive the sexy elf as crazy as I could. I had started on my knees with her legs wrapped around my head. She bucked and worked against my tongue, body moving like she was having a fit.

Thea eyes me as I draw back from her and her eyes are hungry for more. Her breath is coming in loud gasps and groans, causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly. I run my hands down her legs and pull them free from my waist. She cocks an eyebrow at me, not having the breath to ask what I'm doing. I bend my knees slightly, lifting one leg then the other onto my shoulders.

"Fuuuuccckkkkkkkkk!" Thea's screams devolve into a stream of curses and moans as I slide back inside her. I'm slamming home inside her, driving her back into the tough bark of the tree. She clamps down on me as I keep thrusting into her, cumming again on my hard cock. I smile at her as she throws her head back and let out a wordless scream as she rides her orgasm to completion.

I grin at the elf, seeing her eyes flutter as she looks into mine. I can tell she is getting close again, her body on the edge. I keep driving myself into her and use my grip on her hips to drive myself deeper and harder into her. Her tight pussy is massaging my cock as she moves closer and closer to another orgasm. Her feet are arching out straight as I bring her closer with every thrust.

"More! Fuck, please don't stop!" Her words turn into moans as I feel her clamp down on my cock. Her hands reach out, unable to grab anything as they scramble for purchase. I feel my balls tightening as Thea comes again on my hard cock. With a wordless yell of my own, I slam into Thea again and empty myself inside her. Rope after rope of cum shooting up inside her hot wet pussy as it works over my hard cock.

I lean in and kiss Thea roughly as I feel myself starting to slip out of her. She starts to giggle as I kiss her, causing me to arch an eyebrow as I pull back. She wiggles against me, her pussy leaking out our combined juices on my still stiff cock.

"And what is so funny?" I kiss her again before she can answer. I love being this close to her, tasting her lips and feeling her against me.

"You bent me in half and filled me with your cream. You made me an elf cake!" She starts to laugh loudly at her words. I feel my own mouth tug itself up into a smile. I lift her ankles off my shoulders and slide them back down below her. With a smile and a kiss, I run my hands down to her ass and lift her up as my tounge slips into her mouth.

"I need to check your wrist, then I'm going to fill you up again." My words are a growl as I flip the loop off the branch. I pull her wrist down to where I can see them, examining them in the dim light. I struggle to see before I realize that I'm an idiot.

I cycle my mana through me, pulling it to my eyes. I strengthen them until I can see Thea's naked body as clear as if it was daylight. The paracord has dug into her wrist, leaving trails along each arm. It's not from how tight she is tied, but from hanging from the branch. Her whole weight supported by her wrist until I entered her. I start to untie her wrist which makes her give me a pout sticking out her lower lip.

"Is playtime over?" She leans in, nipping me with her sharp teeth as I work on her bindings.

"Not by a longshot." My words are almost a growl as there is no way I'm letting her get away now. I'm already deciding how I'm going to take her again. My mind runs over the different ways we can enjoy each other tonight.

Thea's hands come up to wrap around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. She bites my lower lip and stretches it out as she pulls back. Her hands are moving over my chest, trailing down between us.

"Good." She whispers in my ear as her hand circles around my once again hard cock. "This time Shiva knows not to interrupt us, so I'm planning on seeing how little sleep you actually need." Her eyes are full of lust as she speaks. Her hand strokes up and down my hard cock. I groan letting my head lean back. Thea leans in, her teeth latching onto my neck again. Somehow she figured out her biting drives me wild and has doubled down on her efforts on me.

"Do you hear that?" She tilts her head to the side, ears twitching.

"The only thing I can hear is you." I strain my ears and listen to the world around us. The insects have stopped making noise as well as the night birds. That's strange, I can't remember a night actually being quiet.

"Fuck! Get dressed now!" Thea let's go of my cock and scrambles for her robe and shoes. I don't hesitate either to scramble for my own jeans and boots. As I'm pulling on my second boot, I finally ask.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Thea throws my plate carrier to me and grabs my rifle.

"I can hear Sarge barking and something is behind him. It sounds like it’s chasing him right now." At her words, I stop to listen again, my ears straining.

"Channel your mana towards your ears." I do as Thea says, hearing the world clearer. Just on the edge of what I can hear is Sarge. He's letting loose his long howling barks, the signal for danger. I snatch my rifle from Thea's hands and toss the sling over my neck. I belt on my gun belt and check that my pistol pulls freely.

"What the fuck is that!?" A shrieking laugh pierces the air. I spin to see Thea's face drain of color.

"As soon as Sarge gets here, throw up your shield!" I start to ask why, but she cuts me off. "Just do it and I'll explain after!" I grit my teeth, letting my mana build. Sarge breaks through the treeline, still barking. When he sees us, he stops barking and runs to crouch at my side.

My mana is building and I let it slip along my hands, following the feeling I remember from the last time. With a yell, I clasp my hands together and rip them apart which causes the shield to take form. It no more than forms before I feel it shudder, pulling more mana from me. I curse as I grab my rifle and bring it up before me to flip on the light.

Illuminated in my beam is a woman with the lower body of a snake. She is picking herself up off the ground, clawed hands scraping over the nearby trees. She stands to her full height, nearly seven feet where she rests on her tail. Her claws scrape on the shield I threw up and my mana tugs as she pushes against it. With a smile, she starts to slither around my shield. I turn following her, my shield shifting with me.

"The fuck is that!?" Sarge is growling beside me, hackles raised for a fight. As my shield shifts, the snake woman frowns and lashes out at it with her claws. Her hands bounce off the shield, causing her to hiss angrily.

"It's a Lamia. A powerful monster that shouldn't be this far north." Thea pulls herself in close to me, head peeking around the edge of my arm.

"How do you kill it?" The words monster and powerful are echoing in my mind. It makes me wish I had worn my sword belt into the woods with me. Or carried my M1a, at least the larger round would have been an improvement over the AR-15 in my hands.

"They’re hard to kill. The main method is to burn them. Some say silver blades work. Rosemary and salt is supposed to hurt them. I just don't know what we can do here." Her voice is calm, but I can hear the fear in it. The Lamia is still circling and watching us as it does. Every time I start to look away, it darts one direction or the other. It tries to slip around the shield I have between us.

"So what do you suggest?" I'm starting to feel the shield slipping and it’s drawing more mana than I feel I can uphold. My hands are starting to shake as I hold my rifle on the Lamia. One way or another, I'm fairly sure the shield is going to come down soon.

"We need to get back to the campsite. With Jacob, Shiva, and a fire already built, we stand a better chance of making it through the night." The sweat dripping off my forehead slides into my eyes, causing them to burn. My muscles are starting to ache in the cool night air.

"Yeah, that's not going to work." My voice is calm, but my guts are churning.

"Why not, I know camp is pretty far from here, but it can't get through your shield." Thea looks up at me, seeing my strained expression for the first time. "Oh, Goddess Ava. She's been assaulting your shield this whole time." In that moment, I know she understands that my mana is being drained. The constant swipe and clawing attacks by the Lamia is forcing me to pump more and more mana into my shield.

"Yeah. I figure we have maybe five minutes before it's not a choice of when the shield comes down." The Lamia pounds its hands into my shield, screeching as its hands bounce off. "Any ideas? Besides make it back to camp that is." Sarge is still growling, but I can tell it's the growl he uses when he's scared. This snake bitch has him afraid, and that doesn't happen often.

"Her skin is tough, most people can't pierce it without an extremely sharp blade. Blessed metals cut them easier and arrows seem to bounce off of them. I dont know, I just don’t fucking know!" Her voice gets ragged at the end and I can hear the fear fighting to take control.

"Why do arrows bounce off? Shouldn't they still pierce their skin if a normal blade can?" The Lamia sways on her tail as I speak to Thea, hissing quietly at us.

"There isn't enough force behind the arrows to penetrate. That's the prevailing theory anyway." Thea sounds unsure of her answer, causing my eyes to flick back to her for a split second. In that moment, the Lamia makes its move, slithering to the left and getting its hands around my shield. In a flash, it's coming towards us, moving almost faster than I can track.

I let loose a stream of rounds into the Lamia, shooting as fast as I can pull the trigger. Her body jerks as the rounds hit her, causing her to veer away from us. With a loud hiss, she disappears into the trees again and moves silently through the branches. I sweep the trees with the barrel of my rifle, searching for any sign of the snake woman.

"I can't see her! Do you have eyes on the bitch!?" Thea's back slams into mine, almost knocking me off balance. My shield falls as I search the trees. If I don't know where she is, it does no good to have a shield up.

"She's in the trees somewhere. I can't see her and she's moving too quietly to track her by sound." I flick my eyes towards Sarge where he crouches next to me. His eyes are locked at a point to my left, head shifting slightly as he stares. I start to wonder what the hell he is looking at when the Lamia burst through the trees again.

"Fucking fucking fuck!" My yell causes Thea to jump as I stitch the Lamia with five more rounds from my rifle. She veers off and disappears into the trees again before I can hit her with anymore. Sarge's eyes follow her into the treeline, head turning to the right.

A manic laugh comes through the trees a split second before the Lamia. She is charging from the same line as Sarge's sight. I empty the magazine of the remaining rounds which causes her to disappear into the trees again. The bolt locks back so I drop the empty mag, slamming a new one home and slapping the bolt release. It barely slams home before she charges again. She’s slower this time, but still damn quick.

I pour a handful of rounds into her before she slides into the trees once again. Glancing down, I see trails of her blood in the grass around us. Sarge is still moving his head and stares into the trees.

"Sarge can track her!" As I yell, she rushes from the trees again and dives back into the trees a split second before I can fire again.

"My rounds are hurting her, but not a lot!" Thea reaches around me, grabbing one of my magazines from my vest. With the one in my rifle, it leaves two more full mags in my vest. I curse inwardly at my lack of ammo. I should have made sure all my mag pouches were full before leaving the camp, fucking stupid. The way it's going, I'm going to run out of ammo before I stop this bitch.

"What is your ammo made of? I know it’s metal but what kind!?" Why the fuck is she asking me this now?

"Copper, with a tungsten core. Fucking why!?" The Lamia slips through the trees again which causes me to waste a handful of rounds trying to hit her.

"Keep her back for a few minutes. I think I can help your weapon kill her, but I need time to do it."

"How much fucking time!?" I fire off into the trees along the line of Sarge's nose. A loud hiss and screech echoes through the woods which tells me I hit something.

"Two minutes, maybe three!" Thea kneels in the dirt, thumbing the rounds from the magazine in her hand.

"I'll do what I can, but I can't guarantee three minutes!" Before I could finish, the Lamia darts out of the trees again and slips back as my bullets catch her in the chest. I slam another magazine home, barely firing again as she charges me. This bitch is smart because she figured out that during my reloads, she can get close. She has me wasting rounds and then charges us as I reload.

"I have one more mag after this one! Fucking hurry!" Thea doesn't respond to my yell, a bright light keeps me from looking at her. I don’t know what the fuck she is doing, but I trust her. The next time the Lamia charges I just use two rounds, forcing myself to not waste any more rounds than I have to.

She's playing with me now, like a cat with a mouse. She appears between trees for a split second then disappears just as fast, trying to make me waste more of my ammo. I'm done playing her game. I don't shoot unless I know it will hit, but she still makes me use most of the mag in less than a minute. When I quit taking potshots, she charges me and forces me to use multiple rounds before darting away.

"Fucking anytime now, Thea!" I slam the last mag home, pouring five rounds into the Lamia as the bolt closes. Shes bleeding heavily now, literally dozens of small wounds covering her body. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Thea loading the magazine again. She stands and shoves the mag into my left hand.

"Five minutes! That's how long these are good for." She drops to the ground with her arms wrapped around Sarge. I don't know what she means by five minutes, but I go with it. I drop the half loaded mag and slam the new one home. As it sets, the Lamia charges from the treeline again.

My first round does next to nothing, just like all the others. The second opens up her shoulder, spinning it around to twist in the dirt. I move forward and follow the Lamia as it tries to slither away. My rifle spits rounds at her, stitching wounds across her back. Whatever Thea did to the rounds, it worked.

Now the rounds punch through like it's nothing, tearing chunks of flesh free as they pass through its body. It’s writhing on the ground now, not even trying to escape. Its blue blood pumps into the dirt like some kind of macabre fire hose. Its writhing gets weaker as I advance on it, the Lamia glares up at me. Her eyes are full of hate and anger as she bleeds out in the dirt.

"Killlllll youuuuuu!" Its voice is surprisingly high pitched as it speaks. The sound of it nearly stuns me as it starts to crawl towards me. One of its clawed hands latches weakly onto my boots. I shake it off and stomp down on its wrist. It glares up at me, baring its pointed teeth at me as it hisses.

"Fuck you, bitch!" I empty the rest of the magazine into the monster's face. The force of the rounds spray me with blue blood and chunks of brain matter. For a long moment, no one speaks. There is just the sound of my heavy panting and Thea's quiet breathing. Sarge walks over quietly, sniffing the dead body of the Lamia. He barks once and lets out a low growl as he circles the now cooling corpse.

"It’s done." Thea's voice is calm, almost hollow sounding as she comes up behind me. Her arms wrap around me as I start to fall. The adrenaline leaving my system, causing me to shake uncontrollably.

"Fucking shit ass bitch motherfucking damn cocksucking fucking balls." The stream of profanity leaving my mouth helps me settle down. My insides still churning violently as I kick out to scoot away from the Lamia's corpse.

"It’s ok. I have you. You are safe, Jim. I have you." Her voice feels like it's far away as she holds me close to her. My hands are shaking so violently I let my rifle drop instead of trying to hold it.

"Sarge, go get Shiva and Jacob." Thea is surprisingly calm as she speaks, a far cry from earlier when we were both freaking out. Sarge takes off through the trees, moving quietly, but quickly.

"What if there are more of them?" My eyes scan the trees as I try and stop myself from shaking.

"Lamia's are unable to travel in groups. They see any of their kind as a threat and fight on sight. They will even kill their own children after they are mature. So there isn't another one around. It's ok, Jim. Just try and calm down, ok? I'm right here, it's safe for now." I try and follow her instructions, but my body doesn't want to listen. By the time I start to calm down, I can hear Sarge's bark coming back to us.

I force myself to stand as Jacob and Shiva come through the line of trees. Shiva looks around the clearing, her nose wrinkling as she does. Jacob just stops, mouth agape as he stares at the Lamia's corpse.

"You killed it." Shiva doesn't sound surprised, her tone sounds as if she is commenting about the weather or some other basic subjects.

"He did, but it nearly killed us." Thea pulls me away from the corpse and guides me to the tree we had so recently been pushed up against.

"Fucking how the hell did you manage that!?" Jacob's voice is almost shrill as he yells, causing me to wince.

"I'll explain later." Thea puts herself between him and me, stopping him from getting close to me. "For now, I'm going to get him cleaned up. Will you two please handle this?" She motions a hand towards the corpse of the Lamia.

"We got it. You going to meet us back at camp?" Shiva elbows Jacob, causing him to grunt. Thea nods to the redhead, eyes drifting back to me as she speaks.

"Yes, I'd offer to stay and help, but I don't want to leave him alone right now." Shiva nods, seeming to understand what the elf means.

"Then you two go, we will salvage whatever we can from it and meet you by the truck." Shiva pulls Jacob over to the corpse, drawing a slim dagger.

As she kneels by the body, Thea guides me gently through the trees. My ears pick up the sound of a blade slicing through flesh as we leave the two behind. Sarge is leading the way, slipping through the thin trees quietly. Neither Thea or I speak as we walk. My mind replaying the fight over and over in my mind as we walk.

At some point, we reach a small stream of water. I realize vaguely that it is the same stream we had made camp beside earlier, just away from the truck. Thea tears away a piece of her robe, dipping it in the water. She is speaking softly as she starts to wipe the blood off of me.

"It’s alright, Jim. You did it, you killed it and kept us both safe. You have to remember if you hadn't, it would have killed the both of us." She finishes wiping the blood from my face, then works on the rest of me. As I look down, I realize she had gathered up my empty magazines at some point, stowing them in the proper pouches.

"Why am I struggling with this so bad?" My voice is barely above a whisper as she continues to scrub away blue blood. "I was alright with the goblins. I mean, yeah I puked, but I was ok. The men back in Sacren, I didn't have a problem there either."

"It’s part of the Lamia's magic aura, Jim." She pauses, looks into my eyes, and forces me to focus on her. "They let out a cloud of pheromones when they attack. It triggers their prey’s fight or flight response. Most people run as they just can't stand up against it." Her hands start to work over my blood soaked body again.

"Then why am I still fucking shaking" I try again to make my hands hold still, cursing as they keep shaking.

"Because you fought. You held your ground with all that fear coursing through you. Right now, your body is fighting against itself and trying to tell you that you need to still fight or run away. It will pass, just give it time." She kisses me gently, my hands reach out to hold her. She struggles against me for half a second as I pull her into my lap.

"I fucking hate this feeling." I bury my face in her hair, breathing in her scent as deeply as I can.

"I know, Jim. Just give it a few minutes."

"Why are you ok?" I can't help but feel jealous that she seems to be ok. She pulls back slightly, showing Me her hands. They are shaking, not as bad as mine, but still quivering in the air in front of me.

"I've been trained to handle it. Even with all the practice I've had, I'm still shaking. The fact you walked away and didn't collapse for the rest of the night is amazing. Hell, Sarge is even shaking, see." At her words, I look down at Sarge. The big dog seeming to vibrate as he lays on the ground, a low whimper escaping his mouth.

I reach for Sarge and lay a gentle hand on his body. He flinches at my touch, turning his head to look at me. I give him a smile and try to say that everything is alright. While I run my hands through Sarge's fur, Thea finishes cleaning me. Part of me feels like a small child, needing help getting clean after they got dirty. The bigger part of me is just happy Thea is there to help. Without her, I would still be back beside the corpse of the Lamia. Or dead after not being able to kill it.

"What did you do to my ammo back there? My rounds barely hurt it, but the ones you gave me tore through it like paper." My hands are starting to feel steady again, the shakes nearly gone. Thea drops the scrap of her robe, shifting in my lap to rest her head on my shoulder.

"I prayed to Ava to bless them." At my confused look, she continues. "Blessed metal hurts them more than unblessed. So I blessed your ammo and imbued it with Ava's power."

"How could you do that?" My mind doesn't want to wrap itself around her words.

"I'm a priestess of Ava. I asked her as her humble servant to bless the rounds in the last magazine. She heard my prayers and shared her power for a limited time. Certain metals take blessing easier than others. Mithril is the easiest, iron the hardest." She stands up, pulling me to my feet.

"Copper holds up pretty well, and takes to being blessed quickly. So I took a chance and it paid off. Now come on, let's get back to camp." She gives me a gentle push back towards where we made camp. We travel in silence to the camp, my mind still digesting what she said.

When we make it back to camp, Shiva and Jacob are already there which makes me wonder how long Thea and I had been sitting by the stream. There is a pile of bloody parts next to the fire, Jacob working quietly on them. It’s the hide from the snake portion of the Lamia stretched out over a log. Jacob uses a thin blade to scrape fat and blood away from it. My stomach lurches at the sight which surprises me because I have never had a problem treating hides.

"Why are you doing that?" My voice is still flat to my own ears. Jacob looks up from his work, eyes looking me over as I sit beside the truck.

"Lamia skin is a high value trade material. It can be used to make highly defensive lightweight armor. This hide is worth a couple dozen gold because it's in such great shape. Most of the time when one is killed, it gets cut to ribbons by the people who take it down." I nod as he explains, it makes sense in a weird sort of way. My eyes move over to Shiva who is sorting a pile of bloody parts.

"What are they?" I point to three crystals the size of golf balls sitting beside her. She picks one up turning it in the fire light.

"These are monster crystals, every monster has them inside of them. It's how they channel mana to make themselves stronger. Lamia crystals are high value and can be sold for a good sum. There were six inside her, but you broke three with your weapon."

"If all monsters have them, why didn't we grab any from the goblin horde?"

"Because goblin crystals are shit. It takes twenty of them to trade for a single copper coin. Also we had to run pretty quick there, remember." I nod in thought and look down at the blood pooling around her.

"And its hands?" I can't help, but stare at the claws beside her and the sharpened teeth sitting inside them.

"They can be used to make weapons, just like the teeth and a few glands we already stored. We will sell them when we do the rest of the goods we get from the dungeon. It's a good start to pay for the flask." She sighs, leaning back to stretch.

"As bad of luck as it was running into a Lamia, it’s turned into quite the payday." At Thea's words, I feel a laugh escaping my throat. At the sound of my laugh, everyone turns to look at me. Sarge practically runs to me, wiggling himself into my lap and shoving his nose in my face.

"Are you ok?" I glance over at Jacob, wanting to respond, but not knowing how.

"I will be." I force myself to bite off the laughter to respond to Jacob. "I'm just shook right now." Jacob stares at me for a few moments, then goes back to fleshing out the Lamia hide. Shiva finishes whatever she is doing with the other materials and stores them in the void bag.

Thea walks over to me while I'm holding Sarge in my lap. She is carrying one of my green ammo cans in front of her. As I look up at her, she sets it on the ground, sitting beside me.

"I think this is the one that holds the ammo for that gun." She opens the lid as she speaks. I glance in the can, confirming that it is the right can.

"Thank you." I push Sarge off my lap gently, and drop the half full mag from my rifle. My hands work in practiced movements, topping off the half full mag. As I start to work on the mags in my vest, Thea starts to help. Between the two of us, my mags are all loaded quickly and secured again. I shut the can, eyeing the level of ammo in it first.

"I think I'm going to get some sleep." I set the can back into the bed, then grab one of the bed rolls. I spread it out under my truck, then pull off my plate carrier. I lay it down at the head of the bed roll, and lay my rifle and gun belt next to it. Thea is eyeing me as I slide under the truck, rolling the blankets over me.

"I'll be there in a minute." Thea smiles at me, so I give her a weak smile back. She walks off into the trees and Sarge follows close behind her. By the time she gets back, I'm half awake and my eyes close on their own.

She gives a quick goodnight to Shiva and Jacob, then slides under the truck. She wiggles against me under the blankets. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close. Sarge takes a position near my feet and faces the opposite direction of me.

"Why did you put the bed here?" Thea's voice is low, barely above a whisper.

"It just feels safer right now." I whisper in her ears. My plate carrier is hard under my head, but it's comforting in itself. Thea's hair is rubbing my face as I hold her close, tickling my nose. I fall asleep the smell of vanilla and cinnamon wrapping around me.

Shiva's point of view.

"What the hell?" Jacob is speaking quietly so as not to wake up Jim and Thea. His eyes boring into me from over the dying campfire. "Is he alright, or should we be worried?" I let out a sigh, thinking about how to answer him.

"He isn't like us, Jacob. In his world, he wasn't a warrior, or an adventurer. He was just an average person." I stir the coals with a broken branch, watching the embers rise into the air.

"Ever since he came here, he's had to fight and kill almost nonstop. He's still adjusting and just needs some time." Jacob gets quiet after I speak, lost in his own thoughts. After a moment, I stand up to collect my own bed roll and lay it out by the fire. When I fall asleep, Jacob is still awake, watching the fire.