Loneliness Ebbs Deep Read online

  "How many cycles have passed since your birth, Kaya?"

  Kaya tilted her head up as Helki came over to stand above her. "Many cycles."

  "How many?"

  "Nineteen. Mama taught me to count when I was in my sixth cycle."

  Helki nodded and gazed down at Kaya. Kaya did not move back to face the wall again. Instead, she turned over and lay once more on her back.

  "Why are we not permitted to go to the Golden Lake?"

  Helki hummed and closed her eyes, her chin tilting down until it rested just above her chest. Kaya knew many reasons why they were not allowed to venture far from the village or close to the lake, but she wanted to know Helki's reasoning. Being invisible allowed her to hear many stories throughout the village.

  "Many people in your village fear me. They fear I am the one impregnating them. That it is me who causes villagers to go missing. Not that any of them have actually seen me. You are the first one I have shown myself to. They fear the water, my home, to see what is behind it all." Helki spoke in Kaya's head, but her lips moved as if she was speaking out loud.

  "Is it true? Any of it? All of it?" Kaya questioned. It was what she had heard from the other people, only they had been horror stories not so calmly told like Helki spoke.

  "No. Not all of it, anyway." Helki moved to sit across from Kaya. "I have stayed away. I didn't want to cause harm. Then you came and sat on the water's edge. I had to see you. I had to let you see me. Your villagers run off from the strictness the elders force upon them. This village is a harsh place to live. I do not understand why people stay to be treated the way they are, like yourself."

  "We know no different. There is nowhere else for us to go. We are taught at a young age about the land, that this is the only inhabited town left. The Great Windstorm ruined other villages or their food sources, so they all died off," Kaya recited from memory. "With nowhere else to live or food sources, where would people go?"

  "This is not truth. There are many villages that are much more developed than yours. Quite a distance away, but they are out there." Helki shook her head as she spoke. Kaya didn't know what to believe: the stories she'd heard numerous times growing up or what this mystical being was telling her.

  "What about the other rumor? That you are parenting our offspring." Kaya changed direction since she was still trying to decide what was truth.

  "That is yet another deception. I have not exposed myself, nor have any of them even come close enough to touch the water, so it would be quite hard for me to do any such thing." Helki shrugged before letting out a tired sigh. "It is you I am here for. I have waited a long time for you, and finally you have come for me."

  "What do you mean you have waited for me? I don't belong to you. I might not have a happy life, but I am my owner here." Kaya straightened her back. She might be intrigued and interested in Helki, but she didn't like the sound of what she'd just said.

  "That is not what I intended. I simply meant I have waited in the lake for someone who would accept me, who would couple with me, who wasn't afraid of the unknown. One who was bold enough to go against the rules and seek to find answers instead of believing that which they were told." Helki held both her hands out in front of her in a placating motion.

  "You drew me to you." Kaya pushed her hair over her shoulders as she thought about the intense curiosity that had coursed through her, making her head toward the water when she'd never once been drawn to it.

  "And you did the same to me. I hadn't meant to appear to you. I simply wanted to watch you, but before I could stop myself, I was showing myself, even going as far as revealing my true form." Helki rubbed her forehead. "I must return to the water. I can't stay away for long periods of time. Please return to me."

  Kaya sat for hours after Helki vanished, staring at the wall where her form had been.

  Day broke and Kaya blinked the bleariness out of her eyes. She rubbed her face and drew in a deep breath through her nose. She must have fallen asleep thinking about Helki and her village, thinking about how they had lied to her all those years. Fear gripped Kaya's stomach and twisted hard. She gasped. What if Helki was lying? Even if she was, how would Kaya prove it without leaving her village and traveling to seek out another?

  She sighed and glanced around her tiny hut. She couldn't do that. She couldn't go and search for the next village over; Helki had said it was a long way, and Kaya didn't have the stamina or the will to seek it out.

  As daylight streamed into her hut, Kaya readied herself. Helki was right. There was nothing for her here but loneliness and hunger. Mama's friend was not her friend. Kaya rolled up her sleep skin after tucking a few loose items into it. She dragged it outside and set it against the tree next to her hut. Everything in her told her what she was doing was exactly right.

  She bent down to the ground and unhooked the skin from each pole holding her hut upright. She circled around the entire dome and dragged the sewed skins off. She folded and rolled them as well, tying the hut cover to her bed roll. After pulling down the poles and tying them together, Kaya was ready. She plopped the hut cover and bed roll on top of the poles and trekked out, dragging her belongings behind her.

  No one had noticed her leave. No one had stopped and asked what she was doing, not even her other outcast neighbors. Kaya took confident steps as she stepped into the forest and away from the village she never thought of as home.

  Each step felt better than the one before it. Each step brought her closer to Helki and had her feeling more confident and like an adult. This was her life, this was her destiny—not that tiny village. Even if she never left the lake, never found another town with people, she couldn't feel much worse than she had while living in the village.

  When she finally lost all sight of the village, she found a spot to rest before setting down her belongings and stretching her tired back. Carrying the few things she owned wasn't easy or light, but she didn't have much farther to go. She could feel Helki's encouragement in her mind and knew Helki waited for her. The longer she sat catching her breath, the more anxious she grew.

  Once again picking up her load, she continued on her path, sure this was the right choice for her. Part of her worried she didn't know Helki well enough to be running away from the only place she'd known her whole life, but then again, it wasn't as if there was much left there anyway. She could always continue on her way if things didn't work out and try to find one of the other villages Helki spoke of. If worst came to worst, she would turn around and head back to the village, but that would be her absolute last option.

  Shaking off the unsettling thoughts, Kaya kept moving toward Helki. There was something between them. Something she hadn't found with anyone in the village, something she hadn't come even close to experiencing in her nineteen cycles of life. She owed it to herself after all the suffering she'd gone through to explore the possibility of happiness.

  Finally, she stepped from the trees and brush onto the smooth land that surrounded the lake. As soon as she was on the banks, the water started the calming rippling, and the familiar scent that reminded her of Helki encompassed her as a soft breeze picked up. It had been eerily quiet for the last part of the walk and to have the change from the lake felt like a welcome home embrace, something she hadn't had since she'd last seen Mama.

  Helki rose out of the lake in her human form, greeting Kaya with a smile. It took all of Kaya's willpower not to drop everything and run to Helki's side. Kaya stepped carefully to the shore and set her personal items down on the ground. Helki moved closer to the water's edge but did not dare leave it. Kaya smiled and stepped into the warm water.

  "I decided I wanted my own life."

  Helki laughed, her body shaking with joy. Kaya followed quickly, rumbles of laughter rolling off both of them and echoing in the lake and forest beyond. Kaya moved farther into the water, wiping the tears from her cheeks before she reached out to touch the beauty before her.

  "I'm so glad," Helki whispered in Kaya's ear. "I'm so glad
you are here."

  Helki reached out and caressed Kaya's cheek, her hand cupping the side of her face as they gazed into each other's eyes. Silence overtook them, neither knowing what to say to the other. Kaya simply felt at home for the first time in her life, and she didn't know how to absorb that information.

  "I used to be like you once," Helki said as she traced a finger down Kaya's neck to her chest, moving it over the swell of Kaya's breast and to her nipple. "Eons ago."

  Kaya's eyes snapped open wide as she processed.

  Helki's hand moved lower, circling Kaya's navel twice before slipping into the curly patch of hair. Kaya pulled her lip between her teeth and listed forward. Helki smiled, a blush rising to her cheeks as she ran one finger delicately around Kaya's center.

  "I was innocent and lonely, just like you."

  "What happened?"

  Helki chuckled low. "I visited the Golden Lake, and I found forbidden treasures."

  Kaya gasped when Helki pinched her, releasing the pressure quickly. Kaya reached out and set her hand on Helki's shoulder to keep herself steady. She might not know the creature well, but she did know Helki only had her pleasure and contentment in mind.

  "I found a creature living in the water, eons older than me."

  Kaya sighed, forcing her eyelids to open so she could stare at Helki. "Like I did."

  "Just like you did," Helki whispered. "Just like you."

  "I want…"

  "Not yet," Helki answered before Kaya could say anything further. "Let me give this to you."

  Kaya nodded and stood up straight, the water coming up mid-calf. Her hand was still on Helki's shoulder for support when the iridescent woman kneeled down, her body still above the rise and fall of the water. Kaya spread her legs when Helki touched the inside of her thighs, water spilling down Kaya's skin each time Helki made contact. Helki pressed gentle kisses to Kaya's flesh as Helki made her way closer to Kaya's core.

  "If you join me, we'll never have to be in these forms again," Helki muttered against Kaya's leg. "We can live forever in the water."

  "How—how many cycles were you?" Kaya asked.

  "Sixteen cycles."

  Kaya nodded and swallowed hard. "How many now?"

  "Far too many to count," Helki answered on a chuckle. She stopped moving around Kaya's body and settled her chin just above her pubis, her dark orange eyes locking with Kaya's. "Any more questions?"

  "Does it hurt?"

  Helki threw her head back and let out a full-bodied laugh. Her breasts shook from the force of her movements, her eyes crinkled at the corners, and her dimples showed. "Gracious no. Anything but."

  Kaya took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to think it through before nodding her head quickly.

  "Say it. I want to hear the words." Helki slid her hands up the inside of Kaya's thighs, making her spread them a bit more.

  "Yes, I want to join you. I want to spend the rest of time exploring all you have to teach me." Before Kaya could even finish getting the words out, Helki had her face between Kaya's legs, sliding her tongue up the center of her body. Kaya's knees went weak with the pleasure that shot through her at the light, warm touch.

  Helki used the tip of her tongue to circle the small bundle of nerves nestled in the short, curly hair. Kaya let out a moan when she felt a nudge at her nether lips before she was slowly invaded by Helki. When she lowered her head, she was startled to see that Helki's arm had turned into a tentacle and that was what had thrust between her thighs. Helki's mouth was still on her, pleasing and teasing.

  Rising from her knees, Helki pulled Kaya backward until the water came up to their waists and their lips met for a soft, tender kiss. Kaya became lost in the sensation of the tentacle sliding in and out of her body while Helki's lips and tongue tormented her. Another tentacle slid around Kaya's hips, snuggling between her rear cheeks, pulling her harder against Helki's semi-human form.

  "Relax," Helki spoke in her mind as she continued to nibble Kaya's lips. An intense, tight feeling started to build in Kaya's lower belly as the tentacle teased her rear entry. When her entire body tensed and she felt pleasure surge through her, Helki laughed a deep guttural laugh in her head. "I love when you do that."

  While Kaya tried to regain her breath, she felt the tentacle slowly push past her rear, tightly puckered opening. Once the initial breach occurred, the tentacle moved in such a way Kaya couldn't explain, but it made her hand grip harder onto Helki's shoulder.

  "Now, it is time." Helki's voice rolled through her head just as Helki shoved her tongue into her mouth, but it was no longer her tongue. It was a tentacle, and it was shoving down her throat as Helki knocked her legs out from under her, pulling her under the water's surface.

  Water rushed around Kaya, and she closed her eyes, flying only by sensation. Six tentacles wrapped around her body, molding her form to Helki's as they moved swiftly with the current of the lake. Kaya reached both her arms around Helki's waist and held on as they spiraled to the center of the lake.

  She went to gasp, pleasure and fear surging through her, but found she couldn't breathe. Panic welled up in her chest as Helki maneuvered one tentacle between her legs and rubbed in a commanding pattern. Kaya forgot all about breathing. She moaned, her tongue meshing with Helki's as the pressure in her head increased to the point where it was unbearable.

  Kaya tried to break away, desperately wanting to breathe again, but Helki held her close, a tentacle wrapped tightly in her hair. The water closed in on them, and Kaya wondered if she'd made a wrong decision until she opened her eyes. Dark orange stared back at her. Calm seeped into Kaya's form as she watched Helki transform from her human self into her creature self.

  Sparks shot through Kaya's body as she spun in the water, no longer knowing which way was up and which way was down. Tingles worked from her skull to her center, from her toes to her center—everything moving to one spot, building and building. Kaya had no idea when she was going to burst, but she knew it would be soon.

  Her hair twisted around her before disappearing in the water, fading in the light like it never existed. Her fingers felt different when she reached out to grab onto Helki's creature form, wanting to brush her fingers along the orange ridges. They felt thicker, more muscular than they had before.

  Kaya gasped, and this time water entered her lungs. Bubbles left her lips as wave upon wave of satisfaction rolled into each other. Her center tightened even more, anticipation and pleasure blending and mixing together.

  "Helki," Kaya thought just before she crashed.

  Her body clenched tightly, her knees jerking up to her chest and her arms flailing forward. Her fingertips were already tentacles, but she couldn't focus on the transformation. She was coming harder than she had ever thought possible. She shut her eyes tight and tried her best to stay focused, to stay afloat.

  When she went to open her eyes, she couldn't. She could see, but not the same way as before. The aftermath of her orgasm still ripped through her body with each ripple in the water. It took Kaya a moment before she knew Helki was the one causing the ripples. Kaya remained as still as possible, floating in the water as her heart calmed to a reasonable rate. Helki's whispers in her mind were almost too much to bear. Nothing had ever felt truer.

  "I'm sorry. I forgot how sensitive everything feels right after the change," Helki whispered in Kaya's mind. Kaya closed her eyes, for even the sun beating down on her was too bright after only a moment. A soft touch to the side of her face had her turning her head toward it. "Are you okay? Say something."

  "I think so," Kaya murmured, but she no longer had a mouth to make out the words. They simply floated from her mind to Helki's. Again the soft brush to her face came; Kaya opened her eyes in the new, foreign way. Helki was before her in her natural form with a tentacle brushing over Kaya's head.

  "You are now like me. Now I can show you so many more ways to experience pleasure." Helki smiled, or at least Kaya felt like she did. "I know you are sensitive, but I'll b
e gentle. The more we touch, the quicker the sensitivity will go."

  "Make me feel good, Helki." Kaya sighed. Helki tenderly wrapped her tentacles around each of Kaya's until their pleasure openings were lined up. As Helki moved Kaya's frail body, they rubbed against each other. With the first sliding of her body against Helki's, Kaya let out a loud moan in her head. She'd never experienced pleasure like she was feeling, not even her first time with Helki.

  Helki used her tentacles and the water's motion to turn Kaya in the water, spinning her in one direction. She let go, Kaya keeping up the motion simply because it was easier than stopping. Helki then spun in the other direction. Once they had their speed up, Helki glided forward through the water until their centers touched.

  Sparks flew through Kaya. She gasped and groaned alternatively each time their forms made any type of contact. They only touched four times, or at least Kaya thought it was four, before dark purple foam surged from her body. Helki gripped onto Kaya's bulbous head, wrapping tentacles around her top, smashing their openings together.

  Her body jerked back and forth against Kaya. Ramming their centers together, the pressure built in Kaya again. She didn't think she could take it anymore. Her body was spent, her form relaxed as more dark foam spilled from her. Helki breathed harshly, water washing over Kaya's face before the beauty grimaced and released. Their foams mingled, creating a cloud that dissipated as it spread.

  The two stayed tangled together, floating in the water, letting the sun filter through the cloudy water as time passed without either caring. Finally Helki released Kaya from her hold to look upon her.

  "I'm glad you returned to me. Are you happy you returned?" Helki asked.

  "I doubt there is anywhere else I could be half as happy." Kaya smiled, knowing she was right where she needed to be.

  Helki and Kaya remained lax in the water, free-floating in the warmth until they were completely relaxed. Changing her form to that of a human, Helki moved to the shore and waved her finger at Kaya. "Come, ma petite."