The lone pagoda in the forest was drowning in the sea of vibrant green leaves glistening in the morning sun, with the original, human-built structures now nearly completely lost in the tide of alien vegetation.

I watched as the otherworldly flowers opened almost as if they were to welcome Mai passing by, as she inspected the grounds, like it was on the brink of some ground opening, making sure that everything was arranged perfectly to match the design she had in mind.

The sword-sized barbs face the outside, deterring unwelcome visitors to her garden, while the shade and blooms pleased those deemed worthy, with the two smaller ‘Corruptors’ making the finishing touches according to the unseen plan, bending the tree branches to their whims and wishes.

Mai and her two assistants cared little for the light rain, and neither did the flora hold in the firm grasp of the reptilians’ powers while the colliding forces of magic and nature left behind a soft vapour.

The scene, completely devoid of sound, played out without my input, and I realised I was a silent witness to the events in motion, trapped in the lifelike, soundless, vision.

I realised I was watching it through someone else’s side when the movement started. I jumped to my feet drawn to the invisible beacon in the distance.

A ‘Displacer’ emerged from the rift opening in the courtyard, causing the water from the morning rain to spray the area as the very concept of the space and perhaps gravity changed to connect the green sanctum to remote places.

I rushed forward, not paying attention to Mai’s grove as the anthropomorphic kitten led me through the portal.

The shifting expanse beyond was a confusion embodied, where up was down and far was close, and then there was no space at all. The conceptless void was gone in but an eyeblink, and reality reconstituted itself.

Then, I was in the camp, a former sawmill servicing village turned into a realm of green madness, equally overrun with exotic verdure. Unlike the peaceful remnants of the shrine, it was overflowing with activity as the furry horde went on their business, all lost in the blur as my view headed towards one of the houses, covered by the climbing vines, hidden under the canopy of intricate, spiky branches as the crown of thorns.

Everything went on without sound, like a movie that lost its soundtrack.

Going past the ‘Purifiers’ working the fire in front to prepare the meal, feeding the flames to a blaze. Kuma was dozing near the fire, her hands resting on the hilt of the blade. Two ‘Defilers’ who looked tiny in comparison guarded the house’s door as the honour guards with spears at ready.

I looked around, spotting more than a dozen ‘Eviscerators’ lurking in the shadows of the trees, eyeing me without sound, then headed towards the entrance.

The moment I touched the door in the dream it catapulted me awake into the waking world in a strike of fright, my heart racing from the shock of the sudden transition between the states, my eyes fast open, my limbs yanking involuntarily only to be stopped by the soft barriers of fluff and the pleasant, calming warmth of bodies.

Disorientation quickly settled in before I realised I had once again experienced this weird look through someone else's eyes perspective, and I, in fact, didn’t move. Instead, I lay down sandwiched between Miwah and Tama, with Narita resting atop me.

I blinked at the wooden ceiling and the strange overlay message that had crept into my view, making me wonder why the system was designed to show itself now after I’d spent the night with the company of the girls.

Not to mention the dream - soundless, but realistic, wandering around our lands.

The screen was insistent.

Unit evolved! Mate gained! Narita, The Bride of Essence.

The new unit was promoted to Alpha Defiler!

I blinked it away, annoyed as I didn't need to remind myself of my emotional decision to get intimate with Narita in the wake of the shock when I decided that I and my girls never should be apart.

Narita’s horns hit me in the chin, and the sudden movement made Tama quite displeased as well.

However, before my brain started to focus on the matter of whether something like horns belonged on the body of a rodent, anthropomorphic or not, a voice interrupted my scrambling runaway thoughts.

“Master?” The feminine voice asked, “What are…the orders? Should I no longer help Mai?”

“Oh. I …” I replied, pausing, trying to piece things together.

Narita rose up, sitting on my lap, the smooth fur-covered, yet decisively feminine body of the anthropomorphic rat girl gaining visibly more defined, firm curves, not to mention a very pale white colour of the fluff.

She looked up at me, sniffling cutely, her red eyes emitting a soft, magical glow. While her rat-like face remained unchanged, aside from the colour, her hair gained a little length overnight, not to mention she now had grown curved horns, like ram’s or goat’s, a surprising addition to the otherwise rodent-like features.

Still, it fit her somewhat nicely.

She was gorgeous. I sat up and hugged her.

Narita’s, but also Miwah’s and Tama’s love helped me to live through the night when the nightmares filled with death and blood filled my dreams and woke me up, only to be soothed by the fluffy, loving embrace.

My runaway thoughts didn’t last long.

“Master?” The voice insisted, and I saw another rat girl, with ordinary brown fur this time. The new ‘Alpha’ I realised, fully grew up from the smaller, rank-and-file ‘Defiler’. The looted scaled armour fit her now larger body quite well.

She was still quite a looker, just as Narita was. I, for a while, struggled to remember what human females even looked like, and even when the recollection kicked in they still felt like a completely different species, whereas my girls were all pretty now.

“Oh. Mia, I am sorry.” I said finally when my thoughts settled, “I think that one of your sisters should take over the job helping Mai. Lia can do it.”

The girl grew up, quite literally, not figuratively, in a leadership role.

“Yes-yes, Master,” Mia said immediately and came closer to the sleeping pellet where I still rested, with my fluffy companions - mates in fact. Miwah, Narita and Tama alike took it as natural to keep me warm with their embrace.

The morning cold made me welcome it, but my mind wandered to more professional matters.

The new ‘Defiler Alpha’ looked unperturbed, if not quite pleased or proud.

It was a struggle to remember the names, and though it was easy to simply group Mia and Mai together as a matter of convenience, it won’t do anymore. By taking Narita as my mate, I unintentionally made her second oldest sister a new ‘Alpha’, giving her command. I didn’t recall calling her there, though. The dream was more real than it had any right to be, a true vision of sorts, sought through the eyes of another.

“Did you enjoy working with Mai?” I asked, not having an actual order for her to follow.

“Yes-yes, Master.” She replied without hesitation - I did guess the name correctly after all, though mostly due to the fact I ordered Mia and Mai to form a team as I confused the two repeatedly even if they were from different breeds. It would cause an issue later, I could already feel it.

“And Mai?”

“Mai is…” Mia considered, “...ashamed of her performance and inability to stop the human-things! She wants to prove herself.”

It took me a short moment to recall the event she was referencing, it almost slipped out of my memory by now.

“The elites? Those five superpowered ones?” I questioned,

“Yes-yes. Master.” The rat girl confirmed, with an enthusiastic nod, “The Corruptors couldn’t do anything.”

That was true, and I recalled Mai to be particularly frustrated by her own performance after the unstoppable enemies mowed down her sister and the plan controlling powers didn’t seem to do anything. It would be a tragedy if my girls weren’t going to be resurrected after death.

“It was not her fault. Elites are far too dangerous. We needed to outnumber them greatly for the fight. The Corruptors alone wouldn’t stop those five, the strongest ones. They went through the Ravagers with minimal effort until they were overwhelmed”

“Yes-yes. Master.” Mia concurred.

“I should have known that sooner,” I murmured to myself. While there was a toil with preparing effective defences against someone above the human limit, the simple conversation with my girls wasn’t beyond possibility.

Maybe it was my mistake I didn’t talk about it at all. Even though I was dedicated to limiting the suffering of my girls in the neverending conflict and sought to end it once and for all, giving them peace and comfort, I still hadn’t asked the main ‘Corruptor’ how she felt - it was me who should feel disappointed, not Mai.

“I will talk with Mai later. Make her more comfortable.”

“Do you consider inviting Mai over too, Master?” Tama quipped in, pushing her vulpine face closer for the kiss, and adding teasingly, “I would not be … too jealous, but we would need a bigger bed.”

The vixen gave me a teasing lick and a kiss and suggestively crawled away so she could begin her morning grooming since her looting spree in the village netted her not only a new outfit but also a beautification kit, combs and mirror included.

I rather didn’t comment on her quip - in a way, she was right. My scaly companion deserved at least a hug too, despite their lizard-like exterior ‘Corruptors’ were quite sociable.

While I was terrible in tactics, I was also quite terrible in relationships, and now I had a werewolf, a three-tailed fox - four-tailed, sparing Tama a quick glance - and now an anthropomorphic rat with horns in my bed.

I loved them, though, and I loved all of their thousand sisters.

My monsters, my people, my girls, they were all precious to me. We shall never be apart again, I remembered my promise, and the nagging sensation at the back of my brain joyfully concurred.

I pushed my thoughts to more productive matters, something I did think of yesterday, but never got to actually do.

“I should expand the number of your sister Corruptor crew and have one of you nearby should they over-exhaust themselves in working their magic…” I told the new ‘Defiler Alpha’.

Then paused, since I realised that it would mean doing the thing which already caused me a huge amount of problems - not to mention embarrassment - with naming a massive number of my monsters, my girls, only to confuse them together a moment later. Proof of this organisational deficiency stood before me.

Mia was a ‘Defiler’ while Mai was a ‘Corruptor’ - one had fur and the other scales, they should be easy to tell apart, yet their names were a scrabble with the same letters which invited mistakes.

“.. but first we should do the census. Establish a name matrix, really, get the paper and pen, and write the names down.” I continued, and mused briefly: “Perhaps I can ask you to do it?”

“Yes-yes, Master!” Mia replied and darted away dutifully, making me feel somewhat ashamed of my previous cheap cop-out with the assignment since now I had two ‘Alphas’ with very similarly sounding names.

However, I also realised that I didn’t think through the whole task and the entire matter of the overarching responsibility and should have delegated the record-making to someone else, even to individual ‘Alphas’ to count their respective breeds.

Miwah, for example, knew how many ‘Eviscerators’ were there merely after a brief ponder on the matter - and despite the fact, that it was quite obvious that ‘Alphas’ were de-facto commanders of their respective kin, I never really thought that much about how the command structure was even supposed to work.

Although there was a distinctive hierarchy, I wasn’t quite sure if Miwah technically outranked Brave, and Tama outranked Helmy. I never asked.

A treacherous brain responded, filling my mind with the chorus of chattering voices in response almost as it tried to do the very same thing the ‘Alphas’ were able to do instinctively. It gave me quite a migraine, which immediately started to subside the moment I managed to wrestle the link away.

Perhaps, it was the entire point of that floating screen with a propensity to miscalculate, to isolate me somewhat from the pain of being the mind behind the horde, offloading weight to the multiple nodes.

It never had occurred to me before, I thought. Still, the headache was quite discouraging, even if improvement was both brief and temporary.

“Master?” Narita asked, sounding worried, inspecting me carefully.

“Are you feeling well?” I asked - I should be worrying about them, rather than about me.

“Better than ever before, Master.” She answered, “The lands! They could soon be filled with our progeny!”

The rat girl toyed with my hair gently and stared into my eyes. I returned the gaze.

A thought slipped into my mind - wouldn’t the world be a little nicer if there were more of us and less of the humans?

I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about being the progenitor to a new species. It was rather strange to hear such a mention from Narita too, instead of ordinarily flirty Tama. The vixen cackled slightly though.

“We didn’t make the land safe enough yet,” I said, as an evasive answer, “Are there any answers from the humans?”

There I sensed my duty to create a safe haven for girls.

“None, Master,” Miwah answered from behind, holding me close, and keeping me warm. She didn’t seem to mind the sharing in the slightest, and neither did Narita.

“I’ll probably have to prepare for the negotiation,” I said, more a thought to make words, rather than the particular statement, or even a decision - while the terms of the non-existing treaty were quite clear, presenting them was going to be an issue of its own. I was neither a diplomat nor the king.

“We have time to make you look presentable, Master.” Tama offered.

I wasn’t quite sure what I would do to make myself more presentable, even though there were obvious things in any negotiation. A clean shave, a shower, and of course, an appropriate suit were probably required.

“We love your scent!.” Narita echoed, unexpectedly: “But human-things don’t get it”

Tama, apparently tired of the work involved in combing her multiple bushy tails, summoned her sisters with a mental call.

At least, I suspected she did, since several ‘Purifiers’ burst into the room, excited, somewhat amused, and more importantly, completely unconcerned with the matters of privacy.

They were also not judgmental about me, Tama, Miwah or Narita, and acted as if it was not only completely ordinary but actually expected.

None of my girls was particularly judgemental about me in general, and not even a single time disputed my decision, or each other, acting as harmonious extensions of each other.

The ‘Purifiers’ seemed to be now set on the idea I needed a little grooming as well, bringing a piece of clean cloth that could pass as towels, along with hot water, and although there was no soap as far I knew. They were certainly amused by the prospect, considering their giggling.

It seems to be a matter of improvisation from their side, rather than even a remote grasp of bathing culture, and thought a wet fabric scrub was in order.

A few ‘Eviscerators’ appeared as well, to help, or to peek, though it was mostly because Miwah - as my mate - was supposed to also look pretty. Or prettier, the mind was quite comfortable with the anthropomorphic werewolf lady on my side, considering myself quite lucky, but also made me worried about the validity of my memories.

I would rather not question my own sense of identity.

None of my girls - my mates - protested against the idea of the normal rank ‘Eviscerator’ or ‘Purifier’ to clean me when Miwah and Tama withdrew. Though I didn’t see any of my monster girls bathe, none of them smelled and were quite good at keeping the blood from permanently ruining their soft fur, which suggested they had the idea of personal hygiene covered.

Narita was keen on helping. It was pleasant, if not a little awkward, having her along with two smaller ones tasked with giving me a scrub, while the one seemingly random ‘Defiler’ rat-girl obtained some strongly scented oil and quite smelly herbs.

Even though the ‘Eviscerators’ and ‘Purifiers’ that temporarily placed themselves in the position of the house servants wore some outfits to maintain basic decency, they wore very little to conserve cloth.

My treacherous brain had seen my monsters - my girls - as quite cute, if not beautiful, and I didn’t protest. Nevertheless, I felt a little guilty for being tended to.

Until they decided shaving was in order, which in the world without the razors meant a sharpened dagger.

I wasn’t entirely certain if natives shaved, but as far I remembered, some of them must have - it wasn’t the one-to-one equivalent of ancient Eastern Asia as much as local aesthetics let one believe that. Perhaps, there were some ideas about who should wear a beard, and who should not, since I think not how now-deceased merchant was shaven.

It made me think about whether there were some supplies left behind in his overturned wagon back in the quarry camp, one which wouldn’t be considered important back then.

While I gestured away the idea of shaving with the sharpened knife, there was something else that completely caught my interest.

It was the mirror.

Though it wasn’t a glass one, a round piece of polished bronze with some carved ornamental edges, in addition to some apparent damage from fire and smoke, it still reflected my face decently well considering the apparent technological limitation.

It didn’t have a handle per se, perhaps it wasn’t even intended to be handheld, and it required the amused fox girl to hold it for me, probably excited they found something I liked.

“For Master!” She pronounced, proudly.

Captivated by my own reflection, I didn’t quite pay attention.

It made me freeze for a moment.

The face was still mine, reasonably recognizable, its shape and mien didn’t challenge the image from my own memories, despite the drastic changes my life went through in the last few days. It was ordinary, normal, and average.

Except one thing. There was one part that was wrong.

The eyes.

They glowed.

The dim, dark, sinister glow, one that didn’t obstruct my vision even the slightest despite the fact it, by normal biology, should not. Neither the error caught in the photo nor the eyes of a cat caught in the lamplight emitted the black, unexplained glow, defying the logic - black light was quite an oxymoron unless referring to ultraviolet.

The eyes weren’t - they were actually black.

It was weird.

“For Master!” The ‘Eviscerator’ and ‘Purifier’ - the little ones - got behind me, trying to see themselves next to me in the mirror. Their blue and yellow respectively didn’t have ordinary human colour but didn’t shine - at least not in the moment - but their presence quite confirmed the mirror wasn’t producing some illusion or mirage.

I touched my face in disbelief, in an attempt to confirm that I was really staring at my reflection, while my mind struggled with the strong dissonance between the memories and the reality once more.

Some part of me insisted this was, in fact, normal.

I wasn’t human, was I?

Was I ever?

The identity crisis I’d decided to postpone indefinitely was back and in full swing.

“Were my…” I asked, the sentence felt unfinished, never allowing the obvious question to leave my mouth.

Miwah, hushing the little ones away, hugged me from behind, her embrace warm and reassuring. Her deep blue eyes were quite visible on the reflection, a sheer contrast from the pure white-coloured muzzle of the anthropomorphic wolf.

She - even if silent - was ever supportive.

My werewolf. My girl. My mate.

Tama and Narita did lean closer - my girls, my companions, my partners.

I couldn’t pay attention to what was being said, too submerged in my thoughts. A confusion of the past, and present, memories, and reflection, was overpowering.

Or this world, at the very least.

Why should I expect to look like a human if I never belonged to the human world?

Did I belong to the past world any more than this one, even without the less alien-looking eyes?

Why?

My mind snapped to the present, I gave my werewolf lady a kiss.

“Thank you,” I said, dismissing the further introspection. The old world was gone, and what remained here…

The ‘Purifier’ with the mirror put it down but didn’t lose any of her amused attitude. If anything, a little menagerie swarming my room would be probably more than happy to jump on one big hug pile.

“If there is a world beyond our borders, Master, then it is the world we must claim,” Tama suggested, then added teasingly: “We are expected to have a lot of offspring.”

“We should find a way to coexist with humans…” I said, semi-confidently, as even the sense of past me was rapidly fleeing I wasn’t quite hellbent on the path of destruction and violence, even if it seemed like the violence was only what this land knew.

Perhaps we should make them peaceful ourselves if humans weren’t able to do so.

Still, I wasn’t any close to becoming comfortable with the whole leading aspect, let alone making any workable arrangement with the natives even if the local lord hiding behind the castle walls was ready to sign a peace treaty.

Ironically, he might be better in leadership than I was.

Luckily for me, I wasn’t forced to cross this metaphorical bridge - after all, my girls weren’t released, no flags of truce were raised, and even if I wasn’t fully confident in my abilities, there were plenty of other things to focus on today.

I was going to find out if the caster - the priestess I reminded myself - in the castle was the last one in the valley, or if there were more out there to threaten us.

With the reports from the scouts and some information about the city’s surroundings, we could wait until the human was willing to talk, a long time before I was forced to play a negotiator. Humans holed but in the heavily fortified place wouldn’t be so keen to abandon the safety it provided - the fact we could try to talk to them didn’t change that much.

It would take days, maybe weeks, or even months - who knew?

That thought was never finished.

A fog, true progenitor of our people, burst out of the ground, briefly filling the house with the ruby mist, and my mind and heart with worry.

The several ‘Eviscerators’ and ‘Purifiers’ materialised and with the joyful cry “For Master!” they all rushed to me, piling around in the desperate ply for the hug, and pat, almost like it was a reunion after years spent apart.

I was afraid.

And then, relieved.

A sense of alleviation, then comfort, and finally happiness swept over me, in direct contrast to what the respawns usually meant, leaving me confused, opening my brain to the endless telepathic chatter of the horde with the associated headache.

And unexpectedly, assurance, and happiness..

I didn’t need to call for the ‘Overview’ right now.

I had no idea why, or how - but at that moment, I knew, my girls were finally free - unsealed, back in my loving embrace where they belonged, and I welcomed them, by previous, little furry girls. My people.

We won.

At least, for now. A small victory, but a victory nevertheless.

Except, it also meant I was going to speak with the humans much sooner.

I wasn’t sure I was ready.