Chloe settled into the seat beside Alicia. The cart rumbled along the road as the city of Black Blossom came into view. It rose above the Dark Wood and sat in the middle of a massive cavern surrounded by towering Blackwood trees. Her dark walls of stone were quite imposing with massive watchtowers set every fifteen meters. The road meandered through the forest, and then up a slope towards the cliffs upon which the city sat. A bridge of dark wood served as the main access into the city. Chloe took the sight in as they drew closer. She was aware that the city sat atop a large bluff, surrounded by cliffs and a deep chasm into the earth, making the site particularly easy to defend. That was why the city had been settled where it had been.
Towering above the outer wall, she could see the walls of the inner city on a higher bluff, and beyond that a waterfall pouring from a bluff above even that. Which held Istari Lake, the main source of water for the entire city, which was fed by an underground river whose waters came from the Great Lake of Zemra. In this region of the world a lot of water came from that massive lake. Chloe had been learning about that lately, since she was stuck alongside Sae for a bit of roadside homeschooling. Still, she found that quite interesting. What she was learning during these sessions was often of limited value but sometimes she learned something of value. A cycle was a long time, so there were always things that had changed, culture, geography, politics all were likely to change. Some to a greater degree, others to a lesser. It was hard to say how much without investigating. It was why she always tried to learn and study before she gathered her forces and did anything to alert the mortals that a new cycle had begun.
The cart rumbled to a stop, up ahead the lead cart had stopped on the bridge right before the gate. A pair of guards had come forth to inspect the caravan. Both guards were female, and obviously pregnant. Hard not to notice when the only armour they were wearing was a pair of gauntlets and some greaves. Their torsos were left entirely exposed.
The guard on the left appeared to be Human, the first one she’d seen since escaping her seal. She had a petite build with short brown hair and bright eyes. A spear was clutched in her hands. Chloe also noted that her exposed pussy was twitching and drooling, and a bead of milk could be seen leaking from her swollen breasts.
As for the guard on the left, she was a Dragonewt, the draconic wings and tail gave it away. Sometimes they were mistaken for transformed dragons as they didn’t look any different from a dragon in humanoid form, at least to the untrained eye. Legend had it that they were descended from dragons who bred with humanoids and this was true to a certain degree, but it forgot a couple of steps. When a dragon breeds with a humanoid species, you get a half-breed, same as any other race. The forgotten part of the legend was that the first dragonewts came about from a collection of half-breeds with heroic blood who’d unlocked a very special evolutionary path, one that led to the first dragonewts.
The Dragonewt guard had vibrant red scales, and crimson hair that she kept in a fancy braid. Her overall build was lithe and muscular, and she stood about one hundred and fifty-eight centimeters tall. The woman’s naked breasts were massive and clearly swollen with milk, just like her human counterparts; and her swollen belly looked about ready to give birth at any moment.
Reaching the cart, the two spoke briefly with the driver and merchant seated on the cart, before conducting a brief inspection of the cargo. Nothing too unusual, but Chloe couldn’t help wondering what would happen when they reached Myshi’s cargo. It was a collection of sick babies, and as one might guess, a cargo like that raises questions. Chloe certainly had questions about it and if she had questions, the guards would have questions.
Chloe peered through a shadowed eye. This one she’d placed on Myshi so she’d have some warning when she came to brush her tail or dress her up in ribbons. At least the girl kept it to just ribbons; she couldn’t stand wearing more. Myshi was currently settled by the driver of her lead cart and looked rather unconcerned. Did that mean she had a trick for this? Or was she just going to mind-control the guards?
Her answer would come soon enough. The guards moved through the carts with a fair degree of efficiency. Before she knew it the pair were approaching her cart. The dragonewt girl spoke first. “Evening travelers,” she showed them a piece of paper, “I’ve received a manifest here and would like to conduct a standard check to make sure it’s accurate. If you don’t have any objections, I will search your cart.”
Alicia responded, “Sure thing.”
The human girl went around the cart and slipped in the back. Chloe heard her speak briefly with Sae, who was in the cart. While chatting she systematically looked around the cart, before coming back. “Everything looks in order.”
“Wonderful, welcome to Black Blossom,” she then produced something, “An invitation. Girls only, stop by at least once before you leave.”
Alicia took it. “Thank you, we will.”
They moved on to the other carts. Chloe kept an eye on them and was surprised when they didn’t even search Myshi’s carts. All Myshi told them was that the cargo was fragile and sensitive. Before showing them a laminated metal card, they left those carts alone. Must have been one special card.
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The caravan entered town without issue. After the carts were settled in the caravan yard by the gates. It wasn’t much more than a large area to safely park carts and wagons, with an attached stable and a servants' quarters for some of the caravan to secure lodgings. After the draft lizards had been safely unhooked from their harnesses and settled into some pens attached to the stable, Chloe joined up with Alicia, Myshi and Sae. Only to be joined a moment later by Ellie. Derrik was heading to the guild, Terri had duties as a guard and Krellik had his own things to do.
The girls were going to do some shopping and a little bit of sightseeing before securing quarters at one of the inns in the town. Walking out of the caravan quarter with the girls, Chloe took a look around. Most of the people on the street were female and obviously pregnant. While she’d noted the same with the guards, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now she was making a mental note of that.
Chloe noted plenty of pregnant women going around their daily business. Some were younger, others older, but she didn’t see any elderly. Men were noticeably fewer but she spotted a few young men here and there. She didn’t see that many children around, but they were on the edge of the city, so she didn’t think much of that.
With Alicia leading the way, they headed deeper into Black Blossom. Alicia had acquired a map of the city and directions to the nearest public bath. After being on the road for days without access to a bath, Chloe and the other girls were looking forward to a chance to strip down and soak. Her gaze fell on Myshi and she couldn’t help her tail stiffening just slightly. A bath with her around was going to be dangerous wasn’t it? That big grin on her face spelled trouble. Chloe looked to Sae, who seemed equally excited.
The public bath wasn’t that far down the road from the city entrance. Turning a corner, the building in question came into view. Chloe stopped for a moment to take it in. The bathhouse was huge, easily three stories tall. Carved out of solid rock, it was an imposing structure with a wide open arch leading into the building. Integrated columns added detail, and they were paired with intricately detailed wooden trim. Giving the building a regal, welcoming appearance.
Above the arch leading into the building was a welcoming wooden sign that proclaimed the place as the Treasured Garden’s Bathhouse. Below that etched in silver letters was the phrase, Female customers only.
Chloe commented, “Seems they don’t like boys.”
Alicia replied, “That’s fine, we weren’t looking to share with the boys anyway.”
Myshi, practically bouncing on her feet, causing her tentacle skirt to flutter, interjected, “Let’s hurry in! I can’t wait to get the dust off my skin.”
Ellie chuckled, and Alicia commented, “Right, right, let's head on in.”
With that statement the girls hurried into the building. Passing under the doorless arch, they came into a wide open foyer with a welcoming white stone counter on the opposite wall behind which sat a female dark elf. She was quite pretty with Raven black hair, pale blue skin and amethyst eyes. She wore no top, and Chloe noticed like everyone else she’d seen in town she was obviously pregnant. Chloe was starting to suspect that something was going on, the number of pregnant girls was too high. Other than themselves she’d not seen anyone who wasn’t pregnant. Then there was the strange mind mana in the air, it was thicker in town than it was beyond the walls. Sure she’d yet to see it do anything, but she couldn’t help wondering if it had something to do with the unusually high numbers of pregnant women in this city.
The pregnant elf smiled, “Welcome. I’ve not seen you girls around. Newly arrived?”
Alicia took the lead, “Yes, our caravan just rolled into town. Your bathhouse came highly recommended and after a couple weeks on the road we’d like to wash off.”
“Why certainly.” She looked over the group, her eyes lingering on Sae, Myshi and herself for a moment longer than the other two. “Two adults and three... children. That will be 25 silvers. Bath is on the right. Leave your clothing in the bins, one of the attendants will collect them for washing while you are in the bath. If you finish before we are done, there is a lounge over there.”
Alicia thanked the elf, and the group headed into the bath. The first room was a changing area. A few girls were already in the room, the youngest looked around fifteen with the oldest appearing to be in her mid thirties. All of them were topless, while some were entirely naked. On the left and right sides of the room were a series of shelves with bins. Each bin had an enchanted plate on the front. Chloe saw one girl dumping her skirt into a bin, while channeling a bit of mana into the plate. Causing a name to appear on it. That must be how they know who gets which basket.
A few benches were placed in ordered rows, and on the opposite side of the room was an open arch leading into the bath proper. Chloe didn’t need to undress or anything so she sat on a bench, while Alicia and Sae stripped down. The two of them shared a bin as they added their clothing. Ellie and Myshi didn’t wear clothes either, so they joined her on the bench to wait.
It wasn’t long before the sisters were just as naked as they were, and the girls headed into the bath proper. Chloe paused in the room as she took in the size of the bath. It was massive, steam rose from the large pool, while water poured into the pool from eight pairs of statues. Each statue depicted a naked, pregnant woman in various poses. Most held a jar of some sort from which the water flowed, but Chloe noted the pair in the middle. One was leaning forward and squeezing her swollen breasts as if she was milking them and from them spurted hot water. The other one was crouched, legs wide with water pouring from her pussy. Each statue was quite detailed and unique. Not one statue was the same.
Lounging around the massive pool were a good twenty girls of the same age range as the changing room, all of them pregnant. Some of them looked about ready to give birth, others weren’t so far along.
Chloe and the others joined them in the water. She gasped a bit at the heat but found it quite comfortable. Yet she couldn’t help noticing something about the water. She scooped some up, letting it run through her fingers. This wasn’t normal water, it was laced with mana and something else. She frowned, then looked up to talk with Alicia, only to notice her eyes had glazed over again. Looking over to Sae and Myshi she noticed the same thing. It took her a moment longer to realize the mind magic in the air had just flared up, growing even thicker and more active. Reaching out with her senses, she focused on the change. Perhaps she had a clue?