Sea Slimes Ch. 11

"Yeah, well..." Orange blushed. "The way we saw it, us merfolk hadn't been treating you right. We sent you to handle our mess, and Mylio and Nerka didn't even tell you everything. And you were still..." She shrugged. "And, I mean, if we didn't save you, who would?"

Larya blinked. She weighed this for a moment. "Remember what I promised to pay you? I'm doubling it."

"Yay!" Orange clapped her hands excitedly. "But that's not why we did it. Anyways, we got in there. You were pretty badly burned. He was unconscious already with a big bump on his head. We thought you were both dead. Especially you."

Now, that ... that was disturbing. Larya frowned, considering her memories. "Why didn't I die?"

"Well..." Orange shrugged. "You got lucky."

"No." Larya shook her head. "I called up the vents. I was beneath her. If she died—" She paused, looking questioningly to Orange.

"Oh, yeah." Orange nodded. "She's dead alright. Nasty little stuff left over. Not even a body, just ... goo."

Larya sighed with relief. But this did not assuage her concern. "How did I survive?"

Orange bit her lip. "I don't know. Maybe you aren't finished in this world. Maybe there's more you have to do."

"I can't imagine what," Larya muttered.

An uncomfortable silence lingered between them.

The loud series of curses and muffled bangings from the inside of the other oyster was enough to alert them to the fact that Alrek had just awoken. Orange glanced over. "Oh, dear. Your friend is awake."

Larya smiled faintly. "Oh, good. So where's—"

The door in the two mermaid prostitutes' apartment suddenly opened, and Blue swam in. She glanced at the oyster, then smiled and gave the shell a little tap.

The oyster popped open. Snatch lay inside, also naked. Larya quickly looked away. She noticed the mermaids didn't, and Orange in particular seemed quite taken with him. "Ooh," she whispered, squeezing Larya's hand, "He's ... muscular."

"What the... what the f..." Snatch took the blanket Blue offered him, restoring some of his perpetually affronted dignity. Orange let out a sad little sigh.

"You okay, Alrek?" Larya asked. She noticed Blue offered her no blanket, and seemed quite content to keep ogling her. Larya had to go up and get her own. "Blue and Orange here got us out of that place. We owe them our lives. So please don't yell at them for putting you in an oyster.

"They put me in a clam!"

"Oyster, Alrek." Larya caught Alrek's eye. For a moment, they scowled at each other.

She was surprised when Alrek was the first to crack up in a small smile. "Shit, druidess. Shit."

"Never smile again," she said, only half-joking. "You okay, though?"

"Eh." Alrek shrugged. He glanced at the two mermaids and gave a grudging nod. "Thanks for the rescue."

"Don't mention it!" Orange said, grinning ear-to-ear.

"Was I naked when you found me?"

"Well..." Orange shrugged sheepishly. "Your clothes were torn." She was going red.

"Orange," Blue scolded.

"Oh, like you didn't like it when she was naked!" Orange snapped, gesturing at Larya.

Blue went bright red. "You are getting punished tonight, Orange." She turned to Larya and Alrek. "Listen, I actually just got a message for you two."

"For us?" Larya and Alrek said together. They exchanged confused looks.

"Yeah." Blue checked her hand, where Larya saw she had written something. "A weird little skittergoblin calling himself 'Yillit'."

"Huh." Alrek frowned, apparently seeing Larya's equal confusion. "Never heard of him. And how'd he know to come here?"

"He, uh, didn't." Blue shrugged. "He's using some sort of spell. Wants you to meet him at the Sparkling Waterfall. It's actually on the way to the payment Mylio promised you."

"Did he say what he wants?" Larya asked. Skittergoblins (they called themselves springers, but nobody else did) were a strange species that rarely dealt with humans or elves when they didn't have to. They mostly just hung out around dopterine nests, or worked in the service of their eccentric queen.

"He says he has a job." Blue looked between Snatch and Larya. "He says he wants both of you."

"Eh." Alrek tipped his hand from side to side. "We aren't a team. We really just did this last mission to pay off some... debts." He stole a scowl at Larya, who scowled right back. They'd both racked up those debts.

"Well, he wants the two of you or nothing." Blue checked her wrist again. "And he says he'll pay... a hundred." Her voice dropped. "In Old Coin."

Snatch froze. So did Larya.

After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Guess we'll think about it." He gestured. "C'mon, Larya. We should get moving either way. We've got our payment to collect."

Larya got up, but hesitated. "You go on ahead. I'll meet you at the Waterfall."

"What?" He frowned at her. "Why?"

From behind, Larya felt a hand start to slip underneath her blanket. She felt her face heating up. "Well... see, in exchange for helping us, I may have promised—"

"Ugh." Snatch rolled his eyes. "Last time I work with a druidess. Meet you at the Waterfall." He swung open the door and hurried out.

As the door closed, Larya met Blue's now very eager eyes. She smiled nervously. From behind, she heard Orange coo, "Alone at last."

~~~~

Mylio grabbed at the rocky outcropping. The sharp edges of the ledge scratched his hands, but he ignored the pain and struggled to pull himself up. His every muscle seemed to cry out in grief as he did so. He was still drained from earlier that day, and it was all he could do to keep from going limp and slipping back into the abyss below. It was an exhausting effort. After he'd finally landed flat on the ledge, he lay still for a moment, gasping for breath.

He had done it.

He had survived it all. He'd outlived two of his mates. He'd ... withstood the slime girls' attentions three times, now. And now they were finally out of his system. The demons were gone, and Mylio had survived.

He allowed himself a little smirk. It had taken nearly a day to get up here. The pressure had been nearly unbearable, but he knew enough magic to get by in the depths. Now he was back in the middle reaches of the Slick Trench, and he could breathe again without his chest aching.

It would take him a while still, he knew, to reach the top again. Perhaps even a day.

But when he did... oh, were things going to change. The treasures down in the Deep Merfolk's former home were surely grand and wondrous. Ancient magics. Spells of control, of hypnosis, of mastery. They fired his imagination like coals beneath a kettle. When combined with the magics of his people, what could they not accomplish? His magic was already versatile, but he needed more. He wanted more.

And hadn't he earned some share of glory? He had survived it all. He had endured ungrateful wives, treacherous landwhores, demons, royals, thieves... It hadn't been easy, but he had done it. He couldn't believe he had—

Mylio froze as he heard something move behind him. It sounded like falling falls. He tried to turn, but he was too tired, too weak. Perhaps it's nothing, he thought desperately.

"Oh, Myley," crooned a soft, babyish voice. His heart plummeted.

He felt supple arms wrap around his upper body. "Thought you could get away from me, did you?" Loweina cooed in his ear.

"No," he whispered, struggling in her grip. His eyes closed tight, but she was just too strong. He was just... just...

"Too weak," Loweina soothed, running her hands over his sensitive body. He jerked and thrashed helplessly in her arms. "And it feels too goooood."

"N-no," he gasped.

"Oh, Myley..." He felt Loweina dragging him backwards, back down, back towards the realm of the Deep Mermaids. "Don't you see? It's so perfect."

"O-oh—" He jerked as she started to kiss along his neck. Oh, fuck. oh, fuck. Oh, fuck oh fuck oh fuck—

"You can be mine," she sang, turning his face towards hers and kissing his lips in a massive barrage of sensation. "Forever! More pleasure than you can bear. Endless pleasure. Endless submission. Doesn't that sound nice?"

He did not consciously open his eyes. But he became aware of the flickering hair in his field of vision, and those two beautiful, pale eyes.

"Myley?" she whispered, leaning in for one final kiss—a kiss that would bring him to orgasm, that would seal his fate with hers, that he couldn't wait to beg for— "It's okay to scream now, pet."

THE END

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Thank you so much for reading! It's been a wonderful little journey, and I loved writing this. I've gone back and edited the first few chapters a little bit, so feel free to reread at your leisure! Please do leave feedback and let me know what you liked or didn't like about this series.

I have a new, pretty special series in the works right now. Three series, actually: A story about a sinister monster girl ranch, a story about a knight trying to overcome a strange demonic garden, and something a little bit more casual. Stay tuned!