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The Isle of Kinoa -- Part 10

By Luther

The tube through which Numarcius slid was thankfully smooth. Perhaps lava once flowed through it, fortunately no longer, but now it coursed with a flood of dragon spunk that carried him downward. Him and his passenger, that was. Attached to his still throbbing manhood was the little slime creature that rode along with him. The blob was even now trying to milk him through the twists and turns until the slide bottomed out and he found himself rolling across a slate floor. Luck had it that his little friend cushioned the more sensitive parts from the abuse of it.

His little friend was also still slowly making him grow as clearly visible through it, eager to increase its food supply. Numarcius's cock could be seen pounding stronger and stronger still with the passing moments. Each pulsed pushed back the limits to his size a little further and, by the time he had recovered and sat up, his mesmerized stare had allowed another inch or two to be added and a heavier weight grew between his legs as his nuts swelled into a new neighborhood around the melon category.

Enough was enough, however. While he might have liked to pack a bit extra like just about every other guy, this was getting out of control. With both hands he grabbed it and pulled but the slime was amazingly slick both by its own nature and the thin coating of Achak's essence left behind. And every time he threatened to remove it the thing would jostle and wriggle, electrifying his nerves and making his legs tremble, robbing him of any desire to do anything but thrust into it. The extra teasing pressure his own hands put on it didn't help either.

At last he managed to find a good grip but the glob's spasms had managed to send him into his own as his cockhead flared and he released into it, feeding it once more. At length, it took no small amount of willpower and leverage for him to finally scrape and pry the thing from him with a wet pop and a last, errant spurt onto the ground. As it wiggled between his claws he thought that he might like to keep it and take it with him if he could, though he lacked any way of carrying it safely. The wolf dismissed the notion and opted instead of toss it harmlessly into the gathering pool of cum, to land beneath a miniature waterfall of the stuff. The little fellow should not go hungry anytime soon and made no effort to chase after the wolf with such sustenance readily available.

He stood back up and tried his best to wipe himself clean, meeting only marginal success. Numarcius checked his pistol and judged the powder dry enough to discharge and made sure it was loaded. Now that he was on his own and further than before, he would have to be ready for anything.

Elsewhere, Bobert plodded along, leery to every shadow that might prove itself to be more than just a shadow. It was around this time that every dripping or distant sound and perceived movement seemed hostile to him.

The otter stopped dead in his tracks when he first felt the earthly tremors shake the hall beneath his feet. That certainly wasn't imaginary. He dashed behind a nearby column and saw the source of it appear from another passage; they were the giant footsteps of an equally giant owner. On the massive figure he spied a semi-familiar face, though it was difficult to miss the dragon. Weighing his options, he decided to make himself known. Perhaps the yield from half a wish was better than nothing at this point? Now that he was alone, there was nobody else to be the next taken by the island. That left a hundred percent chance the next person gone would be him . . . unless there was another.

Dragonien was a bit winded at this point. He had been walking for what felt like ages before at last coming to something halfway promising. He figured his longer stride would help him reach the center faster but it didn't seem to do so much as he felt himself becoming out of breath all the same. Just how big was this mountain, anyway? Yet ahead lay potential reward and that put a renewed vigor in his step. Ahead was a great stone door that impeded him for just the moment. But there was an odd, shimmering glow flooding underneath the stone door ahead, similar to moonlight. He knew he could spend all day guessing at what might be beyond but there was only one way to find out. Preparing to shove it aside, he found himself stopped short.

"Hey, over there!" called a distracting voice he just might have heard before. "Down here!" Taken off guard, Dragonien's roving eyes eventually spotted a comparatively tiny otter.

The dragon snorted as nonchalantly as he could muster. "Hey, I remember you from that tumbledown town before."

"Yeah, I know you too," Bobert said. "You look different. Haircut?"

"Maybe because I'm about twenty feet tall now?"

"Nah, that's not it."

An unamused glare or perhaps slightly wittier comeback may have been returned if the two of them were not themselves interrupted. The dragon and otter turned their heads to the movement of a certain wolf cambion poking his head into the room.

"Am I ah- interrupting anythin'?" Numarcius asked.

Dragonien shook his head. Bobert spoke: "Let me guess, the rest of your group either didn't make it or left you behind and now you're on your own?"

The wolf only gave a nod, slightly confused how they knew his group wasn't just around the corner behind him or any number of other possibilities.

"Well why don't we make the best of this then and see how far we get? Not like we'd have much of a chance getting back out the way we came." Bobert voiced a prospect all of their minds were at least tugging at.

A silent consensus was built and attentions returned to the doors that were front and center. Gauging the things were to be pushed, the three of them set their shoulders to the task and dug in their heels. For a time it felt as though they were getting nowhere in their exertion, but after a second and third attempt, they surrendered and cracked enough for the trio to gain the kind of leverage that would have the doorway yawning wide open.

This had to be it.

Nothing the three had seen before had been half as grand or magnificent. In front of them the path fell away to a rolling field of grey that stretched into the distance, populated not by grassland but by grey slate, dry ash, and tall standing stones. And in that distance stood a monolithic step pyramid, more akin to the desert ziggurats in the picture-books of fantastic tales, yet made instead of white basalt. The vista was cold, far colder than one would expect at the heart of a volcano, yet hauntingly beautiful in a way a lonesome dreamscape might elicit. The whole sight was stunning yet visually impossible. It had to be yet more magical trickery ensorcelling their eyes but no amount of blinking or rubbing could dispel it. Despite what reason told then, there it was.

Crowning the far structure was a silvery halo of light that gave the impression that some pale brother to the sun was just behind it and about to climb over its apex -for no moon could be so brilliant. It sent the massive shape into stark relief, creating an almost alien presence about it. What the pallid light did do most of all was convey a strong message that said 'come here, all your dreams lie within!' Or at least it was something along the lines of 'get here first or you don't get anything'. Something planted the message so strongly in their heads.

One good look at the place was all they needed for whatever understanding of cooperation they had amongst them to dissolve completely. This was it and they knew it.

As one, the three of them began to move towards the distant prize. Dragonien seemed to have the idea in his head that he'd just get there first by virtue of his longer stride and started off by leaping over their heads and onto the field below. Looks like he was not going to waste time in fouling the others up but Bobert had no such reservations. He was not above letting another take the fall to get ahead, literally. On his way forward the otter slipped his foot between pulled it outward, knocking the unprepared Numarcius onto his rump, leaving him to watch the other two speeding off

"Hey!" he cried out in indignity and scrambled up to his feet again, cursing the traitorous otter already some yards ahead of him.

For a while they raced, expended their breath, tired themselves out until their muscles screamed at them just to get there before each other. Not so many would think to pace themselves when faced with the treasure just in front of you and rivals so close to taking it from you. Then it became apparent that, just for a little while, they had forgotten about the likelihood that it would not be unguarded.

A large rectangle of reddish orange light appeared near the top of the pyramid. A door was opening and a trio of shadows appeared there. Two of them came through as normal though the third, large as it was, had to duck low to exit onto the topmost balcony. At first they were shapes and not much else, waiting patiently for the dragon, wolf, and otter to come to them. Then the eclipsed figures began to resolve themselves with proximity as the lot drew closer. Even more familiar faces were here to greet them. At least one was familiar to each, like a ghost from the recent past.

There stood the vixen called Meepes, returned from being abandoned beneath the paws of a beast. And there was Zev, stolen away while his supposed friends gratified themselves. Above them both, nearly four times their height, was the most radically changed yet still recognizable as Raithain, the gator once left as a burden. Now he was anything but. All had the eyes that betrayed their new maker's mark and revealed no intent to help. If Dragonien was big then the gator was huge and, even standing high above them at the top of the long stair, the dragon could tell it. How the albino gator got so large was anyone's guess but certainly the island had no lack of ways for it.

Dragonien didn't let it phase him, not as much as it should at least, and barreled straight onward towards the imposing edifice. While the top of the enormous building was a sharp black silhouette the lower walls and balcony was cast in an eerie pale light that came from below and cast long shadows upward. A series of connected pits were formed around the base, not unlike a moat, setting many twisting and thrashing shadows coming from it against the walls, those of arms reaching up. There was someone or something down there in the multitudes by the sounds of moaning, panting, groaning in whatever fate they shared.

The dragon dared only a glance to them on his warpath forward, focused more on the way up. Having indeed arrived at the base of the pyramid first, it was the dragon who won the honor of being regarded before the others. Raithian hopped down the stairs and stopped at the halfway point, daring him to come and meet him, one foot resting on the raised stone side and sharp tipped claws wrapped over it.

Dragonien was nearly on top of him when the giant gator pushed himself forward with the leg he had braced and brought up his other foot to kick the dragon back down the stairs. Scant more than luck put him in just the right place to avoid the brunt of it, a scaled foot landing on the side of his chest but at the oblique angle to roll along with it, sending Dragonien down to catch himself on the stairs but the giant gator seriously overextended and threatening to tumble down himself.

Instead of pushing back, the big red guy just tried to force his way up the stairs. He got several more meters along before the gator whipped around and gave chase. The dragon nearly stumbled and was soon shouldered aside for his trouble, catching his balance but finding himself on the second platformed balcony, a little more than halfway up. In just a second the gator was trying to grab him from behind but quick thinking had him turn just in time to avoid a calamitous hold.

As fast as Dragonien thought he was, it seemed like Raithian was a little faster or just happened to be in the right place to defeat whatever the dragon hoped would let him get away. One might think the gator had been tailor made to deal with the dragon and, given the malign intelligence that seemed to pervade the island, it was very well possible.

While they grappled with each other, Zev kept a sharp eye over the field below. He would waste none of his arrows on the dragon's thick hide, instead electing to focus on the other two. A this distance he was able to put not one but two into the air at a time before the first struck against the rock nearest Numarcius and Bobert with a flinty spark, prompting the two of them to dive behind it.

The wolf found himself in a tight spot and called out to Bobert: "Alright otter, I know we both be wantin' that wish but I'd like to at least get outta this alive! What d'we do?!" Numarcius called out but received no answer. "Ya there otter?!" The wolf turned to his side to see that the space next to him was vacant which meant Bobert was gone. To where, he couldn't say. If the fox above had seen Bobert leave then he didn't show it as all of the arrows were still being directed at him.

Numarcius checked his pouch. There wasn't much shot left there and most of the powder has been soaked through. He had maybe two or three left before he was out. But he had few other options being this isolated and so brought up his pistol and waited for an arrow to clatter before taking aim and returning fire. A loud snap followed by a louder bang as, perhaps for the first time, this cavern saw someone speak thunder in such a way. Too bad he missed.

A new figure emerged from the top of the pyramid. New for most of them, that is. It was that blue-green alligator from the sea cave, complete with a replacement staff with a fresh purple crystal atop it. Now it made sense. Maybe he had only just arrived, maybe was waiting for a more opportune time, or maybe he was stirred by the sound of giants and gunfire, but here he was. Only Dragonien might have recognized him but the dragon was so focused on Raithian that he hardly noticed the second and relatively tiny alligator. For the little fellow here was a new chance to capture one who escaped him.

He crawled atop a nearby statue, one of the pair that flanked the main entrance, to get a better vantage of the two titans as they fought. He tapped his claws to the crystal on his staff and muttered a few words, perhaps magical perhaps not, before pointing it at the giant red dragon.

Dragonien grunted and felt something tugging at his crotch. At first he was so dedicated to taking down Raithian that he wouldn't spare a look downward, not until he felt that familiar tightness there. At last it became a big enough distraction that he could no longer ignore it and big was a word for it. Sometime during his wrestling bout his cock had stirred itself to life and rose to its full throbbing size. When did that happen? What was more, it now seemed to be wrapped in a sheath of some kind, for an odd field of dim but solid light had nearly surrounded it and he could certainly feel it! The strange starlight energy engulfed the dragon's cock and clung tight to it like some glowing wrap. Then it began to move, undulating on its own along his length in not only an uncanny simulation of being buried deep inside another, but of him ramming into them in true hip-thrusting fashion.

This took away his focus long enough for an enterprising Raithain to take his advantage. The gator pushed on and grabbed hold of the dragon, holding him by the arm and side from the odd position he was in and dropping Dragonien onto his backside. There was an 'oof' but otherwise little verbal protest from the dragon as his thick cock bounced above him from the motion. Judging from the groan escaping him it would be hard to tell he was just floored in such a way. The gator was quickly on top of him. Dragonien, momentarily sapped of his strength, found himself beneath the scaled monster.

Seeing this, he naturally struggled once he regained an inkling of composure. But every ounce of energy he poured into fighting his way out just found its way between his legs and was met with more stimulation along his pounding shaft. It got to the point that he always stopped mid-thrash from the sudden spike in pleasure. His heartbeat rose, panting soon followed, and he again felt that sensation of his cock swelling larger which disarmed him utterly and caused his hips to shake. He found his mind going two ways. On one hand he wanted so much to be free to reap the wish for his own and on the other he just wanted to be free to wrap his arms around his dragonhood and pump away at it. If it wasn't for the magic doing that job for him he might have just lost his mind! His chest heaved as he watched it crawl along it, pushing further as it grew. By now it was over twice as long as it started as just kept growing! Every squirm, every tug and pull, every bit of resistance only made his cock bigger and drove it closer to the inevitable. The sheath of light around it became more transparent as he grew, as if he were stretching it out. At last the thing bumped against his chin, smearing it with the cum that it oozed every inch of the way.

Crouched so heavily over Dragonien, the gator's tail gently swished behind him, gliding over the fat scaly orbs that were the dragon's balls, the tip of it arched to rub against them, as if to coax them into releasing their store -or to simply build up more for when they did. Raithian saw the look of sexual frustration on his face and how half-heartedly he moved his head to avoid the needy shaft pressing against him.

"Go ahead," the albino gator said, nearly luminescent in his own right. "Lick it. It'll feel good." Raithian grinned a toothy grin and every moment he seemed to loom larger and larger to the dragon's perception. Maybe he really was. Raithian's own shaft was now pressed firmly along Dragonien's belly, voicing its own desire but obedient to its master. This was about the dragon giving in, not him.

So he did. He wasn't entirely sure why he did. Maybe some part of him wanted to, just to see what it was like, and all he needed was the suggestion to follow through. It was almost on instinct: have a need, satisfy it. The magical envelope left his head free, of course, and his longue tongue hesitated only a moment when it came out to brush against it and drag along it. Electric bliss travelled throughout him from the tips of his curled toes to the throbbing monster between his legs and that was all it took the pent up beast. Like it or not, the dragon felt that wonderful heat surge up along the length of his cock and straight onto him, splashing his chest, his chin, all over himself. What escaped fired across the floors. Mere globs to him were in fact gallons splashing over the flagstones.

Meanwhile, Zev pulled back on his bow and lined another shot. The fox was determined to keep the wolf pinned where he was if nothing else. Numarcius dare not move as he had the only solid obstacle nearby already between him and the archer. Every time he thought Zev was out of arrows he'd poke his head out and another would come streaking by. Maybe that was what the fox wanted him to think in playing this waiting game? Either way, he didn't know how many more times he could avoid them. Zev, on the other hand was growing tired of missing and quickly descended to one the lower terraces between shots.

Unfortunately for Bobert this placed the fox right in the way of the door. Unfortunately for Zev, he was right in Bobert's way. The otter was pressed against one of the columns at the foot of the great staircase and eyed the archer between it and the stonework. He sprang, hoping first to disarm and then disrupt and move on up.

He didn't even get two steps out before he felt something grab him by the shoulder. It was Meepes. In his need to get up there quickly he had lost track of her as well. Part of him figured the dragon might have stepped on her or something. Where did she come from? Instinct kicked in and he flailed for escape, slipping away and turning around to face her. He ran towards her: she expected him to go high but instead he dived forward and practically tackled her to the ground. She fell back, he didn't. He used that time to look back up.

Zev still hadn't noticed them yet. He may have had eagle eyes but with that tunnel vision they focused plainly on the big rock with the head of a wolf erratically poking out from behind it. Bobert was about to keep that from becoming a problem. One last little bag was all he had, he tried to make it count and tossed it up where Zev was.

It flopped onto the ground in front of the fox's feet with a splat and a sticky, sap-like substance spread around him, bubbling up at an alarming speed. He noticed that. Zev found the stuff adhering to him, the friction tripping him as he tried to step backwards. He found himself on the ground, his arms sticking to his sides when he tried to scrape the goop from him. Maybe that wasn't the best idea thought the fox as he was reduced to trying to wiggle back and forth.

"What thehell is this stuff?!" he yelled. It was like pitch mixed with sap and cement powered by quasi-magic and a seeming hatred of anything that had the ability to move. Within moments he was fully inundated with it and he wasn't going anywhere.

No sooner had the pouch left his hand did Bobert find his arms seized from behind. Well, that's what happens when you take on two and only have time for one. Bobert could feel her leveraging his shorter stature against him as she hauled him backwards and off his feet. Not to the ground in revenge but to somewhere else. He struggled but she didn't yield, keeping his arms locked firmly over his head and dragging him further along. It became evident where she was taking him: to the edge of one of those pits. He could already see the arms reaching up for him.

It was around this time that Dragonien had reached his fifth orgasm. Some hit against his face, some over his head, and the others into his own mouth, which became more willing with every blast. This was by and far something he was not accustomed to doing but as it went along he began to develop an appreciation of his own virility and every first-hand experience seemed to intensify it. It was the potency to make scores of other dragons envious and he was content to revel in it.

So there he lay: a captive of his own lust and need, unable to gain any leverage without pushing himself over the edge once more, letting out another roar and emptying into it again and again. He tried to stand but only managed to get to his knees. Even if he could get up, he would soon be forced back down again from his own movement. So long as the field of energy remained in place, so would he. So long as the one who weaved the spell was there, so too would remain the energy -and he was certainly enjoying the show. Dragonien was as good as out.

Step by agonizing step Bobert was wrenched backwards. The vixen was a lot stronger than she looked! Every trick he could think of to wiggle free she seemed to anticipate. Eventually he could see the telltale glow becoming brighter and the smell of arousal becoming stronger until they were right on top of it and he was turned to face the pits below.

"Take a good look at your new home!" she laughed.

There were a great number down there, all backlit shapes by the glowing rock and so many that he couldn't see the floor (doubtlessly stained with sex) through the writhing sea of fur and flesh. All kinds were there: jaguar, iguana, goat, snake, boar, even a parrot or two and others still that he couldn't recognize of male and female persuasion and everything between. But they all rubbed, groped, and found their way inside each other indiscriminately. And their eyes were all bespecked of that purple light that carried a craving only fresh meat like the otter could sate and only for a time.

As one, a multitude of arms reached upward to receive the new offering, the new flesh to vent pleasure upon and ultimately join them. Bobert felt gravity's tip and knew it was irreversible and as the vixen released him to his fate he refused to go alone. While his fingertips were too far away to grab back, simply turning his foot inward acted as a perfect hook to sweep the back of her leg and bring her down with him.

The world fell out from under them as they headed to the bottom, quickly caught by the thronged masses, hardly worth being saved from the fall. They were on him with an aggression he had seldom seen before, like a starving animal all acting as one.

He tried to lash out but they grabbed his arms. He tried to kick but they just held his feet. They raised him up over their heads like a prize but still so far from the ledge above and further still as they carried him towards the center of the mass. Those beneath him grabbed at him, namely what he carried between his legs, tore what little clothing remained on him, and flipped him face down so it hung close to their hands and faces. There wasn't a second that passed where it wasn't cradled or caressed by some hungry, horny soul. He fought less as time went by, his desires becoming secondary to his needs as a man, those needs being brought to the surface by the crowd. Hands passed along his body, rubbing every spot they could reach. Fingers explored wherever they could, grabbing and squeezing flesh and teasing holes.

Meepes was faring no better than he. Lips and tongues pressed themselves against her nipples, running over them, sucking them as paws worked in tandem to keep the weight of her huge breasts held aloft. Still more hands probed her, finding themselves between her legs and under her tail. She too felt herself falling prey to the burning in her most nether region. It would appear that the thralls did not discriminate between her and outsiders. There was so much movement within the whirlwind orgy and so many around her that it was impossible to tell who was doing what. But it didn't matter, she found it harder to care with so many adoring furs worshipping every inch of her. She moaned: those questing fingers having found their way inside her, stoking her shuddering form to her first of many, many orgasms to come.

More and more hands grasped the otter's cock as it slowly hardened, greater and greater length exposed but then quickly covered by more pleasing paws. He tried to look around. There were many around him either unable or unwilling to wait until they could reach the otter and so fell upon each other in a never-ending rut. Then, as his cock reached its full pounding tumescence, it was capped by a jaguar girl's gentle mouth, licking and teasing the tip of it with her tongue. But she could not restrain herself for long before engulfing the head of it entirely. Bobert grunted and pulled his head back as it became apparent she was highly practiced at this art.

"No! I-ungh- I have to get up there! S-stop sucking my dick!" he cried. Then realization dawned on him.

"Wait, what am I say-hng?"

If there were further protests they were lost among the lustful din as well as any sight of the two of them, now concealed entirely by the hands, bodies, and other appendages of the teeming pit. It would be some time before they were seen or heard from again.

It was around this time that Numarcius realized exactly how dire his situation was. From the moment that first door opened he could count on neither the otter nor the dragon as allies but now he could hardly even count on them as distractions for long. With the fox's fusillading fire ceased he figured his chance was now or never and made a mad dash around the rock towards the stair. His advantage lay in the fact that the others' more overt approaches drew attention to them to the point where the wolf was all but forgotten about. It seemed to work for most of the way. He got to the base of the stairs before anyone remembered he was there.

"Hey! Hey!" Zev the fox called out to the others. "There's one still left!" While he could still thrash about it amounted to all he could do.

That caught the attention of the gators as well as many in the pit, who heard it as a sort of dinner bell. While the little cliff face served to keep most of them in, a few quick thinking thralls managed enough clear thought to work together, climbing atop one another to escape. It was something that only happened when such appealing victims were kept so dangerously close to them and only a few made it out, but it was enough. The sight and sound of a runner was enough to spur them to chase Numarcius up the steps.

They were hot on his heels. He could see a colorful parrot girl and a near matching pair of goat boys behind, eager to get at him. He also saw the smaller gator to the side, leveling the staff at him. The wolf jumped and a burst of glitter and sparks appeared where he was a second ago whose purpose he could only guess at. He zigzagged, somehow dodging grasping hands from behind and exploding magic all around him like a wolf possessed. He was just in sight of the door at the top when a shadow overcame him. He looked up to see Raithian's massive hand reaching down to grab him. He tried to move out of the way, the claws closed, and the behemoth alligator raised his hand back up only to find that he had captured a rather frightened looking goat.

Numarcius was still racing across the upper balcony, passing by the goopy mess Zev was trapped in.

"Hey, you're not allowed to go in there!" the fox shouted at him.

"Well too bad, 'cause I'm gonna!" Numarcius cut back as he disappeared inside.

Something clicked and the stone door behind him closed shut before he knew it. He froze and turned around, startled at the sound to find the odd comfort of momentary safety. He could hear fists pounding on the other side but he did not expect it to budge.

It was dark and hot in here. He could still see but he needed to watch his step. There was a sort of path ahead leading to some huge obscured shapes in the gloom beyond. The sides of the path dropped off and down below, somewhere in the distance, flickered the orange glow of fires and carried up sweltering heat. The fiery light was enough to cast lines around everything and force every shape above him to appear looming and judgmental.

Another light slowly grew towards his presence. It was a purple light, of the kind he had become accustomed to expect. What he did not expect was the source. He had seen the crystal before but nothing like this. Towering, irregular spears of bright purple crystal streaked through the vast and spherical room and at their center stood one far larger than the others, perhaps some eighty feet tall, perhaps more. All around the room were hanging and standing such gleaming weapons, jewelry, articles of fine clothing, horns made for signaling and other musical instruments, harpoons. Further above them hung larger objects: full sets of armor, the figureheads from sailing ships, and whole skeletons of beasts surely terrifying in life. But they were all set apart, not heaped together. It looked less like a treasure horde and more like a trophy collection.

"It was only that you reach this place, not how," a voice carried though Numarcius could not see the speaker. It was calm yet loud, ringing between his ears but not the cavern.

"Who's there?" the wolf called back. "Who're you?"

"I have found little use for a name. There was once a group wise enough to avoid me entirely. They saw what I was without even so much as setting a foot upon me. Genius Loci, they called me. They pontificated and prognosticated upon a meeting but ultimately decided against it. They sailed away before I could take them. I have not seen them since. However, I feel a far closer connection to those who live on me and they call me Kinoa. That will suffice."

It took him a short while but eventually Numarcius came to know that he was speaking directly to the island. At the very least he was talking to something integral and powerful enough to consider itself the island.

"But we are not here to speak of me. You are here because you wanted something so dear to you that no other method could produce it. I'm sure you heard the tales of one's greatest desire being here, I started them.

The wolf gulped and waited. An intentionally long pause was drawn out. "Well? Are they true?" he asked.

"They are. I can see your desire, perhaps." There was the sound of a rushing river only . . . metallic in some way.

The orange lights dimmed and in their place came an uprising of filthy lucre straight from the ground, as if someone struck a wellspring of glittering coins and jewels. The golden lifeblood of the very mountain was seeping upward into view. There was a deafening ringing of metal, each coin crying out with its own tiny voice as they tried to climb atop each other, begging for the chance to be chosen, to be taken, to be kept. When it came to a rest and the deafening clatter died down, Numarcius spoke.

"And where would I be spendin' it? I can't eat it. I can't take shelter innit. When my belly is rumblin', it'll have no use t'me."

There was silence for a moment. Then a new racket filled the room as the coins elongated and turned to metallic snakes. They fell upon themselves in fury, biting and gnashing in anger before growing still and silent just as quickly. They grew white hot and oozed together as muck, sloughing downward into the blazing pits below as the fires reappeared to claim them, melting into the fiery morass below as if it were a trifling matter to throw away such ludicrous wealth.

"Then what of a wealth more fitting for true freedom?" Kinoa spoke. "When one need not worry about the trivial things such as expense, why bother with gold when you don't need it? What's left is the respect and love you might command of your peers."

Black obsidian stone rose next from the depths, polished into fine mirrors. In them he could see himself surrounded by adoring fans of every stripe. Every maiden and suitor he could possibly want offered themselves freely to him. Everyone bowed in reverence and affection. When they finished making their show, Numarcius spoke again.

"An' what peers do I have? What would you leave t'me? I saw th' company you keep outside and what y'do to others. I saw th' sort of 'love' they offered me. Why would I wish for somthin' given so freely? Wha' could that be worth?"

Like the gold before, the mirrors began to twist and melt as well as the images within them. The reflections all looked back at him in disapproval before their features became indistinguishable, running like candlewax over themselves before falling entirely into the fires.

"Worth?! Then make them worthy if you find them wanting!" Kinoa offered. "The only things that delineate value in this world is what you can do and what you cannot do. I could give you dominion over many of them, set you with the power to sculpt them as you see fit."

A flight of tiny songbirds descended from the darker ceiling of the room. They carried a jeweled crown between them and hovered to place it on his head. For the sake of indulgence he allowed them to. When the winged deliverers came to a rest on his shoulders, Numaricus spoke again.

"An' I'd be th' king of a fly-hill, foolin' myself with a scepter you have given an' one you could take right away. There'd be no rulin' here 'cept that of your own."

There was a time where the cavern fell silent and shook so very lightly. The birds took frightened flight and the crown crumbled to dust over his ears. Numarcius held his breath. If you ever wanted anything not to lose its temper, a volcano would likely be among the foremost. Thankfully no conflagration rose to meet him and when the island next spoke it was with a measured and deliberate calm. A forced composure was better than none.

"Then what is it you truly want if such common desire is below you?"

For a while he thought. He thought of his friends. After all, he did throw them under the carriage in a way to get here. And he thought of all the souls reduced to such unthinking behavior in the pits outside and the ones still outside the door and all those he had run across on the way here.

"Alright then, I have a wish."

Anticipation followed.

"I wish for me an' everyone you got caught here t'be returned to their original homes."

Dead silence for just a breath.

The heat of a hundred white hot irons so suddenly quenched couldn't match the hissing that struck through the room. The hate was palpable and could be felt as an oppressive force bearing down on his shoulders.

"You LIE!" it spat, if it could spit. The words were dripping with acridity but there was something else there: profound disappointment. That this wolf was willing to wish for something so clean and selfless and boring was something it would rather expend a king's wealth and power ten times over than accept.

But he was not lying, and despite how much it might wish otherwise, Kinoa could not deny Numar's -and thus found no deceit in his words. For how could a being twist the intentions of others if it could not sense their true aim in the first place? But this it could not twist, either forbidden to or forbidding itself by its own self-conflicting and inscrutable nature, it found a small defeat here.

A time passed and silence once again took control.

"I will never fully understand you mortals. You are so insignificant and . . . finite. Many of you even recognize this fact. Here you have this incredibly rare chance to directly change that, to elevate yourself beyond the cheap existence cruel fate has forced and you . . . and you just discard it to the perceived benefit of those you don't even know." More silence.

"You are no fun," it said at last.

"I don't have to care what you think. Now do it," the wolf replied.

There was a deep rumbling, the approximation of a long sigh. Then Numarcius was whisked away in a flash of light. Assumedly so were all the others, just gone like that back to their individual homes. Kinoa was left alone again.

And it chuckled.

Numarcius had wished them returned home but made no stipulation on their condition. That is a separate thing and the wish had already been made. Most had changed in one fashion or another in their time spent here. They would return home but as they were. After all, Kinoa did not change who they were at heart. It only allowed them to be who they were free of artificial restriction. Some might return as terrors, others in a far better position to take the life they wished they had lived before, most would just be thankful to get back. Somewhere, even as far as half a world away, hundreds were appearing out of thin air in or around their homes.

And it would be a very long night of explanation for many of them.