Writing in the style of light novel/anime is probably one of the geekiest things you can do (behind the keyboard) and one of the most enjoyable. As usual I fell in love with my characters and couldn't let it go. If you missed the first two episodes, Stefan Hanover is hunting in the mountains and finds a gate that leads him to a different world where magic and elves and other anime type characters exist. He finds himself in a land embroiled in a bloody civil war with one way home, and he has no desire to take it. He ends up with a very anime style harem with an elf maiden for a fiancée, another elf maiden as a very grouchy mage/sister-in-law, a bunnygirl lover, a nekomimi (cat girl) and a fox girl

We find our characters in the hidden elven city of Vinnofri, and they receive the information they need to keep the promise that Stefan made to Lelu's father. As always, except for the characters that I invented, I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them and their world from author Takumi Yanai, A-1 Pictures studios, and Sentai Filmworks LLC. who created the source material "Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri"

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

"Our primary purpose is to release prisoners held by the dethroned prince Zorzal El Caesar. If any of you are captured this university and city will disavow you," said the University Archchancellor Har Chalktaw.

"Where are they being held?" asked Lelu.

Archchancellor Har Chalktaw unrolled a hand drawn map that showed the Falmart continent. "Here is where we are, here is where you and Stefan met, and here is where your mother is." He pointed to a small point on the map only shown by a tiny skull. "The city of Skotadi in the palace of Fonos."

"Palace? That's not so bad," said Stefan. Then he realized everyone in the room was staring daggers at him. Being new in Falmart he didn't realize that in the city of Butchery, the palace of Murder was not a vacation spot.

"She's being held as a hostage now, Zorzal is starting to learn politics and he's able to gain ransom money by holding your mother Lolah Klaatu Ando Sivan."

"Wait a minute," said Stefan. "Lelu, Layla, and Lolah... isn't that a bit confusing?"

Lelu asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your names!" Stefan said, "They're so similar to each other."

"Not at all," said Layla.

"They don't even sound alike," said Carny.

"Our names are completely different," said Lelu as she looked at Stefan a bit confused.

"He's starting to sound like dad," grumbled Layla.

"Ok, just checking, go on professor," Stefan could feel a headache coming on.

For the next hour Archchancellor Chalktaw outlined the layout of the city of Skotadi and where the armies of Prince Zorzal may be encamped. Skotadi was once the capital of the human presence in Falmart, it was built around the gate that brought the humans here, then the gate disappeared and cut off the humans from their originating country. Later another gate sprung open near where the new capital city exists letting hordes of new humans into Falmark. That one disappeared also and for two millennia Falmart waited for a new gate which opened at Alnus Hill letting the Japanese in to Falmart. This is just a brief history of gates opening in Falmart, there were gates on other worlds which gave elves, ogres, bunnies, cats, foxes, and other demi-humans access to Falmart. It's assumed that the dwarves were the original inhabitants, but that assumption could be wrong too. So far only the Japanese have been serious enough to do archeological research.

"Before we go any further, does anyone have anything to add?" asked Archchancellor Chalktaw.

"Yes," said Stefan, "I'm the one who came up with this idea, this is my responsibility. No one here is being forced to follow along."

"You and I are one, where you go, I go," said Lelu. "You're doing this for dad and me, I will be there to help."

"She's my mom, I have to be there also," said Layla.

"Me too," said Carny. "This is important to my family." She leaned on Lelu's shoulder and got a hug from Lelu and a pat on the arm from Stefan while Layla rolled her eyes.

"Awww bunny, thank you!" said Lelu.

"We are going for the honor of our hutch," said Glencove indicating herself and Jolietta.

"You're not warrior bunnies," said the archchancellor a bit confused.

"We were adopted as children by the grasslands hutch, we owe them our lives," said Jolietta.

Layla nodded, "Tesson Culp took in all children in need, regardless of race."

Carny took her cloak off the fairy cage and asked, "Are you two coming with?"

"Is Duck Soup and Cocoanut coming too?" asked Orla sleepily.

"Yes, they are."

"Then we're coming," responded Tana.

"It's settled then," said Stefan as he began to feel nauseous about this whole thing. These were his friends, his lovers, and Layla. He's led men into battle before, but they were warriors, marines, they were trained for war. The thought of seeing Lelu's or Carny's head sliced open terrified him, he had to do something.

"You may need one more member in your party," said the Archchancellor, "you'll need someone who can get into small spaces, spy on the enemy, bring back documents and keys and the like. You need a thief."

Stefan rolled his eyes; he'd heard this one before. "And you suggest what, a hobbit?"

He was suddenly the target of stares. Lelu patted his hand and said, "Honey, there's no such thing as hobbits, we've talked about this, remember?" Lelu found The Hobbit when rummaging around in his head back in Nangda while warming at Mayor Vanderhorst's chateau.

"Imaginary beasts," said Glencove.

"Grandma used to tell us "The hobbit's going to get you if you don't behave!" and the kits behaved," said Jolietta smiling.

For her part, Carny just looked terrified of something and trembled while raucous laughter could be heard from Tana and Orla.

"No," said the Archchancellor as he placed a cheap looking plaster statue of a small, fat, bearded man with a pointed hat and suspenders on his desk. "I was thinking of a Garden Gnome."

"A garden gnome?" asked Stefan in shock. "What's he going to do, keep snakes out of the gazanias?"

"Oy mate!" called the gnome as he walked up to the middle of the long table and stopped in front of Stefan. "I'd like t' see ye try, 'tis not all that fookin' easy. Snakes be fookin' tricky."

"No," said Stefan and Lelu. "No fucking way."

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

As the date of departure neared, Stefan, Lelu, Carny, Glencove, and Jolietta toured Vinnofri, the jewel of the forests. It truly was amazing what the elves did to make this forest look as natural as possible, yet still house hundreds of elves at the same time. Walkways connected tree to tree, houses were constructed to ring the trunks of the trees and give the occupants shelter and protection. At ground level the city was parks and lawns and playgrounds for elven children, the likes of which Lelu hasn't dreamed of in a century. Streams meandered between the trees and their gentle gurgling calmed frazzled nerves at night and so that Stefan and Lelu were getting the best sleep they've had in years.

For his part, Stefan was feeling better. Better than he's felt in a very long time. Now he starts every morning with a long, brisk run. Because his pack never weighs more than five pounds, he borrowed a wood carriers cradle and runs with 30 pounds of firewood on his back every morning. Every morning he returns to their apartment and even though he had been mentally caressing Lelu, he missed her. He missed her touch but mostly he missed her smell, and as the days went by, the scent of Carny became an important part of that melody of scent also.

Just outside of the entrance to their apartment, on the walkway there was a shower that Stefan could use to clean off the sweat and dust of his run and often Lelu and Carny would join him while Layla sulked nearby. "Why don't you join us?" Lelu asked one warm morning.

"No thanks, I'd rather not."

"No, you're joining us!" grinned Lelu and she grabbed Layla's arm and pulled her in the shower. Stefan stopped the flow of water as Carny and Lelu stripped Layla who was giving minimal return fight and pulled her into the shower. Soon the water was flowing, and Lelu and Carny were washing a squirming Layla while Stefan leaned against the outside wall of the house and laughed at their antics.

"Someone's having fun," smiled an elf maiden as she walked past leading her young son. He was a young one, barely fifty years old, for a human that would be ten years old, and looked up and smiled at Stefan, waving as he walked by. How many times in the past 500 years has an elf child felt safe enough with a human to smile and wave? Stefan swore there and then that he was going to provide a safe world for him and his friends to live in, even if it means fighting against Prince Zorzal, Princess Co Lada, and the entire Japanese Self Defense Force to attain that world.

That evening the entire team, Stefan, Lelu, Carny, Glencove, Jolietta, and Layla were sitting on blankets, high up over the forest waiting for the show. Their blankets were spread out on the top of a grotesque sculpture carved into the side of the mountain where they could look down on the entire forest city of Vinnofri as they ate their picnic dinner. One of the amazing things about this world was what the inhabitants called "Ground Stars," and they were up here to get a good view of them.

They had decided on the date to free Lelu and Layla's mother, they had decided on the plan, now it was time to decide on a departure date. The most conservative estimate for travel was three weeks. Stefan closed his eyes and thought about the logistics of this trip, this part made his head ache. He was used to traveling in Humvees where he could adjust the speed of travel to suit the plan, in a horse drawn wagon you only go one speed: slow. They have another meeting tomorrow night, then come hell or high water, they're leaving in two days.

Now, as the sky darkened, what Stefan had initially thought were fireflies began to wink to light. They became little mauve points of light. They were everywhere, in the trees, on the rocks, in the grass, in the air. After a time, they began to float upwards. Mauve specks of light drifted up into the night sky where they winked out at about 100 feet up. It was amazing to watch, and Stefan couldn't get enough of it. As Layla and Carny played a game of "Grab and Giggle" Stefan and Lelu leaned on each other and watched the show, occasionally breaking to kiss. "Does this happen in the winter too?" he asked her silently.

"Not as much, but we don't have a winter like you remember. There is no snow unless you're in the mountains." Lelu shivered at Stefan's memories of snowstorms.

"We need a home," he said aloud. "A place we can go when this is over and make some elflettes or elflings or whatever you call them, and raise them..."

Lelu laughed and hit Stefan's upper arm, which was so much firmer and larger now, "We just say babies."

Stefan sighed, "This is going to take forever. You and I, we could just pop in there, grab your mom, pop out and be home in time for the eleven o'clock news."

"We got more to do," insisted Lelu. "Besides, what's a leaven old clock snooze?" Lelu got a mental image from Stefan that she thought was a woman stuck in a box reading stories.

Stefan laughed, "It's nothing I ever want to worry about again."

"You come from a strange world," said Lelu.

"Yes ma'am," grinned Stefan as they watched the little mauve spots of light floating upwards. Because they were sitting up so high it looked like the world was rising up to meet them. Lelu shifted so that she was sitting between his legs leaning back against him. He eased her blouse up and off then pulled his shirt off and she leaned back against him, the feel of skin-on-skin where anyone in Vinnofri could look up and see them was a dizzying rush. The mauve light around them gave a sexy purple tint to everything. The three moons will be rising soon to add their reddish light to the illumination. "Gods, I love it here," sighed Stefan.

"Why do you love it here, Mister Oh-Taco," said Lelu silently.

Stefan chuckled; she found another interesting word in his head, she's so good and finding them and using them properly. He loves her curiosity, there's got to be a way to take her to the Smithsonian, she would have a ball there. "This place is perfect for us Otaku. There's demi-humans of all forms and magic! I'm surprised that there's no magic girls..."

"There's a lot of magic girls, I met them in prison."

"Now I don't have to wait for an anime series to be subtitled for me to enjoy it, I'm living in an anime world. There's so much good I can be doing here," he hugged Lelu tightly, "I want to spend the rest of my life helping you get that hell out of your head."

Lelu gasped at the mention of the hell inside her head. Fifty years of abuse by the guards and nobles of the Saderan empire has severe consequences. She's only been free for three years and it has been a psychological nightmare, but since bonding with Stefan, he's been there to lean on, someone to help and to show her how nice humans are, and how loving sex can be. Even when he was dying, he gave her someone to concentrate on, so she wasn't being tortured by her past.

He doesn't go rooting around in her head like she does in his. For one thing, he's given her permission to do so, Lelu has blocked many of those memories from Stefan and herself. She's terrified of what he could find in her head. If he stumbles into the memories of getting her eye gouged out or worse, he's likely to track down the guilty party who is still alive and easily found. She's not protecting the guilty party, she's protecting Stefan. Occasionally she'll clean out a section of her memory and let him play in there. That's how he learned Saderan and is learning to speak Quenya.

Then she realized that he was touching what they call the front of her mind, this is where the thoughts that she's currently thinking are generated and he noticed her going over all the ways he's been helping her survive this psychological nightmare she's stuck in. He started putting ideas into her head. "I need you to become closer to your sister," was the main idea, then beyond that the idea went on to say, "If this plan to rescue your mother fails, you will need Layla to lean on."

"I understand but," she twisted around and sat on his lap facing him, her hard nipples barely brushing against the ivory white hair on his chest, "If you don't make it, I probably won't either."

Stefan didn't detect any anger, or sorrow, or bitterness in her statement. It was a statement of fact, something they both now recognize that they are intimately tied together, if one dies, the other will surely follow. As their lips met and their tongues gently explored each other Stefan answered, "I didn't have a brother or sister, it makes me sad how you're so cold to each other."

"We're... dealing with it."

Stefan realized that Lelu and Laylah had issues in the background that Stefan was not aware of, and Lelu wasn't about to share them with him. That was the nice part of the bonding, Stefan discovered that his own private thoughts were his to keep if he kept them like that. He kept much of his career in the Marine Corps locked away from Lelu, he wasn't sure how she would handle modern warfare. In the same way, Lelu kept her five decades in the dungeon sealed away from him and only let Stefan have occasional peeks into her nightmare past. Their emotions, however, were wide open to each other and there was no way that they could find to hide them from each other.

Sharing their senses, what they're feeling, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, that had to be consciously controlled. The first time they made love they overpowered each other with sensation until they had to stop and sort out who had the penis and who brought the pussy to the party. They realized that was the goal, it was how all love making was going to be eventually, but they had to work their way to that point to appreciate it and to keep their sanity.

There were skills they needed to work on, like their communication. Immediately after The Kiss, that first inadvertent peck that set off their bonding, they found that they could communicate wordlessly if they were touching. When they're not touching, they can feel each other's presence, but exchanging thoughts and concepts at first was impossible. They found that if they had eye contact that they could exchange feelings, but more complex thoughts were difficult. That's when they realized it was a lot like verbal speech. If you are far away from someone there's not much that the listener can do to hear the speaker better, it's up to the speaker to speak loudly to be heard. So how do you shout a thought?

Then Stefan remembered something. Through the bleary remembrance of his slow recovery, he remembered Lelu and Layla arguing about him, then Lelu glared at Layla and Layla collapsed like a rag doll. Lelu knocked out Layla without touching her. "How did you do that?" he asked Lelu.

"I just told her to shut up, I did it stronger that time. It's something that we've always been able to do."

"So... you're bonded with Layla?"

"No, of course not. That's silly, that's..." she stopped and considered what he was implying. Lelu and Layla never considered themselves bonded, they were close because they were twins and there was nothing more to it than that. Maybe they were bonded in some manner.

Stefan decided to test a theory. He got up and stepped over to Carny and Layla and crouched down in front of Layla. He took Layla's hands in his then thought, "I forgive you."

"I don't want your forgiveness," Layla said out loud. Then she looked at Lelu then at Carny, "Why are you guys staring at me?"

"He didn't say anything," said Carny.

"Yes, he did, he came over here and said, "I forgive you."

"He didn't say a word," said Carny, who sat on the other side of Layla.

Jolietta lay on her side watching the ground lights with her head on Glencove's lap. "Not a peep," she agreed with Carny.

"Shush, you care for me, and you know it," said Stefan silently.

Lelu realized that she could "hear" him from 6 feet away. He was still holding Layla's hands and she obviously heard him. "No, I don't! I don't give a shit about you so leave me alone!" Layla shouted and pulled her hands free from his grasp.

"He didn't say anything," said Carny, but in the back of her mind she thought she may have heard something.

"You're imagining things," said Jolietta. Glencove has become more than a friend and co-adventurer for her, she was Jolietta's mentor and Jolietta was growing jealous of the fox's affection for Layla.

Then Stefan "heard" Lelu's silent plea, "Stefan please stop, leave her alone!" and he turned and smiled, that was what he was looking for. He was not looking for Layla's reactions even though he was impressed that she heard him, he wanted Lelu to bridge the distance barrier. So, it was possible, they could communicate without touching. Now it was a matter of figuring out how far apart they could be, how loud do they have to shout, and how does someone wordlessly shout?

Later back at their apartment, Carny was worried about Layla, the elf was still in a bad mood from her "run-in" with Stefan. Carny finally gathered up the courage to ask, "are you mad at him?"

"No bunny, I'm not mad at him," sighed Layla. It was a lie, but anxious bunnies are tough to deal with.

Carny stared at Layla sadly. Layla was so cool! A gold haired elf, and a twin to boot. Carny fell in love with Lelu, and was hoping Layla would be just as wonderful, and Carny sensed that deep down she was just as wonderful as her sister Lelu, but she just lied to Carny. "I know I'm just a bunny, I'm not very brave, and I'm not very smart. But I can cook better than anyone else, and I really thought you were nice. I would have preferred it if you had just said "Fuck you bunny" to me instead of lying to me to get me out of your hair."

"Carny, I'm..." Layla paused to pick the right words, but she waited too long.

"Never mind," said Carny. "I may not be very smart, but I know who cares for me." And she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Layla sank to her bed striking her forehead with the heel of her hand over and over, muttering and saying, "sorry, sorry, sorry," over and over.

Twenty minutes later Stefan and Lelu came in from their shower feeling refreshed. They found Carny sitting on their bed looking morose. "What's wrong Carny? Is it Layla again?" asked Lelu. They both knew that Carny was having a girl-crush on Layla and had been since Layla revealed herself to Jolietta and Glencove on the road here. Carny nodded her head without looking up.

"It's ok Bunny, sometimes our heroes turn out to be heels," said Stefan. "It happens. We just try to keep on keeping on."

Lelu sat down next to Carny and hugged her. "I know how you feel. I couldn't wait to see the sister that I haven't seen in fifty years, and she acts like I'm not good enough for her, and the husband that the universe picked out for me is even worse." Lelu pulled Carny's head to her shoulder and stroked her cheek.

"What am I going to do," groaned Carny.

"How about helping us get my mom out of jail, I hear Tesson Culp had some job for you there too."

"Ok," said Carny softly. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

Lelu looked imploringly at Stefan who said, "Of course you. You're part of this... what ever it is. Just remember that we're not getting too crazy tonight, we have a meeting tomorrow."

"Ok," Carny brightened up, and in a few minutes the three were cuddled together and sleeping peacefully.

Next door Layla writhed in aching loneliness. She felt the comfort and peace that the three enjoyed and she couldn't share it, she felt alienated and dejected. She had to make it right, but she had no clue how. She woke the next morning after a few moments of fitful sleep and hours of self-loathing. She went over to the bedroom next door, and it was empty, damn it! She looked around and everyone was gone, did they leave without her? She heard the shower running and stepped out into the breeze way where Stefan was showering after his morning run. "Where's my sister?" she demanded.

"Good morning to you too," said Stefan as he dried off, he was obviously angry.

"I asked you a question," snarled Layla as she grabbed his arm. She realized that she was messing this up horribly but he's being such a jerk! Stefan didn't answer, he just looked at her hand holding his upper arm, then he glared at her in the eye. She let go of his arm and he walked past her without saying a word. "Where is my sister?" she demanded as he dropped his towel and stood naked before her.

She tried not to be obvious but... damn! For a human he's kind of hot. He was nothing but white hair, parchment skin, and bones when she carted him across the grasslands. Now he's finely muscled and well hung... I mean well built! Damn it. His ivory white hair is trimmed short, his beard sculpted to a shock white Van Dyke, even his pubes were white and... stop staring! "Please tell me," she begged.

His shoulders slumped as he came to a decision. "Layla look, you're only needed as a healer on this mission, we expect nothing else, but we don't know if you're worth the pain. Yes, you kept us alive in the grasslands but other than that you've been nothing but a rock in our shoes, and a thorn in our sides. We know several well-placed healers who care about the importance of this mission and are eager to go. You can stay here and do... elf things." With that he stopped talking and finished dressing.

"You can't fire me, that's my mother you're going to..." she grabbed Stefan's arm again and tried to throw him across the room like she did in the past and suddenly found herself on her back, staring up at the ceiling with Stefan's hand on her solar plexus pinning her to the floor.

"Gods Damn It!" he snarled. "I ain't never had a family and now I have a chance for one and as fucked up as it is, I love my family. I'm getting sick and tired of drying Lelu's and Carny's tears every night because of you. Look, I love you too, but I'm not going to let a rude, self-centered, arrogant elf destroy our last best chance for happiness. Capiche? Goodbye." And with that he grabbed his cloak and left.

She finally said, "I'm not a marmot," but her words were drown out by the slamming of the front door.

She spent the next hour pacing back and forth, trying to think of something, anything to save this mess she's made. Even the fairies were silent. "He said he loves me," she said to herself and that just made everything taste worse. Suddenly the front door opened and the five of them walked in, Lelu, Stefan, Carny, Glencove, and Jolietta. They strode across the common room ignoring Layla, then Stefan, Lelu, and Carny stepped into the bedroom and closed the door. Glencove and Jolietta stood at the door and acted as guards.

"I need to talk to Lelu, please!"

Glencove and Jolietta looked at each other, catgirl and foxgirl, in ancient times they would have been enemies, but now they're united by a simple request. No one goes in until the proper word is heard. "Please?" Layla's voice was tiny and miserable. Without a word, Glencove and Jolietta stepped aside and let Layla open the door to reveal an empty room.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Ambassador Sherry Tyueli and Ambassador Kōji Sugawara sat in Sugawara's office wondering what Gunny Hanover had up his sleeve. The first time they met him he gambled with death and nearly lost but he turned it into a victory. However, he and the elf maiden Lelu Nikto De Sebat disappeared before he could find out how he got here to Falmark, and he wasn't seen for weeks, then he appeared here in Princess Co Lada's court. As they waited nervously a butler opened the door and announced, "Ambassadors, the demigoddess, messenger of the gods, and apostle of Emroy, Miss Rory Mercury." And he held the door open for the 963-year-old goth Lolita who strolled into the room carrying her huge, ancient Halbert.

She bowed and addressed the Ambassadors, "Ambassador Tyueli, Ambassador Sugawara, there must be an international crisis of epic proportions to cause the both of you to shirk your duties for a clandestine meeting."

"Lady Mercury," started Kōji, "it's been far too long since we last spoke." Kōji lived by the old adage 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' He wasn't sure where Rory fell, friend or enemy, but he wanted to keep her as close as possible.

Before Rory could answer Kōji's remark, Stefan, Lelu, and Carny were there. There was no flash, no bang, no warning, they just silently appeared. "Ok," said Stefan, "Where are we?"

Kōji and Shelly were in shock, it has been months since they saw Stefan in the hospital ward at Alnus Hill, in fact Shelly was in the next room when they disappeared. Now here he was looking a lot younger than he did months ago and now his formerly brown hair is white. "Gunny?" Ambassador Sugawara rose to shake his hand.

"That's me. You know Lelu Nikto De Sebat," he put his arm around Carny and pulled her close, "this is our protégée, Carny Taz, she's the adopted daughter of Queen Mary Atchi and we love her to pieces." He kissed a smiling Carny on the forehead, and they sat down, Lelu to his left, Carny to his right. "I believe you have something for me?" Stefan asked Sugawara.

"Here you are," said the ambassador as he placed several items on the desk, "three backpacks, five field jackets, three cloaks, several tarps and wool blankets, all with an SEP spell cast upon it. Here's an SQL SDR, dipole antenna, antenna tuner, microphone, battery, and solar charger." Shelly watched in awe as he was able to put all that equipment into one of the backpacks.

"What's an SQL SDR?" asked Lelu silently.

"It's a radio."

"What's a radio?"

Stefan chuckled and went back to discussing the plan with the ambassadors. "I can see getting the Rose Order of Knights involved, but the JSDF?" asked Sugawara.

"The SDF will join in, when the word gets out their pilots won't let them miss it," smiled Stefan.

"Ok, let's see what you have," said Shelly.

Stefan produced a scroll outlining his strategy and gave one copy each to Sugawara and Shelly. "This document as a security spell on it, it can't be copied by machine of photograph, and it can't be read by someone who was not handed the document by you, and if the document is copied by an authorized clerk, the spell will follow to the copy. Zorzal has spies everywhere, and we have no problem if you want to use this operation to root them out, but please, OPSEC at all times."

"OPSEC?" asked Shelly. The tiny fifteen-year-old ambassador is an incredibly astute political genius. Her departed parents groomed her for this kind of position and she's surpassing their expectations.

"Operations Security," said Stefan. But seeing blank stares from Shelly he continued, "that's the concept of keeping details of the operation secret and revealed only to people you can trust and only if they have a legitimate need to know."

Shelly opened her mouth to speak, but paused, letting his words sink in. In the Saderan empire, the emperor maintained security by not sharing his plans with anyone until the very last moment. Operations security was ensured in that manner, but confusion reigned. "We may need to discuss this further after the operation," she said as she mulled over the concept.

"Madam Ambassador, one of the primary lynchpins of this plan is to make sure that the Empire of Japan knows that there is a political entity on Japanese soil violating human rights in such an egregious manner," said Stefan.

"You will definitely get support from Japan," said Sugawara, "IF you can get evidence of your claims of rape and torture." At those words, the old fear came creeping in on Lelu. She started to shudder, but Stefan and Carny were there for her. "Maybe we could get corroborating testimony to bolster your arguments," Sugawara continued, "what happened to that poor woman we saw you with months ago?"

"I'm right here," said Lelu meekly. Then she handed two scrolls to Sugawara and Shelly. "This is my testimony, there are no security spells on these documents."

"Oh, my gods!" gushed Shelly, "You look beautiful! How did you recover?"

"It was all healing magic from mages Kato and Lelei," said Lelu, she was uncomfortable in this line of questioning.

Sugawara began to read the document and began to blanch. "Dear gods," he groaned. "And former emperor Molt Sol Agustus would admit to doing this?"

"Of course," said Lelu sadly. "There's nothing you can do to him, and he doesn't care. He may enjoy the experience of reliving the old days."

"Ok, let's get going," said Stefan and for the next hour they went over the plan, discussing how the plan will advance and how their exit strategy will complete. After that meeting, they had lunch with Beefeater E Caty, the Captain of the Rose-Order of Knights, and Crown Princess Pina Co Lada. At lunch they had the same discussion that they had just completed with the ambassadors. Princess Pina and Captain Caty both received a secure copy of the plan and their roles in the operation.

"A part of the security spell," said Carny, "is that if someone who is not authorized to see this document picks it up, a tiny notch will appear here on the upper left corner. If you see notches in this corner, you have a security breech."

"Also, if you have a security breech, when an authorized person touches the document, their name will appear on the back of the document," said Stefan.

"Is that going to keep someone from copying this document?" said Caty, who happens to be one of the few people in the Royal Palace who understands what security is all about.

Carny smiled, "Poppa says that if you're not authorized to see the document, the words you see will be quotations of one of the greatest American philosophers, Archie Bunker."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "He was a great thinker."

Not long after that Lelu said, "She should be ready now, it's been over two hours."

Stefan sighed. "Is our bet still on?"

"Yes," said Carny and Lelu in unison.

"Then let's go." Moments later they disappeared from the empirical palace and appeared in their apartment bedroom in Vinnofri. Stefan and Lelu were exhausted. Two jumps in one day were incredibly tiring. It doesn't matter how far they go; a jump is a jump. It takes both of them to do it and adding Carny taxes them even more, but Carny is learning to help. A third jump in twenty-four hours is still impossible, but with practice they're getting close.

After a few moments to let the nausea wash away and the exhaustion relax its grip, Lelu opened the bedroom door and they stepped out into the common room. There they found Glencove and Jolietta with a shuddering Layla who leapt up when she saw them appear from the bedroom. She threw herself at Lelu crying, "I'm sorry! Please don't leave me!" and covered Lelu's face with a deluge of kisses.

"Don't talk to me," said Lelu, "talk to him, he's in charge of the raid, this is his party.

Layla meekly stepped to Stefan and said, "I'm sorry, please don't leave me behind, I'll do whatever you ask."

"Are you sure?" asked Stefan. "I may ask you to do something that goes against your deepest core values in order to rescue your mother. Everything we do is to that aim, and I have decades of training in this kind of operation."

Layla nodded. "I will, I promise."

"Ok, in that case all is forgiven, give me a hug." He pulled Layla in and gave her a brotherly hug. Finally, he asked, "Why? Why did you treat us so badly? Why did we have to kick you off the team to get you to this point?"

"I was afraid you'd make fun of me."

"Why? What's there to make fun of?" he asked.

"I... I'm a... I'm a lesbian," she said in a rush and was finally able to get it out. She suddenly felt completely relieved, she was free! It was out in the open! She smiled and opened her eyes and saw... she saw her sister and Carny both handing Stefan a gold piece. "Wait a minute!" Layla cried, "You bet on my sexuality?!?"

"No, we bet on the reason why you were treating us like crap," said Jolietta. "I would have taken lesbian too, but I didn't have a gold piece."

"Sucker bet," mumbled Glencove as she started unpacking the treasures that Stefan brought from the palace.

"So, you figured it out, and you still conned them into a bet you knew you were going to win?" Layla demanded.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," said Stefan.

Layla sighed, this guy was just like their uncle Neb, sneaky, underhanded, devilish, but at the same time loving and loyal. She hugged Stefan again, "Welcome to the family."

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

The big wagon rolled to a stop alongside the Vogustirum turnpike. The baren dirt road rose and fell on hill and valley of the grass covered plain. Huge boulders showed here and there through the grass, occasionally a watch tower or the ruins of an ancient mages tower would stand silent and forgotten. If they were close enough to the road, Stefan and Lelu would dash over and climb the tower and scan the land with Stefan's spotting scope. The scope is designed to help "zero in" sniper rifles and spot where the bullets hit over a thousand meters away, so it's powerful enough to let Lelu see enough of the area to be able to focus in with her emerald eye, which allows them to jump to that position. Tonight, they're jumping to a tower that could possibly give them a view of the city of Skotadi, once Lelu can see Skotadi, they can make the jump there and start scouting and prepare to free Lelu's mother.

This was the hard part, making a "blind" jump to a new location. Lelu hadn't seen the perspective landing site yet so they could be jumping into anything, a memorable blind jump dropped them in a lake. "Come here bunny," said Stefan as Carny bustled about unnecessarily. She was the picture of nervousness. She trotted up to Stefan and Lelu, her long ebony hair glistening in the light of the setting sun, her huge brown eyes glistened, and Stefan knew that she was terrified, he was sure that Carny knew how dangerous this jump was.

Stefan and Lelu wrapped their arms around Carny. Stefan whispered, "You are doing great, we're so proud of you."

Carny's face radiated joy and Lelu added, "Thank you so much for helping me get my mom back. I can't wait to get you to the beach for real." When Stefan and Lelu were going through the Psak Marhon, the merging of the bodies, and the bonding process aged Don horribly, he and Lelu dreamt they were living on a beach and occasionally they took Carny into the dream with them, and Carny loved the beach, she ran on the sand and played in the surf for hours. When she heard Lelu's plan she squealed and bounced as they hugged her.

Stefan took her face between his hands and said. "Ok bunny, you know the drill, stay on the plan, if we're not back at sunrise, go, don't wait for us, we'll catch up with you." With that he gave her a kiss on the lips causing her eyes to bug wide open. Before she could say anything, they were gone. Excited, nervous, worried, and now sad and scared, Carny was an emotional wreck, but she had dinner to make. She sighed and looked for the plan, there was a menu in the plan, so she didn't have to come up with a menu on her own.

Layla was warming up to living as Layla the sister, and not Layla the withdrawn mage. She was starting to converse with Glencove and Jolietta instead of spouting orders, and she was able to cast a protective spell over their campsite allowing them to rest at night.

This wasn't a hop to Alnus Hill for supplies and pizza, this was a jump to the unknown. All they were sure about was that the landing zone that they picked was a flat, open space. When they appeared, the area was still flat, but now obstacles were there in the form of rebel soldiers. Luckily, they didn't land on one, but they were close to a soldier who was standing idly, waiting for his teammate to finish taking a piss in a nearby ditch.

"Cover!" Lelu cried silently. They quickly pulled their hoods up and crouched to insure that their cloaks were covering everything including their feet. She started moving toward the tower, but she wasn't sure if Stefan was following, they stopped touching to cover their hands with the cloaks. She reached the base of the tower and found the door bolted. She turned to her right because Stefan is always on her right so he could gently hold her smashed right hand, but this time he wasn't there. She turned to look and found that he was over by the Zorzal soldier, and he was stealing the soldier's knife from the soldier's belt. The knife is more like a short sword, the blade is about fifteen inches long, made of black steel and depending on the soldier who owns it, it's sharp enough to shave with. "What are you doing!" she shouted silently.

Having eased the knife out of its sheath and securing it in his baldric, Stefan made his way over to Lelu. "Why did you do that?" she demanded.

"It's something I used to do to my privates," he said as he tried to open the door. "If they don't secure their K-Bar knives in their sheaths they could fall out on a march." Using the knife that he had just stolen, Stefan opened the door and led Lelu into the tower. "Any unsecured knife was mine," he grinned.

Inside the base of the tower was a large table, there was a large dribble candle at each corner and numerous icons and relics were placed with care around a spherical crystal about the size of a tennis ball which hovered about a foot off the center of the altar. A scroll hovered near the crystal. "Don't touch anything!" warned Lelu silently.

"Yes mom."

The tower was a circular tube with a wooden staircase that spiraled up into the dark, the only other thing he saw was ancient cross beams holding the tower up. They made their way to the top of the tower and found a large pile of wood set in a stone brasier, this was a signal fire. What ancient threat was this tower built for?

They set up the night vision spotting scope on the low stone wall that surrounded the top of the tower and using a map they verified what direction the city of Skotadi lay, then began trying to identify their target. They took turns because it was easy to get tired slowly sweeping side to side, trying to determine what they were seeing. Finally, after what felt like ages, Stefan reached out for Lelu and silently said, "I think I found it," and he stepped aside to let Lelu look.

"I think you're right," she whispered, it sure looked like the ancient descriptions of Skotadi. She had to whisper because Stefan wasn't in contact with her, he was looking straight down over the edge of the top of the tower. He was looking down at what he thought was a pile of glittering rocks, or maybe crystals piled up at the base of the tower. He was considering visiting that pile before returning to Carny and the rest of the team when suddenly the pile moved.

"Honey, have you seen enough?" he asked nervously. She needed to study a likely spot to land on, her emerald eye was able to map the area he spotted better than a team of intelligence specialists going over a recon plane's photos, but she needed time to get it right. "It's getting time to leave, honey."

"Yes, I have it, I'm looking for a backup spot," she said, her emerald green eye glowing brightly... "Got it!"

"FREE ME!"

A voice best described as 'huge' boomed in Stefan's head as a giant face peered up at him from the pile he was looking at. He found himself staring at the face of a fire dragon. That pile of glittering rocks was scales, and the pile was the dragon's body. He gasped in sphincter clenching fear as the dragon glared up at him with flaming orange eyes with the elliptical pupil of a cat eye, but the ellipsis is horizontal.

"FREE ME!"

The voice assaulted Stefan's mind, he saw lightning flashes inside his eyeballs and every muscle in his body including his heart suddenly twitched and he fell over backwards. "Honey!" cried Lelu when she heard the thump and saw Stefan laying on the floor twitching. She knelt beside him and when she touched him a spark of static electricity, something the elves call Palapon's lightning (Palapon is the god of revenge), jumped from him to her hand and when it did that he gasped, and his eyes flew open.

"There's a dragon down there," he gasped, "and it talks!" He tried to sit up, but his head was spinning, and he couldn't get his balance.

"What happened?" she cried as she knelt over him and looked into his eyes. They were dilated and kind of twitchy.

"He talked to me..."

"SHE!"

"She," said Stefan clutching his head from the sudden pain. "She talked to me." Stefan slowly sat up and thought, "Stop shouting, I can't free you if you kill me." He and Lelu crawled to the edge of the top story and looked over the wall and the dragon looked up at them. It didn't look angry, it looked curious. "What is your name?" Stefan asked, mostly to see if he could project his thoughts like the dragon can.

"Wareharun."

This time Lelu heard the dragon too. "Wareharun? Wareharun is the goddess of the trees and forest," Lelu called out silently. The dragon simply looked even more curious. She said,

"Yes I am. What's your point?"

"You are the goddess of the trees and forests?" asked Stefan. Everyone he talked to, including Rory the apostle of the god of war, Emroy, say that the Gods and Goddesses look like humans.

"Yes. What's your point?"

"How do we free you?"

"Feed me the crystal and the scroll from the altar."

A conversation with Wareharun told Stefan and Lelu that a jealous god tied her to the crystal and scroll.

"That jealous god wouldn't happen to be Harvey, would it?" asked Stefan.

"Yes, how did you know?"

According to Rory Mercury, Harvey is the god that creates the gates to draw the different races here to create discord as entertainment for his boring evenings. "Just a lucky guess," answered Stefan. "Let me guess, whoever controls the scroll and crystal controls you, am I right?"

"Yes," answered Wareharun, she sounded embarrassed. "Zorzal owns the scroll and crystal, and he often orders me to destroy my forests!" she roared in anger and bellowed a spout of white hot flame. "He's using me as a tool to destroy his sister and take back the empire."

"Why don't you just take the crystal?" asked Stefan.

"It won't work, they must be given freely."

Lelu thought for a while then asked, "How many people can you carry when flying?"

"ON MY BACK?" roared Wareharun, "I AM A GODDESS, I STAY ON TOP!"

Stefan chuckled and gave Wareharun a thumbs up. "We're going to need a friend soon; I have an idea..." After bargaining with Wareharun, Stefan and Lelu packed up their night scope and headed downstairs and were soon standing at the altar at the base of the stairs. Stefan reached for the crystal, but his hand hit an invisible barrier.

"Don't you know anything about invisible barriers?" Lelu shook her head sadly. She picked up a pebble and dropped it on the top of the barrier which now buzzed and snapped and was covered with a static sheen.

Amazed, Stefan studied the barrier, "Other than saying "Shields up," no, they don't exist where I'm from."

She looked at him then pointed out the candles, "See the greenish flame on the candles? That means the candles are generating the barrier. You either reverse the original spell or you put the candles out."

"Yeah, but we don't know the spell and the candle snuffer is laying on the table inside the barrier," Stefan frowned.

Lelu smiled, "That's right, but that's either to discourage idiots, or an idiot set this up. Normally you use a hurricane lamp instead of a candle to prevent this someone from doing this..." She took a deep breath then blew out the candles and the barrier disappeared; the pebble dropped to the table.

Stefan realized that the barrier had to allow air to circulate otherwise the candles would eat up all the oxygen inside the barrier. He smiled and took Lelu in his arms, "I love how you blow."

"I love how you love it," she said as they kissed.

"SERIOUSLY?" snarled Wareharun.

Chuckling they reached in for the artifacts. Stefan put the crystal in his pocket and placed the knife he 'liberated' from the rebel soldier on the altar to be discovered later, it carried the soldiers initials on the hilt. Lelu rolled up the scroll and put it in an inner pocket, then they went outside to meet Wareharun. The dragon was almost puppy anxious to meet Stefan and Lelu. It's been millennia since a human wanted to speak to her. "Oh, my gods! She's beautiful!" said Lelu.

Wareharun glittered and glistened in the light of the moons, her scales were combinations of gold, ruby emerald, silver, amethyst, canary yellow diamond, cobalt blue tanzanite, every color of the rainbow arranged in geometric patterns of squares, diamonds, triangles, straight lines, zigzag lines, all arranged in a beautiful pattern. It was dazzling and spectacular, both Stefan and Lelu were breathless looking at the moonlight glittering off her scales. "You're so beautiful!" gushed Stefan. "May I touch?"

Wareharun was taken by surprise, she's never met polite humans before. In her past humankind only wanted to cut her trees and capture her. But she relented and soon had their hands rubbing across her flanks and she found herself purring. Eventually Stefan said, "in exchange for freeing you, we would like something in return."

Lelu was a bit surprised, they hadn't talked about putting a price on Wareharun's freedom. For her part Wareharun wasn't surprised, humans always wanted something. Trees, land, her scales, a ride, she was saddened and disappointed, but it was to be expected. Wareharun hasn't been truly free in centuries, she ached to soar again, to set her wings and glide over her forests and breath deep the scent of the pines. "What would you desire human?"

"Where I come from there are no dragons, nothing even close, but our poets and artists write and sing about dragons, they paint pictures of their majesty and beauty, sing about their bravery and loyalty." Stefan's inner geek was really coming out now. "The first thing I saw when I came here through a gate was a dragon. It was so beautiful to see a dragon circling and soaring, and you're so much bigger and more beautiful..."

"You would like one of my scales?" Wareharun asked angrily.

"No, we... umm, I mean I... for two weeks, I would just like to be friends." Stefan sounded like a schoolboy asking his crush to pal around with him.

"Friends?" Wareharun was confused.

"Lelu and I are going to do something very dangerous; her mother is being held by the same people that were holding you, we're going to try to rescue her. If it doesn't work out, well... at least we will die knowing that we were, even for a short time, friends with a dragon goddess."

"And what will this cost me?"

"Just stay in the area so we can get together and talk. We also ask that you refrain from eating humans, elves, bunnies, cat girls, fox girls, horses, and fairies."

"Nothing else?"

"That's it. I want you to be my friend, not my pet."

"I do not trust you human, but I agree."

"Good, now go fly. Enjoy the evening."

Wareharun eyed Stefan and Lelu suspiciously then scaled the outside of the tower until she was halfway up, then she pushed off, locked her wings, and soared low across the open fields gaining speed the whole time, then as Stefan and Lelu started to lose sight of her in the dark, she pulled up and with several great beats of her wings she shot up into the inky night. Lelu pulled Stefan close until their foreheads touched. "That was so nice," she said wordlessly.

"She's so beautiful, but I can't bear to see her go so quickly. Is this being selfish?"

"A little," and just as their lips met arrows started landing around them. They dropped to the ground and pulled their backpacks up close. "Are you ok?" Lelu asked Stefan.

"I'm good, but I can't see them." He pulled his .243 out of his pack and started scanning the distance through his scope while Lelu pulled out a binocular and quickly picked up several targets. He saw a movement, it looked like a human in the distance. "I have movement, let me know how I do," he said and picked off a shot.

"Low and to the left. Correct three feet up, one foot right," said Lelu as they have done in practice low light situations. Another loud crack announced Stefan's shot, "Good hit, next target is two feet to the right... Good hit, next target four feet left... miss. Correct one foot left... hit. Next target..." on and on it went, they were a team, a killing machine. Even though Stefan could barely see in the pre-dawn darkness, Lelu's emerald eye showed her where the targets were and where the bullets were traveling and hitting. Hours and hours of training before they left Vinnofri were truly worth the effort.

"Damn it," growled Stefan. "It looks like they're trying to advance through my fire."

"You're right," answered Lelu. "Learning has not occurred."

"Fall back to the tower, I'll cover you," said Stefan as he pulled out his Colt 1911 .45 pistol. He tells people he carries a .45 only because they don't make a .46.

"Ready!" called Lelu.

Stefan scanned the rebel soldiers that were becoming more and more visible in the predawn gloom. He eyed a couple that looked like they were ready to jump. "Go!" he called, and as soon as she started to move Stefan put two rounds into one of the anxious soldiers. For fifteen agonizing seconds while Lelu dashed to the tower Stefan picked off soldiers like they were clay pigeons, his promise to never kill again long, long gone, but not forgotten.

"I'm good, you ready?" Lelu shouted.

Stefan quickly policed his brass then shouted, "Ready!"

"Go!" The moment he heard her shout he grabbed his backpack and ran in a serpentine motion all the way back to the tower while her 9mm Sig Sauer sang, "Pop - pop, pop - pop, pop - pop." She was crouching in the doorway of the tower, and it looked like she wasn't trying to aim, she was just making noise... then Stefan saw the red sashes on Zorzal's men as they raced him to the tower, the next thing he saw was the arrow protruding from Lelu's left shoulder.

He beat the rebels to the tower and drove Lelu into the tower, he rolled so when they landed, she landed on top of him. He paused and held his pistol trained on the door, but no one had the guts or stupidity to try to follow him in the tower. He eased Lelu to the floor then rose and barred the door and started digging through his backpack for the first aid kit and a pair of diagonal pliers. All the while Lelu muttered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Shush, you didn't do anything to be sorry about," he said as he got the field dressings ready and he laid down next to her. They touched their foreheads together and professed their love for each other, then he told her that he was going to bandage her up and give her something to make her feel better.

"Gods I hope so," she attempted to laugh, "I got so used to you taking the pain away from me."

"Let me know if this hurts," and he cut the head of the arrow off, it was projecting cleanly from her shoulder close to the armpit. If it was a couple of inches either way, it would have missed or it would have killed. It was an armor piercing arrowhead, it had a long narrow point and probably would have punched through plate armor, but not through their Kevlar vests had they worn them.

"Ow."

"You're so brave," he teased her. "Ok, I'm going to pull this out on three, ready?" When she nodded he said, "One... Two..." and the moment he said two he pulled the arrow out. It came out smoothly, nothing seemed to be holding it, like bone.

"What happened to three?" she groaned through the pain.

"You were doing so good I decided you didn't need a third." Stefan started pulling off her cloak and jersey so he could place the bandage against her skin. There was bleeding, but not a tremendous amount.

"I hate getting shot," she groaned.

"Do you want something for the pain?"

"Please." He found the tiny syrette of morphine and gave her the injection then lay down next to her. After a moment she smiled and said, "It didn't stop the pain, but I stopped caring about it."

"That's the idea. You take a nap and when you get up, we'll go find Duck Soup."

"At leassss you let me have my own pain this time," she gave him a cross eyed smile. So many times in the past he took the pain for her when the healers were working on her hand.

That's when he thought, "Damn! What the hell does morphine do to an elf?"

"It maksh ush silly," she said answering his unspoken question, then she drifted off to sleep.

Stefan was worried to death that he killed Lelu but every now and then she would laugh in her sleep. He gently moved her to where a stray arrow fired through the window wouldn't harm her. He then loaded up both pistols and waited, the door may not hold out against the constant hammering of Zorzal's troops. As soon as she woke up and could concentrate, they would hop to the wagon. By concentrating on their old friend Duck Soup, they could leap to anywhere the wagon was sitting.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Deposed crown prince Zorzal returned to his chambers after an all-night debauch and card game when his aide-de-camp Bernard Meyer along with a timid individual approached the royal rebel. "Your highness, this is Ærny Czockter, such as he is, he's a scribe from intelligence division with what he says is a groundbreaking intelligence coup."

Zorzal looked blearily at the skinny, bent man with a long pointed nose, huge ears, buck teeth, and glasses and the prince wondered when the intelligence division started hiring mice. "Then this calls for more wine!" said Zorzal as he led the men into his bed chambers. There he held out a goblet that Tyuule, the deposed warrior bunny queen obediently filled with that achingly sweet red wine that Zorzal has been drinking since he was six-years-old. Tyuule is Zorzal's personal whore and servant who merely lives for the day that she can murder the man that she hates yet craves with all her soul.

Zorzal spun making his bedclothes swirl dramatically and his wine spill, then sat in a large, ornate chair then raised his goblet toward Ærny signaling him to speak. "Your highness, we have finally translated the documents," said the nervous bespectacled mouse that was shaped like a man.

"Marvelous! Simply stupendous!" Zorzal took a large drink of his wine then said, "What fucking documents?"

"The document that Princess Pina received from the new green man, the document with those tremendous security spells on them, your highness!" Ærny Czockter truly had no idea how marvelous those security spells were. One spell recorded the name of every man, woman, or child who had contact with the document no matter how peripheral and he would be shocked to see that the last name on the list is Ærny Czockter

The scribe held up the scroll he completed. It took a week, but they transcribed the document Princess Pina received from the new green man and then translated it from American to Saderan. Four good operatives died to get this data to the prince, hopefully he can find it useful.

Zorzal looked at the document and nodded knowingly, then he handed it to his aide-de-camp to read it for him. Looking at the document was a ruse, Zorzal is as illiterate as a stump. The aide-de-camp cleared his throat and read,

"Thee Wit and Wisdom of Archie Binker --

- God don't make no mistakes, that's how he got to be God

- Somebody's gotta be dead; that's life.

- We got the greatest country in the world here. The highest standard of living. The grossest national product.

- Anybody that goes to see a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined..."

The list went on for an entire page of scribbled notes, and after each quotation, Zorzal would nod to the sage advice. In the end the aide-de-camp Bernard Meyer decided that he wasn't getting paid nearly enough.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

It was well after sunrise, but Stefan and Lelu had not returned yet and Layla was starting to panic. Every other night when the team stops for the night, Stefan and Lelu disappear to reconnoiter a way into the city of Skotadi and the palace of Fonos where the twins mother Lolah Klaatu Ando Sivan is kept. Occasionally they will go instead to Alnus Hill and bring back supplies (and pizza). Normally they would be back within an hour or two, but on more than one occasion they came back much later, but always in time for sunrise. Those times they slept in the wagon as the team moved steadily onward. This time they haven't come back yet.

"Pack up! Let's go!" called Carny who was placed in charge of the moving process. Stick to the schedule, keep moving. Their trip was engineered to look like a group of traders heading to the capitol city to sell their wares and they plodded slowly through the section of Falmart that was loyal to Prince Zorzal, and their cover story was good. They had enough junk items that they collected from the dwarven mine to sell as antiquities to people they met on the road as part of their cover story, and they made a fair bit of money doing this.

Carny was terrified that something had happened to Stefan and Lelu, but she stuck to the plan and kept a smile on her face as she and her three companions packed up, hitched up Duck Soup and Cocoanut and headed out on that road. The baren dirt road could be seen ahead as it rose and fell following hill and valley of the grass covered plain. Huge boulders showed through the grass here and there, occasionally a watch tower or the ruins of an ancient castle would stand silent and forgotten. It was so tempting to jog on over and take a look, but Carny kept the companions focused. Their instructions were simple, keep going, stick to the schedule. If Stefan and Lelu did not return from one of their hops, keep going, stick to the schedule, they'll catch up. If for some reason they don't come back keep going until the wagon is in the exact location at the exact time spelled out in the plan.

At midday they were preparing to stop and rest the horses for a bit when Duck Soup stopped quickly almost throwing a half dozing Layla into Cocoanut's ass. Carny shrieked, "BOSS!" and yanked back mightily on the brake lever then she dove off the wagon and sprinted ahead, Jolietta close behind her. They found Stefan sitting in the middle of the road with Lelu laying across his lap. He was pale, covered in a cold sweat, groaning, and shaking and he started calling for Layla. Glencove was pale and shaking herself, she had been walking in front of the wagon next to Duck Soup and never saw Stefan until he suddenly appeared just a couple of feet from Duck Soup's nose.

Carny and Glencove lifted Lelu off Stefan's lap and laid her to the side and Layla began to examine Stefan as he kept saying, "Not me, her!"

Glencove began examining Lelu and found a hastily bandaged wound on her shoulder, the bandage was soaked with blood. "Here!" she shouted, "found it!"

Layla was a bit confused; Stefan was in agony, but Lelu was fine, in fact she was concerned about Stefan. Then she saw that Stefan was constantly holding Lelu's injured right hand. Layla crouched and pulled their hands apart and the moment they lost contact; Lelu gasped in sudden pain. "I got you sis," whispered Layla, "You're going to be ok." She held her hand a couple of inches above Lelu's wound and began muttering the incantation required to start the healing process. Lelu cried out in sudden pain as her sister began knitting her back together.

Hearing her cry out, Stefan reached out to ease Lelu's pain, but Layla slapped his hand away, "I need to know if I'm doing this right," she said, "I can't figure it out if you're hiding her pain from me.

"Ok, ok, ok," muttered Stefan as he rolled up on his knees to see what Layla was doing.

Just then a shadow passed overhead, blotting out the sun. Jolietta and Glencove shrieked in terror and dove into the ditch at the side of the road while Carny dug out a bow and nocked an arrow. She tracked the massive shape as it flew overhead, made a sweeping turn, lined up with the road, dropped out of the sky, and landed in front of the wagon. "Don't shoot!" ordered Stefan, "You'll just piss her off!"

The demi-humans shrieked in terror and dove for cover, but oddly the horses didn't sense a threat from the dragon. It was just another episode of the weirdness of their lives, and it was starting to get old.

"What the hell!" shouted Layla, "Can you people please keep it down, I'm trying to work here," then the sun darkened, and she was in the shadow of the huge, winged beast. The massive head leaned down closer to see what Layla was doing.

"That's Wareharun," said Stefan.

"She's our friend," said a bleary Lelu.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

A nervous meeting was held in Princess Co Lada's private conference room, In attendance were several trusted lords of the empire including King Cornelius, the ruler of the area known as Prima Oikos. Cornelius was driven out when Zorzal's rebel forces took over his palace in Skotadi. He has taken refuge in the empirical palace until Zorzal can be driven out of his home. Ambassador Sugawara was there along with Yōji Itami and two elves that work with Itami, high elf Tuka Luna Marceau and dark elf Yao Ro Dushi.

Princess Co Lada cleared her throat and started the meeting herself breaking protocol by not having her prime minister start the meeting. "This is to inform you that an operation to rescue the high elf, Lady Lolah Klaatu Ando Sivan has started. A secondary goal of freeing political prisoners held by my brother at the Fonos prison in Skotadi is also underway."

She waited for the murmuring to settle down then she took an envelope that her prime minister handed her. "These are the plans that were locked up in my personal vault, sealed, untouched by human hands until this moment." She inspected the seal, it looked untouched, then she opened the envelope, and instead of the plan were lines of coded philosophy from the American philosopher Awchy Banker (is that right?) meaning that it was read by someone not authorized to see it. The back of the page held a long list of the names of people who illegally accessed this document starting with her prime minister. The upper left hand corner had a nick for each time it was copied or read, it looked like a rat had chewed it. "Prime minister?" she called, her voice as calm and as collected as usual.

"Yes, madam empress?"

"Report to the rack."

"Yes, madam empress."

"Oh, and captain of the guard?"

"Yes, madam empress?" responded the captain as he snapped to attention

"Please, if you can, don't rip out the prime minister's tongue before he reveals how he duplicated the royal seal on this envelope."

The captain grinned with evil intent. "Yes, madam empress."

She took the list of people that had handled this document thereby committing treason, and she used a rubber stamp that her father made and used quite often. The list was now stamped CTE - CAPTURE / TORTURE / EXECUTE in red then she handed the list to the captain of the guard "Oh and tell the executioner that he's going to be putting in some overtime."

"Yes ma'am!" said the captain with a grin of pride then he snapped an about face and dragged the shaking Prime Minister out of the room. Princess Co Lada opened her mouth to speak when all could hear the captain of the guard shout, "Oi! Alphie! We got a C.T.E.!"

She took a breath and was about to speak when the response came from further down the hallway, "Too Right! We start with this bloody sot?"

"Could we get that hallway door shut please?" the Princess said shaking her head, "Thank you." The door guards were disappointed, they wanted to hear the prime minister break down in tears and plead for mercy. The prime minister was a bit of a bastard and wasn't well liked by the palace workers, his torture is going to have a large, enthusiastic audience.

Itami handed the princess a sealed envelope that he had secured in his footlocker under his legendary collection of doujinshi (self-published comic books). She opened it and smiled, this document was pristine, the security spells never had to change the text. "JSDF observations have assured me that the plan is on schedule, the diversionary events should start shortly, then after that we will know if they were successful."

Everyone around the table smiled and nodded, the members of the Empirical Staff had never heard of a complex operation with multiple events happening at preplanned times and they were impressed. Just as Princess Co Lada was getting ready to read the schedule of events from the beginning, there was a loud knock on the door.

An out of breath messenger was admitted to the briefing room. He carried a red sack attached to a long red streamer. "Ma'am!" he said as he saluted the princess. "A double flying machine dropped this in the courtyard."

A "Double flying machine" is the name that the natives have given the JSDF Chinook helicopters because of their huge double rotors. Her aide-de-camp took the device from the messenger and opened the message capsule on the streamer, then read the message. "What does it say?" demanded the impatient princess.

"It's a message from Gunnery Sergeant Hanover to this council, all involved flying units, and the Rose Order of Knights who are in Skotadi." He looked confused and shook his head, what the hell does Stefan mean?

"What does it say?" demanded Princess Co Lada, the leader of the largest empire in this world.

"It says, Obey The Dragon."

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

And now they were here, after nightly hops into Skotadi, Stefan and Lelu mapped out a route that a group of wandering traders would take through the city, they even found a spot to hold up for a day or two not far from the prison, and it turned out to be an open bizarre where traders from around the continent met, camped, conducted business and traded stories. They actually made quite a bit of money selling off their stock of broken machinery from the ancient dwarven mine from outside Vinnofri but now it's go time.

The night before the plan kicked into "War mode" he brought his whole team together, Lelu, Layla, Carny, Jolietta, Glencove, Orla, Tana, and Wareharun. They moved their camp to the top of a bluff that overlooked the city of Skotadi, the bluff was high enough for Wareharun to take off quickly and wooded enough for her to hide from observation from the main road nearby, or the city of Skotadi far below.

Skotadi reminded Stefan of Rome, the city was made of ruins and monuments from centuries of human habitation, and even though he's been touring the city every night for the past week, he found it unsettling, and Lelu found it terrifying. They barely slept that night, like any night before any battle, Stefan sat up terrified that he'd get someone he cared about killed. He finally slipped into a fitful sleep long after the moons set.

Stefan woke up with the morning sun streaming through a gap in the cover of the wagon, the cover itself was treated with an SEP spell like their cloaks. The warmth of Lelu's body as she cuddled with him brough back the terror of getting someone killed, a terror that he hated and loved at the same time, it kept him vigilant for his team. Then he realized that there were five trails of sparkles orbiting above him. It was Tana and Orla and their babies. "Awww, your babies are flying now! They're beautiful!"

Hearing Stefan talking roused Lelu and she woke to see the little air show going on just two feet from their noses. "Oh, how cute! They're adorable!" gushed Lelu. And the baby fairies really are cute, they sprout their wings not long after hatching and they learn to fly not long after they start to crawl. "What do you call them?" Lelu asked.

"This was our first clutch, so we couldn't decide," said Tana.

"There's so many options!" said Orla, "There 1, 2, and 3."

"Then there's A, B, and C," said Tana.

"Then there's always a, b, and c," added Orla.

"Then there's Unus, duo, tres," said Tana.

Stefan knew that this would go on all day, with a fairy when you put your quarter in, you get the whole song. "What did you finally settle on?"

"We compromised!" Tana said brightly. Orla lined up the babies and showed Stefan and Lelu a tiny fairy with bright purple hair, "This is A," said Tana, "and the little girl with white hair is 2."

"She looks just like you!" Orla said to Stefan, making Lelu laugh quietly.

Tana continued, "And our little boy is III, she's a chip off the ol' block, wouldn't you say?" Tana was obviously proud of her daughter... or son. The whole gender thing with fairies still had Stefan confused. They all look female to him, their pronouns were all she and her, but all brunets were male.

"Don't make a thing of it," Lelu reassured him silently. "They wouldn't understand anyhow."

"We're ready!" cried Tana.

"Let's go get Lelu's momma!" snarled Orla as she put on her "war face."

"I love it, you guys are super troopers," said Stefan. "We have a special mission for you, are you ready?"

"Bring it on!" snarled Tana.

"You need to protect Duck Soup and Cocoanut, we're going to need them for the getaway, so your job is vitally important. Can you handle it?"

Orla and Tana snapped sharp salutes, "No problem colonel!" they cried.

"Ok then it's settled. And when we're done, we'll get together on the beach, bring some cheese, and have a naming ceremony!"

"YAY!" cried the baby fairies and the tiny family flew back to their cage.

After getting up that last morning they had breakfast together, Carny outdid herself, she made kind of a delicious breakfast stew with freshly made biscuits. While everyone ate Wareharun stretched out nearby and watched. "Do you want some of this, Warey?" offered Carny.

"I can't digest cooked meat," rumbled Wareharun in everybody's mind. "It makes me ill."

"Aww. I'm sorry," said Carny.

"That must really suck," said Jolietta.

Everyone nodded until Stefan added, "especially for a Flame Dragon." There was a long pause before everyone broke up laughing, everyone but Wareharun. She just rumbled and looked off into the distance. After apologizing for laughing at her hardship, the team cleaned up, packed up and prepared to move out. "Gather 'round folks" called Stefan and the team gathered at Wareharun's nose. All had their travel cloaks on insuring that they would be ignored by the people of Skotadi. Like the movie The Dirty Dozen, they went over their part of the plan one last time, then Stefan stepped forward to speak.

"I love you all so much, I only hope that when this is over, we can all gather one last time before going wherever we want."

"You know where I'm going," said Lelu kissing his cheek.

"Me too," blushed Carny.

"I hope you guys have a big house," laughed Jolietta. Glencove and Layla didn't say a word, but their fingers twined together.

"Ok, ok, let's figure that out tonight," laughed Stefan. "But we have something important to do before we do anything else." Stefan's tone got suddenly very serious. Marine Corps serious. "I've given you all ample opportunity to back off, didn't I?" he said with a sideways look at Layla who blushed and looked down. Her attitude has really changed since she admitted to herself that Stefan wasn't such a bad guy. He continued, "Last chance, if anyone wants to leave, go now, we won't think anything less of you." He paused and no one made a move, so he continued. "Everyone here is here because they want to be here, all except one. One of us is here because they are compelled to be here."

The team members looked back and forth at each other, but Stefan and Lelu turned to Wareharun. "You are the greatest friend a man could ever have," said Stefan as he stroked her nose.

"Or an elf," said Lelu as she hugged Wareharun's muzzle. Then she pushed away and patted the confused dragon's mouth. "Open up girl," and she pulled the scroll out of her cloak while Stefan took the crystal out of his pocket. "Open wide!" Lelu said as if she were coaxing a child to eat something it didn't want.

"I don't think I want this," said Wareharun, "Not now...later, when we're done." Everyone on the team was confused when her words entered their heads.

"A promise was made," said Lelu. "You fulfilled your part of the promise spectacularly. Now it's our turn."

"No, I would rather not," said Wareharun. "You are honorable, I trust you."

Stefan was too choked up, it was like watching a child go off to their first day of school, or basic training. "You may never have this chance again. If something happens to Lelu or myself, you may never get your freedom." He sighed and choked back his sorrow. "Come on, open up," he begged, barely getting the words out. Slowly, warily she opened her cavernous maw then Stefan and Lelu tossed the crystal and the scroll in her mouth, and then slowly she closed her mouth. After a long pause the huge dragon swallowed.

The team waited for a sign that the spell was broken, but nothing happened. Wareharun simply sat and glittered in the morning sunlight.

And they waited.

"Well? You're free now."

"I know," rumbled Wareharun. "It feels... liberating." Wareharun looked at everyone as if waiting for a reaction. She finally said, "Liberating ... get it?" Wareharun did feel the spell of captivity fade away when she swallowed those objects that she hated and desired to eat for centuries, but these past two weeks have been the sweetest days of her long, long life. She was part of a group that loved and respected her, and the greatest gift of freedom was the ability to stay somewhere you wanted to stay.

"Dragons have a sense of humor?" Glencove asked, then the world's biggest group hug broke out.

"So where are you going," Stefan finally worked up the courage to ask.

"We have work to do first," said Wareharun. She looked at Lelu and said, "At first, I was here because I had to be here, but now that I can leave, I want to be here. Does that make sense?"

Stefan remembered enlisting in the Marine Corps just to be able to feed himself, then his memory of his graduation from boot camp, proud to be a Marine and ready to stay if they let him. He gave up his freedom and found freedom instead. "It truly makes a lot of sense big girl." He rubbed the stiff bristles on her head and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for staying darling."

"Meh, I just like being part of your harem."

Stefan laughed all the way back to the wagon where the little radio was still set up. Harem... Harem anime's were some of his favorites and here he was living one. No wonder why Itami keeps volunteering for Special District duty, he's got a harem all his own too. Reaching the wagon, Stefan picked up the mic and made sure the radio was on the right frequency then called "CQ CQ CQ Kilo Bravo Zero Lima Victor Zulu calling Juliette Alpha Six Oscar Alpha, over."

Soon a reply came through the static. "Kilo Bravo Zero Lima Victor Zulu this is Juliette Alpha Six Oscar Alpha, do you have traffic for this station? Over."

"Roger roger, message as follows: Obey the dragon. Repeat, Obey the dragon. Please forward to appropriate agencies. Over."

"Good copy, Obey the dragon. Juliette Alpha Six Oscar Alpha over and monitoring."

"Thank you kindly, seven three, Kilo Bravo Zero Lima Victor Zulu, over, out."

As Stefan powered down the little radio and began packing it up, Lelu poked her nose in the back of the wagon. It was now empty, all items that were needed were packed up in their backpacks and unneeded items were given away or sold to the traders they befriended. "What was all that talking about?" she asked.

"Just getting in touch with my inner geek," he smiled as he packed away the little radio and wound up the wire antenna, then he realized, that was the end of one more of his geek hobbies, there's no Amateur Radio here, no model railroading, no stamps to collect... He sighed and happily looked at his "harem." There were other hobbies he could indulge in. It was as if his collection of anime figurines suddenly became life size and MUCH more interesting. He has two elves, a Necomeme (cat girl), a fox girl, five fairies, and a dragon, and he's had sex with two of them! what other geeks could say that about their figurine collection? Probably more than he cared to think about... eww. Then he realized too late that Lelu was listening to every word he thought.

She cuddled up close and said, "Jolietta is interested too."

"Wait, what... seriously? You're my wife... we're... we... uh..."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You have a lot to learn about elf society," and me apparently, she added. Their lips met and as they kissed, she showed him the decades that she spent watching other people having sex. The horrible rapes terrified and disgusted her, but there was also a lot of consensual sex going on around her, and she became quite an astute voyeur cheering her friends on because with her injuries and deformities she knew she'd never have a normal sexual relationship again.

But here she is, healthy and whole with a loving husband and she found it was great fun and sexy/sweet to watch him and Carny fucking madly, and being bonded to him, she enjoyed the feelings too. When he someday realizes that the elf version of monogamy is quite different from the human version, it's going to be a very interesting day. "What are you laughing at," Stefan asked as their sweet kiss ended.

"I'm laughing at all the learning you have to do," she said, her head spinning after their kiss as they stepped out of the wagon. "Come on, I want you to meet my mom."

"Let's go!" cried Stefan, eager to get going. "Fall in for equipment check!"

Lelu, Layla, Jolietta, and Glencove fell in line with their backpacks at the ready. Stefan checked them for their knives and flashbangs that were "borrowed" from the JSDF, grilled Layla on the list of spells she had ready for distraction, defense, and healing, then kissed Lelu passionately. "Ok, get your packs on," he said as he shouldered his pack. Then he stepped over to Duck Soup and Cocoanut. The horses were grazing happily on the sweet grass they were staked out in. On the back of each horse sat a fairy, arms crossed in defiance, ready to defend their horse with all the power that their 3 inch tall bodies could produce. "You guys good here?" asked Stefan. He hoped they didn't get too bored, he heard that a bored fairy is trouble.

"Ready to rock!" said Orla and Tana and both gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks guys," said Stefan wondering where they got the "Ready to rock" and the thumbs up from. He turned to the girls and said, "Move out!" in his best John Wayne voice.

"Good luck!" called Wareharun.

Stefan whirled around and waved to the semi-truck size dragon, "Thanks buddy, good luck to you too!"

It was a two mile hike to the prison from their location, and they did it in about a half hour. To Glencove the fox girl, this was nothing. Like her cousins the foxes, she could trot at an easy lope endlessly, so she never broke a sweat. To Carny this was easy too, even though bunnies are best at a sprint, she could sprint very long distances. The twins Lelu and Layla were naturally strong, so this was no big deal, and Stefan hasn't felt this good since he graduated boot, which left Jolietta who was a cat. Cats are great short distance sprinters, but longer distances are a bit of an obstacle. Stefan marched alongside Jolietta and encouraged her all the way down to the market square where they had champed nights before.

The market square was just a couple blocks away from the rear entrance to the old king's palace which is now the Fonos prison. This was considered a low security prison because the prisoners were all political prisoners and considered to be non-threatening, so no dungeon was needed. In the market square Lelu and Layla sat down and Lelu held a fruit basket and Layla sat casting sleep spells. She created the little blue ball that the sleep spell is administered with, then cast a holding spell on it and placed them one by one in the fruit basket.

Meanwhile Stefan, Carny, Glencove, and Jolietta went among the friends they made and gave each one a warning, "Hey, I heard that the soldiers at the prison are going to have an exercise today, it may be a good idea to pack it up and head south and get out of their way."

"Thanks! It's kind of slow here today anyhow," was the typical reply. They had made a special effort to meet and befriend the other merchants here for the two days they set up shop, selling off their wares, and it worked. The merchants saw them as knowledgeable, friendly, and good sources of information.

Then came the sign they were waiting for, the sound of a trumpet playing one long, loud note from far off in the farmland to the southeast. "Let's go gang," Stefan told Carny, Glencove and Jolietta, and they made their way back to Lelu and Layla. They pulled their cloaks out of their backpacks and put them on, then made their way toward the prison, making sure not to bump into anybody. They were now SEP -- Someone Else's Problem and something to be ignored.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

"I hope everybody is in position, because here I go!" cried Wareharun. The big, glittering goddess dragon literally dove off the bluff, spread her wings, and silently glided toward Skotadi, the city that has caused her so much misery.

"I wish I could see this," groaned Stefan quietly as he and the five women crept through Fonos prison leaving a string of guards snoozing peacefully thanks to Layla's basket of sleep spells. The guards are going to miss the air show too.

"WHOO HOO! DAMN HOW I MISSED THIS!" cried Wareharun as she swept over downtown Skotadi, her great golden wings barely missing buildings, Roman columns, and trees as she swooped and dove, roaring her dragonesque hunting call and spouting flame that touched no people or occupied buildings.

For their part, the Rose Order of Knights was scared shitless, they've dealt with dragons, the smaller ones that the empire used for arial reconnaissance, but this was a Flame Dragon! Huge, menacing, and beautiful. The dragon's skin sparkled in the morning sunlight, the scales of priceless gems were arranged in patterns that resembled the skin patterns on deadly vipers and serpents, their beauty is both camouflage and a warning.

From their position in a recently harvested wheat field southeast of the city they watched the mighty dragon circle over the terrified city, swooping and spinning, bellowing and spitting fire. Suddenly the voice of the dragon echoed in their heads.

"Come on girls! This is a riot! I got them pissing their pants! WHOO HOO!" The dragon wheeled over their heads, beautiful and terrifying, then she dove back toward the city. Now the leader of the Rose Order was torn. Beefeater Caty knew that flame dragons are their enemy but here's one inviting them to join in her fun. And to top it off, they were ordered to obey the dragon! Then again, h`ow can you not obey a flying battleship?

Tall and beautiful, the blond knight Bozes turned to her commander Beefeater and said, "Did she say she had them pissing their pants?"

Beefeater just grinned, "Let's see if we can cause them to shit." She rose in her stirrups, brandished her sword, and shouted, "FOR THE GLORY!"

The Rose Order of Knights responded, "FOR THE GLORY!" and they charged. The Battle of Skotadi had begun.

On the opposite side of Skotadi the Japanese Self Defense Force sprang into action. This training exercise was what was known as an RFD, Rapid Force Deployment. A team of base builders were airlifted to a scrubby field a few miles northwest of Skotadi days ago where they built a small base with tents, maintenance facilities, fuel bladders, and a landing pad. A dirt runway was cut for C-130's to land and take off as well as F-35B V/STOL fighters. A line of hills protected them from being seen by the troops of the rebel army, that line of hills was steep and difficult to climb so Zorzal's troops never went there.

As soon as the base was built, chinook and Blackhawk helicopters airlifted in the support personnel and the ground troops, and they were followed by the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and the F-35B V/STOL fighters. For added firepower, guns were attached to one chinook aimed out of the left side turning it into a gunship, a helicopter version of the AC-130 which the Americans once called "Guns a Go-Go."

As a flame dragon wheeled overhead and the Rose order of Knights swept through the streets, the JSDF rose to join the fun. A pair of F-35's announced their presence with a low level high speed pass over the city center followed by the Cobra attack choppers and the Blackhawks, one of which was playing a Wagner opera on loudspeakers.

Panic enveloped the city and their ruler, Prince Zorzal was rousted from his bed by a terrified aid. His head throbbing from the daily hangover, Prince Zorzal stepped out onto the terrace that overlooks the city. The "Iron Prince" (he made that name up himself) stood there resolutely, fists on hips, an arrogant frown on his face. "Sire!" whispered an aide, "Your pants!" and sure enough, all that Zorzal was wearing was his breast plate and scarlet cape, he was entertaining a young maiden last night and this is what he went to bed wearing.

"Let them look on in awe," sneered Zorzal. "CITIZENS!" he bellowed. "FEAR NOT! FOR MY FORCES..." just then a Cobra attack helicopter slowly flew past at eye level with Zorzal, the pilot in the rear turned and looked at him and pointed at him, at the same time the gunner in the front let loose with a two second burst of 23mm cannon fire aimed at a statue of Zorzal that was recently erected in a nearby park. The statue exploded in a hail of fifty high explosive, armor piercing bullets and Zorzal's will, like his statue, was shattered. Thanks to Itami and the JSDF the sound of a gunshot terrifies Zorzal. The "Iron Prince" has a spine of jelly and the first actual case of hoplophobia (fear of guns) on the Falmark continent.

As the "Iron Prince" crawled back to bed on his hands and knees, terror reigned the city. The Rose Order of Knights rode through the streets yelling, "SLAVES! RUN! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE FOR FREEDOM!" At first no one listened, but one by one the slaves broke free and began to run. A trickle became a flow, a flow became a torrent, and suddenly a quarter of the population of Skotadi was on the move, heading toward the encampment that the JSDF built.

Meanwhile, inside the prison Team Hanover left a wake of sleeping guards. They would creep up on the guards completely unnoticed due to their enchanted cloaks, and Layla would hit them with a sleeping spell. Having used up her basket of spell bubbles, she does it the old fashion way. She says the spell and a small blue bubble appears in her hand which she throws at the target, it hits and pops in a gentle cloud of baby blue smoke and the guard slumps to the ground asleep. They now crept up to a trio of guards that were passing around a hand rolled cigarette of questionable origin while guarding the intersection of several important corridors. Pop! Pop! Pop! And they all slumped to the floor. Then one by one Layla touched the locks on the heavy ironwood doors and the locks popped open with the lock welded in the open position making the heavy, expensive door useless.

"Ok," whispered Stefan, "This is my stop, Lelu, you hold back here and cover me, you three, head up that way, Lelu thinks the treasure you've been talking about is up that way. Layla, you hang in the middle to cover anyone that needs help, OK?" When everyone said "Yes" he gave each woman a gentle kiss and said "Be careful, I love you. We're having a party tonight, attendance is mandatory. Got it?"

"Yes sergeant!"

"Ok, let's go..."

Carny, Jolietta, and Glencove crept up the right hand corridor with a huge ring of keys they took from a sleeping guard, Stefan, Lelu, and Layla moved toward the left hand corridor. They stopped and Stefan turned to Layla and gave her a hug. "This is your stop. Don't worry, we'll be back with your mom in a few minutes, ok?"

Layla returned the hug but didn't let go. "In case..." she started. "In case it goes tits up as you say... I want you to know that... that I don't hate you."

"It's ok," Stefan said, but she continued.

"No... I want..." Then she touched her forehead to his and he got the picture of her frustration, of her lying in another room at night, feeling the desire and passion that he and Lelu feel when they make love, but frustrated because she's all alone. But he also felt her attraction to Glencove and her confusion.

"We'll work it out darling," he whispered. Damn! Maybe Wareharun was right, maybe he does have a harem. He shrugged; a harem would be the anime thing to do. "I'm not judging you and I'm not going to jump you; we can talk like this any time you want."

"Ok... just... don't wear that cologne anymore please, it's... distracting."

Stefan could smell her pheromones, they were so much like Lelu's pheromones, this can't be good. "I'm not wearing cologne." How long ago was it that he and Lelu were suddenly overwhelmed by those hidden chemicals their bodies produce, six months? A year? He still has no idea how long it had been since he lay down on the back of the wagon as they entered the grasslands, then woke up in a bed in Vinnofri with Lelu and Carny.

"Be careful," Layla whispered.

"You too," He kissed her then headed off to end this mission.

"Are you ok?" Lelu asked, seeing the concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, maybe." He sighed and said, "Your sister's pheromones, I could sense them.

"I know, I noticed too." She kissed Stefan and taunted, "I'm gonna tell my mom." She waited for his reaction then started giggling when he looked surprised.

"I can't wait to meet her; you guys must have driven her crazy."

She smiled as she pulled his backpack off and dug around until she pulled out his shotgun. "Your boom stick sir?"

He circled his arm around her waist and kissed her long and sweet, then said softly he said, "Thank you for your love, ninya melindo," and he turned to fulfill a promise he made to Lelu's dad as Lelu pulled out her own pistol and waited.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

The city was in utter chaos, well-disciplined mounted knights in teams of six and twelve roamed the streets driving the city guard toward the center of the city, while flying machines roared overhead. Occasionally the machines would emit a loud, flatulent bellow and another statue of Prince Zorzal would explode into a shower of marble chips.

And a Dragon! The flame dragon swooped and circled spitting flame and bellowing her ancient, ear splitting battle cry daring anyone to come out and do battle with her. Occasionally she would spot another tribute to her hated captor, Prince Zorzal, and douse it with flame while shouting to the flying machines, "HERE'S ANOTHER ONE FOR YOU!" and a cobra gunship would quickly destroy the statue before the flames winked out.

A small contingent of the Rose Order of Knights stopped in the wide open city market square where Stefan and Lelu camped their little team for two days. Their leader, Beefeater, gathered all her courage and shouted, "DRAGON! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Wareharun circled overhead then landed on the roof of the Fonos prison. From her perch she glared at the knights as a hungry wolf would consider a lame rabbit. "Who are you?" Wareharun demanded.

"I am Beefeater E Caty, leader of the Rose Order of Knights, personal guard of Empress Co Lada and friend to all who seek justice. Your friend Stefan Hanover is one of my knights."

The dragon reared up and spread her golden wings, "I am Wareharun, goddess of the forests. I am the spirit of the wood, servant of none, bane to all. I chose this form to battle all who threaten my realm. The elves are the caretakers of my forests, the bunnies are caretakers of my fields, and Stefan Hanover is my friend, and my apostle."

"Apostle? He never told me that," said Beefeater.

"I... I haven't told him yet." Wareharun actually blushed, her cheeks and muzzle glowed a soft red. She collected herself and said, "Why have you called for me?"

"We would like to gather Zorzal's men in the hippodrome, can you help us? Please?"

"As Stefan would say, No Problem!" Then as she prepared to leap, she actually grinned at Beefeater bearing two rows of razor sharp diamond teeth, "This is so much fun!" and with a single flap of her colossal wings she was gone.

Beefeater nodded her head, "I'm having fun too, what about you?"

Her lieutenant, Bozes Co Tomita scowled. "Knighthood isn't about fun, it's about honor, respect, glory..."

"I didn't ask that," chuckled Beefeater, "I asked if you were having fun."

"Well, yeah." Bozes looked embarrassed, are knights allowed to have fun on duty?

Wareharun resumed circling over the city, driving Zorzal's forces toward the city center, the ancient hippodrome. "To the hippodrome! Regroup at the hippodrome!" she whispered to the troops who thought it was their own idea.

Like the ancient Roman circus, the Skotadi Hippodrome is a long narrow oval racetrack surrounded by bleachers and stands. At one end was the huge stables and chariot garage, the other end was dominated by an altar dedicated to Plovdiv, the demi-god of spectacular accidents. The finish line was seven lengths past that incredible 180 degree turn meaning that in a tight race, the leaders hit that turn at dangerous speeds. It's said that Plovdiv attended most of the races personally.

Zorzal's men raced to the hippodrome, driven on by the great idea that sprang into their head to regroup there. They can find their unit commanders and properly handle this incursion properly once they regroup. Only a scant few realized what was up, but since their entire unit was heading there, they might as well join them too.

Only after the dragon welded the gates of the hippodrome shut did Prince Zorzal's men realize that they were trapped. The final insult was when the dragon flew slowly over the hippodrome with a Cobra attack helicopter on each wing in perfect formation while a Chinook hovered nearby filled with photographers filming the flyby for the NHK evening news.

Once finished Wareharun returned to the roof of the prison and waited.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

The guards stood aghast, shaking in terror watching this rogue white haired Green Man approach. He stopped and lit a cigar, then he puffed on it and said, "I'm here to pick up your prisoner." They were warned that someone was coming for her, and they were told to stop them with all force. He was one man; he had no supporting troops at all to watch his back that they could see.

For days the number of guards was massive on this prisoner, this section of the prison was emptied except for the prisoner and the guards. In fact, the hallway outside of her cell was full of men guarding her cell. Soon the reason for the guards arrived. The guards watched, almost laughing, as the white haired, white bearded man stepped around the corner and glared at them, then their captain and his two lieutenants stepped forward to capture this fool. The fool wore no armor and no helmet, just clothing that looked like someone painted sticks and leaves on it, a backpack, and a cloth hat. He had no shield, but he did have a sword, a standard Empirical gladius which was still sheathed at his hip. In his hands he carried what looked like a complicated shovel handle. When he finally spoke, he demanded in horribly accented Saderan, "Turn over your prisoner and no one gets hurt."

The captain chuckled and the men under his command began laughing, he pointed at the green man, and they all laughed even louder. The captain drew his sword and wiping tears of laughter from his eyes he advanced on the man that was dressed like a shrubbery and in a deep, manly voice only slightly broken with chuckles said, "Stranger, if you lay down your stick, I will show mercy and kill you quickly."

The troops were roaring with laughter at their captain's wit, when a loud BOOM! and a puff of bluish smoke erupted from the man's stick. He didn't even point it at them, he was pointing at the floor, but the captain shrieked and collapsed holding his knee, as did his lieutenants who were standing on either side of him, the window behind them shattered. Stefan had shot the floor and ricocheted the pellets to their legs. He had lost so much sleep worrying about killing the guards; they were just guys, following orders like he did for twenty years.

The dozen or so surviving guards backed up only to find that they were in a dead-end corridor. Elbow to elbow they tried to pull their swords, but they were too crowded in that narrow hallway to do even that. Watching their comrades writhe in agony as they screamed for help didn't help their resolve.

"Alright you primitive screw heads, listen up," snarled the man who just dropped three of Prince Zorzal's best men without drawing his sword. He held the shovel handle over his head and said, "See this? This is my BOOM STICK!" A sudden chill ran through the clustered men as he lowered the boom stick and pointed it at them. "It's a Remington 870 single barrel pump action shotgun with extended magazine. It has a walnut stock and custom camouflage finish; it's used by hunters and security personnel the world over... YA GOT THAT?" The nervous guards staggered back against the back wall as he jerked the boom stick at them. The man continued his rant in an angry, vicious voice, "Now I swear... the next one of you primates even tries to touch me..." Another loud BOOM! rang through the prison and a large section of the heavy timber above their heads disintegrated into splinters. The guards shivered in horror, several shat themselves. The Green Man lowered the stick and pointed at their trembling group. "Key," he snarled.

One of the terrified guards held out an entire ring of keys. The man with the boom stick gestured to the open cell next to them. "IN!" The entire contingent of guards dropped their keys and scrambled into the empty cell leaving barely any breathing room. The Green Man collected the keys and locked them into the cramped cell then turned to open the cell door of The Prisoner.

The prisoner sat on her bed, her hair a brilliant metallic copper as are her eyes, "the apples don't fall far from the tree," he muttered as he tried the keys. The elven woman looked worried as he finally found a working key. He opened the door, slipped into the cell quickly and closed the door behind him. He looked at the copper haired woman and sighed. She is as beautiful as her daughters. Even in the dim light of this cell her hair gleamed like a new penny, and except for a few bruises and cuts, her complexion was the light gold of sun blessed straw. Finally, he spoke, "Lolah Klaatu tu Sivan?" The elven MILF nodded slowly, then recoiled in shock when he dropped to one knee and said softly, "Amilyë!" the high elven word for "Mommy."

She looked at him in horror and thought to herself, "This human needs professional help."

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Meanwhile Carny, Glencove, and Jolietta checked every cell in the hallway and there was nothing that could be considered a treasure. Plenty of political prisoners, politicians, royalty from neighboring states, local businessmen that fell afoul of Prince Zorzal. They unlocked each cell with a warning to move quickly, they didn't know how long the sleep spells would work.

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway and there was one last door. Carny looked through the window in the heavy wooden door and gasped, "We're saved!"

"What is it?" asked Glencove.

"Fifty bucks."

"What?" They opened the door and there in a huge room the size of a gymnasium was fifty male warrior bunnies. More bunny testosterone than Carny ever knew existed. The bucks turned and looked in wonder at the women who opened their cell door.

"Oh guys," said Glencove, "have we got some work for you!"

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Stefan couldn't convince Lolah to leave her cell, in fact she slapped him for suggesting such a thing. He finally stuck his head out of the cell and gestured to Lelu, "Would you help me with your mother?" Lelu in turned gestured to Layla for help and they both came running. They stepped over the three guards who were still writhing in agony and entered her cell, "Mom!"

Lolah glared at her daughters, "it's about time you got here."

Both Lelu and Layla stopped and stared at their mother open mouthed, for his part Stefan was angry. They fought their way across Falmark and risked death at every turn to rescue an ungrateful bitch. "Language!" Lelu popped into his head.

"No!" Stefan whirled on Lelu and said aloud in Quenya, "You and Layla went through multiple levels of hell to rescue this woman and all you get "it's about time you got here?" That's bullshit!"

"I didn't know Quenya had a word for bullshit," chuckled Layla softly.

"Human! How dare you..." started Lolah.

"You just back off lady, this is between me and my wife." Ignoring the shocked look on Lolah's face Stefan whirled back to Lelu and said, "You were obviously raised by your father, there's no way this ungracious, ungrateful, selfish..."

Lelu stopped him with a finger to his lips. "You're right, I'm sorry I let you attempt this. Let's go." And they left, they walked out of the cell leaving Layla alone with her mother.

"That could have gone better," Layla admonished her mother.

"Well he... he just walked in here and called me his mother!" spouted Lolah. "I have never had a human between my legs..."

"That's because there's no Quenyan word for mother-in-law," said Layla. "He and Lelu are bonded, fully bonded, all six steps."

"No, that's impossible, not with a human too. And the Vjrd Marhon is impossible! It hasn't been seen for a thousand years!" Vjrd Marhon is the ownership of space, being able to leap as they do, to places they know.

"Har Chalktaw locked them in an office, and they appeared inside another locked office less than a minute later."

"Har is here?" gasped Lolah.

"No, he's in Vinnofri. Five nights ago, Stefan and Lelu took me to a place in a new town on Alnus Hill for pizza. They can do it," said Layla. "Momma, things are changing. A new gate opened up and men dressed in green poured out. They destroyed eight human armies, they overthrew the emperor and put his daughter in charge. That one human that is married to your daughter rescued 73 slaves of all races just to protect a little elf boy. He rescued bunny queen's daughter, bonded with Lelu, repaired her injuries and we've released all the slaves here just to rescue you. He did all of that."

"No things have changed," huffed Lolah.

"Yes, they have," said Layla. "Especially with humans. If you started out insulting Stefan, he wouldn't have said a word, but you treated Lelu and me unkindly and he got angry. We're used to it, but not him. He won't put up with it. So if you're ready we can go out there and apologize, or I can just lock you back in."

"Zorzal told me he was negotiating and was planning to return me," sniffed Lolah.

"That's what he tells prisoners before their execution," said Layla. "He gets a sexual high from their shock and outrage when they're leading to the chopping block." She glared at her mother, "Here's your choice, you go out there and apologize to your rescuer for being ungracious, or I lock the door."

"I..." Lolah looked pained and worn. She lifted the skirt on the sack that passed as a prison dress to show her broken and mangled legs.

"Lelu was bad too, but the humans fixed her. We'll fix you too. Come on, just BE NICE."

Shortly Layla came out of the cell carrying Lolah in her arms. "Momma wants to say something to you," said Layla.

"I'm sorry for treating you so unkindly Lelu," Lolah's eyes were filled with tears. "I know I was uncharitable and ungracious, but the human... the pain..."

"Lelu, look at her legs," said Layla.

Lelu lifted Lolah's skirt and looked and almost wretched, the memories of the years of endless torture came flooding back. She stumbled back and looked at Stefan, her eyes filled with terror. "Honey..."

Stefan stepped up to Lelu and touched his forehead to hers. This wasn't necessary, but it was soothing to Lelu, and she showed him what she saw, then shared the memories of the horror. In return he shared his ideas of what to do. "Ok, let's do it," he said. "Get your backpack on." Lelu dashed to get her pack, Stefan still had his on so he wheeled and took Lolah from Layla'a arms. "We're going to Alnus Hill and will be back in a few minutes, you get the girls out of here and on their way up to Duck Soup. I'll ask Wareharun to watch over you guys and we'll meet you at the wagon. OK?"

"Ok," said Layla.

Lelu trotted up pulling her backpack straps tight, her emerald eye was glowing. "I found Kato and Lelei, they're having lunch with Itami at..." she concentrated and smiled, "Our favorite restaurant!"

"Wareharun!" said Stefan silently, "please keep your harem sisters safe, they will be coming out of the prison soon. Lelu and I will be back shortly."

"Will do!" came the booming mental vision. "And thank you for this opportunity, your Rose Knights and I are becoming friends."

"What was that?" gasped Lolah, her eyes wide as dinner plates, she felt the dragon's words too.

"That's our friend, she's a dragon goddess," said Lelu as she hugged Stefan and her mother.

"What are you..." suddenly Lolah found they were standing in a crowded room full of people eating. The smells were overpowering and deliciously tempting.

"Itami!" cried Stefan.

"He's over there," said Lelu.

"What is going on!" demanded Lolah. She found herself being carried through a crowded dining facility with sumptuous appointments, rich wood paneling, fine china, gold utensils...

"This is not our favorite restaurant," said Stefan. "We can't afford to eat here."

"Well, it's my favorite," said Lelu.

"Where are we?" cried Lolah.

"It's the Emperor's palace dining room," sighed Stefan.

"What?" shrieked Lolah. She was utterly humiliated. She was being carried through the palace dining room by a human and she was wearing an ugly prison sack dress. It's been forever since she's been able to wash, she's covered in filth, scabs, scars, and suddenly she found herself being transferred from Stefan to the arms of another human male in some kind of dress military uniform who was standing next to a young, redheaded human girl dressed like some kind of princess wanna-be.

"Your highness, this is my mother-in-law, High Elf Prima Diva, Lady Lolah Klaatu Ando Sivan," said Stefan as he handed over his mother-in-law. "Mom, this is Captain Itami, the man who helped us arrange diversions to get you free. And the nice lady here is crown princess Pina Co Lada, Empress of the Saderan empire."

Lolah almost shrieked in horror; the empress? And some military man was carrying her like an infant! But the empress didn't seem to notice, "Don't worry Lady Sivan," said the ruler of the largest known landmass in this world. The table was cleared, and the empress worried over Lolah as Itami laid her down. Then the empress stood and shouted, "Everyone! We got her! She's free!" a cheer went up around the room and the sound of applause filled Lolah's ears.

"Wait a minute!" cried Lolah as an old mage and his youthful counterpart approached. "Where did they go?"

"Who?" said the teal haired young mage, "Stefan and Lelu? They never stay long. We'll be done with you soon."

"Wait, what?"

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Stefan and Lelu winked into existence in the marketplace across from the Fonos prison and immediately sagged to the ground. Two leaps, one right after another was nearly too much. They sat on the stone pavement trying to get their breath back when Wareharun landed atop Fonos prison and sat up there grinning at the exhausted couple. "You may want to move, my friends are coming," the dragon said.

Stefan struggled to his feet and bent to help Lelu up. "What friends?" Lelu asked.

"Flying buddies," answered Wareharun. Just then the air was torn with the sound of two CH-47J helicopters. They circled the city eying up their landing point then they made their turn on final. Slowly approaching the marketplace, they hovered over the area where they intended to land, then slowly rotated 180 degrees to point their tail at the prison, then they eased to the ground.

As the rear doors began to open, people began to stream from the prison. As they ran past Stefan and Lelu, the couple realized with a shock that they were all bucks. Looking up they saw that Stefan dashed to the head of the line and got the bucks to line up properly. "If you're heading to Nangda and the eastern province, get on this helicopter!" she shouted pointing to the right helicopter. "If you're heading to the central grasslands and the northern province, get on this helicopter!"

"That's the treasure Tesson Culp was talking about!" gasped Lelu.

"Who is she? You guys talked quite a bit about her."

"Nice old bunny, you have to meet her someday."

The stream of bucks quickly ended as Layla stepped out into the daylight and cried, "That's all there is!" then seeing Stefan and Lelu sitting on the steps she sat down next to Lelu. "What a day," she sighed.

"I had fun," said Stefan.

Soon the Chinook helicopters took off spraying the family with sand as Carny dashed over and sat next to Stefan. As the helicopters veered off toward the east, a dozen or so Rose Order knights rode up to the prison steps and stopped in front of Stefan. "That was quite a show you arranged," said Beefeater E Caty. "What do you have planned for the second act?"

"I was thinking of a nice long nap," grinned Stefan. Then he leaned forward and asked Layla, "Did you get those guards I shot healed?"

"Oh, they were being such dicks I just bandaged them up, they can heal on their own."

"We got the city guard barricaded in the hippodrome," said Bozes, "Wareharun welded the gates shut, what do you think we should do?"

"That's Zorzal's headache, he'll probably be hiding under his bed for a week or so." Stefan's energy still wasn't coming back and from the look on Lelu's face, she was feeling the same way. "That's it darling," he said to Lelu, "from now on jumps are at least two hours apart. Nothing less."

"Oh gods, I totally agree," groaned Lelu.

"You called?" responded the goddess of the forest from high above them on the prison roof causing all to chuckle. Just then Jolietta and Glencove arrived in the wagon, Duck Soup and Cocoanut looked happy to be moving again.

Stefan asked Beefeater "Youse guys camped about five miles south of here on the Cammentown Road?"

"Just like planned, why?"

"We're formally requesting permission for a strategic advance to the rear, ma'am."

"Permission granted Sir Hanover; go lay down before you fall down. We will be joining you shortly." Stefan and Beefeater exchanged salutes, then with a wave to Wareharun up on the roof and a silent "I love you sweetheart," to the dragon, an exhausted Stefan, Lelu and Layla climbed into the back of the wagon, and they headed off.

Wareharun watched the wagon for a while then with an economy of motion that only a dragon could emulate, she leapt, set her wings, and soared off. She was now free for the first time in centuries to do anything she wanted.

Epilogue:

"Is your future fiancé ready?" demanded Lolah through the closed door of Stefan and Lelu's tree house, "I'm not getting any younger."

"Considering the fact that you're nearly immortal, you're not getting any older either," chided Layla.

"Please don't get her worked up, Stefan is nervous enough as it is," pleaded Lelu.

"I'm not nervous, I'm... apprehensive. Yeah, that's it, apprehensive. What the hell is the Amilyë Tyas anyhow?"

"It's the mother's test," said Lelu for the umpteenth time, umpteen being a human number she guessed, she heard Stefan use it often enough. She and Layla were getting Stefan dressed in his ceremonial robes for the Amilyë Tyas, The mother's test, an ancient elven tradition that her parents refused to skip even though her planned husband is not an elf. "Just answer her questions, do what she says and when you're done, join us on the beach for the party."

"Am I ready yet?" he asked.

"Last thing," Layla said as she took a wide cloth ribbon and tied it around his neck in a slipknot. His outfit was a sort of pleated full length kilt (he refused to say skirt) with a complex shirt that kind of wrapped around, he lost track of how it was put on him considering all the different ways that Lelu and Layla tried to get it to hang just right. To top it off was a type of jacket, more like a short kimono, and for some reason, no shoes.

"Ok!" called Lelu, "Get in your place!" they heard their mother's bare feet run on the walkway outside. She was so happy to be walking and running again, she's been hobbled for a decade. "She's so impatient," complained Lelu.

"Tell me about it," said Layla, "It's not like you guys aren't bonded already."

"I'm waiting!" came the distant call from Lolah.

"Ok honey, Layla and I are going to the beach, come join us when you're done." Lelu gave Stefan a kiss that stirred an erection, not something that he wanted to head to a meeting with his mother-in-law with, but Lelu teased him, she reached through the pleats of his "kilt" and stroked his cock.

"Lelu, what are you doing?"

"Oh, keep in mind," Lelu said as she slipped off her robe and picked up a towel, "At the Amilyë Tyas, momma gets what momma wants. And remember, I'll be keeping an eye on you," she said as she pointed to her enchanted emerald green eye.

Equally as naked, Layla wagged her ass at him on the way out the door. Taking a deep breath Stefan stepped out the door himself and walked down the walkway through the treetops in this deep, beautiful tropical forest. Small crystals glowed illuminating the walkway and glowing insects danced in the trees as Tana and Orla's kids A, 2, and III chased the bugs. They're planning a naming ceremony for the little fairies soon.

Finally, he came to Lolah and Dayv's home, Lolah was waiting at the door for him in a white gown that was cinched at the waist, had a floor length skirt, and was completely see through. Like all elven women, Lolah wore no underwear. Her beautiful, full breasts were fully exposed to him, her dark pink areola and hard nipples were completely exposed, and her metallic copper pubic hair reflected the light as well as the same color hair on her head. Stefan's mouth went dry at the sight of his future mother-in-law. She was so incredibly sexy, even her elf's ears sticking out from her metallic hair were hot, and her almond shaped copper eyes had a sultry, smokey sexiness about them that was making his cock ache. He knew every inch of this woman's daughter's body, and now he could see every inch of hers.

Lolah stepped forward and grabbed the ribbon wrapped around his neck then started speaking in Quenya. Stefan can understand Quenya but for some reason the words had no solid meaning and they fought against being understood. All that Stefan understood was that she was beseeching something from Deldort the god of Covenants. When she was finished, he felt a tingle run through the ribbon that now connected him to Lolah and she smiled. "Deldort has blessed this dialogue, the test has begun," and she forcefully led him into the house using the ribbon as a leash to where Lelu's father Dayv was standing, waiting. "This young man wishes to take our daughter to himself," said Lola. Her words were a script that goes back centuries.

"Learn all you can of him, I will test his mother," and with that Dayv left without a glance at Stefan. Stefan felt a bit sad about this, In elf society on this night, Lelu's mother tests Stefan, Stefan's father tests Lelu, and the two remaining parents, his mother and Lelu's father get together and tests each other. Lolah grabbed the ribbon around Stefan's neck and pulled him into their home.

It's a nice home filled with beautiful wooden furniture with comfy cushions. They even have a small waterfall feeding a pond in a corner where goldfish swam. "Tell me where your father is. Why isn't he here testing my daughter?"

"I don't know, I don't know who he is."

"I know your mother is dead, tell me about her," said Lolah sternly.

"She was a whore."

Lolah nearly slapped Stefan, instead she controlled herself and said, "have some respect for the woman who carried you, let's start over."

Stefan sighed, he heard that same crap from earth bound social workers too. "My mother was a professional sex worker; my father was one of her customers."

"Do you know anything else about your father?" demanded Lolah.

"All I know is that he gave my mother $400 to get an abortion and she used that money to buy alcohol." Stefan glared at Lolah. "She was resourceful, she charged kinky bastards an extra $20 because she was pregnant. She charged other kinky bastards an extra $40 to suck her breast milk. She even found sick bastards who paid more if a little kid..."

"Ok, I get it. Your mother was a whore." Lolah remained cold. "How do you know about this stuff, like with the breast milk."

"She'd get drunk and tell me. She'd remind me how much better I used to be, how she could make more money off of me."

If she regretted asking these questions, she didn't show it. "How did your mother die?"

"I slit her throat."

"You did not, you're not the type. How did she die?"

"What makes you think I'm not the type?" asked Stefan.

"Young man, there's six women on that beach waiting for you, and you love every one of them. You didn't learn to hate your mother until after she died. How did she die?"

In his mind he did the math, Lelu, Layla, Carny, Glencove, Jolietta, that's five. She must have screwed up somewhere, but he continued to answer her questions. "She slit her wrists in the bathtub." He took a deep breath, he has only told one person this story, and it wasn't Lelu, it was a good old fashioned Boston Irish Catholic priest who caught him trying to steal from the poor box. "I got put in the foster system but spent most of my time on the streets until I could join the marines."

Inside Lolah was torn, how could a man grow up with this kind of childhood and not become one of those monsters that tortured her and Lelu for five decades? So much for the tough questions, now for a few... what did Lelu say they're called? Snowballs? Riceballs? Meatballs? Softballs? "You know why I'm wearing this, right?" Lolah adjusted her see thought gown making sure everything she had was easily seeable.

"No ma'am. I don't know if it's an earth thing or a human thing, but the mother of the perspective bride tends to cover themselves up a lot more in my society," said Stefan.

Lolah smiled, she hoped that Stefan was as wonderful as Lelu said. "In elf society we're not as hung up on clothing as humans are."

"I don't know about that ma'am, I was in Vinnofri for months and never seen anyone in a get-up like yours," chuckled Stefan.

"That is a northern society," said Lolah, "down here where it's warm we tend to wear less clothing. Up north it's chilly." She unbuttoned a few needless buttons, "You know how to tell if a woman is chilly, don't you Stefan?" She sat on the edge of the table in front of Stefan making sure that her erect nipples were at his eye level.

Stefan's mouth went dry, but he decided to see how far she'd lead him before she slapped him. "Yes ma'am," he said. "Her nipples become erect."

"Like this?" Lolah reached inside her diaphanous dress and placed a manicured finger on a hard nipple and moved her finger in circles. She meant to turn this marine on, but instead she was turning herself on. felt sparks of sexual excitement fly from her nipple.

"J...j...just like that," stumbled Stefan.

"How would you fix that?" she gasped. This was going to get out of hand a lot faster than she expected.

"I would warm up her nipple," said Stefan barely loud enough to be heard.

"How? If this was Lelu's nipple, how would you warm it up?

"With my mouth."

The though of this man closing his mouth around her hard, tingling nipple made Lolah gasp, the sudden rush of excitement coursed through her veins, just from the thought of a human suckling on her nipple, so wrong, so erotic. She cupped her breast and began rolling her nipple between thumb and finger. In her mind she felt Dayv, her source of strength encouraging her, calming any fears and protecting her from the memories. "What did Lelu say would happen here tonight?"

"She didn't, she just said that momma gets what momma wants," said Stefan starting to wonder what was going on here.

"And what does momma want?" Lolah asked.

Without pausing Stefan said, "Momma wants the best husband possible for her baby daughter." In the back of his mind, he felt Lelu's warmth and encouragement. If they were within eyesight of each other, he would hear her saying "Relax, it's ok, I'm with you," and he could feel her, he could feel Carny too.

"Regardless of what I think of you, you truly are bonded to my Lelu, which makes you the best husband for my Lelu." Then Stefan noticed moisture gathering on Lolah's fingers as she squeezed and tugged her nipple. Was she lactating?

On the beach Lelu and Carny hugged each other and were rocking side to side chanting, "It's ok, it's ok, it's ok..." Jolietta's tail slowly wagged in confusion and she asked Layla, "what the hell is going on?"

"Stefan is freaking out," chuckled Layla, "they're trying to calm him down."

"What's there to freak out about?"

Even though Stefan could feel the calming encouragement of his wife and Carny, here in Dayv and Lolah's house it was getting truly bizarre, at least as far as Stefan was concerned. "Amilyë Tyas, the Mother's Test is complete," whispered Lolah softly, trying to calm Stefan. "You are my Stefan now, and now is time for the Amilyë Alatulya, the mother's welcome," and she brought her nipple to his mouth.

Stefan froze up as a drop of her moisture touched his lips. On the beach Lelu and Carny froze too, they shuddered, wondering what Stefan was going to do, somewhere else Dayv gently encouraged his wife to welcome the terrified child. He was barely 40, a toddler in Elven society, there's so much for him to learn. Lolah gently put her hand on the back of Stefan's head, and she murmured, "Yonyo, you're my boy now, join us," and with that, Stefan began to suckle at her breast.

Dayv sighed in relief as he leaned back and wondered if he would soon be performing the Atar Tyas, the father's test, for Glencove. There's no real clear elf guidance on welcoming a same sex partner in the family, just that it be done. Then again, there's no real clear elf guidance on harems, and it appears that Stefan has gathered an interesting harem. Six of them! On the beach Lelu and Carny rolled back on the sand and sighed in relief, Stefan got past his confusion and accepted Lolah's gift, and up in the tree house Stefan suckled at his mother-in-law's breast. This wasn't the milk that an elf maiden produces to nourish an infant, this is the Milk of Welcoming that she produces to draw a son or daughter-in-law into the family. Its magical properties are limited to easing the new family member into their clan.

It wasn't the flavor that made the biggest impression on Stefan, even though all that he really noticed about her taste is that it reminded him of Lelu, no it was the overwhelming sense of belonging. He has only felt that feeling once, after his loneliest day on earth which was when he watched all his platoon mates reunited with their families on Parris Island on Family Day, it was the next day when he stood with them and became a marine. He finally had a family. He found a home in the Marine Corps, but it didn't last. They say that once a marine, always a marine, but twenty years later when he was cashiered out, he was still a marine, but he was once again alone.

But nursing at the breast of the woman that bore his wife, he never felt such a rush of welcoming, of belonging, of being loved. Was it something in her milk? Was it just the act of accepting her nourishment? He felt being part of a family more wholly than he ever felt in the corps.

To Lolah the act of nursing her babies was very sensual, something that drew her closer and closer to her twin girls and she was so glad to have bonded with Dayv so she could share that feeling with him. But with Stefan it was different, it felt like she gained not only a son, but the completion of Lelu as a person. And it was so much more, it was sensual, and it was also sexual. And the fact that he was a mere forty years old made it so naughty! As a human he was mature, middle age, but in elf society he was a child! An elf usually marries at the age of one hundred fifty or so. She couldn't wait, the kinkiness of the whole idea made her pull her breast from his mouth and she sat on his lap and their lips met.

In the back of her mind, she could hear Dayv chuckling as she and Stefan kissed passionately, Stefan felt Lelu's encouragement as he pulled this copper haired beauty tight to him. She sat on his lap as they kissed, their tongues entwined, their hands pulling at each other's clothing, their passion soaring, their hearts beating in unison. Then suddenly Lolah pushed back, their eyes met, and she gave Stefan a saucy grin. "Hold on tight son, now the fun begins."

Before he could react, she slid to the floor, unbuckled his kilt, and opened it wide. His cock was standing proud, and it throbbed with desire for her. She wrapped her delicate fingers around his pole and her fingers didn't meet her thumb, and she groaned in delight. Elf cocks were longer, but they were slim in comparison, this girthy cock was going to stretch her quite nicely, and what is it going to feel like when her elven cervix grabs this thick cock? She couldn't wait to find out. Also, his balls were huge compared to elves, she knew she would never get both in her mouth like she loved to do to Dayv, this human was going to be a challenge. She gave his cock a long, broad tongued lick from testicle to tip which made thrills skyrocket through Stefan. Lolah looked up at him and as their eyes met she playfully gave the head of his cock a kiss as she gave him a wink then she swallowed half of his cock.

Stefan threw his head back and groaned as his mother-in-law sucked and swallowed his cock over and over. On the beach Lelu lay back on the sand, driving the fear and doubt away from Stefan's mind, in return she felt her mother's mouth on her husband's cock, and she felt every bit of thrill that Stefan felt. "Gods damn she's good!" gasped Lelu.

Next to her lay Carny who held her hand and felt everything that she felt. "No shit!" the bunny gasped; she was paralyzed in passion. Meanwhile Dayv pushed the fears and memories of her imprisonment away from Lolah allowing her this moment of passion with their new son, he felt the excitement building in his wife and like her, he could barely wait for the next step.

They didn't wait long, with a roar of sheer rut, Stefan pulled Lolah away from his cock, then he rose and scooped his mother-in-law up in his arms. She felt the thrill of being taken in love and desire. She knew that she had him in a mindless frenzy of both emotions, and with Dayv's help pushing the horror of the past half century back, she eagerly looked forward to the pounding her pussy was going to receive.

Stefan carried Lolah to the bedroom where he laid her on the bed. His mind spun with lust as he stripped off the remainder of his ceremonial robes. Gods this woman was beautiful! Visions of the three of the elven maids swam through his head; gold, silver, and copper haired beauties, all lusty and perfect, all here for the taking in this one perfect woman. With Lelu cheering him on he climbed on the bed and lowered his mouth to her pussy.

The moment his tongue gently tapped Lolah's swollen clit, Lolah gasped and arched her back. High energy bolts of passion rocketed from her clit to her nipples, her brain, and her heart. She held his head in place with her left hand and gently stroked his head and shoulders with her right. In her 370 years she's never had such an intense rush of sexual pleasure, his tongue was driving her to heights she's never dreamed of. Dayv was swept away too and realize how much of his wife he's missed all these years and vowed to learn this secret.

Trembling on the edge of release, Lolah eventually realized through her fog of lust that Stefan was keeping her there on the edge of release on purpose, Two fingers slid in and out of her pussy his mouth gently licked and suck her clit and his eyes sought out hers. Her daughter experiences this with him every time? How does she keep her sanity? "Fárëa!" (enough!) she cried in Quenyan, but his eyes just smiled up at her. He wasn't done with her by a long shot.

Stefan gave Lolah a short pause when he looked at her and smiled, "In the corps we say, "you put your money in, you get to hear the whole song."

"What in the thirteen hells do you mean by... UUUHHHGGGNNN!" she groaned in ecstasy as he returned to his joyful task of driving his mother-in-law out of her mind. A third finger entered her tight pussy and as her juices flowed, his little finger started squirming into her tiny tight asshole.

Lelu and Carny lay on the beach laughing as they cheered Stefan on, both were soaked with their own excitement. "What's happening?" demanded Layla.

"I'm not quite sure," said Lelu, "but he's pretty proud of himself."

Alone in the room he had hidden himself, Dayv sat in the dark, his cock hard and throbbing, precum drooling from the slit but there was nothing he could do about it, this was Lolah's excitement, he couldn't cum until she did, and nothing he could do would make her cum until Stefan allowed it. "Damn that kid!" he grinned in admiration.

"Please...please...please..." begged Lolah as she went out of her mind with sensation, she squeezed and twisted her nipples, releasing the last of the Milk of Welcoming. "Pleasepleaseplease..."

This time, as he drove her closer and closer to the peak of ecstasy, he didn't back off, his cock was hard and throbbing, he needed release as much as she did, but now was time to teach this elf an earth trick that her daughter loves.

As that final beautiful climb to orgasm ensued, both of Lolah's hands held Stefan's head tight as he gently sucked and flicked his tongue on her clit, his fingers now ramming her pussy and asshole, his free hand pinching her nipple hard. "Don't stop! Oh Gods don't stop!" she cried over and over, babbling incoherently in Quenyan and Saderan and suddenly the dam broke.

An explosive wave of epic proportions crashed over her, blasting her mind. She planted her feet on the sleeping mat and raised her shuddering hips, forcing her clit into his mouth. Over and over the waves of release crashed into her, at the same time Dayv came, feeling her release and spurting his semen into the air.

"Oh gods! Oh gods! Oh gods!" she gasped coming down from her plateau of bliss. Her cervix stopped its fruitless search for the cock that set her off and she felt overstimulated, so she started to push Stefan away. That was the moment he was waiting for. As her hips slowly eased down to the mat he rose over her and lined his cock up with her gushing pussy. "No!" she gasped, "I can't take it! No! Uunnnnggghhh!"

Stefan thrust into her, watching her eyes open wide in shocked delight, the orgasm she was recovering from was rekindled in an instant. "Lá! Lá! Lá!" (yes) she cried in Quenyan over and over with each thrust into her hot, tight depths. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on for dear life as her son-in-law fucked for all he was worth.

On the beach Lelu and Carny hugged each other, their hips thrusting in time with Stefan's pounding thrusts. Layla watched fascinated while Glencove hugged her arm, her fox ears twitching, her tail held high in excitement. "Stefan must be having a good time," muttered Layla.

"A very good time!" agreed Glencove.

"I can't take this," groaned Jolietta. The catgirl, or Necomimi, was turned on to a high degree, so high she was terrified of going into heat. If that happened, the howling would wake up every creature in the forest. "I'm going to take a swim." She groaned as she headed toward the shoreline.

"You're going to miss the best part," taunted Glencove.

"That's the idea."

"I thought cats hate swimming," said Layla who was breathless watching her sister lolling in her husband's pleasure.

"That's true too," said Jolietta who was barely audible over the soft crashing of the surf.

Dayv watched in fascination as his cock inflated, spurred on by the pounding that she was receiving from Stefan's masterful cock. And best of all, Dayv found that he no longer had to drive back the horrors from Lolah's mind, she was making the connection between fun, loving, exciting sex and a human that loves her. Again, his cock trembled and tingled as the excitement in Lola increased. "What a woman you are!" he encouraged his love.

If she understood Dayv's encouragement, it was hard to tell, her mind was a tangled mush of desire, excitement, and love. Her hands gripped Stefan's ass and she urged him on, faster! Deeper! More! "Cum in me!" she gasped over and over.

"It's soon, it's near," he gasped and suddenly Lolah tipped over the precipice and shrieked "I'M CUMMINNGGG!" Again, waves of sweet release crashed over her. Her elven cervix clamped down again and this time it had something to grab on to. Her tight ring of muscle began stroking Stefan's cock and began coaxing Stefan's seed out of him.

Dayv cried out and exploded in orgasm as his wife did, his cock throbbing in explosive release but he was spurting weakly, he was still drained from the previous orgasm.

For Stefan there was nothing he could do to hold back the explosion. The slippery, hot stranglehold that Lolah's elven cervix had on his cock did him in, like daughter, like mother. Groaning in blissful agony Stefan came, filling her uterus with his seed, spurt after spurt, draining him completely.

On the beach Lelu and Carny writhed in ecstasy as they shared Stefan's climax. Waves of bliss washed over them until they were able to catch their breath. Carny looked at Lelu with a look of confusion. "That's all?"

"That's it. Guy's orgasms aren't as big as ours," said Lelu. "Yet he works hard to make mine even bigger." She shook her head in admiration of the human she was bonded with. Just then Jolietta emerged from the woods with her arms filled with firewood.

"Hey guys, are you done?"

"I thought you went swimming," said Glencove.

"Meh... the water was too wet, so I went looking for firewood." The catgirl crouched by the fire and added a bit more wood. Just then Stefan, Lolah, and Dayv strolled up, the trio looked completely worn out and utterly blissful.

Lelu and Layla jumped up and dashed to their parents and Stefan. "Mmmm," Lelu hugged Stefan tight. "Welcome to the family, lover."

"That was quite a welcoming ceremony," chuckled Stefan, "I dare not think of how a divorce would work around here."

"There's not many survivors of those things," laughed Dayv. "Let's go rinse off, shall we?" eventually they all ended up waist deep in the warm ocean, splashing and rinsing off, even Jolietta joined them. Stefan scooped her up and carried her into the surf like a child until the water reached the base of her tail, then Stefan lowered her down into the water. Jolietta shrieked and screamed and tried to climb up on Stefan until she put her feet down and realized that the water was only three feet deep. He also gave special hugs to Carny for being such a good and patient bunny.

Back at the fire they all relaxed and caught their breath, Stefan sat with Carny and Lelu on either side of him, and as always, he cradled Lelu's right hand. Thanks to Layla's healing, her hand was nearly functional. Next to them sat the fairy cage, the cage was covered by the cozy, but Tana and Orla sat on the top of the cage sharing a cherry between them. Stefan turned to Lolah and said, "You said that there were six women out here waiting for me, there's only five. If you're including Tinkerbell and Tweedledee that's seven." Tana and Orla bristled at the nicknames that they hate.

Before Lolah could answer, Jolietta jumped up and said, "Your surprise! I almost forgot!" With that she dashed into the woods, her cat eyes giving her superior night vision in the starlit forest. Eventually they could hear Jolietta coaxing someone to come out of the woods and join them at the fire. "Come on, it's ok, Stefan is here now."

A second voice, tiny and feminine, said softly, "He's here? Really?"

Finally, after much coaxing, Jolietta lead a sprite out of the woods. Sprites appear to look like young girls, but they're infinitely old spirits of the wood. This one looked older than any sprite that anyone in this group has ever seen. This one was four feet tall, a good foot taller than the other sprites, and unlike other sprites she had teacup size breasts and a slim waist and gently flaring hips. Like all sprites her skin had a light green tint to it. Her lips and long hair were a much darker green as were her puffy areola and her hard nipples. This sprite even had whisps of pubic hair, which was a shock to Dayv who has written several books on his study of sprites and has never seen such a thing.

"The queen! The queen!" cried Tana and Orla and they woke up their children, A, 2, and III to meet the queen of the forests.

Stefan got up and came up to the sprite and looked in her bright orange eyes and smiled, "Oh my goddess! I've missed you!" He scooped her up in his arms and spun her around in a hug. "Everybody! It's Wareharun!" The whole gang gathered around the dragon turned sprite and welcomed her to the party. They returned to the fire and sat around and demanded to know what Wareharun had been doing for the past month.

"I spent a week scaring the city guard," grinned the sprite who sat on Stefan's lap. "I'd perch on the edge of the hippodrome at night and spit fire and roar a lot," said the tiny green girl. She turned to face Stefan and said, "When you humans don't get to sleep for a week, you sure get grouchy." Causing laughter throughout the crowd.

"So, you are the queen sprite?" Dayv asked Wareharun.

"No, I am their queen," said Wareharun as she pointed to Tana and Orla who bowed to their queen. "I am your goddess."

"She's the goddess of the trees and forests," said Stefan.

"And you are my caretakers of the forests," said Wareharun pointing to all four elves.

"I thought the goddess Wareharun was a dragon," said Dayv.

"I can be if you'd like!" snarled Wareharun, terrifying Lolah and Dayv but reminding everyone of the dragon they fell in love with.

"She's really big," said Lelu to her father. "Blotting out the sun big!"

Wareharun considered Dayv thoughtfully. "I've read your books Mr. Jowns, you can be my scribe." Before Dayv could respond, Wareharun turned to Stefan and said "Oh, and by the way, you're my apostle."

"Apostle? Me? No, I can't." Stefan looked shocked. "I just found a family; I can't go hopping around like..." he was going to say Rory Mercury, but Wareharun silenced him with a small green finger to his lips.

"Hush. Me, goddess, you apostle. Story over." She nodded and looked satisfied with her decision. "There are benefits to the job, we'll go over them later, first I need to pick a forest to be my palace. What do you think Mister Jowns?"

Dayv looked impressed that she asked him for his opinion. "Why not here? It's a beautiful forest."

"Apostle, do you concur?"

"Yeah, it's really nice, the elves here have really made it a work of art, and there's a great series of bluffs for you to use when you're dragon." He hugged Lelu close and looked into her beautiful, mismatched eyes and said, "Besides... it's home."

Thank you for hanging with me as I delved deep into my inner geek. I love it when a story writes itself and this world has so much more to explore. If I get feedback asking for more, I may continue to explore what adventures await the New Green Man, his elven wife, his harem, and his dragon boss.