Summoned by Monster Girls

Waking up with Kassandra wrapped around me was always a comfortable sensation. Not just because of her wonderful body, or the fact that she usually sleeps in the nude. No, it’s because of how close she cuddles in for warmth and the way her cool body happily acts as a heat sink to make sure we are both at a comfortable temperature.

Normally, waking up is a slow process for me, one that I can savor and enjoy the moment on the border between sleep and reality.

Even while we were camping, neither of the girls had wanted to rush getting up. I’d lay there halfway between dreams and reality, letting my mind play over the events of the previous day and just enjoying the sensation of the softness pressed against me.

This time, something new forced me from the sweet embrace of slumber, though.

My right arm hummed sharply, like someone had pressed a vibrating phone to the back of my forearm.

Blinking my eyes open in surprise, I stared up at the dimly lit ceiling of Kassandra’s room for a moment before the sensation repeated. Looking to my right was impossible, as Kassandra sprawled across my chest using it as a pillow. Her mane of red curls were blocking the view of anything in that half of the room. I felt her coils tighten slightly around my waist in a slow pulse that matched her breathing.

A third vibration was enough to push me out of my half-asleep daze and into enough wakefulness that I recognized the sensation. One of my bond-tattoos was vibrating, which meant one of my girls was trying to reach me with that new communication power. Since Kassandra was asleep on top of me — and drooling in a rather cute way — I knew it had to be Rieka.

Shifting enough to get my left hand free, I pressed my fingertips to the tattoo as I had learned to in the past day, then I heard Rieka’s voice in my mind.

“Liam, are you and Kassandra awake yet? The morning is already half over and we have a lot to do. Your princess is getting bored and lonely.” The message finished with a slight whining and affected a pitiful tone in her mental ‘voice’. Smiling, I sent a response using the same technique.

“The sleepy noodle has me pinned down right now. I’ll see about waking her up so we can get about the day. Might be a minute to get her up, though. Love you, my Rieka.”

Finishing my message back to Rieka, I glanced down at Kassandra where she slept so peacefully on top of me. I could feel the soft weight of her breasts pillowing on my chest as well, and I didn’t want to give that up, but we had things to do.

Brushing her hair back, I ran a fingertip over the curve of her ear, eliciting a happy murmur from the dwarf lamia.

“Kass,” I whispered her name gently. She groaned quietly, shifting on my chest. This made her close her mouth, and I heard a quiet smack as she licked her lips, then a grunt.

“Liam? Why are you covered in drool?”

<><><>

Finding out she was the source of the drool left Kassandra mortified. But, after I ‘reassured’ her a few times that her drooling on me did not bother me or change my opinion of just how attractive she was, she relaxed.

As soon as we got dressed, I sent another message to Rieka, who joined us in Kassandra’s apartments for a bit of planning before we headed back out of the dorm. The girls had to be a bit creative to get me out of there without arousing suspicion, but I think that they just enjoyed the romance inherent in the idea of having to sneak a lover out of your room.

The walk to Kintos was a pleasant way to wake up. Rieka spent the first part teasing the still-sleepy Kassandra about working me too hard, and how they would have to make sure that I was well fed so I didn’t lose weight. Kassandra finally riposted when she was awake enough with a comment about ensuring I was ‘well restored’ for my ‘later duty’ with Rieka.

That made the platinum blonde blush furiously enough that the wolf-eared princess stopped teasing her friend. So I distracted them both with conversation and plans for what we needed to get done today.

Our first stop was the Hunt and Trade Hall to close out the contracts that the girls had taken. Rieka added the handful of coins those jobs gave them to her pouch and it didn’t feel like more than a drop in the well of what the girls had dragged out of the underground complex. I kept silent and made sure to pull the ‘bored guard’ routine so that no one questioned me.

Once the girls finished turning in their quests, they immediately went over to the material trade counter and sold off a chunk of the crystals.

They’d explained on the walk in that if they dumped out the jars entirely, it would actually end up with a lower overall price as they would flood the market here in town.

Rieka had portioned out about a tenth of each of the jars into pouches and they sold that for now, planning to trickle them in over the next few weeks. In addition, Rieka was due to travel to the capitol to talk to her mother, the queen, and would sell any left over then. Again, the coins went into her pouch without a question to be divided later.

After the Hunt and Trade hall, the girls immediately took me to the city center. From there, we went into a more affluent section of town where the houses had been constructed of carefully carved wood and whitewashed walls to ensure they were neat and tidy. The streets were clean, not heavily trafficked, and well maintained.

My girls brought us to a stop in front of a solid-looking building constructed of granite with the symbol of a set of merchant’s scales embossed on a massive brass disc over the door.

“The bank is a suitable spot to secure some of this for Liam. That way he doesn’t have to come to one of us for money out of his account,” Kassandra was saying as we came to a stop in front of the building.

“I don’t know if that’s necessary…” I started to say, but Rieka huffed cutely from her spot on my right and interrupted.

During the time in town, she’d stuck close to me with an arm through mine, letting me escort her like a lady should. Kassandra hadn’t even bothered pouting this time, having gotten her share of affection from me that morning already.

“It is necessary, Liam. You are an equal part of our team, so you will get an equal share.” Rieka’s tone was a bit acerbic now, and I knew I had to explain better.

“That’s not what I meant, Rieka. I was just thinking that the bank is unnecessary. It isn’t as if I can get here without one of you two summoning me. So keeping my coins separate from yours doesn’t make sense. Besides, it’s not like I need most of it.” I turned to look down at Kassandra, who had a thoughtful glint in her eyes. “Also, if I leave it in your hands? Then Kassandra can invest it for me. If you are willing, Nugget?”

Kassandra’s face split into a huge smile, and she threw herself at my waist. Thankfully, since she didn’t have far to go to build momentum, she wasn’t able to upset my balance. Instead, she just buried her face in my stomach and rubbed it back and forth rapidly while giggling.

“I’d be happy to, Liam! Thank you for trusting me with this! I’ll make sure that your funds grow,” Kassandra spoke in a rapid patter that was even more adorable because of her excitement.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief while stroking her hair.

After Rieka explained the reason for Kassandra’s irritation the previous night, I’d been trying to think of a way to make it up to her. A way that wasn’t just applied in bed.

I’d hit on the idea of entrusting her my spare funds — funds that I had no way of actually taking home with me — during our walk to town and I was glad it had worked.

“So then, do we need to stop here?” I asked when Kassandra had her fill of hugging my middle and had transitioned to instead teasing me by rubbing her supple chest against the front of my pants with a mischievous smile.

“Yes, actually. I wanted to exchange some of the larger coins we found. This is one of the routes I planned to sprinkle the ancient coins into the market,” Rieka said with an indulgent smile. “Even if you plan on leaving your share of the proceeds in Kassandra’s clutches, we need to actually get that share.”

“Lead on then, my princess,” I gestured towards the bank and she nodded with a smirk.

The bank was surprisingly small. Only a trio of small stone desks set one to a wall and manned by dwarves. Guards stood two to a desk in full armor to ensure no funny business happened.

It only took Rieka a few minutes to exchange several of the old coins, though it did end up with the bank manager coming out to speak to the princess.

It was obvious that Rieka was uncomfortable dealing with the sweating, overweight bear-man, but she put on a professional mask of calm detachment while doing it. Only my close contact with her over the last months gave me the tells that showed she didn’t like him.

After the simpering manager made several attempts to entice Rieka into setting up investments with the bank, each politely rebuffed, we finally were able to get out of there. Apparently the only one that hadn’t realized he was annoying her had been the manager. Even the desk worker was shooting their boss irritated looks by the time we left.

“Okay, I’m glad I decided to not leave the money with him,” I said once we were out the door and in the bright light of the afternoon sun once more. “I can’t help but get the feeling that he’s the sort to tack on extra costs and fees in a contract that are designed to line his own pockets.”

“Not all bankers are that bad, but he did feel like one of them. Probably used to the more ignorant young nobles that come to study at Juneau,” grumbled Rieka.

The princess’s grumpy mood faded rapidly when I slipped one hand up her back to lightly stroke the base of her ears, out of sight of the traffic on the road in front of us. She leaned into me slightly instead, a contented look on her face now.

“Anyway, let’s get going. We need to get Liam new clothes and…” Kassandra chirped happily from her spot on the steps, but her sentence drifted off as she spotted something interesting.

Following Kassandra’s gaze, I found what she was looking at almost immediately. In fact, it was nearly impossible to miss the person in the crowd given their height and the vividly colorful wings that were folded carefully at her back.

The woman stood nearly as tall as I did, if the way she towered over the other folks in the crowd was an indicator. She had a waterfall of rich, brown hair that fell to her mid-back in a waterfall of straight hair, shot through with hints of red and white to match the patterns on her delicate wings. A thick ruff of fluffy, white fur encircled her neck and wrists, accented with a dusting of red and brown in spots. Fuzzy, white antennae sprouted from her head and waved back and forth as she edged her way through the crowd, clutching a bundle to her full chest.

While I watched her, the butterfly wings folded neatly at her back fluttered, displaying prominent ‘eye’ patterns on them along with stripes of the red, white, and brown color that her hair followed. She wore a simple brown dress that hung from strong shoulders I expected were necessary for her wings and ran down to cling to her full hips before stopping just below her knees.

“That’s Shayla! We should go say hello since she’s not in her studio at the moment. Come on!” Kassandra crowed and hurried forward at a rapid slither.

Rieka let out a small laugh and moved in pursuit of her friend, her tail bouncing happily. I fell in behind them without a question, keeping my eyes on the crowd.

Kassandra, for all her smaller height, blazed a path through the thin crowd that wasn’t hard to follow. I arrived just as my redheaded noodle was greeting the much larger woman.

“Shayla! It’s good to see you. How are you doing today?” Kassandra came to a stop a few feet from the larger woman, who blinked down at Kassandra with a hesitant expression that slowly grew into a soft smile on her full lips.

“Good morning to you, Lady Silverscale, Princess Coldeye,” the big woman’s voice was velvety and soft, just as her ruff of fur looked. “I hope your day is going well? I was just picking up some fresh supplies. I’d been running low on a few of my paints and needed to pick up some different paper for a project I was working on.”

“That’s wonderful! I can’t wait to see your next finished piece, Shayla. I know that mother has been wanting to purchase some more landscapes, I was hoping to give her one of your pieces for her birthday this year,” Rieka added, pointedly avoiding the stiff and stilted persona she’d used when dealing with the bank manager.

The winged woman blushed sharply, her large eyes blinking rapidly as she bit her bottom lip. I tried not to stare when I realized that, unlike the girls, Shayla had no iris or pupils. Her eyes were entirely black orbs, though I thought I saw a shifting sclera inside those orbs as she glanced between them and then up at me hesitantly. Her shoulders hunched slightly in concern before she responded.

“I’d be happy to sell you one of my pieces, Princess Coldeye. I don’t think I have one on hand that deserves to hang in the Queen’s halls though…”

“Nonsense. Any of your paintings would hang beautifully in the palace,” Rieka dismissed with a gentle and reassuring smile. “We have a few months, though, so there is time. Especially if you have one in mind that you want to work on. Don’t feel pressured. I want your art to shine through on it.”

I listened to the conversation silently, keeping watch as the three girls talked. Shayla was exceedingly shy, her wings occasionally flaring slightly like they were going to wrap around her shoulders as she hunched them, but she responded easily to the questions that my girls asked her. The bundle of supplies she held to her chest pressed on her full breasts and made the large orbs swell out to either side alluringly.

Is it weird that I find this butterfly… no moth? Yes, those cuffs look like a fuzzy moth’s fur. So moth-woman. Is it weird I find her so attractive? I thought while they talked. A quick glance at the serpentine coils and furred ears of my other two lovers made me roll my eyes. No more weird than my other attractions.

Kassandra had apparently noticed the occasional darting glances that Shayla spared me while they talked and turned towards me with a broad smile.

“Excuse my manners, Shayla. And please, stop calling me ‘Miss Silverscale’. I’ve told you a dozen times to just call me Kass.”

“It would be inappropriate of me to do so, given your standing,” Shayla protested quietly, but Kassandra did not respond to that. Instead, my serpentine lover held a hand out to me.

“This is Rieka and my guardian, Liam the Traveler. You might have heard about the disaster that befell at the beginning of the semester, about the summoning that nearly went awry? Liam was the one who responded to it and thankfully was not nearly as bloodthirsty as some of the creatures that might have come. He’s since acquitted himself wonderfully as a protector. Liam, this is Shayla Valo, artist and our fellow student.” Following Kassandra’s glowing introduction, I stepped up and gave the tall moth-woman a bow.

Hesitantly, Shayla offered me her hand, but had it oriented like she would for a handshake.

Remembering how I had bonded with the girls initially, I gently took her hand and turned it to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Shayla immediately burst into a crimson flush that would have put the worst of Rieka’s blushes to shame, but she did not yank her hand back.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Shayla,” I said gently, stepping back to not crowd her.

I could easily tell the woman was shy and reserved, so I made sure to meet her strange eyes rather than stare at her body. I didn’t find their black depths disturbing, they actually felt comforting, like the dim shadows of a comfortable bedroom as you drift off to sleep.

“Ah… yes… pleasure,” stuttered the woman, her wings fluttering briefly behind her.

“So, Shayla?” Kassandra’s words brought the moth-woman’s attention back to her. “If you were free, we were going to go to the tailors to see about getting Liam some better clothes. The poor man is hard on his things, given his earnest work as our guardian, so we needed to get some more for him after spending the last week in the hills for an extended training trip. Would you like to come with us? We would appreciate your eye for color, and it would be good to get to know a classmate better.”

Shayla gave Kassandra a wide-eyed look of concern before her eyes darted to Rieka, who gave her a reassuring smile. Those black orbs settled on me once more and softened slightly, the blush that had faded from her cheeks returning just slightly to pink the pale flesh. She bit her bottom lip once more for a moment before nodding, making her antennae bounce just slightly as they waved back and forth slowly over her head.

“I… I do not know how much help I might be. But, if you do not mind, then I would be happy to accompany two of my classmates. As long as the Lord Traveler does not mind?” she directed the last part to me, worry etching her features suddenly.

“Not at all, and it’s just Liam. Please?” I gave her my best smile, which drew a return one to her lips a moment later. That smile was like the sun rising. It washed away her concern and fear, leaving only happiness on her rounded face.

“Well then! Let’s away to the tailors then. Liam, would you be so kind as to escort Shayla while I have a word with Kass?” Rieka’s words were reassuring and her smile just as genuine as before, though I could see the amusement in the way her tail danced behind her.

She’s got no chance of hiding her mood around me at this point, I thought with a smirk. Her tells are way too easy.

To Shayla, I offered my left arm with a part bow.

“Miss Shayla? Shall we? I would offer to carry your package for you as well, if you wish?”

“Oh no, I have it. Please do not worry about it. I wouldn’t want it in your way if you had to do something… Liam,” she said in a rush, only hesitating before saying my name, but still staring at my elbow in surprise.

Bowing my head slightly in agreement, I offered her my left elbow again. Shayla bit her lip again for a moment before sidling up next to me and slipping her right arm into the crook of my left elbow, a faint blush pinking her cheeks.

Rieka and Kassandra were smiling now and turned to lead the way to the tailors with me right behind them, towing a blushing moth woman along at my side.

<><><>

Shayla was quiet for the entire walk and during most of the time at the tailors. She only spoke up when we directed a question at her and spent most of her time silently observing our group.

It wasn’t until we’d gone through the loose, heavy-duty clothing that was the bulk of my wardrobe that she spoke up finally and helped the girls pick out matching colors and embroidery accents that she thought would go well with my natural colors.

Apparently, she believed I favored yellows and brick reds due to my ruddy skin tone. This amused Kassandra, as the colors almost perfectly matched the red in her scales.

Thankfully, the bulk of my new clothes were pre-made as the tailor kept a large supply on hand for the city’s working class, so I only had to deal with being fitted for four sets of shirts and pants.

While my girls settled the payment with the clerk, Shayla turned her attention to me and asked her first direct question of the day.

“Liam? I know it is rude to ask, but what are you? I’ve been puzzling over it for some time now. Lady Silverscale introduced you as a Traveler, but I’ve never heard of that race.”

“Kass did introduce me that way,” I replied with a slight smile, reminding her of Kassandra’s request to not use her title. Shayla blushed slightly and nodded.

“Yes, Kassandra did say that. I was just… well, curious about it. Moth kin like myself are rare this far north, so I’m more aware of others that do not fit in. I’ve never seen someone like you. I thought you were an elf at first, but your ears do not come to a point at all. I am sorry if it is rude to ask.” Shayla immediately began to retreat into herself when the thought occurred to her and I didn’t immediately answer the question.

“No, no. It’s not rude. I was just trying to figure out how to respond,” I reassured her, and she nodded.

The moth woman had stuck close to me the entire time we were in the tailor’s shop, only separating long enough for me to slip inside the changing room to try on something, or when I had to stand up on the podium to be fitted. Even now she stood only a few inches away from me, the only thing between us being our clothes, her package of art supplies, and about four inches of empty air.

“If you do not want to answer…” Shayla’s antennae drooped slightly as she let the sentence trail off.

I’d noticed that her antennae were as good of a barometer for her mood as Rieka’s tail was, so I responded quickly to try to bring her mood up.

“What I am has a bit of a poor reputation. But understand, I’m not dangerous to you. Rieka and Kass have bonded with me and we have worked together for months now, and nothing has harmed them, either. Okay?” Shayla nodded in understanding, her deep black eyes shifting slightly as curiosity flowed from her posture.

“I’m a human.”

Given the reaction that the girls had exhibited when I told them, as well as their classmates had shown, I expected a rather emphatic reaction from the reserved woman in front of me. Shayla did not disappoint, though it wasn’t quite the way I had expected it to be.

Shayla’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. With a rustling snap, her wings flared wide to either side, displaying the eye-pattern on their surface for just a moment before she swallowed and, with an obvious effort of will, forced them down to her back once more. Her antenna, which normally swayed slightly and wiggled just a bit, went stiff before drooping down in front of her face like they were reaching towards me.

But she didn’t scream, step back, or even show genuine fear beyond the brief moment. So that was a bonus in my book.

“A human?” Shayla’s voice was low and full of wonder.

“I’m not a local, though,” I explained gently. “So the legends of humans in this world don’t really apply to me. I have my own set of powers, and I act as a guardian and protector for Kassandra and Rieka. As well as a class project for their summoning course,” I said the last bit with a brief laugh, which got a smile from Shayla.

“That is… fascinating,” Shayla breathed, stepping a bit closer to me.

I didn’t retreat, letting her study me carefully. Her antennae swept low and one actually bopped me lightly on the forehead, but I didn’t flinch. Shayla stiffened instead and stepped back twice to put some space between us.

“I am so sorry. That was very rude of me.”

“What? Booping me with your antennae?” I said with a chuckle, which reassured the large woman some. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I know moths use their antennae to sense their surroundings, so I figure it was just you getting a feel for me. Serious, don’t worry about it, Shayla. I haven’t known you for long, but I already think of you as a friend.”

“A friend?” The plaintive tone in her voice at that suggestion tugged at my heart, and I knew that I was already in trouble. This girl was just too sweet and kind.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw smiles on both Kassandra and Rieka’s faces as they packed up the purchases we’d made into Rieka’s dimensional pouch.

I gave them a brief nod in agreement and got wide grins back. From the sparkle in Kassandra’s eyes, I knew my dwarf lamia already had plans to fold Shayla into our group if she could.

Didn’t Kass say that Shayla has light magic, too? I thought, turning back to smile at the moth woman, who had been studying me intently once more and blushed when she realized I’d caught her staring. That’ll be interesting to see.