 
                               CHAPTER 4
 
Chapter 4
 
 
 
            The group was ecstatic as they made their way clumsily down
out of the hills and onto the plain.  They had to be somewhat careful,
for their fatigue, mixed with their elation, was causing them to be
ungainly in their movements.  Finally, down in the valley, surrounded
by green plants, flowers, and a few tall trees, they could appreciate
the true size of the castle before them.
 
            They were about halfway to the castle when seemingly out of
nowhere came the largest ogre they could imagine.  Its body was hairy,
and ugly.  Its face was covered with warts and pimples, and in its hand
rested a large club.  The group stepped back, falling into their
defensive circle so that the weaponless members were protected.
 
            Susan was stringing an arrow to her bow when Paul called
out, “Wait a second, Susan!”
 
            She paused, looking at him to find out what he wanted.
 
            “What’s up, Paul?” Don asked.  Kate fluttered around Don’s
head nervously, and he had to work very hard at not shooing her away.
 
            “Look at the ground.”  When everyone looked at their feet,
he sighed heavily.  “Not *here*!  Over there!  Look just beneath him!”
 
            “So what?” Susan asked.
 
            “No *shadow*!  He’s not casting a shadow!  I bet he’s not
real.  And how come he’s not advancing on us?”
 
            Gill picked up a hefty rock, and hurled it at the
creature.  The stone passed completely through it, and landed on the
other side.
 
            Everyone looked at Paul.  “Good work, man,” Gill said. 
Paul nodded.
 
            “I wonder if this means that Iamor doesn’t like visitors,
after all.”
 
            “Who knows.  But if he didn’t want company, you’d think
he’d put the drawbridge up.”
 
            “Maybe that’s an illusion, too?” Julie pondered nervously.
 
            “I don’t think so,” Don said.  “But I can’t really tell you
why.  Just a feeling I’ve got.  Anyway, let’s get going.”
 
            The ogre-image tried to move to stop them, but once they
walked through him, he vanished.  They all breathed a big sigh of
relief at having passed that little test.
 
 
 
            The rest of the walk up to the keep was quiet and
uneventful, but longer than they had expected.  Now in front of the
castle, it was a truly impressive structure.  Susan and Gill were about
to step onto the drawbridge, but Don stopped them.
 
            “Paul, take that pebble you’ve been carrying, and throw it
across the bridge.”
 
            “You worried about a booby-trap?”  Don nodded.
 
            Paul took the stone out of a pocket, and bounced it
deliberately across the bridge.  The first bounce told them the bridge
was solid.  As it reached the other side, nothing happened.
 
            “Satisfied?” Paul asked.
 
            Don nodded, and then led the group across.  Nothing
accosted them from the moat, and they reached the other side safely. 
Paul stooped to pick up his pebble, which he now thought of as a
good-luck charm.
 
            “Howdy!”
 
            The entire group jumped back as a creature they could not
identify popped down from the ceiling.  Its fur was pink, and it very
much resembled a monkey, only its tail ended in a third hand.  Its head
was very human, and its eyes were bright, clear, and intelligent, as
well as startlingly yellow.
 
            “Howdy!” the creature repeated.
 
            “Um... hello,” Don said tentatively.  “This... uh... this
*is* Castle Ballor, correct?”
 
            “Yuuuuuubetcha!” the animal said.
 
            The group sighed.  At least they were “here.”
 
            “We wish to see Iamor, the wizard.  Is he about?”
 
            “About what?” the animal asked, and then cackled with
laughter at his own joke.
 
            “Is he here?” Don queried more carefully.
 
            “Do you see him here?” the monkey-thing asked with mirth. 
“I don’t see him here, must be somewhere else.”
 
            “Is he within the castle someplace?” Paul asked, hoping to
cut off further playfulness from the creature.
 
            “OH!” the animal cried.  “You wanna know if he be *home*!”
 
            “Yes,” Don explained patiently.
 
            “Surebe home!”
 
            “Could you take us to him, please?”
 
            “No can do!  Have to call Malmot!  Be-in right back!” 
Before anyone could say anything at all, the animal popped back up into
the ceiling, and disappeared.  From deep within the castle, they heard
a bell tolling.  The group mingled as they waited for the monkey-thing
to return.
 
            They were all startled again when he popped back down from
the ceiling.  “Malmot come!  Malmot take!  Barry no leave door!  Gotsa
say Howdy!”
 
            They all translated this to mean that the creature,
apparently named Barry, was the doorkeeper.
 
            After a few moments of awkward silence, a large, lumbering
creature, resembling a man only rather larger, walked through the far
door, toward the group.  Julie stepped behind her brother with some
trepidation.  Kate hid behind Don’s head.
 
            Barry saw their actions.  “Malmot here!  Malmot take!”  To
Malmot, Barry said, “Wansa see Iamor!  You take!”
 
            Malmot nodded to the creature, who popped back up into the
ceiling without another word.  To the visitors, Malmot said, “You come
this way.”  Malmot turned and walked, with the assumption that the
group would follow, which they did.
 
            Malmot said nothing further as he led them through the
castle out into the courtyard.  There, they saw a man... or was he a
gnome?  He was barely four and a half feet tall, and his long white
beard flowed all the way to his belt line.  He wore a light blue robe,
with a dark blue sash at the waist.  He had no hat, nor hair, on his
head, barring the beard.
 
            Malmot walked them to the man, and said, “Visitors come. 
Visitors here.”
 
            The man turned in some surprise.  “Well!  Very good,
Malmot.  You can go back to your play, now.”
 
            “Thank you,” Malmot said with a smile.  He turned and waved
at the group.  “Bye now,” he said, and lumbered off.
 
            “Malmot is a Gork.  Not terribly bright, but very friendly,
and good at what he does.”
 
            “Are you Iamor, the wizard?” Don asked
 
            “I am, or, I am not.”  Iamor laughed heartily at his joke.
 
            Gill leaned over to Don and whispered, “I think we’ve just
entered Comedy Central.”  Don nodded at him grimly.
 
            “Yes, I am... at least today,” Iamor answered finally,
wiping tears from his eyes.  “And who might you be?”
 
            “My name is Donald White.  The six of us were dropped here
by... well, by some kind of magic.  Back in our world, it was called a
video game.  Suddenly, we were transported here, into Zemlia Nov.”
 
            “I see...” said Iamor, considering.  Then, squinting, he
said, “No, I do not see.  There are but five of you.”
 
            “Oh, sorry.”  Don held up his hand, palm up, and Kate
stepped onto it.  Moving his arm slowly forward, Don said, “This is my
sister, Kate.  Or, what’s left of her, anyway.  I, um... apparently
turned her into this, although that’s not what the spell was supposed
to do.”
 
            “Oh, dear oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear,” Iamor said in a
long string of unbroken woe.  He clucked his tongue repeatedly, and
then shook his head.  “As a magician, you make a good baker.”
 
            Paul laughed, until Don turned and whacked him on the arm.
 
            “Sir, is there any way you can change her back?”
 
            “Well, of course there is, young man!  What do you think I
am, a baker?  No, I am a magician!”  Iamor pulled a small book out of
his robe, and opened it.  “Oh, Farkle.  Where are...” he fumbled
further to find his reading glasses, and slipped them onto his nose,
where they rested somewhat askew.
 
            Opening the book to a particular page, Iamor recited a
spell, moving his free hand this way and that.  Suddenly, a light
surrounded Kate, and she began to grow.  Soon, she was back to her
normal size.
 
            As a winged Elf.
 
            “Oh, fibberty-giblet!” Iamor cursed.  “I must have done
something wrong!  But I never cast my spells wrong!  Oh, bother!”
 
            Don hurried to calm the man down.  “No, sir, you’ve cast
the spell correctly.  This is what my sister looks like, at least here
in Zemlia Nov.  She was transformed when we arrived.”
 
            Iamor looked at him for a moment, and then a smug little
smile crossed his face.  “Ah, well, that settles that then.  See?  I
told you I never cast my spells wrong!”  The book and the glasses soon
made their way back into the man’s robe.  “So, what can I do for you,
now that there are six of you again, instead of five and a tenth?”
 
            “Sir, we are seeking the yellow dragon, Vernior.  Also, we
were wondering if we might rest here for a few days.”
 
            “Ahf!  Admit it, boy!  You want me to straighten out your
magic!”
 
            “That, also, might be helpful,” Don allowed.
 
            “You bet it might!  Anyone who can accidentally turn a
pretty Elf into a little-bitty fairy by accident, you most definitely
need your magic straightened!  It’s bent as a hat-nail!”
 
            This was not helping Don’s confidence at all.  Kate came to
his defense.  “Hey, how long have *you* been doing magic?  My brother’s
doing just fine for only practicing for a week!”
 
            “Oooh, a feisty one!  Perhaps you liked it as a fairy?”
 
            At that point, both Don and Gill stepped forward.  Gill
drew his sword menacingly, saying, “And perhaps you’d like being
wizard-kabob?”
 
            Iamor raised his hands in mock-terror.  “A joke, it was a
joke!  My my my my my.  You folks need to learn some humor!”
 
            “Excuse us for not being in much of a good mood, wizard,
but we have been stuck in this place for a week now, and we would
really like to get home.  To do that, we need to find Vernior,” Paul
said, trying to get things back on track.
 
            “No, not yet,” Iamor said.  “First to do is to train.  You,
you have the powers of the psionic, yes?  But you don’t know how to use
them all.  And of course our magician friend needs many lessons.  And
I’m sure your chef there could skewer a few more things in practice
combat.”  Iamor grinned at Gill, who sheathed his sword in contempt.
 
            “First, let us get you settled.  Yes.  Then you can wash,
and then we will eat.  Come come.”  All of Iamor’s words seem to run
together, especially if he was repeating himself.  It was hard for any
of them to understand him, but they followed him back into the castle.
 
 
 
            After about an hour, the six all felt a whole lot better,
having bathed and had their clothing washed.  They were milling about
in a large upstairs area that had a view over the valley, when Malmot
appeared behind them, very quietly.
 
            He startled them all when he said, “You come this way,
now.  Time for eat.”
 
            The group tried to restart their hearts as they followed
him down some stairs and through a long hallway, to a small dining
room.  They chose seats in pairs, as brother and sister.  Don sat on
one side of Iamor.  Gill sat on the other.  Paul was sitting by a woman
whose name he had not had a chance to learn, and there were several
other guests at the meal as well.
 
            “Well wellwellwellwellwell,”  Iamor rambled.  “As you can
all see, well, except for Bob, but the rest of you can see, we have new
guests at the castle today who have come to train with us and to rest
from their journey so that they can go on to find the yellow dragon, of
all things!”  The guests oohed appreciatively, while the siblings
looked at each other in some discomfort.
 
            To the six, Iamor said, “This is Bob.  He is the castle
librarian and historian.  Yes, our librarian is blind.  Don’t make fun
of him because of it.”  Moving on, he said, “That is Carysta, master
psionic.  She will teach you, young man, the things you do not know.” 
The young woman next to Paul rested her hand on his arm, and nodded. 
She was quite beautiful, but she hadn’t spoken yet.
 
            “Darnell will educate you, young chef, on how to properly
use that sword, rather than threatening helpless old wizards!”  Gill
kept his mouth shut.  “And that over there, who refuses to eat with
anyone, is my sister, Gaphnia.  A stubborn little wench, she is!  Don’t
bother with her, you won’t get anything useful from her, unless you
need a scolding, of course, she is ever so good at giving those!
 
            “Now, we don’t know who you are, so it is awful rude of you
to just sit there knowing all our names without telling us yours, and
your jobs, and what you do and such!”  Iamor finally sat down with a
heavy thump in his chair.
 
            Don stood to speak for the group.  “My name is Don.  I am
merely a student back where I come from, now I lead our team to try to
find a way home.  This is my sister, Kate.  She became an Elfling when
she was brought here.  That’s my friend, Gill.  He’s also a student,
but he’s our fighter on this journey.  His sister, Susan, is our
archer, and she’s already saved our butt once.”  Susan blushed at his
praise.  “That’s Paul, and he’s our levitator of rocks.”  The group of
six laughed, though the assembled lunch crowd didn’t get it.  “And his
sister Julie is our cook and medic.  We were all brought here by what
in our world is called a game.  Its magic dropped us in the middle of a
meadow, and we’ve had to fend for ourselves for the last week.”  Don
sat down, and his sister rested her hand on his.
 
            “Wellwellwell,” Iamor said.  “An impressive little group,
very impressive.  Now let’s eat, shall we?  Yes we shall.  It’s lunch
time, so we shall eat.”
 
            Don rolled his eyes.  *And I have to try to learn magic
from this guy?*
 
            As lunch continued, the cook came out to see how things
were.  She was an elderly lady, but pleasant enough.  “You are enjoying
your meal, my new friends?” she asked politely.
 
            “Oh, yes, ma’am.  A very good meal for hungry travelers,”
Don replied.
 
            “Much better than dragon meat,” Susan opined.  

            The room grew quiet at that statement.  Susan looked at
Don, fearful that she had said something wrong.  He just shrugged at
her.
 
            “You have eaten dragon meat?” Darnell asked very quietly.
 
            “We, ah... killed a dragon along the way here, yes,” Paul
answered.
 
            Several of the pages and underlings gasped, and two or
three of them slipped from the room unnoticed.
 
            “Do tell more!” Iamor commanded.
 
            Don explained, “He was already severely wounded.  He asked
us to end his suffering.  We did so, in exchange for telling us how to
get here.”
 
            “The dragon’s name?” Darnell asked.
 
            “Dan-Eger.  He said he’d lost a fight with Dan-Gelmer.”
 
            “Dan-Gelmer rules the forest now?” Bob asked with fear.
 
            “That seems to be the case.  I know the WolfRiders didn’t
seem to like the idea, either, but who is Dan-Gelmer?”
 
            “Mymymymymy, you have met a great many inhabitants on your
journey.  The WolfRiders were right to fear Dan-Gelmer.  You see,
Dan-Eger and Dan-Gelmer had a long-standing feud.  Dan-Gelmer is a much
more aggressive dragon than Dan-Eger, and he may not confine himself to
the forest.  And if he finds out you eased Dan-Eger’s suffering...
well, he won’t like you, won’t like you at all, nonononono.”
 
            “Well, it can’t be helped now,” Don said with resignation. 
“We’ll deal with whatever trouble it brings... when that trouble
arises.”
 
            “Yes, very good, very good boy, you understand when to deal
with trouble.  Many people try to fix the problem before it comes, and
thus create new problems rather than fixing the problem they don’t have
yet.”
 
            That was just convoluted enough that Don grasped it, but
just barely.  He nodded in appreciation at the sort-of compliment.
 
            The rest of the meal went quietly, with the conversation
centering around information about Zemlia Nov, and how to navigate
safely in the land.
 
 
 
            Iamor had told them they would begin their training the
next day, as today was supposed to be a day of rest, anyway.  The three
pairs had each gone to their rooms.  Though there were two beds in
each, everyone knew it was unlikely that the extra bed would ever get
used.  They had not been given separate rooms, Iamor said, because
space in the castle was limited.  No one believed this for a minute.  A
private discussion among the boys decided that this was the game’s
doing, and that so long as the girls didn’t object, they would simply
go along with it
 
            Paul certainly didn’t mind, as he watched his sister change
from her peasant dress into something a little lighter and more
pleasingly feminine.  She had not even considered asking him to turn
around as she had changed, and he had openly admired her beauty.
 
            “Like what you see, Paul?” she teased.
 
            “Very much so.  You’re a beautiful girl.”
 
            Julie blushed.  “Thank you,” she said meekly.  Finished
putting her dress on, she came and sat by him on the bed, laying her
head on his shoulder.  He immediately wrapped his arm around her.
 
            “I’m glad you’re here with me, Paulie.  I couldn’t take all
this alone.”  She leaned her head back, and he kissed her without much
in the way of thought.  She kissed back, hard, and they embraced
strongly.  Paul was afraid to push, afraid that she wasn’t offering all
of her, so they continued to kiss for some minutes, until they broke
the kiss, and just held each other.  It was so pleasant, he didn’t even
miss what might have been, and was just happy to have what he had.
 
 
 
            Susan and Gill, however, were already fully engaged, and
their moans could be heard even out in the hallway.  Don heard this as
he passed by, returning to his room from a linen closet, where he’d
gotten a blanket for the bed.  He had some concerns about how warm it
would be here, in the mountains, at night.
 
            When he walked in the room, he didn’t immediately see Kate,
and he began to worry.  It was amazing to him just how attached he had
become to her.  Sister or not, he’d never felt this attracted to her,
never been so wanting of her company.
 
            Don tossed the blanket onto the bed, and looked out to see
Kate standing on the balcony.  He stepped out quietly to stand behind
her.  She knew he was there, and he knew she knew, but neither of them
said anything for the next several minutes.
 
            “I’m scared, Donny,” she said finally.
 
            He had known that she wasn’t comfortable, but he was
surprised that she would be so frightened as this.  “We’re okay here,
Katie.  I don’t think Iamor will cause us any trouble that isn’t meant
in fun.”  He kept his voice light, but quiet.
 
            “I’m not worried about him.  I’m worried about this place,
this world we’re in.  How will we ever get out of here?”
 
            Don placed his hands on his sister’s hips, providing
comfort to her.  “We’ll find a way.  Together, we can find a way out of
here.  I know it.”
 
            Kate turned to him, and they kissed warmly.  After a few
moments, she broke the kiss, and he held her as tears rolled silently
down her cheeks.
 
            *I promise you, Kate.  We’ll find a way out of here.  If I
have to rip this world apart one root at a time.*
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            That night, just before bed, the boys gathered for their
usual nightly meeting.  Well, it was normal for here, in Zemlia Nov,
anyway.  They all needed to discuss what had happened to them in the
past several hours.
 
            “Hey, Gill, you think you two could keep it down to a dull
roar tonight, so some of us can get some sleep?” Paul asked with a grin.
 
            Gill dropped his head as he blushed crimson.  “I don’t get
it, guys.  It’s like someone flipped a switch in her brain.  She’s
completely insatiable.  But, when I told her this afternoon that I’d
had enough, she just... stopped.  I mean, it was like someone had
pressed a button that said ‘off’.”
 
            “So, she acts when you want her.  Sounds like a cool
relationship to me, man,” Don said.
 
            “True enough.”
 
            “And, hey,” Paul threw in, “did you ever think you’d have
to tell a girl you’d had enough?”
 
            They all laughed at that.
 
            “Paul, you noticing anything in Julie?”
 
            “Yeah.  I think I probably could have gotten somewhere with
her this afternoon, but I didn’t want to press my luck.  She hasn’t
been quite as forward as your sisters have been.”
 
            “True.  Well, we’re going to be here a while, so take
whatever opportunities you can.  Right now, I’m gonna go back to my
winged sister.  You two sleep well.  Hey, at least no one has to stand
guard duty.”
 
            “True enough.  See you guys in the morning,” Gill agreed.
 
            Don returned to his room, where he found all but one candle
extinguished.  He didn’t see his sister, but there was a flickering
light coming from the bathroom, so he figured she was in there.
 
            Don marveled at the game’s inconsistencies.  Although this
was a “medieval castle”, it had indoor plumbing.  But that indoor
plumbing did *not* extend to allowing them to shower: there were only
bathtubs.  He found it extremely odd, but didn’t figure there was any
need for the game to make complete sense.
 
            His thoughts were sidetracked as Kate came out of the
bathroom.  He loved looking at his sister, and her hair shone in the
candlelight in such a way that it looked as if his sister had a halo. 
Seeing her that way made him inhale sharply.
 
            “What is it, Donny?” she asked.
 
            “You’re just... so damn beautiful,” he said in awe.  She
blushed as she set the candle down.
 
            “Are you coming to bed soon?”
 
            “Uh, yeah.  Just let me go to the bathroom.”  

            By the time he had returned from the bathroom, Kate had
removed her skirt, and was reaching to untie her top.  She struggled to
reach it.  “Donny, can you get this for me?”
 
            “Sure,” he responded, dropping off his robe on the back of
a chair as he walked over to her.  He pressed up against her before
even reaching for her top.  It was then that he realized she also had
removed her panties.
 
            “Mm.  You feel good,” she murmured.
 
            Gulping slightly, Don moved back and undid the fasteners on
her top, and it fell to the bed.  She picked it up, and set it with her
skirt.  Turning to him, she said, as she wrapped her arms around his
neck, “I wish I had a different top to wear.  That one’s not real
comfortable.  But this feels very nice.”
 
            Don had to admit that it felt absolutely great to have his
sister’s big tits pressed against his bare chest.  His hands were
caressing her back, and soon his lips were touching hers, very sweetly.
 
            After a moment, they climbed into bed together.  Neither of
them made any sexual advances, for they were worn out from the stress
and excitement of the day, and indeed the past week.  They snuggled
against each other in the warm softness of the bed, and they were both
asleep in minutes.
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
                        

            The next morning at breakfast, the boys were each told
where they would go for their training.  Susan was informed of the
location of the archery range, and the other two girls were told to
‘make themselves at home’ in the castle.  It would be nice, they all
thought, to actually spend a day where they did not have to worry about
something trying to kill them.
 
            Once breakfast and some morning chores had been taken care
of, Don and Kate met Iamor in the courtyard.  Kate went and sat by a
fountain while Don and Iamor moved to a clear area to begin their
practice.
 
            “Before we get started,” Don asked, “I was wondering why
you guard the castle with that ogre-illusion.”
 
            “What illusion?” Iamor asked calmly.
 
            “When we were coming up to the castle, we were... well, not
attacked, but at least confronted by a big old ogre.  He turned out to
be an illusion.”
 
            “Oh, dear.  Oh, deardeardear.  I have no need of trickery. 
No one has ever harmed Castle Ballor, you see.  People leave us alone
here.  Deardeardear.  I can only say they must be after you.”
 
            “Oh.”
 
            “Now, on young one!  On we go!  Much to learn, not enough
time to learn it in!  So why bother?  Perhaps we should just play
jacks?  Nonono, must learn, must train!”
 
            “Yes, sir.”
 
            “What magic do you have, young one?  What magic?”
 
            Don pulled the small book from the inside pocket of his
robe.  “I was given this when I got to Zemlia Nov.  That is all the
magic I know, and obviously, some of it doesn’t work right.”
 
            “Your magic is bent, young man!  Bent as a hat-nail!  Don’t
blame it on the spell!”
 
            “Yes, sir,” Don said dejectedly.
 
            “Nownownow.  You’ll be just fine by the time you leave
here.  Just fine indeed!  Now, which spell were you trying when the
young lady got miniaturized?”
 
            Don opened the book to the first spell.  “This one.”
 
            “*This* one?  No, that can’t be.  Can’t be at all. 
Nonono.  You must be mistaken, you were trying to cast an alchemy spell
really, right?  It does you no good to fool with me, young one!  You
were trying to turn a rock into gold!”
 
            “I don’t even think *that* spell is *in* this book!”  Don
retorted.  “I had decided to try to learn all of the spells, one at a
time.  This is the first spell in the book.  It is the spell I was
trying to cast.”
 
            Iamor scratched his bald head in puzzlement.  “This cannot
be.  This spell cannot transform.  It isn’t even like a transform
spell.  You can’t accidentally cast a transform spell from a teleport
spell.  Even a baker’s magic isn’t that bent!”
 
            Don rolled his eyes again.  He was getting tired of being
insulted.
 
            “Where were you, young one?  Where?”
 
            “When I cast the spell?”  Iamor nodded.  “Out on the plains
somewhere.  We’d passed a... magic quick-sand trap the day before...”
 
            “A what?  There are traps on the grassland?  Oh my ohmy
ohmy ohmy ohmy.  This is not good, no not good not good at all!  This
is bad bad bad!”  Iamor was pacing.  He suddenly turned to Don. 
“Come!  You will come!”  Don followed.  As Kate started to join them,
Iamor stopped her.  “This is wizard’s work, Elfling!  You will wait for
us here!”  Don just gave her a smile, and she nodded assent.  Don
hurried to catch up with Iamor, who had not stopped walking.
 
            It wasn’t long before Iamor and Don entered a dark area of
the castle.  They walked down long corridors until they came to a heavy
door.  Iamor uttered a short spell that opened the door magically.  Don
at first thought it had a magical lock on it, until Iamor muttered,
“Dagnabbed thing is much too heavy for me to move!”
 
            They entered what could only be a chamber for astral
gazing.  The huge pool in the middle of the room was pitch black.  Don
could almost have imagined it was oil, but it was probably water.  Not
that he was putting his hand in it to find out.
 
            “Traps on the grasslands, not good not good not good!” 
Iamor walked over to a shelf and took down a lamp.  Lighting it
magically, he brought it over to the pool.  Don was standing opposite
him, and he waited silently.
 
            “Web of magic, web of sight, through the day and through
the night, as I ask it, hear my plea!  Show me what I wish to see!” 
Iamor’s spell roiled the water briefly, and as it settled, the surface
of the water showed an image.  The image first showed the circle-trap
from a few days before.  It showed an animal ensnared in the trap. 
Then, the image shifted, and it was as if the land was overlaid with
some kind of force field, as it all glowed a deep orange.
 
            Finally, the image showed a face.  It was a woman’s face,
but her features were twisted into a deep, imposing scowl.  Her eyes
burned with anger, and her hands clenched in rage.  The image pulled
back, and it was clear that she was standing outside the mountains that
surrounded Castle Ballor.  She stared at the rocks as if her gaze could
level them.  Don wondered for a moment if that’s just what she was
trying to do.
 
            As suddenly as the image had come, it faded into ripples on
the pool.  Iamor stood back from the image, shaking his head. 
“Dearydearydear.  This is very very very bad.  Not good at all, not
good.  No not good!”
 
            “Who was she?”
 
            “Hmph?  Who was she?  You want to know who was she?  I tell
you who was she!  That, young one, was Denonia!  My half-sister, she
hates me more than Gaphnia does!  Hates me terrible!  Hates me well! 
Hates me and wishes me to Hell!  Oh dearydear... we know I’m upset if
I’m talking in rhyme.  Couldn’t she have come at some other time?”
 
            “So, this explains the trap, right?”
 
            “Oh, yes yes!  Yes it most certainly does yes!  It explains
the trap, it explains the fairy spell, yes!  It explains all of the
trouble you had yes it does!”
 
            “How?” Don asked simply.
 
            “*How*?” Iamor asked incredulously.  “Haven’t you been
paying attention?  It’s Denonia!  She hates me!”
 
            “But what does that have to do with me, or my sister, or
the six of us?”
 
            “You were coming here!  She knew this, yes!  My sister
knows everything that happens in the land she inhabits!  She hasn’t
inhabited the grasslands for over a hundred years!  This cannot be
good, no no nonono.  If she thinks you’re my ally, you are
automatically her enemy, young one!  You have caused yourself grief
coming here!”
 
            Don shrugged.  “No surprise there.  Didn’t really have much
choice, though.”
 
            Iamor began to settle down.  “No, nono.  I suppose you
didn’t at that.  Well, young one, since you have made powerful enemies,
you should gain powerful magic!  We will straighten out that hat-nail
if it takes all month!”
 
            *Oh, God, I hope I don’t have to put up with this for an
entire month!*
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            In another part of the castle, Carysta had led Paul to a
large room with several chairs and a few couches in it, a large table
in the center, and draperies on the wall.  She still had not spoken to
him, and it was starting to unnerve him just a little bit.
 
            Finally, she turned to him, and he thought for sure that
she would speak to him.  This she did, but not in the way he expected.
 
            *<I assume you can hear me,>* she said in his mind.  Paul
was a bit startled.
 
            “Uh, yeah, I can hear you, but, um...”  He didn’t want to
be rude about it, but she understood.
 
            *<I would speak to you with my mouth, but I never developed
the ability.  I’ve been a telepath since I was born, and it was simply
easier for me to use my mind to say what I wanted to say, and so I
never became able to speak vocally.  I’m sorry if this bothers you.>*  

            Paul could hear the hurt in her voice.  It was plain that
others who had met her had teased or scorned her about it.  “No, it’s
not a problem, it was just a surprise.  I wasn’t expecting it, that’s
all.  By the way,” he said, in a hope to cheer her up, “you have a very
pretty voice, mentally.”
 
            She smiled at him warmly.  *<Thank you.  Now, we should
begin your training.  I don’t know how long you’ll be here, so I want
to teach you as much as I can each day.  On the other hand, I don’t
want to wear you out, so if you get tired, please tell me.  We can take
a break then, and maybe you’d like to see the rest of the castle.>*
 
            Paul nodded.  He felt a strange tingle when she spoke in
his mind, and he felt the obvious case of lust for such a beautiful
woman.  Carysta’s flowing blonde hair framed her heart-shaped face, and
her penetrating green eyes gazed through to Paul’s soul.  Her lips were
always in a slight smile, as if she was happy with her world.
 
            He tried not to gape too openly at the rest of her body,
because she was built for magazines.  She had an ample, firm chest and
long legs, with a nice, round ass.  Her light blue dress did nothing to
hide this information from him, and he had to resist the urge to reach
out and touch her.
 
            Finally, he pulled himself together enough to respond to
her.  He said, “Okay, well, let’s get going, then.  What do I learn
first?”
 
            *<What have you done with your power so far?>*
 
            “Lifted a few small stones.  Also, I apparently was able to
get Don out of that quicksand trap he was in... but that nearly took my
head off, or that’s what it felt like, anyway.”
 
            *<That was your power coming awake.  With most psionics,
there is a point where their true power emerges.  Until that day, they
can only do minor things... like lifting pebbles.  And yes, it is often
a painful and jarring experience when your power emerges.  I was sick
for three days when it happened to me.>*
 
            Paul immediately felt sorry for her, but he didn’t
understand why.  “Oh.  That sounds nasty.  My head cleared after about
a day.”
 
            Carysta nodded.  *<It’s different for everyone.  Now that
your power has emerged, I’ll be able to teach you everything you can
do, to the limit of your powers.  The first thing I want to teach you
is telepathy.  It’s the easiest skill to learn, and it doesn’t require
much power or concentration, so it’s a good place to start.  You should
find this easier than lifting that little pebble you carry with you.>*
 
            Paul wasn’t sure how she knew about that, but let it ride. 
“Okay, what do I do?”
 
            *<Just pull your thoughts together, and focus on the person
you want to talk to.  Then, form the words as if you were speaking, but
send them to the image of the person you want to speak with.  So, for
now, form an image of me in your mind, and then speak to it, with your
thoughts.>*
 
            Paul struggled for a few moments, trying to settle an image
of Carysta in his mind that wasn’t naked.  He decided to give up on
that, and just spoke to the naked Carysta.  *<Can you hear this?>* he
asked.
 
            *<Very good!  Yes, I can hear you just fine.  See?  I told
you that it wasn’t hard.  At least, not sending telepathy.  Reading
someone’s thoughts that they aren’t sending, that’s much harder, and
you’ll have to learn several more things before I can teach you that.>*
 
            *<Okay, what do we learn next?>* he asked, sticking with
telepathic communication.
 
            *<If it’s a struggle for you to communicate mentally, I
don’t mind if you speak to me out loud.>*
 
            *<I’m fine, for now.  Besides, it’s like talking to someone
in a foreign language.  It’s kind of rude.>*
 
            She smiled at him again, and his insides melted.
 
            *<Okay, I think the next thing is to strengthen your
telekinetic skills...>*
 
            The two worked together for some time before taking any
breaks.  They had covered several skills, but just the basics of them. 
He had strengthened his telekinetic power, but he didn’t have any fine
control over it yet.  He’d increased his telepathic range, so that he
could speak to her from all the way across the room, at least.  They’d
tried a few other things, but he just wasn’t ready for them yet. 
Finally, they decided it was time to take a rest.
 
            *<I think we need to take a little time here,>* Carysta
said, *<and rest your mind.  Would you care for a tour of the castle?>*
 
            *<Sure,>* he said to her.  *As long as you’re the one
giving it,* he continued the thought to himself alone.
 
            *<Okay, let’s start in the courtyard, then.  C’mon.>*  She
brushed against him as she walked to the door, and his body shivered. 
He tried to collect himself, then turned to follow her.
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            “Damn, I’m wasted,” Gill was saying to the others.  “That
Darnell guy can really move!”
 
            The three were sitting in the upstairs lounge area, having
their nightly meeting.
 
            “Yeah, well, I found out we have another enemy,” Don said.
 
            “Shit.  Who is it now?”
 
            “Some bitch named Denonia.  She’s supposed to be Iamor’s
half-sister, and she doesn’t like him much.  Since we are now aligned
with him, she doesn’t like us, either.”
 
            “Oh, that’s just fucking great,” Gill said.  Paul was
strangely subdued.
 
            Don looked over at Paul.  “Cat got your tongue?” he asked.
 
            “Huh?  Oh, sorry.  No, just thinking about my training
today.  That Carysta...”
 
            “Fine looking babe,” Gill offered, to receive a harsh glare
from Paul.
 
            “She can’t speak, guys.  The only way she communicates is
telepathically.  It takes a little getting used to having someone
else’s voice echo around in your head.”
 
            “I bet,” Don chuckled.  “So, does anyone see any
problems?”  Receiving negative replies, he said, “Good.  It looks like
we’re going to be here a while, so take advantage of the time to get as
good as you can.  I’m going to go see my sister.  You two take it easy,
okay?”
 
            The meeting broke up, and the three headed to their
respective rooms.
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            “God, Gill, you’re tense,” Susan was saying to him as he
sat on the bed, undressing.  “Lay down and let me give you a back rub,
okay?”
 
            “Sure,” he said as he yawned.  He finished undressing, and
lay down on his stomach.  Susan moved over him, and placed her hands on
his shoulders.  She began to massage him, using strong but tender
motions on her brother’s body.  She could feel the tension leaving him
as he relaxed from his hard day.
 
            Susan leaned over and whispered to her brother, “I love
you, Gill.”
 
            Gill mumbled, but was nearly unconscious already.  She knew
he’d heard her, though, and that was all that mattered.
 
            Susan’s motions didn’t stop until long after Gill was
asleep.
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            Paul was looking over his sister’s naked form again.  She
had just finished getting undressed, and he was waiting for her in the
bed.  As she climbed into bed, she yawned.
 
            “Tired?” he asked her.  She just nodded.
 
            “It’s nice to be safe again, but it’s a little dull here. 
And you didn’t have any time for me today.”
 
            “I’m sorry, Julie.  I’ll try to make time for us to be
together from now on, all right?”  It was certainly all right with
*him*.
 
            “Okay,” she said, with another big yawn.  She snuggled
tightly against her brother, who held her lovingly in his arms, and
watched as she fell asleep.  It was good to have her here, but his mind
still wandered to Carysta.  Her lovely body, her radiant smile, and
those eyes...
 
            *I wonder if I can reach her from here.*
 
            Paul focused his energy and thought of her.  As usual, his
image of her was naked.  He spoke to it in his mind.  *<Carysta?>*
 
            *<Yes, Paul?>* she answered after a brief second.
 
            *<Good-night.  Sleep well.>*
 
            He heard the smile in her voice.  *<Good-night, Paul. 
Thank you for thinking of me.  I’ll see you in the morning.>*
 
            Paul smiled as he drifted off to sleep.  Staying here for a
while wasn’t such a bad thing, now was it?
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
            Don walked back to his own room, and entered quietly.  He
didn’t know what Kate might be doing, and didn’t want to wake her if
she was asleep.  It was amazing how quickly one fell into a pattern of
sleeping while it was dark, and waking at first light, but they had,
here.  Of course, with no televisions, computers, radios, or
electricity, there wasn’t anything to *do* at night.
 
            Well, almost nothing.
 
            Kate was standing on the balcony, staring up at the stars. 
Don stepped to her side, and she turned to him, putting her arms around
him.  He wrapped his one arm around her shoulders, and looked down to
his adorable sister.  She smiled at him in a way that he’d never seen
her smile before coming to Zemlia Nov.  He leaned over and they kissed,
warmly and sweetly.  The kiss soon turned more passionate, and soon his
mouth opened, and his tongue slipped out, pressing against her lips. 
She allowed it to enter, and he swept his tongue wetly along hers,
causing her to shiver in pleasure.
 
            Kate turned fully to him, the stars forgotten.  Her arms
wrapped tightly around his chest, and she pushed her body into him. 
She felt his fingers sliding along her back, and she wasn’t sure what
he was doing until the clasp on her top fell open.  It wasn’t long
before the other one was undone, as well.
 
            Kate stepped away from him, and the garment fell to the
floor.  Don inhaled sharply at seeing her wonderful body, outlined by
the pale light of the crescent moon of this place.  He studied her as
she slipped her skirt down off her body, and then pushed off her
panties as well.  She looked so beautiful, her hair reflecting the
moonlight made her look like an angel.  Or, he thought with a smile, a
fairy.
 
            “Katie, open your wings for me.”  His request was purely
selfish, but Kate didn’t mind.  She stepped back from him a little, and
unfolded her wings.  Don was always amazed how such large wings could
tuck so neatly against her body when closed, but right now he didn’t
think about that.  What he saw was how the moonlight glistened off the
iridescent surfaces of her feathers, and how the reflected light played
along her skin.  It added some pale hues of color to her body, which
was very pale in the moonlight.  He gaped at her lovingly, wanting to
burn the image into his mind.
 
            Finally, he approached her, thinking to take her into his
arms.  She held her arms out to stop him.  When he looked at her
questioningly, she said simply, “Not until you’re only wearing as many
clothes as I am.”  Her eyes twinkled in mirth.
 
            She was shocked at just how quickly his robe became a pile
of cloth on the floor, and his underwear went just as quickly.  Now,
fully naked, he stood before his sister, who once again had a view of
his erect dick.  She wanted that tonight.
 
            Reaching down, Kate gently took his prick into her hands. 
Don closed his eyes as he felt his sister’s fingers caressing the skin
of his shaft, reaching down to fondle his balls.  She slipped her hands
up to his chest, and then she stepped away from him.
 
            “Come inside.  It’s warmer in there.”  She had refolded her
wings so that she could fit through the doorway, and he followed her
back into their bedroom, which was awash in candlelight.  Had she been
planning this night?  Normally there were only two or three candles
lit; tonight there were at least a dozen.
 
            Kate led him over to the bed, and then turned back to him. 
She leaned up, and he kissed her again, his hands caressing her back,
and then sliding down to cup her ass.  She moaned, and then giggled.
 
            “What’s so funny?” he asked.
 
            “You groping my butt is how this all started!” she teased. 
He smiled.
 
            “Would you rather I hadn’t?” he asked playfully.
 
            “Hell, no,” she replied, her voice heavy and full of lust. 
“I love you, Donny.”
 
            “I love you, too.”
 
            “Sit down,” she said, gently pushing him down onto the
bed.  He complied, letting his hands slide outward to hold onto her
hips.  He now looked up at his sister, noticing the wonderful swell of
her tits, and her erect nipples.  His one hand slid up onto a breast,
tweaking the nipple there.  Kate moaned in pleasure as he did that.  He
leaned forward to take the unoccupied nipple into his mouth, gently
flicking his tongue over it.  Kate’s moan grew louder, more insistent. 
Don continued until he felt her shudder slightly.  He knew she’d just
had a small orgasm, and was proud to have given it to her.
 
            When she’d recovered, she pushed him ever so reluctantly
away from her chest.  “As good as that feels, that’s not why I wanted
you sitting.”
 
            Kate slowly knelt in front of her brother.  Now, she was
looking up at him again.  That was quite all right with her; that’s the
way things were supposed to be, wasn’t it?  Her eyes traced down his
body, from his eyes past his nose, mouth, chin, working her way down
his chest and across his abdomen.  Her target was standing erect,
waiting for her attention.  She had disregarded its needs for much too
long, and it was time to take care of that.
 
            She reached out and very softly encircled Don’s cock with
her fingers.  His legs slipped apart to give her free access.  Her
other hand slipped up his leg and onto his balls, gently fondling
them.  She watched as precum oozed from her brother’s dick, and then
she leaned over and flicked her tongue across the tip of his cock,
licking up that sticky liquid.  Don shuddered at the feel of her tongue
on him.  She began to lick his entire shaft, returning to the tip often
to taste the new supply of precum that was there.
 
            Finally, sensing he was ready for her, Kate slipped her
lips over the head of his prick.  Don groaned as her lips slid down
onto his shaft, her tongue playing along the sensitive skin while she
sucked at him, trying to draw his spunk out of him.  She worked her
mouth over his length, until she had him fully inside her mouth, the
head of his cock well inside her throat.  She relaxed for just a few
seconds before she slid back off him until just the head of his dick
was inside her.  Then, she slipped back down, faster this time, giving
him as much pleasure as she could with her mouth.
 
            That pleasure was considerable, and Don was gripping the
bed covers in an effort not to grab her head and ram it down onto him. 
He was also fighting the urge to blow too quickly, but the sensations
his sister was causing on his dick were just more than he ever imagined
experiencing.
 
            It didn’t take more than a minute or two of Kate’s
ministrations before Don was groaning out, “Gonna cum, gonna cum...
ungh!”
 
            Kate did not stop at Don’s warning.  She also did not stop
when he started coming in her mouth.  She sucked down every drop of his
jism, and kept sucking to keep him hard.  She had more planned for them
tonight, and she wanted him badly enough to take liberties.
 
            Not that Don minded.  By the time she let him out from
between her lips, his cock was fully hard again, and he was ready for
more.  He lifted her up off her knees, and leaned in.  He was at just
the right height, and he inhaled the sweet scent of her arousal.  He
could see her pussy lips peaking out from behind silver pubic hair.  He
could feel her heat, and see the glint of her moisture.  He leaned
further forward, and let his tongue slip out.  It slid up and across
her pussy, sliding softly across her hooded clit.  Kate cried out, and
went weak in the knees.  He caught her, and moved her onto the bed. 
Her legs parted in invitation, begging him to continue.
 
            Don crawled into position, and took a few moments to study
his sister’s lovely cunt.  It unfolded before him like a flower, and
indeed it was the flower of this beautiful girl, no, beautiful *woman*
before him.  His tongue snaked out again, and stroked across her pussy
lips, plying them wetly, as Kate writhed in pleasure above him.  He
held her outer lips apart with his fingers and probed her depths, his
tongue pressing into her opening.  Kate cried out again, lost in joy.
 
            Don kept up his movements, sensing Kate’s arousal.  When he
thought she might be ready, he slipped his tongue upward.  Her clit had
come out from beneath its hood, and he slid his tongue against it
directly.  Only a few quick movements, and Kate was grunting, trying to
control her passions.  Don redoubled his efforts, and it was just more
than Kate could take.  She screamed out in pleasure, and her juices
coated Don’s face as she ground her pussy into him.  Don kept lapping
at her juices, loving the taste of his sister.
 
            Finally, Kate settled down, and Don moved beside her.  She
turned her head to him, and they kissed.  Kate tasted her own juices
for the first time, and didn’t mind the taste at all.  The fact that
she was also kissing her brother had her very highly aroused, and she
was almost ready for more.   Don seemed to sense what she needed; he
was her perfect partner.  Softly, his hand came up to caress her tit,
avoiding the over-sensitive nipple for the moment, and just cupping and
fondling the outer edges of her breast.
 
            After several minutes of this pleasant and comfortable
touching, Kate turned to her brother, and pushed him onto his back.  He
smiled up at her as she straddled his waist.  She could see the
permission implicit in his gaze, which was good, because she didn’t
want him to stop her.  She gently took hold of his shaft, and
positioned it at her opening.  She wasn’t sure about her brother, but
she knew this was a first for her, and she hesitated, only briefly,
before continuing.
 
            Slowly, Kate allowed herself to sink down onto her
brother’s cock.  Inch by inch, her cunt engulfed him, her pussy muscles
gripping his length as they slipped further down his shaft.  Finally,
there was a barrier, a minor hesitation of her body to go further. 
Kate felt it stretch, and she allowed gravity to help her.  She felt it
part, but she didn’t feel the expected wave of pain.  Her body was
still infused with bliss and ecstasy, and she didn’t want it ever to
end.
 
            She felt her pussy lips resting in her brother’s pubic
hair, and she looked down to see their union.  She looked back up, and
was enraptured by the look of love on her brother’s face.  That look
was there for *her*.  She had made him feel that way, look like that. 
It was more than she could have dreamed it would be.
 
            Out of some kind of instinct, Kate began to move her hips
up and down, using her legs to drive her.  She watched Don’s face to
see how he felt, and she was happy to see a look of concentrated joy on
his face.  Knowing he liked seeing her that way, she opened her wings
again, the candlelight catching them and casting a diffuse glow over
his body, and her own.
 
            Don was in total awe of his sister.  She was beautiful, and
she was giving him the most wonderful sensations.  When she opened her
wings, he could barely breathe.  If she had been a perfect ten before,
she was at least a fifty now.  Her lovely silver hair bounced in waves
with her movements, her glorious tits rolling on her chest.  His sister
might have been an Elfling, but she was *his* right now, and she was
the most gorgeous creature in creation.
 
            The two moved together, their motions picking up speed as
they went.  Don reached up to his sister, and pulled her down to him. 
They kissed as they continued to move against each other, sending
ripples of pleasure along the other’s body.  Don ran his hands along
the outer edges of Kate’s tits again, and this time he moved inward,
finding her nipples and tweaking them.
 
            Kate felt the jolt of electric pleasure coming from her
nipples, and she began to ride her brother faster.  Don’s hips thrust
up to meet her every movement, and the two began to rut together in
heated passion.  Their moans were muffled by their continued kissing,
but they filled the room nonetheless.  Finally, Don couldn’t stand it
anymore, and he grabbed Kate, rolling her over onto her back.  She’d
had to quickly fold her wings for this, but she’d gotten good at that,
and Don didn’t even notice.
 
            Faster and faster he pounded into her, and her hips met
every thrust.  Her head was thrashing as she grunted.  Don was panting
above her, his eyes nearly slits in concentration.  Kate rippled her
pussy muscles along his prick, and that pushed Don well over the edge.
 
            Closing his eyes and arching his back, Don thrust his full
length into Kate and froze, his cock pumping out his cum deep into
her.  The feel of his climax sent Kate over the edge again, and she
began to cry out in pleasure, her body wracked with spasms and her head
twisting left and right, her eyes shut tightly.
 
            The pair moved together on the bed for many minutes before
they finally came down from their peak.  The climax was so intense that
neither of them had the energy to move, and Don only had enough
strength to make sure he fell on the bed, rather than on his sister,
before he passed out.  Kate was not far behind him, and the two slept
very soundly.
 
 
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
===<<<+>>>===
 
 
 
 
 
