The girls gathered with the caravan early in the morning. If they’d been on the surface, Chloe figured the sun wouldn’t even be out. Sae followed Alicia to the wagon, still half asleep. Chloe’s own body felt the same way, but outwardly she didn’t show it like Sae did. Given her real form was a spirit, that wasn’t entirely unusual for her. Thanks to her nature as a spirit her mind didn’t have to sleep when her body did and she knew her body could sleep some more in the wagon.
She noted more than a few new faces joining the old ones from the caravan even if she didn’t know their names. Of the faces she knew, she’d spotted Aria and Gyweri who were chatting with Elie. Derrick, the leader of the Thunder Fairies, was chatting with the caravan leader and Krellick. She also saw Zoey, who spotted her.
Zoey waved her over, so Chloe wandered on over. “Morning Chloe, I want to introduce you to someone who will be joining you on this trip,” she said as she gestured a young lady forward. Her appearance reminded her of someone she’d seen through her shadowed eye spell, but they were clearly younger. The young lady was short but Chloe still had to look up at her. It didn’t help that Chloe was only 92 centimeters tall meanwhile this newcomer was around a hundred and twenty centimeters tall. She wore nothing either, which gave Chloe a good look at her body. Her skin was an ashen shade of grey, her soft yet regal face framed by hair blacker than coal. The young lady had lovely amethyst eyes and a cute little fang poking out from under her pale pink lips. She had a budding pair of gently swelling breasts tipped with a fat pair of pink nipples surrounded by rather puffy areola.
It seemed the young lady was fairly athletic as well, as she had a lithe sculpted figure. As for her pussy, it was hidden behind a skirt of slender black tentacles, half of which ended in short little barbs, the other half ended with fanged suckers. The young lady smiled, “Hello I’m Myshi. Lady Zoey was just telling me about you. Waking up in a strange land, and all that.”
“Um, hello,” she greeted, then glanced at Zoey.
“I figured it would be best if you two met right away. Myshi here is going to be with you for a few stops, she’s heading up north to meet her grandmother and watch some... cargo her mother sent along.”
“I see.”
Myshi puffed up her chest, “I’m a big girl now!” Then she looked at Sae climbing up into the wagon, “Is that your friend?”
Chloe nodded, “Yeah, that’s Sae. She’s still a little tired. We had to get up early.”
Myshi yawned, “I totally understand and I’m inclined to join you myself.”
Zoey smiled, “Well, I better leave you know. Safe trip.”
With that she left the area. Myshi drew closer, her eyes flashing. Next thing Chloe knew she was being dragged into the same wagon Sae had gone to, by an excited young lady. “Oh you're so cute! I can’t wait to see what I can do with that golden-red hair of yours, and oh yes, that tail needs a proper brushing.”
She felt her tail stiffen. Why did she suddenly feel like she’d been left alone with a predator? Chloe spared a glance at Sae but her favorite companion was already fast asleep. Did she blast the girl with magic?
Myshi giggled, “Oh is the little fox scared? Don’t worry I don’t bite... much! Now hold still!”
Chloe blinked at the brush in her hands. Where did that come from? She hadn’t sensed any magic. Eyes on it, she moved a step away. Myshi gave her a look, her eyes gleaming with magic. “Don’t be that way, it will be fun.”
______Chloe stepped off the wagon, her eyes on her own tail. Behind her Myshi was looking rather pleased with herself. Who could blame her? Myshi’s attempts at mind magic might have failed but she’d managed to get what she wanted regardless. Chloe’s tail was thoroughly brushed, and her hair had been brushed out and decorated with ribbons. It looked cute, but a shudder went down her spine. That girl was dangerous. Sure Chloe probably could have escaped if she’d used her magic, or dwarven strength. Yet Chloe had not, she hadn’t really wanted to hurt the girl or blow her cover. Now she wished she’d learned mind magic, that would have saved her a few hours of total embarrassment.
By now the caravan was well underway. Tyna was no longer in sight as the carts rumbled down one of many tunnels in the Underdark. Moss, fungal bushes, and other types of flora common to the region could be seen on either side of the road. They were quite lovely, glowing brilliant hues of red, purple, green and yellow. Some of the plants were quite large and their leaf-like fronds served to conceal some of the common animals native to this part of the world.
She barely gave them a glance and instead took in some of the new guards. Recalling the conversation she’d spied upon the other day, she could only surmise that Bysha had provided these girls to maintain security for the caravan. They were all cute, and dressed in practically nothing. In fact their outfits were remarkably similar to the Drow and Human girl she’d passed the other day. Most of them wore only a breastplate that didn’t even cover their boobs, allowing them to spill out over the top. Along with a belt, which often carried a brace of knives, along with a quiver of arrows or a short sword. Some girls wore a thigh-length leather skirt, but many of them went without, leaving their bare pussies on display.
Curious about them she scanned each of them with magic and quickly noted the spell work done on their bodies. Their skin was etched with some interesting symbols. She’d seen similar ones before, but their use here was most intriguing. Skill-enhancing runes that turned their skin into natural armor stronger than the plate armor popular among the adventurers. On top of that, they were equipped with an enchanted breastplate that produced a magical barrier just as strong. These girls would be hard to kill, but there was another set of runes etched into their skin. Last time she’d seen such runes etched into skin, she’d been raiding the shop of a Lykeri. They were designed to make the girls easy to take apart and put back together, while also allowing their parts to be swapped around with those of another girl.
Chloe’s first instinct was to label them the product of a Lykeri, but that didn’t feel right. Just as the shop wasn’t quite right for one. It had been too... clean. The same was true of these runes. It was more like a mortal had studied and adapted Lykeri spell work for their own use. Chloe found it quite fascinating. She made a mental note to do a thorough study of these girls when given the chance. Chloe had a feeling such a study would be most illuminating, and maybe she could apply some of the techniques to her ghouls? She’d made some previous attempts with a similar line of research, but her previous creations were rudimentary at best. Some mortal had obviously managed to get further in studying the Lykeri than she ever had. While she didn’t like the Lykeri, Chloe did recognize the value of their techniques.
Once one stripped away the needlessly cruel and sadistic elements of their... activities, of course. As that part didn’t have any value, not to her anyway. A figure drew near her, and she looked up at the shadow to see one of the new guards. She was one of the girls without a skirt, just the tiny breast plate, a brace of knives and a quiver. The guard was quite pretty, with emerald green hair tied into a braid, and secured with a nice ribbon. She had large matching eyes set in a soft face. Her naked breasts were quite large for her figure, which was on the petite side. In fact Chloe was pretty sure she had the largest boobs among the new guards, but she also seemed to be the shortest. There was plenty of muscle on her frame, her belly was tight and her thighs seemed packed with power. The woman smiled, as she looked into Chloe’s eyes, “Lost in thought are we?”
“Just wondering about the new guards,” she said.
The girl grinned, “Our company was hired out by Bysha Trading in exchange for moving some cargo of ours to our Guildhouse in Greywater. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get all the way to Greywater without issue. After that, our rate will have to be renegotiated."
Chloe hadn’t expected to get something so useful from a casual statement, and paused for a moment. Her face wrinkled a bit and then after a moment she asked, “and where is Greywater?”
“We won’t get there for awhile. It will take us a few days to reach Black Blossom, and we will stay there long enough for the merchants to offload some wares and buy new ones. After that we will travel north and east to the Town of Kesha. Greywater is just a few days travel north of that. By boat, that is, it takes quite a bit longer if we take the tunnels.”
“Noted, I take it Kesha and Greywater are connected to the same river system?”
“Same lake system, technically the local lake here at Tyna is connected as well, but that’s via an underwater connection. Greywater and Kesha are major port towns on a pair of linked underground lakes. Although you’ll find the two towns quite different, not surprising since Kesha is run by a cult.”
Her mind flashed through some previous interactions. This conversation was proving most enlightening. “I see, and somehow I have a feeling I know whose cult. If the inn was any indication. I can guess what life in the town will be like. What about Greywater?” “It’s run by the guild. Our parent guild, to be specific.”
“That’s different, I don’t know many towns run by a guild.”
“Its not unheard of, Bordertown is still run by the local adventurer’s guild, and its been a century since the town was founded. Fun place to be though, and it’s an open secret that the guild is run by lust demons.”
Chloe blinked, “So the town is horny central?”
The young woman she was talking with grinned, “Fun place to visit, we trained there! I do hope we get to go all the way there on this trip.”
“You do?”
The guard grinned, “You might have fun there in a few years kid. The dungeon is great, it’s a false death dungeon. So a good place to hone skills, and since the monsters are all lust demons, you’ll have a fun time going through the floors.”
“Thanks, um?”
“Call me Terri, and you are?”
“Chloe,” she replied.
Just then Alicia came up to them, “Already making friends are we?”
Chloe turned to Alicia and noted that she was dressed in a variation of her usual adventurer’s gear. Her staff was in hand like usual when she was on duty. She was wearing the same pair of worn leather shorts she’d had on the day they met. While her shoulder cape was a different color today, a light green to match her eyes. Her usual blouse was gone in favor of a light blue top that only covered her belly, her apple-sized breasts were fully exposed. Given how many girls were walking around boobs out, Chloe didn’t consider it odd for the company, so she saw no need to do anything about it. Even if she had a feeling that Krellik had a hand in her style of dress. She noted Derrick was with Alicia, but not Ellie. “One or two,” she frowned, “Where’s Ellie?”
Alicia indicated a cart towards the rear, as her eyes took on a blank look, “Ellie is busy with another task.” She took a breath, “Anyway I came to check on you and Sae.”
“Sae’s in the cart with Myshi. Last I checked, she was still sleeping.”
Terri shifted, “Hello, I’m Terri. Chloe here is quite the young lady.”
Alicia smiled and agreed as the two started chatting. Chloe walked alongside them and interjected on occasion as she got to know the people in the caravan. Her mind however was still wondering why Ellie was busy with another task, and made a note to look into that.