***** Uneasy Alliance *****
Andrew knew his body had been destroyed, but as he felt Karen nestle against his side he struggled to care. Her naked flesh felt wonderful as she cooed and squirmed against his bony body, and he admired her face as it pinched up and wiggled while she dreamt. He caressed her back, feeling his weak muscles struggle to make even that simple movement, and was pleased as he felt her settle against him.
She had drifted off just after their final climax, the intensity of the experience and the knowledge that Andrew was safe allowing the protective woman to slip into a peaceful rest — something Andrew realized she had not had for some time. Karen was amazing, and more beautiful than he thought he deserved. While he studied his stunning mate, he felt Sara's exhilaration through their bond, and revelled in the knowledge that they had succeeded in saving her life.
When he closed his eyes and focused on the familiar space at the center of his mind, he shook his head and chuckled to himself, realizing that everything he did always seemed to have unintended consequences. Karen's sprite was there, dancing along the surface of the monolith, the radiant cloud of violet energy pulsing in the background behind it — weak, but rich with magical potential. And there, at the foot of the smokey-gray construct, sat Sara, though not any version of Sara that Andrew had ever seen.
She was amber and semi-transparent, just as she had appeared when he entered her mind, but she took the shape of a large ocelot, her mottled coat looking spectacular as it emanated muted tones of brownish-gold light. He knew it was her, the almond irises of the dangerous-looking cat speaking to him of a love and passion that he had only ever felt from Sara. The moment the cat stood, stretching out its long body and releasing a silent yawn, Andrew knew the truth of her.
Sara was, as Andrew and Karen had suspected, a fearsome predator. Her long claws and razor sharp teeth seemed dangerous beyond measure, and as she bounced her way over to him, he could see the unnatural grace he had come to expect from his feisty mate. She rubbed against his hip before pushing him to the side with her temple, her weight adding to the force of her affectionate display. Andrew ran his fingers through her spotted fur and knew she would never hurt him, despite the ferocity he could feel contained within her lean body. She was — as she had promised — his guardian, and for once he had been able to be hers.
Andrew could feel her emotions in thick waves of powerful intent; she was excited and revelled in what she was doing. Focusing on her, he could feel the cool late-summer wind, and sense trees moving around him in slow motion. He knew in that moment that he was sensing what she was experiencing somewhere far away. Andrew had always been able to sense her emotions, her sprite acting as a reflection of her mental state, but what he was experiencing right then was different; it was far more intense, and as he watched the forest move around him in slow motion, he knew that he was seeing the world outside of the glade passing by in a languid march through time.
Massaging the powerful feline's neck reminded him of how much Sara had changed, and how much more pronounced her presence would be within his mind from that day forward. As he studied the large cat, he wondered what those changes would mean for them. He wrapped his arms around her long neck and pulled her face against him, her fur tickling his flesh as he squeezed and caressed her purring head.
He chuckled and smiled to himself as he opened his eyes, the large cat walking and laying down beside the monolith, ever-present within his mind. "How the hell could my life get any stranger?" Andrew wondered to himself, as he looked up into the canopy of the forest while continuing to run his hand along Karen's back.
Tani'm was watching him from a dozen yards away, where she was wading into the pond. The small woman seemed conflicted about what to do, and Andrew was unsure what was going through her mind. The limited time he had shared with Karen since waking had been filled with few words, most of their utterances driven by a single-minded passion that they had used to save Sara. Nothing gave him any clue about why Tani'm was there, within their most secret and sacred place, but he knew that Karen would never have brought her if it weren't important. Tani'm stalked through the waters of the pond and seemed to be in deep contemplation as she studied Andrew, who was forced to guess at what was going on in the small woman's head.
She had come there of her own will, and must have helped to care for him, though he had no idea for how long, or what that had entailed. He watched her while he checked his mindscape, and was pleased when he found Karen and Sara around his monolith, but failed to find any new and unexpected points of light fluttering about. He was pretty certain that they were not Bonded, not yet anyway, though the part of him that dreaded the idea was silent as he considered the possibility of her joining their family.
Karen seemed to like Tani'm; he knew that from the few amorous feelings he had felt wash over his French mate as she gazed at the small woman while riding him, not long before. Andrew knew that no matter how much Karen wished it, her desires would not be able to pull Tani'm into their fold. The sad truth, Andrew was forced to admit, was that he had no idea what brought Sara and Karen into his life. All he knew was that he did not want to force that upon Tani'm, no matter how tempting she looked as she stared daggers at him from the center of the pond.
Andrew recognized that the small woman was a complete mystery to him, and nervously laughed at the return of a familiar feeling; he was comforted as he felt a bit of his old shy anxiety build up within him.
"So..." Andrew began, "how's the hand?"
Tani'm drifted through the pond, her brown eyes following Andrew as she enjoyed the soft, cool water coursing between her fingers. She squinted while she studied the small man, her gift reaching out and sensing everything within the glade — every branch of every tree, every leaf of every plant, and every root that ran through the rich and magical soil. Everything traced back to the ward, strength and vitality coursing out from that single point, a point that befuddled and defied Tani'm's gift.
She had tried to understand the ward, but as Karen had warned her, it shifted and changed within her mind, every segment growing hazy and distant until it faded from her consciousness and left nothing but frustration in its wake. That annoyance, combined with what she had learned from Karen — that Sara and Karen had Bonded with Andrew within the mystical place they found themselves in — had her bordering on terrified.
Tani'm had learned a painful lesson from nature, that often the thing that seemed the most innocent and beguiling, hid the darkest danger.
A large part of her wanted to flee, but there was something about the glade that kept her from leaving. It wasn't a compulsion of the magical place that was being forced upon her, but the way it seemed to resonate within her, that kept her from finding her way home. Through the glade, she had felt closer to her gift than ever before. She could no longer feel the forest that rested outside of the beguiling place. Instead, she was surrounded by that magical space, the plants and even the water within saturated with magic, standing in defiance to her understanding.
She could feel her powers coursing through her body, her energy feeling boundless, and she marvelled as she realized how much she still had to learn about herself. There had always been aspects to her gift that she felt just out of reach, powers which she could feel just on the other side of some unseen barrier. Gifts that felt so close now that she found herself within the glade, where suddenly, their presence was a nagging reminder of a time long gone, a time when she was discovering her powers and mastering them for the first time.