The Labors Of Jasper, Episode 06 free porn video

20Jas0006 Episode 06; 5718 words Yara woke to the sound of Master Hoose wheeling the inner door open. She was up and across the room before she was fully awake. She helped Master Hoose with the bar on the outer door. She wondered about that. This whole house was a living thing. Why did he need help? For that matter, why bother with primitive tech like a bar for the door? A question for another time. Master Hoose went outside in the rain. Yara stepped into her boots and followed. She heard people stirring behind her. Dead black outside. 3:15 a.m. Yara switched her specs to ultraviolet. Not much help. Someone in the cabin switched on lights, illuminating the fog and the rain as far as the car port. After that, dark. Darker than before, because now she was night-blind. Yara's specs defaulted to map mode. The specs knew where every tree and stone was in the areas that Yara had explored. They displayed a virtual image of the yard around her. If nothing had changed, she could navigate safely. If there were deer out here, or wolves, she might bump into them before she saw them. She trusted that animals would avoid her. She saw light in the cemetery, just off the road. She made her way toward that. She saw Morgana first, then Master Hoose, and then her other self. Jasper. And yet another. It was Sheena. They were dragging her behind, on a travois. Master Hoose took one end of the travois. Yara took the other. They walked quickly in the rain, to the house. Morgana and Jasper stumbled along beside them. When they got close enough to the house to see lights, Morgana doused her own light. They descended into the light, the two adventurers first. Morgana collapsed into a chair by the table and said, "We had to sedate her. She wouldn't leave her station." The real princess, or whoever it was wearing Jasper's body, made it three steps into the cabin before collapsing face-first on the floor. Master Hoose checked him. "He's lost blood." Morgana snorted. "Ya think?" Then she collapsed. They'd both been shot, beaten, and stabbed. Athan asked, "How many autodocs do you have?" Master Hoose stared at him for a moment. Then he laughed. "Um ... six? Inventory is such a bother." Athan goggled at that. Then he said, "I can never tell when you're kidding." "This was a hospital before it was a safe house." "How old is this structure?" "In human years or fey?" Athan shook his head. "Not important. How many people know about this place?" "Pizza Pizang, fishermen, hunters, the neighbors. Historians and geneologists. The cemetery attracts them. Insurance adjustors, the game warden, the fire department. Anyone with access to a tax map. This is not the Bat Cave." "How many people have used it as a safe house?" "At this location? Just the people you see." "That seems unlikely." "Please address further questions to your contractor." Master Hoose indicated one of the autodocs. "I ... didn't mean to question your honesty, Mister Hoose. Apologies." "Captain, be happy I'm firmly rooted in this world, and not theirs." Master Hoose nodded towards Tree Nose and the other fey. When Sheena awoke, she launched herself at Yara. She screeched, "You bitch!" Sheena knocked Yara to the floor. She punched Yara on the jaw. She raised a fist to hit her again. Tree Nose held Sheena's fist. Sheena looked at her fist. "I hit somebody. Without being ordered to." Tree Nose said, "Good for you, young ilawan. Do you know who you assaulted?" "The prin ... why didn't she fight back?" She relaxed. "Am I in trouble?" "Yes." Sheena allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She said, "Worth it." "Truly? Look at her. She has the same marks you have." "She what?" Sheena glanced down to Yara's collar, to her glyph. "Oh my god. You, too? They enslaved a princess?" Sheena looked at her hand again. "Why could I hit her? I haven't been able to strike in anger...." Sheena collapsed to the floor. She started crying. Yara rolled over. She knelt beside Sheena. "I suspect you could hit me because it would get you in trouble. Those glyphs," she touched Sheena's shoulder. "Are demons. Imps, specifically. At least mine are. This kind of joke amuses an imp." "Imps?" Sheena shuddered. "I've had my fill of those in the last few days." "I can't do anything about that, but you are safe for now. Did you thank Jasper or Morgana? They rescued you. At great risk." "I'll thank them when I see them." She glared at Yara. "Why did you send two college kids off to fight your wars?" Yara rubbed her jaw. "First, your friends are adults. Not children." "We live for eighty years! You're still considered a child. A toddler!" Yara spoke quietly. "They chose to stand between me and my fate." Yara touched her glyph. She felt it flare. "Then they chose to save you. Are you complaining?" "Oh god, oh god, oh god." Sheena looked around. She found Morgana in the crowd. She found Jasper. "Thank you. I was such a shit to you. I tried to sound the alarm." Jasper smiled. He bowed with a flourish. "Lucky for us, Morgana knows magic." "Pfft," Morgana said. "Magic. GHB." "You roofied me?" Sheena asked. "Would you rather I'd left you there? Or joined you? That's what would have happened if you had summoned the guards." "You could have killed me," Sheena said. Jasper took her by the arm. "You want to go back? Come, we'll take you." He pulled her toward the door. "Explain that we really meant to steal some other doxy." "No, no. That's okay. Thank you for saving me." Sheena looked around again. "Where's Steve? Where's.... Oh, god, I can't remember her name." Without thinking, Yara said, "Melissa?" Sheena nodded. Trying to cover her mistake, Yara said, "The champion's girlfriend. They were betrothed." "Ex-girlfriend," Jasper said. Yara stared at Jasper for a moment. How much did he know of her old life? And how? Yara glanced to Morgana, who smiled gently. Jasper shuffled his feet. "Jus' sayin'. We were ... affined? She returned the ring. I have no ... obligation. Except normal human ones." Yara turned to Sheena. She asked, "How did you get captured?" Sheena almost spat. "You ought to fucking know. You were there." Yara checked her specs. She saw a text message. *Not me.* Yara sighed. She said, "I was captured on another world. Details are hazy but I don't remember seeing you on the night I was dropped here." "She looked just like you. Longer hair. No tats." Sheena waved a finger in the general direction of Yara's glyph. Yara said, "It seems I have a doppelganger." Text appeared on Yara's specs. *Or a cousin.* Yara repeated the message. "Um," Sheena said, "Sorry about the jaw. Princess." She performed a half-assed curtsy and curled her lip in distaste. Morgana said, "We're headed out. I have an idea where Steve is." She looked at Yara. "Melissa, too, but that one is in a secure location. Difficult to get into. Hell to get out of." Yara felt helpless. Impotent. She wanted to rage, but felt emotionally drained instead. "I would like ... a full accounting?" I need to speak to you in private. Yara avoided subvocalizing but sent a message by bozal. There were so many things she needed to know. Desperately. Morgana laid a hand on Yara's shoulder. "Not much to tell, Lady." With new eyes, Yara noticed Morgana's teeth. Large, robust. And her nails, thick, clawlike. Fey. "We found her in a brothel," Morgana said. "We got her out. People chased us. Those people died. Now. I hear there's been progress? On the curses?" Professor Helfast stepped in. She said, "We had limited success in the simulations." The professor explained the progress, so far. A slow smile spread across Morgana's face. "You programmed fey magic on a human computer?" She looked around. "Who wrote the code?" The professor nodded toward Yara. Yara said, faltering, "I had help." Freeware from the college. Help and pointers from Master Hoose. Suggestions from Team Five. Morgana chuckled. "Not helpless at all." She looked over to Jasper - the real princess in Jasper's body. "Next I'll be hearing you tamed both those demons." Yara shook her head. She chose her words with care. "I have gaps in my memory. This," she touched the collar, "is a ring. Marriage. It binds me to some ... oath. If there is an unfinished confariation...." Yara's specs lit up. *Divorced. Diffareation. The moot settled and parties all left for other business.* Sheena said, "I have a collar just like that. My tattoos are similar to hers." Then Sheena finally realized that she was standing there unconcerned about her appearance, tits out, wearing nothing but a loincloth. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Yara said, "You're going to want a bath." "A bath can't wash off what you did to me - what your cousin did. Not in a month of Sundays." Yara turned to Master Hoose. "A sitz bath? The autodoc?" He said, "She's had advanced fey medicine. Her body is fully healed and adapted to the abuse." Sheena snorted. "Her mind has not adapted." Sheena said, "Thank God for that." Master Hoose turned to the kitchen. "Some tea, perhaps. I find valerian tea to be helpful in cases like this." Yara turned to Jasper and Morgana. She asked, "Should you be leaving? You're not fully healed." Morgana asked, "How many days do you want Steve to spend in the same place she was?" Morgana nodded towards Sheena. Yara faltered. She centered, rolling her eyes skyward in prayer. I want ... I want.... An unformed wish settled on her like a cloud. She was tired of being helpless. Morgana smiled. "Free yourself of your demons, Lady. Shed the slave marks." Morgana looked around. "Does anyone here wish to go with us? High risk, low payoff. We are saving one frail human. A hostage with little status." Tree Nose stepped forward. Morgana nodded. "You know the risks? If we fail? If we succeed?" Tree Nose nodded. Morgana asked, "Your contract with the Queen?" "Security detail for the princess." Tree Nose nodded to Yara. "With your permission, I would like to defend your interests on the advance team." Yara nodded. "I have no status in the court. I cannot say stay, or go." Tree Nose said, "You have status here." She bowed deeply. Yara glanced over to Jasper. He smiled grimly. With a sinking feeling, Yara said, "Go." "Thank you, Lady." Tree Nose bowed again. Is this how a butterbar lieutenant felt, sending a squad into combat? No. The butterbar could fight. Yara could not. Yet. Morgana pulled Sheena aside. "I need your permission," she said to Sheena. "For what?" "The easiest way in is to make an appointment. To buy his favors for the night." "Like you did with me?" Sheena glanced over to Jasper. She blushed. Then she shook herself. "He's in that awful place? Whoring himself out for coppers?" Morgana nodded. "Bring him back. In pieces if you have to. No one should live like that." Morgana nodded again. "We'll bring him back whole." She accepted a bag from Master Hoose and walked up the steps into sunlight. Jasper and Tree Nose followed. Yara followed Tree Nose. She watched them until she lost them in the fog in the cemetery. Sheena spoke from beside Yara. "You should be going with them." Yara nodded. "You're playing a video game?" Sheena asked. "A fucking video game? People are dying. People died for you." "Log on," Yara said. "What?" "Log on and watch." "Fuck that." "What is it you people say? Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Sheena stopped. Her eyes narrowed. She sat at the table, wearing clothes that the house made for her because her old clothes no longer fit. Except for her shoes and celeb specs. Tiny waist, exaggerated boobs and hips. She took a sip of tea, made a face and stuck her tongue out. "Can I have something that doesn't smell like prolapsed ass?" Yara said, "Coffee tit is in the cupboard." "Coffee ... tit?" Sheena looked doubtful. Brother took her mug and poured the contents into the sink. He rinsed the mug and opened the cupboard. "How do you like your coffee, Miss?" Sheena stood. She examined the construct in the cupboard. "This makes coffee?" Brother nodded. "Iced coffee with sugar." She watched, incredulous, as the coffee tit shot ice into her cup, then coffee. She tasted it and nodded. Then she said, "Why can't fairies make coffee like normal people?" Brother said, "You're ignorant, so I will explain. Fey, not fairies. Fairies exist but we are not they. This coffee maker is a human construct. I believe it was built by or for Master Hoose." Sheena looked over to the old man, leaning on his cane. She said, "You need help, buddy. This is just a twee bit too too." Master Hoose said, "If I knew what that meant, lass, I might take offense." "Take all the fence you need," Sheena said. "It's good coffee, though. Thanks." She sat at the table again. "Explain the need, please, to play video games while my friends risk their lives?" Yara said, "Sandbox. We're testing things in the virtual world before we try anything here." Sheena took a sip of coffee. "Color me skeptical." "Do you have something helpful to add?" Sheena said, "I saw two girls try to remove the marks and the collar. It fucked them up. One went mindless, catatonic. The other acted like she'd been possessed." "Which is why we're working in simulation." Sheena shrugged. "Hope you have some major mojo, girlie. Does some deity owe you favors? Cash that shit in, pronto." Yara blinked twice. Then, instead of responding, she tapped her specs and went into AVS mode. She fell into Reflet's body. Reflet tugged at her collar. "Guys? I have the collar. Is this a previous save point?" She heard a voice from the real world. "It is." "Let's try the save point before that." "We tried that. We even booted you back to your original save. The curse followed you." Reflet sighed. "Seismic. Okay. We're not testing the collar today, anyway. Hit me with the glyphs." She shuddered as the glyphs manifested on her skin. She said, "It feels like evil spirits. Or spiders." "Demonic runes, modded by Hive tech." Reflet nodded. "What's up first?" "Same trick as before. Remove Curse. We modded the spell to include a touch component. Those demons? They're tied to you. We're going to tie them in a different way. Call up your spells." "Done." "You should see two Remove Curse spells and a Bind Familiar spell. We removed all your other spells, for the moment." "Guys, there's two demons. Bind Familiar only works on one." "Aware of that." "So I'm going to get raped again." "Possibly." Reflet considered. She could set one demon against the other. Or she could mod the spell. "Guys, are the glyphs identical? Close enough to call twins?" "Close enough to call cousins, maybe." There went that idea. Reflet pulled down the spell. She opened the editor. She examined the code. "Wish I had my secretary program down here." A small brownie appeared beside Reflet. "May I assist?" "Who are you?" The brownie smiled and curtsied. "I am Harvest, the secretary you asked for." "Right. I need to remove this exclusion, but I don't know what it will do to the rest of the code. Debug this, please." The brownie tapped her VR specs. She blew out a breathe. "Crashes. Soft lock. Try again." Reflet searched the code again. "Set this value to two?" The brownie tapped her VR specs. "Runs. Ran it sixteen times. No soft lock. No crashes. Anything else?" "No. I'm good." The brownie disappeared. Yara cast the Bind Familiar spell and then touched both glyphs while activating Remove Curse spells. Two imps appeared before her. One was taller than the other. They started to attack, then stopped. "Hey, fat girl," the short imp said. "What did you do?" "I bound you to me." "We're already bound." "I changed the nature of the binding." "I don't like it. Put me back." The imps conferred. "Put us back." "Not happening, guys." "You won't like what happens." "Play nice, fellas. You work for me, now." "Work? We're imps, not famuli. I hope you have a sense of humor." "I could banish you back from whence you came." "Good luck with that, fat girl. We can't leave this plane until Icky releases us." "Who is Icky?" The imps grinned. They conferred. "Okay, we'll play. We can work your contract here, or on your skin. But you gotta feed us, lady. Pay us. Basics, like shelter, sex, toys, and weapons." "Sex? In your dreams, demons. Okay, names. What do I call you?" The imps grinned. The tall one said, "You can call me, 'Makes me Wet,' and he's 'Makes me Cock-Hungry.'" "I was thinking Shorty and Shorter." Reflet said, looking down at their loincloths. The short one frowned. Reflet toggled the Tutorial mode. She highlighted each imp. The short one was named Squick, the tall one Squelch. Yara paused the game. She asked, "Where did the mass come from to create these imps?" "Some of it came from Reflet, some from her surroundings." "What can you tell me?" "They're imps. Some exotic code. Working on the imported module but it looks like Hive XNA." Yara stepped back into the game. She took her new companions down to the docks. She had intended on killing rats, but found zombies instead. The imps fought as Level 1 monsters. They soon leveled up, acquiring armor and weapons. They played jokes as the day wore on. Some of the jokes involved grabbing Reflet's ass, or leading monsters to her. They followed most of Reflet's orders. The one order they never followed once was, "Leave it." They absolutely would not obey her when she tried to pass, to avoid topping the monsters after each victory - combat rapes. Fucking zombies was instructive. The smells and tastes she incurred as an involuntary rider along with her imps? Horrible. In a party of player-characters, at the end of every defeat, players had to wait around while everyone got "serviced," or raped in one way, another, or, if defeated by a mini-boss or a boss, all the ways imaginable. Usually, the game handled this by splitting the game universe, allowing each character to emerge from the ignominy of defeat at about the same time. But not always. Sometimes each character had to wait his or her turn, and then wait again for the others. It was an ideal time to put one's avatar on autoplay, but doing so cost the player experience points, a share in the treasure - some monsters dropped treasure even then - and, of course, putting a character in autoplay meant that you lost all chance to direct his or her choices. Wins were often simpler. Players could, and often did, refuse sex after a victory. However, there were some players who topped all the monsters, or all the pretty ones. There were several options available to a winner who elected not to participate in the victory 'celebrations.' He could hang around and watch. She could leave, forging on ahead without the other player or players. As a third option, some artifacts or spells allowed a winning player to switch places with a losing NPC, or to ride along, enjoying or enduring from the NPC's point of view. NPCs, non-player characters such as Reflet's imps, never participated in victor sex unless directed to by a player character. Reflet's imps behaved more like player characters than NPCs. "Nickelpedes?" Reflet said. "Please, no. Leave them. I'm begging." Squick and Squelch ignored her. They jumped the nickelpedes. Reflet complained. "Guys, it's awful enough when I'm getting egged. But what you're doing? Eww." Reflet felt everything the imps felt in combat, or during combat rapes. She could switch perspectives, looking through their eyes. She avoided doing that except in great need because, more than once, she'd come back to her own body to discover that the imp had been busy while minding her body. Usually in a naughty way. But sometimes it was just practical jokes. Like tying her hair in knots, or locking her sword in its scabbard. "Okay, I see why you're named Squick," Reflet said, increasingly uncomfortable with the sensations that washed through her. Having a penis was foreign to Reflet but not to Yara. She remembered having one and using it as her previous self. But splitting nickelpedes with it? Eww. Besides the horrid grossness of it all, it hurt. Scratchy. Bitey. Nevertheless, each imp climaxed. Much to her distress, Reflet climaxed when her familiars did. As did Yara. Yara/Reflet also climaxed just generally. It disturbed her that her body reacted this way, even though she understood that the feelie suit was just drumming on nerve paths. It also disturbed her to enjoy all this in front of an audience. On- line, at least she had the illusion of anonymity. Here? Scholars and techs watched the code fly by and they watched her body react to it. The next time they defeated nickelpedes, Reflet's imps offered a trade. Reflet could avoid vicarious sex by rewarding the imps personally. Or, she could jump in and top the monsters herself. Reflet filed that under, "Thank you for your kind offer." It occurred to her. She should rejigger the spell, reboot from a previous save, and eliminate this bug in the program. Bug in the program? Reflet giggled. Too many bugs, and they all wanted to fuck. At that moment, Yara met a Level 6 werewolf. It killed her imps quickly. They resorbed onto her body as glyphs. Reflet tried to run. Her shoes were rooted in place. Damned imps. She tried to fight. She dropped her sword, instead. The werewolf huffed in Reflet's ear. Reflet looked down and saw a flash of red flesh. Fuck. She impish laughter. The werewolf took his time removing her armor, and toying with her. At least he didn't bite her. She wasn't likely to wake up with a monthly curse. Other than her normal monthly curse. Werewolf sex was everything she'd hoped it wouldn't be. And, of course, as she knelt, knotted and helpless, his friends showed up. They demanded sex, and got it. When the werewolves tired of her and wandered off, the imps reappeared and had at her. After that, they folded back into glyphs. Yara stepped out of Reflet and paused the game. "Well, that was ... suboptimal." She looked around. Only Sheena met her gaze. "Why didn't you pull me out?" she asked. Sheena laughed. "They had you on 32 speed. They didn't notice you were in trouble until a minute ago." Yara sighed. She still felt sore but sated, aftereffects of the game. The real world felt dull. Lifeless. Devoid of excitement and danger. "I'm done," Yara said. "Put the avatar on autoplay. Or one of you step in and play her." Sheena shook her head. "Not me, friends. I told you. I've had my fill of imps. Forever and a day." As Yara swept the cabin, Abelino came up and said, "We're ready for testing again." Reflet was obviously pregnant now. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Furries or imps?" "Tentacle monsters." "What? When did that happen? What did you run my avatar into?" "The imps. We figured out what the Hive code does. One of it's functions, anyway." "I'm birthing a hive monster?" "Four of them." "Boot me back to an earlier save." "This curse follows you back in time. The glyphs follow back, also." "They didn't do that before." "We think it's influence from the collar." "Fucking tenesmic." They tried three other spells, and several modded spells over the next two hours of game play. Eventually, Reflet had her fill. She was starting to understand Sheena's reluctance to deal with imps. They played pranks incessantly, even when allied with her. Perhaps especially then. Most of the pranks were rough, lewd, or dropped her in a speedy defeat in the next round of combat. "They've figured out I can't die in this game," Reflet put in her notes. "Would it be different if they knew death was permanent?" "Honey Boobs, of course it would be different," Squelch said. "You can read minds now?" "Yours. We're linked." Squelch looked around. "This is a simulation? I'm impressed. It almost qualifies as its own plane." "So, in the real world?" Reflet asked. "We keep you alive long enough to honor our contract." "You still haven't told me what that is." He smiled. "It should be obvious by now. We're supposed to spread your horizons and your legs. Tighten up that flapping pussy. Enjoy life, sister. Fuck the world and everyone in it." "Corrupting me." "Well, duh." "You're spreading Hive seed." "Every combat fuck, win or lose." "Why don't you just open a rip? It would be faster." "Dunno." Squelch shrugged. "It's not in the contract?" "You know, if I could see that contract, I might find a loophole and free both of you. No longer tied to me. No restrictions on your behavior." "Having too much fun, sister. How about a threesome?" He made kissy faces. "How about go fuck yourself?" Squelch smacked her on the ass with the flat of his sword. Yara pulled herself out of this world. Her ass still smarted. Yara 'borrowed' Jasper's pasocon. She worked on code with help from Harvest, the secretary on her specs. Maybe if she changed some code in the bridging program - the elmer she's rigged up, changing Red code to Q+/-. Changing the nature of reality? It wouldn't run in debug. Changing even one line of code locked the program. Finding the reason for that took most of the afternoon. The Red code was intelligent. It was helping her write the bridging code. Not that she didn't trust Red Court magic, or Hive.... Yara shelved that problem for now. She examined her mother's coin. It took a while, but she eventually found how to pull the weave, and unravel the code. The Red Witch's code was completely different from Red Court code. Yara set her secretary to hunting up associations. Mathematics. Similarities. Sheena touched the coin. "Is that your link with Jas?" "It's my link with Jasper's mother." "She died." "I know. Would she approve of the things I do today?" "You're trying to magic it." "I'm examining the magic it already has." Sheena's eyes narrowed. Yara placed the coin in her vest pocket. "I've been using your rod and reel without your permission." "Color me surprised." "Let's go fishing. Venison for every meal? It's getting old." They grabbed Sheena's tackle box and both of her rods. On the way out the door, Yara grabbed two hats she had woven from kudzu. She wore one and handed the other to Sheena. Sheena said, "Looks like my niece made them." "My first attempts in this media," Yara said. Sheena nodded. She put the hat on her head. "Practice makes process." Yara nodded. "Process and attention makes proficiency." Sheena looked at Yara oddly. When they left the cabin, Yara knelt in the weeds. She petted the plants and said, "You're growing nicely." To Sheena she said, "Keeping the frost off these has been a challenge." "Is that mint?" Yara nodded. "Mint, sage, oregano, thyme. And their wild cousins from out in the cemetery." "Jas liked gardening, too." Yara stood. She wiped her hands on her skirt. When they got to the dock, Yara took her hat off and threw it, upside- down in the water. Then she asked for Sheena's hat and did the same. Sheena asked the obvious question. "You've heard of Maxwell's demon? It's a human concept." Sheena nodded. "I can't practice combat magic. I can't even call up the spells. But, kitchen magic? Farmer's magic? In that hat, we're making drinking water. Drink this lake water; you'll get sick. In that hat, I'm making salt." Yara shrugged. "If it works. Experiment in process." Yara sat at the end of the dock and centered. Then she tapped her fingers on the dock in a rhythm. She looked back to the house and whispered, "Can you hear this?" She repeated the question, speaking in a low voice. The cat, sitting by the doorway, shook its head. Yara grinned. She turned to Sheena. "We can speak with some privacy. As long as we're quiet." "Who could hear us out here?" "Almost everyone in that cabin. Even the old man. Our voices are muffled only because we're sitting. If you stand, you'll be too high up for the plants to muffle the noise." Yara turned, facing the lake. "I can't call up wind, yet. I can barely do it in simulation." Sheena baited a hook and handed the rod to Yara. "I still don't like you," Sheena said. She closed the cooler. It was full of fish again. "Meh." Yara cast an unbaited hook out into the water. Sheena watched Yara do this. "You sound just like Jas," she said. "Are you linked?" Yara smiled. "I have some of his memories. Don't know how long they'll last." "Dog butt. Bullshit. You know; you just won't say." "Can I ask a favor?" "No." Yara removed her boots and put them on the dock. She said, "Shoes off. Please." "Why?" "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Sheena removed her shoes and placed them behind her. "She has to touch bare skin. Stay very still. Don't scream." Sheena looked over to Yara, alarmed but silent. Yara said, "Thank you, Lady, for the fish. I have a boon to ask. My friend. I don't even know what to ask for. She needs aid." The water roiled. Yara looked askance at Sheena. "I can cast a silence spell on you, if you think you need it." Sheena shook her head stiffly. "Seismic. Relax. Close your eyes if it helps." Sheena stared at the water, wide-eyed. A tentacle appeared. This one was smaller than the others had been. Still, it was at least as thick as Yara's wrist. It touched Yara's ankle. Then it wrapped around her foot. Yara sighed. Her eyes half-lidded. The tentacle left her and touched Sheena. Sheena went rigid. She whined. She looked over to Yara, eyes pleading. The tentacle tapped Sheena's ankle twice. Then it disappeared into the muddy water. Neither woman spoke. A bow rose up from the water. It didn't look like much, a simple self bow that a child might make. "I think that's for you," Yara said. "I can't touch weapons." "You'd be surprised what weapons you can use. For instance, a kitchen knife, if you're working in the kitchen. A bow, perhaps, if you intend to hunt rabbits and squirrels to fill the stew pot." "Rabbits, huh?" Sheena reached out tentatively. Then she grabbed the bow and clutched it to herself. "Thank the lady," Yara said. "Um. Thank you?" An arrow rose from the lake. Then another. Soon, Sheena had two birding arrows, two target arrows, an arrow that might be suited for deer, and a stiff bolt with a wicked tip that looked like it was intended for dragons. "Gonna need another bow for this baby," Sheena said. She pulled on the bow. "What's this, a twenty-pound pull?" An instruction manual loaded onto Yara's specs. It was written in Red Court script. Yara put on her boots. "Thank you, lady, for the many boons." She stood and helped Sheena to her feet. They cleaned fish at the outside kitchen. Sheena marveled that she could handle a knife. Yara handed Sheena the long knife and asked her to collect deadwood for the fire. Yara stood there, holding a machete, and grinned. "Don't get your hopes up," Yara said. "You can practice your SCA katas as long as you also collect firewood. If a real opponent shows up, that knife is useless. Gods help us if somebody hands us a coin. I think we'd both be on our knees in a flash." When Sheena got back with an armload of firewood, the fish were ready for cooking. There were herbs and roots prepped, and a hatful of lake salt sat on the counter. The salt was wet, but useable. It tasted terrible, though. Salty, yes. But it also tasted of the reedy muck at this end of the lake. Yara said, "Experiment 626 was not an overwhelming success." She said this in a Russian accent. "Jas?" Sheena asked. "A 3D show he watches." Yara lit the fire, using the same magic she'd seen Morgana use. It really was just chemistry. Nothing mystical. At least she hadn't gotten sick from drinking lake water from her hat. Yet. While the food cooked, Yara showed Sheena how to use the bow. "Its primary purpose is plain, but it also is a musical instrument." She showed Sheena how to pluck the bow or draw an arrow across it and how to change its musical pitch. "The pull also varies. Use a light pull for small game and a medium pull for deer or wolves." She placed the bow on the ground and stepped in the middle. She pulled the bow up with both hands and cocked it. "Hand me that dragon slayer." She nocked the stiff arrow and smiled. "Deadwood, hmmn. Somewhere around here is more deadwood. I haven't collected all of it. There. See that dead branch?" Yara used her specs to help her aim. She let the arrow fly. It was off with a crack. "Recoilless," Yara said. "Really cool magic." They both stared at the arrow, a hundred meters off, stuck about ten meters up into a dead branch on a live tree. "How do we get that down?" Sheena asked. "Still working on that." "So, I can hunt bunny rabbits and kill a dragon," Sheena said. "Probably not a male dragon." Both women laughed. The laughter was bitter, and it ended quickly.