by C. F. Cooper
"We are not being in the slightest bit selfish Gary," she said. "Here in Cockaigne, there is no hunger, but it's not because food is plentiful. Once we are adult, food is no longer what sustains us. Food is purely for pleasure. It is lovemaking that sustains us and gives us energy. We are open to the energy of earth's lifeforce. It flows in and out of us, but it is love making that allows it to flow in. It is lovemaking that lets us gather the lifeforce. Without it we would just leak all of our lifeforce and fade away."
Gary moved his hand between her legs. Daisy moaned, and her ears popped out of her head.
"I want this so badly," he said, ready to burst. "But I still don't understand why I should give in to it if I'm invincible."
"Because you are no longer invincible. Virgins are invincible because their lifeforce is sealed tight in their aura. It leaks out after we reach adulthood. We need to make love soon after we turn adult before our lifeforce drains away. That is why you're are so unusual. No-one could survive as long as you have in the four lands as a virgin.
"During the battle, Devin's last act was to smash his way through your aura to give you his energy. He kept you open and pulled in the lifeforce of those you killed until finally his energy was spent. It is a legendary act that we have heard tales of, but none of us had seen. Devin gave you all his love as his dying act."
"And I eat him." Gary shook his head.
"But now he is gone, and your aura has been broken wide open. the seal has been cracked. Your lifeforce is leaking fast and you need to make love to survive, just like the rest of us mere mortals." Daisy smiled and pushed him back onto the bed. She sat astride him and guided Gary into her.
"You're saying this is important?" he could barely contain himself.
"It's a matter of life and death." Daisy pushed down onto him. She leaned forward and placed her hands on his chest to steady herself. She then moved her hips up and down slowly in a gentle bouncing movement. "Do you like this?"
Gary nodded unable to speak. Daisy leaned down and kissed Gary's chest. Her rabbit ears flicked over his face as she moved from side to side. She then slid up to eye level and kissed his mouth. Gary shut his eyes and tasted her sweet lips. This was beyond anything he had ever dreamed off.
"Don't close your eyes," said Daisy, pulling back.
Gary opened his eyes and looked deep into Daisy's deep blue eyes as they continued to kiss. She bit gently on his lip and pulled back. Gary felt a ripple of warmth passing over him and saw Daisy's eyes turn from blue to a swirling blue-green. He recognised it. It was earth as it would appear from space. Daisy leaned back in and kissed Gary again while still staring into his eyes. She began to moan loudly and pulsed harder and faster. Gary knew he couldn't hold back any longer. He groaned and felt an intense wave of pleasure that washed all thought away in its wake. Daisy's eyes changed from earth colours to pure white and she groaned deeply. They hugged and stared at each other. Then her eyes gradually turned back from white to green and back to blue.
"No-one's ever going to call you Gary the virgin again," she said. “They’ll need to make up new songs now.”
Part Two – Springrise
Chapter 8
Gary woke up face to face with Daisy. She was still fast asleep, and he gazed over at her. She was beautiful. She was more than he had ever imagined he could have in a girlfriend. Her face was pushed against the pillow with her cheek creased up against her eye. Occasionally she would wrinkle her nose as if it was itchy and she was trying to scratch it. He wanted to reach over and embrace her. He wanted and pour his heart out to her, but he was afraid of what she might say.
He carefully rolled out of the bed and stood up, pulling on a pair of trousers, or more accurately long johns. He looked down on Daisy's naked form lying on the fur covered bed. She was flawless. He wondered what it would be like if he could stay here forever. His physics degree and Professor Wiseman now felt like a world away, which it was, but it also seemed like a lifetime ago. Gary was now Gary of Warrensgate instead of Gary the virgin physics student. Gary the failing virgin physics student.
He inhaled deeply and took in the smell of the cottage. Daisy's sweet scent mixed with the remnants of the fire in the next room. He tiptoed quietly out the bedroom and through the main area of the house. The door to her brother's room lay partially open and Gary saw two sets of legs entwined on the bed. Joe had obviously met someone at the celebration. Gary tried not to stare but was fascinated by the other pair of legs. They were blue, but such a dark blue that they were almost black. Gary could not recall seeing any blue creatures the previous day. Perhaps it was just a trick of the morning light streaming into the small house. Gary left the cottage and carefully shut the door behind him.
He walked through the narrow, cobbled streets of Warrensgate towards the centre of the village and the previous night's celebration. The village felt quiet and still in the soft morning light. The celebrations had clearly carried on long after Gary and Daisy had left the square.
As he entered the square, he spotted Smallgrass and Smallgrass lying under a blanket on the ground surrounded by clay pitchers. The remainder of some ale dripped from one of them making a small puddle on the ground. It seemed as if everyone in the village had partnered up the previous night. Now knowing what he did Gary understood why. Could this place get any better he wondered? He stopped at the edge of the firepit and warmed his hands on the dying embers.
"Did you have a good night?"
Gary turned around to see Octavia. "Uh, hi. Yes, I did thank you."
"And you understand our world a little better now?"
Gary blushed. "Yes."
"It is a world worth saving, is it not?"
"It seems like paradise to me Octavia. Yesterday I felt lost, and now I can't imagine going back to my old life, my old world. I think I could stay here forever."
"It's not paradise. If it was, we would not be at war with each other. It was close to perfect before the turn."
"The turn?"
Octavia shook her head. "There is much for you still to learn but all in good time. All in good time. Let us just feel the joy from last night."
Octavia's strange turn of phrase made Gary think about Daisy lying asleep naked on her bed nearby and he smiled. "Did you enjoy last night?" he asked. "I didn't see any other doomwalkers... uh I mean lizard people last night."
"My people were protecting the pass. They will stay there as long as necessary."
"So, did you...uh...spend the night alone?"
Octavia laughed the electric laugh of her kind. Gary scrunched his face up, trying not to be rude but in actual physical pain at the sound of her cackle.
"Are you trying to ask me if I made love with anyone? You humans are so coy when it comes to the most natural of acts."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just thought... it was a great battle, and everyone needed to..."
"Seek nourishment?"
"Yes, seek nourishment," said Gary. "That's a good way of putting it."
"Tell me Gary the... I mean Gary. Do different creatures in your world eat the same amount of food at the same frequency as each other?"
Gary thought about the question for a second. "No, some animals can go a long time without eating. Snakes can survive for months between meals."
"It is no different here. I can survive for extended periods without making love."
Gary nodded in understanding. "Just like the snakes."
"Yes. Just like the snakes. In fact, I remember one occasion when I went for 7 days straight without making love."
"Right," said Gary, trying to process what he'd just been told.
Octavia flung her head back and cackled her electric laugh louder than ever. This time Gary did cover his ears to stop the pain. Octavia bent over resting her hands on her knees as she continued to laugh, then she gently punched Gary on the shoulder.
"Okay, okay," he shook his head and smiled. "You got me."
Octavia recovered her composure. "You have
so much to learn my human friend. If I went months without making love, I would have re-joined the river of life."
"Oi, keep the noise down."
The Smallgrasses were emerging from under their blanket. One of them picked up the fallen clay pitcher and deposited the last few drops of ale in his waiting mouth.
"Never enough to drink." He stood up, wrapped the blanket around him and walked over towards Octavia and Gary. "The possibility of your own death and the taste of life. Could there ever be a better day than yesterday?"
"True good badger," said Octavia. "Is it not sad that we gain that thrill from other's misery though? In times gone past we risked the death only of ourselves in personal challenges."
"It is indeed sad," said Smallgrass. "Those days will return though. Gary's quest to the Crystal City will help return the land to its proper balance. What say you Gary?"
Gary looked at Smallgrass smiling up at him. He looked at Octavia and what he assumed was an expression of anticipation.
"Yeah, about that. I'm not sure I still want to go to the Crystal City."
"What do you mean?" asked Smallgrass. "You need to travel to the city to get home."
"I don't know that I want to go home. I could make a life here in Warrensgate. Here with..."
Smallgrass raised his eyebrows and burst into laughter. "Sorry, I don't mean to mock. Really, I don't, but please tell me you're not imaging settling down with Daisy and becoming a farmer?"
Gary blushed. "I don't know... I just..."
Smallgrass guffawed so hard he fell over and landed in a sitting position on the ground. The other Smallgrass came over to join the group. "What's the joke?"
"Smallgrass, you are an insensitive buffoon at times," roared Octavia.
"Wait, now I'm being called insensitive by a lizard person?" Smallgrass shook as he attempted, without much success, to suppress his amusement.
"Is it such a ridiculous thought?" said Gary. "Is it any more ridiculous than anything else in this place? Is it any more ridiculous than a talking badger?"
***
Gary stood outside one of the cottages at the edge of the square with Daisy, Octavia and the Smallgrasses. Smallgrass held an urn in his hand containing the ashes from Devin's bones. After the feast, they had been collected, piled together in the fire pit and covered in stones. By late morning when the fire was extinguished, and the stones removed, all that remained was ash.
Raleigh, Fawn and Joe had left Warrensgate to return his antlers to Fallowbrook, the home of the deer. There Devin would be given a traditional farewell by his own people with Joe representing the rabbit people.
Here in Warrensgate Devin would be given a hero's send off. A ceremony rarely carried out and almost never for anyone from outside the village.
The cottage looked like any other from the outside. Daisy opened the door and motioned for the others to follow. As Gary stepped inside he could see it was comprised of one large room empty of furniture. Paintings of notable rabbit people covered the wall, interspersed with wooden torches.
In the middle of the room there was a wide descending stairwell. Gary looked down and could see perhaps ten stairs before they disappeared around a corner. It was a spiral staircase leading deep into the ground below the village.
Daisy and Smallgrass each took a torch from the wall and lit them.
"I will lead," said Daisy. "Smallgrass you bring up the rear."
"Will do."
"Gary, walk with me," said Daisy. She reached out and took Gary's hand. He looked round at Smallgrass who winked at him. Gary turned away, still unable to speak to Smallgrass without getting angry. They entered the stairwell and as they followed the narrow turns were soon out of sight of Smallgrass and the others.
"What's wrong Gary?" she asked, whispering. "You've been acting strange since you came back from your morning walk. Clearly you and Smallgrass have had some kind of argument."
"It's nothing. He's annoying sometimes, I'll get over it."
"Badgers are well known for their cruel humour. Did he make fun of you?"
"Kind of," Gary paused for a second. "Daisy, do you have a partner?"
"No, why?"
"Nothing. I just wondered. You need to make love to survive and...well..."
"What does making love have to do with having a partner?" she asked.
"Uh...well..."
Daisy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Gary, I think there are lots of differences between our worlds. Just give it time to learn our ways and you'll eventually understand. I'm sure I'd be just as lost in your world."
Gary was glad of the darkness as his cheeks flushed. "I'd like to show you my world."
"Maybe you can if we succeed in reaching the Crystal City. You said there is a portal there didn't you?"
"Wait, you aren't coming with me to the city. I don't know if any of us should go now that Summervale is safe. It's far too dangerous."
"You don't think they'll send more doomwalkers? They will. The Ice King will not stop until he was won or has been defeated. Once he finds out there is a human in Summervale he will send his best troops. Gary, there will be no Summervale as we know it if we don't defeat him. I'm not going to sit in my cottage waiting for the end of the world."
He nodded. They continued down the stairs for several minutes in silence. Gary thought about the events of the last few days and realised that this was life and death for his new companions. It wasn't something they could sit out and neither could he even though he wanted to.
As they turned the next bend Gary was aware of light coming from below. Suddenly the stairwell opened into a large cavern. Gary looked, open mouthed at the scene that met him. The cavern was perhaps fifty feet tall. In the centre was a lake of what looked like shimmering liquid gold. At one end of the cavern a stream flowed into the lake from a narrow entrance. At the other end water left the lake.
What appeared to be fireflies buzzed around in the air, dancing lights illuminating the walls. All around the cavern were paintings not unlike some prehistoric art Gary had once seen on a trip to the ancient caves of Montignac in France. The scenes were drawn in red and yellow ochre. They depicted creatures chasing each other. A bird chased a rabbit who chased a dear who in turn chased a lion, then the scene reversed with the larger creatures progressively chasing smaller animals until the circle was complete.
"It's amazing," said Gary. "What makes the water shine so brightly?"
"The river of life," said Smallgrass as he reached Daisy and Gary standing at the edge of the lake. "This is the river of life. All life starts here and returns here. The lake is at the centre of Warrensgate."
"It follows the one straight path. The ley lines. This lake is a pool of concentrated lifeforce. That is why we couldn't let the doomwalkers take the village," said Daisy.
"I don't understand."
"This is pure lifeforce," said Daisy. "The river feeds all the four lands. It flows under of them and distributes life and energy."
Smallgrass passed the urn he had been carrying to Gary. "I think you should do the honours."
Gary took the urn from Smallgrass and opened its lid to view the ashes. They were sparkling. "So, we are returning Devin to the river?"
"He has already returned to the river," said Daisy. This is not to help him return to the river of life, it is for us, the remaining, to honour and acknowledge him. This ceremony is for the living."
"What do I do? What do I say?"
"Whatever comes to you," said Smallgrass.
Gary held the urn in both hands and walked forward to the edge of the lake. He kneeled down and held the urn out. "I did not know you long Devin, but I think I saw the best of you. I saw your heart and your soul when it was burning brightest. You will not be forgotten."
"Well said," Smallgrass murmured.
Gary tipped the ashes into the water. They floated down through the air slowly, shimmering and creating a sparkling film on the surface as they settled on the water. "Farewell Devin."
"Devin, is that you?"
The apparition nodded his head.
"Devin, if you are with the river, help us. Help Summervale defeat the Ice King. Make the river see which side it must take. It's too dangerous for us to travel to the Crystal City. Others will be killed."
"The river is Devin and it is you and Daisy, and it is all of life including your enemies. It is everything. The river does not take sides. The river is."
Gary shook his head. "No, you know that there is a side to be taken. You can help us. You fought with us in life. Fight with us in death."
Devin looked up to the walls of the cavern. Wherever he looked his gaze illuminated the walls. "What do you see Gary?"
"Different creatures chasing each other. But what does that matter?"
"No Gary, you see the lifeforce becoming different creatures, a rabbit then and deer then a bird and on and on it goes. I am Devin but soon I will be other things. I may be on the other side. I may be someone you are fighting against."
"Never, you can't be against us. Your soul will always be with us."
The deer began to separate into smaller distinct balls of light. "I may be fighting with you and against you. We are all many parts of the river once we lose our form. When I return to the water I may be on both sides."
"No," shouted Gary, feeling his anger rise. "You must care about what happens. I refuse to believe you don't care."
"The river waters the garden. The garden must be tended to by the gardeners. The river gives life, but you must shape it."