Beneath the Flowers

"I'll cover my eyes," Mus said. "Go."

Zaria blew on the scale and sent it fluttering around the room. She saw that Mus had indeed covered his eyes. She smiled at him, then turned her attention to her surroundings. There were three openings that led away from the hole. One she knew was the one that carried her back to Mus' home, the other two she assumed took Talpi to the surface. A door, closed to any that wished to enter unknowingly rested against the farthest part of the room. Zaria snapped her fingers and the light disappeared, leaving her once again at the mercy of her employer. "Thank-you," she told him.

"Is it safe?"

"Yes," Zaria answered with a smile on her lips.

"Good," Mus answered back, slightly annoyed that he had been exposed to even a breath of light. "Remember, don't do that too often."

"I won't," the pixie promised again.

Mus knocked on Talpi's door and when it opened he was quick to explain the presence of someone new. Talpi stepped into the room, where Mus and Zaria waited. The pixie could not see Mus' friend, but she could smell him. His stench was hard to miss. Her noise curled in disgust. Unknowingly she backed away and bumped into something solid and covered in coarse hair. Instantly a pair of hands were wrapped around her arms, steadying her. "A wee thing she is," a voice said, once Zaria had found her footing. She realized then that Talpi had already moved behind her. It was obvious that his sight was not hindered by the lack of light.

"Yes, she is," Mus agreed. "She's a pixie and will be taking care of the babes, as well as looking for a home in which to call her own."

Talpi sniffed the air. "She smells good," he said.

"I've not noticed," Mus answered.

"Mister Talpi, I cannot see you, since there is no light here. May I for a moment bring forth some?"

Talpi's sharp intake of breath told Zaria he was not pleased by the request, but a moment later she heard a long sigh. "Very quick," he muttered.

Once again a scale was lifted from Zaria's shell. She warned the two nocturnal beings before the dust illuminated the room. "Oh my," Zaria whispered as she took in Talpi. He had closed his eyes, as had Mus, but what she did see was a dark-haired man who looked to be the size of a log of firewood that she knew humans used to heat their homes.

He had stocky arms and legs, and wore only a pair of trousers. His chest was almost bare, save pink hairs that littered his flabby skin. The two nipples on his chest were hard and protruded out. His neck was short and a head, shaped like an orange sat upon it. His nose was long, pointed and sported a mustache of stiff coarse hair. She quickly doused the light and told the two that it was safe to open their eyes. Talpi was definitely the most interesting creature she'd met so far.

"If you remain down here long enough," Talpi said, "your eyes will adjust to the light."

"I'm sure it would," Zaria answered, "but I enjoy the heat of the sun and the brilliance of the day."

Both Mus and Talpi rolled their eyes, but Zaria knew that neither appreciated her sentiments. "The milk, Mus. Where do I find it?" she asked, hoping to return to some sort of illumination even if it were nothing more than Mus' soft lantern glow.

"Until your eyes adjust, I'll bring the milk out," Talpi said. Zaria heard footsteps and assumed that the man was getting her the supplies she needed for the night. It did not take him long and for that she was grateful. The feeling of being the only one who could not see had started to make her feel unsettled and concerned.

When Mus thanked his friend for the milk, Zaria reached out for his hand. She came in contact with Talpi instead. Her fingers curled around the thin hairs, she'd seen on his chest, before she moved to step back. He was faster though, pulling her too him and sniffing deeply her scent. "Yes, you do smell good. I will remember your smell and know when you are coming," he took another deep breath, "and when you go," and another deep breath, "and where."

Zaria paled. "Good night Mister Talpi," she said, before pulling free of the vile smelling creature. She asked for Mus' hand and was soon being led back toward the surface of the world. When she was safely tucked within Mus' dwelling she drank in the light of his lantern. Though the brilliance was miniscule and slightly painful Zaria relished it.

"He is a strange one," Zaria whispered, more to herself than Mus.

Mus' brow furrowed in irritation. "He's a good man and friend. You would be lucky to find another like him!" Mus bellowed before grabbing a hat from the peg on the wall and opening the door. "If you lived underground, you'd have no worry about the elements of winter. Would you!" Mus left before Zaria could respond.

The pixie sighed heavily, saddened that she'd upset her employer and landlord. In hopes to make things right she promised to be more respectful to his friend, no matter how strange and unappealing he seemed. She was sure Talpi was attractive and normal to others like him and so she should be grateful for whatever friendship he offered.

The first several nights and days went relatively easy for Zaria. Once she realized the children slept more than they wiggled, she was able to clean Mus' home and often would have breakfast waiting for him when he arrived back from his nightly foraging expeditions. Her trips down to Talpi's hovel had not gotten any more enjoyable, if anything Zaria left their feeling as if she had been molested in some fashion, though Talpi rarely if ever touched her. She assumed it was because she still had not adjusted well to the lack of light.

It was not until the children were reaching their third and final week of being fed nightly bottles of milk that Zaria began to worry about her living arrangements. The small pixie had gone down into Talpi's territory preparing to pick up the remaining supply of milk when she overheard him speaking with Mus. Zaria had been surprised to hear her employer's voice, since she'd not seen nor heard him come home early. She then recalled the other entrance points she'd made out earlier when she'd been allowed to use some of her pixie dust to illuminate the dwelling.

"She's kept herself busy cleaning up my home. I shall miss her," Mus was saying to Talpi.

The mole sniffed the air. "Come out dear one. Remember I can smell you," Talpi called to where Zaria had been hiding.

Mus turned and stared at the young pixie as she walked into the den. "Good evening Mus and Talpi. I've come for the milk," she explained. Once again she felt as if all eyes were upon her and once again she cursed the darkness.

"Stand still and I'll get it for you," Talpi told her.

"Any luck on finding a home yet, or building one?" Mus asked.

"No. I've not had the time, but it is still early," Zaria answered, then gasped when she felt something brush across her breasts.

"Mmm, pardon me," Talpi whispered against her ear, before pressing the jugs of milk against her abdomen. "Are you like most females?" he asked, circling her while sniffing the air around her.

"What do you mean?" Zaria stood still as she felt his whiskers brush against her cheek. She shuddered and stepped back, only land against his chest.

Mus cleared his throat. "I've things to do, you enjoy yourself Talpi and Zaria I think you'd be wise to take him up on his offer." With that Mus was gone and once again Zaria was left alone with Talpi.

She took a deep breath and turned away from him. She moved cautiously toward the spot in the ground that she knew her exit to be. She had secretly come down during the night, with a lighted scale in her palm and memorized her surroundings. Zaria had felt that someday it would serve her well to know exactly how to flee Talpi's domain.

"I mean," Talpi said from the threshold of her exit, "are you like all females? When aroused does your scent change? After giving birth, do you produce milk? I would like to find out these things. Though you are small I have yet to see another as beautiful as you and wish for you to remain here with me," he paused before adding, "and Mus. Though he only has need of you as a housekeeper. I would like you to be my wife."

Zaria's eyes widened in their sockets as she stepped back, only to trip and fall to the ground. Though she could not see him, she knew that Talpi was moving closer to her. She rolled away, milk sloshed on the ground and began to seep into the crevices of the earth. Talpi sniffed the air and chuckled. "Don't be scared little one," he said, before Zaria felt his hands on her arms. He lifted her off the ground and stood her up on both her legs. "Marriage to me would not be so bad. You would have a home and I am a skilled lover – somewhat greedy yes, but skilled."

The pixie felt her stomach pitch and roll. The scent of milk and Talpi's odor mingled together did nothing for her senses, nor did the realization that she was at the mercy of the creature. "Talpi," her voice was full of worry, "I appreciate and am flattered that you find me so appealing, but I cannot live in the dark. I need light. I've yet to adjust to your surroundings."

Talpi's sigh was evidence to his annoyance. "You'll adjust. I promise you. But I understand your plight, so though it pains me I will allow you to caste illumination for a short time. But you must agree to slowly dim that brightness until you find yourself no longer addicted to it."

Zaria choked out a worried laugh. "I shall not agree to be your wife, even if I could see in the dark," she finally said. "Now if you please. I need to head back to the children."

Again she heard Talpi's sigh. She frowned, and tried to recall where she was in the hovel, so that she could find the right exit.

"I thought you would say that, so I asked Mus to watch over his own children. I already gave him milk – portioning out the remains so that they would suit him tonight. He said the wee ones can just be weaned now. You'll remain here with me."

Zaria dropped the jugs of milk and tried to flee, but Talpi had her wrapped in his arms before she had taken two steps. She was lifted off the ground and carried over the threshold of his hovel. She heard the door to his chamber close and a lock slide in. Zaria knew she was locked inside. Anger, fear, and the desire to be free of Talpi and Mus' conniving caused her to reach for her shell full of pixie dust. Before she could Talpi was there, ripping the cord from her waist. "I said I'd let you use it – IF you were willing. You're not, so you'll just grow accustomed to the dark, as you will me," Talpi hissed.

She felt the spittle of his words land against her lips just seconds before he was pulling her to him and covering her mouth with his tongue. She screamed and tried to turn away, but it was pointless. Talpi ran the tip of the wet muscle over her face and across her neck. He then smacked his lips together in appreciation. "It'll be hard at first," he was telling her as his hands moved down to caress her breasts and stomach, "but you'll like being married to me."

Zaria tried to fight Talpi, but she knew without her dust she was powerless. She felt his hands ripping away at her clothes and soon the cool air of her surroundings blanketed her. Talpi whistled low in appreciation for her nudity, causing Zaria's anger to rise. She reached to cover herself, only to have her hands pushed away and secured by cords of some type.

Talpi lifted her up into the air and then dropped her down onto a cushion. "You wait here," he said, before laughing softly. "I need to find out more about this dust."

Tears fell from Zaria's eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"I told you. I need a wife and Mus needs a housekeeper. You are lovely and though right now we cannot mate, I will find a way for us to. I am not like your Wilson – surprised you didn't I. Mus told me the tale of your journey – the one you shared with him. Unlike Wilson I bind what I wish to keep and I wish to keep you. Your dust will either transform you, or me – either way I'll find a way to be between your thighs!" He headed out the door, leaving a crying and screaming pixie in his wake.

Zaria remained all night and all day alone in Talpi's dwelling. Her arms were numb and her stomach empty. Her eyes were dry from her tears and her lips chapped from lack of hydration. She could however see shades of varying degrees of darkness and thanked Mother Earth for allowing her to begin adapting to her surroundings more quickly than she'd dared hope.

She heard the door being unlocked and waited for her captor to enter. When he had she surprised to make out the outlined shape of another figure, much smaller than Talpi. "Mus? Mus is that you!" she said in joy and relief. "Hurry before he comes back and... ."

"Mus!" Laughter surrounded her.

The pixie recognized the laughter and felt her chest tighten. "How did you do it?" she asked a now much smaller Talpi.

"Your dust," he admitted. "It took almost all of it, but with the help of a Weevil, I learned everything I could about pixie dust and how to use it."

Zaria paled. "Boll told you?"

"Not willingly, but by the time his last leg was pulled clean off his person, he was in too much pain to care who he told what to."

Shock and disbelief rolled through Zaria. She doubled over in grief and cried fresh tears.

"Enough," Talpi demanded. "I saved this bit for you," he whispered.

Zaria looked up, just in time to swallow and breathe in a small collection of pixie dust. Instantly she was rewarded with the gift of sight – sight that allowed her to drink in her surroundings. She saw everything and for a moment welcomed it until she realized that she was also better able to see Talpi.

He had indeed shrunk and now stood the same height as a pixie male. He was a miniature version of himself, but she knew that with him now her side, he would accomplish what he had wanted – they would be able to mate. Zaria fought the urge to vomit and swallowed the bile that had risen up to greet her palate.

"It worked!" Talpi said with an air of giddiness. "I knew it would though after all it worked on me!" he exclaimed while dancing around the room.

Zaria watched in shock and horror as Talpi leaped from one side of the room to the other. She tried to not think what his smaller stature meant, for it was too horrific for her to comprehend – or at least try to. Instead she turned her gaze away from the creature and began to use her new sight to study the room in which she was being held.

The door in which Talpi entered was closed and there were no windows, but she did not expect there to be. After all there was no light to capture and tame. She swallowed the pain she felt at such a loss. Talpi's furniture and novelties were similar to many other creatures of this realm she'd come to, yet now they were far too large for his diminutive size. "Why did you not change me?" she asked, suddenly curious as to why he had chosen to shrink. "You are now prey to larger creatures and no longer a possible predator."

Talpi stopped dancing and made his way over to Zaria. He pulled out a sunflower seed and offered it to her. She eyed him strangely and motioned to her hands. "I'll feed you," he whispered, "then bathe you."

Again the pixie felt weak and knew she had to have paled three shades whiter. He pushed the seed to her lips and she ate the meat only because she knew her body needed it. As she ate Talpi explained his reasons behind his transformation.

"I could not change a hair on your beautiful golden hair. Even your mound shimmers with a downy patch of fur, doesn't it?" he said in a whisper before sliding his palm against her sex.

Zaria shrank back, kicking at him with her feet, while spitting the meat of the seed into his face. He reached out and slapped her, causing her to fall back. "Do what I tell you!" he hissed before rising to his feet and disappearing into another room. When he came back, his face was somewhat cleaner and his clothes discarded.

He reached down and though she tried to struggle, he was still stronger than her. She was pulled toward the chamber he'd just exited. Inside there was a large tub. He frowned at the size and then cursed. Zaria wanted to laugh, but instead she looked at him and whispered, "Looks like you need a new home."

Talpi sneered, then spun her around and pushed her toward the door that would take them into the room where she used to pick up the milk for Mus' children. With thoughts of her employer she found herself asking if Mus knew of Talpi's change.

"Yes, he does. So we will go there and use his chambers, until I am able to move these things away."

"How? You cannot lift them."

"No, but I have friends."

"Friends that will squash you with one step – so be sure they are friends," Zaria warned sarcastically.

Talpi rolled his eyes, then pushed the bound pixie out of the hovel and up the stairs to Mus' home. The children were gone, their three week old bodies, spirits, and souls ready to take on the world. Mus too was absent so it seemed Zaria would have no help. The only positives she was able to surmise concerning her condition was the new sight and the fact that Talpi was her size, which meant she could fight him.

"I can see those wheels of yours turning. Don't think to run, girl. Mus and I agree. You're to become my wife and keep house for him. In return I'll feed and clothe – well, maybe I won't clothe you," he said before twisting one of her pink-hued nipples, "but I will feed you," he whispered while stroking his shaft.

Zaria turned away in disgust. Talpi laughed and lead her to Mus' bathroom, where he pushed her into a tub before filling it with water and joining her. The pixie tried not to think of Talpi's hands moving over her body, lathering the soap and rinsing away the grime of living underground. She closed her eyes and whispered prayers to Mother Earth and the other goddesses of her people, hoping that an answer would come to her. The only one that did was one that told her to survive.

"Don't fight me girl," Talpi whispered against her ear, before sliding one of his fingers down the slit of her sex.

Zaria bit down on her lip, and felt as if Blanch were there taking advantage of her situation. The first digit to invade her sex was thick and Talpi rotated it left then right, before sliding in a second meaty finger. He kissed her neck before licking the pulse that beat beneath her ear. "See your body craves this," he told her, before pumping his fingers in and out of her. "If I untie you, can I trust you?" he asked.

"No," Zaria hissed through clenched teeth.

Talpi chuckled. He wrapped his other arm around her and began to tease her right breast. His nails scrapped her nipple, before he pulled and twisted it.

Zaria again found herself biting her lip. Her mind tried to take her back to Boll's home, where her life was somewhat better. But thoughts of her Weevil friend made her sad, for she knew that Talpi had killed him. A groan slipped past her lips, causing her to blush upon realizing that it was because Talpi had found a small spot deep within her to play with. And this small spot pleased her. Zaria fought the urge to react and Talpi laughed at her struggles.

"See little one. You will crave this," he was saying, while twisting his fingers back and forth. His cock pressed against her ass and she instinctively pushed back on it. Again he chuckled. He moved his hand away and grabbed her hips.

Before Zaria realized what was happening Talpi had lifted her onto his lap and was impaling his cock into her mound. She cried out in shock and tried to wiggle off of him, but he kept her firmly locked in place. "Shh, just feel me," he told her. "You will like this. Don't struggle so."

Zaria closed her eyes and told herself to survive – that was the answer she'd been given when she'd prayed. She took a deep breath and allowed Talpi to move her up and down. She refused to fight him and instead as he slowly fucked her she thought of ways to gain her freedom.