A guard is set, but he’s distracted by a visitor

How well do the mites secure Lux at the camp? | [1] Surprisingly lacking

Well, nobody said they were very smart.

The mites’ camp isn’t much to look at – but then, nor are the mites. More concerned with being hidden and defended than anything else, they’ve tucked themselves away in a secluded spot under a steep, rocky cliff, near where a fast-flowing river cascades down towards the heart of the Valley. With no tents, no tools and no skills to speak of, the mites have simply marked out their territory with a few crude wooden stakes, and rolled out animal hides – mostly from scavenged carrion, rather than anything they brought down themselves – as a form of bedding. The embers of a fire, still wafting the reek of last night’s unwholesome meal, lie more or less in the middle.

At Urko’s orders, the tired and staggering mites toss their new captive – naked, dripping with sticky cum, and still fast asleep – in a heap at the edge of the camp. After such a long walk, and after satisfying their urges with her, most of the gang are just eager to rest, with little thought of what will happen when the girl wakes up. But Urko has the presence of mind to make at least a token effort. Or, rather, to delegate it to someone else.

“You!” He singles out Akko – small and cowardly even by mite standards, and one of those still looking at least a little bit alert and awake. “First watch. Guard that. Or else.” He points towards the slumbering tiefling. “If it wakes up, raise the alarm – and don’t let it get away.”

Akko nods meekly – while inwardly, he’s fuming. Why him? But answering back to Urko is a good way to get beaten up, and Akko isn’t as afraid of hard work as he is of physical pain. He shambles over to the camp’s piled-up store of crude, mostly broken weapons, to find a spear he can lean on while he tries to stay awake.

For a while, there is only the snoring of satisfied mites and the buzzing of flies. Akko is in danger of dozing off when – suddenly – he spots a flicker of light and movement. He almost shouts out an alarm, but…Urko’s orders were to do that if the girl woke up. Which she hasn’t. And if there’s an enemy or intruder about, Akko does not want to make draw any attention to himself unless he really has to.

Then the light appears again, flying down to hover in front of him. A tiny figure even compared to him – red-haired, bright-winged, wearing a cheeky grin – meets his eye and raises a finger in a conspiratorial gesture, before drifting closer for an appreciative look at the sleeping tiefling.

Akko points his spear with what fierceness he can muster. But – the intruder is just a sprite. Of all the myriad fey-kind in the Valley, few are punier than a mite; even pixies, who are shorter, push mites around easily. The sprite, though, is not particularly threatening even to Akko, and anyway seems to be more interested in the tiefling than in Akko himself.

“Nice, nice.” The sprite glances at Akko and gives an approving nod. “Is she yours?”

Akko begins to shake his head before the significance of the idea hits him. What if she could be? He scratches his wide chin for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. My catch.”

The sprite whistles admiringly. “Bet the others are gonna want a piece too, though. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? When you’re doing all the work.”

“No. It’s not fair.” Akko bristles at the injustice of it.

“Of course,” the sprite muses, “if you dragged her a little way away, where nobody can hear…you could have her to yourself for a while. Make sure you mark her all your own…”

Akko wipes sweat from his brow. Staring at the sprawling body of the tiefling, her lips slightly parted, her heavy tits rising and falling with her slumbering breaths…it’s tempting. If he were to get caught, though…