A Magical Mons Dilema

This is an 18+ story that takes place in a D&D styled setting, but is not entirely faithful to its mechanics. This chapter contains no smut, but a brief scene of partial nudity. This is my first story, any feedback is appreciated!

Chapter 1: Failed Apprentices

Clattering utensils, metal bowls and plates clinking together, wood fire stoves crackling and their flat iron tops sizzling, wafting fragrant smells throughout the kitchen. The symphony of a decent looking (but obviously not top of the line) kitchen was all too familiar to the inhabiting workers ears as they toiled away to prepare dinner. There weren't that many people in Shourn's Coast village this kitchen was in, but with only a few people qualified in the culinary arts it was a daunting task to keep those hungry mouths satisfied and returning. A grizzled looking middle aged man clad in a stained apron draped over a pot belly poured a glaze over a small rotating pig carcass, the fluid dripping into the fire causing some embers to flutter up and singe his scruffy ginger beard for the umpteenth time. He grunted disgruntledly and stepped back, swatting at the wiry hairs covering the lower half of his face, then took a rag from his back pocket to dab the sweat off his bald head.

"Zephyr! Come take this off the spit, I'll be right back."

He shouted over to the kitchen sink, where Zephyr was leaned over and scrubbing a plethora of pots and pans. Straightening up and not even looking back at the chef, she quickly rinsed off her sudsed up hand and patted them dry on her own apron tied over her baggy tunic and pants. It was evident that standard cleanliness protocols weren't enforced here. Fixing her round glasses, Zephyr set her hands on her lower back to stretch it out with a small crick and sighed from her thin lips. Her short black undercut hair that was a bit longer in the front was pushed back behind her ears as she approached the perfectly roasted pig, grabbing two pot holders on the way. After getting a good grip on the ends of the spit, she braced her legs and grunted while lifting up. Her thin pale arms flexed, a surprising strength making the carry look not as hard as it should be for the woman.

If you were only looking at Zephyr's face, you might've mistaken her for a particularly pretty boy, but the subtle curves of her 6' body and small bosom said otherwise. Many described her as spindly.

Said spindly arms set the glazed pork down on the wooden surface of the kitchen island, and carefully worked to pull the metal spit out. By the time she got the iron rod to the sink, the pot holders themselves were almost too hot to hold. Simultaneously, right as she got back to the prep table, the chef came back with the other two kitchen staff in tow, each pushing carts of prepared foods. One cart carried an oddly pristine looking tray with a reflective dome topping it, Zephyr smiled knowing what it was for.

--o--

Outside of the bustling kitchen, dozens of people of all shapes, sizes, and races filed in to take their seats. Humans made up the majority of the crowd, with a few dwarves, and even fewer half elves amongst them. Two out of the crowd were very different from the others, the one standing out and above the most being a hornless minotaur woman towering at 7 '5", covered in brown fur and topped with buzzed short hair, with a few patches on her burly forearms burned off from the smithy she apprenticed at. She took a seat that was specially designated for her, a much larger and sturdier chair than the others at the center of one table side. Others in the crowd would give her smiles and nods, congratulatory words and pats on the back. When she sat down, she adjusted the fancy silk shirt that adorned her wide framed, muscular body; it was either a hand me down or it had just gotten too small. The same could be said for her side stitched pants. Despite all the warm welcomes and kind words, her steady gaze and lax demeanor made her look only slightly interested at what was happening.

The only other person visually different from the others shuffled in and took a seat next to the minotaur. Covered in sage green scales and topped with a head resembling a frilled lizard with a row of thin spines on the crest of her head, and dressed in the sleeveless tunic and leather pants of a hunter trainee. This was clearly a dragonborn woman. The way she sat slightly hunched next to the minotaur made her look miniscule in comparison, more so than everyone else nearby. Her yellow, slit pupil eyes looked up at the massive woman next to her, who looked down to meet her gaze as well. A hint of a smile was shared on both of their lips for a split second before trailing off to look at the others.

Coming in all at once in a jostling, jovial group of four was the hunter trainee's a group, all making almost as much noise as the entire crowd filling the longhouse. The dragonborn woman squinted at them, her arms crossed with one hand over her bicep, she raised her pointer finger up with a faint shimmer coming from it. On the back of one of the hunter trainee's heads, a fat wasp crawled into view and right into the sight of the trainee behind him, who impulsively swiped his hand onto the back of his friend's head. His head jolted forward, golden luscious locks swishing up from the slap, then again as he spun around to shove the slapper away. Their arguing died out in the crowd, the dragonborn holding in a snicker behind sucked in lips. That held in laughter was quickly extinguished when she looked to the side and saw a familiar face.

A pair of dark brown eyes stared down the reptilian woman, the stern gaze coming from a short half elf woman with mocha skin and a short afro. She wore the simple long tunic and dark green scarf of an apothecary apprentice, an old leather belt decorated with pouches hung on her hips.

"Kar'liss." She spoke down to the dragonborn in a tone a mother would use to scorn her child.

"Uuugh, fine. Fuckin'...whatever." She grumbled and slumped further into her seat. The half elf sat down beside Kar'liss, and looked up to the minotaur.

"Hi Gigi! How was work today?" She beamed up with a happy tone, yet at an appropriate volume for the quiet bustling of the room. Said minotaur looked down at the apothecary apprentice.

"Hey Seline, it was alright." She replied in a moderately flat tone, but the half smile from earlier returned for a moment once more.

"That's good! Mine was good too, I got to practice with some advanced potion brewing methods, and also got to stitch up Fredrick's leg after he..."

She rambled on about her day, oversharing details not usually told at a dinner table until the kitchen doors swung open, putting Seline's run on sentence on pause, which Kar'liss was thankful for. The crowd of villagers all began to politely cheer for the wide array of food being set out on the long table, sweet and savory aromas filling the room and everyone's noses. Zephyr was last to exit the kitchen, helping set the table. She spotted the three women she called her friends from the end of the table, and gave them a smile and subtle wave before continuing to empty her cart onto the table. However, among the full table, she couldn't see two certain people, but that didn't surprise her.

After the table was set and a small speech was given by the head chef, then another by the elder of the village, Zephyr sat down next to Gigi. She leaned forward to look past the mountain of a woman to see Kar'liss.

"Hey, did you hunt that pig we cooked today? It had a really clean shot through the head."

She kept her voice in a half whisper as everyone filled their plates and began digging in. The dragonborn looked at the carved up pig, then glanced at the hunter trainees on the left end of the table.

"Uh yeah, yeah."

She mumbled in response, already stabbing a chunk of meat on her fork to shovel it into her maw.

Gigi looked down at Kar'liss, then to Seline, specifically her plate and its substantial lack of food.

"Seline, eat more, or you'll have a flatter chest than Liss"

The dragonborn froze mid chew and slowly looked up at the minotaur with a look of appalled shock. She slapped Gigi's bicep with the back of her hand, but it was like hitting a wall.

"Shut the hell up, as if you're not hogging all the tit between all of us."

The minotaur snickered at that, glancing down at her tightly bound yet still formidable chest. Kar'liss though ended up almost choking on her food from laughing. The joke aimed at the dragonborn was purposefully placed, since her species laid eggs, she had no breasts.

Seline however, looked down at her barely filled plate with a faint frown, then at the fifty something others around the table.

"I'm just...waiting for everyone else to get their fill first is all."

She meekly spoke up. Zephyr, still leaned forward, turned her attention to the half elf.

"It's ok we made more than enough for everyone to have leftovers. Please, at least have some more for my sake? I got to help with the potato salad this time."

The only human in the friend group nodded to the huge bowl she was talking about, and reluctantly the healer in training scooped a portion onto her plate.

--o--

By the time everyone had their share of the main course, the sun was beginning to set and Zephyr got up to help gather plates and platters, though no one got up to leave yet. Only a few minutes passed before the kitchen team came back out, Zephyr and another chef shouldering the elaborate polished tray from earlier. Once again, cheering and applause filled the room as the tray was set on the table in front of Gigi, whose ears drooped down a little from encroaching embarrassment.

The head chef reached over and plucked the lid off of the platter, revealing a large round cake! It was about two feet across and had two layers, coated in a thick cream cheese frosting. On top of it, in swirly green frosting, read "Happy Birthday Gigi!" With the number 30 written under it. Additionally, a single candle was placed on the cake's center.

In unison, everyone in the room cheered out "Happy birthday Gertrude!" but Zephyr, Kar'liss and Seline were the only ones to say her nickname, to which the minotaur's ears drooped down a little further, an awkward half smile tugging the corners of her lips. The candle was blown out and the cake was cut into for the first slice to be handed off to Gigi, revealing thin orange slivers in the cake.

"Ugh, carrot cake? I hate that shit." One of the hunter trainees spoke out in disgust, drawing a few disapproving looks towards her. She was clearly really into hunting, seeing as one side of her head was shaved clean of her long brown hair, and with the way Kar'liss was glaring at her, a nemesis of sorts.

"Today's not about you." the dragonborn shot back, to which the highly dedicated trainee sat up to begin what was no doubt a loud and very directed complaint. At least she would have, if her words were suddenly without sound. Kar'liss was holding a finger up to her scaly lips, having cast a silence spell. This of course only escalated the trainees temper, making her stand up to "shout" and show a certain rude finger. Immediately after that spell was cast though, Zephyr's brow furrowed ever so subtly as she felt a shiver wash over her like goosebumps, and a faint warmth gathering in her chest.

Who could only have been this spunky start-up huntress's mother then stood, grabbed her by the ear, and promptly pulled her out of the building. A collective sigh quietly filled the room, then silence only to be broken by Gigi. "This looks really good."

A smile spread over Zephyr's lips, happy that her dabbling in drawing transferred over nicely to the cake's decorations. It wasn't much longer until the room was filled with happy chattering and the cake was rather surprisingly divided up near perfectly amongst the villagers. What amount left over was given to Gigi to take home. Now, being such a small village as they were, gifts weren't really expected during celebrations such as these, but the night did end with some song and dance.

Gigi wasn't really one to dance, but she did hold Selina's hands with her fingers and sway a bit while the petite half elf danced her heart out.

Eventually the minotaur gave Selina a twirl and sent her on her way, right towards Zephyr who was next to be roped into the wildly joyful dancing. She could barely keep up with the smaller woman, whose head only came up to her shoulders, she was much more used to a methodical and practiced form of dancing. Kar'liss was one of the few who stood on the sides to avoid dancing, content with just watching.

--o--

When the twin moons were halfway on their way to reach the peak of their arc, the celebration had slowly died down to an end, everyone making their way home. Gigi, Kar'liss and Seline all left together with Zephyr catching up shortly after, having supposed to stay back and clean dishes, but was let off for the night.

Kar'liss spoke up to Gigi. "So, miss big three zero, does this mean you're too old to hang out with us youngsters?" She teased.

"Dunno, how about you ask yourself in five years?" The minotaur replied flatly, but her thin tail swatted at the dragonborns ass, eliciting a small yelp from those scaled lips.

"Ugh, four years until I hit that mark too... I hope I'm out of that damn dish-pit before then." Zephyr joined in, lifting her glasses to rub her tired eyes.

"I hope you'll all still be taking care of yourselves by then, I don't want to have to realign your spines before you start getting grey hairs." Selina, the youngest of the four at 22, spoke up last, and the other three hummed or chuckled in response to the assumed joke. The apothecary apprentice looked at them with a cocked brow.

"What? What's funny?"

The group split off one by one as they stopped by at each other's houses, Zephyr being the last to walk through the door of her own residence. It was a quaint little place, all the lanterns and candles were out save for one in the kitchen, where her mother was cleaning up an apparently late dinner. Zephyr looked very similar to her mother, though she didn't get nearly all of the womanly looks from her, and her mom's sleek black hair reached down to her mid back. Her father was on the couch reading a book, his back to her as she walked in and shut the door, only his balding head visible from over the back of the cushions.

"You're home pretty late." He spoke up with a half disinterested tone, barely glancing up from his reading.

"Busy day?" Her mom added, drying her hands and leaning back on the counter.

"It was Gigi's birthday, whole village was there." Zephyr responded, already slowly wandering over to her room. Her dad hummed shortly, while her mom looked off to nothing in particular with a quiet "oh...". She didn't blame them for not coming, they both were so off in their own worlds and rarely left the house except for work. She also wouldn't mind it so much if their seeming disinterest in everything didn't extend to herself as well, but she knew well enough about the reason for that.

"G'night." She ended the barely half-hearted conversation, getting a "night" in return before she closed her door.

Zephyr let off a long sigh as her posture slumped, the silence in her room occasionally broken by the creaking of old wood under her feet. As much as she wanted to fall into bed, she had one more thing to do...or try to do at least. She began to strip down, pulling her work stained tunic off to reveal her pale skin and bra cupped breasts, each just a handful.

Faded bruises dotted her body, each a lesson from her training with the monks in the temple just up the hill outside of the village. She visited them three times a week, training her body and mind in the hopes to master herself, and the affliction she was born with, the source of her parents' seeming disinterest in her. Lifting her forearm close to her eyes, she squinted as if looking for something out of place, letting off a sigh of relief from her nose when she found nothing.

"Ok, let's see if you wanna cooperate tonight." She whispered to herself, and took in a deep breath while straightening her posture, hands joined in a cupping motion in front of her stomach. Looking at her unlit candle, she began to make long, slow sweeping motions with her arms and sliding her feet into a wider stance. After a few movements, she thrusted her arm out towards the candle with a single finger pointed out. A puff of smoke wafted from her digit, as well as a defeated sigh from her lips. While her arms fell limp to her sides, she stayed in her low stance, which pulled the usually baggy fabric closet to her inner thighs. Looking down at her hips, she faintly furrowed her brow at her crotch, specifically at what was making a rounded protrusion on it. Standing back up, she hooked her thumbs into her waistband and pushed her pants down around her ankles, kicking them away to join her dirty shirt. Adorning her hips was what could only be described as a very snug looking strap you'd see men put on to contain their unmentionables. Though the unmentionables that were currently being contained between Zephyr's legs looked like they were fighting to break free, the bulge they created was comparable to a mango. With one hand on her hip, the other pulled the top of the strap out so she could look down into it. Her eyes fell on the all too familiar sight of the hairless root of a disproportionately thick member, tucked down over equally large, yet tightly pressed together testicles. Letting the strap go to let it snap against her navel, she quietly groaned to herself and fell back into her bed.

"I'll deal with you tomorrow." She mumbled, turning over onto her side to look at her neatly folded up monk garb on her dresser. Pulling the blankets up to her cheek, she looked forward to tomorrow for one thing at least.

The village's lights slowly go out one by one. But to no one's notice, so does the lighthouse by the docks.

--o--

Being a heavy sleeper can have its benefits and consequences, such as being able to sleep through the rickety creaking of an old house or a rainstorm, but also through the sounds of your house being broken into. It was a decently peaceful sleep for Zephyr until the smell of smoke graced her nose, paired by the rising screams filling her waking ears. Pushing herself up on one hand, the screaming was much louder now, and the flickering orange lights coming from her window was more than enough motivation to start scrambling out of bed. Her foot got tangled in her blankets and made her fall partially onto the floor, her nearsighted vision coming up to look at her door being violently kicked open. A hulking man in a suit of dark armor with a red tabard bearing a black, eight wavey pointed star stood in her door frame, a bloodied two handed axe in his hands. Zephyr stared up at him, frozen in terror. It was when he took a heavy step forward that she found herself finally moving, trying to scramble to her window when another figure darted into her house.

A wooden staff came up around the intruder's neck from behind, slipped under the gap between helmet and breastplate, and yanked back hard. He choked and gasped for breath, flailing his elbows back to try and hit whoever was behind him. Suddenly he was pulled to the side and slammed onto the ground head first, body going still immediately after. Zephyr pulled her glasses on to clearly see who her savior was.

"Master Uval!" She gasped out, seeing the old monk striding in to check on her. He stood a little shorter than herself, draped in white and blue robes with thick beaded bracelets, head and face shaved clean with old age wrinkling his face.

"Zephyr, get dressed, you must leave." He quickly spoke, grabbing her own garbs and shoving them into her arms.