As Reece rounded the corner of the recessed cliff cavern, he witnessed a completely nude Angel pulling up a pair of slacks while a half-dressed Naeva held a shirt for him. She had already thrown on some unbuttoned jean shorts and a loose black tank top. Several others, Rakshasa and Naga alike, were in various stages of undress. Someone had dumped a pile of clothes out onto the rocky recess, and everyone was picking out something to wear. Reece assumed Naeva had pulled her new outfit from the same pile. Although Reece was envious of many of his friends’ ability to transform into more powerful fighters, he didn’t envy what they did to their wardrobes.

“Warn a body,” grouched Reece, covering his eyes. “Thanks. I may be blind now.”

“Don’t worry,” whispered a seductive for with a strange accent. “We’ll make you all better.”

Suddenly, Reece found himself being what he could only describe as “felt up” by a pair of women, small scales covering much of their bodies. Both were nude and while their arms and legs were covered with light-green scales, their breasts, faces, and bellies were a smooth pale yellow. One licked his face with a forked tongue, causing Reece to look into her eyes. They were mesmerizing and snake-like, yet still lovely.

Then she was kissing him, her amazingly long tongue snaking into his mouth and wrapping around his own. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, and he began to become aroused. His head was roughly pulled away by the second snake woman and he found quickly her massaging his tongue with her own. The first had her hands down his pants when Angel jumped in and pulled him away.

“Okay, okay,” he exclaimed. “Calm down and back off.”

“What’s going on?” asked Reece, his speech slightly slurred.

He looked at Angel with a tilted head, narrowing his eyes at the man. His mind was in a fog, making it difficult to think. All he knew was that he wanted to return to the two snake women and continue what they were doing. Two quick slaps across the face from Ciera woke him from the haze. When he could finally look at her normally, she had an amused look on her face.

“You almost boned Cara and Bao,” she told him. “Boy, all of us monsters getting this close together can create quite the spectacle. It would be best if you all avoided each other, okay?”

“Uh, alright,” muttered Reece. “But what exactly just happened?”

“Well Reece, your natural... or supernatural charisma, as it were, is particularly effective with Naga,” she explained. “They are in heat right now and you fell victim to their hypnotizing stares. Their community also hasn’t been able to have any children. It was the perfect storm. None of it was intentional, but if we had let nature take its course, you would have had a couple more offspring on the way.”

“Okay,” said Reece, scratching the back of his head nervously. “I guess I owe Angel a big thank you.”

“Well, maybe not,” said Ciera. “I’ve heard that Naga women make excellent lovers.”

“You’re killing me, Ciera,” muttered Reece, rolling his eyes at her.

She merely stuck out her tongue at him and laughed while a pair of male Naga pulled the females away, hissing angrily at them. Both females reluctantly went with them, glancing back at Reece with lust-filled eyes. Reece couldn’t help but smile as he watched them go, wiggling their lightly scaled asses seductively in a last-ditch effort to convince him to mate with them. He made a mental note to be more careful around their kind in the future. A hard punch to his arm made him turn to face Naeva. She was giving him the evil eye.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him.

“What? They came onto me,” he said, shrugging helplessly.

“Yeah, you fought them with every inch of your body, right?” she asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Well, not every inch,” said Reece, earning himself another hard punch on his already sore arm.

“Ouch, you Lycaons hit hard,” he complained.

“And don’t you forget it,” replied Naeva, smiling wickedly. “Besides, if I hadn’t hit you, then perhaps she would have.”

Reece looked to where Naeva indicated and saw Taela speaking with a tall dark-haired woman in ill-fitting clothes. When she looked back at him, he saw something there he hadn’t seen before. The Adaro princess’s face was flushed, her lips tight, and her jaw was clenched in silent anger, but a single tear betrayed the pain underneath.

At first, he thought he’d have to explain to her about the misunderstanding. Upon reflection, however, maybe this was for the best. She needed to get over him and there was no easy way for that to happen. It made him sick that she should feel that way, so he turned away and tried to focus on something else.

By this time, most of the survivors had collected their things and bandaged their wounds. The Qilin landed, all alive, but a couple with superficial wounds. Reece watched in wonder as Aspen excreted a sap-like sweat from her pores and rubbed her hands over her bare body, collecting as much of it as she could. She then placed her sap-covered hands over the Qilin’s injuries, allowing the sap to fill in the scratches and puncture wounds on the majestic beasts. Once she had finished, she pulled a plain frock over her body and nodded at Reece.

“They are ready,” she said. “We should head out soon. We have what we came for?”

“Yes, and I agree,” said Reece. “We don’t have time to stand around, but we may need some rest before we do.”

While everyone decompressed from the battle and talked amongst themselves, Reece took the opportunity to meet with the three tribes that had assisted them. He did his best to suppress his latent abilities. He desired information, not an orgy. Walking up to the side of a dark-skinned man with a prominent nose and dark-brown eyes, Reece stuck out his hand. “Reece, a pleasure to meet you.”

The man had a dangerous look to him as he turned to face Reece. Between his muscular physique and piercing glare, Reece was hoping he hadn’t overstepped. Suddenly, the man grinned, bright white teeth eclipsing breaking the dark illusion. The man rubbed his shaved head for a moment before grabbing Reece’s hand and shaking it vigorously. “Aahan, you as well. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Not all bad, I hope,” replied Reece.

“Hardly,” answered Aahan. “It seems you just pulled our collective butts out of the efreet’s fire. I thank you for that, friend.”

“Glad to help,” said Reece. “Say, it’s great to see such a large community still… around. How did you manage it?”

“Ah, yeah…that’s a long story,” said Aahan. “I’ll try and give you the abridged version.”

“That’d be great,” replied Reece.

Aahan rubbed his chin while pondering something. “Well, hmmm, where to start. Well, at first, we lived among the humans. Our village was remote, and we had allies that helped us keep our secret. We didn’t know about the Naga or the Harpyiai until after the plague had started to decimate the local communities.”

Aahan got a look of sadness on his face before he continued. “Then, once we understood what was happening all around us, we joined forces with the surrounding villages to fight back against the undead plague. Luckily, the tribes were all immune to the undead plague. Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the infertility haze. We found out about that when we finally launched an attack on the bringers of the plague, this Order that had somehow sprung up all over the globe.”

“In an effort to sustain the fight and save the people around us, we began to turn those who were willing. That’s when we found out about the Naga. They were doing the same and for the same reasons. They were also immune to the plague. Like us, they can assume human form indefinitely and were also living amongst the humans. The Harpyiai are a bit differ though. They can become almost human, but not enough to fool anyone. They are also all women. So, they lived apart from society, only interacting with their husbands who are full-blooded regular humans. It was one of them that negotiated an alliance with them as well. From then on, we worked as a team, four tribes against the undead.”

“Four?” queried Reece, thinking he only knew of three tribes.

“Yes,” answered Aahan. “Rakshasa, Harpyiai, Naga, and Human.”

“Ahh,” said Reece, having not considered humans as a tribe before. Still, it made sense. “Well, thanks for the history lesson. We’ve also been forming alliances against the Order. With any luck, we’ll be taking the fight to them before too long.”

The two continued to talk for a long while when one of the Harpyiai joined them. Unlike earlier, when they were in battle, this one seemed human… mostly. She was tall and shapely with purple and red hair mixed with feathers growing from her scalp. She wore a pair of long shorts tied around her waist with rope and a simple black sports bra. Both of her arms sported a line of feathers down their backs and her bare feet were still somewhat taloned. The rest of her exposed body consisted of purple and red markings everywhere except for her front, which looked pale but human.

She smiled at Reece, and it took him a moment to realize she was the one who had assisted him early in the aerial battle. While her look was very different, her face was the same. And that meant that she was the one who had winked at him.

“Hello, ma’am,” stammered Reece.

“My apologies,” cut in Aahan. “Allow me to introduce you two. Reece, this is Aello. Aello, Reece.”

“Pleased to meet you, Aello,” said Reece, her name rolling off his tongue clumsily as he tried to pronounce it. He held out his hand to shake hers.

“Oh, you’re too cute,” she purred, though it came out more like sexy warble. “And the pleasure is all mine.”

Ignoring his hand, Aello stepped into Reece and hugged him tightly. “Now, this is a greeting amongst very good allies, is it not?”

Reece didn’t like where this was going but didn’t want to do anything to upset their alliance. He sighed in relief when she finally pulled away, but his relief was cut short when he realized she had only pulled away to plant a long passionate kiss right on his lips. The Naga’s haze from earlier hadn’t completely worn off yet and he felt himself getting aroused. Apparently, from her lustful moan, Aello felt it too. Thankfully, Angel came to his rescue.

“Okay guys,” said the Mexican Rakshasa engineer much louder than he needed to. “I think it’s time we exchanged information.”

Aello hesitated and Reece took the opportunity to pull away from the amorous bird-lady. She gave him a look of hurt disappointment but quickly turned her attention to Angel. Aahan cleared his throat and turned his attention Angel’s way, also a bit shaken by what had been a rapidly evolving situation. A few more members gathered around and Naeva drug Reece away from the group.

“Can you keep it in your pants for like, ten minutes?” she growled.

“It wasn’t my fault,” hissed Reece.

“Whatever,” replied Naeva, rolling her eyes.

“You… women… are… so…,” stammered Reece in frustration.

“So ‘what’?” asked Naeva.

“Infuriating,” finished Reece.

Ciera had a smirk on her face when Naeva led him over to her.

“Not a word,” said Reece, trying to cut her off at the pass. He didn’t need more lectures, though he was pretty sure it would just be teasing from Ciera. He wasn’t up for that either. Instead, he quickly changed the subject. “Angel’s discussing things with the tribes. How are things on our end? Are we ready to head back?”

The girls nodded and they continued to talk while checking on everyone. Aspen and Taela soon joined them, as did Bjorn. The Qilin took the time to rest in the shade of the recess and recharge. The battle had taken a lot out of them.

Meanwhile, Angel exchanged transponder codes with the Rakshasa, Naga, and the Harpies that arrived just in time to save the day. Reece mulled that over. There weren’t many living things left on this sickening planet, but the ones that were left were all banding together to face a threat to them all. Reece wondered if the Order had foreseen that. A little half-smile growing on his face. He found that highly unlikely.

They were able to communicate with the carrier using the long-range communications that Angel had rigged up with the walkies and let them know their status. The carrier had been on the move and was making good progress, and so were the members of the other mission. The carrier relayed what they had been told by Pasha. They had made it to Korea, found a large force there, and had engaged them in hit-and-run tactics for the last couple of days. Reece breathed a sigh of relief that things seemed to be going alright and that they were still in contact with the carrier.

A brief conversation with Shenfu and the Qilin informed the group that it would take three days of flying to reach Libya, the location of the next nightcore fragment. The rest of the group agreed that they had better get some rest before they disembarked. They followed the Rakshasa back to their homes, well hidden inside of a seemingly abandoned town. They had settled within a gated and walled section of the town, giving them a better defensive posture, and helping to hide them from casual observers.

Settling into a couple of unused homes, they all quickly fell asleep, exhausted after the long day. A light rap on his door, while he was getting undressed, temporarily tore Reece away from the inviting bed. Half-expecting Taela to be standing at the door, he was mildly surprised when it was Ciera standing there.

“Mind if I stay with you tonight?” she asked casually. “Don’t worry, no funny business. I just need someone to snuggle.”

“Of course,” answered Reece. “But what about Naeva? Is everything okay between you two?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” breathed Ciera. “But Taela’s been talking her ear off for the last hour and it didn’t seem like she would be slowing down anytime soon.”

“Do I want to know?” asked Reece.

“Probably not,” she replied.

“In that case,” said Reece. “Let’s get some sleep. I don’t really like sleeping alone either.”

It didn’t take long before the two of them settled comfortably together and dozed off. Being of similar make-up, Reece thought of Ciera almost like family. Sleeping with her would energize them both. It was a good arrangement and as Ciera snuggled her warm body into his, it had some nice side-effects as well. Smiling contentedly, he was definitely moojie as he faded off to sleep.

A dream came, but it was another that felt different. He was on the familiar landscape, but things were calm. A massive pair of eyes opened in the sky. It was dimly lit by a rising or setting sun, he couldn’t tell which. Reece immediately recognized the eyes as those of Kali. Soon her entire beautiful face appeared, and she smiled warmly at Reece before shifting he eyes off to the side and into the distance to Reece’s left. He followed her gaze and could somehow see the world as a map that he was studying from above. Her focus rested upon a large ruin in Libya, and he watched as enormous creatures rose from the drifting dunes to dive back down, disappearing below the sands again. He could feel the warmth on his face and the image quickly faded to darkness.

Opening his eyes, he discovered a ray of sunshine beating down on him through the window of the simple room where he had slept through the night. After sleeping in a windowless cabin of the carrier for so long, the simple sensation of the sun waking him up and the warmth of the gorgeous woman wrapped around him sent a tear rolling lazily down his cheek. For just a moment, everything felt normal. He laid like that for as long as he could, until Ciera began to stir. She looked up at him and he couldn’t help but smile at the perpetually beautiful woman. She smiled back before getting a wicked gleam in her eye and stretching up to give him a kiss that turned passionate almost instantly.

“Well, good morning to you too,” said Reece as soon as Ciera backed off again.

“I just needed a little pick-me-up,” she explained, staring into his eyes while tilted her head down demurely. She even lightly bit her lower lip, trying to look as cute as possible.

“Oh, sure you did,” said Reece, narrowing his eyes in mock-suspicion. “As comfy as this is, we need to get up and get moving.”

Ciera nodded and the two of them managed to untangle themselves and get dressed, watching each other put on their twin uniforms. They met everyone outside, and they were all treated to a magnificent breakfast. It had been cooked and served by the Rakshasas and Naga as a thank you for helping to save their people. It contained eggs, pancakes, waffles, ham, fresh oranges, apples, and grapes, with fresh milk to drink. It beat the carrier’s food hands down, but in their defense, the carrier’s chefs were doing amazing things with what they were given.

Looking around while he munched on an apple, Reece spotted numerous regular humans in the village. He thought that strange since he hadn’t seen any during the battle. Asking a pair of townsfolk nearby, he learned that because all the Rakshasa were chosen from among willing humans to serve as their official militia, the rest would stay back in relative safety and take care of gardening, farming, and the like. It made good sense to Reece, and they finished the amazing breakfast. It all ended too soon, and Reece’s team was reluctant but ready to go.

They said their goodbyes and were thanked profusely by the Rakshasa and Naga for the save, even though it was the specters that did most of the work. Reece was just glad to be another step closer to ending this and seeing Aika, Karina, Pasha, Sora, and the twins again. He wondered, and not for the first time, how they were doing. Shenfu must have realized something was up because he engaged Reece in conversation, helping him focus his mind on something other than his two faraway loves. Chippo joined in but was oblivious to Reece’s mood.

It wasn’t long before Chippo and Shenfu had Reece laughing along with them, the Qilin a master of conversation and the Furdian’s antics being naturally funny. Reece glanced around at the rest of the Qilin and their cargo, noticing with a smile that even Taela had finally grown comfortable with the mounted flight, fierce determination replacing abject fear on her face. After the latest battle, it was nice to see everyone in better spirits.