Micah The Wanderer - Book 1: Outbound - Part 2

Part 2

I wasn't sure I understood her at first.

"Do as I say. Strip."

I hesitated a moment and then stood and began to take off my clothes. As I lay my clothes across a raised section of the floor she continued.

"I don't know how much you know of my race. We are rare. When the gods walked the earth, eons before man moved from his caves, the gods would call forth the spirits of the earth, the water, the air to be their companions. These creatures were the first elementals. Powerful, immortal beings of almost pure spirit. They became the companions, friends, playmates and lovers of the gods. From these joinings my people and our kind were born. We are creatures of spirit but we are flesh as well. We are neither male nor female despite our appearance. Now that the gods have grown bored and moved on to other planes, other existances, we are dwindled. We need contact with humans so we can reproduce."

I remembered her scraping the semen from her face and licking it from her fingers. I looked at her a moment before I spoke.

"I think I understand."

She smiled a genuine smile at me. "I think you may. I would have performed the service for this man gladly to help continue my race. I would have performed a similar service for any decent man that had entered our clearing or we could have mated in the more traditional human way. We have also used our own magic to cause men to sleep in our clearing. Visiting them in their sleep so that they thought they only dreamed our encounter. The brutality of this man was totally unnecessary.

There are only three other of our kind in this area. I have taken the seed of this man and am using my magic to create another of our kind within me. In a fortnight there will be another of us guarding one of the trees of this grove. To help repay the debt you say you owe you shall help us create another of our people as this man did. Minos will take your seed and create the child that will come from it."

I stood there stunned. I had had some idea where this was heading when she had ordered me to strip. I am not dumb and had been looking forward to a similar experience to what I had seen before. My organ had risen as she spoke of performing similar services and creating a child with human seed. But at the mention of Minos taking my seed, as she put it, my erection faded so quickly as to look as if my member had vanished.

She noticed my reaction. "I see that the idea does not appeal to you. We are aware that the many males of your species see the performing of sexual acts between two males as unsettling. You must remember that I said that we are creatures of flesh and spirit and that we are neither male nor female despite our preferred appearance. Minos. Something appropriate to the task at hand if you will."

I turned back to Minos just in time to see him shimmer, then glow internally and begin to change form. When the light faded standing in Minos' place was something out of a teenage boy's fantasy. She was still taller than me but that only made it more interesting as that put her chest almost at eye level with me. And what a magnificent chest it was. Each breast stood proud of her chest like a ripe melon. Her skin and hair color had not changed but the hair now draped her shoulders and her skin looked more suited to the female that now wore it. Her hips flared wide and looked as if they were made for child birth. Her pubic hair was now darker and curlier than it was before and where the huge male organ protruded before, the full lips of her labia emerged from the curly pubes.

She smiled a smile that completely bypassed my brain and struck sparks off my libido. My erection, which had faded so fast, returned so quickly and with such force that it slapped my stomach. She began walking towards me and my speech centers shut down and I became a babbling idiot. Her hips swayed so much it looked as if her thigh bones were trying to escape via her pelvis. Her breasts swayed in counter point to her hips and anyone in the way could have been seriously injured by the recoil.

She stopped in front of me, her breast nearly touching my nose. I was mesmerized as I watched them sway back and forth and then come to rest. Her breasts were so large that even though they were nearly touching my face, her body was still nearly a foot away from mine. I tore my eyes from the erect nipples staring me in the face and looked up into her eyes. The eyes were still jade green and catlike but now they were an almond shaped with a twinkle that was not there before. She smiled again and shoved gently on my shoulders. My heels hit upon a rise in the floor and I sat down heavily on a burl or knot of wood rising from the floor.

As I watched she began to sink to her knees between my legs, spreading them apart with a light touch on the inside of my thighs. I tried to say something, anything to her but then her hand lightly caressed my flesh and my entire brain fused into one piece. Other than my own hand no one had ever touched me there. Her light caresses teased me and nearly but not quite brought me to completion.

She looked past my shoulder and in a husky voice only slightly reminiscent of Minos spoke to Azell. "This won't take long."

She was a prophetess. Moments later she placed her mouth over my organ and bobbed her head about twice. This was the most incredible feeling I had ever had. Something started flowing up my legs and down from my chest concentrating in my throbbing flesh. She bobbed her head one more time and I erupted in her mouth. It seemed that my entire essence was flowing out of my turgid member.

It lasted forever and only a few seconds at the same time. When I felt that there was nothing left she again bobbed her head several times in rapid succession which caused me to arch my back and give up a couple more dribbles of semen that I had felt were not there. I lay there on the floor for what seemed an eternity but was probably only a minute.

When I sat up it was just in time to see Minos shimmer, glow and return to his original shape. I thought that I should have been upset but the recent memory of that extraordinary experience seemed to cast a cozy blanket over my mind.

"Get dressed," said Azell. "We will return you to the clearing. Thank you for your service to us. We will not forget you."

I was nearly dressed and felt that this deserved a response. "I feel that I am destined to wander this world and not hold any place as my true home. I hope that if I pass this way again that your people will look on me as a friend."

She smiled and said, "We shall see."

She took my arm and led me through the entryway. I turned to speak to her and felt myself propelled forward. I stumbled, caught myself and turned to look to see why they had shoved me in that way. When I turned I was facing the outside of the tree once again. I stood for a moment waiting to see if they would also re-emerge. After a few minutes it was obvious that they were not coming out while I was there.

"Goodbye." I said and turned to walk back towards camp. My mind was filled with my new experiences and I didn't notice the world around me until I came upon the camp.

Jarl came running across the clearing towards me. "Where have you been? We have searched most of the day for you. You just vanished."

At this point I looked around and noticed that the light of day was fading as the sun went down. What had seemed like less than an hour inside the tree was actually a full day. I had heard stories of men who had consorted with fairies for what they thought was one night and when they return home twenty years had passed. I had never credited these stories with much truth but actually experiencing a distortion in time myself I was more amenable to giving them the benefit of the doubt.

"We followed your track to that clearing you told us about." Jarl said. "But your trail just ended there. The merchant wanted to move on but I wouldn't budge so he couldn't leave unless he wanted to go on without protection. I decided to give you the full day at least before we gave up on you since I sent you out there in the first place. What happened? Where were you?"

I looked around and saw all the other Imperials looking our way and several of the merchant's servants as well. I was suddenly embarrassed about what had happened and did not want to be the center of attention.

I turned to Jarl. "Can we go somewhere private? I want to explain but not to everyone in camp."

Jarl looked at me for a moment and then indicated for me to precede him to the guard's wagon. I climbed up into the back and sat down on one of the benches built into the side. I looked around and noticed that Maracius was not in the wagon, only the pile of supplies that the guards had brought. I asked Jarl where he was.

"None of the men wanted to share the wagon with him. They said they would rather walk all the way back to Imperial house than share the wagon with that scum. Fortunately the merchant has a large cage in one of the last carts. It's actually for a plains cat the merchant was supposed to pick up but the cat died before he got it so the cage is sitting empty. Jan is cooling his heels in it now and I only have to assign one guard at a time to watch him instead of the two we need to watch him in this open cart. Now, what about you? What happened?"

I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and began to tell what happened. I was looking down at the floor of the cart not looking at Jarl. I was too embarrassed. I tried to sound detached about what I was describing but my voice choked on the description of Azell and Minos. I neglected to tell him that Minos was the male I had seen earlier and only described him as the voluptuous female that had serviced me. I stumbled over the description of what happened but plowed on until the point where I arrived back at the camp.

When I raised my head I couldn't look at Jarl but looked out the back of the cart. I could see that it was full night now, the sun having sunk behind the horizon long ago. I turned to look at Jarl finally and in the darkened cart could see that he was grinning more broadly than I had ever seen him before.

"So that's what happened, eh? No wonder you didn't want to say anything in front of the men. Here we are looking everywhere for you and your right under our noses having a good time and keeping the women for yourself."

I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off.

"I'm only kidding. Good grief kid, you've got to grow a sense of humor if you are going to be an Imperial. And you need a thicker skin too. You can't let guys picking on you bother you or you'll never get anywhere. Well anyway, that's settled and the stone is safe. We'll move out in the morning and hopefully the guys won't give you too hard of a time during the next three weeks until we get to the way station of the plains. As it is you need to get some sleep because you are still standing guard on the second shift."

I wasn't sure what to say. Jarl had taken my encounter completely in stride. I would apparently have to deal with some good natured ribbing from the other Imperials but no one would be upset about what had happened. I moved out to find something to eat and a place to sleep.

As I moved through the camp I noticed Jarl talking to two of the Imperials. They all laughed and the other two turned to look at me. The two he was talking to suddenly grinned and gave me a thumbs up gesture that took the sting from their laughter. It was just good natured fun between men who liked and respected each other. I set off to find a place to sleep.

---

Over the next three weeks I got to know and respect the other Imperials. They were all good, easygoing men who enjoyed their work. They swapped jokes and jibes even when the caravan was ambushed by a group of fifty bandits.

Jarl ordered all the scouts into the guards cart and told them to stay down but I couldn't just cringe down while my friends were fighting for their lives. I retrieved my bow and arrows from the cart where I had taken to storing them. I loaded an arrow in my bow and then I hesitated. I had hunted all my life. Deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds. I had hunted them all. But the thought of deliberately firing at a living man froze my hands. I didn't think I could do it. Then I saw Jarl.

He was fighting with one man in heavy armor and the man had just captured his blade between his sword and shield. Jarl's blade was trapped and another man was coming up behind him with his sword drawn back for a killing blow. I moved almost without thought. I drew and fired. The arrow pierced the man's throat from side to side. The arrowhead protruded from one side and the fletching sticking out of the other. The man took one more step, clutched at his throat then fell forward, slamming full length into the ground. I had never seen a dead body before but something told me that I was seeing one now.

When the man hit the ground both Jarl and the man he was fighting turned to look in surprise. Jarl recovered first, pulled his blade loose from the other mans sword and shield and slammed it into the gap under the man's arm where his armor didn't cover him. The man stiffened and then sagged to the ground. Only then did Jarl look around and see me standing on the back of the cart with my bow. He raised he sword in salute, grinned and then jumped back into the fray, attacking another man in armor. I remained on the back of the cart through the entire attack, picking my targets, helping where I could get a clean shot.

The battle seemed to last forever but was probably over in half an hour. The bandits ran away leaving their dead and wounded behind. Of the original fifty attackers, twenty-eight bodies or prisoners remained after the battle. I was surprised to see that of those left behind ten of them had arrows wounds. I had accounted for more than a third of enemy casualties with my bow alone. I was amazed as well to see that of the ten Imperials only two had any wounds at all, one with a cut on his upper arm and Jarl with a slight cut above his right eye.

"Didn't duck fast enough." He said.

At first I didn't react to the deaths I had caused or been involved with. These had been bandits and had meant to rob and kill us. They didn't deserve sympathy. It was later in the cart, sitting with Jarl and a couple of others that I suddenly reacted. I was sitting listening to them recount their part of the fight when I suddenly felt cold. I shuddered and then had to rush from the cart to vomit my supper outside. I supported myself against the side of the cart as my knees went weak.

Jarl, who had followed me out, placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay Micah. We were wondering when and if you were going to react. There is no shame in this. You took lives today. Despicable lives,yes, but lives nonetheless. If you can get past this and fight again, you will make a fine warrior."

I nodded my head and thanked him. I took a swig of water from the bottle he offered to get the foul taste of bile from my mouth.

He slapped my shoulder in a more comradely way. "Now, try to get some rest. Warrior or not, you stand watch tonight."

He grinned at me and I was able to return a smile. I nodded and made my way to my blankets to sleep. I lay staring at the floor of the cart over my head for a while, thinking of what Jarl said. I was no great philosopher. I had done what I had to survive and protect my friends. Given the choice, I'd do it again. I finally came to terms with what I did that day and drifted to sleep. It wasn't until some years later when another friend re-iterated the sentiment Jarl had spoken before that I realized what it truly meant to be a warrior.

---

After that attack we were not bothered the rest of the way out of the mountains. Bad news like an Imperial escort traveled fast. Being outnumbered five to one and not losing one man only made it worse. When we arrived at the way station to the southern plains there were stories of a demon legion traveling through the mountains slaughtering groups of bandits to the last man. Jarl laughed about the description of their leader as a giant with flaming swords in both hands and shooting lightning from his eyes.

He chuckled and poked me in the side. "If we're slaughtering them all to the last man, who's telling the stories? Ghosts?"

I thought about that and had to agree. It also made me reconsider some of the stories I had heard back home at the crossroads. If the bandits chiefs and pirate captains some of the merchants talked about were really so ruthless and merciless, who was telling those stories? I shrugged it off for later consideration.

One thing that caught my interest concerning the stories of the demon legion was the description of an archer that couldn't miss, an archer whose arrows turned to light and struck down ten men at a time. It wasn't until Jarl pointed it out that I realized they were talking about me and the ten men I had killed or wounded. I shook my head, even more in doubt of stores I had heard before.

There was a tumult of activity as the caravan changed from the heavy carts used in the mountains to the light fast wagons used on the plains. The guards turned in their cart for a group of tough looking horses. They didn't look fast but they looked like they could get up to a respectable speed and maintain it all day. Jarl called over the scouts and paid us our agreed upon rate for leading them from the mountains. This was as far as we went.

Jarl shook hands with the others but grabbed my arm before I could walk away with them. "I want to talk to you before you go."

I nodded and sat down on the tailgate of the wagon where Jarl was sitting.

"I have watched these weeks as we traveled together. You have impressed me with your character and your skills. I think you should train at Imperial house and I want to give you this."

He held out his hand and I could see he had a large gold coin in the palm of his hand. I had heard of these. They were called emperors. It was a large gold coin with a picture of the emperor on one side. They were supposed to be highly valuable because they each weighed about 20 oz and were pure gold. They were also extremely rare. When there was an empire these coins were in constant circulation. When there was a new emperor the old coins were gathered up and melted. Then they were minted again with the new emperor's face on one side. The other side was supposed to have a picture of an eagle on it but when Jarl turned the coin over the opposite side was blank. Jarl saw the puzzled look on my face and said,

"This coin is from the last emperor. The one whose reign lasted less than a week before he was assassinated and the empire fell. The coins were never finished. When you train at Imperial house they are constantly testing your skills, your character and your intelligence. After your training if you have impressed them they might ask you to join Imperial house permanently. You serve a two year probationary period where they can ask you to leave or you can go of your own free will at any time. If you still wish to serve the house after that they give you one of these. This is to give those that look as if they would be a credit to Imperial house. This represents a full tuition. Five years of training that usually costs more than a common man can earn in a lifetime."

He paused. "I want you to take this coin. Go to Imperial house and train with the finest masters in the world. Even if you don't join the house as I have, I can't help but feel that no matter what you do you will be a credit to the house."

I hesitated and then reached out to take the coin from his hand. It felt heavier than it looked. It also looked as if it was brand new. It shone in the afternoon light, the flat unprinted side acting almost as a mirror. I looked up at Jarl.

He raised his hand and placed it on my shoulder. "I don't give this lightly. And it's not just because you saved my hide a couple a weeks back in that bandit ambush or what happened between you and Marcasius although they both helped me form my opinion of you. I feel that you are bound to do great things. I want you to be prepared."

I looked down at the coin in my hand again before I spoke. "Thank you. I won't let you down. I will make you glad you gave this to me."

"I already am. You are a good lad Micah. You'll be a good man soon. I think you will be a great one some day. This will simply help you on your way. But don't act like we will never see each other again. Imperial house is my home. It's where I live when I'm not slaving in the world beyond its walls. So if you go there to train you will see quite a bit of me. Now; on your way, you need to get home to tell your father and possibly talk him into letting you go."

We both stood and clasped forearms in sign of goodbye. I watched as Jarl walked over to his horse and swung a leg over its back as he mounted. He nodded at me once again in parting the tapped his heels on the horse's flanks. The horse tried to rear up but Jarl held his head down and prevented it. He guided the horse expertly and headed for the southern gate where the caravan was forming up to head out. I stood and watched until the last wagon disappeared through the gate then turned to head back into the heart of the way station.

---

This way station was slightly larger than my home village but with more buildings crammed into the space within the fortified walls. The other scouts had already disappeared into various buildings. The others were for the most part like me, young and far away from home on their own for the first time. When I had sat talking with them in camp on the road they had talked about bars and brothels at the end of their journey. The bar looked welcoming enough but strong drink had never had much of an appeal to me. That and the fact that in these times if you drank too much you could find yourself not only hung over but broke, naked and enslaved somewhere a hundred leagues from where you started.

I considered the brothel for a moment, but from the position of my own recent sexual experience I decided that I did not want to pay for the privilege of sharing an older, possibly diseased woman with one of the other boys from my village. I looked around a little more and decided that the inn looked okay and I would really like a meal that wasn't dried meat, salt pork or waybread. I headed for the inn looking up at the sign in front as I approached. The Southern Point Inn.

I stopped inside the doorway to let my eyes adjust from the sunlight outside to the firelight inside. There were lamps scattered around the common room but the windows near the ceiling were so coated with dirt and soot that the light from outside could not penetrate within. The effect was a kind of twilight that you could see in just not with a great amount of detail. I scanned the interior. There were of course tables scattered around the room. Cheap rough hewn benches that could be easily replaced in case of furniture breaking brawl. The lamps were set high on the support beams out of the way of any flailing limbs or flying bodies.

As I moved through the room to a table near the far wall I noticed notches and sword cuts in the support pillars at varying heights. Overall you could tell that this was a place that was frequently and violently remodeled. There were several patrons already sitting at various tables when I entered and some looked up when I first entered and then turned away in disinterest when they saw how young I was. I sat down and a woman that had been leaning on the counter at the back of the common room walked over to me and spoke.

"What do you wish young sir?"

I looked her over. She was not young but was still quite attractive. Brown hair was tied in a long braid that fell down over one shoulder almost to her waist, blue eyes that almost glowed in the low light of the inn. The off the shoulder blouse she wore was so thin and lacy that you could see the outline of her nipples through the material. Her full breast pushed the material out and overshadowed the ridiculous lacy apron she wore tied around her waist. Full hips flared out her skirt as she stood hipshot staring at me.

I pulled my eyes away from their inspection of her form and replied. "Anything that's not dried, salted or pressed for travel rations."

A smile touched her lips and she answered. "We have some mutton turning on a spit in the kitchen with some boiled potatoes in a pot with some new onions. There is also some fresh flatbread I made this morning."

I looked at her for a second then, "That sounds good but I have to ask. You're the cook?"

She stood back placing her hands on her hips. This had the effect of thrusting her chest forward which in turn made it hard to concentrate on what she said next but I heard her anyway when she spoke.

"What's the matter? Doesn't it look like I can cook?" She grabbed a breast in each hand and lifted them slightly. "These may get in the way sometimes but that doesn't stop me from my job around here."

I stammered as I tried to aplogize. "I...I'm sorry. No...No offense intended. I just meant you seem too fine a lady to drudge in a kitchen. I mean...not that you have to be plain or homely to cook. I mean..."

I stopped before my knee and thigh followed my foot into my mouth. My newly aquired sophistication evaporating in the presence of a beautiful woman. I sighed in relief somewhat when I saw her eyes twinkling in amusement at me.

"You're a regular silver-tongued devil aren't you?"

I couldn't think of anything to say to that so kept my mouth wisely shut.

She continued to hold her breasts a moment more and then released them with a tinkling laugh. "Don't fret it so much young sir. Some ladies find that naive charm and frank honesty attractive."

She turned away still laughing and I watched her beautifully rounded ass as it swayed across the room and through a door in the back wall.

I was still staring after her when I heard a voice next to me. "Don't get your hopes up youngling. Bethany is all about getting you to spend your money here rather than have you going to the brothel or one of the bars here."

I turned to see a man in a floor length cloak sitting at the table next to mine. His head was covered by the cloaks hood and the only thing you could see of him was his hand, which was slightly bony, and his pipe which emerged smoking from his hood.

"Excuse me."

The hand took the pipe by the bowl and pointed with the stem towards the door the woman had gone through as he replied to me. "Bethany. She's a flirt, a tease and as far as anybody around here can find out a complete celibate. Many a man has spent his money here in the hopes of something a little more intimate than the flash of her cleavage across a table. None has ever even touched her except in the most platonic of manners. Anyone that tries anything else quickly finds himself on the receiving end of Udo's affections."

Again the pipe pointed. This time at the opposite end of the room where what I though was some form of sculpture turned out to be a huge man. His massive arms hung down nearly to his knees from slightly stooped shoulders. Brown eyes restlessly scanned the room for signs of trouble or possibly continental drift as he looked as if he would stand there until the next ice age. His massive chest rose and fell slowly and if it were not for those glittering eyes you would have thought him asleep. He was by far the largest human I had ever seen. He was not fat, just built on a scale fifty percent larger than the largest man I had ever seen.

"I wouldn't stare at him if I were you," said the man from the recesses of his hood. "That bothers Udo too. Things that bother Udo are usually very short lived around here. Almost as short lived as anything that bothers Bethany. They're quite a team. Bethany conning, swindling and outright stealing from her customers and Udo watching over her so that she never has to face the consequences of her actions. I've yet to see any man that could do more than annoy Udo for a few moments much less hurt him."

I had turned back to him as he spoke. I wondered out loud to him "Is there no law around here, no one to complain to about such treatment?"

A deep chuckle came from the depths of the hood as it turned towards me. "You are new to the territories aren't you?"

I simply nodded and the man stood up from his seat. He seemed taller than he had appeared when sitting. He reached up and drew back his hood. The face beneath was thin without being gaunt. Wrinkles from laugh lines cut into the corner of his mouth and eyes. The eyes were a blue that almost seemed to be lit from behind. His hair was a silver grey shot through with black here and there that touched his shoulders. His goatee matched the hair on his head except that there was more black in it and it seemed neater than the hair on his head. As if he meticulously groomed his beard and then just ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it.

He moved to my table and sat across from me leaning forward on his elbows. "Well allow me to give you a little advice and guidance. You are of course aware that to the north of us is the country of Samisand."

I nodded. "Yes. I come from there. My village is in the mountains north of here."

"Ah. You must have come in with that last caravan, the one with the Imperials."

I nodded again and he continued.

"Well your country is a nice law abiding country with a good king and an army to protect its borders. However the border of your country is two days walk north of here. From that border all the way south to the sea are the 'plains of misery'. Esses to the south, Farum to the east and Paydor to the west all claim the plains as their own. Unfortunately none of them have a strong enough army to hold their claim. Not to mention several nomad tribes that have been roaming the plains since before any of those kingdoms existed. The tribes don't recognize any country as their rulers and attack all who cross the plains indiscriminately except for those guarded by Imperials. It seems that the empire had long standing agreements with the tribes, and the tribes still honor them. The only law around here is what naked steel can get you and justice is what you can accomplish on your own. Few wander beyond this point without guards and guides aplenty. I advise you to turn around and go back to your nice quiet village, marry your sweetheart and have a bunch of kids. Anyone who doesn't know his way around out here can find his life full of interesting experiences and find the number of his years cut dramatically short."

"I don't think I'll be able to take your advice sir. I have not traveled far in my time but I have been far enough to know that I want to go further. The leader of the Imperials gave me this to help prepare me."

With that I drew out the emperor that Jarl had given me from my pouch. Quicker than my eyes could follow the man's hand shot out and shoved my hand back in where it had came from. I tried to pull my hand loose but it felt as if I was pushing against stone. I started to panic and grabbed for my knife with my free hand. Looking into the man's eyes as I struggled I could see that they were actually glowing with some light from inside.

"Don't be a fool lad." He hissed in a low voice. "Never draw gold in a place like this unless you have the steel or power to protect it."

As quickly as he grabbed me, he released me and sat back on his bench. It happened so quickly that no one who wasn't watching for the movement could have been sure that he had actually moved at all. Before I could say anything Bethany approached the table with a platter and a mug.

"Tolkus, you're not annoying my customers are you? I can have Udo escort you out if you are."

She was smiling but her voice had a dangerous edge to it. I felt that this was no idle threat and that I should move to avoid any unpleasantness. I smiled at her as I spoke.

"No lady, he is not annoying me. I am new to this area and I asked him to tell me something of the country around here."

She turned towards me as I spoke and the hard edge of her smile softened slightly as she looked my way. She set the platter down in front of me, bending low enough to give me a good look down her cleavage. As I was looking at that magnificent sight she lifted her eyes to mine and smiled. She had not only known I would look but had expected it.

She straightened back up, took a napkin from somewhere and leaned over again to place it in my lap. Now in addition to being able to look down the front of her blouse I could feel her hand as it brushed lightly across my crotch. My cock rose to attention and nudged the back of her hand as she straightened up again.

She smiled down at me again and spoke. "Well I can't tell you who to associate with but if I wanted information I would find someone more reliable than some hedge wizard without even a staff. He remains here on sufferance because we turn no one away. Now if you will excuse me I have other customers to attend."

I watched as she walked away, her ass seemed to have an extra wiggle that wasn't there the last time she had walked across the room.

I turned back to my new companion. "Hedge wizard eh? Planning on casting a spell on me wizard? Going to make me think I'm a frog or that you are some long lost friend that needs a loan?"

"I do not need the few coins you have in your pouch."

He set his hand palm down on the table and when he lifted it a pile of coins sat there in the open. Gold, silver and some copper. He made another pass with his hand and the coins were gone.

"As for making you think you're a frog, well that depends on whether you piss me off or not. Believe me I mean you no harm and I don't need your money. You are simply a new face and apparently intelligent, and both are hard to come by in this place. Let's just sit and talk, share stories of the road and our experiences."

He looked at me and the platter in front of me. "Go ahead and eat. I'll ramble a bit and tell you about myself while you eat and then you can talk when you're done."

I took a bite of the mutton, which wasn't bad, ate a bite of potato, which was quite good and lifted the mug and sniffed it. I couldn't place the sweetish smell rising from the mug and looked over at Tolkus with a raised eyebrow.

He took the mug and sniffed it. "Honey mead."

I must have looked blank because he continued, "It's a very weak beer made from fermented honey. It's not very strong. As a matter of fact if you were older you would have to consider it an insult to be offered this. It implies that you can't hold strong drink. But I think Bethany meant no insult, she is only mindful of your age."

I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip from the mug. It was sweet with a slightly sour aftertaste. I decided I would drink it for now but would ask for something else the next time. I had drunk the ale at the Compass and had even had a few sips of the wine that my father made from the hawk berries that grew on the slopes above our village. I didn't feel that this inn could offer me anything that I couldn't handle. My travels had left me somewhat overconfident of my ability to take care of myself; but I survived for some time so maybe it wasn't overconfidence after all.

I settled down to eat and Tolkus began talking about his travels. I listened with half an ear as I ate. For the most part I watched Bethany as she moved about the room waiting on customers, serving drinks and flirting with everyone. He large breasts swaying and her hips switching back and forth as she moved around the room were much more entertaining than any stage act could have been. As I was finishing eating I heard Tolkus say something a word or name that caught my attention.

I sat up and interrrupted. "Wait. That name or word you spoke, what was it?"

"What? You mean Dryad?"

"Yes, that's the one. What were you saying about them?"

"What? I was saying, I had done some research about them. I was fascinated by them. They had so many names. Dryad of course was the formal name but they were also called, tree spirits, spirits of the wood, elder gods. Some men long ago even misidentified them as elves."

I had only been listening with half an ear for the most part to most of his rambling as I ate but at his mention of tree spirits I tried to pick up the thread of his talk.

He kept rambling. "My theory was that they retreated further into the woods as men expanded without realizing the consequences. I think they are mutually sterile. You know? Unable to mate with their own kind. I think they are the only magical race that needed man to procreate."

"Yes," I said, "I would guess it is because they are both spirit and mortal. Wouldn't you think?"

Tolkus sat there for a moment with a look on his face as if he had been punched in the gut. He drew in a breath and opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.

He drew in his breath again wet his lips and tried again. "How did you know that? I have studied some of the most obscure texts ever written. Only a half dozen people can read them because of the dead language they are written in. Of that half dozen only one or two agree with me that the text implies exactly that about them. I doubt you are old enough to have learned the intricacies of Pok-Tai, the language of the text."

"No I don't read or speak Pok-Tai, whatever that is. I was merely repeating what Azell had said. The fact that she said it kind of puts the lie to the statement that they are extinct, dwindled yes but definitely not extinct."

Tolkus looked at me as if I had grown another head and then asked. "What are you babbling about? Who is Azell? How would she know one way or the other?"

I leaned back against the wall and smiled. Tolkus had looked so calm and controlled when he came to my table. He had rattled off the stories of his travels and adventures with such confidence that I could not help but be impressed with him. He now had the look of a young man that has heard the rumor that the barmaid wears no underwear to work and when he gets there finds out that she's not wearing a dress either. It was just too good to be true.

He had a hungry look in his eyes that brooked no argument.  I proceeded to tell him about my encounter with the tree spirits. By the time I got to the end I noticed that he had brought out some paper from somewhere and was scribbling furiously with a charcoal stick. He stopped writing shortly after I stopped talking.

He looked at me again with that same hungry look but it was banked somewhat. "You say you gave them the amulet?"

I nodded.

"Pity that. Do you think you could find this clearing again?"

I nodded again.

"Even after all these weeks?"

Nod.

"Good. I want to hire you as a guide."

"What?! Why? What do you care if I can find tree spirits?"

"You have to understand. We had thought they were extinct. We thought they had vanished centuries ago. It's like walking along a trail in the woods, going around the bend in a trail and finding a fully functioning Imperial city in the middle of the road with its governor running it and the Imperial battalion patrolling the walls. Please, I will pay you well. I'll pay you just to take me to the general area. I'll find them on my own once I get close."

I looked at him. The light of obsession glowed in his eyes. This man would follow me around in the hope that I would lead him to these creatures if even by accident. I sighed.

I was tired. "Alright, I will be going back the way I came anyway. You can come with me and I will point out the clearing when we get close. Mind you I bear no responsibility for the greeting you will receive. The Imperial who entered that clearing before me was a cruel and sadistic creature that abused two of them and made them do his bidding. They may feel that they owe the next man some grief."

"Yes, yes, I understand. Once you get me there you are free of any obligation."

He went back to poring over the notes he had taken, grunting occasionally and scribbling things as ideas hit him. I sat back against the wall again and looked around. Bethany was leaning against the counter in the back and it looked like she was watching me. I looked up at one of the overhead windows and could see through the soot and grime that the sun was on its way down.

I signaled to Bethany and she crossed the room towards where I sat. She made a good show of it. Her breasts were bouncing and her hips were swaying as she walked my way. She stopped next to the table on the side next to me, placed one hand on the wall next to my head and the other on the table in front of me.

Once more she leaned forward giving me another good look at her cleavage. "What can I do for you now, sweetling?"

"Lady, I just wanted to compliment you on a fine meal and to ask you if you have a room available for the night. I have been sleeping on the ground for a month and I would like to sleep in a bed tonight before I start back home."

"Call me Bethany." She said and reached down to take the napkin from my lap, brushing my crotch once again.

She straightened up and spoke. "I think I have a room left on the top floor. It's not very big but you won't be bothered by anything that goes on down here. It is far removed from the common room and any commotion that goes on here. Follow me."

I stood to follow her.

Looking at the wizard as he reread his notes I spoke to him. "I will meet you at the gate of the north road, the second hour past dawn."

This caught the wizard's attention and he sputtered, "Second hour!? Are you fevered? Why would we need to be up at that god's forsaken time?"

"Wizard I am going home. You can be there in the morning to go with me or you can try to catch up. I'll be traveling light and fast. I have much to do before I go to Imperial house."

I turned back to follow Bethany and found her staring at me with a strangely intent look.

"So you're going to try to enter Imperial house. You have a very high opinion of yourself don't you? And you must be wealthier than you look. The training is not cheap and they don't let you work your way through."

"Uh, no my father is a smith. We're not rich at all. As for my opinion of myself, the leader of the Imperial detachment himself said he thought I would make a good Imperial."

Bethany snorted loudly, then turned and headed for the stairs at the rear of the building. This was a much larger building than I thought. The stairs continued past the second floor on up to a third I had not suspected was there. "You must not be able to see it from the front." I thought. Bethany had slowed as she approached the third floor and when she reached the landing she turned to look at me as I climbed the last few stairs.

"I just remembered there is one more room that is not occupied. It is slightly larger than the other one and the bed is much nicer. The reason it remains vacant is that it is near my room and I don't trust most men that close to my quarters. You, however say that the commander said you will make a good Imperial and I know them to be honorable men. I will let you use it if you can tell me how a smith's son intends to pay five years tuition at the finest academy in the realm."

The thought of a nice bed was so tempting. I couldn't help it. I reached in my pouch and after looking around to make sure we were alone, drew out the emperor and held it out in my palm so she could see it. A beautiful smile unlike any I had seen before crossed her face. She reached out her hand and closed my fist around the coin.

She smailed at me as she spoke. "Yes, I thought as much. Put it away and follow me."

She turned and headed down a corridor lined with doors. As she walked her voice drifted back to me.

"I know what that is and what it represents. Someone thinks very highly of you. I have run this inn for ten years and that is the third one of those I have seen that wasn't in the hands of an Imperial. You are also the youngest one I have seen with one of those."

She stopped and spun towards me. "That is not just an honor but potentially harmful to the man who gave it to you."

I didn't know what she meant and opened my mouth to ask but she overrode me.

"The man who gave you that has climbed way out on a limb and told everyone that you have the potential to be an Imperial as young as you are. And not just that you have the potential but that you shouldn't have to pay to try to attain that potential. Now can you imagine how that man will look if you show up, hang around for a couple of weeks or a month and then decide to leave? His judgment will be called into question. Men will be reluctant to follow him lest he make a bad decision and cost someone their life. He will be useless to Imperial house as anything but someone to shuffle paper. A potentially great warrior reduced to adding up sums or checking attendance rosters."

By this time we had arrived at the opposite end of the corridor. There was a gap between the last pair of doors and the one at the end of the hall. 

Bethany pointed at the door at the end of the hall. "My room."

Then she moved her arm a few inches and pointed at the side wall just shy of her door. "Your room, follow me."

Bethany led the way towards the wall she had pointed at and as we approached I could see that there was a door there nearly hidden in the molding and fretwork of the hall. The door opened into the hall and on a shelf just inside was an oil lamp which she lit with a tinderbox from the shelf next to it. She glanced over her shoulder and headed up the stairs.

After about five steps the stairs opened onto a landing and made a 90 degree turn and headed up again. I noticed that the landing was unusually wide but kept moving as the light retreated up the stairs. The room that I emerged into was large, at least fifteen feet from the wall that the door was in to the wall with the bed against it. And what a bed, it was at least eight feet long and six feet wide. All five of the scouts left here by the Imperials could sleep in this without bumping in to each other all night.

As I looked around the room I saw a bathtub in the opposite corner from the door. "Wow. Do you think I could get a bath before I go to sleep?"

When I looked at Bethany she was grinning at me with a light of mischief in her eyes. "That's not the usual reaction I get from gentlemen your age when they see that thing."

"I'm a blacksmiths son. My father's idea of pampering me is to knock the ice off the bucket before he pours it over my head. And you have to remember that I have been bathing in streams and out of buckets for the past month. The idea of sitting down in warm water for a change has a great deal of appeal right now."

Bethany laughed as she replied. "Very well I will have some of the girls heat the water and fill the tub. It shouldn't take long. Why don't you go ahead and get undressed and the water will be up shortly."

I actually just sat down and removed my boots when several young girls, not much older than me, came into the room each carrying two pales of hot water. Within a few moments the tub was full enough to use. Bethany was the last one through the door carrying the last bucket. She poured it in the tub and handed it to the last girl as she headed to the door.

Bethany looked around at me and grinned. "Still dressed I see. What's the matter? Not shy are we?"

Continued in Part 3

---