New Day New World

Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings with a beautiful elven woman cuddling up against me was a novel experience, to say the least. Luckily, I never suffered from that cliche 'waking up without remembering' thing, so after a moment to examine Rhaliyah's sleeping form, I closed my eyes again and started to think.

Unless I was having a psychotic break or an extremely vivid dream or hallucinating, none of yesterday (or last night? I'm pretty sure it was nighttime) was imagined. Which meant I was in a world with magic and Elves and Orcs and Dwarves and Kitsune and 'divines' and who knew what else, with no apparent way home. And according to Gladra, I had been blessed by a Goddess who had never blessed anyone before, and who hadn't even been seen for thousands of years.

It must be Tuesday. Or whatever passed for Tuesday in Xeria.

But that wasn't all. No, almost immediately after getting all the above sorted away, a ridiculously hot Elf decided that she couldn't live for another second without getting some of my dick. Though from how confused she was, asking me what I was doing - which was diddly-fuck nothing, by the way - she clearly wasn't going into any sort of seasonal mating heat or anything.

Then again, Au'rea, the Goddess who blessed me,

was

the Goddess of love and sex and all that. Coincidence was less than likely, if not quite ruled out.

Sighing, I opened my eyes and glanced around the room, which was made of stone and sparsely furnished. A fireplace took up most of the wall on my right, and while there wasn't an open flame anymore, the coals still smoldered. A window, covered by wooden blinds, was set to the left of the fireplace, bright sunlight filtering in through the cracks. A small table and a pair of wooden chairs were placed across the room from the bed, and the door was in the far left corner of the left wall. The bed itself was comfortable enough, though nobody would mistake it for memory-foam or anything. A nightstand was on the left side of the bed as well, and a small stack of neatly folded cloth was placed atop it.

Carefully disentangling myself from Rhaliyah, who had her arms and legs coiled around mine, I stood and picked up the cloth, which unfolded into a robe like the priestesses,' golden-brown and very simple. Nothing else was with it, and glaring around the room failed to cause a pair of underwear to materialize - or my clothes to reappear. I tended to prefer a certain amount of support if I'm going to be moving around. There was also a slight chill in the air, and I somehow felt that a robe wouldn't be overly-helpful. But since I had no desire to parade around naked, I slipped the robe over my head... and was pleasantly surprised when my whole body warmed.

Feeling slightly miffed, but comfortably warm, I glanced at Rhaliyah, and almost jumped and yelped when I saw her watching me silently from the bed.

Taking a couple deep breaths to slow my heartbeat to something sane, I gave her a small smile. "Er... good morning."

The Elf just stared at me for a long moment. "How many lovers have you had, Aaron Wells?"

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. "Um... I've had several girlfriends, but I've only... had sex with one of them."

Rhaliyah's eyes narrowed speculatively. "Then I'm willing to bet that last night was the best sex either of us have had, if my experience says anything. Unreasonably so."

I blinked. It hadn't really occurred to me, but she was right. What happened last night was good, better than my fantasies. And given the fumbling, awkward encounter that was my only other experience...

"Do... do you think that blessing Gladra is convinced Au'rea gave me could cause it?"

Rhaliyah snorted. "The arousal I felt last night wasn't anything natural. And assuming you weren't casting any magic..." I shrugged, spreading my hands out palms up, and she nodded. "Then I think it safe to assume that Au'rea's blessing was at work last night."

I took a deep, calming breath. "I guess I owe you an apology then." The Elf raised an eyebrow. "I mean, if last night only happened because you were under the influence of this... 'blessing,' then what happened wasn't exactly consensual. Which means..."

I broke off as Rhaliyah started to laugh, almost a giggle. "Two things, Aaron Wells. First, I extremely doubt that a blessing of Au'rea could be used for rape - she teaches consent and care, for pleasure found at another's expense is hardly worthy of the term. And second, if I am to be completely honest, after our fears of you being some sort of enemy were allayed, I began to realize that I was attracted to you, and even entertained thoughts of offering such a liaison when you were recovered."

I shook my head. "Even so, you weren't offering last night. At least, not of your own free will. And I didn't really try to stop you."

With a kind smile, Rhaliyah swung her legs over the bed and stood, and a flash of guilt stabbed through me as I allowed my gaze to wander down across her chest and between her legs before yanking my eyes back to her face.

"As I recall, I didn't give you much of an option, Aaron Wells. Had you not accepted my advances, and making what I believe would be a bad assumption that the blessing's power wouldn't have stopped,

I

may well have forced myself on

you

." She paused for a second, then chuckled. "And in a way, I did offer a liaison once you were recovered - it appears as though you heal not only from harm that most wouldn't be able to, but also with incredible speed."

I huffed a small chuckle at her understatement. "I was sure - I

knew

- I was going to die out in that blizzard. I couldn't feel my hands, and even if I somehow, miraculously survived, I knew I was going to lose fingers, if not entire limbs." I looked at my hands, which were in such perfect condition it was like they were mocking me. "I should be dead," I whisper.

Rhaliyah hooked a finger under my chin and raised my head to meet her gaze. "I, for one, am glad you are not." Then, slowly, so as to allow me to pull back if I wanted, she leaned in and gently kissed my lips.

When our lips parted, I was smiling. "I'm glad I'm not dead too."

The Elfess laughed a full laugh, and while I could say something about angels and perfect sounds and all that crap, I'll settle for saying it was captivating. Laughter still in her eyes, she walked towards the foot of the bed. "Let me just... hey now, where're my clothes?"

Glancing around the room, I saw that her clothes were missing. Then I saw a small pile of cloth on the stool she had been sitting on last night caught my eye. "My clothes were missing to," I said, walking around Rhaliyah towards the stool, "but I guess someone brought us replacements. And I think," I picked up the bundle of cloth and unwrapped it, revealing a robe like mine, "this is yours."

Rhaliyah raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the garment, then sighed and took it, sliding it on. Her eyes widened as the magic took effect. "Well that explains how they can stand the chill all winter," she murmured.

"I was wondering about that," I said. "Is it some kind of magic?"

Rhaliyah smiled and nodded. "A simple warming enchantment. It's easier to warm a person with a weak one than to maintain a more complex one over an entire building. Though the monastery is well-made, so there aren't very many drafts, just the cold that seeps through the stones and windows."

I nodded in understanding, fingering the neckline of my robe. They

were

awfully comfortable, even discounting the warming enchantment.

I was taking another glance around the room - and trying to avoid glancing at the way Rhaliyah's nipples were prominently poking through her robe - when my stomach growled. Loudly. My hands flew to cover my belly, and I looked guiltily at Rhaliyah my facing burning. She stared at me in surprise for a moment before laughing.

"I suppose we should go see if they are serving breakfast yet," the Elfess said, smiling at me. I nodded, still blushing furiously, and followed her out the door and through the bare, stone hallways of the monastery. After walking for a few minutes and taking a few turns, we entered through an open set of double-doors into a large hall - the same one I had woken up in last night. Inside, seated at the various tables, were around three dozen beautiful women of many shapes and colors and sizes.

Glancing around, I saw a few familiar races, like elves and dwarves and orcs, but also some new ones. A woman covered in green scales, with a soft creme underbelly and a tail sat across from a stout, furred woman with a forest of quills on her back. At the other end of the room, at a table without chairs, a trio of women with the lower bodies of four-legged animals 'sat;' one with the body of a doe, another with that of a horse, and the last with a lion's body. Many of the women looked over at Rhaliyah and I as we entered, but most went back to their meals after only a good look - though I could feel dozens of eyes taking glances at me, only a few openly staring with interest.

Even as I gaped in awe at the many beautiful women, one caught my attention from the corner of my eye. Near one lone table, set back in a slightly dark corner, a young woman shyly glanced at me. She was pale, with nearly-white skin and silvery hair, and her slitted eyes were a bright silver. The most striking thing about her, however, was her utter lack of legs. Instead, from the waist down, her body was that of a snake's, though her human body was also scaley and had reptilian some features. She was incredibly long, the snake part of her making up almost 10 feet of her roughly dozen-foot length, near as I could tell. Her scales were also pearlescent in color, and her snake underbelly was actually a simple difference in shade (being slightly yellowish) rather than a lighter color like one would expect on a snake - which made since, given her extreme paleness. Interestingly, she wasn't exactly like what I'd have expected a snake-woman to look like: fins stretched across various portions of both her snake and human bodies: down each of four her arms (yes, she had

four

, two to a side), most of her spine, below her shoulders, etc. Her ears were fin-like, and a frill of fins stretched from the end of her jaws, behind her ears, and up across the top of her forehead, framing her hair. Like all the other women, she wore a simple robe around her body, though hers only covered about four feet of her length.

The moment she saw me look at her, the snake-woman blushed a dark

blue

, and quickly turned away, focusing on the food on the table. I couldn't help but stare at her, intrigued not only by her albino-like features, but also the exotic alieness of her snake features. It was only when Rhaliyah shook my arm that I realized the elf had spoken to me.

I looked at the elfess, who glanced towards the snake-woman, then back to me, a smirk forming on her lips. "What, pointy ears aren't enough to keep your attention?"

I blinked, blushing furiously. "That's not... I didn't... she's just..." I broke off my fumbling attempts to explain myself when Rhailyah choked back more of her lovely laughter.

"You are so easy to tease, Aaron Wells," she giggled, looking towards the snake woman again. I followed her gaze. "She is Stheskiths, if I recall correctly, a Naga. She's fairly new here as well - last time I visited here, about two years ago, she was not here."

"Stheskiths," I softly repeated, carefully forming the complicated tangle of sounds. Even as I said the name, the naga herself looked over at me again, her blush still on her face. She returned my stare for a moment before her blush deepened even further and she looked away again.

Looking away from her, I saw the kitsune woman from last night, Di'ia, I think, approaching. She glanced between Rhaliyah and I, then smiled. "Priestess Gladra has invited both of you to break fast with her in her study, though she says if you would prefer to eat with the rest of the monastery, then you can meet with her later."

I thought for a moment, my gaze flicking unbidden to Stheskiths for an instant before going to Rhaliyah. She shrugged at me, and I looked back at Di'ia. "I think I'll take Priestess Gladra up on her offer. Lead the way."

The kitsune smiled, but gestured towards a buffet table, set off to one side of the hall. "You should first get a plate of food - if you take too long, the others will eat it all before you can get any!" Given how much was still on the table, I doubted that, but I went over and began to pile things onto a plate for myself. I

was

practically starving, after all.

One I had filled my plate and then some (there were tons of options, and I took a little of everything, not sure what all of this new and strange food I would like), I went back to Di'ia and followed her out a side door and down a few hallways, Rhaliyah walking alongside me. We stopped outside a plain-looking door and Di'ia knocked three times. "Enter," came Gladra's voice after a second, and Di'ia opened the door and held it for Rhaliyah and I.

Gladra's study was a small, simple room, with a pair of bookshelves against one wall, and a small desk in the middle of the room. Several stacks of paper, each neat and orderly, covered the desk, and a fire burned in the fireplace across from the bookshelves. At the end of the room was a chest of drawers and a trunk. Gladra stood from behind her desk, smiling at both Rhalitah and I. "I'm pleased you decided to join me," she said, gesturing towards a pair of chairs on the other side of the desk from her. "Please, be seated. We have a lot to talk about."

As Rhaliyah and I took our seats, our plates fitting neatly into small spaces between the paper stacks, I heard the door close behind us and glanced back to check if Di'ia was joining us - she was not.

Turning back to Gladra, I saw her serene, calm smile, and it somehow annoyed the hell out of me. "You knew, didn't you?" The accusation was out of my mouth before I could really even think about it.

The Priestess' smile widened slightly with amusement. "If you are referring to the... amorous engagement you and Rhaliyah shared last night - and, more specifically, the cause of it - then yes. Or at least, I suspected. To be perfectly honest, once I accepted that Au'rea had blessed you, I became aware of the subtle aura that surrounds you, which is why I was so quick to have the other Priestesses leave, and to leave myself - as Priestesses to Her, we would be quite sensitive to Her power, and even with your enhanced healing, I doubt having a half-dozen women throw themselves at you in lust would be beneficial to your recovery." A brief image of such a scene flashed through my mind, and I felt my cock harden in response, but my anger quickly shoved the fantasy aside. "However, as I said last night, Au'rea appeared to Rhaliyah, not one of us. That is significant, and I put my trust in Her to guide the two of you - and especially you, Aaron Wells - to the right path. And that is why I left Rhaliyah alone with you last night. The effect of your blessing was far more pronounced on her than the rest of us, that much I could tell the moment I became aware of it, and I trusted that there was and is a reason for that."

I crossed my arms, too comfortable with anger in this strange new situation to let go quite yet. "But you saw no reason to warn either of us? To maybe tell us what you and your damn magic- and goddess-sense had figured out and what it could mean?"

Gladra sighed slightly. "And what would that have accomplished? Would you have had Rhaliyah leave? Would you have isolated yourself until you fell ill? Even now I can sense your aura, and I can sense its effects on Rhaliyah - and on Di'ia when she brought you here, brief though her proximity to you was. It has the presence of Au'rea within it, and I cannot imagine that any effect that comes of it could be evil or wrong. I suspect that if you stay even 'till the end of this day, you will be propositioned by at least one other. And tell me, what harm could come of that? All here understand that such pleasure need not be kept between only those who are pledged together. None will expect you to save your blessing for them alone; in fact, most would be insulted by the idea of selfishly hoarding Au'rea's gift in such a way. So tell me, Aaron Wells, what would you have me do?"

I clenched my jaw, a part of me stubbornly refusing to see the sense in Gladra's words. At the same time, over two decades living in a society that considered such sexual liberty taboo had filled me with an innate aversion to the idea of having sex with different partners on a daily basis. It wasn't that I personally disagreed with anything the Priestess said - in fact, at least one friend of mine back on Earth was a swinger, and she seemed perfectly happy and content with that, and I'll admit to enjoying some of the stories she shared with our friend group about it - but simply that I had never expected to be in this sort of situation.

But slowly, I forced myself to relax, to go back over Gladra's words, and see the wisdom in them. "Just Aaron," I eventually mumbled.

Gladra raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"I'm just called Aaron. Using my last name almost makes you - both of you - sound like my mother when she gets angry with me. On Earth, in my society, we call people by their first name, unless we're in a formal situation."

Gladra beamed. "Very well, Aaron. I must admit, that is a bit simpler than 'Aaron Wells.' Though it has nothing on some names in Xeria, like those of the Gornad when speaking formally, or the Naga."

I smiled slightly. "'Stheskiths' is quite a tongue-twister."

Gladra's smile became rather smug-looking, and she raised an eyebrow again. "I take it you've met the young naga acolyte?"

I blushed bright red. "N-no, not really. She... well, I saw her watching me and she's rather... well, exotic, and Rhaliyah told me her name and..." I closed my mouth with a snap as both Gladra and Rhaliyah began to giggle. I seemed to have gotten a knack for making a fool of myself in the past half-day.

Gladra's smile became gentler, softer. "If Stheskiths is who catches your interest, you would be better off to approach her yourself. She is painfully shy, timid, in fact, especially for a naga."

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow in question. "'Especially for a naga?'" I echoed.

The Priestess nodded. "There are some races who, regardless of their size or strength compared to others of their kind, are terribly powerful compared to most others. Naga - along with their distant Lamia and Mer cousins - share more than just appearance with snakes; any naga, even a small one like Stheskiths, is easily several times stronger than a human or elf. She could probably lift you with one arm and carry you around for an hour without being overly strained, yet she still views herself as small and weak, likely because most naga are several feet longer than her, and proportionately stronger."

I blinked. Wait, the dozen-foot-long snake-woman was

small

?! She was over twice my height! Then again, I'm sure a five-foot dwarf would seem toweringly huge to her compatriots, while being slightly short compared to humans. It's all relative, after all.

"I suppose that makes sense - especially if she was raised among other Naga. I also saw some... well, on Earth, I'd call the one with a horse's body a centaur, though I'm not sure if that's what they're called here."

Gladra smiled. "Ah, Seira, Dyal, and Viey. Yes, Seira is a Centaur, we use the same word. Dyal, the doe-bodied one is a Dryad, while Viey, with the lion's body is a Neaphir."

I frowned slightly, about to ask about the 'neaphir' name, but Rhaliyah spoke up before I did. "I beg your pardon, Priestess, but I don't think that Aaron's word and our word are the same."