by Des Pensable
They became one fantastic organism in a rainbow universe that danced in harmony with their hearts that beat as one. They knew each other more intimately than the greatest lovers of all time. They submerged in the purest spirit of love and joy. They began pulsing to some urgent drum beat of lust with massive anticipation.
Their hearts stopped for a moment as all the world waited then a single star lit up the skies exploding into brilliant cascades of golden stardust and unthinkable rapture that seemed to last an eon. Another star exploded in rapture and then another and then a chain reaction of stars began. It was as if the universe was about to end in one glorious cataclysm that would be the ultimate in rapture. There would be nothing beyond.
Prendergrass used a word of power and Aquitain, Miranda and Gizel immediately fell unconscious.
Minutes later Miranda was the first to awake. She stood up and staggered a few paces. Her belt brilliantly lighted up the room. She saw Darkmantle and Prendergrass standing there with pale and worn expressions on their faces. She saw a dozen or more guards lying unconscious on their backs nearby.
‘What in creation are you trying to do! Kill us all. We’ve had to evacuate all our people to the back of the fortress where there’s some protection from you and Aquitain.’ shouted Darkmantle.
‘Why?’ asked Miranda feeling intensely happy with a warm glow all over her body. In fact if it wasn’t for the belt they would have seen her whole body was illuminated. Soft yellow light emanated from her body. She had never felt this alive. She felt like she was the Lady spreading life to a lifeless universe.
‘Your orgy, your passion, your emotions were radiating out from you two like the sunlight of the midday sun on Mudrun. All that were within a hundred paces were seduced and fell writhing in lust. Almost everyone in the stronghold could feel it and wanted to come here and join in. You almost murdered everyone here with your passion.’
Miranda smiled like a goddess.
‘I’m sorry. I guess it didn’t affect you two then.’
‘Prendergrass created a strong antimagic zone here to save us. We’re standing in it now.’ said Darkmantle.
Aquitain woke and heard the voices. He staggered over to Miranda and cuddled into her.
‘Wow! I didn’t think that I was going to survive that!’ he said.
‘You almost didn’t. You damn idiots.’ said Prendergrass. ‘You almost self-destructed! Luckily for you I’ve seen it happen to a sorcerer once before and knew I had to stop you.’
‘By all the gods, I didn’t realize! I lost control.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Miranda had enough internal power to create a storm lasting for hours and you wanted to release it in seconds. That’s madness! If you release power too quickly it explodes. That’s why most sorcerers die young! You know that!’ said Prendergrass angrily.
‘Oh Well! We know now. Next time we’ll play longer on the clouds.’ She replied with a giggle.
‘I’m sorry for not asking your permission to do what I did but you were sort of lost in the storm and I couldn’t think of any other way.’
Miranda gave him the hand signal to mindlink and then hugged into him and kissed him erotically mouth to mouth. Aquitain created a mindlink but instantly he was flooded with feelings of love and passion so strong from both Miranda and Gizel that he wilted at the knees.
‘What’s up not enough stamina!’ said Miranda holding him up. You better change to your bear form next time.
‘Calm down Miranda. Calm down Gizel. Two on one is a bit unfair.’ he said finding his feet again. Then he noticed Lord Darkmantle.
‘I’m sorry Lord Darkmantle! I had to fix Miranda’s problem. Now that we have the belt it shouldn’t happen again.’
‘I will ban you from the stronghold if you do any more of that stuff here. Please keep well away from here if you get the urge again don’t come in until you cool down.’ he said and left them.
‘Gizel I’m very sorry that happened. I have never dominated a woman’s mind with dishonourable intensions. Your mental state looked dangerously unstable. I only did what I did to save you both. Will you forgive me?’ He said to her privately through their mindlink.
‘My Lord you have taken me on a journey to the realm of legends. We have shared our souls in a way that only the gods know. I have been one with you. I know your intensions were honest and worthy. You saved my life and Miranda’s. You have made me feel truly a part of our family. I trust you with my body and spirit. I am your servant. I love you unconditionally. Command me and I will follow.’ she replied radiating love.
‘Oh dear. Miranda won’t be happy!’ thought Aquitain.
‘Mandy. God that was amazing! Your mental state looked dangerously unstable. I only did what I did to save you both. I couldn’t avoid it with Gizel. Will you forgive me?’ He said to her privately.
‘Tain! Oh God Tain! I know you always try to do your best. Don’t try any harder. Wow. It was unavoidable as both our spirits were together. You saved us in the most beautiful way imaginable. You gave us a taste of the world of the gods. No one would ever want to forget that. I’m not jealous. I’m sure she will never be the same. It will bond us together as a family. She will become more devoted to us.’ replied Miranda still breathing heavily.
‘Mandy I can feel both of you. I can feel your spirits almost as if I were touching them. I can taste your kiss and hers. I can feel your breasts and hers. I can feel … It has bonded you and Gizel to me in a way that is extraordinary. It’s as if our spirits have been mixed. I feel like I love both of you so much that it’s painful. I’m sorry that’s not fair to you or her.’ He asked.
‘Cool down Tain! You’ll get me going again and this time I will self-destruct.’ said Miranda.
‘Tain you and I are not children any more. You’re my chosen and a Lord of this realm. Many of the Lords have several chosen to satiate their desires. If one is ill or with child there is another to take her place. Those women gain status and feel blessed to be chosen by their Lord and the Lord gains status by having those women.’
‘To help bind the Lords together you will need power and status. It is customary here for the First Chosen to approve of any others. Gizel is a good strong woman. You know her now as I do. She shared my pain without complaint. She is now a part of our family. I want her to remember our experience together. I want her to be close to us. I will not object if you were to want her to be your second chosen.’
‘Okay Miranda! If it pleases you then I will consider making Gizel my second.’ He replied.
‘Thank you Tain! You’re so wonderful.’ she replied.
Aquitain shape changed Gizel’s body back to its normal form and moved Gizel’s spirit back into it and sealed the connection. He then moved back into his little green crystal body and sealed himself in.
Miranda and Gizel hugged and kissed each other and began chatting like old friends.
The stronghold was quieter than usual. In several places hidden from view naked couples lay in sweaty embraces trying to recreate the feeling. In other places people just sat or stood gazing into the distance with a happy joyful look upon their face. They were happy and content with the world.
When Miranda walked down the corridor to visit Darkmantle everyone now saw her differently. She was dubbed the Princess of Pleasure by the guards and she was destined to dominate their dreams for weeks. They joked that now they knew why the Warden wore a crystal body. A normal body would perish when he lay with the Princess. In truth he had gained immense status among Darkmantle’s people.
Chapter 18 Chasing Snowbelle
That evening they all finally sat around to discuss the future. Aquitain had originally suggested they not discuss anything until after the stronghold was protected against the Mentarin and everyone was in agreement. Now it was time to discuss the difficult issues.
They started with the Hidden One settlement, as it was close by. Both Miranda and Aquitain gave their impressions of the short time they spent with them and of cours
e, the leader’s proposal about joining together. Gizel tried really hard to sell the idea of an alliance and she explained a lot about the Dark One society and how it operated.
Darkmantle and Prendergrass listened carefully but could not be convinced that having the Hidden Ones on side would be any advantage. He was adamant that none of the other Lords would accept them into any arrangement let alone unify with them as equals.
They then got onto the thorny issue of the Yith and Argenta. Darkmantle told them how he was first approached by Ansidian and later had several meetings with Ishteth to discuss the possibility of jointly capturing Argenta. He didn’t like the fellow much but the possibility of moving Snowbelle was too good to pass up. Darkmantle had provided intelligence on the layout and possible defences of Argenta while Ishteth had provided a plan to divert Snowbelle’s attention for a while.
The first real surprise for Darkmantle was when Aquitain told of his thoughts that the Yith wanted to use the place as a staging area to invade and capture Mudrun and then possibly Moonmist as well. Darkmantle said he had been convinced that they only wanted to use the place as a trading post but Aquitain’s suggestion now made more sense.
The second was when Miranda carefully explained who Lash really was. Darkmantle was totally shocked, embarrassed and apologized profusely to Aquitain, who in turn was still feeling guilty about losing his cousin to Ishteth in the first place, at their skirmish at the temple on Mudrun.
Gazel listened quietly taking it all in. This was a real legendary story unfolding in front of her and she now felt a part of it. She also felt that it needed to be written down so that it could be shared with those in the future and decided that she would do it regardless of what Miranda had said. Both Aquitain and Miranda added comments to allow her to understand some of the people and events.
She began to understand the situation more clearly. Miranda was terrified of becoming an uncontrollable monster. She was terrified that she might harm Aquitain and Tigerlilly. So to ensure Tigerlilly and Aquitain were looked after Gizel was being trained as her understudy. If anything happened to Miranda then she would be able to step in and be both a mother to Tigerlilly and a lover to Aquitain.
How could Miranda be so unselfish? Gizel wanted Aquitain so much it ached but she loved Miranda as well in a different way. It was getting very confusing. She could feel Miranda’s heartbeat. She couldn’t feel the Warden’s heart as he didn’t have one while he was in his crystal body but she could feel a warmth that was him. He loved her and she would now do anything at all for the Warden’s love.
Darkmantle agreed that capturing Argenta back was a good start to their campaign, as it would stall the Yith plan and give them credibility with other Lords. This would improve the chance of making Miranda Queen and creating an alliance among the Lords to tackle the Mentarin problem.
He then dropped his own bombshell surprise. He knew where Snowbelle was located. She was attending a Choosing, which was normally only held every few years, but this one was a special one, owing to the worrying low fertility rate of nymphs.
Both Miranda and Aquitain were really thrilled and that thrilled Gizel as well. For the first time in ages, the pieces were all starting to come together. Maybe it was possible to win. After a lengthy discussion on tactics it was decided that they would go together to try to meet with Snowbelle. No one else was prepared to go except Gizel, as they all considered that while it would be interesting, you would need a death wish to interrupt nymphs at a nymph orgy.
The following morning, Miranda as a whirlwind left with Aquitain contained in a two pace wide faint blue transparent sphere of solid air. This was because he was so small that she was terrified that she would accidentally drop him along the way somewhere. Tigerlilly and Gizel remained with Darkmantle.
They travelled quite a distance to the southeast where there was a roughly circular high mountain plateau surround by five thin mountain peaks that looked like fingers. The place was called the Hand of Fate. Traveling on the ground it would have been quite difficult to approach, as there was only a steep winding path from the plain below, which was often covered by landslide debris. Flying was considerably safer even with the fitful breezes and turbulence around the edges of the plateau.
They were well past midday by the time they found the place and Miranda was quite tired by the time she landed on a peak overlooking the plateau. While they were too high up to see any detail, what was obvious was a large campfire surrounded by a circle of tents smack in the middle of the plateau. There was certainly no way anyone could sneak up on the place, as there appeared to be little other than sparse clumps of a fine bladed yellow brown grass which grew almost flat to the ground.
The best they could do would be a fly over and perhaps land just outside the circle of tents if they wished to be discreet or simply land by the campfire if they wished to be more forward. Miranda chose the latter.
‘Let’s be brazen and fly in as if we own the place. They can only throw us out.’
Aquitain wasn’t quite so sure. He could think of a lot of things they could do if annoyed enough and most of them would be to Miranda. Since there wasn’t much of a choice he went with the campfire option but made sure that he was wearing a teleport ring on one arm and his ring of illusion on the other, which he hoped would get them out of trouble if it came to that.
After they had rested for a good half an hour, they flew down to and over the campfire at a height of about a hundred paces then spiralled down towards the brightly burning fire. They knew they had been spotted well before they landed, as there were at least thirty female nymphs and two or three male nymphs watching them as they landed. All had neutral expressions on their faces.
Miranda shifted to her naked female form and stood waiting for a response. A male nymph walked over to them just as Miranda spotted her mother. Aquitain created a pure heart, which covered him completely.
‘Hello my name is Adonis. To what do we owe this honour? We didn’t expect a visit from the beautiful Princess Miranda of Argenta. He smiled and Miranda was immediately besotted with him. Aquitain could feel the change in her heart beat and her muscles relax.’
They were in big trouble. How could this person who they had never seen know who they were and charm Miranda with a simple smile?
‘I came to visit my mother.’ said Miranda gazing in wonder at the beauty of his eyes.
Snowbelle recognized Miranda and casually strolled over. Aquitain could see her eyes were glazed over.
‘Hello Miranda, what brings you here.’ she said.
‘I came to ask for your help if you’re not too busy mother.’ said Miranda in dreamy voice.
‘Oh. I’m much too busy.’ said Snowbelle and wandered off.
‘Would you like to stay with us.’ said Adonis with a heavenly smile.
‘That would be lovely.’ said Miranda with her heart racing.
Aquitain was not impressed. He changed his eyes to see the nymph’s spirit aura and was nearly blinded by the aura of Adonis. He also got a quick look at Snowbelle’s and was surprised.
‘How dare you invade my privacy!’ said Adonis as he stunned Miranda’s mind.
‘It wasn’t you.’ he said with a puzzled expression on is face and his eyes moved to Aquitain.
Aquitain went into automatic. He created an illusionary bear behind Adonis and ordered it to roar and strike him. The bear struck Adonis with an almighty thump but it hardly moved him and certainly didn’t damage him in any way. It did, however, break his concentration momentarily as he mentally looked behind and eliminated it. That was just enough time for Aquitain, he triggered the teleport ring and they were gone.
They appeared about ten paces from the entrance to the stronghold. He dropped to the ground and telekinetically lifted Miranda and moved her into the stronghold until suddenly she fell to the ground as she entered the dead magic field, whereupon she stood up with a puzzled look on her face and said
‘How did I get here?’
; He quickly broadcast to the nearest guard to tell her to stay there and raced across into the area on his little legs as fast as he could.’
‘Get Prendergrass quickly.’ he said and the guard hurried off returning with the puffing old wizard running behind a minute or two later.
‘Miranda needs an amulet of non-detection, can you get her one.’
‘What do I need that for?’ asked Miranda still unsure of what had happened as Prendergrass scooted off to get one.
‘Tell me the last thing that you remember? said Aquitain.
She thought hard for a few seconds then said,
‘I remember flying to the nymph camp in the centre of the plateau and then I was here. What happened?’
‘You were charmed by an extremely powerful person pretending to be a male nymph. He was more powerful than Granddad or Featherdown. He didn’t see me immediately as I was covered by a Pure Heart. I got us out while I could. We need to keep you hidden for a while, so that he doesn’t come snooping around.’
A nymph appeared a few paces from where they stood just inside the entrance of the stronghold and said in a loud voice.
‘Aquitain of Panmagica, Adonis the Graceful knows you. You have invaded his privacy. Tremble with fear for your hours are numbered.’ then she disappeared.
‘By the gods, Tain, that doesn’t sound too good.’ said Miranda. ‘What else did you do?’
‘I sort of tapped him on the shoulder and glimpsed something that he didn’t want me to see.’
‘You what! You actually physically touched someone that powerful. Are you totally and absolutely raving mad? I can’t believe that you’d do that. I really can’t. No one could possibly be that stupid.’
‘I don’t think that’s what he’s annoyed about. I saw that your mother Snowbelle is pregnant.’
Miranda just stood there in total shock as Darkmantle came running out to join the group.
Chapter 19 Mothers Lost and Found
