I turned, ready to continue, but froze at the horrified way Aziz was staring at me. Or, not me, but the creature on my shoulder.

  “You don’t cease to amaze me,” the man said, stumbling back a tad too close to the edge of the path.

  “Watch it,” I said.

  He froze, then looked behind himself, laughing. “I thought you were threatening me for a second there.”

  “Only trying to help.”

  He gave me a nod, then turned and continued walking, whispering to Ahlaksiz, “What have you gotten yourself wrapped up in?”

  She chuckled, and I had a thought, glancing at the stone she had given me on my wrist piece. “If stones can be so powerful, why aren’t we relying on them more?”

  “Can is the keyword there,” Ahlaksiz replied.

  Aziz looked back and nodded. “It relates to your ability to connect to the stone’s energy.”

  “Which is in turn related to you being able to access your own energy, via your core.” Alhaksiz pressed her fist to her gut. “Right here—harness it, open your mind and soul, and you’ll find the energy works wonders.”

  She had given me the protective stone before, though now I wondered whether it had worked or not. It might have helped me survive this long, but it was equally possible that it had done absolutely nothing.

  “And this one we’re looking for…?” I asked.

  Aziz hesitated, so it was Ahlaksiz who cut in. “We don’t know, exactly. But I believe it can be very powerful. A rare form of Alexandrite not known to most humans, the type we’re searching for here, includes yellow and white, but shifts in sunlight to almost a black.”

  “Black, of course, is a color that seems to sap our kind of power, so often it’s considered negative,” Aziz explained. “But in the hands of a summoner? Helps one dominate the monster being summoned. White shields, while yellow is related to visualization and amplifying one’s connection to their inner core.”

  “So what you’re saying is, any summoner with one of these strange Alexandrite stones has a much better chance when it comes to summoning a powerful monster.”

  “Precisely.”

  We kept at it for a bit, but since we weren’t having any luck, I finally decided to kick off my shoes, peeling off my socks so I could wade into the water. It was warm, but not so much that it wasn’t refreshing.

  “Taking a break?” Milrae asked. Before I knew it, she had removed her whole getup and was wading into the water completely nude. I’d nearly forgotten that, in their world, nude was the norm.

  “Come on in,” Kinara said, stripping next and going in with Milrae. She stepped in, the water up to her ass, then turned and waited.

  I turned to see Aziz still checking rocks, and when he saw me looking, he nodded. “It’s fine, and if you’re concerned about me checking out your lovers, don’t worry. I’ve seen more nudity in my lifetime than many humans could even hope to see with their fancy internet porn. I appreciate a beautiful nude body, but there’s nothing unusual about it. Like you might appreciate a slender neck, or the cuteness of one’s nose.”

  That was a thought that terrified me—ever getting to the point where the stunning breasts and asses I was seeing didn’t arouse me in the way they currently did. I shook my head at the thought then said, “Fuck it,” undressing to go in. Basty hopped off and started to wade at the edge of the water, but didn’t go in any deeper. Aziz kept giving him worried looks, but was at least focused on the task at hand.

  As I stripped, I became slightly insecure. My ears itched, and I looked up to see that, despite what he’d said, Aziz was staring at my now exposed cock.

  “Excuse me,” I said, turning back to the ladies and wading into the water.

  “I didn’t mean to stare,” he said, “it’s just that I’d been expecting smaller. You surprised me.”

  “It’s been growing,” Jalee explained, staying clear of the water but having a seat at its edge. She began to undress, too, so the sun could warm her skin. “It wasn’t exactly small to begin with, but definitely smaller.”

  I glared at her, not wanting my package to be the focus of the conversation.

  “He thinks it might have something to do with becoming more monster, maybe?” Ahlaksiz explained.

  “Ladies…” I covered myself, hoping that would give them the hint.

  “What, why?” Aziz said, standing now and gesturing at my covered crotch. “I’d assume the chirop has been, you know…”

  “Of course!” Ahlaksiz said, and laughed.

  “What?” I asked.

  The others seemed equally confused, and the two in the water had started moving around in it, bathing themselves. Since I was growing hard, I chose to lower myself, too.

  “Chirop saliva heals, and has other related effects,” Aziz said, eyes sparkling. “You know what I mean?” He turned, checking another stone.

  For a second I didn’t, then turned to Kinara and saw her blushing.

  “It’s another reason I’m hunted,” she admitted. “My kind. Not all monsters are as well-endowed as the ones you’ve seen, or at least they weren’t at first.”

  “Her saliva can have a hefty price on the black market,” Ahlaksiz further explained, stripping now as well and approaching me in the water. She had taken on her true form, with ears and tail.

  “Even more when tongue or full head are attached,” Kinara growled. Clearly, this was a sore subject.

  Then it all made sense—her saliva, from when she went down on me, was what had been making me larger. Holy shit, I thought. And they were saying some monsters used that, even hunted her kind and sold parts of her, or her saliva at the very least, as part of a penis-enlargement market.

  It almost made me laugh, but also made me want to cry. It was fucking disgusting.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, going over to take her hand and kiss it.

  “Why should you be?” She took her other hand under the water and caressed my hard cock. “You get the benefits for free.”

  “It’s not about that, and you know it.” I pulled her close, kissing her on the forehead, but she leaned up and pressed her lips to mine.

  “I do know it,” she replied. “And that’s why I didn’t want to say anything. Maybe I should have…”

  “He’s not going to complain or tell you to stop,” Milrae said with a laugh. “Have you seen the way he throws that thing around now? He’s proud of it!”

  “Shouldn’t I be?” I said, grinning. My smile suddenly faded as a thought hit me. “Wait, it’s not going to… keep growing, is it? Like, I seriously don’t want a third leg down there that I have to figure out what to do with.”

  “Don’t worry.” Kinara was stroking me now. “It has a limited effect. I’d imagine this is the extent of the growth, or at most only a bit more.”

  I gulped, looking down at the blurred outline of my cock through the water, grateful it wasn’t going to grow much more. As much as I’d often felt a pang of jealousy at the monster cocks on the internet, I kind of liked who I was. This gave me confidence, but I didn’t want to start feeling like someone I wasn’t. Going from maybe six inches when I was lucky to a good eight made sense, but no footlong for me.

  As she continued to stroke and Milrae watched out of the corner of her eye, pretending not to notice, I found myself lost in thought, wondering how often in hentai stories and the like men had their size increased, when given the option. I’d certainly read a few stories where that was the case and had to grin at the thought now.

  “You two aren’t seriously…” Aziz laughed. “Man, that brings back memories.”

  Now all eyes were on us, but at least my lower half was underwater. Kinara’s arm was moving as she stroked me, in a way that made it very obvious what she was doing.

  “Maybe you should stop,” I said, feeling self-conscious.

  “Yeah?”

  “He’s right,” Aziz said, standing and walking over. “We might end up wanting to search the rocks in the water, and it would be a bit weird knowing something was floating around in there with us.”

  “Kinara, you’re still doing it,” Jalee noted.

  Kinara sighed, gave me a gentle squeeze, then pulled her hands up to show everyone. “Happy?”

  Well, I was likely about to get blue balls, but aside from that, sure. At least when it did come, the water helped.

  Soon Aziz had us diving underwater to look for any sort of stone that glimmered or could be large enough to break open and find what he was looking for. Then again, it wouldn’t likely glimmer unless it was polished, right? I scratched my chin, wondering what I should be looking for, then, and clicked my tongue in annoyance. What followed was my ability to ping my nearby surroundings in the water. It wasn’t only my surroundings, though, but something extra that allowed me to sense what was nearby with degrees of power—other stones that seemed to respond in terms of color! That gave me an idea.

  I ducked down into the water and clicked my tongue, then did it again, using my power in water to move quickly. The search didn’t last much longer, as soon I was at the base of the falls, behind where the water was swirling, with something in my hand that was giving off mixed signals.

  My breath was running low; I had forgotten to pay attention to going up for air. I shot out of the water, rolling onto the nearby rock, and came up coughing, gasping for breaths.

  “Are you all right?” Jalee asked, moving toward me.

  I pushed myself up to kneel, held up the yellowish stone, and said, “I think I have something here.”

  They all quickly gathered around me.

  Aziz maneuvered his way past the others, took it, and grinned. “Sir, I do believe you have yourself the rare form of Alexandrite we have been searching for.” He handed it back over, and I felt a tingling of power from the little stone.

  “Do we do this here?” I asked.

  “First, you put some pants on,” Ahlaksiz said with a chuckle. “As much fun as this is.”

  I’d neglected to recall that I and most of my monster ladies were nude. With a grin, I turned back to find my clothes, and found little Basty there, lying on the ground asleep. He was so cute, like a furball version of a cat, aside from the way the ground shifted around him. As I dressed, I asked, “Why’re you scared of this thing?”

  “Me?” Aziz shook his head. “the better question is, why aren’t you?”

  “He’s an ally. Maybe a friend?”

  Aziz cast a doubtful glance at the others. Jalee had helped Milrae find her clothes and was helping to dress the woman as she said, “It’s true. It was scary at first, but Ferris managed to win the little guy over, I guess.”

  “He helps out, changing forms, giving me visions or sending visions of a different sort to my enemies.”

  “That’s… amazing. Do you think he’d mind if I… tried?” Aziz took a tentative step toward us, but I held up a hand as I pulled up my pants.

  “One second, I’ll ask.”

  Kneeling next to Basty, I said, “Ready, little buddy?”

  There was no response. Leaning in, I went to scoop him up and only barely registered Ahlaksiz shouting for me not to.

  As soon as I touched him, I understood why. One second I was there at his side, the next I was in a place that could only be his mind. It was a fucked-up mind at that. Swirling colors, and there was Basty—only he was humongous, like a huge fluffball as tall as a three-story house. He turned to me and smiled wide, but it came across as incredibly creepy with colors started swirling around his head, and he floated, bringing me with him. Below us, dark rocks formed, giving way to a lake of water that was equally dark at first, but soon started glowing green. I had no idea what to expect, or what was going on, but ducked as something swooshed past. Again, something came at me, and my powers weren’t doing a damn thing in terms of warning.

  The third time, though, I got a good look at a creature like a winged rat. It came at me, attempting to claw my face, then there was another one, this one taking on the shape of a beautiful woman’s body but with the face of a rat; it startled me beyond belief. Meanwhile, Basty was to the side starting to laugh—a deep, unexpected laugh that shook the air around me. It was like the air stopped supporting me, and I fell, faster and faster until I plunged into the water, and kept falling.

  I turned, struggling to swim out of there, to break free from my descent, but it didn’t happen. My lungs burned, vision fading from my eyes, then I was simply floating, feeling like this could very well be my end.

  Something hard and warm was in my hand, but when I looked down, it seemed empty. At first. A glint of light caught my attention, the warmth spreading through my body, and I was able to see that crystal we’d found.

  As soon as I could see it, the darkness pushed out, retreating, and I was at Basty’s side. Aziz had the crystal pressed into my palm, kneeling next to me. Basty’s eyes slowly opened and he stared at me for a long moment before finally popping up and scurrying along my arm to come to rest on my shoulder. All as if none of that had happened. Maybe it hadn’t?

  I suddenly wanted to call my parents and check in on them. Nodding my appreciation to Aziz, I stood, took a deep breath, and said, “Well… that happened.”

  “Exactly what was it that did happen?” Kinara asked, stepping up to me cautiously, eyeing Basty with unease.

  “I think I entered his dream. Something like that, anyway.”

  “And?” Aziz’s eyes were wide with fascination.

  “It was too weird to comprehend.” This was possibly true, but mostly l wanted to clear my head from that strange experience, and the sensation of falling, then drowning. A deep breath helped a bit, then settling my gaze on Kinara helped me more. She had a hand on my shoulder and I remembered before, focusing on how she had been jacking me off in the water. Nothing like a good sensual memory to focus on when needing to clear one’s thoughts.

  With a shudder, I said, “So… do we do this here?”

  “There’s a second reason I was going to bring you on the movie set tour,” Ahlaksiz said, shaking her head. “It’s because, to summon a monster of this power, we’re going to need to do it in the dead of night. Certain spots work best to commune with the shadows, referred to by our kind as ‘Shadowportia,’ and there happens to be one not far from that location. We go out there, wait, and then, when the time is right, see what you’re capable of.”

  Aziz had gone pale. “So you’re actually going to do it?”

  “It’s necessary.”

  He turned back to me, shaking his head with a look of worry. “I truly wish you well. But if it doesn’t work out, I’m glad I got the chance to meet you, my friend.”

  “Wait, what?” I turned back to Ahlaksiz. “I thought the crystal is supposed to protect me? Why’s he talking like I might die?”

  “Is Ferris going to die?” Milrae asked, turning on her, too.

  “Fuck that,” Kinara chimed in. “Call it all off. We’re done here. Ferris, let’s go find a hotel and make wild, passionate love for the rest of our days. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

  “It does…” I was still staring at Ahlaksiz, though, waiting for an answer.

  She eyed Aziz, then turned back to me, and held out her hands. “I don’t have all the answers. But I know this—we have an Iridant, and the chance that presents us with. You have Jalee who wants to go home, if only long enough to save her sister, and other reasons for doing this. Will you die? I hope not, but if you do, we’re all going down with you. The crystal isn’t a guarantee, but in this life, nothing is.”

  “I’ll let you stick it in my ass,” Kinara said. “You come back to the hotel with me right now and say no to all this, it goes in my ass. If that’s what you want. Or we can find something to stick in your ass.”

  “You’d let me do that anyway,” I said, putting my hand on hers, where it still rested on my arm. “But thank you for the offer.”

  She sighed, looking to the others as she said, “He’s not wrong.”

  “We came all this way.” I gave her hand a comforting squeeze, knowing she would stick with me in this, though the appeal of running off to fuck like monsters certainly pulled at me. “I’m not backing down now.”

  “Then allow me to show you around Tozeur a bit, yes?” Aziz grinned, rubbing his hands together. “We still have a couple of hours until sunset, after all.”

  “True, but we want to avoid being seen,” Ahlaksiz pointed out.

  “I know just the place.”

  Dressed and ready to go, we hiked back to the car, and soon were checking into a large building on the outskirts of the city. Aziz and Ahlaksiz decided to go into the city to find more clothing and supplies while the rest of us enjoyed the grounds and took some time to rest.

  That turned into our discovery of an old museum of sorts, with pictures of a Tunisian family from long ago. The archways, fountains, and intricate patterns etched into the walls were impressive. The few people there kept staring at us—or more specifically, our odd dress now that Jalee wore her butcher’s apron and Kinara had gotten rid of her Tunisian clothes as much as she could without her ears and wings visible. Milrae still had her concealing outfit on, at least. I had no idea how they would have reacted to seeing the real her.

  That thought made me upset one minute, while very much wanting to show her my appreciation of her body the next. Not that she needed my approval, but damn, I’d make sure she knew she had it.

  “Over here,” I said, noticing a side walkway lined with stunning, pink flowers. We ducked past the flowers, around back to the garden, then to a cove slightly hidden from view.

  “What are we doing here?” Milrae asked, though judging by the look in Kinara’s eyes, she knew exactly where my mind was at.

  I glanced over to see that Basty had taken his normal form and was eyeing me. Kneeling, I said, “Can you keep a lookout?”

  He blinked, then slid off his perch on my shoulder and went to the corner, standing there to do his job. Jalee glanced down at the little guy, then up at me with a raised eyebrow.