Blessed by Night

With great glee, Malachi smiled as he took in the sight of the new and menacing creature that he had created in front of him.

This was his first time ever attaching an animal to his hive before, and he could see what Tsath meant about seeing them as beautiful irregardless of what they turned into.

I mean, how could anyone ever be afraid of this cute little guy?

To the best possible description, Malachi had created a hybrid creature that seemed to resemble a mix of a crocodile and a bear.

It had a huge, bulky body that was covered in rugged, dark scales more stringent than armor.

It's thighs, shoulder muscles, and face were all covered in swarthy looking dark fur.

The face on the creature had narrowed considerably, but it's snout was still lined to the brim with six inch teeth that looked like they could have put a hole in the truck with minimal effort.

Rows and rows of jagged spines ran along it's powerful back and down it's eight foot long tail.

When it stood on all four of it's pillar-like legs, it was nearly tall enough to look Malachi directly in the eye with virtually no difference in level.

"You're such a cute little guy…" Mal said happily as he scratched the small fluffy ears of the new friend he'd created.

*Thwack!*

The creature raised a solid and powerful paw to knock Malachi clear into the water behind them.

*snort*

Malachi surfaced once again and spit out a mouthful of near-stagnant water with a grimace.

"Cute little girl… my bad."

He crawled out of the water and shook himself dry before walking back towards his new friend.

Placing his hands back on her head, he gave her a few apologetic pats that she really seemed to be pleased with.

"This is the first time I've seen you smile in like four days."

Looking over his shoulder, Malachi found his two best friends in the world leaning against a tree and giving him sad yet happy smiles.

He gave them only a moment's glance before inevitably turning back to his new friend who had the bulk of his attention.

"I knew it… you both followed me out here because you were worried."

"Is that so bad?"

"Even the girls are saying that you have been a bit less chatty ever since you found out about… you know."

"I just don't know what to say." He said honestly.

"Something, anything would be nice."

Malachi stared into the glowing white eyes of his first hived creature and wracked his mind for something to say.

"I feel like… the past five years have all been so pointless. My parents… everyone else who has been lost.. they died because the gods wanted to play a game."

No matter how much Malachi grew to love Nyx, he had never for one second forgotten about the parents who had given birth to him.

For seventeen years they were his absolute everything.

And then when they died… he could not even stop to grieve.

His sister had things that she needed, and he took it upon himself to provide them and fill in for their absence the best that he could.

But he damaged himself in the process more than he realized.

Now that he knew the truth of how they died, he didn't know whether he should be resentful or just downright vengeful.

"Are you upset with Nyx too..?" Serana asked softly.

At the memory of his adoptive mother, Malachi placed a hand over his chest while making a pained expression.

"No… of course not."

After Nyx told Malachi the truth, she apologized to him with tears in her eyes and vanished from the living room entirely.

"I just wish I knew… why it feels like someone as powerful and all knowing as her… seems to be constantly worried about making me angry."

The way that Nyx reacted when she told Malachi the truth just wasn't normal.

She seemed to be so afraid of a negative reaction from him that she could not even bring herself to linger in his face.

"Perhaps she felt like her presence would be unwanted by you after everything that she told us. Maybe she also knew that you would come to that same conclusion about your parents."

"That doesn't mean anything to me though… she should know me well enough that I wouldn't blame her for that, especially when she voted against the invasion in the first place."

Mal suddenly decided that he didn't want to talk about this anymore and he suddenly leapt atop the back of his gator-bear.

"Think I'll call you Lolo. How does that sound?"

*content hissing*

"Good."

Malachi suddenly held his hand out to Serana and Aisha while making a beckoning gesture.

"Climb aboard you two."

Serana seemed to hesitate just a bit while Aisha fearlessly accepted his invitation the moment he gave it.

"S-She's not gonna eat me or anything, right??" Serana asked warily.

"Well she is a bit hungry but hair dye gives her stomach aches so you're good."

Serana had never been so thankful for her previous choice in hairstyling before.

Once the three of them were seated on top of Lolo, she finished her original intention of climbing into the water and looking for food.

She kept her body high enough above water level that only their feet were cresting on the surface.

It ended up being a fairly relaxing ride, and Malachi was starting to feel all of his tumultuous thoughts slipping away as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the-

"Hey Aisha, I've been meaning to ask but what's it like to have sex with Mal's mom?"

"What the hell! Why would you ask her that?!"

"Because I want to know! I asked Anna what it was like to have sex with an alien earlier so now I'm just covering all my bases!"

"Why are you asking shit like this?!"

" I have a boyfriend now, I'm trying to learn how to cover all of my bases and keep things spicy." Serana shrugged.

Aisha's cheeks immediately became red as she brought her hands to her cheeks like an innocent young maiden.

"S-She was amazing. Aphrodite's blessing makes it so that I am always in control during sex and I am the one who gives the utmost pleasure but she beat me soundly."

"How so?" A notepad and a pair of glasses miraculously appeared on Serana's person as if it were magic.

"Can we please.."Malachi began.

"Shh!"

Aisha's eyes took on a somewhat dreamy look that would have made Malachi sick if he'd been watching.

"S-She was just relentless and she chased after me methodically without giving me any time to get my bearings. I screamed, I begged, I cried but she just kept whispering to me in that sweet voice and encouraging me to-"

"LOLO!"

Understanding what was being asked in an instant, the hybrid crocodile wrapped her tail around Aisha's upper body and casually tossed her into the water around them.

Immensely relieved, Mal gave her a few congratulatory pats on the head for being such a good girl.

"Hey! I was listening to that!" Serana complained.

"Have some sympathy, Serana! How would you like it if I talked about sex with your mom in front of you?"

"I think I've grown numb because it actually doesn't bother me all that much anymore."

"Christ."Malachi had never felt like his open affection would come back to bite him in the butt in such a manner as this one.

"Actually, I have questions about that too now that I think about it."

"Oh god."

"Mom's always been pretty lazy, so is she a pillow princess?"

"Serana.."

"And since you're all doing stuff together at night, are the other girls laying their hands on my mommy too?"

"Lolo."

"KYAA!!"

Once again, Lolo displayed a remarkable ability to follow orders as she hurled Serana off her back without a second thought.

It just so happened that at this point Aisha was finally crawling back onto the beast, and it was easy to see that she wasn't appreciative of her sudden ejection.

"Enjoy your swim?"

"This is only around half as wet as your mom had me!"

"LOLO-"

"Wait!"

A small buzzing sound came from Aisha's flooded pockets and she hurriedly fished out a damp communicator.

"It's me. What's the matter?"

Serana finally swam back over to Lolo just in time to hear the frantic rambling of one of their guild members who'd endeavored on a particularly faraway expedition.

She wasn't sure if she had too much lingering water in her ears or not but she knew that she couldn't have heard what was said correctly.

And apparently, Aisha shared the same sentiment.

"Slow down, Mel. I need you to confirm… you were attacked by what??"

"Trolls!! Just outside of Wyoming! They came out of nowhere and grabbed our whole group before- KYAAA!!"

Immediately, the hearts of all three travelers sank to the bottom of their shoes as they understandably feared the worst.

"""Melanie!"""