Pride and Compromise
by Tracker

Two shadows glided through the night. It was late in the seasons, and the nights were long. There was no moon to reveal them to the town below. Their gossamer wings made no noise. Twice, as they grew closer, they had been driven to ground, hiding from creatures that they had only heard of in legends. No words were spoken, their plans laid in several moons previous. Up ahead they spied the castle that the elves called Camelot. They started to descend towards its walls. Neither spoke of the doubt that they felt. Doubt that was strengthened by the rumors, doubt that came from the creatures that they had sighted. Suppose that the legends were true? They hoped they were wrong, as it meant the end of all they knew, if the legends were true. They flew on.

Memneth was uneasy. He had thought that he has seen something as he patrolled the skies northeast of Camelot. It was nothing more that a fleeting glimpse that he had caught out of the corner of his eye, yet, upon investigation, he had found nothing. He had reported it, none the less. Later there was another report from one of the Rocs that were patrolling closer to the castle. He debated telling his father or the king, his brother. The sky was dark as he turned back towards the south on the last leg of his patrol. He was deep in thought and quite uneasy. Finally, the thought, better safe than sorry.

~Father?~

There was a pause, then ~Yes son?~

Memneth chuckled to himself, father was probably busy with one of his ladies.

~I thought that I sighted something heading towards Camelot. Whatever it was, it was flying.~

~Did you report it?~

~Of course, father. Later though, one of the Rocs made a similar report.

~I will look into it.~

~Do you think that I should report it to the king?~

~I will take care of it, I was planning on dropping in on him anyway.~

~As you say, father.~

Memneth thought about it for a while. He was still uneasy. He finally contacted Yao Min.

Sean was playing with Kisselia. He had been teasing her with a light flogging for the last few hours and was just now finishing her with strong strokes from behind as she lay tied to a spanking bench. She was getting quite vocal. He had considered, before, gagging her, but he loved hearing her voice too much to do that. Besides, it primed the rest of the sisters as they attempted to sleep, further down the hall. It had been a month since he had been brought here, and he had set the locals on their collective ears. But the sisters were in heaven, to hear them talk. He had found that his dad had been correct, as usual, and had held off doing any of the locals, save one that had gone into heat. It had put him into a better perspective on what he faced and taught him quite a lot about his responsibilities, both in the throne room and the bedroom. He had never guessed that having slaves, as they basically were, was so much work. He had learned early of the responsibility and took it quite seriously. It was a labor of love. But it was also a lot of fun, especially at times like this.

“Kisselia?”

“Y… yes… ma… aster?”

He grinned as he stroked in deep.

“I love you.”

She screamed as he shot his load deep into her body.

Tracker lay next to the now exhausted Elerith and pondered what his son had told him. Things had been quiet for the last month and, to be truthful, he had hoped that it would stay that way. Since he had given the elves that were in school computers, things had gotten quite interesting. It had taken them less than a week to set up a network that shared all of their notes and ideas. Even though there were only two actual classes, there might as well have only been one. With the collaboration, the learning curve went up exponentially. He had started getting weekly updates and each time came away with a huge headache. Plans, of course, had changed again. They were wanting to hold off now until they found a direction to go in.

But that had no bearing on Memneth’s report. Something flying that was big enough to catch Memneth’s attention, yet not show up on the stone’s grid. Was it alien? He didn’t think so, as the stone, being the creator of the aliens, would be quite familiar with their signature. Oh well, so much for sleep. He rolled to his feet and dressed.

The Winds of Change

The figures in the shadows were horrified. The stories were true! They had just watched, from the parapet, as this man tortured a poor elf. Her screams still echoed in their ears as they watched her rape. They were so engrossed by the scene that neither noticed something huge and dark moving in the courtyard.

Sean was just starting to untie Kisselia when he detected movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun and froze as the figure raised a tube to its lips. Then he felt the dart strike home, as he cursed himself for freezing. One of the first lessons dad taught me, he thought as the world started to spin.

Yao Min watched in horror as one of the figures entered the king's room from the parapet. He was too late to stop that one, but the other...

Tracker veiled in just in time to hear a scream outside. It distracted him for a few seconds from the scene in front of him. His son was pounding away at a... girl(?) that was laying on two strips of stretch wrap. He was fucking her hard, like his life depended on it. He shook his head then focused. Those were wings!

Tia was amused, at first, as the spelled dart took hold of the man. He reacted predictably and it should be a matter of minutes before his power was drawn from him. Then he would be helpless before them. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. She turned to see two huge glowing eyes! She screamed and froze for several heartbeats, then turned and ran into the room.

Yao Min chuckled, the little one was running right into Tracker. He had felt him veil in a moment before.

Another figure darted into the room. Without thinking, Tracker froze it in mid-flight. Then he turned to look at it.

What the Hell is Going On?

Tracker

Walking over to the... fairy(?) I probed her mind. There was a maelstrom of thoughts mixed with panic and fear. She finally noticed my approach and the fear went up a notch. My son seemed to be enjoying himself so... wait, a spell? I probed deeper, then turned and froze my son. The position that he had her accomplice in, would prevent her escape.

~Tracker?~

~Yes?~

~I assume you have things under control?~

I chuckled to myself. ~I am not sure I would go that far.~

I felt a rumbling chuckle from Yao Min. ~I will keep watch out here, until we are sure, then.~

~Thanks, Let me know if we have any other visitors.~

~By your command.~

I decided to probe the one on the bed. Much the same reaction as the first, but overlaid with a sexual haze. She seemed shocked about something. Hmm, the spell was continuing to feed her power and she couldn't figure out why. I went deeper for more details, then laughed. The poor thing should be glad the I came when I did. It would seem that they expected to draw from Sean all of his power, assuming it was like theirs or the elves. They had no clue that Sean was tapped into the matrix. He probably would have fucked her to death.

"M... master?"

It would seem that Kisselia was waking up. "He is otherwise engaged at the moment."

"Milord?"

"Here, let me help you with that."

I decided to let Kisselia up so we could work through this together. It took only a few moments to release the straps and locks that held her in place. I assisted her to her feet, then she turned and gasped.

"Fairies? What... how did..."

"I was hoping that you could tell me."

She turned back to me, shock evident on her face. "I do not know, why..."

"There is no hostility between your people?"

"No, we have always been at peace. They even helped when... Oh, my..."

"Go on."

"When the men took over, they helped us..."

"I see... I think that we might have a misunderstanding here."

"There were a few, from a village close to theirs, that attended the celebration in you honor. But I do not understand, everyone was happy that you are here. They should have no reason..." She trailed off, looking confused.

"Well, other matters first, do you know of a spell that lets them draw all the power from the victim?"

"That is not the way of our magic."

"According to our guests mind, that is what they used. Something in a dart."

"There is a potion that is distilled... um... it is a stimulant for the sex drive..."

"I see, but why use sex?"

"I do not know."

"How long does this potion last?"

"A few hours, but spelled? I would have no guess."

I sighed.

~Sean, can you hear me?~

Ok, I feel like an idiot. I froze him. As he would so succinctly put it, duh! Well he is in no real danger... I released him, then turned to the other fairy. Her eyes were darting back and forth between the scene playing out on the bed and I, as I approached her. When I released her she almost fell over. She spun around as if she was going to run back outside then thought better of it and turned back to me. She started to bring up a blowgun and let out a little squeal as it crumpled into dust in her hands, the dart dropping to the floor. Her eyes followed the dart and she moved as if to grab it.

"I wouldn't do that, dear."

Suddenly, the fairy that was with my son let out a scream. The one in front of me jerked up and stared, as my son didn't lose a stroke. Then she slowly turned back to me.

"What are you?" She asked quietly.

"We are called sorcerers, where we come from, I believe that you call us masters here."

She fainted.

~Sean?~

~Uh, what? uh, uh, I... can't... stop... uh."

~What do you feel?~

~Got... got to... keep... going.~

The little fairy underneath him screamed again, her eyes were wide and she was drooling. I thought to ask her a question, but she looked to be beyond the capability of speech. I walked over to the one that had fainted and touched her temples, feeding her a little power.

"Wha..."

"You need to talk to me, for your friend's sake."

"Hum?"

Her eyes were starting to come back into focus.

"My son is tapping into the power of this planet, he will literally fuck your friend to death."

"Hmm? Fuck?"

I sighed. "Take. Alright?"

"B... But, that's... not..."

"Well take a look, sister. Does it look to you like he is even tired?"

The other fairy squealed, not having the energy for a full fledged scream.

"If we break them apart it should end the spell." She couldn't take her eyes from the two on the bed.

I walked over, grabbing my son's shoulders, I yanked. I felt a surge, a pulse in the power, then my son collapsed. I felt for a pulse and it was quite strong. So I fed him a little power and his eyes opened.

"You ok?"

"Uh, I'll live. What's with the overgrown mosquitos?"

"I don't know yet, but I think a few questions are in order."

I got up and went to the fairy that was drooling on the bed. The one on the floor gasped.

"Don't hurt her."

"I have no intention of it, my dear, quite the opposite."

I touched her and healed her, then sent her enough power to regain conscience.

"What happened?"

"I would say that you got in a little over your head."

Another!!?

Sean

I came back to reality with my dad looking down on me.

"You ok?"

Other than a slight hangover... "Uh, I'll live. What's with the overgrown mosquitos?"

Dad smiled. "I don't know yet, but I think a few questions are in order."

I sat up and suddenly realized that I was buck naked. Then it hit me, around here, who would notice? I suddenly heard one of the... fairies(?) shout.

"Don't hurt her."

"I have no intention of it, my dear, quite the opposite." My dad sounded amused.

He was standing over the one that I had been banging and I saw him reach down. I guess that he healed her.

"What happened?" The fairy asked as she half sat up.

Dad chuckled. "I would say that you got in a little over your head."

~Dad?~

~Yes?~

~What... um, how are we going to deal with this?~

Dad looked over at me and smiled.

~You are growing smarter every day... I am going to take them out into the antechamber. You two get dressed and join us. Then we are going to find out what this is all about.~

Dad beckoned to the two. "Ladies, if you would care to join me?"

They looked at each other. I could see confusion written all over their faces, but they followed dad out quite meekly. Dad was treating them like guests. I thought about it as I pulled up my pants. He must have a reason, so they get the full guest treatment, then.

~Kisselia.~

~Yes, master?~

~When we go out into the den, invite the...~

~Fairies, master?~

~Uh, yeah, god I will never get used to this world.~

~Your pardon master, but it looks as if you are having little difficulty to me.~

~Thanks, I think, anyway, offer them a shower when we get out there, It will give me time to talk with dad and make them a little more comfortable.~

Kisselia smiled. ~Very wise master. The fairies have never acted as this before. It should set them at ease.~

By this time we were dressed. Kisselia dropped in behind me as we entered the other room. Dad was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs by the fireplace. The fairies sat to his right on a loveseat. They both jumped a little when we entered. They looked nervous as hell.

"Would you care to refresh yourselves?" Kisselia asked with a curtsy.

The fairies looked at each other wide eyed. The one on the left spoke first.

"That would be lovely."

Dad looked up at me curiously.

~I figured it would give us a little time to talk, figure out what we are going to do about this.~ I answered his unasked question.

His eyebrows raised and he smiled.

Kisselia led them of into the adjoining bath. I was rather happy that he had shown me how to do the upgrades. It beat heating water over a wood fire. A few seconds later I heard a squeal.

~Kisselia?~

~They have not seen water coming from a wall before, master, they are quite amused.~

"So dad, what are we going to do?"

"The way that I see it, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere. That was why I suggested we talk before we do anything. I do have to admit, though, you out-thought me on this one."

"Huh?"

"This should relax them and show them we are not ogres. You are learning diplomacy well. No, from what Kisselia says, they have always been peaceful before, save one time."

"And that was?"

"When the original creators left, they left some mundanes here. It was one of the reasons for my warm reception when I got here. Apparently they were major trouble and, from what I have been told, it took a war to get rid of them. The fairies aided them apparently."

"So, do you think that they reacted because they thought we were mundane?"

Dad smiled. "I would guess something like that. If that is the case, they should know we are not, now."

"I hate to say it, but that sounds too simple. You know our luck never works like that."

"Why don't you have one of your ladies bring us up some brandy? I don't know if it works on fairies, but I know it loosens the tongues of mundanes." He said with a grin.

"It wouldn't hurt for us to relax a little either."

"Oh, I almost forgot..." ~Yao Min?~

~Sire?~

~I think we have things handled here, but have the air patrols doubled around the castle.~

~As you wish.~

"Do you think they sent more?"

"I don't know, if I was in their shoes, I would have backup."

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't think they are very war-like. Who ever heard of an attack by screwing?"

"Well, that spell was suppose to drain you of your power, what do you think would happen after that?"

"Good point."

"I would rather not take chances at this point. We will know more after we speak."

"You know, I think it might be a good idea to, um, impress them a little."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..."

I was interrupted by the door to the shower opening. Then I lost my train of thought completely. Everything had happened so fast before, that I never paid that much attention to our little guests. Both had light brown hair and a porcelain complexion. They were skinnier than the elves and slightly shorter. Not much of a chest to speak of, but their shoulders were broader. Probably because of the muscles for their wings. The effect was of children with broad shoulders and transparent capes. They were pretty, but it was a cute pretty, rather than a knockout pretty, like Kisselia.

"Um." Well that started things off right, I thought as I kicked myself mentally.

Kisselia smirked. "My I present Tia and Cearn."

My dad rose and half bowed. "I am called Michael and this is his royal highness, Sean."

I started to rise, but dad motioned for me not to. Someday, I will get the hang of this, I told myself.

The two fairies curtsied. "Your highness, Michael."

"Please be seated. Kisselia, have one of the sisters fetch us some brandy." ~Have them veil in, I want our guest to know that this isn't an act.~

"Yes, master." ~Avera.~

Both of our guest looked a little strangely at Kisselia, when she didn't move from her spot by my side.

~Yes, mistress?~

~Bring a flagon of brandy and five glasses to his highness' chambers. There are fairies here, do not act surprised.~

Damn, even Kisselia thinks farther ahead than I. A few moments later, Avera veiled in. The fairies came about a foot off of the couch.

"Your highness?" She offered me first glass, kneeling in front of me. Then she turned to Tia and Cearn.

"Miladies?"

They stared a her for a few seconds. "Thank thee."

Dad was next, then Kisselia. Avera then summoned a veil and left. The Fairies sipped the brandy and sighed.

"We get so little of this, such a rare treat." Tia explained.

"Well, after we recover from the last attack, we will be sure to send some your way." I figured it wouldn't hurt to suck up.

"But why would you do that, we attacked you?"

"Well, I assume that was a misunderstanding."

"No, according to the prophecy, you must die."

I choked. Not another damn... "Would you care to explain?"

"We were commanded here, because of the prophecy. I do not know what it says."

"Who would?" Dad asked and I felt him send out a probe as he asked it.

"That would be queen..." Cearn never finished.

There was a thump as another fairy suddenly joined us. The two on the couch stared wide eyed for a heartbeat then dropped to their knees. Hmm, I bet that is the queen. Dad don't screw around, I chuckled to myself.

"Wha... What is the meaning..." She stuttered to a stop as she surveyed her surroundings.

Dad stood up and bowed. "Queen Titialia, we regret any inconvenience, but welcome to Camelot. This is his highness, Sean. That is the reverend mother Kisselia." Both Tia and Cearn gasped at that. "And I am called Michael."

She nodded at the introduction. "I have heard of you, Michael. You have served the elves and us as well, by turning the attacks of the people of the sky."

Dad bowed again.

"I see that his highness is of the same metal." She continued. "That is a pity, for he must die."

"Kisselia! NO!" I shouted.

She had formed a fireball and was preparing to launch it, when I stopped her. Titialia turned even whiter than normal.

"Please, milady, forgive us. We have no choice."

I spoke up. "And why would that be?"

"Your highness, the prophecy states that the world as we know it, will end if you hold the throne."

Dad chuckled. I looked at him strangely.

"Is that the exact wording?" He asked.

"No, when next the throne of Camelot is held, there will come a change. It will be the end of things that are known."

Dad outright laughed. "Would you care for a shower?"

Show and Tell

Tracker

I watched several different looks around the room. Surprisingly, Tia and Cearn figured it out first. The look of shock... priceless. Sean was next followed by Kisselia. The only thing bothering me now, was where these damn prophecies were coming from and how many more would we have to deal with.

Titialia looked at me with a very puzzled expression. "What is a shower?"

Sean smiled at Kisselia. "Show her."

Then he looked at me. "It can't be that simple."

I laughed. "Probably not, but I think a tour of my castle, the school in particular will help. The very least it will do is buy us some 'wait and see' time."

Kisselia led Titialia off into the bath. A few seconds later there was a squeal, both Tia and Cearn grinned. They did not immediately return, so I figured that her highness was taking advantage of our hospitality. That could only help. Sean had kept most of the castle intact, so I figured the faced with the remodeling job that I did on mine, she would come to see what was meant by 'the end of things that are known'.

"Dad? Do you think this will work?"

"I hope so. I do not want any blood spilled over these fu... prophecies. Besides, you know as well as I, what would happen if they really made a point of it."

My son blanched and Tia and Cearn looked very uncomfortable. Kisselia returned and knelt before Sean.

"Master?"

"Yes, Kisselia?"

"I am so sorry." She was bowing with her face to the floor. Sean looked puzzled.

"Why pet?"

"I acted without your leave."

I watched as Sean pulled her up to face him. I smiled at the look on his face.

"You were acting to protect me. I see nothing wrong with that, as long as you listen when I stop you."

"But master!" She was almost in tears.

"But nothing. If she were a genuine threat, I would have sung praises to you. You acted as you did out of love."

Kisselia blushed. Tia and Cearn just stared at her.

"Um..." Tia looked very uncomfortable.

"Yes?" Sean looked up.

Tia turned bright red. This should be interesting.

"We saw... I mean... Um..."

"How long were you out there?" Sean asked with a slight smile.

"Um we saw... You beat her!"

Kisselia laughed. Tia looked at her in shock. "You thought..." Her voice trailed away into laughter.

Sean sighed. "How in the world do I explain this one?"

"Tia, Cearn, It wasn't a beating. It was likened to a game." Kisselia explained between giggles.

"You liked that?"

The two fairies looked lost. I was trying hard to stay out of this one.

Sean sighed. "Have Avera fetch another flagon and a glass for Titialia."

A few seconds later Avera appeared with the glass. She was in the middle of pouring it when Titialia came out of the bath. She glanced up and almost dropped the flagon. Then she recovered and knelt before Titialia and offered her the glass.

Titialia smiled. "It would do to avoid conflict just to keep the flow of this brandy to our lands."

"Would you like to see some of the other 'end of things that are known'?" I asked her.

"If they are as the shower, I would be quite interested."

Avera, seeing that her duty was done, summoned a veil and left. Titialia just stared at the spot where she had been.

~Elerith?~

~Yes, milord?~

~Have the girls put their capes on, I am about to bring home visitors.~

I had stolen the idea of the capes from my son. It let the girls have the freedom to wear what they normally did, next to nothing, and still be able to have a modicum of decency if guests arrived.

~Yes, milord. May I ask who?~

~Titialia and two of her people.~

~Queen Titialia?~

~Yep, we will be there very shortly, prepare for us.~

~Yes milord.~

~Sean, ask Titialia if she has had even meal yet.~

Sean turned to Titialia and parroted what I asked him.

"Not of yet."

"Then we can dine at dad's castle." Sean said absently.

"Dad? Michael is your father?"

"Yes."

She stared at us, comprehension dawning across her face.

"I handle management, dad handles defense... and teaching."

"Teaching?"

"He has started a school."

"What is a school?"

"Why don't we go look, it would be easier to show you." Turning to me. "Care to do the honors?"

I smiled and summoned a veil. The fairies looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. Finally they dropped in behind me, Sean and Kisselia bringing up the rear. I brought us out in the gathering hall. They looked around curiously. Then I led them across the hall, where a late dinner had been laid out. I smiled, the girls had acted quickly. Then I heard a gasp. Turning, I saw Tinimia gliding out of the kitchens with a tray of drinks.

"Did... did you... do that... to her?" Titialia was pale.

Tinimia laughed. "No your highnessss, it was my choice." She purred.

"Milord gives us freedom to be as we wish." She continued.

A moment later Elerith and Gavin came in. We sat down and chatted as we ate. It was a rather relaxing time, given the way that we first met. Gavin was in awe of Titialia at first, but after the antics of my son, he gradually loosened up. After we had finally finished, the girls had outdone themselves, I turned to Gavin.

"Is Elrod up and about? If so have him meet me in the classrooms."

"I will go check milord." He excused himself and left.

"Milady, if you would accompany me?"

The group followed me out into the hall. We walked about halfway down it and met Gavin and Elrod at the stairs. After introductions and Elrods tongue tied responses, we went down to the classrooms. Upon entering, Elrod went straight to one of the computers and fired it up. As he waited I started to explain.

"The world I come from has a lot of different things, such as the shower that you experienced, that could help and yes, change this world. Simply bringing them here would serve little purpose, unless the people are taught how they work and how to use them. What we have done, is taken a group of people that, for one reason or another, had no trade. They were first taught the language of my world, then given writings, information, on how things worked. These are the classes that you see here."

Elrod spoke up. "This thing that I am using here is called a computer. It is like a large book that can trade information with others of its kind. It can also be used to visualize, to see things, before they are made. This is called design, much like an artist makes a sketch before he paints a picture. But, it can also tell us if there is something wrong in the design."

Elrod sounded so different when he was in teaching mode. He had become a TA, a teachers assistant, not long after starting his classes. He had earned it. I watched as he pulled up a picture of a cart. He then zoomed in on the axle and exploded the drawing to show the new style bearings that they had just started to use on all of the carts around the castle. He was explaining as he went. When he finally wore down, I took the group on a tour of the castle, explaining everythings' purpose, including the gathering hall, and finished in my own room. I think the view from the windows impressed Titialia more than anything. We sat in a loose circle and talked. I had called Eschele for brandy when we first settled.

"So, where do you plan to take this, Michael?" Titialia asked.

"I want to improve the living standards of this world."

"This world? Don't you mean the elves?"

I felt Elerith stiffen beside me. I patted her leg.

"No, I mean whoever wants the information shall have it. I come from a world that hold secrets from each other and everyone suffers in the long run. I mean to make this information freely available. What you saw below was the first of what I would like to establish everywhere. If you are interested, send anyone you wish and we will include them. When they return, they in turn can teach others."

She smiled. "And this will be the end of things that are known. I understand now. We mistook change as destruction."

"To be honest, this is the second prophecy that has been worded to bring trouble. They seem worded to bring peoples uncertainty and fears to the forefront."

"Maybe they are a test for the teacher." She was smiling as she said it, but I had a chill go down my spine, none the less.

Reflections

Sean

I watched as dad led the fairies through a tour of the castle and listened as he and his people basically sold them a new age, with new ways. The fairy queen, Titialia, was far more open minded that we could have possibly hoped. But I sensed something was wrong when the color went out of dads face after the "test for the teacher" comment.

~Dad, what is bothering you?~

~Suppose this is a series of tests... or maybe trials. Something that was created to see how the resident master handled the trials that were thrown at him.~

~So?~

~Well, put it to you this way... what would mundanes do?~

Ouch. Well what would they do? For one, they probably wouldn't have survived the fairy attack. Strike that, the elves would have probably not been united. But... wow, going back to dad's first arrival... the paths diverged so radically that there was no way to tell where they would have been.

"Your highness, you are being awfully quiet."

I looked up at Titialia with a start. The way that her voice was toned, then the look in her eye... Woah!

"I was just considering your last remark, milady."

She batted her eyes. "Tis fair to think my words could have such impact on one such as yourself."

I looked up at dad and he had a smirk on his face. He had caught the hints as well.

"By your leave, I would request some time to talk with your ladies, if I may," she continued.

I looked at dad and he shrugged.

"Dad, why don't we have a brandy in the library."

He smiled. "Sounds like an excellent idea."

~Master?~

~Yes Kisselia?~

~What am I to do?~

~Just talk to her, if you have any doubts about what to say, call me.~

I was amused, to say the least. Kisselia was uncomfortable playing host to a queen. I had figured that with her previous position, nothing would intimidate her.

We walked for a while in silence. Each of us lost in our own thoughts.

"Dad? I think we need to find out about the rest of the other races. I mean, the stone probably already knows about the fairies attack, so it would be a reasonable line of inquiry now, wouldn't it?"

We had been hesitant before, because we were unsure how much of what was happening was programming and what was actually chance occurrences. We were trying to consolidate our positions and find out what we could, which wasn't much, before all hell broke loose.

"Well, I see no harm in it now." He sighed. "If this is the next step in whatever is going on, then maybe, we can get though this without much trouble."

I laughed. "I never took you for an optimist before."

"I am not. I am just tired of games and I want this all to be over."

"I don't blame you. Old men like you should be in retirement."

The next thing that I knew, I was on my back and dad was sitting on my chest, laughing.

"I got your old."

I couldn't help but laugh, myself. It was like old times, when we used to wrestle and mock fight. It reminded me that there were good times back then. True, dad actually trained me during a lot of these impromptu battles, but it was mostly fun. Dad seemed to reason that even the tough lessons could be eased with a bit of humor and play. He got to his feet and gave me a hand up.

"I miss that, sometimes." I reflected.

"As do I. I can't say that this world hasn't had its share of fun though."

"It would be nice if all of the outside bullshit would go away though." I agreed.

"Hmm, outside..."

"Thinking back to the prophecy?"

"Yes. You know, to us, everything has been outside. Or without."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. We are not fighting within ourselves. If we would have come here simply to take everything that we could, once the problems started..."

"The confusion, the frustration... Shit dad, it would have been hell for a mundane."

"Which asks the question, why?"

We were interrupted as Kisselia veiled in front of us.

I smiled. "Discussions over so soon?"

We had just reached the library. She had veil in front of us and was getting ready to knock, but at the sound of my voice, spun to face us. She was blushing.

"M... master... um back... to talk."

She looked really shook.

"Very well."

I opened a veil and we went back to dad's room.

Discussions

Tracker

Upon our return, I first noticed Elerith. She had the same blush as Kisselia and was visibly shaken. The three fairies sat on the loveseat looking composed, but there was a fire in Titialia's eyes. I couldn't help but wonder what was discussed.

Titialia rose. "Your highness, I have a few requests to make, if I may."

Sean stared at her. "Sure, go ahead."

"I would like for Tia to attend your... school."

"I see no problem with that. It will take her a while to get up to speed, but she should be finished by next season turn." I volunteered.

My son looked at me gratefully.

She continued. "I would like for you to have someone take Cearn back to our aerie and explain that the conflict is over."

What the... Why would she need for someone else to...

"Then I would like for you to show me what you were doing, when you were interrupted." She finished. "With me."

My son and I locked eyes. It was like a mirror reflecting shock.

"Um... Why..." My son stuttered.

Titialia smiled, her eyes half lidded. "I have talked with both Elerith and Kisselia. What they have described to me sounds very... appealing. You do not realize that I knew both of them before your arrival. They may be able to hide secrets in their words, but not in their actions. They love you both dearly, which, in Kisselia's case, I took to be impossible. My pardon reverend mother."

Kisselia smiled slightly. "No need, I know of what I was."

"That is my meaning, of what you were, I have known of no one who has changed to such a degree. It is good to see you have come to life."

"I hate to interrupt, but I do have a question."

I figured it would give my son some breathing room to get his proverbial shit together.

"Why was the darts that you used..."

"Why did they invoke lust? During a sexual act, the control of our powers is the weakest. That and we needed to maintain contact to draw it from you. The spell that was used is a legacy from the war of man, and we were unsure that it would work. The writings from that time are less than detailed. Tia had one version of the spell and failing that, Cearn had a stronger version."

I thought back to when Cearn had attempted to dart me, she was quite lucky that she didn't succeed.

"We didn't realize that your power wasn't as limited as ours. It was almost a fatal mistake for both of them. We know this now after hearing of your deeds with your "birthday presents".

I looked at Elerith and she shrugged.

"Also, Michael, to ask you a question, why did you share your powers with the sisters?"

"Because I love them."

Turning to Sean. "And you?"

"I feel the same. I am not as comfortable with this as my father, but I will do whatever it takes to make them happy."

"So it is so they can serve your needs better?" She had a half smile as she said this.

"No, actually it is for their own protection. One of the girls was injured while I was away and had to suffer until I could return to heal her. I would not have any of my girls suffer."

"Then why would you beat and rape the one closest to you?"

"Titialia!" Kisselia was livid.

"Kisselia, calm down. I think I know where this is going... I did it because she enjoyed it." Sean had his arms crossed in front of him, waiting for the bombshell that he knew was coming.

"Master, I explained as best I could..." Kisselia was visibly upset.

"Kisselia, calm down. She is making a point, I think."

Titialia smiled again. "No, your highness, Kisselia is making the point. Her passion and protectiveness is speaking volumes about you and your relationship. We have no compulsion to serve a master as they do. I simply wish to see what would make one such as her, change to such a degree."

"But, I..."

"He didn't..."

Sean and Kisselia had spoken at the same time. Suddenly, I had an uneasy feeling where this was going.

"Milord, Michael... prepared her... for his son's arrival." Elerith was decidedly uncomfortable about her words.

Titialia looked at me, then at Kisselia. "You didn't mention this?"

"I do not remember." She said meekly.

Titialia raised her eyebrows, looking first at Kisselia, then at me. "Then what was your part in the affair?"

Elerith turned white. It did not go unnoticed by Titialia. "I take it this is an uneasy subject for you."

"Yes, yes it is. I would rather not bring that memory back to life."

"Then you would not show me?" She batted her eyes.

She had no idea what she was requesting.

"I do not think that would be appropriate in your case. It was what my son did that bound him to her."

"I see... You have not done this with any of the others, then."

Elerith shuddered and looked slightly ill.

"I take that as a no. Then I surmise that you have a power that you do not feel... comfortable with."

"No, I do not."

Kisselia looked at me strangely for a few seconds. There was more than a trace of fear in her look.

I sighed. "I would never care to do that to anyone else, even if it did free her from her past."

To my surprise, Kisselia spoke. "Milord, I know not what you did, but I will never regret it. I would never have known the love of your son if you had not have taken such a route. I can see that it pains you, so please let it worry you not. I have never, in all of my youth, been half as happy as I have over the last moon."

She turned to Titialia. "Your highness, please, whatever this thing is, pains Michael greatly. Please do not draw him down this path. He has done too much for me and my people to be treated as such."

Titialia stared at us for a while. No one spoke.

"It would seem that you and your son are cut from the same cloth. You do not always feel comfortable about what you do for your charges, yet you do it for the greater good. You are both thoughtful, yet strong in your direction. I feel more comfort now in knowing just who sits in Camelot. And who is watching and guarding us."

She turned to Tia and Cearn. "Tia, learn well from them, for they have much to teach, in writings as well as deeds."

"Cearn, go back and tell the people that all is well and I will return soon."

Kisselia spoke. "I will take her back so that her words carry more weight."

She turned to Sean. "And I would know from you of this... bonding." She said with a smoky grin.

Bonding

Sean

I took a deep breath. To say that I was nervous as hell didn't begin to cover what I was feeling. I had been working my way through what dad called culture shock, from day one. But this, this was on the order of... Get a grip, Sean. She is just a horny fairy that just happens to be the queen of her people. Why should this seem unreal? I was on the verge of losing it. Another deep breath.

It was just a few minutes after I had veiled us home.

"Your highness?"

"Sean, milady." I said absently.

"Very well, Sean, you seem ill at ease."

Wow, wasn't that an understatement. "Um, yes..."

She giggled. "Well, then, what would you do if I was Kisselia?"

I walked to the cupboard and poured us some brandy. Basically, stalling for time. It wasn't that she was unattractive, no it was quite the opposite. That and she just happened to be the queen of her people. And just tried to have me killed. And, to tell the true, I still wasn't that comfortable around women. Fairy or not.

"You are not of noble birth, where you come from."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"No."

"Ah, I think I see. Then let me show you the difference between commoner and royalty."

I turned, she had dropped the shift that she was wearing, that all of them wore. Basically a thin gauzy wrap. It hadn't covered that much before. She looked childlike. Thin, yet strong. Probably from flying. But undoubtably a woman. She was posing for me, one hip in front of the other, her tiny breasts thrust forward. Well tiny, comparatively speaking. I suppose proportionally they would be a B-cup.

"See, all of the holes are in the same place."

I couldn't help but laugh. I pulled off my shirt.

"And that looks much as our males..." She said with a giggle.

I undid my belt.

"And I bet that... Oh, my... Uh... big..."

Bet you can't tell when my pants hit the floor. Well, it would seem that we are on even ground now. Her eyes were huge and her mouth hung open. She couldn't seem to take her eyes away from it.

"Um, would you like to get used to it, or just get what I gave Kisselia the first night?"

She looked up, unsure, then I think her pride got the better of her. "Show me what you did. I would know it all." She said quietly.

Oh... Kay... Another deep breath. I slowly walked over to her and took her by her arm. I lead her into the bedroom and pushed her over the foot board. Her feet weren't touching the ground. She looked over her shoulder with frightened eyes. I held her to the bed, placing one hand between her wings, then I ran my other between her legs. She was soaked.

Just like Kisselia, huh? Ok, I pulled back and guided myself into her. Her back arched and she gasped as I penetrated her outer folds. I pulled back a little and then pushed back in harder. At this point, I wasn't sure I was going to fit. She squirmed and tried to rise, I pushed her back down. She whimpered. I pulled back again and the stroked in another inch or so. She shrieked this time. Her body went rigid and her legs were straight out to either side of me. The next stroke had me in about half way. She was clawing the bed and her wings started to vibrate, kind of like a humming bird. I could feel the breeze in my face. Surreal. Next stroke gained me another inch or so, the next, I was almost there. Her whole body was vibrating in sync with her wings. I pulled back almost all the way out then pushed it home. The breeze turned into a gale. She locked up tight and screamed. It was about two octaves higher than the elves were capable of and it pierced into my ears like an icepick. Then she went limp. And quiet, thankfully.

I pulled the kneeling bench, I knew what it was now, out from under the bed. It was a matter of moments to strap her to it. It was still surreal. Her wings were still straight out from her body and looked to be half again her height from wingtip to wingtip. I touched them, testing their texture. They felt like transparent leather. I could see the veins running through them. The tops were like bone, but slightly flexible. I could even see the cords of her muscles running along them. I shook my head and stood up. Well, first things first. I went to the cabinet and found her a nice ball gag.

She awoke to a flogger warming her legs and ass. I was going light with the strokes to warm her up. Over the last month, I had learned much with Kisselia. I took my time and gradually warmed her up to medium strokes. I wasn't going to go all out with her the first time, because it was new to her. I think. Anyway, after the initial shock wore off she started to really fight the bonds. Tears were streaming from her eyes and she had a muffled wail going. Her wings were going to town. Finally I knelt behind her and shoved myself home. Her wings froze in midstroke. I went after her with a will, her wings resumed vibrating and picked up speed. I could feel her starting to fuck back against me and suddenly the hurricane was back. I slammed home and the combined force of my stroke and her trying to take off, slid us into the wall. I caught us before her head hit, thankfully. Then she went limp again. I wondered how much she could take. I remained inside of her and kept an even stroke. It took her a few minutes to awaken and her wings started up right away. I was pushing myself as close as I could to the edge, but keeping the stroke slow to keep her from cumming again. When I was close, I pulled out and took the gag from her mouth, replacing it with my cock. She sucked on it like a vacuum cleaner. I started to stroke, moving about an inch either way and she lunged forward. Hmm. I tried going deeper and she kept meeting me. I knew that I was in the back of her throat now. So... keep going. I made it about half way down my cock, which must have put my a few inches into her throat, when I came. She didn't miss a beat, sucking me dry and trying to get me farther in. I let her keep nursing till I was hard again then pulled out and replaced her gag. Then I went back behind her and fucked her till she came and her wings stopped.

She awoke tied to my bed.

"Do you wish to continue?"

She pulled at her ropes. "There's more?" she whimpered.

"Oh, yes, much more."

"You did all of this... the first night?"

"This and more. I just don't know how comfortable you will be with the rest of it."

"Our males... There is no way..."

"If I continue, I will not stop again till it is over and I am not sure that you are prepared for what that means."

"Your meaning?"

"Well, there is one hole that hasn't been filled yet..."

"You wouldn't... would you?" Her voice quivered as she said it, sounding like a timid little girl.

"That is up to you."

Ball is in your court, lady. She stared at me for a while, wondering, I suppose, what she had gotten herself into. But I could see the curiosity getting to her. Her ass clenched a few times. She would open her mouth to speak, then close it again.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Your pardon?"

"Yes, yes, I would know it all."

So for the next few hours, I introduced her to nipple clips and demonstrated where a butt plug goes and how it feels to get fucked in the ass. She was awaked each time with a riding crop. By the time I was done she could barely move her wings. We relived all of the positions that I had inflicted upon Kisselia. Then she awoke the last time, and I was spooned up against her. It felt weird with the wings, but it was still nice.

"Milord... I never... Floating..."

"Sleep, milady, you are safe here."

I awoke with a breeze in my face and her riding up and down on my morning woody.

"Didn't you get enough of that last night?"

"Oh... my... never... enough..."

She rode me through another hurricane and collapsed on top of me, her wings still fluttering.

I could get used to diplomacy.

On the Spot

Tracker

"So what did you tell her?"

"She asked how we felt about you. One thing led to another... I guess we got carried away."

"Judging from her reaction, I can tell." I said with some amusement.

"Well, she certainly put Kisselia on the spot."

"How so?"

"She wanted the details on what had happened to her. What caused the changes. Then Tia cut in with what she had seen, well... The more we tried to explain, the more embarrassing it got."

"I wonder how she is going to react to her 'bonding'?"

Elerith chuckled. "Kisselia explained to me what his highness did to her that night. If he carries through, that is going to be one surprised fairy."

"In a good way I hope."

"Oh, in the best way." She giggled.

"You almost sound jealous."

"A little." She confessed. "You two are so much the same, yet again so different."

"Oh?"

"There is a part of you, milord, that holds back. Hesitates. I know that you do it out of concern for us, but we are not fragile, we won't break."

I had a thirty year flashback, almost the same lecture, word for word. I caught myself wondering what ever happened to Angel and Leah.

A World Away

A villa on the coast of Spain

A young looking woman sat in an overstuffed chair, staring at the fire in fireplace. There is a thump of displaced air.

"Learn anything?"

"No, other than a strange pattern to the signatures."

"How so?"

"Bondage equipment, clothes, shoes... at first I thought it was a coven with a penchant for bondage, but now..."

"Oh?"

"The after effects only show two or three people."

"Three people... opening a veil? They must be very powerful then."

"No, that's just it, it has only been one signature at each occurrence."

The woman in the chair just stared at her friend. Could it be?

"The other strange thing is that there is only one location each time. The exit point."

"Then where are they operating from?"

"I do not know, I would suggest that we keep monitoring, though."

"Well, I am going to head over to America. That one location was a larger occurrence than the others. It woke me out of a sound sleep."

"Well, I will stay up till you get back, and you can take over watch then."

"Very well." With that, the woman rose from her seat, her long black hair shone in the firelight. As she arose, there was a shimmer in the air before her. One step forward and she was gone. The woman with the long brown hair took her place before the fire.

Night Moves

An Elvish outpost town in the northern Territories

"Well, captain, now what do we do?"

"We go around."

"But that will take days!"

"Listen, these elves have done nothing to us. Besides, with their magic, do you really want to get into a tussle? We have a long road ahead of us, and if we tangle with every town, we will have a war on our hands. We may out-number them, but they are in a better position to fight than we are."

"If we take them, we could hold off any other attacks."

"Yes, and it would take years to beat them back. Then, we would have to breach the walls of Camelot, fighting the whole way to get there. I would rather not wade through the blood of innocents, thank you."

The lieutenant sighed. "Then let us put down, it is almost dawn. The land around us is open enough that we will see anyone, long before they see us."

"Good idea. Surprise is all we have going for us."

Overhead, unnoticed, a spot high in the sky circled slowly.

A New Day

Southwest Side of Indianapolis

The woman with the black hair appeared with a muted thump. She was beside a small double, in a neighborhood that probably used to be nice... About five or six decades ago. She let her senses carry her down the driveway to a detached garage. Behind the garage, there was a high fence surrounding a rather large factory. Nice. She 'opened' the lock on the door and stepped inside. The first thing to catch her eye was the black and chrome of a motorcycle. It drew her, closer, she spotted runes. It wasn't a Triumph, but that didn't mean...

~I found something.~

A second later there was another thump and her partner appeared.

The black haired woman was reaching out, as if to touch, but, hesitant, afraid of what she might discover.

"It couldn't be..." More a whisper than a statement.

"Let me."

The little brown haired woman took six quick strides and lay her hand down across one of the runes. A Norse rune of empowerment, if she remembered correctly. She slowly raised her eyes to her partner.

"It's his."

Yao Min / Camelot

~I will inform his highness immediately.~

It would seem that interesting times were about to befall. The report, from one of the far scouts, was of a large group camped outside of one of the outpost towns. The unusual activity of setting camp, a light one, at the approach of dawn, was not lost on the old lizard.

~Pardon, your highness, but it would seem that we have a situation.~

Sean / Camelot

~Any idea how many?~

~Not at this time. The village seems to be in no danger. They have set camp for the day, by all indications.~

~Dad?~

~I heard. What do you say to taking a flight of dragons up and making an impression on them.~

~Cool.~ Dad was letting me go? Wow!

Titialia was looking at me strangely. Hmm, I wonder if she would be interested?

"There is a problem up north at one of the villages. Want to tag along as an advisor?"

"Do you know of the problem?"

"Not much, we are going to take a flight of dragons up. It should keep things from getting out of hand."

"Dragons?"

Apparently she hadn't seen them yet. This could be interesting.

A Hunting We Will Go

Sean

I found out today, one of the advantages of having a power base that was controlled by only a few people. Between dad, Archimedes and me, we were prepared to move in a matter of hours instead of days. I also found out that Archimedes considered himself my ride. Who was I to argue? Titialia, after the initial shock, was all for joining us on our little trip. I still do not understand, though, how the women could concider a flying mountain, with very sharp teeth and claws, cute.

"We get to go on the black one?" She sounded like a little school girl on her first date.

"His name is Archimedes and yes, if you wish to accompany us, that is our ride."

Looking back to the ride from dad's castle to Camelot, I was rather looking forward to this trip. I veiled us to the back of Archimedes and spread out the blanket. That was when I realized that Titialia didn't have a coat. So I opened a veil back to my room and got her the new trench coat that I had gotten for a present, but had been too small for me to wear. It was split pretty far up the back, so I figured it wouldn't bother her wings too much. After a few minutes of jockeying around, and a little alteration with my pocket knife, she had a new coat.

Southwest Side of Indianapolis

"Did you..."

"Yes, it was fast, but I got a lock on it."

"Where?"

"Well, it isn't on this world..."

"Shall we?"

A few seconds later the garage was deserted again.

The Northern Territories

"All's quiet, sir."

"Very well. I don't expect any trouble, but keep a sharp eye anyway."

"Yes, sir."

"I will send your replacement as soon as I finish with the perimeter check."

Even though they weren't officially in 'hostile' territory yet, It would make good practice. At the rate they were progressing, it looked to be over a month before they would reach their goal. Moving that many men through a countryside without being detected would be difficult, if not impossible. The captain sighed. This was boring, but boring was preferable to...

The multiple blasts, as eight dragons appeared, knocked him on his ass. They were only twenty feet from the ground and less than a hundred yards out when they materialized. They had built up speed, before veiling, so by the time it registered in the captains mind what he had seen, they were already on the other side of the camp and turning back.

Tracker

~Get our air cover circling about fifty yards out. Do not attack, I want them as friends if possible.~

~Yes, milord.~

I watched as the six smaller dragons spaced out and started circling.

~Take us out to where we veiled in and put us on the ground, then wait. I will give them a few minutes to recover, then see how they react.~

~As you command.~

By the time we landed, the confusion was starting to die down. They had moved in towards the center of the camp in a tight cluster. I noticed that most of their weapons were still lying on the ground where they had dropped them. With what I knew of the history of this world, I doubted very seriously if they were seasoned troops. It didn't take very long at all for one of them to step forward to meet us. I let him get about half way.

~Sean, Titialia? Lets go greet our guest. I will go first.~

~K, dad. You lead.~

Trag, Dwarf Captain

"Stand down!" God, please don't let any of them do something stupid.

Two of the largest dragons had settled down well away from his force. Well, it might not be his force for much longer. To think that he had volunteered for this. The mines looked a whole lot better at this point. Then he noticed that there were riders on the two big ones! Well, we would already be dead if that were their wishes. He wondered to himself if he could actually summon the nerve to walk towards those... those... monsters. He was trying to tell himself that his eyes weren't seeing something that big, that was breathing. He found himself about ten yards from his men. He had no clue that his feet were moving. He couldn't look away from the black one's glowing red eyes.

"Captain? What are you doing?"

"Well, someone needs to talk with them."

"But..."

"We would already be with our maker, if it were their wishes." He shouted back over his shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a thump and three... what the... a fairy and... men? Appeared about fifty yards in front of him. Somehow he kept moving. He was hearing a loud banging. Then he realized that it was his heart. It seemed as if my magic, that he closed the distance. Then the lead... man... spoke up.

"I wager that you are here because of a prophesy."

His mind shut down.

Camelot

"I am glad that I checked first. But where are we?" The black haired woman spoke.

"Well, that over there looks like a small town and behind it looks like a castle."

"Smart ass. Somehow I don't think that we are in Kansas anymore. I still wonder why the entrance point was almost thirty feet in the air."

"Well, look down, what are those?"

"They look like... do you think there are dinosaurs here?"

"Something made those tracks. Have you noticed the energy here?"

"Yeah, strong." The black haired woman shook her head. "Do you think that this is a wild goose chase?"

"That was his bike, it had to be."

"Hey, signs of life... oh shit, that's an elf!"

Sean

Whoever the little guy was, I had to give it to him for having balls. I wasn't sure that I would even be able to walk, in the situation that he was in. I noticed as he approached, the he was a little taller than the elves. I thought that dwarves... well, might as well drop that line. I wasn't reading a book, I was living it. Suddenly, I felt a little lost. I caught myself before my feelings got away from me, but it shook me. Glancing at Titialia, I wondered how the people of this world looked at us?

~Master!!!~ Kisselia sounded panicked.

~Kisselia? What is it, what's wrong?~

~People... from your world... here... what do I do?~

I stood there in shock.

~What are they doing? Are they threatening you?~ I heard dad ask.

~No, milord, they are trying to talk, but I cannot understand them.~

~Can you get them somewhere safe, have them follow you?~

~Milord, Yao Min is here... I think he can speak with them... I will get back with you.~

I was numb. ~What do you make of that, dad?~

His look scared me. ~I don't know son, I don't know.~

Trag

What the... something strange was going on. The two men in front of me suddenly looked at each other real strange, like they were talking, but they weren't saying anything. They were just standing there. The taller one turned white, while the other one just looked... I don't know... but, I was glad that he wasn't looking at me like that. Then they suddenly turned to face me. The size of them struck home and I felt like I was shrinking into myself. I involuntarily took a step back. I found myself staring into the shorter one's eyes. There was a feeling, a feeling of raw power. Off to the left, I heard the fairy speak, but the words didn't register. She repeated herself and I turned to look at her. I had never seen her before, but I had been told, from the time I could understand the stories, who I was looking at. A feeling of awe came over me. Then my hearing suddenly came back to me.

"Are you well, sir?" Titialia's musical voice rang though me.

"Ahh..." What do you say to the Queen of the fairies?

She smiled and it was if the sun had come from behind a cloud.

"This is Sean, the king in Camelot..." She indicated the taller of the two men. "This is Michael, defender of the realm, and I am Titialia, of the fairies."

I could feel my mouth moving long before any sounds came out. "I... I am... I am Trag, um, Captain of... the Dwarve's strike force."

Suddenly he felt even smaller. A commoner in the midst of royalty.

The man called Michael smiled. "I am pleased to meet you, Trag. So tell me, has this anything to do with a prophecy?"

"How... how did... you know?"

He laughed. "Lets just say that this isn't our first encounter with them."

Then his eyes went blank again.

Tracker

~Milord?~

~Yes, El?~

~I am with Kisselia now. There are two people here from your world. It would seem that they are looking for someone.~

I sighed, not knowing if these people were dangerous, I couldn't dwell on this fiasco with the dwarves. Maybe we... no, hmm, send back a message, then drop in for a visit. That should give me a couple of months. Trag and his crew would probably forestall any hostile reactions just by relating what he had seen. Yes, It would buy time and let us figure out the best way to handle these reoccurring attacks.

~Elerith, why don't you find out if the Throne there in Camelot will give them our language. I am going to finish up here, we will be back shortly.~

~Then we will meet with you in the throne room.~

Strange, there was a feeling of excitement from El... It didn't feel fearful... Just... I shook my head and looked back at Trag, who was staring back at me. I could sense that he was very afraid and confused by the way we were acting.

"Trag, I would like for you to return to your home."

He jumped as I spoke. "I... I will do this." He took a deep breath. "You do know why we came..."

I smiled slightly. "I would guess to kill my son."

I watched as what little color his face held, drained.

"Trag, don't worry, this is not the first of these prophecies that we have faced and the problem usually lies in the interpretation. I do not hold your actions against you, as you were only trying to serve your people. Tell your leader that I and my son will be up to visit in a moons time."

"But... how will you know how to get there..."

"You just thought of where it is. We will land outside on the main gates to the mountain, a bowshot from the towers."

He was silent for a while. "You could destroy us..."

I sighed. "Why would I want to? There has been a misunderstanding and that is no reason to spill blood. Tell your leader that while we bring great changes with us, we mean no harm to anyone. Whether your people accept the changes is entirely up to you. We do not force anyone to be what they are not."

"But... but we meant to kill..."

I looked at Sean. "Your highness, that stone offends me."

Sean laughed. The stone that I had pointed to was as large as a car and about a quarter mile away. He didn't bother with his sword this time, he just formed a ball and projected it at the stone. It happened in the blink of an eye. I heard a scream from the dwarves camp and chuckled. When the dust cleared, the stone wasn't there.

"Would you like to try and kill him now?"

Sean

Poor guy. We stayed long enough for a couple of Trag's men to come and drag him back to the camp. He had fainted when the stone disappeared. Titialia was quiet as we mounted our dragons, but just before we took off, she turned to me.

"Milord, you could have..."

"No I couldn't. I am not a killer. Neither is dad, unless cornered. We are going out of our way to make sure no one gets hurt."

"I see... I am sorry, the stone... I feared for my people."

"Milady, there is no need. Yes, we could have got the location of your people when we had our little talk with Tia and Cearn. But we were just looking to end the problem, not just kill for the sake of killing. That is wrong. That is the way things tend to work where we come from and I, for one, do not miss that at all. As far as I am concerned, your world is as close to perfect as I could have ever imagined. We just wish to make things a little easier... for everyone."

By this time we were airborne. There was little or no time before the veils formed. It would seem that dad was in a hurry.

We had just cleared the veil when dad said; "Veil to the throne room now!"

I synchronized with him and we popped in right in front of the throne. The first thing that caught my eye was two women in jeans that were turning to look as we appeared. It seemed as if time slowed. The tall one had raven black hair down to her ass and looked almost like a fashion model. Except that models are usually less curvy than that. The other one was only a half a head taller than the elves, having chestnut brown hair that seemed to glow. Their hair was long and straight and seemed to ripple as they turned. Neither of them seemed to have an extra ounce on them that was unnecessary. They looked like a couple of athletes... now that I got a better look, rather top heavy athletes. Wow. Both wore white cotton peasant blouses. I could feel my tongue tying itself in a knot, before I even got a chance to speak.

Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I jumped and caught my dad as he fell.

Tracker

It took a few minutes for two of the dwarves to work up the courage to come retrieve their fallen comrade. But I doubted that any of the dwarves present would try anything with my son anytime soon. In this particular place, I figured a little fear was justified. I noticed that there were a few bows in their arsenal, and all it took was one lucky shot. Better if they had their minds on something other than shooting.

To be honest, I was chafing at the bit to get out of there. People from our world? How did they get here? What did they want? Damn, I wish those dwarves would hurry. My mind ran though several scenarios and none of them was pleasant. Damn it, things were going so smooth... well to a point, I guess. Somehow the thought of other humans scared me more than the thought of aliens with nukes.

We were airborne. It was taking forever for the veils to open. Deep breath hold it. Well, that didn't work. I felt the slight jolt as we cleared the veil.

"Veil to the throne room now!"

I felt it as my son locked on and we went through. Then I saw them. They were... turning... so elegant. Oh, my god...

The edges of my vision was grey, like I was staring down a tunnel.

Then the tunnel closed.

Sean

It didn't feel like dad weighed anything as I lowered him to the floor. What the hell had just happened? I didn't feel anything unusual in the power, dad just dropped. Suddenly there were shadows all around us and I looked up. Into two dark wells. Such beautiful eyes, her face framed by her raven hair... Wait... Dad had said...

"Who are you?" It sounded like my voice had came from someplace far away.

Off to my left I heard Kisselia. "Master, is he..."

I looked back down and noticed that dad was breathing evenly. "He will be fine, pet." I said softly.

Then I heard this deep rich voice. "You are much like your father, I see." Then a chuckle. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Leah and this is Angel."

I fell backwards onto my ass. I started crawling backwards.

"I see your father has told you about us." Angel giggled.

I caught myself and forced myself to calm down.

"Master, what is wrong? Elerith has shared your fathers memories of these ladies, and there is nothing that would..."

"It's just..." I shook my head. "It's just I was always afraid of the power... Dad used to tell stories and I tried not to believe... But I had to and it scared me... You two were always at the heart of these stories and I guess the fear never completely left."

Kisselia knelt down and snuggled in next to me. Elerith just grinned. Leah and Angel looked at each other then down at dad. I felt a tingle, then dad's body jolted and he sat up with a gasp.

Tracker

I felt a fire run though my veins, a familiar fire. I jerked up and drew in a gasp of air. My mind went back... Then I looked up. My god, so lovely, so real... was I dreaming? I felt myself sway as my mind tried to process what I was seeing. The world swam again then straightened. I could feel the blood roaring though my veins.

"Master?"

Angel, my god it was her. Her voice so musical, with a trace of mischief. How many times had that voice cried in passion for me? Off to her side stood... my mind was trying to shut down... yes it was, it is... Lily! I suddenly felt tears, hot on my face. My ice queen and my angel!

I don't know how long I sat there, just staring at them. My twin goddesses. Mine! They both smiled, sensing my thoughts. I could feel their love envelope me.

"My god, I love you both!" I croaked though the tears.

"Master, please forgive us, we could not locate you. We tried so hard. After... after we heard about Ann, we started to look for you... "

"Angel..."

"Please forgive us..."

"Angel! It was my fault."

There was a stunned silence.

"I... I couldn't... handle what had happened... what I had done. I wipe the minds of the ones that started that mess... Then... then I wiped my own... I couldn't handle... it." I drew a deep breath. "So I removed the memories of that time... I tried to become... a mundane."

"So we couldn't find you..." Lily's warm contralto sent ripples up my spine.

Followed by guilt. I hung my head.

"Yes, because I was running... I couldn't..."

"Master... Stop it!"

I looked up into Lily's eyes. There were tears there.

"Just stop it... we knew what you were facing, we were there. You did what you could... I can't imagine the shock... just... just stop it." Lily drew a breath.

"Master, you were in an impossible position... you couldn't know where we were." Angel continued. "We missed you so much, but we wouldn't give up. We knew that something had happened, yet we also knew, in our hearts that you were still alive."

"So you have been searching?" My voice sounded weak.

"We would never give up on our master." Lily's gentle smile said it all.

Sean

The party lasted days. The elves, far from being jealous, rejoiced at the reunion of dad and his witches. I think that meeting them broke whatever disbelief that I had harbored. I watched as the ongoing party swirled around the three, Elerith and the sisters guarding their privacy when needed. Kisselia was never far from my side either. I noticed that she drew much closer, if that was possible. I also noticed a bemused expression on her face as she watched the devotion of Lily and Angel, towards my dad.

Dad, for the most part, seemed to be in shock. He was joyous but detached. It was as if the entire universe had changed for him, and he didn’t know what to do about it. I caught him several times, just staring into space. When he would get like that, everyone left him alone. As if they all knew that something was happening with him and no one wanted to interfere. This was not to say that he wasn’t happy… it was more like he hadn’t accepted that everything had came back to him.

Gavin and the others were in awe of Lily and Angel. It was funny watching as they bowed and bent to the slightest whim of those two. Even Rolfe was tongue tied whenever they were around. Strangely, all of what we had done in dressing the sisters was taken with a grain of salt, but whatever Lily and Angel decided to wear was almost a fashion mandate. The males decided to join in and started to copy what we wore, also. So in a matter of weeks, it you didn’t pay attention to the fact that everyone had pointed ears, it looked like just about any small town on earth as far as the clothes were concerned. And all of the females emulated Angel's walk.

The time rolled around for the visit to the dwarves and dad still had a far away look in his eye. Our party was made of dad and me, Titialia, Kisselia, Elerith and of course, Leah and Angel. We met in the council chambers the day before we were to go. Dad wandered in last, with Lily and Angel.

"Hey old man." I figured I would try to break his spell.

He glanced up and smiled slightly. I had enough.

"Dad, would you wake the fuck up!"

You could have heard a pin drop. No one had ever spoke to dad that way before. I think I even surprised Lily and Angel.

"You are needed here, old man. We need your guidance. I don't know what the hell is bothering you, but damn it, wake up! You are here, we have problems and you need to get a grip!"

I watched nervously, as Lily's eyes flashed in anger. Kissilia grabbed my arm. "Milord!"

Dad reached out that put his hand on Lily's arm. When she looked at him he just shook his head no. A slight smile came to his face.

"Thank you, Sean." His smile grew. "I suppose it is time I started acting my age, rather than dwelling on where I fucked up."

There was a general consternation to this, but he shook his head again.

"No, it is true... I have been dwelling on what could have been, rather than what is." He chuckled slightly. "I never claimed to be all that smart."

"What the hell are you talking about, dad?"

"I have been lost... even with these two lovely ladies here... a little bit because they are here... reminding me of how much time that I had lost." He frowned slightly and shook his head. "I have been acting the fool. What's done is done. I cannot change that. I do need to wake the fuck up."

I sat back in my chair... this was a little much to take in. I knew that he had regrets, but I had never seen them take him over this way.

"Dad, we are all here for you. I can't imagine what you have gone though, but I think I understand it a little. If you wish, I can take the group up to the dwarves..."

"No, I will be fine... I just needed a kick in the ass to get my head on straight. Besides, we are going somewhere else first. Not all my time has been spent dwelling on the past."

"What do you mean?"

"We are all going up to pay the stone a visit. It has to know that Lily and Angel are here. I am not sure what that means to its programming, but I know it couldn't have allowed for it. Their being here also answered a question that I had, was the stone giving us the abilities here, or just releasing our ability to use the power. I think it is time that we had some answers."

To be continued...