Perhaps predictably, Kitana’s parents didn’t take her announcement well.

I followed her out of the pavilion and stood at her shoulder as her parents and other anxious hopefuls gathered around.

“I have chosen my path,” Kitana said. She glanced up at me, maybe making sure I hadn’t bailed on her or something. I gave her a nod. “I originally thought I’d be a siren, but—”

“Oh, thank the Dragon,” Ethel gasped. “Anything but that nonsense.”

“But,” Kitana said forcefully, “since there are no other sirens to learn to use the flow from, I will be going down another path. I will be a Weaver of the Flow.”

There was a moment of stunned silence from the other elves. Then, “But what does that even mean?” her father asked plaintively.

“That’s bullshit,” a swarthy elf grunted. “You’re wasting yourself on nothing but a fantasy, girl. It’s not too late to change your mind and pick something suitable for a woman.”

I put a hand on Kitana’s shoulder, reminding her that I was there for her support. “Mind yourself,” I said darkly. “I don’t know who you are, and frankly, I don’t care. Kitana’s path is hers to choose, and you will not berate her.”

“She’s gone human-sick,” another elf said under his breath. He was somewhere in the midst of the crowd, and I couldn’t pick out who said it. None of the elves in the vicinity would meet my gaze.

“Won’t you reconsider?” Ethel pleaded. “Who will follow after your father if you go running off into the wilds?”

“I’ll have to send to Larinae for a successor,” Penli grumbled. “I’m afraid they’ll need your room, Kitana. There isn’t space under my roof for wastrels.”

I looked over his shoulder at the massive mansion. There had to be a dozen rooms in the building that could be used for lodgings. Kitana didn’t so much as blink at the revelation she was being kicked out of the house.

“I expected as much, father,” she said flatly. “I will work out my own living situation as I follow my path.”

“Now, hold on,” Ethel wrung her hands. “You can’t just turn her away. She’s our daughter!”

“She’ll be dead by this time next year,” Penli grunted. “I wasted twenty years raising a successor. I don’t intend to waste any more.” The rotund mayor turned around and stomped off. “I’ll give you until sundown to clear your belongings,” he called over his shoulder.

“No need,” Kitana said quietly. “I’ve already moved out.”

Ethel looked back and forth between Kitana and her husband, before hurrying off after him. The other elves dispersed, some grabbing a last snack from the table before drifting off in groups of two or three.

“Happy birthday, I guess,” I said.

Kitana looked up and me and rolled her eyes. “That went better than I thought it would, to be honest.” She went back to the pavilion and scooped up a heavy pack that had been tucked beneath the stairs. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’ve suffered in this prison long enough.”

I fell in step beside her and we headed out of the grounds. The music and cheer of the harvest festival clashed with my mood. “You want me to give you a hand with that?” I asked. “Looks heavy.”

“It’s all I own in the world,” she said and shook her head. “I’ll carry it.”

I nodded. “I thought you had more than that. More clothes, at least.”

“I sold most of it,” she eyed me sideways with a conspiratorial smirk. “I’ve been stockpiling my allowance for years. I knew this was coming. You think this is the first time my parents threatened to throw me out?”

I couldn’t help but shake my head. Ethel and Penli definitely got the award for Parents of the Year. “Well, then. What’s the plan, Weaver? Where do you go from here?”

A smile blossomed over her face. “I don’t know. But I’m free to choose, now.”

I chuckled. “That’s true. It’s going to be cold tonight. Do you know where you’ll sleep?”

“I was hoping to live with you, actually. I did promise to help you get the roof on your addition.”

“Hmm. I see. You’ve had this planned out all along!”

Kitana nodded happily. “I did. Well. Up until I learned about the Dragon.” Her smile faded. “That threw my plans somewhat awry. And then you went all cold shoulder on me.” She scowled and punched me in the arm. “Don’t do that again.”

“Sorry. I’ve learned something new today, and met someone who can help us.”

“Really? Who?”

“I’m sure you’ve run into her. Vista.”

“At the library?” Kitana’s eyebrows went up. “You learned something from that bitch?”

“Turns out, she’s a scholar of humans.”

Kitana blinked at me in surprise. “That’s a thing?”

“That’s what I thought. Don’t be jealous, but we kind of hit it off.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You fucked her, didn’t you!”

“She’s a good lay.” I grinned as Kitana sputtered. “Turns out, she’s much nicer after she’s had three or four orgasms.”

Finally, even Kitana had to laugh. “Oh, fine. Was it worth it, at least?”

“I think so. I’ll tell you about what I learned while we walk.”

We took our time heading back to my home, avoiding the crowds and talking over what I learned from Vista and my guesses as to what it meant.

“I hadn’t thought of the human’s purpose being connected to the web,” Kitana said. “But it makes sense.” We were climbing the hill out of town and the sun was beginning to set. It was starting to get cold, and a stiff breeze had kicked up. Kitana folded her arms across her chest and gave me a miserable look. “Maybe I shouldn’t have got myself kicked out of my house right before winter.”

“That’s not your fault,” I pointed out and put my arm around her shoulder.

She pressed close to me and sighed. “How are you so warm? I’m freezing.”

“There’s got to be a connection between the humans and the Dragon.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Three hundred years ago, the world broke and humans began appearing.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with the Dragon?”

“You saw how old that corpse was. The bones were dry as dust and all but falling apart. I’d bet everything that the death of the Dragon was what broke the world. The dragon dies, elves can’t use the flow anymore, and the web starts pulling in humans. It has to be connected.”

Kitana was quiet for a while. “Damn,” she finally said. “It does make sense, doesn’t it?”

“I just don’t understand why. The humans come to this world to fill a need. Most find the flow and go back to my world. The few that don’t find the flow die eventually and a new human is pulled in.”

“If only we knew what that need was,” Kitana sighed. “It would make everything easier.”

“It can’t be to save the Dragon, it’s a little late for that.”

Kitana shivered against me. “Yeah. I still can’t believe the Dragon is dead. I keep thinking that if I go back down into that cave, I’ll find the Dragon alive and asleep.”

“I wonder if there is something to the pattern we’re not seeing. Before humans started appearing three hundred years ago, were there humans before that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Sounds like a question for your new friend in town.”

“I’ll have to ask her next time she’s, um, tutoring me.”

Kitana rolled her eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”

I saw smoke from my chimney over the trees and picked up the pace. Having Kitana pressed against me was stoking the fire of my libido. Kitana sped up too, and it turned into a race. I reached my front door first and turned to catch Kitana up in my arms. She clung to my neck and pressed her mouth to mine in a hungry kiss.

“I’ve missed this so much, Master Jack,” she panted.

I carried her through the door and put her back on her feet. Kitana shucked out of her pack straps and undid the sash on her robe. The fine cloth billowed free and slipped from her shoulders. Kitana wasn’t wearing anything beneath the robe except for a sturdy pair of boots.

There was something unfair about how easy it was for women to undress out of robes. It took me precious seconds of fumbling at drawstrings and boot laces before I could kick my pants off and shuck my shirt off over my head.

I caught Kitana as she jumped at me, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I filled my hand with her taut ass and gave it a firm squeeze. Kitana moaned and pressed her tits into my chest.

“You know, Vista thinks she’s better at sex than country elves,” I said.

“Fuck her,” Kitana growled. “She doesn’t know a fucking thing.”

“That’s what I told her,” I grinned, and threw Kitana on the bed.

She landed on her back, and I grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around so her head was toward me. I bent my knees and lay my hard cock along the side of Kitana’s head. She tilted her head back and her hot mouth closed around one of my balls.

My cock went past her chin and all the way down to her clavicle. I couldn’t wait to push myself down her neck and watch her throat bulge as she swallowed me. I reached down and stroked Kitana’s ears with my fingers. She moaned, sending vibrations through my nut, and arched her back. Her nipples tightened and I saw a wave of goosebumps rush down her body.

I moved my hands down to her tits and gave them a squeeze, then pulled my nut out of her mouth. I backed up far enough to get the head of my dick between her lips, then slowly pushed forward. I let Kitana suck on the head of my cock. Her tongue seemed to be endlessly flexible as she wrapped it around my shaft, and then she tilted her head back and swallowed me whole.

I let out a groan as the head of my dick pushed past her soft tongue and into the tight confines of her throat. I could see the bulge at the top of her neck and watched in fascination as it traveled toward her clavicle.

Kitana choked as I hit something inside her throat. Her hands went from pulling me deeper into her mouth to pushing me out. I withdrew my cock and she coughed out a wet bubble of saliva.

“Fuck me,” she said hoarsely.

“You okay?”

“Just out of practice.” She coughed again, then opened her mouth for me once more.

Who was I to deny a request like that? I socketed my dick back into her mouth and pushed forward again. Kitana took me to about the same depth, then choked again. I pulled out without her having to ask and she turned her head to the side to cough out stringy saliva.

“Why’d you pull out?” she gasped.

“Because you choked?”

“I’m not going to get used to it again if you keep pulling out,” she rasped. “Push it all the way in and fuck my throat!”

I gave a mental shrug and slipped the head of my dick back into her mouth. Kitana tilted her head back and I eased into her throat. She choked at the same spot as before, but this time I kept pushing. The bulge stretched all the way down to the base of her neck, and I finally felt Kitana’s nose bump into my ballsack. She gagged and flexed her back, but I ignored her distress like she had requested.

“Oh, fuck,” I sighed. “God damn, that feels good.” I pulled back a few inches and drove my cock deep once more. Kitana’s tits jiggled as my hips jolted her. I grabbed a tit in each hand and caught her nipples between thumb and forefinger.

Kitana’s moan buzzed against the head of my cock. I started picking up speed, and hammered into her a few more strokes before relenting and pulling all the way back out. She gagged as I withdrew, then turned her head to the side and coughed a few times.

“More!” she begged hoarsely.

She was getting better at accommodating my cock down her throat. I started pushing her, seeing how long I could occupy her airway before she started panicking. Then, to reward her, I pushed two fingers into her sopping cunt whenever she had my dick in her.

Despite having my balls drained earlier, Kitana was rapidly pushing me toward an orgasm. Part of me wanted to finish down her throat, but I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to get it back up again tonight. This was Kitana’s birthday, and her first night as a Weaver. I wanted to make it special for her.

I pulled out of her throat one last time and she only coughed a little before swallowing the stringy saliva that filled her mouth. I used a corner of her robe to wipe her face dry, then kissed her. Kitana was half-drunk with oxygen deprivation and she relaxed into my arms as she tried to catch her breath.

“How did I do, Master Jack?” she asked.

“You’re the best I’ve ever throat-fucked,” I assured her.

Kitana gave me a sloppy smile and kissed me. “You didn’t come yet,” she pouted.

“It’s your turn first. Come here.” I spun her around and lay her back onto the bed. I grabbed her ankles and dragged her butt to the edge of the pallet, and she let out a yelp. I grinned at her and lowered myself down to my knees. “I hope you’re ready.”

She gave me a wide-eyed look and spread her legs. “More than you know.”

I took my time, kissing down the inside of her thigh, then working my way closer to her cunt. Kitana’s fingers slipped through my hair and tried to pull me closer. She let out a mewling whimper as I resisted and worked my way up her other leg to her knee.

“Please!” she panted. “I’ve been waiting so long!”

“Another few minutes won’t kill you,” I said. The desperate look on her face changed my mind, and I ducked straight back to her muff.

Kitana’s arousal had a light, almost sweet tang. I gave her a slow lick from the bottom of her cunt up to the little nub of her clit. Kitana hooked her heels over my shoulders and pulled me close.

“Ohhh! Dragon!”

I slipped my tongue into her and her legs flexed against the sides of my head. Kitana’s moans were muffled by her thighs, and I could feel the muscles begin to tremble as I changed my focus to her clit. I eased two fingers into her and found her slippery and wet.

She gasped as I rotated my hand and brushed the tips of my fingers along the top of her tunnel, searching for the rough patch of her g-spot. Kitana’s back arched and she gave a full-throated cry as I found it and caught her clit in my teeth.

Kitana’s legs clamped around my head as her first orgasm of the night crashed through her. I let her clit go and lightly stroked her labia with my tongue as she slowly came down. Once her thighs released my head, I climbed up next to her.

“Thank you, Master Jack!” she moaned. “I haven’t cum in months!”

“Why not?”

Kitana nudged me onto my back and threw her leg over my hips. She reached between us and slipped my hard cock into her cunt. My two fingers had done a little bit of work toward loosening her up, but she felt like a fist squeezing over the head of my cock. She bit her lip as she worked me deeper inside her until she had about six inches buried.

“Oh, fuck,” she grunted. “That’s so much dick.” She took a deep breath, then gingerly rocked her hips back and forth a few times. Kitana let out the breath she had been holding and dropped down to give me a long, sultry kiss.

When she came up for air again, she resumed rolling her hips. If she hadn’t been soaking wet, it would have been painful for both of us. I could feel her relaxing with every stroke, and she started making her rocking motions longer.

I thought she had forgotten about my question until she said, “At first, I was waiting for you. Then it turned into this decision to hold off until you would fuck me again.”

I was touched. “That couldn’t have been easy.”

“But now I have you again, and oooohh, fuck!” A little tremor ran through her and she started pumping her hips faster. “So. Worth. It!”

I grabbed ahold of her ass with both hands and helped her slide back and forth, making each stroke longer and deeper. Kitana cupped her own tits as her face screwed up in ecstasy, and she let out a long, wailing moan. The muscles in her cunt were gripping my cock in waves and I felt my cum starting to build.

Kitana’s back flexed and she shuddered through an orgasm that left her lying on my chest, panting and weak. I fucked up into her, moving slowly, until the pressure in my nuts reached the tipping point. “I’m going to cum!” I gasped.

She reacted quickly and dismounted with an economy of motion that told me she had it planned out in her head beforehand. Kitana shimmied past my knees and engulfed the head of my cock in her mouth. With a single swallow, she took me down until her lips were wrapped around the root of my cock. Her brown eyes looked up at me, watering slight, but filled with adoration.

I couldn’t hold it back any longer and erupted deep in her throat. Kitana took a few spurts directly down her gullet, then pulled up until just the head was in her mouth. Every pulse of my cock was heightened by the flicking of her tongue and I let out a deep groan.

My balls finally emptied themselves and I fell back against the pillow, panting. Kitana stayed between my legs, kissing around the head of my cock and nuzzling against my shaft until I went limp.

She climbed up and lay on my chest, with her head lying under my chin. I kissed the top of her head and she made a satisfied sound in her throat.

“I never want to leave you again,” she said softly.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close.

Kitana tilted her head back to look up at me with a troubled frown. “But you will. Humans always leave. Once you find your truth, you’ll return to your world like all the rest.”

I hadn’t really thought about that. I’d been so focused on figuring out the mystery of the flow and finding my path that I hadn’t thought about what would come next. Kitana was right. All evidence pointed to my inevitable return to Earth.

“What if I stopped trying to find my path?” I mused. “I could stay here forever.”

She sighed and nestled back against me. “It doesn’t work that way. Eventually, you will fade away and die like all the other humans who stopped searching. In this world, you either find your path or you perish.”

I stared up at the hand-worked rafters in my roof. Rain was going to start soon, and snow would follow closely after. If my little home was going to stay warm, I’d need to insulate it somehow. I doubted I’d be able to find fiberglass batting in Bening, but there had to be a local solution to that problem. Bundled grasses or something.

It seemed a shame to put all this work into my home, only to leave it behind again. I hadn’t even questioned it when Kitana had first told me I would be making my own cabin. Admittedly, at the time I’d thought it was all just a dream.

“Well, I suppose so. But that won’t be soon.”

I stroked Kitana’s earlobe absently as my thoughts wandered. I didn’t regret building my home. That wasn’t it. Well, maybe I would have put more effort into making the walls straight and plumb. There had been something cathartic about the manual labor, and it had given me the chance to come to grips with the world I found myself in.

Eventually, Kitana stirred. “This is so comfortable I’m falling asleep,” she said with a yawn.

“We’ll have to make a larger bed once the roof is on the addition,” I said. “Until then, I guess we can make do if you don’t mind sleeping close to me.”

“Sounds perfect,” she murmured.

I had to dislodge Kitana to get the blanket out from under us, but she snuggled right back under my arm as soon as I lay down again. A chill wind was blowing, and it whistled a little through the cracks around the door. Kitana’s warmth drove away the cold of the night, and we fell asleep in each other’s arms.