The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (12 page)

“Everything he just did, he is the youngest dragon to have done it.” Povon proudly added as she gave her adopted son a nice back-scratching.  “We are so
proud
of you!”

“Thank you.  I am proud of you too!” the young dragon laughed.

As soon as Kragorram was lying down most of the children there started climbing all over him, an activity that Karzog joined as soon as the adult’s discussion began.

“Be careful of the smaller children.” Povon cautioned him, and she cast a Soft Landing on the floor around them in case any of the young fell.

“So, what’s up?” Dren asked Mark, and all the adults gave them their attention except Yzell and Hilsith, who began examining Talia and her unborn children with diagnostic spells.

“Well, we weren’t really planning a gathering, but I suppose we should have since there’s things you all need to know.” Mark replied, and looked around to include everyone.

“A couple of weeks ago, our unborn twins contacted Talia psionicly.  At first it was just basic emotions, but we’ve been Linked with them quite often, including Alilia, and by yesterday they were already thinking in basic concepts, and using their own names and ours.  They’re still having a bit of trouble with the fact that we call each other Talia and Mark but we want them to call us Mother and Father, but still, their progress has been amazing.

“Last night we found that it was more amazing than we knew.  While we were asleep, Reggie and Helemia managed to project their consciousness beyond Talia, and they went exploring, I guess.  We don’t know why, but Reggie contacted Kragorram.  Kragorram was asleep at the time, so Reggie just bumped into his psionic shields, and that might have been the end of it.  However, Helemia detected a Sylvan out in the mountains…”

He continued to relate the rest of what had occurred the night before.

“…so that’s where it stands right now.  Between the adults and the kids, we’ve got about eleven thousand combat capable Sylvan out there, but their god told them to leave us alone.  If we’d have found out about them any other way, I’d say  we should just ignore them until the time-bubble comes down, and let our gods deal with their God of Stealth then, and he can deal with his people.  On the other hand, he’s not here, and we know about them now, and since Helemia almost killed one of them last night and we’ve got him unconscious at Yazadril’s place, they know we know about them.  And, they might not be very understanding about what Helemia did.  Even if we tell them the truth of what happened, they might not believe it.  I probably wouldn’t if I was them.

“So, we’ve got a few issues to deal with here.  We’re pretty sure we can keep Reggie and Helemia from trying to get into anyone else’s mind, but if you feel anything strange that you think might be them, let us know right away.  They’ve been affected by their experience rather profoundly.  They now think in words and complete sentences.  Unfortunately, Reggie thinks in Draconian, and Helemia thinks in a Sylvan language called Blezogeth.  Luckily enough, Talia and I learned that language when we were training with Quewanak, but still, it’s been more than a little strange for all of us.

“To counter that, we’ve been staying deeply Linked with them at all times since they woke up this morning, and we’ll keep that up until the influence of our personalities has countered what they got last night.

“Kragorram, how are you doing?”

“My head no longer hurts, which is nice.  Your son is still passively aware of me, psionicly speaking, much as Povon is.  He is not in my mind anymore, but he is constantly aware of where I am, and my basic state of mind.

“After Povon cured my headache, I considered the experience quite carefully.  I know that he meant me no distress; he was just curious.  He chose me because he likes me.  When I disregard the unpleasant aspects of the experience,  I think it would have been a fine thing to share his Link if I had been aware of what was happening at the time.  I think he will have a character of great nobility, and I suspect that he will have some talent with the crafting of items as well.”

“Ah.  Well that’s good to know.” Mark nodded.  “And now that you mention it, I can feel his awareness of you through the Link.  That’s weird, and amazing.”

“Uh, about these Sylvan.” Mark’s uncle Wittan said as he stepped up.  “You’re saying that their god makes them completely undetectable?  So there could be one standing right here beside me, and I wouldn’t even know it?  How do we know they won’t be sneaking into our homes at night, pilfering our possessions and causing who knows what trouble?”

“Damn, I’ve been so distracted with my kids that I didn’t even consider that.” Mark cursed.

“We’ll cast Wards around the settlement.” Yazadril announced.  “And I will ensure that there are no Sylvan inside the Wards when they are cast.  They may be invisible and silent, but they still have weight, their bodies still give off heat, and they can be detected by those with sufficient skill.

“The Wards will allow us to pass in and out, but not the Sylvan.  Those going hunting, fishing, and gathering should work in groups, and not take anything valuable with them when they go.  We should not allow any of our children beyond the Wards unaccompanied.  Once the injured Sylvan is Healed he can return to his people, and with any luck we and they can continue to ignore each other.

“As Mark said, once the time-bubble is ended, I’m sure the other gods will have things to say to the Sylvan God of Stealth.  Once they are aware of his existence, I doubt even he will be able to escape their notice.”

Theramin spoke up.  “Just to be on the safe side, the next few times we do combat training, we should have Quewanak and Ria make up a few exercises to prepare us for an attack by a few thousand invisible Sylvan.”

“Ha!  They can’t be any tougher than the demons we’ve been fighting!” Dren laughed.

“All right.” Mark chuckled.  “I think that deals with everything.  But since it’s snowing outside and we’re all here, we might as well stay and visit for a while.  Besides, the kids look like they’re having too much fun to want to leave!”

Mark was drawn into a game of badra by Nek and her friends, while Talia initiated a discussion about raising psionicly active children with Equemev and two of her unicorn friends.  The children had accidentally discovered the Soft Landing spell Povon had cast on the floor, and were now all engaged in running madly up Kragorram’s body from his tail to his head and jumping off, then running around to do it again.  Povon cast a blue glow on the Soft Landing spell so none of them would miss it, and was watching closely while taking part in a conversation on tactics for combat against undetectable Sylvan.  Kragorram took part in that conversation as well, while patiently ignoring the children of three races who were madly using him as a playground.  Occasionally people left for an hour or so to tend to livestock, but they all returned when they were done.

In the mid-afternoon Hilsith was in conversation with Sana while helping to prepare a huge evening meal for everyone, since it seemed the spontaneous gathering would continue until sundown.  Suddenly she froze, and blurted; “He’s gone!”

“Who is?” Sana inquired, a bit alarmed at Hilsith’s expression.

“The Sylvan in my examination room!  He should have remained sedated for hours yet, and I have diagnostics constantly running on him, in case he had a setback while we were gone.  But now he’s gone!  It’s like he just faded away to non-existence!

“Povon!” she called, turning to the center of the room.  “Can you find the Sylvan we were treating?!”

Povon closed her eyes and cast her awareness outward.  “No.  He slipped out of my awareness so subtly that I didn’t notice it.”

“He’s still unconscious.” Talia announced, her eyes also closed.  “He’s moving fast to the north-east though, so his people must have come and taken him.”

“You can still detect him?” Povon asked in surprise.

“No, but Helemia can.  As Reggie’s still passively aware of Kragorram, so she’s still aware of Vanakit the Sylvan.  But she’s losing him due to distance.  I think she’ll still know what direction he’s in no matter how far he goes, but she’s losing her reading of his distance and state of mind.  Which is fine by me, frankly.  The farther he is from us, the better I’ll like it.”

“Do you think he’ll recover without your care?” Yazadril asked Hilsith.

“He should, mostly, but without further treatment, he’s sure to suffer side-effects.” she replied.  “Headaches, extreme sensitivity to psionics, personality changes, that kind of thing.  He really was quite badly injured, and though he’s mostly well now, it takes a long time to fully heal from that kind of thing without a lot of expert care.”

“We can only hope his own people can finish his Healing for him, because I can’t see any benefit in us trying to get him back just so we can finish it.” Mark declared.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Nemia said as she gave Talia a quick kiss on her cheek.  “I want to check our home to make sure they didn’t disturb anything when they took him.”

She and Yazadril Translocated out, and when they returned they reported that nothing was missing or broken.  Yazadril then organized all the senior spell-casters in a co-operative effort to search the settlement for any remaining Sylvan, and to cast the Wards around it without delay.  That only took a few minutes, then everyone went back to enjoying themselves.

Talia’s pregnancy seemed to accelerate after that.  On the morning she began her labor she had only been pregnant for eight months and one week.  She looked massively pregnant; her belly hugely distended, her breasts painfully swollen.

When she felt the first contraction she was cleaning and folding clothing, doing the work entirely by Movement since ordinary movement was now so uncomfortable.

Mark knew immediately through their Link, though he was a kilometer and a half away in a fishing canoe at the time.

In the determined near-panic that only a new father knows, he immediately informed Hilsith and Yzell of the contraction with a simple Speaking, even as he Translocated home, abandoning his canoe and three fat fish to the wind and waves.  He appeared in their bedroom and hurriedly arranged the pillows against the headboard for Talia to lean back against, then Translocated across the house to the laundry room, gently picked his wife up, Translocated back to the bedroom, and lay her gently on the bed.  He Summoned pitchers of clean water and fruit juices from the kitchen, and stacks of towels from the linen closet, before casting a determined Healers’ cleaning spell on everything in the room.

He knelt beside the bed and took Talia’s hand with a giddy grin, then joined her in Linking deeply with the babies to calm and reassure them about their coming birth.  Alilia came in from the garden and hugged them both, smiling warmly and giving them all of her love.

Hilsith and Yzell were there a moment later, briskly taking charge and shooing Mark and Alilia out of the room.  “Nothing will happen for hours yet, go out and see to your guests; family and friends will be arriving soon.” Hilsith told them with a reassuring smile.  And so they did.

Four hours later they were called back in, and they abandoned their guests to be part of the birthing, but it became a long and difficult labor.  Almost fourteen hours after her labor began, and after much struggle and effort, Talia gave birth to her daughter.  While Hilsith checked and cleaned the babe, Yzell spoke to the young parents with a warm intensity, raising her voice a bit over Helemia’s healthy cries.

“Your daughter is healthy, but Talia, you are almost out of resources.  Furthermore, while your daughter is only one and and two-thirds kilograms, your son will be more than four.  A natural birth is always best if possible, but at this point I think it would be wiser if we brought your son out by Translocation.”

“Yes!  Please!” Talia gasped.

Hilsith placed Helemia at Talia’s breast, wrapped in a soft blanket, then she and Yzell cast the spell together.  An instant later Reggie appeared in their hands and immediately began crying even more loudly than his sister.  He too was checked, washed, wrapped, and placed at his mother’s breast, while Hilsith performed the after-birthing care for Talia.

Talia and Mark gently caressed their new children and each other while beaming with proud and joyous smiles, and murmuring soft words of greeting, love, and endearment.  Alilia just cuddled with them and grinned.

But Talia and her babies were exhausted, and all three were soon asleep, despite the sounds of joyous celebration coming from the living room.  Their visitors had heard the babies’ healthy cries, and needed no one to tell them the results.

Soon Mark and Alilia came out and joined them, and Mark accepted their congratulations with a face-aching grin, and their toasts with a glass of sparkling wine.  By that time however, it was almost three hours past midnight.  By the time another hour had passed, everyone had either left or bedded down in a guest room, and Mark went to bed with his family.

“Father.”

Mark was deeply asleep, but something was waking him up.

“FATHER!!!”

Mark sat bolt upright in bed,
still mostly asleep.  “Wha…  What?” he stammered as he shook his head, then rubbed his eyes and looked around.  He could see that dawn was just breaking through the window.  He had been on his side near the edge of the bed, Talia had been spooned against his front on her side, and Alilia was on her side facing them.  Between the two elven women, who were still deeply asleep, his children lay wide awake, watching him with incredibly bright eyes.  Helemia’s were a deep dark violet, and her hair was as black as Mark’s, while Reggie’s were the lightest clear blue eyes he had ever seen, and his hair was the same honey blond as his mother’s.  As Yzell had predicted, they looked like they were months older than they were; their hair was thick and over five centimeters long, their gaze clear and focused.  Reggie was almost three times the size of his tiny sister.  Surprisingly considering that, her ears were almost entirely human looking and were barely pointed at the tops, while Reggie’s ears were even more long and slimly pointed than those of the elven babies he’d seen, and were almost as long as a Sylvan infant’s.