The Egg of Immorality Ch. 05

John's quest is nearly at an end ... or is it just the beginning?

To go back to chapter 4 of the beginning of The Egg of Immorality, go here. To start the Thirst for Power series fresh, please look for Enchanted. Thank you for reading and please look up my profile page if you have any questions, concerns, or wish to reach out to me.

"You were right."

John finished stepping out of the carriage and looked past the stoic woman that had opened the door for him. A large lake stretched away from the shore to the west and the setting sun beyond. As it was, the orange sun blurred out the island in the middle of the lake.

"A lake with an island," he mused. "Though it's hard to see. Quite some distance yet?"

"I meant you were right about the dock," Artesia said and drew his attention to a small stone and wood cabin that overlooked the stony beach. A wooden dock stretched out into the lake and served as a berth for a long rowboat. A wooden fence attached to the cabin wrapped around a section of green grass and stretched down to the stony beach and into the water a half dozen feet.

"Why'd you stop us up here?" John asked.

"There's no roads, My Lord," Artesia pointed out.

John looked around the cabin and the lake and frowned. "That's odd. "How do they trade goods? They can't possibly grow enough on an island that small."

"One way to find out," Zynga suggested.

John nodded slowly.

Sadie sighed. "Why are you here?" she asked. "What urged you to come here?"

"A bidding from my Mistress."

"An infernal being," Sadie said.

"Yes," John admitted. "I have... something I must do there."

Sadie fixed him with a stare. "It's no secret that I don't approve of your Mistress, John. Yet Eile grants me the powers needed to tend to you and your flock. No one is more confused by this than I. You, for all your shocking ways, continue to find a path that is good and just. Or at least good enough and just enough."

John smirked. "Thank you... I think. How does that have any bearing on what we're doing now?"

"Is it just?"

John tilted his head and the smiled. "I don't know what she has in mind for me, exactly. I will find out though, and when I do, I will do what I feel is the right thing."

Sadie pressed her lips together into a frown. She relaxed after a moment and admitted, "You've shown compassion and a child-like urge to do the right thing thus far, I trust you will continue to do so. If you stray from that, know that you will lose my support. Worse, you may force my hand against you."

John ignored the writhing darkness within him that seethed at her threat. It demanded obedience and supplication. It wanted her on her knees, begging for his forgiveness. John silenced the voice with the force of his will and said, "Thank you, Sadie. Like all the people who travel with me, I value and respect your counsel."

She eyed him a moment and then nodded. "Well, if we must go this way to the creepy cabin on the lake, can we at least be careful about it?"

"Of course," John said. "I don't see what's creepy about it though? Someone is obviously tending to it. The weeds are kept back and the cabin is in good repair."

"My Lord, there are seven of us," Roxanne pointed out while emerging from the carriage. She stepped down to the ground carefully and winced as she did so. "Six and a half, maybe."

"Hey, don't be thinking less of me because I'm short," Zynga snapped.

Roxanne grinned at her. "I'm the half, I can't walk straight after the fucking Master gave me!"

"All right," Sadie snapped. "Can we focus, please?"

John's smirk faded as he looked around and counted the woman around him. There should have been six but he only counted five. Where was... John closed his eyes and felt his connections to them. After his tryst with Roxanne he'd reclaimed a touch of power. Nowhere near what Beytrixxa had taken, but it was a good start.

And because of that power he was able to identify where Arika was. She was keeping an eye on the cottage from the last of the tall wheat. He only had the faintest of feelings for Jennaca though. She'd ended up North of the lake, somehow. Or somewhere. He barely had a sense of her, only that she was somewhere in the distance.

John plucked the tendril of energy that bound him to Arika and called to her. She responded instantly with an eagerness that he'd come to expect from her. Satisfied that she would return shortly, he refocused his attention only to find all the women looking at him expectantly. "What?"

"We were wondering what you wanted to do, My Lord," Artesia said.

"Yes, Master John, what would you like to do?" Zynga repeated.

John ignored the teasing nymph and turned to watch Arika walking on two legs across the top of the hill. She was naked and painted gold by the setting sun. Sadie sucked in a breath when she saw her and both Helleen and Roxanne mumbled words under their breath. She looked like she could be a golden statue of Syllenia, the Saint of love, romance, and lust.

"There's someone in the cabin," Arika said. "I could smell them."

"You smelled them?" John asked.

"Yes. It's a woman. Human."

John gawked at her a moment. "You can tell all that from how she smells?"

Arika stopped at the back of the carriage and opened the trunk that had her dress in it. "Yes, Master. I could tell more if I got closer."

John watched her dress herself and then turned to look at the cabin. His newest servant was just full of surprises. "All right, just one of them then. Let's head down there. Sadie, Arika, and Zynga, ride with me. Roxanne and Helleen you'll be on guard duty."

Helleen snickered.

"What?" John asked.

"No problem, My Lord," Roxanne said while shooting a dirty look at her sister.

"Just don't expect her to move too quickly," Helleen added.

"Ahh," John said as he realized the source of Roxanne's concern... and Helleen's amusement. "Try to keep up?"

Helleen laughed out loud and ducked a swat from her sister.

They filed into the carriage while Artesia returned to the driver's bench. Roxanne and Helleen took up a position to the rear of the carriage and then followed it down the hill. Roxanne grimaced and limped each step of the way.

"Troubles, Rox?" Helleen teased her sister.

Roxanne grunted and said, "I didn't think he'd fill me up so much after his visit with his Mistress this morning."

Helleen frowned and then snorted out her laugh.

"It's not funny!"

"I thought you were sore," Helleen said.

"A little, but I've gotten used to him," she said.

"Used to... wow. I can't imagine having him back there."

"I like it," Roxanne said and shrugged. "Plus you get used to it... but yeah, his magic makes it possible too."

"So why's this different than any other time?" Helleen asked.

"Well, normally Zynga, um, helps more."

"Helps more? Oh! You mean she cleans you out?"

Roxanne blushed. "Right. But she got a partial feeding this morning so she didn't need as much... so, yeah, I'm trying not to...um, leak."

Helleen shook her head but couldn't wipe the grin off her face.

"Like you've never had him running down your legs after," Roxanne grumbled.

"Mmm, I have," Helleen said. "He tastes delicious too."

"Saints above and below, I know!" Roxanne agreed.

"But coming out of your arse?" Helleen shuddered. "I don't know how she does it."

"She's a wicked little thing, all right," Roxanne agreed. "But oh, the things she can do to me..."

Helleen held up a hand. "Too much."

"Her tongue? Have you seen it? It's not like ours at all. And with her magic she can change shape too, and let me tell you, not everything about her is short."

"Gah!" Helleen said and plugged her ears with her fingers.

Roxanne fell silent as the carriage approached the cabin. Helleen slowly unplugged her ears and moved out to walk behind the carriage. Roxanne mirrored her position on the other side and they walked in silence the final yards until Artesia pulled the horses to a stop and set the brake.

The sisters moved between the carriage and cabin and waited for Artesia to step down and open the door for John and his guests. They filed out and moved around the front of the carriage and then joined Helleen and Roxanne just as the cabin's door opened.

A young woman with long sandy brown hair stepped into the doorway and stopped. She wore a simple dress that hung from one shoulder and fell to her knees, leaving her left breast bare. A simple belt gathered her dress at her waist and held a short sword and a small pouch. She wore sandals on her feet that left her toes bare but had straps enough to keep them from slipping free.

The woman stared at them, shock written across her youthful face. "Well... there's a lot of you this time," she said.

"You're expecting us?" John asked.

She chuckled and shook her head. "No, sorry. That was rude of me. Please, come in. Are you hungry or thirsty? I'm sure it's been a long voyage... especially in a fine carriage such as that."

"That's kind of you," John said. "But you'd just invite strangers into your home?"

She looked him up and down. "I've been rude again, haven't I? I'm sorry, I'm Danae, Mistress of the Docks of Mygela."

"Mygela?"

She pointed out into the lake. "Yes, our island city-state."

John followed her finger and then turned back to her. "I've come to the right place then."

She tilted her head and asked, "Have you?"

"I believe so. I seek your people. Your island. I wish to learn of it and study it. I am a man of many interests. A wizard, to be sure, but I seek to learn anything that I may and I've heard of the mysteries of Mygela and knew I must learn of them with my own eyes."

"You are a wizard?" Danae asked.

John bowed his head. "John, by name."

"Lord John," Artesia corrected.

John smiled. "I come from a land far from here seeking knowledge. Is there a fee to be ferried to your island?"

She opened and shut her mouth and then took a better look at John's companions. "A fee? Not exactly."

"What's that mean?" John asked.

She blushed. "Well, we're often visited by women that have been called to join us. There is no fee because they become one of us. You, however, are a man."

"I am."

"Yes, he is," Roxanne quipped.

Helleen glared at her sister.

Danae smiled. "A virile young man, from the looks of it. Do you satisfy all of your companions?"

Sadie muttered under her breath but was drowned out by Arika stating, "Not just us, either."

"Oh really?" Danae said. She looked John up and down and nodded. "Very impressive, Lord John."

John smiled. "Thank you, but I'm here to sate a different type of passion."

"Well, what say we head out at first light then? My cabin is small but I'm sure we can find room for everyone... even if it means a little sharing. You don't mind, do you?"

John glanced at her exposed breast and noted how hard her nipple was. It was matched by a dent in her dress on the right side. "Actually, I would mind. Do you think we could do this tonight?"

"Oh, well, I was sort of hinting that-- Oh! you mean cross the lake to Mygela?"

John smiled. "Yes. I'm eager to learn what I can."

She hesitated and the nodded. "Well enough. The docks will be lit... what of your fine carriage? You can put the horses in the pen there, they'll have grass and water. When I return I can give them some grain too."

"I would appreciate it," John said. "Do you see much trouble this way?"

Danae's eyes twinkled as she smiled. "Oh, no trouble. Not in years now. Last time we had trouble we marshaled the forces of Mygela and taught them a lesson they won't soon forget."

"Well there we have it then. A safe night's sleep for all of us then!"

Danae pointed at the gate in the fence. "Put your horses in there, I'll go and get the boat ready."

John watched her head across the rocky beach and turned to his companions. "Zynga, help Artesia with the wagon and horses."

"What?" Zynga sputtered. "Last time I did that I nearly got shat on!"

"Now you know to look up," John teased her.

Zynga glared at him.

John ignored her and looked to the rest of them. "Well, last chance to tell me I'm mad."

They looked to each other and then back to him. Helleen spoke for them all when she said, "We trust you."

"I trust me too," John said. "But I know I can miss things that are plain as..."

"Plain as that dress not covering both her tits?" Zynga offered as she turned to follow Artesia to the carriage.

John sighed and said, "Yes, plain as that."

"I wonder if they all dress like that?" Roxanne asked.

"Not much different from our arena armor," Helleen said.

Roxanne grinned. "Saints, you look so good in yours."

Helleen rolled her eyes.

"John, don't you find it strange what she said?" Sadie asked when she grew tired of the shallow conversation happening around her. "About women being called here? Or about the fee for transport?"

"If there's a lot of women here, she obviously wanted John to show her a good time. She as much as admitted it," Helleen said. " That was the fee."

"I'm not sure about that," John said. "But I could tell she was interested. Very interested."

Sadie sighed. "I pray that one day I learn why Saint Eile feels I deserve such torment."

John chuckled before addressing her directly. "Sadie, you're right. Right in all of your concerns. About Danae and about this place, Mygela. I am here because my Mistress bade me to come here to investigate. They have some great power on this island. Whether it is for the good or not I mean to find out. If they're stealing young woman for their own purposes, I won't stand for it. Beyond that, I can only say I don't know enough to have a plan to handle it. I will ask you to trust that I have our best interests at heart though."

Sadie frowned a little and then nodded. "And so long as you do that, I will play the part I have given to aid you and yours."

John smiled. "Thank you. Now, let's make sure we have everything we need from the carriage and then see if we can offer any help."

"What about Jennaca?" Arika asked.

John looked to the north. "She's somewhere out there in the north. I can barely feel her, but she knows where we're going. She will join us."

"Are you sure?" Helleen asked. "Why would she go so far that way?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure Jennaca can take care of herself."

Roxanne snorted. "Yeah she can. She's amazing!"

"Hey, you've got Zynga and John, don't be greedy," Helleen scolded her sister. "Besides, she's not into other women."

"She told me she kissed you in the river," John pointed out.

Helleen blushed.

"That's right!" Roxanne hissed. "Maybe you're trying to keep her for yourself?"

"I'm not... I wouldn't..."

"You and I tumbled more times than I can count when we felt the urge," Roxanne reminded her. "Don't go telling me you don't like a woman's touch."

Helleen's blush deepened.

"Ladies, please," John said. "Jennaca knows to call out to me if she needs help. She hasn't and I can still feel her. I'm a little tired from this morning still so I can't feel her as well as usual and I can't keep taking power from you three without giving you a chance to rest and recover."

"An island full of beautiful women?" Arika said. "Master, I think you'll be in fine shape in no time."

John fought the urge to grin and failed. He coughed to try and recover but he wasn't fooling anyone. He turned toward the carriage and changed the subject, "Right, well, let's see about our things first, shall we?"