Urgh… is somebody shaking me? That hurts.

  Voice: “Surgir! éveiller!”

  What?

  Voice: “Merde… umm… AWAKE!”

  I struggled to open my eyes and could make out the silhouette of Farrow standing over me.

  Farrow: “Bonjour, drink this.”

  She pressed a bottle to my lips and started pouring the contents into my mouth. It must be a healing potion… thank fuck… we are being rescued… we’ve been found.

  Charlie: “Oh, shut up. I bet you don’t even know where babies come from.”

  Tadwick: “Err… the front!”

  For fuck’s sake… are those two still arguing? I went to try to stand up and Farrow placed her hand on my shoulder to stop me.

  Farrow: “Non… give the potion time to work. You lost a lot of blood.”

  Dwynfel:” Tadwick… is Tadwick alright?”

  Charlie: “Oi, your dad’s awake.”

  Tadwick: (Coughing) “Hey, Dad.”

  Farrow: “I will check on him in a moment. Always check the unconscious first.”

  Dwynfel: “I’ll be fine… make sure he’s okay, please.”

  Farrow: “Oui.”

  As she turned to cross over the water to where the boys were, I realised that she had no clothes on… and… just… wow. I’ve never seen a lupinian naked before… but just… gods… the woman is attractive… her posterior is just… so voluptuous… and perfectly curved… and her breasts… they are huge… not as big as Bertha’s or anything… but like… way bigger than I would expect from somebody with her frame. I mean… I always knew they were significant… but they seem bigger now that they are free of confinement.

  Am I absolutely sure that I’m not dead? That… that is quite the sight to suddenly awaken to.

  She reached the boys and she unfolded Tadwick’s legs so that she could check his wounds. Fortunately, the bleeding appears to have stopped… so he isn’t getting any worse.

  Farrow: “Void.”

  She reached into the void and removed two potions… a healing potion and a stamina potion. She handed the healing potion to Tadwick and the stamina potion to Charlie.

  Charlie: “Umm… what’s the green one for?”

  Tadwick drank the healing potion as Farrow explained.

  Farrow: “Stamina potion… will boost your energy and blood flow. I am going to need your help with Alexander.”

  Charlie: “Umm… is that a good idea?”

  Charlie raised his damaged arm and showed her the scabby stump where his hand should have been.

  Farrow: “You will need the extra strength. The swim is not far… Agaroth is on the island outside. We make it to him… he heal you if the bleeding start again.”

  Charlie: “Umm… what do you need me to do?”

  Farrow: “I cannot make him drink a potion because he is not conscious. He needs magic. I hold his nose and mouth shut as we go under the water. You keep his legs down… make sure they do not get caught on anything.”

  Seems like she has thought this through.

  Tadwick: “What about me and my dad?”

  Farrow: “You two wait here. Regain your energy… I will return.”

  Dwynfel: “What if there’s another one?”

  Farrow: “Quoi?”

  Dwynfel: “We thought this was over before. But there was a second one. What if there’s a third?”

  Farrow: “We have thoroughly searched the area around the island. Seems only two.”

  Dwynfel: “How did they get here?”

  Farrow: “Are they not normal here?”

  Dwynfel: “They don’t even live on this continent.”

  Charlie: “Umm… I think… maybe… they were brought here.”

  The confidence has left Charlie’s voice. He keeps looking at the floor. Why is he being so weird all of a sudden? He’s right in what he says though… it’s the only thing that makes sense.

  Tadwick: “Couldn’t they just swim across the sea?”

  Dwynfel: “Freshwater creatures don’t just randomly decide to swim hundreds of miles through saltwater. Some idiot must have decided to bring them over as pets… or they were placed here on purpose.”

  Farrow: “Mystery for another time. Are you ready, young man?”

  Charlie nodded nervously. Tadwick shuffled out from between Charlie’s legs and Farrow helped him to stand up.

  Tadwick: “Hold on… my dad’s dagger.”

  Farrow: “Quoi?”

  Tadwick: “It must still be under the rocks over there.”

  Farrow quickly searched through the rubble on the ground and retrieved my dagger. Charlie downed the stamina potion and sprung up with a sudden burst of energy. Farrow returned to him and gave him a big hug.

  Farrow: “Do not be nervous, the danger is over. You can do this.”

  She let go and spun around to Tadwick.

  Farrow: “Come with me. I shall help you across and you can keep your dad company while we get Alexander outside.”

  Tadwick started laughing uncontrollably and pointing at Charlie, whose face had gone bright red.

  Tadwick: “Hahahaha… you got a boner!”

  Charlie: “Shut up!”

  Poor Charlie looked absolutely horrified. He tried to cover it up, but only having one hand, he wasn’t able to cover everything… so he ended up wrapping his hand around the top half of it, which left his testicles hanging down underneath.

  Dwynfel: “Tadwick! Don’t be mean!”

  Tadwick continued giggling incessantly. Charlie was absolutely mortified. Farrow walked back over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  Farrow: “Do not be embarrassed. Stamina potion increase blood flow. This reaction not uncommon.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  She knelt down on the ground in front of him, took his hand in hers and looked him dead in the eye.

  Farrow: “It is a perfectly natural thing. You should never feel the need to cover yourself. Stand tall and proud. The body brims with natural beauty.

  She gestured to his body with her left hand.

  Farrow: “…whole body beautiful. Never be ashamed. Always be proud.”

  Charlie’s entire demeanour changed after that. It was like all of his anxiety disappeared and his face just beamed at her. His stance changed and he stood tall.

  Farrow: “Much better. I am proud of you.”

  She kissed him on the forehead and gave him a hug. As his body pressed against hers, I saw all of his anxiety return in an instant and I was pretty sure that his eyes were going to burst from his skull.

  She let go of him and moved towards Tadwick whilst continuing to address Charlie. Charlie just stood there… frozen.

  Farrow: “Do not worry. It will not interfere with your swimming. The cold water will make it go down. Now avant.”

  Charlie can no longer look her in the eye… it’s her… it is one hundred percent her making him nervous. Her lack of clothes probably isn’t helping. He really does struggle with girls that he likes. Mind you… I certainly don’t blame him for his bodily response. If I actually had any blood left in my system then I would probably be in the same state. Her body is amazing.

  She grabbed hold of Tadwick… who was still laughing.

  Farrow: “You should not be laughing at your friend. It is perfectly natural.”

  Tadwick: “I’m not laughing at the boner. I’m laughing cause he’s embarrassed about the boner. If he didn’t care, it wouldn’t be funny.”

  Farrow: “That is very mean spirited. You should apologise.”

  Tadwick: “Urgh… whatever.”

  Farrow stood Tadwick in front of Charlie.

  Tadwick: “Sorry, Charlie.”

  Farrow: “Better.”

  I am pretty confident that he didn’t mean that in the slightest.

  Farrow proceeded to drag Tadwick through the water and sat him next to me. She then dragged Alexander to the pool. Once he was floating in the water, she placed one arm around his chest and grabbed his nose and mouth with her other hand.

  Farrow: “Ready, Charlie?”

  Charlie nervously nodded and hopped into the water. He placed his hand on Alexander’s legs and used his handless arm to tread water. He is lucky that he still has two-thirds of that arm. You can do so much more if the arm is severed below the elbow. I mean… he would have been luckier if he hadn’t had his hand eaten at all… but you know what I mean.

  Farrow: “Un… deux… trois… avant!”

  The three of them disappeared under the water and I was left with Tadwick… waiting for our energy to return… as well as Farrow.

  Tadwick: “Dad…”

  Dwynfel: “Yes, Tadwick?”

  Tadwick: “Charlie says that boyfriends and girlfriends kiss with tongues… but… like… how does that work? Do you just like… stick your tongues out and tap them? Coz… a normal kiss is just tapping lips… so, you just tap tongues… right?”

  Dwynfel: “Well, umm… not quite. But… Tadwick… you don’t need to be worrying about that stuff right now. You’re only eight.”

  Tadwick: “I’ll be nine soon.”

  Dwynfel: “I know you will… but you don’t need to be worrying about boyfriends and girlfriends for a long time yet.”

  I really… really… really hope that it is going to be a long time. This conversation is stressful enough.

  Tadwick: “I don’t want a boyfriend or a girlfriend. I just wanna know what he meant about the tongue thing. I asked him to show me… but he said no.”

  Dwynfel: “Of course he said no… the whole point of what he was saying is that it is something that you do with your boyfriend or girlfriend… and you aren’t his boyfriend.”

  Tadwick: “So, I gotta wait ‘til I got a boyfriend or girlfriend to find out?

  Dwynfel: “Yes… yes you do. So don’t worry about it… okay.”

  Tadwick: “Urgh… okay.”

  I know Kiyui says that the best thing to do with these questions is just to provide honest answers… but no… he’s eight and talking about this stuff still makes me uncomfortable. He’ll probably just ask Kiyui at some point and Kiyui can deal with it.

  Mind you… Charlie is twelve now… twelve. Kiyui lost his virginity at twelve. I mean… I know the actual sex only happened just before he turned thirteen. But all of the handjobs and blowjobs and stuff started when he was pretty much the same age that Charlie is now. That is worrying. Charlie is so nervous… and awkward around people that he likes. I cannot imagine him being even remotely ready to engage in that kind of thing. Hell… Rosario fathered a child when he was twelve.

  All three of them have been raised very differently. Rosario only did such things so early due to parental pressure and regal responsibility. Kiyui however, was raised is a ridiculously open culture, where sex is openly encouraged. Charlie at least seems to have been raised by vaguely normal people. It is reassuring to see a child his age behaving how I would expect a child to behave around such things. With extreme fucking anxiety.

  Tadwick: “Dad… she said they searched everywhere outside…”

  Dwynfel: “Yeah?”

  Tadwick: “She didn’t mention Isaac. If he isn’t in here… and he isn’t out there, where is he?”

  Oh shit… I suppose… the danger has passed now. I should tell him. He’s going to need to be told eventually.

  Dwynfel: “Umm… Tadwick… when I said that they had no idea where Isaac was earlier… I found him… I found him just before the crocodile found me.”

  Tadwick: “Oh… is he…”

  Dwynfel: “I’m afraid he… he was dead.”

  He's trying not to cry… but I can feel him starting to whimper.

  Dwynfel: “It’s okay to cry… you don’t need to hide it.”

  Tadwick: “I do… I need to be able to not cry. I need to be strong… for Charlie.”

  Dwynfel: “Charlie isn’t here.”

  Tadwick: “He will be. When we get outside, he will be. Isaac was his best friend. Charlie said they’ve known each other since they were babies. So, I need to be strong right now…”

  Dwynfel: “Tadwick… there is nothing weak about being sad… there is no weakness in crying. Damecus taught me that. You can be there for him… even if you are sad… you can be sad together… and that’s okay. Be there for him… cry with him… and you can get through this together.”

  Tadwick stopped trying to hold back his tears.

  I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him in close. He rested his head on my chest. I started to stroke his cheek.

  Dwynfel: “Tadwick… I am… so sorry for everything you just went through. I never wanted you to ever go through anything like that again.”

  Tadwick: “It’s not your fault, Dad. You came for me… you came to save me.”

  Dwynfel: “And I was useless… you and Charlie killed that thing… I just lay here.”

  Tadwick: “We used your daggers. You distracted it. We were a team.”

  Dwynfel: “We shouldn’t have needed to be a team. I should have been able to protect you. I failed you.”

  Tadwick: “Shut up, Dad. No, you didn’t. You came to save me… again. I’m alive… I’m alive because of you. You didn’t fail me.”

  Dwynfel: “I am… so glad that you’re alive, Tadwick. I love you so much.”

  Tadwick: “I love you too, Dad.”