Chapter 582 – The Deity of Kashara

They ventured into Kashara's forest as one big group with the dire wolf Grey leading the way. Petyr marched at the very front, followed by Vesh and Motta. Kanae and Hilde trailed behind them, and Vestrid shored up their rear. If it was up to Kanae, she would be flying across the island over the forest canopy. However, that was one easy way to get lost and separated from the others.

The trees were strange here. They grew tall and sprouted many bushy boughs along the trunk, culminating to large leaves that draped limply from their branches at the canopy. It gave the impression of a sort of drippy appearance. Fruits shaped like honeycombs grew like bulbous and cancerous growths along the branches. Tiny critters like squirrels and monkeys fought over them for food.

Ignoring the humid blanket that enveloping her, Kanae felt the forest's ambient magic like a gust of wind from every direction but without a force behind it.

"Watch your step!" Petyr shouted from the front.

Kanae walked into a deep impression on the ground that, upon a look around, was actually a large footprint belonging to a monster. Whatever it was walked perpendicular to their direction. Hilde offered her a hand out of the little crater.

"You know Jhene better than us. How strong do you think she'll get in a place like this?" Kanae took the hand and asked.

Hilde shook her head. "Impossible to know for certain. I'm new to this island myself. I know neither its inhabitants nor the dangers that lurk within it. But I do know that if Jhene is here, she isn't doing it for herself."

"How do you mean?"

"I developed my predilection for beasts young. I found them more predictable than my own kin. My older sisters often bullied me because I did not care to feed as they do. One day, they had thrown me into a cavernous pit known to be crawling with man-sized vicious bats. They thought it was funny. I cowered in a small nook in the dark for what felt like hours until a hand reached out to me. Jhene's hand. She was among the sisters that put me in there, but when I emerged from the hole holding her hand, the creatures were all dead. Jhene cares only about family. Everything else is secondary. She wouldn't be here unless it is to further a sister's goal."

Then Jhene's presence in Savir was just the same. Surely, she must want something other than to be her family's lapdog. Or maybe Kanae was the one misunderstanding them? The generation of succubi Queen-Mother Zariah birthed had spent a large chunk of their lives underground, living in fear of the surface. Many believed they only had each other. Their sisterhood was all they had.

Kanae's stomach rumbled. She pressed a hand to her belly as the familiar hunger pangs tormented her. Sustenance. Grey's barking snapped Kanae from her daze. He took off running into the forest.

"Grey has found something! After him!" Hilde exclaimed.

Everyone picked up the pace, but the dire wolf was a much faster creature. Kanae fell behind while the others sprinted faster. The gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach slowed her down.

"Amethyst?" Vestrid whirled around.

"I'll catch up! I just need to… sit down for a sec…" Kanae leaned against a tree.

Vestrid hesitated but eventually turned to follow the others. Kanae closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. The hunger wasn't real; If it was, she would be starved of mana. No matter how many times she told herself this, the hunger pangs intensified.

"Alright, screw it. I need to fuck something before I go crazy again." Kanae sighed. The canopy rustled above her. The moment she looked up, a giant fly trap plant chomped her whole. Darkness enveloped her. She fell into a vat of cool liquid that smelled faintly sweet. Its fumes tugged on her eyelids.

A trap? It was making her sleepy. Kanae beat her fist against the fleshy inner walls of the plant. Slowly, her strength sapped away. She fell unconscious in the shallow pool of viscous nectar.

Kanae slowly came to dangling upside down. Thick vines bound her arms tightly to her chest. She tried to wriggle free, only for more tendrils to grow around her. Wherever this was appeared to be a clearing in the forest. The glade looked ethereal surrounded by blue and orange leaves, clusters of mushroom growing from the ground, and exotic flowers sprouting out of pots hanging from branches. Tiny wisps drifted about and bathed under the filtered sunlight that escaped past the canopy.

"Tch. Jhene! I know it's you! Let me down so we can have a fair fight instead!" Kanae shouted, but a thick appendage gagged her mouth.

"My name is not Jhene, and I'll not humor a trespasser in my domain. Who are you? Why are you here? And why should I not feed on your corpse?" a voice asked from all around them as if it came from the very trees itself.

Kanae gulped.

"I'm Kanae Toyomi. My friends and I came to this island to rescue someone kidnapped off our ship. We think another succubus like me named Jhene is behind it. As for why you shouldn't eat me… I-I don't think I'm very tasty," Kanae explained nervously.

The vines lowered her close to the ground and righted her up. However, they still wrapped around her too tightly to even consider escaping.

Countless wisps gathered around a mushroom circle as mycelia grew upwards out of the ground, forming a lithe feminine body. Skin like the bark of a tree stretched across every inch of her. As the face took shape, two thin slits split open to reveal pure black eyeballs. Instead of hair, a wavy dark brown mushroom cap spread out over the head like a wide-brimmed hat. She extended a hand out, letting a wisp land on her finger. They grew incandescently bright and flitted away.

"Oh… Uh, hello… Nice to meet you. Y-You must be the ancient deity of nature Qoro had talked about." Kanae found enough wiggle room with her hand to wave.

"Succubus!" The mushroom woman hissed, and all the wisps glowed brightly red. "For thousands of years, I was free of your kind. Now you winged pests dare set foot on this island again? I am not the same buddling spore of old. My mycelia stretches across the length of this entire island. None of you will hide from me for long!"

"I think there might be a slight mix up. See, I'm only in my 20s, so I can't be the same succubi that wronged you back then!" she explained.

When the alraune took a step closer, her feet snapped free from the carpet of mycelium that connected her to the soil. She walked up to Kanae, a cloud of spores falling from her cap after every step. They came face to face. Her eyes contained a constellation of stars shifting in brightness.

"Is that so? The taste of your nectar will show me the answer," she said.

"My what?" Kanae squinted.

A slit cut across the bottom half of the alraune's face that opened into a mouth. The vines lifted Kanae up a few feet and pulled her legs open.

"Oh, I think I know where this is going. Please, taste away!" Kanae exclaimed.

The alraune buried her face into Kanae's crotch. A long and snaking tongue slithered its way into the soaking entrance. She pulled Cockcalibur out from its sheath to replace it. Soft upper lips tickled the clitoris, and sticky mycelium spread over the skin.

They electrified Kanae. She threw her head back, moaning loudly into the glade. Numerous wisps danced around them as if performing a ritual.

"God, yes! More! Keep licking me!" Kanae screamed.

"You're so tasty… The flavor is so delectable and familiar, but I can't quite put my tongue on why I recognize it. I must taste more!"

The long tongue fucked Kanae hard, shaking loose leaves from the trees. Branching white filaments clung to her body. They pulsed every now and then that felt like the alraune's heartbeat. Some of the vines loosened, and Kanae grabbed the humanoid plant's head.

"I'm going to cum!" Kanae howled, climaxing so hard that she squirted all over the alraune.

"You!" The alraune gasped. "You taste of nectar straight from Mother Gaea's bosom!"

"Gaea?" She panted, coming down from her orgasm. "Yeah, we're friends… after I helped her take root in this world…"

Every vine loosened and let Kanae down. She cocked her head as the alraune bowed low.

"I did not know you were a disciple of Mother Gaea. Please, forgive me. My name is Kashar. This island's bounties are yours to take in moderation," Kashar said.

"I'm not a disciple, but your hospitality is much appreciated. I have sailors on the shore. Maybe you can let them forage some of your goodies?" Kanae asked.

"The island shall provide. They may still want to be careful around the fauna. I command the island's flora, but not the beasts that make it their home," she explained.

That should be a weight off Rown and Redmane's shoulders while they made camp.

"Kashar, you mentioned earlier that your mycelia covers the entire island. Can you sense where people are?" Kanae asked.

"I can, yes. There are many lives on the island, and I hear every one of their heartbeats. I presume you wish to locate those you accompanied into the forest? I know exactly where they are," Kashar explained.

"I do, and I'd also like to know where Qoro and Jhene are. One is a young elf like the natives of Nu-hauta. Jhene is a succubus with hobgoblin ancestry. It's possible those two are grouped together with a bunch of other succubi," she said.

Kashar stepped back. When she shut her eyes and closed her mouth, the slits vanished as if they never existed. Kanae panicked when the alraune melted into the soil, only then to feel the reassuring thrum of life from the forest.

"Bad news," Kashar said.

Kanae jumped into the air as the alraune took form again.

"Don't do that. I scare easily!" Kanae groaned.

"I have both good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" Kashar asked.

"I hate the good news and bad news thing… Just give me the bad first."

"The bad news is that Qoro is with the succubus Jhene. She has traveled to the center of Kashara Island to awaken a slumbering behemoth. I heard whispers they seek to slay it for a trophy," the alraune explained.

A trophy? No doubt Jhene had plans to make a shrunken head out of it to gain access to its powers. Maybe that was why they were here in Kashara. Qoro was just a happy coincidence for them.

"And the good news?" Kanae asked.

"The behemoth is a demonic chimera empowered by the island's latent mana. Its name is the Beast of Nu-Hauta. They will likely die in the attempt to kill it." Kashar smiled.

"Great for you! Not for me! I need Qoro alive… Shit. Take me back to my friends and— can you help us?"

"I may help you… provided you permit me a taste of Mother Gaea's gifted nectar," she bargained.

Kashar must mean Nectar of the Grove. But it was too powerful of a gift to just spit away. They might have need of it later in case someone got grievously injured.

"I can't give you a taste now, but I promise that before I leave this island, you will," Kanae said.

"Very well. Your terms are accepted. Now, shall we be off to join your companions?" Kashar disappeared into the soil again.

"Are you serious? How am I supposed to follow you?!" She threw her hands in the air.

Kashar emerged from the ground and rolled her eyes. Mycelium growth sprung from her back, creating a large pair of wings made of wool-like material. They framed the alraune's body like the wings of a dragon with a span that stretched three times the length of her arms.

They lifted into the air and flew northwest. The mountains were visible from a distance, but to see them while in flight was something else. It looked like ski resorts could be built up there. Mount Fuji didn't even come close. The peaks were covered in so much snow, not a single tree or speck of green was visible. All this heat and humidity almost made her want to take a flight up there to cool down.

"How exactly did Kashara Island develop such large mountains?" Kanae asked.

"The old growths tell me that those mountains you see were the very volcanoes that created this side of the archipelago. One day, countless years into the future, the new volcano over yonder will be snow-capped as well. However, the recent eruption has created some expected consequences." Kashar's expression hardened.

"Expected? Like what?"

"It has grown warmer than usual. If this heat continues for much longer, all that snow will melt and flood Kashara. I can endure, but I fear for the fauna that live below," she explained somberly.

It seemed the consequences of King Toro's actions spread much farther than just Hota'ree. The other islands must also be facing some unintended aftereffect.

Kashar began her descent. Kanae followed the alraune down to a snaking river of snowmelt that cut through the island and out to sea. They landed next to the bank, but no one was around.

"Are you sure they're here?" Kanae asked.

"Yes, they are hiding among the foliage. I cannot fathom why," Kashar said.

The brushes rustled. Petyr jumped out, the warhammer raised above her head. Before Kanae could say anything, Kashar merely flicked a wrist and a branch knocked the paladin away. A breath of roaring fire burst forth, but the alraune sank into the soil to reappear in the river.

"Stop!" Kanae shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Amethyst?"

"Kanae?"

Two familiar voices gasped. Vestrid and Hilde ran out, followed by Vesh and Motta, their weapons drawn and eyes still trained on the alraune.

"The ancient deity on the island is Kashar. She ate me out, and now we're allies. There's not much time to explain, but Kashar knows where Jhene and Qoro are. We need to get to her now," Kanae explained.

"How about you LET ME DOWN FIRST?" Petyr yelled.

The high elf dangled upside down bound by vegetation. A vine had taken her warhammer away.

"That one wishes to tear me apart the moment I release her. Will you guarantee my safety if I do?" Kashar asked.

"Petyr's our greatest chance at defeating Jhene. Or the behemoth she awakens, so yes." Kanae nodded.

Kashar let Petyr down gently and handed the warhammer back.

"I don't know why you disappeared, but if this is as urgent as it sounds, then perhaps we should make haste?" Hilde suggested, summoning her dragon from her pendant.

"What is this about a behemoth? I thought we were facing succubi? If we're about to encounter a creature like Asa Mareer, then Vesh and Motta need to return to shore," Petyr said.

"We've come this far. We're not leaving. There are still going to be succubi cultists that need to be dealt with." Vesh folded his arms.

"I-I don't mind leaving—" Motta tiptoed away until Vesh grabbed him.

Petyr clicked her tongue. She and Vestrid climbed onto the dragon's back, and the rest of them took to the skies. They wasted no time flying straight to the foot of the mountains.

"Where exactly are we headed?" Vestrid yelled over the winds.

"Hauta Gorge, between the closest two mountains." Kashar pointed.

That very gorge was likely the source of nearly every river on this side of Kashara Island, and the two mountains sandwiching it supplied the water.

The closer they flew to Hauta Gorge, the hungrier Kanae became again. That brief row with Kashar wasn't enough. No. Push it to the side for now! She couldn't afford to let the sexual hunger get the better of her.

Down below at the foot of a hill overlooking the Hauta Gorge was a group of succubi. One of them had Qoro hoisted over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Jhene, the hobgoblin succubus, turned to face them with a fanged smile.

"Take me down. I'll wipe that grin off her face," Petyr said.

"No, don't! We're too late!" Kashar warned.

Jhene produced a long horn from a satchel. Kanae was still too far to make out the finer details. However, she blew into that horn and a bellowing trumpet echoed across the gorge. It sounded like a guttural roar. Then, the hill beside them shuddered. A giant lion-headed chimera of obsidian mane and skin shook loose the soil, grass, and trees from its body. The beast opened its jaws to let out a deep yawn.

But before anyone could marvel at the ancient beast, Jhene grew in size, jumped onto its back, and snapped the neck. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"I thought you said that beast would be strong enough to kill them!" Kanae gasped.

"P-P-Perhaps my knowledge of your kind is outdated. You all appear much stronger than ages past!" Kashar stammered.

They landed a short way and ran up the hill just as Jhene had transformed the head into a shrunken skull. It rested snug on the palm of her hand.

"Jhene!" Hilde shouted at her sister.

"Hehe. Just in time to test my newfound strength. Oh, but I can't consume all of the skull's strength yet. Labelle made it very clear we're gonna need it. So, I'll just absorb a fraction of its power." Jhene smirked.