With relief

I want to preface this new branch of the story by saying that this is written purely for smut. The main branches of this story, as written by both Darx00 and reaper13 is one of the few stories on the site that I enjoy reading for the world building, characters and plot rather than purely for smut, and I don't wish to write a branch that will seem shallow and short-sighted in comparison. I have neither the patience nor the in-depth knowledge of the world and its intricate mechanics necessary to write a story of that quality. Instead while we wait for the story to develop and any future juicy smutty chapters to come out, I would like to offer a hopefully satisfying distraction to all of us degenerates.

I will try my best to keep all of the characters in character, taking some minor artistic liberties. No smut in this chapter, but will set up lots of it for the next few.

Characters involved: Darx, Kiara, Roland, Mia, Craig, Leonora

The next day, as we finally make our way back to Riledo, a wave of relief washes over both Kiara and myself. We make our way back to the guild, hoping to see some friendly faces, and the comfort of a familiar bed.

We aren't disappointed as I am instantly accosted by Ryul, Shalia and Leona, who rush to embrace me. There were tears in their eyes, but none with more than Ryul. I see out of the corner of my eye, Kiara being swept away by her friends in the guild, including Jason and Helena. Her usually taciturn expression and impassive face is overcome with some slight color and a flustered reaction.

After successfully escaping his hug, as Shalia and Leona drag him away from me with apologetic looks on their faces, I turn to find another familiar face in Oliver, who took the time to get away from his busy job. I am touched that he came all the way and after staring at each other, come together in a warm, almost brotherly hug.

"When I heard the news," Oliver said, after pulling, wearing a serious face. "... well I knew you'd come back, but still. I realized how close we are to losing those dear to us." He then broke into a smile, punching me in the shoulder playfully. "Come visit me more often, I'll give you something hearty to eat while you recover from your latest adventure. Just don't forget to tell me every detail, you're a bigshot adventurer now!"

We laughed at this, as I promised to go visit as soon as I could. I wave goodbye.

I feel a heavy hand land on my shoulder, causing me to look over it, up the arm and into the stern face of Jason.

"Harpies huh," He started, expression unchanging. "You're pretty lucky to have escaped kid."

"Um, yes sir." I answered, a little embarrassed.

He kept his eyes focused on mine for a few more seconds, before breaking into a wide smile. "If that's your first ever outing, your career as an adventurer is going to be legendary!" He finished, punctuating the last sentence with a boisterous laugh, he slapped me on the back once when he was done and sauntered off.

Helena is the next to take his place, grabbing me from behind, turning me around and burying my face in her breasts. I think about protesting but decide against it, knowing that this is how she shows concern. Eventually she releases me, peers into my eyes with a concerned look. Her expression morphs into one of mischief. "So how did you like harpy pussy? Too much for you t-"

She was interrupted by Kiara pushing her away from me, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers. I was surprised and glanced at her, her face was turned to the side, but I could see the all-telling blush adorning her cheeks.

At first, Helena put on an annoyed grimace at being interrupted during her playtime teasing a young man, but her eyes instantly went wide at the linked digits. Her mouth opened into an "O" shape and she brought a hand to her face.

"Oh my, did you and..." Helena started slowly. But not waiting for an answer from either of us, this time pulled Kiara into her bosom, squealing with delight. Kiara, however, had no reservations about pushing Helena away, trying to detach herself from the clingy, amorous cleric, sadly without success.

"Come on, you gotta spill the beans," Helena chatters excitedly, putting the younger woman into a headlock effortlessly. "How did it happen? No, when did this happen? How was the sex? I never did get to sample Azriel, tell me how his son is? How was the sex? How big is he? What did..." She continued, dragging Kiara away to the bar.

I sigh, simultaneously thanking and apologizing to Kiara for getting Helena off my back. Then, the door opens, and something prompts me to turn my head.

My breath is knocked out of me, as Mia is standing there, my heart tightens before I remember that we are no longer together, I shake my head and apologize again to Kiara mentally. Only a moment later do I realize that Roland is standing next to her.

Mia finds me among the crowd and slowly makes her way to me. When she is finally in front of me, she stands there, not saying a word, anguish painted on her face.

"Hey," I say weakly.

She jumps forward, throwing her arms around my neck, sobbing into my chest. "Oh, Darx... I'm so glad you're okay. When I heard what had happened, and that you might never come back..." She says between sobs.

"She hasn't been able to sleep all night." Roland speaks up as he made his way to us. He clears his throat. "Says she couldn't live with the guilt that you two never made up."

I just stand there stunned. A moment later, I feel a new presence grab onto one of my limp arms. Kiara links her arm to mine. No one can see her eyes, but she's staring daggers at Mia.

Mia breaks the embrace with a start, face red and still wet from tears. She wipes them away on her sleeve and bows deeply to Kiara. "Thank you so much for saving Darx".

"You're welcome." She replies curtly, her gaze never leaving the younger girl. It was an awkward atmosphere.

"Um... well..." Mia hesitated, breaking the silence. "Darx, I don't know if you're ready yet, but, if we can... would you consider making up with me? It doesn't have to be now, but I was hoping maybe we could go on an adventure like before."

My heart twitched at the word before. Before the harpies, before Riledo, before Roland. But still my heart wanted to shout an emphatic yes.

"O-of course. Kiara, you are welcome to come as well. I was thinking of maybe taking on a simple village request. My party has 3 more people, including Rowan. It will be very safe, more like a vacation really." Her words came out in a rapid stream befitting the nervousness of asking out your ex-lover in front of his new partner.

"I.. I w-" I began, words catching in my throat.

"Come back next week," Kiara ordered imperiously, almost menacingly. "We need some time to recover from the ordeal."

"Thank you for considering our request." This time Roland also bowed, next to Mia.

As Kiara ushered me away to the stairs leading to the rooms, I took one last look behind. Roland had a comforting hand on Mia's back as they both straightened. He was whispering something into her ear as she nodded slowly.

There was some bitterness and jealousy in my heart as Kiara walked me to my room, and closed the door behind us. She seemed to want to say something, her head was hanging downwards.