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Dual Fittings

Ilorek stood tall over his custom made barrel barbecue smoker, poking at the embers to stoke the flame as the heat and smoke enveloped him, coating his golden tipped feathers with the scent of fire and meat. Impaled by the rotisserie, an entire side of beef simmered and crackled as it cooked, the smell intoxicating and mouthwatering. The hippogryph wore only a kilt, as the weather was warming from a mild winter and he didn't like wearing clothes unless he had to.

Next to him, sprawled out on a lawn chair with a fruity drink in one hand and oversized sunglasses on her face, lie his wife, a relatively tiny bat-like agen known as a bachier. She was sipping at the drink and lapping at the crushed ice with a smile on her face and a scrunch on her muzzle as she sniffed the air. She, like Ilorek, loved the taste and smell of meat, and was as hungry as he for when they would be able to carve off a few juicy slices to eat. Problem was, they were waiting on their guests.

"When will Storm and Melodi be here?" Valencia asked as she twirled the little umbrella in her drink. "I love the both of them to pieces, but they're always late. Never punctual."

"I know as much as you do, dear. They should have been here an hour ago, but it doesn't really matter because the meat isn't finished roasting yet, so it won't matter. Just hold onto your tail and drink your fruity booze." He grabbed a barbecue fork and lightly poked at the skin of the beef side, noting that it was still partially raw inside. "I love a good rare steak, but this is a little too rare."

After taking a mouthful of her drink and sloshing it around in her mouth, Valencia gulped and lowered her glasses as she looked up at him. "Where did your balls go? You're a stallion-drake, I thought you preferred things raw."

Ilorek closed the lid of the barrel smoker, then turned to look down at her. "With some things, yeah, but roast needs to be just right. Pink in the middle and juicy all through it, but it can't be raw like this. I might as well just go to the neighbour's pasture and chew on one of their cows."

"And why don't you do that? You're kind of weird like that, aren't you?" Val offered a toothy grin, staring up at him as she took another sip.

He was about to make a snarky response when he heard the tell-tale grinding of car tires on a dirt path at the edge of the property. As he glanced down his driveway, he saw an elegant black vehicle with golden rims and an intricate hood ornament making its way towards him, every detail of the car clear to him as it was midday and he had the eyes of an eagle. This was Chief Storm Gryphon's ride; his guests were here. Ilorek waved, knowing that Storm had the same vision as he, which resulted in the honking of a horn in the 'chirpalicious' melody, which made the hippogryph smile.

Valencia got to her feet to stand next to her mate, the two of them happily greeting their guests as the car turned and adjusted into a parking spot near the barn. Out came both Storm and Melodi - a tall gryphon and his hippogryph mate who stood a full head and shoulders shorter than he - as well as a tiny little blue amphibian. Theodit, a friend of Ilorek's who was supposed to be visiting that night after Storm and Melodi departed.

"Storm! Mel! Long time no see!" Ilorek called out after tossing his barbecue utensils to the platform on the side of the barrel smoker. "And Theo! What are you doing here so early?"

Storm grinned and patted his fist to his chest - a symbol of solidarity between them - as he spoke for all three. "Well, as you know, Melodi and myself were both doing a bit of a detour through North Klyneth to meet up with Ceylon and Leera before coming to visit, and while there Theo had mentioned he was planning on coming to visit as well! couldn't say no to this little guy, so we brought him with us!"

Melodi leaned into the smaller amphibian and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Couldn't say no to a face like this." She chuckled as she squeezed him tight. Their difference in size was considerable, with him only standing up to her hips even with his tall head fin. "I hope you don't mind!"

"Not at all! Why would I mind? Theo's a good friend of mine and he was supposed to be coming over after dinner to do some potions research with me, but if he's here earlier it just means that he can enjoy a meal with us all!" Ilorek extended a hand, grabbed Storm's fist, and the two bumped chests. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, flockbrother!" Storm bellowed in his typical, guttural voice.

After their initial introductions, a table was set up in the middle of their lawn next to the barbecue, which Valencia populated with platters of snacks and food as well as plates and silverware and condiments. The roast was still cooking and smoking, all the flavor getting infused to the meat as they settled down for the afternoon. Storm and Ilorek sat opposite one another, with their mates at their side and Theodit at the end of the table, each with a different sized chair to suit their personal needs.

As Ilorek carved off the first slab of meat, he sliced slowly with his blade, relishing the softness and tenderness of the meat. His other hand held the barbecue fork up to it, ensuring it didn't fall into the coals or embers of the barrel barbecue. "And here's our first cut, the prime cut of the haunches, that we give to our guest." He finished the carving, resulting in a massive slab, 30cm wide and oval shaped with a crispy outer skin, which he placed gingerly on Storm's plate. The slab of meat was too big, so he gingerly cut it in half on an angle, stacking the two pieces atop one another just barely contained on the gryphon's plate.

Next came Melodi's meat, which was cut in much the same way as Storms, but half the size given her tendency to enjoy vegetables and grains, two things Storm didn't much care for when a whole half-cow roast was on the table. Finally came Theo's piece, a tiny little chunk by comparison given his diminutive stature. It wasn't until all three of the guests were served that Ilorek prepared a plate for his own mate and himself. His portion was nearly as big as Storm's, but given that Ilorek was a half head shorter and enjoyed greens, he was happy also taking buns and a salad to supplement the meat, while Storm ate nothing but the flesh of the dead - a joke Ilorek liked to repeat every now and then referring to the fact that Storm was the only chosen carnivore of the group.

After finally sitting down, Ilorek leaned back in his chair and reached out for his beer - a thick and flavorful mead - to raise his glass. "To friends." He declared with a gentle smile.

"To friends." The rest f the group chimed in, lightly touching the rims of their respective drinks and each taking a hearty mouthful. Storm shared the mead with Ilorek while Valencia and Melodi both had cocktails and Theo enjoyed wine.

Valencia relished in a lengthier sip of her drink before placing her glass on the table. "So how has life been in North Arrenthen? I've heard through the news some unpleasant tales of some civil unrest in Joraken. Any truth to that?"

Storm licked his beak of the alcoholic foam and leaned back, stabbing into a slab of meat with his fork before shoveling it into his maw. After chewing and swallowing, he shrugged. "There are certainly pockets of resistance and unrest, but most of it is being dealt with even as we speak." As premier - prince - of the Joraken province, Storm and his mate Melodi were the quintessential leaders of that region, which meant that he was in charge of the political landscape in North Arrenthen. Given the recent advent of a war in Rissen, the entire nation was on their toes to see what was next, and there were of course protestors who felt that the dragonkind should be left alone. A hot-button topic, for sure, but not one Storm had any problem dealing with. That said, he had a reputation for zero tolerance, so he felt the need to clarify. "And by 'being dealt with', I don't mean anyone's being harmed. My senators and lawmakers are trying to find a peaceful way to negotiate with the protesters to ensure they don't bre ak any laws but can still have a voice."

Ilorek chuckled. "Oh good, I was worried for a moment there that you'd hired your goons to silence the squawking." While taking another sip, he noticed that Melodi was paying close attention to him, her golden eyes focused on his. He didn't let this distract him much, because he had a pretty good feeling that he knew what had gotten her vexed, and he'd need to address it later.

Meanwhile, Valencia prodded and probed a bit more concerning the topic at hand. "Oh, well I'm glad to hear that. I mean, I'm sure if you needed to use force you could, but it's nice to know you maintain a diplomatic side. Not sure if I'd be comfortable hosting a tyrant."

"Tyrant is far too powerful a word. I prefer to be called Lord Chirpalicious, or Prime Burdbutt. If you please." Everyone but Theodit laughed at his joke, for the quiet and reserved amphibian was not familiar with Storm's history and reputation but still felt uncomfortable given the few things said about him thus far.

Val, however, was licking her lips and grinning across the table at Storm. The two of them had a bit of history in the past, so it made perfect sense to Ilorek that the two would bond in a more intimate way during the visit, but it was still comical how quick and how clear their mutual attraction remained. Given the solidarity of Ilorek and Val's relationship, both were completely comfortable letting the other fool around with others, which is clearly what her gaze was indicating would happen.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Asked ilorek as he heaped some greens in a bowl. "I mean, clearly the war isn't really good for anyone, but from what I can gather it's been going on a lot longer than anticipated and it's really hurting the economy."

"Actually, it's helping the economy! I mean, I don't want to profit off a war - the dragons of Rissen are far more reverent than that and I'm no fool - but having a war to supply is creating jobs and getting a lot more coin-flow happening between the provinces. While yeah, the war is going on far too long and I'd love for it to end, there's no harm in finding the silver lining to a black cloud of death and brutality." He sawed off another huge chunk of meat and glanced sidelong at Valencia, who had been giving him the bedroom eyes all the while as if she hadn't heard a word he said.

Ilorek nodded. "Well whatever the case I hope this comes to an end, soon. Would love to do something myself but Saff'Rald is a peaceful nation and we do our best to stay out of the affairs of others. Like many others, I will gladly take up arms if war comes to our borders, but we don't step foot in the homes of others."

"I can definitely respect that." Storm grunted, then belched before taking another sip of his mead. "And I can appreciate your nation's solidarity. Agens of all kinds living in harmony, biggest military in the world ahead of even Yelfrit, and no desire to get involved in a war. As the old adage goes, speak strongly but carry a big stick."

Valencia cooed as she used a sip of her drink to wash down some bread. "The biggest stick." she added. "So why aren't you out on the battlefield, fighting in the war yourself? Big strong bird such as yourself could carry quite the cannon under those powerful arms of yours, right?"

Storm chuckled. "Oh dear, I served my time in the military. Was once a general of the army at the tail end of the Untherian conflict, I have seen my share of blood and death and it's not something I wish to indulge in, not anymore. Honestly, I love how brash you are, questioning a prince and a former warrior! You haven't changed one bit, and here's hoping you never do." He turned to Ilorek. "You're a lucky stud."

"As are you." Ilorek replied, glancing sidelong at a mostly silent Melodi as she stared back at him. "Your mate, princess Melodion, is a gorgeous hippogryph mare. As gorgeous as the queen herself. How did you manage that?"

"I would say I got lucky, but there's no luck in love or war. Turns out this mare here had been pining at me for years before we ever met, so when it was suggested that we join hands to strengthen the bonds between the capitol and my tribe, it just seemed to work out." He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. "Normally she's much more talkative, though. You okay?" He asked her, trying his best to look her in the eye.

She pulled away from him and offered a wink. "Yeah I'm fine, ya stud. I'm just trying to find out where I know Ilorek from. I swear I've seen him before and I've been trying to place him ever since we got here."

Though Storm and Ilorek were old buddies from the Untherian conflict, Ilorek and Melodi hadn't met before this day, not since she and Storm were wed to be mated. As Ilorek had explained, his nation was one of peace, but he and Chief Storm met on the battlefield while Ilorek was on vacation in Arrenthen during the ambush that started the war, which happened to be the same week of his visitation, resulting in Ilorek himself taking up arms to join the Arrenthen Military. As his homeland was Arrenthen before migrating to Saff'Rald, he was happy to offer his life to the cause of peace in Epicelia - the continent that Arrenthen and Untheria shared. Given that Ilorek had already been mated to Valencia at that point, it made sense that, post conflict, Val and Storm had been acquainted, but this happened before Storm and Melodi got mated.

Still, despite having never met with Ilorek, the two seemed to be sharing a connection of sorts. Both were the same rare hybrid of avian and equine, with only slight differences in color and form such as the fact that Melodi possessed hooves instead of the foot-talons that Ilorek possessed. He and Melodi's sister - Talba - had the exact same form, and that seemed peculiar to her. As she looked up and down Ilorek's form, she finally came to realize what made her so interested in him. Ilorek looked like a hybrid of her colors and her sister's body shape.

"That's it!" She said, after a few awkward moments of staring Ilorek down. "You look like what would happen if someone somehow blended my sister and I and gave you a cock! That's the only possible explanation!" She seemed so proud of herself for figuring that out that she didn't even acknowledge that everyone was looking at her funny, even Theodit who had mostly kept to himself so far. "Right? I'm not crazy, right?" She said, patting Storm's arm.

Storm just smiled and nodded before taking another huge bite of his food. "Sure, not crazy at all. Nope."

"Oh stuff it, Storm. You know it's true. You've got my colors and her body type, that's why you seem so familiar! You could be my brother, as though we were from the same clutch!" She pounded her fist on the table and took a big bite of her food, grin on her face as she swelled with pride, chest feathers pressing out. "And if any of you don't see it, you're blind."

Ilorek couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. "Sure, whatever you say. Would make sense if I wasn't so much older than you."

"Oh shush, birds don't age after a certain point, you know?" She glanced up and down the table, catching a glimpse of Storm's amused look, passing by Ilorek and Valencia, then coming to see that Theodit was doing his best to move on by focusing on his food. "Awh, you guys all suck."

Valencia used this to springboard into her continued flirtation with Storm. "In fact, I do, and I'll have you know I'm very, very good at it." She slowly pushed her tongue out so much that it was nearly brushing atop the meat of her plate. "And I'm always looking to practice."

Theodit threw his hands up and sighed. "Come on, you two, this is too much." It seemed that last flirtation threw him over the edge. "Ilorek, I'll meet you in the lab. I can't take any more of Val here flirting with Storm right in front of you both." With that, he grabbed his plate and hopped off his chair, hurriedly puttering over the grass of their lawn to the shack that was nestled in the woods between the ranch home and the barn.

In response, Ilorek politely waved. "I'll see you there, sure. Don't blow the place up!"

"I won't!" Theodit assured, waving backwards without turning back.

Ilorek then turned to Valencia, glancing sidelong at Storm as he spoke. "But he's right. It's getting pretty insufferable to watch you so bluntly flirting at the dinner table. Think you can cut it out, or just go deal with it?"

"Ugh, fine. You're no fun." She sighed. "Storm, you wanna go for a roll in the hay to relieve this tension? Melodi, that fine with you?"

Melodi spoke up before Storm could respond. "Sure, go ahead. He's his own drake, you go do your thing, don't let me get in the way." She raised her hands in surrender before laughing. "And honestly, if he relieves himself here it means he'll have more stamina later, then he won't just knot and sod off." She leaned over to grab at the thick fluff of his chest as she leaned in to nuzzle beak to beak. "Won't you?"

Storm just shrugged and laughed a bit. "I wasn't going to take advantage, since I figured Ilorek would be taking care of her and I would need to pick up the slack, but hey, if he wants me to ruin Val for him, I'm game." He joked, patting his belly. "And I'm nice and full of meat and mead, so let's do this!" He pushed away from the table and stood up, stretching his wings and arms as he yawned.

"Oh trust me, I think I ruined her for you." Ilorek joked back. "But if you think you can keep up, I dare you to try. Val, don't leave a drake hanging." He instructed his mate, nodding his head towards storm.

Valencia immediately jumped up to her chair and leapt over the table, clinging to Storm's chest with both wing hands and her footpaws. "Good, now that we have the blessings of our mates, let's not waste a second. To the barn!" She pointed towards the big red and black building behind them, as though she were guiding a mount into battle. "Go go cock rocket, we have lift off!"

Storm walked slowly to the barn, giving one last wave to Melodi and Ilorek before disappearing into the stables, chirping the 'chirpalicious' tune as he did so.

Once the outdoor dinner table was left with only the two hippogryphs, Melodi leaned in over her plate, staring into Ilorek's eyes. "Okay, I was just being facetious earlier. I have to know, where do we know each other from? I know for a fact that I've seen you before, as soon as I saw you I started trying to put your face to a personality in my past, but I cannot narrow it down. So tell me, who are you, really?"

"Hm?" Ilorek raised an eyebrow as he enjoyed a bite of salad. "Really? Who am I for realsies? Well, last I checked, I am a professor of alchemical studies at the Klyneth Academy of Science and Magic. I was born in Arrenthen, so there's always a chance you saw me at some point, but I was just some student back when I lived there. I recognize you because you're part of the royal family, and I listen to the news and read the papers, but I have no idea why you know me."

She sighed heavily, nares flaring out as she exhaled. "No, that's not it. You feel like someone important, more than just a professor of science or whatever. Were you in the military?"

"For a brief while during the Untherian conflict, partially against my will. I was vacationing with family when the ambush was launched. I could have either been a prisoner in my own homeland or I could take up arms; though I was a citizen of Saff'Rald at the time, I was also a son of Arrenthen, so I did fight for what was right. So you could say that yes, I was in the military, for half a year and I was a nobody who served under your mate Storm."

Melodi just shook her head, still trying her best to piece things together. "No that's not it, I was too young during that conflict to remember some random soldier, and I hadn't met Storm until after the war had ended - in fact it's what made me so attracted to him in the first place."

Ilorek shrugged again and took a drink of his mead. "Are you sure, if you came to be attracted by the deeds of his during the war, there's always a good chance you saw me in the pictures of the surviving members of the regiment. Maybe seeing me time and time again left an imprint on your mind and that's where this is coming from." He took another big sip before staring her in the eyes, devious intent shining through his face. "Or, failing all other plausibilities, maybe we're both friends from a past life. I've lived many, you know."

"Reincarnation? From an educated stallion? Doesn't sound right to me." She insisted as she leaned back, tapping her talons on the table. "No it's gotta be something else. Maybe it's what you said, maybe it's something else entirely, and I'm not going to give up thinking about it until I have an answer."

"To be fair, you've declined all of my suggestions thus far, and once you've eliminated the impossible, what's left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. If you're absolutely certain you're not just misremembering me from old war photos, then maybe we are from past lives. I'm not one for reincarnation - I'm not saying I have died and come back to life - but I have lived many lives. I'm far, far older than I seem."

Curious and now a little interested at what Ilorek might be getting at, Melodi took another bite and cocked her head to the side with her ears up. "What do you mean? Are you in your fifties? Sixties? Do you mean you just left an old life behind to begin anew? Did you assume a new identity when you left Arrenthen to become a citizen of Saff'Rald?"

He shrugged again. "You could say that, but I'm actually over one hundred. Born before the turn of the millenium."

"No." She countered, shaking her head. "There's no way you're more than a hundred years old. Only dragons live that long."

"I don't expect you to believe me, and that's fine." He accepted, then looked her directly in the eyes as a teal mist emanated from his, blanketing his form as his feather and mane colors shifted from his rusty red to a golden cream with splotches and highlights of brown. His eye color changed to purple, and his beak shifted and twisted ever so slightly while his chest grew before Melodi's very eyes. Within minutes, he looked exactly like Queen Talba Ebonoldty, Melodi's sister.

She stiffened and pushed away from the table, getting to her hooves in a panic. "What in the depths of the land itself are you doing?!" She demanded.

Ilorek spoke using Talba's voice. "Just a little transformation magic, Melodi." He explained, then let his body shape and color return to normal, the cream and gold melting away to reveal the rusty red that he usually wore. Then, in his own voice, he bowed and extended a hand to her spot at the table. "No need to be upset or shocked, the spells I use have greatly extended my life, and as such I have to trot from one life to the next so people don't get privy to the fact that I'm as old as I am."

Melodi didn't seem to accept his explanation at first, but as an adventurous mare, she did agree to sit back down, eager to learn more. "Can you teach me that?"

"Probably not, if I'm to be honest. From what Storm has told me you seem like quite the intelligent young mare, but you need to be immensely skilled with magic and knowledgeable with biology to even attempt the transformation spells needed to extend your life. If I were to teach you, it would literally take me years to help to give you the skill and knowledge needed to get you to a point that you could emulate what I just did. Given your status as a princess of the Joraken province and my unwillingness to leave Saff'Rald, I don't really think that's a viable option for either of us."

"But...extended life! I don't mind sacrificing a few years if it literally means I can live two or three lifetimes worth of years! Please, teach me! I will do anything to...to have that." She seemed at this point to be needy, demanding, but not commanding, so Ilorek felt the need to let her down gently.

"I'm really sorry, but I don't think that's a good idea. I should have passed years ago, but once you're over one hundred years old like I am, life just starts to get boring. Most people don't live far past fifty, and that should be plenty of time to do all the things needed in a lifetime. Twice that length, you might be able to do virtually everything you wanted or dreamed of, but what do you do then? What do you do when you've accomplished all your goals and done everything you want to do? Just do it again? Enjoy all sorts of kinky sex? Start trolling those around you?"

Her eyes went blank as she started to imagine all the things she would or could do. "I'm a princess, that means my legacy would be greatly amplified by a long reign. I could do so much good not just for myself, but for my people. If Storm and I could-"

Both were interrupted by the sound of Theo's voice in the distance, on the opposite side of the fence lining the forest's edge. "Ilorek! Valencia! I think I got it!"

"Got what?" Ilorek called back as Melodi turned to look. "Potion?"

"Yeah, potion! I think I finally nailed it! Can you come and check it out, make sure it's working fine? And bring that sexy hippogryph mare with you, I think she might get a kick out of it, too!"

Melodi turned back to Ilorek, eyes darting from side to side as she was overwhelmed with the revelations and declarations that were surrounding her. "What...what's that mean? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you about the transformation stuff again later, for now, come see what Theo has concocted. Valencia and Storm are having some fun, and if you're interested in getting to know me intimately, then I'd be willing to indulge you, if the potion works as it should."

"Is it some sort of sex potion? Make your stallion junk mega huge?" She grinned. "Because that would be fun."

Ilorek shrugged, not sure how to respond. "I suppose you could say that, sort of. It's not inherently a sexual potion, but if Theo says he got it to work, it could be?" He still shrugged, an upwards inflection in his voice. "We'll have to see. Come on, if you want to give it a shot, ask some questions."

"Skies above I do! Lots of cool stuff happens here, it seems, and I'd love to see more!" She grinned and got back to her hooves, following Ilorek across the field and over the fence to reach the little shack that was nestled between the trees just beyond the forest's edge, where Theodit was waiting for them.

The amphibious little guy seemed remarkably excited as he ushered them in. "Come, come!" Once all three were inside the little shack, Theo closed the door behind them and hopped back up to his lab desk, a broad grin across his little face. "Okay, so I think I made a breakthrough for the house. You know how we've been producing some pretty cool potions for the predators, but haven't really been able to recreate a potion for the prey?"

Ilorek nodded, but Melodi seemed confused. "No. Care to explain?"

"Right, right. Okay, over at the Vore House, we got a bunch of snakes and dragons. Not all of them can do their job safely and cleanly without the help of a potion that turns their digestive fluids into breathable, non digestive liquid. When the house first opened up and we hired on some third party predators to fill in when neither Leera nor Yetzer were 'on cycle', but they didn't have the same digestive system our naga possessed."

"Digestive cycle?" Melodi prodded. Though she had a weak grasp of the concept, she'd never had it explained to her and she was curious; it was clear that she was keen on learning as much as she could about the crazy things spells and potions could do.

Theodit looked up at Ilorek. "You wanna explain? You're a bit better at explaining things, I just wanna tell you about the potion I made."

"Sure." Ilorek nodded as he leaned back against the bench, arms crossed. "So due to some lengthy evolutionary process with the naga tribe that Leera and Yetzer came from, their bodies needed to hold prey alive inside for days before killing them and digesting them. Something about having a psychological need to absorb fear or something crazy that I'm not sure is real. Anyway, most of the time, their bellies and intestines and saliva are all a thin liquid that can be safely inhaled into the lungs, providing the prey item with the oxygen needed to live despite technically drowning."

Melodi's face contorted. "That sounds terrible!"

"It does, but it's not. If you were to be swallowed by someone who has this digestive feature, you might cough and hack a bit as you first inhale and switch from gaseous air to liquid air, but it's fine. Once you are spit back up - or given the full tour and exit through the back door - you exhale the liquid and you're fine again. This is really the only way to enjoy vore."

"Yeah, sounds like it." She shuddered. "Can honestly say I do not like the idea of being someone else's meal, even if I'm fine afterwords."

Ilorek nodded, clicking his beak. "Me neither, but it's a thing people like, and that's fine. Theodit here has been coming to my ranch to work with me on the potions they use there to make the experience more enjoyable for all. When they first started, they made a potion that could make any predator's digestive tract act like the naga of the house, so even you could swallow someone small and they would be fine. That was the first step, but lately they've been trying to do something similar for a prey's potion."

"And that's what I'm here for." Theodit pitched in, raising a beaker like a toast. "This potion here, if I'm correct, should make it so that it doesn't matter who swallows me or where I end up, I'll be completely fine. If I drank this potion and you tried to swallow me, my body would automatically convert any liquid that passes through my windpipe into that breathable stuff that would keep me alive and well for days. It's derived from a spell that my buddy Vinn and I concocted based on my own anatomy. Like Leera, I have a peculiar biological construct that makes me indigestible." He puffed out his chest and all his fins stood on end. "And with this potion, now anyone can do the same thing!"

"But....why do you need it?" Melodi asked, trying to connect the dots.

"Me? I really don't. The potion we had previously made allowed anyone to inhale any fluid and turn it into a breathable compound, but that didn't stop stomach acid from literally dissolving a person. My modification to the existing potion means that anyone who takes a bodily tour will now have the safe inhalation spell as well as the impervious skin spell - which I repeat is derived from my own biology."

Ilorek clicked his beak again, nodding in self-approval. "Pretty nifty, right?"

But Melodi wasn't quite sold on the idea. She wasn't interested in vore and still had no idea how this related to anything she might be keen on experiencing. "You said this was potentially sexual, but I'm not seeing how unless a person is into that vore fetish. I'm really not, so I'm mostly just baffled."

"And that makes perfect sense. Besides, unless I also blended in a 'rubberskin' potion of some sort, I doubt you could swallow me comfortably. No, this works for all fluids, including water or vaginal secretions, so if you were so inclined and eager, and I was small enough, I could literally use this potion to, uh, go up inside you. All the way."

That revelation made her ear and eyebrow perk. "Really? That's a lot of saurossin in me. I know I'm part mare and equines are known for being malleable, but that's too much even for me."

Ilorek pitched in. "I do have some of that rubberskin potion, it'll make your loins stretch immensely far without tearing or doing damage. You'll still stay tight, only stretching as far as you force yourself to go, but it'll make your flesh un-tearable. Basically, you can be as aggressive as you want without repercussions."

She blinked, not sure how to take any of this. "I really don't know what to say. I'm curious to try, but it seems a little farfetched for me."

"But life-extending transformation isn't?" Ilorek prodded with a devious grin.

Theodit turned to Ilorek and narrowed his gaze. "Come on man, you told her about that? I thought the rule was to keep your immortality a secret...."

"What?" Melodi blurted out. "Immortal?"

Ilorek grimaced a bit as he shot a glance over at Theo. "Actually, I hadn't told her that part, I just said I had lived longer than the average person." He turned to Melodi to clarify. "We don't know if we're immortal yet, but it's been a very long time and we don't show any signs of aging."

She just gaped her beak open in disbelief. "What do you mean by 'we'? How many are there who are immortal? How old ARE you? I thought you just said you were old!" Her barrage of questions was stopped when Ilorek raised a hand to silence her.

"Melodi, darling. Slow down. Again, I don't know if it's immortal, but I've been the same age for a very long time." He paused as she opened her beak to interrupt, but he figured he knew what she was going to say so he carried on. "I don't actually know my age, but it's over one thousand years."

"A millennium old? How is that possible? Now I know you're messing with me. There's no way this is real. Funny, yeah, haha. Good joke Ilorek, let's go eat now, okay?" She seemed nervous, like she had been made a fool of, yet Ilorek shockingly just stepped to the side to let her out.

He shot a glance down at Theodit before addressing her on the way out the door. "Yes, good, forget this ever happened. Don't believe me, if the others find out they might not be too happy with me. I'm totally messing with you. No immortality, no vore potion, no thousand year old hippogryphs here."

Melodi stopped in the doorway and sighed heavily, slowly turning back to Ilorek. "The sad part is, I want to believe you and I truly do believe that you believe what you're saying, but that's impossible. If Immortality were real, it would destroy the world. Everyone would be fighting for the secret, wouldn't they? That's why....wait a second...wait." She lowered her head in thought before looking up at Ilorek. "Is that why...?"

Sensing the cat was out of the bag, Ilorek telekinetically closed the door behind Melodi, locking it remotely. "Look, if anyone's going to be in on the secret, it might as well be you. Take a seat and I'll explain everything pertinent to your concern."

"I'll stand if you don't mind." She countered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"As you wish." Ilorek said, extending a hand to a nearby seat while Theodit hopped up onto the lab desk. "Alright, so you know how when you first arrived, you were utterly certain that you knew me? Well you do. When I said we knew each other from a past life, I wasn't being facetious. You're nearly as old as I am."

"No, I'm still in my teens, I remember my life to my early ears when I was still a fledgling."

"That may be true, this life of yours is still relatively short. Have you ever gone through all the pictures in the castle and noticed that every other ruler and princess and prince in your bloodline seemed to look shockingly similar to you, mysteriously alternating between groups that matched that of you, Storm, Vaulix, and Talba and random others?"

She scoffed. "Yeah, that's how a bloodline works. Families share traits that are passed down through the family. Not sure what that proves."

Ilorek nodded, acknowledging her point. "Yes, this is true, but didn't you find it peculiar how it was a perfect pattern of alternating kings and queens? What about the peculiar blend of you four and a few others? Every time a queen was ruler that looked like Talba, there remained a princess that looked precisely like you and a king that looks exactly like King Vaulix and a prince that looks an awful lot like Storm and castle helpers that look an awful lot like Chiryn and Mikhail and Arnika. That doesn't strike you as peculiar, the exact same group of people on a repeating, alternating cycle?"

"Well, yeah I always thought it was weird, but I don't remember any of that, it just sounds to me like you're making shit up to sound like one of those old-god worshippers, the crazy cultists that have been harassing my family as long as I can remember."

"That's exactly why you feel you know me. A chosen group of individuals - friends of ours - live out a full and enjoyable life before being put in a magical state of stasis for a lifetime, their memories wiped and a transformation spell cast upon them so they can begin life anew. You're one of the chosen ones set on a cyclical path with the other immortals; you weren't intended to ever know this, but apparently your last mind-reset wasn't complete and you had some of your past-life memories triggered when you saw me." Ilorek explained, a look of defeat upon his face.

Melodi spoke up, stepping forward with her hooves clopping on the wooden floor as she stood over him. "You keep saying 'we', and 'us', what do you mean by that?"

He paused to glance over at Theo, as if he was getting a second opinion before carefully choosing his next words. "Hold onto your tail. I am one of the old gods."

"Nonsense." She rebuffed.

"Not nonsense, but I certainly understand how you would feel that way. Honestly, it'd be easier if you didn't believe me and just went about your life pretending I was just some crazy person spouting nonsense; you can go back to your throne in north Arrenthen and forget everything, but I know you want what I can potentially offer and I can feel that you're ready to believe me with the right evidence. Sadly I cannot demonstrate my true power without destroying things, something I really don't care to do."

She scoffed again. "So now you're telling me You can read minds?"

"Indeed I can."

"If you say so."

Ilorek grabbed a piece of paper and a quill from his desk next to the flask of potion that Theo had been working on, ready to prove a point. "Okay, How about this. Think up a number. Any number. Doesn't need to be between one and ten or a billion or a quadrillion. Just think up a random number, and I'll write it down on this piece of paper. Since I don't have an audience, I don't need to convince anyone other than you, so think up a number, make it consistent, and I will write it down."

"Sure. Go ahead. I have a number in my head. What am I thinking."

"Two is not a big enough number. Think of something bigger, more digits."

"Good point. Okay, I have a number." She declared.

"One million, three-hundred ninety-two thousand, seven-hundred and fifty-six." He said aloud, not wanting to waste any perfectly good ink. "How close am I?"

She stared forward, slumping down on a chair, slowly shaking her head. "That's entirely accurate. Okay, so you can read minds, there are others who can do that as well, I've seen some mages do that before, it doesn't mean you're immortal, or a god." Despite making the accusation and claim to be unconvinced, her faith was shaken a bit.

"You're not wrong, reading minds doesn't mean that I'm immortal; that would be a logical fallacy. But, I did transform before your very eyes, I did read your mind, and my name is Ilorek. I share a name with the Dalonian Godfather of Alchemy, and my mate is Valencia, one who shares a name with the Dalonian Goddess of the Mind. You met Leera and Ceylon, and you're related to Vaulix and Talba. Of course, you simply thought that they were named after the Old Gods, but did you not think it strange that all twelve of us remained friends. Six of us you've met in the past week alone, all baring the same name and physical resemblance and mateship with the Gods. There's always a chance that would be coincidental, but after a while coincidence gives way to causality."

Melodi's chest heaved with increasing depth, her eyes losing focus as she struggled to piece together everything she'd been told. "But, that can't be true. Gods are just metaphors for the elements of the world around us, my sister told me so herself."

"Don't you think that's exactly what an immortal would say to maintain the perception gifted them in this life?" He proposed, then slowly smiled as his amber eyes started to glow, his mind permeating hers as he plucked her thoughts and responded to them directly. "I can tell you finally believe me, but I also know you're not willing to accept it so don't. For now, just try to keep this to yourself. Storm can't know about this, you are well aware what that would do to his ego."

She gulped and nodded. "Yeah, knowing he's apparently reborn of all those war heroes he compared himself to would not be good for him." After a brief moment of contemplation, she glanced up. "So, if you're over a thousand years old, what do you do to keep yourself busy? You're just here on a ranch, taking care of some horses and other farm animals."

"I told you, once you've accomplished everything you wanted to accomplish, you just have fun." He explained, beak agape.

"But you could be doing so much for the world. You could end the wars and usher the land into an age of prosperity with the magic you possess. If you're able to live infinitely, you could share that and-"

Ilorek cut her off before she could finish her thought. "I know you can't look at the history books, but trust me, we tried that. Most people cannot be trusted with limitless power, and we can't just control the world. Societies across the world and civilization as a whole need to guide their own lives, they need to make their own progress, and they need to work out their own issues. My idea of a perfect world is not going to be the same as yours, or Storm's, or even Talba's, so it's wrong to exert our control over the land or dictate the future of civilization. Now, we only interfere enough to ensure nobody learns the secret of immortality, because that's really the only thing we can do to ensure the tides of time aren't turned in the wrong direction."

"Sounds like a boring life. What do you do to keep yourself occupied if you can't go around conquering the land?" She asked, genuinely interested by this point. Part of her was still a skeptic, but given her own experiences, the feeling she got when looking at the paintings of her 'ancestors', and the arguments he put forth, she was ready to believe him. Though his claims felt bombastic and outlandish, they matched up with what she felt her whole life even if she'd been trained to repress those feelings. She wanted to believe.

Ilorek smiled, glancing over at Theo before extending a hand to her. "I told you, we just try all the weird and kinky shit we can imagine, knowing that our creativity is our only boundary. So, wanna have some fun?"

"I...I guess so. What have you got in mind?"

Theodit chirped and smiled at Ilorek, downing a whole vial of the potion he'd concocted. "How about we see if this potion works on me, first! Wanna see if I can fit in you?"

"Like, in my womb?" She clutched her belly with both hands. "Honestly I hadn't thought of that as a realistic option, but if you are certain such a thing is possible and not dangerous, I'd be interested in trying it out, yeah!"

Ilorek grabbed a tiny potion vial. "Glad to hear it. Take this, you'll need it."

After only a moment of hesitation and glancing back from Ilorek to Theodit, she downed the vial and wiped her beak off with her forearm, gape grinning at the two of them. "Alright, how long until this potion takes effect?"

Theo grabbed the vial to look at the label before answering. "Like five minutes, and it lasts for hours, so let's go." He hopped off the lab bench and jumped up to grab the door handle, swinging it open and darting outside.

"Really not a good idea to get frisky in the lab. I'll meet you outside; feel free to disrobe before coming out, if you wish." He undid his belt buckle and left his kilt on the bench before exiting, leaving Melodi alone with her thoughts and a world of possibility swirling in her head.

She didn't wait long at all to meet up with the others. Though she had worries clouding the back of her mind regarding the legitimacy of their claims, some exploratory kinky fun was exactly what she needed to distract herself. If it turns out they were blowing smoke under her tail, then no harm done, but if they turned out to be sincere and all the things they said were true, then she was in for an awakening experience. With that final thought of hesitation in her mind, she slipped out of her short skirt and blouse laying them on the chair atop Ilorek's kilt and quickly left the shack to see the two males waiting for her.

Ilorek's beak slowly curved into a smile. "Gorgeous, you know that?" He mused at her, looking her up and down as his member slowly unraveled before him. Part of him didn't want to expose himself to her - physically or mentally - given the tricky nature of their past history, but he knew that she would be fine knowing about their previous lives. Every thing Ilorek had said was true, and he'd granted Melodi the truth in the past lives as well and she always took it well, even if her memory kept getting wiped.

When the sun came to rise that morning, Ilorek was not predicting that he would end up releasing a bomb of truth on Melodi, but here he was, naked and exposed both literally and figuratively. If she was going to be privy to his secret, she might as well indulge in the more outlandish things that such stature allowed them.

"Feeling anything yet?" He asked as her hooves crunched on the leaves.

She patted her lower belly just above her pubic mound. "You could say that. I do feel a little light-gutted, with a slight tingle in my loins. Is that what makes the potion work?"

Before speaking a word, Ilorek lunged forward and wrapped his hand around Melodi's hip, using his other hand to cradle her neck as he swung her around and slammed her into the trunk of a tree, firmly but gracefully. As he did so, he leaned in real close to her ear and whispered, "I guess we'll find out, won't we?" His hips pressed to his as his growing member cradled up under her juicy pussy lips, the throbbing of his heart tickling her just right.

While he was grinding against her, Theo slipped up under his tail and between his legs to bury his snout up between them, nuzzling Ilorek's cock to the side to lick at Melodi's folds. "Yep, seems she's ready."

Ilorek pulled away to look her in the eyes with a smile. "So, your body is ready. Are you?"

Her feathers stood on end as she imagined the immense play of size that she'd feel with something as thick as Theo inside her, so she enthusiastically nodded and clenched her loins, muscles peeling back her lips to wink her massive equine clitoris. "Yeah, I think I am. Do your worst, my immortal stud." She couldn't help but grin at her pet name.

"I like that." He responded, before pulling her away from the tree to lightly rest her on her back, one leg up and her plump loins exposed. "Fair warning, you might feel some discomfort at first, but that will go away quickly as it's replaced with the pleasure of the most intense and thick of penetrations. Imagine like being a virgin again." He said, propping himself up over her with his member throbbing and lightly tapping at her belly.

"I lost my virginity to one of the royal steeds, so I don't think it'll be quite like that."

Ilorek laughed and buried his beak in her chest between her breasts, preening at her plumage as he slowly crawled backwards. "That's fair, that's fair. Well it'll be like most people's loss of virginity." As he spoke, he grabbed his shaft and aimed his tip at her lips, lightly prodding at her flesh before plunging every inch of his length into her with one buck of his hips.

Melodi's expression softened as she grinned, beak agape and a coo escaping her maw. "Yeah, that's nice." She started, then her look hardened a bit as she looked up at Ilorek, clenching her depths around him to give him a tight squeeze. "But it's not uncomfortable. You're big, sure, but you're not that big!" She joked, slowly gyrating her hips at him to aid his member in stirring her depths.

"I'm just warming you up, dear. Things will get a bit more interesting once I've properly tenderized you." With each word, he increased the pace of his hip thrusting, going from a sensual grind to a powerful slamming as his hips splashed and squirted and squelched against hers. Her excitement grew as she felt him hammering against her, a thick and gooey slime forming in and around her opening that soaked him from balls to belly.

Once she noticed this, she gingerly pressed her hands against his chest to get him to slow down as she reached between them and tugged at her plump pussy lips, enjoying the copious lube she was secreting even as its trail bridged from her loins to her beak when she licked her finger off. "I'm excited, but I don't think I've ever been this excited before!" She crooned, once again clenching her walls around him to give Ilorek a tight squeeze.

That's when Theo poked his head from behind Ilorek with a single finger raised. "That's the potion doing its work, dear. You'll be quite gloriously messy until the effects wear off."

"In a few hours, right?" She confirmed, once again idly squeezing at her winking clit with her finger and thumb between she and Ilorek. "Because I am totally okay with that."

"Indeed." Ilorek agreed, giving a few rapid-fire thrusts before pulling out. He squeezed around the base of his cock to keep the veiny texture firm and defined, his flare partially inflated and the faintest hint of knot lobes bulging out between the base and median ring of his equine length.

Melodi reached out to grab it, eager to give it a taste and keep him pleasured, but was interrupted mid-situp by Theo, who practically dove at her loins. She gasped a bit and fell back to her elbow, one leg up and tail swishing about behind her. As the little amphibian nuzzled and pressed out against her, she could feel her flesh swelling and growing to accommodate him.

This feeling and sensation could be picked up by Ilorek, who had empathetic abilities as well as his more commonly used telepathy and mind reading. He knew she was having a bit of an out-of-body experience as Theo's ravenous snout prodded and pushed against her slowly expanding folds, so he smiled and caught her eye, glaring wistfully at her. "Just relax, don't clench up, and you'll be fine." He assured her, member still throbbing and already dripping a steady flow of precum on her inner thigh. "Theo will need both of our help to do his exploration, so don't work against him."

She gulped and winced a bit, curling onto her side with her back twisted and tail out behind her for balance. While she was trying to relax as instructed, it was hard with Theo constantly thrusting his head up against her, using the tapered shape of his snout to gradually spread and stretch her pussy flesh wide. As she glanced down at him, she was shocked to see how easily he was easing his way into her, as her lips seemed to open up and swallow him, sucking him in one inch at a time.

Then, while she was focusing on Theodit, Ilorek came up behind him, grabbed his tail, yanked it up, and eased his way into Theo, leaning over the both of them as he slammed his hips into the amphibian's backside. The added pressure and weight popped all of Theo's head into Melodi with a sudden lurch.

She twisted and contorted in surprise as she felt his entire skull slip through her birth canal to prod at her cervix, threatening to invade her womb. It was that moment, that one shocking moment when Theo's face slipped past her lips to stretch and distend her belly, disappearing into her, that she realized that maybe there was more to their claims than initially expected. She did feel a sudden onset of shock and discomfort, but as promised that disappeared quickly as her loins loosened and relaxed, letting him slip ever so deeper.

"See? I told you it'd be fine!" Ilorek said as he leaned over her, grinning while lifting up Theo's backside. "Now, as long as you keep relaxed, your skin will stretch as far as it needs to."

Despite trusting him completely, Melodi was still having a real hard time with the reality of the situation, so she grunted and took in a few meditative deep breaths before trying her best to relax every muscle in her body. While it seemed to work, as Theo's skull was able to rotate and twist inside her to rub out against her flesh with ease, it also resulted in her letting rip quite a juicy release of air from under her tail, embarrassing her a bit.

"Don't you worry about that." Ilorek assured her, stepping forth and putting all his weight into a thrust into Theo. The added pressure forced the amphibian's form to squeeze and fold up on itself, shoulders bending inward to nearly touch before having Melodi's massive pussy lips expand outward and slide over him. The crook in his chest opened her up as air rushed into the cavernous walls that swallowed him up, only to quickly be sealed off as he lurched forward once again and her lips slid down his torso to squeeze his midriff.

She let out a howl of pleasure, beak agape and leg up as she felt the deep pressure of her cervix being opened wide - wider than it had even when passing an egg. He had breached her womb, invading her even as her birth canal cradled and squeezed him tight. This was shocking to her, of course, but that didn't stop Ilorek from forcing the amphibian's form deeper and deeper with each vigorous thrust.

He kept his massive hands wrapped around Theo's hips, maintaining leverage even as he pumped and grinded against him. Before long, Melodi's hungry depths had smothered Theo past his torso and around his hips, her lips squeezing at his thighs to force Ilorek to pull out.

As he yanked his member from Theodit's depths, Melodi could actually feel the bulge passing through his belly against her vaginal walls, giving her a bit of a shocked fright. "Oh my..." She cooed to herself, once again giving her loins a gentle squeeze to pleasure him on his way through her birth canal, then remembered she was asked not to clench. "S-sorry, buddy!" She apologized.

Ilorek patted the growing, Theo-shaped bulge in her belly as his cock slapped at the amphibian's exposed thigh. Before him, Theo's arms from the mid-forearm down as well as most of his legs from upper thigh down and virtually all of his tail was sticking out of Melodi as his torso and head writhed within her body, pressing out against her abdominal wall like he was fighting with a thin membrane. To his eyes, the potions were working perfectly. But then, when Melodi looked up at him as if to ask what to do next, Ilorek took his massive hands and wrapped them around Theo's tail and knees, squeezing them together while using all his weight and strength to force him to penetrate deeper into her.

With one massive lurch, Theodit's body slid through her birth canal and past her cervix, curling up in her womb to leave his legs from the knees down and the rest of his finned tail sticking out of her. He curled his toes and writhed in place against her distended and malleable flesh, his legs and tail all struggling to stay in place while her involuntary vaginal contractions made him shift and rotate inside. He rest for only a moment before Ilorek once again grabbed at his ankles and the tip of his tail, giving one more juicy push forward to leave only the final few inches of each poking out, his entire torso curled up in Melodi's womb.

"W-wow. Just wow." She said to herself, patting at the writhing bag of flesh that was her abdomen. "Not the most flattering look, but I'm immensely impressed." She winced in regret before clenching her vaginal muscles again, a gooey concoction leaking out from between the three limbs that were barely dangling out between her thighs. The motion actually seemed to suck Theo in deeper, so she did it again, then again, until Ilorek sidled up behind her.

"Almost done." He assured her with a smile before easing her onto her hands and knees, urging her to get into a better position. Once she was on all fours, he rubbed at her clit to get her to lift her tail, then grabbed Tho's feet with both hands and pushed the very last of him to shift and slide into her womb, double fisting her to the elbow in the process. Like a doctor, he stayed there for a moment, dexterously prodding at her cervix and forcing the last bit of his tail disappear into her depths before clenching both hands together and slowly pulling out. The clenched and interlocked fists mimicked the sensation of a gargantuan knot tugging at her pussy flesh before popping out in a gooey mess, slimy fluid splashing in the grass between them.

Though she felt a little dirty and exposed, Melodi couldn't help but rock back into him, tail up high and loins relaxed enough to gape her from lips to womb. When he didn't stuff her again with his fists, she looked back over her shoulder to encourage him only to be mounted by her 'immortal stud'.

He grabbed her tail with one hand and grabbed his cock with the other, guiding his tip into her while squeezing and tugging at her, the glow of a spell seeping into the fur of her haunches. Then, to her utter shock, she felt her loins tightening back up to squeeze his impressive yet relatively thin cock - at least compared to the girth of a whole salamander saurossin's body - with a wink.

Once he felt her body tense back up and return to normal, sans the bulging distended womb full of Theo she now possessed, he again started pumping into her as he had before. Slow at first, he was easing her back into a proper mating before picking up the pace to slam his hips time and time again. Like before, she was gushing the gooey concoction all over him, with webs and strands of the stuff bridging from his thighs to hers, from her tail to his knees, and everywhere else in between.

To her delight and surprise, the pleasure picked back up in her body and she quickly found herself contorting in orgasmic bliss as Ilorek's well-trained body worked her as thoroughly and deeply as it she had ever been mated before. Then, in a sudden and welcoming explosion of fluid and pleasure, Melodi cried out and slammed back as hard as she could, forcing Ilorek's cock to briefly penetrate her womb and flare out within her before she fell to her bloated belly, tugging on his flare and coaxing out a climax from him.

Content, she curled up onto her side with his seed leaking out of her gaping pussy, soaking the forest floor as he held his member above her, ejaculating over her thigh. She stared up at him, befuddled and completely exhausted in her post orgasmic state of bliss. Eventually, she did manage to squeak out one word. "How?"

Ilorek's deflating cock went limp in his hand as a slimy bit of stallion cum leaked out the end to pool in his hand, which he happily licked up. "How what? How did Theo get inside you? How did you get tight again? How did you orgasm so soon thereafter? Simple, darling. Magic of the gods." He leaned over her, using one hand for balance while his other one slipped up under her tail to gently poke at her clit, a buzzing swell of pleasure emanating from her loins at his mere touch. "Not sure if I need to explain any farther than that."

Her spine arched and she stretched out her body, resisting his touch for a moment before she curled back up in a whimpering shudder. "N-no, I guess not. I'm certainly not complaining."

Minutes passed before she finally felt the after-shocks of pleasure dissipate from her body enough that she was able to roll to her rump and sit up straight. "So what do I do now? I'm not familiar with your magic or potion stuff, but I don't know if he's coming out."

As if responding, Theo shifted about inside her and lightly pressed out with his palm, like he was asking for a high five.

"Well, I guess you can take him back to the VoreHouse, where Leera and Ceylon will help get him out." Ilorek suggested before getting to his feet and wiping his body clean of the dirt and debris. He extended a hand to her. "I can help if you'd like, but I'm pretty sure you'd prefer to enjoy the weight of him within you for a while, first."

She accepted his hand and was pulled to her feet as she cracked her back, pressing her bloated belly full of Theodit out, a gooey mess still oozing and draining from her pussy. "I guess you're right. So, now that I'm privy to your little secret, think you could teach me how to live forever?"