This time, those around him didn’t allow AJ long to rest. He found himself bustled off toward the cliffs where he and those he loved sat, staring out to the ocean. Someone was dispatched to the castle to fetch refreshments and such for them, making it feel more of a party than anything else. In short order AJ was seated on the grass on the cliff edge, leaning back against Tripha’s warm side, Brian snuggled against him, his friends and family spread out in front of him.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />
Somehow, the others in their party had come to join them .When had that happened? Donnelly, Ubayy, Nura, Tao, Crisanto, Bayani, Geoff and Richard were all sitting loosely with the group. The moon rode high, illuminating them all, its reflection shining off the water. Wine was passed around in fine goblets, served to them all by Donnelly and Tao.
Flreu was the one to break the silence, asking a question that was obviously on his mind. “I have never heard you speak of this Zelda woman before, Grandson.” He said as he crossed his legs and leaned forward. His hair spilled down his back, free from its binding. The colors in his eyes sparkled slightly. “Why do you not tell me about her? It might exorcise the last part of her spirit from your heart, for I see that the sight of her has left you reeling.”
To deny the feelings in him would not only have been dishonest, something that AJ couldn’t bring himself to be to those that he loved, but it would dishonor her. He shifted, putting an arm around Brian’s shoulders to draw the one he loved closer to his side. “There are some people and some memories that I have not told you, Grandfather, because I forget about them. Others hurt, so I push them away inside of my mind. The memory of her was one such as that. I always carried guilt with me that I had failed to save her.”
AJ shifted again, making himself more comfortable against the dragon’s side. He looked at the others around him, those that did not know the life of the immortal, and thought to himself that maybe this story would teach them something. But at the same time, he found himself looking forward to sharing this story with those that he loved and those that he was growing to care for.
“As Zelda said, I met her in Germany. Honestly, I met her parents first. It was with them that we planned the escape out of Germany. Though born and raised there, Zelda’s family carried a secret. Their heritage was not pure. Somewhere in the past their bloodlines had been diluted, so they weren’t pure German. It didn’t show, but for the occasional child, like Zelda, who was born with grey eyes.”
As he spoke, AJ twirled his fingers through Brian’s curls, letting the gesture soothe him.
“You heard the tale of how the Gestapo caught us on the beach. How we nearly made our escape. Well, Howi got her parents out of there, taking them far away. But Zelda and I had been captured. The Gestapo were not kind. I was branded as Romani, since I would not tell them my heritage and I was most obviously not German.
“The shield the magician had put on me was maintained the whole time I was there. He kept it on me and stayed wherever I stayed. My body maintained itself, staying alive, despite the fact that I had no real food or water. What I did get, I snuck to Zelda, trying to keep her alive. It was my fault that she was there at all. At least, that’s how I felt.”
“Howie was right, heart song. Always the guilt, with you.” Brian teased him against his chest.
That brought a soft smile to AJ’s lips. He bent down, kissing the top of his love’s head. ‘You know me, song of my heart. I can’t seem to help it.’ He sent to him.
‘I know.’ Came the warm reply, both loving and amused. ‘You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t feel that way, I guess. Though you could do it a little less often.’
Into the silence that AJ had left, Tao spoke. “Shifu, pardon my asking, but are you telling us that you survived through the holocaust? That you lived in a concentration camp?” She sounded horrified at the thought. The same emotion was reflected in the eyes of the other mortals that AJ looked at. His answer was simple. “Yes.”
The look on her face was stricken; the very idea of him having lived through that obviously was a startling revelation for her. AJ saw Bayani flinch and Crisanto whisper “Aking Diyos.” Which meant ‘My God’.
He wouldn’t trivialize the horror that he saw there. To do so would be a dishonor. But nor did he speak as if he wanted their pity. Instead, he spoke of his life there in plain, simple terms. He described the starvation, the beatings, the people who had been taken into rooms to be ‘experimented’ on by doctors. He spoke of those that died every day, of those that were sent to gas chambers, and of those that somehow managed to survive.
Through all of it he spoke of Zelda and the bond they built as they survived this hell together. “We were never far from one another. I kept her close, trying to shelter her as best I could. It was impossible where we were but I still tried. I gave her what food I have. For my mortal friends here, immortals have no real need of food. Zelda knew that I was a magician, to some small extent, so she assumed that I used my magic to help me gain more food. I let her think that. I didn’t tell her that the man was still keeping a shield on me, though he had yet to come and speak to me. I didn’t know that he was trying to build up the fear and suspense as he waited for his ‘master’ to arrive. I didn’t have the powers then that I do now, so I couldn’t break the shield. Plus, mental anguish weakens our magic, and I was plenty anguished at the time.”
At one point he stopped, looking off over the water. The dawn wasn’t that far off, he noticed. Two hours, maybe three. He’d been talking for a while now.
Tadhg spoke into the silence. “Nephew, I am curious. I hope that my question does not offend, but I wonder; weren’t all people tattooed as they came into the concentration camps?”
“We were.” That memory floated to the surface of AJ’s mind. He sighed softly, shifting his left arm. He turned it so that his outer arm was facing up. Though the ink had been hidden a long time ago, then covered with a new tattoo, he had never actually made the tattoo disappear. He’d only used an illusion to hide it and then he’d tattooed over it. Now, he pulled the ink from the comedy mask that was tattooed on his arm, drawing it from his skin and lifting it into the air before letting it dissolve. That was one tattoo he wouldn’t be hurt getting rid of. Then he withdrew the illusion that hid the number on his arm. A number that had been branded into him when he’d been treated as nothing more than cattle.
‘Z3506’ stood out on his arm. He stared at it as he spoke softly. “They burned these into us at Auschwitz. Zelda was ‘Z3507’. She came right after me in line. We were marked with the number as a kind of serial number, and the Z as a marker of what we were to them. The Z was for the German word Zigeuner, which meant Gypsy. She was suspect of being Romani as I was. We also had brown triangles on our clothes to help distinguish us from a distance.”
He sighed, lowering his arm, looking off into the distance again. His eyes were looking at a different time, a different place. He didn’t see the looks that the others wore around him.
“At Auschwitz we were worked and worked hard. Technically, being Romani didn’t merit death in the early days. But as time wore on, we were just as imperfect as the Jewish population. We had a small ‘gypsy camp’ that we were sent to. There, life grew harder. I realized that there was no way to survive through this and get out without getting the shield off of me. So I took a calculated risk. I told Zelda all about who I was, about my immortality, and about the man who maintained the shield on me. Then I told her what I wanted to do.
“She protested, as I knew she would, but I talked her down. We had no real hope. So I made just enough of a nuisance to get me gathered with this group of other people. We were sent to the basement cells. Louses, they said we had. As if we were that dumb.”
Pain leaked into AJ’s words. He couldn’t help it. This was a memory that still had the power to hurt his heart, though it had lost some of its potency over the years. There were about six hundred Russian POW’s and around two hundred and fifty Polish inmates. We were encouraged to go into this shower room, to strip down. A special prisoner, who was really undercover, was in there with us. I knew what was happening. The man joked with us like there was nothing wrong.
“They kept up the illusion, though some of us knew the truth. There were men and women I saw who stripped their children, joking with them, trying to make them think this was just a delousing treatment, even though I saw mortal terror in their eyes. I tried to soothe as many of the kids as I could.
“We were shut in the room then. The first gas chamber they had that they used to test Zyklon B in. They killed us there. Exterminated, as they said.”
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, to clear the sounds of women screaming and children crying, AJ pushed beyond that to finish off his story.
“My body wasn’t technically dying from it, but I meditated inside of myself so deep that my outside slowed to an almost deathlike state. When I did that, for one single instant I breathed in the gas and my body actually died for about two seconds. It was long enough to break the shield on me, because you can’t shield someone who is dead. Then, while meditating, I shielded myself as best I could, so the guy never knew I was still alive and they weren’t going to be touching me after I’d been gassed.
“We were dumped into a mass grave to later be burned. I waited till nightfall and then used as little magic as I could to shield myself and sneak off into the distance. The grave they dumped us in was outside the camp.” He said nothing of the bodies he’d climbed over to be free, or the tears he shed at how small those bodies had been. Some of the grown men hadn’t weighed any more than seventy pounds.
“Free of the shield, I could use my magic again, but I didn’t know if there were other magic users. So I was cautious until I was a safe distance away. Then I took a short rest before moving to try and find Howi. It took a while, but I found him and we dedicated all our effort into ending the war.”
A fierce smile lit AJ’s face at those memories. “We helped the end of it happen a lot faster than it would have on its own. Like Zelda said, I visited her as often as I could, with Howi in the hills shielding me from the magic users that were still in the camp. Three were in there that we knew of and they were watching her, waiting to see if I’d return, so I could barely manage to see her. But manage I did. Or I’d send messages in. But when the war ended and the concentration camps were closed, I dashed straight there to get her, not caring about who saw what with my magic.
“She couldn’t walk when I got there, but it didn’t matter. I carried her from there. She’d shrunk so much by then. Skin and bones. That’s all she was. But I carried her out and carried her far, so she was breathing fresh air. She died, smiling at me.”
AJ heard the sound of soft crying from the direction of where Tao sat, but he didn’t feel the need to cry anymore. Seeing her and now telling her story, AJ purged part of that memory from his mind. The sting of it wasn’t there anymore. He could think of her now and know that she was in the arms of the Goddess, happy and free, and know that she held no grudge against him.
He’d expected questions or comments on the long story he’d just told. Instead, he was surprised yet again by his friends. Shay rolled over in the grass to lie on his stomach. “Tell us about something happy, Alyck.” He said cheerfully. “What’s a good memory you have of your years here? There’s no one else with a view quite like yours anymore. Tell us of a happy time in your life.”
“Which one?” AJ asked with a laugh. He met Shay’s white eyes, knowing his friend well. “You were privy to a lot of my life through your visions, honey. So which one are you looking for me to tell? I know you have one in mind.”
Shay didn’t even bother to deny it. “Tell us about the werewolf you know.”
That brought the expected reaction from everyone around them. Brian looked up at him with surprise; the mortals all exclaimed amongst themselves; Tadhg and Leusha leaned forward eagerly; and Flreu just grinned. He already knew the person they were speaking of.
A huge smile curved AJ’s lips. “Xavier.”
Brian poked him lightly on his stomach. “You knew a werewolf? Like, a real werewolf?”
“Yeah.” Typical to himself, AJ shrugged. “Xavier wasn’t like the kind you see on TV. No silver bullets, no moonlight, none of that stuff. But he could turn into a wolf. A rather big one, actually. Until he learned to control it, it was brought on by strong emotions. I helped him learn to control it. We were also working on something to ‘cure’ him.”
“Did it work?” Donnelly piped up curiously.
AJ had everyone’s attention. Amused, he shook his head. “No. We were getting close, though, before we got separated. Actually…” Drifting, AJ smiled down into Brian’s brightly colored eyes, enjoying the love that was reflected there as well as pulsing over their bond. “…right before the end, I’d found a paper that I thought would give us the answer I needed, but it was in code. Some ancient code. Xavier had a quick mind, he was quite brilliant, so I asked him if he could crack it and he told me he could have it done before the night was out…”
~~~~~flashback~~~~~
London, early 1800’s
“You’re kidding me? That quickly?” AJ exclaimed in surprise.
“Darling, do I ever kid?”
“Constantly.” AJ quipped, smiling broadly. He couldn’t help the smile. There was something about Xavier that always seemed to leave a person smiling. No matter what it was he was doing. “You’re quite famous for it, actually, my dear.”
Xavier’s smile held a hint of the devil in it. “Well then, it’s a good thing we know one another. You won’t be able to proclaim you were unaware of my disposition.”
“Have I ever?”
“Hardly, Alexander.” A twinkle entered his bright green eyes. “Though you are wont to lecture me on that disposition often enough. It does tend to get woefully boring.”
“If I didn’t lecture you then you wouldn’t know what to do. Someone has to try and keep you in line.”
“You think that someone is you? Pah. I do as I please, as always.”
AJ leaned forward onto the table in his personal library, resting on his arms. “Part of your charm, I suppose. In a troublesome sort of way.” He cocked his head, looking at his friend with his smile still in place. “One never knows quite what your mad mind will come up with next. The best I hope for sometimes is that I’ll be along for the ride to keep you from finally managing to kill yourself with your foolishness.”
With a look of surprise, Xavier placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Alexander. Reckless occasionally, yes, but you cannot mistake that for foolishness.”
“For you, the two are almost one in the same.”
The wounded look disappeared under a devilish smile. “You have to admit, it makes life so much more fun when I’m around.” He teased. “There’s no one out there who is capable of stimulating you quite the way I can, you must admit.”
“I admit nothing of the sort, you rogue. Let us focus on the task at hand.”
Xavier let out a beleaguered sigh before turning back to his work. “The life of the unappreciated. All work and not a single ounce of praise.” He picked up his wine glass, swirling the contents as he studied the paper in front of him. After a moment’s thought he took a sip from the wine, still staring at the papers. The look of disgust that crossed his face was enough to have AJ chuckling. “Not even a decent glass of wine to work with. Absolute swill. How is a man supposed to work without the right wine?”
He couldn’t help it. AJ started to laugh. Even when Xavier glared at him, AJ still chuckled. “Some things never change about you, old friend.” He said as he straightened. Clapping a hand on Xavier’s shoulder, he gave his friend a warm look. “I promise you, if you crack this code for me, I will give you an entire bottle from my own personal stock. Does that suit?”
“Indeed.” Xavier focused more on the work, his eyes going slightly distant as he read the code written on the paper. “Leave me be, Alexander. You’re far too distracting a presence for one such as I. Be gone with you. A man has to work, you know.”
Humor had AJ shaking his head. Still, he clapped a hand on Xavier’s shoulder briefly before moving out of the room. Sometimes it was just easier to give Xavier what he wanted. It made things work faster.
~~~~~~~~~~
A piece of parchment fluttered down onto the desk in front of AJ. Startled, he looked up to find Xavier standing there, looking very satisfied with himself. “You did it?” AJ couldn’t help asking. He picked the parchment up, scanning the words written there.
Xavier scoffed slightly. “The tone of doubt, Alexander. Have you no faith?”
“I have utter faith in you, my friend.” Looking up, AJ let his grin grow. “Absolute and utter faith. You’ve far exceeded my expectations. I was only looking for at least a partially deciphered code. Somehow you’ve managed to decipher it all!” He couldn’t resist rising and striding around the desk to give Xavier a strong hug. “You’ve well earned your bottle and much more besides.”
Predictably, Xavier held on to AJ’s arms, grinning at him. “That’s all the thanks I get for cracking an entire ancient code for you, Alexander? Come now. At least give us a kiss of thanks.”
“Xavier…”
“Just one, to show the appreciation. You know you want to. I’m just that irresistible.”
AJ gave his head a wry shake. “It would only serve to further encourage you. But,” Now his own eyes twinkled as he leaned in and gave Xavier a small kiss. “we all must make sacrifices to the greater good in life.”
Laughing, Xavier spun AJ into a quick dance, ending by dipping him and planting a smacking kiss on his lips. When he released him, the both of them were grinning.
~~~~~end flashback~~~~~
Pulling out of the memory, AJ grinned. “He was a good friend for quite a few years. A lover, yes, for a while there. But it wasn’t…I’m not sure how to explain it right.” Looking around, he shrugged once again. “It wasn’t really passion that brought us together that way. Convenience? Friendship? I’m not quite sure. It was never hot and passionate, or a raging need, but more a comfortable feeling between friends and a way to stave off loneliness for two outcasts. Toward the end, we weren’t even warming one another’s bed that way anymore. We simply slept in the same bed, holding away the darkness. He was…”
After a moment’s thought, AJ looked down at Brian again. “He was like Nick was to you through the group. That closeness; friends and yet family. You know?”
“I know.” Brian stretched enough to kiss his lips. ‘I understand, song of my heart. Don’t feel you need to explain all your lovers to me. After that last fight we had about it, I have a much better understanding about it. I’ve thought long about what you said, about how long you’ve lived. I can’t expect that you remained celibate the whole time.’
‘None of them matter now, anyways. They’re all gone, except for Shay, and none of them could ever hold a candle to what I feel for you.’ AJ sent back warmly.
Not realizing that Brian and AJ were talking, Ubayy sighed. “He sounds like he was a good friend, trulion. It is good you had friends like this in your long years.”
“He was a good man.” AJ said, leaning back on his hands. He smiled up at the stars, not paying much attention to what was going on around him. “A bit of a flirt. Just one of those things that was kind of natural to him. He took everything he could in a sexual way but you knew that he wasn’t serious. He was a good friend of mine. I miss him.”
After a moment, AJ looked over to Shay. “What made you bring him up, my friend?”
“Oh, just thinking.” There was a look to Shay that AJ had never seen there before. It was almost like the way…the way Brian looked at AJ. But, could that be possible? The two had never met!
Those thoughts set off more questions in AJ’s mind, but he chose to let them lie. The day was coming soon and reality was starting to intrude on this little group. Time enough for talk later. For now, there were things that beckoned them, this last day they had on earth.
As if by mutual understanding, they all started to rise, not saying a word as they smiled at one another and headed to their respective places.
That started one of the strangest days for them all. There was so much to be done as all the races poured into their small island. Yet the day seemed to drag by. AJ and Brian were never far from one another as they moved from one group to the next, smoothing things over and reaffirming their plans for what they were going to do upon arrival.
AJ felt no qualms in him at leaving behind this world. He had lived through so much, experienced so much. No one could say that he hadn’t lived his share of lives here. There were things ahead of them now that needed to be done. Important things. He was growing impatient to start them.
He could feel that Brian was starting to feel the same way. He was growing impatient waiting. In the front of both their minds was the thought of their friends, trapped in the clutches of evil, with who knew what happening to them. Every moment between now and when they saved them was another moment those two were stuck in what were most likely horrendous conditions.
So it was that AJ and Brian found themselves fair brimming with anticipation as nighttime fell around them once again. That anticipation had gathered in everyone around them as well. Everyone was ready to do what needed to be done.
While night flowed over the sky, life bustled in the castle. It was full to bursting with more magical beings than AJ had ever seen. Some had to stay in the air simply to make room. Others stood in the water with the merfolk. AJ, Brian, Flreu, Shay, Tadhg, Richard, Geoff, Donnelly, Tao, Ubayy, Nura, Bayani, and Crisanto were gathered in the back gardens, a circle of elves keep the others back from them. Otherwise, the grass was full, as were the walls around them and the castle behind them.
In his hands, AJ held the key to the night, the gwt’a’leeli wrapped in a band of silk. It felt large and yet so light in his hands. He could feel the power growing in it. The sky was growing darker and darker as the sun sank. When the moon was revealed in the sky above them, Flreu told them, then they would lift the key. From there, he knew not what to do. “Trust to the Goddess. She will show you the way.”
All that was left now was to wait.
In the back of AJ’s mind, he felt as if something wasn’t quite ready yet. He couldn’t stop looking around him, trying to find the source.
“Are you all right, Grandson?” Flreu asked him softly.
AJ furrowed his brows. “I can’t put my finger on it, Grandfather, but something feels…I don’t know…”
“…off.” Brian finished for him. “Like something or someone is missing.”
“Exactly.” Grateful, AJ looked to his partner. It wasn’t just him feeling it, then. “Like something else is supposed to happen before we leave.”
“Or someone else is coming.” Surprisingly, Brian’s eyes drifted to Shay, growing wide as he figured something out. What it was, AJ wasn’t able to sense. “So that’s what the questions were for?” Brian asked Shay.
Smiling, Shay nodded. Then he turned, making a gesture to the crowd to their right.
Before AJ could even fully turn that way, he heard something he hadn’t expected to hear.
“Hello, Alexander.” A voice called out. Shock rooted AJ to the ground. A part of him recognized that voice even as the rest scrambled to catch up. Slowly he turned, looking out amongst the crowd, his eyes seeking what his mind couldn’t believe. When he finally found what he was looking for, he couldn’t believe it. “Sweet Goddess.” He whispered.
Strength filtered across the bond. AJ touched his partner’s arm lightly, trying to convey reassurance that he was fine.
How he made his way to the edge of the crowd, AJ didn’t know. But suddenly it was opening up in front of him, clearing a path to yet another person in his life that he hadn’t ever thought he’d see. Sweet Goddess of all. He looked the same. Absolutely the same. From the stylish leather shoes, up over the black slacks that had been so common on men back in England, up the white button up shirt with the black vest and even the typical cravat tied at the neck. That short cut brown hair, the bright green eyes. That skinny frame so much like his own. “Xavier?”
“As we live and breathe, old friend.” That smile was so familiar it made AJ grin without even thinking about it. “You think I’d be one to miss out on the fight of our lifetime? Shame on you, Alexander, for trying to exclude me!”
“I didn’t even know you were alive!” AJ exclaimed.
Xavier strolled up to him, a wide smile on his lips, linking his arm with AJ’s. “Yes, well, that was meant to be a bit of a surprise. Good to see that it worked out right. I demanded he not be the one to tell you. Whether we met here or there, I had to be the one to let you know I was alive.”
“How is it possible? What do you mean, here or there? And what do you mean, he not tell me? Who?”
Laughing, Xavier moved them up toward the group. “One question at a time, Alexander! But first, manners. Didn’t you always try to drum manners in me back in our time?” That said, he released AJ to give a very courtly bow to first Flreu, then Tadhg, then Brian. “I have heard so much about all of you I feel as if I already know you all. It is a grand pleasure to finally meet you.” Eyes twinkling, Xavier winked at Brian. “You especially. I must profess to being glad that someone has taken on the task of taming Alexander. He needs someone with a steady hand and a calm mind, yet someone who can keep up with him. Quite wild, I must say.”
“A bit.” Brian agreed impishly. “But I find myself enjoying the ride.”
This time Xavier’s laughter was louder, more robust. He moved forward and embraced Brian. “I think you and I will quickly become friends.” He announced before kissing Brian smack on the lips.
“I think we will.”
That was enough of that. AJ planted his hands on his hips. “Xavier, you better quit manhandling my partner and turn around and answer some of my questions before I hang you by your ankles!” he demanded.
His eyes twinkled when he turned around. “Haven’t you figured any of it out yet?” He asked with mock severity. “Tsk tsk, Alexander. Fine, let me illuminate you. First, I am alive because apparently my abnormality also provides me with longevity. It also seems to protect me from most illness, though not all. Second, I meant here or Nellador. Third, I was referring to Shay.”
All of a sudden things seemed to click in AJ’s mind. The way he’d never been able to find word of Xavier after they’d been split apart; the way that Shay had brought him up, deliberately, AJ now realized. The way Shay had looked as he spoke of him.
“You’ve been in Nellador with Shay, haven’t you?” he said slowly. His eyes grew a little wider. “And you and he…?”
“You can catch up if prodded down the right path.” Xavier teased him. He turned to look at Shay, sharing a glance of love. “He didn’t use to be like this, you know. What has happened to him?”
“It’s a bit of a shock, dear, to find out one you cared for is alive after all this time. He was quite shocked to see me as well.”
“Hm. Not a sound leader if shock leaves him imbecilic. We should try and do something to fix that.”
Shay shrugged. “Consult with his heart song. Maybe he has some ideas, for Alyck has ever been hard to control or train in anything….”
It took AJ loudly clearing his throat before he drew their attention back to him. “If you two are done discussing my faults?” He said to them with a glower. Something tugged at his senses, pulling him from the moment. His eyes lifted to the sky. “We’ll discuss this when we set up camp.” He said absently. “For now, I believe it’s just about time.”
The bundle in his hands seemed to pulse in agreement. All around them, everything grew quiet as he stepped toward Brian. Both their eyes were trained on the bundle as AJ unwrapped it, letting the large red orb drop into his bare palm. The silk fluttered to the ground as AJ cupped it in his hands. Brian brought his hands up to rest over top of it, so that they were both covering it.
Magic pulsed in the orb, warming their hands. That warmth spread from their hands to their arms. AJ lost track of the world around him. For that moment, as the moonlight broke through the clouds in the sky, it seemed as if the orb in their hands came to life.
The magic that flowed into them was staggering. Their bond was open wide, the magic going back and forth across it until it felt as if they were merging into one again, the same as they did when they fought. The world seemed to rumble around them, inside of them. Air whipped around their bodies. Rain poured from a cloudless sky. The orb grew warmer and warmer until it was almost like holding fire.
“Ree a’st nootha ra’a.” AJ chanted at the same time that Brian said “Tuu aval’ i xdrash.”
The words were ancient, a language they didn’t know and couldn’t begin to comprehend. Yet the words poured past their lips.
Together they moved their hands, lifting the orb over their heads, supported by their four hands. The moonlight landed directly on it, brightening the world around them with a rainbow of colors. Magic grew and grew, more than they’d ever handled before, more than they’d known they could touch. It was heaven. It was hell. Fire and ice. Pain and pleasure.
All light drew into the orb until it was the only light they could see. Everything else was dark. Magic carried them, held them, swept them away.
With one final burst, it exploded through the orb, shattering it in their hands. They cried out together, dropping their hands to shield their eyes, dropping straight down to the ground. They panted, exhausted. All around them lay the shattered remains of the orb, sparkling in the moonlight.
As reality came back to them, they moved to rise to their feet, eyes locking. It took a great effort to separate from one another. To stop being ‘they’ and again become themselves. But finally each one drew back into his own mind.
That was when AJ finally looked around and realized where they were. He looked at the trees around them, trees he had never seen before, where the castle had once been. They were no longer standing in the back garden of the castle. They were in a forest.
Flreu put a hand on first AJ’s shoulder, then on Brian’s, giving them a gentle push so that they followed him to the tree line. “Welcome, my grandchildren.” He said softly. The trees broke open and they looked out from the top of a hill over a sprawling countryside, full of hills and valleys and forests. It was beautiful. It was breathtaking. In their hearts, the two both felt it. It was home.
“Welcome to Nellador.”