
# Guardians of the Rasselas

Arwen Jayne

Copyright © 2015 Arwen Jayne

2nd Edition 2019

All rights reserved

While reference has been made to some actual historical events or persons and some real locations all other names, characters and places are fictional; the product of the author's over imaginative mind. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses or places is purely coincidental. The real lake the story is loosely based on hasn't actually dried up but it has dropped its level, drastically. Where we went with the boat two years before is now, at the time of writing, a desert of quartzite and dried reeds. Between the pre-christmas trip which prompted my imagination and the second trip six weeks later to get the front cover the lake had dropped another metre and a half. In total it is down thirty-eight meters from full and still dropping. Hopefully the rains will return and restore it to its former beauty. I hope through this story you too will feel a bond with this special wilderness.

### Disclaimer

This book contains sexually explicit scenes and language that may offend. The author is not responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from the use of the information contained in this title.

### Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of my friends, my partner and my family. Thanks go to my wonderful editor Jen for volunteering her precious time and giving much needed polish to this work. Any remaining errors in the book are my own. To all those who have listened to my ideas on metaphysics and given honest feedback. To my partner for his never ending patience, encouragement, advice on weaponry, vehicles, machinery and other technologies. He also took the photo for the front cover giving me another visit to the landscape that inspired the story. A special thanks to all who read the first few novels and have encouraged me to continue the series.

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### 1

The flat tray Nissan Pajero rattled down the old boat ramp road. Few people came down this track. Few even knew it had ever existed. Fifty years before it had been a popular fishing spot and a place for tours to launch their boats, taking wealthy Japanese tourists out onto the pristine lake where they could do two things they couldn't do back in their home country; experience pristine wilderness without hordes of other tourists and get photographed catching their own trout.

Not that there were many trout in the lake anymore. They weren't a native fish and relied on a regular release of hand raised hatchlings into the waterways to keep their population numbers up. But the government didn't have the money for that anymore so they marketed it as a wild fishery, in other words, the trout were scarce. All except the introduced red fin perch that thrived on the lack of competition. Declining fish numbers, rising fuel prices and a different market in tourists, city-loving Chinese, meant the lake had few visitors these days. Even the canoeists bypassed it on their way to the more famous World Heritage listed lake up the road.

It was nearly Christmas and not being a great fan of the annual family get together Eleni had come out here to hide from it all. Baring a freak summer storm front she knew it would be utterly peaceful out here. There was no-one, absolutely no-one to destroy her peace. Her cousins could compare their latest handbag and shoe purchases over a four course, silver serviced Christmas lunch. He older brother could ramble on about his latest apps on his iPhone. Mum could glare across the table at her vacant seat and her father .... Well her father would be wishing he'd escaped too and was out here with her. One year she might just do that, kidnap him and give him the Christmas he'd always wanted, instead of unwrapping another pair of jungle green acrylic bushwalking socks he didn't need. Eleni felt a moment's twang of guilt for leaving him there but then again, he had married her mother. She admired his balls of steel, for sticking by her mum's annual play at 'happy families'. But admiring his sense of duty didn't mean she felt so compelled. Every third year she'd turn up to one just to keep the peace but this year was most definitely one of her years off from the hell others called Christmas.

Not far now. Another couple of bends in the road, skirting the fallen trees, driving under the fronds of giant manferns, roadside leatherwood and myrtle. She changed down a gear to take it nice and slow across the old creek where only a fool charging through to show off to his mates would get bogged. She could just about hear her late grandfather in her head, advising her as he had done all through her childhood. She missed him dreadfully, mourning the day ten years ago when he had quietly died in the backseat of the car, on his ninetieth birthday, as they came back from his picnic birthday party. Nice way to go though. Yet even now part of him lived on in her, in his words of wisdom. How she drove, how she camped, even how she fished, all were in ways her grandfather had shown her.

As she turned the last bend, preparing to scope out a suitable campsite she braked and stared, stunned at what she saw. The lake...well it had been a lake two years before when last she'd camped here. Now it was a vast desolate wasteland of white quartz rock, fallen trees and dying vegetation. Hell! Were there still people who didn't believe the climate was always in a state of flux? This was drastic on a scale she couldn't imagine. She took her camera out, determined to capture the reality of the lake so she could share it with her friends on social media. No one would believe her otherwise.

Would she even bother to stay and camp here she wondered, but then she shrugged her shoulders. Well she wouldn't be fishing but it was certainly an interesting landscape to explore.

The lake surface was of compacted quartz sediment that was now bone dry. There was little danger of getting bogged. She scanned the desolation and spied a path of sorts down to what looked to be a fast flowing creek. The creek must have once fed the lake but now it meandered through the bottom of the old lake bed. She'd take her old ute down there, at least as far as she could go, and find a sheltered spot out of the wind to camp. No red fin perch for dinner tonight it seemed but she had enough makings with her to come up with something. She'd set up camp tonight and tomorrow she would go exploring. Loving both rocks and photography she was sure she'd easily spend at least a day here, maybe more. The local white version of a grey goshawk quietly flew overhead. Well, she'd have someone watching her it seemed. The bird was company she'd enjoy. It certainly wouldn't be asking for a positive comment on its latest handbag purchase.

This end of the year dawn broke early. It would be another hot one. Out here the weather liked to be extreme. Even in summer you could have floods, hail, snow or a scorcher up in the high 30s, scraping the old hundred on the Fahrenheit scale. Fortunately the water from the stream she'd camped by was amongst the purest in the world. A bit of brown tannin in it but that wouldn't kill anyone. It was bloody cold as water went though. She'd wait til after midday before she took a skinny dip to have a wash.

Breakfast was simple. A bit of hot water from the billy can, poured onto some quinoa flakes and stirred into a makeshift porridge. She picked a bit of the pretty, purple flowered self-heal and made a passable tea. Eleni knew she'd always like too many of the comforts of modern life to be a freegan but sometimes she liked to pretend. Even in the bush out here that was plenty to feed you if you knew anything about the bush tucker the early colonists had used. They in turn had acquired much of that knowledge from the native peoples they'd nearly wiped out. The local berries and tubers, while not always the tastiest were nourishing and were easily supplemented by the weeds that had made their way even to this far corner of the world. So she used all that knowledge to pretend she was the lone survivor from a world gone mad but at the same time enjoyed the comforts of her feather down sleeping bag, her large four man army disposal tent and the little gas stove she used to boil her billy. The tent was a bit excessive but she had long ago mastered putting it up and it was a welcome refuge from the midday march flies and the evening onslaught of mozzies. She'd set up her toilet tent a little bit away from the rest, just because it seemed the thing to do. But she'd made sure it wasn't so far she'd stumble in the dark if she had to use it in the night. She'd hung a black water bag on the side of the ute in case the river water proved too cold to bathe in. She didn't fancy washing her hair in the cold anyway. It was always good to have backup plans. That's what her granddad had taught her.

Duly fed and watered she brushed out her hair, grabbed her mini backpack, compass, bottle of water and her camera and headed out onto the lake bed. But not before locking her truck. Even out here it paid to be sure. It would be a hell of a long way back to civilisation if someone pinched it. She'd hedged her bets though, by making sure her father knew where she was. She'd come to no harm out here, not at this time of the year, but if she didn't surface in a few days someone would come looking for her. Since this was a dead spot as far as mobile phones it was all she could do as a safety plan, that and her trusty multi tool knife she always carried with her.

She spent the morning photographing weather and wave worn pieces of driftwood. She even found a small piece of huon pine. She'd scratched the outer layer and then held it to her nose. Yep, the genuine article. Not that she would take it with her. There were hefty fines for anyone found illegally fossicking the precious stuff. This piece could be five years old or a thousand. It would never rot. Its honey coloured aromatic wood had been used in its time to build some of the finest wooden boats to ever ply the waters in the Southern Hemisphere but these days there was that little of it left you were lucky to find a piece big enough to make a sugar bowl. A plantation of seedlings would take at least four hundred years to reach minimum harvestable size. Not an investment that even the government was prepared to make. So people retrieved old fallen logs from around lake shores and river ways, legally or illegally, and stockpiled them like diamonds hoping to corner some future market at enough of an inflated price that they could retire on the proceeds. There was no doubt that some commercial operation would soon swoop on this lake bed for what little they could salvage.

As she pondered the insanity of a world where a precious resource was left to die out she took a welcome sip from her drink bottle. The day was already getting hot. She reached into her pack for some linseed, chia, walnut and zucchini crackers she'd made in her dehydrator back home before the trip. Just another part of her annual escape plan. What she couldn't forage had to be non-perishable. Fridges meant generators and a generator would have spoiled the peace she was now enjoying here. To tell the truth the crackers were a bit chewy. Okay maybe next time she might not dry them quite so long. But they were nourishing and they would keep her going until she got back to camp.

Staring out across the white gravel expanse something sparkled. Glass perhaps? It galled her to think that some fisherman might have thrown an empty beer bottle over the side, uncaring about what littered the lake bed. She'd go and retrieve it and put it with the rubbish she took back to civilisation. Everything she brought in she took out. This patch of wilderness might not be part of a park or the heritage area but she had long loved the place and was determined to treat it with the respect it deserved.

No it wasn't glass. She wasn't sure what it was. Unusual, that was sure. It was flawless, extremely hard and resembled for all the world...a human hand. And it wasn't the only human body part shaped stone. She began prizing the pieces out of the quartz gravel. Whether the pieces had been there a few years of a millennia was hard to say. There was little mud in this lake for them to sink into. Bizarre was the only word that came to her as she considered them. The more she looked around the more she found but they seemed to be confined to a specific area. At least that made her hunt easier. For the mystery of it all had quickly piqued her curiosity and a true hunt began.

She started gathering them into heaps, pieces that seemed to have the same 'build'. Setting aside the incongruity of crystalline stone appearing in the shape of human body parts she decided to match them up as best she could. One well muscled 'guy' who she fancied as a warrior she named Alpha. His parts, with their well defined muscle structure, were easiest to pick. The next guy, who she decided she couldn't call Beta as that demeaned him, she named after an ancient celtic god Bran. It was his long limbs that had her thinking of regal wolfhounds. He was a runner perhaps. Yet she fancied him as a musician or artist. His long fingers deserved such a skill. Alpha, Beta...what came next. Kapha...no that wouldn't work. Going with another Irish name she called the guy of medium build Conn. Yes that suited him. How did she know they were men when she was no anthropologist? Well certain well endowed body parts gave that away. As for Delta, she was definitely female. No bloke had boobs like that. Trim though, enough to have made her vitriolic cousins green eyed with jealousy. She could just about hear their bitching from here. The accusations of anorexia that got thrown around these days plagued anyone under about 55 kilos, even if they were well within their weight for height range. She wondered sometimes how the smaller Asian women handled it when they came to the West. Any woman keeping herself a healthy weight risked the stigma. Having a slightly overactive thyroid meant Eleni was well acquainted with it. She knew she'd get away with eating whatever she wanted, at least until she got into her forties and her metabolism started to slow down. Then she supposed she'd get snide comments for being the other way. Who defined normal anyway? But Eleni wasn't about to take up a diet of chocolate, soft drinks and burgers just to please her peers. She kept to herself instead. People could either accept her as she was or bugger off.

She tried to paint each of the 'bodies' in her mind, whole and alive. She knew she was just fantasizing but it was proving to be an enjoyable way to pass the day. She'd forgotten entirely about her photography. Guiltily she realised she was even wet, daydreaming about the four being her lovers. Yes four. She doubted her family knew that well concealed fact. That she was not quite the straight laced heterosexual she was meant to be. Not that her various kinks or her borderline bisexuality had ever had an outlet. Sure she'd gone out with a few blokes from university but most had been a bore. The guy she'd lost her virginity to had as good as called her a tramp because of her sexual forwardness. Another time she'd gone out with a tennis playing law student, out of some guilt driven need to please her parent's aspirations for her. A nice catch he would have been. Good, well heeled family and...she would have died an early death from the terminal inaneness of it all. Hell, this was her fantasy. She'd play her fantasy in her mind however she liked.

One thing was sure, the day was getting on and she needed to do a stocktake of what she had. She rammed a good two meter stick of driftwood into the ground so she could find her way back to it easily and then started the long and arduous task of hauling her precious pieces back to camp. She had no illusions that it would be a mammoth undertaking and that she'd be unlikely to get them all at once, even in twenty trips back and forward, but an old mentor from her school days had once told her that you could even eat something as big as an elephant if you did it a bit at a time. Not that she wanted to eat any elephants but she filled her pack with what she could comfortably carry. She'd bring her bigger frame pack back down for the next trip. At least the day was cooling off a bit.

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### 2

Exhausted and nearly stumbling on her feet she got, at least, what she thought was all of Conn back to the camp just before darkness finally forced her to give up. Thankfully the days were long at this end of the year. She plugged her LED camp lights into one of her spare batteries, sat down to a hastily thrown together meagre meal and then started the job of arranging the pieces of his body together. If only she had some magic kind of glue to make him whole. Right now she was wishing she'd accepted her dad's offer of a lend of his satellite phone. Wishfully she imagined mentally sending him her list of what she now very much needed. She knew full well that telepathy was fairyland stuff but ... _Dad get your butt out here and bring some really good glue_.

Back to more realism she considered the pieces of the man she had laid out inside her tent. Yes they did make a man. A few pieces she'd go back and look for tomorrow. A thumb, a right elbow joint. A chip on his hip bone. If he'd been a real human and not stone she'd almost hazard a guess he'd been hacked to pieces. Had this been some kind of statue. Why would someone have destroyed and dumped four statues on the lake bed. Crazy! Even more bizarre was the wave of compassion she couldn't help but feel for the four. Statues they may have been but this was so wrong. So disrespectful to harm creations of such perfection and beauty.

Wistfully she fondled Conn's perfectly sculptured generous male member and decided it was time to crash for the night. She put the piece back where it belonged and covered up all the remains with a tarp for the night. It just seemed the right thing to do. The mozzies had been out on dusk and had given her merry hell as she'd made her evening meal. She'd put some gel on the bites and get some much needed sleep. She still had three more 'bodies' to retrieve from the lake before she could work out what else was missing.

The dream came like a missile in the dark. Screamingly fast it came out of nowhere, piercing her sleeping mind with its atrocities:

Kiana came running back from her reconnaissance to the hold. "Sir, there are Din there, several. They were still materializing in the hold when I saw them."

Arion swore and yelled into his comms unit. "Sir, we've been breached, requesting backup."

The commander replied but the crew didn't hear the words. The Din were on them. Giant upright walking reptiles with lion shaped heads and eyes of tangerine orange. The first wave came at them with swords and axes, primitive but deadly, hacking and slicing deep into the cornered crew.

Eleni felt the cuts as if they were her own. She experienced the blast of energy that turned flesh into stone and woke screaming.

Having wiped the sweat from her brow she turned on her torch. Getting up she pulled back the tarp and analysed the stones again. She touched one of them that looked like an arm bone. So damned lifelike. Even down to the skin pores and the faint outline of hairs. Why would anyone make a statue that detailed? Why would they then break it into so many pieces? It wasn't like the stuff was easy to break. She'd accidentally dropped one piece on one of her many trips carrying them back. The piece had hit the hard quartz ground and hadn't so much as chipped. Quartz was about 7 on the Mohs scale. This stuff seemed to be a lot harder than that. Stuff that hard was in the realm of sapphire or diamond and no one made statues out of that.

Eleni shone the light of the torch on what looked to resemble a leg. She hadn't stopped to notice before but you could almost make out the internal structure of bones and tendon attachments. It was truly like a body frozen in a moment.

"Oh Conn! Were you guys real? Did some alien beast really do this to you?" Just hearing her words out loud she knew she had a screw loose for even considering it. But yet, that dream. Had her subconscious just made it up? She'd never had a dream that vivid or that painful.

Just about having given up on sleep after the horror of the dream she gave in to her more sentimental side. She pulled her sleeping bag closer to the 'body parts'. The night was too damned hot anyway so she just lay on top of the sleeping bag and turned to put a protective arm over Conn's chest. She knew she was just being silly but the whole dream thing had left her feeling a strangely deep compassion for the crystal stones. "There's none of those beasts here Conn and I'll protect you come what may." There and then she silently vowed to retrieve all the pieces she could find and take them home. She'd guessed that was what she'd already been subconsciously doing. She wasn't quite sure at what point it had become such a full scale recovery job but she wouldn't stop now. Her inexplicable feelings for the stones aside, there was a mystery here and she was determined to do whatever she could to solve it. _Damn I really need that glue. If I could just piece them together may be that would tell me more about what is going on._ With that thought playing in her head she actually managed to doze off.

She fell into dreamland again but this time it wasn't so bad, just somewhat bizarre. In her dream she was lying naked, on the bones. It wasn't entirely comfortable. The hard stone was unyielding. The sharp broken edge of his crystalline rib cage broke her skin and she cried out. Eleni wiped the cut with her hand but not before a few drops fell onto the stone. Tears threatened. "Oh Conn, if only it was that easy. If I could make you real with something as simple as the gift of blood or a kiss on your lips." Nice dream thought though. She needed to distract herself from the cut, at least that's what she told herself. Being more careful this time not to get jabbed by the stones' rough edges she moved herself up his body a bit and lowered her mouth to his oh so sexy lips. But nothing. She raised herself up on her hands to peer at him. "Abracadabra, open sesame...oh damn, where's a good spell when you need one?" She gave up her futile fantasy and collapsed onto him, falling into a deeper, more dreamless sleep.

Eleni woke at dawn with the strange sensation of being hugged, two strong arms wrapped around her, holding her against one very manly, warm and breathing, lightly haired chest. Panic seized her.

_Be at peace Eleni_ , a voice in her head commanded, doing nothing to allay her fear. Was she going mad as well? Some kind of latent schizophrenia?

One of the arms wrapped around her moved and began lightly stroking her hair, much like a pet owner trying to settle a startled animal. _I don't know how you did it love but you have made me whole. I am forever in your debt._

"Who are you?" She asked aloud, wanting to end the disconcertingly real conversation in her head.

"You know exactly who I am. I do not see why you have to ask. I am the one you named Conn." He sounded decidedly bemused by her question.

"That's impossible. You were pieces of stone."

"I believe you but that state of being is only a fuzzy memory for me and not one I wish to dwell on. The last thing I truly remember was the enemy confronting us in the cargo hold."

"Of a sea going ship?" Eleni asked hopefully but knowing what he was going to say.

"If you know what I am going to say why ask? I do not understand your doubts. You had a dream did you not? You know it happened on a spaceship."

Eleni shuddered. "A horrible dream. Tell me it's not true. Tell me they didn't do what I saw."

"I am sorry my love, I cannot lie to you. It is not the way of the Malakim to lie although I feel it would give you comfort if I did."

"Can I at least see your face?" She was pressed so close to his chest at the moment all she could see was his neck.

The arms holding her released their firm grip and she sat up, not wanting to even think about where she was sitting, on his hot bod.

"Come now Eleni. I doubt you are a prude. You sleep naked it seems. I am glad you approve of my body. I certainly like yours."

A distinct twitch in the body part beneath her confirmed he liked her. Hell, should she move? Nah, a side of her she hardly knew was enjoying having him there. Then she reminded herself he was without a doubt an alien. He might gobble her up and spit her out any minute now.

A deep rumble of laughter shook Conn's chest. "I can see images in your mind of visual stories you've watched that seem to scare you. Why would you watch them if they scare you?"

"Adrenalin rush I guess."

"Eleni, I have no wish to scare my saviour."

"Hey, don't paint me a hero."

"Sorry, but you are to me. I heard your vow to save us all."

How had something that was stone heard her she wondered. Nah, too hard basket that one. "So you're not going to eat me."

Honey brown eyes warmed as they considered her. "Oh, I can think of many nice ways to eat you, none of them harmful to you and all of them mutually enjoyable."

Eleni blushed, but... "You're an alien. Can you even. I mean is that even, um, technically possible."

Conn sat up. He wasn't a small man and his sudden change of position had Eleni's pulse rate spiking. He firmly grabbed her with one hand before she could flee and used the other to start stroking her again. "You scare easy."

"I've never met an alien. No one has."

"I'm not so much an alien as a more evolved form of what you call the human race. I'm from a higher dimension, a higher octave of vibratory existence."

Cripes, did that mean she was ogling a very well built angel? "Aren't you slumming it a bit?"

Conn chuckled. "I suppose so but it was by choice. I was part of a team that patrolled or maybe even still patrols the lower dimensions, making sure balance is maintained. We don't intervene in the day to day running of planets at this level but if outside forces look like throwing things awry or the local inhabitants look set on destroying a planet we pay a visit. We try to infiltrate and sway things but if that doesn't work we try other measures. Ultimately though our highest law is to respect the free will of a planet's sentient beings. If they are firm in their pursuit of destruction we let them go and save the few we can, relocating them before any irreversible tragedy happens."

"So, I have to ask this", but she feared the answer. "Does that mean you ARE an angel?"

"I do not know this term. We call ourselves Malakim. Why are you worried I might be an angel?"

"Well", Eleni blushed again. The truth was she found him damned attractive and wasn't at all comfortable with him being potentially some divine being working for some even more divine god. "You see I'm not religious or anything like it. If you were an angel like some religions go on about it would sort of blow my own belief system out of the water."

Conn heard her thought and smiled but was careful to only respond to her spoken words. Eleni didn't seem entirely comfortable with telepathy. He'd get her used to it slowly. "I can tell you of my own belief system but I'm interested to hear about yours first. You are out here in the wilderness, at obvious peace with the beings that live here. You sense something here do you not?"

Eleni sighed. How did she explain this? "There's a wholeness here. I feel connected to the landscape, the plants and the animals. I don't get that in the city. The city is full of concrete buildings and pavings with people rushing around after goals that will mean little at their lives' end. You can't take money or fame with you when you die but that seems to be what drives many. Little other life exists in the cities, a few plane trees to shade the roads, the odd crow or sparrow. Occasionally a possum might find a home in someone's ceiling but that's as far as it goes. Even people's homes have been reduced to postage stamp sized blocks of land too small to do anything other than park a car. People live between their work, their cafes and restaurants, their televisions and their beds. Well, it's not always that bad but that's how it often seems to me. Out here the bush is my bed, my restaurant, my companion and my soul. There's a kind of seamless connection with it all."

"That sense of connection, of wholeness, is part of what the Malakim revere as all-spirit. It's not some god. Not that there aren't gods. Most planets and galaxies even have guardians you might term as gods but they are like us, only a little more in touch with that connectedness you speak of. There are other entities, anti-gods you might call them, who pretend to be gods so they can enslave planetary populations but we usually try to deal with them."

Eleni let out a sigh of relief although it did leave her wondering about what if any entities fought over her own planet. At times she'd wondered if the whole of the human race were just that, slaves living out their lives for someone else's benefit. "So no old bearded guy on a golden throne is going to throw a lightning bolt at me for..." Her eyes raked him again.

"For ogling me? Definitely not. But I'd really like if you were tempted to more than ogle."

Would he now? "Oh, well, I'm open to temptation."

In a move that was faster than her eyes or brain could process she was under him. Neatly laid out atop her sleeping bag which she was truly grateful for because she really did have a bony ass, not that she'd ever admit it to her cousins.

"It's not bony. You're body's a pretty neat package and I'll deal with anyone who tries to tell you otherwise, including you."

"Oh! Oh...oops. Point taken. You're pretty neatly packaged yourself Conn."

"I'm very glad you think so. I have it in my mind to make you mine."

Eleni tensed. She'd read too many paranormal and BDSM romances afterall. "Now hang on there. I'm no one's possession and I certainly don't plan to be."

"Glad to hear it. I don't need a slave. What I need is a companion, someone who gets me as I am and is willing to share their innermost being with mine. Someone I like enough to drop the boundaries between us."

"So this isn't some sort of 'lifemate' thing where I only feel love for you for the rest of my life and vice versa."

Conn frowned, obviously new to such an idea. "Hell no. Why would anyone want to restrict their love to only one being. Most Malakim have more than one mate they call their dearest friends and often sexual partners."

"So you won't try to own me or direct my life?"

Conn looked stunned. "Is that what humans do? I could see why you would be wary of such an arrangement, aside from it being demeaning."

"Humans do it so they have guaranteed carers for any children they have. Often a woman is left on her own to raise a child otherwise."

"That's terrible. No one should have to raise a child alone. Doesn't your community support them."

"Hell no, they stick to themselves. Sometimes family might help out but that's all. Its considered pretty crass to expect your friends to help out, unless they're lifelong friends."

"Then that is what I want to be, your life long friend. Someone you never have to be shy about asking for help from. I in turn would expect the same."

Eleni weighed what he had said. Her brain said it could still be a con but Conn didn't seem the type. As for her heart it said a loud resounding yes. "Then make me 'yours'."

"With pleasure."

Eleni wondered momentarily if she should ask him about diseases or some such thing but he'd just recently been stone so she dismissed the concern. It had been over two years since she'd been with anyone herself but she was still on the pill and trusted that to protect her from the rest.

"Do not worry my friend. The Malakim can neither catch or transmit a disease from your plane of existence and as for a child that would have to be a conscious choice by both of us. Malakim children are born of love and light and directed intent. They are never accidents."

He was reading her mind again but she was glad of the reassurance. "Thanks for telling me Conn." She reached up to suck a nipple and was pleased when it elicited a hearty groan.

"Not so fast love. Our first encounter deserves the time honoured ritual."

"Ritual?" She truly wanted to open herself to him and trust him fully but that word ritual had her conjuring up images of possession and life mates again.

"A mate yes, but the bonding is not exclusive nor does it require you to give up any rights or free will. Whether the mateship is purely friendship or sexual is up to the respective parties to agree on."

Eleni could see that what she needed here were some specifics. "What does it entail then?"

Conn closed his eyes for a moment, as if accessing some memory. She gave him that moment. He opened his eyes again and smiled at her. "I just read from the akashic records for your planet. I think if I am right you call the ritual tantra."

"Oh! That. Well, that's alright then. I have to say I haven't got a clue about how to do it though."

"Will you allow me to guide you through it?"

"Okay,"

"I would need your permission to steer your consciousness through the process. To do otherwise would be in violation of your free will and that I would never do."

"You'd be inside my mind like when you talk to me telepathically?"

"Yes, but more. I would be temporarily in control of your mind, body and spirit, directing the process. You would be there as an observer, or experiencer. I can't quite find the words in your language to describe it. There are other languages on your planet that have words that come close but there is no clear translation for them. I saw an image in the akashic records, something called a motorbike. Perhaps it is like being a pillion passenger. You'd be there but I would be doing the steering."

So English wasn't his native language either. Did he pick that up from the akashic records too? The fact he was asking for her permission made her feel better about what he was proposing. She guessed that truly being a practitioner of tantra would take years of learning. She was sure the popular image of tantra barely scratched the surface of what it truly was but she had to admit she was more than curious to experience it with him right now. His way seemed the only option. "You will hand back control as soon as the ritual is complete?"

"Naturally. You still have to decide though whether you wish to commence the ritual by sitting on my right or my left."

"What's the diff?"

"Diff?"

"Sorry, local slang. I mean difference. What does the choice signify?"

Conn took a moment to examine the akashic for the best explanation. "In the metaphysics of this particular universe the relative world is considered to be feminine, representing nature in all its many forms. The absolute is considered to masculine and is everything that doesn't take form in the physical world. It is the realm of the mind, the abstract and the magic of intent. The two combined make up what the Malakim call the all-spirit. It might be called the soul of the universe and while it includes the relative world it is best represented as boundless space, limitless light and love, all that is timeless, undefinable and uncontained by any boundary you can imagine. In the body the absolute is accessed through the higher three chakras and worshipers of the absolute prefer to only practice tantra symbolically. The adept would indicate this preference by sitting on the right hand side of their guru."

Eleni could see where this was going. "And let me guess. The lower three chakras connect a person with the physical world so they would be considered lower and of lesser value and therefore feminine."

"Unfortunately some amongst us see it that way. We call them deniers because they despise and deny the value of both the feminine and the relative world. Their whole purpose in being is to detach themselves from the illusion and attractions of the physical world as quickly as they can. They miss the point entirely, which is to connect the absolute with the relative and in that way create heaven on Earth. The great reconciliation. But I'm digressing. If you sit on my left I will take it as your consent that you wish to consummate the ritual, physically."

Eleni didn't need long to think about the choice. She dismissed them both and went for a third. She sat in front of him, her eyes challenging him to make of it what he would.

Conn's eyes widened. "Both? Well okay. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. How's this then? We'll need to use all seven of the chakras, the heart chakra joining the upper and lower worlds. Since we're in the wilderness with little to use we will honour the four elements in their symbolic form using silence, breath, posture and our hormones. The union we will consummate."

"Sounds good to me. Posture? Is this where you get cross legged and I sit on you for hours on end?"

Conn laughed. "Sort of but not quite. First we need to ritually bathe and cleanse ourselves."

"Not much in the way of facilities around here." Which consisted of her toilet tent and bathing in a bloody cold stream. "Do you want breakfast first?"

"No this is better done on an empty stomach. We can ground ourselves with some food afterwards.

After they bathed Conn carried her amply padded sleeping bag down to where she had gathered the other crystal body parts. Eleni was adamant that 'they' should bear witness to their joining. Conn heartily agreed, also quietly hoping that their ritual might release the others. He still wasn't quite sure what Eleni had done to achieve that. He was equally sure that Eleni didn't know herself. He felt boundless compassion emanating off her in waves and guessed that had to be part of it but he doubted that it was the whole reason. He recognised her for what she was, a rare being unconstrained by whatever culture had raised her. She followed her intuition and could think for herself. Irrepressible was a word that came to mind but even labelling her in such a way would be doing her an injustice.

He couldn't speak for the others but he was glad of the fresh start and happy to accept the new name that went with it. The name that Eleni had bestowed on him. The all-spirit had thrown him a lifeline in the form of this small and fiercely independent woman. He felt reborn, to a new life and new opportunities. He hadn't worked out yet how much time had passed since the battle or indeed whether that battle had been won or lost but here he was. He would embrace his new life and welcome it. He knew without a doubt that Eleni would be part of that new life, he just needed to convince her that the bond they were forming went way more than friendship. Maybe the ritual would show that to her.

Eleni watched the naked man she'd woken to find beneath her. She'd always preferred to believe in some universal spirit that infused the whole of nature than some anthropomorphic god but maybe something or someone had decided to smile on her. For surely Conn was a gift. He was like her own personal fantasy come to life. She just wished she could know him a little more before she stepped into the unknown. "I hardly know you Conn?"

"Having doubts?"

"You know I'm not, you're in my head enough to know that. I just wondered if I could know a little more about you. My gut says yes, my heart says yes but my logical rational mind would like to know..."

"That I'm not some ax wielding murderer or someone out to manipulate you or use you for your trusting, giving nature. You've been treated crassly by lovers in the past, haven't you?"

"Yeah, not the ax wielding murderer type but yeah. I was either a momentary whim to them, a one night stand or a notch on their belt."

"Notch on the belt?"

"Another lay they could brag about to their friends. Not that I personally thought they had much to brag about."

"I can see them in your mind. They were only interested in themselves weren't they? Their own pleasure?"

"Yeah." Eleni lowered her head in shame, feeling sullied by the memories.

Conn lifted her chin and smiled. "There will be pleasure for both of us, that I can assure, a seamless pleasure that knows no boundary. But that is not what this is about. It's about sharing my very soul with you. I have seen into your mind and some of your memories, would it help if you saw mine?"

"That's possible?"

"Sure, we do it all the time to share ideas and to pass on knowledge. You just need to rest your forehead against mine. I will open my mind to you."

Eleni doubted it was that easy but then again he'd been telepathically speaking with her quite readily and picking up a fair few of her thoughts. She shrugged her shoulders. "Give it a go."

Conn knelt on the ground so Eleni, standing, could touch her forehead to his. The instant she made contact it was like the dream all over again. A rush of memories but fortunately not of the battle. She saw his life from before. There was his mother, who'd birthed him ... from light and love? Flashes of a precocious but happy child playing with others. Conn as a teenager playing pranks as any teenager did. Then later studying with a boy prophet and other mentors, none of whom looked older than about twenty five. Conn had become a mage in training and joined a team of people who were troubleshooters. She thought some looked like they might be the people whose parts now littered the ground. She saw the Malakim's great temple and a meeting there where the boy seer had foretold danger to her own planet.

As the memories came close to the horror she'd already seen Conn pulled away. There was no reason for either of them to experience that again. It wouldn't exactly set the mood. "So that's me."

"Brings a whole new meaning to a life flashing before your eyes." She looked at the horizon but the sun was no higher than when they had started. " I gather that didn't take long."

"A few seconds."

"Useful skill to have."

"I wouldn't share my mind with just anyone." Conn warned, knowing that he planned for her to learn the skill. "Some minds you don't want to look into."

"I can imagine. But yours...your life, well apart from the whole birthing from light thing, an ageless population and intergalactic space travel stuff...it all seemed quite normal."

"I am just another two leg like you."

Eleni frowned, she wasn't sure she was comfortable with what that implied. "You say 'two leg' like that implies there are other kinds of sentient beings."

"There are but that's another story. Shall we?" He motioned towards the sleeping bag.

Conn went to one end of the bedding, kneeling, then sitting back on his heels. He spread his legs apart.

Eleni couldn't help herself, she stared at the gap between his legs, his well shaped balls, his considerable penis. Her mouth watered and she gulped to keep from drowning. "Not cross legged then?"

"No yet, I want to arouse you first. We need to honour the elements by stimulating our sex hormones. We will use this instead of an intoxicant."

Eleni almost froze, she couldn't be any more aroused than she was. What did he plan? "Where do you want me?"

"Lie on your back and bring your body as close to me as your can. Drape your legs over mine."

Eleni did as instructed but felt oddly vulnerable, like she was laying herself out for him to devour.

"Hey, not an alien remember."

Eleni laughed. That had been just what she needed to break the tension.

Conn smiled as he watched her relax. Her growing trust in him was a gift he treasured. She was still a bit like a skittish doe but he was determined to draw out the confident woman he knew resided within. He raised one of her legs over his shoulder and began to caress. Their eyes met. Her breath glitched as he fondled her ankle. He wondered... Bringing the sole of her foot to his mouth he gently but firmly kissed its tender center and was rewarded with a deep moan. Okay, not ticklish and definitely a fetish for her. He'd find more of her likes in time but for now this would give him what he needed. He swept his tongue lavishly along the inside arch of her foot. Eleni's back bowed as she unconsciously thrust herself closer to his groin. Keeping hold of her foot with one hand he continued his ministrations as he used his other hand to guide his cock to her waiting entrance. Her warm wet heat welcomed and called to him. He reminded himself to be patient.

Gently so as not to spook her he linked with her mind. Eleni wasn't the chatty type. He relied on her mind and her moans to give him the feedback he needed to do this right. Tentatively he suckled first her little toe, working each until at last her big toe could wait no more, nearly screaming at him for attention. Her groans had escalated as he neared the prize. A quick flick of the tongue to the toe's tip tormented her.

"Please Conn. Now!"

Conn grinned at her demand and knew what she wanted. With a simultaneous move he engulfed her big toe with the cavern of his mouth and thrust deep into her vagina.

Eleni arched again, crying out in pleasure and driving herself further onto his shaft. "Bloody hell Conn, fuck me."

"Put your ankles around my neck." As she did he thrust even deeper into her and began to hammer upwards into her. "Don't come! This is just to arouse us remember."

"You've got to be joking." She'd never felt this connected with anyone before. If he went any deeper he'd enter her womb. As he bumped against her cervix she wondered if she'd ever be able to accept anything less than this. Yet somehow she managed to obey his command. An orgasm threatened and she swore. "Stop now or I really will come."

With a reluctance that surprised him, given his years of training in the sexual arts, he pulled out of her and gently lowered her legs to the ground. "Then it's time to sit on me."

It took all Eleni's willpower not to come as she slid her now soaking wet vagina onto his waiting cock. He was seated in what she knew was a lotus position. She sat on him and wrapped her arms and legs around him feeling somewhat like a tiny monkey hanging onto a great tree.

"I won't let you fall Eleni. Now I need to take control. Will you trust me to do that?"

Eleni had no doubt. She already knew more about this man than she expected most long term couples ever knew about each other. "I trust you Conn."

"Then close your eyes. I want you to see all that you are, your body, your personality, your memories, even your ego".

Eleni wasn't sure where this was going but she did as asked.

"Now Eleni, find the mind that looks at all that."

Eleni did but it was strange. It was like she couldn't quite put her finger on her mind. It was like some vast empty open space but there was a kind of light as well.

"Dwell in that Eleni. Be that."

As she did as asked she reached a bliss that she imagined only yogis of many years training could reach. Was Conn helping her reach this space? No matter. She was happy to reside in it. She realised she'd stepped aside from her entire identity. She became an observer as Conn took the driving seat, so to speak.

Assured that Eleni would come to no harm from what he was about to do he began to murmur the sacred chants of his people. His crown chakra opened, allowing the light of the universe to enter. He opened himself to his own inner no-thing-ness, giving the needed spaciousness for the light to enter each and every chakra as it made its way down his being, through his penis and into Eleni. Within Eleni he cleared the way for the light to rise, using a series of yogic locks as one way valves to direct the energy. As he did he healed any old karmic damage he found in her chakras. As the light reunited at the crown he invited it to cascade back down over them, spiralling first one way and then the other. The respective lights of their being woven and bound together as one. An explosion of light and love radiated out into the surrounding landscape.

As they coalesced back to material particles he called Eleni back to herself. Gently he lowered her to padded surface of the sleeping bag and then laid down beside her, bathing in the light of the sun.

Eleni woke to find her head resting in his lap. He'd laid her out on top of the sleeping bag and used himself as a pillow. He'd seen to her comfort over and above his own. A long deprived part of her treasured the unique sensation of being spoilt. The other part felt guilt.

"Hey, none of that. My pleasure is your pleasure and vice versa. As your mate it is my honour to see to your needs."

"But I want to see to yours."

"Naturally, and you will but the others await. We must free them as you freed me. Do you know how you did it with me?"

Eleni shrugged her shoulders and told him of her 'dream'.

Conn considered what she told him. "There seems to have been some key elements to the magic you performed: your compassion and desire for my release and the desire for a spell that would work even if you didn't know any. Your intent was in the words you tried, even if they were make believe. Intent is always far more powerful than any words you use. Then there was your blood. How deep was that wound my rib cage caused?"

Eleni let him examine it. "It's mostly healed but it seemed deeper at the time."

Conn saw the location of the wound. He read from the akashic field, searching for an answer. It came in a mind flash. "Heart's blood. The all spirit took your compassion, will and intent and mixed it with the sacrifice of your heart's blood. Some of that blood must have ended up on me, triggering the transformation and even replacing parts that were missing from the stones you had gathered."

That would explain a lot, like his now perfectly functional elbow, yet ... Eleni shook her head in denial. "Heart's blood? I'd be dead if that were the case. The wound can't have been that deep."

"And yet it was the answer the akashic gave me. There were words too, 'heart of stone by love be freed'. Perhaps that is some kind of spell."

"This akashic of yours seems to be your version of a Google search."

"Google?"

"A means to search all the world's electronically published knowledge."

"Then yes, I guess they are comparable although the akashic records also stores feelings and intent. It is a record of everything that has happened or ever been thought of. I'd hazard a guess that there have been people on your planet who have accessed it unconsciously, simultaneously 'inventing' things in different parts of the world on the same day even though they've never met. Once something is thought of it exists in the akashic field, there for anyone seeking that particular knowledge."

"So you don't know who came up with the heart's blood spell but the fact that they did meant you could learn from it."

"Oh I'll find out who when I get around to asking but that wasn't my question so that wasn't in the answer provided. I can delve further later but for now I think we have enough to try something."

The sound of wheels on gravel drew their attention. It was a worn but much loved cherry red Ford F250 Eleni immediately recognized. "My dad's here." Concern furrowed her brow when she took in exactly how much stuff her dad had loaded up on the tray of his ute and in the trailer behind. It looked like he'd brought the entire contents of his workshop and all his worldly possessions with him.

###

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### 3

Joseph John Munro had found the turn off to Eleni's favorite camp spot easily enough but then things had gotten a little strange. A thick fog had met him as he turned down the overgrown road. Relying on little more than memory and a slow and careful feel for the wheel ruts in the road he found his way to the other side of the mysterious fog.

Out of the fog it was a glorious day, the sky a dazzling summer clear blue turquoise.

His astonishment when he saw the dried up state of the lake paled before what else he saw. Small brightly colored winged beings flitted amongst what survived of the lake shore vegetation. He could faintly discern beams of light appearing to stream from their bodies into the plants, as if they were healing them in some way.

He saw where Eleni had taken a track of sorts, down to where a small river cut through. He smiled when he saw her large four man army disposal tent. How the hell she always managed to get it up on her own he never knew. He'd long thought his daughter had a kind of magic about her. The strength of her intent when she set her mind to things was formidable. That she was special was compounded by the fact that she had followed him into his trade. After partially satisfying her innate curiosity by studying material science, geology and geophysics at the local uni she had become his apprentice. She had the same addiction to metal and stone. Together they had fossicked some of Australia's more famous gem fields.

Joe had trained with facet cutters in Holland in the 70s before holidaying in Greece on his way home and meeting Eleni's mum. Now it was his joy to pass on his trade to the child of his heart.

His son was his own man, avoiding his mother by burying himself in the servers and networks he ran in the basement of their home. Joe wished at times he could communicate with him as he could with Eleni but he just didn't speak his son's language.

If you mentioned words like 'software' or 'programming' to Yiannos his eyes would light up, otherwise you'd just get a grunt as you passed the cereal across the table. Yiannos only ever ventured out of his basement for food and to wash. A state of the art espresso coffee machine supplied the rest of his needs. Sleep took care of itself when his caffeine levels could no longer keep his eyes open as they swept the lines of code.

"Dad!" Eleni jumped into his embrace.

Joe hugged her back "How's my girl? He greeted her before frowning as he eyed the fully naked man who'd followed her, seemingly unaware of his state of undress. "And who's your friend?"

"Dad, I'd like you to meet Conn. Conn and I, we've sort of...bonded." Eleni hesitated to explain the full extent of that bond. "Conn, this is my father, Joseph John Munro."

"Pleased to meet you sir." Conn offered his hand which Joseph accepted after a brief hesitation.

"My daughter seems to like you so you can call me JJ. Is there a reason you haven't got any clothes on, around my daughter?" He added the last with emphasis.

Eleni blushed as Conn explained that he simply didn't have any. "Dad, we have lots to tell." She eyed his truck and trailer again. "And it seems you do too. Want a cuppa? We haven't had breakfast yet."

JJ shook his head in amazement. It was midday and these two hadn't eaten. It took little imagination to guess what they had been up to. Today was certainly looking like being one of those turning point days, for all of them. "I have some spare clothes in the truck that might fit Conn. Put the billy on, I'll be back in a tic."

Conn watched bemused as the latest member of his new family strolled back up hill to his vehicle. He hadn't actually thought of clothes. The day was warm enough without them. The man was wary, protective of his daughter who he obviously greatly loved. He liked that. "Do you think he'll warm to me?"

Eleni put a billy of hot water on her mini gas stove and started finding some tin mugs, which she passed to Conn. "Give him time. He's always told me never to fall for a guy too quickly. To be real sure and all that. Sadly I think that's because he got caught with mum. I've never asked too much but I get a sense that she sort of charmed him into a quick marriage. Perhaps she wanted a better life in Australia or simply wanted to leave home. I don't know because I've never pried. But whatever it was I think she quickly changed once they were married and back home in Australia. Whatever. He's been the best dad." Her love for her father reflected in her eyes.

Eleni descended into silence while she finished preparing brunch, she couldn't exactly call it breakfast, just a simple brew of rice, lentils, her own mix of spices and a few herbs and pepper berries she'd picked from the wild. She felt Conn's presence in her mind and knew he was aware of her thoughts and feelings. She was quickly becoming used to that connection. There was a comfort in it. She knew at a deep level she would never be alone again. At least until he and his friends returned to wherever they came from. She'd miss him then no doubt but...

Make no mistake my love, I'm yours now. I'm not going anywhere unless you're with me. We are one. I would never willingly choose to be parted from you.

But your friends?

_Will respect whatever decision you and I make._

JJ had returned. He watched them, somewhat bemused. "You two look like long time lovers, like you're having some kind of unspoken conversation with you eyes."

Eleni blushed. Time to give her dad some truth. He'd always valued her honesty. "Telepathy. I don't know why but Conn and I can communicate that way. It's been that way since we, um, met here yesterday."

"Must be something about this place then. Came through some weird localized fog on my way in here. Did you see those winged fairy-like creatures up on the old shoreline?"

Both Conn and Eleni stared at him in surprised. "What winged creatures?" They said in unison.

JJ looked around. He couldn't see any around the rocky surrounds of Eleni's camp. "I'll show you after. Right now I have something to tell you. I've left your mum."

Eleni blinked twice and looked again at her Dad. It took her a moment to shake away her surprise. _Finally_. "Well, good on you Dad."

"You're not appalled at me then for deserting her?"

"I hardly think that sticking by her for nearly two and a half decades counts as desertion."

"It's just I couldn't stand it anymore Eleni. She left early the day after Christmas for those damned Boxing Day sales. Her and those cousins of yours flew over to Melbourne to do the rounds of the shops in Chapel St. They said they'd be back in the New Year. I dropped them off at the airport, came home and realised I was alone. Yes I know Yiannos was downstairs but that doesn't exactly count. I've always wanted a companion. Someone to share my life with. I truly thought when I met your mum that she would be that person. Those first few months we had together in Greece Alessandra doted on me. Finally her dad yielded to our mutual pleading and consented to letting us marry. She came to Australia with me and shortly after that her brother migrated out here too. Not long after your brother was conceived I started to notice the change. She stopped showing an interest in anything I did. She cared for both you kids while you were small and what she called 'cute' but after you got past the baby stage she soon lost interest, waiting for when she'd be free of the both of you when you finally started school.

I tried to be both your parents for you and Yiannos but I fear I failed with him. You, instead, I unfairly perhaps, allowed to substitute for that companionship I sought from Alessandra."

Eleni hugged him. "Dad, you are my friend as much as my father. I'm glad of our friendship."

"And yet I see you now with Conn and realise I might not always have you. You have a right to lead your own life, make your own choices. I'd come here selfishly hoping to persuade you into coming with me to Coober Pedy. I have a contact there. He'd take us on in his opal mining and gem cutting business. I'm sorry." He eyed Conn again. "I shouldn't have assumed."

Conn could not but help feel the man's grief for his perceived impending loss. He believed he was losing the one love in his life. His daughter. "JJ, there is no need to lose your daughter. She is still your friend. That hasn't changed. It is I who seek to be part of your small family."

"You would come with us? I have to say it is a big surprise for me to find you here and already obviously so close to my daughter but I will not question her choices."

"And I respect you for that. As to your question, I will go wherever Eleni goes but we have a few things to deal with here first."

"Like?"

"I read from your daughter's mind that you value honesty so here's the truth. I am not from your plane of existence."

Eleni watched the shock and doubt on her father's face and realized they could both cut to the chase quite quickly and reassure him if they did one simple thing. "It might be quicker Conn if you did your mind share thingy with Dad."

JJ looked from Eleni to Conn. "Mind sharing? Is that like your telepathy? Will it hurt?"

"It's a way to share a person's memories and no it doesn't hurt although what you see may surprise you." Conn then sent a quick thought to Eleni. _How much do you want me to show him?_

Show him everything. Just edit out the most intimate bits.

JJ watched his daughter's charming blush, something he'd never seen his daughter do before but seemed commonplace now. Going by that he guessed they were having some telepathic conversation about what to show him. Would that he and Alessandra had had that kind of bond. But then maybe not. Perhaps it was better not to have known what had really gone on in his wife's mind. Better to think the best of her he could than to have removed all doubt. He hoped the stranger's mind was not one he'd regret seeing into. "So what do I have to do for this mind share thing to work?"

"Just be willing to open your mind to mine. You don't need to know the wherewithal. It's the intent of your permission that counts. Let me touch my forehead to yours."

JJ tensed. "As long as that is all you touch."

"I promise it will be no more than a brief mental handshake lasting mere seconds. If you stand I won't need to hover over you so much to do it. I reserve the right to grab you though if you start to fall over."

JJ relaxed a little. "Okay then." He stood and faced Conn and let the man do his thing. In a fraction of a millisecond his whole world view changed, washed away by a suite of images, thoughts, feelings and memories that beggared belief. As Conn finally pulled away JJ swore, stared at the man and then his daughter in momentary disbelief. But never one to hang on to outdated ideas in the face of incontrovertible facts he finally shook himself, realizing what they must do. "Well come on then, we've got some people to save."

Eleni hugged her dad. "I knew you'd be with me on this."

As the three of them cleaned up after their brunch and headed back to Eleni's collection of stones yet to be hauled back to camp JJ reached into his pocket and handed her a small tube of super glue. "I have to say though, this was never going to be up to the job."

Eleni stared in wonder at her dad. "You got my message, well I'll be!"

JJ shrugged. "A kind of sixth sense runs in my side of the family. Your grandma had the sight you know."

"No, I didn't know. She always seemed closer to Yiannos for some reason."

"I suspect she knew more about your reclusive nerd of a brother than any of us ever have."

###

###

### 4

Yiannos surfaced for lunch and to restock his coffee. He knew there wouldn't be anything fresh. What with his mum and cousins away and all but maybe he could talk his dad into going halves in a pizza.

There wasn't much he could talk about with his dad but at least they could share some companionable silence. For once harmony would prevail upstairs with everyone else away.

He couldn't see his dad anywhere obvious. Probably out in the sanctuary of his workshop. He'd go and seek him out in a sec. First he needed to grind up a fresh supply of coffee. It was when he opened the bag of beans in the fridge that he got his first surprise. There was an envelope stuffed inside and it was addressed to him.

Dear Son

By the time you read this I will have left to pick up your sister then I'll be heading North for a new life. I did come downstairs several times to say goodbye to you but you were deeply engrossed in your code. I know how deeply frustrating it is for you if you have to stop halfway through finding one of those elusive insects in your programs.

If you need to contact me I've changed my phone number. The new one is on the back of this envelope. Please don't give it to your mother. I would rather she only contact me through my lawyers.

I hope you can understand why I am leaving and will not judge me too harshly. I've done my best to be here for you as you grew. You're a man now and can find your own way. As I doubt you need me anymore I'm leaving to try and start my life over. Life 2.0 I imagine you'd call it.

All my love and best wishes for the future,

Your Dad

JJ

P.S. I've left your mum a note pinned to the bathroom mirror where even she should be able to notice it. You might want to keep your head down when the shit hits the fan. I suspect her wrath will be considerable.

Pinned to the back of the note was one of those Australian Post Office prepaid debit cards with a sticky note 'to tide you over' plus account details and a pin number for it.

Yiannos frowned. When had he missed his dad edging towards this monumental decision? It obviously wasn't a spur of the moment decision. Fuck! The old man must have been suffering worse than normal and he hadn't been there for him. Okay, perhaps he hadn't been there for him much at all the last few years. Still, guilt gnawed at him.

Thoughtfully he put the note and debit card back in the envelope and put it in the back pocket of his jeans. The beans he put back in the fridge. They could wait. He'd best go and see what the other note said.

Still smiling at his dad's thinly veiled attempt at a joke, insects in the code indeed, he wandered into the bathroom only to really laugh this time. A big blue note was stuck to the mirror. "Good one dad!"

He doubted his mum would understand the reference to a piece of country music. Dad did like his Toby Keith but his mother hated anything that wasn't classical. Country music she deemed beneath her. His dad only played it out in his shed and even then he used headphones.

Yiannos left the note stuck to the mirror but read it.

Alessandra

Thank you for the summer in Greece when first we met. For giving me my two children. For cooking for me and keeping house all these years.

That said, honey, I'm lonely. I see more of your credit card bills and your shoe collection than I do of you. I realized my error long ago but stuck by this marriage for the sake of our children and some old misplaced loyalty to our vows.

I don't blame you for seeing me as a ticket to get out of your homeland but where was the 'to love, honour and cherish' you vowed at our wedding?

My solicitors will contact you on Monday next. They will have prepared the divorce papers by then. As soon as you sign them the house and its remaining contents are yours. I have only taken a few of my personal things, the contents of my workshop and my truck and trailer. I've removed myself from our joint accounts. The money in them is all yours as are any bills from hereon in.

The only true friend I've ever known is our daughter. She will go her own way eventually but until then I mean to enjoy our time together. Look after our son.

I did love you once.

JJ

"Ouch!" It was clear to Yiannos that JJ had really skipped out on the dragon lady. He cringed when he thought that half his DNA came from that one. Yet his dad had seen something in her once. His grandmother, bless her late soul, had told him how his mother had come under the influence of her brother once he had emigrated out here to join her. After that her aura had become gray and murky. Something had begun to crawl inside it.

That he and his nan could see such things was something she had sworn him to secrecy. Nan had told him that there were forces in the world he didn't want attention from. She told him to use what he saw to guide him; see, act but don't tell. That had been their motto.

It was almost like Nan had been part of some metaphysical undercover operation.

Less than a year after his grandfather passed away his Nan had announced to the family that it was time for her to join him. She'd gone to bed that night and never woken back up. But before she'd gone to sleep that night she'd quietly snuck down into his basement haven and given him a small book and a ring.

"Sorry to do this to you Yiannos but you're the guardian of the line now. It's your job to read this information and then destroy it. One day you must write it down and pass it onto the next generation. You will know when that time comes."

He'd taken the notebook from her, sensing it was more like a ticking time bomb that a simple spiral bound collection of her writings. "And the ring?"

"It has been in our family for many thousands of years. The emerald represents the swift communication of knowledge. The stone was given to us by a great mage our line swore to help. Who he was was lost in the retelling over the generations. Suffice to say the emerald is not natural. It was made using processes long forgotten, in an age before the second last cataclysm. You will understand more once you've read the book. Wear the ring. It will protect you from possession by our foe.

Now I must say goodbye. Remember our motto. Tell no one, not even your dad and sister. They have their part to play in all this but their time is not yet. They will know when it is.

Do what you can to safeguard the world Yiannos, until it is ready to awaken to what is going on. Use the skills you have been given as best you can. I love you and will always watch over you."

"Love you to Nan."

His Nan had slipped peacefully into the netherworld that night. She'd refused his offer to stand vigil. Instead Yiannos had stayed up all night reading her notebook. So much he'd seen and wondered about suddenly made sense. For the first time in his short existence he could see something worthwhile to do with his life. He'd battle this foe with what he had at his fingertips, his computers.

It had taken a good six months of after school car washing, newspaper deliveries and, ugh, babysitting those atrocious kids of Mrs Watson before he could buy his first real server. Once he left high school and got paid for his first useful piece of code things got easier. He even started paying his dad's rising power bill, caused in no small part by the power usage of his growing array of computer hardware that ran around the clock.

He knew he could never tell his family about what he was doing, otherwise he would place them all in danger. Or worse still his mum would tell her brother. If his mum's aura was gray her brother's was most definitely black.

Better to act the part of the socially reclusive nerd. It was an act he'd gotten so good at that it had become too much like second nature.

He regretted now that he hadn't dropped the act for those few crucial minutes when his dad had come downstairs last. Now he was gone from his life. Half of him felt bereft but the other half was glad his dad and sister would now be out of danger.

He ordered himself a vegetarian gluten free pizza and pondered his own future. He couldn't leave what he'd built here now that there was little chance of keeping his mum out of his hair. If she got any idea he was hacking online databases to supply the likes of Wikileaks with information he'd be a dead man. Without his dad here, encouraging the rest of the family to respect his space, the danger of being found out was now too high.

###

###

### 5

JJ eyed the knife his daughter held with no small amount of concern. "You can't really be thinking of sticking that thing into your chest. Putting a knife into your heart aside, is that thing even sterile?"

Eleni winced. No it probably wasn't. "Look dad, the akashic field was pretty specific on this. We need heart's blood. I didn't die last time."

JJ folded his arms and glared at Conn. "It's too big a risk."

Conn sighed. They were right. What right had he to ask them to risk their lives? There had to be a way to safeguard them through this. "Give me a moment." He sat down, cross legged and sought within. He moved aside from his thoughts and feelings, still aware of them but stepping into what lay beyond. He only let one thought remain within that. How can they do this and live? A mindflash of images crashed into him. A woman, mortal, had been turned immortal. The same woman had freed his boss, Thex. Thex was alive! With that stunning realisation the akashic threw him out. It had given him his answer and for once more than he'd asked.

"Are you alright Conn? You look surprised," Eleni asked with concern.

"Others of my kind are on this planet, recently rescued from their crystal prisons. We need to call the goddess, the guardian of this planet. But first we need to make you guys immortal like us."

JJ arched his brows. "And exactly how old are you Conn?"

"I have absolutely no idea as I don't know how much time has passed since I was turned to stone. The others that have been saved may know as they retained their consciousness through the eons they were trapped."

Eleni made a face. "Ugh, that must have been the worst kind of solitary confinement."

"Indeed, I believe some of them ended up in caves or at the bottom of the sea."

"So you saw how these others were saved." JJ prompted.

Conn got back up and stretched his legs. "Yes. What is more, there are several ways to infect you guys with our level of vibration. Being higher dimensional beings we vibrate at a different rate. This affects our DNA as you call it. Yours was damaged long ago by the enemy species we were trying to stop from invading this dimension. You were meant to be long lived with lives of thousands of years, long enough to evolve your spirit, raise your rate of vibration and ascend to our dimension. This is the normal way it is done in the universe, at least on planets where anti-gods don't hold sway. These mid energy planets are only meant to be halfway houses where souls graduate to seeing themselves as part of the interconnected whole. It is a school of sorts where you get to act out various roles as you discover that love, joy and happiness aren't things you can make, control or acquire but inherent in the very nature of the universe."

Conn looked at Eleni and JJ's stunned expressions and knew he was rambling. "Okay. Getting back to the point. We could try and find the geneticist who has perfected a cure for your species or we could use the quick and dirty method that will turn you into Malakim like me." He paused, wondering how to tell them but there was no way to mince the words. "You either need to ingest my cum, blood or saliva OR I have to will a piece of my light-energy into you. Only a master mage or a highly evolved being we call a meta being can do the latter so that leaves you with three choices."

There were beings more highly evolved than Conn? Still, she didn't have any trouble picking an option. "Um, Dad, why don't you go for a wander around the bush for a bit? Go and see if you can find some bush tucker for tonight and find out if there are anymore of those fairy-like beings you saw earlier."

JJ chuckled and scratched his hair, his usual tell if he was embarrassed or nervous. "Yes, well, I'll do that then. And Conn. Blood would be my choice if that's okay."

Conn smiled in understanding. "Then have it now. The longer you have it in your system the better I think." He picked up the knife Eleni had been handling earlier and made a small nick in his wrist. He let it well up and then offered his wrist up to JJ.

JJ had hoped to hide it in a drink or something but hell, the man had just willingly cut himself and was offering to save his life for all time so he could help save the man's comrades. There were more important things at hand here than his squeamishness. He pressed his mouth to Conn's wrist and licked the blood clean. When he pulled away he noticed the wound on Conn's arm was already healing. "That it?"

"As far as I know."

"Well I'll go for a walk then. See you guys back here in awhile."

JJ retrieved a couple of clean buckets from the back of his Ford and headed into the bush, being mindful for anything large, black and slithering. The local tiger snake was amongst the most deadly on the planet. Fortunately they weren't particularly aggressive unless it was mating season which wouldn't be for a couple of months yet. The rest of the year, if you left them alone they'd leave you alone. He'd put his long boots and gaiters on just in case. Hearing a low moan coming from the area where Eleni and Conn were he rolled his eyes and decided to move away from the old shoreline and explore.

He foraged for some of the local tubers he knew how to identify. A handful of berries he put into a plastic bag to keep the dirt on the tubers off them. He filled the other bucket with ripe Wirildra seed pods that were just starting to open. He'd winnow them to separate out the seed and roast them later. They were a bit early in the season but he guessed the uncharacteristically warm weather had brought them to maturity. He might make some bush bread if he got enough out of them. Could be pushing it though. Might have to bulk it out with whatever gluten-free flour he could find in his or Eleni's supplies.

He was delighted to see many of the ethereal beings he had seen around the plants before. They were everywhere. Some smaller, some bigger. All brightly colored and winged. Almost humanoid in every other respect. He stopped to sit on a rock and watch a trio that were buzzing a small clump of moss. "Wasting your time guys, it's going to stay as good as dead until the next drop of rain."

"That won't be long human."

JJ looked up to see a much larger version of the beings watching him. Suddenly he felt like the curiosity being studied. "Oh hello. You speak English."

"I speak no language. You just understand it as English. You came through the portal to this place. You are fairy touched. Who were your ancestors?"

"Just some Scots. As far as I know the Munros on my dad's side were descended from Pictish clans that originally held sway over Ireland and parts of Scotland. My mother's family was Irish, Roslyn Drury."

"Ah, from the line of Druids, that explains it. She had the sight then."

"You mean a kind of sixth sense. Yes I guess she did."

"And yet she did not pass the ring to you. Who is the guardian of your line now?"

Ring? His son had a ring he'd started wearing the day after Roslyn had died. Alessandra had tried to take it from him but Yiannos had run to his father, explained if was a gift from his Nan and said that he would rather run away from home than give it to his mother. It was the first time he had seen any fire in his son's blood. In that moment he knew his son wasn't bluffing. "Leave over Alessandra, I'll buy you an even nicer one." He'd told his wife. Fortunately that had been enough for her to lose interest. JJ had actually forgotten about his son's ring until now. "My son wears an emerald ring on the little finger of his right hand."

The being nodded. "Then he is the one who has taken up the noble cause."

"What noble cause?" He'd hardly pick his reclusive son as any kind of warrior or crusader.

"That you do not know is a good sign. All guardians of the knowledge are sworn to strictest secrecy until the eve of their death. It helps to keep them alive. On the surface they appear to lead normal lives but unbeknownst to all around them they take the battle to the enemy at every opportunity."

"And who is the enemy?"

"On the mundane level it is those that seek to spread fear and hate, greed and corruption in order to pursue wealth for their own gain and glory. Their strings are in turn pulled by an even greater foe we call the Din."

"Is that like what Arabs call Djinn?"

The being shrugged. "Same thing, just a different name. The Indians call them asuras, the gnostics and the ancients of North Africa called them the Din. No doubt there are other names. They are demons of a kind, although you might view them more kindly as unevolved souls who would rather possess humans in this plane of existence than work out their own karma on the plane below."

His mild mannered nerd of son was fighting these things? How? With his computer programs? "Are these beings what Conn calls anti-gods."

"Yes."

Hmm, he needed to ask a more open question if he was going to get any more information. "If planets have guardians then why doesn't the guardian of this one just kick them out?"

"Because of free will. Humans have allowed themselves to become trapped by an illusion. They must free themselves from it and they can only do that by first admitting what is going on in the world and the part they play towards maintaining the illusion."

"The illusion?"

"That they are separated from each other and everything else by the mere fact of the skin that clothes them. Once they get past that the goddess can help them when asked."

"We need to ask her for help in freeing Conn's friends. How do we call her? Is there a spell or chant?"

The fairy waved her hand dismissively. "Ritual is merely a useful training tool for the human mind. In truth you just need clear intent. Believe she will come, ask it and she will."

Okay. He figured they could do that. But one other thing still troubled him. "How come I never saw you guys before?"

"Because you are no longer where you were before."

"Um?" He looked at the being with, he guessed, no small amount of frustration written on his face. "Not with you. Can you clarify that for the mere mortal here."

"You forget, you are no longer mortal Joseph John Munro. What you, your daughter and the Malakim she has named Conn do not realize is that when she undertook the ritual of union with him to become his mate they also pulled this patch of the Earth into fairy. Their release of love and light was such it had to go somewhere so we harnessed it to raise the vibration of this endangered landscape. The fog portal you came through on the way here protects the area from entry from those of the wrong frequency. No Din or their slaves can enter here. Now we will heal this land. You might want to get your daughter's camp moved to higher ground. Tell her and the Malakim they have two days to retrieve his friends, before the rains will start falling. And by the way they've missed one."

JJ was about to ask where they should look for the other but the fairy had already dematerialised before his eyes. "Shit!" He gathered his bucket and headed back to camp. Surely by now they would have done what they needed. He reviewed what the fairy had said. Did that mean his daughter had as good as married Conn? He shook his head, a head that was now throbbing as it took in so much that was foreign. Little did he expect when he got out of bed this morning that leaving his retail therapy afflicted wife was the least of the changes that he would face.

Eleni felt Conn's whole body shudder like an impending earthquake about to open a major fault line. Inwardly pleased she swallowed him even deeper until his cock hit the back of her throat. Almost gagging but not quite she increased her momentum until he fisted his hands, thrust his hips forward and yelled to the heavens. A torrent of cum ran down her throat and she swallowed it down like the bad girl she was pretending to be.

She didn't raise herself off him but instead continued to suckle. Long ago she'd heard her brother complaining to her dad about women whose only interest in sex seemed to be getting an orgasm out of a man or having one of their own. Their interest was in the sex only, not the person. Eleni determined to let Conn know that his pleasure was hers, even when his cock wasn't erect. She nuzzled it now, making long, languid sweeps with her tongue. Burrowing lower between his legs she let her tongue explore his balls, fascinated by the way they moved and contracted as if they had a mind of their own.

"Are you trying to make me come again my love? I have to tell you I'll need a minute or so until you'll get much of response."

"ONLY a minute? Actually I was just trying to see where and how you liked to be licked."

"What you're doing is good. The insides of my legs are also pretty sensitive."

She licked those too, mischievously spreading his legs and revelling in the control and trust he was giving her. "What about your belly?" She moved up and over him, teasing him with great long licks that finished just before his nipples."

"Oh now you're being mean."

"I aim to please so tell me what you want Conn." As if she didn't already know.

"You know damned well my sweet tormentor, suck my nipples!"

Eleni grinned, moving further up his body to straddle his crotch. She lent forward and gently took his left nipple between her teeth and gently pulled.

Conn groaned, "nice but please please suck. Hard!"

Hearing his desperate begging she finally gave in and did, suckling him as if for all the world he was her only source of sustenance. Having gotten the left nipple suitably swollen and erect she switched her attention to the other.

Suddenly the tables were turned. Conn had flipped her over. He spanked her ass playfully. "Minute's over. Get on all fours Eleni!"

Shit, she hadn't seen Conn this out of control before but it rather excited her. She did as asked and was rewarded by the feel of his now well engorged cock ramming home. She moaned. "Please Conn."

"Please what?"

"Don't hold back."

Conn hesitated. "You sure sweetheart? I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"Damn it Conn. Read my mind."

He did and was crashed into by the oncoming train of her desire. _Then see mine_. He telepathed back at her.

Of one mind they moved in unison to the rhythm of their mutual pleasure until ecstasy claimed them, dragging them down into a tangled heap made up of two sweaty, thoroughly sated bodies.

Eleni finally managed to put words together. "Totally fucking a-MAY-zing!"

Conn chuckled but didn't comment. He needed to get his breath back.

Finally, when they did stir, Eleni suggested they go bathe in a nearby remnant pool, left over from the drying lake. It was shallow and easily warmed by the sun. By the time they finished splashing water at each other and started to emerge JJ was waiting with a couple of towels. "We have to get a move on. We have less than 48 hours before the rains start."

###

###

### 6

Having polished off his pizza and musing over what to do Yiannos drifted off to sleep. He'd been at his computer for nearly thirty-six hours working on a piece of code. Before he'd surfaced for food he'd sent it off to one of his more trusted contacts. They didn't know who or where he was but they liked his software. He'd only trusted them with this particularly viral piece of programming because he knew they'd use it to infiltrate one of the more extremist terrorist groups. He supplied many law enforcement agencies around the world as well as alternative groups battling the more social and environmentally destructive corporate conglomerates.

He hid behind firewalls and layers of encryption so deep he could sleep. And yet a warning was now flashing on his screen.

His dream had turned from a pleasant sojourn at the seashore to a flight from some unknown foe. A voice called to him, strong but feminine.

Wake up Yiannos, you've got to wake up. The enemy has your location and they are coming. Wake up NOW!

Yiannos shook himself from the nightmare of his mind and woke to the nightmare flashing on the screen. Damn. He'd been pinged. Someone, somehow had gotten through all his security and identified the IP address of his main computer. "Damn and double damn." How long did he have before his basement was stormed by the SWAT squad or worse, enemy agents? His mum was going to have his balls for dinner. If there was anything left of him.

"Shit." As much as he hated to do it there was nothing for it but to hit the keyboard sequence that would activate the 'wipe and destroy' protocol he'd written long ago for just such an eventuality. He hit the keys and blinked to stop his eyes watering. No time to mourn his work. His job now was to save himself.

He unlocked the high security gun safe that held his getaway pack. Briefly he checked he ammo for his sawn off shotgun. He threw his prized ten inch tablet in. He'd disabled the gps tracker in it and knew it was safe. He had at least some stuff backed up to it as well as on the wifi hard drive he threw in too. He checked his pocket for his bike keys and wallet then went to the wall, to the secret panel he'd gotten a friend to install for him one other time the rest of the family had been away. He squeezed through the hole, scanned the vicinity for threats then ran to the small lean to shed at the back of his dad's workshop. It had been the only place his mum had allowed him to house his bike.

The early model pitch black R60S BMW was fuelled and ready to go. He'd always figured that what was good enough for his idol Steve Jobs was good enough for him. Although Job's bike had been a r60/2 but who was being picky? He threw a couple of straps over his backpack to make sure it was secure on the pillion seat. His panniers, he knew, contained enough tools he could repair most things. Not that this finely crafted piece of German engineering needed much. The bike was old but didn't give him a lot of trouble. It was prized as a long distance tourer, not a getaway. It would have to do.

He quickly and quietly wheeled out the back gate then started it and hit the throttle. He made it to the top of the hill before he dared look back. A black and deadly fully armoured vehicle was just turning into the street that led to the front of the place he'd long called home. It wouldn't take them long to storm the house and realize no one was there. Time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Where to hide, that was the question. They'd have the airport and all the ports covered. Not that he owned a passport anyway. So getting out of the country was out of the question. He could try and find a fishing boat and get a lift to Melbourne but questions would be asked and he didn't have a lot on him to go chartering boats.

As he reviewed his options he slowly and inexorably came to the conclusion that the safest place would be his sister's favorite hidey hole. Baring spy satellites it might be his best option of not being found. Living off Red Fin Perch for weeks on end with nowhere to plug in a charger for his tablet wasn't exactly his idea of fun. He hoped his dad and sister had a few comforts of home out there. At least it would give him another chance to see his dad.

Doubt raged through him. Would he be leading the posse to his family. He had to hope not. Anyway, he'd have to warn them in case they thought of coming home before they headed North or wherever dad was planning on them going. Maybe he could go with them. Knowing his father his dad's rig would be packed with everything and the kitchen sink. If they could find some way to hide him from the sniffer dogs maybe he could hide himself in one of the many boxes his dad had no doubt packed. That just left his beloved bike but... Shit, what was he thinking? If the enemy was after him they'd stop his family for sure when they boarded the boat to Melbourne. He had to warn them.

Doubt removed he hit the throttle and headed West, taking the scenic route over some of the more forgotten back roads, dunny cart lanes and forestry tracks until they ran out and he had no choice but to return to the main road.

###

###

### 7

Eleni, Conn and JJ surveyed the crystal remains thoughtfully. "Okay, how are we going to divvy this job up?" Eleni asked.

"Divvy?" Conn queried.

"Divvy as in divide up the task."

"Well that's for you to tell us I think as you did the magic last time. You're sort of our resident expert. But we do have the time problem now. We can't exactly wait for you to do one a day, allowing for recovery in between."

"Then, its obvious." JJ thought. "We rescue one each. We picture the person as best as we can pick from your memories, harness our compassion for them, wish them to be free, say the spell and offer up our blood."

"Easy when you say it quick." Conn mused. "But you, particularly JJ, need to consider that this will create a bond between you and the individual you choose to rescue. Eleni mated me after the event but I'm thinking that might even increase our chances of success if we channel the light through their chakras in the lead up to saying the spell."

"This 'mating'. I assume it is sexual." He glanced meaningfully between Conn and Eleni.

Eleni chose that moment to study her feet. Oh, what the hell. She wasn't ashamed of diving head first into what Conn had offered. She raised her chin and looked her dad squarely in the eyes. "If you're asking me about my relationship with Conn dad. Yes its sexual but it's also about a commitment of lifelong friendship."

"More than even that, it is a non-judgmental acceptance of the other person, as they are. It's a dropping of all boundaries between the two. But, it doesn't have to be sexual." Conn elaborated."

JJ relaxed a little. Friendship he could offer. His friendship with his daughter aside he had to admit he'd like a friend who'd be a mate, someone to protect his back and vice versa. "Okay, I choose that one then." He pointed to Bran.

Eleni glanced at Delta, glanced at her dad then glanced at Conn. Oh hell. To hide her blush she studied her fingernails this time.

"Come on Eleni. Out with it. JJ's not going to judge you. He loves you."

JJ groaned. "You still worried about me finding out you're bi?" He asked in disbelief.

"You knew?"

"I wasn't a hundred percent sure but I did suspect. Particularly after you did those rather good life drawings in your teens. Only someone who appreciates the female form could draw like that."

"Oh." She'd never guessed she'd given herself away that long ago. Truth be told she'd always vaguely hoped he'd just find out and tell her he loved her anyway. At least that bit of herself was out in the open. She wondered if he suspected her fetishes as well but now was not the time to ask. "I choose Delta then."

Conn cautiously eyed the crystal stones that made up all they could find of the one Eleni had dubbed as Alpha. Little did she know how apt the name she'd chosen for him was. If Conn was being totally truthful with himself he'd admit he'd often wondered what it might be like to submit to the man. Alpha had been one of his guides as he'd learnt the ways of a mage but some of his methods bordered the extreme. Could a man he both feared and admired become the close friend mateship would ask of both of them. The ritual would bare his soul to the man and vice versa. Yet there was part of him that already loved and greatly respected him. A man who had hung from a sacred fig tree, a symbolic representation of the universe, suspended by flesh hooks for nine days until his skin had ripped and he'd fallen to the ground. He was healed of those wounds now, having become whole when he'd achieved his final release from the illusions that were programmed into his particular planet. One could do nothing other than respect a man who had gone to such extremes to attain knowledge, realize his true self and ascend to the ranks of the Malakim. Somehow they'd work out the finer details of a deeper relationship and friendship when this was over. For now he was more than happy to protect Eleni from a man whose desires might shock her. He'd take this one for the team. "Well it looks like Alpha and I will make a better acquaintance."

"You don't mind?" Eleni, asked, worried after seeing his obvious caution.

"It's no sweat Eleni. Alpha is a Malakim. He won't do anything to me I don't want or don't agree to. I'll offer him friendship and see where it goes from there."

JJ sensed there were things Conn wasn't saying. Alpha was apparently dangerous in some way. He was grateful Conn was taking that job on. He patted him on his shoulder. "Thanks."

"Sorry to burst your bubble guys but it doesn't work that way. It has to be a human for the spell to work."

Eleni, Conn and JJ turned around, stunned to see an elegant and calmly serene woman behind them. A memory flashed through Conn's mind and he brought his hands to his heart and bowed his head in reverence. "Mother of the Seer."

"Just Ma will do. As Simon doesn't need much mothering these days I busy myself watching over this planet."

JJ knew instantly who she was. "You're the goddess the fairy spoke of."

"Yes and speaking of which when were you guys going to get around to calling me? Time is of the essence you know."

"My apologies Ma. Your help and advice would be greatly appreciated." Conn guessed that the fairy JJ had spoken to had informed the goddess.

"Firstly your concerns re Alpha are misplaced. I believe Eleni is more than capable of accepting him as he is. We need to rearrange the 'bodies' so she can kneel between Delta and Alpha. Secondly you can forget the knife. I will take your sacrifice. Conn you will be here for your lover and your friends when they awaken from this. Once you have all recovered you will only have about a day to find Evie. Eadaoin is intent on refilling this lake and healing this land now that you have shifted it into the higher dimension of fairy. You will need shelter and supplies but know that you will not be on your own. You have many friends already in this new world."

"Thex and Arion?" Conn asked hopefully.

"And Kiana, Orea and my son. Meta is with us as well. Trian and Kaleem are yet to be freed. More than that, there are whole towns and villages of rapidly evolving humans with us as well as other sentient beings we are in varying stages of forging alliances with."

Tears threatened to well in Conn's eyes as he realised he not only had his new family in JJ and Eleni but he had his old family back as well. "Let's do this then."

Ma teleported the stone body parts to rearrange them.

There was just enough space for Eleni to kneel comfortable on the jumpers and jackets JJ had found to place beneath her. JJ settled himself beside Bran, opting instead for a half lotus position which didn't surprise Eleni. Yoga was just one of the ways JJ had busied himself when his wife had gone shopping. He'd gotten a book called "The Light on Yoga." from the library and worked through it diligently. By the time the library told him he'd exceeded the number of times he could borrow the book he'd had it all but memorised. Even so, his aging legs lacked the flexibility to get into a full lotus. Surprisingly he felt a little more flexible than normal this afternoon, he wasn't sure why.

Conn had shared his memories of the tantric process so that JJ knew what needed to be done. The basic theory of chakras, breathing techniques and locks he'd learnt from Iyengar's treatise. Invite the energy down towards the earth and then send it back to the source. That much was simple. What he needed now was the right mindset, the right intent. In his mind he visualised himself speaking to Bran. _Okay old mate, here's the deal. I'm no-one special but I'm here to set you free. I don't know if you will want to be my friend but I'm willing to be yours. Whoever you are I will welcome your friendship and your thoughts. I offer to be there to hear your gripes, your desires, your regrets and your jokes. I'll protect your back if you'll let me. I wouldn't mind if you did the same for me. So how about it Bran, if that is truly the name you wish to go by, how's about we be friends?_

_I'd like that JJ_.

JJ hadn't expected to hear that voice in his head but still, nothing about this day was usual. Okay then. _Well, I've never done this before Bran. I could use your help with this. The goddess Ma is here helping too._

Start with your breathing JJ. Pranayama I think your species calls it. It will help to center and calm you, bringing balance to your being. If you will, allow me I will do it with you in your mind.

_Sure, no probs._ He did as instructed. Using the alternate nostril breathing he'd learnt from the book. He felt his doubts over what he was doing evaporating. Doubts like "what the hell was he doing', 'did he know enough to do this' and 'would Bran and he even work as friends'. But he let those thoughts drift, just watching them and letting them float away.

Feeling he'd done enough of the breathing thing he dropped his arm and let it relax. He let his awareness rise to the top of his skull and imagined it opening to an infinite source of light. From there it was a fairly simple but patient matter of focusing on each chakra in its downward order, inviting each to open and let the light in. It reached his heart and an awareness that he hadn't known before burst forth. A vast space within his heart filled with infinite gratitude, love, joy and non-judgement. He allowed that to mix with the light as he invited it deeper into his being. In his abdomen it seemed to trigger a nuclear power plant. A pleasant warmth radiated from his belly. Finally at his root chakra he felt that grounding connection with the planet earth as the light passed into its very core. The earth itself seemed to moan at the pleasure of it. It gave back what it had been given, amplified many fold. He used the bandhas or yogic locks he had long practised to return it, up along his spine, to the source which embraced it like a lover connecting with a long lost friend.

He cycled the energy three times this way, pausing only when he felt the presence of the goddess at his side.

"It is time JJ. You don't need to watch this bit if you are squeamish. Trust me that this will cause you no harm."

Despite her warning JJ watched mesmerised as her hand painlessly sank into his chest. Yet, as it touched his heart he lost consciousness.

###

###

### 8

Yiannos felt vulnerable on the open road. Visions of waiting roadblocks and nowhere left to run had him looking for an exit. He took a side road that ran down to the river, pulled over under the cover of the pine plantation and reassessed his situation.

He thanked his intuition when moments after stepping off the bike a helicopter flew over. It might have been just a rescue helicopter heading out to pick up one of the wounded or lost bushwalkers who tended to plague this landscape over summer but he couldn't be sure. He was thankful for the plentiful tree cover this area was renowned for.

The sound of an approaching vehicle had him quickly scurrying over an embankment and out of sight. Sadly his bike was out in plain view.

The vehicle slowed and stopped. A well weathered character with a foot long beard and balding forehead got out and meandered over to the bike. Seemingly puzzled by the bike's abandonment the man glanced up and down the road before turning his piercing eyes on the bush that was hiding Yiannos. "I know you're there. I mean you no harm. Can I be of help?"

Yiannos was perplexed at the man's awareness of his presence. _Trust him_ , a feminine voice said in his head. He recognised the voice from his warning dream. He shrugged his shoulders, stood up and wandered back to the bike. He held out his hand to the man. "Um, hi, nice to meet you. Forgive me if I don't give you my name."

The man humphed then shook his hand. "Taz is mine. You in some trouble boy?"

Yiannos's first thought was to tell the man that he'd simply pulled over when he realized he had too much grog in his system and didn't want to run the gauntlet of the copper in the next town. But that voice in his head scarpered that idea. _Trust him. Tell him_. Yeah sure. Like that was a wise thing to do. But his intuition agreed with her. Oh hell. "I'm on the run. The authorities are after me."

"Whatya done boy?"

"Only good but they don't know that. I'm a hacker but", he hastened to add, "only for good causes. I supply software to most of the world's more ethical security services. I break into the databases of the unscrupulous. I pass on the information I find to those who can best use it."

"But the authorities don't know you're this good guy."

"No. Sadly what I did only to protect myself and my family, keeping myself off the radar, now has me on the run. One of those I've affected has no doubt set the authorities onto me. You might have heard of that Arctic oil exploration company that lost all its computer data last year when it got hacked. Set back their plans to start drilling in the tundra. That was me. It would be someone like the CEO of that company that's after me now or maybe one of their umbrella companies."

"I see." The man mused as he thoughtfully twisted the end of his beard. "You'd best come on home then. Let the ruckus dies down for a bit. The cop in the next town will go to bed around eleven. He just stays up until the pub crowd goes home then calls it a night. We can get you on your way after that. You'd be safer after dark anyway. Where you headed? Roadsend?

"No not that far. I'll go through Foreston and then out aways. There's a disused road down to that first lake. My sister often camps there over Christmas. I think my dad is out there too. By the way. How'd you know I was there?"

The man gave him an unreadable look that said both lots and nothing at all. "I survived being a contract delivery driver in Afghanistan. Call it a sixth sense."

Yiannos got on his bike and followed him down a lane that went to an overgrown patch of scrub with a tin shed in the middle.

"Best you bring your bike inside boy."

Yiannos wheeled the BMW in and parked it on its side stand near the man's fridge. Taz handed him some newspaper to put under the engine. Like it leaked or something. Not likely but he wasn't going to argue it. It wasn't everyday someone let you park your bike in their loungeroom, just to keep it out of sight.

The end of areptile's tail disappearing under the sofa had Yiannos looking with some concern at where Taz indicated he could sit.

"Won't bite you boy. It's just a blotched blue tongue lizard. He'll be wanting his jam about now." Taz put the jug on to boil some water for their tea and then dipped the end of a knife into some raspberry jam and went to hold it out to the lizard. It nosed its way out from under the sofa before taking to the knife with a bite that would set anyone's teeth on edge. "There you go my friend."

Taz eyed Yiannos assessingly. "I guess you won't be telling the authorities I don't have a permit for the lizard living in my house. He's not a pet anyway. He comes and goes as he pleases. I drilled a hole in the wall for him over there. I block it up in winter to keep the mice and drafts out. Usually he'll hibernate inside for the winter. Lives under the fridge where the compressor puts out some warm air. In winter he only wakes up once every couple of weeks or so, has a feed and then goes back to bed."

Yiannos was fascinated with the lizard. "Does he have a name?"

"Nah, I try not to name them. They're mostly short-lived creatures. If I named them I might mourn them when they pass on."

Yet it was obvious to Yiannos that the man loved the lizard. The man was wily but he had a heart of gold. Yiannos felt as safe as anywhere would be right at the moment. Accepting the offered cup of tea he settled back to learn what more he could from this interesting man.

During that afternoon they talked. Yiannos admired the man's intricate carvings of the local wildlife. Taz, it appeared, didn't make them to sell. He just liked finding the spirit in the wood.

Around eleven Taz looked at his watch. "We'd better be going boy. Problem though. Got no way of lifting your bike onto my truck. There's room for you though in the carry box. No one's going to stop me at no roadblock, if there is one. They all think I'm crazy. I'll just tell them I'm carrying live snakes to release back into the bush."

Yeah that would do it, Yiannos thought. "Look Taz, if you can get me safely out to my family you can have the bike. It's a collectors item. It could make you a bit of cash. I can't say I won't mourn its loss, because I will, but the number plates and the engine number will track it to me. They'll be looking for that bike. Mind you, that might make it tough for you to sell it."

Taz nodded, taking in what the younger man was saying. "I'll look after it. If I don't see you back here in six months I'll sell it online without the plates. I'll scrub the engine number. As you say, it is a collectors item. Someone will buy it anyway, just to have it. It's in fine condition."

Yiannos reassessed his opinion of the man. Obviously not so rustic if he traded online.

### 9

Eleni stirred, feeling a bit like a truck had run her over but otherwise whole. She looked down at her chest. The wound over her heart was perfectly healed, again. She sat up and realized several things simultaneously. The goddess had gone. Conn was watching over everyone attentively, waiting for them to awaken. And lastly, she was flanked by two stunning people. One, a gorgeous long limbed woman, still sleeping on her side, whose ringlets of chestnut brown hair cascaded down her back. The other, the most exotic male she'd ever seen. More alien than Conn yet humanoid. His skin was darkly bronzed, almost the color of polished blackwood. His back and upper arms were covered in a raised pattern made up of an intricate design of dots and spirals, outlined and accentuated with a simple blue-black ink design. Piercings that looked silver but had the untarnished appearance of platinum adorned his nipples and ears. Almond shaped eyes with ebony irises, like burning coals, scorched her very being. "Alpha?"

"You may call me that. The name amuses me." He reached out to caress her tanned yet relatively pale skin. "A blank canvas. So many possibilities." He purred.

Eleni wasn't too sure of that. She'd often fancied having one of the more elaborate and colorful Japanese horimono tattoos adorning her back but had never had the cash to go to Japan, let alone pay for the hours of tattooing involved. Some of Alpha's body ornamentation looked more like the result of scarification. She cringed.

"Does my artwork disgust you?" Alpha asked, an edge to his voice.

"Not at all. I just know it must have been painful. A rite of passage?"

"Yes. I am an ascended Malakim rather than a born one. My people are from a planet in the Cereus galaxy. Upon reaching adulthood we are given our marks as a gift from those who love us. They hire a master skin artist for the ritual. I chose to keep my marks, even after I acquired the knowledge that could have healed them."

Curious she couldn't help but ask. "How's it done?"

"The master will listen to the family's stories of the young person's childhood as well as their hopes and dreams. Once a design is chosen, appropriate to the spirit of the person, the master's apprentice draws it on to the skin. The initiate then gets to see it in a mirror and either approves it or asks for changes. The shaman is then called to oversee the ceremony. The initiate fasts except for taking herbs specially chosen for his personal constitution, to strengthen him or her physically and mentally for the ordeal. Then the initiative lies down. His friends grasp his wrist and ankles, tightly." Alpha took hold of Eleni's wrist. Her breath hitched in fear and desire. "The master begins his work, making pin pricks with a large needle to make the dots and broad sweeps with the knife to incise the skin to create arcs and straight lines." His free hand stroked her skin in arc like motions. Eleni's belly contracted. "Finally he rubs finely ground ash from the sacred mountain of Ate into the cuts. The shaman takes over and dresses the wounds with herbs and gels to keep infection out and prevent itching as they heal. By this stage the initiate has usually drifted into a state of semi-consciousness where he sees visions and advice from the spirits."

"And what did the spirits tell you?"

"That what I had experienced, that tantalizingly brief connection with the infinite, was only a taste of what I now sought. That I if I wanted a more permanent connection I had a long and arduous path ahead of me but eventually I would see through to the other side. I learned the ways of the warrior, artist and story teller. I learned to stare down my fears and be with the darker parts of my soul without judgement. I have been visioning many times and now guide others on their quests." He glanced at Conn. "How are you my friend?"

"Well now thanks to this one, the goddess and some beings called fairies." Conn came over and pressed his forehead to Alpha's, giving him the knowledge of all that had gone before.

Alpha nodded with respect at Conn as he pulled his forehead away. "I see. So you and Eleni created a hidden realm on the planet we sought to save."

"Not intentionally but given we have it would seem that we are now guardians of this place. I've been thinking we should work with the fairies who mean to heal this particular patch of land."

"And that means we must hurry if we are to find Evie."

The mention of her friend's name roused Delta from her half-asleep, half-listening snooze. She pulled Eleni into her arms and nuzzled her neck. Licking a hello. "We need to find her as a priority. Then we can work out what our role is here. Has anyone heard her in their minds?"

Conn shook his head sadly. "No, no-one."

Eleni wished for her brother. He had an amazing sixth sense. She'd often wondered if he'd inherited from their grandmother. Personally she preferred the gift she'd been given, an innate feel for the different energies and 'personalities' of the rocks she worked with but right now a hunch on Evie's whereabouts might be useful. No point wishing for what you didn't have. She'd just have to use what she did. "I might have an idea. Could someone stay with my dad and Bran until they awaken? I need to get away from the energies of what we've done here. Somewhere wilder and untouched."

Delta nodded to the others. "I'll stay. Conn and Alpha are better at the metaphysical stuff." She released Eleni with a final hug and nuzzle."

Eleni turned and kissed her new friend on the lips, tentatively at first, testing the response.

Delta wholeheartedly accepted the offer and deepened the kiss, their warm wet tongues danced as they met in the middle. Finally Delta pulled away. "Go Eleni, do your thing. I'm the team's biologist. I'm often called upon to give first aid to all kinds of beings on the planets we visit. JJ is safe with me."

Eleni found a patch of the dried up lake bed well away from camp. Nothing and no one had been here in a very long time. The energies were clean. She guessed what she was about to do was a kind of psychometry but it was more than that. To her the stones she touched were living entities. They might not have arms or legs enabling them to move around the landscape or mouths to speak with but for her and her dad they had always been friends.

Each generation of this branch of the Munro family had the same ability to commune with rock. It was a skill passed down from father to child.

Actually there was very little learning involved. Her dad had only needed to tell her it could be done and what she basically needed to do. The stones had taught her the rest.

In her youth she'd voraciously collected gems and specimens from all over the world, hungry to hear the tales they would tell. These days she preferred to leave them where she found them. They had a right to their homes as much as she did. She despised the commercial stone hunters who ripped them from the ground without any thought for the stones' souls. Her and her dad always asked permission before they took any and they were always careful to leave the landscape in the same state that they found it. Stones were like people. Some were explorers, wanting to see the wider world as part of collections of geological specimens. Others wanted to be of service, lending their particular energies to the healing trade. Others still just wanted to be left the hell alone, experiencing the slow wearing down of time until volcanoes, winds, rains and glaciers released them into new forms.

It was the reason why sometimes she released stones she'd bought back into the wild, depositing them in wilderness such as this or in sacred places if they preferred. Sometimes she would find a stone whose owners had been so vile that they'd been impossible to cleanse with the normal methods of sun and salt. The only thing she could do for them was to take them on her occasional trips to Indonesia and throw them into a volcano to be purified and reforged in the fires of the Earth.

This patch of ground had had no owners blacken its soul. She sat on the bare quartz gravel and considered the larger, pure white quartz rock that lay on the ground before her.

Calming her thoughts with conscious breath she let herself settle into the mindset she needed. Reverently she picked up rock. It was no six sided clear crystalline beauty but it had its own rough charm. She looked at it appreciatively and acknowledged its every detail, the flecks of mica, a little piece of lichen that had begun to grow on it since the waters had receded.

Caressing it and murmuring reassurance to it she allowed love from within her heart to radiate through her limbs, heating her as it radiated out through her hands into the stone.

She held it up to the level of her heart, hugging it close to her chest. Closing her eyes she sort within that heart space and prepared to listen. _Ancient one, please lend me your wisdom. I seek your connection to this land. Your knowledge of where everything in it resides. I seek the one named Evie._

Eleni didn't hear the answer so much as felt it. She rose, eyes half closed but open enough not to stumble. She walked with the stone as it guided her without faltering once. With sudden conviction she opened her eyes and stared at the ground. There, residing amongst the driftwood and gravel were the unmistakable pieces of a crystal body. Joyously she reached into her heart, allowed the joy to amplify through it and then sent it as thanks to the stone. Then she took it back to where she'd found it. Reverently placing it back on the ground she rose and smiled at Conn and Alpha but their pleased expressions told her they already knew. "Found her."

Conn eyed the sun that was beginning to set behind the mountains. "We'd best retrieve her before dark. Tomorrow we will call the goddess again and release her."

###

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### 10

JJ had awoken to an annoying itch all over his scalp. He dragged his hand through his hair and it came away with far more than a few loose strands. Bloody hell. He was going bald.

His new friend's panic woke Bran. "You'll get it back. Your body's just shedding all signs of aging as it heals. You're effectively aging backwards. Once you reach whatever your body considers its optimum, whatever you were around twenty-five or so, you'll settle. You may even grow an inch or two.

Marginally less panicked JJ ran his tongue along his gums where the dentures now felt decidedly uncomfortable. "And I'm teething?"

Bran laughed. "Yeah, that too. Any missing or decayed teeth will replace themselves. They'll grow quickly but you might want something light and mushy for breakfast."

"Any other surprises?" JJ moaned

Delta, who'd been watching and listening to their exchange, momentarily searched the akashic. "Just one, your system might purge itself a time or two."

JJ rolled his eyes. Just what he didn't need. Nonetheless he smiled his thanks at Delta. "Good to know." Then sheepishly, feeling like he'd started on the wrong foot with his mate, he extended a hand to Bran. "Sorry about the panic. All a bit new to me. Very nice to meet you Bran."

Bran eyed the extended hand but wasn't sure what to do with it. He and JJ had shared the innermost reaches of their souls but this was obviously an important ritual. When in doubt do as the locals do. He extended his hand and looked questioningly at JJ. _Help me out here._ He pleaded telepathically.

JJ chuckled. "Oh sorry, quaint human tradition." He firmly clasped Bran's hand in his and shook it before releasing it. "It's called a handshake. Not sure why people do it. I think it goes back to the Greeks some two thousand years ago. Might have been something to do with showing your dominant hand didn't have a weapon in it. These days people, in the English speaking areas of the world at least, do it when they first meet as a kind of greeting. It's also used when people agree on a deal or someone wants to congratulate the other person. Although often a hug is more common between women or friends of the opposite sex as a way to congratulate someone. There are more casual greetings like high-fives and fist bumps. I never realised just one thing could be so complex but you've gotten me thinking about it now."

Bran's lime green coloured eyes sparkled with pleasure. "Fascinating. So much to learn. It feels like I've been asleep a very long time. The urge to explore my new home is strong."

"Well what you see is just Eleni's holiday campsite. I was leaving a bad situation behind and came out to visit my daughter to see if she would like to come with me. To head North and start a new life. But here I found her already creating a new life of her own. Seems she and Conn moved this whole landscape into a some kind of parallel dimension where beings I thought were fictional are commonplace."

"I would be interested to meet these other beings. What do we know about them so far?"

"The ones I've met seem to be mostly interested in healing the vegetation around here. A larger version of their kind appeared to me. It was humanoid and had large iridescent wings on its back. Hard to tell if it was male or female but it had no trouble communicating with me. It told me what Conn and Eleni had done and that they plan to heal this landscape. They also told us to move camp because rain is coming. A lot of it. I think they mean to fill the lake."

"Then we should work with them. We'll also need shelter." Bran eyed the canvas structure. It seemed robust but was more suited to keeping out sun, sand or wind, not a torrential downpour. "What is the geology around here?" He'd seen JJ's soul and knew his affinity with stone.

JJ led Bran and Delta out of the tent. "Eleni's the university trained geologist around here but I've taught myself enough to tell you that this area is metamorphic, made up of quartzite, phyllite, schist and some dolomite. Originally it would have been mostly sandstone, laid down at the bottom of an ocean but the earth's movements eventually brought it above sea level. It folded on itself, perhaps around 380 million years ago. The heat and pressures acting on the stone caused it to change its nature into what's here now. The white stuff is quartzite."

"And Quartzite is?" Bran thought he knew but it paid to be sure.

"Minutely fine quartz crystals that've cemented themselves together. Quartz itself is rather special. It's crystals are usually six sided. Eleni and I are among some on the planet who use them to amplify intention. They are useful in healing and in retransmitting vibration. About a hundred years ago people built radio sets from them to pick up transmissions of speech and music as well as code. That was the birth time of much of our current technology."

It wasn't her field of knowledge but Delta knew enough of sonics to guess where this discussion was going. "It has a resonant frequency then?"

"I guess so but I can't tell you what it is. Eleni might know or could look it up for you."

Bran stroked his thumb across his cheek as he thought. "That won't be necessary. I think I should be able to find it. What I need is some kind of flute. Don't suppose you have any musical instruments with you?"

JJ mentally unpacked his truck. He was no musician but he might have a way of making something. There was some silver tubing in his pile of jewelry making bits. He had a hacksaw blade. Drilling holes would be a pain with a hand drill but silver was soft enough. He'd put it in the small jewelry vice he had and that would hold it while he drilled the holes. "Might be able to make you a basic flute but I'd need to know the spacings for the holes. It would affect the harmonics I'd guess."

Bran loved maths just about as much as he loved music. Even among the Malakim he was considered a nerd for his love of the physics of sound and light. The Malakim understood the science of vibration and how it made their world but few fully understand its power to the same extent that Bran did. "I can do the formula for that. I just need to account for the length of the tube and the frequency of the notes I want."

An hour later Bran had what he said was a type of lingbu or shakuhachi, a simple but ancient style of flute open at both ends. Now they just needed to liaise with the fairies as JJ called the etheric beings that flitted around the vegetation. "How do we go about talking to them?"

"They're busy. You can talk to me."

The human sized being JJ had seen before suddenly stood before them.

"You just happened to be here?" JJ queried, rather astonished at her sudden appearance.

"I am everywhere and nowhere. Space and time mean nothing to my kind. We exist therefore we are. You may call me Eadaoin."

"I assume then that you already know what I would like to do?" Bran asked.

"Of course. You will need a shelter before the rains come. We are willing to share this land with you but we ask that you leave it as a wild place. You may sustainably harvest food and timber from it but we would be against you cultivating it." Eadaoin indicated what would be islands if the lake had any water in them. They were little more than bare quartzite mounds. "You may colonize those. We will bring you what you need as far as soil and nutrients so you may grow the rest of what you need."

Bran momentarily communicated on a shared telepathic pathway with the others then slightly bowed his head in a show of respect. "We agree with your proposal. In return we offer our help to your kind where our skills may be of assistance." Wondering if fairies had the same customs as humans he offered his hand to cement the deal.

Eadaoin was familiar with gesture, having learnt it from the inhabitants of Boswell. She shook on it. "We could use your help to extend our domain. The one you call the seer plans to bring the planet back from the brink, one piece at a time, bringing the pieces into the dimension of fairy. Wherever the local beings are willing to work with us and abide by our ways we will welcome them. We withdrew from mankind, and those you call the Din, long ago. It was the only non-violent way open to us to preserve the spirit of the planet. Now it is time to take the planet back. We have formed an alliance with the Malakim and the humans of Boswell and two jungle villages, one in the Yungus and the other in Borneo. The Boswell Malakim in turn are working on strengthening their existing alliance with the Shang, in their hidden mountain and underground abodes, and making new friends for us amongst the other sentient beings of the planet."

"Other sentient beings.?" JJ wondered.

Eadaoin's eyes assessed JJ then she shook her head. "Later human, your mind is blown enough for one day. If I may I wish to stay and watch what Bran is about to do. I haven't seen it done before, not precisely this way."

Bran looked out towards the bigger of the 'islands'. There was no need to build their whole complex in one day. Channelling the energy for one shelter would take enough concentration. He had to get this right or it wouldn't work. "I'll need your help."

Delta had seen this done only once before. "You need us to hold the vision of what you want to create."

"Exactly. It will need to be in sympathy with the nature of the native stone. We don't want to force our will on it so much as ask it to realign to suit our purpose. We really could do with a mage here to ask permission of the stone."

JJ knew he was no mage but he loved stone. "How about if I send my love and admiration into the stone would that work?"

Bran had seen inside JJ's soul and had no doubt the purity of his intent alone might do the trick even if he didn't know the spells and rituals as a mage would. "I think so. In your mind ask its permission. Ask it to shelter us and provide us with a home. Promise it our friendship and gratitude. If you can it will save us calling Conn and Alpha back."

"I will assist you human." Eadaoin added. She passed JJ a representative stone. "Focus on this. I will amplify your request and then I will assist Delta with the visioning."

Bran waited a moment while the others set about their allotted tasks and then he began to play his flute. His music became a kind of meditation. The flute became an extension of his body. The music became an extension of his mind. He watched it flowing through the great field of silence that transcended sound. The notes became colors, each a frequency of light, creating according to his will.

His mind touched Delta's and he captured her vision of their abode. He wove it into reality, building first an etheric form and then giving it flesh with color and light. The nature of the rock on the island determined the rest.

In his mind's eye he saw the island reform itself, rising like liquid glass then solidifying. Crystals formed and grew. Their six sided nature forming the roof of a great dome. Smaller crystals sprouted around the perimeter; water tanks, bedrooms, greenhouses, washrooms and a kitchen dining area. The mechanism they needed to pump water from the lake once it refilled, an archimedes screw, he formed from some left over rubble. Outside the dome terraces formed and a jetty with a pier. Crystals forming the pier divided, heading in different directions, to the adjacent islands.

Feeling fatigue rolling over him like a wave he completed his task with a musical finale by way of gratitude for their new home. He awoke sometime later to JJ nudging him to accept a cup of wattleseed coffee. The brew was strange and new to him but not unpleasant. He looked around and noticed Eadaoin had gone. "How'd we do?"

"Pretty good I think." Delta reassured.

JJ wondered at their new island home. It was a veritable palace, its crystal surfaces glistening in the late afternoon sun. But he worried. "Just one thing I don't get, how are we going to get on and off the island once the lake fills? You made bridges to the other islands but not to the shore."

_He doesn't know_. Delta telepathed Bran.

You show him, I'm still feeling a bit drained.

Delta nodded and vanished. She reappeared on the island's jetty and waved back at them.

JJ's mouth gaped. "You can teleport. Well I'll be."

Delta reappeared next to them. "We'll teach you, it's easy enough once you know how. Plus not having a bridge will keep the plant grazing animals off the island."

JJ looked worriedly back at the vehicles near the boat ramp.

"And we'll build a parking bay on the old boat ramp once the fairies have decided on the new lake level." Bran reassured.

JJ was pleased his beloved F250 ute would have a home but he had to admit the vehicle wouldn't get over to the island even before the lake rose again. Not knowing how to teleport meant it was going to be a scramble for him to get up to their new home."So for now I walk over there?"

Bran read JJ's aura for the moment, assessing his readiness to make this next leap of faith. "No. I think you're more than capable of doing the teleport JJ. You want to explain it Delta?"

"Sure. First get a really good image in your head of where you want to go."

Large rocky knoll with a crystal palace on top "Yep, got it."

"Now close your eyes and become aware of where your body is. Use your mind's eye to look at your body. Don't analyze, don't overthink it too much. It's just there isn't it?"

Suddenly bald, rapidly aging backwards over sixty male. "Yeah."

"Become aware of the mind looking at your body. There's an emptiness, a space, a sort of indefinable lightness there."

Disconcertingly empty mind. 'Uh-huh."

"Now become aware of the space between where you are and where you want to go. There is no boundary between the space in your mind and the space between your two locations. Shift your awareness into that space. Become that space."

JJ vanished.

Delta and Bran high-fived each other and then did the same.

JJ froze in stunned silence as he became aware that he'd done it. There was no doubt. He was looking up at the high ceiling of a massive hexagonal arched dome that formed the center of their new 'shelter'. None of the palaces of the world came close to the pristine beauty and elegance of this masterpiece. "This is amazing Bran." He exclaimed as soon as he was aware of the others' presence. Bit like a giant glasshouse though. "It won't get unbearably hot in here will it?"

"Not once I get your help with creating some one way thermally activated valves. Once made we'll levitate them into place and then fuse them into the ceiling structure. I'll also need your help with designing the wind vanes to power our archimedes screw. We'll use that to pump from the lake. The prevailing wind should drive it. Any excess water pumped into our holding tanks can spill down the waterfall I've built into one of the actual greenhouses we'll use for growing more exotic food than we can find in the bush. The walls have inbuilt water conduits that will supply the bathroom and kitchen. The gray water from those areas will empty onto the gardens. Our composting toilet will empty into a subterranean multi-tiered system where bacteria will break down the material into clean nitrogenous waste we can use as fertiliser and water that is pure enough to go back into the lake without polluting it or changing its ecology. In the unlikely event that there are any nasty fumes from the system special vents will duct them away from the main structure."

"Can we go see the bedrooms?" Delta asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Ah, well. They're not much yet. Just basic hexagonal rooms with raised platforms and inbuilt shelving for storing bedding and clothing. I have no idea where we are going to find mattresses. I figured on one really large bedroom for those who want to bunk down together and a few separate rooms for times when we want some alone time to meditate or in JJ's case a bedroom of his own. Alpha, I figured, would want a room for...well, you know what he's like Delta."

"Mm-hmm."

JJ recognised evasion when he heard it. "What aren't you saying Bran? He's into kink or something?"

"Or something. What you might call kink is the least of it. Lets just say that some of what he practices shouldn't be in a relaxing room you sleep in. We'll fit it out once we've talked to him about what he wants."

"Hmm." And his daughter had mated this guy? "I'll need a workshop."

"I thought I'd build us one out on the other islands. I was hoping we might enjoy working together."

Bran did indeed look hopeful. Personally JJ had had enough of loneliness and welcomed the chance to work with the man. What he could do with stone alone was nothing short of genius. Once they put their minds together it would be interesting to see what they came up with. "I'd enjoy that. Another island because of potential noise?"

"That and I thought I'd keep the electromagnetism in our main home to a minimum. We can generate it near where we need it the most. We'll just tap a bit of it off at night time for lighting. Unless I can talk the fairies into helping us utilise some bioluminescence."

"How are you going to generate power out here? We don't have a generator."

"Mica." Bran seemed to think that one word explained everything but clarified. "It is an electrical insulator but thermally conductive. Quartz is piezoelectric, sensitive to electromagnetic fields and vibration generally. The system we could build is a little beyond your planet's current science but basically we have everything we need to build any electrical systems components, everything from resistors to capacitors to transformers and amplifiers. We'll utilise the sun's energy as our source. I won't get technical about the storage right now but trust me it's possible."

JJ had heard of Mica being used as an insulating layer in some of the ancient temples around the world. He wondered if those civilisations had once had similar schemes. "Fascinating. This I've got to see. When do we get started?"

Alpha and Conn teleported Evie's pieces and placed them in the center of the great crystal domed space Bran had created.

Conn glanced at the high ceiling in awe. "Amazing what that man can do with a bit of music."

Alpha smiled "Indeed. Come, let's go and collect Eleni's things and then teach her the way of non-local travel. I have a feeling we've got another important day ahead of us tomorrow."

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### 11

Taz turned onto Boat Ramp Rd and pulled over to check on the mystery in front of him. "It's a crystal clear star lit night but here there's fog?"

Yiannos wondered about that too. "It's a bit eerie but I guess since I've got nowhere else to go you may as well let me off here and I'll see if I can feel my way along the road."

"And if you can't? If memory serves me well there's a hell of a drop on the right side about half way in. You go over the side of that no-one will ever know. It's not as if many use this road."

Yiannos sighed. Damned fog. As if he didn't have enough problems at the moment. "What do you suggest?"

"We'll park just inside the fog, get some shut eye and see what the morning brings. The fog will hide us for now but once we're over that initial boggy creek crossing I'll pull over. I know there's some tree cover there that should conceal us if the fog abates while we sleep.

But they didn't sleep straight away. After hearing another helicopter flying overhead Yiannos's adrenalin was at a high and the older man felt his need to talk. Something about Taz gained Yiannos's trust. He told him the wild stories his grandmother had told him then he passed the man his ring, offering it to him. In hiding there was little more he could do for the cause.

Taz eyed the ring for a moment then simply nodded and accepted it. "Very well boy but I have no-one to pass it on to."

"You'll find someone." Feeling infinitely lighter Yiannos dozed off into a dream filled sleep, peopled by his sister, his dad, strange beings from another plane and a beautiful woman with shoulder length ebony hair and eyes that were even blacker. He lost himself in their depths and sank into a deep expanse that felt more infinite than the ocean. He rested in it and time slipped away.

Morning broke but it did little to the fog except give it an eerie light. "Guess it's going nowhere." Taz acknowledged. "Plan B."

"Plan B?" Yiannos eyed the rope that Taz was extracting from his ute's top box.

Taz tossed one end of the rope at him. "Tie one end to your wrist." Stepping only so far into the fog that he could still see Yiannos and the ute he grabbed a long stick from among the tree debris on the ground. "This'll do."

"It will?"

Taz tsked. The young man really was only fit to sit at a computer. "I'll sweep it to and fro in front of us in an arc." He tied the other end of the rope to his other hand. "If you lose sight of me pull on the rope and I'll wait up. Are we clear?"

"Suppose so." He hoped Taz really could find his way in the pea-soup thick fog but the man did have an aura of confidence about him.

Half an hour of walking later and they broke through to a morning sun splashed landscape of devastation. "Shit, where'd the lake go?" Yiannos swore.

Taz was less surprised. "Rainfall's been down about half a metre this year. Mightn't seem like it because we've had bits of drizzle little and often but nothing like this place is used to having. What's left of the bush here is crying out with thirst."

"What the hell is that?" Yiannos gasped as he spied the construction out on one of the beached islands.

"A crystal palace I'd suggest but why? How?"

Yiannos noticed his sister's Nissan and his dad's Ford F250 and trailer parked off to the side of the boat ramp but there was no sign of any campsite, anywhere. "Think they're out there at that crystal thing?"

"It would be logical to assume so." Taz untied the rope that now hung loosely between them. "Come on boy. It's a nice morning for a walk and a climb." Although the ominous black clouds out West spoke of different, albeit unforecast, weather on the way. He nodded to it as he passed Yiannos a bottle of water and a biscuit. "We need to hurry if we don't want to end up like drowned rats."

It seemed like an hour later that they came to the end of their scramble over rocks and up the steep gravel incline to the crystal building on top. They took their breath on what appeared to be a courtyard leading to a pier. "They're expecting the lake to refill." Taz noted.

"But where's a doorway in?" Yiannos scanned his eyes over what he could see of the building but couldn't make out any windows or doors. Okay, they probably didn't need windows given that the near translucent crystal would allow a fair amount of light into the building. But a door?

"Tis strange." Taz agreed then turned his head to get a better direction on a sound. "Hear that?"

'That' sounded uncomfortably like his sister Eleni. What was disconcerting was the sexual nature of the moan she was making. Yiannos walked to the side of the courtyard closest to the sound and put his ear to the wall.

"Please master, let me come."

"Who owns your orgasms?"

"You do master."

"Glad to hear it"

Silence

Moan. "Oh God"

"I am not your god Eleni. Who am I?"

"Master...oh...please, you're being mean."

Silence

"Ow, ow. Why did you spank me?"

"I won't have you being disrespectful girl."

"You can't fib to me Alpha. I feel your feelings remember. You enjoyed that."

"That I did. And so did you. I still won't allow you to be disrespectful."

"Sorry Sir."

"Better. Now where were we?"

"Oh...ohh!"

"You like that then?"

"Oh yes, very much Sir."

"Delta, Conn, she's being so well behaved now. Why don't you suck her nipples."

Murmurs. Silence.

"Oh. Oh...yes! Oh master please."

"Please what?"

"Please fuck me hard Sir."

"You will not come until I say. Is that clear?"

"Uh...oh...um yes. Agh. Have mercy. You're pulling my hair!"

"And I have your undivided attention now. You have your word if you need."

"No. It's good. Pull harder. Ah. Yes. Like that."

Silence

"Oh, my..."

"Come now Eleni."

Her scream drove Yiannos's ear away from the wall. He looked up in horror to see Taz watching him, eyes sparkling as if he was trying to suppress a grin.

"Your sister I gather."

Before Yiannos could answer they were both surprised by the sudden appearance of his father and another male. "Why are you eavesdropping on your sister?"

"Um...ah"

The young man was lost for word so Taz extended his hand. "Taz's the name. Nice to meet you Mr Munro. Your son and I were just looking for a way into the building when we heard sounds coming from inside." The twitch of his lips nearly gave away the laughter bubbling up inside. "Mind telling me how you just appeared like that?"

JJ shrugged his shoulders. "Teleportation. There's a lot around here you'll find strange. Bran and I were just around the other side, working on our water pump. Why don't we go there. I expect Eleni and her mates will still be busy for a bit. They were at it most of last night. Being stuck in little more than pieces of stone for the last 100,000 years must lead to a lot of pent up sexual energy or something."

Mates, teleportation, beings in stone? Yiannos stared in wonder at his father. "And you're okay with what she's doing?"

"Of course I am. Why not? She's old enough to decide who and how she loves."

"But you said 'mates' as in plural. She's got more than one guy in there."

"Actually two guys and a nice young lady. You might say, in our terms, that they're married, as of yesterday. Although she's known Conn a day longer than the others. This is Bran, he's like them. They're called Malakim."

Bran greeted the newcomers. "What JJ is saying is that Eleni has soul bonded with Alpha, Conn and Delta. As I have with JJ."

Yiannos's eyes widened in shocked surprise. "You married my dad?"

Bran laughed. "Soul bonded. We are mates but that doesn't have to mean anything sexual. I think the nearest term in your world for what I and JJ have is 'blood brotherhood'.

It took half a second for Yiannos to take in what the man was saying and then it seemed to gel. What the hell, his dad had been badly in need of companionship. "Well you seem to be a hell of an improvement on my mother. If dad likes you you're okay with me."

Bran smiled and the edges of his eyes relaxed where there had perhaps been tension before. "Thank you. Now come have a seat. I'll just go and put the billy on and bring us back some refreshments." He disappeared.

Taz shook his head. "Teleportation you say. Amazing."

The four of them spent the next hour or so discussing happenings in both the outside world and around the lake. Bran and JJ took their time to explain anything that caused Yiannos or Taz to roll their eyes. Demonstrations and mind flashes were sometimes required. By the time Eleni and her mates surfaced Yiannos was feeling like he was starting to get his head around everything. He rose to hug his sister. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"You have no idea. Yiannos, these are my mates Alpha, Conn and Delta."

Yiannos greeted them. Each of them were truly unique. Well tanned Alpha with his ornate body work and piercings was nearly naked except for a loin cloth. Conn gave him an inscrutable eye which told him nothing and yet he felt the man saw deep into his soul. Alpha and Conn were a formidable pair but he appreciated their strength at Eleni's back. There was little doubt that they or the wiry, long legged woman Eleni called Delta would do all in their power to protect each other. Their bond was of such force that even he could feel it. He looked at Taz and knew from his nod that he felt it too. "Well what now?"

Conn gave him another inscrutable look. "Now we mate you with Evie."

"Now hang on just one cotton picking minute. I'm not mating, marrying, soul bonding, whatever, anyone." Besides who would want a nerd like him anyway? _I would_. The soft female voice from his dreams whispered in his head.

"You've been hearing her for a couple of days now." Delta simply stated. It wasn't a question. Delta and Evie had grown up together. She'd felt her awaken. "Come meet her."

Bran withdrew his flute and played enough of a haunting tune that a doorway formed in the crystal wall in front of them, replaced in short order by a revolving entrance door, made of strong but thin sheets of quartzite.

Finally we get to see inside. Yiannos mused. He let Delta take his hand and lead him into a great hall where a pile of stones lay. He had a sudden horrible feeling. Kneeling before the stone he picked up what was obviously a hand. He stroked it tenderly and then he cried. He slowly became aware of his sister at his back, hugging him.

"We need you to free her Yiannos or she will be trapped like this forever."

Yeah, he got that. He looked away from his sister at the other men in the room. Why him? Why not them? But in his heart he felt the being in the hand he held and he knew the answer. She was his. "What do you need me to do?"

"It takes a bit of concentration and gets a little messy at the end but here's what we do..."

His sister outlined the process to him while Alpha and Conn called the goddess and JJ called the fairy.

Taz just kept shaking his head but kept his peace and followed the proceedings. He guessed that as Yiannos's nominated successor to the role of guardian he might have to tell all this to someone else one day so he'd better take note. His heart pined for the love he saw here with these beings but knew his ship had long sailed. The war torn tattered pieces of his soul were too far beyond redemption to ever foist on another soul. But he could enjoy Yiannos's joy. The young man might be a townie and a nerd but he had a good heart. He'd also shown much courage in facing both his plight and the new reality they'd found here. He wished him well and watched.

###

###

### 12

Yiannos woke some hours later, his arms around Evie.

"You came for me."

"I didn't consciously know I was coming for you but some deeper part of me did. I guess." Now came the hard part of telling her what no 23 year old male ever wanted to confess.

"That you're a virgin. Yes I know Yiannos. We shared our innermost souls remember. Don't worry. I'll be gentle." She extricated herself from his arms and moved around to kneel between his legs.

As warm wet silken lips engulfed his suddenly very interested cock he felt some uncrossed boundary melt in his soul. He'd dedicated himself to his role as guardian, to his computers and his hacking. He'd never had time to explore what a relationship might mean let alone the physical bliss and sheer wonder of being pleasured by someone as wonderful as Evie.

He groaned and let himself drift into some peaceful mindspace free of anything but the pleasure she was giving him. But his body had other ideas. His balls contracted and the urge to do more than lie back and enjoy things suddenly gripped him with a fierce urgency.

As if sensing the change Evie ceased her ministrations and rose before straddling herself over his cock. Oh my. Was she about to do what he thought. There could be no doubt. He felt worshipped and whole in ways he could never had imagined as she lowered herself onto his waiting cock.

A moment's fear took him. What would she think of him physically. Was his cock big enough? Was it the right size and shape to pleasure her? Would he disappoint her?

_Shush. You are perfect and you are mine._ She stroked his brow. The caress seemed to ripple through his mind dispelling all doubts. And then she began what he could only call a slow dance. Never guessing what she would do next he watched and felt as she first gyrated her hips one way and then the other and then she began a slow and steady slide up and down his cock. The urgency that gripped him increased ten fold.

_Not yet._ She whispered in her mind. _Let me take control_.

Whatever you say. You're my angel Evie.

Evie's eyes blossomed with light and love.

Yiannos thought he might die of pleasure at any moment now, or he would explode into a myriad of particles. He moaned as she increased her tempo. He was sure now that she was contracting her internal muscles as well as moving her body. It was like being milked. Not that he'd ever experienced that but that was the only way he could describe the sensation. Yet the strength of her grasp was not brutal. Firm yes but just...that fine edge between just right and too much.

Time melted into infinity as he gave himself over to being ridden. He'd always been the one to be in the driving seat, whether exploring the open road on his Beemer or cracking a particularly intricate piece of code. Now he was on the receiving end of that control. He was the vehicle to her passion.

He synced with her movements to thrust each time she slid back down his shaft. Going deep. Feeling that indescribable thrill of being deep inside his Evie.

_You're a fast learner._ Evie whispered in encouragement.

"Rub your breasts for me Evie. Pull your nipples."

Evie chuckled breathlessly. _Very fast learner indeed_. But she obliged, leaning back slightly so she could arch her back, close her eyes and yield to the sensation of her hand's caress and the relentless bucking ride beneath her.

Seeing her pleasure herself was almost more that Yiannos could bear. He cried out in near pain.

Evie released his orgasm just as she reached her own. They crashed back into a heap of bliss and panting breath.

Yiannos put his arm around her again. "My Evie."

###

###

### 13

Taz checked in on the boy later and said his goodbye. Yiannos had told him once again that he didn't need his bike back. That it was his as way of thanks for bringing him safe to his family. Taz wasn't so sure he wouldn't find a way to get it to the boy but he'd argue that later. For now he needed to head home, as much to check on his lizard as to remove himself from so much that reminded him of what he didn't have in his own life. He was glad for the boy but he guessed it was time to return to his solitude. Back to chasing the demons away from his mind. Although he had to admit his mind had felt a damned sight more settled since he'd put the boy's emerald ring on. Maybe it did protect the mind as he claimed.

He'd mull over all he'd learned over the last two days and then decide on how best to use the baton he'd been passed. Guardian eh? He'd thought he'd fought his battles, enough for this life but then again the thought of doing whatever he could to bring the world closer to what he saw here excited some younger more energetic part of him he'd thought had been squashed long ago.

He marvelled at all he'd seen here at the lake. Not just the abundance of unconditional love that connected these immortal beings. What they had built here so quickly, raised up from the very rock of the ground, was astounding in both its beauty and its simplicity. It was obvious the new community planned to live with the landscape rather than try to fight it or bend it to its will. Then there were the fairies who worked the land. Even now he could feel the precious drops of rain from the storm they'd ordered up.

Alpha approached and offered his hand. "We'll be seeing you again I have no doubt. Take care. The enemy is everywhere."

"I survived one war. I'll survive this one too. The boy said this would protect me." He glanced at the ring.

"It will but I would give you more if you would accept."

Curious Taz could do little but ask. "And what would that be?"

"We have a way among my people to bestow what we are on others. It grants long life and great powers of rejuvenation. The Malakim, whether born, ascended or made, do not die, we just keep evolving closer to the source of all."

Taz wasn't sure if he wanted to be stuck as he was now, for all eternity.

"You wouldn't be. In a fairly short space of time you would heal. Your physical age would reverse until you reached your peak. Outwardly you would look about twenty-five or so."

"Is that what is happening to JJ? With the hair falling out and all."

"Yes. It is much harder for the older of your kind to go through the process. We will help him through it. You're a little younger. It should not be so bad for you."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. The responsibility is mine to know that your soul is ready to shed its mortality. The way is the only thing that might repulse. You need to ingest blood, cum or saliva, freely given by a Malakim. It is for me to infuse it with my essence, to make it more than it is. It would create a kind of bond between us but not as strong as the soul bonding you have seen."

"So I won't suddenly get a desire to have sex with you?"

"Not unless that is already your inclination. It only makes you more of what you already are."

Taz wondered at the great gift being offered. What being didn't want to escape death? Yet did he deserve such a gift? He wasn't exactly an unblemished soul. He'd survived being a delivery truck driver in Afghanistan during the aftermath of the Taliban defeat. It hadn't been pretty. He'd had to make some pretty tough decisions just to survive. There were women and children in atrocious conditions his soul had wanted to help but practicality had said no. He hadn't had the funds, resources or backup to do more than send a few reporters and film crews in their direction to document the worst of it.

"It is you who judge yourself Taz, not I. You've done the best with who you are and the circumstances you've found yourself in. Become as us and in time you will learn to release the judgement, the hate, the disappointments and the regrets.You will learn to see through all the illusions."

Now that was tempting. A way out of the pain. "I haven't got the first clue how to go about that but if you're willing to offer this deal I'm willing to accept."

Alpha simply bit into his wrist. Blood welled from the wound. He offered his wrist to Taz.

Taz winced for a moment at the thought of the blood and saliva he was about to ingest but then thought better of it. Instead he drank with reverence and thanks. He raised his head from Alpha's wrist and saw that it was already healed. "What now?" He asked but Alpha had already disappeared before his eyes. _You will not be alone._ A whisper came to his mind. Shit, he'd guessed they were mind readers but the reality still shocked him.

He found another long stick, entered the fog of the portal and felt his way back to his ute.

Back on the open road, nearly home, the hairs on his back started to prickle. Damn. It was a sensation Taz had learnt never to ignore. He pulled off the road at the first opportunity and high tailed it into the bush for cover while he investigated and assessed whatever had set off his inbuilt alarm.

A gentle breeze brushed his arm, setting him on edge.

Eadaoin materialised before him. "Be at ease human but you are right to be on guard. Come, let me show you."

They were only a few hundred yards from his hut but he followed her through the surrounding bush nonetheless. There was a brightness that surrounded her being. The same brightness he'd seen around the Malakim. His ability to see it seemed to be improving. It was enough to reassure him that she was not the source of the threat.

As they neared the hut Eadaoin put her finger to her lips. _Use your mind to speak with me human. There are those here that would hear even the faintest voice._ She pointed to the black van that had just pulled up outside his front door. Several heavily armed individuals got out and proceeded to break down his front door. He watched as they wheeled out Yiannos bike, probably to examine it in the better lighting outside. How had they tracked it down?

Shit, he hoped his lizard knew to stay out of sight or it would get trampled in the destruction now befalling his home.

_Fear not human. I have already teleported him to Yiannos. They like each other. Yiannos will give him a good home_.

_And what about me?_ Taz mentally bemoaned.

Your destiny no longer resides here. You may reclaim your home one day, if you wish, but for now you need to leave.

And go where? Back to the lake?

No, you are needed elsewhere. The fates will smile on you but you need to be patient. Your time is not yet. For now head North. Stay off the roads. If you need food my kind will show you what is safe to eat and where to find it. They will also show you our secret caves. I will find you other help. Don't go back to your vehicle. The enemy has already found it and even now is moving closer. Go!

With nothing but the clothes on his back and his favorite knife Taz did just that. He headed North. Eadaoin had already gone.

###

###

### 14

Alessandra eyed the drop slowly growing on the pipe above her head. Any second now it would...Splash. A wet trickle slid down the side of her forehead dampening her perfectly permed hair. Damn, she'd only just had it done in Melbourne yesterday before flying back. "Look! For the umpteenth time, I told you guys. I DON'T know where my son would go."

A particularly foul breathed man with a moustache that was badly in need of trim hovered over. "We tracked his bike to a place near Foreston. Why would he go there?"

Foreston, Foreston. The name of that town was oddly familiar. "My daughter goes out camping that way sometimes when she's shirking her responsibility and loyalty to this family. Hell if I know if she's really my child. Maybe they switched her at birth."

Bad breath muttered. "Your son Mrs Munro. Why would he go there? To be with your daughter?"

"Hell no! Those two have nothing in common. Don't get me wrong, they get on well enough but my daughter's into rocks or something. You'd never drag my son away from his computers. I'd swear half the time he was hiding downstairs from me. Loves his computers more than he does people if you ask me. He'd never go camping with Eleni. There's no power out there and Eleni never takes a generator. Can't stand the noise or something."

"Where does she go camping?"

"For fuck's sake. How should I know?"

Bad breath growled. "You're their mother."

"So. Just because she came out of my body doesn't mean I know where she goes."

"You've never been camping with her?"

"Why would I do that? It would mess with my hair. I'd have to wash clothes by hand. There's no shower or hot running water." Alessandra swore as another drop splashed onto her face. "Look, could you stop this. It's her father you should ask. Not me."

"And where is he?"

"How should I know. The weak gutted bastard left me."

Bad breath rolled his eyes. "It's a wonder." They weren't getting anything useful out of her. He turned to the woman's brother who'd been the one to hand her over to them. "Take her away Acario, she's no use to us. We need to find either the father or this Taz character he holed up with."

###

###

### Epilogue

Three months later, autumn...

Eleni and Delta had gone bush foraging so Conn decided it was as good a time as any. "What you think Alpha? We gather up Bran and JJ and head in search of this place the fairies call Boswell? Yiannos and Evie can mind things."

"Sounds like a plan."

After consulting with the fairies for directions the four of them teleported into the tiny business district of the small highland town. They'd dressed up for the occasion, sort of, wearing some old shirts and trousers of JJ's that kind of fit them. They needn't have worried. The assembled hordes at the market hardly gave them a glance.

JJ noticed people who looked like Southeast Asians and South Americans mixing with the celtic-anglo-saxon locals. The Asian looking women wore little more than hand dyed sarongs, the men wore loin cloths. Their upper bodies and legs were 'clothed' with tattoos that caught Alpha's attention. The South Americans went the other way, the women wearing brightly colored layered skirts, white shirts and black bowler hats. The men wore cotton trousers and finely woven ponchos of llama hair. The locals wore anything and everything. Fairies of all sizes mingled with the crowd. Then there were the beings that fair glowed, the auras were so bright. JJ guessed these were the other Malakim they were seeking. He telepathed the others to get their attention. _Over there, next to the haberdashery stand_.

An imposing man with short cropped coppery colored hair and grey eyes watched their approach, as if he'd been expecting them. The warrior braided man with him must have sensed something and turned. Surprise and delight etched his face. The warrior nudged another, fairer complexioned male to get his attention. The woman with them stopped talking to the lady at the stall and smiled. "Welcome to Boswell." She came forward to hug each of them. "Well this is a surprise. Although this one probably knew." She nodded in the direction of the grey eyed male. "Anyway. My name's Tyra. Very pleased to meet you finally. These are my mates Thex, Arion and of course Simon."

"Simon?" Alpha couldn't quite place the name of the Malakim but his magenta and gold tinged aura marked him as a powerful mage and a practitioner of the sexual arts. "You're the seer." He realised in that moment.

"A bit grown up from the last time we met. Anglicised the name if you were wondering."

The Malakim began hugging each other and mind sharing as Tyra pulled JJ aside. "You're human aren't you?"

"Slightly altered. Had Bran's blood. That guy there."

Tyra blushed. "Yes, well, I won't say how I got my share of their essence."

JJ smirked and pursed his lips, mischief gleaming in his eyes. "I think I can guess. JJ's the name by the way. Now tell me. Does your friend here happen to sell any needles by any chance?"

Melissa extended her hand across the stall. "Certainly do. Any particular type you after?"

Eleni laid out across the soft cushion of dried out sphagnum moss, dozing beside Delta in the luxury of the late afternoon sun. _Guess we'll have to head in soon. The days are certainly getting shorter_.

Delta eased up on one elbow to peer at her friend. _Yeah, you're right but it is so damned nice here. Got enough for tonight's meal you think?_

Eleni cast her eye over their foraging baskets. Each basket was a masterpiece Conn had woven with love and care. This afternoon's haul of goodies included ripe berries, tubers, some edible flowers and a plentiful amount of seed heads from the local cutting grass, _Ghania_ something - she couldn't remember quite what. They would add the seed to their winter stockpile. The bush didn't give much in the way of succulent greens but the fairies had already seen to it that their greenhouses had the best of soil, nutrients and edible seeds from around the world. Next Spring would see them fully self sufficient and able to ease back on their harvest from the local landscape. For now they had enough mizuna, vietnamese mint, calendula, gotu kola and italian parsley to supplement their diet through the winter months ahead. _Yeah, I think we've got enough_.

They teleported back to the main complex on the island nearest to the shore. Water now lapped the pier where once there had been a steep drop off to the dried out lake bed below. The fairies had been kind to them. Mostly the needed rain had fallen between dusk and dawn. At other times the weather fairies waited until the inhabitants of the community were inside having a meal or even more pleasurable activities.

They rarely spoke out loud now, except to sing or harmonic chant. Being connected within each other's minds was so much closer, more intimate.

Eleni placed her baskets on the pier and looked across to the other islands. One housed Yiannos and Evie's data centre. Bran and JJ had set them up with solar power. Alpha had sourced some state of the art computer technology for them. He didn't say where from but Eleni suspected he'd thieved it from the enemy, right from under their noses. Evie had proven to be an ace student when it came to learning from Yiannos's brain. The two hacktivists frequently worked long into the night preparing to wreak havoc on one or more of the many criminal, terrorist or greed driven organisations that plagued the world outside. Just last week they'd given a government a list of individuals who were using their country's international aid to build their own empires. Along with the list was enough evidence to put the culprits away for a thousand years. The country was also gently told that if they didn't act on the information for fear of embarrassing the powerful individuals involved the list and the evidence would be released on the web. Naturally the country in question had decided there were lots of votes to be gained in acting on the information.

Bran and JJ spent most days pottering in their 'shed' which was really a multi level crystal extravaganza that had more than enough room for anything they chose to invent or needed to store. Their main interest seemed to be in inventing gadgets and technology that would use less of the world's resources and impact less on the environment.

On many an evening Bran would entertain them with music. JJ was learning music too. He'd built himself some kind of ancient druid's harp, straight from plans in Bran's head. Feeling through her mental connections she sent out a call to everyone. _Food'll be ready in about an hour._

While her mother and cousins would have found the whole idea of gathering and preparing food demeaning Eleni and Delta relished the task. They spent most of their days ambling through the bush and the island's gardens. Gathering their food supply was a chance to socialize with the fairies as well as the plants and animals...and the stones. There was always enough food left over from each night's feast to feed the others during the day. Eleni and Delta preferred just to snack as they roamed.

Conn communed with the all-spirit, as they all did to an extent, but for him his rituals, learned long ago, were his way to channel the all-spirit's energies back into the landscape, back into the planet. When he wasn't doing that he was managing their garden terraces, their composting and waste management systems. The fairies helped by giving them microbes that rapidly composted their waste, deodorized it and purified the outflow. Of an evening he wove his baskets with a view to trading some if he could find an outlet.

And Alpha? Well he enjoyed caring for them and their home. Finding nothing at all demeaning in hand washing the few bits of bedding they used, the loin cloths the guys wore and the girls' wrap around skirts. He dusted and scrubbed the main house in the utter peace of a mindful trance, with few distractions during the day to interrupt him. In the evening he'd sometimes tell them stories from the planet he'd grown up on before becoming immortal. He shared wisdom he'd learnt from his austerities and experiences of the sacred. His shortcuts to attaining that bliss that came from achieving total connection. And tonight he promised to show Eleni some designs he done for the tattoo she wanted him to do on her back.

After their evening meal they teleported over to Bran and JJ's 'shack' where JJ had set up an area for tattooing. Eleni feared the gear had been 'requisitioned' from some tattoo parlor. Eleni imagined there'd be some outlaw bikers hopping mad about now. As long as the mystery disappearance of the equipment didn't start some nasty range war she guessed it was okay.

JJ grinned, having read her thoughts. _Don't worry hon, Bran and I actually made all the gear this afternoon, using designs from Alpha's head. I got some sewing needles at the market, traded for some of Conn's wares. We repurposed the needles. A nice lady named Kit got hold of the inks for us when she heard about your desire for a horimono. They come all the way from Shinjuku in Japan I believe. Alpha teleported with her to get them and mind shared with one of the great master tattooists there. The guy was deeply into zen and had no trouble picking that Alpha and Kit were a bit otherworldly. He was happy to swap knowledge and swore to secrecy about the exchange. His only request was that Alpha never practise his new skills in Japan where he might be competition for the master._

Alpha laid a few sketches on the ground for Eleni to peruse. _This is what I've seen in your head. Is this what you are after?_

_Yes. Absolutely._ The sketches were in the horimono style but instead of traditional Japanese design they were based on the life around a billabong. At the base of the picture was a crystal cluster. From that flowed a clear pebble strewn creek. What looked like some of the endangered native Galaxias fish swimming in it, along with a platypus. Along the edge of the creek were sedges and reeds with a frog and a couple of dragonflies. Climbing up the blossoming wattle tree was purple flowered billiaderia creeping up the branches.

And a bird in the tree? Which do you prefer? The Superb Blue Wren or maybe a Dusky Robin?

It was almost too hard to decide. They were both beautiful but the blue of the wren resonated with the more mauvy blue of the vine in the tree. Both were complementary colors for the yellow of the wattle blossom. It just worked.

The Wren but he needs his mate with him.

Then you will need two males and two females. Maybe a couple in the tree and a couple in the undergrowth.

Eleni grinned. _Works for me._

Okay, but we won't get it all done at once. The master said it was best done in two hour blocks at least three nights apart. Tonight will be just about sketching out the basics onto your back. I'll start to fill it in from there.

So where do you want me?

Where do you think?

Oh!

Eleni settled herself on his very erect cock and then leaned forward to rest on her front, cushioned by pillows Conn had woven from reeds and stuffed with lichen. She settled her head in Delta's lap then worried that Conn was missing out.

_Don't worry about that sweetheart. Alpha will have to leave his prize pozzy when he starts drawing further up your back. I'll have my fun then._ Conn passed things as Alpha indicated he needed them.

Bran and JJ jammed together in one corner of the room, far enough away from the tattooing area to allow Eleni a veneer of privacy, if she needed it. They played flute and harp in a melody called a raga that Bran promised would encourage the tattoo to stay on Eleni's back rather than disappear due to her enhanced healing abilities.

Yiannos declared he couldn't watch and disappeared off with Evie. Whether to have a snogging session or to mentally swap code was anyone's guess.

Eleni felt a little embarrassed at having her dad in the same room but she hardly thought of him in his parental capacity these days.

Near nudity was commonplace in their small community. No one blinked an eye at seeing each other in their birthday suits nor were they embarrassed by open displays of affection between each other. If anything the intimacy they all had was deepened by being shared. Love was a kind of food for the community, strengthening their bonds and evolving their souls. Their crystal home vibrated with it. It was alive. She often stopped to commune with the house structure and share in its joy at what they were building together.

JJ and she had always been more like friends rather than father and daughter but that friendship was even deeper now. Back in his prime, the young man who was her dad sported a short ponytail down his back which he claimed he'd always wanted to grow but had never dared. He was the most relaxed and happy she'd ever seen him. He'd insisted on her allowing him to be here to 'supervise' the decoration of his only daughter's back. She could hardly refuse when he put it that way. A sudden thrust from Alpha put paid to her thinking.

Eleni, you forget who we are. What are we individually?

Impermanent unique expressions of the universal mind. Yiannos would say we were different instances of the one program, just with different sets of variables and parameters.

And what are we beyond that surface appearance?

Boundless space, infinite clear light, limitless love, joy and compassion.

So what is the purpose of the boundaries of skin and mind?

They are useful constructs that allow us to operate in this relative world we dream into existence but in truth there is no boundary. The boundaries are illusions of our creation. There is no boundary between any of us, either within time or space. There isn't really any us as such, just that indescribable oneness you guys call the all-spirit.

So worry like you were again and I'll spank you.

You can't do that while you're tattooing.

_No but I can bank it for a later date_.

_Oh._ Eleni quietly grinned to herself. She'd look forward to it. What else could she think about to accrue spanks?

_Eleni_.

_Yes_.

Have you ever heard of orgasm denial?

Shit. _I'll behave_.

_That's my girl_.

##

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## Afterward

This story is set at about the same time as Book 5 of the Left Hand Adventures series of erotic metaphysical romances I wrote. At the time of publishing Guardians of the Rasselas Book 5 was still in progress but this story can be read as stand alone without reference to the others. If you want the bigger picture please do check out the other titles in the series. Loosely based on old gnostic legends they cover a variety of metaphysical topics including tantra, the akashic, the nature of the non-local, the bardo and various other aspects of spiritual evolution. While it may be a surprise to some to find the erotic in such a series of novels it is in keeping with the premise of the books, that the relative world has merit too and that there are many spiritual paths, not just asceticism.

## For more about the author and her books visit:

● Twitter: <http://www.twitter.com/arwenjayne>

● Facebook: <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arwen-Jayne/114282508759132>

● Blog: <http://arwenjayne.blogspot.com.au/>

● email:arwenjayne@gmx.com

Or on the more alternative social media platforms:

● Gab: <https://gab.ai/Arwenjayne>

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● Ello: <https://ello.co/arwenjayne>

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## Books by the author:

Non fiction

● A simple nuts and bolts guide to yogic meditation and relaxation

● A short introduction to the Sattvic diet (aka Simon's cookbook)

Left hand adventures series

● Heart of Stone

● A Lick of Immortality

● Trust and Destiny

● Don't call me kitten!

● Guardians of the Rasselas (a novella)

● Don't label me!

● The Vampire President and the Headmistress (a novella that grew)

● My Inner Alien

● Rewriting the Dream

The Martian Vampire Chronicles

● An open connection of the heart.

● Beyond body, place and time

● Ideally Imperfect.
