The cave opened up ahead, and light shone from burning sconces fixed to the walls. As Eshanai slithered into the open space, she was struck by how cozy it seemed, at least compared to the rest of the cave system. It had a wooden floor for one, with planks held above the cold stone ground. They were then covered with various pelts made from a wide variety of different animals.

Eshanai grinned at the sight and lay down among them, luxuriating in the softness against her skin. And a luxury it was, the last time she had something like this had been before the elder’s latest decree. Anything like a pelt or fabric aboard her ship had either long since rotted away or been reduced to strips long ago.

“If you are done rolling around on my floor, you might tell me why you wanted this meeting,” the Oni spoke from a desk further in, or Jiro Eshanai reminded herself. He didn’t look at her, too busy scribbling something on parchment. He had actual paper but coal instead of ink, how he had managed that Eshanai had no idea, let alone the planks for his floor. Getting them from a tree would require a deal, and Eshanai had thought he hadn’t made contact with any spirits until now.

Her eyes lingered on the flame now hovering above his right shoulder, giving him light to see by. He didn’t need a hand to hold it up anymore, getting better at controlling it all the time, it seemed. Maybe he salvaged the planks from the broken beach, no spirits to contend with there, Eshanai thought as she let her eyes travel around the room.

“At first, I thought the goblins could make me some sacks from the Greathorn I brought them, maybe even a water skin,” Eshanai said as she stretched out on the floor. There were a couple of bookshelves here too, empty though. The few books he did have seemed to be stacked on the desk beside him. A hearth was burning against the far wall, and Eshanai briefly wondered where all the smoke was going before she noticed what must be where he slept. It was raised up off the ground, with sheets and soft looking pillows. Eshanai hurried over to it and practically dove under the covers. The bedding was smooth, and the blankets were silken against her scales. How had the Oni come across such a treasure? Jiro grunted from his desk, continuing to write as he spoke, not seeming to have noticed her movements or not caring.

“The goblins fear you enough. They’ll gladly do whatever you ask to avoid your wrath.” There were some in here, peeking at her from around corners or under furniture. “But I sense more. Get it over with already.” Eshanai poked her head out from under the covers and rested it against the pillows. She sighed contentedly as she let the end of her tail hang out to the side.

”I want to learn to read,” Eshanai said as she relaxed. The sound of scribbling abruptly stopped, and Jiro snorted and finally glanced at her. His look of derision changed as he saw her in the bed, about to say something discouraging, no doubt. Instead, he grew still, no emotion at all showing on his face.

”Get out,” Jiro said calmly.

”Pardon,” Eshanai answered in confusion.

”Get out of my bed,” Jiro clarified, still calm. They stared at each other for a moment, then Eshanai grinned.

”Why don’t you come join me?” She said suggestively and lifted the covers, making room for him. Instead of getting flustered as Eshanai had hoped, a storm came over the Oni’s face. He gestured, and Eshanai was roughly yanked out from under the covers and none too gently deposited at the entrance to the cozy little room.

”Why must you always push and prod at my limits? Haven’t I made myself clear?” He said through gritted teeth. He stood up and quickly turned away from her as frustrated tears started flowing. He wiped furiously at his eyes as he took deep breaths, trying to calm down, shoulders heaving.

“I didn’t,” She was about to dismiss his, as she saw them, silly ideals, but that was wrong. She wanted to understand him, not drive a further wedge between them. “I don’t see why this self-imposed celibacy is necessary,” Eshanai started to move towards him. “It can’t be healthy, and you are clearly suffering, more even than me.” She went to put a hand on his shoulder, but he spun around and slapped it away before she could touch him.

“You don’t need to understand. Just respect my wishes,” Jiro seethed. “I have said no, shouldn’t that be ENOUGH?!” His yell was accompanied by an invisible force that pushed her back to the entrance again. “I have put up with your blighted advances for long enough, you insufferable little whore.” The silence between them stretched out into a tense undercurrent as Eshanai stared at Jiro, shocked. Jiro was pretty surprised himself and was about to apologize when Eshanai asked a question.

“What does whore mean?” Breaking the silence as if it had never been there in the first place. Jiro let out a breath through pursed lips as the fight went out of him.

”Nevermind that,” he said, calm again, but cold as if he wanted to distance himself from Eshanai. ” Let’s get on with this. You wanted some storage containers?”

”Yes, a belt with pouches would be nice, a larger sack. Oh, and a waterskin,” Eshanai listed off. She would adhere to his wishes, for now. She needed time to think about what he had said. Jiro snapped his fingers, and one of the goblins in the room hurried past her, hopefully to see that it was done.

”Now, as for your other request, I simply don’t have the time,” he said, a bit of his usual arrogance slipping back into his voice.

”Oh please, please, please, be my teacher,” Eshanai begged, clasping her hands together in front of her.

”Don’t whine at me. You look pathetic,” that took the wind out of her, and she simply gaped at him. ”You Naga are all the same,” Jiro sneered. ”Just because you shake your tits at me, you think I’ll do anything you ask.”

”Well, won’t you?” Eshanai asked and proceeded to do just that. She stuck her chest out and twisted her torso back and forth, making her breasts sway enticingly at him. The Oni only rolled his eyes and sighed, almost like he was disappointed in her.

”No, it won’t.”

”Then what do you suggest I do then?” Eshanai asked as she stilled.

”Think woman,” Jiro said with a frown. ”Solve. The. Problem.”

”Alright,” Eshanai said slowly, taken aback. ”If you can’t teach me, then read to me,” she held her book out towards the Oni, and he stared at it.

”A more reasonable request, but still taking time out of my day. I will need to be compensated.” Eshanai got a glint in her eye and was about to speak when Jiro cut her off. “No, not with sex,” he said in a suffering tone.

“I forgot you were a complete nutcase,” Eshanai said petulantly as her face fell into a pout.

“It is not such a crazy thing to stick to one's convictions,” the Oni began in a huff but stopped himself mid-sentence. “You know what. I won’t even dignify that with a response,” he brightened suddenly. “Yes, that’s how I’ll deal with you. Every time you say something exceedingly stupid, I’ll simply ignore you.”

“You can try, but in the end, it will be for naught,” she posed for him, running her hands slowly down her body. One stopped to toy with a full breast while the other traveled further down. “Mr. Dick and I have an understanding at least, don’t we?” Eshanai winked and made kissy faces at the hardening bulge in Jiro’s pants. He jerked, quickly covering his member with his hands. Eshanai smiled knowingly at him, and he soon turned around to conceal himself.

“I don’t like how you refer to it as if it has a mind of its own,” Jiro said in frustration, with his back still turned to her.

“And doesn't it?” Eshanai asked. “You certainly seem to be of two minds. Let your little head do the thinking for once, or not so little,” She giggled as Jiro’s face heated, and he looked away from her.

“L-lets get back on topic,” Jiro said into the wall as he cleared his throat.

“Stupid sexy Oni,” Eshanai suddenly exclaimed in an overdramatic way, making Jiro jump. “You can’t keep us apart forever. Mr. Dick and I are destined for each other. He deserves to feel good. He deserves love. Just because you are a miserable old bastard doesn’t mean Mr. Dick has to suffer.” Eshanai moaned as her hand started furiously working at her sex.

”Stop that this instance,” Jiro spluttered as he whirled around to face her but could only gape and watch as she continued. ”Insufferable succubus,” he muttered to himself, but all the same kept staring as Eshanai squirmed from the pleasure. Her hand sped up as she orgasmed all over his floor, panting as she came down from her climax, chest heaving.

”You should try that sometime. It really clears out the old noggin.” Eshanai said with a contented sigh as she knocked on her head a few times.

”Right,” the Oni said, a bit out of sorts. ”Well, if you are done debasing yourself on my floor, there is something you could do for me.” His usual condescending tone was back but sounded a little forced.

“I’m listening,” Eshanai said with a knowing smile, watching as Jiro cleared his throat.

”The spirit of the lakes?” He asked in a questioning tone.

”Uhu,” Eshanai affirmed.

”It keeps drowning my goblins when they go for water or to fish.” So Eshanai had heard, from one of its connected rivers itself even. What did the Oni expect her to do about that though.

”So what? You want me to convince it to stop?” She asked hesitantly. She very much doubted she could persuade a spirit to do anything right now, at least not without putting herself in further debt. There was her flute though. The river seemed convinced that their master would be interested to hear her play it.

”Yes, how you do it is up to you. Just get it to leave my goblins alone.”

”That seems like an awfully big ask for taking a little bit of time out of your day. What is it you do that is so important anyway?” Eshanai asked with a wave at his desk with all his writing and books.

”I…” he hesitated. ”It is mainly research and keeping the tribe in check. Anyway, what does it matter? Where else on this island are you going to find someone who can read? Much less in the mood to humor you, huh?” That was true enough. None of her sisters could read as far as Eshanai knew. None would see her now anyway, and the elders would likely drive her away for daring to break their decree.

”Oh, come on, what’s so bad about spending time with little old me?” Eshanai asked.

”I’d have to put up with your advances for one,” Jiro answered. ”But fine, if it’s such a big deal, don’t do it. It’s no skin off my back.” Eshanai narrowed her eyes at him before she sighed.

”Fine, I’ll try. Anything I should know?” Eshanai asked.

“Not really,” Jiro answered with a shrug. “I’ve tried reasoning with it before to no avail.”

“Are you sure your negotiation techniques didn’t involve any attempts at enslavement?” Eshanai snorted in disbelief.

“Well, I didn’t….” He began but withered under Eshanai’s stare. “Ok, so I might have tried to subjugate it, but it was very unreasonable.”

“So it’s angry as well, great.” Eshanai laughed in self-deprecation. “Does it know that you are the chief of the goblins?”

“Yes, why?” The Oni answered.

“You don’t think it will suspect it was you who sent me when I ask if it can please stop drowning goblins?” This was looking more and more difficult by the moment.

“Probably yes, but you have had success with spirits before.” He answered with a glance down at her stomach. Hadn’t he said before that her interactions with spirits hadn’t gone swimmingly? She chose to let it slide and lamented again about the Naga losing their favored status. When she could just ask, and it would be done, and not have to bother with all this posturing. She did have her flute, she reiterated to herself. Jiro didn’t know that though.

“I’m going, but you are going to owe me more than a few reading sessions if I succeed,” Eshanai said, trying to sound angry as she turned around and started slithering away.

“As I recall, you still owe me a story since I beat you in our duel,” Jiro shouted after her as she left, his voice echoing around her. That was debatable in Eshanai’s mind, as she had never truly hit the ground. She didn’t say anything though, glad for another excuse to see Jiro again.

Eshanai pondered the puzzle the Oni represented as she traveled to the cave opening. If it were one of her sisters, Eshanai would simply wrestle her to the ground and lay with her then and there. Any Naga would be glad to sleep with someone who had bested them. Eshanai included, at least before they fled at the sight of her.

Jiro was not a Naga and had made it abundantly clear that he would not appreciate being taken against his will. He confounded her, clearly lusting after her but refused to act on it. No, she didn’t mind telling him her stories about Oni. She would have to turn it into a date, make herself so irresistible that he simply couldn’t control himself.

Eshanai exited the cave to find that it was getting dark, so she decided to head to her ship to get some sleep. She needed to get her flute anyway. The evening air was filled with the droning of giant insects. With dragonflies the size of her head and colorful beetles, some outgrowing her.

All the luminescent organisms started making themselves known as well. Flowers with small glowing leaves shaped like wriggling worms swayed slowly back and forth to draw in prey. They could sometimes be heard snapping shut hidden leafy mandibles as some confused insect landed on them. She spotted some Nightstrikes as they bared their shining blue maws at her in impressive threat displays. And the spirits, she greatly enjoyed watching them as they swirled and swooped around the monolithic trees in a myriad of different colors. They dazzled her with their displays that only grew more mesmerizing in the fading light of the jungle.

Small crabs started appearing, scuttling their way to the sea. At first, there was only a trickle, but soon the forest floor was covered in their bright red bodies. Many wouldn’t make it, snatched up by plants and animals alike, but that barely had an impact on the tide of red bodies marching to the shore.

They must have just hatched, spending only a few days in the freshwater lakes that served as their nurseries. Eshanai had to wade through them, going in the same direction after all. She didn’t mind much, snatching some as she went and popping them in her mouth. Their soft shells crunched easily between her teeth, spreading savory juices on her tongue as she swallowed them whole.

The tiny crabs made for a nice snack as she traveled and finally emerged from the jungle and onto a battlefield. The sun had set by now, the moon and stars casting their pale light on the scene before her. Everything was covered in crabs as they scuttled over sand and debris alike to throw themselves into the sea. They were beset on all sides by opportunists. A swarm of birds flew overhead, diving down into both the sea and on land to snatch clawfulls of morsels. There was a cacophony of squawks and screeches as they fought over their prizes in the air.

Fish near the beaches made the waters churn white, swallowing dozens of crabs at a time into giant maws as ponderous raptors waded through the throng on land to take part in the feeding frenzy. Here too, there seemed to be no end to the crabs, the ones who perished representing only a fraction of their numbers, and they were not undefended. The adults were elusive creatures, only appearing in the jungle to search for freshwater where they could lay their eggs.

Eshanai got a good look at them now though, as they fought to defend their young. They looked sort of like giant crayfish or centipedes with their many legs propelling them forward with a coordination that was oddly satisfying to behold. Their upper bodies were raised off the ground in an oddly humanoid manner. That was where the similarities ended, for where Eshanai had arms and hands, these many-legged crab monsters more appropriately had two enormous looking pincer claws, one oddly bigger than the other.

They had two smaller, more dexterous looking appendages below the big claws. They were not hands exactly but seemed to grab and manipulate things more efficiently and were used to wield various weapons against the scavengers. They didn’t have heads in the traditional sense but had some sort of mouthpart located on top of their bodies, between their shoulders containing a mess of mandibles and other unmentionables. Two long eyestalks were fastened above their mouths and used adroitly to look around in all directions.

Their whole bodies were, of course, covered in rugged, spiky looking carapace. They were mottled in a mix of primarily blue and red, but also a purplish sort of mix where the two colors met. Eshanai watched as a group of them battled a Reacher. A few of the adults would rush in to grab clawfuls of tentacles and hold them still while the rest of them swooped in to stab at it with long spears held in their smaller claws on the lower part of the torso.

As Eshanai surveyed the beach, she was horrified to discover her ship. It was crawling with small crabs on their way to the water, but the worst part was the two adults currently in the process of ripping a huge hole in the side. She rushed over to try to put a stop to it.

”Hey, leave my boat alone!” Eshanai yelled as she hurried along over sand and debris, scattering small crabs before her. The adults didn’t seem to hear her or ignored her altogether. In either case, they kept tearing out planks.

This was bad. If they did too much damage, Eshanai’s best bet on leaving would be ruined. She didn’t know how to build boats, and this was the most intact vessel she had found. Why were the monsters so intent on ripping this one apart anyway? Maybe they thought it was some creature gobbling up their young. They seemed smarter than that, at least from what she had observed of their teamwork in dealing with that Reacher.

They finally seemed to notice Eshanai as she neared, one of them turning its eyes upon her and finally stopped tearing into the ship. It veered off in her direction, leaving its friend to continue its efforts. Its feet made a rhythmic tap, tap, tap against the sand as it came barreling at her. It swiped a claw at her trying to get a hold of her before jabbing a spear towards her gut. Eshanai nimbly twisted out of the way of both attacks, circling the adult crustation.

It proceeded to grab her tail in one of its pincers, and Eshanai took the opportunity to wrap herself around its body. She proceeded to squeeze down hard, forcing the grabbing pincer back against its torso and trapping the other against its side. The spear was in an awkward position to stab at her as Eshanai kept her unscaled body way out of reach. Its shell held for the moment, keeping her from suffocating it. Eshanai could probably crush it given enough time, but she didn’t dare bring her fangs to bear just yet, fearing retaliation should she fail to penetrate its carapace. She glanced back at its brethren, still content to rip her ship apart. Her opponent jumped and bucked, straining against her hold, trying to get free. Eshanai soon realized she couldn’t afford a protracted battle if she wanted to save her ship.

She proceeded to throw her attacker at the other adult, something it didn’t seem to appreciate as it let out several clicks and whistles as it went sailing through the air. It came crashing down at its friend, bringing them both to the ground in a great heap. Eshanai quickly hurried up to the boat to inspect the damage. They had managed to tear a small hole in the side, too small for either of them, but she could slip through. She turned around to hiss at the adults as they untangled themselves from one another, with fangs bared.

“What has gotten into you?” Eshanai yelled angrily, “This is my ship, you hear me?” They only clicked their mandibles together and slowly spread out in front of her, not giving up, it seemed. “My ship, MINE!” She shouted this time and went to put a hand on it for emphasis. She froze as she felt something crashing around in there through her tremor sense. Eshanai hadn’t noticed before, the sand being too diffuse to carry much information to her. Now that she was touching the steady hull of the ship though, it was clear as day.

Was this what they were after, why they were so intent on getting inside her ship? Had something escaped to hide away inside? Crabs were still climbing aboard, so whatever it was could simply gorge itself without having to worry about the adults. Eshanai glanced at the two of them again. They stood with weapons ready, preparing to charge at her at any moment. Communication had failed, so she would have to find this stowaway quickly, for they would surely go back to trying to break in as soon as she was gone. She drew a line in the sand in a last attempt to convey her meaning. They watched her every move as she gestured to the ship and back to herself multiple times before she slipped into the small hole.