Page 99 of Solivagant

My chest warmed. She’d followed us. It was as good a sign as any that she were meant to be here too.

“Hey, Pipsqueak.” I scooped her up in one hand.

Khorli chuckled. “It isn’t safe for her here, my Jo. We should take her back before the Bridge closes.”

I held her tighter. “She’s strong enough. Aren’t you?” I asked her, booping her little snout, and she oinked in agreement. “And she has two very strong, very protective daddies here to look after her.”

Khorli shook his head, though there was a smile on his lips. “If anyone messes with her… with either of you, I’ll tear their throat out.”

I licked over my bottom lip. “Sexy.”

“Joey! This place is amazing!” Tash called out, already off exploring somewhere unseen.

The smile dropped from Khorli’s lips as he turned to locate her.

I huffed. In time, I was sure they’d end up getting along.

We were inside what looked to be a huge hollowed-out tree. The shadows that formed the Bridge filled an archway made of vines that grew out of the wall.

Khorli’s tail reached through, pulling the stones and the blood-soaked runes to our side. The shadows thinned immediately, the opaque fog retreating into the vines until all that remained was the bark of the wall. The Bridge was closed.

There were furs from animals I could barely even imagine over the floors, with colors unlike any in the human world. His furniture was crude, made of wood or stone. I could already see a few things I could build to improve the place.

Vines clung to the rounded walls of the inside of the tree, forming ladders and netting up to higher platforms where there was more crude furniture, shelves carved into the tree’s walls with crystals and herbs, as well as plants I didn’t recognize hanging from most surfaces.

It was dark, but it would have been darker if not for the soul flowers scattered all over. Golds, silvers, lilacs, blues. There were some the same shape as the ones on his antlers, and so many more, all in different sizes. I wanted to know who they had come from and what determined how they looked.

There was a smile on Khorli’s lips as his fingertips brushed over one gently. “Aerith must have put these here to preserve the place.”

“Woah! Joey, come look at this fucking bird!” Tash shouted. She was up high, obviously having already climbed the vines up into the tree.

The windows were uncovered, allowing in a soft breeze that smelled sweet like honey. From where we were I could just make out the glowing form of a bird with very long tail feathers, right as it took off out the window.

“Golden elder birds,” Khorli informed me. “They work for Aerith.”

He seemed content, but tired.

My tail stroked up his thigh until it found his, and the two of them curled around each other. He’d been away from here for so long, guarding a home that wasn’t his. I couldn’t imagine the mixed emotions he must be feeling now to finally be back here. But he wouldn’t have to experience them alone.

“I hope you will like it here, my Jo. If you don’t, we can find somewhere else. I will be happy anywhere as long as I’m with you.”

I smiled. “I think I’ll like it here just fine.” I cast my eyes up the very tall chamber of the tree. Climbing to the different “rooms” actually seemed much more appealing than it would have been when I were human. “Might make a few… adjustments, though.”

“Anything you want, my Jo.” His fingers laced through my free hand, and he brought it up to his lips to gently kiss over my knuckles. That heat built inside me rapidly. It seemed all it would take now for me to get maddeningly horny was a simple kiss, or noticing his biceps, or the way his lips moved.

“You mentioned… uhh… some kind of cleansing place?”

He nodded, the peaceful smile on his lips turning a little more devious. “I will show you.”

“Tash, we’re going to clean up. Watch the pig!” I called to wherever she was as I put Pipsqueak down on the navy-colored fur rug.

“Yeah, yeah,” she called back from somewhere up high.

Khorli pulled me by the hand. There was an archway cut into the tree, and beyond it a corridor with stone walls. As we walked, the path lowered, until it sloped down into the ground and the walls became a dark purple. They smelled like clay.

It was much darker here. But with Khorli’s flowers lighting the area around us, and my enhanced senses, I could still make out our close surroundings. There really weren’t much to see. Just the same clay above and below us.

Then, there was light. A soft blue from the bottom of the tunnel.