The Jade Harem 1-9

Frank sat alone on the high balcony of Hannah's original mountain home. He looked down on his graveyard to see at least a dozen players fighting the undead of his home. He knew there were more in the tunnels below searching for treasures and earning experience. It was all he ever wanted, yet somehow he wasn't happy.

With a sigh, he thought of the recent discovery of the crown and other revelations that didn't sit right with him. The attack on Jaina and her near reset also worried him, as it meant the danger wasn't solely on him and Hannah. Rajeen was still mad at him for using the girls to draw the attackers out and not sharing his plan with the others. He hadn't wanted to alarm anyone by suggesting there would be an attack, as there was always a chance he could be wrong.

He realized that he did have a knack for thinking ahead and seeing the potential dangers. He had used this foresight over and over to protect his girls from the outside world and provide them with a home where they could play.

All he wanted was to keep that home safe, but how could he do that? No matter what they did, the enemies kept coming to destroy what they were building. This last attack also carried with it the revelation that Hannah's blue glow wasn't unique. Those four players had seen it before and referred to her as an ascended with a measure of fear and awe. Frank had no idea what an ascended was or how to even begin approaching the topic. He feared those players would report Hannah's power to the North, which might draw attention. Surely, the powers fighting to control everything would investigate something unique and special.

That thought didn't sit well because something wasn't right. The sought had already been allowed to break the rules. For months, they believed Hannah was a necromancer, but no real response had come. They had killed a party of paladins and allowed Lydia to escape their clutches, yet no real response had come. They had set up a kingdom ruled by monster players and invited other monster players to come and be protected in open defiance of the North's decree. And yet, no response had come.

“Why are they not reacting?” Frank said to himself as he struggled to understand the mystery. Deep in his heart, he knew they were in danger, but he couldn't predict where the danger was coming from. Why had the North not sent a real force of paladins and holy priests to investigate? Why hadn't a player of well over level three hundred come through their gates to act as Kevin's envoy?

A soft hand curled over his shoulder as he struggled to make sense of the contradiction. He turned to see Gwen with a soft smile, looking deeply into his yellow eyes.

“You look troubled,” Gwen said as she leaned in close. “What is on your mind?”

Frank explained his concern that the North wasn't responding. He expected they would send an emissary by now. Somebody to investigate and warn them that they would be crushed if they got out of line. But all that has happened has been scattered attacks focused on the harem and now Jaina. The people behind it didn't want them to know who they were or what their true motives were.

“You don’t think those attacks have anything to do with the North,” Gwen surmised.

“Why would Kevin hide?” Frank asked. “If he wanted to make a point, he would do it openly and ensure everyone knew who it was.”

“I see your point,” Gwen agreed as she leaned on the railing beside him. He could see her expression change as she considered what that revelation meant. Could it be other powers were working in the shadows so as not to be detected by Kevin? Was there a third player in this crazy game who wasn't ready to show his hand?

“I upset Rajeen by not telling them I thought the girls would be in danger,” Frank added.

“Well, she does love those girls,” Gwen agreed. “And Jaina was in danger.”

“They would never have escaped the forest with her,” Frank corrected. “All I needed to do was get Roric close enough to activate Master's protection. They would be forced to drop her.”

“And kill Roric to end the effect,” Gwen pointed out. “I know you had a small army hidden in the forest waiting to help, but those were high-level players. I could barely hold my own against them and would have fallen eventually. They would have cut through most of your kingdom with ease and kept on going. Rajeen and Blackbast believe they would have escaped had the dragon not intervened.”

Frank didn't want to believe that and would have thrown everything at them to save Jaina. Though they hadn't been in the battle, he had nearly a hundred players from the city waiting as a final line of defense. He admitted that he honestly hadn't expected them to get past Hannah and Breanne, as they were both deadly, but was sure the addition of Gwen would easily hand them victory. When Gwen was forced to retreat, he began to worry and assemble every member of the harem to create a wall to stop their retreat. He was relieved to see the dragon had intervened and that Jaina's safety was assured. What he wasn't prepared to see was Hannah falling from the sky like a blazing blue comet to rejoin the battle. She was out of her mind with rage and suffering from wounds that should have killed her. The spectacle was beyond explaining and now those players were going to spread a warning about what they had seen.

“You have no idea what being an ascended means?” Frank asked as he looked at Gwen.

“I told you, I have never heard the term before, but it does prick at something in the back of my mind,” Gwen admitted. “I just can’t seem to recall what it was.”

Frank held his breath at that admission as it did the same thing to him. Every time he had this sensation, it turned out to be a memory he had forgotten. Could it be that this revelation that Hannah was ascended was a memory that both he and Gwen had forgotten? Could even Gwen have had her memories stolen and locked away so well that she had no idea it had happened?

“What’s wrong?” Gwen asked when Frank was silent too long.

“Just thinking,” Frank replied. “I need to know why Jaina was the target and why they were so fixated on making sure she was reset. Why go to such cruel lengths?”

“I still think the revenge idea is the most likely,” Gwen replied. “She has caused somebody significant harm and cost them a lot of effort.”

“Maybe,” Frank agreed, but he didn't think anyone would waste the effort. If he was right, they would slink away to try again another time rather than make so bold a strike. It didn't make sense, and until it did, he wouldn't rest.

“This is deeply troubling you,” Gwen said as she touched his shoulder. “How can I help?”

“I don't know,” Frank replied with a sigh. “I don't know because I don't have any idea who is attacking us or why. Why did somebody put a bounty on resetting Jaina? Why her and not me or Hannah? Even Breanne has caused more trouble for others than Jaina has. I can't help but feel that the fact that they targeted her is significant. There is something important about her we are missing.”

“Hmm,” Gwen replied as she considered his point of view. “I wanted to say that maybe they wanted to target a monster player, but why not you or Hannah? Why her specifically?”

“It’s driving me crazy,” Frank replied. “Because I don’t feel like I can protect them.”

“You can't protect everybody,” Gwen insisted. “I know you love these girls, but you are just one man, and I am the one who should be protecting them. This is my kingdom, after all, and you are just one small province inside it. I should be the one worrying about this.”

“I already know you are doing all you can,” Frank explained. “I have noticed you spent more points increasing patrols, and I am pretty sure you paid dearly to increase the level of some of your guards.”

Gwen winced before admitting she had done so. She also raised twelve guards into an elite unit that could rapidly respond to threats. They were all level one hundred and five and armed with magical items to increase their threat.

“That couldn’t have been cheap,” Frank said.

“I don’t care what the cost was,” Gwen argued. “My family is under attack, and I will do whatever I have to in order to protect them.”

Frank nodded in agreement as she echoed his sentiment, then looked over the graveyard below. He had been thinking that very thing since the day of the attack and considering possibilities. One shocking idea had come to mind, and now he was seriously considering it.

“I want to share something with you,” Frank said as she leaned into his side.

“You can tell me anything,” Gwen said. “You know I will support any decision you make.”

Frank wasn’t so sure she would feel that way when he shared his idea. He steadied himself for her reaction as she ran a hand down his stomach.

“I am thinking about putting on the crown of ten dooms,” he said.

Gwen froze, then pulled away, looking confused before her brows furrowed.

“Why would you do that?” she asked, proving him right about his feelings.

“Because I was meant to use it, and I want every possible advantage if the North comes in force,” Frank replied.

Gwen shook her head and turned away, pacing a few steps as she struggled with her thoughts. When she turned back it was clear she understood him, but sorely wished he would reconsider.

“I worry that putting the crown on will draw the danger in faster,” she said at last. “Right now, you are just a ghoul player who could be anybody. However, once you put that crown on, you are an ancient enemy reborn. Everyone who knows of your role in past events will recognize you for who you are. They will come for you and us and not stop until this land is erased from the map.”

Frank had considered that possibility but hoped there was a way to hide the crown like Hannah had hidden hers. Even if there wasn't, he needed to learn how to use it now, not when the enemy was at his gates. He could practice with it in secret and keep it hidden so that no one would know. He explained all this to Gwen, who looked frightened for the first time and took his hand in concern.

“I understand, but the risk,” she insisted. “Why not wait to see what Santos uncovers about this guild and the bounty before you do something so rash.”

“It isn’t just the attack on Jaina,” Frank replied. “I worry there are dozens of groups working against us. Dealing with one of them isn’t going to stop the rest. We need all the firepower we can get.”

“We are working on that now,” Gwen insisted. “I have been leveling quite modestly, thanks to the slave collar. I am sure you have been earning a tidy sum by wearing Hannahs, not to mention your graveyard is always full of players. Surely, you are gaining ground fast.

“I have made seven levels this week,” Frank admitted.

“That's tremendous,” Gwen insisted. “Hannah is making them rapidly, and thanks to her efforts, one of our neighbors has become a secret ally. We are winning this fight and gathering allies.”

“But will it be enough?” Frank asked. “I could get a hundred more levels, and I wouldn't be able to scratch some of the people who might come.” He saw Gwen flinch at the truth in his words as they struck a cord. Thanks to Legeis's goblin machine they had learned that some of the magical spells affecting Hannah had been cast at insanely high levels. Some were close to level one thousand and so powerful that the machine couldn't begin to touch them. It proved their enemies were over level five hundred when they enchanted Hannah and had only gotten stronger. If just one player of that rank of power showed up, they could likely level the entire city.

“I heard Legeis is working on a new machine?” Gwen asked as she avoided the topic.

“Yes,” Frank replied. “It’s twice the size of the previous one with three layers of antimagic he thinks he can collapse on Hannah. He's had to build a huge chamber underneath it and has a small army of goblins mining ore and building a power supply nearly ten times the size of the original system.”

“Do you think it will work?” Gwen asked.

Frank seriously doubted it but he held out hope they could break the hidden enchantments placed on Hannah. There was another possibility, though, one he had been considering. The last test suggested the enchantments were being maintained by a focusing item. Chandice explained that the magic of the Lovewood was maintained by enchanted statues placed in a hidden cave. These gave the tattoo system its magic and allowed it to operate. She believed that some kind of artifact, like the statues, was maintaining the enchantments on Hannah. If they could find those artifacts, they could break the enchantment at the source.

“How will you find them?” Gwen asked.

“I am hoping Hannah can do that,” Frank replied.

“How can she find them?” Gwen pressed.

“A while back, she did something where she closed her eyes and looked exclusively through the green eye of her crown,” Frank answered. “When she did, she said she could see threads of what she believed was magic, connecting things together. She's never explored what she could do with it, but what if some of the threads she can see are the enchantments on herself?”

“If she could see them, she could follow them back to the source,” Gwen remarked.

“That’s what I was hoping,” Frank said.

“But these artifacts are likely heavily guarded by magic and traps,” Gwen insisted.

“I know,” Frank replied. “But we might have to try.”

“Again, if you shatter one of the artifacts, it might immediately bring a powerful response from the north,” Gwen pointed out. “They will assume that Hathlisora is back and after her memories.”

Frank nodded as she returned to his arms and nestled to his cold skin. He had also considered this, which is why he had one more plan. It was a plan he didn't want to think about, but it might just be the best option.

“There is one last thing we could do if Hannah’s presence here became too dangerous,” Frank said.

“What could we do?” Gwen asked.

“We take her far to the east and sell her,” Frank replied.

Gwen jerked out of his arms again and looked at him as if he was crazy. She asked why he even thought that was a possibility, and he explained. First, she would have to be reset so the necromancer class could honestly be removed. Then, they would change her name and appearance so she could be sold at an auction. He explained that Hannah was being led down a path set out for her by some unseen hand. It meant for her to find the crown, the staff, the mountain, and all the secrets inside it. Whatever this unseen hand wanted, it was clear Hannah was meant to be here in this place at this time. By altering her course so drastically, Frank hoped to break the plan and free her from its chains.

“So she could focus on just being a sex slave,” Gwen sighed, then shook her head. “I understand why you feel this way, and I can't believe you love her so much you would be willing to send her away. But she will never agree to go. She only does this because you command her to. If you are removed from the picture, she won't want to go on.”

Frank wondered that too, but then he had taken steps to ensure that wouldn't happen. It was why he pushed her to explore her nature as a Lilim and wanted Roric to begin training her. He wanted her to fall in love with being a slave girl and playing the role of her class. By having Roric do her training, she would learn to obey another master, paving the way for her eventual sale. When the time came, he hoped she would be so in love with the lifestyle that she saw her sale as the final step to embracing it. It would prove that she was fully committed to being what she was and would go excitedly.

“She won't,” Gwen insisted. “Trust me on this. Hannah is only able to do this because you anchor her. Without you, she will begin to doubt what she is doing and miss her family terribly. Guilt and grief would set in, and she would abandon it all to run back to us.”

“Maybe,” Frank agreed.

“There is no maybe about it,” Gwen growled. “And as self-sacrificial as your thoughts are, I don't want my daughter sent away. I love her, and I am not strong enough to give her up.”

“It was just a thought,” Frank said defensively. “A path to take only if there were no other options.”

“It will never come to that,” Gwen said dismissively. “I won't allow it. We will find another way, and Hannah will never leave your side. You need to appreciate what it means to have a woman’s complete devotion. Besides, if it all fell apart, we would flee beyond the southern spawn ring together. I could create a small kingdom to keep us safe even from the dangers beyond the ring.”

Frank put a hand on his head and admitted being over-stressed. He didn't know what to do or how to make things better when all he wanted was a safe home for them. Gwen came to his side and ran a hand up his chest as she looked up into his yellow. She assured him that sending Hannah away wouldn’t guarantee she was safe. She also insisted that he would die inside as clearly he loved her so much that he would sacrifice his own desires to see her safe.

“You two will never be happy unless you're together,” Gwen said as she stroked his cheek. “So, put any thought of her going away out of your mind. We will find a way to make things better even if we don't know how right now.”

“I love her,” Frank admitted. “But I don’t deserve her.”

“Never say that,” Gwen replied. “That you are so worked up over your desire to protect her proves you deserve her. Now, let me take your mind off this torment for a bit.” She highlighted her point by running her hand low and cupping Frank by the groin.

Frank looked deep into the eye of Gwen and wondered how he had gotten so lucky? He went from a broken loner living on the far edge of civilization, certain he would always be alone. Now, he was surrounded by women who loved him and always sought to comfort him with love. Gwen took one of his clawed hands with both of hers and pulled him to the tunnel behind them. She took him into the halls that had once been their home and deep into the tunnels behind it. They arrived at one of the plush bedrooms with a hearth that always burned with a fire. He watched as Gwen undressed slowly and sensually so that Frank couldn't take his eyes away. With a hungry look, she met that gaze and began to strut his way with measured steps.

Frank reached into his pocket, and with a command word, he was a man, strong and handsome with long dark hair. Gwen reached him and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, meeting his gaze as she smiled.

“I don’t mind the ghoul,” she whispered.

“I want to hold you properly,” Frank replied. “I want to be able to hold you and protect you from all the danger.”

“Oh, so you're protecting me now,” Gwen said before kissing his neck. “Then show me your protection. Make love to me until your mind is clear.”

His hands went to her body, roving and caressing as she unbuttoned his shirt. There was an instant heat and hunger between them as clothing melted away. Before he knew it, they were both naked, and her lips were against his. She led him to the edge of the bed and pushed him down before kneeling between his legs.

Frank met her gaze as those tender lips parted and wrapped around the most sensitive part of his body. Until he met Hannah, he had no idea what it felt like to have a woman lovingly suck his cock. Now, it was the most powerful sensation he could feel during sex, and he craved it often. Gwen knew how much he desired it as her head began to dance, sucking him in and then pulling it back.

Frank leaned back as she took on a slow, passionate pace, coming away from time to time to kiss and lick while stroking the base. His breath came in shallow groans as she worked, doing her best to take as much of him as she could. Frank tried to relax, but the sensation of her soft lips and hot tongue were too intense. She sucked and caressed until he felt the pressure mounting, yearning to be pushed to the edge. A minute later, he was almost to the breaking point when he put a hand to her head.

“Wait, not like this,” he gasped.

Gwen pulled away and looked up with her beautiful eyes. He couldn't believe such a powerful woman was kneeling between his legs, his cock fresh from her lips. She asked him what he desired, and he moved into the bed, laying back as she crawled in after him. He pulled her over his chest and put his hands around her slender waist. Gwen reached back, taking hold of his cock, and guided it into the place it belonged.

With a slow murmuring moan, she slid down his shaft until she was sitting on him. Then she leaned over, her hands coming up his chest until their lips met in a passionate kiss. Slowly, she began to write, rolling her his and grinding him through her body. Her enormous breasts hung down, pressing to his chest as she made love to him with all her power.

His hands wandered her back and rear as the passion grew to fiery intensity. She moaned with every hungry roll of her body, eagerly seeking to please him. Frank looked into her desperate eyes and saw something he recognized in Hannah. It was that look that said she felt safe and content knowing she was in his arms.

Frank fought back the urge to cry to see her so at peace and wished the moment would last forever. He sank into the moment, her love the only source of light in his heart. Together, they pushed back the darkness until they were the sun itself, shining bright as their passion reached its climax.

She lay on his chest afterward, the heat between them slowly abating as he clung to her with both arms. She felt so safe and secure in his arms that she fell asleep, breathing softly in the afterglow of the love that had flowed between them. He sighed and lay back, his heart lifted, but his mind was ever more focused on the task. He would make it so all his girls could know peace and not fear to close their eyes. One way or another, he would drive the dangers back so that no one would ever threaten them again.