Chapter 10

I knew where she was now.

On Isegrol. Scans from orbit had identified an almost perfectly circular formation of pure Exanite with a massively tall tower of it right in the center. It had been dubbed "The Lightspire."

And I knew, in a chamber in the heart of that tower, was Drusera's true body

And surrounding it. The Strain. A dangerous mutated form of life that corrupted everything they touched, even turning other life forms into Strain as well. Like a virus, they infected every form of life they encountered. Things were so bad that the official name of the zone the tower was located in was called "The Defile." It was probably the most dangerous region on the planet, isolated in a valley surrounded with impassible peaks, Isegrol was the least explored part of Nexus, with the only established access point being in Malgrave at the southern end of the continent.

Even to get to the Lightspire would require fighting my way through the worst regions on the planet.

Fortunately, it looked like I wouldn't have to do it alone. Arwick sounded like he planned to try and talk the council into defending the spire against the Dominion. They might not be able to do much to help me free Drusera, but they could certainly help me get to her.

But there was something Drusera was too afraid to tell me. She loved me, she trusted in me, but still she was afraid. She couldn't bring herself to talk about the Entity. And I wasn't going to push her. I wasn't going to force her to cry. She would tell me when she was ready.

I had my guesses, of course. I suspected that the Entity might be a failed attempt to make the Genesis Prime before she was made, but even a failed version was far too strong for the Eldan to destroy. Their arrogance and insanity had led to their own destruction, and condemned Drusera to a thousand years of paying for their mistakes.

It was two days later when Yaenna stopped by with a couple of Granok carrying a large object wrapped in padding.

"Hi, Val, Myala has a surprise for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, a couple of explorers brought this in a few weeks ago and when Myala saw it, she had to buy it,"

There was a large rock in my yard and one of the Granok was busy using a plasma cutter to sheer off the top to make a pedestal. Drusera was watching curiously.

After the rock had been flattened, they lifted the wrapped object, which seemed to be rather delicate given how gentle they were with it. What was odd was the loose way the wrappings hung after they set it on the rock. It seemed whatever was inside was hovering about a foot above the rock.

I joined Drusera in watching. They carefully cut the ties holding thr wrapping around the object, and then smiled at us to make sure we were watching. Then they slipped the cover off and Drusera's hands flew to her cheeks.

It was her. The Eldan statue was faceless, but the pose and the robes left no doubt. It was a stylized statue of Drusera, hands clasped in front of her, hood over a featureless head, made from a greenish metal with gold accents. And, like Drusera herself, it floated.

Drusera's cheeks glowed as she peeked at it through her fingers.

"Myala saw it at the auction house and just had to get it for her, so that everyone knows this is her home. She hopes you like it." Yaenna supplied.

Drusera looked at it for a moment, then ducked into the house. I was worried she was upset about it, but she emerged a few seconds later carrying her bunny ear headband.

She put them on the statue and turned to me with a wide grin, her rabbit ears quivering. "Yes, you definitely are cute, dear."

She circled around the statue a few times as flowers started sprouting all around it. In a couple of minutes, the boulder was completely submerged in a riot of color. Drusera turned to look at me happily.

"It's lovely. But not as lovely as you." I noted.

She blushed briefly and swooped over to give Yaenna a hug, She was still in holo mode, so it was just a virtual one, but Yaenna gave her a huge smile.

"You're part of our family dear. And now you get to get pampered by the Matria alongside

Val."

I chuckled, remembering some of the ridiculous gifts she had given me that we'd had to leave in the palace. The triple life-sized statue of me fucking a tree was particularly embarrassing. And far too detailed…

"I have… never received gifts before." Drusera admitted.

I chuckled. "Myala will fix that. She absolutely loves giving gifts."

"It feels… nice."

Yaenna nodded. "She'll be happy to hear that. That's all she hopes for."

I looked at the statue setting in its bed of flowers and thought it looked fitting for a outdoor shrine to a goddess of life. And it certainly would mark our home as Drusera's residence. And Drusera didn't seem to hate it. She was fussing with the bunny eays to make them just right, one straight up an the other slightly crooked like mine got when I was giggling.

Then, when she had them just right, they glowed briefly and turned into the same greenish metal, now looking as if they had been part of the statue the whole time. The interior of the ears had a matching gold tone and the featureless face now looked a lot more like Drusera's own, though still heavily stylized. It lacked fine detail and was mostly just a simplified version, but it was unmistakably her. She looked at it critically for several seconds before turning to me and grinning.

"It's perfect." I told her. She was like a little kid looking for praise, and I was happy to provide it. But it also was the first time she had manipulated anything other than plants. Was she getting stronger? Between making me fly, and changing the statue, something was changing in her, and I hoped it was a good sign.

My comm rang. It was a message from Blok.

Hey Val, did something happen to your girlfriend? I'm guarding a science team researching this Eldan lab, and something weird just happened. There are a couple of abstract statues here that kinda looked like your lady but had no faces. But when we came out of the lab, they suddenly had bunny ears and faces.

He'd attached a photo of two much larger statues standing outside an eldan structure, and they mirrored the statue Drusera had just altered.

Don't worry about it. She's doing great. I sent back. I wasn't going to make an issue of it. So, she had maybe changed every statue of her on the planet. They were her statues; she could do what she wanted with them. For all I knew, it could just be a side effect of the fact they were of Eldan make and her connection to the Nexus computer network had triggered the change. I already knew she was a goddess, no point in being surprised over something so harmless.

I thought about messaging Arwick, but mentally shrugged. I'd deal with it if it came up.

I looked over to the royal burrow and saw Myala standing just inside looking at us with an utterly charmed look on her face. I could tell she was trying so hard not to rush out and gush over Drusera. So, I gently grasped Drusera's hand. "Let's go tell Myala how much you liked her gift?"

Drusera nodded.

We didn't leave the burrow that night.

I was standing in that golden room again, but this time I was alone. Well alone but for Drusera's real body floating in the air above me. I was a little further away from her this time and could see that the overwhelming brightness around her was due to a column of intense light that she was suspended in. I looked down to see my own naked body.

"YOU CANNOT SAVE HER, I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU CAN SHEILD HER FROM ME, BUT I WILL KILL YOU, CRUSH HER, AND BE FREE TO REMAKE THIS UNIVERSE IN MY IMAGE."

"Like hell you will." That gravely voice wanted me scared, wanted me to cower, but I'd be damned if I let him break me. Was it courage? Bravado? No. I was terrified, but I would never acknowledge it. Not for this bastard's pleasure.

"WHAT HOPE HAVE YOU? ALL THE MIGHT OF THE ELDAN WAS NOTHING BEFORE ME. YOUR PATHETIC FORCES WILL FALL BEFORE ME."

Maybe, won't know till we try though, will we."

"YOUR PATHETIC BRAVADO WILL ACCOMPLISH NOTHING!"

Five flares of purple light in a half circle formation appeared for a moment in the air below Drusera's body like eyes glaring at me.

"And yet you fear me enough to threaten me."

"I DO NOT FEAR YOU, PATHETIC WORM. YOU ARE JUST AN ANOMOLY, A SIMPLE ERROR I WILL CORRECT. I WILL MAKE YOU ONE OF MY STRAIN AND YOU WILL FOREVER REMIND HER OF HER FOOLISHNESS IN TRYING TO OVERCOME ME."

"Yet, she's held you bound for a thousand years. I think you aren't as strong as you think."

"I WILL CRUSH YOU!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I'm still going to free her. Even if it costs me my life."

"IT WILL COST MORE THAN YOUR LIFE! I WILL TURN YOUR WHOLE SPECIES INTO MY SLAVES."

"The Dominion thought that too. But we're still here, still free."

An inarticulate howl of rage was the last thing I remembered as I woke up.

Myala was still clinging to me while Drusera bobbed by the window, still nude as she seemed to bathe in the multicolor light streaming in. She seemed happy after our first actual threesome. Myala had been surprised at her lack of flavor, but had greedily gobbled her to at least five orgasms that I counted.

Obviously, Drusera was oblivious to the dream I'd just had.

I smiled at Drusera's apparent comfortableness with being nude in front of Myala now. I took it as a sign that she'd finally grown to accept Myala's love as well as my own. Other species often looked askance at Aurin customs, but Drusera seemed completely accepting of them. She'd seemed fascinated while watching me pleasure Myala, then had hesitantly taken her turn, growing more confident after she made Myala climax. She'd thereafter happily took turns giving and receiving with both of us most of the night before we'd fallen asleep blissfully. I was willing to bet she'd probably hovered over the bed all night contentedly watching us sleep.

I couldn't wait to see how much fun she had on a whole harem orgy night. We hadn't had one since leaving Arboria, but things would settle down eventually. Hopefully, she'd have her real body by then so she could sample the flavors of everyone's flowers.

Also, given the utter bliss still on Myala's face, and the lack of my tail between her legs, I was willing to bet she'd actually woven a connection with Drusera during our fun night. That made me happy. Given Drusera and I came as a set now, between us, we could actually serve as a real consort.

Drusera noticed I was awake and bobbed over.

"You enjoy yourself?" I asked.

She nodded happily and lifted my hand to rub her cheek against it.

"I loved watching you enjoy Myala's flower." Her cheeks lit up softly.

I thought back to the dream. I now had the Entities confirmation that I was somehow creating a safe haven for this tiny little goddess. I had no clue why, but I was happy. So long as she was by my side, at least mentally, she was free. I could cope with her clinginess if that was the price I had to pay for her to enjoy that little space of peace.

He wanted to crush her out of existence, but for a thousand years, she had held him back. That meant that for all his arrogance, he lacked the power to defeat her. Instead he'd resorted to trying to crush her spirit.

Perhaps I was simply giving her the confidence to reject him. I'd had a relationship like that back in my movie making days. A human girl who had seen me as a trophy, who had wanted me to exist solely as what she desired me to be, to basically no longer be Aurin. Myala had more or less saved me when she called me to the palace and begged me to stay.

But I had been damaged. My already weak ability to sense the weave had vanished entirely. Myala kept hoping I'd heal one day, but it had been eight years and I was still barely able to sense incredibly powerful sources of primal life. For anything less powerful than Drusera, I was still blind. My instinctual connection to the forest was effectively gone.

But, I'd made peace with that years ago, mostly. Being both a rare albino Aurin and beautiful had made me a target for many people who wanted to own me. Myala's making me her pet didn't really count as the most she ever did was play at commanding me. I really had spent the majority of my time just hanging out in the palace being her friend. She had four actual consorts she loved too so it wasn't like she could drag me to bed all the time. I spent far more time practicing my dancing than being a sextoy. I'd added marksmanship to my routine only after the Dominion had invaded.

Drusera's relationship with the Entity reminded me so much of my past abusive relationships. Like my human lover had, he'd beaten down her sense of worth and made her feel powerless. But she was gradually relearning both.

Myala yawned hugely next to me. Her lovely blue eyes opened to focus on the two of us and she grinned like a maniac.

"Last night was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with me Drusera."

Drusera nodded with a small contented smile.

"Weaving with you was incredible, I've never felt so alive!"

Her glowing cheeks expressed her happiness.

Myala's tail entwined with mine "And you were wonderful too, Val."

"What can I say, your flower bewitches me. I can't help but want to lick it."

She swatted my hand. "Can't you just admit you love me. you silly rabbit?"

"But I'm a silly rabbit." I explained

Myala giggled. "Yes, yes you are. But that's why I have to show you so much love." She sat up and stretched, her tail grasping mine tightly.

Drusera was looking at our tails twisting against each other.

"Is this behavior with your tails pleasurable?"

Myala nodded. "Oh yes! We Aurin love to twine tails!"

Drusera looked thoughtful as her robes reformed. She floated over to the mirror to examine the split rear skirts and wiggled her adorable butt. Then like had happened when she'd made her ears, a holographic tail appeared and rapidly turned into a copy of mine. The white fur matched well with both Myala's and mine, and the tail ring was the one all Aurin had adopted when we joined the Exiles, but with distinct Eldan circuitry accents that shimmered softly. She looked at it with glee and shyly came back to the bed.

"May I engage in this tail play as well?"

Both Myala and I untwined our tails to wrap them around Drusera's. She looked a little surprised at first, but quickly closed her eyes to savor the pleasure of a good twining.

Given that both Myala and I had white hair, though Myala's skin was a light purple where mine was pure white, Drusera was starting to look like our child. Hell, with her small frame, barely a couple of inches taller than me and slightly shorter than Myala, all she needed was hair to look like a Eldan/Aurin crossbreed.

The bliss on her face as we all twined tails made me quite happy too. I thought about suggesting hair to her, but decided against it for now, She looked really cute in her cowl as she was. It was up to her if she eventually decided to grow hair. I was fine with her beauty either way.

Yaenna poked her head in the door. "Good morning, everyone. I hope you all had fun last night." She noted what we were doing and gleefully added her tail to the mix. "Ohh, your fur is so fluffy Lady Drusera."

Drusera blushed harder but made no effort to pull away.

"It feels so new, and so… pleasurable."

Yaenna smiled. "I'll be happy to twine tails with you any time, my dear."

"T-thank you." Drusera shyly said, looking happy and a little surprised. I'd told her the other consorts would be completely accepting of her. But now she had direct proof. Yaenna's tail was sensuously stroking hers.

Yaenna playfully gave all of our tails a final stroke before saying. "You two need to get dressed. Arwick has the flier almost ready for your trip today, your majesty. And Val? You're to go with her as part of her guard."

"Since when am I in the royal guard?"

"Since Arwick tapped you to go along this morning. You're the explorer assigned to accompany Myala to investigate Everstar Grove now that the Dominion's pulled out." She pulled out her data pad and showed me. "You're tasked with setting up a couple of satcoms at the landing site and around camp Elderroot." She grinned. "Don't worry, you'll have five fine specimens of Aurin manhood to protect all of you. It's just you're one of our best explorers if you run into anything dangerous while you're scouting." She flashed me a grin. "Don't worry, it's just for today. Arwick isn't seriously going to draft you, I promise. He's pretty certain this trip will be safe, he's just cautious."

"Okay, okay. I'll go."

"Good. You might have just enough time to have Myala as an appetizer before breakfast if you don't get carried away."

"If I do that, we'll end up in a day long threesome, you silly mouse." Her large ears twitched as she hid a laugh.

"Besides, Val is usually my breakfast." Myala said with a smile.

Drusera tilted her head curiously. "Val is food?"

"Her flower is. I can't wait til you can taste how delicious she is." Drusera blushed and gave me a shy smile.

"Oh yeah, well I feel the same way about her tasting your flower Myala." I gave Myala a playful tail smack on her bare ass as Yaenna started gathering her clothes for the day. Myala looked at her and joked. "Of course we could always have her sample your flower Yaenna, it's just as tasty."

"If I let you do that, we'll have all your other consorts dropping in for their turn. We haven't yet had a turn with Lady Drusera, and it's been months since we've had Val."

"Well, I am not going to protest much if you come by my house one at a time when your duties allow." I said. "Whether Drusera would join is up to her."

Drusera gave a shy smile. "I- I would not mind so long as it is with you." She said to me.

"There you go."

"I- it is the Aurin way, is it not?"

"Yes, but it's still your choice dear. You get to decide if you want to have sex or not. You don't have to just because you think it's expected of you."

Yaenna nodded. "I'd love to play with you, Lady Drusera, but I'd never wish for you to think of it as a duty."

"No… I- I want to be a good consort. I have never been part of a family before."

"Oh. Of course, dear. I'll happily do all I can to help. If you find me enticing, I'm all yours for the asking."

"E- enticing?"

"She means desirable, sweetie." I said.

Drusera looked her up and down. "She is good looking." This time it was Yaenna's turn to blush prettily.

"Thank you. Lady Drusera."

I got dressed as Yaenna helped Myala get dressed. Myala liked dressing sedately despite her office, preferring the ability to move freely over decoration. Only her wooden crown truly made her stand out.

As Yaenna finished dressing her, I brushed Drusera's new tail. She was surprised when I started, but was soon closing her eyes in bliss. I noted the spilt in her rear skirts had risen about eight inches to let her tail free, but I didn't think it mattered with the way she floated everywhere Nobody would be able to see if she did flash her flower. Besides, she generally stayed in private mode outside of Sylvan Glade, so I'd be the only one to see it anyway.

As Drusera floated around the table, eagerly twining tails with the consorts, each one gave her a warm smile, the conversation flowing like a soft melody in the background.

Yaenna, as first female, was happily playing guide. Her tail wrapped gently around Drusera's, her eyes full of warmth as she encouraged her to twine with each of the consorts. "You have such a lovely tail, Lady Drusera," she said, her voice calm and soothing, with a touch of awe. "It's wonderful to see you so eager to embrace our traditions."

Dawnmist, ever the quiet one, gave Drusera a subtle nod, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she twined her tail with Drusera's as well. Her silence was a contrast to the others, but there was a quiet earnestness in the way she held herself, the way she managed to make her presence felt without needing to say a word. Her small round ears and the way she nibbled her meals was as squirrel-like as ever.

Nightfall, ever the showy one, was much more expressive, her tail swirling around Drusera's with an almost dramatic flair. Her tall black tipped ears enhanced her vulpine looks perfectly.

"Such grace," she said, her voice laced with a playful undertone. "I daresay, your tail will outshine all of ours soon enough, Lady Drusera. It seems like you have quite the natural talent for this."

Stonebloom was the last to join in. She moved with a quiet, steady confidence, wrapping her tail around Drusera's firmly. "You'll be a master of this soon, I'm sure sweetie," she said, her voice practical but warm, her words offering reassurance. "Tailplay might seem strange at first, but you'll find your way. We're here to help." Her flopped over ears matched her easy going attitude quite well.

As Drusera beamed at the praise, Arwick finally made his way into the room, his eyes widening a little as he saw the tail twining happening all around him.

"This is new," he remarked, clearly surprised by the sudden bonding ritual.

His tail gently brushed against Drusera's, his expression softening at the innocent joy in the room. He expressed mild surprise at suddenly being included in Drusera's twining efforts but smiled indulgently.

"How pleasant." He noted as his tail gently stroked hers back.

"She just made her tail this morning so she's experimenting."

"I see." He turned to her "I hope I am being gentle enough Lady Drusera." She giggled as she nodded.

He smiled. "Your tail fur is exquisite if I may be so bold."

"T- thank you."

"No, thank you for this honor. I am glad to see you embracing our family so happily."

She hit Cherenkov danger levels again.

A round of titters went around the breakfast table. Drusera bobbed over to me to give me a kiss, her rear towards Arwick. He started, then blushed "Um…"

"Hush Arwick." I interrupted. "Let her enjoy her new tail."

He rolled his eyes, "Very well, Val."

Drusera blinked at me in confusion. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No dear, nothing at all. Your skirt is simply cut higher in the back for your tail and Arwick noticed."

"Is that a problem?"

"Not among family. Aurin tail etiquette is something you'll learn by observation. It's nothing to fret about."

She nodded and bobbed over my shoulder so she could twine her tail around mine as we finished breakfast. As we headed towards the flyer we'd be using, I noted in amusement the playful looking tail that the statue now had.

Drusera curiously investigated the inside of the flyer as we made our way to the remains of Everstar grove…