Alden and Claeri’s head lay on a large stain of cum on the bed, Bertha’s legs hemming them in. The human-made panties Bertha wore had been tugged off at one side, letting it slide partway off her thigh. All the slaves were still there during all this, those she wore on herself. No one needed to be consulted, she could do whatever she wanted and they had no say in the matter.

It was morning, the morning light brightening the canvas walls. Alden rolled off Claeri’s face with a slimy slip, landing on the soaked blankets. Claeri stirred to his motion, and her sweet lips came together and gave him a peck on the face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But she likes it that way.” Claeri looked like a mess, her hair scattered in bunched, wet tendrils, as if she were cast ashore by a stormy ocean.

Alden patted her lip. “Don’t worry about it.”

“How is it now?” Claeri used her tongue as a finger, and she prodded at his manhood. “Better?”

“You could say that.”

“Well, good morning to you all.” The woman’s voice was familiar. Lady Hex entered the tent, hands on her waist as she circled the bed. “Don’t you have a habit of indulging, Oh Mighty Bertha?”

“Indulge?” Bertha squirmed as if newly awake, brought out from her orgasmic slumber. She turned aside, both her legs brought to the same side of Claeri and Alden. “With all the work I have upon myself, I better make sure to indulge when I’m home. I have to overcompensate for all my missed time.” Bertha collecting and combed her scattered hair with her fingers. “I can’t dawdle about in camp like you do.”

“Dawdle?”

“Or whatever you do when you play with your trinkets and potions.”

“Potions and trinkets you have good use for.”

Bertha smiled, waving Lady Hex away. “I jest, don’t annoy me.”

“I bring interesting news.” Her eyes went to Alden. “The seed I retrieved from him. I used my most basic formula, and it already produced something that gives strengthening properties.”

“Strengthening properties?”

“I used it on a slave, and they felt not only revitalized, but gained the courage to fight back when I left them. They almost escaped, with the sudden strength to make it possible.”

Bertha twisted her mouth, impressed. “Huh. I told the Artless he might have a future here as a fighter.” Bertha took a tuft of Claeri’s hair and idly played with it.

“Turns out, he might be a far more valuable resource than that,” Lady Hex said. All this talk made Claeri defensively wrap her fingers around Alden’s body, bringing him towards her chest.

“What does it mean?” Alden said. He was both curious and afraid, curious since his he’d never been spoken about in promising contexts since it was known he was the Artless, and afraid for where these findings might lead.

“For alchemy, the properties of a mage’s seed varies, but usually, once they’ve reached their art, there’s an incredible improvement in its potency. Your seed exhibited such characters.”

“The characters of me having an art?”

“The characters of mages who have reached their art.” Lady Hex stepped closer, her thighs touching the bedside. Claeri’s fingers tightened around Alden’s body. “You don’t have an art, but your inner workings aren’t the same as a mage who wasn’t reached theirs yet. You’re not that simple.”

“So you’ve found a reason to take my favorite dog’s slave from me?” Bertha said, a hint of playfulness. Alden didn’t like that playfulness. She wasn’t serious about preventing him from being taken by Lady Hex.

“He’s a complicated case, but one I can crack with time. But I’ll be needing him.”

Bertha cast away the tangle of Claeri’s hair she twirled with. “That should give you plenty of motivation, Artless. Fight for me, or be subject to Lady Hex’s experiments.”

Lady Hex frowned. “Should this even be a debate? What will he make, a mediocre base mage in your ranks, if he’s even committed? Or a toy for your ‘favorite dog’, or whatever you call this pale weakling? Just get her some other human slave to fuck. The benefit he can bring us all if I get him far outweighs anything else he might do under your command.” Claeri pressed Alden deeper into her chest, caving forward to bring him in.

“Now now, this is a discussion for another time,” Bertha said.

“I want to have it now.”

Bertha sighed. With her knee, she nudged at Claeri’s back. “Out of here. Get washed, and be at the training grounds before noon. Do not be late this time.”

“Yes, mistress.” Alden tight in her clasp, Claeri slipped away from the bed and scurried out of there. Lady Hex just started her argument as they exited the tent, greeted by the morning sun. Alden shielded his eyes.

“I know a place we can go,” Claeri said, dashing off, her small little feet padding on the soil.

“To do what?” Alden said.

“Get washed… and be together.” She kissed him on the head. He was getting used to casually being peppered with her love this way. He wasn’t tired of it. Alden didn’t love her as much as she seemed to love him, but he was new to this kind of affection and welcomed it.

Claeri left the hills and followed a stream coursing from them. To humans, it was like a broad river. The trees gave way to flatter terrain where a few giants were practicing against one another, the ground in a constant tremor from them tossing each other about. Past a few more tents, tall elm trees returned, and Claeri found the stream again. By a lonely clearing she sat, panting, holding Alden against her.

“What’s stopping us from going now?” Alden said. “Let’s continue.”

Claeri’s thumb scratched up against his front, her eyes nervously watching the distance.

“You’re only constrained mentally. It’s in your head. Just walk, that’s all it takes. Make those first steps and it’ll start feeling easier. You owe this place nothing.”

“Big Bertha is scary.”

“I…” The things he’d seen in his sleep returned, the way she demolished that village and crushed humans under stone. “I know. That’s why we need to get away from her.”

“Uhm.” Claeri scratched her cheek. The cum had dried on them both, leaving their skin glossy. “Let’s clean up first.” She bent forward toward the stream, splashing water on her face with a hand. Alden was let go by the bank, where he too took a dive. The water was cold, a sharp spike of adrenaline bringing him back. He jumped out with a huff and gasp, shaking his limbs.

Claeri’s hands found him again, bringing him to her mouth. Her hot breath was a safe haven from the freezing water, as well as her tongue. She swiped her tongue over his body repeatedly, throwing in a couple of kisses between, and at last transitioned to tongue-filled kisses. From cum to water to saliva, Alden was warm again. His manhood stood ready, still with an ache from yesterday, but replenished enough for more.

Claeri planted one last kiss on his head, drawing back, and Alden lost himself in her blue eyes. She was such a sweet thing, made of love.

“Are they going to take you from me?” Claeri said, twisting her mouth in concern. “Big Bertha didn’t seem serious about it.”

“I don’t know, but it sounded that way. Lady Hex wants to make potions using me. Claeri, I beg of you, let’s run now.” He bobbed his head at the woods, past her. “We can’t just stick around. This won’t last. You heard them talking.” Alden reached out and touched her lips. He didn’t know how insincere he’d sounded before, but this was no act he performed. This was genuine. “Please, Lady Hex will make me her alchemic milking cow for the rest of my life. Right now, you’re the only one who can save me. Save both of us.”

Claeri nodded. There was a slight frown on her, a kind of aggression born of determination. “Yes. You’re right.”

Hope welled up in Alden, a source of warm energy blooming within. He leaned forward from her hand and kissed her lips, the large pair returning a peck.

“Later…” Claeri said, tilting him down to see the length of her body. “Could you kiss me down there? Treat me like a proper lady?”

“I’ll do whatever you want, anything you say. I’ll treat you like a goddess.”

She blushed and giggled girlishly.

Voices interrupted, the trees from the direction of camp rustling. “I think they went this way.”

Claeri tensed up. “Those are the bullies who always annoy me.”

“We need to go now,” Alden urged. She did, holding him against her and running the other way. Not towards whatever Bertha had instructed, but towards their freedom.