The Arboreal Form

Once we were seated at a dining table, the Village Council left us to ourselves to eat lunch. Huxian stared at me for a long while as if she knew something I didn't before finally asking, "You like her don't you?"

I gave her a quizzical look and so she elaborated, "Bunny Bitch, you like her don't you?"

"I guess I do," I answered with a nod as I released my hybrid-lion and resumed my natural form, "She reminds me of someone." I teased with a smirk.

She gave me a deadpan stare before retorting, "It isn't me…"

Chuckling to myself I greeted a cute little mouse waitress. She was only three feet tall, but I could tell that she was a fully grown adult, and apparently mated if the roundness of her belly spoke accurately of her pregnant state. Looking up from her belly, I met her gaze in time for her to give me a patient smile and set a plate and two mugs on the table between us as she announced, "Bread, cheese, and mead while you wait on your meals," Then gave us both a courteous nod and turned to leave.

"Thank you," I offered as she turned and left.

Huxian turned her nose up to the bread and cheese, but she drank her mead thirstily. Slamming the cup on the table in satisfaction, she looked up at me and asked, "What about your mother? She's still by the road, and the Svartalf could appear anytime. We need to return to her and not go on this…request."

"Your right," I answered as I broke the loaf of bread in half and took a bite before using a knife to cut off a chunk of cheese, "But the dream that sent us here really didn't specify where we are going to meet the Svartalf, or when. I think we should have the Council send the bunny squadron for…Glenna."

"So you two are on a first name basis now," Huxian asked in a knowing purr.

"Yeah," I answered with a nod before taking a swig of mead, "Having sex with a woman does that."

"Really," Huxian chuckled and shook her head, "So you've taken yet another wife, or mate? Whatever you want to call us…"

"Actually no," I answered with a shake of my head as I sat my cup back down on the table and gazed into her wonderfully glacial blue eyes, "This time she was always my wife. Some alfari custom when I was a child. My father and Glenna performed some ritual where I, as the recognized heir apparent, am given all of my father's possessions in case something untoward should happen to him. All means everything, and everything means his wife or wives, and all of their children as well. Apparently, I may keep any or all of them as my wives and concubines, or I may use them to make marriage alliances, or I may free them and send them on their way. However, all of that usually only happens after my father's death."

"And he is very much alive," Huxian said as she tilted her head at me sympathetically, "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," I answered with a shake of my head, "I just found out this morning. This is all still very fresh…, but Glenna said that usually even though the custom is to tell the heir after the father is dead, it doesn't change the fact that she is, and always has been, my wife, and apparently father is fine with it."

"You Primes and your customs," Huxian chuckled as she shook her head.

"Yeah tell me about it," I sighed, "Apparently we really made a mess of things last night while you were asleep. I had a dream where I was with Quebracho and when I woke up, well, I had spent most of the night breeding Glenna as well as Quebracho…"

"Quebracho?" Huxian scrunched her face as she inquired, "Who is she?"

"The spirit of the Elm'drya that created this breastplate for my father," I answered.

"And she comes to you in your dreams," She asked.

I simply nodded.

"So how did that turn out this morning," She asked while snickering at me.

"Turns out that Glenna conceived," I answered as Huxian's mouth fell open from shock, "Yeah, seems like I'm a regular impregnation machine!" I said sarcastically with raised eyebrows, "Though it doesn't help that Seline blessed both of us with increased fertility and virility. It almost guarantees Glenna will consistently be pregnant."

"How do you know," Huxian asked as she shook her head in denial, "After all you just consummated last night!"

"No, we didn't, actually," I answered with a shake of my head, "Otherwise, Seline would have taken control of Glenna as she did later this morning, and she would have given her the Well of Lust to protect her from getting pregnant. No. Instead, I ejaculated all over her and apparently almost 'Consummated' our union. It turns out that it was enough for my seed to take root…"

Huxian just stared at me with her mouth opening and closing as she digested the information. After a few seconds she finally said, "Well, what's done is done. It's not like you aren't already expecting to be a father anyway, so there is no use fretting over it now. Besides, she is your wife after all…"

Everyone looked up as the door of the Inn swung open and slammed against the wall to rattle and shake, nearly breaking the pains of glass. Standing in the doorway was the immense bos-taurine, Bartlett. He scanned the room in a hurry looking for someone. He saw me and then moved on before returning to stare at me with squinted eyes before looking Huxian up and down. Snorting loudly, he stomped over and grabbed a chair made specifically for him before dragging it over to join us without an invitation.

"I'm sorry to intrude on your meal," He apologized quickly with a huff, "But I was worried that you may have already left on the village council's request."

"Not yet," I answered with a gesture to the food and drink, "We need to eat before doing anything else."

"Good good, that's good," Bartlett sighed in relief and then smiled awkwardly.

"You seemed to be distressed," Huxian asked, trying to draw out the reason for his intrusion, "What can we do for you Mister Bartlett?"

He looked from me to Huxian then back before sighing again as his shoulders slumped and looking down at his hands that were on the table, "I heard that Master Viridian is one of the fabled Druids."

"What about his being a druid," Huxian asked, her tone on guard.

"It's just," He answered with another heavy sigh, "I heard they have powers of healing, and if that is true, then I have a request for the lord Viridian…"

Huxian opened her mouth to answer, but I interrupted her by patting the air as I looked into Bartlett's dark hazel green and brown eyes. I could see his turmoil and so asked, "What is this request you have of me?"

"If you would, please accompany me to my home," Bartlett begged, "What I need can be explained more easily if you see what I need with your own eyes."

I held Bartlett's gaze for several seconds trying to judge his honesty and desperation, and then I nodded as the cute little pregnant mouse waitress returned with our plates of food and more mead. When she left I answered, "Okay Mister Bartlett, we will accompany you to your home right after we eat. If you don't mind?"

"No no, of course, no Animal should work on an empty stomach," He answered with a relieved laugh.

——(!)——

A half hour later we stood in Bartlett's rather large cottage. Large in the fact that it was a small cottage made for a bull that was nine feet tall and nearly five feet across at the shoulders. Leading us through the front living room, he led us down a hallway with two bedrooms on the right and left and a bathing room at the end. Opening the door on the left he led us inside where there was a large bos-taurine woman laying in bed.

The woman was in a fitful sleep, and she appeared to be running a high fever. Crossing the room quickly in a few strides, Bartlett took her hand nearest to him and gave it a soft squeeze before turning back around to introduce us, "Lord Viridian and lady Huxian, this is my mate, my wife Maha, of some two-hundred years. She is my only mate, and the only one I have ever wanted. She is deathly ill, and our healers are unable to help her. I have heard that the fabled druids of the forest have healing abilities and can perform miracles. Please sir, I beg you to heal her and my daughter who is in the other room!"

Walking over to the opposite side of the bed, I took the bos-taurine female's hand with my left hand while placing my right on her forehead. She was burning up!

For the first time in weeks I closed my eyes and slipped into meditation. I started by communing with my Well of Soul, Power, and Spirit. They were like staring into three suns, one red, one blue, and one green. Around the blue sun, which I equated with my Well of Power, I saw the full moon hovering above casting light on all three of my Wells, but as for the Well of Power, there was a beam of pure white light connecting the two. Below the moon powerful white lightning danced and arched across the entire surface of the Well. It caused a tingling sensation to crawl across my skin until it concentrated and left my groin and testicles tingling. Aside from the tingling I could feel a remarkable growth in my Wells of Spirit and Soul. Floating there in the void I felt strong and clear of mind and body. More so than I ever had before, and as I watched three reading lecterns appeared with three books that I could now read if I wanted to.

Moving up to the first, it was already open to the first page where I read; "Viridian Vale - Titles of Recognition, Their history, meaning, and effect."

"Titles are in order of bestowal. First Title: Glenna's Little Emerald. History: Bestowed upon birth by Glenna Moonlilly. Effect: Increased maternal affection."

"Second Title: Summerset's Heir. History: Bestowed upon completion of a certain ritual. Effect: Viridian is the sole heir of Summerset Vale's title, wealth, wives, and property. Glenna Moonlilly is Viridian's first recognized wife upon reaching the age of adulthood."

"Third Title: Glenna's Second Husband. History: Bestowed upon completion of a certain ritual. Effect: Maternal affection changed and upgraded to maternal-romance affection. Henceforth all gains in affection increase maternal devotion and romantic desire."

"Fourth Title: Sylvain's Bain. Bestowed by Sylvain Moonlilly after a particularly horrible night when Viridian was teething. Affect: No effects."

"Fifth Title: Sylvain's Betrothed. History: Bestowed upon Viridian when Silvain swore herself to him, to be his wife. Effect: Increased romantic feelings of love."

"Sixth Title: Huxian's Little Spy. History: Bestowed when Viridian was caught peeping on Huxian. Ever since she wondered if her little bath spy was enjoying watching her. Effect: Increased feelings of joy, curiosity, and love."

Looking up from the book I shook my head. If this void was my own construct for the benefit of my meditation, then how was it that I knew these titles and their significance to me and the ones who gave them to me?"

Shaking my head I moved to the next book and read the first page; "Viridian Vale - Statistics and Abilities."

"Well of Spirit: Intelligence - ??, Wisdom - ??, Charisma - ??"

"Well of Power: Life Essense - 76,247,999,993,392 (-1 lost per day), Life Force: static total - 30,000,000,000 (1500 regenerated every fifth of an hour (bonuses from titles: 'Guardian of the Moon Goddess', and Seline's Champion' in effect. Effects: Life-Force static total increased by a factor of 5, and Life-Force regeneration reduced by a factor of 5.)

"Well of Soul: Strength - ??, Dexterity -??, Constitution - ??"

Scanning down the page quickly I didn't find what I was looking for. Flipping the page I continued until I found what I wanted; Guardian Passive Skills (Skills must be taught by an instructor, or granted by a deity. Instruction of skill is awarded for completing a prerequisite feat).

'Holy shit,' I thought to myself as I shook my head but then moved on until I found Sequoia.

"Sequoia: Awarded passive skills: Tree Stride, Wild Form(Arboreal). Awarded offensive skills: Entangling Roots, Poisonous Strike. Awarded defensive skills: Barkskin, Fortified, Resilience, Planted. Awarded utility skills: Regrowth, Veil, Healing Seed, Healing Salve."

Then I saw to my surprise, "Quebracho: Awarded passive skills: Enhanced arboreal skills. Awarded offensive skills: Enhanced arboreal skills. Awarded defensive skills: Enhanced arboreal skills. Awarded utility skills: Enhanced arboreal skills."

Feeling excited about my chances of healing the woman before me I flipped the pages of the book until I came to, "Skill Names and Effects, and then found Regrowth, Healing Seed, and Healing Salve."

"Regrowth: An arboreal ability to rapidly heal wounds and regrow severed appendages."

"Healing Seed: An arboreal ability. As the name implies your seed, or sperm, now has amazingly curative capabilities. As long as the recipient is not dead your seed will instantly heal any wound, poison, or illness to one-hundred percent health one-hundred percent of the time. (Limitations: Healing Seed only works on the feminine gender. Healing Seed must be administered during the act of sexual intercourse.)

"Healing Salve: An arboreal ability. Your saliva now has curative properties. It has one-quarter the potency of Healing Seed, however it will heal any wound which may be licked or spit upon."

Feeling incredibly disappointed, I searched all of the rest of the book and found no other healing skills. There was nothing!

Frustrated, I moved to the last book, "Viridian Vale - Tome of the Moonbeast." The book was already open and the first thing I noticed was that the sketch of me in my Alfari form was clearer and more refined. Flipping the page I found the next one blank except where it was written, "Reserved," up at the head of the page. This caused me to pause and wonder why I had a blank page and what it could mean before I finally flipped to the next page.

At the top of the next page read, "Moonfire Fox," and beneath it, "Unnamed." Below was a picture of Huxian in her pure Fennec fox form, and beside her was a slightly larger version I assumed was me. Turning the page, at the top the header read, "Moonbeast," and beneath it, "Unnamed." Below was a carefully drawn Huxian in all her hybrid-vixen glory. It even showed her as she was currently pregnant, and next to her was a slightly taller athletically lean me. The most noticeable difference was that Huxian had a humanoid face whereas I had a fox's snout.

Understanding the gist of the book I flipped quickly past pictures of lions, and Leandra and me in my hybrid-lion form; of an eagle, and Burza and me in a hybrid-avian or harpy form; a picture of Glenna as she was before Seline changed her with me beside her in my Villralfar form, and then the next page was of Glenna again but after her changes but the picture of me was smudged to the point that my image was indistinguishable. The last two pages were of Sequoia and Quebracho, standing in front of their trees. Both Sequoia and Quebracho were naked and looked like wooden carvings of a villralfar woman with eyes like golden seeds and long green hair that resembled blades of grass mixed with willowy limbs and leaves, and just to the side was me. I looked like myself as a villralfar but now my skin looked like wood grain, my eyes were glowing green seeds, and my long golden hair stood up above my head like tall wheat stalks as a golden pollen floated up into the air before settling down to the ground for yards all around me.

Below the picture was more writing, "Arboreal form: Continuously releases Pollen of Regeneration. Effects: Soul regeneration, Spirit regeneration, Power regeneration, Health regeneration. Cause a sense of peace and well being. Pollinates all arboreal species as long as they are female. Significant bonus to charisma versus Insects. Total immunity to poisons."

Feeling incredibly disappointed, I opened my eyes and looked over at Huxian before turning my gaze to Bartlett and asking, "What happened to Maha and your daughter?"

"I'm not sure," Bartlett sighed in resignation as he shook his head, then as gently as he could he pulled the blankets that cover Maha down the bed exposing her nudity, "I'm sorry my love," He whispered, as he grabbed two small pieces of cloth and laid the first over her breasts and the second across her hips and thighs, then he pointed to the large welts across her abdomen, legs, and arms, "The welts are all across her back as well. They excrete a black ooze that smells like death."

"Where did these welts come from," Huxian asked in a shaken voice.

"Maha and Tampa are the village's honey merchants," He explained, "They travel to Queen Devorah's Hive and trade for honey. However, four days ago they still hadn't returned after having left three days previous. So a search party of bunnies and I went looking for them. We found them on the edge of Queen Devorah's domain already comatose and covered in these welts. The Village Council believes that the bees attacked, but I don't know. This poison, this black ooze, it's not like anything I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot."

"Mister Bartlett," I began softly while shaking my head for his plight, "You are right that Druids do have some healing abilities, and some are even specialists at it. However, I am not that kind of Druid."

Bartlett's shoulders slumped and he began to softly shake as he started crying.

"I have very few healing abilities and the ones I have are very limited in their use," I continued in a very soft and deliberate way so that there would be no way he could misunderstand, "I could heal your wife and daughter right now…"

Bartlett's breath caught as he looked up with red and irritated eyes and wiped his face.

"…but the process I am limited to using would violate you and your beloved wife's bond," I explained carefully as I looked pointedly at her hips. Bartlett's face became skewed with pain and rage. Patting the air I continued, "I am a Guardian Druid and this is my only method of healing a poison this grievous. It is not something I am willing to do for you or her unless it is the absolute last option."

"What about my daughter," Bartlett grumbled discontentedly, not knowing whether he should be outraged or in a panic, or both.

"I am hesitant to do this for her as well," I answered, "The fact is, she is unconscious and I would never mate or breed an unwitting or unwilling partner, or another's mate."

Bartlett's shoulders slumped and he shook his head as he moaned, "Then I am going to lose them both…"

"No," I answered him firmly, "As long as there is the weakest spark of life in them I can heal them to full health, but only as a last option. Priestess Glenna Moonlilly, the Oracle of Seline, is camping south of here between the road leading to Olympia and the Tunglvatn Lake. Go to her and tell her I sent you, and ask for her aid. If she is willing to heal Maha and your daughter then good. However, if she is unwilling or unable to heal them, then, and only then will I do what must be done if you wish me to!"

Bartlett sniffled and nodded his head confidently, "I will leave within the hour to beseech the Priestess for her aid, with or without the city guard, and goddess help anyone that gets in my way!"

Stepping back, I nodded as Bartlett carefully covered his mate with a blanket, and then followed him out of the bedroom. Opening the door opposite his and Maha's he led us in, "This is my daughter, Tampa, she's the best cook in the village, even better than her mother."

Tampa was a very pretty girl that looked very much like her mother with wild blonde hair braided and pulled forward over her right shoulder. Soft golden fur covered the rest of her body except for her massive white breasts that were completely denuded of fur. She was plump, especially in her breasts, but all the rest of her was also muscularly thick and then covered in a thick layer of softening fat. Walking around the bed, I could tell even with her laying down that she was tall and broad of shoulder and hip.

"I would never do this normally," Bartlett whispered as he took Tampa's hand, "But for the life of my daughter and my wife, should it be you or the Oracle, it doesn't matter, I will pay my debt to you by giving you my daughter's hand in marriage."

"Have you heard my terms for investigating the Village Council's request," I asked.

Bartlett nodded, "I have. The whole of the village has. I am not selling my daughter to you, though I would if it would save her life."

"Then what are you doing," Huxian asked.

"I am giving my blessing," He answered, "And, offering a marriage alliance though I know I am no one of any importance. Sir, she is all I have besides my wife that is of any value to me, and I will do anything to save her. Even if it means I may never see her again."

"I have two mates," I answered as I took Tampa's hand and looked down at her soft feminine features, "Bastet and Leandra. They were bequeathed to me when I was an infant. I had no say in the matter, and neither did they. Now I love them with my whole being, just as I love Huxian and my other wives. However, I will not force Tampa into a marriage she knows nothing about and possibly doesn't want."

Looking up from Tampa to Bartlett I promised, "We will save Tampa and Maha. When Tampa has recovered and can make an informed decision as to whether she finds the offer of becoming my mate acceptable, then, and only then, will I accept her as a wife and mate."

Bartlett nodded his head solemnly before looking from me to Huxian, and then leading us back out of his house. Once we were back on his porch he reached back in and grabbed a large wicked looking battle axe and as he hefted it said his goodbyes, "Thank you Lord Viridian coming in and considering my request. Though I'm disappointed, I am also grateful that you were honest about your ability to heal my wife and daughter and the consequences of using such a method of healing. Thank you for honestly giving me and my family all of the options available to us, I well know that a less virtuous man could have taken advantage. I will be leaving within the hour, until our paths cross again, may goddess Seline speed you on your way and keep you safely in her bosom."

"Thank you," I answered with a nod and a wave while Huxian shapeshifted into her fox form. Turning away from Mister Bartlett, I followed after her disappearing tail and gave chase...