Blessings of a Curse 2015 Usa EditionAfterword
- 2 years ago
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They desperately hugged each other and cried with relief as their minds joined and embraced as fiercely as their bodies, and Talia learned what had happened.
A few minutes later a string of popping sounds made them open their eyes, and they realized that they were on the patio of their cottage on the slope of the volcano at Hilia. It was the darkest time of night here; and perhaps three hours remained before dawn. Firepits and glowspheres lit the patio.
Their advance security team was alertly in place all around them, and the Alliance force that had appeared at Winghoof Estate were rapidly Translocating in all around them. Within five minutes almost everyone who had been at Winghoof, including the ranch staff and the knights of Sming, had been Translocated in.
The last group included Yazadril, Nemia, Hilsith, and fourteen injured on stretchers, as well as a dozen human walking wounded. They appeared on the patio at the same moment that the huge flight of dragons arrived in neat formation a thousand feet in the air, announced by their thunderous sound. Hilsith immediately had her patients gently Moved inside the cottage, while Yazadril and Nemia set Talia’s sword and magic items on a nearby bench.
“Are you all right?” Nemia asked in concern as she floated up and hugged them, and Yazadril joined her in that.
“We’re okay.” Talia somberly nodded. “The bolt hit me so fast, I didn’t even have time to feel pain before I was gone. That’s the third death the curse has saved me from.”
“The curse and Mark, this time.” Yazadril said. “I was beginning to doubt that your re-integration would be successful, when he drastically accelerated it.
“Mark, did you analyze the workings of the curse’s Restoration, and then cast the same thing in parallel?”
“No. My understanding of it isn’t that complete, though it’s coming close. All I did was figure out enough of what it was doing to be able to add some of my power to it. I thought the risk of it was less than the risk of doing nothing. I saw in Merik’s memory that the bolt was incredibly powerful and concentrated, aimed at just the two of us. I knew that Talia had been scattered a lot more energetically by the bolt than by the fireball, and so I was worried that the curse’s Restoration could fail. Ria warned us that such a thing could happen.”
Then his tone changed to one of tightly controlled anger. “Does anyone have any idea who did that, or how it was done?!”
“From the evidence and the witnesses’ Readings, we know that the bolt was cast from directly above you.” Yazadril reported as he stepped back and began observing the redeployment of his force. “Our dragons found only a slight residue of the bolt’s casting over four miles up, and all we can deduce from the residue is that it was probably cast by human wizards. It must have been cast by many of them, likely hundreds, perhaps lending their power to a single wizard or a small group of them. Or perhaps focusing their power through an item. You were protected by ten powerful wizards, eight elven and two human, who were casting a hemispherical Battle Shield around you and your party, yet the bolt had enough power to punch through their Shield like a spear through paper. All ten casting the Shield were felled by the shock and backlash of having their spell so violently disrupted. They are among the most severely injured, along with Joseth Narr, who was closest to you when the bolt struck. The Readings show he turned away just before the strike, which likely saved him from death or disfigurement.
“The bolt was anti-life, causing living cells to explode, and had no other direct effects, but the energy released was formidable, causing a blast that struck those around you.
“Will everyone live?” Talia asked.
“I do not know, and I don’t dare disturb the Healers’ work to find out. For the humans especially, it may be a close thing. They are all very lucky that the bolt was so tightly focused on the two of you.
“There can be no doubt that this was a finely targeted assassination, not a military strike.”
“How is it that we were brought here to Hilia, and not home or the Hall of Justice?” Talia asked in puzzlement.
“Your advance security team wisely decided to make this your fallback position, once they’d arrived here and learned of the gift you’ve been given by the nations of The Just Alliance.” Yazadril ruefully smiled. “This is now the most heavily Shielded and Warded place on Kellaran. If you cast your awareness outward, you’ll find around the entire island a concentrated version of the Wards that The Grand Council of Xervia use around their continent, and around their council hall. Beyond those Wards lies a concentrated version of the Wards around The Nine Valleys. Beyond those, more layers of independent Wards, fifty-six in total, cast by every race and nation in The Just Alliance. Not even the Hall of The Just Alliance is nearly so well protected.”
“Which explains why they struck in Sming, rather than here.” Mark nodded, his brows furrowed. “You’re confident that a bolt like that couldn’t strike us here?”
“Quite confident, not even if it were ten thousand times as powerful.” Yazadril assured him. “I’m only sorry we never thought to provide you with equally effective protection as you traveled today. The ten who were Shielding you were four of the most capable Battle Wizards among those who’ve sworn to you, and six of the best in Sming. It was not expected that they would be so suddenly and utterly bested before help could arrive, since we were ready to respond with only a moment’s notice.
“This place only has such a hugely excessive number of Wards and shields because once the Xervians decided to gift you with Wards for Hilia, everyone else wanted to do so as well, likely to maintain their prestige as much as out of regard for you.”
“For which I am profoundly thankful.” Talia shivered. “It’s somehow far more frightening to have been killed by an assassin’s spell than it was by our own mistake.”
“And far more infuriating.” Mark growled, then his rage and frustration burst out of him. “Damn it, I’d like to kill them all!! Every single last one of the cowardly bastards, slow with a dull knife!!! Damn but I would dearly love to crush their skulls in right now!! That was a cowardly and craven attack, worthy only of scum!! Gods, I so want to smash something right now!!!”
“Indeed.” Yazadril nodded, letting some of his own anger show. “I’ve left a Company of wizards and cavalry at Winghoof to care for the place, and to set a trap for any others who attack there, but it’s likely an unnecessary precaution, since it was yourselves and not your location that were targeted.
“All of you stay here, rest and relax. I’ll be back shortly.”
“I’m coming with you.” Nemia firmly insisted as she moved to his side.
He nodded, and they were gone.
“We’re very sorry.” Dilimon stated sorrowfully, and Kalem mournfully nodded in agreement.
“A fat lot of good we did protecting you today.” she muttered under her breath.
“Don’t worry about it.” Mark assured them in a growl, still very angry, but struggling for self-control.
Balen and two other girls of The Devoted hurried out of the cottage with fresh clothes for him and Talia as he continued speaking. “We’re still alive. And it won’t happen again. I should have taken you more seriously when you tried to warn me about how much danger we were in. It’s too bad that while I believed you intellectually, it never really sank in emotionally. If I’d have gone with my brains instead of my heart, we’d have stayed home today. The tour was in no way necessary, though most of it was a great time. If you’d have asked us to stay home, we’d probably have gone anyway. I guess I didn’t really want to believe that hundreds of enemies might really try to kill us. Now I know better.”
“Uh, Mark, you’re hurt. On your legs, mostly.” Balen quietly revealed.
“Why, so I am! Ouch!” Mark chuckled as he carefully set Talia down. “I almost wish you hadn’t brought that to my attention. I really hadn’t noticed it much till then! I tell you, my heart is still thumping like galloping hooves on a wooden bridge!”
Yalla had hurried over as soon as she’d heard Mark was hurt. “I’m qualified as a Field Healer. Let me have a look.
“Ah. Your injuries are small but numerous. Grains of sand, plant matter, and threads from your clothing were driven into your skin by the concussion. A few are deep enough to be dangerous for a human.
“And my healing spells are not working on you.” Yalla concluded with a bit of frustration, wiping away blood trickles with a cool cloth.
“Let me try something.” Mark mused as he realized that the tine band had been destroyed by the bolt, and its pieces were still in Sming. “Ria gave me an extensive collection of magecraft healing spells. I think I can ... There. Did it with my own power.”
“Well done.” Yalla nodded. “All the foreign matter was pushed to the surface before the wounds closed, and there’s no sign of scarring.”
“And it’s a surprising relief as well.” Mark sighed as he sat on the nearest bench and scratched his legs. “Moreso than I expected, seeing as it didn’t really hurt that much.”
“Remind me to thank Bizyutin for her suggestion that we store a few changes of clothes at each of our homes.” Talia said as she drew a yellow sundress on over her head, then returned to the earlier subject. “So Love, you were saying that we won’t be similarly endangered again?”
“Not if we can help it. We’re safe here for now.” Mark nodded as he dressed in a white cotton vest and matching baggy pantaloons, and took a moment to enjoy the warm tropical night. When he continued he Spoke over their Link. “We’ll stay here until we’re both expert at casting my power and yours as well, especially faster and more powerful defenses. I think the tactics of our security today were fine, but our strategy was a mistake. Given how dangerous our enemies obviously are, traveling with a large group is a bad plan that unnecessarily endangers our traveling companions. This is especially true when you consider the potential of our power. With a few days’ practice, we could be more capable of protecting our security force than they are of protecting us.
“Right now I’m desperately hoping none have died on our behalf.”
“I’m pretty sure none have, at least not since the injured were brought here.” Talia assured him as she rose four feet and hugged him. “I think I’d have felt it if any had. And Father inferred that none had died at Winghoof.”
He closed his eyes and gratefully wrapped his arms around her, glorying in the reassuring warmth of her love.
“From now on until we catch the assassins, maybe even until the nexus is past, we’re going to try to avoid telling anyone where we’re going in advance.” he mused as he continued his train of thought. “We’ll just ask if we can show up immediately, and go. If we can avoid it, we won’t even ask. Actually, if we can avoid it, we won’t even decide or plan beforehand. We’ll just spontaneously travel, and try to avoid any predictable patterns. If it’s not an official occasion, we might even think about some kind of disguise.
“On the other hand. It’s probably not that smart to make too many decisions right now. That’s all spontaneous thinking, and I’m still pretty shaken, from being terrified that I was losing you a few minutes ago.”
“We’ll start with staying here for now, and go from there.” Talia mused. “We’ll have the dinner for the sworn served here; I don’t think it’ll be too much trouble for the Atoning to relocate the meal.
“At least we can check off touring our properties from our list of things to do, though we didn’t get to see much of Winghoof. And all our things have been put away, and our finances, business dealings and charitable works are settled in capable hands.
“We still need to review our magic items, weapons and armor, we need to speak to our gold neighbor, and we need to spend the four hours on physical combat skills. And we’ve added working on the curse.”
“What time is it, anyway?” Mark asked. “In First Valley, I mean.”
“Five hours, twenty-one minutes after noon. Things haven’t exactly gone as we’d planned, but at least we’re pretty much on schedule.”
“We can save the time on our magic items and such.” Mark decided. “The warriors and wizards of The Atoning are already reviewing every item in our inventory for their military utility. We can Link with them for that knowledge later.
“And I’m ready to work on spell casting now. I don’t know if Ria still thinks I should wait to do that, but I know I’m ready. And considering the magical and powerful nature of the assassination attempt, I think we should spend about half an hour on physical combat, at most, and spend the extra time practicing spell casting. We both need work on casting with my power. And when it comes to magic, I need work on everything.”
“You’re right about that!” Talia chuckled. “It seems silly to spend any time tonight on the correct form to use when thrusting with a spear, or anything like that, when we can be mastering the use of your power.”
“You know, this is so much faster and better than talking out loud, I wonder why we haven’t been doing this continuously since we first learned to do it?!” he thought with a grin.
“Well, talking out loud with you is a very natural and enjoyable experience, and of course, everyone has a certain natural reluctance to spend too much time Linked. Our survival instincts make us fear the loss of our individuality.”
“I understand that.” Mark nodded. “But I’m not worried about it. I know I’ll never have trouble figuring out which parts of us are me. And there’s a lot of things I want to do with you that can be best done by Link, like showing you combat skills, learning your wizardry, helping Ria teach you magecraft, and studying the curse. We’re a lot more skilled at Linking than we were when we first tried it. I don’t think we’ll need the wedding vow spell to protect us from Linking too deeply anymore.”
“Let’s get things in motion.” Talia suddenly decided. “Let’s tell The Atoning to serve the dinner here as soon as they can be ready, then get everyone out of our hair. I’ve had enough of being surrounded by a crowd for one day, and I need some time alone with you.”
“I’m with you in that.” he emphatically agreed.
Their psionic conversation had only taken ten seconds, but the Volunteers were already looking to him expectantly, and beginning to get restless.
“All right, Volunteers.” he called as he stood with Talia in his arms. “Talia and I will be staying here for a while. Balen, contact Sheramiv and fill her in on what’s happened. Tell her the dinner is still on, but we’ll be having it here. We’ll start dinner as soon as everyone’s here and it’s ready to be served. Tell her I’d like a report on the Atoning’s progress and planning, especially concerning the improvements and constructions here.
“You Volunteers who wish to stay on Hilia are welcome to do so, as soon as the facilities here are ready for you. Until they are, if you want to stay here beyond the next six hours, you’ll have to work with the construction crews and use their barracks. For right now, feel free to look around if you want. Not that there’s much to see until the sun comes up.”
“Yes sir.” Balen nodded.
He looked around at the patio and grounds of the cottage, where the Volunteers were mostly making themselves comfortable and conferring in groups. The few ranch hands and staff from Winghoof who had escaped injury were huddled by the door to the cottage, anxiously awaiting word on the wounded. Those who were loved ones and friends of the wounded were arriving in small groups, vetted and Translocated by the wizards of the Alliance force.
The roughly circular patio was fifty feet wide and paved with light gray flagstone. Downslope were seven oval lawns from thirty to eighty feet in their longest dimensions, terraced into the slope and joined by short flights of stairs that had been cut into the stone. All seven lawns and the patio were surrounded by decorative bushes and small flower gardens in low stone walls, from which drifted exotic scents. The entire area was illuminated by Light spells.
“Ria was disrupted somewhat, when the bolt struck us.” Talia Spoke as she buckled her sword belt around her waist. “She says she should recover fully in a few hours. These other items were unaffected, so far as I can tell. I lost three scrolls, but they were not unique, and I can replace them.”
“GrimFang seems unaffected.” Mark returned as he laid his hand on his hilt.
A moment later, Sheramiv arrived. “Talia, Mark, I’m so sorry to hear of your ordeal.” she said with a bit of a nervous bow. “We really should’ve had more wizards assigned to Shielding you in an un-warded nation, and so should the team from Sming. We won’t make that mistake again.”
“Next time we’ll catch ‘em before they can cast a bolt.” Mark assured her. “I only hope those who were hurt are going to be all right.”
“I’ll check on that. They should be stabilized by now.” Balen declared, and lightly ran into the cottage.
“As to our progress, your hotels will be open for business tomorrow, and we recommend commitment to three major charitable acts over the next year.
“With your permission, we will help build a Healers’ Hospice in Heartwood that will serve the elven lands and human kingdoms of northern Debivin. All of the kingdoms need better Healing facilities, and the lands of The People of Life are centrally located amongst them. Also, by locating it in elven lands, it’s much easier to hire sufficient wizards to allow the most urgent cases in northern Debivin to be immediately Translocated to the new hospital. It will also train human and elven Healers, as well as selected candidates from the other races, and it will be associated with the Heartwood Assembly for Advanced Study, and with the Healers’ Guild of Thon.
“As for helping the poor, according to recent figures, in three weeks there won’t be any truly poor people left on Kellaran, but we’re helping with that effort by building a charitable trades college with the trades guilds of the empires at Juncture, where the borders of the three empires of Debivin meet.
“Also, we’re co-operating with the representatives of The Just Alliance in building the facility that may be formally known as The Hilian Library of The Just Alliance. They will cover half the costs of construction, as well as contributing all of the library’s books, scrolls, artworks and learning materials. It’s a great project, since it will be the only place on Kellaran where the knowledge of every race in The Just Alliance is available in one place.
“The construction costs of the rest of the facilities here are financially out of our reach right now, though by auctioning the hotel space, and by pre-selling the lets here, also by auction, we will have enough to complete the resort here within a week. Renovations and fortifications of the rest of your properties are already paid for, including The Queen of Waves, and we have more than enough left on hand to start work here.
“As for the facilities of The Military Academy of Hilia, it is not a profit-making venture, so we felt no reservations about advertising for qualified volunteers for its construction, and asking for donations toward its costs. Response has been surprisingly universal, and the academy’s construction is already fully funded and staffed.
“The Hidden Nation of Xervia alone has paid for more than half the cost of construction of the Military Academy, and they are among many nations who have asked permission to build embassies and consulates here. I should point out that this is an incredible diplomatic triumph! Not one of their citizens has ever been known to venture beyond Xervia’s shores, and now they wish to build a consulate here! Also, since the installation of the extensive Wards here today, combined with the fact that every visitor here is bound by Osbald’s Oath, they now consider this to be the safest place in the world. Because of this assessment, millions of them have requested permissions to visit, and a few of them have apparently asked about immigrating!
“There’s room inside the crater for many diplomatic facilities, as well as for the academy, and in the future a small University of The Just Alliance might be built here, where the scholars of the world can learn and exchange knowledge. Work on the military academy has already begun, and will proceed night and day, with a likely completion date in less than two weeks.
“And dinner will be served buffet-style from the patio here in approximately twenty-five minutes.”
“Thank you. I approve of all those projects and plans, and you may proceed with them with due pace.” Mark decided, then his aspect became a bit grim.
“Most important right now is finding out who attacked us today, and bringing them to justice. Put everyone on it that has the skills to contribute to the investigation, even if they have to be re-assigned from the other projects. I’m sure Yazadril already has a formidable team of wizards and investigators working on it, so co-ordinate with them.”
“Yes sir. Right away.” Sheramiv nodded, and vanished.
Balen emerged from the cottage’s doorway. “The Healers say everyone will live!” she called to all, and a cheer went up, while many who had waited for word began weeping as emotions that had been held back were released.
Yazadril and Nemia re-appeared.
“We can find few other clues from the assassination attempt.” Yazadril reported, letting some of his frustration show. “None of our wizards have been able to recognize a signature in the spell’s residue. We believe that the assassins might have disguised their psionic imprint while casting the spell, to prevent their identification by that method. This further muddies the waters, since it throws our earlier deduction that it was cast by human wizards into doubt, since a faked human quality may have been left as a false trail.”
“I see.” Mark growled. “There’s really very little chance that we’ll be able to catch them, is there?”
“No, there’s not, until they reveal themselves through further acts, as much as I hate to come right out and face the fact.
“This was a very powerful and sophisticated attack, and expertly performed. If they’d have been up there waiting for you, they’d have struck immediately when you arrived, rather than a few moments later as they did. So they remotely detected your arrival, or were informed of the timing of your departure from Thon by someone on or near the Queen of Waves, which I consider the most likely possibility. For that reason, most of our investigators are busy in Gimoosh, interviewing everyone who was in the vicinity of your ship when you left it. All who were at Winghoof were already sworn to Justice, so it’s unlikely that the informant was one of them, but they will be Read by our investigators as a routine precaution.
“The assassins quickly Translocated into place four miles above you, above the limits of the detection spells of the wizards who were guarding you. The skill required to focus the bolt on just the two of you from such a distance is considerable. The bolt itself was a highly concentrated variant of the death spell that struck Shinosa Valley; it causes living cells to explode, but mostly passes through inanimate matter.
“Since we know that the spell at Shinosa was cast by members of the insidious conspiracy, it is reasonable to assume that they were the authors of this attack as well. From that we must assume that the conspirators are neither discouraged by the formation of The Just Alliance, nor defeated by our efforts to root them out. Nor are they willing to wait in hiding, hoping that our search will eventually be called off. The strike at you shows that there will be little pause in the struggle between the conspiracy and the Alliance.
“At any rate, you should be safe enough here. You’ll have to be more secretive when you travel from now on, until these matters are concluded.”
“We’d already decided that.” Mark agreed. “We’ll stay here for a while, at least until the parades of the leaders. If we go anywhere before then it’ll be spontaneously and without warning, most likely back to First Valley.
“And please, pass our most sincere thanks to everyone who came with you to help us today. The speed and magnitude of your response honors us.”
“Not at all.” Yazadril smiled with a dismissive gesture. “There was little we could do when we arrived, but even so, the sudden call to assemble and deploy was a valuable exercise for our fast response force. Now I’ve seen how they respond when the call is not a drill, and they did well by anyone’s standards. We arrived within six seconds of the call, and were fully deployed at Winghoof Estate within twenty seconds. If your attackers had lingered above you for even seven seconds to judge the results of their spell, we might have had them. They may have learned our response time, but we’ve only begun to improve.
“Still, you can be sure that the members of The Fast Response Force of The Just Alliance will be flattered by your gratitude. It was your idea, you know, to have a completely integrated mixed-race response unit, and I don’t mind giving you credit for it. I recognized the brilliance of it immediately. Your four comrades deployed with our dragon and unicorn units, by the way, temporarily attached for training purposes. In a few minutes we’ll return to our base in Xervia for de-briefing and review. They’ll be off duty in about an hour, barring further unforeseen events.
“But before we go, I wonder if you’d welcome a bit of advice on matters of governance?”
“Your advice is always welcome and valuable, Yazadril.” Mark grinned.
“Your plans for facilities that are designed to be usable by any race is a masterstroke. And by allowing the nations of The Just Alliance to build embassies and educational facilities here, you ensure valuable interaction between every race and nation, which can only aid the causes of unity and de-segregation.
“You should grant Hilian citizenship to those who’ve sworn to you, since your nation has little credibility until it has citizens. But here you have a wonderful opportunity. Your nation was formed just before the founding meeting of the Alliance, its land was uninhabited before then, its facilities will be accessible to any race, and it was declared to be a multiracial nation at almost the same moment as its public declaration of independence. Moreso than anywhere else on Kellaran, Hilia is racially neutral territory. Therefore; for many people, it should be the most comfortable place to visit beyond their racial homelands. If you try to keep your visitors and your citizenry racially balanced, Hilia will hold the heart of The Just Alliance, though its seat of government will remain in Xervia.
“And you should formally recognize Sheramiv’s position in your government’s administration. I picked her to speak for her group at their swearing because she’s the most capable and levelheaded among them, and one of the most experienced. Thus far she is empowered to act for you in matters of commerce, and doing a fine job from what I’ve heard. But you should give her a formal title, such as Chancellor of Hilia or something similar, so that she may more effectively represent your government in diplomatic relations.
“You should feel free to consult any of the existing military training programs in The Just Alliance for assistance and advice in establishing and operating your military academy, and to arrange to have copies of their reference works made.
“And it would be wise of you to do something formal to acknowledge the financial contribution of The Hidden Nation to your military academy, for it is unprecedented. They are very reticent about military matters; yet still wish to be seen to be making a contribution to the defense of the alliance, thus the magnitude of their endowment. Your personal and public recognition of their generosity would mean a lot to them.”
“Ah. That’s all wisdom for certain, and we’ll heed it, thank you.” Mark acknowledged with a bit of a bow.
“Excellent. Do you still plan on acting against the curse tonight?”
“Yes, in a little over three hours.” Talia answered. “I guess we’ll be doing it here. Could you tell Alilia about the change of venue?”
“I will. Give me a hug, cherished daughter, and we’ll see you then.”
After sharing an embrace with his wife and daughter, Yazadril gave a psionic command to his forces as he and Nemia stepped back, arm in arm. A moment later they all Translocated out.
“Come.” Talia said, and led Mark over to where the staff from Winghoof was gathered.
Introductions were made, and the young couple offered kind words to those who waited for more detailed word on the condition of the wounded. Talia invited them all to stay for supper. Cooks and servers of the Atoning were busy setting up buffet tables on the lawns, and it appeared that dinner would be served shortly.
The platform smoothly accelerated to the speed of a brisk walk, and the others faced forward as they floated along, maintaining their same formation close around the platform. As they reached the path leading up to the pass, Mark announced; “This is fine! You can go faster if you want!” “All right. I will gradually accelerate to the speed of a galloping horse. Just tell me if you want to slow down.” Soon they were flying up the path fast enough to make Mark’s heart race, his hair and beard...
When they cleared the tops of the trees, still rising, the ground below was beginning its incline to the pass into the next valley. Soon they sailed far above the pass and into the valley beyond, though they were still far below the tops of the mountain peaks all around. “This is incredible!” Mark shouted over the howl of the wind, for though they felt very little of it, Talia was deflecting a mighty blast of air. “I don’t even want to know how high up we are! How fast are we going?” “Every...
It was almost four hours after noon when they finally emerged from The Living Palace and made their way to Yazadril and Nemia’s tree on foot. There were a great many more elves enjoying the day near their home than would normally be the case, including many of the youths who had sworn to Mark voluntarily, all hoping to see and perhaps share a cheery word with the suddenly-famous couple. Mark and Talia noticed none of them. He carried her in one arm like a child, and both their expressions...
“Mark ... Wake up, my dear. You’ve slept for ten hours. If you don’t get up you’ll feel overslept.” Mark opened his eyes and smiled up at the lovely elven face that was smiling down at him from six inches distance. He slowly raised his head to kiss her, then at the last moment, gave her a quick peck on the tip of her nose. “Good morning, Dalia.” he laughed. “Aww! How did you know it was me?” Dalia asked with a playful pout. “Since the spell of Laylas chapel, I always know where Talia is....
They ended up procrastinating until the last minute, and then having to hurry to be ready in time. Once they were, Talia Translocated them. They arrived in the midst of a huge celebration, surrounded by the Assembly of The Just Alliance and their families and friends, in an outdoor oval amphitheater that must have been the largest stadium on Kellaran. The infield was five hundred yards long, and the gigantic banks of seating rose one above another five hundred feet high, filled with people...
Once Somonik reported that the Assembly had gathered, The Six of Hilia appeared on the dais in an outward-facing circle around the Truthstone. The first impression they made was as the most heavily armed squad most there had ever seen. The two unicorns wore full plate barding with huge blades in front of their horns, razor-sharp shoes that covered their hooves completely, and racks of various projectiles on their backs, ready for launching by Movement. The dragons wore full steel chain mail...
Talia may have wished to walk, but Alilia had no such patience. Without even a hummed note, she Translocated them all to Yazadril’s clearing of contemplation, where they appeared on the grass about six feet in front of Markee. Who yelled and fell backward off the log as his hands slapped onto his face. “Markee! What’s wrong?” Yazadril asked in confusion as he and Hilsith rushed to the boy’s side. “You startled the life out of me! And that light! It’s blinding! It’s like looking into the...
Mark and Talia Translocated back to the Xervian port of The Sea People and resumed their position floating in the focus of the smaller reflector, both of them soaking up power like the warmth of a hot shower after a cold day. “They’re leaving.” Povon reported from Hilia with obvious relief. “Thanks.” Mark told her with a grim smile. “We can see that from here, actually.” The Xervian Wards were only a hundred yards offshore here, and Mark and Talia were only sixty yards back from the beach,...
When the Projection came from Xervia, they had been ready to go for over an hour, and had spent the time examining a scaled model Illusion of Hilia provided by Equemev from her Reading of Silaran, who had Translocated there for a moment to memorize the view from the top of the lip of the volcano. At the moment the Projection reached them, they were planning the locations of barracks and other facilities. An Illusion appeared on the lawn beside them, twenty feet wide and eight feet deep,...
“Allow me.” Povon said as she cast a sphere of light over the porch that lent a warm glow to the scene. “Ahh, is it ever good to be home.” Mark grinned as he stretched, and Stripe and Scout made for their food and water supplies in the stable. “It feels like we were gone for a year! First thing is getting this armor off!” “I could put it away for you, if you wish.” Povon giggled. “Sure!” Mark laughed, and suddenly all of their armor and Kragorram’s sword disappeared, leaving him to fall an...
They were awakened late the next morning by a Speaking from Nemia. “Good morning! Rise and shine, sleepy head! Oh! Make that sleepy heads! I didn’t think I’d be able to contact you with a Speaking, Mark!” “My psionics are fully awakened now, even if I’m not.” Mark playfully grumbled as he cracked his eyelids, then shaded his eyes against the sunlight streaming in the windows. “Weren’t those closed last night?” he asked Talia. “I was hot in the night, and opened them.” she told him. “Good...
Mark and Talia arrived on the patio at their cottage and were given a rousing cheer by most of those who were gathered about, which included their four comrades-at-arms, Stripe, Scout, and the Hilian elves. Kragorram, Povon, Silaran and Equemev were lounging on the smooth, sun-warmed stone of the gentle slope to the left of the patio, surrounded by elves who had been eagerly engaging them in conversation. Stripe was stretched out in the center of the patio, luxuriating in the attentions of...
They appeared beside the white dragon, the Truthstone, and Quewanak the Eldest. “Welcome, Mark and Talia.” Somonik rumbled. “Hello Somonik, Eldest.” Mark returned. “A third of the attendees have yet to arrive. A place has been reserved for you at the edge of the dais, or you may choose to join one of the many informal discussions in progress. I estimate it will be at least twelve minutes before we are ready to be called to order.” Their arrival had been noted, and there was a smattering...
“Welcome to Xervia, and to the grasslands of The People of Morning.” Tithian said from outside the tent, revealing that their strange journey had ended. Mark and Talia emerged onto lush green grass, and discovered it was knee deep on Mark, hip high on Talia. “Thanks.” Mark acknowledged, and yawned again. “The stream there is quite good. Will you wish to eat right away?” “Not immediately. I could use a cup of Hilsith’s tea first.” Mark said as he dropped to his knees beside the tiny stream,...
They appeared in the main public square of Zarkog’s capital city, his domed mountain visible in the near distance, still scarred and broken from the recent battle there. Talia floated three feet in the air and two feet behind Mark, keeping watch with her back to him. Mark yelled at the sparse crowd of Sylvan scattered around the square, and magically augmented his voice to be heard with the same volume throughout the city. “Where’s Zarkog?!!! I’ve come to beat him into submission and to...
He took a deep breath, held it, let it out. “I no longer command The Just Alliance. Someone take the Link. I’ll talk to you later.” Tithian took control of the Link, and Mark dropped out of it altogether. He was still personally holding his limit in power, and controlling almost every bit of raw power in the district. Ideas started to fire off in his mind. Understanding had given him power, power had given him more understanding, which had given him more power, and now he suddenly grasped...
Mark and Talia slept for twelve hours, and their routine the next day set the pattern of their days for some time to come. They officially worked for twelve hours each day, but their duties were not arduous. During the first four hours and the last four hours of each workday they lazed around and played on their private beach, engaging in informal discussions on every subject and visiting with their many guests. Monarchs came to discuss politics and administration, wizards came to share the...
Shanghai Chronicles part 1 - The Gurlz pact of 2015 The year was 2015 and I had just moved to Shanghai, China. Everyone I knew including me thought China was this place out of the Kung Fu movies, but it turned out to be no different from a Dubai, New York or a Singapore in reality it was even more shinny and new. At first impression I thought I was in a sci-fi movie, and this was the city of the future. Work wise China was booming and the money was good. Those expats who knew of this...
Sriram Iyer had dreams of moving and working in the USA since he was young. He grew up in a conservative Brahmin household and only studied while growing up with no social life. His hard work paid off when he was able to get engineering seat at IIT Madras and succeeded well getting his degree. He applied for colleges in the USA for masters and was able to get a good college in New Jersey, USA. He worked hard finished his masters and got an IT job in North Carolina, USA. When he started his job...
Hi iss reader, mera naam rajesh hai. Mai is site ka bhut bada fan hu. Mummy ki chudai ki sari kahaniya padhi hai maine. Pehle bhi mai teen kahani post kar chuka hu mom ki anniversary bete k sath 1,3 aaj mai apne iss fan ki kahani lekar aaya hu jisne mujhe bheji thi. Is kahan me maine uske mom ka naam sharda rakha hai taki apko padhnke me aur maja aaye aur mujhe post karne me. Ye kahani kaise lagi mail karke mere iss reader tak jaruru pahunchaye Meri age 28 saal hai. Baat tab ki hai jab mai 25...
This is not a regular ISS Sex story. It is a slow burner with sex in a few chapters but driven by plot. I’ll write more based on the feedback I receive on it. Please contact me only based on the story to No sex chats or personal messages, please. Meghna’s parents were over the moon. They were always told that her beautiful daughter would bring them good fortune. But this was huge, they got a proposal from an NRI groom. For those in her small village, marrying their daughter to a city boy is a...
I am a 55-year-old married man with a very high sex drive living in the USA. I am an IT Consultant. I provide technical solutions, consulting, staffing and recruiting services in the USA. I help IT consultants on a regular basis. So, I am always looking out for people with some IT work experience and good soft skills and excellent communication skills to see if they would be a good fit for the technical jobs in the USA. I am a big fan of ISS. This story is in continuation of my previous story...
Introduction Hi Everyone, this is Shalini and it is my first story on ISS, Recently I went out for office trip to USA and had an awesome experience, I was discussing this with Yug and he suggested that I should write this experience in ISS. So here I am sharing my USA Previously you must have read stories posted by my husband about our European vacation (Dreamy vacation 1,2 &3), the feedback on those stories have been phenomenal. Thanks!! Just to refresh those who are reading it for the first...
Dear all I am regular reader of ISS, and many stories I have seen which inspired me to write my life experience when I was working in a leading telecom company in USA. I am RAJA, MALE, 38 YEARS OLD, any female, who need a good friend in USA, especially in California, who want to have sex with me can mail me at Alternatively, call me at 1-510-927-1462 any time I AM THINKING OF GETTING MARRIED, SO LOOKING FOR A HOT WIFE. WHO LIKES GROUP SEX AND KINKY THINGS, SO IF YOU ARE BROAD MINDED EMAIL ME,...
Blessings of Ala I am Fumnanya. I am a woman of 24 cycles. Two months ago, I sinned. In panic, I stopped an eke, a python in common tongue, from consuming my baby sister, and in doing so, brought harm to one of Mother Ala's servants. In the Odinani teachings of our Igbo culture, Great Mother Ala is the most sacred of the Alusi after Creator Chukwu, she is the land and she judges we whom she allows to live upon her skin. Though I prayed forgiveness for many days at our ihu ala,...
Next weeks since my last adventure in village was finished, were quite tough for me. I had to catch up everything on my faculty, but luckily I had finished everything in time and started with my summer plans.After giving my final exam for this semester I decided to visit website and see if I had new message (I knew it will be tons of them). Summer was already in Croatia for some time and of course I saw lot of offers for going on Croatian, Spanish and Italian islands.Still this was not so...
Friends, you are reading this sex story on indiansexstories dot net I am a 55-year-old married man with a very high sex drive and a very thick dick. I am not that good looking. I am overweight with a bear’s belly and with streaks of grey hair on my head. Been married for 25 years. Over a period of few years, our sex life has dwindled. My wife does not have the same sex drive she had many years ago. So, I end up masturbating to porn movies at night. It has become a kind of a habit now. Every...
Hey friends raj here for you again. First of all I am very thankful to all of you for good response. I got mail from your side I am very happy after reading all those. Some from male and some from female side , I again want to request from boys please don’t ask any girl number from me.i got around 20 mails from boys side all wants girls number.but friends I already said. I never break my promise those I make with girls who give me their numbers.now about me for new ISS use, I am 5’11...
__________________________________________________ ‘TIME TRAVELER’S TERROR’ ─── by ══/\/ymph══ (DAW) (C) October 2015 ────────── please do not reprint without permission ──── Written: October 1st 2015 __________________________________________________ It has been a long-standing tradition when you go to camp to have either one of the counselors or older campers tell a spooky ghost story to the younger members sitting around the campfire. Certainly with Halloween quickly on it’s way, I...
Punishment 2015 Stephen "It couldn't be… and yet for a brief moment I thought it was. Thegirl I had dreamed about…the girl that had figured in my every eroticfantasy. At school she had been head girl; three years above me and probably a millionlight years away from ever looking my way. Head girls don't talk to lowly 5 th .Graders, I wonder if in fact if they ever see them? Not that I am not worthy of a look. Even though I would never say it throughmodesty, I am good looking although only five...
Hello ISS readers, This is Bobby again, from USA. Hope you guys enjoyed a story I’ve submitted a few months ago “Divorced Indian Roommate In USA”. To tell again about myself I’ve been living in USA for over 6 years did Masters degree here, and now work in IT industry. I am a very good looking guy, very fair skin, good height (an inch shorter than Mahesh Babu), and I try to maintain my personality well. So, talking with girls was fairly easier for me. Just to let you guys know, the stories that...
This is one of my fictional sex story based on fantasy.Read and enjoy. Himain 25 saal ka mard hun usa main rehta hun akela 1 bhk flat main.Main yahan ek mnc main software engineer hun.Ek din mere dad b ka phone aya ki bhaiya bhabhi usa a rahe hai,bhaiya ka transfer hua hai and unko temporary stay chahiye.Ye sunke main bahut khush hua,meri bhabhi ka naam namita hai aur wo 30 saal ki kafi sexy aurat hai.Wo punjab se thi,uska rang kafi gora aur bade bade mamme hain,chachi ki gand bhi bahut badi...
Hello Readers, This is Soma, a professional Indian guy who is working in USA as Software Engineer. I am 27 years old, 5.8 and 65 kg decent looking guy.This is entirely true story as I am always busy, I don’t have any free time to write fictional stories. I am contributing to this site first time so forgive me for any grammatical errors. You can send me feedbacks on Without wasting time let’s move on to story. This happened 2 years back. This is how it all started , I was doing my Masters in...
Dear all I am regular reader of ISS, and many stories I have seen which inspired me to write my life experience when I was working in a leading telecom company in USA. I am RAJA, MALE, 38 YEARS OLD, any female, who need a good friend in USA, especially in California, who want to have sex with me can mail me at So here is todays story,,,,,,,,,,,, The reader will recall that on my return from England (for more arousing time read ‘Rama, the adulteress), I had given up my nine to five job and set...
Dear all I am regular reader of ISS, and many stories I have seen which inspired me to write my life experience when I was working in a leading telecom company in USA. I am RAJA, any female, who need a good friend in USA, especially in California, who want to have sex with me can mail me at Alternatively, call me at 1-510-927-1462 any time SO HERE IS THE STORY, WHICH IS NARRATED BY MY EX-WIFE, I AM NOW DIVORCED NOW, AND LOOKING TO MARRY AGAIN, SO HERE U GOES………. One of our clients came down...
If you're old enough for this; I remember little model planes at the Five and Dime that were marked USA ... not U.S.A ... just USA. USA Japan: America wasn't buying ANYTHING made in Japan after the war. A massive industrial complex was centered around a town that changed its name to USA. It worked. Malmö had great Swedish food. It was a lot like eating at home with interesting spices in the mix. The smörgåsbord, a Swedish word for buffet ... but not really. Smörgåsbord is buffet writ...
Blessings and Fulfillment CD, Gay, anal, oral, cuckold, forced, magic, MF, MMF It had been over a year since the last time I had been home. This time, I was not the hotshot computer programmer with the sexy girlfriend any more. You see, I had been "down-sized" at work six months ago and because I had not found a high paying job fast enough, Carla, my girlfriend of three years, had left me. After she left me, I realized that she had only been with me for my money. All of the good...
Two couples head off to the USA for a holiday of a lifetime and to fulfill a promise where the two girls split off and call to get some pictures of the NY Firemen and give a donation. Things soon get hot and steamy as they slide down fireman’s poles and get their mouths around some thick hoses. (FFM, bi, oral, anal, size, orgy) *** Day One: Lissy and Pam… “You go first.” “No, you.” “Pam you’re such a wuss.” Taking a deep breath and being the...
Hi, This is Nitya back after a long time. There are so many things happened during these 2 years. Yes, I broke up with my boyfriend during the B-Tech 3rd year. Since then I was concentrating on studies more and my future. While I was busy studies and taking a break, my boyfriend had moved on and found a new girlfriend. It was heartbreaking but I knew everything happens for a reason. I knew we both had so much fun during our 2year relationship and I will always cherish it. Anyways, I made my way...
HI, I am MouprIya Sen, a married lady of 29 years old. My hubby Manoj Sen is of 32 years working in an MNC in MumbaI. We are very friendly, frank, open minded, love to make friends, love to watch porn movies also so we try to discover many things from those movies and try to do those to bring spice in our married sexual life. This story is during one of our vacation to New York last January. There we met a cab driver to whom we did submissive sex. So after spending four days going around the...
Hello ISS readers, My name is Bobby, from USA. I’ve living here for more than 5 years, did my education work in IT industry. I work in projects a lot, so moved a lot across USA. These incidents happened last year. I completed a 2 plus year project in a city and I moved to a new city in the East Coast region. For more than 2 weeks I could not find proper accommodation, finally saw a posting in Indian classifieds by a female named Arpita (name changed for obvious reasons) who was looking for a...
Hello ISS reader, aap sab bahut bahut shukriya, meri paheli story pasand karne ke liye. Dosto, jese ki aap sab jante he ki me aur Aarati ( Jo meri mom thi.) husband – wife ban chuke hai. Hamara sansaar aur sex life bhi bahut achchi tarah gujar rahi hai. Hamare 2 bachche jo ek girl hai aur dusra boy hai, ab woh dono chhote nahi rahe. School jaane lage hai. Mene bhi USA me achcha business setup kar liya hai. Lekin USA me shift hone k baad mere andar ek aur badlaav aaya. Woh tha gay sex. Me gay...
Hello Everyone. My name is Ankit (name changed). I am from Mumbai but currently I live in Chicago – USA and I am a big fan of ISS. This is my story with Pankhuri (name changed) when I was doing my Masters in University of Illinois at Chicago. I have always been interested in sexy and tall girls. About myself I am athletic, well built, smart and handsome. About Pankhuri – she is tall and has a figure of 34-28-36. We met first time during our Orientation. We were in our first year of MS and...
Dear all, I am regular reader of iss, and lots of stories I have seen which inspired me to write my life experience when I was working in a leading telecom company in USA. I am RAJA, any female, who need a good friend in usa, specially in california, who want to have sex with me can mail me at or call me at 1-510-927-1462 any time SO HERE THE STORY STARTS, I FUCKED A GIRL RIYA, BUT FOR 15 DAYS SHE DISAPPEARED, To doston yeh hai aage ki kahani.. Us din jaane ke bad 15 days tak riya ka ki phone...
My good name is Chin. chinese lady age 42 at the moment. I am widow now. In my life I been one very bad experience but beyond my control. I would like to share here just release the matter from my mind as it’s killing me everyday. About three years back my husband pass away in a car accident. That time he was a business man. chinese man. He already builds the business very well. When he past away, the business was hanging on the air as no one wants to handle. So I decided to took over the...
Drunk sexAuthor warning: I wrote this story for another site that allows the use of HTML. There are words that are emphasized and generally thoughts are italicized as well. None of that will show up on this version which must be .txt only. I think it is still readable, but it is not quite as clear when a line is a thought instead of part of a normal paragraph. I'm not going back through and re-adding "he thought" to the entire story, as it is 100 pages long, roughly. General guideline: If a...
Coworker's Curse By: Monsta It was a typical Wednesday at the office when my life suddenly got turned upside down. Nothing stood out as unusual about the day at first, it had begun as any typical workday. But then around 10:30am my coworker Carl came into my cubicle and started talking about some printer issue he was having on his computer. I was kind of busy, but he was insistent so I agreed to go over to his cubicle and help him. I reinstalled the network printer and printed...
The Cassandra Curse Part 1 (Brad) "Would you like to know what it feels like to be inside of me?" she says and smiles. The woman before me is hotter than anything I ever saw outside of a porn movie. She is maybe 5ft 10" but she wears these black heels so probably about 5ft 7". She wears a classy but borderline trashy black dress low cut, thin straps that show off her slender shoulders but more importantly her tits. Her breasts are big but not cartoon big a double d at a guess but on...
********************************************************** Here we go again! Popular culture has given me yet another inspiration for a story with a TG twist. Enjoy. I must thank Bashful and Paul1954 for helping me - I got stuck in the middle, and their suggestions were good. Please, please, please take a moment to add a comment. The feedback helps me choose story lines and improve my writing. ********************************************************* Curse of the Mummy --...
I'd originally intended to make this story a lot shorter, but after several problems at the start, the story just seemed to demand being made longer. I know that even more could be added at the end, but I decided to leave it where it was for now. Blessings of the Goddess By Morpheus Larry jangled the set of keys in his hand, carefully examining the old door in front of him, particularly the rusty padlock. Obviously not many people had been through there in awhile, which made...
The Curse of the Friday the 13th By Jennifer Allison As most of you know, February has a Friday the 13th during a leap year only every twenty-eight years. It all started for sixteen year-old Dean on the night of the 12th of February, 2004. When his parents came into his room and told him about the curse. Dean knew from the start something was up. The very first thing his father did upon walking into the room was that he took Dean's cell phone and made it so that Dean could not...
(I would read Part 1. Before you proceed otherwise this will just be a whole lot of letters) (I wrote the first part as a stand alone TG / TF story. Then I wanted to know what happened next so I thought about it and here it is in a serialized form.) ..... Now Brad has lost his masculinity to the Cassandra curse will he embrace his new sexuality and is anyone ever really free from the Cassandra Curse. The Cassandra Curse Part 2. 1) (Cassandra) I am Cassandra Satirise...
I always take an extra couple days off during the Holiday season,In 2015 my girl friend decides to go to Florida to visit her parents,as I just wanted to stay home which gives me the chance to walk around my house in one of my tiny women's panties. Its always a thrill for me to just put on something sexy while she is gone for a week or so. On this particular Holiday I was watching some movies in my semi sheer panty and getting more and more Hot. I get a phone call from an old friend from Texas...
In May of 2015 I had managed to get an internship at a production company for film in France. It was quite a good job, but it turned into a fantastic job, when I found out that we would be working on A indie film movie called A Tale Of Love And Darkness.I had seen Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" not long ago on DVD/Blu-Ray on my Spare time, but that movie featured her in a lot of makeup and eloborate costumes so I wasn't prepared for the amazingly beautiful young woman I would meet on my...
Since I moved from Knoxville back towards the airport in Alcoa, I have had some fun times with a big dick black daddy, a hot, young hung white country boy and an older white daddy dom with a big, fat beautiful cock. However, I hadn't had much contact with the neighbors other than hanging out with some of the girls and getting snickers from the men. That all changed this past summer (2015)Across the hall, two young college age guys moved in and they immediately noticed the effeminate sissy boy...
Here is the list of ten most popular Indian sex stories published on ISS in the month of August, 2015. Enjoy and don’t forget to share this page with your friends! My experience with junior turned to be my master. I wait for his touch and love to serve him. The tastiest nectar in the world for me. Love you my partner, my junior …I opened my mouth wide to take his cock. He was laughing and enjoying my suck and asked me to do deep. His online friend was jerking by seeing this and asking more...
Here is the list of ten most popular Indian sex stories published on ISS in the month of June, 2015. Enjoy and don’t forget to share this page with your friends! This story is about a poor guy with his honesty can win any people and could help himself reach his goals and further go to the top position. …I could know her astonishment through her face and she was very much happy that I gave equal importance to her problems and gave excellent solutions for each questions which made her think...
Here is the list of ten most popular Indian sex stories published on ISS in the month of May, 2015. Enjoy and don’t forget to share this page with your friends! It was not a surprise this time as it was well planned and executed it deftly. A night filled with passionate love making to our content. …We reached a wonderful resort and done with all formalities in the reception to get our room booked. We made our way into the room and locked the door. I turned the A/C on and went to the...