It took three days for the swelling to finally go down. In the interim I stayed in my suite: eating in my sitting room with Obera, sketching while Sasha danced on the ceiling, or reading my dad's journal by myself. The Captain came by to check on me every morning, but, other than that, The Azi'Zoros kept their distance. Though they terrified me, I started to miss them.

So when Colette knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to go for a jog, I jumped at the chance.

I walk down to the main floor in a pair of sweatpants and a matching tank top. I carry my gym sneakers and a small towel Llenoy found for me. I hear a voice whispering as I walk past the cubbies in the foyer.

"Chai, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Wake up." The harpy, Chicky, talks to a familiar ball of fur on the floor. "Come on. Mr. Llenoy is going to be cross with us if we don't finish our rounds."

"Is everything alright, Chicky?"

She gasps and spins around, shoving the ball behind her.

"Everything is just fine, Mr. Smalls. Nothing inappropriate is happening here." Guilt is written all over her false smile.

"Okay. Well I'm going for a jog with Ms. Colette." I wave and go to the front door. "I hope you can wake Chai before anyone else comes down. Maybe you can splash some water on her in my washroom. No one is up there right now."

Chicky's eyes light up. "Thank you, Mr. Smalls. Thank you." She flaps her wings and gingerly plucks the fur ball off the ground with her talons.

Shaking my head, I push open the front doors and find Colette and Obera doing stretches on the front steps. Obera smiles and flexes her huge biceps. I yawn as if I'm unimpressed and start my own stretching routine. Dad would be proud. He'd spent years trying to get me into a normal jogging schedule, but I hated it. Turns out all he needed to do was lock me in my room for three days.

I pat my crotch, still bandaged, just in case. "Maybe you needed to break my junk too, old man." I chuckle as I do a few lunges. I'm funny, why can't people see it?

"Good morning, Marlon. How are you feeling today?" Colette asks as she twists from side to side.

"Good morning," I say, glancing up at the gray haze that constitutes daytime on this side. "I'm doing well. How about you?"

"I'm great." She touches her toes. "My sisters and I were getting worried. I volunteered to check on you."

"Worried," I scoff. "Llenoy told me it was at your family's insistence that I was locked in my room."

"That was actually Nurse Emma's doing. She insisted that if you were going to keep trying to mate with my siblings, you needed to take a few days for the healing salves to run their course."

I sputter. "Trying to mate with your— they tried to mate with me!"

Obera tries to hide her laughter in a fake cough.

"Now, Marlon," Colette continues, "mating is a team sport."

"A sport?"

"Yes, a game played with a group of players."

The smile that spreads across her lips makes me nervous.

"Come on!"

Colette takes off at a slow jog. Obera shrugs and follows. I look back at the house. I can go back to my room and be safe or I can take my chances outside in the fresh air. With a sigh, I run to catch up with the ladies.

We keep a casual pace, following a paved path cutting through a grove of picturesque pink orchids. Colette leads the way and, once I catch up, Obera brings up the rear. I'd thought she was there to enjoy the run too, but when I look back and notice her scanning our surroundings it becomes obvious she's there as our escort. It hits me that I have no idea what I'm expected to do here.

"Hey, ummm, what exactly am I supposed to do while I'm here with you guys?"

"The entire initiative is a sort of cultural exchange," Colette explains. The way she looks in my direction despite the blindfold is disquieting. "It was agreed upon by our leaders to placate your government's concern that humans might not be able to survive on this side of the veil. You're here to live and learn and give your people data on the effects our environment has on you."

"But you said humans have lived on this side of the veil since the 1800s, probably before."

"It's true, but not everyone who comes over can survive." Colette turns down a side road leading towards a wooded area. "Some visitors don't last long."

"That's because they wander places they don't belong and get themselves killed," Obera cuts in.

"'Places they don't belong' sounds vague. Where exactly are these places so I can avoid them at all costs?" I chuckle when I say it, but I'm serious. I do not want to wander anywhere where something might try to eat me. The irony.

"Dark Hollows. The Deep Wood. Witch Country."

"Are these towns, places on a map, a club or bar? Like, be specific."

Obera chuckles. "You're starting to smell spicy, little guy."

"That's not funny."

Colette flicks her tongue out. "He smells more musky than spicy, Obera."

"I'm just kidding. Though the musk is probably because of your sisters."

"Right, I forgot he's been claimed." Colette chuckles. "How's it feel to be claimed by a pair of horny virgins, Marlon?"

Virgins?

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're the first male of reproductive age my younger sisters have ever been around. The smell of you is probably driving them crazy."

"You're not serious."

"I tried to warn you, little guy. We can smell you."

"I lived in Gemknight City for a few years. Made some friends, had some fun. Chineelia went and joined The Vainglory and took her chance to see the world. Candi and Kheeli have stayed here with stuffy old Llenoy, whose been dried up decades ago. You're like a fresh kill to a starving drake."

"Sounds like you need to watch your back, Marlon." Obera is having too much fun with this.

I wipe the sweat from my brow, but I don't think it's from the run.

"A fresh kill?"

"If I'm being honest, Marlon Smalls," Colette's expression becomes stern and domineering, "I have every intention of claiming you too. You just smell so tasty."

The steel in her voice makes Little Marlon tingle. As if reading my mind, Obera shakes her head and smiles. Is this a reward or a punishment? I'm not sure what God with the capital G, The Sacred Womb, or whoever is writing this story is thinking, but I can't help but feel like this is all a game. I'm just a piece to be moved around and manhandled. What did I do to deserve all of this?

She stops and checks the laces of her running shoes. I use the chance to take a few deep breaths while Obera jogs in place.

"There's a nice lake at the end of this trail," Colette says, flicking her forked tongue around as she stretches her back. "Last one there owes the rest of us a foot massage."

She takes off down the path at a full run. I don't bother trying to ponder how she jogs blindfolded. If women with snakes for arms can give me a handjob, a blind chick can race. Obera blows past me.

"I can really go for a foot rub, little guy. I like oils and hot stones!"

I shake my head and bolt.

"A foot rub from an elite soldier sounds awesome."

Despite her size, Obera is fast. Colette is even faster. The trail enters a wooded area of tall spruce-like trees and long shadows. The ground is strangely clear of heavy brush and there's barely any fallen branches or leaves. There is no birdsong or sounds of rodents communicating with one another. Besides the sound of us breathing heavily and the hammering of our footfalls, there is only the gentle groan of the trees. It somehow manages to feel tranquil and eerie all at once.

Just as I gain on Obera, she grins and pulls away. I have to admire the muscles peeking through her fur-covered arms. Her bulk reminds me of the dudes who compete in the world's strongest man competitions. She's beefy yet feminine. Obera looks quite formidable while, as my dad might say, being very easy on the eyes.

I wonder if monsters will be competing in the Olympics in a few years.

"That would be crazy."

"Can't hear you, little guy. You're gonna have to catch up!"

The hackles around her neck bristle and I try to remember whether bears have hackles at all. She skids to a halt as Colette reaches a bend in the road.

"Marlon, stay behind me."

"No problem," I respond, a sense of dread spreading over me. "What was it? What did you see?"

"I don't know—"

A bear the size of a city bus barrels out of the forest and plows over Colette. The way she screams, she definitely didn't see it coming.

"Letty!" Obera roars and charges towards the beast.

"Right behind you," I say, a moment before something sticky smacks across my mouth and hands wrap around me.

They pull me up into the canopy as if I weigh nothing. I scream, but my voice is muffled by the quickly hardening gag. The ground recedes and up in the high branches, my attacker starts to spray me with sticky liquid while they roll me like a blunt. Its thorax is the size of a sedan and its spinneret sprays like a fire hose.

I'm going to be eaten by a giant spider like in every D&D campaign I've ever played in.

The spider hangs me beside a smaller sack stuffed with the remains of a dead Minotaur. I'm not sure, but her face looks vaguely familiar. Upside down, the forest floor is a brown and green sky. Distant birds fly past the gray expanse below me. The spider skitters around, creating a wide platform of webbing.

I screw my eyes shut then peek. Like a terrible injury, I want to see it, but I don't. It creeps towards me, silent and terrifying, and I shut my eyes again. I shudder as I feel its breath on my face.

"You know, Mr. Smalls, you smell quite delectable when you're afraid. Like a spiced porterhouse."

I open one eye, unwilling to believe my ears.

Ms. Hwang stares at me, head cocked to the side and hair framing her face in swoops on either side. She has the same beauty mark and the same expensive glasses. She also has the body of a massive spider from the waist down. A picture sits in dad's journal labeled 'Arachne'. One of the few monsters the old man is afraid of.

Realizing I'm having the most vivid dream I've ever had in my life, I close my eyes and will myself to wake up.

"Are you praying, Mr. Smalls?" I can feel her lips brush my earlobe as she whispers.

She crosses her human arms as she turns me rightside up with her arachnid ones.

"I was afraid I'd have to wait out here for weeks before I'd found a chance to get you alone, but it's only been a few days." She runs a chitinous hand down the side of my cheek. "You're so accommodating."

I try to speak, but the gag turns my words into comical mumbling. She smirks and grabs hold of one end of the solid web over my mouth.

"If you scream, all that will be left of you is an empty husk." She kisses my nose. "Nod if you understand."

I slowly nod. She snatches the gag off with a few of my mustache hairs. It hurts less than I expect.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Language, Mr. Smalls."

"Seriously? What in the Sacred Womb is going on?"

She makes the diamond shape over her abdomen with her human hands.

"Do not blaspheme."

"Okay... can you please explain?"

I look down and struggle not to freak out. We're really high up.

"I thought it best to explain why I arranged for you to be here. How can I expect you to play your role if you don't even know what that role is?"

"Arranged?"

"I chose you, Mr. Smalls. I put you on the short list and made sure you were the best choice. Then I personally met with you to ensure you signed the contract." She runs her fingers through my hair. "I pulled a lot of strings and spun quite a few lies to make things go my way."

"Are you even an attorney?"

"That's what concerns you?" She chortles. "Yes, I went to Howard University. Passed the bar exam on the first try."

"I mean, I have so many questions my brain is buzzing... unless that's from the concussion." My eyes drift down to her exposed cleavage struggling to stay inside her latex vest as she presses towards me. "I'm confused and I'm terrified."

Her grin stretches impossibly wide. "Let's get the heavy stuff out of the way first. Ask me the important things."

I reel in my racing thoughts and try to focus on my most pressing question.

"How the heck did you fit into that little skirt you wore when we first met? There is way too much of you."

She laughs so hard, she loses her grip and lets me go. I fall for ten feet and just before I can scream my last scream she tugs on her webbing, snapping me back up like a yo-yo.