The Woodward Academy, Year 8

Chapter 9: February

"Kinda early, isn't it?" David demanded of the courier.  It was only five o'clock.

"I was told you'd be awake now, sir," the courier replied.

"Yeah, but nobody else is.  They don't need to be disturbed for this shit.  Why couldn't this wait four hours until I was in the office?"

"This material is classified as Named Distribution, sir.  As such, it must be delivered to the person for whom it is intended as quickly as possible."

"Wonderful.  What the hell is 'Named Distribution', anyway?"

"Each person or group who is allowed to view the document must be cleared individually for access.  In this case, the document is viewable by you, Batalisto DeSantis, Commandant Hapablap, Arkigo Eisenpatten, and the king."

"Well, color me special," David said sarcastically.

"Sir?"

"Nothing.  Okay, fine, your uber-secret, eyes-only-God document has been been delivered.  Go away."

"Yes, sir," the courier said, unfazed by David's attitude.  He'd dealt with far worse.

David closed the door and went into the kitchen.  He figured the light there wouldn't disturb anyone else.  Opening the envelope, he pulled out the three-page long order.  It didn't take him long to read it.

"Fuck," David moaned.  "I really don't need this right now..."

David tucked the order back into its envelope, put a quick hex on it to prevent it being opened, and dropped it on the counter.  He put his coat on and headed into the back yard.  He looked over to see Jailla still asleep in the tree, where he'd been since David had gotten up.  David walked over to Grace's new swing set and sat down in the glider swing. 

The rocking motion was soothing, but it still did little to quell his troubled thoughts - the same thoughts that he'd been having since he'd come to visit this time.  He wondered if his time with Toni might have something to do with it.  He didn't really know, so didn't dwell on the 'why now' of it.  The 'what' was disturbing enough without the 'why'.

This is crazy.  I don't even know why I'm thinking about it.  She's never going to accept my life, and by the time the commitments I have are gone... well, hell, she could be dead by then.  Certainly she would have found someone else.

Still... shouldn't I at least give her the chance to laugh in my face?  Then again, she's already rejected me as simply a member of her family... this is kind of a big step beyond that.

Dammit, Olissa, why did you have to put me in this spot?  If you had just become my girlfriend, I wouldn't be stuck looking for someone else!  And then I wouldn't have let myself fall for someone I can't have!

I mean, shit, even if she was crazy enough that she might say yes... what about Joe? 

Then again, as Joe rightly pointed out, he's not going to know about anything we do... or if he does, that's on him, because I'm sure as hell not going to tell him.  Though I kind of think he already knows.  He at least has a strong suspicion, given that look he gave me.

So... at least as far as I'm concerned, I guess I can disregard Joe as a reason not to pursue this...  Don't think she's gonna feel the same, though.

And really, it makes no goddamned difference, because I know she's never going to want... what, an eighth of me, or whatever?

Shit, when you put it that way, that's not exactly fair to anybody.  What the hell is Olissa thinking?  No one is going to accept this!  And honestly, why should they?  Fuck!

David got up from the glider and paced around the yard.  His thoughts went round in circles.  He knew that he couldn't let his mind fixate on this too much longer.  The feelings he'd had after sleeping with Toni were proof enough that the situation was already to the point in his mind where it was going to interfere with his life.

I have to give her the chance to tell me no.  For my own sake.  Plus, it'll break the tension from Christmas, and we can get back to normal.

But what the hell is normal for us?  I mean, Joe wants me to basically find her a husband!  That's fine and dandy, if that husband is me... I mean, that's easy... wait, what did I just say?

David stopped and looked up at the sky.  I've never even contemplated being Olissa's husband before.  Never once thought about going that far into things with Lise...

David sat down on the glider again, staring off into the distance.

This is a problem.

"Good morning, David," Zyla said as she came into the kitchen.  She shuffled over to him, half awake, and they shared a good-morning kiss, as had become their custom.  He motioned her to her stool at the counter, and he poured her a cup of tea.  He slid it over to her, and she thanked him.

For a long moment, there was silence in the room.  Zyla was still waking up, and David was staring out the window at Jailla, who was once again dozing soundly in the tree.  David had spoken to Jailla briefly about his orders, but he'd not wanted to go over his girl troubles - yet again - with him.

You made a wise choice, my feathery friend.  Women are trouble from start to end.  Too bad they're also pretty much the reason men get up in the morning.

Finally, David knew he had to get things started, so he could get it over with.  Once it was over, they could move on from where they were.

"Zyla?" David asked quietly.

"Hmm?" she asked, still staring into her cup.

"The other night, you understood what Joe meant, right?  About you not being alone?"

Zyla turned from her examination of her tea.  "Yes.  But I can't expect you to look after Grace and me like this forever."

David asked gently, "Is that what you feel you need?  Someone to just look after things, make sure the bills are paid, the roof doesn't leak?"

Zyla shook her head.  "No.  I've told you before what I need.  I certainly can't ask you for that."

"Why not?" David asked.

Zyla looked at him, stunned for a moment, unable to respond at all.

David said, "We've been trying to ignore what happened because we both feel guilty about it, but the truth is, it wasn't really an accident for either of us..."  After a brief pause, David asked, "Or am I seeing something that wasn't actually there?" his own insecurity coming to the fore.

"You're seeing as clearly as ever, David," Zyla admitted quietly.  "But how can I pursue a relationship with the man who..." Zyla tapered off.

"Who got your husband killed?" David asked bluntly, his own demons still haunting him.

"Oh, David, no.  No, I've never thought that at all.  Well... maybe in my very darkest moments, but certainly not since you told me what actually happened.  No, that's not it."

"What, then?"

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you this.  Joe felt very inferior to you."

"What?"

"You are everything he felt he wasn't.  You're smart, diligent, wealthy, outgoing... you are even, by many standards, a national hero.  Joe, in his own mind, was a nobody.  He never saw his own greatness, his own value.

"If I start a relationship with you, it feels like I'm justifying the negative view he had of himself in comparison to you."

"Oh."  David looked at his tea for a long moment, then took a drink before continuing.  "I didn't know he felt that way about me.  If I'd known... I don't know, I guess I would have tried to stay away."

"Which is why I'm very glad you never found out," Zyla said.  "We needed you these last few years... and lord knows I've needed you these last eight months.  The truth is, I still need you.  Maybe more now than ever."

"But you can't see us together," David said softly.

"It's not that simple for me," she objected.  "It's not a yes or no, in my mind.  The truth is that I feel like there isn't a right direction for me to turn here.  If I start a life with you, then I'm turning my back on Joe.  If I ask you to leave..." Zyla suddenly shuddered strongly.  "No, I can't even imagine that, really... it would destroy me and Grace.  Can you at all understand how I feel?"

"Better than you can imagine," David said sadly.  He sighed in frustration.  He could just leave it here; she had her own issues with them having a relationship, and he wouldn't have to bring up all the things that made him a lousy candidate for a partner.  But... he couldn't do that.  It would leave her still considering a future that would never be what she was imagining, and he wouldn't do that to her.  "The truth is, it's actually not all that simple for me, either."

"What do you mean?" Zyla asked. David looked out the window and saw Jailla still huddled in the tree.  He was preening, now.  David took a deep breath and turned back to Zyla. 

"My life is not entirely my own.  Hell, my life isn't even mostly my own anymore.  I have other commitments already.  There are several other women in my life to whom I have obligations. I can't abandon those women any more than I will willingly walk away from you.  And while I have a... well, there's a place in my life for a, um... well a 'leading lady', so to speak... I very much doubt that's the kind of relationship you'd want to have with someone, especially not me.  But that's all I could offer you.  No one in my life right now could ever be 'the only one'.  She could only be 'first among several'.

"So, really, this conversation is all academic.  I care deeply for you, and I would be interested in pursuing a relationship with you, but even I'm not so stupid about girls that I think you'd be interested in that."

Zyla sat for a long time in silence, mulling over this information.  She sipped her tea in deep thought, and David turned back to look out at Jailla, mainly to avoid having to look at her.

"Who are they?" Zyla finally asked.

"Huh?" David replied in confusion as he turned back to face her.

"The other women in your life.  Who are they?"

"Oh.  Geez, I never thought you'd actually ask that."

Zyla smiled very slightly.  "I'm a woman.  I'm curious."

David smirked briefly, before the seriousness of things set back upon him.  Finally, he said, "Well, let's see...  We can start with Giendia.  She's a centaur.  I've promised her a physical relationship, so that she will not have to try to seek out another human male.  She's a rare type of centaur that prefers a human companion, but it's very difficult for them to find a willing partner, and I was the first person she was ever comfortable enough with to ask.

"There's Sam, of course.  She and I have been intimate for so long that it is impossible for me to not think of her in those terms, and want to be with her whenever we're together.  Admittedly, I don't know how often we'll be around each other in the future, but still.  The only reason we haven't been in a committed relationship for the last seven years is because she doesn't want one.

"There's Penny...  She's a ghost, the one they asked to look after me when I first got to Woodward.  She and I have a strong connection, and she lives in Pendergrast Manor when I'm there.  When I'm not, she lives up at the school.

"There's Vivian.  I don't know how our relationship will change if we ever get out of the war, but right now, we're partners in every way imaginable.

"There's Denise.  Denise has asked to be a permanent part of my household.  She recently separated from her husband and... well, she and I have been intimate for several years, with her husband's permission.  It's complicated," he said, seeing the question forming on Zyla's face.

"And then there's Olissa."

"I was wondering when you were going to mention her.  One of the things that has made me feel so bad about what happened between you and me was that I made you cheat on her."

"No you didn't," David said.  "I kind of wish you'd have asked about that, I could have cleared that up for you.

"Olissa..." David paused and took a deep breath.  He knew there was no way Zyla would understand this.  "Olissa is my slave."

After a short pause, Zyla asked calmly, "You mean that literally?" Her voice showed nothing more than curiosity.

"Yes.  I have an ownership contract with her, filed with the government."

"How did that come about?" Zyla asked.

"After our third year at school, Olissa and I took a vacation to Mirelia together, to visit the temples.  While she was there, she had a couple of visions, and they supposedly revealed to her that she was destined to live as my slave.  She finally told me this during Yuletide of our sixth year.  After two full years, I'm still not really comfortable with the situation, but it's the only way she'd allow us to have a relationship at all, and it's important to me that we're together, even if it is in some weird way that makes my head hurt when I think about it.

"She is also the one who insists that there is to be another woman in my life, one even more important to me than Olissa herself.  She insists that it is vital for my mental well-being that there be at least one more."

"Just because Olissa says you're supposed to have another woman doesn't necessarily mean you have to have one.  So why not just treat her as your primary partner?  Obviously she's okay with the other women already."

David grunted.  "I think if I stopped looking without finding 'the one', she might actually consider leaving me.  But that's not why.  It's important to me that there's someone in my life that is both my partner, and someone I can look after.  Call me a sexist or whatever, but it's important to me that I'm taking care of my girl.  Right now, none of the women in my life fill both halves of that role."

"You're not taking care of Olissa?"

"Yes, but Olissa's not a partner.  She has taken herself out of that position altogether.  She's... an underling.  She has actually given up the right to tell me to go fuck myself.  I love her, and it's important that I have her in my life, but she refuses to accept the partner role.  I've spent the last two years trying to train myself to treat her as a slave.  I could never think of Olissa as a wife at this point."

"I can understand that.  What about Vivian?  She must know about the other women...  If she's still willing to be with you, why not take her as your... what did you call it?  Your 'leading lady'?"

"I don't know how Vivian actually feels about me romantically.  What we have right now is based mainly on being terrified half the time, and using each other to keep ourselves sane.  She once told me that she had never met a man she liked well enough to 'put up with his crap'.  I have an excessive amount of crap for someone to put up with, so I'm not sure she'd be interested.

"Plus... and this is probably going to sound awful, but she really doesn't need me.  Vivian is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

"And I'm not," Zyla said.

"I did not say that," David replied strongly.

"No, you didn't... but you know it's true."

"I honestly think you can take care of yourself.  You just don't want to.  I think of it as you prefer having help."

Zyla smiled at him.  "Trying to protect me even from myself?  I know I don't function well alone, David.  My mindset is that of a housewife.  You cannot be a housewife without a husband."

David nodded.  "Which brings us right back to where we started.  I hope I've made my feelings obvious to you, but I understand that what I can offer you isn't what you're looking for in a partner.  Some days, I really doubt that the woman in Olissa's visions actually exists.  It's crazy to think that any woman would put themselves in that position."

"Wait... what about, uh... Denise, was it?  If she's living with you, she has to know about your lifestyle...  Why not take her as your partner?"

David sighed.  "Honestly?  Because I don't love her.  Okay, I should rephrase.  I do love her.  I'm not in love with her."

"Are you in love with me, David?" Zyla asked, slightly shocked.

In response, David said, "You know, there are times when I'm really, really glad I can no longer blush."

Zyla giggled, and David turned to look back out at Jailla.  For a long moment, nothing further was said.  David then looked at the clock.  He knew he was going to have to leave soon.  He had to stop by the house to get the rest of his gear, and he needed to be back in the office before nine.  Finally, he looked back at Zyla.

He found her looking at him intently.  "Am I more important to you than Olissa?" she asked quietly, an earnestness in her voice.

David winced visibly when she asked the question.  "Please don't force me to answer that," David pleaded, the emotional pain in his voice obvious.  "There is no answer I can give to that question that doesn't make me feel like I'm betraying someone."

Zyla looked at him sympathetically.  "So, you do understand." David just nodded slightly, and silence descended on the room once again.

Finally Zyla said, "I think I'd like to meet Olissa.  I want to talk with her."

"You've met her before... She was at the Christmas party a few years ago, at my Potions Master presentation, my Rimohr promotion.  She's the heavy black girl."

"I don't think I ever spoke to her.  In any case, I certainly didn't talk to her about your relationships."

"Well, talking to her is simple enough.  She lives at Pendergrast Manor.  You can visit her whenever you like, you're on the guest list.  But I have to go back on duty now."

Zyla frowned in concern.  "Will you be gone long?" she asked, motioning to the folder on the counter next to him.  She'd not looked at it, but she knew what it was.

"I'm not sure.  This one is a bit... ugly, and how long it takes will depend upon how well it works.  Could be a week or two.  Plus I have another task I need to do after this mission, and that will add several days all its own.  By the way, Jailla is going to stay here with you for a while.  He can't come with me on this mission or the task after, and so, rather than being stuck at HQ for two weeks or whatever, I figured he'd like it here better."

"No problem.  All the stuff he needs is here.  I'll keep an eye on him for you."

David smirked, knowing that, using Jailla, he could keep an eye on her.

David said, "You know, I'm supposed to be spending more time in the office than in the field these days... funny how it doesn't actually seem to work that way..."

"I wish you were working in the office more.  I'd see more of you that way.  Please be careful.  I couldn't handle losing you, too."

"Zyla, you can't lose me," David said.  "I can't be killed."

Zyla replied, "No, but you could be captured.  That would be almost worse, thinking of how they were treating you.  And... there's always that... other way I could lose you."  David knew she meant his dark side.

"Try not to worry, I'll be careful."

The two rose from their spots at the counter, and they hugged tightly.  The two kissed for almost a full minute before they parted.

"Tell Grace good-bye for me," he said.

"You're not going to tell her yourself?"

"I don't want to wake her up just to make her cry," David said.  "She hates it when I leave."

"So do I," Zyla admitted.  "I'll tell her.  Just make sure you come back quickly." 

"Do my best." With that, David grabbed his folder and headed out the door.

 "What is this about, Vocator?  And keep in mind, you have not put in place any protections, so this conversation is not private."

"I don't need to be private, sir.  I just want to know if my mission was cleared through the king."

"I don't think that's your concern, Vocator," DeSantis stressed.

"Sir, I was given assurances by the king that I would not be asked to perform missions such as this one."

"And did he put that in writing?"

"I wouldn't know, sir.  That's why I'm asking the question."

"You expect me to tell the brass that you won't do a mission without a note from the king?  Who do you think you are?" DeSantis asked.

"I'm the one who has to live with what this is going to do to me, psychologically, sir.  And, Batalisto, let's not forget, I have to live with it for a fucking long time."

DeSantis sighed in a way that was nearly a growl.  "Fine.  I will ask for clarification on whether the mission has royal approval.  You will operate under the assumption that it does, and begin planning immediately.  Is that clear?"

"Quite clear, sir."

"Dismissed."

David rose from the portal.  The soldier knew how upset he was by the fact that David didn't even acknowledge him when he left the room.  The loud slam he heard from the hallway was a second hint, if he needed one.

David marched back into his office, and stopped.  Toni and Jolene were both there, working on various things.

"You two.  Take the rest of the day off."

"Sir?" Toni asked.  Jolene looked curious, as well.

"I don't want either of you to have to put up with the mood I'm in.  Go home."

"Sir," Jolene said softly, "some of this work absolutely has to be done today..."

David sighed.  His was more of a snarl than DeSantis' had been.  "Fine.  Go work in Ginger's office.  Or something.  Just get out of here."

"Yes, sir," Jolene said immediately.

"If you do need me for something - and try your damnedest not to - I will be either in my office, or the conference room across the hall."

"Yes, sir," Toni acknowledged for both of them.

David went into his office, slamming the door in frustration as he went.

"He's pissed," Toni said.

"At least it's not at us," Jolene said.  "Let's keep it that way by getting out of here."

"Amen," Toni agreed.

David was staring at a wall map of northern Callamandia when the door to the conference room opened.  David raised his hand to indicate that he didn't want to be interrupted at that moment.

Shortly thereafter, a hand grabbed at David's shoulder.

In less than the blink of an eye, David reached up, grabbed his assailant's wrist, twisted so sharply that the snapping of bones was clearly audible, and then spun.  He placed his other hand at his opponent's elbow as he moved, and at the right moment he released, tossing his victim into the wall, where he left a crater as he fell to the floor.

David walked over to the lump of human and rolled him over.  It turned out to be a royal guard.

David looked over to see Christa and the king.

"How the... I didn't even see you move!" Christa gasped.

David bent down and yanked the royal guard to his feet by his good arm.

"Next time a combat soldier tells you he doesn't want to be interrupted," David told the guard.  "I'd advise you don't do something so fucking retarded as lay hands on him from behind.  The infirmary is down the stairs, turn right, fifth door on the right."

"I... can't leave the king unguarded."

"Shithead, I just proved that you aren't a guard, if it's me you're worried about.  If it's not me you're worried about, they're going to have to get through me first, and clearly I'm better protection than you are.  Get the hell out of my sight before I break your other arm."

"Yes, sir!"  The guard scurried out of the room.  David growled in annoyance.

Christa walked over to David and gave him a hug.  "Hi there," she said, and kissed him gently.  David kissed back, slipping his hands onto her hips.  For a long moment, he let that go on, as he really needed the reminder that not everyone in the world was an ass.

Finally, David remembered who else was in the room, and he gently pushed Christa away.

"Are you trying to get me hurt?" he asked with a smirk, his eyes motioning to where the king was standing, thankfully with an amused grin on his face.

"Oh, hufflepuff.  He's a big teddy bear."

"Maybe so, but he knows a whole bunch of big, mean grizzly bears.  I should know, I command some of them.  It's good to see you."

"You, too.  When Daddy said he was coming up here to talk to you, I just wanted to come along and say hi."

"I'm glad you did.  I'd give you a tour, but something tells me I'm about to be very busy.  If you want, Toni could show you around."

"Toni?"

"My clerk.  She should be down in room 218.  Just tell her I told you to ask."

"You mean I don't get to order anyone around here, either?"

"Sure.  Just as soon as you make it through basic training," David said with an evil grin.

"Nuh-uh," Christa said.  "Okay.  I'm sure I'll see you again before I leave."

David nodded, and Christa headed out of the room.

"Sorry about that, sir," David said to the king.

"I don't mind you, uh... 'socializing' with my daughter, David.  I thought I told you that."

"I wasn't talking about Christa," David clarified.  "Though I do wish she wouldn't test your tolerance potentially at my expense..."

The king grunted in amusement.  "As to the guard... he had it coming.  Though I must say your response was far more aggressive than I think the situation warranted..."

"Perhaps, sir, but I don't think you're seeing the situation I saw."

"How so?"

"When you entered the room, you didn't announce yourself.  The only one who did was the guard, and he did so by doing something aggressive.  I had no reason to not react the way I did."

The king frowned for a second, then nodded.  "Good point."

"In any case, my response was almost entirely reflex, Your Majesty.  I did what I was trained to do."

"By the gargoyles?"

"By everyone who has trained me to fight.  No one told me to stop and think before reacting, they all told me that thinking is fatal."

"Glad I didn't tap you on the shoulder, then," the king said with a grin.

David snorted.  "Tapping me would have been safe.  He grabbed me.  It was a hostile move, to which I reacted, er... hostilely."

"And fairly well.  My guards aren't slouches."

"No, sir, but their mission isn't as dangerous."

"True.  Now... let's sit."

David waited for the king to take a seat, and then he sat across from him.

"A simple note from DeSantis was all I required, sir.  You didn't need to come here yourself.  It's not really safe for you to be here.  If the Vrudenans knew you were this exposed..."

The king waved it off.  "They don't have any troops within range.  In any case, I wanted us to talk face-to-face."

The king leaned forward, resting on his forearms as he spoke.  "The arkigo said that you refused to take on the mission without explicit instructions from me."

"That's not what I said, sir.  I hope that's not how Btt. DeSantis reported it..."

"So, what, exactly, did you say?"

"I asked if the mission had been approved by you.  All I asked for was confirmation that you had been briefed on the mission, because you had given me your assurance that I would not be asked to take on this kind of thing.  I don't want to do this, Your Majesty."

The king nodded, and sighed heavily, pulling off his crown and running his hand through his hair.  He set the crown on the table, which David was shocked to see.  "I know you don't.  That's why I needed to come myself.  I wanted you to understand why we're asking you to.

"Frankly, David, we're in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.  After the report I got about you concerning your behavior toward Btl Clayton, I realized that things are getting worse for you at a dangerous rate.  I'm pretty sure that, three months ago, you would not have been choking out a superior officer."

"Probably not, but if anyone deserved it, he did..." David offered.

"True enough, and he's been relieved of his command and transferred to staff work, which means he's a glorified clerk."

"Probably can't do that right, either," David muttered.

The king snorted.

"Back to the war and your difficulties...  I'm doing my best to help you, but the hell of it is, in order for me to help you, I have to make things even worse for you, first."

"Sir, far be it from me to be giving advice to my king, but your focus should be on the war, not on one soldier within it."

"I am focused on the war here, David.  I told you the last time we spoke, we cannot win this war with you working against us.  That means it is in my kingdom's best interest for me to keep you healthy.  The only way I can guarantee that is to end the war.  Unfortunately, as you know, we are currently losing the war.  We haven't made it clear just how bad things are, though I imagine you have heard enough things to have surmised the truth yourself..."

"I knew we were in trouble when Fourth Command was called up last month.  You don't bring in the reserve formation unless you don't have a choice.  Even I know that."

The king nodded.  "I promised you, last year, that I would not ask you to perform a certain kind of mission unless it was our last resort.

"That's where we are, David.  Unless we find a way to do something different, we will lose the war.  Nothing we have tried has made a substantive difference.  We've had a few successes...  Most of the major ones, frankly, have come either directly out of, or with the help of, Scout Company 1.

"I know you don't want to do this.  I don't want to be asking you to do this.  But the truth is, it's the safest course for both of us... for all of us.  I do have to ask... can you handle this?  Can you deal with the aftermath of this?"

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" David said dully.

"David, I'm serious.  If you can't handle this..."

David fixed the king with his gaze.  "I don't actually know the answer to that question.  And we don't have time for me to figure it out.  I am going to request, however, that after I complete this mission, I am allowed a week's leave.  I have another lead on a piece of the elemental shield, and I think that would be a good way for me to try to recover from what this is probably going to do to me."

The king nodded.  "Of course.  You take whatever time you need.  If this mission succeeds, we might be able to start a counteroffensive, and push them back a significant distance."

"Yes, sir."

"How goes the portal research?"

"Ginger has all the equations put together.  Now, we're trying to find a way to test them out."

"Test them out?  And who is Ginger?"

"Sorry.  Vigax Hermany, my personal assistant.  In order to make sure the equations can tell us anything, we have to make sure they actually work.  We know that they correctly tell us the position of the nodes within Pendergrast Manor, but in order to prove they really work, we have to use them to discover new nodes.  We haven't worked out how to go about that yet."

"Oh, I see.  Well, good luck with that.  Keep me posted.

"And David... I truly am sorry to put you through this.  If there were any other way..."

"Yes, sir.  I'll survive."

"Yes," the king said seriously.

"We all may just wish I hadn't," David murmured to himself.

The king heard him, anyway.

 David walked right through the middle of the Vrudenan army base.  He was just south of Burton, and there was an ark-sized unit stationed semi-permanently in this location.  Ten thousand werewolves surrounded him, all of them ready and waiting to try to tear him apart should he fuck this up.

The truth was, however, that he was completely safe.  He was invisible at the moment, and completely undetectable.  Even if they discovered his presence, a simple shift into Haven would make him untouchable.  These were the unique abilities that meant that only he was even remotely qualified for this mission.

Lucky me.

David walked through the side of a tent, entering the field quarters of one of the company commanders in the Vrudenan army.  The man lay sleeping, snoring loudly.  His racket was loud enough that David didn't even lower his voice as he said, "Apraka sajona."

Immediately, the privacy field filled the tent, the silvery boundary reflecting back at him.

Pointing his wand at the sleeping were before him, David intoned, "Moyo wanundi wanga."

Suddenly, a great screeching wail erupted from the were's mouth.  His eyes flew open and he grasped at his abdomen.  This did no good, as the stain of blood on his bed covers was already obvious.  The spell was tearing into the were's flesh, burrowing deeper and deeper.  Even as the were tried to hold it in, tossing his covers off in his frantic gestures, his liver oozed between his fingers, levitating up into the air, and disintegrating as he watched.

David looked on with distaste, but no pity.

"Do me a favor," David said coldly.  "Die quickly.  I really don't want to stand here watching you.  I have thirty-one more werewolves to kill tonight."

"Who... are... you?" the were gurgled, trying to keep in the screams in some absurd show of manhood.

"I am Death," David said simply.  "And tonight, I have come for you."

The were looked at him incredulously, unsure if he was supposed to take that seriously.  The pain and the blood loss made it hard for him to care very much.  In only a matter of minutes, the were's eyes closed again for the last time.

"Apokalyptivivos," David said.  A dark black cloud surrounded the body of the were, indicating he was truly dead.

"You should have stayed where you belonged," David told the corpse.  He waited until the ghost of the were had definitely moved on.  David didn't want them getting any hint of the fact that he was a demighost.  Once he was sure that the were's spirit had been collected by its banshee, he ended the privacy spell and then faded to invisibility.

It's gonna be a long fucking night.

David sank down against a tree and stared off into the darkness.  Over the course of eight hours, without firing a single energy blast, without getting a single drop of blood on his hands, David had ended the lives of thirty-two Vrudenans.  No one as yet even knew they were dead, having their livers ripped from their bodies and causing a fatal amount of blood loss.

The particular method of assassination was meant to be a piece of psychological warfare.  The werewolves saw the liver, not the heart, as the center of the soul, and in intra-species fighting, the victors would often consume the liver of the vanquished, taking their strength, and the strength of their clan.  David didn't know how much stock to put in such things, but Command had told him to do it that way, so he did it that way.  Thirty-two times, he did it that way.

His gaze was unfocused, and his thoughts were dark and troubled.

At least I get to take tomorrow night off...

Command didn't want to give the enemy an obvious pattern, so they told David not to perform his tasks one night after another.  He would skip the next night, and take on his second task the night after that.

David was never sure whether or not he went to sleep.  All he was sure of was that he suddenly came to the realization that the sun was rising, and a new day was beginning.

Joy.

David noted an increased security presence on his second wandering through the Vrudenan base.  Not that it made any difference to him in the slightest.  They could put all sixty thousand were soldiers in this one base, and he still couldn't be touched.

But I could do an awful lot of touching of my own... David thought darkly.

Thankfully, Command did not ask him to keep killing company commanders.  He was sure that the Vrudenans had already appointed thirty-two new officers to those posts.  Had they demanded that of him, he would have been ultimately killing hundreds, or even thousands, of men.

Tonight's target was different.  Still officers, just of higher rank.  Tonight, he would go after the eight battalion leaders in the unit.  He stepped into the tent of one, and took note of the greater opulence from those of the previous outing.

"Like your comforts, do you, asshole?" David said.  He enacted the privacy shield as usual, and advanced on the were.

A different method of death was required this time, a different message to send.  David drew his combat knife, a foot-long, razor-sharp blade capable of cutting through nearly anything.  He planted his hand on the werewolf's chest and pushed downward.  The were awoke, and looked up at David in shock and dismay.

"How did you get in here?" the werewolf growled.

"I didn't.  I was never here.  After all, the Grim Reaper doesn't actually exist."

With that, David took his knife and slashed across the were's neck, cutting deep.  He slashed both carotid arteries, and he sliced through his throat.  As this was a ritualized killing, David made sure to make his cut below the were's larynx.  This meant that, even before he died, the werewolf would never howl again.  As a leader of men, without his howl to direct them, he was impotent.  That was the message.

David kept his hand planted on the were's chest for the very few minutes it took for him to die.  He then wiped his knife off on the sheet, and slipped it back into its sheath.

"One down, seven to go," David said.  He removed his privacy field and got on with his night.

David had skipped two nights this time, hoping to lull the Vrudenans into believing that the attacks were through.  Luckily for them, David had only one night left.

He had already taken care of his first two targets for the night.  They had been the leaders of the command-sized units that were part of this base.  Now, he was facing the Vrudenan version of an arkigo, the leader of the entire base.

And he was awake.

"Who are you?  How did you get in here?" the were demanded.

David pondered for a moment.  Finally, he said, "My name is Vocator David Stroud.  I am the second in command of Scout Company 1, Army of the Kingdom of Callamandia.

"You are trespassing upon our land.  Your soldiers have committed atrocities against our people.  As their commanding officer, you bear the burden for those misdeeds."

"I will have you strung up," The were snarled.

David pulled his wand.  "No, you won't.  You're not going to be alive long enough."

The were snarled and leapt.

"Razpadat!" David snarled, snapping his arm in the correct motion.  The were vaporized in a scream of pain.

"One should show more respect when Death comes knocking," David muttered to no one.  He was waiting to make sure the were's ghost had left when the two guards, who had been stationed outside, came in to check on the arkigo.  David stepped back into a shadowy area to make himself harder to be seen.

"Where is he?" the one asked.

"We just heard him in here," the other said.

"Well, where the fuck is he?" the first demanded again.

"How the fuck should I know?" the second retorted.

Suddenly, neither of them existed anymore, either.

That should add to the chaos...

With that, David left the base.  He walked into the night, heading north.  He knew that he should feel guilty, at least, for killing forty-five people... murdering forty-five people... in less than a week.

He felt nothing at all anymore.

 "You wish to hire travel, human?" the dragon asked.

David was in Ramius, at the transport terminal.  He had traveled through Haven to get to this point, so that he would not have to fight his way along, as this was now Vrudenan-controlled territory.

To the dragon, David said, "Actually, I'm looking for information.  I was told that the ice dragons might have some knowledge of an item I am looking for."

"And you think I will tell you where to find it, just because you ask?"

"If there is something I could give you, or could do for you, in trade, I am fully prepared to do that."

"What might you have that an ice dragon would want?" the dragon sneered.

"I have no idea what you might want.  Perhaps it would make more sense for you to state your terms, and then I can tell you whether I can meet them or not."

"Rather impertinent for a human, aren't you?"

David sighed.  "Look, I've had a very bad month so far.  I don't need your shit on top of it.  I am not a human, I am a demighost.  While you can turn me away without helping me, you can't really harm me, so can we dispense with the bullshit, please?"

The dragon glared at him and snorted, coating David in a layer of frost.  David pulled his wand and cleaned himself off, then put it back.

"What is it you seek, demighoul?" the dragon asked.

David ignored the jibe.  "I am looking for a piece of the primal aegis."  He decided not to translate that for the dragon.  Dragons were supposed to be smart enough to figure that sort of thing out for themselves, weren't they?

"Ahhh.  So you're the seeker," the dragon said.

"Excuse me?"

"Word has gotten around about you.  You managed to convince Ladon, but we both know that Tiamat cared not at all about you.  Inaneamoko will be far more challenging to persuade."

"Inaneamoko?"

"The guardian of the Wind Crystal.  I dare say, you aren't likely to retrieve what you seek.  But far be it from me to try to educate a demighoul.  You must go north, some four hundred miles.  There you will find the dragon settlement of Keanuanu.  There resides Inaneamoko.  If you can retrieve the crystal from him, I will be impressed."

"Fine.  Can you transport me to Keanuanu?"

"I will even do so for free, demighoul!  To watch you fail will be most pleasant.  Climb aboard!"

"Oh, joy," David muttered to himself.  In another second, the dragon leapt, and they were rising into the bitterly cold winter sky.

David was annoyed.  Upon arriving at Keanuanu, he had been informed that he wouldn't even be allowed to petition to see Inaneamoko for three days.  He had been assigned what amounted to an igloo to sleep in, and told to wait.

He was currently wandering outside the settlement, just trying to find a way to fill his day.  He had already spent six hours working with the portal equations, and he had found three supposed locations of nodes.  Of course, he had no way to verify that, as all three of them were in southern Callamandia, and so he'd have to wait until this task was over before he could look into it.

As he walked, he passed through a rock formation, and then into an odd circular area, surrounded by rock walls on all sides except the very narrow crack he'd come through.

Standing in the middle of the circle was a ghost.  The ghost appeared to be human, though he was well aware how misleading that could be.

"Hello," David said.

The ghost said nothing.  He didn't even turn to acknowledge David.  The ghost was, in fact, standing as if ready to cast a spell, but he wasn't finishing it, whatever it was.

David walked around the edge of the circle, not wanting to be hit accidentally by the ghost's spell.  When he'd traversed halfway around the clearing, he was staring at the man's face.

"You!" David said.  Standing before him was a ghost that was identical to the body-shell found in the Zombie Shed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" David asked.  "How did you get here?"

The ghost remained silent.

"What's happened to you?" David asked.  The question this time was more to himself, as he'd already figured out that the ghost couldn't answer him.

"Have you been just... stuck here... for a millennium?  Shit, that would suck...  Unless you're completely petrified, and unaware of the passage of time.  Then, waking up is the part that would suck."

David studied the man for a long moment, then he left the area and returned to the settlement.  He found a dragon who seemed less annoyed with his presence than the others.

"Excuse me," he said.

"Yes?" the dragon huffed.

"Can you tell me anything about the ghost that is frozen outside the village?"

"Why do you care, human?"

"Well, for one thing, I've never seen a ghost frozen in place like that before.  Is that what happens when their body is zombified?"

"No.  A zombified spirit will not appear in Dugerra.  Tieram still lives."

"Tieram?"

"The ghost.  His spirit cannot move because his body is not dead."

David nodded.  "I know.  I've seen his body."

"You what?" the dragon demanded.  Two other dragons, who were within earshot, turned at that remark, as well.

"I've seen his body.  It's in a shed in northern Callamandia."

"The humans hold Tieram hostage?" one of the dragons growled.

"No one's holding him hostage.  His body doesn't move, either.  I think they built the shed to protect it from the weather.  The story I got about the body was that he had fought in the last Were War, and attempted to stop a Vrudenan attack, and was somehow caught in a magical blast, and became stuck."

"Twelve hundred years, and his body still lives?" the first dragon inquired.

"Well... 'lives' might be a stretch.  It can't move, it has no mind in it... it's just a shell, waiting for its ghost to come back."

"Tieram cannot move," the dragon said.

"Yeah, I got it.  The ghost can't come to the body, so the body can't move.  And because the body can't move, it can't come to the ghost.  Even if they could... what would you do after that?"

"Yes.  Proximity would not result in recombination."

David frowned.  "There has to be a way," David said.

"Perhaps, but it is not known to us, human.  In any case, we have no time to concern ourselves with the fate of Tieram."

"Right.  Thank you for the information.  Have a good day."

The dragons didn't answer him, and he returned to his igloo to consider things.

There's got to be a way to help that guy.  No one deserves to be stuck like that, even if he turns out to not be a war hero.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" Grace asked.

Zyla just sighed.  "It's nothing, Sweetheart.  Just not in a very good mood.  Why don't you go play with Odie?"

"'Kay!"  Grace ran off to get her stuffed toy.  Zyla looked at the picture of David.  It said, "Healthy - Studying".

I wonder what he's studying?  Maybe Vivian's butt...

Despite the strong stab of jealousy, she giggled at her own thought.  Still, her depression remained.

I bet if he was here, though, he'd take me to the festival.

The day happened to be the Festival of Love and Lights, and it was the first one she would spend alone in a long time.

I don't want to sit here and mope... but I'm not about to take my daughter to a love festival, or worse yet, go alone.  I'm not that pathetic.

Yet.

Would he take me?  Or would he take Olissa?  Or Vivian?  Or... no, probably not Denise, not from what he said about her...

Do I want him to take me?  Why should I be willing to share my husband with anyone?

But finding someone else means losing him.  It means Grace loses him, too.  Dammit, I don't want to lose him!  Why does this have to be so complicated?

After a long sigh and a decision, Zyla rose from her chair.

"Grace, Sweetie?  How'd you like to go visit Aunt Janine?"

Olissa was in the great room, on the first floor, when the doorbell chimed.  She moved through the gallery and opened the front door.

"Oh, it's you," she said, her voice a bit uncertain.  "You're not looking for Ma... um, David, are you?"

"No.  It's Olissa, right?"

"Yes.  Please, come on in."

Zyla stepped into the gallery and looked around.  It was the first time she'd been in Pendergrast Manor since the Christmas party several years before.

"I see he hasn't changed anything here," she said.

"David doesn't spend any time in this room, so he doesn't see a need to update it.  Would you like something to drink, or eat?"

"No.  We need to talk."

"Let's go up to the second floor.  It's more private.  The War Guests are allowed access to the first floor."

"How many guests do you have so far?"

"Twenty-eight," Olissa said.  "Plus six more said they would be coming next week.  That's not counting the two Principal Guests, who live upstairs."

"That's a lot of people.  Do you have room for them all?"

"We have space for about seventy, at this point.  It was a hundred, but then we converted some sleeping space to recreational space."  Once they got off the lift, Olissa led her into the second-floor lounge.  Eirwyn was lying there on the sofa.  As they came in, his head came up.

"Oh!" Zyla said.  "What a beautiful creature."

Eirwyn hooted at her, then stretched, turned twice, and lay back down.  In seconds, he was asleep again.

"I've kind of been expecting you to show up eventually," Olissa admitted.  "Especially after Christmas happened."

"You know about that, then?"

"Yes.  He told me about a week after it happened."

"So long?  He keeps secrets from you?"

"He told me, when he came back from your house, that 'something' had happened, but he didn't want to talk about it until he'd been able to think it through for himself.  He told me, I assume, as soon as he was done thinking it through.  Most things, he tells me right away.  Some things... well, some things, I do have to sort of drag out of him."

"Such as?"

"War things.  Bad things.  Problems."

Zyla nodded.  "You haven't talked to him since the last time I saw him, have you?"

"Not in any meaningful way.  I said hello to him when he stopped to get his bag before he went back to base.  He didn't say anything important, just that he'd probably be gone a couple weeks, at least.  Why?"

"He told me some things, right before he left.  They were... hard to understand.  Why are you his slave?"

"Because that's where I belong," Olissa said simply.

"How can you know that so certainly?"

"Well, two prophetic visions is a pretty good clue.  More importantly, I have never been happier in my entire life, ever.  The only thing that upsets me now is that he's not here."

"And... you're sure there's supposed to be another woman in his life?"

"Yes."

"Am I her?"

"I won't answer that question," Olissa said.  "I won't tell Master, and I'm not about to tell you."

"He makes you call him Master, even when he's not around?"

"He has never insisted I call him anything.  He is my master, what else should I call him?"

Zyla looked at her, completely at a loss for the mind that could think that way.  She tried to push on.

"Look, Olissa... I need some help here.  I don't know how to feel.  David... well... he's... he's admitted having feelings for me."

"But you don't share those feelings?" Olissa asked.

"It's not that simple," Zyla asserted.  "I have my own... issues.  I just lost my husband eight months ago."

"I know," she said.  "I know... almost everything that has happened to you for the last year."

"Almost?"

"I'm not spying on you.  I'm sure he doesn't tell me everything," Olissa said with a shrug.  "I know about Grace's illness.  I know about your trouble with the Veterans Benefits Bureau.  I know he took you to see your late husband.  Tell me, how do you feel about that visit?"

"Why do you want to know?" Zyla asked defensively.

"Because Master feels bad about it."

"Look... could you, for my sake, please call him 'David' for the remainder of this conversation?  I promise I won't rat on you, but you're making me uncomfortable."

Olissa paused for a long moment, then said, "Okay."

"Why does David feel bad?"

"He thinks the meeting went poorly.  He's worried that you didn't get the proper chance to say good-bye he was hoping for.  He thinks you probably feel even worse now, and blames himself for that."

"I'll admit, Joe's behavior was a bit upsetting.  You know, during our entire conversation, he didn't even mention Grace once?"

"I did know that."

"David told you?"

"Yes.  It made him angry."

"He didn't say anything to me," Zyla replied.

"No, he wouldn't have.  He wasn't going to badmouth your late husband to you.  He would have assumed that would make you feel bad, and he won't let himself do that to you."

"Do you think he's actually in love with me?" Zyla asked.

"You don't need me to answer that question.  David doesn't say things he doesn't mean.  If he told you he loves you, he meant it."

"Well... he didn't come right out and say that.  Though he didn't deny it when I asked him..."

"Do you love him?" Olissa asked.

"I don't know what I feel, Olissa.  My emotions are all over the place anymore.  I feel sad missing Joe, but now I kind of feel angry at Joe, too.  I need David, I want him in my life, but... to become his wife?  He already has a wife, you just won't take the title."

"Zyla, I won't tell you if you're supposed to be his wife or not.  What I will tell you is this:  If it came down to a choice between you and me?  I would lose.  At this moment, you are the most important person in his life.  Whether or not it stays that way... is mainly up to you."

"But you're not going anywhere," Zyla said.

"Not willingly," she confirmed.

"And you expect me to just happily accept that he has multiple other partners."

"It's not my place to expect anything of you," Olissa said.  "Either you will, or you won't.  I would ask that you not try to change this arrangement for him.  It is, according to my visions, the best course for him."

"Him, or you?"

"The best course for him is the best course for me," Olissa replied firmly.  "David wanted me as his girlfriend.  I tried, for about a week.  It felt so utterly wrong to me that I couldn't put up with it.  I went through four days of complete hell to convince David to take me as his slave."

"What do you mean?"

"David tested me.  He was worried about how I would deal with what he could potentially become, if the evil inside him takes over.  For four days he did things to me that were very, very unpleasant."

"Did he beat you?"

"He spanked me.  He caused me pain.  He did not abuse me.  Most of my torment was mental.  He was trying to get me to give up.  Thankfully, I was able to make it through.  Otherwise... well, David and I would be in the same weird limbo state we'd been in throughout school.

"Look, I'm going to be blunt: you only have an opportunity to be David's wife because several people before you, myself included, have said no.  David has shown that desire more than once.  He wants someone that he can belong to, that can belong to him.  Lise, Anne, me, and Flo, I believe he would have married any one of us.  Lise is dead, I don't belong there, and Anne and Flo aren't ready for that."

"Would they be someday, if I said no?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Can't, or won't?"

"Is there a difference?" Olissa asked sharply.

"I must say, the way David described you, I expected you to be a lot sweeter, less aggressive."

"We're talking about my master's future.  The situation demands that I be as forthright as I can be with you.  No, I'm not usually this... well... harsh.  But you're asking me to justify David's behavior to you, and... well, I'm sorry, I actually find that offensive."

Zyla sat back.  "I'm... sorry.  I didn't mean to insult you."

"You haven't insulted me.  You've insulted David.  That's the problem.  You're implying that, because there are other women in his life, there's no possible way he could love you completely.  That's bullshit.  David has loved me from nearly the day we met.  During all of that time, I have watched him searching for a partner.  Yet, every single time I have ever needed him, he has been there."

"But I need him there all the time," Zyla objected.

"No you don't.  You want him there all the time.  And that's fair.  I want him around me all the time, too.  That's not how life works.  You need to realize, David didn't choose this life.  This life chose David."

"He didn't have to be promiscuous," Zyla responded.

"If you were to insist that David be monogamous, I honestly think he would do that for you," Olissa said.

"Really?" Zyla gasped.

"Yes.  And while it would make you happy... for a while... it would destroy David's future.  And I'm not sure that 'the good David' would outlive you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"David has a problem.  I'm pretty sure you're aware of it."

"If you're talking about the darkness within him, yes, I'm well aware."

"Do you want to see what happens when he loses control altogether?"

"No," Zyla said, shuddering at the very thought of it.

"That's what I'm talking about.  It is my belief, from my visions, that you alone cannot prevent that from happening.  Neither can I, alone."

"But the two of us together, can?"

"No."

"Well... but, then what's the point?"

"Because it isn't just the two of us, is it?  How many women did he tell you about?"

"I didn't count.  Several."

Olissa nodded.  "That, can prevent him from losing control."

"That doesn't make any sense to me.  If it's love that can keep him sane, why does he have to love a whole bunch of women?"

Olissa sighed.  "I clearly am not getting through to you.  I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this to you any better than this.  Part of it is because what I know doesn't come from logic, or some reasoned-out explanation.  It comes from some visions, and my heart.

"Maybe you aren't the one.  Console yourself with that," Olissa said.

"But," Zyla started, then stopped, frowning.

"But what?"

"But what if I want to be the one?" she asked.

"Then you will let David be David, and not turn him into Joe the Second," Olissa retorted.

Zyla sat and stared at Olissa, aghast at the sharpness of her tone.

"I'm sorry.  I know I've been rude.  Master will probably punish me for this conversation when I tell him about it.

"So don't tell him about it," Zyla said.

Olissa moved her hand as if to slap Zyla, but stopped herself.  "I'm sorry for that.  I don't want to know what Master would do to me if I actually struck you.  I don't lie to my master, and I resent you suggesting it!"

Suddenly, Olissa rose.  "You are one of the Principal Guests in the house.  That means you can go anyplace you like.  I'd ask you to please not go on the third floor until Master specifically says you can.  That's his personal space.  Now, if you'll excuse me," Olissa said, and quickly left.  Zyla could hear her trying not to cry as she finished her statement, but had no time to say or do anything as Olissa rapidly left the room.

Zyla sat and stared across at Eirwyn, sleeping on the couch.

This was a bad idea, Zyla said to herself, feeling her own tears welling up inside of her.  She got up from her chair and headed for the door.  As she left the lounge area, Gwen came out of the hallway and looked after her.

"Shit," she said quietly.

Zyla was folding laundry when the knock came at the door.  She wondered who that was as she put down the shirt she had just folded.  She walked over and opened the door, to find two young women standing on the other side.  They looked like they were related, and she vaguely recognized them, but she couldn't put a name or a place to them.

"Yes?" Zyla asked politely.

"Hi, Zyla.  My name is Gwen Hasterscant.  I'm a friend of David's.  Can we come in?  I think we should talk."

"Oh.  Okay.  Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Gwen said, and they followed Zyla into the kitchen, sitting at the counter.

Zyla quick-heated the water with a spell and set their teas in front of them.  She then looked at the two ladies.

"I'm sorry, you are?" she asked the other woman.

"This is my sister, Anne."

"Anne... The Anne?" Zyla asked.

Gwen nodded.

Anne looked at Gwen and said, "I've become a 'the' now?"

Gwen smiled slightly, then turned back to Zyla.  "I overheard your conversation with Olissa the other day.  It... didn't go so well."

"No," Zyla agreed.  "It was a bad idea to go there."

"No it wasn't, but Olissa was maybe not the best person to talk to about David.  It is pretty much impossible for David to do anything wrong in Olissa's eyes.  I thought you might get a better picture from... well, from people with a little less love-blindness.

"I have known David since the day I started college.  We rode on the carriage to Woodward.  We spent the entire trip talking to each other.  You know, I told him then that I did it because he looked a little lost, and he did.  But the truth was, I was feeling so damn nervous myself, I just needed someone to talk to.

"He's been my best friend ever since."

"And how did you meet David?" Zyla asked Anne.

"Her fault," Anne said, jerking her thumb at Gwen.  Gwen chuckled.  "She had spent so much time telling Mom how great David was that Mom invited him to spend the summer with us.

"David and I were... not best friends from the start.  In fact, I pretty much treated him like shit."

"Why?" Zyla asked.

"Don't get the wrong impression," Gwen said.  "She was treating everyone like shit back then."

Anne frowned at her sister.  "She's right, I was.  I had just lost my best friend, who had moved away, and I was mad at the world.  I was still that way when I went to Woodward.  Boy, did I catch hell for it, too.  I was laughed at, humiliated, hazed, taunted...

"And every once in a while, David would catch the other students doing it.  Every time, he put a stop to it, and asked me if I was okay.  I still didn't give him the time of day.  Finally, near the end of the year, I decided to actually listen to him, and he gave me some good advice.  It made all the difference in the world to my school experience, and David and I were friends from then on.

"We didn't start dating until a couple years later.  He'd invited Ellie and me to stay at his house for Yule break, and we got together then."

"Ellie?" Zyla asked.

"My other sister," Gwen explained.  Zyla nodded.

Gwen said, "I think what makes Anne important for you to hear from is that David wasn't dating her exclusively."

"No, in fact, he was dating Ellie at the time," Anne said.

"He was dating you and your sister, together?"

"Not together.  Just at the same time," Anne said strongly, but with a grin.  "Ellie wasn't very happy when she found out about it."

"So he was cheating on Ellie?"

"No," Gwen said firmly.  "They had a non-exclusive relationship.  David explained later that Ellie had wanted him to teach her about sex, and that was the point of their relationship.  When he started dating Anne, that was because he felt something for her."

"How long were you with him?" Zyla asked.

"A semester.  Best five months of my life, frankly."

"Why did you two break up?"

"I couldn't handle being away from him.  And, as a Rimohr, he'd be away a lot.  Worse... right now... I really couldn't handle sitting, waiting to find out if he was coming home or not."

Zyla pointed to a picture frame on the counter.  It was the AutoCAD.  "He gave me that for Christmas.  I couldn't handle the worrying, either," she said.  Anne nodded.

"Anyway, when we got back to school in the fall, I broke up with him.  I didn't want to get any deeper than I already was, knowing how much it was going to hurt to break up with him eventually."

"So he would have kept seeing you?"

"He didn't want me to break up with him, if that's what you mean," Anne said.

"If he came back to you now, would you take him back?" Zyla asked.

"I... don't know.  He's still a Rimohr.  He's still going to be gone a lot."

"You could ask him to quit..."

Anne shook her head.  "David's doing what David needs to be doing.  David's really good at helping people.  Taking that away hurts a lot of folks."

Zyla nodded.  She could understand the philosophy.

"But if it weren't for that... if he were... let's say he decided to open a potions shop.  Would you want him back?"

"Yes," Anne admitted.  "I still miss him."

"Would you take him back, knowing he has a slave?  And all those other women?"

"Probably," Anne said.  "While I was dating him, whenever we were together, I never once felt he was thinking about anyone but me.  His focus was always on us, on me.  Now, I'm sure that when we weren't together, he was thinking about other girls... but that never impacted how he treated me.

"I didn't break up with him because he wasn't devoted enough to me, Zyla.  I broke up with him because what he gave me was so wonderful that I couldn't deal with its absence."

"Did you love him?" Zyla asked softly.

"I still love him," Anne said with a gentle smile.  "I'd probably be part of your problem if I lived in town."

"How do you mean that?' Zyla asked.

"I'd probably still go out with him if he asked me to.  I know I'd... well, you know.  But I live in Cormatsen, so we don't see each other very often."

Gwen said, "I've had the chance to meet a lot of David's girlfriends over the years.  It's never really been David's behavior that made them break up with him."

"Except Devyn," Anne said.

"That wasn't really David's fault," Gwen said.

"What happened with Devyn?" Zyla asked.

"Devyn was my girlfriend.  She and David got together through the MagEc sex education course, and then they started dating.  While they were dating, Olissa got hurt, and was in the infirmary for a month.  So, David, being David, was at her side for a month.

"Devyn was... shall we say, not understanding."

"I might be a little annoyed, too," Zyla replied.

"David felt responsible for Olissa's injury.  It's a long story, and I don't want to get us sidetracked with that.  But Olissa and David...  Well, David nearly killed the girl that hurt Olissa.  As David puts it, no one hurts his family."

Zyla frowned.  It was a familiar phrase.

"The thing is, David would have been in that infirmary for any of his friends in the same boat.  He felt responsible, and he was doing whatever he could to help.  He told me he'd have been doing the same thing if it'd been me in that bed."

"You two never..." Zyla asked.

"I'm gay," Gwen replied.  Zyla nodded.  "In fact, though, we did get together, once.  Devyn wanted us to all be partners.  It was then that I realized I was gay.  Up until then, I'd thought I was bi."

"How did sex with David..." Zyla started.

"If anything that feels that good, still doesn't feel right, you must not be meant to feel it," Gwen explained.

Zyla blushed strawberry.

"But David has still always been there for me.  Study help, problems with Mom... if it wasn't for David, I wouldn't have a successful business here in Bolmont."

"How do you mean?"

"David gave us the money to get started.  Then he got us a contract with the government, when the war got going.  Without him, Jess and I would probably be struggling pretty badly to make things work.  As it is, I already have employees, and we're in the black."

Zyla nodded and took a sip of her tea.  Gwen and Anne did likewise, to let the conversation pause for a moment, and for thoughts to settle.

Finally Zyla said, "David told me about the women he has commitments to.  Are there other women he sleeps with?"

"Probably.  I don't know who he listed to you."

"Let me see if I can recall them," Zyla said.  "Olissa, of course, Denise, Vivian, Giendia, Sam, and Penny... I think that was all of them."

"There are others," Gwen said nodding.  "I know he sees Bridget, the barmaid at the Mystic Wolf Pub, every once in a while.  I think there's another professor that he was seeing... Oh, and the king's daughter."

"What?"

Gwen chuckled.  "Fought it tooth and nail, but she chased after him for an entire school year until he gave in."

"How am I supposed to compete with royalty?" Zyla despaired.

Anne was the one who spoke.  "You're not competing with anyone, Zyla.  They're competing with you."

Zyla looked at her oddly, so Anne explained.

"You've already won.  When David comes home on leave, he visits two places: his home here in Bolmont, and here.  In Pendergrast Manor are three, four different people that he has close relationships with.  Here, there's only one.

"He spends more time here than he does at home.  That should really tell you all you need to know about what David thinks of you."

"But he's been trying to help out here, keep things running.  That's why he's here so much."

"Right," Gwen said sarcastically.  "Let me know when you start believing that."

Zyla blushed crimson.  Trying to get hold of herself, she said, "What can you tell me about the other woman living there, Denise?  He's told me a lot about Olissa, but not Denise.  Do you know her?"

Both girls snorted and broke into a fit of giggles.

"Sorry, did I say something funny?" Zyla asked, confused.

"Sorry, Zyla," Gwen said finally.  "Denise is our mom."

"Oh!  And... he... wh... I'm really confused now."

Gwen said, "Apparently, at some point in their marriage, my dad realized he was gay.  For whatever reason, they didn't want to divorce, so instead, my father gave my mom permission to sleep with other men.

"David was one of those other men."

"What happened to your father, that your mother is with David now?"

"Dad divorced her when she refused to shun David for killing Nick."

"Nick is..."

"One of my brothers, who had been turned into a werewolf, and attacked David during the war."

"Wow.  He didn't tell me about that.  When did that happen?"

"Um... forget the exact time.  It was that same trip when Prof. Fibblebitz died."

"Oh.  Before, or after?"

"Huh?"

"Did he kill Nick before, or after, Lise died?"

"Before, I think.  Why?"

"Has David ever told you what happened... right after Lise died?"

"No.  What happened?"

Zyla paused for a long moment.  "I... don't think I should tell you.  But it was really... bad.  David's dark side took over for a bit."

"Oh," Gwen said.  "I've never seen David's dark side.  He's always been a very warm person to me."

"Me, too," Zyla said.  "But he tells me things.  And I have seen him go off on people before.  If you had seen him the last time we went to the VBB..."  Zyla just shook her head.

Gwen nodded.  "He does have a special place in his heart for bureaucrats."

Zyla snorted.  She knew that Gwen was being facetious.  She smirked and took a sip of her tea.

Gwen suddenly twitched, as a new thought came to her.  "You know... I just thought of something, maybe it's what Olissa meant to say.  Do you remember when she told you that 'This life chose David'?"

"Yes..."

"I kind of just realized this.  David has run into a lot of women who he could have easily become attached to - did, in some cases - but those women didn't want committed relationships.  Olissa was the first.  Then Sam - er, Professor Stott; Bonnie, the old barmaid at the Slyther Inn; Ellie; Flo... even Giendia, though I don't think he ever thought a relationship with her was really a possibility, since she's a centaur... JoAnne... Lydia, while he thought she was a friend...  Hell, even Christa."

"Who?"

"The king's daughter."

"Oh."

"My point is, you said that David didn't have to be promiscuous... but Olissa's kind of right: life pretty much pointed him in that direction.  David kept looking for a steady girlfriend, someone he could devote himself to, but what he kept finding were women who only wanted him part-time.  But... well, I mean, you know how David is.  He doesn't really 'do' part-time in his commitments to people.  He gave those women space because that's what they demanded.  He gave them his heart because that's who he is.  David never wanted promiscuity; he ended up that way because he doesn't believe in walking away from people just because they don't fit his desired model of them."

Zyla sat for a long moment, thinking.  Gwen and Anne took sips of their tea while they waited for her to think it through.

"Do you think I should become his wife?"

Anne asked, "Is that really a decision you need to make now?  Does it have to be all or nothing, right away?"

Zyla replied, "Do you remember what you said about being in too deep?  For me, relationships are about finding a husband.  I need a husband in my life.  I feel lost right now, because my home is incomplete.  No, I don't need to marry David tomorrow... but if I continue to let myself feel for him... what I think I'm feeling for him, it only leads one place."

Anne nodded.  "So, you do love him."

"I don't want to answer you," Zyla said softly.

Anne just smiled knowingly.

Gwen said, "Zyla, I don't have Olissa's crystal ball.  I really don't know whether you're the woman she's seen in her visions or not.  Whether you can deal with David as he is or not... that's for you to decide.  I don't even know whether you can help keep him... uh... 'good' or not.

"I just wanted you to hear what it's like to be with him... from both perspectives, as a friend, and as a partner."

"Tell me something," Zyla said.  "If you liked men-"

"David would have had a permanent girlfriend a long time ago.  And I'd be happy to share... his girlfriends with him," Gwen said with an evil grin.

Zyla blushed again, and Anne giggled.

"Anyway, I'm sure you have things to do.  Where is your little girl, anyway?"

"She's taking a nap."

Gwen nodded.  "Is there anything else you want to ask, anything we can tell you?"

"Not right now.  I think I need to process what you've said.  If I wanted to talk again...?"

"I live at Pendergast Manor right now, because of the war.  If you want to see me, just come there.  Anne would be harder to get a hold of."

"Still, if you sent me a message, I can come up on one of my days off," Anne said.

"Thank you.  Both of you.  I'm not sure if anything is clearer now or not, but I do feel better having talked to you."

"One last thing I'll say," Gwen said as they reached the door.  "And I hesitate to say this, because I really don't want to pressure you into something you're not comfortable with."

"Go on," Zyla prompted.

"If you reject David... he's going to be very hurt.  You would be the third woman in his life he's fully opened up to, who have said that they just can't handle being his girl.  The first was Lise.  The second was Olissa.  If he has to go through that again, I don't know how long it would take before he'd be willing to put himself back out there.  Seriously, I don't want you to do something you don't believe in, but I also really don't want to see my friend in pain.  Please don't make that call unless you're absolutely sure."

Zyla looked into Gwen's eyes and saw both the intensity, and the sincerity, in her gaze.  She nodded, and then the two took their leave.

Zyla closed the door and went back to the kitchen, to sit and think about everything they'd said.

 David circled the ghost of Tieram.  He didn't expect to learn anything this way.  The truth was, he was stalling.  He'd spent the last three days trying to figure out a way to move the body of Tieram to this alcove among the rocks.  He had come up with only one answer.

The problem was, the answer was something he wasn't very good at.  He couldn't ask anyone else to help him with it, because the process simply didn't work that way.

Sighing, David finally gave in.  He sat down in the snow, a large, shallow pan in front of him.  Using a bit of aquamandy, David dumped some snow into the pan.

"Tapamana bekagina," David said.  The snow melted instantly into water, its placid surface reflecting the light from Tieram's spirit.

David spent several minutes meditating, trying to calm his mind and prepare for the task ahead.  He finally opened his eyes and stared down into the pan of water.

Water, water, everywhere,

Show me what you see.

From every land, both far and near,

Bring your sights to me.

A place so barren, among the trees,

At its center, a man not dead.

Before me now, bring here the sight

Of the little Zombie Shed.

The water in the pan began to ripple and bubble.  The image that formed was faint, and the water ripples made it hard to see, but it was sufficient for David's purpose.  He reached out with his mind, entering the image before him.

Feeling his way, David's consciousness encompassed the body of Tieram.  When he felt he had a solid hold, David began the conjure.  The concentration required to do this was intense, and David was sweating, despite the sub-zero temperature.  Finally, after long moments, the body slipped free of its cursed existence, and it shimmered into place, right beside its ghost.

"Well," David said, gasping in pain from the headache he suddenly had, "Step one, complete.  At least that was the hard part..."

David cleared away the pan, and also melted away all the snow in the little alcove.  He didn't know if that was necessary, but didn't want to take chances with this procedure.

"Transiflumina!" David shouted, and aimed his wand at the ghost.  A red hexagram appeared on the ground, and the ghost was surrounded by an energy field.  He did not, however, move.

"Damn.  I was hoping that would at least wake him up..." David said.  Sighing, he shrugged.  "I guess we just move on to the next step and hope it works."

Aiming his wand at the body, he said, "Primidusu."  A blue field of energy surrounded the body.  Lines of energy floated back and forth randomly, criss-crossing the surface of the energy field, waiting for a mind to imprison.  Primidusu was normally a very nasty hex, meant to trap someone's ghost within the confines of an object.  In this case, David was hoping it would reunite that which had been torn asunder.

"Here goes nothing..." David said.

"Tuin dabox, redita go.  Weebe fastan daybie slo!" he shouted.

The ghost of Tieram flashed out of existence.  The blue field around the body of Tieram burst in a brilliant display, and then the body collapsed to the ground.

David started, worried, but then he saw the body of Tieram moving.  He rushed over and knelt down.

"Don't move around too much," David said.

"Gonna be sick," Tieram said, and rolled away from David, vomiting.

David chuckled.  "Asleep for a thousand years, and the first thing he does when he wakes up is pukes.  And I thought I was having a bad life."

Tieram finished heaving, and then rolled back onto his back, looking up at the sky.

"Where am I?"

"In a place called Keanuanu.  In Vrudena."

"Urgh," Tieram said.  "My head..."

David produced a pain potion from his coat and gave it to him.  Swallowing it, Tieram felt a lot better, instantly.

"Who are you?" Tieram asked.

"David Stroud."

"That's... well, not very informative," Tieram said.

David chuckled.  "Sorry.  I'm not sure how to answer the question in any way that would help you.  I'm a member of the Callamandian Army."

"In Vrudena?  Are you a traitor?" Tieram demanded.

"No," David replied sharply.  "I'm actually on a mission for the king."

"A spy, then," Tieram said.

"Not exactly.  I'm afraid I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"Of course.  Tell me, how goes the war?"

"Well, the war you're talking about, we won.  The war I'm in, we're not doing so hot."

"What the devil are you talking about?"

"Tieram, what's the last thing you remember?"

"They were about to attack Tonawoga.  I went in to stop them.  I was casting a ward-off... there was a flash...

"And then I woke up here.  What are you telling me?"

"You've been... asleep.  For a long time."

"Weeks?  Months?  Years?  What are we talking here, man?"

"Approximately twelve hundred years."

"My denivi," Tieram gasped.

"What's a denivi?"

"It is one of our deities."

"Ah, okay.  In any case, we should probably get you shelter.  You don't exactly have on the warmest clothing."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"It's complicated," David said.

"Ah."

"C'mon.  I'll take you to my igloo so you can warm up.  I don't really know what you're going to do after that... I just figured you probably didn't want to spend all of eternity asleep."

"Too true, that.  Thank you."

"No problem."

David helped the man up, and they walked slowly, as Tieram was quite weak, to David's igloo.

"You kept me waiting, Human," the dragon snarled.

"I was busy," David replied.

"Busier than I?" Inaneamoko demanded.

"I have no idea.  I'm a soldier in a losing war.  What is it you do?"

Inaneamoko snorted, frost spewing from his nostrils and immediately turning to steam.

"Point taken, Human.  And you are here for the Wind Crystal?"

"If it's another part of the primal aegis, then yes."

"It is.  Why should I give it to you?"

"What is it with dragons?" David asked in exasperation.  "You should give it to me because I need it, and you probably don't.  If there's something you want in exchange for it, please just say so.  If you're not willing to give it to me under any circumstances, then just say that, too.  I really do have better things to be doing with my time than arguing with you over this.  My nation is being overrun by a barbaric enemy, and the primal aegis may be of use to us in stopping them.  There is no further 'why', involved, Dragon."

"Angering me is no way to engender my cooperation."

David glared at him.  "Ask me if I care if you're annoyed.  Go ahead, ask me."

"Do you care if you retrieve the Wind Crystal?" the dragon inquired acidly.

"Not particularly," David responded coldly.

"Then why seek it out?"

"Because my king told me to."

"And you always do what your king tells you to do?"

"As best I can.  I am loyal to my country, and to my oaths.  I gave an oath to the king."

"And when the king told you to murder 43 innocent men?"

"I have never killed an innocent man," David retorted.

"Fine, a matter of opinion, innocence, I suppose.  43 helpless men, then?"

"I was doing what I was told to do."

"Do you regret it?"

"I was doing what I was told to do," David repeated.  "Regret, in the face of a direct order, is irrelevant."

"You were only following orders, eh?  I know some Earth history, Human.  That line has justified many an evil deed."

"Yes, it has.  And my deed may well be considered a war crime... if we lose."

"Which you believe likely?"

"Without extreme measures, yes."

"Such as your last mission."

"Unfortunately."

"But you feel no remorse for killing those men."

"Remorse would also be useless.  Those men would have died in the war, anyway.  Or they would have caused the deaths of dozens, or perhaps thousands, of others.  At the very worst, I have only exchanged 43 enemy lives for 43 friendly lives.  Potentially, I have exchanged 43 enemy lives for four thousand lives.  I can live with that."

"And yet you seriously mourned the loss of a mere pegasus.  A deathly ill one, at that," the dragon goaded.

"How do you know things like that?" David wondered aloud.

"I am a dragon."

"Uh-huh.  The usual non-answer.  Yes, I mourned the loss of an innocent life who had become a friend.  I mourned the passing of someone who put herself through hell to help someone she didn't really know."

"It wasn't a very dark wizard thing to do, mourning.  You used her as the resource she was.  A tool, to be wielded for your own purpose.  If the tool must break to achieve the purpose, then so be it..." Inaneamoko said, prodding at David's anger.

"Life is never to be tossed away senselessly, or without care," David retorted.  "Virtue's death served a greater good, but it was not to pass without concern for her sacrifice."

"As I said, not a very dark wizard attitude."

"So?" David demanded.

"Why did you salvage Tieram?"

"'Salvage'?"

"You cannot proclaim to have saved him.  He wasn't in any danger.  In fact, he was much safer before than he is now, as he was magically preserved before.  But you are arguing over semantics.  Why did you do what you did?"

"Because he didn't deserve to be stuck that way.  His life was taken from him during an act of defense, potentially a heroic act of defense.  Since it was within my abilities to return that life to him, I tried.  I managed to succeed.  Why shouldn't I have?"

"Again, it's not a very dark wizard thing to do."

"Again, so?"

"You seem conflicted.  On the one side, you show no remorse for the murder of your enemies.  On the other, you go out of your way to help a complete stranger."

"I am not attempting to be evil, Dragon," David retorted.  "I am attempting not to be.  That is simply proving difficult, given the circumstances of my life."

"Yes.  So why don't you change the circumstances?"

"Because that hurts others."

"So does you turning evil," Inaneamoko pointed out.

"And so you see the problem.  If you have a real solution to it, let me know."

"Of course I do.  But I cannot tell you, for it would affect your destiny."

"Why is it that everyone who has knowledge of my future, won't tell me shit until it's too late to be useful?" David demanded, annoyed.

"Why do birds sing?  Why do thunderclouds roar?  Why are fairies born in secret?  These are the ways of things.  You should not know your future, and so you do not, and I cannot tell you."

"But you know whether or not I'm going to succeed in beating this thing already, don't you?"

"Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  The choice is, strangely, not entirely in your hands."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Inaneamoko snorted.  "Surely you don't actually expect an answer to that question."

"No, that would have been helpful, which would be a very... 'undraconic' thing for you to do."

Inaneamoko snorted frost again.  "You still show promise, Human, but you are dangerously close to going over the precipice, to a place where even dragons choose not to go.  I would strongly suggest you find a way to fight harder.

"In any case, as your intent has not yet changed, I will grant you the Wind Crystal."  The dragon twisted his wrist so his hand was palm-up, and a small, clear shard appeared.  He moved his hand forward, and David stepped close to accept the stone.

"Thank you," David said.

"Nice to see you still have a few manners," the dragon said.

David chose not to respond.

"I have asked the leader of the Kolakupalakaikalani to transport you back to your king.  Tieram will travel with you."

"I don't wish to inconvenience the clan leader," David objected.

"You haven't.  I asked him, not you.  In any case, he wishes to speak to the king, so it is convenient for him, as well."

"Oh.  Okay.  Are we leaving right away?"

"Do you have reason to delay?" Inaneamoko asked.

"Not really.  I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me where to find the next piece of this stupid shield?"

"It grows colder with each passing day this time of year," Inaneamoko said.

"Uh-huh.  Well, thanks for the crystal."

"Good luck, Human.  You are going to need it."

The trip south had been rapid and uncomfortable.  The dragon, whose pronounceable name was "Stillwell", didn't give much thought to David's and Tieram's comfort, and flew at a staggering speed, much faster than a pegasus.  They arrived at the Cormatsen royal home in only a few hours.  The guards scattered as the dragon came in for a landing, unwilling to stand against so formidable a creature.

David had barely managed to climb off of Stillwell before the king was emerging from the house.

"David!  Not getting us into another war, are you?" he said with a grin.

"No, Your Majesty.  Stillwell was kind enough to provide me with transport out of Vrudena."

"Did you acquire what you sought?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."  The king turned to the dragon.  "Thank you, friend, for bringing my paladin home.  It's been many years."

"Yes," Stillwell said.  "Hollomina sends her greetings."

"And how is she doing these days?"

"Much improved.  Your little aid helped her recover from that habit rather nicely."

"Glad to be of service.  And... who is this?" the king asked, motioning to Tieram.

"This is the man who was stuck in the Zombie Shed, Majesty," David said.

"Oh?  How did you free him from all the way in Vrudena?"

"By causing myself a headache I'm still not over," David said with a grimace.

The king chuckled.

"And the reason I wanted to speak to you," Stillwell said to the king.  "You see, Tieram is not a man.  You may assume your true form now," he said to Tieram.

Suddenly, Tieram started to change.  Wings sprouted out of his back as his neck lengthened.  His arms and legs lengthened and grew thicker, and he was suddenly growing a tail.  In seconds, another large dragon sat in the courtyard.

"Tieram is actually my grandfather," Stillwell said.

David gawked.  "I rescued a dragon?"

"Regret your act now, Human?" Tieram asked.

"No, why would I?  I'm just a bit surprised I had to."

"Even we are not infallible," Tieram said.

"Would you have saved him, had you known?" Stillwell asked David.

"Sure.  I've got nothing against dragons.  I live with one, in fact."

"Indeed.  The cave dragon, Bisperion.  He speaks highly of you."

David chose not to say anything to that.

"I thank you for rescuing my ancestor, Human.  Let it not be said that a dragon was ungrateful for help.  The next piece you seek will be found in the Eternal Storm, far to the south.  You must seek the electric dragon, Apraxis.  Be warned, Human: finding him within the storm will be difficult, at best.  Deadly, at worst."

"You know who I am," David said.  "Deadly doesn't apply."

Stillwell grunted.  "There are things worse than death.  Falling from thousands of feet could be one of them."

David snorted.  "Yeah, maybe.  Thank you, for the information."

Stillwell nodded.  Turning to the king, he said, "By your leave."

"Good journey to both of you.  Come to visit again when all this craziness is over."

Stillwell nodded, then looked toward Tieram.  The two leapt together, and the beating of wings filled the air as the two mighty reptiles clawed their way into the sky.

"Well.  You seem to have made a good impression with the ice dragons.  Come inside and relax.  You can tell us about it."

"Yes, sir," David said, and followed the king into the house.

 "Christa, have you seen Pal- Oh!" the queen said, startled.  She had come into Christa's bedroom while David was dressing.  He was elated at two things.  The first, that he could no longer blush.  The second, that he had already put his pants on.  He was, however, not yet wearing a shirt.

"Apparently she has seen Paladin Stroud," the queen said with a smirk.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," David said.

"Good morning, David."

"Did you need me for something?" David asked.

"Need you?"

"Well, you came in asking if Christa had seen me..."

"Oh!  Yes, well, it's almost breakfast time, and we couldn't find you to tell you."

"Here I am," he said with a grin.

"Yes.  My word, that looks awful," she said, noticing the scar on his chest.  "What happened?"

"I fell through a rotting floor and was pierced through by a bird cage spire."

"My lord.  And that's how you became a demighost?"

"Well, it's how I died.  Becoming a demighost had to do with Jacob, and the curse put upon him."  David donned his shirt, as he felt uncomfortable being half-naked in front of the queen.

"So... can I expect to be sending out wedding invitations soon?" the queen asked.  There was some mirth to her voice, but David could tell the question was serious.

"No, Your Majesty.  Christa and I are close friends, but, for various reasons, we decided it best not to attempt to take things further than that."

The queen nodded.  "Too bad.  You would have made a good addition to the family."

David looked up in surprise.  "Thank you, Your Majesty.  That was a very kind thing to say."

"David, I never really did get a chance to thank you for saving my life."

"That's my job, Your Majesty.  What kind of Royal Paladin would I be if I let the queen perish?"

The queen smiled.  "Still, you went into danger for me, and I feel I didn't express any real appreciation for that.  Is there anything I could do by way of saying thank you?"

"You could get me kicked out of the army..." David offered lightly.  He knew she couldn't.

The queen chuckled.  "If that were possible, Jonathan would already have done it."

"Jonathan?"

"My husband.  You don't know your king's name?"

"Well, as far as all us subjects are concerned, his name is 'Your Majesty', so..."

The queen chuckled.  "Quite.  No, his name is Jonathan Aberlin.  And, just to fill in the blank, my first name is Claire."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"One of these days, you might consider calling me that, instead of Your Majesty," she said with a smile.

David would have paled at the very notion, if he was able.

"But back to my original question.  Is there any way in which I can say thank you, properly?  I know we gave you a crescent, but that's just hullabaloo."

"Nothing comes immediately to mind, Your Majesty," David said.  "I do thank you for the thought, however."

"Well.  We'll do it this way, then.  I now owe you a favor.  Should you need something from me in the future, you merely need to ask."

"As you say, ma'am," David said.

"Now then... say, where is Christa?"

"Coming!" a voice called from out in the hallway.  "Oh, hey, Mom.  I was having Missy fix my shoe.  The buckle broke."

"Oh, dear.  You know, Christa, you really should learn to fix that kind of thing yourself."

"Mom, I only got in a single year of school!  I can't do magic!"

"Oh, that's right.  I forgot.  Well, was Missy able to take care of it?"

"Of course.  She's a wiz....ard..."

The queen chuckled, and David grinned.

"Well, I'm sure breakfast is ready by now.  Come along, you two."

The two followed the queen out of the room.

Breakfast was the usual feast that David had come to expect from a royal breakfast.

The king said, "So, David... just to fill you in, that were unit you sabotaged for us... we were able to push them all the way back into Vrudenan territory, thanks to you."

"I'm glad the operation worked, Your Majesty," David said.

"How are you feeling about it?" the king asked seriously.

"I'm not," David replied.

"Excuse me?"

"By the time I was done, Your Majesty, I was pretty well numb.  I... don't feel anything about the mission.  It happened.  It's done.  That it worked makes me satisfied, but the mission itself..." David shrugged.  "I am probably trying to submerge the memories so I don't think about them."

"What did you do?" Christa asked.

"You don't want to know," David said with great finality.  "You certainly don't want to know over breakfast."

"Oh," she said, frowning.

"I'm afraid that I can't promise not to send you on more such missions, David.  The success of this one is only going to make the arkigos more eager."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you feel well enough to return to duty?"

"I need to do one more thing before heading back to HQ.  While I was sitting on my butt waiting for Inaneamoko to deign to see me, I worked on finding locations of... er... those things we've talked about."

"Right," the king said.

"I think I've located three of them, but I'll need to go and see, to know whether or not what we have, works.  All three of them are south of Senesty."

"Why did you pick all the way down there?" the king asked.

"I didn't.  The equations are kind of funny the way they work.  You don't pick a place to look for, a place just comes out the other end, based on the inputs you do put in."

"I see.  So, finding useful ones could be tricky."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, feel free to check those out.  We need that information, and sooner is better than later."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And... When do you plan to travel to see Apraxis?"

"Sir, I don't even know where the Eternal Storm is.  I'll have to locate that, first of all.  Then... whenever I have the opportunity, I guess."

"Very good.  Nice of Stillwell to give us that information."

"Yes, sir.  Nicest thing a dragon's done for me in... ever..."

The entire family chuckled.

"Yes, sir?" David asked the batalisto on the other end of the portal.

"Enact a privacy field," DeSantis told him.  Once David did so, he continued.  "I have a special mission for Troop 42.  This is going to sound crazy, and it is very dangerous.  We need you to get yourself captured."

"Sir?" David asked, shocked.

"We have some disinformation we want to get into the hands of the enemy.  We want your unit to get captured with the information on you, as if you were couriering it to its destination.  Then, the weres will search you, find it, and hopefully believe it.  Once they have the information in their possession, you are to escape by whatever means possible."

"Sir, my troop, as is, cannot perform this mission."

"Why not?" DeSantis demanded.

"Because we have information that the Vrudenans have some kind of vendetta against centaurs.  They are killing every one they come across.  This mission would be a death sentence for Soldier Dubnina."

DeSantis frowned.  "Right.  We hadn't considered that.  Do you have a recommendation?"

"Leave her here.  To explain why our unit only has two people, Capadra Columbo and I could disguise ourselves to look injured, as if we had escaped some other fight.  This would also explain why we don't fight back, which we cannot risk doing, or Columbo could be killed, as well."

"It's not a bad plan.  It might also make them think the information is so important that you're trying to deliver it, even severely wounded.  How bad can you make yourself look?"

"With a glamour, I can make myself look downright gross.  Same with Cpd. Columbo.  In her case, we could even morph her to look more gruesome."

"I like it.  Do that, then.  We need this information in their hands within the next week."

"Yes, sir.  Once this mission is finished, I'd like to request time off until our next set of missions is due out."

"Granted, provisionally.  Obviously if something changes while you're gone..."

"Right."

"Carry on, Vocator."

"Yes, sir."

David got up, thanked the comm soldier, and left to find Vivian.

"What if they just shoot us?" Vivian asked as she limped through the forest.

"Then I'm sorry that I got you killed," David said somberly and without the slightest bit of humor.  "And I will understand if you never speak to me again.  C'mon, let's sit down.  Faking a limp is as hard as walking on a real one.  I'm tired."

The two of them slumped down on a fallen log.  David appeared to have bruises on his face and a laceration on his chest.  His uniform was ripped in several places.

Vivian was morphed to appear as if her ribs were bruised and her shoulder was dislocated.  Both of them had fake blood smeared across their bodies.

"How long you want to rest?"

"Three, four... years..." David said.

Vivian snorted.

Suddenly, they were confronted by a huge werewolf, snarling at them.  They turned to look, and found themselves surrounded.

"Move, and I will kill you," the one in front of him said.

"Where the fuck did you assholes come from?" David growled.  He was acting, but it was also a legitimate question.  He'd not heard them coming.

Should have had Jailla join us on this one.  Damn.

"Up!" the werewolf snapped.

David rose, then turned to help Vivian to her feet, keeping up the act that they were injured.

"Walk," the were commanded, pointing with his spear.  As David and Vivian limped along, the were jabbed David in the back.  "Move!"

"I'm moving as fast as I can, asshole!" David snapped back.  "Does it look like we're in any condition for a hike?"

"If you'd prefer, I can simply kill you and carry off the woman.  No point in breaking my toys before I've had a chance to play with them..."

Vivian looked worriedly at David.  He just nodded at her reassuringly.  The two sped up their walking as much as they could while keeping up the act.  It was a long walk to their transport.

"I don't think I like your tone," David's interrogator said.

"Fuck you," David replied.

The interrogator nodded to the punisher.  The punisher punched David in the stomach.  David glared up at him.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," David told him.

The punisher chuckled menacingly, and punched David in the face, breaking his nose.

David had to be careful.  If he got hurt too badly, he would change to a ghost, and that would give them information he didn't want them to have.

"Well, well, what is this?" the interrogator said.  He had been going through David's clothes, which they had ripped off him after chaining him to a pole.

"That's nothing.  Just some old letters," David said quickly.

"Old letters?  Love letters, perhaps?  That could be interesting reading..."  The interrogator opened the folded papers and began to read.  "My, my.  You write some very interesting letters.  Tell me, do you dream of marrying the entire Second Command?  Or is it one particular battalion?"

"Go to hell."

"Oh, tch tch.  There is no such place."

"Wanna bet?" David retorted.  "Untie me.  I'll take you there."

"No, I don't think so.  I think I will take these papers to the commandant, and let Garveth have some fun with you."

"Right.  I forgot.  As a werewolf, you're a coward."

Garveth slammed his fist into David's stomach hard enough to make him retch.  David watched the door, waiting for the interrogator to be far enough away.

Once David was sure he had time, He looked up at Garveth.  "Ready to learn something about pain?" David asked.

Garveth smiled and cracked his knuckles.

David faded to ghost form, slipped out of his shackles, and then faded back.

"What?" Garveth gasped, not comprehending what he'd just seen.

"Okay, asshole, let's dance."

David leapt and snapped a kick to Garveth's face.  Garveth went flying to the floor, and David brought his foot down on the werewolf's head, shattering his nose and jaw at the same time.  Garveth screamed in agony until David next brought his foot down, full-force, onto Garveth's balls.  Garveth yelped in surprise, pain, and the beginnings of shock.

David snapped his fingers, and suddenly his sword was in his hand.  David rammed the point of it right through Garveth's groin.  Garveth screamed like an eight-year-old girl as his dick was actually severed in half.

Having vented his anger, David remembered the info from his last mission.  He rammed his sword next into Garveth's liver, twisting it round and round until his liver looked more like liverwurst.  Finally, he took his sword and slashed Garveth's throat, right below his larynx.

Looking down in Garveth's dying face, David said, "Don't fuck with Death."  He watched as the light slowly faded from the were's eyes, then wiped his sword on Garveth's shirt.

After a couple minutes, he heard the interrogator returning.  David stood beside the opening to the tent so that he would not be visible as the interrogator entered.

"What the hell?" the interrogator asked.

Suddenly, cold steel ran across the interrogator's throat.

"Where is my partner?" David demanded.

"Being interrogated next door," the interrogator said shakily.

"Where are my letters?" David asked next.

"I gave them to the commandant.  I don't have them."

"Too bad for you.  They were the only thing that could have saved your life."

With that, David sliced the interrogator's head clean off.  As the body fell to the floor, David turned to his tasks.  He had to move quickly; he didn't know what they were doing to Vivian.

In a blink, David conjured his uniform out of his Conjuring Room.  He put it on rapidly, then slid his sword into place in its pocket.  He next conjured Kalagasakalayo, with his wand in it, and put it back on his arm.

"You fucks didn't even wonder why I was unarmed.  Fucking morons."

David faded to invisibility, and left the tent.  He went left first, but the tent there was empty.  He then moved to the tent to the right of the one he'd been in.

There, he found Vivian, chained to a pole as he had been, her hands high above her head.  She was completely nude, and he could see bruises on her body.

He had apparently arrived just in time, however, as her were punisher was just now removing his pants.

"You are going to be a lot of fun," the punisher said.

David pulled his wand as he faded to solidity.  Vivian gasped involuntarily, and the punisher turned to see what had startled her.

"Hello there," David said.  "Say good-bye, asshole."

The werewolf started to growl, but David snarled, "Wa tawurl dwat awurld!"

Suddenly, the werewolf started to dissolve.  He screamed in pain, and tried to lunge at David, but David merely shoved him and he fell to the floor, his body no longer able to support itself.  David looked down mercilessly at the melting creature.

"In this war, no one gets to fuck Vivian but me," David told the rapidly dying were.  Finally, after less than a minute, the werewolf was gone, his body having soaked into the damp ground at their feet.

"God am I glad to see you," Vivian said.

"How bad did they hurt you?" David asked seriously.

"Nothing compared to what was coming, I'm pretty sure," she said.  "Get me down from here, would you?"

David stepped over to her.  "You know, they're expecting loud screams and cries from this tent.  If they don't hear any, there could be trouble..."

"David..." Vivian whined.

David gently placed his hands on her tits, caressing the skin there and lightly tweaking her nipples.

Vivian groaned.  It felt good, despite the situation.

"If someone comes in, we'll be in deep shit," she objected.

"Who's gonna come in and interrupt soup-boy's fun?" David asked, sliding his hands from her tits onto her sides, and massaging her.  He let one hand slip off her, so he could unfasten his pants and pull out his dick.

"You're really gonna do this to me... now, like this?

"You know the one thing I haven't heard you say?" David asked as he placed the head of his dick at her opening.

"What?" she asked with a slight whine in her voice.

As David slid his dick inside her already very wet pussy, he said, "I haven't heard you tell me not to."

Vivian groaned loudly.  David reached down and pulled her legs up.  She cried out in discomfort; her weight was largely on her shoulders now.  David adjusted his grip to take up some of the pressure.  After that, he started to slam his hips into her, shoving his cock as deep into her pussy as he could.

Vivian didn't bother to restrain her cries.  She was yelping and screaming as David fucked her hard.  She could feel her heat rising, knew that, despite the danger, despite the fact that she was surrounded by thousands of werewolves, she was about to have an intense orgasm.

In a few more seconds, she did, a scream of joy ripping from her throat and filling the tent, clearly audible to anyone outside.

"Well," David said with a chuckle.  "You seem to like risky sex.  Let's see what else you might like."

David set Vivian down, and then twisted her around, so she was facing away from him.  He reached around and grabbed her tits, twisting her nipples strongly.

Vivian cried out in pain, but she also felt her pussy twitch.  Her cry was replaced with a moan.

David silently cast a charm, and then moved his hand back to position his dick.  He then began to shove, pushing his cock into Vivian's ass.

"UNGH!" Vivian said.  "I've never!"

"Well, you're about to.  Go ahead and scream.  And... do tell me if it hurts too much..."

"Uh... ungh... Can barely... talk!" she said as David continued to shove himself inside of her.

"Well, I can't do much about that," David said with a grin.  "Ready?"

"Unh..."

"Yes?  Good.  Here we go..."

David pulled back and then thrust himself into her.  Vivian screamed in discomfort.  David pulled back again and slammed into her one more time.  Vivian screamed again, but this time, she wasn't sure if it was pain or pleasure.

Five more thrusts, and she was sure.  It wasn't pain.

David fucked her ass hard and fast, shoving himself as far into her as he could.  Vivian was screaming and crying and cursing for him to go faster, but he had no more speed to give her.  He reached up and began to pull and twist her nipples, and that pushed her arousal even higher.  She could feel her peak coming.

David rammed into her over and over, and finally he slammed his hips against her and froze, letting out a guttural growl that sounded very were-like.  Vivian, feeling his spunk filling her up, and also feeling the extra twist he gave her nipples when he came, blasted through her peak and soared into blessed oblivion.  Her body shuddered and rocked as her orgasm washed over her.  David thrust into her erratically as he was coming down from his own high, and that kept her climax going until he finally slipped out of her and had to lean on the pole she was tied to.

Before Vivian was able to process anything, David had managed to come to his senses and get his knees to stop wobbling.  He had dissolved the chains that were holding her hands, and he had gently settled her to the floor.

When she awoke, David was looking down at her with a smile, but a bit of concern.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Ungh-huh," she replied, still not capable of making words.

David leaned down and kissed her softly.  She responded in kind, and they stayed that way for a while, until finally she pushed him away gently.

"We really do need to get out of here now," she said.

David nodded.  "There's your uniform."

Vivian sat up and grabbed her panties, first of all.  As she dressed, she asked, "What the hell was that about?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to upset you," David said quietly.

She turned to him.  "I'm more confused than upset.  We really are in danger here, and you stop to have a fling?"

"I honestly couldn't resist, seeing you tied up like that, all naked... and feeling the relief that I hadn't gotten here five minutes later..."

"Thank you for that part," she said.

"Anyway, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it."

"I never said that," Vivian retorted.  "Though you could've given a girl a choice about getting her ass reamed for the first time..."

"Sorry," David replied again.

Vivian sighed, and finished getting dressed.

Once Vivian was done, David said, "We should go now.  They probably won't look for you for a couple hours, given the screaming, but no telling how long before someone comes looking for my interrogator."

"Yeah.  How do we get out of here without being spotted?"

"You are going to morph yourself into a black cat.  I am going to become invisible."

"You sure they won't try to eat me for dinner?"

"Werewolves are afraid of black cats."

"You sure they won't try to kill me to get rid of me?" she asked, just as worried.

"They think killing a black cat will destroy their clan."

"So why don't we all go around as black cats and freak them out?" Vivian said with a grin.

"Because they'd figure it out too fast.  Seeing just you walking through the forest, they won't think enough of it to check whether you're really a cat.  Now, c'mon, we'll go out the back of the tent.  It borders the woods."

Vivian morphed into a cat, and the two slipped out into the forest.  They kept moving for six hours, until they were sure they were clear of danger.  Finally, Vivian morphed back to a human, and David came back to visibility.

"Are we safe here?" she asked.

"Should be.  We're well beyond their patrol range.  Let's erect the tent."

"Who stands guard?"

"No one.  I'll hex the tent to repel anyone from coming near it."

"Then how the hell do we get in?"

"I'll hex it from inside," David said.

"Oh, okay."

The two crawled inside the tent and settled onto the floor to eat.

Near the end of the meal, Vivian asked, "David... did you think about the whole black cat thing with Joe?"

"No," David said.  "I didn't know about their superstitions back then.  It wouldn't have mattered, in any case."

"Why not?"

"Joe sucked at morphing.  I don't think he'd have been able to pull off a cat."

"Oh.  How much time have you spent trying to think of ways you could have gotten out of that situation better?"

"Way too much," David replied quietly.

Vivian frowned, and then moved over close to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Vivian..." David started.

"Hmm?"

"How do you really feel about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean... look, I know the whole reason we started sleeping together was because of this stupid war.  It gave us both a way to relieve some stress.  But... do you actually... I mean, is there anything else there?"

"Are you trying to ask me if I'm in love with you?"

"Or anything of that sort," David confirmed.

"Why are you asking me this now?" she deflected.

"Some personal crap going on at home," David said vaguely.  "I know you once said that you'd never met a man whose crap you could put up with.  I'm just wondering if anything's changed for you, I guess."

"Are you in love with me?" Vivian asked.

"I asked you first," David retorted quickly with a grin.

Vivian blushed.  "I... don't think I'm in love with you.  But I do care deeply for you."

"Do you think we'll continue to be close after the war... assuming the damn thing has an end?"

"I'd like to think so.  Assuming I'm alive."

"I'm a demighost.  Alive isn't really a requirement..."

Vivian chuckled.  "No, I guess not.  In that case... probably."

"I mean... I guess what I'm asking is if you want more from our relationship," David said.

"Not right now," Vivian said.  "Hell, at this point, 'more' would have to mean we were living toge... no, we're already living together, aren't we?  It would mean marriage.  I don't think I want to marry you... at least, I don't want to now.  I'm not ruling it out if we got closer in the future."

"Do you want that?"

"I really don't know.  I haven't thought about any of this, David.  I'm too busy being scared shitless."

"I wish I could send you home, Viv.  I don't like putting you in danger all the time."

"I know," she said.  She leaned up and kissed him tenderly, running her hand across his cheek.  When they parted, she said, "Come on, let's 'relieve some stress'.  Just... stay away from my butt this time, okay?  It's still sore."

David smiled softly at her and kissed her again, pushing her down into the mat.

The next hour was, indeed, very relaxing.

 "Thank you for your help, David," Zyla said.  "When they contacted me about the account, I didn't even know it existed.  Why would Joe have been hiding money from me?"

"I can only guess, Zyla.  Maybe for an emergency.  Maybe it was intended to... um... never mind."

"What?"

David sighed.  He didn't want to remind her of it.  "Maybe it was intended to be his burial fund."

Zyla frowned.  "That's possible... but then, why didn't he tell me?"

"Probably because he didn't expect to die thanks to the stupidity of a friend."

"David," Zyla said, stopping him and turning him toward her.  "You didn't kill Joe.  The weres killed Joe.  What's the matter?  You're not usually this glum about things."

"Just recent events," David said, shrugging.

"Our talk a couple weeks ago?" Zyla guessed.

"That's part of it, but... no, that one mission was... and then this last one, Vivian nearly got..." David shuddered.

"What?  Killed?"

"Raped."

Zyla gasped.  "My god.  Did you two get captured?"

"On purpose.  You didn't hear that."

"Of course not.  Is she okay?"

"I got there in time, so all she ended up with were some bruises from the interrogation.  But we made it away from thousands of weres without a scratch... why couldn't I save Joe?"

Zyla put her arm through David's and leaned against him.  "The situation wasn't the same, I'm sure.  And... well... nine months of experience."

"I guess."

"There's got to be something more.  Can you tell me about the mission you went on when you left last time?"

"No, that one's still a secret."

"But it bothered you."

"That's putting it mildly."

Zyla frowned.  "I'm sorry, David.  I don't know what to tell you.  This war is hurting you so much... I wish there was something I could do to help."

"You do," David said.

"How?"

"You remind me what we're fighting for," he said, and hugged her tightly, then gave her a soft kiss.

"Come on, let's go to the market and get-" she said, but was interrupted by a commotion.  Two men were running from a shop down the street.

"Stop!  Thief!  Stop!" the shopkeeper came running out of the store after them.

David pulled out his wand as Zyla stepped away from him.  He aimed at the one and cast bara, tripping him.  The other man ran on.  David tried to hex him, but missed.

Rather than let both men get away, David went over to the one he'd tripped and yanked him to his feet.  He was the one with the stolen goods, anyway.

"All right, asshole, you're under arrest," David said.

"Let him go!" someone said harshly.  That command was followed by a scream.

David turned to see a large man holding Zyla by the arm.  He was pointing his wand at her head.  It was the other thief, who had obviously doubled back to help out his partner.

"You let him go, or the bitch gets hurt!"

David glared.  Very quietly, aiming his wand at the man he'd just captured, he said, "Paralio."  The man froze, unable to move, speak, or even blink.

"I said let him go!  NOW!" Acting as if he was going to surrender, David put away his wand and put his hands at his sides, pressed into his thighs.

"Johnny, let's go!" the man shouted.  Johnny, of course, was going nowhere.

David gripped his thighs and concentrated very hard on the man in front of him.

"What the fuck did you do to him?" the guy demanded.  "You let him go or I'm hexing this bitch!  You've got to the count of five!"

David focused his attention, and the world suddenly devolved into bright colored streaks.  A second later, it popped into focus again, only he was now standing right in front of the man holding Zyla's arm.

The man jolted in surprise, but before he could react any further, David wrapped his left hand around the man's throat and began to squeeze with all his might.

"You're going to find it extremely difficult to perform a hex with a crushed larynx," David growled darkly.  Zyla looked at him, and it was as if a shadow was crossing over his face.  His features seemed slightly out of focus.

David continued to squeeze, and the man's face was turning blue.  He couldn't get any breath in.  Finally, Zyla was able to slip free of his grasp.  She looked at the man, and realized that David was killing him, right in front of her.

"David, don't," she pleaded.  "I... I don't want to see this side of you.  Please, don't make me watch this."  She put her hand against his chest and rubbed gently.

It was as if a hex had been broken.  David's face cleared, and he loosened his grip on the man's throat.  The man nearly collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.  He put his hand to his throat. "You were gonna fuckin' kill me!" the guy accused.

"Yes, I was.  You should thank your hostage for saving your ass."

"You were going to kill me, just to prevent some bitch from getting roughed up?"

David snorted, and then stared at him, to make sure he had the man's attention.  "You?  I would kill you to prevent her from getting a hangnail.  To prevent her from actually getting hurt?  I would gladly kill everyone on this block.

"Twice."

The man stared at David, and so did Zyla.

"The only reason you're still breathing is she asked me to stop.  Frankly, I think you're a waste of good oxygen.  Now, drop to your knees and put your hands on your head.  You're under arrest."

"What, you think you're some kind of Rimohr or something?" the man sneered.

"Yes, actually.  Now, on your knees, before you suddenly don't have any."

As David pulled his wand, the man looked at him in shock, and slowly knelt on the ground.

David flicked his wand, and tendrils shot out.  They wrapped tightly around his wrists, binding them together and pulling them down into a very painful position.

"Aah!" the man screamed.

"Stop being a baby.  And don't struggle too much, or you'll dislocate your shoulder."

David waved his wand at the other thief, and he, too, was bound.  His position was somewhat more pleasant, as he had not threatened Zyla.  David then deactivated the paralysis spell.

"What the fuck did you do to me?  Why couldn't I move?  Let me go!"

"I told you, you're under arrest, shithead," David said.

"Aw, fuck," Johnny moped.

David turned to Zyla.  "You okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, my arm's a little sore, that's all.  Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you," David replied, and leaned in.  The two kissed softly for a long moment before they broke apart.

"Aw, wasn't that fucking sweet," the big guy sneered.

David's look darkened.  "You sure I can't hurt him a little?" David asked Zyla.

"Please don't," she said seriously. David sighed.  "Fine."  He smacked the guy on the head much harder than the spell required and said, "Sus!"

The guy tried to bitch about his head hurting, but could no longer talk.

"Ah, you're much more pleasant now," David said.  He then motioned to a passing coach, which came to a stop.  To Zyla, he said, "We'll have to take them to the office.  If that's going to be hard on you, you can stay in the coach..."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

At the Rimohr office, David shoved the two men in front of him, until they reached the bullpen.

One of the Rimohrs, one David had never seen before, got up and confronted him.

"You can't come back here, this is for authorized-"

"Shut your trap," David interrupted.  "You two, sit."

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, buddy," the Rimohr said, coming right up to David, "but-"

David's grabbed the man's coat and pulled him until their eyes were only a couple inches apart.

"If you want to live through the day, go back to your desk, sit the fuck down, and shut the fuck up.  I do not have the time nor the desire to explain to you who I am, or what I'm doing here.  Needless to say, I have official business in this office.  Where is Nancy?"

"Who?"

"The office manager?"

"At lunch.  Look, who the fuck do you think you are?"

"David... Stroud." David said, enunciating clearly and menacingly.  "I'm going to assume someone has mentioned me."

The Rimohr suddenly looked like he needed a bathroom.  "Uh... look, I didn't know..."

"And you didn't bother to try to find out, did you?" David growled.  "You went off half-cocked, assuming you had the right to bully people and push people around.  Next time, you might meet someone as stupid as yourself, and you'll wind up dead.  Now get the fuck out of my face."

David shoved the man, who staggered backward and bounced off a desk.

Turning back to his prisoners, David sat down at a desk and pulled out an arrest form.

"Name?" he asked the man who had threatened Zyla.

"I'm not telling you shit," the man replied.

David thought to threaten him, but decided there was a better way to handle it.  Turning to the other man, he asked, "Name?"

His partner nudged him, and so Johnny said, "I ain't talkin' neither."

David nodded, put away one form, and pulled out another.  He began filling it out without any input from the prisoners.

"What, that's it?  We don't tell you our names, and you just stop?"

"That's right," David said without looking up.  He finished filling out the form, and made two copies of it.

"Keef in his office, or is he at lunch, too?" David asked the other Rimohr.

"Uh, no, he's in there, I think."

David grabbed the paperweight sitting on the desk and chucked it at Keef's door.  It made a resounding thud as it hit.

A few seconds later, The door opened.

"Who the fuck is throwing - David!  What the hell are you doing here?"

"My job.  These two fuckwits were robbing a shop downtown."

"You can't prove that!" the big one objected.

"Shut up, John," David replied.

"No, I'm John," Johnny said.

"Shut up, you dickhead," the other one muttered.

"No, you're both John.  John Doe.  As such, you will be traveling to Barnard Hill tonight."

"What?  You can't put us in prison without a trial!"

"Oh, yes I can.  Callamandian law does not allow you to refuse to give your identity.  And since you two geniuses wanted to be cute, you will now go to prison and sit, until such time as you are willing to give your name under interrogation."

"What the fuck?  What kind of bullshit is that?  I'm not going to jail for not telling you who I am!  Fuck that shit!  My name is-"

David raised a hand to stop him.  "You are no longer being interrogated.  Telling me now wouldn't change anything.  I stopped interrogating you as soon as I finished filling out this form," he said, holding up the form he'd filled out on them.  "Now, if you'd like to tell me - or whichever Rimohr it is - during your next interrogation, that would probably be of help to you."

"Fuckin' fine.  When will we be interrogated again?"

"In about three years," David said coldly.

"THREE YEARS?" the man screamed.  "That's insane!"

"So was putting hands on someone I love," David replied.  "Count your blessings.  You'll be alive for the next three years.  That's better than you deserve."