JTSS 1-198

Jaina woke to find she was still firmly embraced in Hannah’s arms. Quinny, Umtha, and even Gisley were piled in while Breanne and Evalynn sat just a few steps away, sipping some wine and talking softly.

“Goodness, how long have we been asleep?” Jaina asked as she lifted her head.

“Not long enough,” Umtha said with a big smile that showed her pointed teeth.

“We can't lay here all day," Jaina said, but so long as Hannah held her, she wasn't going anywhere. Her head was still over Hannah's glorious breasts, and she had to resist the temptation to suckle at them. Instead, she leaned forward and gently kissed Hannah's soft lips, savoring the rose petal-like softness. The woman stirred, her bright red eyes coming open as she smiled to see Jaina looking down.

“Hey, sweety, we really should get up,” Jaina said, but Hannah’s arms curled about her tighter to defy the notion they were going to part.

“I want you to stay in my arms,” Hannah said.

“I would readily agree with that," Jaina replied. "But we have masters to serve and duties to attend to."

“I will stay in your arms,” Umtha said as she curled in.

“Alright, let's not be lazy," Jaina laughed. "We need to get up."

“Actually, you don’t,” Breanne said from where she sat beside Evalynn. “The masters have said you all have the day to yourselves. Evalynn and I are to accompany you all and ensure you are safe.”

“Why wouldn’t we be safe?” Hannah asked. Jaina wondered the same thing as they had abandoned the practice of taking guards with them weeks ago. They hadn’t even reinstated it after Thexis started killing harem girls, so now she was curious. Breanne explained that Lydia and Finneous had a network of allies spread across cities to the west. She had relayed a message that a team of mercenary hunters had passed through one recently and was overheard to be coming here for a bounty. They were seen a week ago, but a day ago, a group of players was killed by a team of archers who took them down in seconds. The players reported the incident to the guild and Frank has sent NPC teams to scour the area where it happened. Until they knew more, the girls were to remain hidden in the palace, temple, or forest with Breanne and Evalynn in full combat gear to protect them.

“Oh great,” Hannah groaned. “Why is it I get these amazing moments of escape but something always follows it that drags me back in?”

“Sweety," Jaina said as she crawled out of the pile. "Please don't be upset. We will still have a wonderful day." She helped the other girls up, then took Hannah's hand, and together, they walked naked into the temple proper. She assured Hannah that she wouldn't have to worry as Gwen was likely already involved and looking for the troublemakers. That seemed to placate Hannah to some degree as she asked to visit the stocks she had been locked in. Jaina took her to the device and Hannah ran a hand over the wood and leather, smiling as she relived being restrained in them.

“You loved it, didn’t you?” Jaina asked. Hannah nodded and said it had been the most exciting experience of her life. She looked around to see if she could spot Frank and stated she wanted to reward him for being such a good master.

“He's probably back in the harem," Jaina suggested, and Evalynn confirmed the masters were meeting to discuss the hunters. Gwen and Lydia were with them, leaving the girls to run wild to their heart's content.

“So we're off the leash,” Gisley said with a bright smile.

“When were you ever on the leash?” Jaina laughed. “Roric lets you sleep with anyone foolish enough to enter the forest. Not to mention, you invade people's dreams and have sex all night."

“I can’t help it that I like sex,” Gisley countered. “You’re the one who showed me how much fun it was.”

“I did,” Jaina agreed as the girls sat on nearby couches. “So, what should we do?”

“We can go to the rogues guild to wait tables and work the back rooms,” Gisley offered. “It would be inside the city, and the rogues would protect us if there was trouble."

“Umm,” Jaina began as she glanced at Hannah.

“What’s wrong with that?” Hannah asked. “I worked as a waitress before.”

Jaina had to explain that working the back rooms meant working as a prostitute, sleeping with patrons of the tavern for a measly twenty gold coins. Hannah managed to blush even though her skin was already red and suggested they could do something else.

“Not anxious to have sex again?” Jaina teased.

“I never said that,” Hannah laughed. “Just I am not sure I am ready to be a prostitute and announce it to the city.”

“We could go to the glory hole,” Quinny offered. “Nobody knows who you are there.”

“Or the goblin village in the swamp," Umtha suggested. Jaina wanted to know what was special about the goblins in the swamp, and Umtha smiled mischievously. She explained that the goblin chief was in love with Hannah and they could go have sex with the goblins.

“Oh, well, that does sound fun,” Jaina said as she nudged Hannah.

“The chief wants to have sex with me?” Hannah asked in surprise. Umtha nodded and innocently dropped that Hannah had done so before several times as Hathlisora. Jaina struggled not to burst into laughter as Hannah covered her face and asked if Hathlisora had been a slut. Umtha said there was no word like that in her language, but Hathlisora had been a prolific lover.

“Maybe I don’t want to know who I was,” Hannah sighed.

“Don’t be like that,” Jaina said. “You sound like you were a wonderful person who cared deeply about others. Who cares if you were a little free with your affections?”

“The woman who waited in the swamp for years for me to return,” Hannah replied in clear reference to Viylah. Jaina knew the story of how Hathlisora had once been a lover to Viylah but that somehow Umtha knew nothing about it. Umtha admitted that she didn't know all of Hathlisora's lovers, but still carried a measure of distrust for the woman. It was a point of contention that was dealt with by never telling Viylah that Hannah was Hathlisora reborn.

“Alright, let's not bring the mood down," Jaina suggested. "We wanted to spend more time together, and we have been given the chance. Breanne and Evalynn are excellent guards, so we have nothing to worry about from these hunters. Let's go into the forest, or the city, or even the beach and just be together. Common, were harem sisters, surely there is something more intimate we could be doing.”

“So long as you don’t split up,” Evalynn said. “You are to remain together until the masters say otherwise. Until then, Roric has tripled the gnoll patrols on the road and has hunting parties in the forest to see if they can sniff out any trouble.

“And Frank insisted we be shadowed by a contingent of goblin stalkers,” Breanne added. “As well as two of my invisible banshees.”

“Who could take us down?” Quinny laughed. “I can summon a pack of zombies if we really needed, and Umtha can summon elemental spirits.”

“I can summon flower sprites and aggressive plants," Hannah agreed, then waved the idea off. "If somebody wants me that badly, let them come. Even if they were strong enough to take us all on, Gwen would know the second I take damage and protect us. So let's not worry about it and ruin our day."

Jaina nodded as the girls discussed other ideas of how they could spend their day. Quinny said they should go for food and visit one of the nice places in the city. Umtha wanted to go into the mountains to where there was a goblin tavern. Gisley wanted them to go flying over the forest, or maybe they could go into a dream for fun.

“Let’s walk through the forest and talk,” Jaina suggested as she took Gisley and Hannah by the hand.

“Umm, you do realize you and I are naked?” Hannah reminded.

“So?” Jaina teased. “You are going to have to learn how to be naked in public if you want to be a good slave girl.” She laughed as Hannah visibly flinched and asked if that was true. Gisley chimed in that she went naked all the time because Roric liked his girls to be nude. Jaina knew that sooner or later, Roric would demand Hannah be nude, but she didn't press it. Instead, they allowed Hannah to put on her slave silks before going into the garden barefoot.

They were deep into the forest an hour later, traveling down a narrow trail while Hannah sang a flower song. It caused flowers to bloom all around them, to the delight of Gisley, the fairy who flew about trailing silver glitter. They arrived at the shores of a little stream and sat in the grass while Gisley and Umtha flew after Quinny, playing a game of aerial tag.

“This is a wonderful life,” Jaina sighed as she leaned back and lay her head in Hannah’s lap.

“It is wonderful," Hannah agreed as she stroked Jaina's cheek. "But I doubt I would have followed this course if I hadn't met you."

“Oh, I am sure you and Frank would have come together without me,” Jaina replied. Hannah agreed but then nodded to the girls. She didn’t think she would have embraced the harem idea and brought her three angels into her love. Now that she had her girls, she couldn't bear being apart from them. Those three women were a part of her soul, and she loved them dearly.

“See, you were born for this life,” Jaina said as she smiled up at the devil looking down.

“I want you to know that I love you just as much,” Hannah said. “You and your girls are part of my family.”

Jaina reached up to touch Hannah's face and replied that she loved Hannah as well. She dreamed of them being together and spending their lives serving the harem. A squeal turned their attention as Gisley caught Quinny by the tail and discovered just how strong a succubus tail was. She was dragged along, unable to even slow the bat-winged woman as she flew over the open field.

“Those tails are amazing,” Jaina laughed.

“They come in handy,” Hannah replied as her tail crawled up Jaina’s leg. “And they are just the right size.”

“I love this sexy and naughty Princess," Jaina said with a smile. "You are loving, kind, and compassionate with a voice of pure silver.”

“Her voice is beautiful,” Breanne agreed as she walked by in a black dress.

“It’s the flower singer that gives me the voice,” Hannah protested. “I couldn’t sing otherwise.”

“I doubt that,” Breanne argued. “Your voice is suited to singing. That class only makes it easier. You might want to consider spending some points on the actual singing skill.”

“Oh, that would be amazing," Jaina agreed.

“I don’t need to be a singer,” Hannah countered. “I just like to remind the city that I appreciate and love them.”

“You do, don’t you?” Evalynn asked. “You love the people of your city.”

Jaina hadn't considered the point before, but Evalynn stressed that much of what Hannah did was to provide a safe home for others. She and Frank were concerned about the happiness and well-being of the people in their city and considered them all important.

“Well, of course they are," Hannah stressed. "This whole thing is meant to be a sort of team. We can't make it work without the players both hero and monster. I want to provide a home where people can level up, have fun, and be happy. Is that so much to ask?"

“No," Jaina replied. "It's wonderful, and you are an angel."

“A devil,” Hannah corrected with a smile. “A sex devil.”

“Hmm, are you having naughty thoughts?” Jaina teased.

“Always," Hannah said as her tail reached the tender folds between her legs. "Now, let me show you what I can do with this tail."

A loud squeal echoed from the far side of the field as the girls tumbled to the ground. Jaina didn’t think anything of it until Gisley jumped up, grabbing Quinny by the arm as she called for help. There was an explosion of goblin howls a battle erupted just out of sight in the forest. They heard somebody cursing as the girls jumped to their feet and tensed.

“Somebody is killing my goblins,” Umtha said as she raised her hands to prepare a spell.

“Is it the hunters?” Hannah asked as she snapped her fingers, bringing something out of a black puff of shadow. Webster dropped to the ground and chirped as a flash of what looked like lightning illuminated a distant part of the forest. For a brief second, they thought they saw humanoid forms, but were they players, goblins, or something else?

Umtha turned to the tree line and raised her hands, but before she could react, a hail of silver streaks burst out and pummeled her, sending her flying back.

“Get into the trees on the other side!” Evalynn commanded as she used her magic to create a transparent blue barrier between them and the attackers. A hail of arrows clattered off the surface as the girls ran, but Quinny and Gisley were still in the line of fire.

“I have to get them,” Hannah shouted as she pointed to the two girls who were taking fire from unseen attackers.

“I will distract them,” Breanne said as her barrier dropped and she glowed with yellow fire. She charged at the fallen girls as three people emerged from the tree line, one casting a spell. Hannah could tell it was directed at Quinny, who was struggling to pull a half dozen arrows from her body.

“Master’s defense!” Hannah cried, encasing Quinny in a bubble of protection. She acted as a shield as a ray of golden light struck at her, attempting to bind her in chains but fading away nearly instantly.

“What the hell?" one of the three said, looking up just in time to see Evalynn bearing down on them. One turned with a crossbow pointed her way and unleashed another volley of silver barbs that blasted into the woman's armor. Evalynn didn’t even slow as her spear began to glow red, indicating she was about to unleash a terrible power.

A hunter in green robes crackled with electricity and pointed at Evalynn, only to cup her ears as a piercing wail split the air. Breanne was in full banshee form with flowing black shreds and gaunt, haunted skin. She had her golden bow in hand but chose to pin the three hunters down with a wail to buy Evalynn time to connect.

Then, it was chaos as the three hunters unleashed hell on the two guardian elves. Hannah was up and, with a snap of her finger, was dressed in plate armor decorated with spikes and women in lewd poses. She flew straight for Quinny and fell on her, using her wings to shield the woman while she delivered a healing kiss. Umtha stumbled out of the trees, looking angry, and returned fire with her own lightning as the forest was lit ablaze.

Jaina rushed across the field, determined to get into the fight, when something struck her back. She lurched forward and turned to see two more hunters in the tree line, one a dark-skinned man who smiled evilly. She reached for the arrow as a freezing sensation began to spread from the wound. She plucked it out and cast it aside, only to be struck by a bolt of yellow fire that stumbled her back.

She went to become fluid but found her ability to shift suddenly absent. Before she could cry out, a hail of small darts pelted her body, each one stinging with the poison they delivered. As she fell to her knees, she saw the woman in the pair vanish and suddenly appear beside her, holding a serrated dagger as she leaned over.

“Where is your anchor stone?” the woman hissed as she pressed the blade to Jaina’s throat.

Jaina panicked as she realized they wanted to know where the magical stone that bound her to this region was. That could only mean they wanted to destroy it to reset her, but why would anyone want to do that? It wouldn't work, of course, because Jaina was now a member of the monster guild and a lesser noble in Gwen's kingdom. They would have to take her beyond the borders of the kingdom before they killed her, and they would never escape the forest with her.

Jaina smiled in defiance as she tried and failed to shapeshift. The arrow in her back was preventing the use of her powers but she was never going to give in to these lunatics. The woman frowned, and suddenly, Jaina felt sick. She was shocked to see she was at the treeline, being held up by the woman who held the dagger.

“She’s not going to talk,” the woman said. “Just run her out.”

“What if there are more goblins?” the man asked. “The contract said nothing about them.”

“You are more than capable of killing a hundred more goblins," the woman balked. "Besides, this fight won't last long, and we will be behind you."

“What about the others?” the dark man asked as he easily lifted Jaina with one arm. “I hear there are some pretty decent contracts on the red devil woman.”

“The mimic is the only one we were paid for,” the woman said. “We stick to the plan and kill the others before delivering proof the mimic is dead.”

The man nodded and ran with surprising speed while carrying Jaina under one arm. He reached a trail and, with a quick spell, enchanted his body with the speed of a wolf.

“What are you doing?” Jaina asked weakly as she struggled to fight against the poison.

“Fulfilling a contract," the man replied. "It's nothing personal, but somebody is paying a lot of money to see you reset."

Jaina's eyes went wide as she realized the attack on Quinny had been a distraction. It was meant to lure Evalynn and Breanne away, leaving her and Hannah vulnerable. Hannah flew off just in time, but Jaina was the actual target, and they had played right into the hunter's hands.

“Finding my stone won’t do you a bit of good,” Jaina sputtered.

“We know about your monster guild and that we have to kill you outside the kingdom," the man said. "We only wanted the stone because the contract pays extra for it."

“You will never get out of the kingdom,” Jaina moaned.

“Oh yeah?" the man laughed, taking off at supernatural speed. He raced down the road with Jaina hanging limp under one arm. She wanted to cry and scream as the sounds of battle faded, and her friends probably hadn't even realized she had been taken. Tears welled in her eyes as she faced the very real possibility that she might be reset and have to do all that leveling a second time. She would be so far behind her friends as to make it impossible to play with them. She would even lose her full mimic powers and be the useless little morphic she started as. All she could do was pray he ran into somebody who would recognize Jaina was in trouble and come to her rescue. If not, she would be reset, and her heart would be broken.

Hannah took an arrow to the back and felt the sting of poison but used her tail to pluck it out and toss it away. She turned and pulled Quinny up as the angry succubus made her magical sword appear. Umtha joined their side as Gisley flew overhead, calling down blasts of moonlight on their foes.

“What happened?” Quinny asked.

“Those hunters are here for us already," Hannah said as she pointed to the three Breanne and Evalynn struggled to contain. "We need to join the fight and send them back empty-handed."

Quinny nodded, and the three girls called on their power as zombies erupted from the ground and vines sprung up, shaping into rough humanoid shapes before shambling after the attackers. Umtha went to call an elemental wind spirit, but a flash of light sent her flying to one side. She rolled to her feet as she called out an alarm, but it was already too late. A form appeared right before her, and she felt the sting of a dagger as she was stabbed several times. Hannah heard her call and turned just in time to see Umtha and a player vanish into thin air.

“Umtha!" Hannah cried as Quinny charged into the fight with the others. Hannah was the only one who had seen her vanish, and she quickly turned to the spider by her feet. "Did you see where she went?" He chirped a no, but Hannah realized she didn't need his help. Umtha was in her collar, and like all slave masters, Hannah could tell roughly where the woman was. She knew exactly what had happened. A player who could blink had grabbed Umtha and teleported to an isolated location to deal with her. It wouldn’t be far away, probably just inside the trees, but it meant Umtha was alone, wounded, and scared. Hannah could feel her location just beyond the treeline as her hands began to glow with an orange light. Umtha needed help now, and Hannah didn't have time to look for her. Instead, she played on the fact that Umtha was currently a succubus, which meant she was immune to fire.

“Hell strike!” Hannah called as she pointed to the trees. A ray of flames shot from the skies, striking the location where Hannah sensed Umtha to be. There was a cry of alarm as the nearby trees erupted in a rolling explosion of fire and a flash of light. Hannah was already moving, reaching a hand out as her scythe formed and swinging in a wide arc.

“You bitch!" a woman cried as she appeared out of thin air and narrowly avoided being sliced by Hannah's weapon. Her armor was leather, but it was blackened with soot, and smoke drifted from the edges where she had been caught in the blaze. She wielded a large dagger in each hand and jumped at Hannah, who went into her combat skills and brought her weapon to bear.

“They told us you would be a pain in the ass,” the woman hissed as their weapons crossed.

“I don’t care what they told you,” Hannah countered as they danced with cuts and parries. “I got one day off, and you spoiled it to hunt me.”

“You?” the woman laughed and vanished in a flash. She reappeared behind Hannah with a downward slash of both weapons. Hannah rolled away from the attack but took a glancing blow to her shoulder, feeling the sting of the sharp impact.

“You think I came here for a dirty slut like you?” the woman laughed.

“Hey, I am not dirty," Hannah shouted and rushed in, going into a series of practiced slashes. She was relieved when lightning struck the woman, indicating that Umtha was joining the fight once again. Quinny was also up but had rushed to help the others and tip the odds back in their favor. Hannah and Umtha squared off against the woman in singed leather as she jumped into the air and produced a rain of daggers.

Umtha was outside the blast, but Hannah was caught in the attack. She was cut a dozen times before a third green eye opened on her forehead, and she vanished in a flash of green light.

“What?" the woman cried as Hannah appeared beside her, already in mid-swing. The woman vanished in a flash of white and arrived behind Umtha to plunge her daggers in.

“Stop hurting my family!" Hannah cried as she blinked and began a game of chasing the woman about the field. Each tried to bait the other into making a mistake and engaged in a few attacks, but the woman was too fast. Hannah took more cuts and bruises as she faced off against a superior opponent. The poison was useless against her Lilim form, but that didn't matter if she kept getting cut. She worried this woman might win when a soothing sensation washed over her, and her wounds began to mend. Hannah knew Gwen was using a mother's comfort and was now well aware the girls were in danger. It was only a matter of time before she arrived, but that could still be minutes away.

For now, she had to keep the woman occupied and stand her ground as best she could. She tried trick after trick, but the woman was always one step ahead of her until an arrow streaked by, and a cloud of darkness filled the air around them.

“Darkness?" Hannah said as she was grabbed by the woman and felt a dagger press to her throat. She couldn't see a thing in the shadowy darkness, which meant she couldn't blink away.

“Tell them to stand down,” the woman commanded.

“Screw you,” Hannah replied as she tensed.

“Don’t push me,” the woman hissed. “I know you are trapped in here like I am. You can’t blink unless you can see where you are going.”

Hannah realized the woman was trapped in the darkness and would have to risk running out and potentially being ambushed. However, Hannah's blink wasn't so limited. So long as she could visualize a nearby location, she could teleport to it, but in this case, she didn’t even need that. A wicked smile crossed her face as she reached across her telepathic link to Webster and suddenly could see clearly.

“Well, gotta go," Hannah said before swinging her tail up with all her might. It caught the woman between the legs, where she had little armor, and caused her to release a profound groan. The dagger fell away as Hannah wrapped one of her legs and swung her like a club, slamming her into the ground. Then she vanished to appear outside, turning back to see the darkness spell.

Hannah stood gawking at the sphere of absolute black that looked to be thirty feet across. It was like a hole in reality, a void into an emptiness that defied comprehension. Breanne went inside, her undead sight easily seeing in the gloom. There was a banshee wail but it only lasted a few seconds before Breanne was thrown out of the darkness to crash to the ground.

“Breanne!" Hannah cried and ran to her side, quickly falling into a healing spell to mend her slave girl.

“Hannah, run,” Breanne coughed. “She’s just toying with us. She is far more powerful than she is letting on.”

“We can’t run,” Hannah insisted as a dozen stabs on Breanne’s body began to mend. She was just about to help the woman up when the woman walked out of the sphere of darkness.

“Still here?" the woman laughed before tossing her hair. "To think you had a chance to escape, and you didn't take it."

“Why are you doing this?” Hannah demanded as she stood between the woman and Breanne. “What do you want with us?”

“We don't want you at all," the woman laughed and looked away as if Hannah weren't even a concern. "But I have delayed you long enough; pray they never send me after you." With that, the woman simply faded from view.

“She was delaying us?” Hannah said as Breanne stood up.

“She wasn’t after you,” Breanne stated with worry in her voice. “Then who was she after?

Hannah turned her attention to the other battle to see Evalynn had it firmly in hand. She had dropped one of the hunters and had the third one on the ropes as she pummeled him with attacks. Quinny and a dozen zombies were at her side while Gisley was lending support from above, slowly grinding the man down. The forest burned from a dozen locations as clouds of smoke and embers turned the sight into a war.

Considering how powerful that woman had been, the scene didn't make sense. Why were the other two going down so easily unless…. She put that thought aside as she noticed Umtha lying in the field, barely moving.

Hannah ran to Umtha to find she was still alive and quickly went for a healing kiss. She channeled her essence into the effect, glowing briefly as Umtha’s eyes popped open. They were on their feet when Breanne joined them with her bow at the ready while looking all around for the missing woman.

“We won," Quinny called as the other man fell, and they quickly regrouped to deal with their injuries.

“We have won the day,” Evalynn said as she joined them. “But I insist we go directly to the harem and report this.”

“No, we didn't," Hannah said as she spun about, trying to understand.

“But you're fine, and all our foes are fallen," Breanne pointed out.

“Hannah wasn’t the target,” Breanne insisted as her banshee form faded. “And that woman could have wiped us out if she wanted.”

“What woman?” Quinny asked.

Hannah realized they hadn't seen her, so she explained the brief but fierce battle with the woman who could blink. Breanne added that she went into the darkness thinking the woman would be helpless, but she landed a flurry of attacks that nearly killed her.

“But a woman that powerful would have taken Hannah,” Quinny insisted.

“No,” Hannah groaned. “She said I wasn’t the target.”

“Then who was?” Umtha asked.

“Jaina!” Evalynn cried as she spun around. “Where is Jaina?”

“Jaina was the target,” Hannah gasped as she realized they had been played.

There was a crash as something silver landed before them, and a towering elf woman in silver armor stood tall, a longbow in her hand. She looked them square in the eyes as they stood in the chaos of a burning forest.

"What has happened here?"