The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (88 page)

“You’re still very adorable, and very scary.” Val teased.

Nemia joined Talia and Alilia in Mark’s lap just long enough to hug the three of them, and declared to Val; “Considering that your parents are still both scary and adorable, I consider it only natural that you cubs be the same!”

“This one is the adorable champion in our marriage.” Alilia teased as she pulled Talia over for a quick kiss, then spoke to her from ten centimeters away, holding her gaze with a smoky intensity.  “I wasn’t that surprised that Mark could love me, even though he already had you.  He’s a man after all, and men are like that.

“But you.  That you can love me so beautifully after what I did to you is amazing.  And more amazing is that you were willing to share him with me, to share him completely and whole-heartedly, without reservation.  I doubt I could have done the same if I’d had him first.  You are the most loving and giving person I’ve ever met, and I owe you everything.  You’re my hero.”

She slowly drew Talia close for a far more involved kiss than the last one.

Talia chuckled quietly as they drew apart.  “It was easy to share him with you.” she declared.  “I knew with certainty that he wouldn’t love me one bit less, or give me one moment less of his love, if you shared your love with us.  And he hasn’t.  On the contrary, he feels that I’ve made a mighty sacrifice by allowing him to have you as well as me, and he
loves
having you as well as me, so he loves me even more because of it.”

She chuckled again, low in her throat.  “As if it could ever be a sacrifice having you around.  You’re far too magnificent and beautiful and desirable for that.  And you gave us Val, wonderful gift that she is.”

“Love is a wonderful thing.” Mark quietly rumbled.  “I love you both so much, and there’s no doubt that I’m also feeling a lot of the magic love of the binding of Laylas chapel.

“This was a really good idea.”

“It really was.” Alilia murmured as the three of them shared a close hug.

“So,” Somonik asked as he turned to Dalia and Bezedil.  “Will you be ready to become Prince and Princess Regent of The People of Life some six weeks hence?”

“Considering that it’ll be some sixteen years of subjective time, I think we will!” Bezedil assured him.  “And to be honest, I won’t mind returning to the comparatively simple and predictable life we have there for a while before we become regent.”

“Yes, just a simple rural life.” Dalia grinned as she tickled him in his ribs.  “Feed the chickens, raise some kids, battle simulated demons three days out of five.  Just relaxing in paradise.”

“And now we’ll have to find time to study as well!” Bezedil laughed.  “But still, you love it as much as I, and it’ll be hard to leave when the time-bubble ends again.”

“That’s true.” she smiled, and kissed him.  “But I’m looking forward to life in Heartwood as well, and I know you’ll be glad to be back.”

“That’s true.” he smiled back, and kissed her again.

“I believe the time has almost come to bring this occasion to a close.” Somonik observed.  “We are awash in romantic sentiment, and the newlyweds will soon want their privacy.”

“The newlyweds, and others.” Gran said with a rumbling chuckle as she sensuously coiled around him.

“Well then.” Mark said as he stood with his wives in his arms and set them on the table, then took their glasses, gave them theirs, and raised his high.

“We’d very much like to thank you for coming.  It’s been wonderful in every respect, and it’s always great to see all of you, and to spend time with you.  We’ll see you soon, and we hope you’ll have a wonderful evening.  Or morning, or whatever it is where you’ll be going.”

There began a long process of farewells and hugs that lasted almost half an hour.

“I would not trade this precious time with my son and my herd for anything.”
Silaran stated when he and Equemev took their turn for farewells. 
“But it is unfortunate that the needs of unicorn colts and their incompatibility with dragons has distanced us from you somewhat.”

“We would much prefer that this time of separation be as brief as possible.”
Equemev continued. 
“So when you return to the Hiliani time-bubble tomorrow, we will be entering the time-bubble on the plains of Xervia, and joining a great many of our people there.  Falgaroth assured us it would not be a problem.”

“When you emerge from the Hiliani time-bubble in five weeks of real time, we will emerge from the Xervian time-bubble with our grown son, who will be more than ready to begin to associate with the other races, including dragons.”
Silaran finished.

“Thank you, that’s good thinking.” Mark told him as he hugged the big white unicorn around his neck, and Silaran nuzzled his back.

“We also look forward to the end of this distance between us.” Talia assured them as she hugged Equemev.  “We’ve missed you.” she added as she stepped back.

“Congratulations, dear Princess.”
Equemev told Alilia as the two caressed.

“We’ve missed you greatly as well.” Kragorram told Silaran as the two gently bumped noses.

When the unicorns were gone, Povon and Kragorram said their farewells.

“We’ll see you tomorrow at Hiliani.” Povon said as they prepared to go, and asked Karzog;  “Are you coming with us to the Lair in Serminak?”

“Not tonight Mother.” he said as he resumed his elven Simulacrum, then smiled as he hugged Fire with one arm.  “We’ll be at Mark’s house on Hiliani.”

“All right. We’ll see you there in about eight hours.” Kragorram told him with a smile, then he and Povon were gone.

That left just Mark, his wives and children, and Karz in elven guise.

“I assume you’re going somewhere romantic for an evening of honeymooning?” Val teased as she hugged her mother goodbye.

“We are, though we haven’t decided where yet.” Alilia laughed as she returned the hug.

Talia glanced around and confirmed that only the head table remained, and most of the items on it had already been discretely cleared by volunteers of The People of Life.  She knew the table and it’s remaining contents would be gone shortly after the last of the wedding party had left.

“You four take care.” she said as she hugged Six.  “I know you won’t need anyone to watch over you.  Just please, don’t do anything that would require our attention.”

“We understand.  It wouldn’t do to be interrupted on your wedding night.” Fire laughed as she rose up and hugged Mark around his neck.

“All right.” Mark grinned after the last of the hugs had been exchanged.  He linked hands with Talia and Alilia, said; “We love you, be good, and we’ll see you in the morning.”, and Translocated the three of them.

The four youngsters, left alone in Laylas chapel, just smiled at each other for a moment.

Then Fire gently took Karz’ hand and smiled at Six and Val.  “Come on.” she softly said as she led them to the top of the dais.  They sat cross-legged in a tight circle in the exact center of Laylas chapel with their knees touching and their hands linked.  They leaned forward till the sides of their foreheads were touching, Linked their minds, and sat for hours, silently communing and basking in the magic love.

Mark emerged with his wives in windswept night, about two hundred meters in the air above a mountain valley.  He augmented his vision a bit to see better in the darkness, making it seem twilight, so Talia and Alilia did too.

“I really want to spend the night in the master suite of The Living Palace in First Valley.” he quietly told them.  “I want to make love with both of you there, as Talia and I made love there on our wedding night.  I made sure it was unoccupied and warned the manager that we were coming.

“But I wanted to do something else first.  I hope it’s okay.

“Right now I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, and filled with the confidence and contentment and love that I get from you.  So I wanted to take a few minutes to do something I haven’t had the courage to do.

“This is Shinosa Valley, where I grew up.  Or rather it used to be.  The new residents from Whiskers Delta have renamed it Whiskers Valley in honor of their lost home, and I don’t blame them for wanting to put what happened here in the past, and out of their minds.

“I haven’t been here since all of my family died here.” he continued as he slowly flew with them above the valley to the west.  “I’m surprised that it looks so much the same, at least from up here.  There’s a couple of new houses over there, and some new fencing, but hardly anything’s changed.  For some reason I thought it would have.”

They continued slowly moving west, and he spoke occasionally.

“I’m glad it’s the middle of the night here now, I got lucky with that.  It’s about three hours after midnight, and I don’t think anyone’s about.  We’ll have to be careful not to wake up the dogs though.

“That’s Jorman’s mill right down there.

“And that house right there, that’s where I grew up.”

They quietly alighted on the path in front of the house, perhaps sixty meters away.  He looked at the house for a minute, remembering, then led them up the path, west and climbing out of the valley.

“I used to know every one of these trees and every animal in this forest as well as a shepherd knows his sheep.” he mused, enjoying the familiar scents of the vibrant woodland as they walked.

After fourteen minutes of unhurried walking they came to a plateau on the side of the mountain’s lower slope, to the left of the path.  It was a meadow with deep grass, a nice view of the valley, and perhaps a hundred gravestones, each with the grass for two and a half meters around them neatly trimmed to ankle height.

He cast a quick Knowing spell to find those he sought.

Talia and Alilia walked silently with him among the graves, letting his mood run its course.

He walked a meandering path through the cemetery, stopping here and there to gaze at the stone of someone he knew, silently paying his respects, and remembering.

His composure held until he arrived at the grave of Marja Dobbim, aged thirteen years.  He fell to his knees and broke into tears, and Talia and Alilia held him tight as he wept.

Finally he rose, tears still streaming from his eyes, and moved to the graves of Markhan Reginus Longstrider the Fourth, his loving wife Helem, their children Steb and Shelvy.

Mark slowly lay down with his face in the grass and wept with great wracking sobs, and his wives lay with him to comfort him.

Finally he rose to his knees, his grief spent, and gazed at the markers for minutes.

“I’m sorry to do this on our wedding night.” he quietly rumbled.  “I should have done it another time, but I couldn’t bring myself to come here before tonight, and I wanted to before we…  Before the me that’ll be in the time-bubble goes back in for another sixteen years.

“That’s okay.” Talia assured him as she caressed his face.  “You needed to do this before you could truly move past it.”

She and Alilia wiped away tears they’d shed in empathy with him, which prompted him to wipe away his own.

“Thank you.” he said as he stood.  “But now I
can
move past it.

“And I hope you girls have something in mind to help me think of other things for the rest of the night.”

“Oh, we do!” Alilia giggled as she cast a quick spell to clean the tear tracks from their faces.

“Then we’re off to the Living Palace.” he stated.

But he gazed at the headstones for another long moment, and said; “Goodbye.”

Then Translocated himself and his loving wives to a happier place.

Seven hours later The Governors of Hiliani were enjoying a breakfast they’d bought at Sana’s kitchen while perched on the branch of a tree high above Homestead.  Karzog was still in the form of an elf.

They’d hardly spoken at all, though they occasionally shared a thought.

Karzog suddenly turned to Val and said; “You need to love me, Valentia Longstrider.”

“Do I now?” she laughed, surprised enough to find the idea hilarious.  “And why is that?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Karzog chuckled.  “I’ll always be with Fire.  Fire will always be with Six.  Six will always be with you.  You and I are bound to them by love, and they’re bound by a Link so profound they can’t even turn it off.  Sometimes I still think they really are only one mind.

“You and I are the weak link in the chain.  We’re always going to be together because of them, and we’re all going to live a very long time.  I’m sure that if you don’t love me a lot, we’re bound to get on each other’s nerves eventually.”

“True.” she agreed with a giggle.  “But why’s the onus on me?  Isn’t it just as important that
you
love
me
?”

“I do love you Val.” he assured her with a warm smile.  “Not the same way I love Fire, but you’re incredible and beautiful and I really like you a lot because you’re so comfortable to be with.  I love you for your talent and your ferocity in battle, and your loyalty.”

“Silly dragon.” Val laughed as she floated over and sat beside him, put an arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.  “Of course I love you.  I’ve known for certain since I was two that the four of us were always going to be an inseparable quartette.  Since long before I knew about the prophesies and the destined loves.  You’re one of us, you’re part of us, and you always will be.

“I love you because you’re more fun to be around than anyone I know except my father.  I love your big heart, and I love how you really don’t mind that you have to try so hard to keep up with three humanoid brats who’re a lot younger than you, and I love that you
do
try so hard.  You’re pretty incredible too, you know, and there’s a very good chance that you’ll surpass us at everything, eventually.  And whether you do or you don’t, there’s the fact that almost no one else is even in our league.  None of us are ever going to want to chum around with average people of any race for more than a few minutes at a time.

“Besides, those of us that owe some of our greatness to these two having changed our brains have to stick together.”

She gave him another kiss on the cheek, and floated back over beside Six.