The Withheld descended through orange clouds toward two side-by-side yellow water worlds smooshed together like balloons. Looking through the porthole, I could see jagged rocks jutting up through the foam strewn with trash. The ship plunged into the water, and the porthole went dark. We submarined until we reached the entrance of an underwater cave. Port of Thirsty Taints was carved over the doorway like a mustache over a greasy mouth. The ship floated up from the surface and landed in a fenced-in yard. Hundreds of creatures surrounded the driftwood fence as soon as the ship landed. I was young and eager, but there were some places I wasn’t even willing to go to. I usually couldn’t wait to offload, get paid, and explore a new realm. I should have felt that way double as much, considering the ship I’ve been on and the hatred I’d developed for those yew-wood creatures.

  When they opened the portholes and cargo ramp, the reek of ammonia overwhelmed my sense of smell. The crew leered, whistling and hooting at the nymphs standing along the fence line. They called to us, waving and showing us their most come-hither glances. Their comeliness made us weak in the arms and legs, toughening our labor as we hauled heavy crates down the ramp.

  “Back to work, yous!” ordered the first mate. “Nobody’s getting paid till this here cargo is offloaded and the decks are spotless!”

  I was not as enthusiastic as the rest of the crew. The cavern floor was sticky. My hands shook nervously as I struggled with the cargo, though my mask concealed the fear in my eyes. A yew-wood untied a netted bundle next to me.

  “This is my favorite port,” he said, winking at me, a twisted smile curling up to the bottom of his empty eye sockets.

  We were paid thirty pieces, to my surprise, once the work was finished. The desire to wretch formed in the back of my throat. I had to face the crowd down at the gate leading into town. I was the last to disembark, even though I never wanted to see that ship again.

  The rest of the crew was long gone, having moved on to waste their wages. I walked through the raining crowd of nymphs at the gate, trying to ignore their propositions. Their skin bore off shades of green, brown, or blue. All of them were shapely, most shapely, with taut curves and all the qualities any male would look for in a mate. Their hair was well-kept, and their skin glistened in the cavern’s dimness.

  “Hey,” said one of them.

  She smelled of spoiled ale mixed with a cocktail of pheromones. The inside of her mouth was black. I drew her hand away and hurried. A noctule with big ears, tiny black eyes, and pointy teeth strutted up to me.

  “Other arrangements can be made if you’re not interested in any of my girls,” he said.

  He pointed his clawed wing at a group of male nymphs standing off the side. If I was armed, I’d have struck him down right then and there, foolish as it would have been. Looking up, I saw a colony of noctules hanging tightly packed, as though the ceiling was upholstered with swaying heads and glowing red eyes.

  The path veined through a slum of shacks that filled the cavern from wall to wall. The shacks were roofless rooms rigged from driftwood scraps. Dim lantern light cast shadows against curtained doorways. Breathy heaves and echoing moans emanated from every thin alley and dark corner. Any place the torchlight didn’t reach was used as a private place. Noctules shot me suspicious glances, their red eyes watching–watching.

  I knew there had to be an inn somewhere. I was sure not every voyager that came to that port spent the night in a nymph shack. All I wanted to do was hide out until morning and secure my next voyage. I wasn’t hungry, but I thought it wise to eat something. I saw a shack that said Tavern and decided to check it out. I stepped through the threshold and sat in a booth in the corner. A rusty, blindfolded mechanism lit the candle in the center of my table with a spark from his fingertip.

  “What would you like?” he said.

  “A sandwich?”

  “We don’t serve food.”

  “Okay,” I said, a little irritated, and started getting up.

  “You won’t find food anywhere else in town either,” the mechanism said.

  “What?”

  “Voyagers don’t come to this realm for food, and the natives don’t ingurgitate matter.”

  “What do you have?” I said.

  “We have a few casks of black ale in the back.”

  “I’ll have a pint then.”

  “Very good. Would you like a nymph under your table while you wait?”

  “No! Just the ale.”

  “Very well.”

  The mechanism went into the kitchen. I crossed my arms and folded my wings, tight against the damp. Like the rest of town, the place had no ceiling, and I could see the noctules watching me from their hanging places. The light from the candle attracted nymphs that came inside. I blew the candle out, hoping they would leave me alone, but no such luck.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “What are you?” she said.

  The nymph was a little taller than Sharubym. She had long blond hair, fair green skin, blue lips, and black eyes.

  “My Dad is a canid,” I said. “My Mom is a raptor.”

  “What’s a raptor?” she said, sitting across from me.

  “They’re large, powerful birdling creatures.”

  I was uneasy about her sitting there. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over my wings and arms curiously. A noctule sat at the bar, staring at me.

  “Could you fly away from here if you wanted to?” she said.

  “Yes, if I could get out of the cavern, but there would be little point. There’s no way out of the realm without a ship.”

  “I know of places. I know of places we could go together. You could take me?”

  She had hope in her eyes.

  “No, I’m afraid not. I’m not strong enough to carry you. And I have to leave this place as soon as possible.”

  A tear twinkled in her eye and fell onto the table.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  I remembered my studies at the temple. There had to be something I didn’t understand about nymphs, something beneath their behavior. I squeezed her dirty hand. The mechanism brought my pint.

  “Can I get you anything else?” he said.

  “You want a drink?” I said to the nymph.

  She was so thin. She must have been hungry.

  “I’ll take another pint,” I said. “For my friend here.”

  The mechanism brought another pint, but she never touched it.

  “You don’t like ale?” I said.

  “Nymphs don’t drink,” she said.

  “I didn’t know that,” I said. “I’d offer you something to eat, but they supposedly don’t have food.

  “Nymphs don’t eat.”

  “Okay… Would you like some water?”

  “We don’t drink,” she said.

  “You don’t drink anything at all?”

  “No.”

  I downed four pints, trying to find the courage to venture back into the slum, but it never came.

  “I need to find an inn,” I said. “Do you know of any place? Any place quiet and clean?”

  “There are no inns in this realm,” she said.

  “No inns? Where do people stay when they come here?”

  She giggled at me like I was foolish.

  “Come with me,” she said. “I know where you can stay.”

  I dropped three silver on the table to pay for my drinks, and we walked out together. She took my hand and would not let go, which made me uncomfortable, but her company had its benefits. No other nymphs or noctules bothered me while she and I were together. We took a short stroll and arrived at one of those tiny shacks. She drew the faded, red curtain aside and showed me in. A ramshackle dump it was, with the musk of hundreds of creatures clinging to the bedspread. I stopped before going inside. Glancing back, I could see that noctule from the tavern glaring at me down the alleyway.

  “This is your place?” I said. “Are you asking me to stay with you?”

  “Of course,” she said. “For a fee.”

  “A fee?”

  “You think I wasted an entire afternoon working you over for no reason?”

  “Working me over? That – that was all an act?”

  “Are you gonna bed me or not?” she sighed.

  “Not!” I snapped and stormed off.

  “Wait,” she said, grabbing my hand. “You’re really nice, so I’ll warn you.”

  “Warn me? You’re afraid your noctule will steal my purse if I don’t hand it over? I know he followed us here.”

  “No,” she said. “The noctule will steal mine!”

  My anger dissipated. I could smell her seriousness.

  “How much?” I said.

  “Oh, thank you so much!” she said. “Ten pieces.”

  “Three pieces it is,” I said.

  “Okay,” she grumbled. “Three pieces.”

  I paid her and started walking off. She grabbed my hand again.

  “What now?” I said.

  She had a confused look on her face.

  “Don’t you wanna …” she said.

  “No!” I said.

  “You have to! I’m famished!”

  “I thought nymphs don’t eat?”

  “We don’t eat food.”

  Her palms started to sweat as she held my hand. She breathed heavily. Anxiety was thick on her breath. Sweat glistened upon her bosom like a layer of dew. It’s hard being young.

  “Come on,” she said. “I need it.”

  “I can’t help you with that,” I said, yanking my hand away. I reached into the purse in my inner jacket pocket and tossed her another coin. “Consider that payment to leave me alone.”

  She cursed at me as I walked out. The payment I gave her would deter any noctule retaliation, so I knew there was no need to worry about anything, but still, I felt bad for her and her kind. The wicked deeds had cursed them were beyond my comprehension. The shrieks, screams, and moans echoed in my mind through the night as I wandered, hoping beyond hope I was lied to about the cavern having no inn. I missed Sharubym terribly.

  Sometime in the night, I came to a sign on the wall that said Door to Plaztique Forest. The alley was quiet, and nobody was down there, so I decided to take a look. I stepped into a dark corner, which soon gave way like a parting fog, and a different realm formed around me. Doors in the Infinite Beyonds were strange phenomena. You step forward, and the door opens to another realm.

  A path led through black rose bushes under a black sky. I watched a nymph approach a black rose bush. She slit her wrist and let a small stream of blood flow into the flower’s open petals. The rose convulsed, then transformed into a pair of breasts. A noctule pressed a rag to the nymph’s wound, then peeled off the breasts she had like a hunter stripping a hide. He removed the larger, perkier pair from the bush and fitted them onto her naked chest. The nymph dropped a coin sack into his claws and left, then the noctule turned and glared at me.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said. “Leave these creatures some dignity.”

  I returned to the port, still dizzy from what I’d just witnessed. The port authority’s shack was a short way down the fence. I walked over and slumped against the locked door for the rest of the night. My body was as heavy, cold, and clammy as a cadaver. I doubted any reputable ships would land in that port, so I would need to take whatever job I was offered. I could find a better hitch once I arrived at a more reputable port.

  The lock on the door snapped a while later, and I went inside.

  “Hello?” I said, poking my head in.

  “What do you want?” grumbled a noctule, stepping out of the back with a sweaty nymph.

  “I need a voyage out of here. Today.”

  “Out of loot already, are you?” he cackled.

  “Just get me a job. Any ship headed anywhere in the direction of Delinquent Undergrowths.”

  “The Sieko is ascending this morning. It’s headed for Dymize, but you’d better be warned that…”

  “I’ll take it!” I said.

  The noctule shot me a queer look and scratched the sores on his wings.

  “Very well,” he said. “Take your papers to dock number six.”

  *******

  Do you think you'd enjoy the company of a Nymph? Let us know in the comments.