Battlemage Book 2 Scarlet RedemptionChapter 8
- 3 years ago
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Aric opened the door and saw the one person he really hoped he'd never see again, well in this lifetime anyway, standing there.
She was standing there looking at him with a radiant smile. She looked both hopeful and expectant.
"Yes," said Aric looking her right in the eye with a neutral expression, as he raised one eyebrow.
"He really didn't want to use the greeting May I help you because he really didn't feel like he wanted to offer to help her at all. That was a really rare thing for him to feel towards anyone.
"Hi. You seem like you're doing well," she said shyly.
"May we come in? We walked all the way here from town. Some of the folks said it was safe to come here, but with you being so far away from town, I wasn't sure how safe it would be. I remember the last time I walked into the woods looking for you," she said with a smile
Against Aric's better judgment he stepped back and let her inside.
As he did so, he noticed a young man slightly off to the side behind her. The young man was almost his height, dark but sandy blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and had a rather slim but muscular build.
Normally he would have seen him standing there also, but the shock of seeing her put him off his game. The young man should be about twenty one, thought as the young man stepped past him. The young man gave him a dark look in passing.
But as he looked at the young man he thought "Yes, the hair is different, but those features do look familiar. I wonder why he has a chip on his shoulder with me."
After they were seated, Aric sat down in a plush chair across from them and asked, "So what brings you down this way?"
The woman turned on him what could be easily called a thousand watt smile and said "Well I was visiting my parents after a few seasons of being away and father mentioned that a few seasons back you came back home for a visit. He remembered where you said you were now living now. So I thought I'd come on down see how you were doing."
Aric thought a moment and then he leaned back in his chair.
Aric then said "No really, why are you here?"
At that the young man seated next to the woman seemed really irritated and said "I know why I came. I came because I wanted to ask personally why you left my father to die."
Raising a single eye brow, Aric turned and looked at the young man "Well son your tone and the manner of your speech tells me you know nothing of the circumstances of your birth, nor what went on. And it has always been my experience if you don't know what you're talking about, you should listen and wait until you do before you put in your two coins worth. That way you won't look stupid to those of us who know the whole story."
At that he turned back to the woman, leaving the young man glowering at him.
"Andrea, for the last time, why are you here?" he asked.
This time he crossed his arms. He wasn't going to ask anymore. If she wouldn't tell him, then it would be time for her to leave.
With her smile slightly slipping, she said "I was hoping if enough time had passed you would have finally forgiven me and would give me another chance. No one can be angry at someone forever," and then suddenly the brilliant smile was back.
But before he could open his mouth to respond a red headed vision burst suddenly through the door and then into the living room.
She was wearing a loose leather vest and leather pants that were almost too tight to be seen publicly in. Her red hair was tied up in a ponytail.
She came over to Aric, sat down in his lap, kissed him lightly on the lips and said "I bet you'll never guess what happened to me today!" all excited in smiles and dimples.
Aric looked and smiled warmly at her, and said, "Well for one we have guest and it's not polite to ignore them, and two you need to go clean up and change for dinner."
The vision looked over at the guest then said "Oh ok, I'll be right back in a bit," hugged him, jumped up out of his lap, and walked to the back of the house, with her hips swing back and forth dangerously, just for the benefit of the guests.
During the whole exchange Andrea was sitting with her mouth wide open.
Her son was staring so hard his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head and roll around on the ground. He gave the appearance of both want and need as he watched her walk away.
Andrea suddenly pointed towards the back of the house.
"Whaa, whaa, whaa, what was that?? Are you now chasing girl's young enough to be your daughter because of how badly we hurt you? You should know better than that! What do her parents say about what you two are doing? What about the folks in town? Don't you have any shame? How can you just keep her around like that!?" she asked with a stunned look on her face as she rapidly fired questions at Aric.
Suddenly a voice laughed very loudly from the front doorway and said "Well that's easy enough to answer, it's because she is his daughter. And I'm not at all too upset that he is still willing to keep her around. You must be Andrea," said Brianna as she stepped into the hallway across from them.
As Brianna came into the room, she turned to lean her practice sword against the wall and then turned back around.
While she was doing this, Andrea was sizing her up.
As Brianna walked further into the living room, she slowly walked up to Aric and sat across his lap rather than in the chair next to him.
Normally she would never do something like this, but for some reason she felt extremely territorial today.
And as she walked past, she didn't offer her hand or try to introduce herself to Andrea. She pretty much ignored her until she reached Aric. And that fact wasn't lost on either Aric or Andrea. Aric wisely kept his mouth shut and waited to see what Brianna would do.
But as Brianna was walking into the room she was also busy sizing Andrea up.
It was obvious to her that Andrea had made herself up to try to be appealing to Aric. But even if she hadn't, she also knew that Aric would still find Andrea attractive, even after all these seasons
Andrea was still stunning with long blonde hair just mid way past her shoulders, and it was pulled back into a ponytail. She still had the bluest eyes Aric could still remember ever seeing, and her normally full and pouty lips had a deep rich color of red on them.
And while she had put on just a few pounds since he had last seen her, they all appeared to be in key areas that made her figure lush and soft looking.
While she still had her small and trim waistline, it was her generous breast and hips that were the happy recipients of few of those added pounds. All it did was enhance and create a figure that still had the men still stopping and staring.
She was artfully wearing hardly any makeup, just barely enough to enhance her features.
And as Andrea was sitting across from them, Brianna couldn't fail to notice that she was wearing a simple light blue sleeveless dress that was form fitting and cinched tight around her waist, and it had a plunging neckline that had her cleavage looking as if the dress was barely able to contain them.
And the way she was sitting allowed her dress to ride up some to almost mid thigh, and it showed off her trim calves and nice legs, and her sheer white stockings.
But Andrea was also busy taking in Brianna sitting across from her, who even after three kids, the only thing that had happen to her was that her breast grew a size or two.
She still had her trademark braid, but it was down almost to her hips now. There were barely a few touches of grey here and there, but it only seemed to enhance her looks rather than detract from it.
Over the seasons her bright green eyes now gave off the look of merriment, and not of the deep anger they used to have, since she had been married. So much that they now pulled men in more just by being in her proximity.
At forty two she had trained daily most of the way up till each birth, and a few weeks afterwards she was back at it. She worked hard to maintain her physical build. She still had the well defined and stunning figure that she had since her youth.
She could still fit in the leather clothes she had since the day they married. Not that she was still wearing them, but she kept them around to remind her how far she had come.
She also still had the chain mail vest hanging in their closet. One day it would be a gift for their daughter. And their daughter was the spitting image of her mother, and she was just fourteen. She looked like Brianna, but smaller in physical size. It was like someone took Brianna and sized her down two clothes sizes.
If Aric thought Daven's son had stared at his daughter with a desperate hunger, he was positively boring holes in his wife with his eyes. He looked as if he would have cheerfully given his left nut for twenty minutes of Brianna's time, and he wasn't even trying to disguise his lust for her.
"Not that I would let Daven's son near either of them," Aric thought grimly.
And he had the power to make that one fact a reality.
Aric then noticed that Daven's son was really appreciating the view from the front of her shirt that he was getting because, since her shirt had been wet, it showed off the outline of her dark areolas and that her nipples were partially hard.
Being as Brianna was just back from training with their children, she was wearing a simple, but snug thin sleeveless shirt with a low V neck that at one point had been glued to her from perspiration. And because of that, it almost gave the appearance that she was barely wearing anything.
"I wonder where her bra is?" thought Aric absently. "I know she had it on when she left earlier."
She was also wearing tight leather pants similar to her daughter. And since her shirt had been extremely wet, it also clung to and enhanced her waistline, while giving the illusion that her narrow waist flared suddenly into her pants, and they were too also in danger of burst at the seams at any given moment.
While she had been walking around the room earlier you could see her hips muscles flexing in her pants in a way that made the view from behind all the more appealing.
Brianna would normally not stay and greet any guest dressed like this in her training clothes, but she felt that these weren't normal guest.
One of them was her husbands, whom she disliked very much even though she had never met her, ex-girlfriend.
Andrea was also her husband's former intended wife. One of the one's who hurt Aric so badly. And now who appeared to her that she was only here to make a play for Brianna's husband.
Yes, Brianna was sure she didn't like her at all.
Once Brianna was comfortably seated, she kicked off her boots and pulled up her knees, and let them fall to the side as she laid her head on Aric's shoulder.
Aric noticed off hand that she was still painting her toe nails red. She knew that still drove him crazy to see it on her, even after all these seasons.
Aric was trying to not to be too distracted by how well she fit on him, or get aroused by having her sit like this in his lap. With a lot of effort he tried to talk normally to Andrea.
"Andrea, what you said earlier still doesn't explain why you believe I can help you now somehow," said Aric.
Andrea was stunned by the revelation that Aric was with someone so beautiful, possibly already married, and had at least one child by her. And she could clearly see that the other woman was silently making a point to what she saw as her rival for Aric, by sitting in his lap as she did so blatantly.
Her eyes were staring straight at Aric and Brianna. Her lips were moving, but nothing was coming out.
She had never really considered that she would have that much competition for Aric's affections, even after all these seasons and what she had done. And certainly not from someone whom she felt was prettier than her. Brianna and Aric looked like they belonged together. Certainly more than she and Aric ever did.
Then after a few seconds she seemed to finally make up her mind.
She looked down, took a deep breath and said "I always thought you would be as miserable as I was and would be somewhere waiting and wanting me. Since we were kids, we were the ones that were always fated to be together."
"I always thought you would have come to find me seasons ago after we both left Northfields. I waited for you for seasons, but you never came," said Andrea quietly.
"It was always supposed to be the two of US who ended up together, but you never came for me. Never. No man was ever good enough next to you, but I waited. And I always thought, no prayed, that one day you would come to get me and tell me I was forgiven. Then we would then be together like we were always meant to be," whispered Andrea.
"But I see now that will never happen. The reason I'm here, is because I got tired of waiting for you to realize your mistake in letting me go. I hoped it was a sign when my father saw you a few seasons back, because before that happened, no one knew where you went. So I came to you," said Andrea all in a quiet rush while still looking down.
Aric and Brianna looked at each other. Aric managed to sit up a little bit more, with Brianna still in his lap.
"Andy, you and Daven betrayed and completely destroyed me. Completely. Why would you ever believe I would try and find you after all of that?" Aric asked shaking his head.
When he said Andy she sharply looked up and her eyes went misty.
He was still the only person who she let call her Andy. And he was still the only one who she ever would.
"But it was a stupid mistake made between kids. I never could understand why you could never see that. We had loved each other since we were five seasons old. You fought to protect me countless times. You were there to protect me from being raped. You never would let anyone harm me. You were the one who always made me feel safe. Why couldn't you ever see I wouldn't have ever chosen Daven over someone like you?" asked Andrea.
She was looking intently at his face, but now the tears swimming around in her eyes were clearly visible for all to see.
"And Andy I never could understand why you didn't see that it wasn't just a stupid mistake, as you put it, between kids. It was deliberate choice you decided to make," said Aric looking Andrea in the eyes.
"I had been gone less than a month before you started sleeping with Daven. Remember I talked to him before I left Northfields while you were there," said Aric as he leaned back.
"You changed yourself into what he wanted you to be. You changed your hair to a style he liked and that I didn't. You wore makeup the way he liked, but you never would wear any when I asked. You even changed how you spoke, walked and acted, just to be the way he liked you to be almost immediately," continued Aric.
"You gave him all the liberties he wanted from you with-in that first month, ones which you always denied me in all the seasons we were together. You became everything he wanted you to be and more. You snuck around to be with him and deceived everyone you knew as you did it. That's not just a simple mistake. You worked very hard at those choices you made when you decided to be with him. Harder than any of the choices you ever had to make to be with me," Aric said
"But I didn't realize what I was doing. And it never meant that I ever stopped loving you when I did those things. Didn't you ever see that?" asked Andrea pleadingly.
"Actually it did. If you loved me as much as you always claimed, you never would have been with Daven. Ever. Your first concern would have been at how I would feel at what you would have to do to please Daven, than with your curiosity at being with him," said Aric.
"At any of the moments you considered being with him, you should have remembered the seven season old boy who stood between you and the bully who struck you and knocked you down, and should have left Daven alone in his room. And if you loved me you certainly never ever would have considered trying to deceive me into being with you right after you just had sex with him," said Aric.
"All those choices you made, you made so you could be with Daven. You used those choices to explore the world of sex with him while I was gone. And then you worked just as hard to keep me from finding out what you two had been doing," said Aric as he shook his head.
"This all played through my mind as I left the only home I could remember as a kid. There are months that I have no idea what I did or where I was for a few awhile after I left Northfields. I could have been a mass murder for all I know. And I was in the right frame of mind to be one. The only driving thought I had was to get as far away from the two of you as I could," continued Aric.
"So after all of what you two did to me, I ask you again, why I would have ever gone looking for you?" asked Aric.
"You wouldn't because you are a coward! A coward, jealous of my father's position, jealous he was with my mother, and you left him to die because you didn't want him to have anything without you. And you didn't want me as his son to have anything either. You wanted to punish both of us for being what took my mother away from you! I still don't know what my mother ever saw in you!" said the young man sharply.
Groaning Terrance rolled out of the wreckage of the bookcase he was lying in. There were a few sharp points and splinters he pulled free of his skin, but thankfully none were in his face or eyes. As he looked over at the ruined mess that was a side table he saw the light stirring of Rory. "Hey, are you ok?" asked Terrence tiredly "How can any one person have that much strength?" asked Rory as he finally opened his eyes and looked at Terrance. "The way he threw us I think he only...
"Are you ready? We don't have to do this if you really don't want to. We might be able to find another way. Or we could find someone else, or..." said Kat as she looked at Rory. Rory reached out and put his hand on her arm and gently held it. "Kathryn, we don't have a lot of time and it's not like it's our first time together, remember? Ariel is running loose and it's only a matter of time before she runs into a caravan or something else, and a lot of innocents become harmed...
"Who are you two?" asked Rory quietly as he stared at them. "Rory we're still your friends, but we're also different people than who you know. I promise I'll answer all your questions later. I'll meet you back here in about an hour or so. "Watch over Terrance. I don't believe he'll die, but if I'm wrong come get me. But for now I need to hurry and get Ariel to our room. I'll explain why I need to do this as fast as humanly possible when I return," said Nathan quickly. Moving...
"Honey?" asked Brianna as she sat at the table one night a few months after Aric met Galen. It was after dinner at Aric's house "Since we've been seeing each other for a while now I was wondering, do you feel I'm pretty?" Brianna asked. Aric who was at the sink was cleaning their plates turned and looked at Brianna "You know I do. I remember the first time you sat in my lap topless a few weeks back and jump right back up soon as you sat down. I believe you felt how attractive I...
"Everyone, you are here for a reason and it is something that has an effect on your lives both in the past and the future," began Brianna as they were all seated around the living room. As the last to arrive, once Matt and Rayne showed up it was time to get started. As they looked around at their children and their spouses, they both couldn't believe how much the boys took after their father, even down to having the same silver forelock now in their hair as well But knowing this would be...
Rising early Kat was up and noticed that Seth was seated at the table with his back slightly to the rest of the room. She slowly approached but she could hear him softly talking to himself. She tried to wait but eventually she got curious. "I know Marie, but we're almost done here ... you don't think you'll go early do you? Oh, not really ... Dusty met his first ghoul yesterday ... he'll be ok, but he was out cold again ... I better run everyone will be up soon. I love you," said...
Riding into the small town, it was aptly named "Dresden's Last Chance" There wasn't much to see but a few homes and a few businesses, maybe twenty to thirty buildings in total. Of course there was also the tavern that might have a spare room or two, but it was obvious that the Inn was more there for getting a drink than anything else. The companions reached the town about mid day. Kat only wanted to stop overnight since they were so close and give the horses a break then push on. She...
At the end of the mornings training, and while they were both seated enjoying breakfast, Brianna quietly asked "Honey, Aric, what circle mage are you?" "I don't really know," responded Aric "maybe second or third." He wasn't really listening to her. He was really excited about having a good day today. Brianna was unable to knock him down or disarm him even once today and they switched hands back and forth easily. Even though she got in some good shots at him, and his shoulders and...
Dusty slowly opens his eyes and looks around and sees he's in a very nice room and Suzan is sleeping with her head down on the bed in a chair she's pulled up to the bed. It looks like she's been watching over him. As he groggily reaches out he softly touches her head, where he then starts to slowly stroke her hair. It seemed amazingly soft to him as he did. He always wondered how women always managed to keep their hair soft like that. "So she loves me huh? I guess that's why I'm more...
"And that all happened just a little over ten seasons ago?" asked Nathan slowly. The way this young man was acting he thought it was all recently at least in the last couple of seasons. Not something decades ago. "I left the city and I've not returned. Not even to see my family," said Elliot nodding yes. "But what happened to Kathryn after you left or the man she was with? Did you ever find out? Did you even want to know?" asked Nathan. As he thought about it, he realized that he...
Before lunch had been served Dusty had already spoken with the King. Even though he tried hard to keep the crystal phones they created a secret from the public, the King while bragging about them, had shown his off to a few of the nobles and visiting dignitaries. That was enough to spark a huge interest in them. Suddenly it was seen as a favor to the crown to have a few people outfitted with them, and a few others tried to curry huge favors with him to get one. Dusty and his friends kept...
While Kat had waited that morning for the three of them to arrive quite a few men had tried to "chat her up" as they passed by her going either into the city or as they left. Even in her generally loose fitting travel garb they saw the gem that she was. Somehow she managed not only to talk to them in a friendly manner, but she also managed to get some useful information while not offending anyone or giving the impression that she was willing to go to bed with any of them. Even though she...
The four women entered the large city and quickly blended in with the rest of the inhabitants. Suzan was just a little unhappy Dusty wasn't with her though it had only been a little over a week since she left Dusty and headed out for the mission. Although she missed her husband, she was also really charged up to be here and was well ready to take on a new mission like this. It took them several days of travel by ship and a few more days of hard riding and just barely stopping for anything...
"So where do we start looking for him?" asked Rory as he looked around at the crowd in the town square. "I'm not sure. It's not like you can say 'Hey, has anyone seen any evil mages running around lately' and then have everyone know who you're talking about. He might even be from here or be terrorizing everyone into not talking," said Ariel as she looked around. "I need to see if there is a mage and see if I can borrow his crystal. I would like to contact Galen and see if he knows...
Amber came into the house and kicked off her boots. She then put her pack down beside the door, took off her twin swords, and then leaned those swords against the door next to her pack. Her parents would be around somewhere, and after she found something to eat she would go find them. She had dropped Logan off in town, as he wanted to visit, but she only wanted to go home and unwind. As she walked down the hallway she had the same thoughts she usually did when she passed through...
As Nathan and Ariel dressed they both were lost in their own thoughts. It was now growing dark and they needed to head to the house they were staying in for awhile. The owner had died and they paid some money to the surviving family to use the empty house for a few months while they visited. They had fallen back on doing a little bounty work, both people and things, and even lately a creature or too, and they used those funds to pay their way with. They were trying to not use any of the...
Dusty felt like he was submerged in warm water. It was strange because while he couldn't see, he could feel everything. The feeling made him feel like he was surrounded by nothing and yet at the same time by everything. He could feel shapes, colors, sounds, even smells. He could sense everyone around him and as strange as it sounded he could sense himself. It was like he was looking at himself but he wasn't looking at himself. As Dusty was trying to puzzle that out, he felt child like...
Dusty and Suzan reached the double doors that lead to the council chambers. They had passed a few offices that the council members and others made their own. Now they were at their destination. There was a single desk outside the council chambers, and at it sat a very striking and attractive red haired woman. She looked to conceivably be in her mid-thirties, but with mages that didn't mean anything. She was dressed in similar robes as the guard out front with the same sash over her...
"Galen? Galen? Yes I know of him. He's one of those mages who seated themselves on their useless council. Don't you know that his meeting you was no accident? He was assigned to watch you. He also wanted to make sure that you didn't go power mad and crazy. While you may be stronger he's always hidden his true strength from you. "And you do know the reason that he took so long to help your son and his wife when her powers truly activated was because the council really didn't want to...
After getting in the gate, Aaron met then in the Old throne room. It now had the throne removed and a large circular table in the center of the room. The dais where throne sat now had a large square table with flowers and books on it. Aaron came out, refused Aric's outstretched hand, and grabbed him in a bear hug. Then he turned and asked who his stunning companion was. Aric introduced her as his wife, soul mate, and the mother of his child. And apparently the only person who still could...
Nathan was wondering what was going on. He continued to work his way around the room but now he could clearly hear the men faintly screaming who were in the hallway. As he shifted into passive detection he could see that magic aura that the men gave off, were first running one way then another. It was obvious they were either chasing or being chased. Then quickly one by one he saw their aura's go out! He even saw the occasional spell go off, but the caster's aura still went out. They...
"So what the hell happened here?" exclaimed Terrance as he looked around the ransacked camp area. It was a creepy looking site, not because of its layout, it was a large site, but because of the men who lay in all type of grotesque poses on the ground. Looks of horror were etched on their faces and their eyes were rolled back in their heads, but yet they remained wide open. Impossibly wide open. "Not one of them is alive. Who could have killed them all like this? It was as if they just...
Even though Ariel was feeling in the mood to be with Nathan, she refused to do anything with him because of how guilty she felt over what happened earlier with the young man who approached her. She didn't want to remotely believe she was using her husband as a substitute for the young man and so she refused to give into her desires that night. Nathan for the most part didn't want to pressure her into anything and knew she would eventually seek him out. Kat parted with them at the...
As the two women were still embracing in the waning late afternoon light, with Kat now only softly crying after getting most of it out of her system, the door burst open and Terrance and Rory came in holding a struggling, screaming to be let go, young boy between them. "This tyke matches all the descriptions given to us. I'm sure he's the right one because as soon as it became apparent that we were headed here he started to struggle harder," said Rory with a grasp under the boy's right...
It had already been five nights since Ariel watched her husband die. Because the thought had been too painful for her mind, it shut itself down to everything except for the most basic of primal functions. Running through the tree's and brush had snagged and torn her clothing. She was dirty, ragged, and looked disheveled with her free flowing uncombed hair flying behind her and the young man pacing her thought she never looked more beautiful than she did right then. Even though her faced...
Peter was feeling on top of the world. The female bitch he had brought to the howling had already put herself at the top of the pack as the number one choice and he already had an in with her so he was sure that she would be his prize before the night was out. It was easy to get her away from the humans because they weren't that smart anyway. He wondered how long she had been away from her pack. He also needed a break, because the humans always had a way of infecting others with their...
The next thing Nathan knew was, it was now early morning and the sun was almost completely up and their small campsite now had a lot of people milling around in it. Nathan casually squinted and tried to look around as best he could without being obvious to get an idea of what was going on. The people didn't seem to have a real purpose to being there and he could see they were doing various little things here and there, but no one seemed to be too worried about him. As he tried to take...
It was five days later and Brianna still had not seen him. She tried to tell herself that she was only coming back to the tavern for a meal and information, but she always came in very early every day and sat in the back corner watching the door for him. He had yet to show, and she was starting to get somewhat testy waiting. Melt came in the second day while she was waiting, saw her in the corner. He came over and profusely apologized, and completely asked for her forgiveness for his...
"Son of a BITCH!" thought Aric with some frustration, as he lay once again on his back looking up at the sky. He had already lost count of the number of times Brianna had put him down there today. It was frustrating him that she was so easily knocking him to the ground. He never really realized how poor his skills with a sword actually were until today. Aaron wasn't kidding with his advice. Every time he thought he figured out what she was going to do next, she did something different....
Aaron was able to take some of the treasury with him as one of the liberators of the nation. He tried to refuse it, but they called it his retirement fund and wouldn't let him return it. He had enough to make him very wealthy when they left. And after the ceremony of changing offices was over they all took the three week's journey back home. To say what happened was a surprise when Aaron and Gemma finally met, after being apart for seasons was unexpected, would be a world class...
On their third day they decided to look for work to keep them busy as they explored around them. But as they didn't know where yet to start looking, and after spending most of the day wandering around, they decided to go to a different Inn near the docks for a light supper and listen to see what was available. As they entered Ariel went inside first and Nathan couldn't help but noticed that the noise level dropped more noticeable as she entered than when he came in a few steps behind...
Ariel stood with her arms crossed holding her twin swords, blindfolded, and waiting. Nathan was still skeptical, but with what she has been doing lately he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He was standing in front of a pile of rocks with two in his hands, standing about twenty feet from her. Suddenly he lightly threw two hand sized rocks her direction about a second apart and cringed as he watched them fly towards her. Moving faster than he thought possible, Ariel cut each...
Later than night Ariel and Nathan had a seat at a table in the Inn. They were planning on leaving early the next morning as Nathan wanted to confront Keith immediately about being used for such criminal activities. He wasn't happy with being used like he was. As they had dinner before they called it a night, Terrance and Rory insisted they buy the first two rounds of drinks to make up for their earlier rude actions. "Since we didn't get the introductions out of the way earlier," said...
"Ariel! Where are you love?!" called out Nathan from the front of the house. "In the bedroom," called out Ariel anxiously. "Wow that was fast! He couldn't have been gone more than an hour tops!" thought Ariel as she paced around fidgeting. But she was very happy that he came back quickly. After asking where she was, she was surprised that Nathan was taking so long to come to bedroom. Since this is where she wanted to be, she didn't want to leave the room. Tomorrow would make it...
As Ariel kept working her way to Keith's house the dizziness was slowly giving way to an intensely pounding headache. But the pull towards Nathan was leading her here to this place. Ariel vision was slowly fading in and out and still going blurry from time to time, and it was more often than she would have liked it to. But the pounding was not enough for her not to know where she was going or prevent her from getting to Nathan, but it was starting to really bother her. She must be...
Nathan was still trying to find the door to the room and it was starting to frustrate him. If he was using magic he would already have been out of here. He knew he would have been able to find it. The mage who cast the spell wasn't near as powerful as he is. But if he uses magic now he'll blow his and Ariel's cover and he doesn't know who will find out or who they might tell. Right now no one knows who they are, but if he uses magic then they will. But it's pissing him off that he...
Wolfgang wouldn't admit it but he was really looking forward to Kat's visit shortly. She had just called to say that she was close and would soon be at his home, and once they broke the connection he found he was rotating the crystal phone around in his hands and staring at it as he thought about her. Ever since Dusty's phones started to be the rage it had made his life far easier. Of course he wished he had access to these phones a long, long, time ago but Dusty wasn't born during the...
Dusty and Suzan quickly made a few plans between them, agreed on them, and then set about separately doing them. First thing Dusty wanted to do was make sure the kids were taken care of. He knew that getting DJ started on his training was important right then and so he made a quick call to Lori. Talking as fast as he could Dusty then explained what was going on and why he needed to send the kids to her home. Telling Lori he had the emergency covered he made the plan to send their kids,...
Dusty, Suzan, Daniel, and Rachel all suddenly appeared on the pad next to Lori's home. The pad was large enough to accommodate five riders on horseback, but it was the four of them standing next to Dusty and Suzan's horses. Waiting while Dusty and Suzan took their horses to the stable, the four of them returned to the front of the door and knocked. "Lori seemed pretty excited when I called her, I wonder why," said Suzan as they waited "Bet she's discovered something new again. She...
"Thank you for the horses," said Marie as she looked over at Seth smiling. "I'm happy to loan them to you all. I'm just sorry how you received them, but not that you have them," said Seth. "I am too. I wished those men didn't have to die while helping others as they did, but I know those people in the town appreciated their sacrifice," said Marie to Seth. Seth just nodded as he rode. They rode in silence while they were sticking to the main roads in the forest so that they could...
As the five of them worked their way through the dungeon, they were surprised that they no longer found any opposition. There just didn't seem to be anything that approached them or tried to attack them. That bothered Dusty. They had just gone from having wave after wave of ghouls attacking for over an hour to an eerie quiet. The only thing that made it worse was the occasional dripping sound of water from somewhere in the distance as they made their way deeper into the dungeon. "This is...
Andrea sat next to the bed looking down at the face of a sleeping Daven. It was hard to believe watching him that this was the same face of the young man who was the terror of husbands and fathers alike. Likewise it was hard to believe this was the same face of the young man who was well known as well for his uncommon attractiveness. If it wasn't for his barely hidden arrogance, that few who got close enough to him could see, she herself might have found him more attractive. He always...
Melkin had to admit that Dusty was coming up in the world. When he brought him here he was someone who had nothing and had to start at the bottom. The council thought that this was the best way to do it and that it would make him more dependant on them for things he needed to survive while here. But not only had he started with nothing and grown, but he had been knighted, received a title and land, and was now turning a pretty decent profit. No one had expected him to be able to prosper...
"With us not finding any trace of what's happing during the day it looks like we're going to have to venture further into the woods at night," said Suzan as she looked at Dusty and Seth. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we've still not found a single trace of what is taking off with the people from around here," said Dusty as he turned to look at her. "I say we give it at least one more day, maybe two tops, before we go looking for any danger that we may not need to buy for...
3190 seasons previously before current times "Beth! Beth! Where are you? Are you here in the house?" called out Wolfgang as he started down the hallway. As he moved around the house, everything looked similar but somehow different. In spots there was dust and cobwebs, but not enough to make the house look abandoned. But no matter where he looked he didn't see Beth anywhere. Heading outside he noticed two young boys just outside his door. One was leaning with his back against the wall...
"Ariel, I still don't see why you were so dead set against my having brought my Bastard sword with me as a backup incase of trouble. I mean you have your swords with you. I just feel safer with mine as well," said Nathan grumbling as he walked along. While he wasn't really irritated at Ariel, he was irritated at the situation. "For the very reason you just stated. You should be comfortable with every weapon you know how to use well. But that won't happen if you only carry that one...
4001 seasons previously before current times The last five seasons the land of Pastial had been peaceful and the people and land prospered. Wolfgang managed to setup various changes in the land. He managed to introduce a few of his inventions further into the populace, like the wheeled plow, piped irrigation for the farm land, water filtration, and he was currently working on various steam powered inventions. Because of all of those changes the people kept trying to make him the new King...
The next morning Dusty got up very early, before the sun was even close to coming up, and started packing his pack for the next mission. As he pulled out clothing to take with him he noticed the suede leather jacket and jeans that he was wearing when he arrived here hanging in the wardrobe in the corner of his room. Seeing them once again took him back to when he first appeared in this world just under over a year ago. A lot of things had changed. First of all he now believed in magic. It...
"So all the tests prove that Beth is now resistant to all forms of poison?" asked Anne-Marie as she put down one of the various reports that she had been looking over in front of her and leaned back in her chair. She now had the six of them in her office once again and she was looking them over. Once they returned to the guild, the first thing Ayden and a few of the mature Sisters did was to check out Beth. He was the best able to tell them what he did and the few White mage they had...
Dusty started to run into the room, but he stopped and took a good long look around first looking for traps. As he stepped into the room he saw Galvin as he basically finished hanging his wife next to Daniel and Rachel from a hook by a chain around both of her wrists. When Galvin stepped back he could see that her shirt was ripped badly in the front and one of her breasts was in danger of spilling out of her already heavily overworked bra. He watched Galvin seem to take a good long look at...
Two men stood looking at the prone form of their leader. They just received the report that the man wanting to join them, a Christopher Jones, was just killed by someone a very powerful. It didn't look like magic that killed him, but they also had no idea at this point how he died. The men weren't too broken up about it because they felt the fool was wrong to be experimenting on children and they wouldn't miss him. He contacted them before with a deep desire to join their ranks and said...
"Mmmmmmm ... do you really need to get up and go work out so soon? The sun isn't even up yet. You really should come back to bed. I need you. I mean I really need you. You could just as easily work out with me instead you know," said Suzan softly but in her deep raspy voice. Even with just barely opening her eyes, she knew that she had her husband's complete attention. They had gone to bed the previous night in the buff and she could see his response to her request instantly. He was...
During the first week that Dusty and the others had left Marie and Seth had met with the King and Marie trained in the yard to keep up her skills, tone her body, and generally keep busy. The King gave her one of the outer rooms that faced the parade yards so that she was well away from the other nobles but close enough that she could work out in the yard and visit with Seth. King William gave her a knowing smile as his secretary briefed her where she would be staying. Marie smiled back at...
Once out of the chamber Dusty smiled and raced down the hall to grab Suzan's hand as she was still storming down the hallway, and pulled her trembling frame into an embrace. As he did he noticed that her face was unreadable, but he could see as he did this that she was still very much pissed off. While pulling her close he buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry honey, but should have told you that you broke nothing. If I hadn't been so caught up in self pity I would have spoken up...
"Well my dear it has been almost two weeks, I don't believe they are coming back before the time limit," said Queen Morigan as she looked over at Rachel while she stood apart from the other women. Rachel was sitting and trying to look at ease, but it was an effort with all the various other Lady's and ladies in waiting around. All the various forms of nobility were hanging around the audience chamber making light conversation about nothing and gossiping. As Rachel tried to look like she...
Once breakfast was finished Ariel wandered the guild grounds once again. She was trying to learn where everything was, and she passed various areas once again including the blacksmith shop where Nathan worked as a blacksmith's assistant. When they first arrived they found that the guild already had a blacksmith, but like the other members he went on missions because he could make more money doing that than he could having the members pay him to fix their weapons. So there was a need for...
The meeting with Rayne's parents, Aric and Brianna, went really well Matt thought. Matt met her father Aric, and if he thought the boys were larger than life, he was shocked at the father. His presence seemed huge to him. But strangely, other than a silver forelock, Aric didn't look like he could possibly be a day over thirty at best to Matt. To Matt Aric seemed far too quiet, friendly, and gentle to be the famous Battlemage he had heard of. Didn't they only love death and destruction...
Aric worked hard while he was at the academy. And while it was grueling work, it was getting him where he needed to be. He wanted to finish fast to be back in Andrea's arms. He was ready to be married and with all that it entailed. The professors couldn't believe how fast he learned, and he seemed to be ready for any class he could take. The only exception was the class for Applied Black Magery, that class he refused to take. He didn't like the necromancy involved and flat out refused to...