Fertile Valley ch 17-20 (Patreon)

17 A Shrine of my Own

“Have a good day at school, kiddo,” I said as I watched Kylie Ann climb out of my car. It was a momentous occasion—my first time dropping my adorable daughter off at school, and the whole scene played in my head in slow motion as it happened.

Every single detail imprinted itself into my mind—Kylie Ann in her jeans and denim jacket bouncing in the seat beside me to the music playing on my speakers, the way it felt to have her go from being with me to leaving me, the way her. I just stared at her, awestruck.

She gifted me with a huge grin, missing that one tooth. She started to wave, but then faltered, her joyful expression fading away. “Leah’s dad sometimes calls her ‘Princess’, y’know,” she pointed out.

I blinked a few times, my eyes having gone dry from staring at her as the wind messed up her hair. “Do you want me to call you that?”

“Maaaybe,” she muttered shyly, folding her hands behind her back and averting her eyes toward the piercing blue sky. “Mom won’t call me that. She just calls me ‘young lady’ when she’s grumpy and ‘sweety’ when she’s not.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I told her with a warm chuckle. “Have a good day at school, Kylie Ann.”

“Will you pick me up?” she asked, perking back up.

“At least today, sure. But I’ve got to make sure to work on the farm and explore the valley more. I’ve got a lot of responsibilities now, not just to you,” I reminded her. “For the next few days I might play catch-up on those, but I’m sure you’ll be seeing me just about every day, and I’m a short walk away if you can get your Mom to take you here.”

She nodded her understanding, thankfully. “At least today is good enough. Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, kiddo,” I said.

“...Princess,” she reminded me.

I laughed, revving the engine and winking at her as I prepared to take off. “We’ll see.”

The moment she disappeared into Mrs. Sanford’s fitness studio—that’s where they were having morning classes for today—my warm smile fell right off my face. As high on family life as I was, I had plenty of work to do and a hell of a lot on my mind. And I was overdue for some fresh answers.

The first thing on my mind was something of an experiment. As the chosen one, or whatever, it had been established that at least sometimes I could summon the Harvest Goddess by kissing her statue atop Harvest Hill. Did it have to be at a certain time of day? Did it have to be on a certain day? And was it only that statue?

Some new ‘chosen one intuition’ told me that it was actually very simple. I had a gut feeling that I might be able to call out to the Harvest Goddess and summon her by kissing any statue of her at just about any time, so long as she was willing to appear. I knew of where I could find at least one other statue, so that’s where I was off to next.

I drove my car to Bob and Candy’s Everything Store, parking right out front. Walking into the store, I found Candy behind the front desk, reading a newspaper, while several other townsfolk, and mostly commuters passing through, shopped for drinks and other odds and ends on their way into work.

Candy looked up from her newspaper and smiled at the sight of me. “Peter!” she exclaimed. “Didn’t expect to see you in here again so soon.”

“Get used to my ugly mug,” I fired back. As I approached the counter, I looked both ways and narrowed my eyes as I tossed her a conspiratorial look. “You got a minute?” I asked in a lowered voice. “I need something specific.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, Pete, you poor thing. We don’t sell no city crack-cocaine out here.”

I blinked. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

She nodded, her brow arched at me in curiosity. “Well, that’s a relief. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, probably,” I said, suddenly concerned. “Hang on—do I look like a drug user?”

“Of course not,” she said, though she seemed a bit anxious all of a sudden. “Well—maybe one of those handsome ones from the TV.”

Not sure how to take that, I just nodded at the statue of the Harvest Goddess in the corner. “You know where I could buy one of those?”

Her gaze followed mine over to the statue, her eyes widening. “Oh–that makes more sense. So it’s true that she speaks to you?”

“Just the one time so far,” I admitted. “But I’ve only encountered a statue once. I know there are more shrines out in the valley and the woods surrounding the village, but I was thinking—if I could get my own, it might make things easier.”

“Makes sense to me,” she muttered. “I’m sorry, Peter, but I don’t have a spare.”

I nodded, having more or less expected that answer. “No worries. I’ll figure something else out,” I grunted. “It was worth asking. If you think of anything, let me know.” I smiled and started to turn around but her hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed.

“No, wait,” she muttered. “I feel bad about the crack-cocaine thing. Look…You need it more than we do. I think the best thing I can do for Mineral Village and the Harvest Goddess would be to hand this off to you. Would you believe I’ve had to ship some produce into town through CorpoMart?”

Eyes wide, I watched quietly as she lifted up the statue and double stuffed it into two paper bags. “Are you sure?” I asked. “Just like that?”

She shook her head. “Of course, Peter. It’s the least I can do. You came into the Everything Store looking for a statue of the Harvest Goddess, and as this is an Everything Store, I just so happened to have one. It’d be darn lousy of me not to pass it onto you, given what we all know.”

What they all know? I figured she was just talking about what Liz Luna said at the funeral. Not wanting to over examine a gift, I accepted the statue and nodded appreciatively. “I’ll make good use of it. Wish me luck.”

“You have everyone’s best wishes, I promise,” she chuckled. “That’ll be—Oh, we’ll say $212.87.”

I blinked. “Oh. Yeah, I suppose I should pay for it,” I muttered, pulling out my wallet. “That makes sense.” It was bereft of any hint of the fortune I’d inherited since I hadn’t had time to hit up an ATM just yet, but I did have a debit card tied to the account where my inheritance had been deposited.

I settled the bill and headed outside, stumbling through the logistics of carrying a torso-sized statue into my own backseat. I drove back to the farm and, from there, set up a little shrine to the Harvest Goddess with the statue as the centerpiece out behind a defunct shed.

The shrine wasn’t anything to write your old lady about. Where the old shed had a wall taken out by a fallen tree one summer when I was a kid, a simple concrete foundation was left exposed. He never needed the shed, so he didn’t bother to fix it, I guess, and now the thing was just an eyesore.

I placed the statue there, surrounding it with rounded stones for a nice little added touch, though with the backdrop of rusted tin siding it still wasn’t much to look at. Still, it was something. A concerted effort, if nothing else.

Here goes nothing, I thought to myself as I knelt down at my makeshift shrine. I glanced around, making sure no one was watching and that I wasn’t about to be accosted by a fairy and a trio of pixies. When I was satisfied, I leaned in and pressed my lips against the statue's stone mouth, recalling the first and only time thus far I'd encountered the Harvest Goddess. Just like before, her stony lips softened beneath mine, melting into warm, smooth flesh.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see the full-sized goddess before me for some reason. That…isn’t what happened. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with a miniature version of her, the exact size of the statue she’d come from. There was an awkward pause as we both processed the situation.

Her eyes flashed open wide as though in panic. "Oh. I don't like this," she said, her melodic voice tinged with alarm. “This is…humiliating.”

I couldn't help but chuckle. "I don’t know. I think you’re pretty cute this way."

She crossed her arms, attempting a regal posture, but it just looked even cuter. “As you are my champion, and I know you better than you even know yourself, I see no point in berating you for the…this disrespect.” Finally she relaxed, though, letting out a sigh. “But you were right to summon me.”

“You could have told me earlier that this was an option,” I pointed out.

“It wasn’t,” she said. “Not until you felt the urge. You can only call me in a time of need—and such a time has arrived. So, my handsome champion—speak.”

I settled into a more comfortable position, leaning back on my palms crossing my legs as I sat before her. Despite her tiny size, I still checked her out. "It's been...a bit of an adjustment. So much has happened in just a few days."

She nodded, her long green hair swaying with the motion. "Indeed. I've been observing your progress closely. I must say, I'm quite pleased with how quickly you've adapted."

"Thank you," I said, feeling a bit of pride at her words. "Maybe I’ve been going a bit slower than I should be, but there is definitely some forward momentum, I guess."

"Slow? Hardly,” she giggled. “You've already met and captivated many of your potential suitors," she added with a knowing smile. "Tell me, what are your thoughts on them so far?"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, reflecting on the women I'd encountered since arriving in town. "They're all great, mostly," I began. "Queenie, of course, has a special place in my heart as the mother of my child and my closest childhood friend from the valley. Darlene is fun and easygoing and I can definitely imagine myself between those thighs. Missy is gorgeous and is an accomplished baker and all, but she’s a tad...enthusiastic, we’ll say."

The goddess nodded, encouraging me to continue.

"Then there’s the latest lady to profess some attraction to me. Cindy. Dating her seems like it’d be more work than taking care of Fierce Boy," I admitted, casting a look over my shoulder to where the dog in question was chasing a rabbit out of my field. "I'm not sure I'm ready for someone who needs to be carried everywhere and sleeps through most of the day."

“Cindy is a special case,” the Harvest Goddess said. “She should be a priestess like Queenie, Mayor Luna, and her mother, Yvette. Cindy has the blood of elfkind in her, but it’s sealed away. I do not know how to help her yet, but I believe the closer you get to her, the more I’ll learn.”

My brow arched in amazement at that interesting revelation. “So I guess I should court her.”

The Harvest Goddess’s brow did the opposite of mine, furrowing in irritation. “Ideally, you should try to court, marry, and impregnate every woman in town, if you can—at least those who are unmarried and most appealing to you. I thought I was clear on this.”

“You were, you were,” I muttered apologetically, holding up my hands. “You said at least five, but I got the subtext. I just meant I thought I might be able to put it off a bit longer.”

“Of the Three Quests you have, that is the most crucial,” she reminded me. “Put it off at my and your peril. Put it off at the peril of the fairies and pixies who depend on you, the women you will grow to love, and your own daughter.”

I raised my hands in defeat, smirking. “Alright, alright, message received.”

To my relief, the Harvest Goddess smiled softly. "But you’re here to talk about Missy," she prompted.

I frowned, recalling Queenie's words about the blue hair. "She has me…nervous. Her behavior has been clingy to say the least. I’m sure you’ve noticed. And then there's the matter of her changing appearance and who is apparently behind it."

The Harvest Goddess's brow furrowed, her tiny features creasing with worry. "Yes, I've been observing that situation through Apple. It's quite troubling."

"Queenie mentioned something about the Queen of the Mines," I said, seizing the opportunity to gather more information. "What can you tell me about her?"

The goddess's expression darkened further. "Ah, Queen Glowbright,” saying the name without fear, as opposed to how Apple treated it. I figured it made more sense that the Harvest Goddess would be a little more cavalier. “She is the leader of the Dark Harvest Elves, a coalition of gray-skinned fairies with bioluminescent moth wings that dwell in the mines. I banished them from the surface long ago, but it seems they've found a way to extend their influence once more. I suspect she has recruited an agent to do her will and hidden him or her from me."

"But why?" I asked, puzzled. "If she wants to save the valley too, why is she making drama?"

"My problem was never with her goals, Peter," she explained, her voice heavy with ancient sorrow. "It was with her methods. Queen Glowbright is willing to sacrifice the lives of villagers and interfere with free will to achieve her aims through rogue agents she barely oversees. She has no regard for the sanctity of choice or the importance of personal growth."

I felt a chill run down my spine as I processed her words. "And you think she's done something to Missy?"

The goddess nodded. "She has most certainly corrupted her somehow, urging her to give in to her basest desires. She's leaning on Missy's attraction to you and her desperation to get married, have children, and become a housewife. This has made her unreasonably forward—and a perfect target."

"I definitely noticed that," I murmured.

"If not for my blessing," the goddess continued, "you might have been corrupted too, which was likely Glowbright's goal. Had that happened, the town might already be well on its way to becoming your private kingdom of wanton debauchery, with every woman bent to your will, their minds poisoned to yearn only for your release."

"That's not at all what I want, on any level," I said, frowning. “As fucking awesome as it sounds.”

The Harvest Goddess's expression softened. "I know, my champion. But tell me, what is it that you do want?"

The question caught me off guard. I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it again, finding myself at a loss for words. After a long moment and a guilty sigh, I admitted, "Aside from escaping my life in the city and being there for Kylie Ann...I don't actually know. Something simple, I guess." I ran a hand through my hair, frustration bubbling up inside me. "I have a purpose now, as I've learned, but so far...it still doesn't feel real. This all is so much like a fever dream sometimes.”

The Goddess looked on silently, so I went on.

“Okay, so—this morning, before I gave Cindy a ride home, I ate out the asshole of a fairy, and it tasted like raspberry Kool-Aid,” I began exasperatedly. “And then I grabbed three pixies in both hands like this,” I went on, pantomiming it, “and I rubbed their sweaty, naked bodies on my dick until I came on the fairy’s face.”

“Yes, Apple had ever so much fun,” the Harvest Goddess giggled with a look of love. “You’re doing so well.”

“It’s just surreal. And then there’s the farm, and life in the village. I guess I just feel like I'm floating through each day, checking items off a list, banging elves whenever they show up. It’s not a bad life, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know what it is that’s driving me forward, exactly."

The goddess nodded, her eyes filled with understanding. "I see. You must find your own peace out here, Pete. Both Queen Glowbright and I lean on inner desires with our blessings and magic. You're likely sacrificing some gifts of my power by not knowing what it is that you need."

She gestured toward the town with her tiny hand, and I forced myself not to laugh as I became conscious of her size again. "Missy always knew what she wanted. That's why she has been so easy to corrupt, but it's also a great strength. Once your quest is done, it will lead her to much happiness and many lifetimes of beauty, fertility, and youth in the valley. Once you christen her womb, she will likely never age another day."

That was quite a piece of gum to chew on. I leaned forward, getting myself back on track. "So how can I save her? What do I need to do?"

The Harvest Goddess's expression turned serious. "Missy needs a full induction into this world. You must take her into the mines and seek a direct audience with Queen Glowbright and ask her to remove the curse herself."

I felt my stomach drop. "Can’t you do it?"

“No,” she admitted. “The mines are her domain. I cannot go there, nor can I send my elves. All I have are you and my priestesses. And—well, I’m certain you wouldn’t want me sending Queenie? After all, she doesn’t have your blessing.”

I shook my head. “No. I suppose not.”

She seemed to swallow, then went on with her exposition. "Glowbright was once my greatest servant, but when we arrived in the valley, she wanted to be my equal. I accepted at first, but when I saw the lengths she would go through to get what she wanted…Well, enough of that,” she muttered, brushing the air with her itty bitty hand.

I stared, not sure what to say. I just decided to wait her out.

Eventually, the Harvest Goddess continued. “She may make demands, give you her own quests, or threaten you. I trust you to do only what you must, Pete. But this is something you must do alone. Neither I nor my elves can accompany you there. That will likely always be true any time you go into the mines."

I swallowed hard, trying to process the task. It seemed kind of dangerous, but then again, what did I know? If the Harvest Goddess was telling me to do it and not telling me to bring a shotgun just in case, it couldn’t be too bad, right? "I understand. I’ll take Missy there soon and see what I can do for her."

The goddess smiled, her tiny face beaming. "I know you will, my champion. Now go, tend to your farm and prepare yourself for the challenges ahead."

With that, she closed her eyes and returned to her statuesque form. I stood, one of my knees cracking from sitting cross-legged, and made my way out to the fields.

The rest of the morning passed as I threw myself into my chores. It was important work, too, because now that I had the weeds pulled and debris in the field removed, I was ready to begin some honest to goodness farming. I tilled the ground with Apple’s help, first of all, and she collected payment in the form of “Pete Juice”. After she left with her belly full, I sowed seeds, watered the newly planted crops, and cleared more debris from the overgrown areas of the field. The whole time, Fierce Boy kept me company, even holding my watering can for me when I wasn’t using it. He looked so fucking cute with it.

A while later, the shipment I’d been waiting for from Bob and Candy’s shop arrived. Big John road in with his truck, the cab loaded up with furniture, tools, construction materials, and more. Barely exchanging more than a few sentences, he and I spent and hour unloading everything, putting most of the stuff in the carport, while bringing the furniture and other indoor-only items inside the cabin. He also offered to take some of the old furniture away, and though I felt a little guilty I did throw out the old loveseat and my grandpa’s bed in favor of the larger couch and new bed.

"Need a hand, City Pete?" Missy's cheerful voice called out all of a sudden as I was finishing up organizing things in the carport. The pretty sound sent a vaguely horny thrill through my body—it had been a few hours since any elf sex had commenced. I was starting to have the ‘itch’, but I steeled my resolve and turned to face her with a big wave of my hand.

I turned to see both her and Darlene making their way over to me. Missy's hair was a shocking shade of blue now, impossible to ignore for anyone with a connection to the magic in the valley, and her eyes almost blood-red. They sparkled with excitement as she looked at me, and I couldn't help but notice the throbbing, pulsating crimson hearts that had replaced her pupils.

"Sure," I said, forcing a smile. "There's plenty of work to go around."

The three of us worked side by side a bit longer. Darlene helped me use a staple gun to secure chain link wiring to wooden posts I’d driven into the ground surrounding the field, and I set up the gate, while Missy helped water the rest of the newly planted seeds with Fierce Boy, or ‘Fiercey-Babe’ as she usually called him. As we worked, I couldn't help but steal glances over at her, searching for signs that the corruption was about to flare up again, and she’d end up throwing herself at me or manifesting a pie out of thin air.

She wasn’t totally off, but she seemed...extremely cheerful, her movements almost manic as she bounced from task to task. Her ponytail was a giveaway that things were getting worse as time went on—it whipped wildly out of the corner of my eyes every time she turned to stare at me. Every so often, she'd brush up against me, her touch lingering much longer than necessary. It was subtle, but well beyond normal. My penis throbbed like the desperate, flailing arm of a mendicant begging for alms when, at one point, her breasts pressed into my back as she brushed past me to reach for one thing or another.

But I kept my cool. Mostly.

As the afternoon passed by, Darlene excused herself.  “Well, I ain’t gonna stick around to help you two finish up,” she said, winking at me. “I had some butterflies taxidermied and I’m supposed to pick up their little placards in about twenty minutes, and I stink worse than a horny hog in a tub  of moonshine.”

I tossed her a pleading look at first, but in the end I knew it was probably for the best. I had a job to do, after all. Still, with Missy and me alone in the field, the tension between us was palpable.

"So, Pete," Missy said, sidling up to me as I finished watering the last row of turnips. "Got any plans for the rest of the day?"

I set down the watering can and turned to face her, my heart racing as I prepared to put the Harvest Goddess's plan into action. "Actually, I was thinking of doing a bit of exploring in a little while. How would you like to join me?"

Her eyes lit up, the red hearts seeming to pulse with excitement. "Really? I'd love to! Where did you have in mind?"

I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what was to come. "I was thinking we could check out the mines. I've heard there's some interesting stuff down there."

For a split second, I saw something flicker in Missy's eyes. “We aren’t supposed to go into the mines,” she said. “They’re dangerous. I’ve been there before.”

“Trust me,” I said, smiling at her. “I’ve got a good reason, I promise.”

She giggled impishly, batting me on the shoulder. "Ohhh, so mysterious,” she said. “Alright then. It’s a date. When do you want to go, exactly, City Pete?”

"How about now?" I suggested, trying to keep my voice casual. "No time like the present, right?"

Missy nodded eagerly, practically bouncing on her toes. "Absolutely! Let me just run back to the trailer and grab a few things. I'll meet you at the entrance to the mines in fifteen minutes!"

As I watched her jog away, her blue hair bouncing with every individual step, I couldn't shake the feeling that I really had no idea what I was about to throw myself into.

There was just one problem with backing out—Missy was getting worse by the day, not better, and like it or not, she was kind of my responsibility. True, I wasn’t her mother, but I was the so-called chosen one, and she was one of the bachelorettes I was supposed to woo. Even more damning, it was her attraction to me that was causing this problem to begin with.

But the scariest thing was that I just didn’t know where the crazy train would end. Would she have jealous fits and hurt the other women? Would she go insane with passion? Would I be able to get a damn thing done without having obnoxiously delicious baked goods shoved in my face while she tries to get me to put as many babies in her as possible?

“First world problems,” I sighed, chuckling at myself.

I gathered my own supplies—a headlight from the carport workshop, some snacks, and a first aid kit (because I’m responsible)—put them in my yellow backpack with all my grandpa’s country life tools, and made my way toward the mines. Well, I started to, but there was one last thing nagging at me.

I turned tail and headed back to the cabin, my jaw clenched. As a kid, There was a secret floorboard under my Grandpa’s bed that he used to store his shotgun in a hidden compartment above the foundation. Getting on my hands and knees, I reached under the bed and found it.

Turning over the old board, I reached inside and found the shotgun and several shells. I loaded a few and slung it over my shoulder as I stood.

Everything I’d ever heard about the mines was that it was haunted or full of monsters and dark powers. Even my grandpa had said similar things back in the day, so I couldn’t afford to go in unprepared, just in case. I just hoped Missy wouldn’t freak out when she saw the gun.

When I got there, I had to use my axe to hack through enough boards to open up the cave enough to venture inside. The newly cleared entrance seemed to yawn at me, reminding me of Cindy’s “Mwaaaw!” Despite everything, I found myself laughing.

“What are you laughing about?” Missy’s voice said in a girly giggle, causing me to turn to greet her. She had changed into a white midriff baring gym hoodie and some blue spandex leggings. I gave her a quick elevator stare and felt my penis punch the zipper of my pants, much like the staple gun punched holes into the fence posts earlier.

"Nothing. You look...good," I said, wishing I rutted Apple once more for good measure on the way here.

Missy giggled, the sound tinged with an almost manic energy. "Oh, it's probably just the light,” she said with a wry look tossed my way. “Are you ready for our big adventure in the mines?" She wiggled her fingers excitedly by her cheeks, completely oblivious of the shotgun over my shoulder.

I nodded, taking one last look at the world above ground.

"Yeah," I said, turning back to face the darkness. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be.”

18 The Dark Queen’s Domain

I hefted my trusty yellow backpack, loaded with all my tools, and hefted my grandpa's old shotgun over my shoulder once more as Missy and I walked through the entrance to the mines. With the wooden boards that had once sealed the place all hacked away, now there was only a gaping maw ready to swallow us up as we strode into utter darkness.

"You sure about this, City Pete?" Missy asked as I flicked on my headlamp and handed her a flashlight, her voice a bit shaky. I couldn’t blame her. Up until right this moment, she had been the picture of doe-eyed trust and giddy excitement just to be with me, but now that we were here? Well…

I nodded, trying to project more confidence than I actually felt for both our benefits. "Yeah, I think it's important we check it out.”

“Well, if you say so, City Pete,” she giggled, though it sounded slightly forced. I felt her hand reach for my wrist, startling me for a moment, but when I realized what it was I just let it happen. “Have you been down here before?”

I shook my head and laughed at myself, taking my hand back to stow my shotgun in the little yellow backpack. It was a last resort in my mind, and I still hoped I wasn’t going to need it. “Nope. I was actually slightly better behaved as a kid than I usually give myself credit for I guess.”

Missy nodded calmly as our slow steps echoed. “No one ever said you were a bad kid back then. You always helped out around town. You even babysat me, remember?”

“Yep, usually Queenie and me together. We’d watch you for your mom, sometimes you and Darlene, too.”

“Sometimes Becca Sue, also,” she added. “Though that was a long, long time ago, before I was even ten, I think.”

I turned to look at her and smiled, but when she covered her eyes from the headlamp blasting her face, I whipped my head away. “Oops, sorry.”

“I’m happy you like to look at me,” she said teasingly. “Speaking of which, Pete…Are you seeing anyone right now?”

We came to a grinding halt at that, and I audibly swallowed. It was more of a comedic gulp than a swallow, really. I looked straight ahead, but I could feel her eyes on the side of my face as I admitted, “Actually, Queenie and I recently decided to start seeing each other.”

She slowly stepped away from me, her hand letting go of the wrist of my jacket, which I hadn’t realized she was still clinging to until then. “Y-you are?”

“Yeah—but it’s complicated…Fuck it.” Filled with a surge of sudden resolve, I recalled what the Harvest Goddess had said. It was time to induct Missy into this world—into my quest. I’d shared my secret with Darlene and so far had no significant repercussions yet, having even noticed pink hearts swimming in her eyes whenever I made eye contact with her lately. If she could know, then why not Missy?

“Fuck what?” she asked, interrupting my train of thought before I found the words to say. I turned my headlamp to the side, then turned on my heel to face the blue-haired fitness hottie, placing my hands firmly on her shoulders. “Missy, I’m going to lay out some facts and knowledge right now, alright?”

She nodded, her red eyes seeming to glow in the dark. “Uh—sure.”

“The Harvest Goddess is a fertility goddess, and a huge part of—no, the main objective driving my entire quest as her chosen one is…I need to marry at least five women and get them to bear me children.”

If I thought her eyes were wide before, I was wrong. “W-what?! What the fuck are you—”

“It’s true, I swear!” I said. “There’s a lot going on, actually! Every day I have to fuck the Harvest Goddess’s fairies and pixies multiple times, and time freezes when I do it. I also have special powers as her chosen one, which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising since there’s so much magic in the valley, but—”

To my surprise and utter confusion, Missy screamed at me, shutting me right the fuck up. Her hair and eyes glowed bright in the darkness, casting spooky shadows everywhere. “What?!” she shouted. “You’re telling me I didn’t make the cut?!”

“No,” I said. “Hang on—listen, I’m not done. The reason why we’re here is—”

“Why am I not good enough?!” she shouted. “All I want is you! To be a wife and a mother, to have a good, strong man who loves me—you! And…and now you’re telling me that in a village full of women you’re commanded to pick from as possible wives, you’re here to—what…drag me into this cave and put me out of my misery where I won’t be a bother to you anymore?! Am I that much of an inconvenience to you?! Do you hate me that much?!”

“That’s not even in the same fucking stratosphere as what I’m saying!” I shouted in disbelief, flailing my hands. “Missy—”

Missy performed a forward cartwheel so fast I barely understood what was happening. Her calves landed on my shoulders, one after another, and I grabbed them reflexively.

“What are you doing?!” I tried to shout as she used her epic core strength to hoist herself up by the waist, grab me by the neck, and jerk her whole body, forcing me onto the ground with her. My head slammed into something hard and jagged, and my vision went spinning and blurred.

Next thing I knew, she was straddling me, a manic look in her eyes, her face split with a creepy grin. “You can’t reject me. You’re my ticket to happiness, Pete! Just make love to me! I’m ovulating right now, just fuck me and knock me up, and I’ll be your number one wife!” As she said this, she unbuttoned my jeans, and I barely managed to fully reorient myself in time to stop her.

I grabbed her wrists and rolled, getting myself on top of her. Missy responded by wrapping her legs around my back and pulling herself up off the ground in a show of pure abdominal strength, kissing me.

I reared back from her. “Missy, stop! Just let me explain! You aren’t yourself!” I stared down at her glowing eyes—purple hearts. Desperate, purple hearts looked up at me, her blue hair and red eyes shining enough to illuminate everything around us in the creepiest light imaginable. I hadn’t done anything that merited purple hearts from her. It made no sense. That was supposed to be reserved for the deepest affection and levels of commitment—not mad obsession.

“I love you, Peter! I love you, I love you, I love you—I’ll never let you go! I’m yours forever, so don’t throw me away! You can fuck Queenie, Darlene, Cindy—all of them at once, just don’t throw me away! Don’t you fucking throw me away!” Her screams became sobs, and the tension in her body finally started to relax the moment I subdued her by doing the only thing I could think of—I hugged her.

I could feel her heartbeat going a mile a minute as my chest pressed up into the softness of hers. Her legs were still around me, but now, so were her arms, and I had embraced her in return. I held her there and let her cry, my elbows digging into the rocky ground beneath us. As I did, the light of her hair and her eyes grew more and more muted until we were in relative darkness. Before long, the only source of meaningful illumination was the flashlight she’d dropped onto the cave floor at one point or another, and the sideways headlamp still resting atop my cranium. Somehow.

“It’s alright,” I said. “I’m not throwing you away. We’re here to help you.”

She sniffled in my ear, her heartbeat and breathing finally slowing down. “Help me?”

“Yeah. The Harvest Goddess told me that the Queen of the Mines has a priestess or a priest or something. Apparently they corrupted you with magic, preying upon your desires and insecurities. It’s why you’ve been so—like this,” I said.

She let out another sob. “I don’t even recognize myself anymore.”

“We’re going to fix that,” I said, getting on my knees. I was pretty sure a bit of blood was running down the side of my face from where my head hit the hard ground, but I ignored it. To my amusement, Missy kept her legs wrapped around my waist, and she went up with me easily, barely seeming to notice until I was standing and I set her down. “I promise you that.”

“How?” she asked. “How can we fix it?”

“The Queen of the Mines,” I muttered. “We’re going to see her, and I’m going to demand that she undoes whatever it is she and her minion have done to you.”

Her eyes glowed faintly again as she looked shyly up at me. “And then…can we be together?”

“If you still want that when it’s all over,” I said. “Yes. That’s the plan.”

Her eyes shot open wide and she embraced me again. “I’m sorry for overreacting a little.”

I patted her on the head. “Just a bit. Have you ever been down here before?"

Missy's brow furrowed as she thought back, finally taking a step away from me and seeming to fully calm down. "Just once, when I was a little girl, before they added all the extra boards on the entrance. My beagle, Crockett, wandered in and I had to chase after him."

I remembered Crockett. He was a good dog, but not nearly as smart as Fierce Boy. After what just happened between Missy and me, I found myself relieved I hadn’t brought him. The poor guy loved her and likely wouldn’t know who to support in that whole shit show we just worked through. "What do you remember about this place?" I asked, staying on task.

She shrugged, her blue hair glowing a little as she peeked back at me. "Not much, honestly. Just...the giant scorpion."

I nearly choked. "I'm sorry, the what now?"

Before Missy could elaborate, a low, feminine wail echoed off the walls of the cavern, sending chills down my spine. I instinctively reached into my bag and grabbed the axe, which I tucked through my belt for easy access. I’d need to get a proper holster for this thing eventually.

"Stay close," I told Missy, my eyes straining to pierce the gloom ahead.

She pressed herself against my side, her earlier bravado fading. "Pete, are you sure we have to do this? So far it’s been kind of a disaster."

I let out a humorless chuckle. "That's a very fine observation." I paused, turning to look at her. "Missy, do you know about Glowbright? The Queen of the Mines, I mean?"

Her face scrunched up a little, making her nose look adorable, but there was no time to be distracted by that. "Queen Glowbright? I mean, I know the name, of course, but until now, I always thought she was just a legend. The Harvest Goddess is one thing—there's plenty of proof she exists. But the Queen of the Mines? That always seemed like nothing more than spooky stories."

“They kept this place boarded up for a reason, though,” I pointed out.”

“True,” she sighed, then let out a nervous shudder.

I shook my head, realizing we were wasting time being sitting ducks. "Never mind. Let's keep moving."

We ventured deeper into the first level of the mines, our footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. The beam from my headlamp, now facing forward once more, cut through the darkness, revealing a claustrophobic landscape both mundane and somewhat alien. Glowing mushrooms dotted the rocky floor, casting an eerie white light.

But what caught my eye were the flowers growing within each fairy ring we passed—delicate blooms with striking blue petals unlike anything I'd seen on the surface. Those petals also glowed in a way that seemed somehow familiar.

"Missy," I said, my voice low, "according to Queenie and the Harvest Goddess, your blue hair is a sign of...well, corruption."

She reached up to touch her vibrant locks, her expression a mix of confusion and fear. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "Your feelings for me—they come on pretty strong and fast and tend to get out of hand from time to time. Case in point, do you even remember what just happened?”

“Huh?” she muttered in confusion, cocking her head like a puzzled puppy. “You mean us walking into the cave?”

I frowned. It was just as I thought. “Let me question your feelings a little. It’s not a secret you’re attracted to me—maybe even love me. Could you analyze that? Question it? Why do you feel quite that strongly?”

Missy's steps faltered, and I saw her begin to tremble slightly. "I...I don't know," she admitted in a near whisper. "I've always had a bit of a crush on you, I guess. Like, always. Since I was walking and talking, basically. When I found out you were staying in town, it felt like my chance to find happiness, to become the perfect housewife for a strong, working man who I knew was exactly my type because I’d spent years and years pining after him."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"But now that I think about it," she went on, "I'm not sure why those feelings are so intense. It's like they just...took over all my waking thoughts."

"It's an interesting goal," I said carefully. "The housewife thing, I mean. And I'm flattered to be the target of it. But Missy, I don't feel like I've earned any of that love from you."

She shook her head vehemently. "That's not true! You are who you are, Pete. I can tell you're special even without the Harvest Goddess saying so. I’ve always known—so has Queenie! That’s why she still loves you after all these years. It’s why I can tell Darlene is falling for you, and why Cindy’s going for you, too."

“What?” I muttered.

She giggled. “Don’t play dumb. You have to have noticed.”

Before I could respond, another wail reverberated through the cavern, this time with discernible words: "Leave here now."

Missy suddenly clung to me, her nails digging into my arm. A skittering sound filled the air, growing louder by the second. The beam of my headlamp swept across the cavern floor, revealing a nightmarish sight—a dog-sized spider approaching us at an alarming speed. The sounds of its skittering tarsi alone were straight out of a goddamn horror flick.

"Shit!" I yelled, quickly swinging my axe as the creepy crawly thing leapt at us. The blade connected with a sickening crunch, and the creature fell lifeless to the ground as ichor sprayed everywhere. But the skittering continued. There were more still coming.

Missy's screams echoed as I fought off the next arachnid seconds later, my axe whizzing through the air. Just as I thought I had the upper hand, I felt something heavy land on my back. I stumbled, my backpack slipping far enough down my shoulders that I had to let it go as I tried to dislodge the spider that had evidently dropped from a stalactite above. I lost the backpack, but the spider stayed. Fucking great.

In that moment of chaos, I saw Missy reach inside my backpack and grab the first thing her hand landed on. My eyes bulged as I dared hope it wasn’t the shotgun since her target was on my back, but my mining pick was what she managed to retrieve. With that familiar yell of rage I was glad no longer was directed at yours truly, she swung it at the spider attached to me. There was a crunchy wet thud, and the weight on my shoulders suddenly vanished—replaced by a bunch of spider guts.

With that burden removed, I was able to properly grapple with the one in front of me, swinging my axe and cleaving its head in twain. It thumped to the floor and leaked out green goop everywhere. I paused and listened to silence, just making sure that there were no more skitters en route.

When I was sure, I turned to face her, panting like Fierce Boy after a long jaunt in the fields. "Thanks," I managed to gasp out.

Missy's response was to grab my face and plant a kiss squarely on my lips. The adrenaline of the moment surged through me, but I forced myself to pull back. “I saved you, so marry me, Petey!” she squealed, her eyes glowing again. Shit.

"We need to keep our wits about us," I said, though my racing heart wasn't entirely due to the spider attack.

To my absolute fucking relief, her eyes dulled, and she nodded, taking another step back. “R-right.”

As we ventured deeper, I noticed several magically glowing veins of what I thought might be copper in the cave walls, interspersed with what looked like gemstones catching the light of my headlamp.

"This is insane," I muttered, running my hand along a particularly rich vein. "A mine this full of resources on its upper levels? It's practically unheard of in the twenty-first century, at least in the Land of the Free."

Missy nodded, still breathing a little more heavily than usual. "The mine is probably like anywhere else in the valley—its resources quickly self-replenish when seen and used only by locals. It's part of the magic here. We have to be careful who gets welcomed into the community because of that. It’s why it’s hard for our population to grow."

As she spoke, a transparent green screen suddenly appeared before my eyes, startling me so much I nearly dropped my axe.

Level 5 Achieved! Choose a perk!

• Mining Efficiency: Increases ore yield by 25%

• Bug Bane: Deals 50% more damage to arachnid and insectoid enemies

Without hesitation, I selected Bug Bane. If I was going to be spending more time down here, surviving the hazards seemed like a bigger priority than getting rich quick.

"Pete? What just happened?" Missy's voice snapped me back to reality. "You kind of zoned out for a second there."

I shook my head, trying to clear it. The video-gamey bullshit was just a bridge too far for me to explain. "It's...honestly too weird to get into right now. Let's keep moving."

We pressed on, the tunnel narrowing as we descended down a natural ramp along the cave floor. The air grew cooler, clammier, filled with an earthy scent that reminded me of freshly tilled soil after a spring rain—and worms. Petrichor, I think that’s what it’s called. It was almost pleasant, except for the constant feeling of being watched.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice rang out, stopping us in our tracks. "Halt, surface dwellers! In the name of Queen Glowbright, I command you to get buck nekkid!!"

I swung my headlamp toward the source of the voice, illuminating a sight that made me question my sanity yet again. Hovering before us was what I realized had to be a dark version of a Fertility Pixie. She was about the size of the Blossomelles who I’d started fucking as part of my daily routine, but with a much curvier figure.

There were other distinguishing features, of course. Furry, bioluminescent moth wings fluttered behind her, and delicate antennae sprouted from her head. Her skin was a soft gray, offset by neon green hair that seemed to glow in the darkness just like Missy’s when she got particularly…passionate. But it was her eyes that truly caught my attention—inky pitch black orbs that shimmered like they were constantly on the verge of tearing up.

"What the fuck is that?!" Missy whispered, her grip on my arm tightening.

“A pixie—a servant of the Queen of the Mines,” I told her. “They’re very stretchy on the inside if they’re anything like the Harvest Goddess’s pixies.”

Missy looked at me in befuddlement for a moment, before turning back to the dark elven creature.

“I said get totally nude or go home!” she squeaked again in a peculiar accent.

“We aren’t doing either of those things until your boss is here,” I said. “I’m Peter—the Harvest Goddess’s chosen one, and in your own, weird, deluded way, you’re trying to help me, so I know you won’t hurt me or trap me down here. Let’s cut the bullshit and get down to business.”

Missy pressed herself tightly against me, taking comfort from my confidence. The pixie, however, crossed her arms, her tiny face scrunching up in what I assumed was meant to be an intimidating scowl. "Alright, fine. If you do me in the butt—"

“No,” I said, cutting her off. “Your queen. Now.”

“No,” the dark pixie growled back in a tone that was clearly meant to mock me. “My butthole. Now.”

This was…the weirdest standoff of my life.

19 Missy’s Curse

I stared down the dark pixie with grim determination, trying hard not to react to the surreal nature of the present moment. Missy now clung to me as though in fear, but given the fact that she put a little extra oomph into her embrace every time the gray-skinned creature in front of us made an anal request, I figured it was mostly out of possessiveness.

“Look,” I began slowly, stowing our weapons and then raising my hands as I continued. “I’m not here to hurt anyone or cause any trouble.”

“No shit,” the pixie grunted, rolling her eyes. “Which is another reason why pixie buttholes are so fuckable, by the way.”

“They don’t poop?!” Missy sharply gasped in my ear, pressing her breasts into me more urgently than was probably needed for the present moment.

“They don’t poop,” I confirmed darkly, jaw setting. “Let’s talk this out. What’s your name?”

The mini dark elf eyed me suspiciously, floating a bit higher in the air so she could more easily look down on me. “Stalacta.”

I blinked a couple times and sucked on the spot below my lower lip inside my mouth for a second as I processed that. “As in—like, stalactite?”

“Yes, but not as stalac-tight as my little booty hole,” she said in an attempt at a saucy tone. Her left brow and the very same corner of her lips arched upward, seemingly smug and sure that that pun surely landed in the intended way.

“This is getting increasingly uncomfortable,” I noted aloud. “I’m not used to Missy being here for this part.”

“You slept with her before?!”

“Not her,” I said, shaking my head. “Other pixies. And I promise, no one’s sleeping during those sessions.”

That didn’t amuse her, but rather than recoil from me as most women might in similar circumstances, she just cleaved to me harder and growled at the little sprite. “I’m going to rip off this bitch’s wings and feed them to—”

“Sleep,” Stalacta said with a flutter of her wings and a wave of her hand. A little shaft of milky white light emerged from her palm and connected with Missy’s face, and the next thing I knew, the girl had gone limp against me. “That’s better.”

My eyes widened. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?” I muttered as I gathered Missy into my arms in a princess carry. I pressed my forehead against hers to make sure she wasn’t going cold. She seemed normal.

“No. She’s fine,” Stalacta said in an airy, dismissive tone. “Now, where were we?”

“Talking,” I grunted. “Listen—I’m not inclined to give you what you want. Your Queen or her priest or priestess or whoever meddled with Missy’s free will. You’ve added a layer of complications to my otherwise straightforward time in the valley that I simply don’t need, and I want to see Missy returned to her normal self immediately. Any butt stuff will have to happen after we’re on good terms—and it won’t be today.”

“So you say,” Stalacta cackled. “Our Queen knew exactly what she was doing, though. Tell me—up until today, what was the Harvest Goddess’s policy about these mines?”

“Don’t go in them?” I muttered.

“Exactly. And where are you now?”

I furrowed my brow, getting the point. “In the mines.”

“As our Queen willed you to be.” Her inky black gaze stared down at me with cocky amusement, and she let out a little evil laugh. “Bwahahaha! Silly chosen one. You’re right where we want you.”

“Will you or will you not help her?”

“Alas,” she sighed, closing her eyes and putting the back of her hand to her forehead in an overdramatic display, “I don’t have that kind of power. Her fate falls to the Queen and the Queen alone.”

“Then before I make any more demands, tell me anything you can,” I said. “What is her goal? Why am I here, if it was her plan all along?”

“Queen Glowbright only wants for you to succeed—but she didn’t believe that you would have the resolve to bond with multiple women quickly enough for her liking. Moreover, she doesn’t think it’s particularly fair that the surface elves get to have all the fun. We have needs, too, you know,” she said, posing innocently and winking at me.

“That’s reasonable enough,” I conceded. “But the methods you took—”

“The methods the Queen took, not me. Not that I’m trying to distance myself from her actions. I’m just saying, Queen Glowbright deserves all the credit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Or blame.”

“That’s enough, Stalacta,” a much deeper feminine voice echoed through the cavern. My eyes darted around, and I cradled the sleeping Missy closer to my chest out of reflex as I searched for the source of the noise. “I’ll take it from here.”

Stalacta frowned as she started to fade away into pixie dust. “B-but my tight little rosebud…”

“You’ve waited this long. Allow me to deal with the chosen one.” The voice was given form as a figure stepped out of a shadow as though she’d been a part of it all along. She wore what I’d describe as a lacey white bikini, with a skimpy loincloth covering the crotch and matching drapery covering each breast. A stray blast of wind coming from just the right direction would easily expose every single awesome part—but we were deep inside  a mine whose entrance faced a dense thicket of trees. Wind wasn’t an issue here.

Eyeing the Queen from head to toe, I had to admit I was impressed with what I saw. Much like my first impression of the Harvest Goddess, I found her stature dripping with both sex appeal and power. Her gray skin shone nearly black as torches magically appeared along the cavern walls, held upright in alabaster sconces. Her hair was done up in spectacular high pigtails, white as snow, each hanging down to her calves. The shape of her—goddamn. If the Harvest Goddess was a classic hourglass figure of fertility, then the Queen of the Mines was fit and defined with a nearly amazonian shape to her. Her breasts weren’t quite as imposing as the Harvest Goddess’s, but they were certainly in the same ballpark.

Despite the fact that I was lecherously staring, once again wishing I’d banged a couple elves before venturing inside these mines, the Queen didn’t comment on my gaze. Instead, she seemed genuinely all business, and the realization of that helped me calm down as well.

I adjusted Missy in my arms and nodded my head, showing a mere token of respect since I could sense the authority that this figure held down here. I didn’t want to come off like a total ass. “Queen, thanks for seeing me. I’ve come to have your curse removed from Missy.”

“I know why you’re here. And despite whatever you’ve been told thus far, there is no way to remove it. It is as much a part of her as her own soul,” she said, folding her hands in front of her. Icy blue eyes shone back at me, appraising me, I was sure. She was waiting to see how I’d react to that statement, true or not.

“If that’s the case, then you’ve damned her,” I muttered, almost growling. “She’s suffering. She lost control—she also loses her memories after she has an outburst. She’s not even herself half the time.”

“When she gets what she wanted most at the time the curse took root—if you prefer to call it a curse—then the negative effects will be significantly diminished,” she told me, smirking slightly. “No more memory loss, no more loss of self-control. She may maintain an unnatural degree of…passion. But even her jealousy will fade with time, thanks to her connection to the Harvest Goddess and your mission since she is a woman of this valley.”

I stared at her for a long time, then looked down at Missy’s face, her eyes still closed. “You’re sure?” I asked, not looking up. “That’s all it’ll take? You’re absolutely sure?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

I spun on my heel. That was all I needed to hear. But before I could leave this room of the cavern, a thick cloud billowed out of nowhere, obscuring everything from me. “Let me out of here,” I said.

“You’re here because I want you here,” she hissed. “You’ll go when I want you to go. Hear me out, Peter. Our chosen one. Listen.”

Sighing, I turned back around and nearly leaped right out of my skin when I saw Queen Glowbright standing nearly just a foot away. “What do you want?” I asked. I knew what answer I was hoping for…

“A promise,” she said. “That’s all.”

I nodded, mentally scolding my erection that would surely be poking either her or Missy if not for the fact that I surreptitiously used my pinky to tuck it under my belt just a moment ago. It was quite a feat to achieve while holding Missy, too. “Speak your request, Queen. If it’s reasonable, then I’ll do what I can.”

“All I ask is that you not forsake us here in the mines,” she said. “The Queen has banished us—but we are women with yearnings and drives, the same as the Harvest Goddess’s own servants. My minions are tired of seeking out the most phallic stalagmites they can find and trading favors with one another. Peter Busch-McGinley. Chosen One.” Her eyes suddenly went wide with desperation, and she placed a shaky hand on my chest. “Please fuck us and give us some smooches from time to time!”

Adjusting Missy in my arms, I extended a hand. “So long as you don’t harm anyone else, I swear it. On my honor, I will see it done. I will bear this burden.” I managed to keep my face straight for that part.

She took my hand, but quickly cast it aside and embraced me, raising up one leg to hook around my ankle. Before I knew it, she was grinding on me. It would have been a little hot if not for the fact that Missy was still unconscious and acting as a barrier between us. “Uhh. I should get her home,” I muttered.

“Of course,” the Queen relented, gasping for air. “I have shamed us here in the mines with my lack of poise. Please forget that.”

I nodded awkwardly. “Before I go…Who is your priest or priestess? I need to know.”

She frowned at me. “I am honorbound to my servant not to expose her identity.”

“But it is a her, then,” I noted. “That’s something. And why Missy, specifically? Can we expect to not be bothered anymore, or is there more trouble brewing?”

She shook her head. “As that was my priestess’s design, I cannot say for certain. I believe in allowing my agents to spread my will through acts of…directed chaos. My apologies Peter—I cannot remotely stop what is already in motion. It is not in the terms of our agreements…But I will tell her not to create any new plots.”

That was that, then. Not much more I could get out of her for now. I swallowed and thought about it, then looked down at Missy. “And what about her? When will she wake up?”

“Within the hour, I should think, or shortly after you leave the mines. Whichever comes first.”

“Alright, then,” I said. “I’ll come by to make my first, uh, service call soon. Just how many pixies and fairies do you have down here, by the way?”

“Oh? Merely twenty pixies and five fairies.”

My excitement dwindled a little at that.

***

Missy awoke not one minute after I walked out of the mines. She rubbed her eyes and took a moment to process the situation as I continued on foot in the direction of my farm. “Mmm…Petey? What happened?”

“What do you remember?” I asked.

She shook her head and rested her cheek against my chest. “A little gray pixie repeatedly asked you to do her in the butt.”

“Okay, so you’re pretty up-to-date,” I noted with relief. “I spoke with the Queen of the Mines after you went unconscious, and she told me how to help you.”

Her eyes opened a bit wider, and she pried her cheek away from my pecs to look up at me. “Yeah? What did she say?”

I swallowed hard, feeling a bit of perspiration building on my neck and forehead. “Let’s get back to the farm and we’ll hash the whole thing out.”

“Can you keep carrying me?” she asked shyly, batting her lashes at me. “This is kinda nice.”

I looked down at her and smirked. “I wasn’t planning on stopping.”

When we got back to the farmstead, we didn’t really add much more to the conversation until it was clear I was making a beeline not for Darlene’s trailer, but for my own cabin. “P-Peter?” Missy asked.

“Wait until we’re inside,” I said, and she licked her lips and nodded obediently. I could hear her heart thumping in her chest—not fast, but very, very hard.

With a creak, I opened the door to the cabin and walked inside. The smell of an old fire from the woodburning stove greeted us, and while it wasn’t a smell I often associated with sex, it was certainly pleasant.

Missy spoke again when I set her down on my new bed. “P-P-Peter?!” she murmured, the purple hearts in her eyes throbbing violently.

“No pressure,” I affirmed. “If you don’t want to do this, then we don’t have to. But the Queen of the Mines made it clear that the best, and maybe the only, way for me to help you is to give you what you want.”

“Gawd—I—I don’t just want sex, Peter. I want you. I want our baby in my arms. I want to kiss you every time you walk out the door and every time you come home. I want to watch you fall in love with our child and eat the meals I cook for you. I want it all!”

“I know,” I said, staring into her eyes. “But that’s part of it. What you want is a commitment from me. You want a family. You want security with a man you chose. I’m prepared to give you all of that, starting now.”

“W-w-what do you mean?”

“I mean,” I went on, cupping her cheek, “I’m going to make you mine. My woman. Yes, you’ll share that title with Queenie and someday others, but it won’t make it any less true. And—back in the cave, you mentioned that you’re ovulating.”

She nodded. “I don’t remember saying that. That’s super embarrassing, but it’s true.”

“So I’ll make love to you and give you a child. It’s what you want, and if I’m honest with myself, I’m not scared of the idea either. I want this, too—and not just because it’s my quest.”

“What about Queenie?!” she gasped, and I was actually a bit impressed that she bothered to ask.

“Queenie’s mother will go to bat for us if it comes to a disagreement. This is my mission. She’ll understand it eventually—but you need me now. Although I care about her very much, this is my duty, not hers, and I have to make this decision on my own. As far as I know, there is no correct way to handle a situation like this—but you need me to be decisive now, or it’s going to get worse for you. I can feel that much in my bones.”

She stared up at me like a nervous little doe. Licking her lips, she nodded. “I want it, City Pete. I want it so, so badly. Fuck–no, I don’t just want it. I need it. I feel like if I don’t get it, I’ll eventually just…die, or fade away completely!”

“I know,” I told her, smiling gently. “But don’t expect to be cured immediately. The Queen of the Mines said it would take time.”

“O—okay,” she whimpered, staring at me with those red eyes.

I caressed her softly glowing blue hair and reached for the hairband keeping her ponytail together. She raised her head and let me remove it, freeing her hair with a toss. Her cheeks blushed pink, and she found it hard to meet my eyes as I stared down at her more intensely than I probably should have. “You really are beautiful. I want you to know—this is no chore for me, and I’m not doing this because I have to. This isn’t just me doing a duty.”

She nodded and swallowed. “I know I’m hot,” she said. “You haven’t even seen my naked ass yet.”

“Let’s fix that.” I lowered myself and kissed her, and she wasted no time in hooking her arms around my neck and moaning right into my mouth. Her tongue seemed locked on mine, chasing it wherever it went. Her sweet breath was cooler than I would have expected, but with every desperate pant, it grew hotter until we forgot about our tongues and merely pressed our lips together.

“I wanna burrow inside you and sleep in your guts,” she moaned.

“Maybe don't,” I suggested gently. My thumbs hooked into her blue spandex leggings, and she raised her hips and whimpered with need as I began to pull them down. To my surprise, she sank her teeth into my neck—a playful, if forceful bite, probably meant to bury some of her tension as she felt her sopping pussy exposed to the open air of my cabin.

I didn’t steal a look downward just yet—there’d be time for that later. Instead, I resumed kissing her as we removed her leggings, and then her black hoodie, and then the sports bra underneath until the blue-haired beauty was entirely naked and at my mercy.

“Oh my Gawd, Pete…No boy has ever seen me naked,” she whispered in my ear, making the hair on my nape stand up. “Or touched me. Or fucked me.”

“We’re about to have a lot of ‘firsts’ then,” I told her as my fingers darted between her legs. I hadn’t even started rubbing in earnest when she bucked her hips in the air and let out a primal, “Ohh, fuck!” Seemingly embarrassed, she grabbed the pillow beneath her and covered her face as moans continued to pour out of her mouth.

That was fine by me. It allowed me a moment to appreciate that absolute spectacle that was her figure. She was every instagram fitness model men jerked off to rolled into one perfect package. Her breasts weren’t as large as Queenie’s, nor her hips as wide, but the general shape and muscular tightness of her whole body made it quite the playground.

I cupped a breast and lowered my body, suckling the tiny pink nipple opposite to it. Her moans only got more ragged from there, and I was just getting started.

Slowly, I kissed my way down to her navel, then to the waxed mound above her cunt. Gently pulling upward with a thumb to expose the hood of her clit, I bared her little pearl and locked onto it with my lips. I moved the other hand, hooking under her leg en route to her opening.

Two fingers gently teased the folds of her entrance, and I found myself jerking back a bit in surprise at just how wet she already was. Seeing as how I was planning to eat her out in order to prepare her body for proper sex, I kind of felt a little silly all of a sudden.

Not silly enough to stop, though. Spurred onward by the sweetness of her natural scent, I tongued her clit in repeated, rapid up-and-down strokes as my digits ventured inside her with a lewd, wet squelch. “Ohh, fuck!” she whimpered. “That’s so embarrassing!”

I’d have to take her word for it, because those sounds weren’t doing anything but brightening my day as far as I was concerned. When I felt her hands start digging into my scalp, I doubled my efforts. Her fingers swam through the sea of my messy hair, not seeming to mind the sweat and dried blood in the least.

“Mmm…” she groaned. “Petey—I—I’m gonna cum if you keep doing that.”

I broke the seal and looked up at her with a quizzical arch to my brow. “That was a big part of my master plan.”

“I’d prefer to cum with your cock inside me,” she said shyly, suddenly unable to meet my gaze.

I nodded and got onto my knees between her legs, and she sat up, her six-pack flexing as she desperately did battle with my belt, button, and zipper. Before I knew it, my cock was free, and Missy let out a little, “Oh!” at the sight of it, like she just saw the prettiest thing in the world.

She reached behind me and grabbed my ass, pulling my cock toward her face. She kissed the tip inexpertly, then wrapped her lips around it and sucked. Bobbing her head, she managed to force it halfway down her throat, before she dared to look up at me. With a pop, she broke off and asked, “Do you think it’s ready?”

“It’s fucking been ready, but I appreciate the initiative,” I said.

She nodded bashfully and pointed at the opposite end of the tiny bedroom where a standing mirror stood, facing us. “Do you wanna do me from behind? I’d like to watch the moment we unite forever and ever.”

Too aroused by the sight of her perfect body to be disturbed, I happily agreed. “If that’s what you want, it shall be done.” I took off my shirt and shucked my pants and boxers the rest of the way off, joining her in total nudity. Missy got on her hands and knees facing the mirror, and I took my spot behind her, my hand resting on her hip as my cockhead pressed sweetly against her sopping entrance.

She smiled, looking into my eyes through our reflections. “Let’s do it, City Pete.”

I slid my cock inside her pussy, and it was one of the easiest things I’d ever done, right after the first grade spelling test in which I had to spell “A” and “The”. I slid right in, incredibly wrapped up in the warm wet wonder of her womanhood.

“Ohhh shit!” she whimpered as I pushed myself all the way inside. I bottomed out, then pulled back and did it again, coating my cock over and over with the proof of her lust for me. “Fuck, Petey! Oh my Gawd, what are you doing to my fucking pussy?”

The inverse question was also appropriate. Her fitness was no joke, and it made her one of the tightest fits in recent memory, that’s for sure. As I bucked into her on repeat, I found my orgasm building a lot more rapidly than I’d expected, even with all the elf pussy I’d been exposed to day after day since arriving in the valley.

Her dam broke before mine, though. It was the clenching that signaled it, followed by the change in her breathing pattern. “Oh! Mmmmfffuck! Ohh Gawd, Petey! That’s it! You gonna cum with me, baby? Awwwww shit! Peter!”

“I’m right behind you,” I grunted, picking up the pace, which only made her moans more reedy and intense.

And then it happened. I came, unprotected, in her tight pussy, her body accepting my release with shudders and shakes of bliss. “Yesss!” she cried out. “Make me a mommy! Make me yours, City Pete!”

Congratulations! You have had non-contraceptive sex with a woman of Fertile Valley! Your union has been blessed, and a pregnancy is ensured! Would you like a Boy or a Girl?

“Uhh, boy or girl, Missy?” I grunted, reading the text floating in the air in front of me as I pumped out the last drops of seed.

“What?”

“Boy or girl?”

“Umm! Girl?!”

“Girl, then,” I grunted.

Congratulations! Missy Angelina Sanford is pregnant with a baby girl! Now go forth and impregnate more women!

“What fucking RPG has notifications like this?” I muttered under my breath.

I pulled out of Missy and collapsed onto the bed beside her, pulling her against me as she panted hard. “What just happened?” she asked.

I kissed her head from the back and laughed. “Just another day as the fucking chosen one, I guess.”

20 The Chicken Coop

After Missy and I facilitated the miracle of conception, she fell asleep in my arms. I didn’t really fully fall asleep myself, but I was conscientious enough of social norms when it came to sex to know that the first time you have sex with someone you care about, especially if you were trying for a baby, you probably shouldn’t just roll out of bed and get back to your day.

With that in mind I decided to rest with her. I wasn’t exactly tired once the general muscle exhaustion from coital exertion wore off. Still, after nearly an hour of laying there in silence, listening to her breathe deeply and softly snore, I started to wonder about when it would be appropriate for me to leave.

Back in Max City, I never really put much thought into my hookups. More often than not, the women I slept with were on the same page when it came to these things, at least the first time, so no one was expecting me to canoodle for hours on end. But being out here, making love to a virgin who I more or less promised to one day marry, giving her my second born daughter—I wasn’t exactly versed on the decorum of such a scenario.

With a resigned sigh, I carefully extricated myself from Missy’s impressively insistent embrace, trying my best not to wake her. I got out of bed, put on my clothes, and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a leak. When I opened the door to head back into the main area of the cabin, Missy was right there, standing naked, with a wide-eyed grin across her pretty face.

"Where are you going, Pete?" Missy's voice was sickeningly sweet, her eyes unblinking as she fixed me with an unsettling grin.

I tried to keep my voice steady as I replied, "I have to take Fierce Boy to pick up Kylie Ann from school. Sorry, you slept for over an hour, so I decided to let you rest and get back to work."

Her eye twitched almost imperceptibly. "She’s not out of school for another thirty minutes. Don't you want dinner? I can cook a quick meal for you. I’ll clean up this place, too."

"Sure," I said, edging towards the door one foot at a time. "But I usually eat pretty late. Remember the late night campfire hot dogs? I'll just grab some of those leftover brownies you made for now, and we can have a proper meal later."

“I’ll go get them for you!” she chirped, nodding at that. I watched as she ran into the kitchen area and reached inside the icebox, pulling out a zip-locked bag of brownies. She returned, offering them with both hands, and I immediately popped one in my mouth and winked. “I should get going,” I said.

She watched me chew in silence and waited for me to swallow before moving a muscle. Reluctantly, she stepped aside, but I could feel her gaze burning into my back as I fed Fierce Boy and then called him to follow me out toward my car.

So, Missy was still clingy. The Queen of the Mines hadn’t bluffed—it didn’t simply go away. It would take time. Well, I had time.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. Missy was just one woman, after all. She couldn’t dominate every waking thought I had. As per my quest, I still needed four more bachelorettes to fall in love with me—purple heart eyes and all. I was making progress with a few, though.

There was Darlene, of course, whose eyes had been shifting to more promising hues lately—a good sign, at least as far as my mission was concerned.

In fact, Darlene was drinking a beer on a makeshift patio outside her trailer home she had apparently just constructed out of old shipping pallets as I left the cabin. Redhead as she was, her pale skin was liable to go bright red if she stayed outside much longer—but she was under a patio umbrella, so she might be fine.

“Hey, Red,” I said, raising my hand in a greeting, then gestured to the patio addition. “I see you’re making yourself at home.”

“Hey Fuckboy,” she called back, lifting a bare foot in the air and waving it at me as she sipped from a can. “How’s Missy?”

I put one hand in my pocket and rested the other on my backpack’s left strap. “You saw us go off together?”

“More like I heard you cum together,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. “Quite an advertisement for your abilities, oh chosen one.”

I laughed, mussing my own hair. “Whoopsie-doodle. We’ll try to keep it down.”

“Does this mean she won’t be sleeping in my trailer anymore?” she asked a bit sadly. “Honestly, I’ll miss her company.”

“Nah, I’ll be banging you soon, and then we can all just rotate between your white trash fortress and my humble cabin.”

Darlene arched a brow and sipped from her can as she suggestively uncrossed her legs. “Oh? Is that so?”

“‘Fraid so, Red,” I said, squinting as the sun beat down on my face.

“Gonna take me into your bed and rut me like a dog? Same way as you did with Missy?”

“Lucky guess,” I chuckled.

She blinked. “Huh?”

“Oh—we did it in doggy. She wanted to watch us in the mirror.”

“Daaamn,” Darlene said, followed by a low whistle. “That’s my girl. But tell me more about you and me. That sounds interesting.”

“Well,” I went on casually, “way I see it, it’s kind of a waste if we don’t do it.”

“That so?” she asked in a sing-song tone. She reached onto her lap and grabbed a pair of sunglasses which she put on. “You know how I want you to do it when it’s time?”

“How?”

“In Mineral Spring, just the way you found me. We can go skinny-dipping. Bring Missy along too, for all I care, so long as I get my turn.

“I’m down, but we’ll have to run it by her,” I said a bit glumly. “She’s a bit…well, she’s not quite ready for that yet.”

“Shame,” Darlene said, clicking her tongue and pulling a hat down which I only now realized looked familiar.

“Where did you get that?” I asked. “Grandpa Joe gave that to you, did he?”

“Huh? The hat? I dunno—my brother forgot it last time he visited me, I think.”

“Oh,” I sighed. “Yeah, okay. I thought it was Grandpa’s for a second, but maybe I saw Dale wear it before.” I turned my head and whistled at Fierce Boy, who was chewing on a stick under a tree nearby. “Ready to go to town, boy?”

Woof! Fierce Boy trotted over to me, meeting me halfway as I started walking toward my car. I opened the passenger side door for him, and he hopped in, then I got myself in through the driver’s side. Looking out the window, I waved at Darlene. “Keep an eye on Missy for me. She had an eventful day. She’s pregnant now.”

“Sure, no problem. I—WAIT, WHAT?!”

I started the car and pulled out, heading down the driveway toward Main Street and into town. I smirked smugly as I left a shocked Darlene in my wake, her arms flailing to flag me down as she jumped up and down in her tiny All-American bikini. My car kicked up dust as we made our way down the road, and I checked my phone to see where to pick up my daughter. Sure enough, there was a message from Queenie.

> Hey, babe. Kylie Ann will need a pickup at four today at Courtney’s Book Corner. It’s walking distance, but she’s counting on you. Bring her straight home, though.

Queenie. Things were progressing well with Queenie, too, all things considered. The thing was, the way my quest was worded, I still needed to marry and knock her up despite her having already given birth to my child. That was a conversation we needed to have sooner rather than later, I guess.

Then there was Cindy. She was...interesting. Definitely a handful given her unique sleep-related troubles, but I'd be lying if I said she wasn't adorable as hell and charming in her own way. As part of a sort of...harem? She might work out.

The word 'harem' stuck in my mind. It wasn’t the first time I thought of the word, but I never really considered it deeply before. Was that really what this was all leading to? It wasn't exactly a typical polyamorous relationship, where everyone was on sort of equal footing and maybe had more than one romance. It was many women all romantically linked to a single man—me. 'Harem' did seem to fit as the most descriptive term, even if the word felt a bit weird to think about. I mostly associated it with Japanese cartoons and a style of overly baggy pants.

Cindy, as part of a so-called harem family unit, could make some sense. The more motherly and mature women, like Queenie, would be around to keep an eye on her and make sure she was okay and didn’t, like, fall asleep and roll into a fireplace or something when I wasn’t around.

I don't know why I worried so much about her, honestly. The girl made it to her adult age of twenty-four just fine, even with her constant state of sleepiness. Chock it all up to the magic of the valley, I guess.

So, right now, my "harem"—for lack of a better word— seemed poised to include Darlene, Queenie, Missy, and Cindy. That meant I still needed, at the very least, one more woman. I could think of a couple fun options if I tried. What about that goth florist, Becca Sue? She seemed sweet, and she'd definitely shown a little interest when I visited her shop that one time. “Maybe I should get to know her better once I have the ball rolling with the core four,” I mused.

Fierce Boy barked at me in confirmation. Woof!

I showed up to Courtney’s book corner and parked outside. There was a total MILF with curly brown hair checking her phone as she stood by the front door, leaning against the building exterior close to where the bookshop became the library. I didn’t know who she was, but there was a wedding band around her ring finger, so that meant that option was taken away from me before I had the chance to explore it.

After about ten minutes of me waiting in my car, Kylie Ann skipped out of the front door with a bunch of kids I frankly couldn’t be bothered to give a shit about right now—except that one of those kids headed to the aforementioned MILF, anyway. I rolled down my window and honked my horn at Kylie Ann, making her jump in surprise, but then grin.

I watched as my little girl sprinted over to me and opened the door, climbing inside next to Fierce Boy. “It’s too crowded!” she giggled. “Fierce! Move over!”

“Alright, big lug, get in the backseat,” I said, and he obeyed with a single groan of complaint.

Kylie Ann looked back at Fierce and stuck out her tongue. “He likes me more than you, you know.”

“Yeah, well don’t gloat about it, kiddo.”

“Princess,” she corrected me, pointing a finger in the air and crossing one leg over the other in a regal posture.

“The Princess of Chickens,” I told her, pretending to bow in her direction as I started the car back up. “Big John already brought all the stuff I’m using to build your chicken coop. This thing’s happening.”

She giggled softly, like she knew a secret I didn’t. I looked at her suspiciously as I pulled away from the curb and started to drive her all of four blocks home. “What’s that little snicker about?”

“I don’t really care so much about the chickens,” she said. “I like ‘em just fine, but I really just wanna hang out with you.”

My heart throbbed. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to make up any pretenses for that. If you want to visit me, just cry until your mom calls me and we’ll make it happen.”

“Mom would say that you’re being irresponsible, I think,” she said, her grin going toothy.

“Would she? I dunno. If it’s irresponsible for a dad to hang out with his daughter, maybe. Here, I’ll call her now. Let’s see what she says.”

Kylie Ann nodded vigorously, her eyes going wide. While I dialed up Queenie, I noticed my daughter fiddling with something in her pocket, maybe trying to fish it out. I lost my focus on that when I heard Queenie’s voice on the other line.

“Pete? Everything alright? I’m looking out the window; I can literally see you down the block.”

“Everything’s fine,” I told her. “I was thinking—can I take Kylie Ann with me? She and I could build the chicken coop. Got all the pieces ready, shouldn’t take all that long. I’m keeping the design simple, and I’ve got spooky Harvest Goddess powers.”

Queenie laughed a little into the phone, but tried to hide it by giggling through her nose. “Bring her back before eight o’clock.”

“In the morning,” I said.

“Tonight,” Queenie corrected me, suddenly stern. “Pete, don’t be difficult.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes at Kylie Ann, pointing at the phone, which made her laugh. I noticed she had something in her hands, but I continued the call. “Yes, dear,” I said. “Eight o’clock tonight. Eight-forty-five at the latest.”

“That’s not what I said,” Queenie sighed. “But fine. Her bedtime is nine o’clock, though, so if she won’t settle down and go to bed on time, you’re not hearing the end of it for a few days, I swear to the Goddess.”

“Deal. Talk to you later, honey. Enjoy your time away from this little gremlin.”

“Will do,” she said with an audible smile in her voice.

Click.

I turned to Kylie Ann and looked at her, my brow cocked with flagrant suspicion. “What do you have in your hand?”

Her mischievous giggles died down suddenly, and she opened her hand. Inside it was a homemade keychain with a bunch of colorful beads and feathers. “We had an arts and crafts lesson today at school,” she said. “They aren’t super useful, but they’re fun. I made this for you. I didn’t know what color you liked, so I prayed to the Harvest Goddess to give me some inspiration and—well, I came up with this.”

I took it from her, speechless. There were a couple dozen beads on a chain with a looping color pattern: black, blue, yellow, pink, red, purple. It took me a second to realize it was a representation of the heart system I saw in the women’s eyes every time I looked at them.

“Thank you,” I said, trying not to get choked up and embarrass myself. My daughter just gave me a gift for the first time. I reached over and pulled her into my arms, giving her a strong hug that I could tell startled her for a moment, but she returned it back to me quickly enough.

“No problem…Daddy,” she said.

“I can’t wait to show this to your Mom and—” I started to say, but once I said the words “Your Mom,” the red beads on the keychain started to glow and vibrate. It faded away after a moment, so I tried again. “Queenie.” Sure enough, the red started pulsating. “Darlene.” Pink. “Missy.” Purple.

“Dad?” Kylie Ann asked, giggling with a funny little snort. “Why are you saying a bunch of girls’ names?”

“Just seeing something, Princess,” I said, and she nodded and crossed her arms with a sudden look of triumph as I hooked the keychain onto my little yellow backpack.

“That’s right,” she said smugly. “I am your Princess.”

***

Speaking of Darlene and Missy, when I drove back to the farm, they were both nowhere to be seen. Kind of surprised by that, I gave Darlene a call.

“We’re in my trailer, doofus. And don’t think you’re getting away with that shit you pulled earlier.”

“Absolutely,” I said, winking at Kylie Ann. “Hope you have a great day too. My adorable daughter is here and we’re going to build a chicken coop. You can come out and help later if you want.”

“Pass. I’m still annoyed with you. And Missy. And now she’s gloating about it.”

“She hasn’t tried knifing you or anything, has she?”

“It was a bit touch and go for a minute, but no,” she laughed. “Talk to you later.”

I hung up the phone and turned my attention back on my daughter. “See that pile of stuff in the carport? That’s what we’re using.”

“Got it, Dad! Let’s make some chickens a home!”

I showed her the blueprints to the coop on my phone and explained how we were going to line everything up. The first thing to do would be to fence in the chicken run. After that, we’d build the actual coop structure, then put together the egg rack that catches their eggs when they, as Kylie Ann later said, “poop them out their butts.”

As we worked, we got the occasional visitor. Cindy came by to pick up the pitcher and bike she’d left behind, and miraculously, she made a short conversation with us before heading back without falling asleep.

Though, come to think of it, all she talked about was how sleepy she was.

Then Missy and Darlene came out with a chicken and potato salad dinner for us. After we all ate together around the bonfire, Missy repeatedly wiped sweat off my brow with a towel, trying to rein in her behavior in front of Kylie Ann, while Darlene chased my daughter around the chicken run and threw feed at her, making us laugh.

“Don’t bully my kid, Red!” I shouted jokingly.

“You can’t stop me! You’re not my Dad!”

“He’s my dad!” Kylie Ann proudly declared.

So that was a fun distraction. When Missy and Darlene left, it was just the two of us again.

“I’m getting kind of sleepy, Daddy,” Kylie Ann said with a great, big yawn.

I looked at my watch and frowned. “We just had dinner, maybe that’s what’s slowing you down? It’s not even seven-thirty yet, kiddo.”

“Princess,” she reminded me. “I know. Maybe call Mom and ask if I can sleep here?”

“I would happily do that, but I’m pretty sure I’m already hanging by a thread with her after that last call,” I sighed. “Let’s call it a day. I’ll drop you off and finish things up on my own from here. Someday soon we’ll get those chickens, alright?”

She nodded. “Okay, Daddy. Or—maybe you can sleep in our house?”

I smiled at the idea. “That could work too.”