And he wrapped me in his arms, relieved, quite nervous still. 'Even a ley-line should be too strong for you, unreachable actually, but you handled it just fine.'
He released me, then asked: 'Can you find my power?' I reached out again, using sight this time, and corrected myself from the ley-line to Paul's power, clearly visible and indeed blue. I touched it, immediately feeling a mixture between pride of my capability and fear of my inexperience.
And, over all, love, so much love. It hit me right in my soul, and I could not but react to it, I flung myself at Paul and had to kiss him.
Before we knew it we were in the grass, kissing, groping. But Paul might have changed since the night before, he still had his iron will, and before our groping turned into serious love-making he asked me: 'How about flinging some fireballs first?
I can't overtax your energy anymore, you have a near unlimited supply now.'
Flinging fireballs did sound tempting, so we got up, shook the grass out of our clothes, and Paul demonstrated how I should throw a fireball. I emulated him slowly, using ley-line power, and flung my fireball quite a nice ways.
One more time, and Paul suggested a duel. He didn't trust my own shield yet, so he built one inside mine, to take over if mine should fail. He shielded himself as well, and we were off. His first ball was blue and medium size, and it hit my shields because I didn't know how to stop it.
The power dissipating from the shield confronted me with what we were dealing with, making me extra careful. Paul told me to actively stop the ball by taking its energy and either fling it back in the shape of a fireball, or direct it into my shields, strengthening them.
He shot off another one, and I managed to send half to the shield, the rest of the energy dissipated off it.
Then another one, and I managed to do the other thing, I sent the energy back to him, tingeing my fireball dark green, and he let mine dissipate from the shield, to demonstrate the effect. Then I flung another one, and he caught it and sent the energy back. I shot another one, and he sent the energy into his shields, tingeing them dark green where the energy found its path, very educating.
Then he fired two in quick succession and I caught one and had to let the other one go. My shield still held.
I fired one off, and another one, it was easy now, caught one, sent it to my shield, which exploded. I was happy with Paul's shield, I can tell you, for I felt the force of the blow fling me to the ground.
Paul was with me instantly, dismissing his shields, holding on to me again.
'This is damned difficult Melissa, every time something threatens you I go to pieces.'
I remembered the life expectancy of a guardian and said dryly: 'Better get used to it then, or we'll both die young.' This made him laugh in a rather strained way, and I added: 'I was safe, love, your shield held. What did I do wrong?
I thought it was great fun, and it clearly is great practice, for me and for you too, in trusting me, and trusting your teaching. You're doing great!' He let go a little, and said: 'You pushed the energy in the shield too quickly, it couldn't handle it and exploded. Next time, let it flow in by itself.'
'And shoot a fireball at the same time? I need more practice, that much is clear.' So we spent another half hour shooting fireballs at each other, and at the end of that half hour even Paul had some trust in my handling of my shields.
We sat down in the grass together and I asked: 'Will Lukas be able to shoot fireballs?' Paul replied: 'I don't know, I've never had any experience with an empathic talent, and if his really is powered by love, I find it hard to imagine he could use it to do violence. I'm hoping George can help me with his training, he has seen so much more of the world than I have.'
I winked at Paul and observed: 'If Lukas has his way, he's getting training from George already, only of a totally different nature.'
'Actually not, my dear, I just realize that if love does indeed power Lukas'
talent, what he is planning to do with George may turn into a lesson in magic after all,' Paul now said, and then, looking straight at me, he smiled and said:
'You quite liked to watch us yesterday, didn't you?' I recalled the feeling it gave me, kissed Paul intensely, then replied: 'It turned me on like nothing else, to see you finally touch him.
Though I was shocked at first at your style, I admit, but he seemed to like it a lot. He liked to be dominated I guess, but only by you, I think, and only with love. Seeing you kneel before him was very enticing.'
'If I hadn't known what he was, his size would have scared me, I think. And his energy at the end, is he always like that? Can you enjoy making love to me when you're used to such size and such a performance?'
Paul sounded a bit insecure now, so I told him the truth: 'He is very skilled, but you are too. His loving is terrific sport, you and me share more love.
Your love-making feels as good to me as his, the size looks impressive, it doesn't feel differently though. He never has the patience to let me spoil him.
The way he stood still and let you caress him for half an hour was really exceptional, maybe the occasion was so special to him that he managed. I sure loved to watch that.'
He didn't speak anymore, his mind touched mine and I embraced the contact, letting his love and his growing fervour fill me up.
The sun was in the sky, and the birds were going about their business around us, as we made love in the grass, forgetting about everything but each other When we got to the mansion, I was again struck by its pleasant lack of grandioseness. It looked like it had always been there, part of the landscape, one with the trees and the gardens surrounding it. It just felt right.
'Does this place make you feel peaceful?' I asked Paul. I saw a fleeting look of pain cross his face, quickly replaced by sincere hope, as he answered: 'It used to for a long time, it felt more like home than the place where I was born and grew up. Then for a long time that made it even more painful to be here, but though I remember the pain well, it is now further removed from me. I have good hopes I will soon start to feel the peace again.'
I squeezed his hand, and he gave me a little kiss. We were met by Frances, who invited us to have coffee with her in her lovely garden, which of course we accepted, hoping we'd get some more new about the faeries, but I wanted to get to know her better as well.
She said: 'George will not be here for some time yet, I think. He was trying to charm your friend Lukas, though I'm not entirely sure who was chasing whom. George likes to think he's still on top of things, but it seems to me that your friend can be very subtle, and my handsome husband may find himself the party being chased.'
Paul loosened up a lot now, and laughed merrily: 'Oh Frances, you've lost none of your sharpness. Lukas has indeed announced to us that he was going to chase George today, see if he had any interesting tricks up his sleeve. And he may learn a lot more than he expects, since we think love is the key to his talent.
They'll have an interesting time, for Lukas is very fast, he'll certainly catch George. Maybe I should remove my shield from him, George can take care of him if needed.' And he blanked out for a few seconds.
When he came back to himself, Frances took both his hands and said: 'Paul, I owe you a profound apology. Ilsa told me about what happened yesterday, and I feel responsible for my share of your unhappy time here.
We should have supported your feelings straight away, and checked her grief immediately. Instead we let it paralyse her and drive you away into a life of loneliness. I hope you can forgive us, too.' Paul got up, embraced her and told her: 'Thank you Frances, it means a lot to me. I have been very lonely, but I'm happy now, and I want to share that happiness with you.'
I could easily see the deep love she had for him, in a way she really was his mother, and I hoped they would be able to repair the damage their relationship had suffered. I could see what Lukas had liked so much about her, and I also hoped he would get over the weird start of their acquaintance, but somehow I was sure he'd manage.
N
ow she broke my thoughts by saying: 'I have not really welcomed you to the family yet, Melissa, but I'd like to do so now. I can see Paul is in very much in love with you, and you with him. I hope you two will visit us often, or maybe I should say, the three of you, for somehow Lukas belongs to you too.'
It was astonishing to hear Paul say: 'He does. When all's said and done, he's ours.'
I could have wept for joy to hear him say that, but that was not my style, so I just gave him my most dazzling smile ever, and I could see it land very solidly.
After some of their fabulous coffee and a piece of fruit pie, Frances had some news on the faeries she and George were going to set free. The four that belonged to the trees that Jonas still had the photographs of had come back with them to the estate, and they were reunited with their tree or group of trees, most of which would probably survive their ordeal.
They could not remember much of what had happened, but Frances had managed to convince the remaining faeries to tell them again and again until they knew why their trees and their own bodies needed extra care. It appeared that the faeries themselves were more social than they had expected, they were really concerned about each other
Jonas had also managed to track down five more photographs, all owned by different private parties, and they were going after those in the afternoon, convincing the owner to lend them the plate for an hour, finding the faerie, freeing its soul, taking the photograph back, then returning the faerie to where it belonged.
Frances realized the faeries would fly from anyone but herself, so she was prepared to free them herself if they retrieved the photographs from the factory. We set a time to meet up outside the factory, in the neighbourhood that separated their manor from the factory.
Chapter 31
George and Lukas now came in, hair still wet from swimming, expression of smug satisfaction on either face. I had to agree with Lukas that George was a rather striking figure, the grey in his hair and the lines in his face adding to his charisma rather than lessening it.
Still, Lukas didn't seem deferential to him, if anything I'd say George was the one showing signs of infatuation, Lukas was his normal self among nobility, very self-assured but still polite and well-spoken.
He greeted both me and Paul with a kiss, and a private wink that promised a tall tale in the privacy of our own home. George poured them both a cup of coffee, and of course they each took a slice of pie as well, then sat down for the news.
Now, Paul mentioned the deaths of women and children in a factory downstream, preceded by the demise of large numbers of fish in the same area. 'Could it be that this factory is dumping waste in the river, poisoning it downstream?' he asked out loud.
George answered: 'Of course it is possible, but one would have to prove it to the council before measures could be taken. Do you know that one member of the city council is a mage? Of a different discipline, but still a mage.'
'I most certainly did not know that,' Paul admitted, 'maybe we can go there for help. But first we need to get those photographs, I don't think we can wait on the council to step in, by then trees and faeries are dead. I say we still get the photographs and free the faeries tonight, then see if we can get evidence and support to close it or at least sanitise it.
That may take weeks, the faeries don't have that much time. And besides, they are a source of magic, freeing them will leave the owner severely limited in his evil plotting.'
We all agreed that the faeries should be freed tonight, and that if at all possible, we would take a look at that pool of something on the terrain, it was very shady and might have something to with the deaths downstream.
And somewhere this week I'd take Paul to the council house, and we'd try to
find the mage there, especially if there was evidence of pollution from the factory.
Now George wanted to address the greenhouse, they had come to the conclusion that they wanted to accept Paul's offer to build it together with me. They wanted us to draw up a rough sketch, and an estimate of the costs involved.
I felt thrilled and nervous at the same time. This meant I could really start a business with Paul, but it also meant the responsibility would be mostly mine.
I decided I would save my insecurities for Paul to address during dinner, and I left it to Paul to thank the couple for the opportunity.
'And if it turns out well,' George said, 'Ilsa had a plan as well, for a more public place on a site in the city.'
Lukas said cheekily: 'We've heard of it, daring plan.' George gave him a playful cuff around the ears, saying: 'She told me it was your idea in the first place.'
Laughing, Lukas had to admit to this, and Paul shook his head theatrically:
'You realize he has hoofs and horns, don't you George? He'll lead all of you into temptation.' George clearly thought this hilariously funny, and replied:
'Thanks for the warning Paul, but I'm afraid I'm already lost. Better save yourselves.'
'And lose the chance to earn some good hard money? No way!' was Paul's comment.
But suddenly he was serious again, asking George: 'You know Melissa here has guardian potential, don't you?' George nodded and said: 'I can see it, too.
She's developing quickly, you're a good teacher, Paul.'
'Maybe too quickly,' Paul said, 'she unconsciously reached out for a ley-line today, instead of using my personal power, and she didn't even notice the difference until I contacted her mind and she recalled she hadn't felt the bond earlier.
Her fireball was perfect, her control excellent. Is that safe? Have you heard of mages using ley-lines this early?' Both Frances and George agreed that if I could control the power, it was all right to use it, but to be really careful not to accidentally touch a node.
'That reminds me, Paul,' George said, 'thanks for taking the shield off Lukas from a distance, it was...interesting.' Paul smiled: 'I thought you might think so, he can put one up himself if he wants to, and if that didn't work you were
there with him.'
'It was so interesting, we have a question for you: would you agree to let me take on his training in the arts? His talent is unique, and I have more experience with different kinds of magic. Not his exactly, so there will be a lot of experimenting involved, and of course both of you will be involved deeply, but I'd like to get to the bottom of his connection of love and magical energy.' 'So there is a connection?' Paul exclaimed.
Then: 'Is this what you want, Lukas?' Lukas nodded. 'Then I'll be happy to let you have the training of him, I already hoped you might take an interest in him, I've never had an apprentice before Melissa, you've been doing it for years. It is a once in a lifetime chance for him, you are a much more suitable teacher for his talent.'
'I'm glad to hear that,' George said, 'and I want to start by hearing both your accounts of how he came into your life, for his story doesn't quite fit with what I know of the species that abducted him and the world he originated from.'
I was amazed, I had never realized that George was so much more accomplished as a mage than Paul, I knew Paul had the greatest respect for him but he sounded positively deferential just now, and in addition it seemed as if our host knew a lot about other dimensions as well.
Paul now replied: 'I'll tell you all I know, but Melissa of course was the main witness.' I asked: 'Do you want me to tell you now?'
Sitting back as if preparing to enjoy a long story, George said confirmedly: 'If you please, it may be important, I think his family may be looking for him.'
When George posed this staggering possibility I looked at Lukas to see how this idea affected him, and though I could see it was not a surprise to him as it was to us, his sweet face seemed to show a flash of intense longing followed by fear.
I decided to ask him to explain when we were back home, now I would relate the story as I had lived it. 'It started a few months ago, on one of the first days of spring. I bought a paper-maché object that looked like a mirror, framed in a gnarly branch. The mirror was not real, i
t was painted, and a head stuck out, looking exactly like Lukas but totally hairless and with large, curved horns.
Paul warned me that it was magical and that it might change my life and my feelings for him, I had a bad crush on him for weeks already and he told me that night that we wanted to return my love but was afraid to get hurt. That
gave me hope, but I thought the talk of magic was balderdash, I had never heard of magic being real.
The man we bought it from was new to me, I'd never seen him on the market before. He was grimy, oldish, with greasy hair and a greasy beard. He thought we were married. He called it folk-art.
Paul hung it over the hearth, and he talked about it as if it was a person. That night I woke up from a crashing noise coming from the living-room.
I went there to investigate and saw nothing, except the mirror-like thing, lying on the floor face up, but without the head and the hand, I forgot to tell you, there was a hand sticking out as well. I put the mirror on the table, face up again. I kind of expected the creature to be in the room with me, thinking Paul had known it would come out, that it was a kind of test.
The thought didn't frighten me. Listening carefully I heard a sound behind the hearth, and saw a bit of mottled skin behind it. I stroked it, feeling sorry for a creature that felt the need to hide from me. It shivered, but after a while a bit of horn showed and a bit more skin. It was hurt.
When I called him as if he were a stray dog or cat, he jumped on my lap, held on to me, his back was sticky with blood and he felt really emaciated and cold. After some time I had to get up, my legs were buckling, he got up too and was as tall as a man, and clearly a man, frighteningly thin and very scared.
He gestured me to put away the mirror, and with gestures asked me to wrap it in a black cloth, and keep it upside down. He was very afraid of it.
I gave him some bread and cheese to eat and some water to drink, cleaned the wounds and gave him a shirt to put on over the wounds and to stay warm. We exchanged names, so I knew he could talk, but not in a language I knew.
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