== VORTEX QUEST 2-10 ==
== CREAMY CRUCIBLE ==
The caster Goro had dragged along had divulged everything he knew as far as Chay understood. There was really no way to fix their many curses.
The Hellion had been quite amazed to hear they were subject to an `open' signature around the balls (letting any demon crush their crown jewels), the paradox curse (making it impossible to get off without help), the drowning destiny (in their case requiring piss drinking) and now also the feeding fate (with a so far unknown effect on them).
On the bright side, they learned about curse-overload. Curses couldn't be layered on infinitely. If they got a fifth curse, the effect would be minor, if they weren't outright immune.
Maybe feeding fate wouldn't be so serious.
A glimmering butterfly had turned the skull-headed guy into a fine mist of entrails once Chay was done talking.
The pantheon was lounging in a narrow passage of an abandoned crawlway tunnel, between a dull silver shard the size of a car and a cluster of skull-shaped rocks.
Chay took his final sip from a little creek. He still felt the cooling effect of water but now the sensation of thirst was back – not one he had missed – and there was only one solution.
"Ready?" he asked and laid down.
The ripped demigods formed a square as if wanting to suck each other's aegises and pissed. Chay endured the bitter taste of Goro's piss, breathing the manly sweat on the massive thighs on either side of Chay's face.
The thirst getting quenched was barely enough incentive to keep him going. He felt Marcus rub his thighs. The mild sexual charge was enough to give Chay some distraction. He paid it forward by rubbing Goro's inner thighs and lower abs.
The Thai demigod had never expected to find a man's body attractive but the long term effect of nectar seemed impossible to fight. His generic envy and appreciation for the berserker's superior physique was now tinged with carnal desire.
Practically as soon as their pissing was over, they finger-fucked each other.
"Anyone else feeling a little... hungry?" Marcus asked.
"Oh fuck," Xane said. "The feeding fate is working." He glanced at Marcus package, his hand up to the wrist in the swimmer's ass. "You don't think..."
Chay groaned. "It would make sense with our divine `blessing'."
"Not trying it," Marcus quickly shot out. "I've been chill with all the faggotry so far but I'm not eating cum."
"You've eaten plenty," Xane said with a smirk.
"Nectar does not fucking count."
Chay raised his hand that wasn't buried in Goro's hole in a calming gesture. He could tell they had become convinced they would need to eat cum and were back to feeling repulsed by how the abyss twisted their minds and souls.
"Easy there studs," Chay said, injecting some levity. It was hard to sound reasonable when the pleasure of Marcus forearm inside him wanted to make him cry-moan. "Whoever creams first gets, uh, eaten. The other three play rock paper scissor for the privilege of testing the idea."
The race was on. Chay squeezed his ass and squirmed, trying to get his prostate stimulated. But there was no chance of penile pleasure and he could barely tell where his prostate was in the chaos of anal magic.
"Uuuuh," Marcus made. "He's cheating. Xane is cheating. He's cooling his hand."
"Xane?" Chay asked, sounding embarrassingly not-in-control.
The mage made a cartoony sweat drop appear on his temple. "Hey, I'm just not looking to suck man-jizz like a slut. Nobody likes cum."
Goro grunted. "I had a chick who couldn't get enough of it."
Marcus chuckled. "I had one like that, too. Wait, redhead? Cara, or something?"
"Yup," Goro said and chuckled. His guts flexed around Chay's hand. It made him feel as close to fucking with his dick as he got and heightened his pleasure, but no cream. Something about the image of Goro and Marcus getting their cocks drained by a chick was helping a lot, too.
"Okay," Xane said. "Some chicks do. Plus every homo in my notifications now that I think about it."
Goro shrugged. "Nah, about half."
"You counted?"
Marcus yelped. "He's cheating again!"
"Fuck's sake," Chay said. "Okay, whoever makes the other guy cream is also exempt from sucking the load first."
That was enough to do the trick. Now they were trying in earnest. Chay felt Marcus work his way in deeper, spreading, gut-fingering. Soon they were punching each other's holes, uncontrollably crying out. This was just as good as a demon-dick fuck, minus nectar.
Goro practically vibrated as his load splattered from his aegis-hole all over his abs and thighs, up to the chest and down to the calves. He held up his arms to collect stray sideways squirts. It was a load of ridiculous size.
"Fuuuuck," Goro groaned with a hoarse, failing voice. He flopped on the ground and looked at himself. "Uhhhh. Man, that's more than after my one week of not jerking off."
Chay nearly started sobbing when Marcus' arm didn't come in for another punch. He was riled up and dead tired at the same time. "Okay... game time. Winner get to taste our berserker."
Chay was immune by their rules. Xane and Marcus had to compete. He could tell who was going to `win' before they had counted to two.
After initial anger, Xane kept his face neutral. Chay knew he felt a mix of eager anticipation and disgust in equal parts, plus simple curiosity and a nectar-brained desire for licking man-muscles.
Unable to decide which part of Goro to lick clean, Xane hovered until Goro put his large hand on the black mohawk and pushed Xane into his crotch.
After a few licks, Chay could see the tension melt from Xane's nearly fatless muscles and the short Korean let his tongue wander up his friend's abs.
"So it's true," Chay said.
"Fuck," Marcus added.
Chay took a deep breath and licked up Goro's right leg. The distracting hunger that had been building in his stomach lessened. Marcus took the other leg.
It was gross as fuck. The idea of drinking some bodybuilder's cum was abstractly repulsive but at least he had so much experience with carnal craving and nectar visions that the gayness wasn't much of an issue.
But cum was fucking gross. Chay couldn't stop shuddering with every slurp.
Worst of all - they'd need a little more.
Goro was rewarded by Xane conjuring a Troll-dick. The massive bodybuilder laid on his back, legs pulled up, with his hole a pulsing bucket as the phantom dick spread him beyond human limits.
"We got two nectar buds left," Chay said. "And we probably can't take them into the crucible anyway. Could help us unload."
"N-no fair," Goro said, tears of pleasure in his eyes. "I never got the option."
"You get to drink it," Chay said, which shut the big guy up.
They played for the privilege and Chay didn't even feel bad for cheating anymore. They had yet to realize he won every time.
Xane squatted over Goro's face, letting the molten nectar drip from his ass, while Chay was on all fours, getting actively rimmed by Marcus.
It didn't take long for both bud-users to squirt their jizz out in chaotic bursts. Marcus remained loaded but they were all satiated for the moment so despite the complaints of the tall kid with a white mohawk, they moved on.
===***===
The crucible was marked by a fence of sharpened bones. Silver and iron barricades were hung with a few skeletons of travelers who hadn't made it through unharmed.
Chay's mists rolled along the ground.
Xane flexed into a silver shard, his skin glowing as light source. "Dude, I look insane. What do you think our body fat is at? Five percent?"
"That's kind of bad," Chay said. "We are starting to stand out. Slaves are universally fit but not lean to death."
Marcus flexed behind Xane, standing on his tip toes. "Who's trying to be a slave? We're strong enough to beat the shit out of demons."
Rationally, Chay wanted to contest this claim, but he sensed neither of the other demigods was in the mood for being serious.
The mists found the entrance. "Got it. Here goes nothing. Onto, what was it?"
"Rhibinelg," Goro said – the name of the next realm. He carried their toga bundle which at this point contained nothing more than lube - a plasma-filled gourd bottle.
"Right, follow me."
===***===
They fell out of the kaleidoscopic fissure in a shower of sparks and dropped into a foaming ocean.
A plane of dark froth stretched under the black sky of limbo. Chay fought himself to the surface. His shoulder belt hadn't made the journey.
"Shit, the blade!"
"On it," Xane shouted back, treading foam.
Chay inspected the substance they were swimming in. There was water in it, refusing to mix with the... was it oil? It felt more like syrupy soap. Ectoplasm foam?
"I thought this was going to be a desert," Marcus said, swimming quite happily.
"Rhibinelg is both," Chay said. "Half desert, half ocean. I figured it would be more of a large beach area but this is just a crucible."
"Got it," Xane said and raised the mage-hand which had fished up the voidblade knuckles. "Chay's right. The ground is ten feet down but it's not smooth."
"Land," Goro said and levitation-swam like a pond skater. He carried the now tattered and wet toga bundle. His hair clasp had also disintegrated on the trip, his hair slicked back and dripping.
A jagged rock, crusted with blue gems poked from the surface. It was circled by pale imps high above. There was not enough surface to stand on but magic supported mountain-climber positions with ease.
Chay let his fog spread and Pie raced in circles, chasing the tendrils.
"We've seen this stuff in limbo," Xane said, an orb of foam hovering above his palm. He shaped it into a galloping seahorse.
Marcus plucked a mollusk off the rock and tossed it in the air with animus-power. The imp flock collapsed upon it, fighting for the food.
The foam-shimmering Filipino frowned. "Why don't they just come down here, if this is what they subsist on?"
The rock trembled. "Fucking naturally," Marcus said, his chakram springing from his thumb and growing.
A car-sized crab claw swung from the sea and rammed into Xane. The musclebound demigod's legs were ground against the rock. His scream died as he shot blind lightning into the attacker.
A second claw rose like a rocket and swiped Marcus off the surface. He could barely cry out before he was dragged into the froth.
Chay tried to see as many weaknesses as possible in the moment he had. The enemy was territorial and wouldn't follow them far, but they were a rare, large food source.
"Go for the eyes and mouth. It's faster above water. The underside is soft but hard to reach and-"
Who was he talking to? Xane was in pain, his legs messily sliced off. Two motes were reconstructing the bones while Goro held him up.
Chay didn't have the option of playing general from afar. He grabbed the knuckles off Xane's hand and put it on his own.
"It won't follow far," he said. "I'll grab Marcus and run. Come after."
Chay took a deep breath. The umbra-fog had a way of filtering water-mist for him to breathe but even under the best circumstances he was going to inhale some liquid.
He dove. It was dark. A claw came his way instantly.
The wiry demigod rammed his fist at the chitin and dug Hole in. He got pulled along with the crab's swing. When he was at the right angle to make use of the claws weak point, he wiggled Hole and nothingness cut into the creature.
Half the claw broke from the arm and Chay pulled away. It had been the right claw so if Marcus was still held he'd be this way while the monster's face was that way.
Chay decided to cut his friend free first. No telling if Marcus had managed to fill up on air in time.
He felt the cut claw coming back and put all his magic into evading. With an upside-down twirl, Chay sliced the voidblade across the damaged claw, into the arm segment, and as it slammed into him it broke off.
Spitting tasteless foam, Chay swam sideways and orientated himself. He was lost. The crab had turned to hit him. Now he could barely tell up from down.
Light fell onto his shoulders. The others dove to his position.
Xane's lower legs were still healing, currently without skin. His crotch was aglow – a demon nearby! No, Chay's own aegis was dim.
Goro dropped into the light of the cockcage, carrying an orb on his forehead like a headlamp. Xane had one mote left, breathing through a butterfly.
Chay gestured them to come closer.
"Where to?" Xane asked, through his butterfly-shaped breathing device.
Chay made his way toward the crab's face. As soon as Goro's lamp illuminated the creature, the berserker went to town, ripping his way into the tanky exterior.
Chay and Xane swam along the creature's back until they found the second arm. The chakram bounced around at its joints as the crab twisted to protect its soft fleshy parts.
Xane's crotch-light fell on clouds of blood. Chay ran Hole along the limb to cut it cleanly. As the arm dropped, Marcus emerged from the blood cloud, frantically gestured up and swam to the surface. He had almost drowned – almost.
Xane supported the rescuee's escape while Chay turned around and joined Goro, opening the crab with his blade that sliced monster chitin like sturdy cardboard.
Once they were sure the crab was dead, Chay gestured up and swam in the light of Goro's fading thaum-headlamp.
The pantheon reassembled on the rock. Chay wished there were some place to drop and nap.
"How... Xane, how did you make your aegis glow?"
"Oh," the mage said and turned his crotch-glow off. "I've been experimenting with that. Tried to conjure demon blood but that didn't trick it. Then I just... willed it? Pumped some magic in. Not sure I can teach you how."
Chay watched him turn the lamp between his healed legs on and off. Then he heard whiny moaning behind him.
Goro was elbow deep in Marcus' ass. The tall, tan demigod with white hair had his eyes crossed, grimacing in overwhelming pleasure.
"It's coming..." Marcus moaned. "De-definitely. More, like, forward." He twitched as Goro's fist inside his stomach put the pressure on the front of his walls, tenting his abs.
Marcus creamed. Immediately Xane was collecting the cum in his mage hand. Each of the three got a roughly equal sip. Chay hated how even cumming had been perverted by the abyss from something fun and joyful to a forced and disgusting chore.
But... ever since he had been made addicted to nectar, drinking cum had been a fantasy he couldn't shake. The real thing didn't measure up to the visions but there was something perversely exciting about it that multiplied his horniness.
He could tell the others felt similarly conflicted, especially Goro who hid his jitters well but drank eagerly.
"Okay," Chay said, the taste of Marcus heavy on his tongue. "I'm starting to think there aren't any passages to Rhibinelg above water. I'll check underneath."
He sent his tendrils down while the others tossed mussels at imps. Goro picked up the tattered toga bundle he'd hung on the rocks. Their plasma flask was nearly empty after fisting Marcus. He filled it with froth.
"Bingo," Chay said. "Let's drink before we go. Even if this realm is all water, we're gotta keep filled up for..."
Xane drew a yellow line like a rainbow of piss in the air and smiled obnoxiously.
The pantheon escaped before more crabs showed up. Onto a whole new adventure in a realm like no other.
=== END OF BOOK TWO ===