Tyrvos

Dan and Rylle take their first trip to the big city before beginning in the deadly war with the dragons of Eynitashk.

II: Tyrvos

            “Enjoy your stay.”

            “What?”  That had seemed to come out of nowhere, he thought.

            “Enjoy your stay.”  Valnar smiled, then closed the door behind him.

            Dan gathered in his new surroundings�"the other side of whatever Valnar had conjured to bring them here.  They were in a fairly small, cozy room, the walls a deep maroon and the thin layer of carpet a dull brown.  The little fireplace carefully tucked into the corner was well ablaze, contributing to the room’s warmth, both in atmosphere and actual temperature.  The two beds were as nice as the rest of the room�"in face, Dan thought the looked nicer than his own.  The small stand between them held a silver washbasin, filled up about halfway with clear, shimmering water.  Dan looked behind him and found the only other piece of furniture in the room; a large, comfortable-looking armchair. 

Without another moment’s thought, he collapsed into its warmly embracing arms, and let out a long sigh as he finally let himself rest for the first time that night.  He felt Rylle fall on top of him, smiled at the familiar feeling she gave him.  For a moment, all he thought was that he wouldn’t have to plunge into this ordeal alone.

Then it all came rushing back down on him like a tidal wave. 

“I…I…”  He had so much on his mind, but he couldn’t think how to bring any of it into coherence.  He wanted to ask Rylle what had happened to her…but he surely didn’t want to make her revisit all that had happened.  He wanted to make sense of something in all that had been coming down on him tonight…but he just didn’t think either of them really had anything to help that.  Instead, he just wrapped his arm around the one he knew really needed the most help, help he could, in this case, actually give.  They could deal with everything later.  Later.  The thought soothed his uneasy mind.  Not yet, not now.  Just later.  Just later.  Just later.

They lay there, simply breathing, simply living, simply being, for a blissfully indefinite amount of time.  There was no Rylle, no Dan, no room, no chair, it was just them, and they just were.  They just were.  Dan couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so alive, as now.  He felt his heart, beating.  Beating.  Beating.  Beating.  He was alive, and nothing else.  He was purely and fundamentally alive.  Alive!  He was alive.  And Rylle was alive.  They were alive.

He felt Rylle shift in her position on top of him, some time after.  He had no idea how long they had gone on like that; there had been no need to keep track of time then, only now, that it was over.  He shifted, too, after a moment’s notice, groaning, but accepting the fact that what they had experienced must be over.  He opened his mouth to break the silence, but she beat him to it.

“Thank you, Dan,” she whispered.

“For what?”

“For everything you’ve done for me tonight, Dan.  For saving me from that creature, for being there when I needed you.  And…for being here, now.  Thank you.”

He smiled to himself.  “Well, you’re welcome, I guess, but it was really that wizard, bad as he might be, who saved you from the�"”

“You saved me, Dan.  You, and only you.  Don’t let yourself believe any different.  You have been my one and only savior tonight.”  She smiled down at him, that smile that made him melt.  “Screw the wizard.”

Dan flinched.  Despite the deeply comforting, appreciative tone and even meaning of her words, he felt his stomach knot up as soon as she mentioned the wizard.  All the anxiety he had been suppressing over the previous and coming events was suddenly out in the open, once more.  Reluctantly, he made his way up from the chair, started pacing back and forth as much as the confines of the small room would let him.  He couldn’t put it off any longer.  They needed to deal with this.

“Rylle…I think we need to talk about what’s going on.”  He sighed in an attempt to relieve some of his anxiety.  “And about what went on, in the glade.”

She was up now, too, and already nodding.  “I think you’re right, Dan.”  She let out a curt, affected laugh, her own attempt at anxiety relief.  “I…well…okay.  I was out gathering herbs when that…that…thing…ambushed me, and brought me to the glade.  Then suddenly I was walking back through the forest…only I couldn’t control anything that happened.  It was…like I was living in someone else’s body.”

Dan nodded.  “The girl.  I found a young girl, half-dead, walking alone through the woods…and then I heard your voice through her, and then she just…died.  Like someone had resurrected her to become some kind of vessel, but there wasn’t any real life left in her.”

Rylle was nodding now.  “Okay, I…okay.  But yeah, I saw you, heard your voice, and then suddenly everything went black, and all I could see was the creature, coming toward me, with that mace…”  She broke into sobs, unable to continue.

Dan comforted her again, as he processed it all in his mind.  Everything had a logical explanation…but none of it seemed to make any real, coherent sense.  It was like he was being read a book of disconnected, unrelated facts that all had happened but didn’t mean anything together.  He guessed Valnar could have done whatever had happened with the dead girl being a vessel…but why?  Why wouldn’t he just stop what was happening completely?  He obviously had the power to do so.  But he had made Dan do it, and at the last second.  What was so important about�"

“So, what…what happened to you, Dan?” Rylle suddenly asked him, interrupting his speculation.

She had pulled away from him now, he noticed, though he was sure he couldn’t recall her doing that.  Well, so be it.  “Well, I’ve told you pretty much all of it already.  I was out for a walk, when I felt somehow…drawn to the edge of the woods, and then I saw the girl coming, and I heard you…I went to the glade as quickly as I could, to rescue you, but when I got there, there was this barrier in the way…I could see you, and the…well, I could see what was going on, perfectly, but I couldn’t get past it.  I felt this energy waiting to be released from within me…and then suddenly the knife flew into my hand, and the energy was all gone, and the knife had destroyed the barrier, and then it cut down the…thing.  That’s about it.”

“So…when you say drawn…what exactly do you mean?”

“It was like…I couldn’t concentrate on anything until I was there…and then when I got there, I couldn’t move, until…until the girl came.”

“Like you were physically restrained?” she asked.

Dan nodded.

“So…you think there’s some kind of magic at play?  You think it was Valnar?”

He shrugged.  “I really couldn’t say, Rylle.  Obviously there’s been magic at play.  Whether or not any of it was actually Valnar’s doing…I really don’t know.”

“What do you think Valnar’s up to, Dan?  Where do you think we are?”

“I could only guess at Valnar’s plans, Rylle.  As far as where we are, it would stand to reason he’s brought us to some part of Tyrvos, since he told us he was recruiting us for Tyrvos’s army.”

“Oh…Tyrvos…”  The, she froze a moment, in a state of complete shock, struck senseless by some sudden realization.  When she regained her senses, she asked, “Do…do you think we’re really going to war with…with…Eynitashk?”

He just stared at her, a stare void of any and all thought, showing only a pitying sorrow and a raw, sad pain.  Finally, he let out a long, reluctant sigh.  “Rylle, I honestly don’t know.  Now, I know you’ve been through a lot tonight, and I’m not going to pretend I understand all of it, or even most of it, but this isn’t you.  You know I’m not somehow full of answers tonight just because you want them, maybe even need them.  You know how to reason for yourself, Rylle.  I wouldn’t normally be too hard on you after the ordeal we’ve both just had, but the hard truth is, we’re still going through it, and we’re both going to need our ability to reason now, maybe more than ever.  Come on, Rylle, you know how to think.  You wouldn’t have been able to make it this far if you didn’t.  So, use that now?  I know you can do it.  You just have to…you just have to get over the past, and live in the here and now.”  He shot her a look of grave seriousness.  “The place where your life could be on the line.”

Her face contorted into a look of wrathful indignation, and she looked about to launch into some biting rebuttal in the form of a merciless tirade, but before she could get into it the entire pretense fell away, and she was just the helpless girl she had been before, the one he had berated, and she was, certainly not for the first time that night, once again reduced to tears.  “I’m sorry, Dan!  I’m so sorry, but…but I can’t…”

He clenched her shoulder, tight.  “No, Rylle.  You can.  You can.”  He looked directly into her leaf green eyes, her watery pools of frustration and self-loathing anguish.  “It’s not just that you have to.”  He shook his head.  “It not just that you need to.  It’s that you really can.  I know that you can.  It’s…it’s hard for me, too.  God only knows it is, with everything.  But I can do it, and so can you, Rylle.  So can you.”  He let his head fall, rubbed a hand over his face, once again sighed at the weight of it all on him.  “So can you.”

Dan didn’t look up to see her reaction, to see if he had been able to do anything.  He really did feel the weight of it all again, now.  The sheer burden was tremendous.  He hoped he had done something for Rylle, hoped she would have some capacity to think�"because she sure as hell would need it�"but he knew he didn’t have it in him to do anymore, now, or even lift his head to make any observations.  The truth was, neither of them really knew anything about any of this, and they were trapped in this hellhole the wizard had thrown them in until further notice.  He felt himself sink further and further into darkness as he thought about it all, together.  So much uncertainty, so much…he couldn’t control.  He might as well die.  Really, he thought, he might as well.  He didn’t see much point to the alternative.

His heart continued to plunge further and further into abysmal gloom, and he felt himself flop down to the bed below him as he felt more and more oppressed by the hopelessness of it all, of the entire ordeal.  What had he been doing, encouraging Rylle, trying to goad her into normalcy?  Nothing about this whole thing was normal, and nobody could expect to act it.  He certainly couldn’t expect it of others in the state the night’s affairs had brought him to, now.  He shut his eyes as hard as he could, clenched his teeth, and his fists, in a vain attempt to ward off the pervading sense of bleak despair, a futile endeavor not to succumb.

“Hey, Dan,” he heard Rylle say, “you…you know there’s a door leading out of here, right?  You think maybe…we could try that, and…you know, try and get out, or at least explore the place?  Dan?”

Even as she spoke, he felt the words lifting himself from his sorry state of despondency.  She had listened to what he’d said to her, really listened.  She was thinking for herself.  But, more importantly, she was right.  More importantly, she was thinking where he wasn’t, where he hadn’t.  Valnar had left through the door, through the obvious exit out of the room.  If there was any chance it could lead anywhere of consequence, they should at least try and see.  He felt almost giddy at the prospect of exploring the corridors of some grand, expansive palace, or at least somewhere other than this hellhole he had come to loathe so much.  In one fluid motion he was up off the bed and moving towards the door.  A moment later, Rylle was going toward it, too, and he put a friendly arm around her shoulders as they made their way there, his face almost split with a wide grin.

“That’s a great idea, Rylle!  A wonderful idea!  I’m…really proud of you for thinking that up.”  He paused for a quick moment, then, almost bursting with energy,  “Well, I guess we should cut the chatter and see what’s on the other side of this door!”  He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of whatever that might be, then, without further delay, turned the doorknob and pushed forward.

Nothing happened�"the door was locked.  He was extremely disappointed, almost immediately regressing back to his state of misery, but he inwardly berated himself before there was time for that to fully take place.  He couldn’t just appoint himself to experiencing perfection, and then hope for the best.  He couldn’t just assume everything was going to be great, just because it should be.  He couldn’t just�"he stopped himself before he could take it any further.  He shouldn’t be crying over spilt milk, either.  He needed to think, just like he had told Rylle, and he knew he had it in him, just as she was clearly demonstrating she did.  He had to focus on what was, not what had been or what should be.  It was exactly as he had told Rylle: he had to focus on the place where his life could be on the line.

He realized Rylle had her arm around him, now.  He let out a short chuckle.  He was the one who needed reassuring, now.  Well, so be it.  It wasn’t as if there was some rule forbidding this reversal of roles.  He would leave it be.  In fact, truth be told, it felt good, not to be the one who always had to be strong.  He felt his shoulders relax, thinking about it.  God, it really did feel good.

He was distracted from his refreshingly trivial thoughts by a slight movement of the doorknob, from the other side of the door.  He froze, completely rapt as he watched and waited to see what would happen.  He heard the sound of a key turning, saw the knob turn accordingly, and then, in a moment of electric elation and an almost palpable anticipation, the door was pulled open to reveal what was on the other side.

Two girls, perhaps a few years older than Dan�"no more�"stood in the doorway.  The one on the left was tall, unusually busty, with long, dark brown hair flowing down her back, and exuding a very charismatic air.  The one on the right was shorter, though by no means short, with shoulder-length deep red curls and a personality that spoke more of a quiet confidence than the obvious gregariousness of the other.  Both, however, were undeniably extremely attractive by any standard.  Dan found himself hard-pressed to keep from staring at them�"and, as far as the tall one on the left was concerned, at one area in particular.

“Hi!” said the one whose chest Dan had been ogling.  She smiled amiably and extended a hand to him.  “I’m Alison.”  She giggled.  “Sorry we didn’t come in earlier, but we didn’t want to…interrupt…whatever you two were doing.”  She giggled again, this time with more vigor, and looked from Dan to Rylle and back to Dan.

Dan felt his face heat up as he realized what she was implying.  “No!  No, we weren’t…”  His voice trailed off, as he was too embarrassed to finish out the sentence.

Alison giggled again, a trait that seemed to be habitual for her.  “Of course you weren’t.”

The girl on the right extended her hand, then, first to Dan and then to Rylle.  “I’m Veronica,” she said in a cool, serene, refined tone.  She curved her full lips into a small smile, but nothing more.

Rylle extended her own hand first to Alison and then to Veronica as Dan was still bewildered by Alison’s offhand suggestion and merely the presence of both of them.  “Hi, I’m Rylle.  And my friend here is Dan.”

Veronica replied with a slight incline of her head.  “Rylle, Dan.”

Alison giggled again.  “Hi, Rylle,” she said.  Then, more seductively, and with a suggestive wave of her hand, “Hi, Dan.”  She rubbed her hands together.  “So, we thought you might like to see a bit of Tyrvos tonight, before we get started in the morning.”

“Get started?” Rylle asked.  “So…you’re part of the ‘special forces’, or whatever?”

Alison giggled as she leaned over towards Rylle and Dan, a good portion of her generous cleavage spilling out almost right in front of Dan’s face.  “Yes, but…” she paused as she put a finger to Dan’s lips, “…don’t tell.”  She giggled again as she straightened back to her full height.  “Now come on, let’s go!”

She turned around and began running down the slim, dimly lit corridor ahead of them.  Veronica smiled in amusement as she followed after, keeping pace with Alison although only travelling in long, measured strides that managed to look completely effortless.  Rylle pulled on Dan’s arm when he didn’t immediately join the girls, encouraging him to do so.  “Come on, Dan!” she said with a grin.

Soon, both were running after the two wholeheartedly, laughing and shouting like children about the advent of seeing Tyrvos at last.  Down the corridor; turn; down another corridor; through a small, open, square room; down three more corridors, with their corresponding turns; down a short staircase; across a long landing, which included a set of guards that admitted them past; and, finally, down a long, winding, spiral staircase, to the small lobby area below, past another set of guards, and out into the night�"and, of course, laughing and shouting all the way as they had been at the start.

In a cluster they ran out recklessly into the fresh darkness of the night, epitomizing the wondrous bliss of youthfulness.  As Dan looked all around him, trying to take in exactly what the wonder of it all was, he was even more astonished than he’d thought he would be.  Everything looked so…big, and so…new.  The colossal buildings towered all around, and…he wasn’t exactly sure what it was�"perhaps the dark, reflective quality about them all�"but they made him suddenly feel as if he’d entered some great futuristic metropolis.  And the huge, equally dark and reflective fountain, the overwhelming whoosh of the continuously streaming water the only noise breaking the grand yet peaceful serenity surrounding them, did nothing but contribute to the atmosphere.  He could almost feel the city’s capacity for so much energy�"almost see the masses of people constantly in motion, see the various vendors setting up shop along the side of the massive roads, see so many people of widely differing importance, from company owners to skilled craftsmen to the greasy street w****s.  He could almost see the famed magical winged mounts filling the sky above, their riders leading them to whatever destination at incredible speeds.  But now, in the wee hours of the morning, he was sure, with next to nothing and no one about, it was like he could feel the city’s potential, feel what it would be, what it normally was, but yet also feel this other distinct quality to it�"the beautiful silence, the perfect emptiness of the vast, starless sky above, the magnificent vacancy of the wide roads and large, spacious squares, each complete with a similar fountain to complement it with its soothing cascade of falling, fluid music.  He felt vividly alive in a way he’d never felt before.

“Come on, Dan!” Alison called.  He looked up, and realized he had been admiring everything for several minutes while everyone else was looking ahead, restless to continue.  When he began towards the direction the others had been looking, she turned around, satisfied, and began skipping down the street.  Rylle was with her, and the two of them looked to be talking about something.  Veronica waited until Dan reached her, then kept stride with him, and put her arm around his shoulders as they walked.

“So, Dan.  You’re from Alvay, right?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.”

“And you’ve never seen a city before?”

He shrugged.  “Well, I have been to Ger’s Hill a few times.”

She smiled amusedly as she snorted in disdain.  “Dan, Ger’s Hill is not a city.  Ger’s Hill is a hamlet.  But I knew the answer to that question before asking it.  We all saw the way you looked at everything, how you marveled over its majesty�"practically drooled over it, really.”  She let out a soft, singsong laugh.  Dan thought it was probably the most attractive thing he had ever heard.  “It’s no secret you’re new to all of this, Dan.”  Her lips were permanently curved in that bare hint of a smile she had, now, as she waited for him to respond in some way.

He was a little nervous.  “W-what do you mean by that?”

Veronica’s brow bunched up to form the distinctly quizzical look she gave him.  “What do you think I mean, Dan?”

The question made him even more nervous.  He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to answer…of what would happen if he answered one way, or another.  “I…I guess you meant, serving in the special forces of Tyrvos, with you…” he blurted out glibly, before he’d really had time to think it through.

“All right, Dan,” she answered smoothly, “then how does it feel to be almost ready to do that?  To join the forces of Tyrvos?”

He sighed.  “I’m…not sure I feel quite ready for it all, I mean…Rylle and I haven’t had a great night, and�"” he had looked up ahead to find Rylle when he’d mentioned her, and now stopped when he didn’t see her.  “Wait, where is Rylle?  And Alison?  Where are they?”  He started panicking.  Rylle had gone through so much…he knew couldn’t let anything happen to her…not again.  No, not again.

“Dan, they’re okay.”  She gave him an earnest smile, reinforcing her assurance.  “Alison just probably wanted to show her some of the sites here, and they didn’t feel like waiting for us.”  She stared directly into his uncertain eyes.  “Dan, they’re okay.  They’re fine.  Nothing happened to them.”

He felt hot tears forming in his eyes.  “How can you know!” he yelled, into the empty expanse of the night about them.  “How can you possibly know!”  His breathing was coming out in ragged bursts, now.  He realized that had struck a pretty tender cord.  He had a right to it, he thought, yet still…

Veronica was gripping his shoulders, he realized.  Tears were in her eyes, too.  “Dan, what…what happened?  What happened to you and Rylle, tonight?”  She sat down on a bench they were walking by, and brought him to sit down on it, too, her hands still tightly clasping him, her pain-filled eyes seeming to pierce into the very core of his being.

“I…I…” he let his hand fall into his open hand.  “I’d really like it if we didn’t have to talk about it.”

“Dan�"” she choked on her sob for a moment, then continued, “I…if…” she continued more confidently, though still just as sadly.  “If Rylle is in danger�"if any of us is in danger�"you need to tell me.”

He shook his head immediately.  “No, it’s…it’s done now.  He…it’s gone now.  But it…if…if she’s alone…I…” he paused to give his thoughts time to form coherently through his grief, “…if I don’t keep an eye on her, something could happen.  Something…else.”

“Look, Dan,” Veronica said, “I don’t know what happened to Rylle, but I do know this is Tyrvos.  I know this city like the back of my hand.  Believe me when I say that nothing is going to happen to her here.”

“I lived in Alvay my whole life!” Dan yelled.  “I know every house, every tree, every blade of grass…but it didn’t stop him from getting to her, from almost…”  He let out a sigh of despair.  “Why should this be different?”

Veronica tenderly rubbed a hand down his arm.  “Who is he, Dan?  Who was it?  Who almost got Rylle?”

“The necromancer,” he said gloomily.

Veronica looked shocked.  “Necromancer?  What�"I mean�"he�"how�"”

“I killed him,” Dan responded.

“You killed him?”

He glowered at her.  “Valnar helped,” he conceded bitterly.

She smiled.  “Oh, so you’ve met Valnar!  He’s�"”  Then she remembered the mood, and cut herself off, let the smile fade from her face.  She let out a sigh.  “Dan, I…I think I know where Alison and Rylle went.  I think you might like to go there, too.”

Dan was shaking his head even before she finished speaking.  “I can’t think there could possibly any place I would enjoy right now.”

“It will make you…forget...what happened.  In fact, I bet Rylle’s already beginning to forget right now.”

Immediately he was on his feet.  “Let’s go,” he said.

She gave him a sad, wan smile as she slipped his arm around him again, as they got back to walking down the side of the dark, empty street.  Dan walked almost robotically, his face devoid of any emotion, and he seemingly oblivious to every aspect of his surroundings, the only sign that he was even alive the repetitive motion of his feet.  Step, step, step, step.  He was alive.  Alive, but only in the broadest sense of the word.  Alive, but only in the shell covering what truly made him human.  Within lurked only a virulent death, a pernicious, decaying blight eating at his very being, his very self.  Forget, he thought.  Forget.  He could think of nothing else but that, but to forget, and finally wake up from the nightmare his life had abruptly grown to become.  Forget.  Sleep�"and finally awaken.  Forget and awake.  Forget, and return to what life had been before all this�"to what it must still be, in reality.

Awake.

Before he realized it, they were walking into what looked like an overgrown tavern�"this was what a city bar was, he guessed.  He didn’t care, anyway.  It was all he could do to wait until he could finally forget.  Forget.  Forget and awake. 

He felt Veronica push him down onto one of the stools in front of the counter, heard her address the bartender.  “Two green turtles, heavy on the turtle,” she said rather imperially, although a little breathlessly.

“You got it, babe,” the man answered.

Dan heard the clunk of two glasses on the table a few moments later, and then felt Veronica’s firm but gentle touch on his shoulder.  “Drink up, Dan,” she murmured into his ear.  “This is what will make you forget.”

 

* * *

 

Dan awoke on a wonderfully soft surface, his body extremely comfortable but his head throbbing.  He vigorously tried to massage it as his eyes began to adjust to his new surroundings.  He couldn’t remember a thing from the night before�"the last thing he could remember was seeing Tyrvos for the first time, in all its splendor, and then being pulled aside by Veronica, and then…and then, it was all a haze.  No matter how hard he concentrated on it, he just could not piece anything coherent together.

He soon realized he was in a cozy, well-adorned room, much like the one he and Rylle had been given, but larger.  This must be Alison and Veronica’s room, he thought.  And then he heard the familiar giggle that always came from the former, and he knew his guess was the correct one. 

“Waking up, sleepyhead?” she asked, followed by another giggle.  Although still absurdly attractive, her appearance was now somewhat more disheveled; her hair was a tangled mess, and her wrinkled white tank top looked like it had been slept in, as did her particularly small pair of black shorts.

Dan smiled at seeing her�"at least it was someone slightly familiar, he thought.  Veronica followed after her shortly, she looking no more disheveled than the night before�"that is to say, she looked as though she were about to attend a formal event of some sort.  Dan smiled at her, too�"a more sincere, personal smile than he gave Alison, as he had actually spent some quality time with Veronica, and gotten to know her a bit.

“So, Dan,” Veronica said with that hint of a smile she so often wore, “what did you think of last night?  It seemed like you had a pretty good time.”  She turned to Alison, and they shared an amused smile together, Alison giggling and Veronica letting out one of her rare, melodious laughs.

Dan felt his face heat up.  What had he done last night?  If only he could remember…well, he wouldn’t let them overwhelm him this time.  He scratched his head as he answered, “Well, to be honest, I don’t exactly remember what happened last night.”  He laughed just a tad nervously.  “Maybe you two lovely ladies could fill me in, eh?”

Suddenly, before he noticed the young women’s response, he felt the pain in his head, assumedly from a hangover, quickly receding.  In mere moments, it had all but dissipated.  Dan didn’t get drunk too often, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t the body’s normal response.  He put his hand to his head as he addressed Alison and Veronica.  “Wait…I…just…the pain in my head is completely gone!  What…what did you do?  What happened?”  If his tone sounded a little accusatory, well, he had had enough of the unnatural in his life lately.

“Oh,” said Alison, “that was Valnar’s doing.  Hee hee!  We couldn’t let you have a hangover for your first day on the job, silly!”

Dan felt his anger rising, his face heating up even more, his hand clenching into a fist.  Valnar again!  Why couldn’t he stay the hell out of all of their lives?  “What did he do?” he demanded.  “WHAT DID HE DO?!?”

“Whoa there, big boy, just relax,” Alison replied.  “He just sped up the process of you getting over your hangover with a little magic, that’s all.”

Veronica put a hand on his shoulder, looked into his eyes.  “Dan, she’s telling the truth.  Valnar didn’t do anything but put you in a condition to work today.  That’s all.”

Then it came to him.  “Where’s Rylle?” he demanded just as stridently, if not more so�"and much more desperately.

“Dan, she’s just in the bathroom,” Veronica assured him.  “Nothing happened to her.  Valnar didn’t do anything to her, Dan.  He just came to heal you.”

Angrily, he backed away from her.  “Well, maybe I didn’t want to be healed!  Did you think of that?  Huh?  Did you?”

He heard a door creak open, and then Rylle was walking in the room, looking a little groggy, but otherwise fine.  She smiled when she saw him.  “Hey, Dan!  You’re awake!”  She surveyed the scene.  “What’s going on?”

Dan cooled down when he saw her walk in unharmed.  At least the situation wasn’t that bad, and what was bad, he could deal with later.  He could deal with Valnar later.  “Oh, nothing, Rylle!  Just talking about our big day!  You ready for it, Rylle?”  He moved in towards her, wrapped his arm around her to relax himself a little more.

She nodded.  “Yeah, I am!  Actually, we were just waiting for you before we got started with preparing everything.”  She looked up into his eyes, smiling.  “You ready to go?”

He nodded in return.  “Ah…yeah!”  He looked around at Alison and Veronica, then back at Rylle, then finally at the door which he assumed was the exit.  “Let’s go!”

Alison and Veronica both looked amused, but both restrained from making any sort of comment as they opened and went through the door before Dan and Rylle, to lead the way to wherever the preparation room was.  They followed the girls, Dan closing the door behind and them, and went down the long, slim corridor like the ones Dan remembered rushing down the previous night.  Like the previous night, the winding trail of intersecting corridors and staircases soon made him lose track of having any sense of where they were�"but like the previous night, he didn’t much care.  There was something more important to focus on.  Last night, it had been seeing Tyrvos, and now, it was simply having Rylle at his side, and happy.  Both of them could be happy, for awhile at least.  He didn’t know how long it would last, but he relished it for the time being.

He looked down at her, and smiled.  She smiled back up at him.  And then he knew, they could do what they must to get through this, together.  But, he recalled his breakdown with Veronica last night.  It had turned out okay, because she was a friend�"at least, he thought she must be.  But the next time it might not turn out that way.  He couldn’t let his emotions gain control over his ability to reason.  He couldn’t let it happen again.  As he shared a wonderful moment with his best friend, with his Rylle, he inwardly steeled himself.  He wouldn’t let it happen again.

“Come back, you silly goose!” he heard Alison call, from behind them, and then realized he and Rylle, caught up in the moment, had walked right past the doorway which Alison and Veronica had stopped in front of.  Slightly embarrassed, though he knew he didn’t regret being caught up in the moment in the least, he walked back to where they stood, waiting and looking, as they had since he’d woken up, very amused.  He wondered if something might be going on, but didn’t dwell on the thought.

“Sorry,” was all he could think to say, smiling ruefully.  He glanced down at Rylle, who he noticed also looked rather amused.  What is going on here? he thought.  Hmm.  Likely, he had made a big fool out of himself at the bar last night, and they were all still enjoying the fact that he was oblivious to what it might have been.  Use your head, Dan, he thought, and keep your eyes peeled for more important things.

Veronica was now turning a key in the door, and then, with a click, it was open.  Alison strode in first as Veronica pulled the key from the doorknob, Rylle following after and Dan following her, Veronica entering last and closing the door behind her.

They entered a bare, poorly lit room with cold, hard gray floors and walls comprised of cinder blocks.  The chamber was relatively small, but there was an open doorframe in the back which, Dan assumed, would lead to a much larger room, if they were going to have enough space to don their armor and gear.  Dan felt his stomach knot up tightly, then, at the thought that they about to get ready for battle against Eynitashk, with all its implications.  He tried to push his thoughts elsewhere, but couldn’t.  Letting out a small sigh, he silently followed after Alison and Veronica as they went through the doorway into the next room.

The room they entered was much the same, but, as Dan had guessed, on a much larger scale.  However, unlike what Dan had imagined, it was nearly as bare as the antechamber they’d just come out of, the only furnishings in it being a couple of small tables towards the back, atop them only some flimsy-looking boxes and below, nothing but a few pairs of seemingly ordinary boots.  Dan looked around, trying to see what special properties, what substantial element this room might hold, but all he could see other than the tables was a doorway in the middle of the right wall�"this time complete with an actual door.  Other than that, he could perceive nothing.

“What kind of a prep room is this?” he yelled out impulsively.  “There’s nothing here except a few boxes and some old boots!”

“Rylle,” Veronica said softly, “why don’t you go to the other room and get geared up, okay?”

Rylle nodded and silently left the room through the side door Dan had noticed.  He craned his neck to see what was on the other side, but didn’t get a chance before the door closed behind her.  Without thought, he followed after her, towards the closed door.  He felt someone grab his collar before he got very far.

“Dan!  You silly goose!”  So, it was Alison.  “We’ve got our own business to worry about!”  She giggled.  “So leave your girlfriend be.”

Dan felt his face heat up a little.  “She’s…not my girlfriend,” he said.

“Oh,” Alison said suggestively.  “Really.”  She moved in towards him, looking ready to seduce him right then and there�"in fact, she may have already started, Dan thought.  She abruptly stopped right in front of him, all the suggesting expression she had on her face suddenly fading.  “Strip down,” she commanded.

Whoa, Dan thought.  She actually fairly turned him on, but…no matter how tempting the offer, the last thing he needed right now was more trouble, and this could be it.  He wasn’t going to let it happen.

“What?!?” he yelled out indignantly.  “As soon as you hear me say I don’t have a girlfriend, you try to get me into bed with you?”

She shrugged, smiling.  “I thought the floor would be suitable.”

“Alison!”  Veronica, outraged, pulled her a safe distance away from Dan, then looked right at Dan, her face conveying something more serious than what they had been discussing.  He looked back at her intently, all senses opened to whatever she needed to communicate to him.  “All right, Dan, listen.  Alison’s not going to rape you.”  She couldn’t help but smile for a moment, but then composed herself and continued.  “However, you do need to strip down.  There’s some cream in those boxes back there�"magical cream�"that we rub all over our bodies.  It grants you effectual invulnerability, for twelve hours.”  She paused briefly to let it sink in.  “Well, I think you’d better get to it.”

“What?”  Nervously, he looked at the two of them, then around the room, the back at them.  “You mean, uh…here?  Now?”

Veronica merely nodded, her expression showing nothing so much as the fact that she thought him a complete fool.  Alison let out a little giggle, unable to contain herself.

Dan felt extremely uncomfortable.  “Well, ah…could you at least, you know…”

Veronica looked at him expectantly.

He sighed.  “Leave the room?”

“Oh!” Veronica looked for all the world as if that was the first time the thought had occurred to her.  She smiled at him, then�"genuinely, this time, Dan thought.  “Yes, of course.  Alison, come on.”

Alison seemed suspiciously willing to leave, but, however suspicious, both had exited the room a few moments in later, and he was left to undress in peace.  He sighed, letting out all the nervous energy that had been building inside him.  The task at hand, Dan, he thought.  Just the task at hand.  Whistling a pleasant tune to keep him from getting uncomfortable again, he strode back to where the boxes were to see what this magical cream was, first of all.  He was a little skeptical of it, but he figured if Alison and Veronica used it every day, it had to work, at least.  Even so, he didn’t want to use anything that had to do with magic, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Okay.  Let’s see what we’ve got here.  He opened one of the boxes to see a mass of nondescript white tubes, assumedly containing the magical cream.  Without missing a beat in the tune he was whistling, he set one of the tubes down next to the box, closed it back up, and got to unbuttoning his pants, looking down at the boots as he did so, and wondering, if the cream was magical, what power the boots might grant him if he put them on. 

He shrugged the thought off nonchalantly as he pulled off his shirt and dropped it to ground beside him.  Happy to think of nothing but the light, merry tune he continued whistling, he slipped off his smallclothes.  Now, standing completely naked, he made his way back to the table where he had left the tube of cream, so he could begin applying it to himself.

A thought occurred to him as he picked it up�"the shirt he had been wearing…he didn’t think it was the one he’d had on when he’d been abducted from the glade by Valnar.  It didn’t really matter too much, but, curious, he looked back to where he had dropped it on the floor to remember it a little better, and thus ascertain that he had been right in thinking it hadn’t been the one he’d been wearing earlier.

He froze in shock before his eyes made it to the shirt.

Alison was standing right in front of him, still beaming.

“Hey, Danny,” she said.

“Uh, Alison…”  He realized he was shaking.  “…w-why are you here?”

For a moment he thought she was going to strip off her own clothes and have sex with him right then and there, but then the moment passed, and she still stood in front of him fully clothed.  She reached for his hand and grabbed the tube of cream from it.  She giggled.  “You’re going to need someone to put it on you, silly!  You know, to get all those hard to reach places.”

He didn’t think he had ever felt more awkward in his life, and yet…he didn’t really want to say no to her.  Still, he had to say something.  “Uh…Alison…”

“Keep still now,” she said, “this might tickle.”  She giggled again as the twisted the cap off the tube of cream and squirted some into her hand.  Dan knew he was still shaking nervously as she did so, but he didn’t think he could get rid of the feeling, so he just squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about what was happening.

“Dan,” Alison said.  She laid a soft, warm hand on his shoulder.  “Relax.”  Rather than suggestive, however, her words sounded sweet, and sincere.  “Just relax.”  Dan felt his tension melting away, and his eyes opening to look directly into her warmly smiling face as she began applying the cream to his arm.

“So, Dan,” she said offhandedly as she continued applying the cream, “what do you think of Tyrvos so far?”

He felt the strong desire to tell her nothing but the complete, unabridged truth.  “Oh, it was…it was amazing!  When I saw it for the first time last night, I…I mean, I’d never seen anything like it.  It was…it was perfect.”

She nodded as she finished with his arms and moved up to his neck and face.  “I guess after living in a place like Alvay all your life…it would be something like that.”  She paused for a moment of thought.  “What do you feel about entering the war?”

The war.  The thought came down on him in an overwhelming wave.  “I…I’m a little scared, Alison.”

She nodded again, moving now from his neck down to his back.  Dan wondered how she managed to make him feel so at ease, so uninhibited.  He wasn’t sure, but it was wonderful.  The fear he had felt over the thought of entering the war was soon drowned in the warmth of Alison’s touch.

“That’s understandable, Dan, but it…it’s all right.”  She smiled.  “Because you’ll be covered with this cream, there will be no fear of losing your life�"unless you’re out for more than twelve hours, of course.”  The words boomed in Dan’s head.  He figured that, if things went as they were scheduled to, there would never be any danger of that.  However, he knew there would be those occasions when things wouldn’t go the way they should have, and during those, he would definitely have to keep the twelve hour rule in mind.

Alison continued.  “Anyway, because there was no need for the ‘special mission’ soldiers to have defensive skills, Lord Tyr recruited them�"us�"for mainly two things: resolve, and endurance.”  She smiled suggestively, her prevalent nature returning to the forefront of her personality, unable to be suppressed any longer.  “It seems to me the four of us gathered here could keep on going forever.”

Dan laughed out loud, her baser nature no longer bothering him but rather somewhat attracting him.  He smiled as Alison, now behind him, moved down to his buttocks.  He was starting to enjoy himself.  He wondered how much he had enjoyed himself at the bar the night before.  He wondered if he had enjoyed himself enough to give Alison reason to come on to him as she had, or if she had been doing that of her own accord.

“But you’re serious about the resolve and endurance thing?” he asked as it popped back into his mind.

“Yes, Dan,” he heard her say cordially.  “I’m serious.”

He nodded quickly, eager to let his mind head into that line of thought.  “So…me and Rylle were, like, considered to have the most resolve and the most endurance out of everyone in Alvay?”  He thought he knew the answer before he even asked it.  They were!  He and Rylle were the cream of the crop out of the whole town!  He had known that he was always a capable person, but this was…incredible.

Alison’s voice sounded a bit puzzled as she answered his question, moving down now to his legs.  “Valnar didn’t mention anything about it to you?” she asked.

Then, in a moment, Dan felt all the tension he’d had earlier return to him.  He realized he hadn’t really been using his head the entire time he’d been talking to Alison�"she’d melted away his inhibitions, and along with them, his ability to question the world around him, to produce rational thought.  Think, Dan, he drilled into himself again, Above all, you know you have to think.  THINK.

“Aw, Dan, what’s wrong?” Alison asked him.  “Don’t like talking about the wizard?”

He gritted his teeth.  “Just continue,” he said.  He knew his tension wasn’t going to melt away again, and this time, he didn’t want it to.  As good as it felt, he had to have his rational thought as long as he was in unknown territory.  He had to.

“Aw, Dan�"”

“I said continue,” he growled.

Wordlessly, though Dan was sure reluctantly, she did as she was told, scouring the tops of his feet and then pulling up first one leg and then the other to get the bottom.  Dan swallowed in an unconscious attempt to relieve his extreme discomfort, as Alison came back to his front side and began applying the cream to his chest.  It was a struggle not to melt under her blissfully warm smile, or her equally warm, tender touch on him, but he managed to do it.  He had to keep reminding himself, though.  Think, Dan.  You have to be able to think.

Quickly enough, she was making her way down his stomach.  Almost done, he thought.  She’s almost done.  It’s just my stomach, and then…

He looked down as he realized what was next.

He gulped again, trying not to think about what she was about to apply the cream to.  His eyes darted around the room, trying to find some suitable distraction for it, but, as bare as he already knew it was, they didn’t end up finding anything to settle on.

“I’m sorry, Dan,” he thought he heard her barely whisper as she squeezed a glob of cream in her hand, grabbed his penis, and quickly ran her clenched hand down it.  With a small sigh, she got back up to her feet.  “You’re good to go, Dan!” she said, more weakly than usual.  She began walking towards the doorway Rylle had gone through.  “I’m going to help Rylle out now,” she said quietly.  Dan watched her as she opened and then closed the door again behind her.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his fingers to his temples when she finally left him alone.  It hadn’t ended up being as bad as he thought it could have been, but still…ugh.  It had felt so weird opening himself up to her that completely�"literally standing naked before her.  He sighed, trying to dispel the knot of anxiety in his stomach.

He finally opened his eyes so he could put his clothes back on and feel a little less…vulnerable.  Which, he thought, was ironic seeing as he was effectively invulnerable.  He let out a small chuckle, the first thing that was finally releasing some of his anxiety, some of his tension, as his eyes adjusted back to the room’s fairly dim light.

Once again, he was confronted by something he hadn’t expected�"or, more correctly, someone.  Only, this time, it was Veronica.

And she was standing as bare naked as he was.

Her back was turned to him, but her head was craned so that she was looking back at him, if at an awkward angle, and smiling.  “It’s your turn to rub on some of the magic cream, Dan,” she said.

He felt a little overwhelmed at all this openness…but as much as he wanted to be done with it, wanted it to indignantly refute it and then leave it all behind him…there was something about it that made it almost…refreshing.  He even smiled as he grabbed another tube from the box behind them.  He thought he would be able to enjoy himself and think, at the same time, instead of having to choose between being miserable with his thoughts or being blissfully vulnerable.  He didn’t have to completely submit himself to somebody else to be happy�"he could be happy and in control of himself, and be able to think to boot.  His smile spread into a wide grin as he twisted the cap off the tube.  Maybe this whole experience in Tyrvos, this whole issue of fighting in a war they knew virtually nothing about, wouldn’t be so bad, after all.  At least, he was happy now, and he could hope.

He looked, finally�"really looked�"at Veronica standing front of him, her beautifully exquisite form there for him to marvel at in all its glory.  Her richly red curls of hair went down to her shoulders, which was where her pale white, perfectly smooth back began, going down to curve into her flawlessly rounded bottom, and finally down to her short but elegant, perfectly thick, soft-looking legs and small, dainty white feet.

“What, Dan,” she said amusedly, “are you going to start applying the stuff or are you just going to stand there admiring my form all day?”  She gave one of her rare singsong laughs.  “However flattering it might be, we are going to have to work today.”

Dan felt himself being incredibly turned on by her, but focused his mind on doing what he needed to do and squirted a glob of the cream into his hand.  He pushed her wonderfully soft, silky hair aside and began rubbing it onto her shoulders and down her arms.

“Veronica, I�"thank you, for being there for me last night,” he said.  “For helping me.  I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, Dan,” she said, looking back at him as best she could.  “It was no problem.  I’m glad I was able to be of some help.”

The feel of her soft, warm skin as he began rubbing the cream on her back, of the subtle, fluid curves of her body, was heavenly, and her quiet, supportive companionship only helped to bolster his happiness, and confidence.  He drew in a long breath of air, as if to try to absorb as much of this beautifully vibrant life as he could, while he had it. 

Soon, his hands had moved down to Veronica’s masterfully sculpted, magnificently voluptuous bottom.  He delighted in how it felt both firm but spongy under his hands as he rubbed some of the cream on it.  He didn’t know if he had ever felt anything more perfect.  He had to simply bask in the feel of it for a moment, and even after that it was a struggle to make himself return to the world around him, to think about anything else.  He did it, though, and finally continued down to her legs.

“Enjoying it much, Dan?” Veronica asked, now thoroughly amused.  “It’s not every day someone gets to grope my a*s, you know.”

Dan felt his face heat up.  He wasn’t sure what to say.  He immediately removed his hands from her body.  “Uh…ahm�"I’m�"”

She smiled.  “It’s fine, Dan.  I never said I didn’t like it.”

He laughed out loud.  “Well, all right then,” he said as he put his hands back on her leg to continue applying the cream, this time intentionally being as touchy-feely as he could, even reaching up to grab her bottom again after he finished with her feet.  She let out a squeal of pleasure�"which Dan thought may have even been more attractive than her laugh.  He let out a low chuckle of his own as he moved to her front, to rub the lotion onto the rest of her body.

He was stunned when he saw it; easily as much as he had been when he saw the backside of her, perhaps more.  Once again he saw her rich red hair, this time framing her picturesque face�"her bewitching green eyes; small, round nose; full, red lips; followed by her petite, narrow shoulders; flawless skin descending down to her perfectly luscious, perfectly round, perfectly sized breasts.  It…took him a moment to direct his gaze elsewhere, but his eyes finally made their way down to her soft, curvaceous, just-plump-enough stomach, curving wonderfully, sensually, arousingly, into her…well, Dan thought he should at least have the decency not to be ogling that…down, once again, to her plump, elegant legs and her dainty white feet.

Veronica smiled at him.  “You want to come see if this is as real as it looks, Dan?”  She laughed.  “Because I can assure you it is.”  She winked at him.

Dan felt himself begin to shake as he approached with more of the cream in his hand, feeling almost as if he shouldn’t violate such pure beauty with his hands…but then he looked up to see Veronica’s smile, giving her silent approval, her quiet assurance that he had an all-access pass to the beauty that lay before him. 

He smiled back weakly, but gaining more confidence every time he looked up to see her own reassuring smile.  Soon, he worked up the confidence to begin going to work, and began applying the cream to her face, holding her head in his hands as he did so.  She continued smiling at him, continued silently cheering him on, even then.  He couldn’t help but once more break out into a grin; her smile was too infectious for him not to.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself this much.  He chuckled at the thought, then�"it had probably been last night.

He made his way down to her short, faintly pulsating neck, the feel of having something so obviously alive good under his hands.  Having already had at her arms, he moved down to her chest next, first her smooth collar, then her rosy, round, warm breasts.  Much as with her bottom, he was transfixed by the simply rapturous feel of them in his hands.  He gave them a squeeze.  Veronica squeaked, but when he looked up at her face, scared that he had actually caused her some displeasure, she was once again smiling at him.  He smiled back as he made his way to her plump stomach, as pleasurably smooth as had been the rest of her body.  He made sure to be thorough in his rubdown of it, and then backed up, once again looking at her perfect, nude figure in its beautiful entirety.  “I…think you’re good to go, Veronica,” he finally said.

She smiled at him once more, winked meaningfully, then walked out through the same doorway Rylle and Alison had used, still completely nude. 

Dan shuddered, now that he was alone once again.  This was too good to be true.  This should have been a dream, he knew.  Well, at least if it was a dream, it was a good one, and it hadn’t ended yet.  He smiled to himself at the thought, and then walked over to where he had left his clothes, to get back into them at last.

“Hey Danny.  You ready for me?” he heard, and then a giggle.  He had to smile, though he couldn’t help feeling as if the morning might never end.  Not that he necessarily wanted it to, but still…

His thoughts stopped, then, as he turned and saw her there, saw Alison, in all her glory.  He thought his heart might have stopped, too.  He was sure his breath did.  Veronica had been exquisitely beautiful, perfectly formed, palely curvaceous, but this…this was more than merely exquisite, merely well-formed, merely curvaceous.  This was something else.  This was the paragon of the female body�"this was feminine beauty, perfected absolutely.  He smiled.  This was Alison.

Where Veronica’s curves had been subtle, Alison’s were blatantly sensual, monumentally arousing.  Where Veronica had been elegantly petite, Alison was ostentatiously buxom.  Where Veronica’s bottom had been well-rounded, firm, and spongy, Alison’s was absurdly ample, magnificently supple, delightfully soft and smooth.  Where Veronica’s legs had been short and delicate, Alison’s were long, full, and seductively thick.  Where Veronica’s breasts had been flawlessly formed, Alison’s were preposterously voluptuous, enticingly large, alluringly round, stimulatingly generous�"uncannily attractive, Dan thought.  Inhumanly attractive.

As Dan stood unashamedly ogling her, this goddess of the physical form, this Venus of carnal beauty, he felt himself incredibly turned on as he had never been before, his penis unabatedly caught up in a raging erection at the sight of such, pure, bare, open delectability.

Alison giggled again, higher, sexier than usual.  “Well, one of you seems to like me, at least,” she said.  She let out another such giggle.  “At ease, soldier.”

Rather than feel embarrassed, as he might have in other circumstances, Dan just let out a laugh.  There wasn’t much about her that didn’t turn him on, and he wasn’t going to feel guilty for it�"it was a compliment to her, if anything.  “Why would I take my best man off duty when there’s a war to be fought?” he said, still laughing.

“Oh,” Alison said, “so you are ready for me.”  She giggled again.  “Well, I think we have time for a little skirmish, at least.  But you’ll have to make my troops invulnerable, too, so we’re playing fair.”  She smiled.  “Even I’m not invincible.”

“Oh ho ho,” Dan said in a lewdly pleased tone, as he grabbed the nearest tube of cream he could find, squirted a quick glob into his hand, and reached up to begin applying it where she’d requested.  She let out a long, low, ardent moan of pleasure as he did it, simply stimulating him all the more.  As he finally removed his hand, he suddenly saw a blinding blue light, and then a form began appearing in the room with them.

Before either of them had any time to react, the figure had fully materialized in front of them, the light dissipated�"it was Valnar. 

The wizard, this time dressed in full battle gear, quickly surveyed the scene occurring�"or rather, about to occur�"in the dim concrete room.  His brow quickly furrowed in disapproval and his nose crinkled in disgust.  “Dan, Alison�"what is going on here!” he demanded.

Alison giggled, standing there completely nude as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  “Well, Valny, Dan here was about to rub some of this cream on, so he wouldn’t be droopy.”  She paused briefly.  “Then, we were going to have some fun.”  She paused again, affecting a look of sudden realization.  “Oh, did you want to join us?  Well, I’m sorry, this is a closed session, but if it makes you feel better, you know you’re always free to have me when it’s just the two of us.”  She smiled.  “Sorry to disappoint you.”

Valnar shook his head, fed up with her.  He turned to Dan.  “Dan…were you about to participate in debauchery with this…seductress?”

Dan narrowed his eyes at the man angrily.  “What’s it to you, wizard?  You didn’t give me a choice as to whether I’m to participate in this war, so can’t I at least make my own choices elsewhere?”

Valnar sighed in exasperation.  “I’m going to go check on Veronica and Ar’Rylle.  I expect both of you fully clothed and ready to go when I return.”

Dan chuckled when Valnar closed the door behind him.  “I bet he was at least a little turned on by you, Alison,” he said.

He was drawn out of that line of thought at seeing Alison already slipping her panties back on, though.  He started at her in shock.  “But…I thought…we were…”

She shook her head.  “Valnar was serious, Dan.  Take what he says seriously.  If we’re not ready when he comes back, we’re both in for some serious trouble.”

“But…but…I didn’t even get to put the cream on you!” he protested.

“Don’t worry about it, Dan.  Veronica and I both applied it to ourselves before you woke up.”  She gave him a small smile, then.  “This was just for fun.”

Dan finally shrugged, unable to think of anything else to protest, as he bent down and finally began getting back into his clothes.  “Fine then,” he said.  “Are we going to need anything else before going?”

“You’ll need a pair of those boots lying over there, and a sword, from the other room,” she said.

He nodded.  “Anything special about the boots, or are they just stylish?”

She chuckled.  “They’re boots of flying.”

“Boots of flying!”  Dan was incredulous.  But that meant…that meant… “So we’re going to be fighting in the air.”

“I think it would kind of defeat the purpose of having boots of flying if we didn’t,” she said, chuckling again.  She stood to her feet, fully dressed, boots included.  “I’ll go get you a sword, Dan.”  Almost as an afterthought, “then maybe you can show me yours again tonight.”

He laughed.  “We’ll see,” he said, as he pulled his socks on and made his way to the boots, grabbing a pair and pulling them on as quickly as he could.  Soon, he too was on his feet.  Only a few moments later, Alison was back, holding two large, ornate broadswords, followed closely by Veronica, Rylle, then Valnar. 

She handed one of the swords to Dan.  “Here you go, buddy,” she said amiably.  “We rub cream on these, so they’re invincible, too�"but that’s already done.”  He nodded, wishing he had a sheath of some sort but realizing it was probably too large a weapon for such a thing to be useful.  It was heavy, but not as heavy as he might have thought�"he was easily able to wield it.  Thinking of Rylle, though, he wondered if it would be as easy for her.  He looked over to her and was relieved to see her sword was considerably smaller, a longsword versus a broadsword, essentially.  Good, they hadn’t given her too much to handle.

He casually walked over to stand next to her.  “Ready to do this, Rylle?” he whispered.

She looked up into his eyes.  “I…I’m a little scared, Dan,” she said.  “But I think I’m as ready as I can be.”

He nodded, his heart breaking at her fear, but knowing he was just as afraid, if not more, and there was nothing either of them could do about it.  “Just remember Rylle, I’ll be there, and they can’t hurt us.  Nothing can hurt us.  We’ll be together, and nothing will hurt us.”  Tell himself the same thing had done little, but he thought it might at least do something to ease Rylle’s fear.  She smiled at him, and nodded, but he wasn’t sure whether it had made a difference.  His eyes scanned the room for Valnar as he gently began to rub his friend’s back.  He wondered how this would happen.

He saw the wizard then, standing in the middle of the room, chanting quietly, hands intricately gesticulating.  He was casting a spell.  A transport spell, Dan guessed.  The time to begin had nearly arrived.

Valnar’s words got louder as he progressed into the incantation.  “Arz wath, elshan vahg, Istariali…”  Veronica gestured that they hold hands as he continued, she already linked with Alison.  Dan gripped the hand of the former in his right, Rylle’s in his left, all of them now looking expectantly to Valnar, now feverishly chanting.  “Ilaman graskar!  Wavhlan igorar!  Intelive fornari, laskus arz graas Ivanalas!” 

Darkness suddenly enveloped the room, and then a blue light began shining, first dimly, then brighter and brighter, until Dan couldn’t even see the hand in front of his face.

“Well,” he whispered to Rylle, “this is it.”

A blinding flash consumed them all, and they were gone.

Their part in the war against Eynitashk was about to begin.

 

Author's Note

Reviews are always appreciated, can't think of anything specific for this chapter though.