TITLE:   LORDS OF MAGIC 8: THE SUMMIT
AUTHOR:  DONNILEE
E-MAIL:  DONNILEE@SNET.NET
RATING:  NC-17
CATEGORY:  MSR - O/O
SPOILERS:  NOT A ONE.

SUMMARY:   Mulder and Scully find themselves on a magical 
world no one ever knew existed.  They must fight for their 
lives and the lives of others if they are to ever make it back
home again.

DISCLAIMER:  All characters used from the show, The X-Files 
are the property of Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions, 
and Fox Broadcasting.  No copyright infringement intended.  
No money made here.

DISCLAIMER 2:  All references to elements of the game, The 
Lords of Magic, belong to the creators of the computer game, 
Sierra Games.  No copyright infringement intended.  I have not 
just stolen characters as I have in the X-Files.  This time 
I've stolen an entire universe!  Just showing that I'm an equal
opportunity thief!

THANKS:  To my beta readers, Cratkinson, FatCat, and 
XochiLuvr, who keep me from making major boo-boos and 
looking stupid.  I really appreciate it.  Go team!  Thanks so
much.This one has been beta read to death!  Any errors herein
are mine alone.  

DEDICATION:  I would like to dedicate this story to my late 
grandmother, Blanche (blan-shee) Claire Wright Green Taylor, 
better known as 'Tot'.  She was Mahopac, Native American, and 
was probably the first person to excite my imagination, as she
was a storyteller to end all storytellers.  And yes, she was 
married more than once!  LOL.  She entertained my sister and me
for hours by reciting epic poems and stories, filled with 
adventure and happy endings.  She couldn't read well and she 
couldn't spell for shit, but she had what counted most; an 
unlimited supply of unconditional love and an imagination 
without limits.  She died over a decade ago, in her own bed, 
at home, at the age of 84.  I still miss her.  So thanks to 
my Gramma Tot, for making me believe imagination can take you
far.

MORE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT END.  

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 1 (PG-13)
ASTARTE
ELVEN TERRITORY

The week passed quickly in a fury of activity, preparations and 
meetings.  The summit was upon us.  I knew how important it was 
and yet, all I could think about was our upcoming handfasting, 
which was to be the culmination of the summit if all went well.

I knew I had to get through all the official stuff first in 
order to get hitched with Scully.  Therefore, I threw myself 
into the preparations, becoming Anzwen's shadow.  He was amused
by my sudden enthusiasm and I wasn't fooling him for a minute.
On the other hand, he understood my need to keep busy and was
never without a task for me to perform.  

It worked out well.  We got a lot done, and by the time the 
delegations came pouring into Astarte, temporary housing had 
been erected outside the city gates.  Each race was given its
own roped off area to assemble their troops and camps for the
duration of the summit.  Although it was to commence tomorrow
night on the full moon, no one was sure how long the
negotiations would go on.

XXXXXXXXXX

GREAT HALL
ASTARTE PALACE
THE NEXT EVENING

We sat at the head table to the right of Ashante and Anzwen.
On their left sat Dorian and Joachim and Glimmerwynn.  A 
separate banquet table had been set up for each race, lined
with appropriately sized benches and tables.  Dryads zipped
in and out of the aisles, placing pitchers of water and wooden
mugs on the tables.  The jewelry makers of Astarte had been 
working overtime in the last few weeks to prepare gifts for 
the attendees.  Obviously, they couldn't provide something
for every attendee, but they had a gift for each mage and 
leader that attended.

Anzwen seemed pleased that the head of each army and the head 
mage from each race had been sent to represent their groups.  
No one had sent a novice or a common soldier.  This was too 
important.  Also important, they had not sent their kings.  It 
wouldn't be prudent to leave their homes unprotected.  The 
other fear was that it would be a planetary disaster should 
the Drow somehow attack and kill all the leaders of all the 
races.  Not a good idea to put them all in one place.  This 
plan ensured that in the unlikely event that tragedy struck,
the races would not be left leaderless.  The only ones with 
their entire leadership present were the Elves. 

Being the hosts and initiators of the event, this was obvious
and expected.  Everyone had eaten dinner in his or her camp --
the Elves in their homes -- and now we were assembling for the
start of the most historic summit in the history of Urak.  The
sun had gone down and the full moon had risen, white and
majestic over the landscape.

The atmosphere was charged with tension, but also with 
excitement.  Once everyone was seated, Anzwen slid his chair 
back and stood.  Our table was sitting on a slightly raised 
dais so he could see out over the crowd.  There had to be 200
people in here.  It was an incredible sight to see.  Many were
openly staring at others, getting their first 'up-close' look 
at the other races outside of a hostile environment.

Silence fell as Anzwen stood and he smiled at the crowd.  
"Hello and welcome everyone.  First, I'd like to thank you 
all for coming.  I'd like to send thanks to your kings and 
queens for sending your delegations.  We are on the eve of a
historical event, one that has been told in prophecy for 
millennia, passed from generation to generation.  I am proud 
to open my doors for this event.  The assembled parties here
humble me.  We have been set a task that would daunt the 
stoutest heart.  None of your kings and queens stood on their
pride.  For that I am eternally grateful.  We know and 
understand about racial hatred.  We Elves have despised and
feared the Drow for centuries.  It is our eternal embarrassment
that they were once like us.  That, however, we cannot change.
We do, however, understand.  

"On the other hand, I have often wondered if much of the hatred 
was simply passed down from our fathers and mothers.  I have 
often wondered if we were to try and understand one another, 
if we might find more similarities than differences.  As I 
look out here today, I see many similarities."

The hall was quiet.  Everyone watched Anzwen with rapt 
attention.  He was an impressive public speaker.  His dark hair
was pulled back in a queue at the nape of his neck.  The shocks
of white that graced his temples were stark and obvious, 
belying his age.  He stood in dark maroon robes covered by a
dark maroon mantle that hung open in the front.  He wore no 
crown or trappings of royalty.  I'd wondered if he would.  
His only concession was the large medallion of a sun that 
hung on his chest and glowed against the backdrop of his 
dark robes.  He held a wooden staff ornately decorated with
Elven runes.  There was not a weapon in sight.  

All weapons had been surrendered at the door to a room down the 
hall.  No one had protested.  I was frankly surprised at that,
having thought for sure that someone would be loath to 
relinquish his or her weapon.  To my relief, none had balked.

Anzwen's clear voice continued.  "I see six other races before
me, each with a mage, each with a military leader, each with
mounted troops, missile troops, and infantry at their command.
I see six other races that live a life of discipline and duty.
I see representatives of six other races loyal to their kings
and queens.  I'm hoping that you can see these similarities as
well.  We all worship different Gods, but we all worship the 
Goddess of ALL.  Although we base our spirituality on the 
benevolence of different Gods, none denies the existence of 
the deities of other races.  We simply have chosen our own.  
I think the Gods meant for it to be this way.  They meant to 
each share in the worship of the people, and so each God chose
his or her followers.  Each God derives power from his or her 
faithful.  All these things, we share."

There was a moment of silence while he allowed everyone to 
absorb what he was saying and make the comparisons.  It was a 
clever way to start, pointing out all the things they had in
common.  

"The Goddess of us all sent us a prophet long ago who told of
the Age of Darkness.  Not only did the chosen prophet tell of
things to come, a second prophet told us of a Savior that 
would come.  He told us of duties we would bear when that time
came.

"I don't think there is any doubt that the time has come; the
Age of Darkness is upon us.  The Drow walk in daylight, the 
hell spawns multiply at an alarming rate.  Mages from every 
race have been blessed with visions from their Gods.  All have
seen the pair to my right."

All heads turned to look at us and I suddenly felt the 
crushing weight of their regard.  I reached for and grabbed 
Scully's hand under the table.  I forced a congenial smile 
onto my face as I felt the weight of their scrutiny.  They 
believed us to be the answer to their prayers, the answer to
the prophecy, and the gift from their Goddess.  I still had 
niggling doubts.  My biggest fear was letting these people 
down.  

We had come to care for them deeply, especially the Elves.  
The reality was that we knew we could not stay here.  We had
to go home.  I had wondered on and off what would happen if we
were stuck here for the rest of our lives.  It wasn't the 
worst fate imaginable but it was not what I wanted.  Although 
there were some certain benefits and enchanting enticements to
say the least, I wanted to go home.  

I knew Scully did too.  She wanted to raise our child on our
own world, where we knew what most of the dangers were.  With
a clarity that comes from few options, I realized that we 
would go home at the end of this journey or we would die here
in this coming conflict.  Living and not finding a way home 
simply wasn't an option.  We would not live out our lives and
grow old here.  We would die or we would leave.  I pushed down
the feeling of sadness at the thought of leaving.  I had to 
stay focused on our goal.  

Defeat the Drow and find the portal.  Nothing else mattered. 

That wasn't entirely true either.  I'd had a horrifying 
thought that I had not voiced to Scully.  Unless she brought
it up, I had no intensions of doing so until this summit was
over and she was my wife.  She had regained her fertility here.
She had become pregnant HERE.  What if we left before the baby
was born and found ourselves back on earth, and her pregnancy 
reversed, like so many dreams?  What if we had the baby and 
left, only to find our arms empty on the other side?  It was
a possibility I didn't want to consider.  I knew eventually,
that discussion would have to be had.  With that possibility
before us, leaving might be the hardest decision we ever had
to make.  

Anzwen smiled down at us.  "We have followed our instructions 
and given gifts to the two that act as one, are male and female,
are not of this world, and belong to none.  We have kept them
alive and protected them until they could unite the races, 
here, today, in this very hall.  Those were the instructions
of the prophecy and we have carried them out to the best of 
our ability.

"So here we are, assembled in one great hall.  Our goals are 
simple, yet complicated.  They are achievable but difficult.  
Therefore, I'd like to turn the floor over to the two you all
now know, Mulder and Scully."

I cleared my throat as I pushed my chair back and Anzwen sat 
down.  Scully stood beside me and I didn't release her hand.
I had prepared a speech and gone over it with Scully, Ashante
and Anzwen.  Scully had done the same.

I let my eyes scan the crowd.  There had been no lapse in 
attention.  "Hello, everyone, and thank you for coming.  My 
name is Mulder.  Beside me is my soul mate, Scully.  We had no 
idea what was happening when we crashed here on your planet.  
We'd been 
abducted by hostile other-worlders.  Since then, we have come 
to believe that your Gods intervened.  They killed our 
abductors in the crash and led the Elven people to us upon 
our arrival.  I do not believe in coincidence.  I never have.
We would be dead if not for the Elves, for we crashed in 
Skulldown."

No one was surprised by this announcement.  Anzwen had told us 
that the story of our arrival had spread like wildfire through
the network of spies that roamed Urak.  I continued.  "So, 
without even knowing who we were, the Elves fulfilled a 
bargain they didn't know was upon them and saved our lives.
For that, we are eternally grateful.  Scully and I can never
repay the Elves for the gift of our lives.  I don't think 
their arrival was coincidence.  I think it was ordained by
your Goddess' hand."

There were nods of agreement.  I turned to Scully and
gestured for her to take over. 

She cleared her throat.  "Hello, everyone.  We wanted to 
share just a bit about ourselves before we get down to 
serious business.  We've been told curiosity runs rampant,"
she said lightly.

Chuckles and coughs were heard throughout the hall.  She 
waited for silence.  "Mulder and I come from a planet called 
Earth in the Milky Way galaxy.  It bears no resemblance to 
Urak other than we have a similar atmosphere and some similar
creatures and wildlife.  Although we have what are considered
different races, they are all human."

Some expressions of confusion rippled across the room and I 
smiled.  Scully continued undaunted.  "We are human, and 
humans are the ruling, dominant race of the planet.  We have
different 'types' of humans for lack of a better word, 
distinguished bytheir physical features and skin tone.  We do
not have races as you have races.  We do not have mana and 
magic as you have."

This elicited some exclamations of surprise.  "Mulder and I 
worked for the government.  As you have kings and queens that
rule your territories, we have governments.  Suffice it to say
that it is a different system, and too complex to explain in 
one sitting.  The important thing to know is that Mulder and 
I were law enforcement.  That means that we were enforcers of
rules and investigators of crimes."

Nods of understanding were seen up and down the tables.  
"Due to injuries in the line of duty, I was left barren, 
unable to have children."

I saw expressions of sympathy on their faces.  This was a 
universal thing.  Everyone, regardless of race could relate to
the pain of not being able to have a child if you wanted one.
The Amazons were particularly sensitive to this situation as 
their fertility was so low.

She went on.  "I had come to accept that I would never have a 
child of my own.  Here on this planet, my fertility has been 
restored.  I have, for reasons unknown to me, been given this
gift.  Perhaps fate decreed that this should be my reward for
the sacrifices I have made in my life in the name of duty.  
Perhaps it was the intervention of your Gods or the mana of 
this planet restoring me and making me whole.  Perhaps it was
dumb luck.  I prefer to believe that it was destiny that we 
come here and fulfill our role in your lives.  I am pregnant,"
she declared after a short pause.

Scattered quiet applause filled the room.  When it died down, 
Scully smiled and looked at me, saying, "It wasn't my doing,
don't clap for me."

I blushed and everyone laughed again.  That wasn't part of the 
planned speech.  I bit my lip and waited.

"I tell you this because it gives me just one more reason to
live, to survive, to defeat our enemies.  Your enemies are our
enemies, as the only way home for us lies in Skulldown.  We've
heard rumors of another portal, but now know that it does not 
lead to our home."

Several heads swiveled toward the Barbarians but they didn't
flinch and merely continued to stare at Scully.  She looked
at me and I could tell she was getting choked up.

I took over.  "Even if it did lead home, we would not use it
at this time."

This elicited some murmuring chatter and I held up my hand.
"The reason is that we do not feel that we can leave you now;
not until our part in your history is played out.  Since you
all know the tales of Skulldown and its function as marketplace
before the creation of the Drow, you also know that a portal 
lies there.  It is a gate to Earth, according to all your 
ancient literature.  It may be untrue, but we have to believe
it's the way home.  Either way, it's our best and only hope. 
We've grown to care deeply for all of you, but we need to go 
home, just as surely as you will wish to go home when this is
over and return to your lives.  We wish to do the same.  I'll 
turn this back over to our hosts."

We sat and there was light applause.  Ashante stood this time.  
"Down to business.  Here's our agenda.  First, we wish the 
leaders of each delegation to stand and introduce themselves.
Second, we wish to extract an oath from the leaders of each 
race that they will ally with their fellow races, and come to
the aid of anyone who requests it should they be attacked by 
the Drow.

"After that alliance has been made, we hope to devise a plan 
to defeat the Drow on their own soil.  We wish to strike them
before they can strike us and destroy our way of life.  Make 
no mistake.  That is their plan.  They wish to rule all of 
Urak.  The Elves, for one, will NOT go down without a fight!"

"Agreed!  Agreed!"  Shouts were heard for a good minute.  She 
finally held up a hand.

"We all have strengths and we ALL have weaknesses."  She 
paused to let that sink in.  "Our hope is to formulate a plan 
whereby all races can contribute to the attack on the Drow.
We wish to exploit the advantages and strengths of ALL the 
races and compensate for ALL our weaknesses by combining our
talents.

"We feel that our best hope is to strike them from all sides
with such a force that they are decimated before they have a
chance to organize or build a big enough army and strike at 
us."

She paused and let it all sink in.

"This will not be easy.  We all have different battle tactics 
and war strategies.  They will ALL be needed.  Our hope is 
that the Drow and the hell spawn will not be able to stand 
against a united strike by all the races.  We will be asking
each race to commit the majority of their military to this 
endeavor."

There were murmurings of dissention and doubts about that.  She 
held up her hands again.  "Be patient and let me finish," she
said with a thread of steel in her voice.  The assembly quieted
 down.

When she had their attention again, she said, "I know that is 
difficult to imagine.  We have good reason.  We will be asking
the races to leave only a token force behind in their 
territories to defend their capitals.  The reason for this is 
that if we do not win, there will be no territories.  There 
will be no home to return to.  There will be no life to return
to.  Therefore, instead of spreading our resources far and 
wide, we wish to strike the Drow and hell spawn with the fury
and strength of an overwhelming force; a force never before
seen in the history of Urak.  The bigger our force, the harder
we strike and more sides we strike from, the better our chances
are to defeat them.  We hope not only to defeat them, but to
defeat them QUICKLY."

She waited out another bit of murmuring and then said.  "We do 
not want a protracted campaign that drags out for years.  We 
don't want any of us to lose thousands of warriors.  We want 
to so overwhelm them that they fall like chaff before a seven-
sided strike by the most awesome military machine ever 
assembled in the history of the world!"

'That got them whipped up,' I thought inanely as people began 
pounding the tables in agreement and excitement.  I glanced at 
Anzwen and saw him grinning up at his wife.  He was so proud 
of her.  When the noise decreased and finally dribbled to a 
stop, she said, "Let us begin.  We will start at the left and
move to the right.  Please stand and introduce yourselves so 
that we all know who you are.

The Amazons sat at the first table.  They rose and spoke to 
the room.  "I am Medini of Crestfall, general of the Amazon 
army.  I represent my queen, Imatra, and the people of Water."
And so it went.

"I am Foamrider, high priestess of Crestfall, I represent my
queen, Imatra, and the people of Water."

"I am Paladin Anselm of Symmet, general of the Knights army.
I represent King Eldren and the people of Order."

"I am Wizard Siobhan of Symmet," the voices faded and blended 
as it went on.

General Skovar, Magician Duvanab for King Fongel and the 
people of Earth; General Thunder, Storm Sorcerer Zephyr for
King Acedric and the people of Air; General Darjon, Sorceress
Loopkar for King Raul and the people of Fire; War Lord 
Kellerak, Shamaness Katelanna for King Kellerite, Queen 
Ysabella and the people of Chaos, all introduced themselves.

Once the formal introductions were made, Anzwen led the 
procedure of swearing oaths.  He had a prewritten acceptance
oath that each leader was asked to give on behalf of their 
leader.  Once given, they used a plumed quill and fresh ink 
to sign the bottom of a declaration written up by one of the
Dryad scribes.  It was a formality and the paper would not 
enforce any oath.  Anzwen's idea was to preserve the historic
event in writing for posterity.  I glanced in the corner 
behind our table and saw a Dryad at a small portable table
scribbling furiously with a quill and ink.  Apparently, she 
was recording the events for posterity as well.

Once the oaths were read, given, and signed, Anzwen adjourned 
the meeting for the night.  We were to meet again the next day 
after breakfast to continue our summit.  Battle planning would 
begin.



XXXXXXXXXX

PART 2 (PG-13)
ASTARTE 
GRAND HALL 
ELVEN TERRITORY
THE NEXT DAY

The discussions had been going on for hours.  We had broken for 
lunch and then resumed talks.  It was now near sunset.  
Everyone was tired and hungry again.  

I reviewed the plan quickly in my mind.  It seemed sound, but 
every plan had a hole somewhere.

Loopkar and Darjon were conferring at the end of one table.  
Loopkar raised her hand for attention.  Anzwen nodded at her.  
"Go ahead, Loopkar."

The beginning of the talks had been chaos until Anzwen finally 
established some simple rules.  Raise your hand if you wished 
to speak.  If someone else had the floor, others were to be 
silent, they would all be given a chance to speak or refute a
plan submitted by anyone.  At the end, a vote would be taken 
and the majority would rule.  The Dryad scribe would set down
in detail which plan was agreed upon.  Another scribe was 
simply scribbling furiously, recording all the discussions 
and suggestions for posterity.  She would then hand it off to
scribes from other races that would copy it into their language.

The Fire sorceress stood.  "I am in agreement with the 
logistics so far.  Each race assigned a section of the 
Skulldown border to approach from, closing in like a net.
The part that bothers me is the placement of troops.  I think
we need a more consistent plan.  It is our belief that each 
race should employ a similar troop layout so that if they need
aid, the responding race will have some idea where the needy 
troops are located.  The way it stands now, each race has 
their own patterns for the deployment of troops.  I think 
that's a problem."

Anzwen nodded.  "Good point.  Do you have a suggestion?"

She beamed with pride at his simple praise.  "As a matter of
fact, I do."

He smiled tiredly in return.  "I would have expected nothing
less."

There were chuckles heard throughout the room.  Despite our 
exhaustion and the earlier fights that had erupted, everyone 
was in good spirits.  Verbal attacks had broken out, but 
nothing had turned violent, much to the relief of the Elves.
I was impressed that Anzwen had been able to keep order in 
this hall for as long as he did.  Everyone seemed to accept
his leadership over this summit.  Every race here had an age-
old enemy in the room.  However, none of them seemed to be at
odds with the Elves.  They either already had an alliance with
the Elves or had maintained a neutral attitude where they
were concerned.

It spoke highly of Anzwen and Ashante's skill in politics that
their only true enemies were the Drow.  Darjon stood and 
Loopkar turned the floor over to him.

"We were thinking that we might try something a bit 
untraditional.  In our warfare, warriors are deployed first,
rock hurlers second and infantry last, followed by the 
sorceress' or magic users.  I think this is pretty standard
for most of us with a few variations."

There were nods of assent across the room.  He continued.  
"I think we're going to need the magic users more than we 
ever have before.  In the past, at least for the Fire Giants,
our sorceresses have been mainly for defense, enhancing our 
armor, our speed, or picking off stragglers in a flanked
battle."

More nods of assent.  "Here, we are dealing with a different
foe and I think we need to take into account the fact that 
their main army is made up of conjured beings, animated 
skeletons or summoned hell spawn.  In many cases, traditional
weapons are not going to be the driving force of the battle, 
much as I hate to admit that."

A few scattered chuckles of agreement were heard.  "Therefore, 
our idea is to have magic users dispersed in amongst the 
troops of warriors and missile troops and infantry.  Divide
up our magic users to support each set of troops rather than
placing them at the back of the charge for defense like we 
usually do."

Ashante was nodding.  "I agree, Anzwen.  We got a good taste 
of that a short time ago when our envoy ran into those death 
shades on the Symmet border."

He looked thoughtful.  "Much as I hate the idea of putting 
you in more danger than necessary, I think he's got a valid
point, people," Anzwen declared.  "Our traditional weapons 
will work on the Drow whether they are in daylight or under
the cloud cover of Skulldown.  Most of our weapons will work
on skeletons, vampires and liches, if we can strike them
first and draw first blood without being touched in return.
A risky business at best.  

Ashante did have one idea that she will propose in a minute 
to help in that regard.  Although she and all but a few of 
our enchantresses will be there to draw the sun and split the
clouds as we move in, they can only sustain it for so long and
will have to work in shifts.  The area they can cover will 
vary with their level of skill as well.  We don't have enough
enchantresses to lend them out to all the races, therefore, we
need to tap into the magical powers of the other races and 
determine which spells will work best against the Drow and 
their hell spawn army.  I agree, though, that spreading 
out the magic users is a good idea.  We may need them to cut
down the majority of creatures first and clear the way for 
the warriors to take out the Drow.  It will not be a battle
like any of you are used to, that's for sure."

Ashante stood next to him.  "I have spent the week prior to
your arrival teaching every adept and novice in Astarte the
art of enchanting weapons."  

This elicited some excited murmuring.  She went on to say, "It
will delay our attack by at least a week, but I think it will 
be worth it.  I plan to send a small envoy of enchantresses 
to each territory to spend a week doing nothing but enchanting
weapons with sun magic.  What this will do is enable your 
weapon to do sun damage to your enemies with every blow.  
It will not diminish the normal damage done by your weapon."

This created lots of smiles in the hall.  "It's not being 
arrogant when we say that our magic is the most harmful to 
the Drow.  That's a fact, not a brag.  I have a suspicion
that sun magic enchanted weapons will also do damage to hell
spawn such as death shades, vampires and liches.  So unless 
someone has a valid objection to this, I would like your word
that you will receive my enchantresses when they arrive and 
give them shelter and food and protection while they work.  
Go home and set up an area where they can work, and have your
warriors, missile troops and infantry bring their weapons to 
them in shifts.  I'll leave the logistics of that to each race."

Anzwen held up his hand.  "All in favor?" he asked.

"AYE, AYE, AYE, AYE, AYE, AYE," was heard from each table 
in the room.  

"Any opposed?" he asked, more as a formality than anything else.  
No one spoke.

"All right.  I think we should retire for the evening and meet
again after breakfast.  We have agreed on positioning and 
approach for the battle.  Tomorrow's topic will be the order 
in which we will deploy the magic users.  That's all for 
tonight.  The food tent will remain open if anyone is still
hungry.
 
With that they were dismissed and shuffled out of the hall,
talking excitedly to one another about the day's development.
Scully and I stood and faced them.  Scully must have read my 
mind, because she said, "I just wanted to say how impressed I
am with the way you've handled all of this.  Both of you have
done a wonderful job of keeping the peace and keeping this 
civil and organized.  Without you two, this would not be 
happening at all."

They smiled.  Anzwen said, "I think you two get the credit.
If it wasn't for you, we never would have gotten the races 
to unite or even agree to meet."

"Hmmm, I'm not so sure," Scully replied.  "You are the one
race that has not created a racial hatred with any other race."

"Except with the Drow.  That doesn't mean people love us or
trust us," Ashante said.

"Maybe not, but I don't think this would happen if they had 
to meet anywhere but Astarte.  Arguments over who would host
and control the summit would have buried it right there.  None
of them would want to give their enemies control to moderate 
the conference."

Anzwen shrugged.  "Well, thank you.  We all do what we have to 
do.  I believe you, Mulder, when you say that you don't
believe it was an accident that Dorian found you and that his
first lieutenant, Joachim, was the one of the few Elves that
speak the language of the other-worlders."

I nodded.  "I'm exhausted.  I can't wait for this to be over."

Ashante smiled.  "We need a break, that's for sure.  I'm not
sure we're going to get one though.  As soon as we conclude
the summit and they leave for home, I need to start sending
out my enchantresses.  I want them to have the work done in
a week.  It will be daunting task at best."

"What can we do to help?" Scully asked.

"Nothing really.  I'm going to ask Foamrider if she will donate 
some of their blue healing crystals to my girls.  That way 
they can work longer without getting headaches or getting 
utterly exhausted.  They are going to need the boost to 
work steadily for a week without collapsing."

"Good idea."

"The blue crystals are for healing, right?" I clarified.

Ashante said, "Mana healing, not bodily healing."

"Oh!  Geez, all this time I thought they were for wounds.  In
fact, Scully used one on my wound in Symmet when that death 
assassin attacked.  She healed me with it."

Ashante smiled.  "Yes, but she used an Elven healing spell I
taught her.  The crystal just boosted the level of mana behind 
the spell, in effect turning it from a level 1 healing spell 
to a level 5 healing spell cast by an adept."

"Ahhh, now I get it," I said.  "Why did they give them to me, 
then?"

She replied.  "Mana is always good, and not just for spells.
Those crystals around your neck constantly conduct mana from
the earth's core and leak it.  Therefore, it sustains your 
body, muscles, oxygenation of your blood, keeping all those 
things at an optimum level.  The Amazons endurance in battle
is legendary.  There's a reason for that.  They all carry 
blue mana crystals on them somewhere."

I was nodding now.  It all made a lot more sense.

"What about your yellow crystals and the green ones from the 
Dwarves and the clear ones from the Storm Giants and red ones 
from the Fire Giants?" Scully asked.

"They are all mana but different levels of it.  They also 
conduct different types of magic more than others.  The Elven
yellow crystals conduct sun magic and healing spells the best.
They resonate with it, for lack of a better word.  The green
crystals respond best to earthen magic, the clear crystals to 
weather or lightning magic, and so on.  However, any crystal 
can boost any magic.  The difference here is that until Scully
came along, it wasn't tested.  A magician could not cast Elven
magic.  An Elf could not cast Amazonian water magic, and so on.
You are the first person in history to be able to wield magic 
of all the races.  That's why they are in awe of you, Scully."

She blushed slightly.  "Are you sure you couldn't wield their 
magic?  Have you ever tried?  Or have you just assumed that you 
couldn't?" she asked curiously.

Ashante's brows knitted together.  "I don't know," she said 
honestly.  "I have tried from time to time while in Crestfall
to summon a kraken or a serpent, or raise up a water elemental
from the waves.  I was never able to do it.  For the most part
though, learning one type of magic is hard enough.  It takes 
years of study to become an adept.  There's just so much of 
it, it wouldn't be practical to try to learn another 
discipline."

"I see," she said.  "Why can I do it all, then?"

Ashante smiled.  "That is a question for the ages, Scully.  
That's why the people see you as divine.  You learned in 
about a month what takes the average Elf five or six years
of training to learn.  It's extraordinary.  That is why they 
feel you have been touched by the hand of the Goddess."

She hung her head.  "I don't want this responsibility.  I'm so
afraid of letting you down," she said softly.

Ashante placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Quiet your heart.  
I have a feeling you are indeed in the Goddess' plan.  She is
using both of you as her tools.  Do the best you can, and
that's all we ask of you."

She nodded and I said, "Of course.  We always do our best.  You 
have to understand though the position you've put us in.  It's 
overwhelming at times.  We are not Gods; we are not miracles in 
our minds.  We have miracles happen TO us, we are not the 
miracles in and of ourselves.  At least, we don't think of 
ourselves that way.  To us, we are just two normal humans.  We
have no idea how we fell into this history or this world for 
that matter."

Anzwen said, "I can sympathize intellectually.  I'm not going 
to pretend I understand completely myself.  Again, just do 
the best you can.  We will do the best we can for you.  It's
all anyone can expect of any of us."

Scully looked up.  "I think we need to sit down and look at
those books."

Ashante stiffened.  "Why?"

"They were given to me for a reason, I think.  I'm supposed
to read them."

"I'm afraid of them," she admitted easily.  "I'm afraid you
will be corrupted by them."

Scully pursed her lips.  "I don't relish the idea myself, but
I think we have to at least look at them and see if we can 
interpret them.  There may be some key piece of information
in there that could win or lose the war for us.  Are you 
willing to take that chance?" she asked solemnly.  

Ashante looked down and then up again to meet her gaze.  
"I will help you, but I will cast many protection spells 
first.  Moreover, I will not have them in the Temple.  Death
magic will not defile MY Temple," she said forcefully.

Scully smiled softly.  "I wouldn't dream of it.  In fact, I 
think the more isolated we are when we take a look the better."

Ashante nodded.  Anzwen was frowning.  "I don't like this 
idea."

Ashante looked at him.  "She's right, Anzwen.  Nothing so 
far has been a coincidence.  Nothing has happened by chance.
Siobhan of the wizard Knights even said he had a vision of 
her reading the books.  It was meant to be."

"Of HER reading the books," he emphasized.  "Not you, Ashante."

I felt a flash of unreasonable anger, but then realized he was 
simply reacting to danger to Ashante the same way I did to 
danger to Scully.  He loved her and he was worried.  

"I will take great care, Anzwen.  I think that she needs my 
help though.  I will cast the protection spells.  No one can 
cast higher protection than me.  Perhaps I'll even request 
that Foamrider join us and add her protection as well.  
We'll let you look first, Scully, and see what happens.  
At the first sign of trouble, we abandon the reading.  Agreed?"

Scully nodded.  "Sounds fair, and I'll take all the help and 
protection I can get."

We all shook hands and left for the night to retire to our 
quarters.

XXXXXXXXXX

We made love that night.  It was slow and languid and 
unhurried.  We just simply loved one another and fell into an
exhausted sleep of no dreams.

The following morning we ate a hearty breakfast of boar bacon
and pheasant eggs.  The Amazons and Elven captains had been 
regularly joining us for meals.  The others ate at their camps.
I grinned when I looked at Joachim.  I caught him staring at 
Medini several times and trying to hide it.  Seems I'd planted
a seed that was beginning to grow.  I was glad if his 
attention was being diverted from Ashante.  That way laid
madness and a lifetime of unhappiness for him.  I knew the
implications of interracial marriage.  We'd seen it on Earth
in a lesser form.  In this case, I couldn't even imagine
what the repercussions would be.  Something told me I'd done
the right thing though.

We reconvened shortly after breakfast.  A lively discussion 
ensued with each race chiming in with numbers of what troops
they had available.  I was not surprised to find that each 
military leader kept careful records of their troops.  They
knew exactly how many warriors, missile troops and infantry
were at their disposal.  Likewise, the magic users were able
to spit out definite numbers of adepts and novices in their 
Temples without hesitation.

It took half the day to iron out a plan of evenly dispersing the 
magic users with the various sets of troops.  It went smoother
than any other discussion had so far. 

Crestfall lay to the south of Skulldown with the ocean between 
them.  The Amazons would attack from the water and crash onto 
their shorelines from the south.  

The Barbarians were located the southwest and would cut across 
the river that divided them from Skulldown and attack from there.  

Stonehaven was located directly to the west and would attack 
from there, while Symmet would attack from the northwest.  

Cyneraayt was located directly to the north, and would attack
from there.  The Storm Giants were separated from Skulldown by
the ocean and lay to the east of Skulldown and the west of 
Atmos.  They had ships but not enough to transport the size of
the army they would be sending.  Therefore, the Storm Giants 
would follow the shoreline north around the tip of bay and cut
south along the Fire Giants shoreline, attacking from the 
north through the small area between where the mountain range 
ended and shore began.  The Fire Giants decided to move to the 
southwest a bit and attack from the foot of the mountains that
ringed Skulldown.  

The Knights were northwest and would cut across the crossing
and attack between the Fire Giants and the Dwarves.  

The idea was to draw the forces of Skulldown to the borders,
away from the city and the Temple, which lay in the northeast
corner near the shore.  Hopefully, this would spread their 
forces thin, giving us a better advantage number-wise and 
leaving the city and Temple virtually unprotected.  

Balgoth would never suspect that they could decimate his 
forces or that they would break through the lines and reach 
the city or the Temple.

Once engaged, the Elves were going to cut southeast through 
the lines, between the Fire Giants and Storm Giants and head
straight for the Temple.  The hope was that their sun magic 
could help decimate the Altar of Sacrifice.  This was where 
the necromancers performed their death magic that created 
death shades from souls of sacrificed prisoners, and vampires
from the blood of the same victims.  Under the cloud cover of
Skulldown, the necromancers could animate any fallen warrior 
into a skeleton who could fight again, be they a Drow or a 
fallen enemy.  Fallen enemies were harder to control and 
required more magic, but it could be done.  

This required that they strike fast and hard and use all 
available resources to kill any necromancers they encountered
as fast as possible or the fallen would not stay down.  This 
was a terrifying aspect of Death magic that frightened them 
and it well should have.  It was also the glue that created 
a group mind-set of determination and will to win never before
seen on Urak.  They were fighting for the whole enchilada. 
Not just territory or glory or for their race.  They were all
fighting for the survival of the planet and their very way of
life.

Finally, the plans were ironed out and the scribes, in their 
own language, gave written copies of the battle plan to the 
representatives.  The representatives would take these back 
to their leaders and begin preparations for the first World 
War on Urak.

When the Elves had determined that the enchantresses to be sent 
out had achieved their goals and returned, runners would be 
sent to give the date and time of the attack, allowing time to
put their troops in place.  If all went well, a month from now,
the Drow would be a passage in history and Scully and I could 
go home.

I found Duvanab and inquired about paying for a ring to be made 
from the jewels mined in Stonehaven.  He refused payment, 
saying he would be honored to provide these token symbols of
our commitment to one another.  After telling Scully and 
everyone else that I had some things to do, I left with 
Duvanab and was led to the teleporter stone about a mile 
behind the Temple into the woods.

The sensation of teleporting was one I won't forget.  He held
my hand and we stepped onto a stone about three feet square 
that had been well hidden with leaves and twigs and such.  It
was, however, in a small clearing that I would be able to spot
again if I needed it.  I was dizzy and nauseous on my arrival
in the Earth Temple but the feeling soon passed.  He took me 
directly to their head jeweler who dove into his task with 
enthusiasm, showing me all sorts of options.  Finally, we 
settled on rings with silver bands.  For Scully, he fashioned 
a ring of sapphires around a blue crystal I took from my pouch.
He cut it carefully and I gave him the remainder as payment.  
He was pleased with that.  The ring looked like a flower of 
sapphires.  My band held small chips of the blue crystal 
around the center, embedded in a thick silver band.  

I hesitated but then gave him another small blue crystal as 
payment and he tried to refuse.  I insisted and he finally 
took it.  Three hours later, I returned to Astarte with 
Duvanab to find Jadian waiting by the portal stone.  He 
nickered softly when I appeared, but didn't look startled.
I hurried back to find Scully, Anzwen, and Ashante worried
as hell.

They forgave me when I told them that I now knew where the 
portal stone was and would show them at the first opportunity.
I wanted to get this war over with for better or worse and 
take Scully home.

First, however, I needed to make her my wife.


XXXXXXXXXX

PART 3 (PG-13)
ASTARTE TEMPLE
ELVEN TERRITORY

We stood in a cleared area in front of the Temple.  A gigantic 
circle of flowers was on the ground.  We couldn't name most of 
them but the smell of gardenias was thick in the air.  It was 
sunny but there was a cool breeze.  It would be dusk in about 
a half hour.

An altar had been erected in the center of the circle.  About
three feet from the sides of the altar stood a magic user from
each race.  To the north, a Gnome magician, to the east, a 
Storm sorcerer, to the south, a Fire sorcerer, and the west,
an Amazon priestess. 

Right next to the altar stood three others.  To the north
stood a wizard Knight, and to the east stood a Barbarian 
shamaness.

There were many items on the large alter, including a bowl of 
crushed crystals of every color, a goblet of water, an Elfish
incense burner and a fat red candle.  We were led into the 
circle, Anzwen and Ashante flanking us.  The crowd stood 
outside the circle of flowers in concentric circles to
observe the ceremony.  Anzwen took his place next to the altar
on the west side behind the Amazon priestess.  

Many of the visitors were fascinated by the proceedings.  It 
wasn't often that outsiders got to observe a handfasting in 
another faith, or any ritual of another faith for that matter.

Ashante stepped to the edge of the flowers and raised her arms, 
holding her staff high.  She began a chant of hypnotic notes 
and drew an ornamental athame, a double-bladed but dull dagger.
She held it in her left hand and her staff in the right.  She
walked to the back of the crowd and began circling the 
assembled crowd.  This took a while.  The crowd was sizeable.
All the members of the envoy had returned for the summit, plus
a few more from each faith.  There was easily a crowd of 150
guests, and virtually every Elf that lived within ten miles 
of the city was there to witness what they considered a 
historic event.  We listened to her hypnotic chant:  "Isis,
Astarte, Hecate, Demeter, Cerridwen , Dianna, Innanna."

She kept repeating this phrase.

A Dryad appeared behind Ashante, swinging an incense burner on 
a delicate chain.  A trail of smoke followed them, outlining a
trail of what looked like static electricity forming around 
the crowd.  A few nervous shuffles were heard, but for the 
most part the crowd was silent.  

She circled three more times, chanting, "The circle is 
awoken and yet unbroken."  She then made her way back to the
center of the circle in front of the altar.  We were summoned
forward and knelt before them, Scully on my left.  We reached
out and clasped each other's hands.

Ashante's voice was clear and musical, projecting out to the
crowd.  "I am Ashante, enchantress for the Giver of Life, 
worshipper of the Sun, and servant of the Goddess of us all.
I call upon my brothers and sisters to assist me in calling 
those whom they serve to join us today for this blessed event.
First, we will bless the elements."

Katelanna reached over and picked up a bowl of salt brought 
from the Arkia.  She began to walk the edge of the flowers, 
clockwise, sprinkling salt on the ground.  I could hear 
little popping noises as it hit the ground.  "I am Katelanna,
shamaness for the Giver of Entropy, worshipper of Chaos, and
servant to the Goddess of us all.  I call upon my brothers 
and sisters to assist me in consecrating this ground, 
cleansing it of all dark forces and making it clean and pure
for the two that act as one, are male and female, are not of
this world, and belong to none."  

When she was finished sprinkling the entire ground between 
the flowers and the altar, she replaced the bowl on the altar
and bowed to her former archenemy, the wizard Knight.  

He picked up the bowl of crystals and walked to the edge of
the circle.  "I am Siobhan, wizard for the Giver of Strength, 
worshipper of Order, and servant of the Goddess of us all.
I call upon my brothers and sister to assist me in consecrating
this ground with the holy mana of our races, cleansing it of 
all dark forces and making it clean and pure for the two that 
act as one, are male and female, are not of this world, and 
belong to none."  

He continued a route that followed Katelanna's, scattering the 
crushed crystals, and then returned the bowl of crushed crystal
to the altar.  He turned and bowed to the Gnome magician.

Duvanab raised his emerald staff, spreading his arms wide.  
"I am Duvanab, magician for the Giver of Abundance, worshipper
of the Mother Earth, and servant to the Goddess of us all.  
Hail!  Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, Gaea, join
us today and give your blessings of abundance on the two that
act as one, are male and female, are not of this world, 
and belong to none."  He paused.  "HAIL AND WELCOME!"

I heard the entire crowd yell, "HAIL AND WELCOME!"  The 
sound was nearly deafening.  He turned and bowed to the
Storm sorcerer.  

I swore I felt a tremor under my knees.  Scully smiled 
tremulously at me and I smiled back.  She was a vision, an
embodiment of all that was beautiful in the world.  Her long,
shining, auburn tresses flowed down her back over her white
gown, spreading like a blanket over her back.  Her cheeks 
were rosy, and the brilliant yellow robe over her white 
gown spread out on the ground behind her like a mantle.  
She looked tiny and magnificent at the same time.  

Zephyr raised his clear crystal staff, assuming the pose they
all seemed to use in a gesture of vulnerability and trust to 
those they served.  "I am Zephyr, Storm sorcerer for the Giver
of Energy, worshipper of Air, and servant of the Goddess of us
all.  Hail!  Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, Maiden 
of the Winds, join us today and let your cleansing breezes 
give blessings of health on the two that act as one, are male
and female, are not of this world, and belong to none."  He 
paused.  "HAIL AND WELCOME!"
 
The entire crowed yelled, "HAIL AND WELCOME!"  A gust of 
wind tore through the circle and I shivered as it quickly 
died down.  He turned and bowed to the Fire sorceress.

She raised her red ruby colored staff and declared, "I am 
Loopkar, Fire sorceress for the Giver of Heat and Warmth, 
worshipper of Fire, and servant of the Goddess of us all. 
Hail!  Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, Mother of
Home and Hearth, join us today and give your blessing of 
warmth and comfort to on the two that act as one, are male
and female, are not of this world, and belong to none."  
She paused.  "HAIL AND WELCOME!"

"HAIL AND WELCOME!" chanted the crowd.  Loopkar turned 
and bowed to the Amazon priestess.

I was not so shocked this time when a felt a warm wall of heat 
flow through the circle, surround me and then drift away.  I 
shivered again and felt myself relax.  Scully looked nervous
but unafraid.  Her eyes glowed in the light of hundreds of 
small candles, held by the crowd.

Foamrider raised her blue crystal staff and looked to the sky.
"I am Foamrider, priestess of the Giver of Healing Waters and 
Cleansing, worshiper of Water, and servant of the Goddess of us 
all.  Hail!  Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, Crone of 
Wisdom, join us today and give your wisdom to the two that act
as one, are male and female, are not of this world, and belong
to none."  She paused.  "HAIL AND WELCOME!"

"HAIL AND WELCOME!" chanted the crowd.  Foamrider turned 
and bowed to Anzwen.

He faced the crowd and held up a golden staff.  "I am Anzwen, 
king of the Elven people and consort and husband to Ashante, 
enchantress for the Giver of Life, worshipper of the Sun, and 
servant of the Goddess of us all.  I call upon my brothers and 
sisters to assist me in calling on those whom they serve to 
join us today for this blessed event.

"We will call on the Goddess to join her spirit with our high 
enchantress so that she may speak to you and bless this event."

Ashante stood in front of us, smiled and closed her eyes.  She 
raised arms in supplication.  "Ye who have many names, among 
them Astarte, Artemis, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, 
Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, and Bride, we beseech you to 
join us today.  I call unto thy soul.  Arise and come unto me:
for I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe.  
Let my worship be within your heart and find me worthy.  O, 
Beloved One, join with me today that you might speak to the 
people, that you may show your face through me as your vessel.
I am open, I am willing, and I am humble in your presence.  
Bless us with the Maid, the Mother, or the Crone; send us the
aspect of your choosing.  HAIL AND WELCOME TO THE GODDESS OF
US ALL!"

Her head fell to her chest and silence descended.  About 
fifteen seconds passed and nothing happened.  Then I began to 
feel a vibration under me, a shift in the air that ran hot,
then cold.  A flash of light burst from the altar and 
enveloped Ashante.  Her face rose up to the sky and the light
faded to soft yellow glow, an aura that surrounded her.

She spun delicately in a circle, surveying the crowd and then 
turned to face us.  When she spoke, her voice was deeper, 
still soft and soothing, but much lower in tone and it 
resonated in the air, creating an odd buzzing feeling in my
chest.

"Now hear the words of the Great Mother.  I am the gracious 
Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of all races
of men.  I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal to whom I
choose as worthy.  This one is worthy.  Beyond death, I give
peace, freedom and reunion with those who have gone before by
taking you into me.  I do not demand sacrifice; for behold, I
am the mother of all living things and my love is poured upon
you without need of gifts in return, but only your faithful 
hearts.  I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the
universe.  I am the soul of power, who gives mana to the 
world.  I am the soul of all joy and rapture.  From me all 
things proceed, and unto me all things must return.  Before 
my face in the form of my faithful servant, Ashante, beloved
of Gods and Elves, let your divine self be bonded with me, 
whichever aspect of me you worship or desire most."

"Rejoice in your heart should you be a faithful servant to me 
or a lesser God, for I sanction all lesser Gods, they are all 
part of me.  I am the beauty of the green earth, the fury of 
the heavens, the healing waters of the ocean and the raging 
flames of desire.  ALL acts of love, desire, and pleasure, 
though it harm none, ARE my rituals celebrated through you,
my children.
 
"The two who act as one, are male and female, are of no race
here and belong to none, are my children."

Gasps were heard when she uttered the phrase from the prophecy.  
"You have been faithful, my servants, to the calling of the 
prophecy I gave you through my servant and prophet so long ago.  
You have given your most precious gifts to my chosen children.  
You have set aside your petty differences and joined together
to protect my chosen children.  For this, you shall all be 
blessed with my favor.  Make your dearest wish now for beauty,
strength, power, compassion, honor, humility, mirth or desire.
If your wish is pure, and your wish harms none, it shall be 
granted to you.  If you abuse your gift, it will be taken from
you.  Thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and 
yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery:
That if that which thou seekest, thou findest not within thee,
thou wilt never find it without thee.  For behold, I have been
with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained 
at the end of desire.  Open your hearts to me children, for I 
have spoken."

Murmuring rippled through the crowd as people fell to their 
knees and muttered wishes under their breaths.  I was finding
it all a bit hard to take in.  I figured it couldn't hurt to
make a wish.  I was in awe of Ashante.  If I were a skeptic 
I might think it was an act, but I'd known her long enough 
now to know the regular tone of her voice, even in Temple.
This was someone talking through her.  Besides, I wasn't a 
skeptic.  I looked at Scully and she seemed enraptured by 
what was taking place.  I made my wish silently.  'Goddess,
please help me to help these people win their peace and find
a way home for my wife and child.'

I felt warmth surround me.  Some time passed, I'm not sure how 
long.  Her voice rang out again, "The two who act as one, are
male and female, not of this world, and who belong to none, 
shall prevail for you so long as all the living things stay 
true to their word in heart and deed.  I leave you with my 
blessing for your Saviors.  Stay true to your words and 
agreements and my hand shall guide them and bless them with 
offspring.  Do not fail me, children."

Then she was gone, the yellow aura winking out and Anzwen 
stepped behind Ashante and supported her as she swayed.  

The crowd chanted, "HAIL AND FAREWELL!"  Oddly, though 
seven languages were shouted, all I heard was English in my 
ear.  I was now used to that but it was disconcerting with all
these sounds humming at once in the background.  I was 
usually only filtering one or two.  This was a bit 
overwhelming.

Ashante finally gained her balance using her staff and Anzwen 
raised his arms.  "Hear ye the words of the Goddess of the Sun
and of the Stars.  She is the dust of whose feet are the hosts
of the heaven, whose body encircles the universe.  Remember 
well, brothers and sister of this gathering.  Remember her 
words.  Stay true to yours and she shall use her divine hand 
to guide her chosen children.  I, for one, will not fail my 
Goddess."

Everyone had stood but they were now hanging their heads in 
contemplation and awe of having seen their Goddess drawn down 
into the body of the Elven enchantress.  No one was untouched
and I could feel the hum of positive energy in the air.  I 
just hoped it would last.

Ashante motioned for us to stand.  I held Scully's right hand
in my left, but we dropped the outside hands to turn and face
them.  Anzwen and Ashante switched places.  He worked on me 
and she worked on Scully.  They anointed our foreheads, cheeks
and lips with water and salt, and some kind of oily, clear 
substance.  They intoned, "In the name of the Goddess and all
her forms, we bless you and your union of spirits.  May your
souls unite that you become one creature together, until death
do you part."

They removed our outer robes and folded them carefully, setting 
them on the edge of the altar.  They each picked up a crown of 
flowers from the altar.  Scully's had yellow and white 
carnations, mixed with holly-like sprigs and baby's breath.
Mine had grape leaves, holly sprigs and a blue flower I'd 
never seen before.

Anzwen held his hand over my head.  "Know that it is in the 
decrees of the fates that ye are to be tied, nevermore to be
divided.  In vain against the stars preach the mages of what
shall be.  Take hope and joy, O children of time.  As I join 
both your hands, I betroth your souls."

He pressed the crown to my head and then brought us back to our 
previous position of holding both hands and facing each other.

Ashante held her hand over Scully's head.  "Ye Guardians of the 
Watchtowers, O powerful God, O gentle Goddess; attest the 
betrothal of these young hearts."

The other mages intoned, "We betroth these young hearts."

Ashante continued.  "While their forms are separated, may their 
souls cling together, sorrow with sorrow, joy with joy, and when 
bride and bridegroom become one, O heavens, may the trouble 
with which ye are charged find an end to its burden.  May no 
danger molest, and no malice disturb.  Over the marriage bed, 
shine in peace, O Stars and make them fruitful."

Anzwen said, "Repeat after me."  He paused.  "To my hand at the 
setting of the sun, the rising of the stars."

"To my hand at the setting of the sun, the rising of the 
stars," I repeated.

"I take this woman as my bride, my mate and the other half 
of my soul," he continued.

"I take this woman as my bride, my mate and the other half of
my soul."  I continued repeating the vows after Anzwen, 
feeling the significance of each word as it left my mouth.

"In sickness and in health, in ill times or good, I shall 
protect and provide for my mate and half of my soul.  I show
my dedication by 
holding fast to her hands.  You have my solemn vow, my love and 
half of my soul."

I was trembling slightly and had a lump in my throat by the end of 
it.  The entire set of vows was repeated for Scully.

The other mages chanted, "We give our blessing to this 
handfasting union of souls."

Then Ashante and Anzwen were smiling.  Together, "We 
pronounce you consorts, husband and wife, two halves of one 
soul."

Anzwen grinned.  "You may kiss your bride."

I beamed and took the rings from my pocket.  Scully gasped, 
taking my ring and sliding it onto my ring finger.  I pulled her 
close, carefully sliding hers onto her hand.  Then I yanked her in 
closer, laying my mouth over hers, oblivious to the on-looking 
crowd.  I vaguely heard whistles, cheers and chuckles in the 
background.  

She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back, 
pressing herself against me.  It had only happened during sex the 
last couple of times, but now it happened again.  I felt our minds 
merge.  Love, longing, need, joy poured into me from her mind.  I 
knew she felt mine in return.  I felt a sharp dart of joy from 
somewhere else.  Our kisses were just this side of obscene.

I gently pulled away and knelt down before her.  I kissed her 
tummy and she gasped.  "She's all ours now, buddy," I whispered.

I heard Anzwen chuckling.  We stood and watched as Dryads 
circled the crowd, offering wine and pieces of cake.  People 
crumbled crumbs to the ground in offering and dipped their 
fingers in one goblet, sprinkling wine to the ground in
offering.Then they drank from another goblet and swallowed
their cake. 

Another Dryad appeared and swept the ground all around us with
a straw broom.  The mages turned and thanks the Guardians of
the Watchtowers for attending and giving their blessings.  At
that point, Ashante moved to the edge of the circle again, and
went counter clockwise, or what she called widdershins, around
the circle, taking down the line of energy she had formed at 
the beginning of the ritual.  She shouted, "Merry meet and 
merry part."

The crowd intoned, "And merry meet again."

Ashante and Anzwen appeared again while we waited.  "A ritual 
consummation must now take place," she said.  The crowd was 
still milling about, some making their way to the tent set up
across the field.  The tables were groaning under the weight 
of the feast that had been prepared.

My eyes widened and Scully said, "Where?  Not here?"

Anzwen smiled.  "A place has been consecrated and prepared for 
you in the temple.  The doors will be guarded and no one 
allowed in until you emerge."

I felt Scully sigh in relief.  I know she'd had a dart of 
panic that we would have to do something in front of people.
As affectionate as she had become, and despite her loss of 
her rigid behavioral code here in this world, she was not an
exhibitionist and never would be.  Neither was I for that
matter, regardless of my taste for the pornographic and 
uninhibited.  I might be a bit of a voyeur but I had no 
desire to perform for anyone but Scully.  They escorted us 
behind the altar and through the milling crowds.  We thanked 
them and entered the Temple, hearing the doors shut behind us.

We turned and gasped.  The Temple was brilliant with the light
of uncountable candles under hurricane shades.  What appeared
to be a mattress of goose down was on the floor in front of 
the altar.  Next to it were blankets, goblets of water and 
towels.  I turned and grinned at her, waggling my eyebrows.

"Wow," she whispered.

"God, I love you," I blurted out in a rush.

She smiled up at me.  "I feel weird doing this in here."

"We're not doing anything yet," I said as I took her hand and
towed her down the aisle between the wooden pews carved from 
the tree itself.  She didn't resist me when I gently guided 
her down to the bed.  

"Would they know if we didn't?"

I gave her a confused look.  "Why wouldn't we?"

"It seems, I don't know, sacrilegious or something to do this
in a church."

"First, Scully, this is not a church.  This is an Elven temple.  
Second, this ritual was not before your God, but before their 
Goddess."

She frowned.  

"I don't mean your God isn't there too, Scully, but you're not 
violating any codes of your church here.  We're not even on the 
same planet."

"I know, but God rules the universe."

"Or Goddess."

She nodded.  "I'm so confused."

"I'm in love," I said and leaned in to kiss her.  "Make love
with me, Scully.  This is how they do it here."

She nodded tentatively.  I helped her strip out of her white
clingy toga robe and she helped me out of my tunic and 
breeches.  When we were naked, I slipped down on the bed with
her. 


XXXXXXXXXX

PART 4 (NC-17)
ASTARTE
ELVEN TERRITORY

XXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXX

I kissed her cheeks, her eyes and finally her lips.  My hands 
wandered down her chest, pinching her nipples and squeezing her 
breasts gently.  

I kissed the pulse points on her neck and then the ones on her 
wrists, finally moving up to suckle and lick her nipples until
she was moaning and writhing next to me.

My fingers found their way into her moist center and pressed 
deeply.  She bucked into my hand.  My body tightened in
response and I felt energized and happier than I'd ever been
in my life.

I spun around and straddled her face, sliding my hands under
her ass and tipping her pelvis toward me.  She seamlessly took
me into her mouth and ran her tongue along my shaft.  The hot,
moist cradle of her mouth made me moan as I lowered my lips
to her juncture. 

Her lips were pink, swollen and slippery with the juices of her 
arousal.  I began lick her essence and pull her closer, burying
my nose in her softness.  I licked from her anus to her 
clitoris and then dove into her flower, licking her nearly
dry and then moved to her clitoris; poking, circling and 
licking until I found what made her whimper, moan and buck 
into my face.

Meanwhile she sucked me deep into her mouth.  Her small hands 
gripped my ass and tugged me down.  I spread my legs and let 
myself sink deeper into her mouth, hitting the back of her 
throat and groaning.

She hummed, took a deep breath through her nose and I felt 
myself slide past the back of her mouth and into her throat.
We were both moaning constantly now, the vibrations racing 
through us and heightening the sensitivity of our skin and 
the level of arousal. 

I slid two fingers inside her and pumped vigorously as she
mashed herself against my hand, angling for the right bit of
stimulation.  My fingers, coupled with my sucking of her clit
finally did it.  She shouted, her vocal chords vibrating on
my shaft while embedded in her throat.  Her walls fluttered 
on my fingers and her clitoris vibrated on my tongue.  

I felt heat flush the back of my legs and balls as they drew 
up tight against my shaft, heavy and full, aching for release.
She shouted again, sucking hard and I came like a volcano 
erupting.  I cried out against her, keening with pleasure as
my cock throbbed and released again and again and again down
her snug throat.  The 
swallowing ripple of her throat muscles was exquisite and I 
hollered with unintelligible pleasure.

We panted, slowly drawing apart.  I carefully pulled from her 
nether lips and turned to lie next to her.  We kissed, tasting each 
other.  I felt slow and languid.  She reached down between us and 
grasped my shaft.

It was then I realized I was still hard as a rock.  The urgency was 
gone, but I was not deflating.  I hummed with gentle arousal as she 
stroked me.  This had never happened before.  Something magical 
was happening here.  It was more than my continued hard-on.  My 
body felt more energized, not less, as was the usual case after a 
good orgasm.  She felt soft and ethereal as I leaned down to feather 
my lips over the baby soft skin of her abdomen.

She giggled when it tickled and I delighted in the sound.  "Mmm, 
how do you feel?" I asked.

"Like I'm buzzing," she said softly.  "Hot, enflamed."  She
paused and pressed herself against me.  "Jesus, Mulder, I'm
still horny."

I smiled widely.  "Good, cause I'm not done with you yet."  I 
kissed her again and felt my breathing and heart rate increase.
I spread her legs and positioned myself between them.

She looked up at me and undulated against me, coaxing me to 
enter her.  I watched her eyes go wide as I thrust into her. 
I throbbed, about half-way in and felt my cock wedge snugly in
her sheath.  She hissed as my bulbous flesh burrowed between 
her legs.  I was going slowly, wanting this to last.  They'd 
given us no time limit.  In fact, they had said that the 
longer we took, the more sexual energy we raised in here, and
the better it would be for Scully's fertility.  Whether any of
that was true or not, I didn't know.  I wasn't willing to
rush it and test the theory.

I gasped as I felt her passage tighten.  "Awww, Scully, it
feels like you just swelled up around me."

She moaned.  "I know.  Please move, Mulder."

I began to thrust gently in and out.  Her body grew tighter
and I felt a rush of warmth flow over my balls as she 
released a flood of her juices.  Her head tossed and she 
moaned as she toppled over the edge into orgasmic rapture.
I felt her mind touch mine and I shouted, "Oh yes!  Come for
me.  Come to me!"

My penis grew thicker, or it felt like it did and I felt her
ripple down its length as I retreated and slid back in.  Her
flesh sucked at my shaft like a mouth and I screamed and came 
again, flooding her vagina with a load at least as big as the
last one.

We were silent for a few moments as I buried my nose in her
neck and kissed her rapidly beating pulse.  When she rolled
her head on the pillow to look at me, I ground against her 
and pulsed my hips in and out.  Her face lit up with wonder.

I was still hard.  "Oh God, what's happening?" I said.

"I don't know.  This is unreal," she whispered.  "Oh fuck, my 
breasts feel swollen, my nipples ache.  Awwww, suck on them, 
Mulder.  Oh please, suck on them!" she nearly shrieked.

I looked down to find her breasts crested in perfect domes,
hard and firm to my touch.  She moaned at my touch and my 
mouth on her goose-bumped flesh sent her chest arching into
my mouth.  My finger took care of the other nipple and then 
I switched off, loving the sound of her cries of passion and
moans of ecstasy.

Her eyes fluttered as I began to stroke into her again.  I
clenched my ass muscles and drove into her with force, feeling
my cock bounce off her tightly constricted cervix.  I shoved 
in and her walls tightened on my shaft as though not wanting 
to let go.  My repeated assault finally loosened her muscle 
and I felt myself slide deeper.  My cock was throbbing and 
burning hot and I screamed, "Oh God!"

I felt a pressure in the head of my dick like I'd never felt 
before and without moving I was suddenly pushing her cervix 
up into her womb.  She shrieked and hit another peak.  My
cock had just grown.  I don't how I knew that, I just did.
I began to retreat and ram into her.  Her cervix became looser
with every stroke and her walls became tighter.

We were wailing incoherently and I almost had trouble pulling 
back now.  It felt as though her inner tissues were filling up
like a water balloon and her passage was growing narrower and 
narrower.  

I leaned up, taking my weight on my knees and curled my elbows 
under her knees.  I leaned back down, my forearms and elbows on 
the ground, bending her in half and making her ass rise off the 
mattress.  

I began to pump with vigor, sliding down into her upturned 
pussy.  She was whimpering softly.  "Oh shit, you feel so big.
Help me, oh God, you're getting bigger.  Oh fuck, I think I'm
closing up, Mulder.  What's happening?  OH.  MY.  GOD!  It 
feels so goooooddddddd!"

She was slick with juices that now ran out of her in steady
stream and traveled down the crack of her ass, spreading onto
the sheets.  I was plowing into her now at an alarming rate.
"It's never felt this good, Scully!" I shouted.

"Is this supposed to happen?" she whimpered.

"I don't know.  It can't be bad!" I shouted.  That was the last 
coherent sentence that came out of my mouth for a long while.  
She was so swollen it felt like I was trying to push a two-
inch-wide tube into a one-inch opening.  Her muscles would 
constrict my shaft, making me feel like I was forcing myself
inside.  Then I would hit her cervix and feel her walls 
release me as I plunged deep, stretching her cervix over my
sensitive head.

My balls fell hard as a baseball.  They felt hot and 
throbbed with an incessant pulse, followed by an aching wash 
of sensation with every stroke.  My cock popped into her 
cervix repeatedly.  It felt like rubber bands around my 
cock, tightening and trying to push me out and then tugging
trying to keep me in.  

I plowed deep in her belly, feeling and hearing my hard balls 
smack on her ass.  I began jerking my pelvis up at the end of
my strokes and she cried out in another climax.  I was fucking
her in an absolute frenzy.  When she orgasmed, I realized how
hard I was ramming myself into her.  I pressed deep, grinding
into her, holding myself inside while her muscles squeezed me
for all they were worth.  I was trying to regain some control,
slow down.  I'd never felt ecstasy like this, but I didn't
want to hurt her.

I watched her chest flush and her mouth hang open, her breasts 
trembling as she rode out her orgasm.  I leaned down, kissing
her deeply.  This caused my knees to lift from the bed 
slightly as my feet pushed on the mattress and all my weight
was on top of her upturned sex.

In an event that will forever indelibly etched in mind, I felt
time slow down.  I felt her opening spasm harshly.  I threw my
head back, groaning and breaking our kiss.  Her pussy lips 
widened with a big heave.  I felt my body weight drop onto her
with this shift in movement.

Before I knew was happening, my tightly hardened balls pressed 
against her entrance and seemed to be glued there.  There was
one moment of panic that was gone in a mere instant and then 
it was nothing but rapture.

I rocked inside her, as that was all I could do now.  We were
stuck together again, only this time, it wasn't just my shaft,
but my balls as well, glued to her entrance, trapping her 
juices and mine inside.

Her rippling walls were now like a hundred fingers squeezing
and denting my shaft.  I buried my head in her neck and rocked.

Waves of nearly unbearable pleasure flowed over us as I felt our 
minds meld together.  The outside world, the room, the candles, 
even the mattress below us disappeared.  It was as though we 
were floating.  I dimly sensed that I was sweating profusely.
I vaguely knew that I was clutching her to me like she might 
disappear.  I was unable to help myself.  I began to come, 
spraying her cervix repeatedly and feeling my cinched ball 
sac spasm again and again as I emptied my balls. 

I have no idea how long I orgasmed, but I knew it was out of
this world.  It just went on and on like it was never going 
to end.  I knew she was coming too.  All I could do was holler
and hold on.  "God, yes ... you're squeezing it out of me!" I 
shouted, hearing my own voice echo in my head as though from
far away.

Her voice was the same, groaning, "Awww, I'm coming!  Ohhh, 
I'm coming so hard!  I'm going to split open!  I can't take
it anymore!  Oh my God, I'm still cooommmiiinnng!" she shrieked.

I was humping her, my hips jerking back and forth against her, 
fully embedded, never sliding back out.  I was well and truly
stuck but I had no control over my movements as I bucked 
repeatedly into her body, my hips snapping as if on autopilot.

"Mulder, Mulder, Mulder!"  She was chanting my name in a 
mantra of pleasure and I floated in euphoria, feeling high,
as my hips rabbit-fucked against her.  I couldn't stop.  
Someone or something else had taken over and I was no longer
at the wheel.  I gave myself up to it.  There was nothing 
else to do.

I have no idea how much time passed.  It seemed to go on 
forever.  I felt her slip into unconsciousness and I soon 
joined her.

XXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX

I woke sometime later, having passed out from the rapture of 
coupling with Scully.  She was moaning and just coming-to with 
me.  I was finally flaccid and slid out of her.  I spooned up
behind her without a word and grabbed a goblet and a blanket.
We leaned on our elbows, gulping water.  I had a feeling a lot
of time had passed, but at this moment, I couldn't even spare 
it a thought.  When our thirst was sated, I covered us up and 
let exhaustion take me.  

XXXXXXXXXX 

If the Saviors had been able to see outside, they would have
known Medini and I were guarding the doors of the Temple and
could hear every shout and cry of ecstasy.  They would have 
seen our smirks at first, and then watched them fade to 
arousal.  They would have seen our breathing increase as we
both tried to ignore it and pretend we didn't notice the 
other one's arousal.  

The Goddess was surely blessing the magic of this rite and 
this coupling.  The magic was spilling off the Elven Temple
tree as it vibrated with the force of mana swirling inside of
it.  Leaves were tumbling to the ground, sacrificed to the 
trembling of the tree as it contained the incredible magic 
pulsing inside it.

I'd never thought of it, not even once, until Mulder put the
damn thought in my head.  Damn him.  Since then, I could 
think of nothing else.  I didn't pretend to be overly 
familiar with Amazonian familial traditions and structure.
I did know that one of the reasons Medini was the undisputed
general of the Amazonian army was that she had no husband. 
She had yet to be invited into a family.  Imatra and 
Foamrider had promised her a place in the next available 
family.  At the moment, all the men had three wives and that
was all they could handle, except for the two that had been
killed from one family.  I wondered if she would be invited 
into that family now.

I tried to keep my eyes facing front but they kept being drawn
to the side as I surreptitiously tried to observe her.  I was
tall for an Elf, standing six feet, one inch tall.  Even so, 
she was easily seven feet tall.  Her long black hair was wound
into a thick braid as wide as my fist and hung to her waist. 
A silver circlet was on her head, holding wisps of hair out of
her face.

Tonight she was not wearing the armor of the Amazons.  She was 
wearing a tight-fitting sky-blue tunic, belted with a blue sash 
at the waist, which hung to just above her knees.  Her muscled 
calves flexed under the straps of leather that wound up them 
from the top of her sandals.  A dark midnight blue cape hung 
from her shoulders nearly to the ground.  Her sword was in its
scabbard but at her feet.  I'd placed mine on the ground as 
well, not anticipating any trouble.  

The atmosphere was joyous and nearly jovial, everyone rehashing 
the incredible events of the handfasting and the visit from 
their Goddess, not seen in many years.  Everyone took it as a
sign that they had done the right thing and now had the 
blessings of the Gods.  The crowd had slowly dissipated; 
making their way to the food tent that was set up way on the
other side of the meadow.  Ashante and Anzwen had done that 
on purpose to give the Saviors privacy for the consummation 
of their marriage.  

Jesus, what was going on in there?  Every grunt and shriek from 
inside resonated in me and I felt mana pelt my body as it 
quaked in the air.  My groin stiffened and I felt my cock grow
and swell until I was so hard, it hurt.  It was so rigid; it 
stood up straight, pressed to my belly.  I panted, unable to 
help myself.  I tried to think of war wounds, fights with 
people I'd had in the past.  Nothing was working.  

The odd thing was that I'd been so in love with Ashante for so 
many years, I'd never really considered anything else.  Now I
was realizing to my horror that I was infatuated with her, 
rather than in love.  I loved her for sure and admired her and
respected her beyond measure.  However, I'd never once lost 
sight of the fact that she was entirely unattainable.  Her 
love for Anzwen was legendary.  

I wondered if I was being given a message.  First, one of our 
prophesied Saviors puts the idea of looking elsewhere into my 
head, particularly at someone of another race.

Second, when asked to send our heart's desire to our Goddess,
I'd prayed to be blessed with the love of a woman that I 
could love back and be happy with.

Third, I was chosen by Anzwen and Ashante to have guard 
duty at the Temple doors for the consummation of our Saviors' 
handfasting.

Fourth, Medini was also chosen.  Neither of us considered 
refusing, even though we were hungry.  It was an honor and 
privilege and I knew that it was an unspoken sign of trust that 
Anzwen had asked me.  I'd been shocked he hadn't asked Dorian.
I was the newest captain in the army.  

Fifth, now I was standing here with the hardest erection I 
could ever remember having.  Every minute or so it would throb
deeply, ache and I felt like it swelled longer and fatter.  I
swallowed a groan as it happened again and I felt my sensitive
head nudge the underside of the belt at my waist.  Goddess, 
help me.  What was happening to me?  My cock simply wasn't 
that big, it had never been long enough to nudge my belt.  
My balls ached and I squeezed my legs together to try and
relieve the unrelenting pressure.  I didn't swallow it that
time and moaned softly under my breath, choking it off.

I glanced at Medini again.  She was standing rigid, staring 
straight ahead.  At first I wondered how she could be so 
unaffected.  Then I saw her tongue dart out to lick her lips,
back and forth, once, twice, then a third time.  My gaze 
slid lower and I stared at her gigantic breasts.  Despite
their size and the absence of any type of breast sling, her
chest rode high and didn't seem to sag at all, pressing the 
fabric of her tunic snug over the mini-mountains, each one 
easily as big as her head.  Her nipples were turgid, large 
and clearly visible through the thin material of her tunic.
I gulped.

I looked around furtively and there was no one around.  Total 
darkness had now fallen and we could see the lights of the 
torches in the field and around the food tent.  Camps were 
dotted with light over the meadow but for fifty feet out, I 
could see nothing.  

I was startled out of my reverie when Dorian and Natanni 
appeared in my line of vision.  They approached and bowed 
slightly.  Dorian said, "We were told to relieve you two.  
Go get something to eat."

"Thanks," we both croaked.  We picked up our weapons.  I put 
mine in its scabbard at my waist, she put hers in the 
scabbard over her back and we walked toward the food tent.  
It was a good five hundred yards away and we walked in 
silence, dodging the circles of light that fell here and there
from a nearby camp set up. 

About half-way to the food tent, we found ourselves in a 
ten-foot square of pitch darkness.  I stopped walking, my 
boots scraping on the gravel with my sudden halt.  She took
another step and then she stopped too, her back to me.  
"Medini," I said softly.

A beat passed and then she turned.  I could barely see her 
face but I stretched out my hand in offering.

She gasped.  My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark.  She was 
panting, her mouth was open and she looked flushed.  
"Joachim," she whispered.  "We shouldn't," she said.

"Don't tell me you don't feel it," I said softly.

"I won't tell you that.  It's the magic.  It's not us; it's
just the magic.  It will wear off," she said, sounding almost
desperate to believe that.

"Maybe," I said.

"Goddess, Joachim, you're an Elf!" she hissed.

I chuckled.  "I know that," I said calmly.

She chuckled.  "I'm an Amazon!" she exclaimed the obvious.

"I know that too," I said.  I stepped close to her and took 
her hand in mine.  Electricity zipped between us and we both
gasped.  

I didn't say anything else; I just slowly took a step 
backwards, knowing there was nothing behind me.  Another step
brought our arms out straight.  She was staring at me.  I 
knew her own infravision had adjusted to the darkness and she
could see me.  I took my free hand and tucked my long blonde 
hair behind my ear.  I knew what she would see.  My ears 
would be flushed and reddish in hue.  It was always so when 
an Elf became aroused.  Even an Amazon would know that.

She licked her lips again and I tugged on her hand.  She took
a tentative step and I smiled.  I turned and began to walk
quickly, nearly grunting at the ache in my groin.  She 
followed, still holding onto my hand.  We circled back around
the temple and headed for the city gates.  We hit the gates at
the run, panting and letting out burst of nervous chuckles.  I
took her to my home.  I had one now that I was a captain.  
It was one of the benefits of my promotion.  It was right next
to Dorian's and had been vacated by a captain that was killed 
in our first encounter with the death shades.  I was suddenly 
glad that I had a private place for us.  Was this another 
twist of fate that the Goddess had provided?

XXXXXXXXXX

ASTARTE CITY
JOACHIM'S HOUSE

I hastily unlocked the door.  Our glances darted back and 
forth on the street, but it was deserted.  Everyone was outside
the gates celebrating.  I yanked her inside and slammed the 
door, throwing the lock.  I didn't bother turning on a light
as I led her swiftly through the living room, the kitchen and
down the hallway in the back.  I threw open the bedroom door,
pulled her around in front of me and backed her into the room.

I stopped when her legs were against the edge of my big bed.
I stepped away from her and lit one lone candle on the
nightstand, and then moved to close the curtain that looked 
out over the backyard.

I turned to find her staring at me.  Her long black braid was 
hanging down her front now, resting between her breasts and 
hanging to her navel.  

I unfastened my cape without looking and let it drop to the 
floor.  I let her stare as I removed my boots and belt.  I 
hesitated but then ripped my tunic over my head, letting it
fall to the ground.

She gasped, her eyes traveling over my muscular chest.  I knew
I was well built for an Elf.  I was muscular.  I had broad
shoulders and a lean waist.  My thighs were muscular and 
proportionate for my size.  I wasn't, however, an Amazon.
I didn't know if I would stack up, so to speak.  "Holy tidal
wave," she whispered.  

I chuckled and stepped up to her.  She stared like she was 
frozen.  I reached for her braid and carefully slid the thong 
off the end, placing it on my bedside stand.  I gently 
unraveled it, letting the back of my fingers brush her 
breasts through her tunic.  When my fingers dragged lightly
over her protruding nipples, she moaned and her knees bobbed
slightly.

I smiled again, emboldened by her response.  When her hair was 
unbraided, I reached up and carefully slid her circlet off her
head.  I glanced at the half moon symbol there in the front 
and ran my thumb over it.  Then I placed it next to her hair
tie. 

I lifted my hands slowly and slid them into the hair at her 
temples.  She shuddered as I combed through it, spreading it
out over her back and shoulders.  It fell like a cape around
her now that it was unbound.  It was midnight black, wavy, 
thick and luxuriant.  "God, you have such beautiful hair,
like black waves," I said softly.

She gave a burst of nervous laughter under her breath.  I was 
standing before her in just my breeches, barefoot and felt
exposed.  

She didn't protest so I continued.  I unfastened her mantle 
and let it slide off her shoulders, removing her scabbard 
and leaning it against the wall.  I pressed on her shoulders
and she sat on the bed.

I placed one knee on the edge of the bed to balance myself and 
cupped her beautiful face as she turned it up into mine.  I 
leaned down until my lips were brushing hers.  She gasped and
I whispered, "I've never wanted anyone the way I want you."  

I was slightly embarrassed at the gruff sound of my voice but
it seems I'd chosen the right thing to say.  I wasn't going to
lie to her.  I knew I had feelings for her that went beyond 
friendship.  I also didn't know if I loved her or not.  I did,
however, without a doubt, want her and the lust raging through
my body had to be quenched.  My mind zipped over the series
of events in the last few weeks that had repeatedly thrown
us together.  Somehow, I had a suspicious feeling that this 
was no coincidence.  My desire for her was real and right.  
"What did you wish for?" I asked quietly.

She seemed startled for a moment and then tears pooled in her 
eyes.  She swallowed heavily and licked her lips.  "I wished
for a man to love me.  I've had no one for so long," she 
admitted.

I couldn't stand the sadness on her face.  My thumbs brushed
her tears away when they fell.  "I wished for the same thing,"
I confessed.  "Only a woman, of course," I joked.

Her eyes met mine and they glowed in the soft light of the
candle, nearly black.  "What do you think it means?"

"I think it's no coincidence that we're here and feeling this
way.  I don't think it's a coincidence that we were chosen to
watch that door at the Temple.  I don't think it's a 
coincidence that Mulder asked me if I'd ever considered mating
with an Amazon."  She gasped at that tidbit of information
and I continued.  "Or that he told me to try and stay open to
extreme possibilities."

She was riveted now.  "He did?" she asked softly.

I nodded.  "I don't think it's a coincidence that we both made
the same wish tonight.  I think the hand of the Goddess has 
touched us, Medini.  I don't want to ignore her."

She shook her head.  "Neither do I.  Joachim, it's been a 
long time for me," she said shyly.

I smiled at her.  "Me, too." 

XXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX

I couldn't stand it anymore and laid my mouth over hers.  I
moved my lips over hers slowly.  They were soft and wet and I
moaned, letting the vibrations wash into her mouth.  Her mouth
opened and my tongue slid inside and lapped at hers.

When she moaned back into my mouth, it was all over.  I stepped 
back, yanking her up by the elbows.  Stars, she was tall.  I
yanked her tunic up and she bent slightly so I could pull it
over her head.  Her enormous breasts fell into to view.  I 
wasted no time cupping them, pressing them together and 
finding a nipple.

It was already extended almost a half an inch and I sucked
hard.  Her hands were suddenly at my waist, untying my fly
with speed and she shoved my breeches down.  They pooled at 
my ankles and she sat down.  I kicked them away, knelt, and
untied her lacings.  Her sandals came off and she was naked
before me, sitting on the edge of the bed.  She was broad 
shouldered, and her torso tapered to a lean waist.

Her belly was flat and muscular.  The dark triangle between
her thighs beckoned.  She had narrow hips, trim from fighting
but proportionate for her big body.  She slid back onto the
bed, her knees raised.  She slowly lowered herself, putting 
her head on the pillow.  Her legs fell open like an invitation
and I groaned and slid onto the bed.

I lay full-out on top of her and ground my aching cock into her 
pubic mound.  She moaned and I leaned on one hip, reaching 
between us and fingering her moist folds.  My fingers slipped 
inside and released a flood of liquid.  We were kissing, 
rubbing and bucking against one another like mad animals. 

I finally grabbed her wrists and pinned them next to her head.
Her hair was fanned out underneath her and her chest heaved 
with her deep breaths, making her gigantic breasts wobble in
invitation.  "I want to do so many things," I said.

She looked me right in the eye and said something no one had
ever said to me in my entire life, something no Elven girl 
would ever say.  "Just fuck me.  Goddess, please!  Fuck me!"

The effect those words had on me!  I couldn't even describe it.
Her legs spread further and her knees rose.  She draped her 
long, muscular legs over my narrow hips.  My engorged cock 
found her entrance.  She locked her ankles at my low back 
and cinched her legs together, effectively drawing me inside.

I lunged deep, crying out at the lush, soft feel of her.  We
didn't even try to pretend we wanted to take our time.  I 
fucked her hard, fast, and with an aching fury I'd never 
known.  She moaned, thrashed and crashed her hips into mine,
meeting me frantic stroke for frantic stroke.

I'd never had endurance like this in my life.  I kissed her 
lips, sucked her breasts that were pillowing my chest as I 
banged her for all I was worth.  She climaxed, squeezing me
tight, and I fucked her some more.  She climaxed, and I 
fucked her some more. 

A half hour later, she convulsed with her fifth orgasm and I 
let go, feeling my dick expand.  I bellowed a low-pitched
sound of wounded ecstasy and poured into her for nearly a
minute straight, feeling her walls milk me like a velvet glove.

XXXXXXXXXX END OF NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX

I collapsed on top of her, my face buried in her neck.  I 
kissed her racing pulse and when I finally could breathe
normally, I lifted my head.  We were sweaty and I looked down
to see her midnight hair tangled with my blonde, straight 
tresses.  I smiled and kissed her languidly.  

She sighed and lowered her legs.  I slid out of her and fell
to the side.  I propped my head up on my hand and she remained
on her back.  She had tears in her eyes.  "I didn't hurt you, 
did I?" I asked.

She laughed out loud at that.  "No!  It was so good.  No one's
ever taken me that hard," she whispered and I felt my cock
twitch.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked.

She turned and smiled at me.  "A very good thing."  She was 
trembling and I wrapped my arms around her.  

"What's wrong?"

I knew something was wrong.  "I don't know.  This is all so 
strange.  I didn't plan on this today, you know?" she quipped.

I chuckled softly.  "Neither did I.  I'm not sorry though.  
Are you?"

"No."  She met my gaze again and I saw fear there.

"I won't hurt you.  What are you afraid of?  Besides the 
obvious, I mean."  I wasn't stupid.  To my knowledge, an Elf
and an Amazon had never mated before.  It just wasn't done. 
The races did not mix and that was the end of it.  I couldn't
help but feel that we were caught up in some cosmic racial 
experiment.  If we were open about it, would we be shunned?
Accepted?  Ridiculed? 

She held my stare for a moment.  "What if I get pregnant?"
she asked finally.  

I felt a rush of warmth.  At first I thought it was panic.  
"I forgot you aren't like the Elven girls.  You don't take 
the contraceptives."

"Never, not unless it's a health hazard to get pregnant.  I
had no reason to anyway.  No one's ... no one's wanted me in so
long, I forgot ... forgot what it was like."

"Awww, Medini," I cooed.  I kissed her softly and said.  "I 
don't have an answer for you.  If it happens, we'll have to
deal with it.  We'll seek advice from our leaders."

"You think they will understand?  I don't even want to think
about how many taboos we ran over tonight."

I shrugged.  "It was meant to be, Medini."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, I do.  Let's be discreet for now and wait and see what 
happens."

Her eyes widened.  "You want to see me, I mean, you want to 
meet again?"

I smiled crookedly at her, amused.  "Of course I do.  Why 
would you think otherwise?"

She shrugged this time.  "I don't know.  I just thought it 
was the night, the circumstances, the magic."

I cupped her face and brought her face back to mine.  I shook
my head.  "Listen to me.  I'm not a one-night-stand kind of 
Elf," I joked.

She laughed nervously, her jaw working.  "Holy waters.  I 
think I'm giddy."

I grinned at her.

"Amazons don't get giddy," she stated firmly.

Now I laughed at her and she blushed.  I leaned down and
kissed her.  "Stay here tonight.  Sneak out in the morning."

"I'm hungry," she said.

I slid out of bed and pulled on my breeches. 

She eyes me curiously.

"Then get up.  I have food.  Let's make something."

She looked amused. "With all that food out there, you want to
cook something in here?"

"Yup.  I don't want to leave here."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid you'll disappear," I admitted, a lump suddenly 
forming in my throat.

She threw back the covers and slid out of bed to stand in front
of me, stark naked and glowing in the candlelight.  She cupped
my face.  "If you'll have me around, I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded, kissed her quickly on the nose and turned to head 
for the kitchen.  It was time to rustle up some eggs and bacon.

THE END.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I drew many references in this fic from my own experiences in
the practice of Wicca.  Of course, I distorted them to fit the
story and incorporate the characters I created in my borrowed 
universe.

I must give a nod and wink to Stewart and Janet Farrar, two 
modern-day Witches that not only practice the religion of Wicca, 
but also have written wonderful and insightful texts about the 
truths of paganism and Wicca, dispelling many myths in their 
wake.  Their didactic manuals such as 'What Witches Do', and 
'Eight Sabbats for Witches', are a must-read for any modern day 
pagan.  The work is an intelligent and informative portrayal of
the truth about the Wiccan religion.  The occult, paganism, 
and Wicca are often horribly distorted by misinformation and
sensationalism by the media.  It is often confused with 
Satanism.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It is 
more often misunderstood than understood.  Unlike 
fundamentalist religion that bases its dogma on what people
must NOT do, and requests its adherents to submit to a group
of rules that would make Mother Teresa wince, (IMHO) 
suppressing the natural urges that are God/Goddess given, 
Wicca is a celebration of life, the worship of nature and life,
and the bringing together of the body and nature in harmony.

When searching for a Higher Power and a glove that fit, I 
educated myself beyond the limits of my intelligence, reading
texts on everything from Agnosticism to Zen Buddhism.  I could
never find the glove that fit until I met a Wiccan High 
Priestess that changed my life and my spirituality forever.
Unlike Priests and Reverends that scolded me for the behavior 
of my past and my struggle with a disease, and told me I would
go to hell unless I asked for absolution and forgiveness, this
gentle soul took me under her wing and taught me to forgive
myself as well as others.  She taught me of the beauty in the
world and in myself and encouraged me to be the eclectic human
being that I was.

I am not a **religious** person.  I am a **spiritual** person.
My spirituality is made up of my relationship to my Higher 
Power, my relationship to MYSELF, and my relationship with 
others.  I no longer participate with my former Coven, Dawn
Blaze.  It scattered over the years as our members moved to
different parts of the country.  However, I will never forget
the woman that changed my life and taught me to take charge 
of it; empowered me, rather than scolded me, taught me 
self-esteem, rather than endless seeking of redemption for
things I could not change.  I am solitary today, and I dare
say I pray more than most **religious** people, for I pray 
every morning and every night.

In the morning I ask for the strength to stay clean and sober
for that day, for my HP to use me to do her will for that day.
At night, I thank HP for another day and ask for this:  
"Please have people treat me tomorrow, exactly the way I 
treated them today."

When I know I'm going to say that prayer at night, it helps 
a great deal with restraint of pen and tongue, with honest
appraisal of my character defects, and with deflating my 
ego, which still rears its ugly head from time to time.

Why am I telling you all of this?  I don't know.  Maybe 
because I wish everyone could find the peace and serenity with
themselves that I have found.  Perhaps I wish that religion, 
politics, and repressed sexuality no longer plagued our nation.
Maybe I hope that one of you will go buy a book that is a real
portrayal of a wonderful religion that, along with a 
twelve-step program, probably saved my life and helped me to
make it from the age of 21 to the age of 22.  That was almost
two decades ago, but the lessons remain.  

For anyone interested in the religion of Wicca, I recommend
the following texts:

'What Witches Do - The Modern Coven Revealed' by Stewart 
Farrar

'Eight Sabbats for Witches' by Janet and Stewart Farrar

'Drawing Down the Moon' by Margo Adler

'Spiral Dance' by Star Hawk

Merry meet.  Merry part and merry meet again.

Blessed Be,
Donnilee