“Oh yeah. He was a big, green, heavy-muscled kinda guy. Used to Like smashing things, and he was strong enough to break the world. You guys would love him."

"You are feeling Like someone who could break the world?"

! No, not quite. I just... I feel strong here. At first I figured it was just something in the air but it's not the same for Jan, and lately it's been getting stronger. I swear that every morning Lately I come here, look at my reflection in the pool down there and check for tusks."

Algra smiled at that.

“You are becoming an orc?"

“No. No, I think I'm something a bit different. I mean, don't get me wrong here; I'm not going to be able to uproot a tree or leap over the great hall any time soon. I'm just getting a lot stronger than I should be able to in such a short time. Thinking back on my injuries after that balls-up with the Berserkers there's no way I should have been able to even stand up by the time I was getting hot and heavy with you again."

"That is good." “Hey, getting hot and heavy with you is always good." He grinned, and then hoisted himself up to his feet and out of the water again.

“That is..." She trailed off as he walked past her and took a moment to admire his immaculately sculpted ass as he moved toward his trunks. "I did not mean that, though you speak the truth. I mean it is good that you have thought on this. It is good to know yourself. Many of us have noticed you are an unusual human."

"Hal" He Lifted his trunks and poked a leg through one of the appropriate holes.

“I pride myself on being unusual. But I get what you mean. I'm aware of it and..." He paused to wobble slightly on one Leg as he stuck the other one through the trunks and pulled them up his legs. "If I ever notice anything fucked up about myself I'LL make sure you know. I'LL trust you to keep an eye on me too, right?"

“Have no fear of that, my mate." Algra Licked her lips as she watched him wrangle the snake back into its cage and set his trunks back in place.

She then took her turn to submerge herself in the stream, and when she turned around she found him sat watching her from a nearby large rock. Pleased that he had stayed with her, she lifted her arms to stretch above her head in a way that shamelessly displayed the Luscious curves of her breasts. When she glanced his way again, she saw that familiar look of desire had returned to his expression and felt quietly pleased with herself.

“Tell me of your world," she eventually said.

“My world? What can I say? We have metal machines that we travel around in. We've made ones that can go over Land, across the sea and even fly through the air and out further still beyond our world. We've built huge and crazy things that go up to the clouds. In the past hundred years or so there was a couple of huge wars that-"

“No. Those are things of the world. I meant you to speak of your world. Your family. Your home. The place you wish to return to."

“Huh, ok then. My world. I guess I was kind of an outsider there for the most part. Spent most of my time there daydreaming about being somewhere more interesting. Somewhere not too different from this place, as a matter of fact. But I always felt welcome at home, and my parents were both great. They'd worked hard, and they were both smart as hell. Dad was a doctor. Mum was a teacher. Before that they'd both been in the military. Dad was in the army, mum in the air force."

“Air force?" Algra seemed both impressed and confused by that.

“Oh yeah, you know I said that we built machines that can fly? Well, from what you know about humans, how long do you figure it was until we strapped weapons on them? So yeah, most armies where I come from had allies and enemies in the sky. Mum wasn't a pilot though. She was a communications officer, which meant she was the one responsible for getting the flying warriors where they needed to be, and to send them help if they ran into trouble.

Dad was an army doctor. That's where he always used to tell me he learned how to put men back together again. After my parents met, they both retired from the military to have me and took regular jobs. They used to take me all over the place. Mum Liked to read me these stories about castles, wizards and dragons. I'm pretty sure she'd have Loved it here. Dad was a history buff. He Liked to talk about the great battles of our world, and took us all over the place looking at these real castles and telling us the stories of the lords and the kings who lived there. They were both really good people."

"They seem to have great honour, my mate. I wish to meet them one day." “Yeah, well mum was always waiting for me to bring a nice girl home with me. I'm not sure you're exactly what she had in mind, but I'm pretty sure she'd Like you.”

“And your father? Would he approve of me?"

“I think he might pass out a Little bit when he first laid eyes on you but once he got to know you I think you'd get on fine. Heck, a whole other world of history to learn about? He'd love it.”

Algra smiled sadly and nodded her agreement.

“I see why you would wish to return to them. It is good that we talked of this. If you ever do return to your world, I wanted to know why you would want to leave here. To leave me. I see now, and your reasons are important. They are right.”

It was Gregory's turn to pause at those words, because there was something else about his parents. Something that had been bothering him for quite a while. After a moment of consideration, he lifted himself up to his feet and stepped off the rock onto the softer earth of the embankment .