Sharkies In A Wormy Affair
By Musuko

“Three days,” moaned Aelock.
	“I know.” Bruna’s eyes stayed closed, his voice barely a whisper.
	“Three days…”
	“I know!”
	“Make them stop...please make them stop.”
	Paok growled. “Would you two shut up? You just made me drop another piece. Can’t you stay silent for just five minutes? Please? Five minutes!”
	“It’s easy for you,” whined Aelock. “You haven’t had bugs crawling on your slit for three days! I can’t take it any more. Three days. Three whole days.”
	“You don’t hear Bruna complaining! And he’s had them on his cock the whole time too.”
	“Don’t remind me,” whispered Bruna.
	“How do you do it?” asked Aelock. “How are you not going mad?”
	“Oh I am,” said Bruna. “I am going mad. Just...quietly.”
	“See?” said Paok. “It can be done. So please be quiet too and let me put this damn statue back together!”
	Paok’s tongue probed at the fragments of gold. He growled as two parts that seemed so likely to slot together utterly failed to do so.
	“This is hopeless,” he shouted, and with a dash of his tongue the fragments went skittering apart.
	“Please keep trying,” cried Aelock. “I don’t want to die here, like this, all broken up and scattered apart!”
	“I don’t think we will,” said Bruna.
	“Yeah, I’ll get us out,” said Paok.
	“That’s not what I meant. It’s been three days. Have either of you felt hungry? Or thirsty?”
	“Uh…”
	“Now that you mention it…”
	“Exactly,” said Bruna. “Me neither. I don’t think we need to eat or drink while we’re broken like this. And you haven’t been getting...uh…”
Aelock shifted his muzzle and looked up at the rump that, until his recent monumental effort to push it away with his nose and tongue, had been smothering his muzzle. “True,” he  said, shuddering.
“We could be immortal.”
	“You mean we could be stuck like this forever?” Aelock yelped out a shaky cry. “Getting teased by bugs every second! Oh Paok please make it stop!”
	“I can’t,” he growled. “I can’t get the pieces to stick together! I’ve tried everything! I just can’t find the right way to slot them all together! If I had my hand, maybe I could. But it’s stuck over there, and I’ve just got my tongue. You try putting a broken statue together with only your tongue!”
	“It’s okay, brother,” whispered Bruna. “I know you’ll do it. There’s no hurry, after all. Be patient.”
	“There is a hurry!” cried Aelock.
	“Try to relax. Don’t think about the bugs. Think about something else.”
	Aelock groaned. “All I can think about is you two fucking me until I’ve spent three days worth of itching, tickling teasing!”
	Bruna flushed. “Think about something else that’s not that.”
	“I can’t. You don’t know what it’s like.”
	“Yes I do!” snapped Bruna. “I’ve had these fuckers crawling on my cock too! Don’t think I don’t know what it’s like!” He took a deep, shaky breath. “Sorry.”
	“But it is different, though. How could you know what it’s like to be like a girl...down there?”
	“How can you know what it’s like to be a guy? How can you know it’s worse for you?”
	“I just...do alright?” Aelock’s voice wavered. “I’m not as tough as you. I can’t take this. I can’t stay forever like this.”
	“Guys,” said Paok, his voice distorted by his extended tongue. “I think I got…”
	Light flashed.
“I don’t think this is right,” said Aelock, after the light had faded and the three slowly blinked themselves to awareness of their new body.
	“No kidding.” Bruna’s voice was barely audible.
	“It’ll do,” said Paok. “For now. Do we have everything?”
	“Uh…” Aelock looked around. “I don’t think so.” He flexed his fingers. His arm was on the right shoulder, as was his head.  “This arm’s mine,” he said.
	“I’ve got this one,” said Paok. His head was on the left, along with his arm.
	“This looks like my tail.” Aelock looked down, prodding it. “I don’t think it should be coming out of the front, though. Who’s got the legs?”
	“Me,” said Bruna, sounding distant still.
	“Where are you?”
	“Down here.”
	Aelock lifted his tail, trying to peer beneath. “Where?”
	“Here!”
	“Uh,” said Paok. “I’ve found him.”
	Aelock looked over to see Paok’s head craning right back over his shoulder. He did the same, and gasped.
	“Oh.”
	Bruna’s head was where their tail should be, half merged into the small of their back. His nose rested just above their butt cheeks, and his mouth was half smothered between them.
	“Oh is right!” said Bruna. “Where’s that fucking statue?”
	“It’ll be somewhere near,” said Paok. “Do you think you can walk us over there?”
	“Yeah, no problem.”
	Bruna lifted his foot. Their body swung in a half circle, overbalanced, and crashed down into the vines, their fall broken only partially by Paok’s arm.
	“Ow,” hissed Paok. He licked at his bruised palm.
	“I think we probably should have noticed,” said Aelock, “that our legs are on backwards.”
	“Not from my point of view they’re not,” said Bruna.
	“Okay, let’s try that again.”
	“Uh, guys,” said Aelock. “Where are our...uh, you know.”
	“What?”
	“Our cocks. And my slit.”
	“That’s a good question,” said Paok. “I can’t feel anything, can you two?”
	“Nu-uh.”
	“Nope.”
	“Let’s worry about it later, then. First let’s get the statue. Bruna, ready to try standing again?”
	“Yes. Hurry up, please. It stinks down here.”
They found it not far away, wedged between two boulders. Paok turned it over in his hand, Aelock peering down at it too.
	“It doesn’t even look like it was ever in pieces,” said Aelock.
	“Yeah, no seams.”
	“Can you move any of the bits?”
	“Maybe. Hold it for me.”
	Carefully, Paok passed the idol across to Aelock. Between them both they gripped and tugged at the three heads. None of them moved. The same was the case for the stubby golden arms and legs and tail.
	“I think we broke it,” said Aelock.
	“Hey guys,” said Bruna. “Let me see.”
	They set the idol down on a rock and turned away from it, bending forward slightly. Aelock burst into giggles.
	“If someone could, you know, stumble upon us right now and see us showing our butt to some little statue.”
	“Hey! I’m not a butt. Come on guys, stop moving around. I can’t balance when you’re doing that.” Bruna planted his feet wide apart. It helped, a little. He stared at the little golden statue. “I think we’re going to have to break it again.”
	“What?” Their body stumbled as Aelock swung his arm. “No way! Three days! It took three days to get us back together the last time!”
	“But that was by accident! We can do it properly this time. Planned out. Make sure we’re all in one place so we can put it back together with our arms.”
	“I don’t think we should do anything hasty,” said Paok. “After all, we can move like this, at least. I think we should concentrate on what we were doing before: getting back home.”
	“You don’t have your nose in our butt, though!”
	“You’ll live. Just hold your breath.”
	“Hmmph! That’s…hey, wait a second.”
	“What?”
	“Give me a second. Let me think.”
	Bruna moved their legs, turning far enough for Aelock to lunge and grab the idol, holding it protectively against their chest.
	“Bruna?” said Paok.
	“Holy shit,” gasped Bruna. “You two try it; hold your breath?”
	“Uh...okay.”
	Aelock and Paok opened their mouths. Then...nothing. Paok frowned. Aelock gasped.
	“I can’t breathe!” he cried. “I can’t! Oh fuck this is fucked up! I’m not breathing!”
	“Weird,” said Paok, holding his fingers in front of his mouth. “I can feel my breath on my hand when I talk. But, when I try to inhale…”
	“Nothing, right?” said Bruna. “Same here. If I sniff, I smell butt. But if I try to inhale...nothing. Guys, I don’t think we’re breathing. I don’t think we need to breathe.”
	“But we did before,” said Aelock, his voice shaking. His eyes were rimmed with tears. “I know we did! Before we were broken into bits. And then afterwards…” He hesitated. “Oh wow. We weren’t, were we? I could smell. But now that I think about it, I don’t think I was breathing!”
	“Just like we weren’t eating or drinking or shitting,” said Paok. “But we did when we were all together before. What’s different now?”
	“I know,” said Aelock. He wiped at his eyes. “We’re missing parts of us now. We’re not complete, so we don’t need to eat or do any of that other stuff.”
	“That’s messed up,” said Bruna. “Why would it be like that?”
	“I don’t know! I didn’t make the thing did I?” He lifted the statue away from his chest and looked at Paok. “What are we doing, then? Are we smashing this thing?”
	“I don’t think we should.”
	“I do!” Bruna stomped a foot.
	“And risk losing more pieces?” Paok looked at Aelock. “Concentrate, both of you. Can you feel anything? Maybe the bugs? I never felt anything on mine, even when we were broken up. It was like it didn’t exist then. But you two felt bugs. So maybe you can feel things now that might lead us to where they are.”
	“I don’t feel anything,” whined Aelock.
	“Cold, maybe?” said Bruna. “Yeah...maybe a little cold.”
	“Aelock? What about you? Can you feel cold? Close your eyes and concentrate.”
	“Maybe…” His eyelids clenched tight. “Yeah, I feel cold too. And...maybe something wet?”
	“Cold and wet. That’s good. That’s a clue.” Paok’s eyes turned towards the pool nearby. “Under the water then?”
	“We can’t swim like this,” said Aelock. “We won’t be able to move fast enough to get water through our gills and we’ll drown!”
	“We don’t need to breathe, remember?”
	“Good...good point.”
	“I’m game,” said Bruna. “Let’s go for a swim. Find our bits, smash that idol, put it together right...then maybe we can figure out how to get ourselves separate and get out of this place!”
	“Sounds good to me,” said Paok.
	Bruna was already walking towards the pool. The other two wobbled uncertainly as they stumbled backwards from their perspective. At the edge, Bruna turned around, letting the other two lead the dive.
	“This won’t be elegant,” said Paok, awkwardly batting at the tail protruding from their crotch.
	“That’s an understatement,” growled Bruna. “Can we just go, please?”
	“Everyone ready? Aelock, do you have the idol?”
	“Yes!”
	“Okay, here we go!”
	They plunged into the cool water. At first they levelled out almost normally, Aelock and Paok watching each other and syncing their arm movements. But then Bruna tried to kick, and they tumbled clumsily. Aelock and Paok clawed the water and pulled themselves level, then Paok twisted around and wagged a finger in front of Bruna’s face. Their legs went still. Aelock kept his tail limp. With just their arms to propel them, swimming was torturously slow. But, sure enough, none of them felt the burning ache of drowning, even with so little water flow over their gills. They settled slowly towards the shallow bottom of the pool and peered into the darkness.
	Paok pointed towards a crop of seaweed, and together they pulled themselves down towards it. Following Paok’s directions, Aelock gripped the weeds to hold them in position while Paok felt around between the fronds. Deep in the base of one of the plants something glittered, and Paok raised a triumphant hand with a tiny fragment of gold clutched between his fingers.
	Aelock nudged Paok with the idol and pointed. Two more fragments, laying half-buried in the silt. Awkwardly they lumbered towards them, scooping them up and then groping for the surface, dragging their limp feet away from the floor of the pool.
	But as they reached for the glimmering sheen of the surface above them, their feet and tail twisted sideways. Bruna started to kick, trying to recover. Aelock’s arm flailed, losing sync with Paok’s, and their whole body fell back away from the surface and started to spin, pulling away to the side under a dark overhang of rock. The current had them, and there was no escape. Helpless and tumbling, they rushed faster and faster through the underwater tunnel, Aelock and Paok clutching tightly to the idol and fragments.
	The black rock began to shine in a pale green glow from far up ahead. Paok held his arm out and dragged his fingertips against the rock, managing to stop their spinning. The light rushed towards them. Paok and Aelock held their hands up to shield their eyes. The light erupted around them and they broke the surface in a torrent of spray, flying up through the air and coming to a skidding stop in a bank of glittering grey sand. Aelock hissed sharply, his eyes closed against the sand that had ground up against his face.
	“Ugh,” groaned Paok. He pressed his hand down into the sand, struggling to lift their limp body up. From their rear Bruna gurgled and spat.
	“What the hell was that?” he said. “Where are we?”
	“Ow,” whimpered Aelock. “Ow...I got sand in my eye.”
	“Let me see,” said Paok. “Hold still. Hold still I said!” He gripped the side of Aelock’s head, inspecting his closed and sand-caked eye. He extended his tongue and, very delicately, licked over Aelock’s eyelid, turning his head to spit out the sand. “There, try now.”
	Aelock blinked his eye open. It was reddened and weeping, but he could see. “Thanks,” he whispered.
	“Whoah, guys,” said Bruna. “Look. Above us.”
	Aelock and Paok looked up. They remained on their front, as the alternative meant smothering Bruna in the sand. They were in a cave. The pool they had emerged from lapped against the sandy bank they had landed on. Further along the floor became flat, seaworn boulders. And on the boulders and the walls and the ceiling were hundreds of glowing worms, each about the length and thickness of a forearm, with featureless rounded ends, from which the pale green light came.
	“Whoah,” said Aelock. “What are they?”
	“Some kind of glow worm,” said Paok.
	“Yeah, I could have guessed that for myself. Do you think they’re dangerous?”
	“I don’t know. They don’t look dangerous. They don’t seem to be moving very much. I suggest we leave them alone.”
	“Good idea.” Aelock groaned, pressing his palm down into the gritty sand. “Can we get up onto the rocks, please? I’m aching all over and this sand is horrible. There’s a clear bit over there.”
	“Bruna, can you move?”
	“Yeah,” he said. “Just give me a moment.”
	“Oh, Bruna,” said Paok. “Look what we found.” He reached behind him, cupping his hand under their butt, letting Bruna see the three golden fragments.
	“You found our cocks!”
	“And my slit,” added Aelock.
	“Great! Now we can put ourselves together properly.”
	“Well,” said Paok. “I found our statue parts anyway. As for the real parts, I don’t know where they…” Paok’s voice trailed off as they wobbled to their feet. “Oh.”
	“What?” said Bruna, facing the worm-covered wall and the pool. “What is it? I can’t see. What’s wrong?”
	“I found them.”
	Laid out on the flat boulders, two limp cocks and a shapeless ball of shark-skinned flesh bisected by a female slit. The worms wriggled listlessly around them, seemingly clustered close to them, but never touching them.
	“Eww,” cried Aelock. “Get them! Get them away from those things!”
	“What is it?” whined Bruna. “What did you find?”
	“Our bits! The real ones! The worms have got them. Ugh! Come on Bruna, walk backwards, two steps!”
	“Our bits? How did they get all the way down here?”
	“I don’t care, I just want to get them. Bruna, move!”
	They wobbled and lurched. Paok and Aelock reached down.
	“Shoo! Get away! Icky things!”
	Aelock scooped up his slit and one of the twin cocks. Bruna yelped.
	“C-careful!”
	Gently, Paok lifted the other, his own.
	“This is weird,” he said, cradling the limp organ in his hand.
	“This is weird?” said Aelock, holding the body parts close to his chest, barely holding onto them and the idol at the same time. “Out of all the stuff that’s happened to us here, this is the weird thing?”
	“Aelock,” breathed Bruna. “S-stop squeezing it so tight.”
	“Sorry,” said Aelock. He shifted his grip, rolling the idol into the crook of his elbow. He lost balance, cried out, and watched helplessly as the idol tumbled from his grip and fell towards the hard rock, shattering into fragments on impact. Paok gasped, and in the next instant the world flashed white.

“Three days!” Aelock moaned weakly.
	“Oh would you shut up!” cried Bruna. “At least there’s no bugs this time.”
	Paok carefully nudged the last fragment of the idol into position. He had his arm this time. Bruna had an arm too, and was helping him hold the parts in place.
	“Here goes,” he said.
	“Please let it work this time,” said Aelock. “Three days watching you try to put that thing back together and getting it wrong over and over!”
“Hey, that’s not fair.”
“Sorry. I...I just can’t stand seeing these worms any more!”
	“It could be worse,” said Bruna. “They could be touching us. They’ve left us alone. That has to be a good thing, right?”
	Aelock’s head shuddered, and over at the other end of the cave his foot trembled, toes flexing. “Yeah. Ugh!”
	“Get ready guys.”
	Paok crossed his fingers and pushed the fragment into place.
	White light, and the triumphant cries of three sharks.

“I’ve got the legs,” said Paok. He turned his head, side to side. “Middle head too.”
	“Left arm,” said Bruna. “And left head. That’s handy.”
	“Looks like I’ve got the right. Who’s tail?”
	“All of ours I think.” Paok twisted his head back. “Nope, my mistake. Looks like I’ve got it.”
	“Whoah,” said Bruna. “That’s not right. Look down there.”
	All three lowered their heads. Down at the junction of their legs, a female slit lay below a single cock.
	“I guess the slit’s mine,” said Aelock. “Who’s is the cock?”
	Bruna gave it a prod. Simultaneously, he and Aelock gasped.
	“Both of us!” said Aelock. “Wait, that’s not right. I’ve got…” he turned wide eyes towards Paok. “I’ve got your cock? I mean...half of it? Yours...mixed with Bruna’s?”
	“Looks that way.” Paok frowned, looking down. “Does that mean?”
	Ever so lightly, Bruna stroked a fingertip down the lips of the slit. Paok gasped and shuddered.
	“Oh fuck,” he whispered.
	“Hey!” Aelock pouted. “That’s mine. Leave it alone.”
	“Mine now, it seems.” Paok flexed his toes and shivered again. “Feels strange.”
	“Guys,” said Bruna. “Does anyone else feel hungry?”
	“Now that you mention it…”
	“Oh,” said Aelock. He clutched their shared belly. “Starving. Like I haven’t eaten in a week!”
	“You haven’t,” said Paok. “None of us have. I guess it’s all catching up to us at once.”
	“We’ve gotta get out of here and find something to eat.”
	“Eww, get away.” Aelock flailed his arm at one of the fat glow worms that was squelching down the rock wall and probing out towards him. “Guys, the worms are all moving.”
	Paok lifted a foot away from a worm reaching up towards it.
	“Ignored us for days and now they’re interested in us,” he said.
	“Do you think they’re dangerous?”
	“Not unless they’re poisonous.”
	“Poisonous? Oh fuck. Get these things away from me!”
	“Just don’t eat them!” Paok jumped again. “I’m rapidly running out of place to put our feet here, guys. I think we should swim for it.”
	“I’m all for that plan,” said Aelock.
	“Me too.” Bruna waved a hand at the probing snout of a worm that was trying to slide onto his shoulder. “Sooner the better.”
	“Alright, I’m going to step into the pool. You two be ready to swim. Ready? Okay, go!”
	Down into the cool water they plunged. With their body now fitted together properly...at least, as properly as it had been lately, they managed good progress. Bruna and Aelock effortlessly timed their strokes together. Paok kicked smoothly, and his tail whipped sleekly through the water. Even the weight of the idol clutched in Aelock’s hand did little to slow them.
	What did hold them back, however, was the rushing current through the tunnel. As they reached the furthest extent of the worms’ glow, their forward progress slowed to a stop. They kicked and strained and clawed at the water in an increasing frenzy. But, slowly, inexorably, they began to drift backwards.
	Moments later they surfaced back at the pool, gasping and aching.
	“Shit,” said Paok, walking them up onto the sand and collapsing onto his knees. “Tide must be coming in. We’ll have to wait.”
	“Do you think this cave will flood?” said Aelock.
	Paok looked around. “I don’t think so. But, if it does, we can just swim. Or…” He reached over to tap the idol in Aelock’s hand. “We can just smash this again and we won’t have to breathe.”
	“Ugh, I’m so hungry,” moaned Bruna.
	“We’re just going to have to wait.” Paok flipped them over to sit in the sand. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”
	“Those worms are coming close again.”
	“I don’t think they’re so tough,” said Bruna. He reached over and flicked the nearest one. It quivered and recoiled, squelching away. “Just need to fend them off.”
	“We can sleep in shifts,” said Paok. “And poke them away when they get too close.”
	“You don’t have any arms though.”
	“I’ll use my feet.”
	“I’ll stay awake first,” said Bruna. “I’m not really tired anyway.”
	“My hero,” said Aelock.
	“You two,” groaned Paok. “Let’s get some rest.”

Aelock lifted his head, looking over the top of Paok’s sleeping muzzle. “Bruna?”
	“Yeah?”
	“I can’t sleep.”
	“Why not?”
	“Well, the worms for one.” Aelock reached over to nudge away one that was creeping close to his hip. His fingers came away smeared with the glowing goo the worms seemed to be coated in. “And the sticky stuff they keep leaving behind. But mainly…” He trailed off, and Bruna looked puzzled. But then he followed the blushing shark’s eyes, down to the half-hard cock flopped against their tummy.
	“Oh, I see,” said Bruna. “It’s distracting, huh?”
	“Yeah. Feels really weird.”
	Bruna pushed a worm away from near his head. Between them, Paok slept silently. “I suppose it would, if it’s the first time you’ve ever had one.”
	“Not many people get to feel it both ways, huh?”
	“No, I guess not.” Bruna tried to wipe his fingers clean on the rock, but only managed to spread the goo further. “So, you wanna play with it?”
	“Yeah.” Aelock chuckled under his breath. “You know, not too long ago I’d have been so embarrassed by all this. I mean, I still am in a way. But now after all we’ve been through it doesn’t seem like so much of a big deal to just...you know...stroke it right in front of you guys.”
	“So, are you gonna?”
	“Sure, just let me try to…” Aelock wiped his fingers against their hip, but the goo refused to clear. “Fuck, this stuff’s not coming off.”
	“Just use it as lube then.”
	“Eww, no way.”
	“What, like it’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done?” Bruna raised an eyebrow and gestured to take in their whole merged body.
	“I see what you mean.” He chewed his lip for a moment. Their combined cock had swelled up harder while they were talking, almost at full mast. “Are you doing that?” breathed Aelock.
	“Nope,” said Bruna. “That’s all you. Well...alright, maybe it’s me a little. Go on...stroke it.”
	Gently, Aelock laid a slick, slimy fingertip against the head of their shared cock. He shivered, biting his lip a little harder. Bruna laid his head back and murmured pleasantly.
	“That’s it,” he said. “Wrap your hand around it.”
	“I know how to stroke a cock you know. Just...never done it to my own.”
	“Well, if it helps, you’re doing it to me too.” Bruna murmured again as Aelock closed his slender fingers around their shaft. “And it feels good.”
	“I thought I was the one who was meant to be enjoying this.”
	“Can’t help it. I’m along for the ride. Here,” he reached down and clasped his larger hand over Aelock’s. “I’ll help.”
	“I told you, I can do it.”
	“I know. You played with ours before. But now it’s yours too, and it’s gonna feel very different when you’re playing with your own. Here, just feel…”
	Bruna pushed both their hands up towards the head of their cock, now firm and thick and eager. The sticky goo from the worms let his thumb slide smoothly over the tip, and he pressed against it with just the right degree of firmness.
	“Oh wow,” shuddered Aelock.
	“Shh, don’t wake Paok. Now you do it. Just like I did. Gentle, but not too gentle.” He lifted his hand away.
	“O-okay.” Aelock squeezed, bringing a breathy moan to his lips. He rolled his slime-covered thumb over the head, just as Bruna had done, and felt the spasm of pleasure ripple through the parts of their body that he controlled and felt.
	“Feels good, doesn’t it?” said Bruna, his own voice just as breathless.
	“How do you guys ever get anything done? I’d be playing with this thing all the time.”
	“I can say the same for you,” said Bruna, pushing away another curious worm. “With that slit of yours. Don’t you just want to hump all the time?”
	“Sometimes. When I’m in heat.”
	“You go into heat?”
	“Yeah.”
	“Really? I...I didn’t know…”
	“What, that girls go into heat? They do. Some of them anyway. I definitely do.”
	“Even though you’re not really a girl.”
	“Yeah, well, I am down there.” Aelock sounded sullen for a moment. But then a chuckle. “Not right now though.”
	“Heh, yeah. Hsss! Gentle. Not so hard.”
	“Sorry. That doesn’t feel very good does it?”
	“Just let the lube do the work. Get more if you have to.”
	With a grimace, Aelock reached over to a writhing worm and gripped it, squeezing. The goo dribbled over his fingers. He pushed the worm away and then closed his slick hand back around their shaft. Bruna moaned contently, and Aelock did the same. And slowly, probing out every sensation, he began to stroke. There was no hurry, and they had long hours to kill. They didn’t know what time it was, and had no way to find out. But they knew how long the tides took to turn, and they could guess how long they had to wait.
	“Bruna,” whispered Aelock. “It feels...it feels like it’s about to...ungh!”
	“Keep going.”
	Aelock pressed his nose in against Paok’s neck. His and Bruna’s fingers moved slickly with the goo from the worms, glowing brightly everywhere it splashed. Bruna’s own laboured breathing matched Aelock’s.
	“Ah!” crid Aelock.
	“Shh!”
	Bruna untangled his hand from Aelock’s, reaching over and cupping it over Aelock’s mouth.
	“Mmph!” Aelock tried to shake his head free, but Bruna gripped tightly.
	“Shh! You’ll wake Paok.”
	Aelock whined and closed his eyes. The worm goo from Bruna’s fingers was seeping in between Aelock’s lips, and the tip of his tongue couldn’t escape tasting it. Their combined body shuddered, and Bruna had to bite his lip to keep his own squeal of pleasure from getting too loud. Their cock erupted, jetting cum in a high arc to come splashing down over their chest, mingling with the goo from the worms. Slowly, with trembling fingers, Aelock let go of their cock. Eventually, after their noisy panting had settled down, Bruna let go of Aelock’s mouth.
	“You got goo in my mouth,” he whispered.
	“Oh fuck...sorry.”
	“Don’t be.” Aelock held his own goo-covered hand in front of Bruna’s mouth. “Taste it.”
	“Eww, no.”
	“Go on.” Aelock spread his fingers. The glowing goo spread a sticky film between them. “Taste it. It doesn’t taste bad, I promise.”
	“No thanks!”
	“Taste it!” Aelock jabbed his fingers at Bruna’s mouth, unable to see past Paok’s head. One finger went right up Bruna’s nostril, and as he coughed in surprise Aelock jammed his thumb between his lips.
	“Mmph!” Bruna grabbed Aelock’s wrist. But then he hesitated. His tongue stroked a second time at Aelock’s thumb. Gently now, he eased Aelock’s hand away. “Oh wow.”
	“See?”
	“It tastes like...like…”
	“Sunberries?”
	“Yeah. A little bit. But...something else too.” Bruna smacked his lips and licked at the goo splashed on his muzzle. “Like Lagen tree leaves, maybe? I don’t know…”
	“Tastes good though, doesn’t it?”
	“Yeah.”
	“I wonder if the worms taste good too. Think they’re edible?”
	“I’m not sure I want to find out.” Bruna nudged at one that was squelching close. “Even if they taste nice, the texture…” He shuddered.
	“I’m really hungry, though,” said Aelock. “And so are you.”
	“They might be poisonous.”
	“But I’m starving.” Aelock watched a worm on his side slither over the rock. He reached over and effortlessly picked it up, feeling it writhe in his grip. As he squeezed it, the glow intensified.
	“Don’t you dare,” said Bruna. “You’ll kill us!”
	“But it tastes so good. That can’t be poisonous, right?”
	Bruna snatched at Aelock’s wrist, but Aelock was faster. He dodged his arm away out of Bruna’s reach and turned his head to face away.
	“Paok!” cried Bruna. He slapped at Paok’s cheek. “Paok, wake up and help me!”
	Aelock stuffed the wriggling end of the worm into his mouth and bit down. The delicious taste blossomed in his mouth and he swallowed. More goo poured from the decapitated worm, gushing over his muzzle.
	“See?” he said. “I told you it’d be…”
	The cave twisted and span. His voice seemed to echo, repeating endlessly. Be be be be be. Bruna’s eyes stared at him from over the top of Paok’s muzzle. They seemed to grow and stretch.
	“What did you do…” moaned Bruna. His hand rose to wave in front of his muzzle. He was blinking rapidly, and Aelock started to do the same. Then, both together, their heads lay back and their eyes closed.

Paok woke, bleary-eyed and confused. He hissed and closed his eyes to slit. It seemed like sunlight had entered the cave, blazing bright and blinding. Slowly, his eyes adjusted and he opened them to a transformed cave.
The worms had amassed, far more numerous than they had ever been before. The cave floor around them was a squelching, writhing mass of glowing green, with not a scrap of rock visible. The cave walls and ceiling glistened under the glaring light. And as Paok looked down, he saw that their shared body lay submerged beneath the turmoil.
	“Help!” he cried. “Oh fuck help!” He tried to kick a leg. The mound of worms barely rose. He strained against the weight of worms, pulled back down by the suctioning stickiness of their goo.
	“Mmmph!”
	Paok snapped his head to see Bruna wide-eyed and panicked, his head smeared with the goo and seemingly glued to the worms that writhed around it. His mouth was spread wide, slathered with goo and stuffed with the thick body of a worm. Paok watched, helpless, as the worm undulated, sliding its body deeper into Bruna’s muzzle. The tip wriggled as it disappeared past his lips and goo-caked teeth, and it was gone, slithering down into his throat. Moments later it was replaced by another, sliding wet and sticky across Bruna’s tongue.
	“Oh fuck,” yelped Paok. “Bruna, close your mouth!”
	“Mmmph!”
	Bruna’s arm was buried in the worm pile. His head seemed barely able to move, managing only the slightest of shake. Paok saw the strain in Bruna’s muzzle, the tensing of muscle. But his mouth wouldn’t close. The goo smeared on his lips seemed rigid like resin.
	A soft groan came to Paok’s other ear. He looked over. Aelock’s head was almost completely buried in the worms. He could see only the shark’s slender muzzle, completely coated in translucent, glowing goo, only his nostrils exposed. Paok leaned over and touched his nose against it. Solid, like resin. Aelock’s mouth was spread wide, and a worm was pushing its way inside.
	Paok tried to move his legs again, and again they seemed stuck in place under the pile of writhing worms. He whined in frustration and banged the back of his head against the stone floor. Only his head seemed free. He bared his sharp, pointed teeth, turned towards Bruna, and strained to reach the worms wriggling up his snout. His tongue touched the slimy skin of the worm…
	Instantly he recoiled. He spat and dry-heaved. The worm tasted like an overflowing latrine pit. He looked back at Bruna, seeing the distress in his eyes.
	“Does it taste like…”
	“Mmmph!”
	“I’m so sorry!”
	Paok took a deep breath and leaned over to bite. As his teeth closed on the worm, the rest seemed to spark into a frenzy of movement in response. In a sudden rush of slimy movement the entire host slithered outwards in all directions, leaving their body exposed and glued to the stone floor in the sticky coating of goo. The worms retreated up the walls and onto the ceiling.
	Bruna and Aelock groaned. Without the worms swarming over them, Paok could now see their muzzles; both held wide by layers of solidified goo, inside and out, leaving only their tongues free to flex and struggle in a desperate and futile attempt to escape the foul tasting liquid goo coating them. There were tears in Aelock’s eyes, and Bruna was trembling with tension as he fought against the goo sticking down his arm.
	“I’ll find a way to get us out of this,” said Paok. “I just need too…” he trailed off, his eyes wide. The worms on the far wall were parting like a tide, making way for a monster worm. It was three times the length of the others, and as thick as Paok’s thigh, and its bulbous, writhing body was slithering down the wall and along the floor towards Paok’s helplessly stuck and spread legs.
	“Oh fuck,” he hissed. “What now? No, get away!” He tried to kick his feet, managing only to flex his toes. If he fought with all his strength he could manage to lift his legs a finger length from the stone before the suction of the goo dragged it back down. The big worm was now between his legs, the forend raised and probing, seeking, writhing left and right as it slithered up towards their crotch.
	“Where’s the statue?” he cried. “They left us alone when we were broken apart! We’ve got to break the statue!”
	Aelock made a soft, mournful whimpering noise. His fingers were free, but his arm from the wrist upwards was caked in solidified goo. His fingertips were just able to brush against the statue laying on the stone nearby, but he couldn’t grip it. The tears in Aelock’s eyes grew, and he sobbed weakly, the sound distorted by his open muzzle.
	“Keep trying,” said Paok. “I’ll try to help.” He grunted with effort, straining every muscle to twist his torso to the side. “Bruna, push with your arm, as hard as you can. Try to get us to turn towards Aelock’s side!”
	The tip of the monster worm rose up over Paok’s thigh, flexed a ponderous circle in the air, then slithered up and pressed the bulbous, sticky tip against Paok’s slit.
	“Fuck,” he gasped. Then, a moment later, as the fat shaft started to spread the unfamiliar sex wide, he cried out louder. “Oh fuck, it’s...it’s...it’s going into me!” He shrieked, trying to kick his legs. His head rolled from side to side, bumping uselessly against Aelock and Bruna’s muzzles. “Get it out! Get it out! Get…”
	He froze, blinking. The worm pulsated along its length and pressed in another finger’s length of its body. He shuddered out a low, mewling whimper and closed his eyes.
	“It’s…” He bit his lip and whined. “Aelock, please...break the statue. Do it fast!” A shudder rolled through their body, followed by a wave of heat that made Paok gasp, Bruna groan, and Aelock close his eyes and huff a squeal through his nose.
	“Aelock,” gasped Paok. “Is this...what is this? It’s…” He clenched his toes and banged the back of his head against the slimy rock. Still more of the worm was forcing its way inside, and their belly was swelling up. The cock that Bruna and Aelock shared was swelling up hard, dripping liquid goo from its tip. “Do you feel it too?”
	“Mpph!”
	“One sound for yes?”
	“Mmm!”
	Paok cried out, eyes clenched shut. The worm was pulsing, getting thicker and thinner in rapid succession, thrusting deep inside. Nearly half of it was gone. Their belly swelled as if pregnant.
	“It feels...good. It doesn’t hurt. It should hurt but it doesn’t. And it feels…” He shivered. “Is it meant to feel like this.”
	“Mmmmmmmm.”
	“We’ve got to make it stop.” He hit his head against the stone again, reacting with a spasm to the driving pressure of the probing worm. Bruna and Aelock’s combined cock twitched, and a streak of clear precum was growing in the coating of glowing goo. “Aelock, please...get the statue! Smash it!”
	Aelock’s fingertips stroked at the smooth gold. The statue wobbled and settled unmoved. He choked back a whimper of frustration, every muscle straining to reach.
	“Please,” gasped Paok. “I can’t...I can’t!” The worm’s tail disappeared into the slit with a wet slurp. Beneath their distended belly the bulges of the worm writhed. “How is this not killing us?” cried Paok.
	Aelock’s fingertip caught against a ridge in the carving on the statue. He held his breath and, carefully, pulled back on the statue. It tipped, threatening to slip away on the slimy stone. He snatched at it with the rest of his fingers.
	“Mmmph!” he cried, triumphant.
	“Smash it!”
	Aelock lifted his hand as high as he could, poised with the statue over the hard rock. His eyes darted to Paok, silently questioning.
	“Do it!”
	Aelock brought the statue down as hard as he could, striking the corner against the stone. For a moment it seemed as if nothing would happen. He lifted the statue to try again, but at that moment it fractured, and crumbled into fragments in his hand, spilling between his fingers.

Things moved after the white flash. The green glow of the worms returned. The big worm deep in their gut twisted and wriggled, sending jolts of discomfort deep into Paok. He tried to cry out, but another worm stuffed his mouth into disgusting silence. The worms started to swarm, closing in over their fragmented body parts. Paok felt a stab of pain that made him scream. Then the big worm erupted, pushing free from his body via his tailhole. In one wet, slithering movement, it collapsed out, leaving only the relief of deflation. Then, all together, their body parts were lifted away from the stone. They sensed movement even though they could not see. They felt the cool flow of air past their skin. Their senses jumbled, disjointed and disconnected. The slime was there. They could feel it against their skin in patches, wet and slippery. And the taste lingered, a mix now between the sunberry sweetness and the foul cesspit. It dribbled into Paok’s mouth. He gasped wordlessly, licking at his teeth.
	“Put them over there.”
	It was an unfamiliar voice, deep and gruff.
	“Uncover their eyes.”
	Liquid flowed over their heads. Their eyelids loosened, the caked solid goo crumbled away. The three blinked their eyes open to smooth stone block walls, a crowd of worms standing perfectly still on their tails, bodies upright, and a tall furred person. His eyes gleamed yellow. His fur gleamed as if oiled, coloured bright blue with flashes of white. He stood naked besides satchel of aging and cracked leather at his hip, hanging from a strap draped diagonally across his chest.
	“Hello my friends.”
	Their body was in fragments. Each part was laid out in neat rows on the floor. Paok’s arms had reappeared, along with the surplus bodies, legs and tails, each part distinct from the ones they had before by the lack of goo covering. In the centre lay the two cocks and mound of flesh bisected by Aelock’s slit.
	“I must apologise for my pet.” The stranger reached to his side, where the monster worm stood on its coiled tail. It nuzzled itself against his hand. “She tends to like dark, warm places. As does her children.”
	Paok exhaled a shaky breath. His head stood between Aelock’s and Bruna’s. Both still had their mouths stretched open, glued by the solidified glue. “Who are you?”
	The stranger smiled, his sharp teeth gleaming pearly white. “I am Lord of this island, keeper of the temple, guardian of the great god Dicel.” He flipped open the flap of his satchel and lifted out a handful of golden fragments, letting them tumble through his fingers and drop back into the satchel. “You have met one of his faces.”
	“That statue,” said Paok. “It…”
	“It made you whole,” said the stranger, an edge of breathlessness in his voice. Those eyes shone. “And you rejected his gift. You see now what punishment that brings.”
	“Punishment? It was an accident!”
	“It was no accident. You came to this island for a purpose. You were summoned.” He let the last of the statue fragments drop back into the satchel, closing the flap. “You were drawn to paradise. But now…”
	“Please, let us go.”
	The stranger snapped his fingers. The worms poured forwards in a glowing flood, scooping the body parts off the floor.
	“Wait, where are you taking us?”
	“This way.”
	The stranger strode towards the far wall, where a shadowed doorway led into darkness. The three sharks bounced along the floor, their body parts flowing as if carried by a tide. The watched helplessly as the worms carried them through the doorway and into a long, high hall, lit by the green glow of a host of worms covering the ceiling. Along the walls, set into niches, were dozens of body parts like their own: legs, torsos, tails, heads, all of them from sharks, and all of them cemented in place by thick layers of solidified worm goo.
	The worms that carried them were spreading out. Paok saw first; each part was being led towards empty niches further down the hall.
	“No! What are you doing? This-mmmph!” Paok tried to struggle, kicking his legs, reaching and punching, trying to bite at the worms. But one worm stuffed itself into his mouth. He recoiled from the foul taste of the goo, then whined helplessly as it solidified, gagging him and keeping his mouth forced open, just like Bruna and Aelock’s. His tongue danced in the remaining liquid goo, unable to escape the foul taste.
	“Relax,” said the stranger. “There’s nothing you can do about this now.” He swept his arm in a wide arc towards the niches. The worms obeyed, slithering up the walls and hauling the shark body parts with them. Paok looked at the niche neighbouring the one his head was being lifted into. In it he saw a shark’s head, glued in place by the goo, his mouth held wide open, his skin coated everywhere but his nostrils and eyes, which suddenly darted towards him, wide and desperate. Paok shrieked and tried to struggle, but the worms already had his various parts in their niches and were smearing goo to harden and set, locking him powerlessly in place. He could see the same happening to Bruna and Aelock. And around the room he saw a dozen pairs of eyes staring back at him. All sharks, all broken into parts, all sealed in place like they now were.
	The stranger moved into the centre of the hall, where all three could see him. He held cradled in his arms the two cocks and female slit. The three felt his touch. From around them they could hear the other occupants of the room start to moan and whimper, a chorus of voices trapped and in distress.
	“New treats for the pit,” said the stranger. “They know they’re coming, my little friends. They’re ready to greet you. They’re excited.” He cast an arm around him. The other sharks were wailing, muffled by their permanently opened mouths. “Can you tell?”
	Paok head Aelock’s whine, louder than the rest. Bruna was stubbornly quiet. His eyes glared cold from his niche as worms slithered over his immobile head, layering more goo to seal him in.
	The stranger stepped over to a raised dias at the end of the hall. He gestured, and the monster worm slithered forwards, inserting its tip through a hoop in a metal grate. It braced its body against the stone and pulled upwards, hauling up the grate. It squealed with cracking rust and exposed a deep pit into the stone. From below, in the darkness, came a sound like rustling leaves, or a gentle surf on sand. Aelock’s voice suddenly went from a whine to a scream.
	“Have you met them before?” The stranger turned to face Aelock. One by one he set their three sex organs down onto the stone of the dias. He reached an arm down into the pit, then rose back up. He walked over to Aelock, his hand up. Across his palm and between his fingers scurried hundreds of tiny beetles, gleaming deep red like rubies.
	“They will keep you entertained,” he said, shaking his hand and sending the beetles tumbling to the floor, where they righted themselves and scuttled off towards the dias. He loomed over Aelock. “You’ve felt their love before, haven’t you? You’re the one with the incorrect body.” He touched his fingers against Aelock’s cheek. Aelock’s eyes flinched and his tongue strained in his open mouth. “I can tell. How long was it? Days? They crawl so enthusiastically, don’t they? But always just too gently for you to enjoy it. It’s torture, I know. Can you imagine what an eternity of them it feel like? They know.” He gestured back to the hall, where the other sharks were wailing. He leaned closer to Aelock, so that his breath tickled the shark’s nostrils. “In they go now.”
	The monster worm flicked its head, casually brushing the three organs from the lip of the dias. The sharks screamed as they tumbled down and landed into the squirming sea of beetles. Aelock’s eyes shot wide as the first tickling feelers danced over his slit. The grate clanged shut, the sound reverberating around the hall, mingling with the screams of the sharks, now with three new voices joining them. The stranger cupped Aelock’s cheek and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. Beneath the hardened goo Aelock, like his two friends, trembled and screamed as the beetles mercilessly swarmed over his sensitive sex.
	“Goodbye, my friends,” said the stranger, slipping away to stride out of the hall, followed by the flowing sea of his glowing worms. Soon the hall descended into darkness and silence, broken only by the weak whimpers and sobs of the sharks, and the ever constant rustling of the beetles as they swarmed over the pile of organs that formed the floor of their pit.
	Aelock squeezed his eyes shut and sobbed.

The great ship Ludan’s Pride dropped her anchor in the placid water of the shallows just off the island’s shore. The listless, sweltering breeze barely twitched her rigging. Her wooden hull groaned and creaked, and under her deck the steam boiler shuddered as the stokers laboured to keep the fire lit.
	Imperial Agent Nishan leaned on the gunwhale and stared out at the island. At his side, Agent Min did the same. Both sweated in the thick wool coats of their uniform. Their fur dripped with sweat. It trickled off their canine muzzles and off their hair into their eyes. Min pulled off his crested helmet and wiped at his forehead.
	“There’ll be wood there, alright,” said Min. “Enough to replenish the stores and keep the boiler running.” He turned to look up at the limp rigging, where the Imperial flag hung dispiritingly still. “Ten days without wind. If we hadn’t the steam boiler…”
	“Thank the Emperor for small mercies.” Nishan pointed towards the island. “I see a small inlet, there. I suggest we take the boat in and see if we can find a beach to set ashore.” Like Min, Nishan also turned to look up at the rigging, squinting against the blazing sun. “What I wouldn’t give to be back in the civilised cold of the north again. I can’t stand this barbarian heat.”
	“Would you like me to organise the boat party?”
	“Certainly. Yourself, myself, and six strong rowers if you please. Ensure arms for all.”
	They waited for the heat of the midday sun to pass. In the comparative coolness of the mid afternoon they launched the boat and rowed slowly across to the island. Still they sweated, and the rowers, allowed to strip bare to the waist as they laboured, glistened in the bright sun as their sweat sheened their fur. Nishan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as they passed into the shade of overhanging jungle trees.
	“Do you smell that?”
	Min inhaled, then sighed pleasantly. “Blossom. It smells like…” he sniffed again. “like caelinthia, perhaps?”
	“Or something closely related to it, I imagine.” A cooling breeze rustled through the leaves and Nishan turned his face into it. “Wait. Heave to!”
	“What is it? What do you see?”
	Nishan put his arm across Min’s shoulders and turned him to face where he was pointing. He was smiling. “There,” he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. “Do you see that?”
	“A cave?” Min squinted. “Under those roots, you mean?”
	“Not a cave. Rowers, bring us up onto that beach there.” Nishan shrugged off his pack and unpacked his lantern. Watching him do so, Min decided to do the same. “Do you see the block lines there, on the left?”
	Min peered again. “Maybe. Those could just be natural forms, however.”
	“Maybe,” said Nishan. He rocked as the boat slid its prow into the sand and a crewman leaped out trailing a coil of rope to secure around the trunk of a jungle tree. “But do you see that, just inside?” Nishan stepped out of the boat and splashed into the shallow water. He climbed over tumbled stones and tangled roots, up to the entrance of the cave. He lit his lantern and lifted it up into the opening. Min climbed up beside him, and the crewmen were clambering out of the boat and unloading tools and equipment. Nishan held his lantern close to the wall, where corroded iron reflected its light, and turned to grin at Min.
	“Mere caves, my dear Min, do not have sconces.” He thrust the lantern into the opening. Regular, even stone blocks stretched away down a level corridor into darkness. “Care to explore? Treasure, perhaps, awaits?”
	Min carefully unsheathed his sword. The blade was clean, rust-free, well-oiled and untested. He nodded.
	Nishan called back to the crewmen and pointed into the tunnel, explaining their intention. Then they crept inside. The sun was gone. The fragrant scents of the sea and the plants were gone. Only the light from the lamp and the distant trickles of sunlight from the entrance behind them bouncing off the stones lighted their way. The air smelled dry and dusty. Their boots kicked through thick drifts of stone dust.
	There was a crunch and Min suddenly yelped.
	“What is it?”
	“Ugh.” Min leaned against the wall and inspected his sole. “I stood on a bug.”
	Nishan laughed. “Put away your sword, Min. I don’t think you’ll need it. This place is long dead.”
	“What do you think it is?” They kept walking. The tunnel seemed endless. “A tomb, perhaps? A temple?”
	“Probably. Wait, do you hear that?”
	They strained their ears. From up ahead came a soft noise, drifting on the dead air from the darkness of the tunnel. Min shrunk back against Nishan’s side. It was unmistakably a voice, calling out in wordless anguish. Nishan unsheathed his sword and smiled apologetically at Min, who brandished his own ahead of him, gripping the hilt tightly.
	“I spoke too soon. Onwards?”
	Min shook his head emphatically.
	“Come on now,” said Nishan. “Show me your warrior’s spirit!”
	“I didn’t become an Imperial Agent to be a warrior,” lamented Min, cautiously following in Nishan’s slow footsteps, eyes intent on any hint of movement in the darkness beyond the lamplight’s reach. “To explore and reach out to primitive cultures. That’s why I came.”
	“And that’s what we’re doing. Exploring. Whoah there.” Nishan held up a hand. The sound was louder now. “A whimper. Hear it? It’s definitely a whimper.”
	“Let’s go back.”
	“Ho!” cried Nishan. “Who’s there?”
	Silence for a moment. Then, like a chorus, a dozen voices screaming at once. Min dropped his sword and leaped backwards. He turned to run, but Nishan grabbed at his jacket and yanked him back.
	“Get ahold of yourself man!” He dragged Min to his side, holding tight to his lapel. “Pick up your sword! Come on, I think it opens out here. Look, the walls are widening.”
	“B-but the screams.”
	“Some poor souls trapped down here I imagine. Sailors. Explorers, like ourselves. They might even be our countrymen. It’s our duty to rescue them!” Nishan eyed Min’s skeptical, fearful expression, and scowled. “Don’t you dare be thinking any superstitious nonsense! Raise your sword and forwards now!”
	Together, sword points aimed forwards, they crept into the wider darkness of a larger room. The voices had faded to whimpers, all around them now. Nishan turned the valve on the lantern and light blossomed out to fill the room, washing away the black shadows.
	The hall was a dark void without the worms to light it. Sections of the stonework at one end had tumbled in as twisted tangles of roots had invaded through the earth above. Nishan held his expression firm as he turned a slow circle. His foot nudged something on the floor, and he glanced down. A skeleton lay on the stone, withered to bone and dust. A cracked and decayed leather strap lay across the ribs and a leather satchel lay on the stone nearby, little more than fragments held together by crumbling twine. Within the scraps, gold glinted.
	Min suddenly screamed. Nishan wheeled about, but it was too late to catch him. He had sprinted into the tunnel, and his cries echoed as he raced all the way back out to the sunlight.
	“Mmmmngh!”
	It was a cry, a single voice, coming from the wall. Nishan took careful, hesitant steps, stepping over the skeleton.
	A pair of eyes stared back at him from the dim darkness of a niche in the wall. He stepped closer. They were set in a stone head, seemingly carved from the rock of the wall itself. They glistened like jewels, almost alive.
	Then, they blinked.
	Nishan stepped backwards. He nearly dropped the lantern. He spun around, then ran a few steps along the wall. Arms, legs, torsos, more heads. All statues, surely? But more eyes moved, and tongues glistened and wriggled in open mouths. And then the cries started up again, as the stone heads each screamed wordlessly at him. Then a rustling, like leaves blowing in an angry storm. From the tumbled stone at the end of the hall came a wave of red. A multitude of beetles, gleaming in his lamplight, came pouring forth to spread across the floor...and towards him.
	He turned and ran. He leaped over the skeleton, his foot catching a thigh bone and splintering it to dusty fragments. He skidded to a stop, leaped back, and snatched up the leather satchel. He saw only a glimpse of the gold within, before the beetles reached him. He jumped away, clutching the satchel to his chest and stuffing it into his jacket, swiping uselessly with his sword and the lantern.
	“Get lost!” he shouted. The beetles continued to rush towards him. They reached his boots. He stomped, hearing a dozen of them crush beneath his sole, but still more scuttled into the gap. He turned and fled, running as fast as he could down the long tunnel. The hiss of the beetles and the anguished cries of the heads faded. Soon, he was out into the sunlight. He doubled up, gasping. He dropped the sword and the lantern, which flickered and went out. Min was on the beach, in hot discussion with the crew, gesticulating wildly. He looked back to see Nishan and rushed over. Nishan waved him away and called to the crew, speaking between gasps of breath.
	“Fetch some blasting powder!” He sat down onto a clump of roots and glanced uneasily back into the darkness.
	“I’m so sorry,” began Min. Nishan waved away the apology.
	“It’s forgotten, don’t worry.”
	“What in hell were those things?” said Min, staring uneasily into the black tunnel.
	“I don’t know. But whatever they were, we won’t have to worry about them.” A crewmember ran up, carrying a small barrel and a flint and tinder. Nishan took them both. “We’re going to blast this tunnel closed. Whatever those things are, they’re best staying right where they are.”

The sharks heard the blast, and felt the rush of hot air and choking dust. Then silence and peace once more, aside from the endless hiss off the swarming beetles, and the endless torment of their squirming, wiggling legs and bodies on their helpless, aching, ever-sensitive genitalia.

The Ludan’s Pride sailed the next morning, her hold crammed with fresh-cut logs, leaving a scarred section of the island’s forest stripped and bare in her wake. Her smoking funnel left black smears across the sky as she noisily laboured her way across the windless waters to the horizon. Soon, there was little evidence that she had ever visited this obscure little island.
	In the privacy of his cabin, Imperial Agent Nishan opened up the decayed satchel and inspected the gold fragments within. He lifted each in turn, admiring the brilliant shine of the gold, feeling the smooth edges, and making notes in his ledger. The parts seem as if they are broken from a whole, he wrote, but with smooth edges as if they were cut, not broken. It’s almost like a puzzle toy, as if the pieces were designed to fit together and break apart. I will experiment to see if I can discover what the whole form was. An amusing distraction, perhaps, while we traverse the Southern sea. And perhaps the intact whole might be worth more than the gold alone…

The white flash stunned Paok, Bruna and Aelock, and for hours they lay motionless while their minds recovered. The familiar sounds of their ever-present companions were different now; the moans were confused, questioning, almost ignoring the constant torment that normally made them whimper and cry.
	From above there was a light, faint and white. It shone down through a crack in the ceiling, where the blast had shook loose some stonework and opened up a fault up to the surface. Paok was the first to speak. A groan, at first, then a whisper like dust.
	“The moon.”
	The other sharks were stunned into silence. Bruna and Aelock lifted their heads. Then, almost in the same moment, all three burst into tears.
	Some hours later, once their minds had settled to a shaky, but stable, state, they sat and inspected themselves in the moonlight. They basked in the dazzling elation of being able to move. Paok and Bruna had arms and legs, and had their heads on either side. Aelock’s head was in the middle. He had the tail and the body. And all three, too their immense relief, had their genitalia, the two cocks flanking the slit.
	“How long?” croaked Aelock.
	“Years,” said Paok, staring at the skeleton. “Decades. Centuries. Thousands of years? How can we know?”
	Bruna’s voice was barely a whisper. “Two hundred and fifty three years, six months, nine days.”
	The other two stared at him. He had his eyes closed. His hand was moving towards his cock.
	“How did you…”
	“The bugs got more energetic like regular. Every night, or every day. I counted. It kept me sane,” he whispered. “I could tell the seasons by how long they spent being energetic. Today...today is in the middle of summer.” His voice was cracking, shaky. His fingers clumsily closed around his shaft and just held there, unmoving. He started to cry.
	“Bruna,” breathed Aelock.
	“So long,” he cried. “I don’t even remember what it feels like to...to get relief. I’m scared.”
	Paok reached over, gently prising Bruna’s fingers away and taking their place. “Let me, brother,” he breathed. “I remember.”
	Bruna’s hand quivered, held up in the air. He flexed his fingers, opening his eyes to stare at them. Then, as Paok’s hand began to move, to stroke his needy shaft, he reached down to gently stroke his fingers against Aelock’s slit.
	“Bruna,” whispered Aelock. He turned to stroke his muzzle against the larger shark. “I remember...everything from before. Why can I remember? It’s been so long.” He gasped breathlessly, and Bruna did the same. The brothers moved their fingers with more speed and confidence. “Oh Bruna...how could it be that long?”
	Bruna parted his lips, but could not reply. Instead, Aelock’s mouth pressed against his. Their tongues met. They moaned into the kiss and spasmed together as, mere moments later, orgasm washed through them. Their shared body reeled under the sensation, and Paok’s cry of bliss came to their ears as, without a single touch, his cock too hit the peak, joining his brother in drenching their body with seed.
	Gasping, breathless and weak, the three slumped limp on the bare stone, eyes closed, while around them and ignored the other sharks began to whimper and moan anew.

The sun was streaming through the crack in the ceiling when they awoke.
	“What will we do about them?” said Aelock. It was the unspoken question that had been haunting them while they searched the room, stumbling and staggering on unfamiliar legs in an unfamiliar body. The eyes of the other sharks watched them with every moment.
	“Rescue them,” said Paok. “Can we break the stuff on them?”
	“You two will have to try. I don’t have arms.”
	Fingers did nothing. The solidified goo was as strong as stone.
	“Let’s try a rock,” said Aelock.
	Bruna and Paok each grabbed a fragment of rock the size of a fist. They picked out a body part, a leg, lifted both hands and, with a yell, brought them smashing down against it.
	“Ah fuck,” yelled Bruna, dropping the rock. He sucked at his thumb. Paok sighed and dropped his stone. The goo cast was undamaged. It wasn’t even scratched.
	“This stuff has had centuries to harden,” said Paok. “I don’t think we’re going to break it.”
	“How are we going to get them out, then?” Aelock looked over at the nearest head. “We’ll get you out, I promise!”
	“Don’t promise,” whispered Paok. “We don’t know how.”
	“Maybe we can find their statues?”
	“We don’t know if they have statues.”
	“Don’t you remember his bag?”
	“What?”
	Aelock nodded over to the skeleton. “Turn us around.” Awkwardly, they teetered round. “Do you remember him?”
	“Oh yes,” growled Paok.
	“He had that bag. He had our statue in it, all broken up. And I think he had all of theirs in there too.”
	“What makes you think that?”
	“Because when he showed us those pieces...I could swear that there were more pieces than our statue had.”
	“But those furred men in those big coats took the bag,” said Bruna. “How could we-”
	A flash and a crack. Then another, and another. And around them, in the dim light as the spots left their eyes, six sharks stood for a moment, before each crashed limp to the ground. The beetles in their pit seemed to hiss in fury at the loss of their toys, then quietened down almost to silence.
	“Oh…”

The blue-skinned shark sat huddled against the wall, staring uneasily at the five white-skinned sharks clustered at the far end of the hall. All six were naturally formed, without the body mixing that the brothers and Aelock suffered.
	“My name is Clani Draemund Rodia Noe,” said the blue-skinned shark. His speech was recognisable, but heavily accented.
	“You’re from the Pan Dynasty?”
	“Yes.” Clani was staring at his hand, flexing his fingers. He glanced over at the white sharks. He pulled himself to sit more upright against the wall and started to search the floor. “I was sailing to Markaena port and stopped here for water.” His fingers found a rock and he hefted it, checking the weight.
	Bruna turned to whisper in Paok’s ear. “Have you ever heard of the Pan Dynasty?”
	“Yes,” whispered Paok. “It got wiped out three hundred years ago.” He paused. “Four hundred and fifty now.”
	“Oh,” gasped Aelock, overhearing. “That’s awful. Should we tell him?”
	“No!”
	Clani pulled himself to his feet. Like the white-skinned sharks he was sporting an erection that had been constant since he reassembled. And, like the white-skinned sharks, he was ignoring it. He stared at the white-skins, and they stared back. Like Clani, they were arming themselves with rocks.
	“What’s going on?” said Aelock.
	“Bruna,” said Paok. “Walk backwards with me. Ready?” Together, they co-ordinated their steps, wobbling backwards towards the wall and feeling their way into the dark entrance to the tunnel. “We need to get out of here.”
	“Why? What’s the matter?”
	“The Pan Dynasty used slaves,” said Paok. “Turn with me Bruna.” They swung round to face the tunnel and hurried along it as fast as their wobbling gait could manage, risking tripping to the floor at any moment. “Specifically, they captured and enslaved white-skinned sharks from the Great Archipelago.”
	“Oh,” said Aelock. He looked back over his shoulder. There were shouts now coming from the hall. “Do you think…”
	“Yes, I think! Bruna, I think we need to run!”
	They reached the broken rubble blocking the entrance just as the thuds and screams from the hall started. There was a glimmer of sunlight showing between a few fallen stones at the ceiling.
	“This is hopeless,” said Aelock.
	“It’s the only chance we’ve got,” said Paok. “There aren’t any other ways out of there!” He grunted as he and Bruna pulled at a stone and dislodged it, rolling it down the heap. “Keep digging!”
	They heard voices behind them, at the far end of the tunnel, but getting closer. Their language was alien to them, and the voices sounded angry.
	“Guys,” whimpered Aelock. “They’re coming!”
	“Stop,” said Paok. He dropped the stone he and Bruna were lifting. “This is no use. Grab a stone each. We’ll fight them off.”
	“Five of them?” said Bruna.
	“If we have to.”
	They appeared from the black shadows, five white bodies with gleaming red eyes. Each carried a rock, and three of them were splashed with blood. All five still carried erections, dripping precum from their tips. Aelock stifled a whimper, while Paok and Bruna growled and brandished their rocks above their heads. The tallest of the white sharks stepped fowards from the group, his hands up. The bloodied rock toppled from his hand and dropped with a thud onto the floor.
	“Palen drun gu fima do?”
	“We don’t speak your language,” said Paok.
	The white shark stared at them. He frowned for a moment. “You...Gruggun?”
	“Gruggun?” Paok said. “Oh. Gruggen, yes!”
	“What’s Gruggen?” said Aelock.
	“You know the ancient tribes you learned about at school,” whispered Paok.
	“Yes?”
	“That’s what ours was called, centuries ago.”
	The tallest white shark turned to the others, speaking rapidly in their language. The other four dropped their stones. He turned back, smiling.
	“You…” He frowned, licking his lips, in thought. “Drimma cun fuff.” He pointed to his cock and, with a leer that could be understood in any language, pointed to them.
	“I think,” said Paok, very carefully, forcing a smile, “they want to be friends…”
	“Oh joy,” said Aelock flatly. As one, all five white sharks advanced on them. Paok and Bruna lowered their arms. Five pairs of hands gripped them on the shoulders and arms and guided them back along the tunnel.
	“What are they doing?” hissed Bruna.
	“I don’t know,” whispered Paok. “But if they’re not going to kill us, that’s a good thing. I think if we make friends, we can work together and get out of-”
	The wind was knocked from them as they were pushed forwards, their legs gently, but firmly, kicked out from under them. The white sharks caught them before they hit the stone, then rolled them onto their back. Four of the sharks crouched around them, each one holding a wrist and ankle down against the floor. The fifth, the tallest and seemingly the leader, stood over them, his hand on his cock, rolling his thumb through the precum on the tip. They were back in the hall, and at the far end they could see the pulped remains of the deceased slave trader.
	“Much time,” he said, the words mispronounced almost into nonsense. “Much much time time.”
	“Don’t let him,” cried Aelock.
	“There isn’t much we can do,” hissed Bruna.
	The shark lowered himself onto his knees between their spread-eagled legs. Aelock stared up into his red eyes, then whimpered and turned away, burying his head against Bruna’s cheek. The white shark spoke more of the alien language, his voice quiet but unmistakably threatening. Then, planting his hands either side of their chest and looming over them, he sunk his cock deep into Aelock’s sex with one powerful thrust.
	“Ahh!” hissed Aelock.
	“Does it hurt?” said Bruna.
	“No…” Aelock whimpered, pressing harder against Bruna. He bit his lip to muffle a cry of unwelcome pleasure. The tall shark spoke to the others, who laughed in response. Aelock’s slit squeezed, wet and tight, as the tall shark started to thrust. Each movement made Aelock whimper and gasp. Bruna whispered comforting reassurances. Paok bit his lip and looked away to the side, at nothing.
	“Wait,” said Paok, snapping his head back. “Stop! Hey, you! Yeah, look at me!”
	The shark lifted his head, but didn’t stop thrusting. He barked out a question.
	Paok tugged at the grip on his arm. He tried to point, but they weren’t noticing. He sighed, then opened his mouth wide and wiggled his tongue, then closed his mouth and pressed his tongue into his cheek, making it bulge out. He raised his eyebrow.
	The tall shark stared...then burst into howls of laughter. He spoke again to the four other sharks, who let go of their limbs. Between the five of them they pulled the three up, still impaled on the tall shark’s cock.
	“Is this such a good idea?” hissed Bruna.
	“No,” said Paok. “But it’s not fair to let Aelock take it all. Who has our tail?”
	“I have,” said Bruna.
	“Lift it.”
	“But…”
	“Lift it!”
	Three of the sharks stood behind their kneeling leader and gripped a head each. Paok, Aelock and Bruna found their muzzles guided towards three dripping, eager cocks that hadn’t felt release in hundreds of years. The fifth shark circled around and knelt behind them. His hands gripped their thighs, and the head of his cock pressed against their tailhole.
	“Ah!” hissed Bruna. “I’ve got that part.”
	“So do I,” said Paok, voice trembling. “Looks like we’ll both be feeling that.”
	The hands on their heads gripped harder. Obediently, they opened their mouths and had them filled. Paok and Bruna struggled, especially as their sharks thrust hard into their throats, with no thought for their comfort, no mercy. Aelock, though...his eyes closed and his cheeks flushed and his throat took the thrusting cock almost eagerly. Between the five sharks the three trembled and sweated, getting dripped on with precum, cocks thrusting into every hole they had. Despite themselves, Bruna and Paok found themselves getting hard.
	“Mmmph!” It was Paok, his eyes clenched shut. The shark behind them had thrust into their rear, hilting in one swift, merciless movement. Paok’s arm shot up, gripping the thigh of the shark who was fucking his muzzle. In response, the shark smacked the side of Paok’s head and gripped tighter.
	“Much time,” breathed the tall shark. He lay back on the floor, his head between the feet of the shark that fucked Aelock’s mouth. His hips drove upwards, ramming his cock into Aelock’s slit, bouncing their whole body on him. His fingers dug into their thighs, and Bruna and Paok each hissed at the pain. Paok’s teeth grazed against the shaft in his mouth, and he received another smack to the head.
	“Bala coaw!”
	Paok glared up, tears in his eyes, his forehead stinging from the hit.
	Slowly, after what seemed like a lifetime for the three, the white sharks seemed to approach their release. Their breathing became panting. The sheen of sweat on their smooth, pearly skin began to run in rivulets and drip off them. The cocks flared in their mouths, and deep in their rear and Aelock’s sex. The three clenched their eyes shut, bracing themselves, waiting for the end of the humiliation.

Imperial Agent Nishan sat at his desk in his cabin, staring at the seven golden statues arrayed in front of him. He drummed his fingers, then picked up his ink stick.
	The larger statue is a rarity. A triple-headed shark god of some kind, seemingly part of the heritage of shark tribes that once populated these islands. I intend to submit it for consideration to the Imperial Museum of Antiquities. The nature of the statue’s ability to reform without any seams, however, I think I may keep secret. Any suggestion that the item is cursed might invite accusations of heresy.
	As for the other six statues, their fate will have to be different. They are a direct affront to modern sensibilities. The oversized genetalia, though exquisitely formed and no doubt of considerable historical interest, serve only to doom these relics to confiscation in the sealed vaults. Such a result would incur no finder’s reward, nor praise or glory.
	However, if they were to be fragmented once more and melted down, the gold itself would be worth a considerable sum. To that end, I have borrowed a small hammer from the ship’s joiner.

Aelock gasped and opened his eyes. The cock in his mouth slid out and fell to the floor. His head and the heads of the twins were hit by falling body parts. An arm bounced off of their shoulder. A head, dazed and screaming, cracked against Paok’s skull and made him bite down on the cock that was sliding free from his mouth. Another shark’s head howled in agony.
	“What happened?” said Bruna, spitting out a mouthful of precum.
	“Their statues…” Paok licked blood from his teeth. He blinked repeatedly, feeling dizzy. Around them, white body parts from five sharks lay in a squirming heap, arms and legs blindly groping, heads buried and babbling frantically in their foreign language. “They must have been broken up again.”
	“Quickly,” said Aelock. “Before they get put back together again! We’ve got to make them safe.”
	“How?”
	“Tie them up or something!”
	“We don’t have rope.”
	“The vines over there maybe? I don’t know!” One of the heads rolled free from the pile. It glared up at them, spitting angry curses.
	“I’ve got an idea,” said Bruna. He was looking over at the dias, where the rusted grate was still visible amongst the tangle of roots. The other two looked over...and grinned.
It took a while to pull the roots clear and pull up the stubborn rusty grate, then even longer to heave each part into the pit. The sharks tried to plead with them in their language. Some even managed a few pitiful words that the three could understand. But one by one they fell screaming into the mass of beetles, to be swallowed up in their crawling, heaving embrace.
	Finally, with the room cleared, Paok and Bruna lowered the grate.
	“What about him?” said Aelock, nodding to the dead blue shark. Like the others, he had separated out into his component parts. But as he had been pretty thoroughly dismembered already by the white sharks, the result was messy.
	“He can be food if we need it.”
	“Ugh!” cried Aelock. “That’s awful!”
	“Only if we need it. And we might, if we can’t get those rocks out of the tunnel soon.”
	Aelock stared uneasily at the corpse. “We’d better get started then.”
	
“Three days!” moaned Aelock.
	“I know,” sighed Bruna.
	“Three days!”
	“Why are you complaining?” snapped Paok. “You weren’t doing any of the work.”
	“It was tiring watching you two! And I’m hungry!”
	“We all are.” Paok closed his eyes and laid his head back onto the grass. The sun shone hot onto his skin. “But we’re out now. And we didn’t have to eat the-”
	“Ugh, don’t even say it! The smell. I can still smell it now! Are dead bodies meant to smell like that?”
	Bruna laughed. “Yes, Aelock. They are. Do you want some more berries?”
	Aelock opened his mouth and, dutifully, Bruna scooped a handful into it. “Fank oo.”
	“At some point we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do.”
	“We’re already doing it,” said Bruna. “We’re relaxing in the sun and eating berries.”
	“No, I mean...longer term. Get off the island, find our statue, get ourselves fixed.”
	“Why?” Bruna spooned a handful of berries into his mouth. “Even if we find the statue, we’re a freak until we do, and nobody’s going to help us. Hell, they’ll put us in a circus. And it’s been hundreds of years-”
	“You think.”
	“I know! And who knows what our home will be like now? We might not even recognise it. And those men who have our statue, did either of you recognise their clothes? Their species even?”
	Aelock shook his head, mouth stuffed with berries, purple juice dribbling down his chin. Bruna chuckled, leaning over and licking it clean. Paok rolled his eyes.
	“The way I see it,” continued Bruna, “we’ve got everything we need here. It’s warm, there’s plenty of food, it’s private, and nobody’s going to bother us. Not often at least anyway.”
	“What if they break our statue?”
	“So what if they do? We’ll just lay in bits until it gets put together again. We’ve survived it before.”
	Aelock swallowed. “I don’t want to get teased by bugs for hundreds of years again!” He whimpered. “I missed you guys.”
	“Aww,” said Bruna. He licked Aelock’s cheek. “I missed you too. So did Paok. Didn’t you Paok?”
	“Bleh.”
	“That means he did.”
	Aelock grinned and licked Paok’s cheek.
	“And you don’t mind being in the middle, with no arms or legs,” said Bruna. “Don’t you Aelock?”
	“Nope! Not so long as you two look after me. Giving me food. Scratching my nose. Rubbing my-”
	“Yes alright,” said Paok. “So we stay here then. For now, anyway.” He looked over at the entrance to the tunnel, further along the slope. “Tomorrow we’ll re-seal that entrance.”
	“Why?”
	“In case those white sharks get put back together. In case they get out of the pit and try to come after us.”
	“That’s pretty mean,” said Aelock. “They’ll starve to death in there.”
	“Well, they’d better hope they stay in pieces, hadn’t they?”
	Aelock chewed on a fresh handful of berries from Bruna and said nothing.
	“What should we call this place,” said Bruna finally, after a long silence.
	“What place?”
	“Here. This island.”
	“Oh.” Paok stared up into the blue sky. Aelock munched noisily, wetly, on berries. “I don’t know. Home will do, I suppose. What do you think?”
	“Home sounds good to me. What about you, Aelock?”
	Aelock smiled, his mouth full, nodding.
	“Home it is then.” Bruna closed his eyes. Paok did the same. They rested their heads against Aelock’s, who swallowed, sighing happily.
	“Agreed,” he said, cheerfully. “More berries please!”

In the snow-sheeted capital of the Empire, within the Island Nations hall of the Imperial Museum of Antiquities, the golden idol stood within a glass case, gleaming bright and clean under the bright orange glow of the museum’s state of the art tungsten lights. The number plate in front of it corresponded to a sign on the wall next to it.
	Tribal artifact, circa 400. Unknown shark tribe. Possibly Unnun.
	Believed to be a representation of an unidentified shark deity. This idol was discovered by Imperial Regent Arum Nishan in the jungles of an unnamed Southern sea island. The site was said to have contained numerous stone artifacts, suggesting primitive settlement. None of these additional artifacts have been recovered.
	The idol superficially resembles those crafted by the Unnun tribes (see cabinet 39), both in appearance, pattern and material. Particular similarities of note are the multi-headed form common to religious artifacts of this era. Current theories suggest that a unified religion once united the various disparate tribes of the Unnun, before fragmenting and diversifying into their later descendants. Unnun lore predicts the rebirth of their great god Dicel, who will control the earth and the seas, once the chosen sacrifice “has been sundered from one into three”. Such legends suggest a brutality common to these primitive tribes, and an affinity for the number three, as seen in the idol.
	Of particular note is a small depression and ridged bump on the back of the idol at the base of the necks. This appears, superficially, to resemble the feature present on the clockwork “transform” toys popular with children in the modern day shark islands, which consist of a single monster shark that, when a button is pressed, springs apart into three figures by means of clockwork and springs.
	Whether such a mechanism exists in this idol has been ruled out by measurements confirming this idol is formed of solid gold. But the similarity of these features suggests, perhaps, a connection between the action of the toys and the lore of “one into three.”
	Catalogue number 4039292.

In the pit, the five sharks writhed in their bed of ever-moving beetles. Their cocks suffered the worst torments. Hundreds of beetles swarmed over them, their scratchy, tickly feet caressing the sensitive skin, their tiny mandibles rubbing at the sticky precum endlessly gushing from their tips. The sharks tried to fight, flexing their arms and their legs, trying to beat the beetles away. But whenever any of them came close to recovering their cocks, they discovered a new horror of the beetles.
	They could bite…
	Soon they learned that the burning pain of the beetles’ venom was not worth it. They lay still in the pile, suffering, always aching to orgasm. Sometimes they tried to speak to each other, or call out for help, but an open mouth was just an invitation for a swarm of beetles to force their way in, and when they pushed at them with their tongues or tried to bite, the beetles responded by biting down on the flesh inside their mouths.
And in the markets and banks of the Empire, newly-minted gold coins circulated, bearing the Empire’s canine visage. Nobody knew that the gold came from six golden idols, melted down at sea into nondescript bars. Nobody knew that they could never again be reformed into the right shapes to release the five from their torment.

And nobody knew that, on a tiny island in the remote sea, ignored by all but the occasional passing ship, three sharks in one body lived, happy and fulfilled, basking in the sun, swimming in the cool sea, and moaning in the night as their hands and their tongues shared their passions.