Everlasting Dream

 

[Nivalis Silverfrost]

— "This should be good enough," Nivalis whispered tiredly, peeking her head inside the dark opening in the wall they stumbled upon. This one was similar to the ones they had slept in before but much deeper and spacious inside, enough for them to sit together without pressing against each other, though still too low to stand. Looking back at her children, Nivalis motioned to crawl inside. "Come on... we need to rest and figure out if that... thing... is actually safe to eat," she added, grimacing at the sight of that slimy, charred corpse Aster still clutched in his hands.

The smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air, making Silvia gag audibly behind her. "I don't want to eat it..." the girl whined for what felt like the thousandth time since he hunted down the worm, a creature that came straight from their worst nightmares, something that should not exist outside a horror story. She looked at her mother, eyes pleading for her to do something about it—anything but eating that disgusting mess.

"Me neither... but we need to eat something. Otherwise, we won't make it," Aster gave the same answer as he did many times before, wasting no time as he started crawling inside; the light of his golden eyes was bright enough to bounce off the jagged walls and back to the girls. Silvia knew it was true, but still, the sight and smell made her skin crawl. She wished they had stumbled upon something else instead of that slimy, writhing abomination. A rat would be much better.

"I know, sweetie. It's... yeah," Nivalis sighed, shaking her head in understanding. Come on. It's not safe to stand here." She urged the girl to follow her brother, helping her get on all fours to crawl into an opening. Once the silver-haired girl disappeared inside, Nivalis took one last look around her, checking for any signs of danger before going after them. Everything was quiet, not even a wind blowing through those dark, endless tunnels.

Aster had already made himself cozy in the corner furthest away from the opening, the disgusting corpse lying on the ground next to him. "I checked the walls, and everything looks normal... no weird holes or anything," he said quietly, leaning back against the stone with a groan; his little body was tired beyond words. They all were, after dragging their skinny frames through these tunnels for hours, day after day.

— "Good job," Nivalis praised him with a small smile, watching Silvia close her eyes, her hand touching the wall next to the entrance. Frost soon began to cover the dark stone, spreading over it until it reached the edges of the opening. Soon enough, ice slowly but surely started to seal them away from the outside world, away from the dangers lurking in the dark.

Aster's glowing eyes stared at the growing barrier, quietly watching his sister work and how she trembled beneath that thin cloak she wore. Leaves and twigs that were attached to it began to fall off from all the walking they did, leaving just the fabric against her pale, naked skin; his cloak was no better.

Nivalis sat beside him, plopping down onto the cold ground with her tender behind, letting out another groan of exhaustion, legs and back sore like never before. She put her hand over her beating heart, feeling how it still pounded rapidly inside her chest from that scare her son had given them earlier when he used his fire without warning.

She didn't like him putting himself at risk like this... part of her wanted to scold him for it. What if he fainted, leaving them all in the darkness? What if he got hurt by the creature? It was such a reckless thing to do, but... his heart was in the right place. He was only trying to provide for her and his sister. How could Nivalis be mad at that? So, she held her tongue and kept her worries to herself.

"I'm done," Silvia announced softly, turning towards her family with a tired expression, trembling quite heavily. Still on her fours, the girl crawled closer to Nivalis and nestled against her side, curling her legs tightly against her own chest. "Finally..." the girl sighed in relief as she closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the safety.

Nivalis wrapped her arm around her daughter's shivering body, pulling her closer against herself for warmth. They sat silently together for a few minutes, the quiet of their small cave filled only with the sound of soft breaths. A bit earlier than usual, but yet another long day had come to an end, and despite the odds, they were still alive and together. "Let's undress first and make ourselves a bed," she finally whispered, gently pulling the hem of Silvia's cloak over her small shoulders, revealing that pale, flawless skin beneath it.

She then helped Aster get rid of his dirty cloak as well. A glance at his tiny boyhood made Nivalis let out a sigh of relief as it was all wrinkled and limp between his legs, meaning no humping business this night as well. Maybe because of hunger, but it didn't go up even once all this time, even though Silvia did the mana invasion each evening.

Only then did Nivalis remove her ragged clothing, quickly making a cozy little nest out of all their belongings for them to sleep on. Her son's glowing gaze was locked on her exposed breasts the entire time, watching them jiggle softly with each movement she made. Pink nipples hardened from the cold air, goosebumps forming on her smooth skin. "Stop it. I see where you look, mister," she whispered, playfully pinching his nose between her thumb and forefinger, giving it a light tug.

"Ouch..." Aster whined, rubbing his sore nose while giving Nivalis an adorable pout. Silvia chuckled, earning herself a glare from her little brother, which only caused more giggling. But as her eyes landed on the slimy creature again, the laughter faded, a long exhale leaving her lips.

After stretching her arms above her head, Nivalis looked at the corpse well, grimacing at how nasty it looked. She had eaten many weird and exotic things in her life, but she never even imagined something like this ending on her plate. But they needed to eat something, desperately so, and it was their only option. Her stomach twisted painfully in agreement, growling softly. "Alright..." she muttered, grabbing a dagger from the ground. "Let's check... I'll get a small drop of its blood on my skin to test if it's poisonous," Nivalis suggested, leaning in closer to the dead creature.

"I can do it. Here," Aster said, giving her his arm, his pale skin glistening with sweat. "My spell still works, so maybe it will be easier for me... if that thing is indeed poisonous, you know."

Silvia was about to say something just as stupid, but Nivalis interrupted them both. "No. We won't survive if something happens to any of you. I will do the testing, end of discussion," she replied, shaking her head firmly. With the tip of her dagger, Nivalis pierced the crusty skin of the worm, watching it ooze dark liquid drip to the ground. "Better go and warm your sister. We will need more ice to cook this thing," she added after a moment, not even looking at Aster, her blue eyes following the tip as she brought it to her wrist and let a drop of blood land on her skin. No pain or numbness followed, which was a good sign... but it was too early to tell for certain.

Aster hurried to do as asked, crawling closer to Silvia, who had her eyes closed and head resting against the wall, not wanting to see that creepy thing at all. He wrapped his arms around her neck, bringing her down to lie together on the nest of their clothes. Sharp stones could be felt through it, but it was still much better than sleeping directly on them.

Silvia sighed happily at the warmth of his naked body against her own, snuggling closer, cheek pressed against his collarbone, legs intertwining. "Thanks," she whispered with a tiny smile, feeling his heartbeat against her ear, skin hot like an oven. He was quite smelly... but so was she; she did not doubt it. But neither paid much mind to it, accepting each other as they were, imperfect but fit for one another.

"If it's... edible... can we stay here for a few days? Maybe longer?" the girl mumbled with her eyes closed, addressing it to their mother, all while her hand patted his chest gently, feeling every bump of his ribs. "To rest and recover before going out again?"

— "Umm... it's not a bad idea," Nivalis replied after a moment, looking down at her wrist where she had put the creature's blood earlier. No redness, no itchiness, nothing unusual; so far, so good. She glanced behind at her children, for a moment watching them hug each other lovingly before sitting beside them again. "I'm also tired from all this walking we did. If everything goes well... we definitely should spend some time recovering," she added softly, gently caressing their long silver locks with her fingers. "We'll have to go out and hunt more of those creatures, though..."

"Ew..." Silvia wrinkled her face in disgust at the thought of seeing more of those slithering abominations. She hid her face in Aster's hair to avoid looking at the corpse, her round, pale buttcheeks clenching involuntarily.

— "Yeah..." Nivalis chuckled softly as she kept playing with their hair between her fingers. The three spent a while just like this, in silence; the only sounds filling the cave were their breathing and occasional shuffling of their limbs.

When it became clear that nothing unusual had happened to her skin, Nivalis finally decided to start cooking it. "Alright... darling, please fill that small deepening in the corner with your ice," she whispered to her daughter, gently patting her bottom. It jiggled under her touch, soft and tender.

Silvia grumbled under her breath, feeling lazy after lying so comfortably in her little brother's embrace, but she eventually got up and crawled to the corner mentioned, her eyes carefully avoiding the slimy corpse on the ground. With a sigh, she brought her palm close to the indentation in the rocks, her brows knitting together as she focused on the image of ice in her mind.

Nivalis glanced down at Aster and gave his thigh a gentle rub. "I need your help as well, my love. Can you figure out how to melt the ice and boil the water? Maybe get a rock and heat it or something...?" she asked, looking into his eyes. She could tell he was tired, but Nivalis won't be able to handle it alone.

"Umm... yeah, no problem. I'll try to figure something out," Aster muttered back after yawning softly, getting up to his knees with a groan. His little butt swayed slightly as he crawled towards his sister, knees shuffling against the bare stones. Sitting beside Silvia, he quietly watched her create thick ice, similar to how she made that barrier earlier.

While the siblings worked, Nivalis focused on carving out pieces of flesh from the creature's corpse. No amount of hunger would force her to deal with rows and rows of tiny teeth inside that gaping mouth, so the head must go away. With one swift chop, she cut it off, leaving only its slimy, meaty body for her to work on.

She could swear it wiggled a bit after she did that... making Nivalis feel even more uneasy about eating it. 'From all the creatures this world has to offer, why... this? How am I so unlucky?' she sighed internally, carefully removing all the legs from its sides, thin as a needle. Luckily, most of them got burned away with Aster's fire, but there was still plenty to remove, and it was quite a disgusting thing to do.

Ignoring the awful smell that triggered her puke reflex every few seconds, Nivalis gutted the corpse with her dagger, watching in disgust as dark liquid spilled out onto the floor. Using a nearby rock, she scrapped everything she could find inside of it, leaving behind only the slimy flesh that was covered in countless tiny pores. She decided not to remove the outside layer that was burnt to the crisp, hoping its bitterness would overpower the nastiness of the rest, but... something told her it wouldn't be enough.

Nivalis then cut the "meat" into long slices, planning to boil them as thoroughly as possible, just in case some poison was hidden in them. "How is the water?" she asked, looking up at her children to see what they were doing. Aster stared at the water with a focused expression as if trying to seduce it, his bandaged hands hovering over its surface, vapor swirling all around.

"Not too long before boiling," Silvia answered instead, speaking up for him. She sat with arms wrapped around her knees, watching intently how he heated the water.

Instead of simply blasting it with fire as he had done with that creature, she suggested trying to pour his ignited mana into the liquid and imagine it boiling, much like how she usually froze things. And so far, it seemed to work great, even though Aster was visibly drained from effort; sweat glistened heavily off his skinny body, droplets falling onto the stones beneath him. "Should be good to add meat now," the girl added, looking at the slices of dark red flesh on the ground with a wrinkled nose.

Giving her a nod in agreement, Nivalis used a dagger and rock to pick up chunks of meat and gently drop them into steaming water, her hips slightly bumping against her boy as she did so. While the water was still warm, she scooped some into her hands and washed them beside it, wanting to remove all that nasty liquid from her skin. She also cleaned the blade, making its metal shine in the dim light of Aster's eyes.

The slices swirled in the water, floating up and down, making small bubbles rise as they cooked. Noticing Aster's exhaustion, Nivalis sat right behind him and wrapped her arms around his small frame, resting her chin on his delicate shoulder. Her soft breasts pressed against the curve of his spine, nipples poking into his skin, moving up and down with each breath she made. "You're doing amazing, sweetie," she whispered into his pointy ear, gently rubbing his soft belly and flat chest. She could feel the heat of his skin and rapid heartbeat against her palm.

Aster didn't reply, only leaned back slightly into her softness, continuing to focus on heating the water with his mana. His breathing slowed down as Nivalis kept massaging his petite frame, her fingers occasionally brushing those pink nipples of his. Meanwhile, Silvia crawled back to the bed to lay on it, listening to the soft sizzling of meat cooking in the water but looking away from it. How she would eat it, she didn't know; the smell alone was almost enough to make her puke.

It continued for quite a while, with Nivalis sitting behind her son, watching how water bubbled, steam caressing their faces. "I think it should be good enough. Thank you so much," Nivalis said, kissing Aster's shoulder in praise when it looked like everything was well-cooked; slices shrank down and wrinkled. He finally let out his breath and sagged into her arms, relaxing every limb and muscle. "Go back to the bed. I'll let it sink in the water for a few more minutes, just to be safe," she added softly, looking down at the tired boy with a tender smile.

Aster pushed himself up a bit and gave her a tender peck on her soft lips, whispering a gentle, "You're welcome, Mom," before moving away, crawling on his fours towards the bed. Silvia was lying on her stomach, arms under her head, unaware of his approach as she stared at the cave's wall with half-lidded eyes. Instead of lying beside her like before, Aster decided to plop down on top of the girl. "Hehehe," Aster giggled when a surprised yelp left her lips.

Her soft buttocks cushioned his landing, making his lower body bounce slightly before settling in place. "H-hey! You're sweaty all over!" she complained, feeling how he hugged her from above, his long silver locks intertwining with hers, legs touching and brushing together.

Nivalis couldn't help but chuckle at the sounds behind her, not looking away from the boiling water. She picked up each piece with her dagger and used the flattest stone she could find nearby as a makeshift plate. Once finished with all that nasty work, Nivalis crawled back to the bed while balancing everything and set it down beside the two snuggling siblings.

They both looked like a mess... just as Nivalis did herself: dirty, skinny, exhausted. But the only thing that mattered to her was that they were alive and about to eat something, hopefully. "Here you go," she said quietly, sitting near them with her buttcheeks squishing against the makeshift bed. The kids stopped their wrestling match when she arrived, looking at the plate with equal disgust.

After a few moments of hesitation, both Aster and Silvia reluctantly sat up next to their mother, exchanging worried glances between themselves. "I-I... I'll do it," the boy mumbled hesitantly, trying not to breathe through his nose as he tried to pick up one piece, his bandaged fingers struggling to grab it.

But Nivalis stopped his hand gently before he could take any of that meat, giving him a concerned look. "Sweetie, no... I won't allow you or your sister to risk yourself like that. I'll do everything myself," she whispered, looking down at the meal. Oh, how much she didn't want to eat any of it, even though she felt as hungry as a wolf.

Aster and Silvia watched as their mother hesitantly took one small piece of meat between her trembling fingertips, her face getting more scrunched the closer it got to her mouth. Gags filled both children's throats when Nivalis finally opened her lips and took the first bite, chewing slowly with a visible struggle as it was pretty tough.

Her expression remained sour for the entire time, her brows furrowing more with each new chew, eyes closed. "It's so..." Nivalis whispered in a raspy voice when she finally swallowed the dark flesh, feeling it go down her throat, "...so-o-o good." It was terrible, but she tried to act like it wasn't.

The siblings only stared back with the same expression that screamed, "Who do you think you're fooling, Mom?" They looked like twins at that very moment, almost mirror images of each other, even though they were years apart in age.

'Well, I had to try,' Nivalis let out a heavy sigh, putting the rest of that slice down onto the rock plate. The aftertaste of it still lingered in her mouth, like burnt slugs and guts combined with a hint of bitterness from the charred outside layer. And with each chew, it only got worse as some slimy substance oozed out of it, no matter how thoughtfully cooked.

"Your cheeks are getting red..." Silvia pointed out quietly, looking at her brother for confirmation. "Right?" Aster wasn't sure, so a little shrug was his only reply.

— "Are they? I'm feeling fine," Nivalis mumbled in response, gently tapping her cheeks with her fingers. "Let's wait for a bit longer and see. In the worst case... I'll make myself puke."

"Lay for a bit. No need to sit this entire time," Aster whispered, patting his naked thighs for Nivalis to rest her head on.

She nodded with a grateful smile and lowered herself down, letting her face sink into the softness of her son's pale skin. Closing her eyes, Nivalis took a deep breath in, trying to relax while still paying close attention to how that piece of meat felt in her stomach. The young girl gently brushed her fingers through her mother's long silver hair, combing out the knots as best she could. It felt nice being treated like this... if not for the hunger.

One minute turned into two, then five... then ten. The three spent this time in silence, resting together, waiting for something to happen... but nothing did. Aster's golden gaze began to weaken slightly but was still bright enough to see clearly everything around.

Trying to get a little bit comfier, Nivalis decided to bury her face into that soft tummy of his, as she had done many times before. The only thing she forgot was that this time, he was naked, so the moment she turned her head, she saw that hairless little shaft and sack resting on top of his thigh, right next to her nose. An inhale followed, all on its own, filling her nose with his boyish scent, almost making her head spin.

Nivalis immediately turned her head away to the rock plate. "Alright," she suddenly said, sitting up slowly. "I don't feel anything weird. How do I look? Am I still red?" she asked, looking at her children, their eyes scanning her face. The boy also scanned her breasts, just in case.

"Ehh, maybe a tiny bit..." Silvia muttered after a thought, narrowing her eyes at her. "I'm not sure..."

"It could be just from all that steam from before," Aster said with another shrug, unsure as well. "Do you feel okay? No dizziness? Urge to poop?" He asked worriedly, leaning to kiss her forehead gently to check if her skin was hot since he couldn't do it with his hands. "No fever... I think," he added quietly, pulling back.

Nivalis chuckled at his questions, eyes closing as she enjoyed the softness of his lips against her forehead before answering. "I'm feeling well, my sweet. No dizziness, no pain, nothing... just incredibly tired from all that walking we did," she whispered, lowering her gaze to the rest of the meat on the rock. There was only one way to find out if it was because of steam or if it was poisonous.

With a determined nod, the mother grabbed the piece she had previously taken a bite from and, in one swift motion, took it all into her mouth. She tried her best to chew and swallow it as quickly as possible, her face scrunched up cutely, high-pitched whines leaving her lips. "Oh... this is so-o-o... yummy!" she tried lying again, gulping loudly as the meat went down her throat, a cough or two following shortly after.

Silvia giggled at the sight, covering her mouth with her hand, while Aster sighed deeply when he got worried for a moment when she grabbed that thing.

Seeing him like that and desperately needing something to do to take her mind off the awful taste in her mouth, Nivalis decided to tickle him a bit; they needed to wait before she would let them try it as well, so why not have some fun in the meantime? "Who's the cutest baby boy I have?" she cooed, running her fingers all over his belly and sides.

He immediately squirmed and fell on his back, giggling and squealing from the sudden assault of tickles.

"Mo-Ah!-om!" Aster whined, unable to stop his laughter as he tried to push her hands away.

— "Oh, is this ticklish? How about here... or here..." Nivalis continued with a smile, enjoying his every giggle and wiggle. His legs went to the sides and up in the air, a tiny penis dancing between them from all that movement.

"Nuh-uh!" Aster tried protesting again but failed miserably when Silvia joined the fun, helping her mother. She attacked his sides and armpits and even poked her finger into his belly button. The best part, undoubtedly, was seeing him try hard not to be too loud, all while struggling for breath. It all made them smile like they had never done since they got trapped underground. This little cave was their entire world, and it felt like enough.

...

 

"Breaching for Dummies" by Aelric Longtooth. Chapter 1: The Horrors of Upper Levels, Page 6.

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Now that we figured out how to find the way to lower levels, where all truly dangerous shit begins, I need to address something really important. Instead of this section, I considered going into the history of breaching and telling how insanely deep it is—some bright minds even believe that it might connect our North with a different continent!— instead, I have to waste my ink because some people are idiots.

Nightmare worms are quite famous not only because they are scary and disgusting but also because the female variant is heavily sought after due to their ability to produce aphrodisiacs. For all those pure souls who don't know this word, it's alike the thing that old geezers with limp dicks often use to get a stiffy and do their duty in bed, only much stronger. Yeah, I'm very sorry for spoiling your innocence by telling you about how our grandpas get horny; I hope you'll manage to get over this trauma.

Anyways, back to those worms. The thing is, it gets complicated once a handy alchemist processes their bodies into a proper potion. I don't know how they do it nor care, only that the final product tricks your mind into wanting to fuck with everything and anything that moves, like a rabbit in heat. Way too many lasses were drugged with this shit and got raped, so the crown would hang you by the balls for trying to sell the female worm to anyone.

And I do not doubt some bought this book for only this information, hoping to earn a quick coin. Rot. In. Hell. You sick fucks.

The only bright side is that the odds of finding them are absurdly tiny. Due to their complex mating ways, females tend to group together and fight off males, which means you could wander for weeks through upper levels without encountering a single one. A good half of these greedy bastards will be eaten long before they find anything, and knowing it brings me nothing but joy.

Why am I even telling you all this, you may wonder? Well, because it also means once you do find one, the surroundings are most likely filled with them up to the brim (remember, grouping?), which is why I need to tell you, dear reader, how to differentiate females from males so you won't accidentally hunt one and bring it back to the surface. The crown won't believe your excuses; they heard it all.

A little pimple is what you need to look for. It is always hidden between...

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