== VORTEX QUEST 3-7 ==
== STRANDED ON THE FLIPSIDE ==
Marcus loved to swim – kinda. He wasn't good at sitting still for long periods of time and pushing himself through water was a great way to shed excess energy without bothering anyone. And as it turned out, his long, powerful limbs made him pretty good at it, too.
If you'd asked him, he'd totally have said he loved swimming. And yet, being in the middle of an ocean of swirling water and foam with no land anywhere except the pale, shimmering yellow, orange and red overhead – well, it was terrifying.
Also, the realm of Lydeth was heaving. Not like an ocean should but like a breathing chest, rising and falling like something immense far below was expanding and contracting.
Fortunately, Chay had gotten an upgrade. Now able to puppeteer much larger creatures, the leader pulled a sea Wyvern from the big blue and their little team boarded the train-sized snake. The demigods up ahead, the `Gob and Kob' as Marcus called them at the back.
Their thirst was easily quenched. Marcus drank from Chay's legs while pissing into Xane's mouth. The order had been decided by how they happened to be sitting on the Wyvern and Marcus was only too happy to `accidentally' spill some piss into the arrogant hunk's face.
Eating cum was trickier. Neither of them were easy to milk. Fisting Chay was hot, getting hammered by Xane's forearm was hotter, and yet Marcus' crotch stayed dry.
Luckily, he still had his ring of unicorn dust.
They had to wait until Goro's ass was filled with the Goblin's cum to get a snack. The massive dude had gotten dibs on sex after his near death experience. Chay won the first round of Kobold dick, gaining them another load.
Eating monster cum out of a hole was a little different from sucking it off a rod, but frankly, not much worse. The feeling of perversion was constantly dialed to max anyway.
It was Marcus' turn getting Kobold-fucked into blinding bliss when they spotted their destination – a kelp forest.
The froth was broken up by green and azure with specks of orange. Immense leaves moved just below the surface, creating a layer of flora dense enough to wade on.
While Marcus had enjoyed his round of sex on the ribbed monstercock, the gobbo had been talking with Chay. They were looking for allies, who should have realized the twixtway portal was activated thanks to the beacon back on Hakkri.
The ultra-broad greenskin with the bulb dick seemed to think allies would be easy to come by, but he also seemed to think all Kobolds knew each other so maybe he was an idiot.
Marcus' horniness pushed him far past the edge of a human orgasm, making him feel like he was cumming four times a second. With Chay's beautiful back in front of him it was almost like having nectar visions, minus the craving for demon.
No wonder his attention had slipped. They were surrounded before his animus-senses could warn him to dodge.
A dozen Amphibolds broke from the kelp. The dinos with webbed fingers didn't look much different from their land-version, aside from the prominent backfin and an overall more shark-y build.
Chay was immediately negotiating. His smoke was enough of a demonstration to get them waved into the territory of the meat-slicer clan.
Marcus whined as his top finished and refused another load of dust. The athlete was beyond cock-addicted. His whole hand slid naturally into his empty hole before he was cruelly reminded of the paradox curse.
===***===
The Amphibolds had an eidophant. The humongous, headless turtle-thing drifted aimlessly as Amphibolds dashed in and out of the kelp around it.
The demigods boarded under the watch of spear carrying warriors. Tents of scales strapped over bones and huts of immense, sparkling shells were clustered on the turtle-back. Amphibolds cooked sea imp meat, wrestled or repaired nets. A few other types of abyss dwellers were among them but this was a Kobold village.
Notable were the many slaves. Fit, bald men either nude or in loincloths, braiding rope, drying kelp, but mostly sitting in dense groups out of the way.
The clan was led by a green Amphidrake hung with gold chains full of sharp teeth and one big, silver clam shell. His name was Cssrga'aazv, meaning Never-Down-For-Long.
Chay did the talking as always. Marcus sat cross-legged and played stringless yoyo with his chakram or shot little flickers of whitefire through the moving razor ring.
"...which I assume is of interest to you," Chay finished.
Never-Down rubbed his dino-face chin with two of his four hands. "The twixtway is a valuable resource. Otherwise we don't have much to gain from flipping King Vataang's favor right now, but... We can be your foothold on Lydeth if you help with a little issue."
"That's unusually diplomatic for a Kobold," Chay said bluntly. "I can tell you expect great gains from speeding up the cycle, you're just afraid your enemies will gain as much or more. Let's see what we can do about your little issue while you figure out how to fuck over your enemies."
The seven-and-a-half foot lizard grinned with too many serrated teeth. "Warriors!" he shouted. "We're taking down the stalking nemesis."
===***===
The pantheon set out to the edge of the kelp forest with two dozen Amphibolds, led by Left-Hook, the clan's general with gray skin and blue stripes, a torn backfin and an iron bident in each of his two pairs of hands.
In a narrow canyon stretching almost to the center of the kelp forest, lived a big, bad kraken the Kobolds wanted dead. Sounded easy enough.
"Ready?" Left-Hook asked his men and the demigods alike. He got raised spears and growl-shouts from his dino soldiers and nods from the humans.
It was time to dive. Marcus focused his spirit energy into his lungs and drew enough oxygen to easily last him for ten minutes.
He grabbed onto the Wyvern that Chay had `recruited', and got dragged ten feet down. It was close enough to the surface for light to reach but the leaves on long, swaying stalks dimmed the desert-sky's yellow shine into a green haze. Several lizard soldiers wore anklets with glow worms in tiny baubles to cast a shine onto the leave-scape.
Water imps dashed away as the pantheon approached the canyon. It was pitch black inside. No wait...
Xane shot a butterfly ahead, which expanded into a sphere of electric annihilation. Three severed tentacles floated on bubbles.
The whole fucking canyon was a kraken.
Long arms of pure black reached from the split on the ground. Chay made the puppeteered sea-Wyvern rush in and start biting.
A dino shaman with a glow worm lantern flung mussel shells like daggers, runes engraved on them activating. They accelerated like missiles and dove into dark flesh. A separate group of Amphibolds operated an arcane cannon, powered by human souls, seeming to fire deep red buzzsaw blades into the canyon.
Left-Hook headed the main attack, runes on his calves gleaming as they drained his life force in exchange for much greater mobility.
Goro hurried past them with powerful strokes.
Xane, with an air bubble around his head, swam closer and threw bolts of smoldering teal.
Marcus swam along the canyon's top, chakram in hand. The ring was slower underwater but spun just as fast and was just as sharp if he willed it. He chopped the tip of every tentacle in reach. If any came too close, his elegant, white-burning feet drove it away.
Amphibolds swam in from the forest floor and speared every kraken limb they could safely get to. One warrior was grabbed by a surprise encirclement. The tentacle twitched open, let the victim go, and started tearing into itself.
Chay had let the Wyvern go. The creature was now blindly fighting for its life on its own accord. Chay made part of the clan's nemesis attack itself, keeping the dino warrior's safe.
Explosions in the canyon lit up the mass of long, black limbs. Goro came up, dragging a black-gunk-clad Xane after him. Marcus followed to the surface to check on them, and to renew his breath.
"Everything okay?" he said as he broke the surface.
"It's sticky," Xane said, flinging gunk off his face with thaum. "Don't touch the fucker. You'll get glued."
Chay's head rose beside them, followed by Left-Hook.
"It can regrow," the umbralist said, "but slowly. It won't leave the territory for the open water unless it's severely wounded. Splitting it at the center would kill at least half the arms in one go but that center is deep and the dive is dangerous. Xane?"
"Five minutes and I'll have a mote-barrage to get us down."
"Can you shape the hits like cones or lances?"
"Sure thing, boss." The muscle-wizard winked. "I can hammer as deep as it takes to please you."
Chay turned. "Marcus?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Cutting to the tentacle center is enough, no need to cut all the way through." He looked down into the water. "Aaaand, Wyvern just died. Time to attack the center. I'll keep the tentacles around it busy."
===***===
They lost three Kobolds, torn apart by sticky tentacles on the way in. Still fewer than the kraken claimed whenever it hunted in the forest, apparently.
Chay and Xane both lit the darkness with their aegises. After a chaotic, wet fight, the kraken tore in half – one dying in spasms, one retreating along a gunky path into the ocean.
Marcus got covered in goo more than anyone. Diving right to the bottom of each tentacle to cut as deep as it took to kill the limb had seen him get grabbed in many desperate bids to break his spine before his cutting work was done. Luckily, half of Lydeth was practically soap-lube so he was washed by the time they were back on the eidophant – or at least differently slick.
The men slept among the slaves. They probably could have asked for a tent with actual bed sheets, scaly as they would have been, but the demigods preferred getting fucked to sleep by unicorn-dust-high, drooling hunks.
Marcus woke up to daylight. The suns were aimed at the wet half of Rhibinelg, dark brown desert above. As usual, he had dreamed of jerking off, vividly. His hand found his disappointingly caged dick.
Xane was to the elbow in Goro's ass while getting double penetrated by glitter-faced dudes with blank stares. Chay was giving an Asian Figment a lap dance. By the tears of bliss in Chay's eyes it had to be really good dick.
"Morning sleepyhead," Xane teased. "Those two haven't pissed yet. Help yourself, hehe. Oh, here's your slug-shit ring back."
Marcus took the ring and lazily waved the two indicated hunks to his face. Part of him wanted to try and see if water didn't do the trick this time – somehow. But he knew if the curse was randomly broken, his friends wouldn't make him drink more piss. Well, Xane would, fuck him, but Chay wouldn't.
He let the barely conscious hunks piss in his mouth at the same time, not realizing how tricky that made swallowing until he already struggled. He wasn't going to back down in front of the others though.
His hands were at his nipples out of habit. His entire body was as sensitive to sexual stimuli as the head of his dick had once been. He felt like the slightest brush would bring him to orgasm and yet even fingering his ass did nothing. Ah yeah, that other curse. No self-stim.
"Ugh," Goro made. "That's the spot. Creaming my load out. Ughhh, fuuuuu-"
Jizz splattered onto the fisted powerlifter's ultra-lean thighs as they quivered uncontrollably. Marcus crept closer and stated licking before Xane had pulled his arm out.
"Hey," the wizard protested. "I worked hard for that."
"I need it too," Marcus whined and pouted. "Tummy rumbling."
Goro grabbed both their mohawks and shoved them on one thigh each. Marcus licked eagerly – to get it over with. Cum would never be his favorite meal.
"Far as I'm concerned," Xane said. "You own me half a load."
"On it," Marcus said with a grin.
A shot of unicorn dust later and his ass was getting hammered by the thickest slave-dick he had spotted. A few more shots and three other shades were jerking off. Breakfast would be ready soon.
His crotch lit up just minutes later, as did the others'.
"Company," Chay said, unconcerned, and slipped off Goro's fist with a whimper and a whole-body quiver.
Someone arrived in a realm liner. Someone golden with iridescent wings, followed by a purple Dragoon.
Ardor and Sharpeye first met with the Amphidrake leading the clan, Never-Down, so the demigods sank back down on hard slave dick for the moment.
"Congratulations," Ardor said when he eventually moved toward Chay. "You made new allies. When we broke through to the twixtway, we found this end already secured."
Chay rose off the shade's lap with trembling thighs, cum all around his hole. "Do we go back to..." he gestured upward. "No... seems not," he answered his own question. "There's long standing allies on this side to contact. And you need us for that."
Ardor's raised eyebrow was the only sign of surprise Marcus could detect – but he was a little distracted with sex.
"You continue to be scary perceptive," the Nephil said. "Yes, we need you to smuggle a weapon to the Revolution on this side. The Long Fair is never going to expect thralls as smugglers."
Marcus groaned, not out of pleasure but annoyance. "We gotta be slaves again?"
Xane pulled him off the dick and to a stand by the shoulder. He whispered aggressively. "Fucking shit, don't be so pathetic. We're on a mission to save humanity. No one else is riding cock anymore."
"But... mega-gasms."
Xane punched him in the chest. "Have some dignity, you dumb bitch."
Marcus flicked the man's nipples, which made Xane flinch, then glare enraged.
"Listen, assfuck," Xane whisper-shouted. "I got fag-sex on the brain just as much but you really gotta compartmentalize."
Marcus let his head hang, looking at his brightly glowing aegis as night fell, like a dramatic curtain call on the conversation.
"Hey, I shot my load," he said, just noticing the strings of white. "You'll let that got to waste? Aren't you a growing boy?"
"Ugh," Xane made. "Whatever." He scooped up the taller guys load with a transparent mage-hand and placed it at the back of his tongue. "Fucking hate this."
Chay was done making plans and turned toward them. "Guys, we have a new mission. Covert for once, please."
"The Long Fair... Is it on dry land?" Goro asked. He looked at the other slaves kneeling around, some with cum on their softening dicks.
The only significant island in the realm-half was the Drifting Cliff, a twin to the desert capital Wandering Oasis, with the only reliably way to find either being the twixtway leading between them.
Ardor hesitated. Sharpeye beside him smirked his terrifying lizard-smirk. The shell underneath their feet gently swayed.
"Partly," the ex-angel said. "It's probably wetter than here. And mostly underwater. But there's air."
"Before we do that..." Chay said.
"Nectar, of course," Ardor said.
"Yes yes, very much. But I was thinking..." Chay said, glancing between Marcus' legs.
The college-swimmer raised an eyebrow and followed the leader's stare to his nub and balls. "...Yes?"
===***===
Being freshly filled up on the golden Nephil-juice combined the satisfaction of a good meal with the afterglow of fantastic sex. It didn't make Marcus the slightest bit less horny but he was used to the mind-blowing craving as much as he'd ever get.
Luckily, the ride in Ardor's little boat gave him something to do. He and Goro still had to learn how to use their cock cages as flashlights.
The ex-angel gracefully flew in and out of the upside-down ship, letting the demigods get a sense for how distance to demonblood affected the devices.
Marcus let his animus-power flow over the intricate ornamentation as the holy radiance ebbed and flowed. He figured it out.
"Wouldn't call it a switch," he mumbled.
"Then what is it, genius?" Xane asked. He was on top of Chay, their legs entwined, lazily fingerfucking each other.
"A... waterlock? Something flowing into the patterns, microscopic weights shifting the density of the material."
"That's an excellent summary," Chay said, some surprise in his voice.
Marcus shot Xane a smirk. Ardor flew farther away, nearly out of sight, but Marcus' crotch was as overpoweringly radiant as before.
The babyfaced titan eventually returned, saying he'd had enough of stretching his wings. Marcus had a new idea.
With slow-mo spirit fire dripping off his crotch, he tried to push his aegis `closed'. If they could turn the lights off as needed, they'd be saver from detection. His chest swelled with pride at his brilliance.
His light went out.
"It worked. Look at- ooof," Marcus made. He released the gleam again. "Fuck, that felt like holding in the biggest piss ever. Like, pain."
Chay shot up. "But it can be turned off. That's a huge advantage."
The leader was instantly able to reproduce the effect and his hands snapped to his crotch. He pushed his groin like he really needed to pee, mouth wide open, eyes rolled back. The shine resumed.
"Shit, you weren't kidding. Pretty sure if my bladder were really that full it'd just explode."
The others learned to `hold' the light in as well, even Goro who couldn't figure out how to light up his aegis on purpose, despite Chay's tutoring.
"We're nearing the Long Fair," the Kobold captain said, eventually.
Ardor fiddled with his robe and produced a ruby-red marble the size of a chicken egg, perfectly round. Within it was a swirling galaxy of particles nearly too small for the naked eye to see.
"This is the air phantasm we captured," Ardor said.
"A sandstorm in a bottle," Xane said. "We killed one of those before."
"They're rare in Hakkri but nonexistent in Lydeth. Almost nobody here knowns how to defend against them. Which makes them a perfect weapon. With it, Lord Zoffylon will feel secure enough to push our cause."
"I'm guessing," Chay said, "smuggling those across Rhibinelg is highly illegal?"
The Nephil shrugged. "Depends on the territory, but it would certainly make you... disliked. So, who's going to... keep it safe?"
The demigods played for the privilege. Marcus was out in the first round, then Chay and Goro. Xane grumbled but dipped the marble in foam and shoved it up his ass.
"Don't clench too hard," Marcus said. "Wouldn't want to have your backdoor sand-blasted by an angry phantasm on the way out."
Xane made his mage-hand appear with the middle finger raised right in front of Marcus' eyes and had it follow his face round until the ship stopped.
Worth it.