“Now gather around little girls and let me begin..." he said in creaking voice, as though he was a wizened old storyteller.

The three teenagers giggled and the room echoed with the beautiful melodic cadence of female Laughter. The wonderful sound made John feel happy to be alive.

"Made here is what is known as a Nymph." He began.

“I thought they were just fictional creatures in fairy tales?" Calara asked sceptically.

"Yeah they are. Nymph is just a nickname, like the Ashanath are nicknamed Greys." he explained.

The girls all nodded their understanding.

“Do you remember I told you how humanity started taking previously claimed worlds from the Ashanath?" John asked, receiving nods of confirmation from his lovers.

“Well one of those systems that the Terran Federation acquired, was orbited by a planet called Lenarra. This planet was sparsely populated by Lenarrans, who were an exclusively female species and lived in a primitive hunter gatherer society." he explained.

“Why do you keep using the past tense?" Alyssa asked curiously.

"One of the quirks of Lenarrans, is that they possess Latent psychic powers. They are naturally able to read the desires of males and then shapeshift to exactly resemble what that man finds most attractive". He paused, making sure he had their attention.

“What did Jade turn into when she read your most heartfelt desires?" Sparks asked John inquisitively.

“Me.” Alyssa interjected quietly, embarrassed.

“Aww that's so sweet!" Sparks replied, hugging her friend affectionately.

“You don't mind?" The beautiful blonde asked tentatively, worried at hurting her friend's feelings.

“We Know how much he cares for us, but it's obvious you two are made for each other." Calara grinned at Alyssa, perfectly at ease with the reality of their situation.

This prompted Lots of hugs and kind words of endearment. Eventually they all settled down again to Let John continue his story.

“So when humanity first discovered the planet and the Lenarrans started shifting into whatever form men most desired, you can imagine what happened next.” he went on.

Nymph based gold rush?" Sparks asked quietly.

“Exactly. Pretty soon the entire populace had been wooed, or forcibly kidnapped from the planet. Now there's not a single Nymph left on Lenarra." he said sorrowfully.

“So what happened to the ones taken from the planet?" Calara asked curiously.

“Not many are left." John said, his voice tinged with sadness.

“Nymphs can't breed with humans and although they are incredibly long lived, most died off through accidents, murder and the like." he said, his face filled with regret at the doleful behaviour of humanity towards this species.

“When did all this happen?" Alyssa asked.

“Around 300 years ago." John said, shocking the teenagers to the core. jade is 300 years old?" Calara said in stunned amazement.

"At least 300 years old, yes." John replied.