by Zack Finley
My leg was tightening up, and a wave of tiredness flowed over me as the high from the battle ebbed away. We had killed hundreds of banders, and I could now use mind, force, and earth magic.
I was shocked to realize I had not thought about this being a hallucination or an enemy plot for hours.
"I don't know about you, but I could use a wash," Argon said, clasping my arm and 'porting us to a suite of rooms.
We weren't far from the original chamber according to my sense of direction. There were tapestries on the wall, and lush rugs covered much of the stone floor. A magical fire burned in an inset area in the wall. Sconces suspended in the air along the walls lit the room.
In one corner, a floodlight lit up a chair with piles of books stacked beside it on the floor and perched precariously on a low table.
A couch and several chairs clustered around the magical fireplace. There was a small table and several man-sized pillows stacked to the side of the couch.
A cat-like animal bounded into the room to greet us.
◆◆◆
Chapter 3
"Don't mind Allo," Argon said, picking up the critter for an affectionate scratch. "She is a fla and is my familiar."
"Is this your home?" I asked.
Argon nodded.
"Will I need a familiar?"
"Only a few mages have familiars. Some have more powerful animals, but I find Allo is nearly more than I can handle," she replied. “It is the familiar who seeks out the mage. Those of us chosen consider it an honor.”
Argon excused herself, promising to be right back. The fla stared at me warily, positioning herself between me and the door. Soft bluish fur covered her, and she had a short stubby tail. Her pointed ears flicked and swiveled constantly, and her eyes were golden yellow with dark flecks. Especially, when she was staring at me.
I understood the threat when she started grooming, showing off her abundance of long, sharp teeth with matching claws. Her four paws had four digits each, but I was sure any one of her claws was sufficient to seriously injure me.
I tried to exude peaceful vibes, but she wasn't buying it.
She was the size of a large house cat, but her demeanor was more like a tiger and leopard rolled into one. My best bet was to ignore her and hope she didn't take offense.
I eased out of my armor, piling it beside me on the floor.
I had a decision to make. This world was much too elaborate to be the figment of my imagination, complete with weird animals and odd plants. The wildest interpretation was this was all real, and I was no longer on Earth. I couldn't prove this was true, but I couldn't prove it false.
I retraced the last minutes I remembered before waking in this new reality.
It was a typical day in Iraq. We had intel about a possible terrorist stronghold in an Iraqi village, but external surveillance showed nothing. It was time for boots on the ground, our boots.
My team met with our spotter at twilight. His observation post was hidden in a cluster of rocks above the village. He had a clear view of the main streets but had seen no unusual activity. Rubble from past battles littered the streets; bullet gouges and ricochet smears decorated the walls. The houses and shops were bombed or burned years ago. The village looked deserted.
We had been through too many of these deployments to take anything at face value. The rubble could easily hide a thousand enemy fanatics or a handful of desperate families with young children. One thing we could count on, the intel was probably wrong.
As we eased along the deserted streets, a hot wind caught the dust and pushed it into our faces.
I was on point as usual with Bert and Tom behind me. Several squad mates trailed us with the rest hunkered down behind cover, ready to provide fire support.
My team usually insisted I take point due to another one of my quirks. I had an uncanny instinct for sniffing out hidden danger, whether IEDs, ambushes, or just a runaway truck. I learned to respect that instinct, even if it failed me today.
The three of us leading the parade crept along the abandoned streets, clinging tight to the shadows. It was too quiet, and everyone was alert for an ambush or signs of IEDs. With only a few short blocks to our target destination, our heads were on swivels as we stalked the shadows.
The wall that exploded looked the same as hundreds of others. The triggerman was impatient; if he waited a few seconds until Bert and Tom were in the kill zone with me, he’d have gotten all three of us.
Then I awoke pinned to the floor in the chamber, supposedly in Jaloa. Thinking through it logically, there was no way I survived that IED unscathed. According to Shala, my life on Earth was over. Maybe this was just a feverish dream while I lay in a VA hospital with massive brain damage.
Or maybe this was really an updated version of Valhalla.
I could assess no downside to agreeing to stay here. I remembered the start of the explosion very clearly. It would have taken a miracle to survive it.
I wanted to know more about this new world, and I wanted to get to know Argon better. While I only met her a few hours ago, the time was in many ways more intimate than sex. Of course, thinking about the possibility of sex with her caused Happy and the Boys to add in their vote. If this was a coma, it was a lot more entertaining than some I could imagine.
I'd wash up, talk it over with Argon and unless something different developed, I was going to stay.
Argon returned with a tray of beverages and fruit, setting them on the table and suggesting I take some. The fla shifted location, still keeping its golden flecked eyes focused on me. It was positioning itself strategically between Argon and me.
"I don't have any clean clothes for you," she said. "If you stay, I'll have to acquire some. I can launder your current clothes after you wash up, although I'm not sure how well the blood will come out."
She assured me the poultice covering my leg wound would shed water just fine. She handed me an oversized towel and directed Allo to show me the washroom.
I followed Allo to a doorway in the hall. I closed the door quickly, but not quick enough to keep Allo from sliding in with me.
While chairs and couches were very similar in this world to my own, bathroom facilities had evolved differently, very differently.
I was relieved that my personal plumbing functioned the same. I needed better instructions on the intent of the various knobs and receptacles in the room before I attempted to poop. Allo offered no suggestions. She just watched me with a hulking ferocity.
Ignoring her as best I could, I examined my body in the full-length mirror on the inside of the door. I was solidly built, and no feature stood out as odd to my eyes, except the pointy ears. The hair on my head was more like reddish fur. My eyes were pale grey and shaped like a cat. The flat nose should be better in a fight. My chest had no fur and two small nipples. No belly button.
A fine downy fuzz covered my groin, and my penis was still noticeably a penis. When I was aroused earlier, Happy and the Boys seemed about the right size. But, it was one more thing to wonder about when I had time. I could pull them out, but a clever flap of leathery skin provided a small amount of protection.
It felt peculiar for them to retreat into a cavity much of the time. My balls cringed as I pondered what evolutionary happening would cause that protection to be a positive survival trait.
A picture of some banders bounding about nipping off dangling dicks came to mind immediately. I wondered how far from the truth that was. Looking at Allo, who had resumed “grooming,” was another reminder that there seemed to be plenty of animals on Jaloa with fangs and claws. Even the pets.
There was no visible bath in the bathroom, and I wondered how Jaloans washed. The things I didn't know about this world would probably kill me.
Allo seemed to understand my needs, jumping up on a ledge and directing me to push one of several prominent buttons.
I only hesitated a moment, hoping her sudden cooperativeness was not intended to incinerate or flush me away.
; Allo must have had her instructions because the button launched a recognizable but very peculiar shower.
A faint force field deployed around me and water cascaded over me. Soap was still a mystery, and the water was quite cold, so I didn't linger. Despite no visible drain, there was no standing water when I pressed the button a second time, prompting a blast of heated air to swirl around me for a few moments before the force field dissipated.
I wrapped the towel around my middle and grabbed my clothes before opening the door. Allo preceded me out the door and into the kitchen where Argon had relocated the food and drink.
Argon took the clothing from me and disappeared into a utility room. "These should be ready shortly."
I was on my second glass of juice when Argon returned. She urged me to try some of the bread-like substance, cheese, and fruit. She piled her plate high and was having no problem pounding down the sustenance. Battle was a hungry business. I followed her example and began to feel full for the first time since Iraq.
"Are banders a big problem in Jaloa?" I asked.
"They attack fields on the fringes between cultivation and the wilds," she said. "This group was unusually large. It had already run off the local militia, and they called for help from Shala."
She explained that banders burrowed underground and preferred to eat cultivated plants. In a pinch, they would eat wild plants but favored the same foods Jaloans, and their domesticated animals did. New bander colonies formed when an established queen hatched a new queen. Soon after hatching the young queen was forced out of the established colony accompanied by a small group of workers and soldiers.
Too weak to confront a well-established bander colony, the young queen was expected to colonize a new area.
This queen had fooled everyone by establishing a colony so far from the fringe border. The farmers in this non-border area missed the early signs of infestation. When they called for reinforcements, the bander colony was too entrenched for local forces to defeat.
Jaloans left bander colonies in the wilderness alone. Jaloans seldom expanded areas of cultivation anymore, as most populations were reasonably stable.
"I think your clothes are ready and I should instruct you about the bathroom facilities. Allo told me you urinated in the sink, and it would be more sanitary if you used the right receptacles," Argon grinned at my obvious embarrassment, but at least this new body didn't blush.
I learned how to adjust the temperature, quantity, and velocity of the water in the shower. There was even an attachment for washing Happy's private cavity. Argon offered to show me how to use it, but I declined.
She was having a bit of fun at my expense. I learned my first impression of her dourness was misleading. Touching mind-to-mind made hiding our true natures very difficult. I knew she could be a mischievous imp with a wicked sense of humor.
I took her teasing in stride, in part due to the certainty there was no malice in it. Once I got over my embarrassment, it was easy to see how funny the situation was. Someone born on the planet would have learned these kinds of things as a child.
Argon seemed to know I had made my decision but was giving me space to adjust to it. I put the cleaned clothes back on and found Argon reading a book in the living room.
When I sat on the couch, she put aside her book and moved to sit next to me. We both knew the time for the decision was at hand.
I saw more of this world's situation in Argon's mind. She absolutely believed if I turned down the offer to be Shala's champion, I would be returned to my world and die for real.
This was my special one-time 'Get out of Jail Free' card.
With no other fanfare, I accepted Shala's offer to remain on Jaloa and be her champion.
My skin tingled with bluish lightning, and I felt a snap in my brain.
"Your connection to your former world is now severed," Shala said in my head. "I need to rest and recoup the huge amount of magic energy this summoning has required."
While Shala clearly was ready to move on, she lingered for a brief moment.
"I find your compatibility to be a fortunate development. I had expected you, and Argon could fight side-by-side. That you could be a suitable life partner for her is a surprise. While she is too precious to me to risk with an improper mate, I urge you both to consider a mind meld. You will be much stronger together."
Argon acknowledged she also heard Shala's message. I shared her surprise that Shala urged us into a lifetime relationship.
While the concept was new to me, I found it oddly breathtaking.
"I'm still not sure I am right in my head," I said. "If this is an elaborate ruse, I see no harm in it. And, if it isn't, I am hard-wired to protect the innocent. If I can help, I will stay."
I was going to feel foolish if I woke up in a medevac chopper.
Argon touched my hand, and the link between us sparkled with energy.
Suddenly our battle bond reactivated, then broadened and expanded.
"I need you to relax and join with me," Argon sent, coaxing me to follow her lead.
The more we shared, the easier the link, as our minds opened like sensitive flowers before the gentle pressure. I could read Argon’s hesitancy at odds with her growing sense of familiarity.
She welcomed me into the private spaces of her mind. I was nearly overwhelmed with a desire to keep her safe when her warrior spirit disrupted that sense. Learning how to balance these two conflicting concepts would likely take a lifetime.
I was embarrassed to learn all my past deeds; my failures and my darkest thoughts had already been visible to her. I tried to pull away, but her level of acceptance and potential love kept me engaged. I felt a lifetime of barriers relax within her as she bared her soul to me in a similar way, choosing to hide nothing.
Acceptance and support overwhelmed me; full understanding made it impossible to judge any past action harshly.
The intimacy was so deep and so entangled I don't know who physically reached first for the other. Our mental embrace was no longer enough. Argon tugged at my hand and led me to her bedroom, where Allo leaped onto her perch.
"She just wants to taste your soul," Argon sent, as she undressed.
The intimacy between us demanded more physical contact as clothes flew and we both wanted to touch skin-to-skin. I let my instincts take over, as Argon pulled me to the bed.
I kissed her gently, feeling our way to a new, shared physical intimacy. The more our tongues dueled, the tighter our mental bond grew, penetrating deeper into each core.
Her breasts were soft and sensitive. Her skin was supple, and it quivered under my touch. Her nipples became erect, drawing my greedy mouth. Argon arched in response, and I felt gates opening within her mind, welcoming me to share.
Our minds were forging new bonds as we strove to fuse together more intimately than anything our bodies did. At that point, I realized she had never been this physically intimate with anyone before.
I felt a fierce satisfaction to discover I would be her first until the implications of that and the whole crazy situation caused me to rein in my desire.
She made a distressed sound as I pulled back and just held her.
"I need to understand what we are doing, and I already know it isn't just sex. I must have missed what a mind meld is," I said this out loud to reinforce my need to understand what was going on and to regain control of my body.
"I gave up on finding a compatible spirit," Argon said burying her face in my chest. "My suitors always lacked something, until now there was no spark."
"What are the consequences of this?" I asked.
"We will come together as one being for a time. We will then be able to communicate instantly across distances and share aspects of our magic. This grows stronger with time, with each sharing we will become even more tightly bound until we will find it hard to endure lengthy absences. In the most profound melds, partners can wield each other's magic and share magical energy," Argon sent, reinforcing our current bond so I could see
she was without deception.
"What part does sex play in this?" I asked.
"There is no full mind meld without physical intimacy. There can be sex with no meld, but there cannot be a meld without sex," Argon sent showing me the tenuous mental bonds, which had already formed between us. "These can be sundered up until the moment of mutual surrender," she confirmed, sharing the sadness this prospect raised in her.
"Where is the courtship?"
"When the minds are entwined courtships happen at a breakneck pace," she countered, highlighting the areas of compatibility we had already discovered, as well as the fewer areas of disagreement. "Melding does not require we be alike; it just requires we cherish and support one another at our cores."
I could feel her vulnerability as I explored the shared boundaries and heard the echo of her feelings.
"I already cherish you," she added tentatively, reaching up to stroke my face. She then landed soft kisses on my chest before shifting and sucking on my nipple. I held her to me but did not encourage further escalation.
I pondered what I felt before the unbelievably hot sexual attraction made it impossible. This seemed very real. I still found it hard to believe in gods and goddesses, champions and acolytes. I found it nearly as hard to believe I suddenly found a soul mate.
Years of casual sex, sporadically interrupted by a few serious but brief relationships was my life's experience to date. The level of commitment required of a SEAL warrior was not conducive to building a family.
I hoped for a family, someday, but I still enjoyed my life as a warrior. I spent the past years deploying at a moment's notice, celebrating the camaraderie of shared danger, training, duty, and accomplishment.
Perhaps one day the joys of fatherhood would overcome that, but I was still hopped up on the sheer joy of battle. I reveled in the challenge of pitting my skills against a foe in the ultimate contact sport.