“Okay. So tell me do you have a tendency to lock up or embrace Joseph during orgasm?”

“Well a little. I mean I like to wrap my legs around him. I guess I need to stop that?”

“Until you learn some more control yes. Now what I would suggest is that whenever you realize you're about to release that you take hold of your own hands and hold them above your head to insure that you don't take hold of him. You might want to try locking your ankles together as well though. Another possibility is if you can drive your legs into the ground instead of locking them around him. Just make sure you push them into the ground and don't throw yourself into the air. That can take some getting used to.”

“I'm suppose to remember that in the throws of passion?”

“Well that's why I suggested you start off slowly at first. Eventually it will become second nature and the experience will be a lot safer for Joseph. Another option though I recommend saving it for special times is to have Joseph drink a potion of bark skin or even stone. If you can't restrain yourself you can increase his ability to endure some abuse.”

“Oh that would be nice! It'd be something of a problem whenever he didn't have such a potion though wouldn't it?”

“Indeed. Your body may forget that he's currently not augmented by a potion and instead of ending the experience with a lover you end it with two halves of one.”

“Mom that's an exaggeration!”

“OH you don't believe you could snap him in half during a moment of passion?” As she spoke Flora took a step forward so that she was looking down into her daughter's eyes. She then reached down and took hold of Maria's thighs. “Maria you have more muscle in this leg then Joseph has in most of his body and a lot more strength. You really don't think in a moment of passion you could squeeze him too tightly and break him in half?”

“I would never do that to him!”

“Just like you'd never beat the day lights out of him to get yourself off?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why did you?”

“Huh?” For a moment understanding left Maria as she looked at her mother. Her mouth opened but no words came out and she turned her eyes towards the ground.

“Now Maria I know that you didn't hurt him on purpose but you still injured him. Don't forget that again.”

“I won't.”

“That's good.  Now let me tell you about some of the fun things you can do with him now. You're not quite the same size I was when I was a keeper but you're getting there so you should be able to have some fun. One thing I really suggest you do is have Joseph try to climb you while you use your tail to defend yourself. Now don't push him but try tickling him and getting into his intimate areas. You'll have to be a bit more aggressive then I was since you're smaller but it can be great fun.”

“Um mom we don't really need to.”

“None sense. I told you that you could still interact with him just not take hold of him so I need to tell you how exactly.”

“Mom that's really not necessary.”

“Now let's see here. Oh I know. Have you tried giving Joseph a chest ride?”

“A what?”

“A chest ride.” As she spoke Flora folded bot her arms underneath her chests so that she was pushing up on her massive breasts. “This is something only the bigger sisters can do but what you do is you place your mate or bed time partner atop your breasts and then fold your arms under them to give support. At least you do if you need the extra muscle to support their weight. Then they take hold of the sides of your head or ears and you take their penis into your mouth. You then give them a ride.” With the word ride Flora gave her breasts a quick push causing them to bounce considerably. “You've got to be careful not to throw them off but most brothers I know love it. You haven't given Joseph one yet?”

“No! I haven't!” As she responded Maria couldn't help but blush as she stared at her mother.

“Well now that you're large enough you're going to have to give him one. Though perhaps you should work on your coordination and control a bit first. I mean you do have to be careful about your teeth.”

“Mom! Can we talk about something else?”

“Hm then again. You're not the four meters tall that this normally calls for and.” As she spoke Flora bent at the waste slightly and took a good look at her daughter's chest. “I'm not certain if you're quite large enough just yet.”

“Mom I swear I'm going to claw you if you keep this up!”

It was impossible for flora to keep from giggling as she looked at her daughter. “Oh well alright. I guess that's enough advice from your mother for now.”

A long sigh escaped Maria. She could still feel herself blushing though her fur hid this fact from her mother's eyes. She felt certain her heart beat was giving it away though. “Mom you've done some kinky stuff in your time.”

“Oh Maria you don't know the half of it. There was this one”

“Mom! I wasn't bluffing.”

“Fine fine. Still if you ever need to know something to spice up things a bit between you and Joseph let me know. You know I had to get a lot of experience in order to have two daughters.”

As Maria was listening to Flora she was already beginning to think she should have asked Mina about these matters. After all while Flora had been a good mother she never had a mate and didn't seem interested in one. Mina on the other hand had been settled down with Dan for several years now. “I”ll keep that in mind.”

“Oh Maria. If Joseph doesn't feel comfortable with your ears you can always braid. Ow! Maria that wasn't nice.”

It was impossible for Maria to keep from glaring at her mother as she retracted her claws. While she normally wouldn't have scratched her mother she had given Flora warning enough several times over. The fact that her mother was already beginning to giggle took away any feelings of guilt as well “You. Are. Impossible.”

***************************************************************************************************

Maria didn't know what to think as she dashed through the forest. Currently she was on her way to check on the tainted land they'd recently cleansed and check into any further activity. It was a strange situation though. Despite learning that the spirit's movements in the shadow realm were controlled by the movements of the kobolds in the physical world the tainted lands were appearing at very unusual locations. There was no clear pattern or even anything that looked like a pattern forming and it was proving frustrating. There should have at least been several desecrated areas leading to and connecting the given locations they could follow but there just wasn't.

Was this the spirits doing? Perhaps it was having the kobolds taint random areas so that it's true movements couldn't  be seen. It would have been reasonable considering the hunt for them. However, the brothers seemed confident that the spirit hadn't even stepped into those regions of the shadow realm between the desecrated sights. It was proving quite frustrating for everyone.

Ziphod  sat quickly with his winged wrapped around himself. A small cut upon his wrist allowed his blood to flow out while he spoke just under his breath the whole time listening to the forest around him. He had to be careful to listen to his surroundings as he recited the chant which would allow his master to step foot on the ground. This brought a smile to creatures face revealing a set of razor sharp teeth. The creature had clearly be conditioned to feed on flesh. His smile went away though as he heard the sound of a branch bending more then it should have and he glanced behind himself.

Maria couldn't believe what she was seeing. The creature looked to be a kobold though it was clearly larger then one. It's head reminded her that of a hairless rat's as did its ears which pivoted and moved about even as he looked at her. In its right hand it clutched a dagger though she doubted the creature truly needed one as she looked at long yellowed claws. It's skin shown with a sheen most kobolds lacked and she could have sworn it had scales. What made the creature stand out the most though wasn't its sizes or scales but rather the wings upon its back. Her ears were struck by a harsh scream seconds later and the creature pushed off the ground.

He had been spotted. The fact slammed into Ziphod and he knew what he had to do immediately. He rushed the creature and quickly clamped his mouth together. A spark was generated as its teeth ran against one another and as the creature opened his mouth a wave of fire shot forth from it. Ziphod's wings curved into the air helping to direct the fire and seeming to push it forward even as he rose towards Maria. A sharp pain in his shoulder halted his movement though as he found himself twisting in the air and frantically beating his wings to try to regain control.

Maria didn't know what the creature truly was but it looked like a kobold and behaved like one as well. She had no trouble striking the creature as she easily evaded its attack. As her feet came to rest upon the ground though she was surprised whenever she looked up and saw the creature adjusting its wings. While she had expected her kick to send it slamming into the ground the kobold was actually beginning to regain control.. A low growl escaped Maria as she quickly pushed off the ground and picked up speed in only a few moments. Whatever this was it wasn't getting away. This time her claws extended as she moved to clip the creature's wings.

Ziphod had for a moment forgotten what he was dealing with. This wasn't some wolf or another kobold. This was their greatest enemy and for all his abilities he wasn't a match for one alone. Retreat came to his mind as he realized that it would be better to escape them allow himself to be captured for study. This thought hardly had time to form though before Ziphod felt a sharp pain in his right side and found himself falling towards the ground. Instinct took over and he began to rapidly beat his wings however he only heard the sound of one flapping.

Maria held her ground for a moment as she continued to clutch the creature's wing. She lifted it to her nose and took in a few deep breaths before quickly removing it a revolted look on her face. “You wreak of sickness.”

“Grah! Cursed creature!” Ziphod growled as he slammed into the ground and fell into a defensive stance remaining on all fours. He now realized his wing had been removed and quickly brought his tail up wrapping it around the hilt of the dagger he'd brought with him. Even as his tail worked though he once again scraped his feet together and sent another wave of fire rushing towards Maria.

“You can talk.” As the words left her mouth Maria chose not to dodge the fire but quickly slashed at it with her claws. The result was nearly immediately. The flame met her hand and the rush of wind tore the flames apart disappearing them around Maria. “Well that hardly makes this situation any better!” A low growl escaped Maria as she once again rushed towards the kobold.

Ziphod knew that Maria was going to attack him. As the kobold stood his ground though he wasn't prepared for her speed and once again pain shot throughout his body. He heard a wet slap as something hit the ground and knew immediately that a good portion of his tail had just been removed. He no longer had his dagger. “Grah!” Rage flooded the creature's mind as he quickly spun around and began to rush towards Maria.

A fire breathing kobold with wings. That wasn't a pleasant thought. As Ziphod rushed her Maria noticed something else very different. As a sister grew up she learned to tell how tough something was based on how her claws felt as she cut through it. This creature had left her claws tingling just after two swipes. What would happen after ten or a hundred? The thought wasn't a pleasant one as she slammed her foot into the creature's jaw. At least this one was still too weak to be a match for her.

Ziphod would have opened his mouth to shriek but once again his teeth were forced together. This time they didn't stop though with striking the flame but as the kick shattered his jaw his own teeth were forced up into the roof of his mouth and the flames were once again lit. This time they found little release though as they roared to life within the kobold with no path of escape searing the inside of its head and throat.

Maria was actually rather surprised whenever she saw small streaks of flame shoot out on either side of the creature's mouth. For a moment she just watched as the kobolds eyes rolled up into the back of his head, his legs were made to tremble and then he fail to the ground. A rush of energy shot throughout Maria and she considered crushing the creature's skull. Instead she took a deep breath and walked over to the kobold and picked it up. Her sisters would want to see this and her brothers would as well. For a moment she held still and listened to the creature to see if it was still alive before dashing into the forest. She thought she heard a heart beat but with such a strange creature she couldn't be certain.

***************************************************************************************************

“How is your leg doing?”

Dinon grinned as he looked up at Kelah from his seated position. “It's feeling better. The shaman really did a wonderful job on it. I could rejoin the patrol if you'd just give the word.”

“No. You just set there and continue trying to speak with the spirits and learning what's going on.” As she was speaking Kelah moved over to stand closer to Dinon and look into the tiny fire he had set before him. The flames appeared to be dancing despite the tiny nature of the flame and she felt confident that he'd been speaking with the spirit of fire he'd contracted.

“Alright but I'm sort of running out of options. We're on pretty good terms with the spirits of water and land that claim this domain and the spirits of death that have gathered don't seem interested in making deals. Then again I don't suppose they have a reason to given that they're going to get to feed no matter what. If we want any further aid we'll have to start picking sides or making better offerings.”

“I'm not ready to start picking sides amongst the spirits here just yet. We already have a battle in the physical world we don't need one in the shadows as well.”

To this Dinon gave a nod and looked down at his leg. They'd been attacked a few days ago and he'd gotten separated from the others for a few moments. A few of the water kobolds had managed to get hold of his leg and it had been looking rather ugly for a while. Some sowing the leg back together and healing from the shamans had done wonders and he already felt ready to rejoin the battle. Kelah wasn't ready to allow it just yet though so he'd been remaining at their base camp and doing what he could. “Kelah can we win this?”

“Oh! I have no ideal. I mean they're easy enough to kill one on one but they're just so damn many of them. My axes have been enjoying themselves that for certain.”

“Does that ever bother you? The fact that you're using two weapons that feed on blood?”

“I'm used to it and besides it's natural to feed on life energies. We do it whenever we eat after all. I just think of them as part of my pack.”

“Do you ever wonder about them though? I mean what if they're more then just weapons? Have you ever considered the ideal that they have a mind of their own?”

“They do.”

“Huh?”

“Well they do an extent. Whenever I slice them into an enemy I feel a satisfaction that goes beyond my own feelings or that of night fang. Whenever I clean blood from them before its been taken in I feel a hunger and an anger. Heck I have even felt that whenever I pulled them out of an enemy too quickly. In the heat of the battle I can even feel their desire to be sunk into the living and feed. Now I don't know if they're actually capable of things like planning and memory but they do have a mind even if its a basic one.”

“I see. Then do you believe that they could influence your mind as well?”

“Haven't you ever wondered why the tribe is so picky about who gets to use them?”

“I never gave it much thought. I knew I would never get to use them so I never thought about them.”

“Some say that the spirit of the dragon still holds a connection to these weapons. Others seem to believe that it's a different spirit which has taken up residence within them or perhaps the spirit was formed over the generations by each person to hold the axes. I'm not really certain. My attempts to speak with the axes have always been quite limited and I've never gotten a clear response back. Wouldn't it be interesting if the spirit inside of the axes was sleeping?”

“You mean it could go through all of this and still sleep? That would be quite a heavy sleeper indeed.”

“True but if none of this bothered the spirit just imagine what the weapons would be like once it woke up.”

“Kelah with what you just told me about how those axes make you  feel that isn't exactly a comforting thought.”

“Ah. Don't be that way.” As she spoke Kelah reached out with her right arm and gave Dinon a quick jab to the upper arm.

“I'm just saying here. If they can influence you while they're napping then they may be a bit much to handle while awake.”

“Perhaps so. So which do you believe is more likely to wake them up, not feeding them enough or feeding them too much?”

“If I knew I don't believe I'd tell you. You'd probably try to find out.”

“Now that's not being a good sport. Anyway, I'm going to get moving again there are still areas to search. Perhaps after tonight I'll be ready to let you return to patrolling the beach and forest.”

“Hey Kelah. Once this is all over do you plan on going back to the main village or are you going to stay here and help with the new village? Perhaps you could become this village's chief.”

“Mm I hadn't really given it much thought. I'm the war leader of our people I really don't believe I could perform that roll and be chief of a village at the same time even a small one. Then again the ideal of defending both villages over such a vast distance isn't exactly a comforting one. If one was attacked and I was at another village by the time I arrived it would probably be far too late.”

“That's true. I guess those orcs who choose to live here will have to have a chief and defender of their own.”

“I suppose so. Are you thinking about applying for the job?”

“No thanks. I don't believe I'd like the responsibility.”

“I believe you'd make a good chief.”

***************************************************************************************************

“Well this ranks pretty high on the list of things I didn't want to see.” As he was speaking Mirin lifted the still attached wing of the kobold in order to get a better look at it.

“I'm sorry I killed it. I just thought my kick would knock it out.”

Carter placed a hand on Maria's shoulder as he spoke. “That's alright Maria. You didn't know what this thing was or that you needed to be a little more gentle with it. Just the fact that you found this thing and brought it back is rather important. Mirin do you believe this could be how that area of the protected zone became tainted?”

“That's not a pleasant thought but it is possible. Damn it. They're making a new type of kobold no wonder they needed a mage..”

Carter, “Still to do this in such a short time period.  Not only the short time period of development but it's already an adult.”

Mirin, “We don't know how long the time of development might have been. This could have been in the works for decades and the mage was the final piece. If development only began after the mage was obtained though this is a truly frightening thought. Maria this is the only one you saw?”

“Yes.”

Mirin, “I suppose we'll have to tell our sisters to start look to the skies above the trees now as well. Exactly how strong would you say these things are Maria?”

“Honestly slicing through steel plate armor doesn't bother me as much as this thing did. It's skin is remarkably tough. Also it's sent sort of reminds me of a dragons then again that might just be my mind playing tricks on me from the way it breathed fire.”

Mirin, “Let's hope that they can't reproduce like kobolds can as well. Maria I want you to tell me everything you can about this creature including its fighting abilities. Carter take this thing to the rest of the others and tell them to get to work  examining it.”

“Who should get to work examining it? It's not like anyone has any free time. Everyone is either recovering from work or busy working on something.”

“Whoever can spare the time to investigate a threat we know nothing about.”

***************************************************************************************************

Kersara took in a deep breath as she looked at Maria and organized her thoughts. “Maria that is not good news.”

“I know. According to our brothers the creatures skin is as tough as a basilisk's armored hide. It's not exactly a problem for our claws but in large enough numbers well. They also report that its claws seem to release a rather noteworthy paralytic toxin not to mention their ability to breath fire and fly. They're really something else.”

“Have you warned the orcs about this yet?”

“Mirin actually had me go warn them first as they're the most vulnerable. He then sent me here to warn you and the others.   After I'm done here I'm going to have to run down as many druids as I can. How have things been going here?”

“We're holding up pretty well. The attacks seem to come at random though I believe it's based on how long it takes them to rebuild their numbers for a push. Nothing anywhere near the difficulty of the first day of fighting has happened though since we managed to set up a strong defensive position.  Kelah keeps reminding us that we're facing an enemy that we can't truly see though and that we can't relax.”

“The orc war leader?”

“Yeah. I have to say for an orc she's kind of frightening whenever I see her on the battlefield. I guess they're some that can move beyond their frail bodies.”

“Coming from you that's really something else. Last I checked you'd labeled some of us as frail.”

Kersara couldn't help but grin as she gave a nod. “Well some of our sisters do rely far too much on our natural abilities and don't really push themselves. At least you like to go for a good run every day.”

“I imagine some of them do wish they'd taken conditioning their bodies more serious. Anyway that's all I know about these new things for the moment. That said let's hope that the one I found and killed is the only one of them.”

“Maria I don't believe we have that luxury.”

“You're probably right. I guess we weren't the only ones that decided we needed to increase our combat strength. Now we're just going to have to do our best and find out who's increase theirs the most and the fastest. Let's just not make the mistake of only relying upon our brothers. We have brains of our own and we can better ourselves just as well even if we can't increase our size.”

“Hm I wonder if Kelah would be willing to teach me a few fighting techniques of hers.”

***************************************************************************************************

As the clear liquid poured into the channel Joseph couldn't help but grin as it began to spread. He turned his attention to Dan for a moment he seemed to be smiling just as much as he was. “So I hope this stuff actually can handle all the energy that's going to be flowing through her once it is filled with the bloom.”

“You're not the only one but according to our test and calculations it should be able to handle triple what it will be dealing with so we should be fine. Hey Joseph have you considered what sisters will be receiving their shapers first?”

“Honestly I don't believe that's going to be our call. It seems more likely that will be up to the other ranks though we may all get to cast a vote on it. Why do you ask?”

“It's just something that I've been thinking about. Who do you believe should receive the first shapers?”

“Well your Mina seems like a good choice. She's both a keeper and mutated so that she's more powerful then normal. Also as she's staying in the village area now she's also closer to the system.”

“Yeah. Mina gets chosen to enjoy a lot of benefits these days though I do feel she's earned every one of them. What about your Maria though? She's still technically a guardian after all.”

For a moment Joseph said nothing but looked back down at the solution. “I would really appreciate it if she was chosen to receive one of the first shapers. She isn't a keeper but she has earned her way back up to guardian and she's got quite a powerful mutation herself. She's also been a lot of help lately and has been really good about staying on her diet. I mean the only time she put on an additional height it was my fault.”

“I really believe Maria would be a keeper by now if she hadn't made a mistake in the past but then again if she had then she wouldn't be so fast. She would also have around twenty years of living experience on you. How do you think you'd feel about that?”

“Honestly if Maria hadn't made her mistake in the past I don't even know if I would have approached her. After all one of the reasons I tried to cure her is I believed that she was a child. Then again I'm not certain if it would have made a difference. Maria had to know that I was there after all. I kind of doubt that she would have just let me turn and sneak away especially with those guards after me.”

“You're probably right. You might have ended up as a claimed like I did in the beginning though.”

“Yeah but that means you would have learned about the life bloom sooner. After all, last I heard the claimed don't have rights to such property here.”

“No they don't. Your notes would have been taken from you and used to redevelop the life bloom. I don't know if they could have done it without your skill but then again they might have.”

“So this garden might have been even bigger by now and the sisters would have been better off. I wonder what Maria would be like then. You know she takes a lot of pride in her speed though she doesn't boast of it often or well I wouldn't say she really boast she has fun with it.”

“I know. Anyone who watches Maria knows that her speed isn't entirely the mutation. I've seen how she looks after she comes back from a good run.”

“What has you thinking about who will be receiving the first shapers though?”

“Well. I was just thinking about the distrusted and this whole system. I mean I believe Mina deserves what she's gained and so does Maria but they're always chosen to be the first. Thus the best always get better while everyone else stays the same or gets worse at least for a while that's how it is. I can't help but think others have noticed this and probably become frustrated by it.”

“I suppose but it wouldn't be fair to those who worked the hardest to watch the least enjoy the benefits of their efforts either.”

“Well that is true as well. I just wonder about the distrusted is all and when I think about my child I can't help but ask some questions. Mostly I wonder if their father had been a bigger part in their lives would they have turned out the way they did. I know that I plan to be there for my child whether the child is a boy or girl.”

“I really don't know the answer to that question and I doubt anyone does. How many of the distrusted were the children of claimed though?”

“I'm not certain. I imagine a great many where though. I wonder if it's wise to allow a sister that would rape a claimed for her pleasure to raise a child at times. After all wouldn't that be the one that's most likely to turn up as a distrusted?”

“Who can say? Perhaps it's the children of brothers who aren't ever there for their daughter who end up as distrusted. After all unlike the claimed their parent has little reason not to spend time with them. Their father is already an accepted member of the society after all and has far more free time then any claimed most likely.”

“You have a point there.  Actually, I wonder if anyone has ever taken the time to ask where the father was in the life of the distrusted and find out for certain. It may reveal something. It might reveal something that a few don't want to know about. That's actually quite a thought there Joseph. Then again I suppose you've already asked a few questions none of the brothers thought to ask before.”

“Yeah but this one might get a lot of people angry at me.”

“Wouldn't it be best to know which one it is. After all, even if a brother and sister aren't mates if they have a child together I don't see why the father shouldn't be there. Just letting the mother take the responsibility even if she feel it's fine just isn't right.”

“Do you believe Stella would agree with you? She seems quite content to raise Allen on her own. I suppose the fact that our sisters have nearly limitless stamina helps in that though. No running one of them to the point of exhaustion.”

“Even if the mother doesn't believe anything is wrong that doesn't mean it's okay for the father not to be there for the child.”

“You mean in the case of a brother.”

For a moment Dan said nothing but looked at Joseph. He then let out a rather noteworthy sigh. “Joseph I really hate the claimed system to be honest with you. These past few weeks though I've began hating the fact that a claimed if lucky enough to get a sister pregnant can choose to leave and not even try to take care of their child or children. Not only are they allowed to leave but they're given a safe escort out of the forest. It might be good for keeping the sisters numbers up but it's not fair to the child.”

“I wonder if those men even view their children as just that. Many of them may view them as monsters considering the mother. Many of them may be just having sex with a sister to help conceive a child to regain their freedom with no thought on the well being of the child. Are you sure that's the type of person you want playing parent to a child?”

“No. That doesn't excuse our brothers.”

Now it was Joseph's turn to think and nod. “Yes I agree with that. Once again though we can't just assume that every brother who doesn't have a mate leaves it up to the sister to raise the child. This is the type of thing you don't want to risk making assumptions on after all. I guess thoughts of your own child has you pretty torn up whenever it comes to such matters though.”

“Like you wouldn't believe. I actually got kind of pissed off thinking about Desmon earlier. The thought of how he left to continue his druid training and how rarely he came to see Pera. It just really made me upset. Especially considering how Pera looks up to him.” 

For a moment Joseph said nothing but turned his attention towards the solution filling the channels. “Dan would you mind starting work further down the channel? I'm about empty and we don't want to risk a void forming.”

“Sure. Is something on your mind though you sounded distracted just now?”

“Why should Desmon have to give up his druidic training whenever a sister and her mother could easily be comfortable in the forest living in his environment?”

“Well because it's just that.” For a moment Dan found himself going silent and looking at Joseph. “Okay you have me there and I suppose he didn't entirely abandon Pera. He was actually quite active in her life for the first few years from what I know and his visits became less frequent as time went on. I guess she could have tracked him down just as easily as he could have came and visited her at that point though.”

“So as long as the father was active in her life perhaps during the first five years? How much could you really put off on him? After all it's not like the brothers are out of reach to the sisters. They're actually quite available.”

“Yeah. Yeah that's a fair point. Still, those first few years are important for being there.”

“On that I agree entirely. Still be careful Dan. You don't want to risk smothering your daughter after all and for a moment there you sounded like you were liable to.”

“Yeah I should be careful about that or she's liable to end up smothering me. Did you know that it can be a real issue if a sister proves too attached to her father while young?”

“I can think of a few reasons for that but do you have any horror stories for me?”

“Well there was one case I learned about in which a one year old sister went looking for her father while no one was looking. She ended up effectively clawing the front door open and wondering off. It caused a huge stir because the mother only learned about where the child had gotten off to whenever she was found with the father at the library.”

“Oh that doesn't sound good. Was he hurt?”

“He was fine. He was a natural born brother and knew how to handle a little sister. He'd pretty much gotten her off to sleep but the mother. Well from what I know she got one heck of a chewing out and there was even talk about giving the child to a more experienced parent.”

“Did they?”

“No. She was young and it was forgiven as an honest mistake that was brought on by the inexperience of youth. Well she wasn't given any direct punishment to my knowledge. I'm about out of solution here Joseph would you begin work on the next area?”

“Sure. I guess you don't make a mistake like that here without having some social issues.”

“You don't. You most assuredly don't.”

***************************************************************************************************

Mirin didn't like what he was looking at. The trees before him were sickened and twisted their branches seemed to have been hardened and formed into spikes and their roots seemed to be trying to rip themselves free from the blackened earth. There was an odd smell in the air that nearly made him gag and he covered his nose as he looked at the area. He knew for certain that the kobolds had been here and moved over the area in great numbers. “This is disturbing.”

Desmon didn't speak with words right away but let lose a low growl as he looked at the sickened plants. “We are nearing our destination.”

“Desmon can you tell me what happened to these trees?”

“Their spirits have been killed and drained away by the amalgam most likely and the spirits of death  but not entirely.  They're kept just barely alive and wrapped in these shells so that they may endure a little longer and their passing in the physical world won't be known quite as soon. Mirin I must ask you and your brothers to burn this area. Light it all aflame.”

To this Mirin gave a nod. “I do not know how such a large fire will behave in this world Desmon. Would you have us burn them now?”

“Yes. Use the flame as a blade to cut deeply into our enemies. Push the flames forward.”

For a moment Mirin was silent and then gave a nod. “Brothers direct your fire to me. Carter, Midon your magics will be added to mine and we will create the flames. Everyone else you are to help direct the flames into the enemy territory. Desmon if you could help it would be appreciated.”

To this Desmon gave a nod and turned to the trees. “This is all that I can do for you. You will be free of this creatures clutches and may life once again claim this area.”

“Nurturer, destroyer, guiding light and devourer, purifier come to my hands. Let your touch engulf all that stands before me and may your grasp be tightened as they fall.” As Mirin spoke the words helped to direct his energies calling together his power and that of Carter and Mildon. The energy began to focus in the staff before him which soon began to glow red with the gathering energy. The crimson energy grew more intense and brighter until it began to sway about and dance with the words and the sound of crackling could soon be heard. While a simple fire spell would have required no words from Mirin this was not such a simple spell. “Infernal roar!”

While Mirin had been speaking Desmon had been bracing himself to help direct the flames. As the energy took form though he found the energies pushing with an aggression he hadn't been prepared for. The shriek from the flames reminded him of a banshees and the light was nearly blinding. There was a moment that the heat seemed to reach him and then the fire surged forward into the tainted lands. A bright light radiated out from somewhere within the tainted land and he felt a surge of heated air slam into his face with such ferocity that he could have sworn he felt his skin drying and cracking while his eye brows tried to curl up.

Mirin took in a deep breath as he raised an arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. He took a moment to look towards the flames as they rapidly spread engulfing the trees and gave a slight whistle. “That wasn't suppose to happen.”

Now Desmon turned his attention to Mirin instead of the fire. “What!”

“For a moment there I thought the spell would engulf us if you all hadn't been pushing it would have. That was far more powerful then it should have been.”

Instead of responding right away Desmon looked towards the trees and noted how rapidly the fire was spreading. “It's the spirits. They want their imprisonment and torment to end. They were lending the flames strength.”

“How dare you!”

Mirin couldn't help but cringe as the words slammed into him seemingly with a power of their own. The ground beneath his feet seemed to shift but he didn't turn his gaze in that direction. Rather he noted a massive black form leaping over the flames to land before them. As the creature slammed down upon the earth Mirin could have sworn he heard the earth beneath its feet crack and the massive creature stood up to its full height.  The creature stood at least six meters tall and was covered in jet black fur except for its eyes, teeth and claws. Its features were most assuredly feline and female except for several tendrils that extended out from its massive body. As the creature released another roar though Mirin found it had more then one set of teeth. Several mouths throughout the creature's body were made to open up.

“Damn they captured one!”

“Desmon what is that thing?”

“It's one of the spirits of protection from your village! They must have captured her and tainted her.” Even as Desmon was speaking he'd braced himself and moved to the front of the mages to meet the creatures glare. As he did so though he could already feel the beast's power.

For a moment Mirin didn't know what to say as he turned and looked at the spirit. As their eyes met he had to ask. “What's your name?”

A low growl escaped the spirit as she looked at Mirin. Avora knew that the enemy had been approaching but she hadn't expected them to make such an entrance. Now her forest was on fire and she could feel the rage building up inside of her. “I'll consume you all for what you've done!”

Desmon wasn't surprised whenever the spirit lunged towards them instead of answering Mirin. Immediately he moved to intercept the spirit releasing a feral roar as he leaped towards her. Pain met him as one of her tendrils struck him in the side seemingly in an attempt to deflect his attack. Rather then let himself be pushed aside though Desmon opened his mouth and sunk his teeth deeply into the tendrils. The creature released a violent hiss and he immediately lashed out at her with his claws using the hold of his mouth to give him some more leverage as she clawed away at the creature. This being had the form of one of the sisters but she wasn't one.

While Avora had intended to kill the mage who had spoken to her first clearly the bear wanted her attention. Feeling the creatures claws sink into her she gave the druid her attention and moved to impale him with her tendrils. As the blackened extensions rushed towards him though they were met by sudden resistance and a brilliant light surrounded Desmon and stopped the attacks. Immediately she turned her gaze back to the mages to find that they'd taken on a different stance. The five of them now stood in a star formation each one of them chanting. She didn't know who had cast that spell but they were clearly back on her list. “Get off me creature!”

While the shield had saved him from the first attack Desmon could help but note a sudden rush of energy and a loud snap as the barrier failed. He felt the creature shiver as if breaking the barrier had injured it but then he felt her claws slam solidly into his side. To his delight he didn't release his hold on her though pain surged through his body. To his dismay though he found himself rolling across the ground having torn away a chunk of her.

A cry of pain escaped Avora even as she rushed towards the mages. A flicker caught her attention though and her feet quickly left the ground leaping into the air to avoid the fireball. As she did so though she noted another far more intense flicker and immediately began to twist her body as another massive wave of fire rushed towards her. She wasn't able to avoid this one and felt the flames engulfing her burning her and pushing her backwards.

Mirin felt sickened as he watched the creature fly through the air and slam into the ground. “Desmon I thought you said that thing was based on our sisters.”

“It is.”

“Our sisters wouldn't have been that fragile.” A notable roar did nothing to change Mirin's thoughts on the matter as he looked towards the creature standing up. “You're just a weakling a pail shadow of our true siblings.”

“I am no kin of yours!”

Carter, “No. You're far too stupid.” With those words Carter watched as the creature was engulfed in a torrent of lightning being channeled by the other three brothers. A harsh and violent pop was heard as the creature burst fourth from the lightning once again rushing towards them. Immediately he recognized a familiar tactic.

Often when sisters were young they would choose to avoid attacks by leaping. This could easily be a weakness though as it limited their ability to change direction a great deal. So when the spirit had leaped Mirin felt certain that he was dealing with the mentality of a young sister. Her violent responses also indicated that she was far more on the feral side then the truly reasonable side. In her rage she had forgotten about Desmon entirely though he hadn't forgotten her as the bear leaped onto her and sunk his teeth into her neck.

As Desmon bit the spirit he was thankful for the ambush. This time he didn't hold on though but released his hold and leaped backwards as the tendrils once again tried to impale him. As he landed he released a savage growl and once again rushed forward. He wasn't too pleased though whenever the spirit once again began to rush the mages.

The druid was a danger but the true offensive power in the group was the five mages and Avora knew this. She would need to kill them first then make short work of the druid.

Mirin didn't flinch as he saw the massive spirit charging towards them. The staff he held began to glow as he once again directed energy into it both from his brothers and himself. Would the spirit fall for the same trick twice? He didn't know but he once again released a fireball aiming it towards the spirit. This time she didn't jump but he watched as she brought her tendrils before her and wrapped them together forming a barrier. The ball of fire slammed into the tendrils and the air was filled with the sound of violent hissing as the spirit continued to sprint towards them. Immediately Mirin drove his staff into the ground and braced himself.

A burst of light lit up the area as Avora neared the mages and drove her fist into the barrier that surrounded them. She wasn't surprised by its presence and wasted no time in beginning to pound away at it. With each strike from her fist though she would feel a surge of pain as the barrier would send a surge of energy throughout her hands singing her. “Nothing will remain once I get hold of you!”

“How are you going to dodge from his close up?” Mirin chose to meet the gaze of the spirit as it towered over him. He couldn't help but scowl as he looked at it. She met his gaze and didn't flinch though she growled. Their eye lock was broken though as the spirit was violently torn from the ground and sending flying backwards by the blades of wind and ice that slammed into her body from the other four mages. She didn't travel far though rather her tendrils drove themselves deeply into the ground and she used them to pull herself back towards the barrier to continue pounding on it.

“You think your weak magic can stop me!” Avora could feel her rage surging throughout her body driving her to put more effort into her attack. As she did so she was made to grin on several mouths whenever the barrier began to flicker violently underneath her attacks. A massive brown object slamming into her side and sinking its fangs into her neck stopped her for the moment though as her tendrils were torn from the ground as she slammed into it. A roar of frustration escaped her and she desperately clawed at the druid trying to get hold of him.

Desmon let lose a triumphant roar as he tackled the spirit. “Why do you fight us?”

“You've attacked my grove!”

“This is not your grove that is else where you've been tainted! Halt this attack immediately and we can help you!”

For a moment Avora said nothing but looked at Desmon then gave a chuckle. “You want to help me all of a sudden? You can see it.”

Once again Desmon was made to growl. As he looked at the spirit he saw no signs of injury upon her person despite the attacks she'd been forced to endure. She might have been faking and hiding the injuries but for the moment it didn't seem like they were hurting her. “You're powerful but you're not beyond us.”

“Then why speak now?”

“I was hoping that after you realized our strength you'd be willing to speak. I guess that isn't the case though.”

“I'm going to enjoy eating you a” before Avora could finish a massive wave of fire and wind slammed into her. Instead of lifting her into the air though the torrent of air sent her plowing through the ground ripping up great chunks of earth and stone as it did so.

Mirin gave a sigh as he looked at the spirit who for the first time seemed stunned. “You're clearly the worst of our sisters now with that arrogance. Yet those are still traits you share with them. Why not return with us and return to being a guardian spirit?”

There was no words from Avora but rather an enraged roar. She wasted no time ripping herself free from the ground and charging strait towards the brothers. Despite her rage though this time she was prepared. So saw the movements of the druid and as Desmon dashed towards her she lashed out with her tendrils slamming them into the druid and sending him sprawling across the ground. She knew what was coming next as she drove those same tendrils into the ground and felt a massive wave of fire engulf her yet she pushed forward.

The spirit was truly modeled after their sisters Mirin felt certain of that. It's ability to shrug off their attacks and the power of its own was truly staggering. What surprised him though was how slow the spirit was. One of their true sisters would have been on them before they could even cast a spell from such a short distance.  When she reached the barrier and drove her claws into it he could feel the mystic shock wave as they all worked to sustain the barrier. If she were to even land one hit on their actual person it would be the end of whomever had been stricken and their combined barrier was far stronger then if they were separated.

As Avora drove her fist into the barrier she finally brought her tendrils into play. They wrapped around her hands and added sharpened points to the end of her fist. As she struck the barrier she was elated by the results as they pushed their way further in. If the barrier had been less ductile she felt certain she would have broken through its defenses yet it bent and moved with her strikes slowly slowing them down then returning to its previous states. For a while she had assumed that the barrier was a stand alone spell but as she looked at the mages she realized it was draining them. Whenever she struck the barrier their casting would slow or stop entirely meaning they were directing energy to it. A surge of lightning stopped her assault though.

The electrical energy running through Desmon was accompanied by a slight rush as he heard the spirit scream in protest and slump for a moment against the barrier. While typically one to prefer melee combat due to his animal state he wasn't beyond using the other elements of nature whenever they seemed appropriate and the spirits focus on that barrier had given him plenty of time to gather energy and prepare.

It was hard to continue working on the barrier after that last attack. Avora's anger wanted her to spin around and attack Desmon for that last attack. She knew that would be a mistake though as the mages would simply resume their efforts and their attacks were indeed painful. She couldn't allow them to know how painful though or that they had actually injured her. Instead she resumed her efforts on the barrier though she prepared herself. While the barriers stationary nature meant that she had little room to move in there could be a limited amount of avoidance involved in this struggle.

With Avora still focused on the barrier Desmon once again began to draw in power from the wind and earth preparing for another lightning attack. Of the attacks used against her that actually seemed to be the most effective. He wanted to call out and find out how long the mages' barrier would last under the current assault but chose not to. If they answered the spirit would have that information as well and he didn't want to give her any knowledge she may use against them.

Mirin took in a deep breath as he looked at Avora. Up until now they'd been using ranged attacks to try to drive her back and deal damage. He had once again gathered mystic energy into the war staff he held as if to release another spell. This time though his stance quickly shifted. His left leg moved behind the right while he lowered the staff into a jabbing position. He wasted no time driving the staff toward and through the barrier the weapon growing alight as he moved it. The response was immediately the spirit released a sharp gasp as the staff was driven into her stomach and stopped her assault. Instead of flying backwards though she was made to stumble and step away from the barrier her legs shaking as she did so.

Avora could feel the mystic energy inside of her body moving throughout every fiber of her being and attempting to shred her from the inside. This was not a spell of nature but something else though she didn't know what. Her eyes fail on the human mage who had just delivered the strike and enraged shriek escaped from within her. She pushed her entire being forward and wrapped her tendrils around her right arm using the strength of her arm, the tendrils her legs and her forward momentum to carry the attack through and drive her fist into the barrier. Her scream was joined a new one though erratic one as the barrier responded violently. 

Mirin hadn't been expecting this. As Avora drove her fist into the barrier the barrier sent energy into her. However, this had been beyond the other attacks and the backlash was immediately noticeable. Immediately Mirin drove his weapon into the ground and reached out to the energy. Grasping it he began to channel the out of control energy into the ground. As he did so he found himself forced to use his own hands as part of the conductive process and they were already beginning to heat up. He could have even sworn he felt them beginning to burn as pain radiated out from his hands and up his arms.

For the battle Carter had managed to retain his cool. As he looked up at the massive figure glaring down at them and struggled to regain control of the barrier that began to weaken. His eyes were filled with horror and she seemed to realize this. Yet he still struggled to save the barrier even as Mirin struggled to keep the out of control energies from killing them all. The spirit clearly wasn't making this easier as she twisted her fist and pushed forward still attempting to break through. He knew one thing though. Even if they managed to save the barrier from this attack Mirin wouldn't be rejoining the battle. He could already tell he was giving his all just to control the energy.

He needed to get Avora away from the barrier this was all too clear to Desmon he had to gather the strength to do so though and before he could a sharp howl hit his ears. There was a blur of movement and he noted a massive figure surge by taking Avora with it.

Carter didn't know what had happened. He wasted no time turning to find out. What he found was a massive wolf having taken hold of the spirit and pinned her to the ground. Avora shrieked in protest clearly in plain and drove her tendrils and claws into the massive wolf. Yet the wolf clearly wasn't letting up and only let lose a snarl before digging his fangs more deeply into the spirit and removing a chunk of her being. The shriek this brought from Avora was truly hellish yet it didn't slow the massive wolf down.

Desmon immediately recognized Night Fang and gave a slight sigh. They had been told that the greater spirits were beginning to make war against the the amalgam that had infested the forest. He hadn't been expecting such aid but it was welcome. “So what took you Night Fang?”

Night Fang answered but the words didn't come from his mouth as he continued to gorge himself on the spirit. “I had to wait for my prey to be properly weakened.”

As Carter listened to Night Fang and Desmon his concern actually grew. He knew little of this spirit and while it had helped them for a moment Avora wasn't the only being there that had been weakened. This thought quickly turned his mind back to Mirin who was currently knelt and focusing on his hands. “Mirin how bad are your hands?”

“I need help healing them. Now and I.” For a moment Mirin went silent and looked down at his blackened hands. There were developing a red tent to them that worried him a great deal.

“Desmon we need to get Mirin back to the village now!”

Before Desmon could speak up another voice did so. “Hold. Wait but a moment and I will aid you. As thanks for this fine meal and harming my true enemy as well. I shall not be long. I don't wish the fires you started to consume me as well.”

Carter turned to Desmon a question in his eyes and Desmon spoke up. “We can trust Night Fang in this instant.” With those words Desmon looked back towards the flames that had been growing rapidly during the fight. The wolf spirit wasn't kidding about needing to finish his meal quickly. The flames were growing rapidly.

Mirin didn't comment as he focused on using his remaining energy to heal his hands. A surge of relieve washed over him moments later though as two of his brothers joined him and began to focus on healing his injuries as well. They were tired but they had more strength left then he did. They were soon joined by Desmon who had shifted from a bear back to a human again.

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“Mirin what happened to your hands!”

Sora's voice was positively a roar that seemed to shake the trees surrounding them though it was filled with concern. Currently Mirin found himself setting with rather noteworthy bindings on his hands protecting them. Between the bindings and his own skin was a rather potent healing ointment. “We ended up doing battle with a spirit who was more powerful then we realized. Don't worry my hands are just”

“Don't lie to me!” While Sora never wished to frighten Mirin she could not compose herself in the moment. The smell of Mirin's skin had reached her nose and she recognized the healing ointment as well. A few rapid and powerful steps brought her within a few meters of him and she fail to all fours bringing her face closer to his. Her claws had already extended and sunken into the earth while her tail raised up and thrashed violently in the air.

Mirin trusted and loved Sora but this was truly a frightening sight even for him. He found himself looking into her massive eyes and noted how they adjusted as she looked back at him. They were focused on him with an intensity that he had rarely seen. “The spirit nearly crushed our protective barrier and it went partly out of control. I had to manage the energy as best I could while allowing the others to still defend us. It was more then I could handle and my hands took the worse of it. The muscle has been damaged.”

Concern flooded Sora and her anger began to subside as worry took its place. “Will it heal?”

“In time.” For a moment Mirin went silent and looked down at his hands. “Little by little it will heal. The healing process can't be rapid or it won't heal properly and well I can't control my hands as well as I used to be able to while they're recovering. I'm going to need some help but we gained some useful information.”

“Was it worth it?”

“We revealed where our enemy is hiding in the spirit realm and soon it will be revealed here as well.”

“What?”

“While in the spirit realm we happened upon the creatures domain. It was keeping the spirits in the area imprisoned just barely alive. We torched the entire grove in order to free the spirits and now all the trees in that region are going to die. Every plant in that region will pretty much die due to the scar on the spirit realm yet that will also lead to its rebirth. Once those plants begin to die off we'll know exactly where to strike.”

“I. I see.” Instead of continuing Sora reached down and carefully lifted Mirin up as she did so she drew herself from a crouch position into a seated one.  As she held Mirin she couldn't help but notice how his legs actually appeared to be thinner then her fingers. It made him appear so fragile especially with his wounds and she wondered how she'd ever allowed him to go to such a dangerous place.“You're crazy you know that? Doing that to your hands.”

“Well it's better my hands then other parts.”

“I'm going to take you home with me we're going to talk about this. Mirin you won't be able to hide what happened to the other sisters.”

“I know.”

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Desmon found himself seated before Night Fang along with Slumber. They had retreated to her domain for the sake of privacy and safety. None would come near Slumber without good cause. “So you have began making war with the spirit that amalgam. Why haven't you moved against it?”

“The tainted forest prevents me from doing so. The only reason I was able to aid you is the spirit stepped outside of its master's domain in order to attack you.”

“I see. How does the spirit hold you back though?”

“It learned things about me things that have been used to do so. That's all you need to know.”

“I see. Will the flames we released into that region be enough to allow you entry?”

“Only as far as the flames have claimed dominion. This dominion will be challenged though and the amalgam will try to regain its domain.”

Desmon went quiet for a moment as he looked to Night Fang. “This amalgam was preparing for a very long time to insure that none of the greater spirits of the forest would be able to slay it. If you were to encounter the amalgam now could you kill it?”

Night Fang took a moment to look at Desmon. Part of the wolf spirit was actually angered by the druid's question but he couldn't deny the truth of the matter. “I do not know. I would fight the creature with all my strength but who would prevail I don't know. It hid while it was too weak to face me and still takes shelter now that its strength has grown but I do not know who's power is greater.”

“When I was told that you've been warring against the spirit that meant you were stopping the spread of that tainted forest.”

“Yes and my kin kill the amalgams minions.” A slight chuckle escaped Night Fang as he looked away for a moment. “Hunger doesn't drive them to slay the ratmen any longer but the existence of the ratmen moves them to action.”

For a moment Desmon went silent and looked at Night Fang. “Just how badly did we weaken the spirit you consumed?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.”  Upon finishing Night Fang muzzle drew back into what had to be a wolf's smile. A smile that showed more sharp teeth then many would prefer.

“Fine. It's only natural for a wolf not to want others to know its true strength. In your war with the amalgam have you learned anything?”

“It will suffer a rebellion now. The spirit that I consumed was more important to the amalgam then you realize. It risked much to obtain that spirit and taint it. Without that spirit to watch over its grove the amalgam will have to take attention away from its other efforts as lesser spirits begin to nip away at its domain. Those spirits that are trapped there will struggle in rebellion more and the region will shake. The fires your human friends released will also do much.”

“I see. Night Fang will you stand with us whenever we move against the amalgam?”

“Yes.”

Now Desmon was truly surprised as he looked at the wolf. Such a sudden answer from a spirit and a spirit of a wolf seemed truly out of place. “You mean you will aid us free of charge.”

“There is much to be had in the destruction of the amalgam and far more to be loss if you failed. I will not become that things servant or its prey.”

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Carter took in a deep breath as he found himself setting alone in his home looking towards the entrance. He was going to have some explaining to do today and he didn't know how he was going to do it. The conversation had been ran through his head over a dozen times with the possible different outcomes and he had considered retreated to the lab and telling his family that he was busy while his body healed. That wouldn't do though they would need to move very soon and he wouldn't be healed by then. As the door opened he took in a deep breath and worked to steady himself.

“Daddy!” As Lidia dashed into the room she couldn't hide her excitement upon noting her father's scent. He was home sooner then normal. As she entered the room though she was brought to a dead stop as her nose was hit by the scent of partially burned skin and blood. As she looked at her father she noted that he was still in his mage's cloak concealing the vast majority of his body and his hands were hidden.

“Hey sweet heart. How has your day gone?”

Lidia didn't know what to do as she looked at her father. He had greeted her normally but she could tell that he was injured just from the smell. The tone of his skin also told her something was wrong as well as the sound of his heart beat. “Dad what happened!” Before she knew what she was going Lidia had leaped across the room and nearly upon her father. Her hands came to rest upon either side of him as he looked up at her.

How the sisters had grown over the past few months. Carter found himself looking up at his towering daughter and knew that despite her being a child she surpassed him in height by a head and in mass by far more. “Lidia I need you to set down so that we can have a talk.”

To this Lidia gave a quick nod and straitened back up. Instead of setting in the couch though her legs folded underneath her so that she was looking up at her father concern still filling her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Lidia while we were in the shadow realm we found out where the spirit was hiding and that's correct we have been going into the shadow realm.”

“Wh”

“Don't interrupt. Lidia let me finish speaking first then I'll answer your questions. We've been going into the shadow realm even though we said that we wouldn't because this enemy is very dangerous and we had to do what was needed to protect you, your mother and all the other sisters as well as ourselves.  We found out where the spirit is hiding in the shadow realm though and we attacked its home. The scar we left on the shadow world will affect this one and soon we'll see where the spirit is hiding. That's when your sisters and mother will go to destroy it as well as us.”

“You're hurt though! You can't go!”

“Lidia it's not that bad and this is important. I'll have healed some before then as well. Now I want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone that I've been injured or what I told you. I'll tell your mother whenever she comes home but you need to promise me this.”

Lidia didn't respond right away but found herself rubbing the back of her neck. Her tail flicked across the floor actually impacting it a few times hard enough to cause a noteworthy sound while she began to bight down on her lower lip. She didn't know what she should do. She loved Carter and respected him as her father and as a well respected brother. However, her whole life she'd been told to protect her brothers even from themselves. Now here he was asking her not to tell anyone about what had happened even though he could be putting himself in danger. “Promise me you won't go back.”

A sigh escaped Carter as he looked down in his daughter's soft blue eyes.  Her light gray fur and white tipped ears as well as the look of resolve in her face just made her look adorable despite her attempt to seem stern. He knew that she was serious about this though and he had to be honest with her. “We've revealed where the spirit is Lidia but whenever we make an assault upon the physical domain of the spirit we will be attacking from the spirit realm as well. I have no intentions of returning to the spirit realm before then but I can't promise you that I won't. If something happens that requires us to go back I will.”

“You can't you could get hurt again!”

“Lidia you can't expect us to just stay here and let you and your sisters do all the work. They are things that you need protecting from as well and that's our responsibility. Now promise me that you won't tell anyone.”

“I. I.” For a moment Lidia went silent and then her body was made to shiver. Once again she bit down on her lower lip and she could feel her eyes lids heating up as tears began to form in her eyes. “I don't want you to get hurt Daddy!”

Now Carter stood up and moved to embrace his daughter. “I don't want you to get hurt either Lidia and I don't want you to go hungry either. If this amalgam has its way though it won't fight you or your sisters directly. It will alter the very nature of the forest and starve you all out.”

As Carter embraced her Lidia took hold of her father. “I promise! I promise I won't tell anyone!”

“That's a good girl. Thank you for trusting me Lidia.” As Carter held his daughter he took in a deep breath. Now he would just have to convince her mother to stay quiet for a few days. He had Lidia's promise but that was one battle he still wasn't looking forward to.

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“So how have you been doing?”

Currently Mina found herself setting on the edge of the village her ax laid across her lap while her tail worked on beating up the ground. “Hey Flora. I'm doing alright I suppose though I believe I'm going to lose my mind.”

“Is it that boring here?”

“No more then usual but I can't help but feel like I should be out there doing something. I know that this is what Dan wants me to do and he made a convincing argument but this still stinks.”

“With you here though we were able to assign three more sisters to patrolling the forest.”

“I know. I know. This still sucks though. So have you encountered anything interesting in the forest?”

“Nothing that I would call interesting more like disturbing or just plain infuriating. I'll tell you about if it you'll promise that you won't go running off into the forest to check on it yourself.”

A slight chuckle escaped Mina as she looked at Flora. “Sure. I promise I won't immediately run off to check it out. Now what did you see?”

“More of our home dieing. At first it wasn't so bad but these days I can't go on a patrol without finding another dead tree or some dead shrubs and honestly it's becoming upsetting. I've spoken with some of the brothers about it but they tell me now to worry.”

“Do you think they're trying to give you false reassurance?”

“I can't say. Have you noticed how exhausted they're looking these days though? They must really be pushing themselves to find out what's going on. I just hope that they don't overdo it. How is Dan doing?”

“As exhausted as the rest of them. He and Joseph are really going at it with whatever they're working on but I've heard other things. They're a few who are kind of miffed with them right now or to be honest down right angry. For the moment they seem to be staying quiet.”

“What happened?”

“I don't know the finer details but it seems Dan, Joseph and Carter with the backing of Mirin and Nathan muscled their way into the storage area and made off with a massive amount of silver. I'm not talking about a few boxes of it. It apparently took them all three working together to move it properly and they had to make several trips.”

“Oh wow. Do you have any ideal what they're doing with that silver?”

“Nothing at all. He didn't say a word about making off with that much silver or anything. For the most part he seems to be happy with the way things are going he just comes home tired and exhausted. The only time I've seen him really happy though was whenever he, Joseph and Maria all went off together. Apparently she was going to help them with something.”

“Yeah Maria told me about that. Apparently she helped them carve some kind of design into the ground and had to be really careful the entire time.”

For a moment Mina said nothing but then she chuckled. “I would ask Dan about it but honestly I don't want him spending his time at home thinking about work. He spends enough time doing that when he gets home I want his thoughts to be of me and our child.”

“Oh now that I agree on. I may not have a mate but when I have a guy in my home and especially in my bed he'd best not get to talking about his work.”

“How has that been going for you anyway?”

“Awful!” A low groan escaped Flora as she came to set beside Mina. “Like I said they've all be exhausted as of late and I can hardly get any of them to come to my bed. Those who do are hardly at one hundred percent even with a pep drink to get them going again. It's actually becoming rather frustrating. Would you believe I nearly crushed a dildo in myself I was so frustrated a few nights ago?”

“You're kidding right?”

“Well it was the end that was in my hand but I bet you could crush one with your pussy muscles.”

Once again Mina found herself simply looking at Mina and then giggling slightly. “I suppose I could! I don't want you talking to Dan about such things though the last thing I want him to do is get nervous when with me. Still, have you ever tried to crush one inside of yourself?”

“Mm no. I can't say that it occurred to me. Oh that could be fun. And what's what will happen to your penis if you get off before me.”

A slight chuckle escaped Mina as she turned back to the forest. “I bet some brothers would like that kind of talk.”

“Are you kidding? Some of them flat out love it though it's important to know which ones. We have a few who are a little tired of being treated like they're so delicate they'll break if a strong breeze hits them. So they like to be a little more active in bed.”

“You mean they like to walk away with some bruises?”

“Yeah. Though it's important to remember that they are in the minority. Those that don't like such treatment are far less likely to sleep with you after getting it. It's fortunate that you're Dan's mate or you might have trouble getting him back into bed.”

“Hey! It's not like I leave him bruised every time we sleep together. That's in the minority of the times really.”

“I know. I'm glad to see that you're pepping up a bit. Now how has your little bundle been growing?”

“I'm fairly certain my child is a sister at this point. She's been kicking and well from what I can feel there is no way a brother could be kicking that hard.”

“Are you sure you're feeling kicking and it's not just your imagination?”

“Well not entirely. I have all day to set around and look for threats and details that never show themselves so I may be noticing something that isn't truly happening. I like to believe I'm feeling her kicking though I wish we had a better ideal of how far along I am. It's hard to tell with a sister though as our sizes can differ so much whenever we're born. Some are born small enough that one below a guardian could have handled the birth while others require a guardian. Factor in how much we were allowed to grow and well at keeper status this gets kind of difficult.”

“I know. I wondered the same thing whenever I was pregnant with Maria and Mira despite being smaller back then.” Moving closer to Mina Flora placed a hand on her massive friend's stomach and tried to feel any kicking going on inside. “I can't help but believe this is a futile effort on my part considering how much the baby has to kick through to get noticed.”

“I know but at least that means the baby is well protected. So did Maria come and speak to you about how to handle brothers a bit more gently yet?”

“Yeah. Dan told you about Joseph I imagine.”

Mina gave a slight chuckle and a nod. “He did though I imagine his description was a bit exaggerated. He said Joseph was so beaten up that he could hardly move. I know that Joseph belongs to Maria and Dan is my mate but I admit I was curious as to what Joseph pelvis must have looked like.”

“Oh I imagine it had some interesting coloration. I should have asked her about that but I was too busy trying to give her some tips apparently she didn't like all of them though.”

“Flora! What did you tell Maria?”

“I just told her how to give her mate a chest ride now that she's large enough or should be large enough. Then I made some suggestions as to what he could hold onto to help himself stay on and she just didn't respond well.”

“Oh you naughty thing. I wonder what it would have been like to get sex advice from my mother. We never really talked about it and well by the time the thought of talking about it began occurring to me she wasn't around anymore. Actually I would like to talk to her about raising a daughter as well.” Mina went silent as she placed a hand on her stomach. It was just as futile as Flora trying to feel for the kicking child but she couldn't resist as her thoughts turned to her mother and daughter.

“Have you picked out a name for her?”

“Dan suggested that we should name her Dremera. After my mother.”

For a moment Flora wasn't certain what to say though she had a wide smile on her face. The tone of Mina's voice told her she agreed with Dan. “So she's going to be named after your mother. That's very sweet. We'll have to be certain to tell her all about her grandmother whenever she's old enough.”

“Yeah. She won't have one unlike most of us. I wonder if that means she'll sneak over to your home and ask permission whenever she wants to do something that I wouldn't approve of.”

Flora's smile grew into a toothy grin before she could respond. “What can say?”

“Just don't let her do anything that would force me to forbid her from visiting.”

“Don't worry. I don't plan on it. What are you going to do though if she's a daddy's girl and wants to follow him around all the time? You know she's going to be bigger then when we were children.”

“Oh poor Dan! I know he wants to play a major part in our daughter's life but that might be a bit much for him. I wonder what they can play together so she won't end up removing his hand or something else. When she's older there are  a fair number of options but whenever she's younger there not as many. I know that a young sister could easily work a brother to exhaustion.”

“Well my mom used to tell me that my father would attach something tasty to the end of my tail and watch me try to get it.”

“Oh Flora you know she was teasing you. Even a young sister could solve that problem in a matter of moments especially if she had a long tail like what runs in your family.”

“That is true. Let's see here. Well they could always play arrow tag. Do you remember that?”

“Oh that was so much fun when I was young! Did you prefer the retaliation games or no retaliation?”

“When it was one on one I preferred no retaliation while if there was a group I liked retaliation. Honestly though the one on one games tended to always be so easy to win.”

“You just didn't play with the right brothers if you thought that. Then again you didn't have an over fluffed tail giving away your location all the time or serving as a target.”

“Oh yeah. I can remember them aiming for your tail. That was kind of funny I have to admit.”

“Now it's funny. Whenever I was younger it would frustrate me to no end. That's still a little advanced though after all she would need to know that she has to avoid the arrows until the shooter runs out before she's allowed to go on the offensive in no retaliation.”

“Well you have me there. Okay let's see something for an infant sister to do with her father. Well he could always attach a piece of meat to the end of a stick and try to keep her from getting it. So long as he knows not to use too short of a stick he should be safe. That's also a good way to encourage a sister to work on her motor skills as well.”

“At least until she's older and thinks she's suppose to jump on the table and eat everything. I do like the ideal. Perhaps this is something I should talk to Dan about I'm sure he's coming up with his own ideals for games he can play with our daughter. I just hope he's not thinking of her as a human child.”

“I'm sure he's keeping her heritage in mind.”

***************************************************************************************************

Mirin took in a deep breath as he entered the indoor garden the life bloom was being grown in. He was actually quite surprised when he stepped in and felt the mystic energy filling the environment wash over him. Unlike before though it now had direction and purpose this focus though seemed to grant it even more power. A low whistle escaped him and he continued into the room making his way towards Joseph and Dan.

Nathan shut the door behind Mirin having been the one to open it as well despite his advanced age. Given the condition of Mirin's hands it was best if they kept him from using them. “So you really belief this will work?”

“Not really but if we don't bring as much good news to the table as we can well there could be a lot of trouble. They're going to have trouble trusting us for a while after this no matter what. That said hopefully after this we won't have to ask them to just trust us for a long while.”

“Mirin as one who has lived longer then you let me say women have a very long memory especially if they feel you've deceived them.”

“Is that something you know from personal experience?”

“I'm afraid so. That said in my case it wasn't nearly anything this big. I had simply given my promise that I wouldn't be repeating a certain experiment until I had taken better safety measures. In fact I just waited until they were gone and tried it again feeling confident that I had realized my mistake. The end result was painful.”

“What were you trying to do?”

“I was trying to instantly turn yeast and water into beer without the use of alchemy in order to keep out other ingredients. There was a lot of heat release involved in the attempt though and I managed to singe myself pretty good and the roof and the table and the room and some of the hallway.”

Mirin didn't know if Nathan was being serious or not but he did chuckle. “You're a crazy old man you know that?”

“I was a crazier young man.”

“I'm not so sure about that. Anyway. Joseph! Dan!”

At the sound of Mirin's voice both Joseph and Dan turned towards him though it was Dan who went to meet them. Joseph was still rather involved with his work. “Mirin, Nathan what brings you two down here? Have you come to check up on us.”

Mirin, “Actually yes that's pretty much why we've come down here. You see we're going to be delivering some rather bad news to our sisters fairly soon and we were hoping that you had some good news for us to add to it. How goes your work?”

Dan, “It's going fairly well. We have five working shapers currently and the energy transmission system is ready.  The transmitter is at the center of the room if you'd like to see it.”

Mirin, “I would indeed but first tell me. How did you set it up so that an outside power couldn't tap into the energy source?”

Dan, “We made it too unstable to use if you didn't know how to filter it properly for one thing but we took a few other steps. You see what you do is you take a shaper and activate it with the energy from the source. This forms a bond between the shaper and the source which causes the shaper to act as a beacon for the energy so its naturally drawn to it. Once the energy enters into the shaper its modified into a usable form. Uh Mirin what happened to your hands?”

“I had a little encounter. They're healing but yeah they're not back to normal yet. So have you and Joseph tested the shapers yet?”

Dan, “To a limited extent yes but well we were just preparing our proposal for test subjects.”

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle and speak up at hearing this. “Oh and I suppose we don't already know who you two have chosen for test subjects.”

Upon hearing Nathan Joseph was made to look up from his work with a wide grin on his face. “I guess it's not exactly difficult.”

Nathan, “No but it's nice that you were ready to use the proper channels. These days we can't do that though. So you've only managed to make five shapers so far?”

Dan, “It takes us around three hours just to make one shaper and we've only been working on them for a few days. Making just one is a truly involved process as well we need help to provide one to every sister.”

Mirin, “I see. So we're going to have to make our choices wisely.” For a moment Mirin was silent as he walked over to the shaper Joseph was working on. “It's the crystal within the shaper that decides how much energy it will allow to flow isn't it?”

Joseph, “Not entirely but it is the major factor. We made the crystals so they could be replaced though if we wanted to increase or decrease the energy flow to a particular sister.”

Mirin, “That makes sense. I had hoped to increase our combative strength greatly before the encounter but with so few shapers there no way that's going to happen.”

Nathan, “Then let's put the best transmission crystal into one we can obtain and wake up Zarena.”

Mirin forgot Joseph and Dan for a moment as he turned to look at Nathan. “You want to wake up a sleeper and Zarena to boot?”

“Sure. You can feel the energy flooding into this room it should be enough to awaken and get her going for the coming battle. She would also greatly increase our fighting ability once awakened and would probably enjoy the chance to stretch her legs.”

While Mirin and Nathan were speaking Joseph turned to Dan. “Okay so Zarena is a sleeper?”

“Yeah she's a sleeper alright and well I've never actually seen her mind you but from what I know she's massive and powerful. Of the sleepers Zarena is actually one of the more powerful ones at least she was the last time their power was measured. She hasn't been woken up in a long time. I don't even believe Nathan has seen her awake.”

Nathan, “That's not true. I saw her awake to regain some size after she'd shrunken a bit. I was actually part of the group who was to see to her feeding and answer any questions that she might have. My interaction with her goes beyond that though. Whenever I was a young one I was involved in helping to take care of her sleeping body. You know keeping the room she sleeps in clean as well as her. Those were nerve wrecking days at first. You should have seen us whenever we had to get near her face and those massive teeth.”

As Joseph listened to Nathan he actually felt a bit disappointed. He had been certain Maria would be allowed to enjoy one of the shapers. “Why did you choose Zarena to awaken?”

Nathan, “Oh Zarena is sort of like Fera in many regards. Her eyes can see things that ours can't though she can't actually see life energy. Of the sleepers Zarena eats the least though or we believed she ate the least until we got a truly good look at how her body functions. She's a unique case as she effectively has two lesser mutations or I suppose you could say three. Zarena's eyes lets her see very specific types of mystic energy this actually grants her the ability to see across the veil into the shadow realm and her claws allow her to reach across that gap.”

Joseph, “So she can affect the shadow world?”

Nathan, “Yes. Zarena you see can actually eat spirits she can manage to pull through the veil or ones that she actually finds entering into our world. It was even talked about letting her remain awake due to the additional food source but there were problems. You can't influence the shadow world without influencing this one as well and while Zarena could capture some spirits from across the veil she could only get those who were small enough for her to pull through powerful spirits can use the strength of the veil and their own to easily resist her influence. So she could never eat enough of them to sustain herself.”

Mirin, “I had read as much about her. Even if she can't pull our main enemy through the veil though she could see it and help us. Waking up a sleeper isn't a choice we can make on our own though. Dan, Joseph would you two support us in this decision?”

Dan, “Yes.”

Joseph, “Yes.”

A slight chuckle escaped Nathan as he looked up to the ceiling. “Let me take you to see her before she's woken up. I highly recommend you prepare yourself. You're about to see one of the most powerful forces of destruction the ancient magics could bring into being. After that well, I'll help you work on the shaper for her.”

***************************************************************************************************

As Joseph looked over the walkway at Zarena he took in a deep breath. Matrons were large but Zarena was on an entirely different scale. The massive being was well over one hundred meters tall from what he could see. Each one of her fingers was several times his own height and he imagined it would have been easy for three to four brothers to lay head to foot along her index finger. Each sleeping eye would have been roughly as tall as one of them and many times their size while each tooth would have been a massive spike easily capable of impaling them. A human would have seemed nothing more then an insect to her in scale yet despite all that he found her to be lovely.

Zarena's fur was a light mixture of white with soft gray stripes that nearly vanished in the proper light. This held except for the very tips of her ears, fingers, toes and tail there was also a noteworthy strip of gray that went across her right eye. Her lips were not the fullest to be found but her lower lip seemed to push outward as if in a slight pout that never quite went away. Her neck was then at least when compared to the rest of her body while she would have just barely been able to cup one of her breasts in each hand. Her abdominal muscles could be seen whenever she could begin to inhale as four well defined parts while Joseph  imagined one would be able to easily slip their head into her navel and probably a bit more.

Her legs were well defined and extremely thick. They weren't nearly a match for Mina's but he imagined she was the Kersara of her generation. One of Zerena's hands had been turned palm up and Joseph noted that the white's of her palms seemed just a bit lighter then the rest of her fur making them stand out. His eyes were drawn to her face again as she gave a slight sigh and those massive lips began to part revealing a mouth full of massive teeth her canines where each taller then he was.

For a moment Joseph's eyes were drawn to Zarena's massive tail as it flicked across the ground. He was actually somewhat surprised by how short the appendage was though he had no doubt it was still useful. Her tail was a far cry from what Mina was sporting or Maria. It was slim and rather on the short side as if it was scared of being grabbed. As Joseph heard the sound of her tail smacking the ground lightly though he doubted many would wish to take hold of it.

Joseph, “So just how large is she?”

Nathan, “The last time we checked Zarena was one hundred twenty meters tall. She's lost a bit of that height since she went to sleep but she's still fairly close to her target goal. So do you believe they'll be enough energy to wake her up and keep her going?”

Joseph, “I. I don't know. I mean something that large and knowing how high performance our sisters bodies are makes the thought of sustaining her simply staggering. It's no wonder that you worried about them depleting everything in the forest if they were allowed to awaken.”

Dan, “Yeah. Just look at her. She could eat a bear without even having to bight or chew just swallow.”

Nathan, “A person would be even easier for her. That's kind of why we were frightened when we had to get near her mouth while tending to her. If you were to fall in she could just swallow you and there would be nothing that could really be done. Such fears were childish at the time though and brought on by a lack of understanding.”

Joseph, “What do you mean?”

Nathan, “Watch this.” As he spoke Nathan made his way further down the walkway and down some steps towards Zarena's sleeping form. As he was walking towards her Zarena's tail was made to shift slightly and her hands twitched as if she could sense his approach. Her body became still as he came to the last step though and her mouth once again drew shut while regular breathing resumed. Nathan walked over to the wall and picked up a large broom and then made his way over to her. “You can imagine we wouldn't want our sleepers waking up covered in dust. So some of us were given the responsibility of cleaning up the room for them and even cleaning them every once in a while.” While he was speaking Nathan began to sweep though there was no dust in the room the task having already been taken care of.

Mirin had followed Nathan down the steps. His experience with the sleepers was more limited then Nathan's so he couldn't help but want to get closer and see their strongest protectors up close. “So old man how did you get assigned such a task?”

“Oh I suppose I brought it upon myself. I was a bit troublesome in my youth and they had to do something to keep me busy. If you didn't notice this room is a little on the large size and well sweeping it took an awful lot of time. A lot of time in which I wasn't getting myself in troubling doing other things and besides it's important. You see while Zarena is asleep right now she can still hear smell and learn. By having brothers work in here with those she already trusted she learns new smells and voices so that when she wakes up she instinctively knows she's amongst allies.”

Joseph was about to comment but went silent whenever Nathan neared Zarena hand and walked over to her index finger. The elder brother then began to gently message the very tip of her finger actually encouraging her massive claw to extend. As the claw began to extend though Joseph noticed a slight glow about it. “Nathan what are you doing?”

“I'm just making sure that they've been keeping her claws taken care of. You know even while the bodies of our sisters' are shrinking their claws still continued to grow relative to them. We have to make sure that they stay down to a manageable size and I need to speak with whomever has been taking care of her claws?”

“Are they two long?”

“No they're not sharp enough. I mean look at this edge.” A sigh escaped Nathan as he left Zarena's finger and rejoined the group. “Once while we were tending to her I was busy with her hand and she actually took hold of me. I was rather alarmed that she had been woken up or was having a dream but I ended up being set on her stomach instead. She was having a dream but it wasn't a predatory one. Climbing down from her stomach was quite an ordeal though.”

Joseph, “I imagine she. Did you get loss in her fur?”

Nathan, “Actually the fur on our sisters doesn't tend to get much longer even as they grow. Well the fur on their bodies doesn't except their hair on their heads and a few unique cases such as what you find on Mina's tail. There fur though remains a fairly constant length.”

Joseph, “Isn't that a little strange?”

Nathan, “Not so much if you consider that the fur of our sisters isn't actually an insulator as it is in true animals but rather a conductor. It helps them to gather energy into their bodies. Anyway, why don't you two have a look around? Once you are done we can go and get ready for our meeting in the dining hall.”

Dan, “Nathan one question. Who's going to be doing the speaking? I imagine the sisters won't respond well if they see Mirin with his hands bandaged like that.”

Nathan, “No. They won't respond well at all but he'll still be the one to do the talking. Anyway, tomorrow we'll make a shaper to awaken Zarena if the meeting goes well tonight.”

***************************************************************************************************

Mina felt awkward as she set at the front of the room. Due to her status as a keeper she would often set in the back to make it easier for the others to see. Dan had insisted that she should set up front though and had requested that Flora join her as well as Maria. They were several other keepers as well setting up front most of them good friends to Mina and known to be rather level headed. This realization brought a groan from her and she looked over at Flora. “They did something stupid.”

It was impossible for Flora not to chuckle as she looked at Mina. “What makes you believe that? Could it be that they've built a wall of keepers between them and the wrest of the sisters? Perhaps it's the fact that Sora is probably in this room right now watching over everyone.”

“Oh how I hope it wasn't anything too dumb.”

“Hey relax our brothers aren't idiots. Besides I doubt they did something stupid. They did something they considered important enough to keep quiet about and have only now chosen to tell us about it knowing that it will make us mad.”

“Oh I can already feel a headache coming. How are you handling this so calmly Flora?”

“Mina I have a few decades of living experience on you. I've learned how to handle this sort of thing.”

“I suppose you do. Anywhere here comes Mirin and damn.”

Mirin took in a deep breath as he heard murmurs moving throughout the room. Already he could hear tones being raised in anger and knew that assumptions and theories were being formed he had to put an end to that. “My sisters. I have lied to you out of a necessity and I would appreciate it if you would listen until I am finished. Under my orders and direction several brothers and myself have been entering into the shadow realm with spiritual guides where you can not go. I know this presents a danger as it means we are beyond your reach and can't be protected however there is an enemy there that can destroy you without stepping foot into this realm. This enemy does this by altering the shadow of this world and influencing the forest itself so that it may not support you.”

Mirin couldn't tell which sister said it but one of them called out. “Mirin that's not right! Yes the shadow world influences this one but the reverse is true we could have stopped this enemy's efforts!”

“Like you stopped the tainted areas from spreading?”

As the words left his mouth a silence washed over the room. This was a brutal attack and Mirin knew this but he couldn't risk losing his standing in the moment. The sisters would see the tainted areas as their responsibility and the tainted areas increased numbers as a failure on their part. This would silence them for a while and give him more time to speak.

“Yes you could deal with this enemy from here if you could find their seat of power though it isn't guaranteed. We did not go to the shadow world unarmed though or with intent to face this enemy but with the intention of locating them and soon we will have done that. While in the shadow realm we found our enemies home and set it aflame. Soon that region of the forest will show the signs of that battle and that is where our enemy has built their base of power and where we must strike. However, we must insure our victory is a complete one to the best of our ability and this foe is powerful and for this reason we will be aiding in this assault and once again entering the shadow realm.”

“You can't do that! Just look at your hands and you think we're going to let more of you enter into the realm!”

“Mirin that's too much we can take it from here!”

“Hold! We can't let this enemy escape to threaten you again and I do mean you our sisters. As much as you like to think of it as your job to protect us we to must protect you. This is a task the Luvarians of old would have handled and as their successors we must handle it as well. We won't go alone though. We  intend to enlist the aid of our orc allies and their shaman as well as the druids and dryads of this forest. We have even enlisted the aid of several powerful spirits however that is not the true power we wish to enlist. I have come to ask you for permission to awaken Zarena.”

Several sisters had planned to argue against Mirin as emotions began to run high. This was silenced as quickly as a fly struck with a hammer at the mentioning of Zarena. Several hushed whispers ran throughout the room but it was Mina who chose to stand and speak up. “I see what you're thinking. We all know what Zarena's gifts are and the danger she poses to beings even of the shadow world. Have you a means of sustained her though?”

Mirin would have loved to thank Mina but knew he couldn't in this situation he had to remain professional and not hint that he was looking for an opening. Especially sense her husband had made that opening. “Indeed we have. For some time now we have been working on a project to supply our sisters with an additional source of energy. This energy actually comes from the mystic power the life bloom allows to bleed into our world. The actual transmission system has been finished however the reception system is still lacking. It had been our intentions to provide every sister with a receiver to further supplement your energy needs but we lack the time needed to make a sufficient amount. Due to our inability to provide enough receivers to aid a significant amount of sisters instead we're going to use the few we do have to awaken Zarena.”

“How many have you managed to make?”

Mirin, “At this moment they're only six of the receivers. Five of the receivers were meant for sisters of guardian to keeper status while the final one was developed for a sleeper and is the most recent. It was only made because we realized that we couldn't make enough of the first generation quickly enough especially now that our enemies base of power will soon be revealed. We must be ready to move quickly.”

Flora gave a sigh as she listened to various conversations in the room and stood up.  “We're going to talk about this proposal and what needs to be done to you Mirin for lying to us like that. Once we've reached a decision as to what we believe we should be done we'll speak with the wrest of you. Come on sisters.”

Mirin didn't protest as the sisters stood up and began to make their way out of the room. He was actually grateful for what Flora had done as it would give the sisters time to cool down over what they'd just learned. While the sisters were departing though he noticed several of them looking back at him and at his hands. He had the feeling that they wouldn't do anything to cause him pain given his injuries but he knew they might still punish him. At the moment he imagined he would be confined for some time or perhaps the sisters would push the other brothers to lower his rank. The second one seemed fairly unlikely though.

***************************************************************************************************

Stella, Mina and Flora all set in the middle of the room none of the other sisters were speaking. They were other keepers in the room but they were being quiet as while they held similar ranks it as well known that these three were particularly close. Their combined voices would carry a lot of wait in the current conversation especially Mina's. Flora was the first one to speak though.

Flora, “So they really want to wake up Zarena. That would increase our fighting ability a great deal and with her eyes and claws she might even be able to help out with the spirits we're going up against. I'm surprised they believe that the given situation justifies waking up a sleeper though.”

Stella, “Perhaps it's due to the additional resources we've gained. As we have more resources it's easier for them to justify waking up a sleeper. We didn't even know about this new energy system up until a short while ago after all. I'm certain that they meant for us to use it but everything doesn't go as planned.

Flora, “Yeah. Well I'm fine with them waking up Zarena. We were allowed to grow more recently so perhaps the sleepers should be allowed to be awake a little more often.  I wonder though if this energy system provides just enough energy to awaken Zarena and keep her going or if there will be some surplus left over for us.”

Stella, “Let's not get into the left overs just yet. Okay the first order of business. Can anyone think of a reason not to awaken Zarena that won't make me slap you?”

A wave of chuckles actually ran throughout the room as the sisters looked amongst one another. A few short conversations were but then one voice rose above them all.

Kiara, “Aren't we being a little too relaxed about this? I mean we're talking about waking up a sleeper. Zarena alone could devastate the resources of this forest. What if this energy system isn't truly enough to sustain her?”

Stella, “Mirin says that it provides enough energy and I believe we can still trust him on that. Besides if it isn't enough then Zarena gets a good meal while killing off the enemy and then she goes back to sleep. That's the way it's always been with sleepers after all. That's the price they pay.”

Kiara, “That's true but don't you believe we should check for ourselves? I mean we're blindly trusting Mirin here. How about we go speak with the brothers who have worked on the energy system.”

“Mina, “My Dan and Joseph have been working on the energy system from what I know. I will say that my knowledge on how much power it yields is limited but I am confident in his work and I trust him. If he had felt Mirin was making claims that they couldn't meet he would have spoken up. We can trust that there will be enough energy to awaken Zarena.”

As Mina spoke Kiara found herself setting back down. While she felt that Mina may be a bit biased when it came to how much she trusted Dan she didn't want to dispute the issue with her. She doubted anyone did either out of respect for Mina and trust or concern about how she would respond.

Flora was silent for a while waiting for any other voices to join the conversation then spoke up once again. “Okay then. I believe we can all agree that Zarena should be awakened. Now we have another issue to talk about though. I'm going to say it right away I do not like the ideal of our brothers going into the shadow realm to face whatever is in there.” 

Mina, “None of us like it. However, before any of you say anything else I want to ask you all this. Are our brothers safer hiding behind us and not being allowed to defend themselves until we fall or are they safer standing and fighting beside of us?”

“Mina what kind of question is that! We won't fall especially if we have Zarena on our side.”

Mina, “So you think Mirin torched his hands for his own amusement! You think a brother who has so much affection for us and has devoted so much of his life to us would lie to us if he didn't believe it was absolutely necessary! Perhaps you think you know more about the shadow realm then our brothers!”

While Mina had been speaking softly beforehand now her voice was positively a roar and while the other keepers may have been of similar height to them her greater size and the power in her voice seemed to make them all shiver. Memories of the fight between Mina and a matron seemed to return to the front of many sisters minds and many went silent. Only Stella and Flora seemed to be completely unaffected by it and it was Flora who spoke up. “Mina you make a very good point but please stop frightening our sisters.”

A low growl escaped Mina and she seated herself once again. “I didn't mean to I just felt really angry for a moment there.”

Before continuing Stella placed a hand on Mina's shoulder. “It's alright Mina. You made a very good point and we all know that you care for and respect our brothers so its natural that such a question would upset you. Now as for me. I believe we should trust our brother's judgment in this matter but we can't be relaxed about it. I want to see these safety steps Mirin is taking with my own eyes.”

Flora, “That is a fair request I believe and I'm sure they would be happy to agree to it.”

“No. No! We can't let our brothers go into danger like that they're just too weak!” As Nadoria called out she rose to a standing position. A keeper herself Nadoria was of roughly the same scale as the three other women yet she seemed to be having trouble standing. Clearly she was concerned with how her protest would be taken.

Everyone in the room went silent and several eyes went to Mina. Breathing slowed down and only came back a minute later whenever Mina made no move to stand up. It stopped again though whenever Mina spoke. “I disagree with you. Our brothers may have weak bodies but that doesn't mean they are weak.”

Nadoria, “This isn't a matter of their usefulness this is a matter of their combative ability it's too dangerous for them to be allowed to go.”

Kiara, “Aren't you acting a little arrogant Nadoria? I have a question for all of you. What even makes you believe you can stop our brothers from helping us?”

Nadoria was actually taken back by Kiara's comment and questions. Angered flared in her and she began to walk towards the guardian. “How dare a guardian take that tone with a keeper. Perhaps”

Mina, “Set down Nadoria. If you take another step towards Kiara I'll make sure you don't stand up again for a week.”

Ice seemed to run through Nadoria's body as she heard Mina's voice and immediately she began retreating. “I wasn't going to.”

Mina, “Your scent gave you away. You were going to strike her.”

Nadoria, “I'm. I'm sorry. This is all just a lot for me to take in and the thought of our brothers putting themselves in danger it frightens me and.”

Flora, “We're all concerned but that's why we must talk and come up with the best possible decisions. Let's try to stay calm though and not break out into a brawl. Nadoria you mentioned having Zarena with us but surely you must realize that if our brothers are thinking about waking her up they're very concerned with what is happening. It's been nearly a hundred years since the last time a sleeper was awoken to deal with an enemy after all. It might have been even longer then that.”

Nidoria, “I know.”

Mina, “I have to ask though. How long is Zarena going to be allowed to remain awake once she's been revived. I know we've always had the sleepers return to their slumber shortly after being awakened but from the way Mirin was talking he seemed to want to keep her awake longer.”

Flora, “Well that's easy Mina. She should be allowed to remain awake until enough shapers have been made for all of us to tap into the energy source. At which time she can be asked to return to her slumber unless of course this new power source is stronger then we realize. Though I wonder if we're assuming too much. I imagine our brothers have an ideal of how long Zarena should be allowed to remain awake that probably doesn't have to do with our stomachs.”

Kiara, “That does sound like a fair way to handle the situation.  Let's get back to the subject that we were on though. Our brothers and if they should be allowed to fight along side of us. Before we talk further about it though I believe we should see how many are for the ideal of having them join us to see if further discussion is even needed. So how about everyone who would rather have our brothers stand with us stand up now and make your position clear?” As she finished speaking Kiara brought herself to a standing position.

As Kiara came to a standing position there was a light rumbling that ran throughout the room as the weight of several sisters was made to shift as they came to a standing position. Many of the sisters actually came to stand before even Mina could who had responded nearly the instant Kiara had made the recommendations. As the sisters looked around the room the decision was fairly clear.

Flora, “Well then. I guess this means our brothers will be allowed to fight alongside of us again. That said I'm sure we're also agreed that we need to insure they take the proper steps to insure their safety.”

“Oh without a doubt!”

Mina, “I swear I have to say this. I'm proud that so many of us realize that we need our brothers to handle this situation. However, there is something we still need to handle. I don't like that Mirin didn't trust us enough to tell us what he was doing and the fact that he lied to us doesn't set well with me at all. It's one thing for secrets to be kept it's another thing for them to lie to us. We can't allow something like that to stand.”

Before responding Flora once again set down as did the remaining sisters. “What do you have in mind Mina?”

Mina, “Mirin's actions were done to help us but I don't know if I can trust him like I used to be able to knowing that he lied. Now I know he explained to us why he believed his actions were needed but during the entire conversation I didn't hear him apologize for what he's done and that doesn't help either.”

Kiara, “That's true. To punish a brother of his rank though for doing what he thought was right though especially after all he's accomplished. It doesn't feel right.”

Mina, “I'm not talking about something that's too harsh. I'm just saying he has to be made to realize that what he did wasn't right. I believe that he should have one of his claws removed until we can say we trust him like we used to.”

A low rumble of small conversations seemed to flow through the room as the sisters listened to the suggestions. This continued for a short while but Stella spoke up first. “Mina I believe that's going too far. I agree that something has to be done but nothing that extreme. Wouldn't it be better if he was required to submit a report on his activities during a probation period or lose one of his claws? Something to let him know that he's being watched and that he's hurt our ability to trust him.”

Mina, “That could work but we'll need someone who can actually understand those reports to read through them.”

Kiara, “Are you all forgetting something? Mirin took the brunt of the blame today but he isn't the only brother who was in on this. Sure he claimed that he gave the order and lead the activities but you all know that's crap. They were all in on this and you need to ask why they behaved in such a way.”

Flora, “That's true. They didn't trust us and probably still don't trust us to see reason whenever it comes to such needs and let's be honest we haven't given then much cause to trust us there.”

For a moment Mina was silent as her thoughts turned to Dan. “Do you really believe Dan chose not to tell me about this?”

Flora, “I believe so Mina and honestly he may have had good reason. Perhaps it's time you talk to him about such things.”

A low sigh escaped Mina and she settled down suddenly feeling quite a bit smaller. “That won't be easy.”

Flora, “Let's all try to keep in mind what our brothers are and not make any hasty judgments. For now I would like it if this topic was put on hold. Perhaps it's not our place to do anything to them. Perhaps it's time for us to listen and let them use their strength where it applies.”

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“Okay Joseph why are you so tense?” As she spoke Maria raised herself and looked down at Joseph who was currently wresting with his head on her stomach and the wrest of him on her legs.

“Well my head is a little close to your crotch at this moment.”

“Well of course it is but that doesn't explain why you're so tense.”

“I'm just waiting for you to ask me a question is all. I've been laying here trying to think of the answer.”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria and she raised up slightly causing Joseph's head to slide further down her stomach and closer to her lower lips. “I'd prefer if you'd turn around and give me a kiss down there. Don't worry Joseph I'm not going to pester you about keeping the shadow realm visits a secret from me. It's not like I ever stopped to ask you about them after all.”

“Are you saying that because I'm not part of this culture or do you agree with what we did?”

“Mm if I answer do I get that kiss?”

It was impossible for Joseph not to grin as he looked up at the underside of Maria's breasts. “Yes you can have the kiss but nothing more. I really am exhausted Maria and waking up Zarena seems like it's going to be an involved process tomorrow.”

“Okay but it had better be one hell of a kiss and I want some tongue. Anyway about your question. I want to strangle the bunch of you for keeping us in the dark about the trips to the shadow world and not taking more steps to insure your safety. However, I understand why you did it. We put up so much resistance whenever you first even hinted about going to the shadow world that it's no wonder you assumed we would do whatever it took to stop such visits. What hurts me though is the fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell you but I can understand that as well. What would I have done with the knowledge if you'd told me about it? All it would have done is cause me additional stress and perhaps led to a slip of the tongue.”

“So you're not upset with me?”

“No. I'm not upset with you but I am concerned. This deception has got a lot of sisters thinking about the relationship between us and our brothers and what that really means. I wonder what kind of change this may all lead to.”

“Perhaps it'll teach the sisters that they're threats they can't handle and they must trust the brothers to take care of those.”

“Joseph that is a very bitter pill for us to swallow. So how much did you know about their trips to the shadow realm?”

“I knew that they were going well armed and that those brothers who were going knew how to defend themselves. I saw them come back with injuries from time to time so I knew that they were being attack as well. Though Mirin's hands were a real shocker. So I knew that they were in danger but I couldn't think of any other option.”

For a moment Maria was silent and allowed Joseph to settle down before bringing her tail up and quickly moving the length of it across his nose. Joseph response was immediate. He began to flail about and made a grab for her tail to only find it had already passed by. A delighted chuckle escaped her as Joseph began to furiously rub his nose in response to the tail lashing.  “This is all quite an ugly mess. I think we all realize that. This is after all the first time we've had to deal with an enemy who was so effective at attacking us from the shadow of  this world. It's frustrating and they'll be a lot of high strung sisters for a while. If you're wondering though there was no decision as to what we should do about our brothers lying to us. They were some good arguments made from what I hear though.”

“From what you hear? You mean you weren't there?”

“No. Unfortunately I was out running around taking care of various situations. Even during meetings we can't all be here after all.”

“I wonder if you would feel differently if you'd seen how roughed up Mirin was.”

“Oh I saw that! I saw that on my return.  Anyway, I've answered your question now I believe you were going to give me a kiss with tongue.”

It was impossible for Joseph not to grin as he raised up and then shifted onto his stomach. As he looked towards Maria's crotch he wrapped his arms around as much of her waste as he could and began to scoot forward. Joseph heard a sigh escape from Maria and he pressed his lips against her lower ones making sure to remember the tongue.

***************************************************************************************************

Nathan took in a deep breath as he approached the side of Zarena's head. The massive sleeper didn't move in the least a good sign that she knew someone was there and recognized the scent. As he approached her though and took hold of a few handfuls of her fur he was made to remember his younger days and back whenever he had made this same climb. This was not a normal climb though when taking care of a keeper. At the time it had been quite a risky act done by a foolish young man. Now she knew his scent and remained still as he continued to climb. It had been decided that the shaper would be placed on the lower right corner of her eye actually underneath the skin and had been adjusted to fit there.

Currently Joseph, Dan, Mirin, Maria, Mina and several others stood in the room watching Nathan's progress. None wanted to get too close though Maria stood at the ready to dash in and grab Nathan should something go wrong. As they watched though Joseph couldn't help but question. “Why is Nathan doing this alone?”

Mirin, “She knows Nathan by scent better then she knows any of us. She's less likely to respond to his touch which means she's less likely to try to crush or eat him.”

Climbing up a sleepers fur wasn't as easy of a task as one might expect. There were no great lengths of fur for Nathan to take hold of as he climbed. Rather the fur of a sleeper and a keeper was roughly the same length despite their massive size difference. This seemed to be related to the fact that their fur was a conductor and not an insulator and thus worked better if it was relatively short. He had chosen to climb up the side of her head though and to avoid her face for fear of her mouth. “Hey Zarena it's me. Do you remember? That scared little guy that had to brush out the inside of your mouth every once in a while. I bet part of you remembers me. Do you remember how I would talk with you whenever I was the only one in the room?”

Joseph actually grew concerned whenever he felt a powerful rubble and the air seemed to shiver. After a moment of looking around though he knew who it was coming from and recognized it. “She's purring.”

Maria was made to giggle as she noted the surprise in Joseph's voice. “Of course. She's getting loving attention from one of her brothers and seeing as how little she gets of that it's not surprising she's happy even in her sleeping state. Besides if she was growling in anger we'd already be reconsidering this.”

Nathan, “That's a sweet sound. I wonder if you'll even know it was me who would brush the hair on your tummy back then and clean off your nails. I wonder what your voice sounds like that. You know in all the time I've been coming here I've never heard you speak a single word. Will you be scared when you wake up? Perhaps you'll be frightened that the world has changed more then you expected it to and you won't know what to do. Things have changed and I bet you'll like how they've changed.”

While he was speaking to her Zarena's massive body began to respond. Her tail began to flick across the ground ever so slowly while her right hand began to open and close causing her claws to respond. She gave a slight sigh and shifted just enough to be noticed but not enough to cause Nathan to fall off. She then settled down and once again relaxed while Nathan finally made the climb atop her face and began to make his way towards her eye.