AI's Got Me by the Balls: Rewritten [Part Four]

Colm will only need a few seconds. Experiencing a tremendous amount of anguish, and the discharge of his dick is being prevented by her tendrils creates an intensely unique pain. Colm's testicles are suffering the sensation of being squished into nothingness, the touch of the shadow still feeling like a cold burning on top of the powerful constricting pressure.

As Colm wailed in agony, his thoughts of pain and horror suddenly flood away as his mind blanks from the surreal torture. With his mind empty, a gloomy, shadowy radiance encircles his body.

Helena does not release her hold, but rather she tightens it even further. She has one testicle in each hand as she pushes her smoke-covered palms into Colm's balls with all of her might, the tips of her fingers nearly skewering his sensitive sperm ducts at the rear of each nut.

Colm let out a piercing scream as his dick began to twitch, and at the same time, Colm could feel his dick beginning to convulse. A violent spray of man milk forced the tendril that had been plugging his cock out of its nesting place. His cock pulsed angrily, dozens of salty thick ropes of precum pumped out of him like sticky party streamers.

"Oh, I do love watching you squirm, but it's even better to MAKE you squirm!" Helena coos as her thumbs come close to meeting her palms, Colm's balls barely keeping from splitting in two from the extreme force.

Helena's head tilts down as she takes Colm into her mouth. Her words become mumbled as she takes a substantial swig from Colm's cock. Colm senses a shift in the pressure, and the tentacles that were wrapping around his dick begin to retreat.

Colm let out a loud groan when she sucked him while her hands were still on his balls as she sucked him.

Colm's thinking becoming cloudy as a result of the extremely high amounts of endorphins, and he begins to experience a sensation that can't be accurately described, only experienced.

His entire body starts to tremble as he lets out a muffled scream of ecstasy. Colm's dick twitches as thick ropes of hot spunk jettison from his tip the climax releasing like hot glue inside her mouth.

Helena does not stop sucking deeply, consuming every last morsel of Colm's hot and creamy delight while Colm's dick jerks about in her mouth.

Colm mutters, "Th...that was...amazing..." after the event.

She orders him to "Focus!" with a forceful tug on Colm's painful balls, but her words are mostly mumbled because she is still throat-deep on his cock. "Focus!" Colm groans in agony as Helena comes dangerously close to ripping his balls off. Her squeeze hurts even more because he had just cum.

His eyes meet Helena's as she swiftly takes her head away from Colm's shaft and spits upon his dick while her hands worked it quickly. "I wanted to watch you orgasm," she adds as she licks the head of Colm's dick.

"After you kill me, I want the last memory I have to be of me and you," she says with a smile. "So, I hate to do this but, cum for me again!" she cries out as she releases Colm's balls, and her magic holding him in place. Colm feels gravity grab ahold of him. Helena crouched down just enough to give her some extra force as she sprung back up with her knee bent properly to slam into Colm's balls as he came down from the air while Helena was kneeling down just enough to give her some extra power as she was kneeling down.

Colm swore that he heard a wet crunch at that time as Helena's knee traps his balls against his pelvic bone. His balls to explode with excruciating pain. Colm was able to maintain his position precisely atop her raised knee, and the throbbing sensation that can be felt in his testicles is the sole clue that they may still be intact. She starts to say, "Hehe~ I see why you love this so much- Oh!" as Colm immediately screams out in anguish as though it took Colm's mind several moments to realize the new degrees of pain that he felt

His scream is immediately followed by the sensation of Colm's dick exploding in an infinite amount of pleasure, with creamy goodness pouring all over Helena's face and tits, unleashing the bottled up load all over her. Colm shoots his load, which results in Colm's dick pulsing as heavy load after heavy load of hot spunk is expelled from it. Helena chortles in glee at the helpless young man as his dick finally twitches a final few times, the cum no longer tearing out of him and instead more or less flowing out.

After all of the dramatics, there is an instant heartbeat that thumps throughout the darkness. Helena gives Colm a grin and then tosses him off of her before taking a step back to run her finger through Colm's juices and then taking a taste to savor the flavor before declaring, "There you are, Colm, Bane of Shadows."

Colm wasa real boy, yet despite that fact that his body looks to droop and hover in the same way that a puppet does when its strings are pulled. This time around, the pulse that comes from Colm is more pronounced and audible. Helena feels the wave of energy crash into her, and she braces herself as it pushes her back a step; all the while maintaining a sly grin on her lips. "Yes. Finally. My love. My champion. The savior of the world. Colm. You will kill me and become the Bane of Shadows, the Shadow Master. Save this world and drive back the demon realm, Morthos," his body seems to contort as he begins to regain control.

His body begins to pulsate once more, this time with an unbelievable amount of force as Colm flexes his body back under his control. His body appears to be covered in black flames, yet he remains himself despite the fact that his once brilliant blue eyes are emblazoned with red flames that are tinged with purple smoke. "Helena, thank you. Thank you for trusting me and for allowing me to be free." She makes a move to speak, but before she can utter a sound, a flash passes by her in a swath of pitch-black light. Her gaze lowers to examine her stomach. She was unable to even try to avoid the blow because it came so swiftly and accurately. It was emitting black smoke and purple cloud.

She collapses to the ground, dark blood can be seen oozing from her mouth. While Colm kneels alongside her, she focuses on taking deep breaths as he asks, "What do you see in me?"

"Hope," she simply uttered as a smile crossed her face. "It's time for you to go, Colm. Your friends are starting to worry, and the world is counting on you to save it."

Colm experiences an overwhelming sense of peace. He made the decision to have faith in Helena's intuition. Colm is the Bane of Shadows. The fate of the entire world rests in his hands. Colm let the shadows wash over him as the darkness faded, and then he finds himself back with Neimi and Yvette.

They were both sobbing, kneeling next to the wagon where Colm discovered the dagger; which he decided to name Helena after the mysterious woman whose curse Colm has just broken. Colm notices that the dagger no longer whispers to him. "Umm, guys?" Colm says to Neimi and Yvette, waving.

When they look at Colm, they both stop sniffling for a second. Colm appears to realize, along with them, that Colm's clothes are in tatters and stood almost completely naked save for a few strands of cloth that didn't completely burn away in the pocket of shadow. "Oh," Colm says, but they appear to be more concerned with his survival. "COLM!" they both yell, tackling and clinging to Colm.

Colm grunts as the girls' forceful hug, but after a brief moment, Colm returns the hug. They've made it through another ordeal. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she says.

"You stupid idiot! You made us worry and cry!" Neimi begins to beat her tiny fists against Colm's chest.

"I'm sorry," Colm says as he kisses her head, "and I'll try harder not to put you two through this again."

"You're forgiven this time," she sniffs, "but just to make sure you don't ever forget! Here's something to remember your promise by!" Neimi's foot stamps down into Colm's exposed balls, or rather left ball as she only hits the one, and Colm can feel her toes really digging into the tender meat of his tender nut.

"Neimi!" screams Colm in agony.

Neimi, on the other hand, refuses to relent.

"Hmph! Just so you keep that promise to me too!" Yvette lifts her leg up and drives her knee into Colm's right testicle. It hurts a lot more than the one Neimi just hit, but he maintains his composure.

"Fuck! C'mon Yvette, not you too," groans Colm, as Neimi and Yvette both cuddle him while crushing their respective balls.

"I'm sorry," Yvette sniffles.

"I can handle it," Colm laughs, "I'll survive, guys...thanks."

"For what it's worth, it was thanks to you two that I was able to get out of there alive," Colm says.

Yvette smiles through her tears and hugs him again, saying, "Thank you, Colm. I'm glad you're okay, too."

"I love you both," Colm says as he pats her head.

Yvette seems baffled at first but she blushed and nodded with a light sniffle, "I know...I love you guys too."

"You're a nice person," Neimi says with a smile.

Colm gives them both a friendly smile. "Does this mean You'll stop busting my balls?"

"Not a chance!" they exclaim as Neimi's foot and Yvette's knee crunch into Colm's exposed balls once more, causing him to moan in agony.

"Arrrrrrrrrgh! Fuck! Goddammit!"

They both laugh, and Colm can't help but laugh a little too, the three of Colm laying there together, enjoying a bit of reverie. Colm is overjoyed right now, and it's only been a few minutes since he returned from the Shadow Realm. He lets out a tired sigh. His eyes close, it's the middle of the night and they had been walking all day and through half the night before this little snafu, but things are back on track. Exhaustion takes over, and Colm, Neimi, and Yvette all begin to drift off to sleep.

----

"Wake up, wake up! Get up quickly!"

When Colm feels a fist pounding on his right shoulder, he opens his eyes and sits up. Colm blinks a few times to shake off the sleep and suddenly remembers where he is. The three companions had dozed off on the incline toward the riverbank, next to the abandoned wagon. Neimi's tiny fists are a blur as she cutely pounds Colm's shoulder. Colm notices Yvette is missing and quickly turns around as he hears the sounds of a battle up by the road.

His clothes are still in tatters, still completely naked, but Neimi doesn't seem to mind as she continues to urge Colm to get up. "You have to get up, Colm! The sheriff's men discovered this wagon and believe we attacked it! They're attempting to arrest Yvette right now!"

Colm takes a moment to gather himself and try to recall who the sheriff was when he hears Nyla's voice in his head from when she was trying to trick Colm. "Right, the sheriff's posse works for Ebony Claw. Shit!"

Colm scrambles to his feet and charges down the road.

Colm quickly stands up and crosses the road in the blink of an eye. Colm is still shirtless and bottomless, but he doesn't mind because Yvette is in danger; he notices three militiamen drag Yvette away.

As she tries to fight them off, three Ebony Claw militiamen drag her by the wrists. Colm hears the one leading the way howl in pain after catching a vicious foot right up between his legs. "Fucking bitch!" he yells as he slumps down to his hands and knees.

Yvette swings another kick into his kneeling position, the foot catching him squarely in the back of the balls and crack of his ass. He howls in agony, and his face is firmly planted in the dirt.

As a fourth man runs over to assist the leader, two other militiamen punch Yvette in the head and stomach several times. Yvette is bleeding and unconscious in their arms after the beating they gave her. Colm calls out to her, but she does not respond.

"Yvette!"

Colm curses under his breath as he rushes after the militiamen, his legs moving faster than any normal man's. Colm's reflexes and senses work in perfect harmony, allowing him to easily catch up to them in his current form. Colm is standing directly behind them, watching as they come to a halt and drop Yvette off at the door of a farmhouse.

"Thanks boys," a gravelly voice says, "this bitch was a handful."

The men in the militia nod to their apparent leader. Colm grabs one of them around the mouth and slits his throat from behind, causing blood to spray everywhere.

"I don't know who you are, nor do I care. You hurt my friend, and now you die," Colm warns.

Colm held the dying man tight, displaying him to his cohorts before letting him gurgle more blood and drop to his death. His eyes are red-hot with rage. His companions exchange a shocked look before turning their gaze away from Colm's bloodlust.

"Fuck!" exclaims one, "Get 'im!"

With their weapons drawn, the militia charges Colm, who in return grabs a guard's head and twists it until his neck snaps. His limp body fell to the ground. As they realize their fate may be sealed, the militiamen can barely keep their eyes on Colm's movements. "Uhh... Boss?" one of them asks, his gaze drawn to the man with the gravelly voice.

"Your decision to attack my friend was a foolish one," Colm says.

The boss man's eyes widen briefly before cocking his head to the side, a wicked grin on his face. "You ain't from 'round 'ere, is ya? Don't know what you're steppin' into, eh? I work for the sheriff, mate. I'm untouchable!" Colm barely hears his speech as he throws his trusty, old dagger at his face, grazing the skin of his cheek as blood rolls down and along the blade.

"Untouchable, huh?" Colm remarks.

The man roars, rising from his seated position and charging Colm. "You fucking bastard! I'm gunna rip yer 'ead off, ye 'ear me!" his gravelly voice screams.

Colm waits until he is about to land a blow, then cuts the tendons in his arms.

As the knife tears through the thick tendons in the brigand boss' arm, he hears a wet snapping. The man staggers forward, bracing himself against falling to the ground. Colm becomes a blur as he quickly dispatches every one of his men in an instant, leaving the leader for last. Colm slowly approaches him, the boss' eyes looking on with fear and horror.

"Do you want to live?" Colm asks the leader.

Blood trickles down the leader's now useless right arm as he slowly looks up at Colm. He chuckles as he shakes his head. "Not much to live for when all my men are dead."

"That doesn't answer my question; do you want to live?" Colm remarks.

The leader snarls, rising to his feet and preparing to shoulder charge Colm, his arms limp and bloodied. "Fuck you, demon mutt."

Colm inhales deeply before slowly exhaling. Colm takes a lazy step to the side, easily avoiding his charge. Thrusts his blade up to the hilt through his neck and pulled it free as he moved past Colm, watching him slump forward against the ground in a broken heap, blood spurting from the massive wound in his neck.

"What a waste," Colm remarks, "I wanted him to tell his boss I was coming for him."

Colm sighs as he runs over to Yvette. Colm tried to calm himself by leaning back against the tree she was lying beside. Colm cradled her in his lap, softly petting her atop the head as he ripped off one of the few pieces of cloth that still clung to his shoulder to wipe away the blood from a cut on her forehead and mouth.

"I'm sorry, Yvette; I wasn't quick enough to keep you safe."

While Colm speaks to Yvette, she appears to sigh contentedly. Then Colm noticed Neimi quickly fluttering over to him. "Is she all right?"

"She's still unconscious; I'm sorry; I was too slow to protect Yvette."

"At least she's alive... wait... are laying her head on your dick? Colm! What the hell is going on?!"

"It's not like that, Neimi! I wanted to let her rest, and you already know all my clothes were burned off last night in the fight against the shadows!"

Neimi turns away from him, a disgusted expression on her face. Colm placed Yvette's head on his lap and gently rubbed her arm in an attempt to calm her. Colm turns to face Neimi.

"I swear to Freyr, Neimi, she's dead asleep, and I didn't do anything unseemly!"

Neimi does not appear persuaded, but she sighs and shakes her head. "All right, but if she starts to wake up, please let me know."

Colm nods and returns his gaze to Yvette. He continues to rub her back while attempting to calm himself. Despite her young age, she's already witnessed more than her fair share of death and violence since accompanying Colm, and while this was a tragic event, at least she didn't suffer too much.

She starts to stir after a few minutes. Colm watches her eyes open.

"Uhhh..." she says groggily. "Wh... What happened? Where am I?"

"Not far from where those bastards attacked you," Colm says. "Yvette, I'm so sorry you got hurt."

She raises her head and shakes her head. "Oh Colm, stop it. You rescued me and I'm still alive, that's all that matters... You got to me faster than anyone else could... I probably wouldn't have made it without you."

"Where did they even come from? How did they find you but not us?" Colm remarks.

She looks around, only now noticing where her head had been laying as a flush spreads across her cheeks and she slowly stands up. "Oh gosh, uhm... Well, you see... I woke up rather early, so I went hunting for some small game to get us a decent breakfast, but when I returned, those men were looking around the wagon, so I quickly tried to shoo them off, but they said the Sheriff had been looking for me, and that's when they grabbed me."

"Why would the Sheriff be looking for you? Does he know about your mission?" Colm asks.

She creases her brows. "I don't think so... Hmm. Maybe he does and is threatening me into failure or convincing me to switch sides, but I'm not sure."

"I suppose anything is possible."

"You! I told you to tell me when she woke up!" Neimi floats back over.

"She just woke up, Neimi," Colm grumbled, "get off my back."

"Oh," she frowns.

"We'll have to look into this, Yvette. Sheriff Donnel is either misinformed or working for the enemy, or it could all be a big coincidence. In any case, we can't let our guard down for a second."

Yvette gives a nod. "Well, I think we should get some breakfast and go find out what's going on."

"Heh, I'm starving, and I haven't eaten in days!"

Neimi, who appears depressed compared to her usual self, only nods in agreement as she flutters to sit on Colm's shoulder.

When a carriage trots up the road, slowly coming to a stop before the driver calls out to Colm and Yvette. "Hello, travelers! Where are you headed?"

"We're on our way to Holgard; is there any chance you could take us there? I understand it shouldn't be too far by horse," Colm says.

The man either doesn't notice or doesn't care that Colm looks like a raggedy nude hobo. "Of course! You can have this seat for one gold coin."

Colm quickly hands him a gold coin, which he gratefully accepts and tucks into his pocket.

"One gold coin per passenger, stranger," the driver corrects, smiling almost apologetically at Colm.

Colm quickly hands him another coin. "Thank you, sir, and enjoy the ride."

Colm enters the carriage with Yvette, who asks why he is still naked.

Colm appears to be irritated by the remark; it had a difficult couple of days. Colm quickly takes a seat on the carriage, next to Yvette, who looks at him with a puzzled expression.

"I'm sure you're aware that we don't have spare clothes; my attire has been in shambles since last night, remember?"

Yvette chastises Colm for being naked in front of two attractive young women, and Neimi remains unusually quiet throughout.

"Oh come on, Neimi is the same age as me, you're of age! You've already seen me naked many times! You smashed my balls in the nude last night!"

Yvette laughs, raising her hand to her mouth in an attempt to cover it up. Neimi, on the other hand, appears unfazed by all of this, which is odd given how much she enjoys wrecking Colm's poor man bits.

"Everything all right, hun?" Yvette asks, tilting her head.

Neimi is still unimpressed and responds with a shrug.

"Yvette, I'm not interested in having this conversation."

Colm blinks at this now, surprised by Neimi's tone.

She flatly dismisses both of them and Colm is at a loss for words. "Is there something wrong, Neimi?" Colm inquires.

"I'm bored," she says, sighing.

Genuine surprise forces Colm's mouth open as if to say something but he's stunned in silence. Colm knew Neimi well and he's never really seen her like this before.

"Something's wrong... are you mad?"

"Mad?" Neimi asks, the word "Mad" almost sarcastic and deceptive. "Not at all, and why should I be?"

Colm can tell she's lying. He'd only seen Neimi like this once before, and it wasn't a good time.

Yvette appears to notice this, her eyes widening. "Do you want to go for a walk with just the two of us, Neimi?"

She pauses as if considering something. "Yeah..." she finally responds.

"Wait, what? But what about me?" Colm remarks.

"You can stay here," she says, frowning at Colm's face. Yvette takes her hand and leads her out of the carriage.

Colm sits in silence, perplexed as to why this is all happening. Colm wonders if he did something to annoy her or something, but that's ridiculous. He could only hope that their girl talk would help.

Was it because I didn't tell her Yvette woke up? Colm wondered, but that didn't seem to make sense. It's not like Neimi had been shy about sharing Colm with Yvette up to this point, so he is still confused.

They had been gone for quite some time, and Colm had come up with no other explanation. It's possible that Colm did something so stupid that he hasn't even noticed it yet.

Colm hears the driver calling out to his horses after about an hour. "Whoa! Whoa!" Colm had been in a daze thinking about Neimi and Yvette and had probably dozed off for a while. Colm is summoned by the driver. "We've arrived."

Shimmying his way out of the carriage, Colm sees Holgard, the winter city, for the first time. The city is bustling with people, and there is a cheerful atmosphere among them.

Colm notices Yvette and Neimi approaching him. Yvette gives Colm a bright smile. A group of Holgard's best keep an eye on the naked rogue.

Neimi tells Colm, "You look like shit."

"Thank you, I feel it too," Colm says, slightly hurt because Neimi's first words to him were so harsh.

"Alright, let's get to an inn. I need to rest and want to talk to Colm. And don't fuck around," she says, a little regretfully.

"Shouldn't I go buy some clothes first?" Colm remarks.

She looks at Colm as if he'd insulted her before responding, "No."

Colm nods and follows closely behind the pair of women; they led the way to a local tavern. Neimi and Yvette stroll in, Holgardian eyes turn to see the wayward travelers. One is a faerie, and the other is a naked man. Some people scoff and grumble, while others whistle and holler. Colm sighs softly. Colm didn't want anyone to see this, so was he supposed to just shake his ass or walk around with his hands tucked between his legs?

A bartender approaches them. "What can I get you?"

Yvette approaches the bartender about getting a room suite and some new clothes, handing him a pouch of what Colm assumes is coin. "A servant will come by with a change of clothes and the room key."

The coin pouch is taken by the bartender, and Yvette leads Colm to a table. Neimi sits beside Colm but remains silent.

"Neimi?" Colm remarks.

Neimi looks at Colm. Her eyes say everything. She has so much to say, but she is afraid. Colm recognizes her and reaches for her. Colm places a hand atop her head and pets it. She turns around to face Colm. Her lips tremble and her eyes enlarge. Her mouth opens briefly, then closes as she tries to find the right words. "You... I'm sorry I wasn't myself before; it's just... You've never really yelled at me before," she pauses and sighs.

"You never asked me to leave you alone before today; am I really that bothersome to you? Am I a burden?"

"I know I'm not as strong or as pretty as Yvette, but you're still my friend and I care about you so much... I... I love you, Colm..." Neimi's voice quivers as she finishes.

Tears stream down her cheeks, and her entire body shakes as she sobs. Colm reaches out and wraps his arms around her, and she rests her head on his shoulder. "Neimi, I don't ever want you to leave my side. When I said that, I didn't mean for you to literally get off my back. Just to trust me. I was trying to help Yvette, not hurt you. And what is this nonsense about you being not pretty; you're not as strong or as beautiful as Yvette? You're so strong! You're incredibly beautiful!"

"What? I'm nothing special! I'm just some stupid girl who most people can take advantage of, and I'm probably nothing special to you either; just another pretty face you're trying to stick by."

"How could you say something like that? Surely you know me better than that," Colm remarks.

"You're right, Colm... you've stuck by me through everything, even when we were kids. You were even there after my brother died. I'm sorry," she wipes her eyes.

"What are you apologizing for?" Colm inquires.

"I don't know what came over me," she says, "for thinking such terrible things about you. I love you, and I was just afraid and insecure."

"Neimi... to me, You're perfect the way you are, and as long as I'm here, you'll never have to worry about being afraid or insecure."

"You're sweet, but you're embarrassing me in front of everyone," she says with a slight smile.

"To hell with everyone," Colm remarks.

"Well, everyone except you, me, and Yvette, of course," she says, pulling away from Colm and turning to face Yvette. "You're a part of this now, so come on in."

As she wraps herself around Colm and Neimi, Yvette smiles and sheds a sympathetic tear.

The three companions are enjoying this happy moment when they suddenly hear a quiet "Ahem" from behind Yvette, and they all turn to see a twig of a young man who offers a weak smile and waves. "Your room is ready," he mumbles.

"Oh, shit," Neimi says, wiping her eyes quickly.

"Sorry, we're ready as well," Colm says.

Colm and his three companions rise and follow the wiry young servant upstairs to Colm's room.

The boy leads Colm down a corridor that leads to an atrium with a large double door blocking access to the suite. The servant fiddles with a thick, iron key, struggling to open the heavy oak wood doors as the three companions gaze in awe at the vast space.

"Wow, talk about classy," Colm remarks.

Colm, Neimi, and Yvette walk further into the room, marveling at the vast space with its high vaulted ceiling and large furniture that appears to be siege-proof.

Colm thanks the boy and compliments him on a job well done. He beams with pride as he bows to Colm and exits the room, leaving the key with Yvette, leaving Colm alone with Yvette and Neimi.

"Damn, Holgard is nice!" exclaims Colm, taking a moment to gush.

"Yeah," says Yvette.

"I guess we should thank our lucky stars we're in this room," Colm says. "I wonder who owns this place."

"I'll bet it's a noble," Yvette says.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing," Colm says.

"Well, I just..." says Yvette.

"It's okay. I don't think nobility is any better than peasants, but who cares?! We've got this whole place to ourselves! Woohoo!" says Neimi.

Colm laughs as he watches Neimi dance through the air with renewed vigor. "I'm glad you're back to your normal, upbeat self. You had me worried for a time there. I missed you."

Yvette laughs, her hand again attempting to conceal the fact as she says, "Let's...do something fun."

As if on cue, Neimi flutters between Colm's legs and gives Colm's low-hanging fruit a flutter kick as she flies by. "Damn right I am! This is a lot of fun!"

Neimi's feet rap against each nut, the left foot jamming into Colm's left ball and the right toes stabbing Colm's right testicle. Colm doubles over at the waist, letting out a pained groan.

Neimi laughs and spins in circles around Colm. "That hurt?" she teases, singing-song-style.

Colm grunts as he tries to keep from kneeling in agony, a pained expression on his face.

Colm musters the courage to speak, giving a wry smile and saying, "Why pretend you're sorry when we all know you want to do it again?"

"I like to tease you, silly," Neimi says as she floats back between Colm's legs, this time swinging in from behind Colm and giving each throbbing teste another quick kick while winking up at Colm's face and blowing a kiss to Colm.

"Oh...fuck," Colm sighs, his hand darting to his groin.

Colm begins to lean forward, his body wanting to fall before Yvette catches and helps him up.

Yvette laughs, her smile broadening. "How about we get something to eat? Colm could use a nice, long bath."

Colm has difficulty concentrating on anything other than his pain, and this is when he feels it.

Colm's eyes stare into hers as she smiles at him, the sharp pain of his balls trying to squirm away from being smashed between Colm's pelvis and what he now realizes is Yvette's knee.

"Hehe, I just had to; because you know how Neimi gets me all worked up about these things."

Colm wants to say something, anything, his face twisted in pain and his teeth gritted.

Nothing, however, as she continues to smile and press her knee firmly against Colm's balls, adding to his unique male agony. Colm begins to feel his strength fading as the fat, swollen eggs scream in agony.

"OK, I suppose that's enough; now go bathe, and we'll be back with some food," Yvette says as she pulls away from Colm, allowing him to fall to the floor, clutching desperately at his aching manhood. Fortunately, everything is still in place.

Colm screams in agony and slowly pulls himself up. His body is weak, and he's tired more than he should be. It's almost as if a stampede had been trampling Colm's nutbag for an hour. Colm noticed that the wash basin was already steaming, indicating that it had been filled for him before he'd even arrived. Colm finds solace in this and immerses himself in the hot water.

"Oooh, yeahaaahhhh," Colm remarks.

Colm closes his eyes and feels water pour over him as his chest and stomach heave, a light sweat glistening on his skin.

"Ahhh..." Colm remarks, his body relaxing in the water. Colm was blissfully basking in the water, inhaling steam through his nostrils and exhaling through his lips. Colm reflects on everything that has occurred since that fateful night in Embla.

Colm stole a nice new dress for Neimi; discovered the mercenary cult known as the Ebony Claw Syndicate and their plans to infiltrate Dumila's governments and wrest control of the country while hiding in plain sight, even infiltrated the Church; met a new companion and friend in Yvette; broke Helena's curse and freed her by killing her; becoming the Bane of Shadows and new Shadow Master. As if all that wasn't enough, Colm had somehow found himself in a love triangle with Neimi and Yvette, both of whom appear perfectly content to share Colm, though he honestly wondered how long that could last.

Are they only okay with it because they've been having a good time busting his balls, or are they both accepting that they both love Colm and Colm loves them? Colm knows he loves Neimi, but he can't help but feel an intense connection with Yvette as well. Even though they've only been traveling together for a few days, Neimi and Yvette act just like sisters. Some friendships are simply meant to be; kicking off without a hitch. Colm lets out a sigh and smile to himself. It hasn't been long since Embla, but a lot has happened and a lot more is still to come.

"Enough introspection," Colm says to himself as he submerges his head in water.

Colm finishes his bath after a little while before geting dressed; it appears that some smallclothes and basic fur garb have been laid out for Colm. Holgard was built on a mountain border between Embla and Elibe by a nomadic people in the long years before Dumila was so densely populated. Holgard is often considered the continent's first city, but has gradually been overshadowed by Embla and Elibe as time passed due to their more favorable weather.

Holgard clings to its older traditions, but the most important factor has been pushed to the sidelines: the climate. Holgard is mostly cold and has the harshest winters, though winter won't be here for another couple of months. Embla is much more temperate than Holgard and has much milder, warmer weather. Still, Holgard is a marvel, and it is one of Dumila's oldest foundations.

Colm puts on the warm, fur-lined leather outfit and walks out into the large living space of the inn room. Neimi and Yvette return and smile at Colm, who can smell delicious meats and cheeses in the air.

"Oh my, Colm, you look... quite different," Neimi says, nodding as Colm approaches them.

"Oh, is it the good kind?" Colm inquires.

Neimi and Yvette exchange glances, smile, and return to Colm, saying in unison, "Yes, yes it is!"

Colm smiled and sighed with relief. "Well, that's good," Colm says as he settles into a large, comfortable chair and examines the food on the table.

"Shall we dig in?" Colm remarks.

Colm takes a bite of the pork chop, chewing slowly and savoring the flavor as the juice runs down his chin. It's simply delicious, plus Colm loves favorite pork chops. He took another bite, chews and swallows, then sips his wine. Life is going pretty well right now, but Yvette clears her throat to interrupt his splendor. Colm raises his brow at her, and she appears to regret interrupting Colm.

"I know we've only just arrived, but we really should go over the plan," she says, twirling a strand of her silvery hair between her fingers.

Colm swallowed his food and set it down, wiping his mouth before speaking about it.

"All right, what plan do you have in mind?"

Yvette blushes as she admits, "Well, that's why I came to get you to begin with; You're a really good thief. You can move in and out of places so quickly and so easily, methodically even. You're like a surgeon. I thought you'd be able to just... do it, you know?"

"You make me sound like some amazing legend or something," Colm chuckles lightly as he shakes his head.

"Oh, no! I mean, you're amazing, of course, but... I just thought you would be able to move in and out of there like a shadow, as if by magic."

Colm smiles at her, remembering his battle with Helena and becoming the Bane of Shadows. "I'm not so amazing," he sighs and shakes his head.

"Well, you're not bad," she replies with a knowing smirk, openly confessing her feelings for Colm.

"What about the Count? The one who sent you to find me? Does he have a plan?" Colm asks.

"He didn't tell me, but I think he knows... I mean, he's the Count, right? He's smart like that," Yvette admits.

"Tch, privileged nobles always think they can keep things from those they regard as nothing more than tools," Colm says.

"Well, he does respect your abilities, so I think he's more likely to believe you'll be able to assist."

Colm pauses to reflect.

"Perhaps we should pay him a visit then?" Colm suggests after a brief pause.

Meanwhile, Neimi hadn't stopped eating until Colm heard a satisfied "Ahh" from her, patting her almost comically bloated belly.

"I think it's time for another nap," she says to Colm.

"What the hell? How much did you eat?!" Colm responds, smiling.

"Oh... I just ate a little... don't worry, I'll just sleep for a while because I'm so full."

"Hmm, well, I guess that's good then," smiled Colm.

Colm returned his gaze to Yvette, who was laughing at Neimi. "Do you know anything about the Ebony Claw in this town? Where they might be hiding out?" Colm inquired.

She frowns and replies, "Not really. I mean, I know they're in the poor areas, because the Sheriff's men patrol those, and considering the Sheriff is being bought off, it would make sense for them to lay low there while they try to get their hands in Holgard's hierarchy, but other than that, I don't really know."

"Would you take the option of confronting the Sheriff or speaking with the Count?"

She pauses for a moment before responding, "The Sheriff. I'd want to speak with the man who's getting paid to keep us safe while also getting paid to let Ebony Claw do whatever they want, the two-faced bastard."

"Then why don't we go speak with the Sheriff first thing in the morning? Maybe we can wheedle some information out of him?" Colm suggests.

"Hmph. Smash it out of his balls, more like," she says before realizing what she's saying and buries her blushing face in her hands.

"Seems like Neimi is really rubbing off on you, huh?" teases Colm.

"Shut it," she says.

Colm makes a funny face and pats her on the back of the head. "No, seriously, you can be proud of your skills; I'm proud of all of them."

Yvette raises her head to face Colm, her face flushed bright red. Her eyes sparkle in the moonlight, and she appears overjoyed at his words. "Do you really mean it, Colm?"

"Of course," Colm remarks.

She charges forward and quickly embraces him; Colm returns her embrace.

"I'm so glad I met you. Thank you for not killing me when we met and for trusting me to join you," she begins, confessing to Colm that she was afraid he would throw her aside like trash.

Colm laughs and hugs her tightly. "Don't worry, you've proven yourself to be a valuable asset, and Neimi enjoys having you around to torture me."

"Truly?" she asks, a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Oh, don't doubt it."

Colm says to her, "I've even started to enjoy having you and Neimi smash my balls."

She laughs loudly before burying her face in Colm's chest. "Oh, Colm!"

Colm placed his hand on her head. "Now, don't start..."

She laughs. "It's the way you look at me, Colm, with those cool, sapphire eyes... I could stare into them forever, especially now..."