As I made my way to the Western Shore, my mind was filled with all the painful memories of my childhood: all the beatings from my friends and father, all the ridicule, and the demented sneers. I have to be the one to stop them. I have to admit that with my newfound knowledge and confidence, I feel a lot better about things, but I have this sense of dread lingering in the back of my mind, like something terrible has happened.

  The moment I step foot into my kin’s territory, all my thoughts vanish. I take a deep breath, I hold my tome tightly, and I continue to walk forward, and my innate power starts to go off. All Fae possess an innate power; some of us possess more than one, but the innate power of a Jabberwocky is the power to detect magical auras only. We can’t tell them apart.

  For example, all Fae have magical auras; they are all different colors and give off certain levels of power. However, to us Jabberwocky, these auras are all the same color. The only difference is their levels of power, but we can’t see our own auras. The last thing about our innate power is that it’s limited to a certain radius; in this case, it’s limited to 10 meters.

  I then begin to travel deeper into the territory, and I soon start to detect some Fae coming towards me. Fearing the worst, I cast my Light Barrier spell around my body, and I cloak it so no one can see me coming. I then continue on my way, and then from behind, a water spell comes in contact with my barrier.

  I turn around, and I see a Jabberwocky Hunter. He’s surprised by my barrier, but once he sees my face, his look of surprise turns to malice. He soon starts to ready another spell. I then take this opportunity to send a radiant bolt his way. Luckily, my casting time is quicker, and I send him flying back. I then catch up with him, and I cast a silence spell on him that should make things a little easier. I then continue to the place of my birth.

  Along the way, there are several attacks on my life, and like before, I am able to outdo them. They all have faces of anger when I swiftly trounce them, and it feels good to show up all those who mocked me. Soon I reach the large cave; I look to the walls with various runes written on them. Each rune is the name of a famous Jabberwocky who has ever accomplished something great. This is our way of remembering them. It’s an interesting tradition of ours.

  But upon closer inspection, each rune has been defaced. This is a grievous offense in our culture; defacing a rune will get you killed. What was going on here? I make my way into the cave only to find that it is completely defenseless. This doesn’t make sense. We Jabberwocky value our secrets above all else. When I was just a whelp, this cave was always defended. Soon I find myself at the end of the cave, and I see a familiar face on the throne of fish bones.

  It’s my father. Only he’s incredibly old and ragged.

  Jabberwocky King: “So you’ve returned, bastard son of mine.”

  Klint: “Father, what is the meaning of this? You're attacking the humans, ruining livelihoods, and worst of all, you're destroying our history. Why?”

  Jabberwocky King: “Oh, bastard son of mine, for too long we jabberwocky have lived in the past, but through my trials I shall usher all Jabberwocky into the future. We only need to sacrifice the humans of this island, and then the Cult of Tenebris mentibus shall bestow upon us true greatness.”

  Klint: “Father, you’ve gone mad. Nothing is so great a reward that you would ruin lives or ruin our history. I’m afraid I’m going to have to challenge you.”

  Jabberwocky King: “You don’t mean?”

  Klint: “yes i do i challenge you to a Jabber Dual the winner will get the throne the loser will receive death by Hydromancy”

  My father then came down from his throne, and he picked up a bizarre-looking staff. It was made from stainless steel, with a skull at the head. It had two rubies for eyes, and the head was marked with strange runes.

  My father and I then walked out onto the beach, and soon we began to duel. Spells went flying back and forth. My father may look decrepit, but his magic was still incredibly sharp, but with my holy magic, I was able to hold my own, but I could tell that my father was starting to wear himself out; meanwhile, I had only just begun. I then quickly cast my new holy sword spell.

  Suddenly a sword came shooting down from the heavens and caused massive damage to my father. As he reeled back panting, it was at this point that Jabberwockies began to crowd around us, watching our duel. When I looked at their faces, they all shared the same look, the look of pure fear. I could tell they were only following my father because they feared him. I then turned to my father, who had a look of pure malice on his face. He then began to pant and say

  Jabberwocky King: "Bastard, you have done well to push me this far, but this is where it ends for you and all you other fools who would dream of opposing me. I shall show you all what awaits you."

  My father then raised his staff skyward, and suddenly a geyser of black energy began to form around my father’s feet, and then purple clouds began to form in the heavens, and then black lightning came charging towards me. I quickly put up a holy barrier to defend myself, but the black lightning just kept coming.

  I was suddenly feeling the strain; even with all my training, I was nothing compared to my father and his newfound power, but where was it coming from? It was too much; I couldn’t win.

  Just as my barrier was about to shatter, I suddenly felt an influx of power rush into me. I then deflected the black lightning back towards the heavens, and my father’s steel staff shattered. He had a look of pure fear painted on his face. I then looked to the cave, and I saw that each defaced rune was suddenly glowing with yellow light, and the runes were suddenly restored. Could this mean that the spirits of our elders are imbuing me with power? No, certainly not, but with this newfound power, I will win this duel.

  I began to channel my powers into my spell, and within seconds, a golden meteor fell upon my father, defeating him for good.

  Soon all my fellow Jabberwocky start cheering for me, and two Jabberwocky hunters begin to end my father’s life with their hydromancy. I ultimately look away as they do it, and suddenly I am declared the new Jabberwocky king. I let them lead me inside, and when I get close to the throne, I turn around and say

  Klint: “I’m sorry to disappoint all of you, but I do not want to be king. I simply wanted to rid you of that old fool on the throne. I just want to live a free life, but I do ask that you all leave the humans alone and find peace with whatever you do.”

  I then made my way out of the cave, and as I was about to return to my shore, I was stopped by a young Jabberwocky. His skin is a handsome shade of ruby red, his dorsal fin is calm yellow, and his nails are a bright golden color. He smiles at me and says

  Ramza: “Klint, is it? My name is Ramza. I am one of the beta males, and I wanted to thank you for freeing us.

  Klint: “It’s no trouble at all, Ramza. It needed to be done. Is there anything else I can help you with?

  Ramza then began to blush, his cheeks changing to a deep shade of blue.

  Ramza: “Well, the Alphas were busy deciding who should be king when I spoke up and suggested that it would be a good idea if you sired some of the next generation.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Klint: “Excuse me…”

  Ramza: “Please don’t get me confused; it’s just that I believe that a Jabberwocky with your amount of kindness and magical prowess shouldn’t go to waste, you know? Plus, I don’t want to let those idiots in there sire the next generation, so could you, umm…”

  Klint: “Calm down, kid. I get what you're trying to say, so here is the deal: you try to convince as many beta males as you can into coming with me. You all can be my harem, but please understand that I’m already in a serious relationship.”

  Ramza then smiled warmly and hurried back inside the cave. I honestly felt bad for the kid; all he wants is to have a happy family, and most of the Alphas in that cave are, in fact, idiots only focusing on power, so if I can spare some of these Betas from a life of horror, I’ll gladly help them soon. Ramza comes back with three other Beta Male Jabberwocky One has indigo blue skin, green fins, and purple-colored nails. He says his name is Sapphire. Next, we had a Jabberwocky with pink skin, blue fins, and silver nails. His name is Soshu. Lastly, we have

  An emerald green colored Jabberwocky with black fins and orange colored nails, his name is Karpi. I led them all back to my cave, and the moment we arrived, the first order of business was to make improvements along with our preferred choice of magic. We Jabberwockies also have a handful of other common use spells to make life easier. One of them is a spell that can expand and increase the living space of our cave; it can even create cave passages. The only problem is it needs four or more Jabberwockies to pull off. We quickly get inside the cave and form a circle in the middle of the cage. We then hold hands and begin to chant the incantation.

  The cave walls slowly begin to glow as the cave begins to change; suddenly there is enough space for all of us, and when we finish the incantation, it’s almost midnight. Sapphire, Ramza, Soshu, and Karpi then walk to their room while I go out to enjoy the view of the sea. Soon I am joined by my boyfriend Noira.

  I tell him about what had happened today, but lo and behold, he already knows. I should have known mermaids see everything on this island. He asks me a series of questions, and I do my best to answer them, but then I put my finger to Noira’s lips and say,

  “Noira I’m not going to mince words here, but I love you, you love me, and today I just went through hell, and all I want right now is a little, um… stress relief.”

  Noira begins to blush, but soon we are kissing each other passionately, and soon I’m on my back holding my sweet, sweet Noria pulls away and starts kissing my neck slowly, going down to my claspers, then Noira slowly begins to suck on them, and I start to moan from Noira’s sweet, sweet handiwork within seconds. Noira positions himself onto my claspers. I am surprised that Noira even has that opening, but I don’t want to judge. Soon we are going at it for the rest of the night. By morning I am holding Noira in my arms, and when I wake up, I am incredibly caught off guard by the fact that Noira now has human legs. My lover soon wakes up incredibly calm and says

  Noira: “Oh, I guess my maiden’s secret is out in the open now.”

  Klint: “Wait, you knew this would happen?”

  Noira nods his head and blushes.

  Noira: “Klint, when a mermaid consummates with another race other than a mermaid, they gain human legs to make it easy for us to live together.”

  Klint: “But Noria, I loved your tail.”

  Noira kisses my cheek and says

  Noira: “Don’t worry, babe; I can easily get my tail back when I get wet.”

  Upon hearing that, I began to calm down. The next thing I did was introduce Noira to the rest of my harem; they really seemed to hit it off. I then went over to the human village to tell them the good news. I also brought over plenty of pearl loops to sell; however, I was met with a mountain of praise. Every human in the village gave me all of their gold in exchange for all of my pearl loops. I even met with the village chief; he spoke with me about becoming the island’s guardian. He told me that the previous guardian was not long for this world, and he needed to pass his title to someone else.

  First off, I didn’t know this island had a Guardian, but if he’s dying, it makes sense he doesn’t have the power to handle the problems of the island. I ask the Chief to take me to the Guardian. He leads me to an old temple at the highest point on the island. The Guardian was lying atop a stone slab. He was an elderly man, but he wasn’t a normal man; he was a magician. He weakly asks me if I am here to take his place. I nod my head and say

  Klint: “Sir, you’ve been at this for a long time. I want to give this a shot. I’ve got a bunch of free time on my hands, and there are people I want to protect.”

  The elderly man then hands me an ornate wooden staff that morphs to resemble a bishop's crosier. I guess it’s to match my magic preference. The crosier then begins to give off a radiant light, and the elderly man turns to dust. I then turn around to speak to the village chief, and he is bowing to me. I sigh and tell him to rise. We then go back to the village, and I ask him for some clothes for Noira. He happily supplies me with clothes, and I return to my cave to find that Noira is teaching Soshu how to clean and gut a fish when it warms my heart. For the next few weeks, I bond with Noira and my beta males, and we get even closer.

  For the next week, I played the role of the island’s Protector. Some of my obligations involved settling disputes between the local mermaids and the humans. Apparently some mermaids were being poached for their meat. Let’s just say that crime didn’t go unpunished. In return for settling that escapade, the mermaids gifted me a vase full of fertilized rainbow eel eggs.

  These fish possess a certain magical quality. When Noira saw the vase, he stated that the jar was magical in nature; it could support the lives of all the Rainbow Eels for decades and fulfill all their needs. I was impressed that the mermaids could create such an item, but Noira then admitted that these vases are relics from the fallen Atlantean empire, so they were incredibly rare.

  It is becoming readily apparent that the mermaids are being extremely generous towards me, almost to the point of trying to buy my favor. They could be plotting something, but who knows what?

  One day when I returned to the cave, I saw Ramza Soshu Karpi and Sapphire waiting outside. They were wearing shell necklaces around their necks, and they smelled of roses, jasmine, and chum. This mixture of aromas could only mean one thing…

  Mating season, I walked over to Sapphire first. I kissed his head, and I went behind him and mounted him. My claspers fully enlarged and entered Sapphire’s warm oviducts. Soon carnal lust takes me over, and all I see is red, and soon I am pumping my seed into Sapphire, who starts to pant heavily, and soon I uncouple from Sapphire, who quickly begins to moan. He then walks into the cave to recover.

  My insatiable lust continued with the other members of my harem, and when I was finished, I found myself resting in my section of the cave. I smelled something sweet. I got up and walked over to the next room, where I saw Noira cooking something. Noira looked behind me and smiled, saying,.

  “You all passed out so quickly, and you slept for two whole days, so I decided to make a hearty fish, apple, and crab stew. There’s enough for everyone. Come over; have a bite.” I sat next to Noira, and he handed me a bowl of soup. It tasted great. An hour later, Soshu came into the room.

  Soshu is an interesting Jabberwocky; his pink skin is incredibly distinct, and originally Soshu was pursuing Shadow Magic, but since living with me, he’s decided to pursue the study of Fire and Healing Magic. He wants to become the first Jabberwocky White Pyromancer. The humans are helping him in his studies, and I’m thankful for it because I have no idea how healing or pyromancy works. Soshu also has an interesting personality; he’s overly flamboyant and loves to make clothing. He’s an interesting breed, to say the least.

  Soshu: “my my that was a passionate mating Klint i really admire your gentle nature Darling mmm i can’t wait to be the Mother of your Spawn mmm…”

  Klint: “Hehe, just remember, Soshu, we’ll need to prepare a proper nest for the eggs when it’s time, ok?”

  Soshu giggled as he ate his soup, and then Sapphire came in next. Sapphire was the smart and sexy one of our harem. He also changed his preference in magic; he’s aiming to become the first Jabberwocky hex spell blade. He’s taking fencing lessons in the human village, and he is quickly learning as many curses and hexes as he can. Sapphire is making so many breakthroughs.

  Sapphire is also devouring his way through the Humans Archive; he goes there every day to read through their vast collection. He's really going to run out of reading material if he keeps going at his pace.

  Sapphire: “Greetings, everyone. I smelled the savory aroma of food, and I just had to come out. Please hand me a bowl.”

  Klint: “Are you always this calm, Sapphire? I mean, we just had a moment of pure passion. I’m surprised you're not reeling.”

  Sapphire: “Klint, what we had was absolutely magical, but I am a Jabberwocky of poise and intelligence. I will always lead with elegance and grace; it’s what separates me from the rabble.”

  Klint: “It sounds to me like you're just trying to be something you're not, Sapphire.”

  Sapphire just rolled his eyes and began to drink the soup, happily chewing on the supple crab meat. Next to show up was Ramza; he had a spring in his step. He was an interesting Jabberwocky; he chose to study barrier magic, one of the hardest magical art forms to get a grip on, but I'm going to help him the best I can, though.

  Ramza: “Mmm, this soup is amazing. Who made this?”

  Noira: “I made it, Ramza. I’m glad you like it.”

  Ramza: “Noira, where did you learn how to cook so well? This is far better than those raw foods I had before as a whelp.”

  Noir: “Well, in all fairness, I learned from Klint. I watched as he prepared meals for me, and I took some mental notes.”

  Ramza then looked to me, and his eyes started to gleam with amazement.

  Ramza: “I knew you were amazing, Master Klint, but my opinion of you just seems to skyrocket.”

  Karpi was the last to come in; he came over, took a bowl of soup, slurped it down, and then left. I called out to him and said

  Klint: “wait Karpi you just woke up where are you going it’s still late”

  Karpi: “I want to go fishing; the best catch only comes around nightfall.”

  Karpi was an interesting Jabberwocky; he had no interest in magic, but everyone else said that Karpi possessed the greatest magical talent out of all the Jabberwockies in the community. Still, he was only concerned with fishing, aquaculture, and crafting. Ramza told me that Karpi was a natural with geomancy; it was even rumored that Karpi could move the entire island if he wanted to.

  Karpi soon left for the night, leaving the five of us alone. We spent the whole night talking. We then returned to my room and slept huddled together. The next morning, all six of us went to perform our usual tasks. Soshu and Sapphire went to the village to study their arts. Karpi fell asleep for the night. Noira went to the mermaid colony to run errands, and I was helping Ramza with his barrier magic.

  The simplest way to explain barrier magic is to say that it is an all-scientific and mathematical formula. The basics of any barrier are a formula with the elements being used as components. You also need an understanding of the elements in order to know how to best repel them. It’s a lot of work, but it’s going to be worth it to see Ramza become the first Jabberwocky Barriersmith.

  End of Episode