Chapter Three: Anvar, Part Two

Anvar itself didn’t have much in the way of protection from outside threats, which made me believe that they weren’t that common. The “walls” consisted of three feet of stone brick with four more feet of wooden planks, little more than a fence in all reality. But situated at many points throughout the perimeter were watchtowers built in a similar fashion, with stone foundation but the rest made of wood, and each one comprised each of the town’s gates. The gate itself was a large set of reinforced wooden doors that could be operated from within the watchtower, but it seemed this rarely needed to be done as the gates were simply open, and wide open. At the very least this seemed to be the case for this particular gate, the one that led to the elven commune.

When we arrived at the watchtower, we were greeted by one of the town guards, a woman whose armor did not appear to be terribly practical. She only wore a pair of gauntlets, a single pauldron and a single plate cup over one breast. The other breast was covered only by one of the straps for the cup that seemed to go all the way around the torso. She otherwise carried a spear, had a broadsword sheathed and strapped to a belt around her waist, and a shield at her back.

If it was not terribly evident to Erys and Velanthe that I was not fit based only by my appearance, the fact that I already needed to take a break now was a dead giveaway. Since I had been going downhill, it was mostly my feet that hurt as the leather boots were not terribly ergonomic. We agreed to take a break but Velanthe did inform me that we were merely a third the way to the commune.

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Velanthe would scout ahead, continuing to move ahead of us to make sure nothing dangerous was in the area. Meanwhile, Erys would accompany me directly and take breaks with me when I needed them. The guard was more than happy to have the chosen one rest inside the watchtower, so we did that. It was at this point that Velanthe gave me one of her short swords just in case.

The blade was fascinating to me. In a way it felt like a prop weapon in a TV show or a movie, but it was the real deal, like the sort of thing weapon-nerds would have hanging up in their houses. The difference was that one such weapon would probably be perfectly smooth with no imperfections, as it generally looks better to be displayed that way. I could tell this blade was well-used. There were dings, scratches, and nicks all along the curved blade, though I could also tell it was kept in as good of condition it could be. Many of the weapons inside the watchtower had seen much greater use, I noted, and realized that wasn’t likely surprising. Velanthe was, after all, a priestess. My mind wandered back to the guard, however, and I found myself increasingly curious about her armor.

“Is it just me or is the guard’s armor a little impractical?” I asked Erys.

The fem appeared confused for a moment, but then replied, “That’s how all armor looks.”

I blinked, “Really? Seems dangerous, there’s weak points everywhere.”

Erys giggled, “Oh, we haven’t had to worry about that in centuries. Most armor is enchanted now to offer protection across the whole body, even if a full set isn’t worn.”

“Oh, and anyone can do it? Enchant armor?”

“Well, there are some people who can’t, maybe someone off in the wilderness like a bandit or a hermit. But the spell to enchant the armor lasts forever and is relatively easy. Even novice mages can figure it out, and every town and city has at least one spellcaster in it.”

“Even this town?” I asked.

Erys grinned and lifted a hand, he snapped his finger and a small ball of flame appeared hovering about an inch away from his palm. It burned and licked the air around it even without a source to feed on. I was blown away. It was real magic, actual honest-to-god magic and Erys just performed it like it was the most casual thing in the world. Then he clenched his hand into a fist and the flame vanished.

“Yep,” he said, simply. “Bottom line is that ever since we discovered magic, we haven’t needed to worry about practicality in our armor.”

“Why bother with any of it, then? Why not just enchant a piece of clothing to be more protective?”

“In theory, sure, but that particular spell would be a little more difficult to cast and keep permanent. Many mages, like myself, do something similar but the protection provided only lasts from sunrise to sunset, and then I have to cast it again. It’s much easier to provide the protection equivalent to a full suit of steel armor when you have some steel armor somewhere on your body, so the spell 'knows' what sort of protection to provide. Much more difficult to do the same thing without a reference for the spell, you basically have to rely on your own imagination which can be much less stable.”

It made a certain sort of sense, and I was understanding it well enough.

“And beyond that, some people just like the way armor looks. It can be an intimidating thing to see on an enemy, especially if it’s crafted especially to serve such a purpose.”

These answers were satisfactory to me, and I was more than happy to allow for armor appearances that were less practical, especially in a fantasy world that was seemingly as horny as this one.

After I felt I was ready to start moving, I stood up and once again we began our trek, this time through the woods. I had never been in forest before, so the sights and sounds were altogether new for me, and I found myself fascinated and amazed by the smallest details that Erys appeared to take for granted. This fact never seemed to stop amusing him, though. At one point in the journey I spotted an elk in the distance, grazing. I was about to point it out to Erys, but it got spooked and immediately bounded into the woods away from sight.

We were traveling along a path made in the forest paced with smooth, flat stones. There were no forks in the road, and the path seemed to be continuously leading west. Perhaps obviously, this road was much more taxing on my legs and feet, since it was uneven and winding in some spots. I was very happy when at one point we reached a spot where the road widened into a large circle. There was a pit in the center of the circle for a fire, and even a pair of wooden poles with lanterns affixed to them. There were likewise a number of benches around the firepit made from stone blocks and wood planks. Sitting at one of the benches was Velanthe.

“Ah good, you have arrived,” she said, getting up and bowing to me, “this is a checkpoint. It marks the halfway point between Anvar and the commune. I imagine you might need another rest about now.”

I nodded; this had been quite a workout for me who rarely left my home except to go to my job.

“Feel free to rest here as long as you need, I will scout on ahead and meet you at the entrance to the commune.”

I was more than happy to comply and sat down on one of the benches. Erys sat down next to me. We had a bit of a silent moment as I just took my breath and relaxed. But before long the silence became a bit too much.

“So, Erys,” I began.

“Yes?”

“What’s your story?”

Erys blinked and blushed a bit, bashfully, “Oh my story isn’t terribly interesting.”

I lifted my arms and gestured around us, “What else is there to do? Besides, I’d like to get to know my new friend better.”

“Well, all right fine, if you insist.” Erys then began telling me about his history and where he came from, beginning by explaining that he was born in Antobard, a kingdom on the north-western part of the continent, and was left at the doorstep of an Azomeian church.

“You were abandoned?” I asked, “Do you know why?”

“Not with any degree of certainty, but I can guess well enough. Many of the western kingdoms, and especially Antobard, are rampant with sexism against males. Since we are born so infrequently, it is often seen as a stain on one’s family to give birth to one. Many high-class individuals with male children will often raise the child in secret, neglect the child by pretending he doesn’t exist, or abandon him entirely. I suspect I was this latter category.”

“That’s horrible,” I said.

Erys shrugged, “I used to hate the very idea of my parents for it, but in the end, at the very least they decided to go with that last option which implied they had enough of a heart to make sure I was left with people who would raise me properly. They just didn’t have enough of a heart to do it themselves.”

Erys went on to describe his childhood growing up in the orphanage. He was, unsurprisingly to me at least, quite the troublemaker and prankster. Despite this, he took his studies into Azomeian doctrine quite seriously. At one time or another, he had memorized the entirety of the Hallowed Lexicon, their religion’s equivalent to the Holy Bible. However, he explained that while he knew the religion front-to-back, he didn’t feel it. While he could have recreated the old tome from memory it didn’t speak to him on a deeper level whatsoever.

Perhaps knowing this and sensing that it meant Erys had no future in the church, the priestesses essentially kicked him out once he had become an adult. It was winter in Antobard, and winters in that part of the continent were particularly harsh.

“There I was,” Erys said, “alone and in the streets of the town on one of the coldest nights of the winter, huddled into the only thing left to me by the church, a blanket. I had no money, so no inns would take me. I knew I was close to dying, and I was positive that I was going to do it that night. But in that last moment, when I took what might have been my last breath, I felt it. A surge of heat welling up within me. A burning passion that screamed my will to survive. And that’s when I discovered my gift.”

For demonstration, Erys created the ball of flame in his hand again.

“So, you found out you could make fire,” I summarized.

Erys nodded, “It lit my blanket on fire and scared the daylights out of me until I realized I could control it. I used the burning blanket as a makeshift campfire that night, gathering up whatever other sticks and garbage I could find in the area to keep it going.”

After that night, Erys began practicing with his newfound magic ability, eventually getting good enough at it that he started acting as a street performer to earn enough money to stay at the inn on particularly cold nights and get food every day. But he was dissatisfied with this existence. It was fun but not nearly as exciting as he wanted it to be. He felt restless and yearned to be somewhere else. Somewhere with nicer people. So, he began fostering a new talent in the art of lovemaking as a prostitute. Eventually, he made enough money doing this to leave and take a wagon to the next town over.

I was invested in this story. Contrary to what he had said initially, his life was very interesting to me.

“Eventually I decided to combine my two new favorite things together. Sex, and getting as far away from Antobard as reasonably possible. I began whoring myself to adventurers, offering them company as they traveled from place to place, since traveling could be lonely. But I wasn’t really after money, mind you, I was more than happy getting enough gold to stay at inns and eat their mediocre food. What I wanted most was experience. So oftentimes I would give the adventurers free services if instead they taught me tricks of the trade. Stuff like combat techniques, the best spots to hunt and fish, certain tactics they used to avoid bandits and monsters, and so on.”

“That’s a pretty smart investment.”

Erys nodded, “Yes it was. Eventually I felt I knew enough that I was willing to set off on my own. My first journey by myself was rough, but I learned a lot, and the tricks I learned from my former clients paid off in spades. After I had gotten confident enough, I decided to truly escape from Antobard entirely, and began traveling south where it was warmer and I could dress in less,” he winked at me.

“Then I found myself here in Illios, loving the followers of Erynessa far more than Azomeia. When I got here in Anvar, all of my travel finally caught up to me. I got sick, pretty badly sick. I was rushed into the Temple of the Hallowed Form where the priestesses worked to heal me and cure me as best they could. I had to stay there for weeks before I got any better, and by the time I could have left on my own again, I decided I didn’t want to. Instead I became an initiate, and the rest is history.”

“What do you think you want to do now? Any other big adventures planned?”

Erys looked at me for a moment, seeming lost in thought, before answering, “I think… well, I think that entirely depends on what your plans are, Alex.”

I peered over to him, curiously.

“What I’m going to do from here on out is stick with you. You’re special, and I don’t just mean because you’re the chosen one. At first, I sort of thought it was going to be kind of a pain to have a chosen one who didn’t even know anything about our world, but I think I get it now. It really is for the best. People from this world can’t help but have certain biases toward certain other people, certain kingdoms, or even certain religions. I’m certainly no exception. So, having someone who didn’t grow up here and hasn’t been influenced by anything here means that person is going to be objective about things. That is what’s special about you. You have accepted me, a fem and a minority, Seirke, who is on the smaller side of the breast spectrum for women, and even seem to be on the right track to befriending Mellon and her friends who are well-known for being promiscuous.”

“So are you,” I pointed out.

Erys giggled, “Well yeah, but I’m a priestess of Erynessa, I’m supposed to be.”

“Seirke seemed to imply to me that the general populace was pretty open about sexual stuff, too, though.”

“There’s a difference between being open about something and making it your hobby. Mellon and her gang actively seek it out as a means of relieving boredom. Most common folk don’t go around and actively seek sex, but they aren’t likely to turn it down if someone offers.”

That was a nuanced detail that hadn’t occurred to me.

“Now, keep in mind, I personally don’t have anything against what Mellon does, in fact I’m happy for her. But to other commoners and even some priestesses it has a certain stigma attached.”

“Doesn’t Erynessa preach freedom of choice?”

Erys looked at me and smiled somewhat awkwardly, “Freedom to choose doesn’t necessarily mean freedom from consequence. But I largely agree with you. In my opinion it’s all good harmless fun which is something Erynessa would be more than supportive of. But not everyone sees it that way.”

My thoughts turned to the way Valenthe reacted to the three women, and how little patience she had for them.

“The point is, Alex, that I wanna go with you because you’re a big deal, and not just because you’re the chosen one. I think it’s the other way around, you’re the chosen one because you’re a big deal. I think you’re gonna shake things up around here, and maybe get things back to the way they ought to be.”

I smiled. I wasn’t so sure about that still, but I was glad to have Erys along in any case, “Well I’m happy to have you, then.”

“Good! I also wanna stick around because your cock is so addictive it’s not even fair,” He giggled and reached over to grope my package teasingly.

I laughed, “We’d better get moving again before Velanthe starts thinking those three women followed us and assaulted me.”

Erys giggled and we both stood up, getting ready to leave again. Our walk was quiet, and I spent most of it lost in thought instead of soaking in the scenery like the route to the checkpoint. Erys was certainly a more interesting person than I had expected, though I wasn’t really sure what I expected in the first place. What he said about being perfect for this chosen one business because I wasn’t biased stuck with me. It was an interesting idea, but I still didn’t entirely feel like I was even doing anything like that. It’s not like I was putting much thought into lacking prejudice, I just didn’t have it. maybe that was the point, though. I wasn’t sure.

I was so lost in my own head that I barely noticed when the scenery began to change. The trees were becoming further spaced apart, and more importantly, they were much larger than they ought to have been. On top of that, I began to notice very subtle tremors in the ground. They were negligible at first but were growing in intensity as we continued along.

“Uh, do you feel that?” I asked.

Erys didn’t seem too bothered, “Yeah, it’s the guardians.”

“What are those?”

“You’ll see. Don’t worry, they won’t harm us.”

I tried to not think about it, and I noticed that in the distance there were strange structures seemingly built into the trees themselves. Additionally, there was a figure in the path ahead of us, and I recognized the white shawl immediately. It was likely Velanthe, who was waiting next to an oddly shaped tree.

When we caught up, Velanthe bowed, once again letting her large breasts hang below her. Suddenly and inexplicably, the tree next to her seemed to crack at the middle and fall forward with a wooden creaking noise.

I quickly jumped and scrambled backward, landing on my rear and attempting to scoot away some. The others did not seem the least bit fazed by this. It was at this moment I realized the tree wasn’t falling over, it was bending, mimicking the movement of Velanthe. It was also in that moment I noticed that the tree had a face. At the very least, there was a semblance of a face near the top of the trunk. The tree suddenly righted itself and appeared to blink. In fact, the whole tree looked roughly humanoid in shape, though stunted and asymmetrical with various branches and mosses growing off it.

“W-what!?” I shouted, still not comprehending what was happening.

Erys was laughing beside me.

“You didn’t tell him?” Velanthe asked in a stern tone.

“I wanted to see how he reacted, Erynessa’s bosom that was funny.” Erys said, wiping away a tear in-between gut laughs.

“That was very irresponsible,” Velanthe scolded before walking up to me and holding out her hand, “these are guardians, Your Eminence. They won’t harm you; they are protectors of the commune.”

“Oh,” I said, brushing myself off and straightening my stole, “I’m sorry if I offended you by being frightened. I’ve never met anything like you before.”

It became immediately clear that the guardian couldn’t talk, but it simply shook its head as though my concern was unwarranted.

“This guardian will be guiding us to the house of Variamne, this is where you’ll be meeting the elves of the commune,” Velanthe explained and the guardian began walking alongside the path, leading us along it.

“How many will I be meeting?” I asked.

“All of them,” Velanthe replied shortly.

“What?” I asked, nearly stopping dead in my tracks.

“They’re all there waiting for you in the house’s grand hall. There are about six dozen in all.”

I blinked, that was seventy-two people. I was also confused, I looked around and noticed a few elves standing around and speaking with each other, some of them looking to us was we passed by.

“What about them?” I asked, gesturing to the ones outside. “Stragglers?”

Variamne glanced at them then turned back, “Ah, I should have clarified, all of the adults will be meeting you. Those you see around you are juveniles. Seeing you here will be enough for them.”

“Juveniles? Like teenagers? They all look like adults.”

“Elves reach physical maturity around the same time humans do,” Velanthe explained, “but they are not fully mentally developed. They can still act erratically and are not generally considered to be in complete control of their emotions. For that reason, elves are only considered adults at the age of one hundred, no matter how old they look.”

“Elves can live to anywhere from seven-hundred to over a thousand years,” Erys added, “and they use those in their communes who are under one century to serve as laborers, guards, and protectors.”

“They are kept occupied, and by the time they reach adulthood they are considered to have earned their keep in the commune. By that point they are free to do as they please, even nothing at all if it suits them.”

That was an interesting way to run a society. Now that I considered it, it was a pretty clever way to deal with people that would be teenagers for eighty years.

“Now, you should be prepared, Your Eminence. Do you remember how it was that I greeted you when we first met?”

I did remember the amazing blowjob she gave me. But I assumed she was referring to the leadup to it where she had been kissing my penis, “Yes.”

“The elves will wish to greet you the same way.”

This time I did stop dead in my tracks, “All of them?”

The others turned to look at me, “Yes,” Velanthe replied.

That meant that roughly seventy people would be kneeling and kissing my cock all in a row, “Uh, I don’t know if I will be able to withstand that much. I’ll definitely end up, uh, ejaculating before they’re finished.”

Erys was grinning, and even Velanthe hazarded a smile, “They would be more than delighted if you did. It would be a great honor.”

Then another potential problem occurred to me, “How many of them are going to be men?”

“There are no men among elves. Only females and fem.”

Now that I thought about it, all of the elves I could see in the area looked female, closer inspection revealed a few of them had no breasts, though. I began walking again.

“Do you dislike men?” Erys asked.

“Well, I consider myself mostly straight.”

My companions shared a look, neither seemed to understand, “Straight?” Velanthe asked.

I blinked, “Meaning I’m only sexually attracted to women. Or at least I was until I met Erys. Now I guess I’m attracted to feminine people in general.”

They shared a look again, “That’s bizarre. Is such a thing common in your world?” Erys asked.

“I think it is for the majority of people, yeah. Most people in my world are attracted to their opposite gender, men are attracted to women, women are attracted to men. With some exceptions.”

“But not their own gender?” Velanthe asked.

“Again, some do, but it’s not the majority.”

“I don’t think people in Teranos are like that,” Erys said. “Speaking for myself, I don’t think I’ve ever even thought much about the gender of my partners. I don’t often go for men but that’s just because they tend to be hairy and I’m not into that. I also wouldn’t go for women who were hairy, there just aren’t many of those. Thank Erynessa.”

I found myself suddenly glad that I never was very hairy. I didn’t even grow facial hair well. Still it was interesting that people in this world seemed to care more about a person's physical features more than actual physical sex.

We continued on through the winding pathways, and I marveled at the structures now that they were getting closer to me.

The structures built into the trees were massive spiraling walkways that wrapped around the trunks like serpents. There were more than a few bridges built between trees, and a few bulging structures that resembled buildings along the spirals. Additionally, there were buildings on the forest floor as well, made with decorative wood betraying incredible carpentry skills with elaborate and visually interesting structures. The path of smooth stone quickly exploded into a network of side streets and walkways, which the guardian diligently led us through.

I realized at this point that our guardian was a runt of the litter. In the distance, I could see far larger guardians wandering around, creating the tremors as they did. One of them had to be the size of a skyscraper, though I could only see its silhouette against the foggy backdrop of the woods, and only knew it was there because it was swaying slightly in its spot.

“So, what’s the deal with the big guys?” I asked, gesturing to the silhouette.

“The guardians are the very trees of these woods given sentience,” Velanthe said. “They are animated by elves of house Feliathel, who are responsible for the protection of the commune. The fog you see is also their creation, and it is linked to the guardians. The guardians know of every creature that enters the fog and can alert the elves if intruders are near.”

It seemed like a pretty decent setup, if a bit **** to fires. I imagined with magic at their disposal, the elves had a way of dealing with that too, though.

“You keep mentioning the word ‘house’, what do you mean by that, exactly?”

Velanthe answered, “The closest equivalent you humans might have is ‘family’, though in our case it has nothing to do with actual bloodlines. Most elves don’t care too much about the family that raised them, they are more concerned about the family that keeps them. That is their house. For instance, when I was part of the commune, I used to belong to house Variamne. Were I to have introduced myself back then, I would have done so by referring to myself as Velanthe Nel Variamne.”

“Nel is the elven word for ‘house’.” Erys briefly explained.

“As I have left the commune, I am simply Velanthe to them now.”

“Why did you leave? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It is no matter,” Velanthe waved away my concern, “I am not ashamed of my decision. I left because while the elves certainly revere Erynessa as a goddess, they do not worship her in the same way humans do. There are no temples to Erynessa here, primarily because the elves of the commune see no need for such things as religious dogma. They revere Erynessa in their own ways privately. I do not fault them for this method, either. It is at their liberty to choose how they wish to show their respects, just as it was my liberty to decide that wasn’t enough for me. While I do miss many of my former housemates, I do not regret my decision.”

I thought about that a moment, it must have been a tough choice. I certainly didn’t envy her for it.

“We’re nearly there,” Erys said, pointing out the massive building to me at the end of the path we were walking along. It was against the base of one of the massive trees. Built much like the other structures on the ground, it was truly a grand building.

I was quickly led inside by Velanthe, and immediately assailed by the sounds of dozens of speaking voices in a language I did not understand but must have been elven, I guessed. Accompanying this sound was the sight of dozens of people, most of them women and all of them elves dressed in very scant outfits. This was quite a stark contrast to the elves I’d seen outside who were dressed relatively conservatively. These elves seemed to hate being covered in fabric, and what little fabric they had was either sheer or styled after leaves, neither of which rarely made much effort to conceal anything.

As soon as the double doors to the grand hall closed with a loud sound everyone in the hall went quiet and looked in my direction. They seemed amazed. One of them stepped forward and smiled warmly.

“Felai, it is so good to finally see you,” she said, “my name is Elenvell Nel Variamne, I am the eldest of this house.” Though she introduced herself as the eldest, there was no indication of anything of the sort. There was absolutely no sign of age on the stunning elven woman. Her hair was as white as winter snow, but I wasn’t sure that counted as a sign of age in this world, since Seirke had naturally silver hair and didn’t seem to be aged either.

“Eldest?” I said, “Surely not, I don’t see any sign of age at all.”

She chuckled softly, “Elves do not age as humans do, felai. Our appearance does not change once we mature, the only indicator of our age is our hair.” So, it seemed it was a sign of age in this case, “That is, of course, unless our natural hair is already white, which can happen.”

“I see, you are gorgeous in any case,” I said.

Elenvell smiled enchantingly, “It is good that the felai elveth is so charming and kind.”

I wasn’t sure what those words she was saying in reference to me were, but from the context it seemed that felai was the elven equivalent of “Your Eminence”, so I just rolled with it. I couldn’t guess how it was changed by the inclusion of elveth, however. After a quick glance at Velanthe I wasn’t so sure, however. The normally composed keeper seemed shocked by something that Elenvell said.

“Please, felai follow me. You are our guest of honor, and we would like to greet you properly,” the snowy-haired elf gestured to the back of the hall, and the crowd of people began to part, making way to a chair that had been set up there.

As we walked, I asked her what was on my mind, “Elenvell, forgive my ignorance, but what does ‘felai elveth’ mean?”

“Oh, I assumed Velanthe would have told you,” she replied, glancing to the elven keeper beside me, “it means ‘beloved of elvenkind’. When we call you felai we are calling you our beloved.”

“Forgive me,” Velanthe said, “I was not aware that was how you were going to interpret the coming of the chosen one.”

“To us,” Elenvell began, “Erynessa is considered not just a source of reverence but a source of love. She is a goddess of love, and we would treat her with the same warmth and care that a lover would treat their beloved. We intend to treat the chosen one as if he were the very incarnation of Erynessa and therefor a dearest lover as well.”

That was certainly interesting, and it was a different take on the idea than I was expecting.

“And please, felai do not hesitate to treat us as lovers, in our hearts, we are,” Elenvell said, finally guiding me to the seat and having me sit down in it. Though it was just an ornately carved wooden chair with simple green cushions, it was surprisingly cozy. Once I was seated, the elves in the room began moving into a very orderly line that snaked its way throughout the chamber. Nearly every single one of them looked excited for what was about to happen, and at worst disinterested. They all knew that they would be approaching, kneeling, and kissing my cock, and yet the absolute worst reaction to this was disinterest. Not disgust or horror; disinterest.

The thought that so many people in a group of dozens would be excited to kiss my cock actually made me get hard. At first, I steeled myself to try and last as long as I could without orgasming but remembering Velanthe’s reaction to the admission that I might pop a few times, I decided against it. I would just relax and let nature take its course.

On either side of me was Velanthe and Erys, with Elenvell behind me.

“Each of you will now be permitted to show your love and devotion to the felai elveth,” she said, addressing the elves in the hall in a loud voice, “be aware, however, that your time in his presence will not be unlimited. Please keep your displays short and sweet, so as to provide your kin with the same opportunity and time. Once you have finished, I would ask that you leave the grand hall unless you have official business. Be aware that the felai elveth does not speak elven.”

Then, with a gesture from the eldest, it began. Thinking now was the time to do it, I removed my penis from my robes, presenting it to the line. Many of them who could see it had shocked expressions and blushed, but did not comment. I did hear a few whispers and murmurs begin to rush through the crowd, but they were in what I assumed to be elven so I couldn’t understand.

The first of them came forward, a cute woman with tawny hair, reminding me briefly of the half-elf girl in Mellon’s gang, but she did not do what I expected her to. Rather than kneel down, she leaned forward and suddenly placed her lips on mine, immediately kissing me deeply. While she did, she gently stroked the shaft of my penis a few times before parting lips, seemingly wistfully, and then she kneeled down to kiss my cock. She did so five times before Elenvell cleared her throat, and the women departed, waving to me.

I had prepared myself for the kiss on the cock, I had not prepared myself for a kiss on the lips. And before I could even react, the next woman bent down in front of me and did the same thing. This elf had her blonde hair in a ponytail and was quite tall, her kiss was a little more fierce and fiery than the last woman, including the kisses on my cock which were rapid and passionate. Then came the next elf, a fem with hair that was so long it reached the floor. He wore nothing at all on his top, letting his nipples and modest bulges on his chest be free for me to see. His kiss was little more than a peck, but the treatment he gave my penis was less like a kiss and more like a makeout session.

By this point, it was too much. Without warning I unloaded a batch of cum into the fem elf’s mouth. His eyes shot open in surprise, but he happily and hungrily gulped down everything that shot from my tip. When the ejaculation ended, he was waved away by Elenvell. He was beaming, and even thanked me for my “blessing” before he left.

I didn’t have time to recover, the line kept moving, and the pattern was the same every time. Kiss on lips—sometimes while stroking my shaft—, kiss/lick/suck on cock, then on to the next elf in the line. The next time I came, it was on the face and breasts of a busty raven-haired elf, and the ejaculation came the moment she knelt down to kiss the tip. This was because she had been jerking my length very vigorously during our makeout session, and it was too much for me to handle. I didn’t have much time to wonder if she had planned it that way before the next in line came.

After a certain point I was losing track of how many had come. There were too many, and my brain was basically fried from so many ejaculations in a row. It wasn’t helping that literally everywhere I looked were scantily clad, usually busty elven women all hungry to get a piece of what all of their kin before them received. It was like I was in a dream.

One of the elves caught my attention, though, and almost broke my daze. She was different than the others, but it was subtle. Most of the elves so far had been taller than me by at least a couple inches. This seemed to just be a common feature of their whole race in general that they were taller than humans on average, but this girl was the same height as me. Also, the average breast size of the elves were still decently big, but seemed to be proportionally smaller than the human breasts I’d seen so far. A few of them were the same size as Seirke, who was on the smaller side for most human women. This elf in front of me was stacked, the biggest pair I’d seen so far. I had no idea where to even begin to guess what her cup size was, they may have even been triple-F. While her outfit’s sheer did not expose her breasts, she did have considerable cleavage on display, thanks to a square-shaped neckline that went very low on her bust.

She had platinum blonde hair, which she wore in a braid that hung over the front of one of her breasts, and her ears were slightly lower angled than the other elves. Her eyes practically sparkled a greenish-blue that made me think of the ocean. The other thing that stood out to me about her was that her approach was much different than the others. She was one of the few who seemed disinterested, in fact this elf looked downright bored and slightly annoyed. However, the moment she locked eyes with me everything seemed to change.

Her eyes grew wide and her pupils dilated, she stood up straight, went slack-jawed, and even let out a cute squeaking noise for a split second. Then she immediately leapt forward and crashed into me on the chair, almost making it fall backward. She mashed her lips into mine and kissed me intensely and almost desperately. At first, I thought the kiss was messy enough that she was leaving saliva on my cheeks until I realized she was crying.

When finally she parted, only briefly, she asked, “Is that you, Alex? Is it really you?” but she didn’t give me time to reply before pressing her lips against mine once again. This was strange. As far as I was aware, nobody had known my name prior to my arrival. I had to specifically tell Seirke and Erys my name, otherwise they would have continued to call me “Your Eminence”. Nobody actually knew my name. But this elf girl did.

“Lafula, your time is up,” Elenvell announced, and I noted that there was a degree of venom in her words, but it was very subtle, and I almost didn’t even notice it.

The elf girl, evidently Lafula, continued kissing me and crying, ignoring the elder’s words.

Suddenly she was grabbed and pulled away by Velanthe, who had looped her arms around the girl’s shoulders from behind in a Nelson hold and forcibly pulled her off. The girl said something in elven that sounded like pleading, and was looking at me desperately, tears in her eyes.

“Remove her,” Elenvell said in an almost exhausted tone.

“Wait,” I said, holding out my hand. Velanthe either did not hear me or ignored me, so I repeated myself, “Wait!” This time I used a more commanding voice I had no idea I even had. This was a very strange set of circumstances, so I was pretty **** to get some answers given that I was involved.

Velanthe stopped and peered over from behind Lafula curiously, “Your Eminence?”

For the moment I did not reply to the keeper, instead turning my attention on the girl, “Lafula, right?”

She nodded.

“If I tell Velanthe to let you go, will you promise to remain calm and not tackle me again?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Let her go,” I ordered Velanthe.

“Don’t bother, she’s up to no good,” Elenvell said, “she didn’t even greet you in the proper way. The disrespect.” Her tone this time was decidedly disappointed.

I turned to her, “Velanthe is a priestess of the Erynessan Temple of the Hallowed Form. She is no longer a member of the house Variamne. Now, I’m not the sort of guy who would find joy in making her choose between me and her former family, so don’t make me do that.”

Elenvell seemed awestruck at my response, but she nodded to Velanthe all the same, and Velanthe let Lafula go. The girl was blushing bright red, and suddenly seemed very shy but sort of upset.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded.

“All right. I have to finish being greeted, as I don’t want to upset my gracious hosts by being rude and refusing their hospitality. It seems you really desperately want to talk to me, so how about you wait until I’m finished, and I will come see you afterward.”

“Do you promise you will?” she asked.

“Promise,” I smiled and nodded.

She smiled slightly, and then turned around to leave the hall on her own. The moment the grand doors closed the hall erupted with whispers and murmurs in elven, though it didn’t sound pretty.

“Let’s continue, shall we?” I said, smiling at the crowd and preparing myself for the remainder of them, realizing I probably was only a third way through.

In the end, after all six dozen of the elves had kissed me and my cock, I had ejaculated eleven times in total all in rapid succession. At one point I thought I was going to die, and frankly the fact that I didn’t proved to me I truly had been blessed by a goddess of sex. I was exhausted by the experience, however, and did feel somewhat drained. The last person to give me their greeting was Elenvell herself, and despite our previous little argument, she rendered her greeting with nothing short of love and affection. The eleventh of my ejaculations was into her mouth, and she happily drank it.

Once she had finished, herself, Erys, Velanthe, and I were the only ones left in the grand hall.

“All right, now that we’re alone, what’s the deal with that girl, Lafula?” I asked.

“That was Lafula Nel Feliathel,” Elenvell began as I returned my package to my robes as discretely as I could and stood up, stretching my legs, “she has a reputation for being very promiscuous.”

I nodded and waited for her to continue. When I was met with only silence, I looked at Elenvell expectantly, “Go on.”

She blinked, “I’m not sure I understand.”

I was a bit confused, so I turned to Velanthe, thinking this might have been a language issue, “How do you say, ‘go on’ or ‘keep explaining’ in elven?”

“I did not misunderstand what you said, felai, there is nothing more to tell.”

That was what I was afraid of, “You just had me sit in a room with every adult in your entire commune so they could all kiss me and my cock in rapid succession and you expect me to believe that the disdain that I know I heard in your voice when addressing her was because she is promiscuous?” I was on the verge of yelling at the woman, “You’ll forgive me if I don’t buy that, so I’ll say it again. Go on.”

“Your Eminence,” Velanthe began, but I held up my hand to silence her, maintaining eye contact with Elenvell.

The elder let out a deep sigh, “Felai, I’m sorry to say I can’t give you any further information as there is none. I simply have a distaste for the girl, as she far too often indulges in carnal pleasures and has a flagrant disrespect for our culture and our traditions. I’m certain you’ll see it yourself when you speak with her. She is worthy of neither your time nor your attention.” As she said all this, she was struggling to maintain eye contact. She was lying, there was definitely more she was not telling me.

“I like to think I’m the best judge of that,” I replied and turned to begin leaving the chamber.

“I would be cautious, felai, I would not put it past her to manipulate you into thinking she is an innocent victim.”

I stopped. My anger was spilling over, I nearly whirled around and insulted this elf who I had barely met. I saw the tears in Lafula's eyes, the way her pupils dilated when she first saw me. I felt how **** she was for my kiss and I even saw some degree of shame and embarrassment at her actions after the fact. The only person thus far who had deceived me was Elenvell.

Instead I just said, “It would be unnecessary. You’ve already done a fine job of convincing me she’s innocent.”

The fact of the matter was I had seen this sort of behavior before. The way the elves whispered and murmured when she left. The venom in Elenvell’s tone when addressing Lafula. All of it was exactly the sort of thing I experienced in high school. These elves were bullying her, even if they perhaps didn’t know it.

I exited the main chamber and found myself in the antechamber of the hall. I let out a sigh and leaned against the door. Velanthe had apparently stayed behind to speak with Elenvell, but Erys was with me.

“You okay, Alex?” he asked.

After a deep breath I turned to him and nodded, smiling, “Just brought up some bad memories, is all.”

Before I could continue, Erys had grabbed me by the cheeks and immediately kissed me deeply and fiercely. I was surprised, but it was nice to receive a familiar kiss, so I let it happen, returning it happily.

“Fuck, that was so hot,” he whispered as we parted lips, “all those elves kissing you and your cock one by one like that, then the way you told off the elder like it was nothing at all, standing up for a girl whose only real crime was being a little slutty. Sounds like someone you know, no?”

I laughed, “I’m glad you enjoyed it. There was more going on there, though. Elenvell was lying about it only being the promiscuity and lack of respect. There’s something else going on, I hope to figure out more from Lafula herself.”

“Really? Huh, I wasn’t paying attention. I was more focused on the look on Velanthe’s face.”

“I didn’t notice it.”

“She looked like she had seen a ghost, the way you were talking to that elder,” Erys was giggling, “never seen that look before on her. She’s always so damned composed.”

I smiled and began walking through the antechamber. Since Lafula wasn’t here I assumed her to be just outside.

“Let’s see what this Lafula girl is all about,” I said, opening the door to House Variamne and walking outside.