Merchant & Monster Girls Ch. 01

Disclaimer:

This story will at times shy away from typical harem/monster girl elements that might be more common in other media. The world in which this is set is a fantasy world that is more liberal with its sexuality then what is found in normal Earthen society. If you are a reader who does not enjoy reading about polyamorous relationships, this may not be a story for you.

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Chapter 1

Along the king's highway, among the edge of the tree line a small fairy flitted her way between the scraggly firs and majestic spruce. At first glance it appeared she had no particular destination in mind. She kept stopping every so often, perched on a branch and looked expectantly toward the road a few moments then then took off again. As she steadily made her way south she soon spotted a dot moving toward her in the distance. Landing once again on the edge of a branch she sat and kicked her dangling legs waiting for the dot to move closer.

Nearing a suitable distance the outline of a wagon soon came into view; a wagon pulled by an old bay horse. Four wheels with thick spokes carried tall sideboards formed an enclosed box. In that box tied down with ropes so they wouldn't jostle were thick kegs, large burlap sacks, few bundles of animal skins, and other things she didn't recognize. In front of this assortment of goods in the box seat of this buckboard style wagon sat a human, male, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties. On his feet were old boots having seen many a rough day of walking or heavy lifting.

Above those were some leather breeches tied together with a belt. Dotting the belt was a dagger nestled between pouches of varying size. The belt was attached to a strap of leather running up to the man's shoulders. Wrapped securely were vials of different colored liquids. His lean yet sturdy frame was wrapped in a two piece set of shirts, a soft cotton white undershirt protected by a leather tunic securely tied with cordage forming V of at the neck. Draped along the backrest of the seat next to him was a long thick leathered cloak stained with mud and the cares of travel. Animal fur adorned the hood and shoulders. He gazed ahead unseeing, daydreaming, maybe of more interesting things then sitting slowly waiting for the miles to pass.

The fairy looked poised to move toward the wagon, assessing its contents, the man and his horse. Making up her mind she bee-lined straight for the wagon. Feeling slightly nervous but also excited she landed on the seat next to the driver.

"Hello human. What's your name?" She asked.

Jumping slightly, the driver looked around startled. His eyes soon landed on the diminutive occupant next to him. She looked to be about six or seven inches tall. Four pairs of translucent wings dotted her back, glimmering with each slight movement bending the light into soft rainbow cascades. She wore a small transparent cloak of spider or maybe arachne silk interwoven with green vine patterns.

Sitting upon her brow was a wreath of white 'pearly-everlastings'; a type of flower that grows in cold climates. Her hair was black with two thick braids, one behind each of her pointed ears, the rest was free flowing fanning down to her mid-back. Two tiny violet clematis flower petals draped down over her larger than expected breasts like little flaps hiding her nipples but doing nothing to conceal the sides.

She had a bare midriff and a dress composed of four of the same type of petals but larger, hanging down to her knees. They covered her front, back and sides but left a gap between, offering a view of her proportioned thighs. She had stockings made of possibly the same material as the cloak but it was dyed slightly white complimenting her skin tone.

She wasn't pale; she looked like she enjoyed spending just enough time outdoors to be sun-kissed but not enough for a tan, in other words, ruddy. A smattering of freckles powdered the bridge of a cute button nose. She carried two medium packed satchels under each arm, hanging from her shoulders.

Her adorable face wore an expression of nervousness but also intensely energetic inquisitiveness. In short she looked nothing like the stories he'd heard or seen pictures in books. She wasn't fair skinned and twig thin. If he'd have to use three words to describe her they'd be: adorable, hardy, cuddly.

Impatient playful amethyst eyes stared at him, awaiting an answer. Blinking several times to make sure he wasn't still daydreaming he reflexively answered her question:

"Um, hello? I'm Devin Ebonplume, a traveling merchant."

Gazing up at him the fairy broke into a smile and started barraging Devin with what sounded like her life story:

"himynameisAzaleaandIfinallycameofageandleftmyhomeonajourneytofindalifematebutI'mnotsuresurehowand..."

"Whoa, hold on." Devin cut in. "Slow down, start from the beginning at a slower pace please.

"Sorry." Azalea said sheepishly. "It's been several years since I've talked to someone so I'm a little nervous." "My name is Azalea Ó Gallchobhair. I've left my village in search of a life-mate. I believe I may have found one but I'm uncertain if they will accept it and how to go about broaching the subject."

Still trying to come to terms that a real fairy was having a conversation with him randomly out of the blue, and about her future love life no less; being curious (and insanely bored) a conversation might help pass the time.

Devin thought for a moment. "If I may suggest, maybe just start with casual conversation, ask about hobbies, interests, maybe what you or they want out of the relationship. Ya know, get to know them."

Azalea sat down cross-legged, her dress fanning out around her.

"Good idea!" She exclaimed. "So, what hobbies do you have?"

"Well I enjoy..."

Devin began then paused. 'Wait a minute.' He thought. Maybe it was not talking to anyone for a week or maybe he was just sluggish from sitting in the warm sun all day. His brain suddenly pieced together who this conversation was referring to.

"This life-mate you're referring to," Devin began slowly, "it wouldn't happen to be me would it?"

"Yup! Who else would it be about, silly?"

There was a slightly awkward silence as Devin processed this information. Devin assumed she was talking about a boy fairy.

"Is...is this common amongst your kind?" Devin asked.

"Hmm, I wouldn't say it's common but it's not exactly rare either. My mother married an orc." She answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Another awkward silence as Devin tried to figure out what in the world this conversation had divulged into.

How would that kind of relationship work? Thinking of the most blaring and maybe obvious problem first: "Forgive my ignorance." Isn't there, ya know, a slight size problem among, um, a pairing like that?" He queried.

"Fairies are pretty stretchy." She answered, rocking back and forth. "If our life-mate is bigger than what we can handle, we have.....other ways to please them." She giggled.

Devin's imagination was actively trying to decrypt that last statement.

"Ok...but why a human, or more importantly why me?!"

"Well..." She put her pointer fingers together cutely. "Several reasons: I'm very curious about human culture. I've heard they make super big villages out of trees & stone and there are tons and tons of different people who live together and they cook all kinds of tasty food!" "Also, you didn't look like a scary person. Your horse, even though she is really old, looks like she is strongly loyal to you so I figured you couldn't be a bad person if she trusts you."

The information about his horse surprised him. He knew she was getting along in years but not that he had that level of rapport with her.

Azalea continued on: "you look like you travel a lot. I've spent all my life in my village and really want to see the world." "And, lastly," Azalea continued in a slightly quieter voice "I...like to be stuffed...." She rubbed her thighs together looking at Devin's crotch hungrily. "While I've never taken something quite as big as a human, I could fit you...maybe...probably...?"

Devin raised an eyebrow at this final reason. Maybe she just wanted a free ride with benefits. Taking a deep breath Devin gazed into her amethyst eyes looking for any type of alternative motive or mischievous but she appeared to be very serious.

"Let me take a moment to think, this is all so sudden."

"Okie." She chirped.

Devin had heard of many inter-demi-human couples though never with a fairy. While he wasn't opposed to the idea he always kind of imagined it would be with a human girl, settling down in a town somewhere and...he wasn't quite sure what he'd do afterward. Azalea already said she wanted to travel and see new places so not settling down appeared to be a plus to her. He was also slightly concerned about her lack of caution. Coming right up to a random stranger, especially one much bigger than her and striking up a conversation out of the blue didn't seem the most sensible thing to do. Humans weren't known to always be the most benevolent of species.

Fairies supposedly knew magic so maybe she wasn't as defenseless as she appeared. Mulling over the last issue of size; Azalea said it wouldn't be a problem. While sex alone wasn't a make or break decision he admitted he was slightly aroused by the idea of seeing her petite form wrapped around him. Mulling over these thoughts he looked back at his tiny guest. Devin's eyes widened slightly; she had the front petal of her dress lifted, legs splayed and three fingers stuffed into her pussy and her thumb circling her clit. A small wet puddle was beginning to form under her bottom. Her breathing was slightly heavy.

She noticed him looking and smiled sweetly. She removed her fingers and spread her lips, offering a clear view of her vagina drooling a generous amount of lubricant.

He was slightly impressed how swollen her lips were, they were downright puffy. He hadn't seen them in their non aroused state so he wasn't sure she was naturally like that or if it was due to her excitement. She was obviously trying to tip his decision to a yes by offering further incentive.

Azalea cocked her head to the side as if saying: "well, will you be my life-mate?"

Tearing his eyes away from her pussy back to her eyes: "Is this something you really want? We come from completely different backgrounds and cultures?"

"I've spent the last ten years looking for a life-mate, not just among humans but many other demi-humans. You're the first one to have seriously caught my fancy." She explained as she pulled the little hood covering her clit back rubbing it needfully.

This whole conversation was surreal to Devin and also mystified him. He didn't think he had any particularly outstanding traits or features that made him stand out to a human, let alone a fairy.

"Hypothetically if I did say yes, what would this...union entail?"

"Well, she mused, I'd perform the love crest ritual, then I'd live with you, go where you go, see and experience all the new things and places we visited. You could show me how humans live, and I could teach you about fairy culture. though it's not very interesting in my opinion. When we camped for the night we could satisfy our needs as life-mates and cuddle afterwards around the fire." She said longingly.

The pool continued to increase in size below her crotch.

To Devin this sounded pretty reasonable.

"I must warn you, while the places I stop have many interesting and fascinating things to see, the journey between them is rather dull."

"That's fine, I can suck you off, or paint the passing scenery, masturbate, sing some fairy songs for you, ask you about human culture, you know, get to know each other kind of stuff." She said pragmatically.

Devin mentally did a slight double take at her choice of activities to do when bored. He felt himself getting slightly hard thinking about the implications of this relationship.

But he was still hesitant. The small amount of information they had so far exchanged did help in imagining their future life together but there were still so many unknowns. The offer was very tempting and he'd admit he had thought about having a companion on his travels many times during the moments just before sleep.

Maybe he wasn't thinking entirely logical and more with his bottom half as he watched her fingers caress her seed sized pleasure button.

Her expectant eyes continued to gaze at him awaiting his reply.

It didn't seem like a bad relationship, she was very cute and her bubbly personality wasn't bad either.

He had one last question. "Are you always this horny?"

She thought for a moment. "Yes? But I'm usually only open about it to people who I trust or want to be friends with. Or, when I'm trying to sway a certain someone's decision." She winked, stopping her rubbing momentarily to flash him another look.

Taking a deep breath Devin said: "Ok, I'll be your life-mate or whatever your custom is. What is this ritual you mentioned we have to do? Find someone to marry/bind us, make a magical pact or something?"

Stopping her hand mid shlick Azalea jumped up excitedly.

"Basically the second option. We call it a love crest and it binds the pair together and bestows several benefits."

Licking her fingers clean of her juices she dexterously removed her cloak, top and dress. Turning around she bent over and started rummaging around her satchels for something. Devin's eye was instantly drawn to her cute little butt, happily swaying back and forth. He made note her hips and thighs had slightly more thickness than would have been expected on such a tiny frame.

Finding what she was looking for she turned around holding out two small glass bottles and a brush. Plopping down in a sitting position once again (avoiding the puddle she made earlier) she leaned back on the benches' backrest and started drawing, or more accurately painting something on her lower abdomen.

Watching her for several minutes he remarked: "you're very skilled at painting, it must be hard in that position."

"Thanks, it's one of my favorite things to do. I like drawing village life, animals, and pretty things. This is the first time I've drawn a love crest though."

"After several minutes Devin was getting the impression he had seen the thing she was drawing somewhere before. Searching his memory, he seemed to recollect seeing a similar shaped thing at an alchemist laboratory once. There were several jars filled with different preserved organs. Then it dawned on him.

"Azalea, is that perchance....your reproductive organs?"

"Mmhmm, my womb and those things that make my eggs I think, I'm not super familiar with anatomy. I was only taught the basics, and how to add and subtract crests to have differing effects." She explained.

Not schooled in the arcane arts he had no idea what this meant or if this was a common form of magic or not. It did sort of remind him of the runes he used on occasion when transporting commodities that would spoil easily. He looked at the chilled kegs behind him. He wondered if crests were related or if they were some offshoot branch of magic.

"Can you explain to me in more detail what this crest does?" He asked.

Without looking up she explained: Crests are used by females with magical affinity. When combined with a male's glyphs the two can..."

"A male's what?" Devin interrupted.

"Male's with magic affinity use glyphs instead of crests." Azalea clarified. When a crest and glyph user make physical contact of any kind they can share any techniques they've learned or any of their natural abilities. For example demi-humans with exceptional strength, or stamina, or enhanced sensory capabilities. Depending on affinity and compatibility it may take time and practice to become attuned to each other enough to share. Certain non-natural abilities also have the potential of having negative repercussions if the person being shared can't handle them."

"Does this mean you could share your ability to fly with me?" Devin asked excitedly.

Azalea put her hand on her chin. "I'm not sure, my flight magic only allows me to hover, my wings are what actually enable me to move. In theory if you had wings probably but since you don't you'd just float in place.

"What other abilities do you have?" Devin asked.

Dipping her brush in the ink. "I can detect living auras within a certain radius and sense physiological changes. "If I'm in danger I can produce a hallucinogenic to confuse people."

Devin contemplated her words. "The love crest doesn't sound like it fits either of those categories, what makes it special?"

"I suppose you could look at it as a sensory and enhancement crest. Two people who use this and fall in love gain a boost to their magical potency and in time an empathic bond. In other words they can sense the emotions of each other, but just the emotions, not physical sensations or anything like that, and they can't read each other's thoughts either. The empathy link I'm told takes a long time to develop so we probably won't notice it for a while."

"Is this the type of pact where if one of the two people gets hurt or dies the other does as well?" Asked Devin hesitantly.

"No, not unless you want it to be, it would be a much more elaborate crest and..." Azalea trailed off looking up with concern.

"No, no I was just curious, since humans don't live very long I'd hate for you to have your lifespan cut short because of me." Devin assured her.

"You don't have to worry about that, when we are bonded you'll have a similar lifespan to mine." She grinned.

"I'm not very knowledgeable about fairies, how long do your kind live exactly?"

"Northern fairies live around three hundred years but the oldest I've heard sometimes reach four hundred; I'm not sure about the lowland fairies."

Devin's draw dropped. "So you mean I'm gonna be able to live for three hundred years or does it cut your lifespan and add it to mine?"

"It gets added so we'll both have a looooong time to get to know each other and be all lovey-dovey." She said dreamyly.

Devin didn't quite know how to react, what would he do for three centuries? Obviously falling in love with someone for that long had its attraction. The prospect of living essentially three lifetimes was a bit daunting. Would he be a merchant for the first hundred then switch to something else? Possibilities swirled around in his head when Azalea announced she was done. She stood up proudly and thrust her belly out showing her handiwork. The basic shape was indeed in the shape of her womb and ovaries but a lot of detail was added then the basic shape he remembered in the jar.

"Aside from the basic crest I added two other special crests." She said pointing to the heart shaped womb portion.

Devin bent over to get a better look. Below there was a circle filled with three fourths of some liquid. Above that she had drawn several sperm shaped drawings. He only knew this because the same alchemical lab he thought about earlier had a curious device made of several glass lenses. The owner had let him look at several small thin glass plates of several liquids, semen being one of them. Devin doubted such a device was common. How did she know what they looked like?

Veering his thoughts back to her explanation, she continued.

"I've basically merged three crests into one. This one denotes a siphoning crest." Pointing to the half filled circle. "Every time you or I orgasm while touching each other will fill you with energy, and I'll feel a decrease in energy. This is physical energy by the way, not magical energy. The crest updates in real time so when the circle looks like it's empty of liquid I won't be able to physically move but can still cast magic. So I'll expect you to keep me topped off." She gave a playful wink.