Harry Potter, Inheritance Cycle 1. Prologue

**Survival**

**Author:**

**Denver Steele**

**Prologue**

The man rushed down the road, quick as he could. The soldiers armored footsteps could be heard behind him, not too close, yet too close for comfort. The man himself was hooded and cloaked, with his face cast completely in shadow by the hood. This man's name was Brand, and he was being pursued because he had stolen something so valuable from King Morzan that he and the empire would do anything to retrieve it. He had stolen a red dragon egg, one of the last six eggs in existence.

As he ran, he looked for a place to hide momentarily. Glancing around, he darted down an alley, hiding in the shadows. As he made it, he watched as the soldiers rushed past the alley, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He reached into the pouch at his side and pulled out the egg. He cupped it between both hands, and raising it above his head, he chanted in an ancient language. As he finished the last phrase, the egg shone like a torch and disappeared completely.

Shuddering with fatigue, Brand leaned over, gasping for breath. The magic had taken much energy from his body. Suddenly, a cold laugh filled the alley. Brand jerked upright in shock and whirled toward the noise. Korzak, a tall, broad shouldered, muscled man was standing at the mouth of the ally with his emerald green longsword glowing in his right hand. He wore a black plate mail shirt with matching black plate legs and mailed boots. Over his shoulders and back, reaching to the back of his knees he wore a black silk cape. He had brown, clean hair and a bright, handsome face that looked almost chiseled. His voice almost simmered with hidden power. He was also a rider of a neon green dragon named Emerson, which was currently too young to fly, and so was left at the castle.

"Well, thief I finally caught up with you. Give up the egg, and I'll let you live." Korzak said in a mocking voice.

"You're too late. I sent it far away. Guess you'll have to go back to the castle and tell your dear father that you've failed him again." Brand said, quietly drawing his own sword, this one a defiant black color that seemed to suck the life out of the world around it.

Korzak roared in outrage at Brand's words and, as Brand had hoped, lost control and lunged at him. Brand had known, tired as he was, that he had no hope of defeating Korzak alone. As Korzak lunged, Brand sidestepped and placed his hand out towards where Korzak had fallen saying the word, "Huldr." Korzak, caught unawares, was paralyzed against the ground which allowed Brand to make good his escape, running through the alley and back toward the front gate.

Knowing they had already sealed the gate, Brand ran to the wall nearest him and jerked to a halt in front of it. Although he knew it would tire him further, he reached for his power once again, this time saying the word, "Flyrta." He began rising up the side of the wall through thin air. As he did so, he could hear arrows whistling by him in the dark. Throwing up a quick spell to protect him from them, he finally made it to the top of the wall and quickly descended to the other side. As he made it, he collapsed for a moment.

He allowed himself to lie there for only a couple minutes before pushing himself to a standing position and cancelling both spells. He began running to the forest, about three miles outside the city walls. Dark it may have been but he had travelled enough to know these lands even in the dark. As he made it to the forest, he stopped and looked back at the city. Knowing they would expect him to follow the trail, and also that it would be a couple hours before and search parties could be formed, he figured he would be safe at the moment. Besides, when they did find out he had abandoned the trail, he had something else on his side. They had no idea where his destination lies…..


	2. Chapter One: A Simple Life

**Chapter One: **

**A Simple Life**

Jason stared down at the farm from the hilltop he was on five miles away. He wore a simple leather jerkin and brown pants with leathery boots. There were many unusual things about Jason, not least of which was that he was a magician. He could perform magic although he only knew a few words of the language and had a limited amount of power. The other two most unusual things about him was his natural skill as a hunter. He seemed able to flawlessly track prey without having been taught, and even more easily, take them down when he has found them. The second was an almost flawless memory. Everything he saw or heard, he remembered.

He had been hunting for the past six days and had bagged four deer, which he had taken the liberty of gutting and chopping up himself to carry more easily, three rabbits, and five pheasant all of which were whole and in his pack with the other meat. It was almost fully dark so he began his descent from the hilltop. It took him nearly an hour to make it to the bottom. When he made it to the bottom, he jogged tiredly towards the farmhouse. It took him the better part of another hour to make it there, by which time night had fallen.

He knocked on the door and said softly, "Grandfather, it's me Jason. Let me in." An old emaciated-looking man came to the door with a lit lantern. He opened it quietly and ushered Jason inside. This man's name was Raymond. As Jason walked inside he dropped his heavy pack on the table and began taking out the contents. The food he placed in one pile, his clothing in another. He then walked over to the door and placed his bow and half-full quiver on two hooks next to it.

"You got many this time, my son." His grandfather said happily, clapping Jason on his shoulder. The elder man then moved to get a set of knives all wrapped in a pouch, and laid them all on the table next to the meat.

"I always do Father." Jason replied. He, of course, knew it was his grandfather but they had always called each other such. Jason's mother had died giving birth to him in this very house, and his father was taken away by soldiers before he was born, or any of the family had met him in fact. It had been many years, and he had not returned. Jason went to the cabinets and grabbed several sheets of the white wrapping paper and brought them to the table.

Together, they began to work on the meat. Raymond would gut, chop, and cut the meat into appropriate sizes, where he would pass it to Jason who would then clean off and package the meat with the wrapping paper. When they finished, they carried it to the cellar in the back of the house. The cellar was one of the house's enchanted rooms. As they entered, Jason looked around.

The cellar was enchanted by Jason to keep a cool temperature year round. It was also divided into sections as it was magically expanded. The sections were many and detailed. They had sections for beef, pork, fish, chicken, rabbit, venison, eggs, and feathered foul. Each section was filled with many cubby holes with the name of each animal's meat that accompanied it plastered beneath each one. There was enough there to last them at least fifty years. They quickly put away the new additions to the room.

After putting the meat away, they went to the next room over, which was built the same way, but this one sectioned for vegetables, fruit, bread, and cheese. This one had many different varieties in it as well, and was also filled to the brim in each cubby hole. He grabbed himself a slice of hot sourdough bread, whose cubby was heated thanks to his spell work, along with a wedge of cold cheese.

He then went to the next room, which was filled with every drink imaginable, collected by his grandfather over eighty years. They had everything from milk to juices to ale, mead, wine, and beer. He grabbed a flask of cold milk, and then took his supper back to the table and sat with his grandfather. He ate his supper gratefully, and sipped the cool milk from his wooden cup. He then bade his grandfather goodnight and went to his bedroom.

It was a simple room, with a single bed that had fur covers and two soft pillows with a small rickety window behind it, a wooden chair next to a desk and a bookshelf that was filled with leather volumes and dusty, ancient scrolls, and a set of shelves next to the bed. He lie down in the bed, underneath the warm covers grateful for being home and almost immediately fell asleep.

The next morning found Jason still asleep as the sun began streaming in through the rickety little window beside his bed. He slowly began to rouse but didn't want to leave the bed as the sunlight warmed his back. He groaned and pushed himself upright to sit at the edge of the bed. He could hear and smell many things from the garden through the open window; clean and fresh air, the cows mooing, the horses neighing, and the bees buzzing around the fresh vegetables.

He stood and dressed himself in a clean shirt and pants, pulling on his leather boots from the day before. Today they had many chores before them such as; picking, salting, and shelling the rest of the vegetables, fruit, and berries, milking the cows, feeding the chickens, horses, and cows, and most importantly, making ready things to sell to the traders. Although they had much food, and many tools to work with, his family had very little money. That isn't to say they were poor. They always managed to sell enough to make the money to get their tools and seeds for the next year, along with maybe a trifle or two apiece. They just didn't always have much for things that they would like to have after because they had to save up in case they needed to go into the city to have a tool repaired or one of them became too sick and had to go pay for a healer.

The traders would come once a year in the winter. They came in the winter because the city was a port city by the name of Teirm and was in the south, and although it would get chilly in the mornings, it would only have the barest of snow falls in the winter. So during the rest of the year, the traders made their way around some of the other empire's cities. Coming to the port city last was also a smart marketing choice on their front. As a port city, it already had much trade and wealth flowing through it and so did not need much of the traders' wares, but it did have many things to sell to the traders that they would then take to the northern cities and towns to sell to those who did not get such items and tools regularly. Also, the port city's inhabitants were mostly vain and bought a lot of the traders' jewelry and gems along with other trinkets.

The traders also bought a lot of food from the south that could only be had there, to take to the northern cities. This is where Jason and his grandfather Ray came in. They sold much of the food they took to sell to the city, but reserved some of the southern animals' finest cuts for the traders. They also took along a few spare tools or other saleable items for sale too. Not only did they need seed and a few other tools that had broken and could not be repaired, but also Jason needed to buy himself a new quiver full of arrows. He now only had half a pack left, which might only last one hunt if they shattered upon impact as they sometimes did.

Jason walked to the kitchen as he finished dressing and sat at the table. Ray was already awake and was at the stove working over two pans set over two of the burners, lit with a fire underneath each one. One of the pans had two eggs frying; the other had the last four strips of bacon sizzling in it. Despite having large amounts of many of the varieties of food in both storage units, bacon they did not have a large amount of. The reason was simple. Every year they tried to get a couple pigs, but most years they could not afford it. This year they had happened to be lucky enough to buy two and had eaten the bacon sparingly. It being close to time for the traders again, Jason knew this was his grandfather's way of showing his hope for another good year.

His grandfather finished cooking, and separated an egg each onto a separate plate, along with two pieces of bacon each. Jason eagerly dug into his fried egg, but savored the crispy pieces of bacon, knowing he may have no more for another year. Ray ate slowly, and as the last of the bacon disappeared between his lips, he gathered up his plate and took it to the sink. As Jason finished, he did the same. Ray turned the nozzle for the water, but cursed as no water came out. They got their water from a well, and had built a pipeline themselves to the sink directly, but because of their inexperience in the matter it occasionally didn't work and had to be fixed.

In the city almost everyone had a sink because they lived next to the ocean and many pipelines were created under the port city much like a sewer line, except this one pumped in clean water from the ocean into people's homes and businesses and allowed them to use nozzles to turn on the water for washing of the dishes among other things, and so the richer nobles could wash themselves in what they called bath tubs that had enchanted nozzles used to heat and cool water alternatively. They were very expensive to run, as you had to pay for all the water you used in the city which was determined by a magician who cast a spell on the pipes to determine how much water went where, which was why only the richer folk had them of course. All others had to use the bath houses in the city once a week.

Jason told his grandfather he would go see where the problem came from, and after grabbing his bow and quiver from beside the door and strapping it on, he went outside. He walked to the well, and used a spell he had read in a scroll that detected metal near the ground. The more powerful you were, the farther down you could sense the metal. Jason was only just powerful enough to sense the pipes however. As he cast the spell, he walked along the pipeline until he sensed a place where the metal stopped, then started again a moment later. Groaning, he went to the shed they had built and pulled out a spade. Walking back to the spot, he dug up the ground around where the pipeline faded. After digging it up, he discovered the pipe had broken cleanly in two.

Taking the spade back to the shed Jason thought to himself that he would be lucky if this went over well and left him standing. He closed the shed back up and walked back over to the pipeline. Uncertain if the effort would leave him standing, Jason drew on his power and cast another spell he had read in the scroll about magic and metal. This one was to repair metal and weld it back together without the use of a forge. The problem was that although a forge may have taken longer to repair it, it would also have taken much less energy. As he released the spell, the metal wove itself back together flawlessly. He swayed for a moment after the spell completed, but did not drop as he had expected. He was more tired yes, but it did not tire him as it once did. He smiled, realizing that he was growing stronger as time went on.

He then used his hands to scoop a small amount of dirt back over the pipes. It was barely enough to cover it, but after it breaking so many times Jason thought he knew where the problem was coming from. After they had paid for the pipes to be welded together at a forge and carried it back in their cart, they had only buried it so deep that it could barely be sensed by Jason in case it had to be fixed. Jason thought that since the dirt was so thin, any amount of wind, harsh rain, or heavy objects or humans crossing over it would cause it to break. Though he thought he may be right, it would cost them a lot to have it repaired if he buried it deeper than he could sense and his theory ended up wrong.

He went back to the shed and returned back out with the spade. He then went to their stable that he himself had built and returned with one of their two horses, Minty. She was a young bay that they had managed to save up enough to buy not three years ago for Jason's birthday. Although she was young, she was strong for a bay. He took their cart and hitched her up to it. Climbing on top of her, he coaxed her to a place about a half-mile away in the forest in the center of a ring of trees where a small field lay. He climbed off her and let her graze a small way away from where he was going to work. He tethered her to a nearby tree with a rope long enough to allow her to reach the nearby stream if she should get thirsty. He unhitched the cart from her and brought it over next to where he was going to work. He then took a tarp he had taken from the shed, and tied it around the back and sides of the cart so nothing could fall out.

Jason then set about taking the spade and digging a large hole. All the dirt he plucked from the ground, he tossed into the cart. He kept digging up more dirt until he had amassed an entire cartful. The process had taken him just under an hour. He then retrieved Minty and re-hitched her to the cart. He climbed back on top of her and rode back to the farm. He drew her up near the pipes and dismounted. He unhitched her once again, and led her back to the stables, promising her a reward later that evening for her assistance. Jason walked back toward the pipes and picked up the spade. He spent the entire next hour covering the entire length of the pipeline with dirt he had left to retrieve, and the dirt he had scooped out earlier. To test his idea, He walked over the pipeline several times, the cart trailing him. He then tipped the cart over to remove any excess dirt and returned it to the shed.

He walked inside eager to try out his new theory. Turning the nozzle to the sink on, he was delighted to see water come out as strong as any stream. He then called out to his grandfather and explained what he had learned. Together they washed, dried, and put away their breakfast dishes. "You have grown, not only in body but in mind as well son." Ray commented, smiling at Jason.

"I may have grown slightly stronger and smarter father, but I'm afraid if it does break again, we will have to either dig it up again to fix it, or pay a smith to fix it for us. I couldn't see a way to make it easier." Jason replied, slightly worried about whether he had made the right decision or not. He did come up with many idea around the house, and often too. The problem was he would worry himself about his decisions until they either proved to be smart decisions, or ones made in error.

"I rather think you are right and had though such myself many times before now but were too unsure to take action." Ray assured him quietly before walking to the door and pulling on his rough boots. "Come, let us go finish out the garden for the year, before winter settles in too far for us to work and lays a drift of snow on the ground and ruins the crops."

Although they lived in the southern part of the country, the barest of snow falls did still happen as the cool from the ocean settled in at night and in the mornings. Even though the snow falls were light, they still reached about three to four foot high sometimes, which were enough to kill the crops and freeze you if you weren't careful. It was worse around the farm because they were higher up in the mountains. As a result, the rest of the day was spent picking, salting, shelling, and pickling different crops and bringing them into the dining room. Over the next three days, they divided their time between storing the crops, and preparing the animals for winter to come. This meant giving them larger amounts of food, and preparing their various pens, stables, and coops to be warmer during the winter days and nights.

After all of this was accomplished, jobs that took over a week and a half in total, Jason and his grandfather saw the first signs of winter as the light amount of snow fell to the ground. Jason trudged through it after breakfast one morning and returned, pulling the cart inside the house itself, and settling it in the sitting room in a corner where nothing stood. They took a bundle of ten of each kind of meat they had, which was an extensive amount, and bundles of each kind of vegetable, fruit, bread, and berry they had. All of this was packed into the cart, which had the tarp tied around it again. Each bundle was alternatively heated and cooled by enchantments Jason laid on them as they were packed away. Then, Ray took out the leftover of the years' money and attached the surprisingly large pouch to his belt. He attached ten similar empty pouches to his belt as well, all of them hidden beneath his shirt.

Jason looked around the house and gathered up spare tools, equipment, and other sellable items he could find around the house. This included small sapphire, ruby, and amethyst gems he had found while digging. He attached a small pouch, and four large ones to his own belt hidden under his shirt as well. He put the supplies and other items they were to sell in the cart as well, packed into it so they would not roll, and put the gemstones into the small pouch at his waist. They were excited to see how much they would sell for as they had never found such things before. All the pouches Jason and his grandfather carried were enchanted by Jason to be extensive and hold an endless amount of things so long as they could fit through the opening. However this did nothing to distribute weight or make it weightless and thus the reason for carrying a few of them apiece. When one got heavy you used the others. They went out the door, Jason strapping on his bow and quiver as he went out, and they got both Minty and his grandfather's male stallion, Rapid, and hitched them both to the cart. The two men mounted their horses and began the journey down to Teirm.


	3. Chapter Two: Return from the Dark

**Chapter Two: Return From The Dark**

Brand rushed into the forest away from the capital city walls as fast as his feet would carry him. He had decided when planning this venture that he would stay off the path until he had achieved a good distance from the capital. They would be looking for him on the roads. He ran until he was about five miles from the capital and leaned against a tree panting loudly. He made camp; rolling out his bedroll near a large rock but lit no fire as he was extremely close to the capital and it would alert any patrols they sent out. He ate a cold dinner of bread and cheese and rolled over going to sleep.

In the middle of the night, he was awoken by yells that permeated the forest. He rolled over, alert for danger, and pulled out his dagger from its sheath on the back of his belt simultaneously. He quickly assessed the area around him and, upon seeing there was no immediate danger; he packed everything back into his pack, checked the egg rolled into his bed clothes, and shouldered the pack. He took off at a brisk jog towards the source of the noise, taking care to keep quiet and not snap any branches as he did so.

As Brand neared the main road from the capital, he saw several platoons of soldiers with the King's sigil stamped on the front of their plate armor. They all carried torches, and were discussing him. He shielded his mind as he watched three robed magicians enter the conversation. Deciding he had lingered long enough, he slunk back into the shadows of the forest and set off at a steady pace he would be able to retain most of the day. He enjoyed long walks anyways, as they allowed him peace and quiet to think and reflect by himself.

He thought over the state of his supplies as he walked as well. He had enough venison to last about three days, assuming he found a safe enough place to light a fire to cook it. He had enough bread and cheese to last about five days, and three apples left. He had enough salt to toss a lump in with each meal he had meat with. His enchantments kept the bread warm and the rest cold so he needn't worry about that. But even if everything worked out well he would have to stop in the closest town or village he dared to buy supplies. He also planned on buying a horse in the next place he stopped as well, assuming there was one for sale.

He walked till midday, and stopped for a brief rest. He ate a loaf of his bread as he sat at the base of a tree with his pack resting beside him. He leaned over as he chewed, and took out a map of Alagaesia. He rolled it out, and looked for the capital in the middle of the map. Finding it, he traced out the route he had taken through the forest and rested his finger on where he decided he must either be at or very close to. He moved his finger through the forest until he came to Gilead, a day's march away and also the king's armies' staging point. It was the nearest city, but was a very unsafe point to stop. He then moved up to the nearest city which was Ceunon, the last city before Teirm, the port city where he lived. He looked it over and thought about the distances. Ceunon was only a couple days' march from Gilead. He thought about it and decided he would go easy on the meat and should be able to reach the city with the supplies he had left.

Rolling up the map and stuffing it back into his pack; he took a drink from the wineskin and took back off through the forest, pack on his back once again. He smiled at what he had accomplished, and at the peace he felt at being alone in the forest once more. He had missed these journeys. Although tedious, they allowed for you to appreciate the beauty outside the cities as well as many different learning opportunities presented along the way. He walked for about four hours before he reached the fringe of the forest. Unsheathing his sword, he carefully walked a bit along the edge of the forest both right and left to ensure there were no ambushes or traps lying in wait for him. Surely they realized he had abandoned the road by now. Satisfied, he sheathed his sword and walked out from under the trees and onto the road. Head bowed, he walked with a slightly pronounced limp in his step as he passed the great walls of Gilead. There was a larger crowd on this road with many carts, wagons, and carriages so he passed by the city unnoticed.

As he passed by he noticed the soldiers scanning everyone who passed through the gates with an undue amount of interest. He sighed, knowing he would have to be careful when he entered Ceunon. He walked until it was too dark to walk anymore, and left the road to search for somewhere to sleep in peace as he had not gotten that much that morning. He eventually found a cave and pulled a large stick from the ground. He took his pack off and set it at the mouth of the cave and pulled a rag out from it and tied it to the top of the stick. "Brisingr." He said under his breath. The makeshift torch immediately blared with fire and he walked into the cave, loosening his sword in its sheath for seldom were caves unoccupied. This cave however, was. He took his pack from the mouth of the cave and set it inside, and propped the lit torch against the cave wall.

He then left the cave and gathered up about ten large stones, and an entire armful of sticks. He took them back to the cave and dumped them beside his pack. He then strode back out and to the nearest tree, which was dead. Taking his sword, he hacked one of the largest branches off and then hacked off logs of close to the same shape and size. He sheathed his sword and carried the logs back to the cave, setting them in a pile as well. He took the stones and set them in a large ring. After doing so, he took the logs he had gathered and threw on four of them, arranging them in a circle inside the circle. He took a fifth log and placed it across them, leaving an open space on either side of it. On top he put all of the sticks he had gathered. Brand then walked to the wall and grabbed the torch and walked back to the fire pit he had made. He used a spell to dry all the wood, and then thrust the torch underneath the top log. It caught very quickly and roared high because of the small sticks piled on top.

He went to his pack and pulled out a large pot. He took the last log and chopped it into three long sticks. He scourged them with magic and then took out his dagger. He cut a cleft in the top of two of them and set them at diagonal angles on either side of the fire. He then took the last one and set it between the clefts over the fire, too high to burn. Brand then hooked the pot to the middle of the stick over the fire. He took his three water skins out of his pack and poured all of them out into the pot, filling it halfway with water. He left the water to boil, and walked out of the cave with his water skins. "Thrysta Deloi." He said, sending tentacles of power through the ground. After a moment, he felt more of a pull coming from the east, slightly in between the hills. He negated the spell, and sagged for a moment. He was tired from the days' events and from all the magic he had used.

Moving onward to the east, he found a medium sized stream running down from between the hills and through the plains. He took the skins and refilled all of them to the brim. He lowered his head and drank his fill from the stream. The water was icy cold, as if snow had fallen in it, froze, and then melted again several times. It numbed his lips but tasted excellent. He left the stream and went back to the cave. The water was boiling when he returned. He put the skins back into his pack and took out a package. He unwrapped the venison inside and took his dagger back out. He sliced the meat into squares and gathered it up in his hands. He dropped it into the pot and turned back to the pack. He took out a large wooden spoon, a small container, and another packaged item. He took the spoon and carefully measured out a spoonful of salt from the container and dropped the lump of salt into the pot as well. He put the container back in the pack and turned to the packaged item. Opening it, he revealed two mint leaves, which he dropped into the pot as well after tearing them into small pieces. He put the package back into his pack and then walked to the opening of the cave and wiped his dagger clean on the grass and returned it to its sheath on the back of his belt.

As Brand walked back inside, he untied his sword and laid it against his pack. After doing so, he took the wooden spoon and stirred his stew. He lay down the spoon and waited after a few moments of stirring. A rich aroma spread through the cave at the smell of the stew. He turned to his pack and took out a medium sized stone bowl. Setting it next to the stew, he took out and unrolled his bedroll next to the fire, but not close enough to make him sweat throughout the night. Lying down on it, savoring the downy texture of the expensive bedroll, he waited on the stew to finish. His stomach growled to remind him of his missed meals and he laughed at the sound. Just to be safe, he extended his mind outward as far as he could in all directions in search of enemies. He found birds, rabbits, lizards, snakes, plants, and a few deer, but no enemies.

Smiling to himself, he picked up the wooden spoon and tasted the brown stew. It tasted excellent and so he picked up the bowl and ladled a bowl full for himself. He used the spoon to eat with and enjoyed an entire bowl full so much that he poured himself a second. After eating that, he felt satisfied to leave the last two bowl amounts simmering over the fire for morning. He took a long draught from the wineskin and put it back in his pack, grimacing at how little was left in it. He would have to buy more at Ceunon when he arrived. He rolled himself over in his blankets, facing the fire and cave opening and went to sleep, content that he was safe until morning.

As the sun shone throughout the cave, Brand rolled over to face the opening again. He groaned and got up out of the covers, shivering slightly in the brisk winter air. Winter may be just beginning, but this far north snow already had begun falling at night. He rolled up the bedroll and stuffed it into his pack. He then picked up his bowl from the night before and filled it with the still warm stew, thanks to the fire that still burned, albeit low, in the fire pit. He ate the stew hungrily, and was filled by the first bowl. So as not to be wasteful however, he also ate the last bowl full left in the pot. He then took the pot off the fire, careful to use rags from his pack to do so, and carried it out into the snow where it created a puddle around it. Leaving it to cool a moment, he returned the rags to his pack and grabbed the wooden spoon and the stone bowl. He went back to the pot and cleaned the wooden spoon, and the bowl with snow. He also cleaned the pot, but had waited till it had cooled. He took all three items back inside the cave and took out all his rags and wrapped them around the three items before returning them to his pack.

The pack itself was enchanted in two ways. First, he could fit an endless amount of things inside of it. Second, it would always be weightless no matter how much was in there, until it exceeded the weight of five hundred pounds for his spell work would then exceed his strength and kill him. He had designed the spell to warn him when he was getting close to that however. He strapped his sword to his belt again, and took the three long sticks off the sides and top of the fire pit and threw them in. Using his flame spell once again, he this time made it hot enough to reduce the rest of the wood to ashes within seconds. He used a spell to cool the rocks around it afterwards and gathered them all up and spread them around the cave. He kicked the ashes of the fire around until it looked like sand around the cave. He then tied his pack shut, shouldered it, and after a last look around the cave he jogged out and back onto the main road where he began a long walk that would take him to Ceunon.


	4. Chapter Three: The City of Ceunon

**Chapter Three: The City Of Ceunon**

After two more days of the same monotonous trek, Brand ended up a mile from Ceunon. He stuck to the road now since more and more merchants, sellswords, nobles, and other such people occasionally appeared on the road now. He also wore the hood on his shirt over his head, because many other people seemed to do so here and it helped to keep his identity safe from the other travelers. He finally arrived at Ceunon about fifteen minutes later, but was alone when passing through the open gate and was worried when the guards barred the way and drew their swords.

"Halt!" The guard on the left cried. He looked Brand up and down slowly, and then said, "Who are you and what is your business here? Why is it you keep your face covered?"

"So many questions! Which to answer first my friends?" Brand said laughing easily now that he had quelled the nervousness in his stomach. "The answer to your first question is I am Loring, and I am here to buy ironwork for my master in Gilead. As to why I keep up a hood, when I was smithing a sword with my master one day, I slipped and fell and my face fell into the fire, leaving a nasty scar. I'd rather not have anyone see how hideous it is." Brand looked out from his hood, right into the face of the other man although the guard could not see his own.

The guard scratched his chin for a moment and then said, "Well, I'm not sure we have what you are looking for here my friend, but you are welcome to look so long as you cause no trouble." He and his companion sheathed their swords and stepped aside, letting Brand pass. As he did, his stomach grumbled its dissatisfaction at having been ignored since morning. His food supplies and wine had run out the night before, as had two of his water skins. He immediately looked for an inn to stay in. Over the past couple days, the snow fell constantly here in the north, and was up to his knees in most places. He was eager to escape the cold.

As he walked along he looked at three inns, one of which seemed halfway fancy. He decided to take the expense as it would help him look more decent to the people who lived in the city, and the comfort it provided didn't hurt either. He went inside the inn, noting the name as he did so, The Golden Globe. As he stepped inside, many things assaulted him at once. First, was the smell of hot food. Second, was the sound of many different voices, pleasantly talking to one another after a long day at work. And lastly, was the feel of the nice warm air inside. He smiled underneath his hood, finally being back among civilization.

He chose a seat in the corner of the room, finally lowering his hood, pleased to see no undue interest in the cities inhabitants when they did happen to look him over. He was no extremely handsome man by any account, but was not unduly ugly either. His face, like that of Korzak's, had a chiseled look to it as if an artist had taken his features and turned them into something better looking than a humans. He had a scar that stretched from temple to chin on the right side of his face, but it was faded. As for the rest of his body, he was muscular, with a powerfully built chest, and rippling arms and legs. His hair was a jet black color because he applied a spell to it years ago to keep it from turning gray. He aged still, but would never die from age. That had been seen too many years ago.

As a bar wench passed, he caught her skirt and said politely, "I'd like to let a room for two nights, as well as a hot meal for tonight." The girl paused and nodded at his request, disappearing through the crowd. When she reappeared, she slipped a key to him under the table. She then slipped through the crowd again, back to the kitchens. When they returned thirty minutes later, there were four of them, two carrying a large suckling pig with various greens around it, one carrying a plate of sweet apples, and the girl carrying a plate of hot loaves of sourdough bread, and ripened yellow wedges of cheese. She left one last time, and returned with a mug of beer. When she returned, she set the mug down and curtsied in an exaggerated maneuver and asked dutifully as the owner of the hotel, a large, heavyset looking man looked on, "Is there anything else you would require of me, my lord?"

Brand looked her over with some pity. The girl was barely entering her teens she looked like. She looked as if she had only just recently turned so. A quick prod of her mind told him she was fourteen, and so legally a woman in their times, and a complete virgin. She was also the owner of the hotel's daughter and was forced to work for him just recently as a serving girl. She was also very pretty, as shown by the many men around the dining area looking at her hungrily. She was a very pretty young girl with long brown hair that was straightened past her shoulders, pretty pink glossy lips, and long pale legs that showed beneath her very small work skirt that was pure black and barely fell to right above her knees. She might as well not have worn it though for how many men had flipped at her skirt as she had passed and had shown she wore regular, cheap pink underwear, and on top her boobs were obviously firm, perky, and small enough to stay where they were when her clothes came off, but large enough to fill one hand apiece. They were covered by a simple cheap pink bra, and a black tank top which was a new sort of style young women wore that showed much under their chin to the cleavage. This one was small enough to show a small bit of her flat, toned stomach as well. Her ass was small, firm looking, and very toned. She had pale white skin, and her father had obviously went to some expense to buy her the new lipstick material that had just come out onto the market by brothel owners around the world, as well as a sort of colored polish that went on the fingernails, for hers were a bright pink to match her sexy, curved lips.

From his quick trip inside her mind, Brand also learned she was very intelligent, and knew how to read, which was rare in humans nowadays. She was very flexible and slightly muscular and toned, which he learned came from time spent working with her mother in their garden back home outside the city when she was younger. However, he also took a small peek inside the father's mind, which sickened him. It seemed the father worked for a month at a time, then closed up the hotel for a month and returned to help on the farm. He alternated between each place every month. However, this time he had taken his only daughter with him back to work with the excuse he gave her mother of the girl being his only child and needing to learn how to run the family business. In reality, the man was a pervert and in the privacy of his mind fantasized about his daughter daily for the past year. He had finally decided to make good on that fantasy when he brought her here and took pleasure from watching men grope her daily and making her take it from them, but never let them use her. No one had offered enough money for that. Besides, he wanted the privilege for himself. The opportunity would come when they left for home as his wife had left to see her sister in Dras' Leona, which was two months journey away. He had hired guards for her and sent her off as soon as he could.

Remembering she had asked him a question, Brand looked over the large meal at her and said politely, "Please, sit down and talk a while. It's been a long time since I had pleasant company and conversation." She sat down with a quiet fear growing in her, very much doubting that was what he wanted but not daring to disobey a request from a patron when it had not been a sexual one….yet. Brand smiled to himself and was determined to keep them from her for a while longer at least. He had a son, Jason, who lived just outside Teirm. He did not know Brand was his father, but Jason would become a man within a months' time, and Brand thought this girl would get along with him famously.

Brand handed her one of the three plates set alongside his dinner, and cut off a piece of the pig for himself and her each, setting it on their respective plates. He then filled his with various other foods on the table, as did she. They began eating in silence as he looked for the right questions he would like to ask her before making his decision. As the father of Jason, whether the boy knew it or not, it was his responsibility to make a match for the boy. He intended to do that duty. He had never revealed his true identity to the boy, having not wanted to put him in danger. However, only in the last year had he told the boy's grandfather. It had taken convincing, but eventually the old man had accepted him as a surrogate son.

He looked across the table at the girl and asked quietly, "What is your name, girl?"

"Karisa." The girl replied smiling sweetly in relief at him attempting no sexual acts or innuendoes.

"That is a good name, Karisa. I have a couple questions for you, and want you to answer honestly."

Karisa thought for a moment and replied, "I will."

Brand marshaled his thoughts and, after taking a bite and swallowing asked, "Are you betrothed?"

"No." Karisa answered, thinking here we go to herself.

"Are you interested in a betrothal that would lead you away from here?" Brand asked her intently.

"Father would never agree to it." Karisa said instantly although she longed to leave Ceunon and escape having to run the hotel when father died, even if it meant marrying herself to an older pervert who only had an interest in bedding her and getting her pregnant with his child. She knew she was very beautiful and men thought of her as sexy, hot, and very desirable now that she was of age, and although she secretly liked the attention now and then as every girl her age does, it grew tiring quickly despite some uses she had found for it.

"He would for the right circumstances." Brand said dismissively. That much he knew from looking into the man's mind.

"In that case, yes. I would like to be betrothed. I suppose it's to you?" Karisa asked him while privately thinking that at least he wasn't too bad looking. In fact, even if he were the most perverted man on the planet, he was quite good looking. However, she didn't think she was ready to even be seen naked yet.

Brand laughed in reply. He looked at her evenly and said, "No I'm afraid not. My son would be the prospector. I mean to set him up with a worthy suitor, and a beautiful young woman like yourself fits perfectly."

Karisa laughed cutely and replied with, "I doubt I am that beautiful, but I am honored my lord thinks me a worthy suitor for his son."

Brand smiled and said, "Not yet. I must speak to your father, and if there is an after, I must see you in private to see if you are truly a fit match for my son."

Karisa blushed prettily knowing what he meant, but inside she was soaring with happiness at the idea that she might have a slight chance at marrying a lord's son. She never cared about riches or glory or a lot of those things, but just wanted a good husband that would love her, and would take her far away from Ceunon. So naturally she was imagining a dashing looking young man that would end up holding her and kissing her every night.

Brand finished his meal in silence, studying the pretty girl in front of him. He then handed her his plate indicating she should clear away everything. She gave him a smile and began clearing things away. She had also slipped him his bill so that he could pay her father for everything at his discretion. In all, it cost him three hundred gold for the two nights and a meal. A large amount to most, but a trifling amount to himself. He got up and walked away towards her father whose back was toward them now as he cleaned the counter. As Brand walked away he slapped her ass cheek over the skirt to give the wrong impression of what their conversation was about to the other patrons left in the dining hall this late.

As Brand reached him, the man had just turned around. Brand silently handed the man his bill and the money. He then asked softly if there was a place they might speak in private. The man agreed, interest piqued. Brand walked behind the man, following him to a room adorned with a large bed and fireplace, and a smaller bed on the side of it. The room was also protected with silencing spells, Brand saw, because of his extensive training in the matter of detecting other magic. Obviously someone went to extreme lengths and expense to keep this room a comfortable, undisturbed area. This must be he and Karisa's bedroom. The man gestured toward the other armchair in front of the fireplace, taking the first one for himself.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a private audience sir?" the man asked with an obvious strive towards politeness.

In the same endeavor, Brand smiled and replied, "I had hoped we might discuss your daughter."

"We might, though for what I might wonder." The man replied, looking Brand up and down closely.

"Marriage, to my son. I would like to arrange one between he and Karisa. His name is Jason." Brand says, returning the man's scrutiny with ease.

"And what would your son have to offer my family? No matter. Why would I release my only daughter to a family that doesn't even live here?" The man said to Brand, thinking selfishly and perversely that he would be his daughter's first, and only, night visitor.

"What my son offers to you shall be his own offering. However, it is what I have to offer that should capture your attention, for I am a lord. And I am also very, very rich. If you happen to marry your daughter to my son, no matter what, I shall give you five-thousand gold now. I will also agree to give you an extra five-thousand gold upon completion of the marriage. Of course, she must be untouched fully when we receive her." Brand said, allowing conviction to enter his otherwise empty eyes as he stared into the other man's face calmly.

"In that case, you have yourself a deal." The other man said, and stood up to hold out his hand to shake Brand's. As Brand shook his hand he said, "The name is Sloan."

"Brandon." Brand said, shaking his hand. It was only a small stretch of his name, but one he believed necessary as he had not seen the wanted posters yet to see if his name was there. He pulled the gold out of his pouch and dumped it into another pouch and handed it off to Sloan. Sloan took it with a huge smile, and nodded to Brand happily. Nodding to Karisa to give her a hint on how it went, he went up the stairs to his room to organize a few of his supplies and think a moment.


	5. Chapter Four: A Father's Treachery

**Chapter Four: A Father's Treachery**

**A/N: It gets extremely explicit about what happens. If you do not have the stomach for these sort of detailed parts of heinous acts, I would suggest skipping ahead somewhat. Also, This is the first story I have ever written, so I would like to say I appreciate the reviews I get, including constructive criticism. Please, however, keep it to that and do not write hateful messages or reviews. This story was pre-written until many chapters later than this, and I will edit the chapters to include what everyone would like to see.**

As he fell asleep, there was a disturbance downstairs. Sloan closed up the front doors of the hotel, and walked back to his room holding a candle. As he walked in and set the candle down on the dresser, his daughter came out of the baths, wrapped in a towel, her lips still glazed pink, and her nails still pink thanks to the magical lipstick and nail polish he had bought her. He had bought her one of every color of the nail polish. It came off after two days. He felt a stirring in his pants as he removes his sack cloth shirt. His daughter turned cherry red at having come out in only a towel in front of her father. As she turned to go he said, "Wait. Come over here now." She hesitated a moment, then walked over to stand in front of him.

Sloan then looked over her and said, "Drop the towel." Karisa looked at him with horror knowing how profane it would be for her to be naked in front of her father. He raised his hand and slapped her across the face, hard enough to leave a bruise and red handprint on her left cheek. Eyes watering, she looked back at him with a whisper of, "Daddy? Father? Please stop this."

"Do it now, or it will be much more painful than it will be already. I brought you in this world and now that you are a woman, you will please me until I have married you off do you understand me whore?" Sloan said to Karisa mockingly before untying the strings on his sack cloth pants. Karisa saw no alternative and so dropped the towel behind her, and crossed her arms over her boobs and pressed her legs together to hide her pussy. Sloan snarled angrily and grabbed her arm, twisting it hard enough to hurt a lot. She screamed in pain and came close enough for their chests to touch. Sloan then pulled his right arm back and punched her hard in the stomach. Holding her up by her hair, he did this several more times until her flat stomach was mottled with bruises. He then kissed her roughly, shoving his tongue into her mouth and playing with hers with it. He kissed her for several moments before punching her in the stomach again. He then lifted her head by her hair again and punched her across the face. Lifting her head again from the floor where she had fallen after the blow, he did the same to the other side of her face. With her now "properly" bleeding to his mind, he threw her to the cold stone floor, stomach first. He took his belt off and belted her across her ass until both cheeks bled. Turning her over, he dropped his pants revealing a very large cock. He stuffed all of it into her pretty little mouth. He pumped in and out of her mouth wildly, choking her on his cock. As she choked, he moaned repeatedly. When he was fully hard, and she was turning blue, he pulled out. He turned her over and rammed his cock into her virgin ass hard. She screamed loudly in pain and he laughed. He continued ramming in and out of her ass, moaning with each thrust. As he grew tired, he pumped one final time and pulled out, spraying cum all over her ass. He picked her up and tossed her on the bed threatening that if she ever told anyone, he would kill her. Her only response to this was to curl into a ball in pain on her bed, barely dragging the covers over herself.

When Brand awoke the next morning, he went downstairs and was a little worried to not see Karisa working, only to be told by Sloan that Karisa was sick. Fears and concerns mostly allayed, Brand ate a small breakfast in the dining hall and trooped back upstairs and retrieved his pack. Thus armed with the pack, he drew his hood over his face, and walked into the main city's center. The first place he went was the notice board. He was rewarded with a poster that did not even look like him, but with a reward of an entire lordship, bestowed on whomever has knowledge relating to his capture. He chuckled to himself and walked to the nearest store, the butchery. As he walked inside, different smells of different meats assaulted his nose. The butcher looked up and before he asked, Brand said, "I need a week's worth of provisions made up equally of beef, venison, salmon, and pork."

The butcher nodded and walked into the back room where the sound of chopping and packaging ensued. When he returned, he had an armful of packaged meat, and then left to the back room once more returning with another armful of packaged meat. Brand thanked him and asked how much he owed him, taking out his money pouch and bundling all the packaged meat into his cloak he had taken off that very moment. After paying the butcher his due (only 150 gold) he left the shop and walked to a nearby alley. Stepping inside, he cast two spells. The first one allowed the meat to stay cool as he unbundled them from his cloak around them, and the second cleaned the cloak completely. He then took rags from his pack and wrapped the packaged meat inside them, stuffing it all back in the pack.

That done, he left for the next place on his agenda, a food market. As he arrived, the sound of merchants flogging their wares around him, he made his way to a fruit and vegetable stall. Arriving at one, he bought several apples, different kinds of berries, and many different vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and corn. All of this he enchanted under his breath as he stowed it in his pack. Since it was all bundles together already by the salesman, all he had to do was put it in the pack to arrange later. He went to the second to last shop on his agenda, the bakery. When he arrived, he asked for four loaves each of sourdough, brown, and white bread. He also asked for three wedges of yellow, white, and blue cheese. He paid for all of it, quietly enchanted it all, and stuck the wrapped packages inside his pack before turning back to the baker. He asked for a single loaf of sourdough bread and a wedge of yellow cheese. After paying for it, he walked outside to stand in the slightly deeper snow and ate the cold cheese and hot sticky bread. He then walked to a nearby winery.

The winery sold many different kinds of wine, and although he only had one skin, he wanted different kinds and so bought two more skins. One, he filled with a white wine, one a dornish red, and the last with a sparkling blue wine that they had only just developed from blueberries and apple cider mixed together. These also were stored inside the pack. When he left, he went to a section of the market dealing in equipment and tools. Walking to one of the stalls, he bought another, smaller spoon as well as another stone bowl like the one he had. Stowing them away, he went back to the hotel with his supplies filled. Still not seeing Karisa around yet made him slightly worried again, but he pushed it aside and went up to his room. He took everything out of his pack and arranged it by the weight of the items so nothing would get crushed. Done, he went downstairs to the dining area.

When he arrived, he noticed both Karisa and Sloan were gone. He assumed they must be doing something as a family, and asked the nearest serving girl to bring his supper. What he did not know was that Sloan had just left the dining room for his room, and as he arrived, Karisa whimpered from her bed. Sloan walked over to it, undressing as he went. She was still naked from the night before. Bending over her, he slapped her hard and shoved his cock down her throat once more, thrusting in and out not caring she could not breathe.

"A once sexy girl brought low. Such a shame for a pretty little whore like you daughter." Sloan said as he pumped into her mouth. He eventually came down her throat, forcing her to swallow it all. He flipped her on her belly again and this time, forced himself through her pussy, tearing her virgin walls. She screamed again in pain as she did the night before, and as with the night before, he continued pumping in and out of her tight young body without caring for her pain. He continued sliding in and out of her pussy and slapped her ass repeatedly as he did so, grunting and moaning. He pulled out then and slammed his cock back up her ass, making her scream and cry as he tore her rectum, making blood come out of her ass. He continued slamming into her ass until, satisfied, he came inside her ass long and deep. He left her like that, bleeding from the pussy and ass, and cum dripping from her chin and ass too.

Brand finished his meal and paid the girl for it, as Sloan came back into the dining area. Suspicion arose in him as he saw the man smiling even though his daughter was supposedly completely sick. He prodded the man's mind with his own and discovered what he had done. Sickened, he stood up and walked to his room upstairs, forcing himself to calm. She would have to come with him, and that was the end of it. Even if she were no fit match for Jason, then he would adopt her as his daughter. It angered him that a father would do that to his own daughter. It was tantamount to slavery which had been abolished during the rider's time and had unfortunately flourished again under the king's rule.

He took out his hooded cloak, and black leather armor that allowed him to be all but blending with the shadows, he left for downstairs. It would not do to buy some of what he needed without her there since it would raise questions. He would buy what he could, and have to steal the rest. Walking out of the hotel even though it was getting late, he kept his hood off and walked to the nearest clothing store he saw. Inexpensive it might be, but it had the necessary. He would worry about finery when they made it to Teirm. He looked around and when asked about his purpose there, he remarked that he needed clothes for his daughter.

The store owner led him to a section of clothing for women. Finding and choosing three outfits he thought would fit Karisa, he held them up to inspect them further. One was no more than a tank top and skirt almost the exact same of what she had, but the tank top was a golden color instead of black. Of the other two outfits, one was a black tank top with very skin tight silky pants that were black and clung to the woman's body fully and tightly. Although it would accentuate her curves and entice men, he had to keep up the pretence of her being his daughter, and thus she needed to stay within the current fashion for girls her age. That was why he bought all tank tops. The final item was a black dress that did have straps, but fell to tightly hug her boobs and show off a slight bit of their cleavage, and only fell to halfway above her knee, hugging her ass well enough to show off its curve.

He bought these three outfits and walked back to the racks. He then purchased two black hooded cloaks, one in silk and the other, fur. This would keep her warm since it was winter. For underclothing, he bought her three new pairs of matching sets of bra and underwear. He bought a pair of pink, black, and purple sets. All of them were normal bra and underwear, nothing fancy. All of the fancier things she would want, he would buy her in Teirm. He then bought a pair of fur boots, and warm fur gloves, along with a pair of brown leather gloves. He paid, and thanked the shopkeeper, and folded all of the clothing under his cloak that he wore. As he was leaving a small pack caught his eye, and he bought it for Karisa to carry her things in. When he made it outside, no one was roaming the streets, and shop keepers were closing down their stores which suited him fine. He could not pay for the next bit anyways. He enchanted her pack with enchantments to match his own, and put her new clothing inside of it.

Shouldering the pack, he drew his enchanted hood over his head so none could see his face. Walking to the city brothel, he levitated himself to the top window and unlocked it with magic. He opened it, and canceled his levitation spell after climbing inside. He had been right about closing time since no workers were here creating the nail polish, makeup, or lipsticks. No doubt the brothel itself was open for business, but no one was up here to disturb him. He made his way to one of the cabinets and opened it. Inside were nail polish of colors such as blue, pink, purple, black, orange, green, red, and a sparkling gold.

He took one of each of these bottles, adding his own enchantments to them as he put them in the pack. One enchantment kept the glass bottles from breaking, and the other kept the liquid inside replenishing itself. He picked up a nail brush from the cabinet too and stuffed it in her pack, also enchanting it to never break. He then went to the next cabinet, finding eye shadow, blush, and lipstick in different colors. Of eye shadow, he got it in colors of blue, black, pink, orange, green, red, sparkling gold, silver, and purple. He got one bottle of each, and one bottle labeled eyeliner. He enchanted them all similar to the enchantments on the nail polish bottles. He went to the blush and found it only in the colors red and pink and so got one of each, enchanted them, and put them away in the pack. He picked up a brush labeled eye shadow, eyeliner, and blush each and enchanted them and put them in the pack. Lastly he went to the lipstick. He picked up red, and pink, both of them glazed. He enchanted them similarly, got the appropriate brush, enchanted it, and tied the pack shut and walked to the window. He levitated himself back out and shut the window before lowering himself to the ground.

Satisfied with his night's work, he walked to the hotel and went inside. He smiled to Sloan as he walked through, receiving one in return. Walking upstairs to his room, he rolled himself into the blankets after setting her pack down next to his significantly larger one. Setting a spell that would wake him in the early hours of the morning before anyone else awoke, he went to sleep not knowing that just in the room beneath his, Karisa was wishing desperately in her head for an escape of any kind as her father came back in and lay down with her, raping her mouth, pussy, and ass once more.


	6. Chapter Five: Retribution and Adoption

**Chapter Five: Retribution, And Adoption**

The next morning, Brand awoke to a buzzing noise in his head. "Letta." He grunted, and the buzzing noise ceased. He rolled out of bed, strapped on his sword, and shouldered both packs. Carrying them downstairs, he walked silently to their room, hood drawn over his head. He stopped before the door and muttered a spell that made the lock click. When he stepped inside, the sight that met his eyes angered him immensely. Karisa was lying on her bed, naked, and covered in bruises, blood, and cum. He walked to her and covered her mouth as she woke up and began to try to fight weakly. He held a finger to his lips and pulled the hood down for a moment so she could see his face. She nodded weakly, and he took his hand off her mouth.

He looked her over quietly and held his hand over her body. He muttered a long, complex spell he knew that would fix anything, inside and out, so long as it wasn't anything vital. She gasped as the magic took effect and removed all her bruises, as well as sealing her rectum and fixing her pussy on the inside. He shot her a warning glare for the noise. She nodded again quietly. After healing her fully everywhere, he took her by the arm and picked her up out of the bed and drew her to the bathing room. Grabbing a towel and pressing it in her arms he nodded to the bathing room. Getting the message, she nodded and went inside, shutting the door. She knew what would befall her father, and at the moment, she was glad for it. He stopped being her father the moment he raped her, ensuring she would probably never get a husband now that she wasn't a virgin, making her seem a whore to most men. She felt like one too. She felt dirty. She got in the bathtub, soaking down into the warm water, trying to wash the feelings away as well as the rest of it.

Outside the bath chambers, Brand was thinking along the same lines, with the exceptional difference that he thought that if she was strong enough to make it through this sane, she was worth joining his family. Also, if he knew Jason well enough, which he hoped he did, he knew that if Jason knew her circumstances he would marry her anyway tradition be damned. He also knew what Jason would want to do to her father. Besides, even though her father had raped her in every way, it did not make her any less pretty. She was still the prettiest and most beautiful young girl he had seen for many years, and was more than worthy of Jason in his opinion. Abandoning such thoughts for the moment, he looked towards the bed where her father slept.

The simple and smart thing would be to kill him. Any king, queen, or empire court system would condemn him to death. The riders would have condemned him to death. His guilt, and the evidence, were overwhelming. So it was not a question of whether he was guilty. And if he was left alive, he would have them pursued, although Brand thought that it was a minor threat once they arrived in Teirm as Sloan did not know that was their destination. Innkeepers do have friends however, and Brand worried who Sloan might know and open his mouth to. Brand did not like murdering people who were not fighting him however. He had been taught to always honor the laws and bring it to someone who was above him to pass judgment unless he was the highest authority nearby. In this case, he was. He cursed himself for delaying, and drew on his magical power intending to kill him with a single word. Then he stopped.

Frustrated, he gnashed his teeth together angrily. He knew where the other problem was too. No matter what he had done and how she felt right now, this was Karisa's father and she would have confused emotions over the man. What he didn't know was Karisa was a smart girl and had already come to terms with this. Not knowing this, he decided to put the man in a heavy sleep so deep he would not wake for the rest of the day. "Slytha." He muttered and was rewarded with the sound of Sloan's breathing deepening and his snores growing slightly louder. Just at that moment, Karisa walked out of the bathing room, wrapped in a towel with her hair, darkened by being wet, plastered to the sides of her face. As she dropped the towel, her body dry, she looked around at anywhere but Brand. Brand, however, thought no less of her but thought that he had been right. Regardless of what Sloan had done to her, she was still the prettiest, most beautiful, and innocent girl he could have dreamed of setting up for his son. Although he was now denied that happiness, the woman he had considered his wife having died to give Jason birth, he was happy his son might receive such happiness if all went well.

Dropping both packs from his shoulders, he pointed at the smaller one and said to her, "That one is yours. I bought the stuff for you last night. Pick out what you want and put it on, quickly. Then put on the pack and wait for me by the door." After saying so, he left the room with his sword drawn and hood up to see if the coast was clear. Karisa shivered and opened her pack. Her mouth dropped open in amazement at the contents. In better times she would have smiled but for the moment such expressions did not come easily. She clothed herself in the golden tank top, with the black skin tight pants. They clung to her ass and legs tightly, showing the firmness of her ass and the tone in her legs, but they felt good at least even though she knew men would stare because of it. Underneath she wore a set of matching purple bra and underwear. You could just see the tops of the purple bra with the tank top she wore, since it was at least a size too small. She didn't blame Brand though since she wasn't there to be measured, he had tried at least. She wore the golden nail polish, the blue eye shadow, the eyeliner, and the pink glazed lipstick. To any man she would be considered the hottest, sexiest young woman available, but to the right man she would be the prettiest, or the most beautiful woman he could marry and love. She finally cracked a smile at that fact, and at the fact that this was the most happy and pretty she ever had in her entire life whether with her father or mother.

Brand walked through the alleys keeping to the shadows, and was satisfied all there were was guards. The guards he could get to budge on the basis of her being his daughter, adopted if they knew her. He just didn't want other people to see her. With someone as pretty as her, many people would know and remember her and would surely talk. People had an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn't. With his job done, he crunched through the snow back to the hotel and let himself in to Karisa's room, sheathing his sword as he came in to the hotel itself. As he came in he smiled at how happy she seemed at the moment, and how well she had made herself seem pretty without actually making herself look like a slut. He grabbed his pack and shouldered it, beckoning to her silently. He said to her under his breath, "You are my daughter to anyone who sees us. If it doesn't fit the situation, you are my wife. Either way just follow my lead, and let me do most of the talking."

He walked out of the room, and left the hotel with Karisa trailing him silently. They made it to the city gates where two guards, thankfully different from the ones he had seen on the way in, lowered their spears at them and asked why they were leaving so early. It was barely time for people to be waking, even those who tended farms. Brand had anticipated this however, and produced a scroll stamped with the king's sigil. He handed it to the guard who had spoken. The guard looked at the scroll, eyes slightly unfocused, and then handed it back and said, "You can pass." He nodded to his companion who raised his spear too, and they let Brand and Karisa pass by them, staring at Karisa's ass and marveling in her beauty as she walked away.

"It's a good thing he couldn't read." Brand whispered to her as they walked, coaxing a giggle from her. When they were a good mile from the city. He began speaking to her of his intentions as they walked. He also explained that it was her choice to follow him or not once she had heard everything. So, after telling her of his intentions, he told her about his entire past, withholding nothing since he trusted this girl as he trusted few others for some reason. One thing he imparted to her, which he had told few others, Ray being one of them, was that at the age of ten he had been selected to train with the Dragon Riders when a red egg hatched for him. The dragon he had named Ruby. The Riders trained him and he had been proven strong, keen of mind, and an excellent swordsman and magician. He had even achieved something that mostly only elves could do. He had learned to speak the ancient language fluently.

He also told her of his dragon's death at the hands of the king, Morzan, at the battle of Vroengard which was the home of the Riders. He told her everything about himself from his skills, to events in his life leading up to the dragon egg. He even told her of his thievery of that which left her awestruck. He also told her that, unfortunately, it had not hatched for him. He then spoke of Jason. He told the story in its entirety, including how Jason didn't know him as his father. This drew a measure of sympathy from her but she understood. After everything was all told in full, he asked if she would like to still come live with him and try for Jason. She agreed wholeheartedly to still come with no hesitation. This man had saved her, and many others. He was also brave and selfless. Surely his son would be just the same, and just as kind. She already loved this man as a father anyways and would do anything he asked of her.

Brand hugged her then, when she agreed. She smiled having only been hugged by her mother before, and never like this. This was his way of showing her he would and already did to some extent think of and love her like a daughter and she knew it. She then in return, told him about her life in full, including up to her father raping her, which she told him of in full detail. Having narrated her experiences fully, she fell silent. He smiled then, and in an effort to cheer her up he asked her if she liked to learn, and read and write. She exclaimed happily that she did and that her mother had taught her to read and write although she had not written in a while. He told her that if she would be his daughter, she was going to learn everything he knew, which included weaponry. This would have been weird to a normal girl, but she was not normal and wanted to learn to fight, as well as learn everything else he would teach her.

However, they had walked barely three miles more, when they discovered a problem. As they walked they noticed an entire patrol of soldiers, ten in all, heading down the road toward Ceunon, toward them. Worse, they were coming from the direction of Gilead, where Brand was wanted. Brand thought as quick as he could, putting this into several scenarios. Leaving the road wouldn't work as they were surely already spotted. They had seen Karisa, so would most likely stop them just to harass her. If they gave him too much attention and figured out who he was, it would lead to a fight where he would have to protect Karisa. And lastly, he did not think Karisa was trained well enough in logic to be able to handle another rape with impunity, and this time by many soldiers and not just one man. No, this would be an ugly situation any way that it ended up.

As they approached, Brand and Karisa stepped to the side of the road to let them pass. Brand wore his hood to conceal his face since they had not been close enough to see that. He and Karisa had agreed on a course of action for different scenarios that may happen. The soldiers passed them up until half the column had passed, and Brand had just begun to hope that they wouldn't stop when a voice cried out that exact word. Brand silently cursed whatever gods had forced this problem onto him.

The lead soldier, for he wore a rank insignia in the middle of the flame insignia on his armor, walked over to stand in front of them. "Who are you? What are you doing on the road this early? Where are you going? Never mind. Don't tell me, because it's always a lie anyways. Why do you keep your face hidden?" He asked Brand intently.

"I have an ugly scar that I don't like others seeing sir." Brand answered in a rough scratchy voice.

The soldier grunted and said, "And who is this pretty young thing?"

Brand responded quickly, "That be my daughter, Katrina, and I'm Brandon." They had agreed on fake names with each other beforehand.

The soldier licked his lips and said, "Pretty thing, isn't she boys? Reckon we might take a piece of her before hitting the road?"

"Please don't sir, she is only just turning woman and is a virgin." Brand said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation as fast as possible.

The soldier looked at him angrily and pushed him backwards a step. "Take off that hood. If I say we will have fun with your daughter that is what will happen. And now, you will watch."

Brand looked at Karisa who, although she could not see his face, caught the meaning. She sidled over behind him as he lifted his left hand to lower his hood, his right hand held out to the ground where numerous rocks lay. As he lowered the hood, the commander looked at his face more alertly. He had been in the capital when Brand had stolen the egg and recognized him. Just as the commander opened his mouth to tell the other nine men to attack, Brand said four words in the ancient language that caused the rocks to lift up and pelt at a supernatural speed at the soldiers' heads. Each rock went through their skull and out the other side, killing them instantly.

Karisa was sickened by the deaths, but only momentarily. She got over it quickly. She listened as Brand explained that everyone would know it was magic if they did not make more wounds look natural. He grabbed a spear and handed one to her as well. They set about making more holes in more places, and widening some that were already there. Jobs done, they hurried along the road at a brisk pace, eager to be as far away from the scene as possible.


	7. Chapter Six: Learning and Arrival

**Chapter Six: Learning and Arrival**

As it was only midday after the fight, Brand began her instruction then. He began by explaining about dragons. He told her in succession about their life cycle, aging process, mating process, abilities, wisdom, intelligence, the differences between male and female, and the differences between a wild dragon and a bonded dragon. He explained how dragons were trained when bonded, and how, what, and when they ate. He taught her what cured a dragon, and how to properly care for one. He also explained about their pride.

Next he delved into various knowledge such as metalworking, poisons and potions, medicines, history, and reading and writing. All of those he was able to teach her the basics of, medicine and history he was able to teach fully, except some things he would let her read about back home. He wanted to teach her the ancient language, but found that would be difficult until they reached home. He found her a surprisingly good cook as well. She made the road meals taste much more vibrant than he could, so he let her take that over. It took a week for them to reach Teirm, and when they did there was almost no snow on the ground that far to the south.

Karisa was amazed by the city, and also by the ocean which she had never seen. She smiled when she saw it, and the huge walls of the city, and felt at home already. As they passed into the city, Brand explained that Teirm secretly supported the rebels the Varden. Thus, she was not confused when many men and women hailed Brand as they walked. Teirm was its own city, seceded from the empire, but still allowed trade with other cities within the empire. Brand strode through the street, hood off, happy to be back home.

As he arrived home at his enormous mansion, she ran around it marveling at the huge rooms, and the huge back yard, surrounded by stone walls for privacy, and the stable that housed three handsome stallions in it in the back yard. Brand smiled at her enthusiasm. He showed her to her rooms, explaining how magic made each room magically expanded on the inside of the house. In her rooms, she had an enormous bed with purple hangings all around it and fur covers on it. She had two red plush armchairs on a fluffy rug with a small square table in between them, in front of a large wall fireplace with an ever-burning fire inside it. All around the walls were bookshelves, floor to ceiling. They were all empty now but Brand promised her that they could fill them soon. She walked to a set of glass doors that led out onto a balcony that gave her a wide view of the city, castle, and ocean. The balcony had two resting chairs, a small round table in between them, and was enchanted so no one could see it or hear anything from it, and rain, snow, nor any other element like harsh winds could go through it, although a slight breeze was allowed through. It was perfect to her mind.

Going back inside she noticed two more rooms attached to hers and went to the stone door that separated one of the rooms from hers. Opening it, she walked inside to find several floating, always-lit candles kept the room well lit at all times. In the middle of the room was a rectangle tub that could fit for. The water inside was steaming, always kept clean by a spell no matter how much dirt she washed off while inside it, and was enchanted to always stay warm no matter the weather. In the corner was a cupboard that she discovered held ten fluffy white towels. Leaving the room, she saw a basket that escaped her attention before. This, Brand explained, was so she could toss dirty laundry inside and the maid would take it for washing and bring it back and put it away. Going to the last door, a wooden one, and opening it she came into a large room lit by red lanterns that were always lit. She looked around and saw a huge closet room, with one side made to hang dresses, one side for shirts, one for pants, one for skirts, and one cleft was cut out to hang nightwear. In the middle was a large wooden stand. One side was for heels, one was for boots, one for slippers, and one for sandals at the bottom of the stand. In the middle of it there was a place to hang cloaks. Four would fit on each of the four sides of the stand. On top of the stand, a place was set on all four sides. One spot on both of the opposite sides, was a drawer-like cubby hole to hold bras on one side, and underwear on the other. On the left and right sides were places to hang four of her favorite bra and underwear respectively.

There was another door in the closet that when opened, led to a room with a stool in front of a large counter with several drawers built into it. These were labeled nail polish, lipstick, eye shadow, eyeliner, and blush. This was a makeup room, lit by the same lanterns as the closet. It also had a sink in it, with a large wall mirror beside the sink so she could see her whole body if she sat on the stool facing it. She immediately took everything out of her pack and sorted it, even the clothes. She left the closet, and closed the door. She walked over to Brand who was waiting patiently and hugged him tightly saying thank you over and over again. She was overwhelmed in gratitude.

Brand laughed and replied that it was nothing. He told her he had things to see to, and that she should rest. He instructed butler to tell her when supper was ready and to escort her to the dining room. He told her before leaving to wear what she wanted where she wanted in the house and to be comfortable doing so unless he instructed her otherwise. He left, shutting the stone door behind him to give her privacy. She giggled to herself at her good fortune, and immediately stripped off, placing her clothes in the basket, and without worry for her makeup, lipstick, or nail polish for they were enchanted to not come off except by a certain word she had to say to be able to wash it off, she ran to the bathroom, shut the door behind her and hopped into the soothing, hot water and soaked for a long while.

When she came out, wrapped in a fluffy towel, she found two parcels wrapped up and laid on her bed. Taking off the towel and dropping it into the basket as well, she opened up the first package. It was a silk dress with a note saying it was from Brand. Giggling, she picked it up and looked on in awe as a silky shimmering blue dress that would fall to her knees if it was the right size came into view. The silk must've been enchanted since every time the dress moved, it shimmered and sparkled with little blue waves that went up and down the dress. Running to her closet she put on her matching blue bra and underwear, and then pulled the dress on over it, savoring the feel of the silk. "It must have cost a fortune!" she thought to herself. She then put on the pair of blue glittery high heels that came in the second package.

The dress caught on and flaunted her small, perky boobs and creamy cleavage as most clothing did nowadays. It was a size too small but she did not complain. It fell to halfway above her knees, and she was beginning to like that as it showed off her pale white legs. It also was a flowing dress and so it did show off the firmness and perkiness of her ass, but only when it pressed against it. In other words, she loved the dress. She went to the make-up room and said the word, "Wren." The makeup and lipstick and nail polish would now wash off. She kept the darkened eyelids, and the blue eye shadow because it fit, and the pink glazed lips because they suited her pretty face awesomely. She did take off the gold nail polish, and swapped it for dark blue however. It made her match, and looked amazing. She took a brush she had found by the sink, and brushed her hair so that it waved down her back and slightly around her face.

When she finished, she waited ten minutes for the makeup spells to take effect. When they had, she went back to her bedroom and out onto the balcony. As she did, the butler came in and asked after her thirst. She replied that she would like a drink, and he returned moments later with a glass of apricot brandy. She took it back out on the balcony and lay down on one of the chairs out there, taking a sip of the brandy and setting the glass on the table. She rested there, drinking the brandy till it was gone, for many hours.

There was a knock on the door, and when she got up to answer it she found the butler waiting right outside. "Are you ready, my lady?" The butler asked with a bow.

"Yes, I am." Karisa answered him with a brief, uncertain smile. Usually she was the one curtseying to people. And being called "My Lady" was a new one to her as well. As they left her rooms, she looked at him and asked politely, "What is your name?"

"Rickon, if it please you ma'am." The butler answered her. He grinned down at her as he offered his arm and she took it. He was in his fifties, but that was not yet so old as he could not recognize true beauty. He had been Lord Brand's butler for twenty years and he loved the man. He was very loyal to him as Lord Brand was very polite to him, asked his opinion on different matters, trusted him with his confidential information and jobs, and had many conversations with him during each time they saw each other when they were not busy. The man had taken care of him, and paid him well for his services above and beyond what a normal butler would do.

When they arrived in the dining hall Rickon helped Karisa into a seat at the end of an eight seat table. Not too large, but not too small. It had three elegantly carved maple chairs on the sides and two black dragon winged throne-like chairs with black plush cushions built into them on the ends. It was into one of these seats she was bade to sit. As she did, she looked around the many paintings on the wall, each beautifully done of differing castles, the ocean, a young man holding a wood cutting axe, and one beautiful one in the middle of the wall to her right that depicted hundreds of differently colored dragons flying through the sky over an impossibly huge city.

Brand walked in about five minutes later, adorned in a soft black tunic, with flowing fabric like hers, and silky black pants on bottom to match. He also wore a pair of black leather boots. "I apologize for my tardiness. I was in the midst of a grand tale I was reading after a long hot bath when the call for supper came. Engrossed as I was by the tale, I forced myself to abandon it to come eat with you. I see you found my gift. It suits you very well." He said to her, flashing her a smile as he took the other throne chair.

"Thank you. I love it. You clothing though, I have never seen you at such ease. I too took a nice hot bath. It feels nice to scrub off the grim of the road." Karisa said to him which made him laugh. A true laugh, not the harsh one she was accustomed to. She liked it.

Rickon came back in at that moment and asked if it was okay to serve them now. Brand indicated his assent and Rickon hurried back out. When he came back, he was accompanied by four cooks, all of whom carried a tray full of plates of food. There was various soups and stews, one carried various salads, and one carried differing fruits, berries, and mushrooms, fried in strips, and some cut in half to showcase the blue flesh underneath. The final cook carried in six sides of roast beef, each cut into steaks. The cook gave three sides of the steaks to each of them, and retreated to the kitchens with the other cooks. When Rickon came in again, he carried silverware the was placed by their plates, and a large crystal goblet for each of them. In the center of the table, he placed a large decanter or gooseberry wine, after filling each of their goblets with it. He then bowed and retreated to the kitchens with the other servants.

Brand and Karisa each filled their plates up. Karisa took a plate and filled it with differing amounts of each of the salads, and took her second plate and filled it with apples, oranges, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, and some of the fried mushroom. Brand on the other hand, filled up another plate with salad as well, but on his last plate, he filled it with grapes, apples, blackberries, and the showcased mushrooms. He raised his glass to her and drained some of it before beginning to eat. She followed suit.

The meal was sumptuous. Throughout it, she could not drag her eyes from the paintings. She enjoyed art immensely but was never allowed to practice it. They discussed many things as they ate, lingering over the meal for hours. She enjoyed his company as she had no one else. He was polite to her, and a delightful conversationist. As they had eaten and drank their fill, the cooks came back and whisked away the plates, dishes, and empty wine decanter. They came back moments later carrying two new plates, and two cups with a jug of cold milk. One of them gathered the goblets and took them back, then the other two retreated as the head cook brought out a large apple pie and set it on the table. At Brand's insistence, another plate was brought out and to Karisa's delight, her new friend Rickon joined them. Apparently not only was Brand kind to her, but to the servants as well since they all seemed to respect him utterly.

A piece of pie was sliced off for all of them, as well as a cup of milk poured for them all. The apple pie was delicious, and the milk tasteful, fresh, and cold. While they ate the pie, Brand inquired after Rickon's health and other personal matters. He then turned toward things like the financial matters of the house, the taxes needing paid, and other various things that needed done. She listened with interest as Brand asked Rickon's opinion before thinking and issuing his orders on what he would like done about it all. Then Rickon brought to his attention that the cooks would like to experiment more, but required more money to do so. Brand laughed and agreed to give them ten thousand gold more to play with, and said to inform them he expected a large return on this investment. Rickon bowed, and after dessert, he rushed off to see the orders carried out. A cook came out after they had eaten and drank their fill and rang the bell over the center of the table. He cleared away all plates, cups, silverware, and the jug of milk.

Brand stood and offered his arm to Karisa. After she had taken it, he escorted her to her rooms. Since it was getting dark, he bid her good night, and left for his own rooms, promising that their training would begin tomorrow and she would be unable to complain of boredom. She went into her room, closing the door behind her. Since she had no other sleeping clothing, she stripped completely naked and set the clothes in the basket. Setting the basket outside the door just in case so that she did not have someone bursting in on her while she was naked, she sat in front of the warm fireplace and thought for a long while. She thought about how things had turned around for her, she thought of what happened with her father and how it had changed her, and she thought about what was going to happen tomorrow. That was the most fun to speculate about, and when she decided to go to sleep, she went to the bed after closing the balcony doors and slipped herself inside the warm sheets and blankets. She fell asleep dreaming about what would happen tomorrow, alternated with a couple nightmares about her father. Those didn't last long though and she slept long and fully for the first time in a long while.


	8. Chapter Seven: Lessons

**Chapter Seven: Lessons**

When Karisa awoke, it was to Rickon in her room opening the curtains on the large window beside her bed to let in a very small amount of sunlight. She groaned, then remembered she was naked and blushed, pulling the covers up to her chin from where they rested on her chest, thankfully still covering her boobs. "I am sorry, but Lord Brand bid me to awake you and send you to the courtyard to start your lessons. I am to escort you there." Rickon said to her.

"What time is it?" Karisa mumbled, reluctant to move.

"It is half past four, my lady. Cool it may be outside, but the master recommends you wear cool clothing for the exercises as you will sweat." He replied to her, walking to the bedside.

"Okay can you wait outside? I'd like to get dressed in privacy." She said to him, preparing to get up.

"Of course. I shall wait outside the door." With that, Rickon walked to the door, opened it, and shut it behind him. Karisa hopped out of bed and made the bed behind her. She ran to the closet, and slipped into her black bra and underwear, and her black tank top with her freshly washed black tight pants on bottom. She put on her fur boots, and laced them tightly. Leaving her makeup, and nail polish the same, she walked out to meet Rickon. He led her out to the large back yard, where Brand stood in his black leather armor waiting on her.

When he saw her as she stepped out, yawning and rubbing her eyes, he laughed long and loud. "Not used to being awake so early?" He asked her when he had calmed.

"No, I guess not." She responded as she suppressed another yawn.

"Today I want you to accompany me in performing the Rigmar as it's called by the elves, or the Dance of Snake and Crane in this tongue. It is used to prepare their warriors for combat, but most use it to maintain flexibility and balance. It consists of four levels, each more difficult than the last. We will begin with the first." He led her over to a patch of dirt by the stairs, facing each other. Karisa shivered in anticipation. Brand showed her how each pose of the first level looked, showing much more flexibility and maneuverability than she thought him capable of. She messed up often and fell over a lot, sometimes in some very compromising positions with him, but it did not seem to discourage Brand. On the contrary he was patient, and labored to mend them instead of being irritable with her.

The Rigmar proved strenuous, but not overly so. They performed the first level so many times in an hour that by the end of that hour, she had mastered it and they had moved on to the second. The second was more challenging with its new poses, and again it barely proved a challenge to Brand, and again, he had to fix her many mistakes while performing it. It took less time though, perhaps half an hour, before she had too mastered it. The flaws became less and less as they moved on, but every time she messed up, they began again from the first level. It was not her flexibility, she had large amounts of skill in that area, it was the newness to the movements she was asked to perform. However, by three and a half hours later, about an hour and a half before breakfast, they had went through all four levels of the Rigmar. She was not a complete master of them all, but with a couple weeks of work, she would be. She was no novice to flexibility as she liked to dance and so it was easier for her to learn the Rigmar.

They abandoned the Rigmar as the sun rose into the sky shedding light on the full back yard. Brand went up the steps and beckoned to her. Picking up a wrapped package as she approached and handing it to her he said, "When I went out yesterday, I visited the city's best smith. He forged this for you."

Unwrapping the package, Karisa gasped as an amazing hand-and-a-half sword came into view. It looked sharp, and the pommel was adorned with an emerald gem the size of her fist. It fit her hand perfectly when she gripped the hilt, and she realized that if she needed, both hands would fit on the hilt. The guard was made of gold and the blade itself was an emerald green color. "It will never dull, and the gem is there for a reason you will learn about later in your lessons. It also will never break or shatter." Brand told her. He took the sword and set it on the table. Taking two more packages from the table, he handed her a second saying, "This is from my own personal items and is very valuable. Do not lose it. I changed the outside color to match you better."

Unwrapping it a cute hot pink sword belt came into view. It was enchanted to be heavy enough to be a sword belt, but look like an expensive cute little belt a young girl would wear because for some reason cute belts attract men. At Brands' instruction, she looked and saw two strings at the front of the buckle. Pulling on the one on the left, the belt changed from a glossy hot pink to light blue, at another pull, dark blue. In rapid succession, she went from dark blue to green, white, glossy black, orange, brown, red, bright glossy red, purple, and back to glossy hot pink. Already opening her mouth to thank him, he beat her to speaking by saying she should pull at the other string. She pulled at the string on the right and was amazed further when the belt changed to a thick brown belt and slid open to reveal twelve large emeralds of the same size. Pulling at the string again, it reverted to her cute little hot pink belt. After explaining that it too would be explained later and that she should wear it at all times when outside her rooms, Brand was surprised when Karisa flew at him and hugged him tightly in thanks for the gift.

Handing her the last package, she unwrapped it to find an emerald green sheath that matched the blade of her sword. Buckling it to her belt, she found out it became nonexistent when not in use. She flashed Brand a wide smile in thanks and took the sword from the table. Brand took her back down to the patch of dirt and showed her how to properly hold her sword. After she had mastered the trick, he blocked the edges of both their swords with magic so that it would bruise and leave welts, but would not kill or seriously injure.

Showing her a ready stance and helping her into it, he readied himself across from her. Jumping at him she tried to slash at his shoulder, only to find herself unaccustomed to the weight of her sword and moved far too slow. He easily batted aside the blow and struck out lightning fast in response. It left her left leg smarting with a welt across her mid thigh.

On and on they went, occasionally pausing so that he could show her how to execute a certain move. They would slide through the motions in exaggerated slowness before returning to their fierce fight. Karisa learned quickly, but not matter what she did, his sword always stopped hers. When he called a halt an hour later, sweat was pouring off both of them and her arms burned with the unaccustomed weight of her sword. She sheathed it, still awed by how the sword and sheath disappeared entirely and was weightless until she reached for them. Within five feet of her hand they reappeared. However if anyone else tried it would remain hidden. Brand also gave her a dagger, also emerald green, and a sheath with similar enchantments to her sword's sheath, which she belted on the back of her belt so she could easily reach behind her body to grab it.

They went inside and left each other to their respective rooms to wash the sweat of themselves. She quickly bathed and had just put her clothes back on in time to hear the butler's knock. Opening the door, she smiled at Rickon who said, "Ah, Lady Karisa, as beautiful as ever. Breakfast is ready, if you are ready to attend."

"I am and will be down momentarily." Karisa replied, giving the man another smile before shutting the door. She went into her makeup room and brushed her hair until it straightened around her face. She then got up and walked out of her rooms and into the dining hall. Brand was already seated there, and Rickon pulled her seat out for her. As she sat, he pushed it back underneath the table and left for the kitchens.

Seconds later the cooks came out. One carried a jug of milk and two cups. Another carried a tray with a plate of biscuits and a bowl of white gravy with bits of sausage in it. Another carried a plate full of sausages, crispy bacon strips, and slices of ham. The last cook carried a tray with a plate that had fried eggs on it, a plate with scrambled eggs, and a plate with ham and cheese omelets. All plates were set in the middle and two were given to Brand and Karisa, along with a full cup of cold milk each. As the cooks bowed and left, they got up and filled their plates according to each of their tastes that morning.

They ate for almost an hour, ravenous after the morning's workouts. After breakfast, Brand took Karisa to the east wing of the house where an enormous library, stretched with magic, sat with thousands of bookshelves and hundreds of thousands of books on them. In the left wall was built a huge fireplace with a roaring fire in it. A plush rug with two chintz armchairs on it facing the fire. A wooden rectangle table sat between them. Her mouth fell open in amazement. Brand drew her out of the room telling her that any books she read and liked in particular he would buy a copy of and send one to her room.

Next, he drew her back outside. He bent over and picked up a rock in the yard about the size of her fist. Dropping it in her hand, he looked at her and said that he was now going to teach her magic. First he said, "Magic requires strength from your body. It takes the same amount of strength to use magic as it would take to do something by mundane means. To use magic, you must possess an inner peace of mind to access the magic. Once accessed, you must have the discipline necessary to call upon it at will. Once this is accomplished you must use the appropriate words to accomplish the task. To do this, you must first learn the ancient language of the elves. This language is comprised of words that not only describe the object or intent, but describe the true nature of them. In this language, it is impossible to lie."

Karisa interrupted by saying, "That's impossible! People always lie. The sound of the ancient words can't stop them from doing that."

Brand cocked an eyebrow at her and said, "Fethrblaka, weohnata freohr hin kar. Flyrta iet oem lam." The bird flapped to his arm and trilled, looking at him intelligently. "Ganga." He said to it, and it flew off.

"How did you do that?" Karisa asked looking at him in wonder.

"I promised not to harm him. He may not have understood everything I said, but the meaning was clear. He knew what all animals know. That anyone who speaks this language is bound by their word. The elves maintain they don't lie because they speak this language, and in a way it is true, but they have perfected the art of saying one thing and meaning another. It takes a refined and subtle mind to deal with their culture." Brand replied as he looked her in the eyes intently. He then explained how magic was affected by distance, like an arrow or spear. It would take more energy to do something farther away than it would up close.

Returning to the language he said, "Now, I will teach you words in the ancient language for now, but in the future as I teach you the alphabet and structure of the language I expect you to know what words to use yourself. The more familiar you are with the language, the more complex or alternately simple you can make your spells. For now, I want you to make the stone in your hand raise to eye level and hold it there as long as you can. The words you are going to use is Stenr Reisa. Say them."

"Stenr Reisa." Karisa repeated while looking at the polished stone in her hand.

"Good. Go ahead and try." Brand said crossing his arms and watching her.

Karisa searched her mind for any sort of power that he had mentioned. She tried hard but thoughts of "this is stupid" kept crossing her mind. She tried harder and was rewarded when she felt a slight bump in her mind. Unable to access it, she angrily rammed against it with her mind and broke the barrier. Light flooded her mind and it felt like a dark wall around her mind fell away, leaving her to reach out and others to reach in. "Stenr Reisa!" She commanded, gasping a bit from the effort. The stone rose to eye level, jerkily. She managed to hold it there for almost three minutes before gasping and, as it fell back into her hand, she felt the magic slipping back into her mind again. She slumped for a second, tired. Forcing herself to keep upright, she smiled at her success.

"Good job. Now, do it again and this time be quicker about it." Brand said walking around her in a circle.

"Again?" She asked him weakly but only received a nod in return. She once again reached the power, drew upon it, and said the words. The rock wobbled up to eye level again and she held it there as long as possible. Brand put her through her exertions for an entire two hours before he was satisfied. By the end of it, she was sweating again, and her body trembled as if she had been in a race, but she had managed to keep the rock in the air for five minutes. Brand took her inside back to the library where he led her to the right side of it where a desk faced a fireplace with a straight-backed chair in front of it. Sitting her in the chair, he left and returned with four scrolls, two empty and two filled, quills and full inkpots, and a mug of hot chocolate. He unrolled the first two scrolls and spread them with scroll weights.

One was an alphabet, the English alphabet in fact, and the other was a blank sheet. "You will write the entire alphabet down fifteen times, and familiarize yourself with its structure. Each letter you will explain the sound it makes next to it. You will give an example of a word that starts with that letter, appropriately spelled, next to the sound of the letter. Every word on the page must be different. Begin." Brand said before walking to a shelf and pulling down a book. He walked to the other side of the room and settled into an armchair to read. He rang for Rickon to bring him some mead to drink as he read.

Karisa began writing, losing herself in the flow of the words and letters of her native alphabet. She enjoyed writing immensely. Nothing but words stirred in her mind then although she did hear the turn of a page from the other side of the room occasionally. She continued in this manner for a further two hours before Brand told her to stop. He walked over and examined her work. With nothing to criticize, He nodded and rolled up both scrolls, tucking hers into one of the empty top desk drawers and setting the alphabet scroll into a bottom drawer. He spread the other two scrolls out. "This is called the Liduen Kivaedhi. It is the elves' alphabet of the ancient language. Do the same with this as with the other. Begin." He said and returned to his book across the room.

Karisa then began a schedule she rigorously followed daily for the next two weeks. In the mornings, she performed the Rigmar, and then dueled with Brand until breakfast. After eating she went outside and struggled with the stone. Soon it no longer wobbled when it rose, and Brand taught her to move it in circles, move it up and down, and much more. He began teaching her elemental magic and the finer controls of it as well. In the afternoons she spent her time learning both languages. Brand gave her many scrolls and books to read on a variety of subjects from smithing, to medicine, to history and much more. There were works she read in both languages, and some from the dwarves whom she learned the humans had taken their language from. She learned about all the races, their culture, politics, and finer points, as well as their languages. Once she began reading about them and ran into a few works in their languages she could not read, Brand added those languages to her studies as well. She learned much in a short amount of time.

This went on the next two weeks and she progressed rapidly. Once she mastered writing all the languages, and reading them, they dedicated two hours of the afternoon to reading instead of writing. He would give her materials to read for the day, quizzing her on them the next, and allowed her to read what she liked the rest of the night. Her swordsmanship grew until she matched Brand blow for blow, besting him a couple times. They trained with all different weapons he could think of having used in his life before. Her body became even more beautiful, full, and toned. As for magic, he taught her all different things such as; cooking with magic to teach her the finer applications of magic, or gramarye as it is properly called. He taught her elemental, poison detection, spell detection, wards, casting multiple spells at once, ways to kill taking no more energy than lifting a quill, mind defense and offense, listening with her mind, and scrying. After she had mastered all elements of magic possible, Brand thought her ready for the final secrets of magic.

So one day, three months after bringing her to his home, she was eloquent, beautiful, a talented warrior, and a strong talented magician. Having used magic on her the same way he had himself, he gave her the same speed and strength of an elf. He had it too. It also was what made him more handsome than any human, and made her more beautiful than any human girl her age too. She could, he was confident, best even a couple elves in battle alone. What he would now teach her would make her near unstoppable if she used it intelligently like him. The king was still more powerful but that was for a reason, and if they had thousands of years and used his methods, they could best the king himself.

He drew her to the back yard one morning and skived off her normal lessons saying she had but a few things left to learn. Lessons were over now. She performed the Rigmar for fun to keep up her flexibility, read for pleasure, wrote down long spells she wanted to remember, and wrote down her daily agendas in English. They could spar occasionally to keep her fit and trained but other than that she was well taught and trained in everything he could teach her. She could even give a master smith a run for his money if she was of a mind. He shared his own money with her as he had too much anyway, kept in an extended private underground vault under his home. The people in the city grew to love Karisa as well, only lamenting the fact that she would not marry, not knowing she had promised herself to Jason in the ancient language to herself no matter what in return for all of Brand's help, although she had yet to meet him. They were all also impressed with her many skills.

That did not mean she didn't flirt. Brand had taught her to use her cute little girls voice, her sexy woman's voice, and her stern, harsh voice to get what she wanted, as well as how to flaunt her hot little body, every part of it, and how much to let men do, touch, and talk about it, or flirt back with her in order to accomplish what she wanted. She was a master at it. She was long over what happened with her father, except twinges of uneasiness over what Jason would say about it when she finally met him and grew close enough to tell him. It still worried her he would not want her. Brand caught her attention again with a throat clearing. She shook herself back to the present.

Brand then told her about how dragons had stone-like gems in their bodies that, even when the dragon had died, allowed them to live and think inside of them, as well as lend their magic to whomever held control over them. The amount of energy depended on how old the dragon was before death. He explained that this was how the king grew so powerful, and knowledgeable. He forced the dragons inside the hearts he had captured, numbering somewhere in the tens of thousands range, with black magic to force them to help him. He also told her how the king was supposedly a master at breaking into people's minds. He had also had over a thousand years to refine his magic, swordsmanship, and knowledge of different crafts and skills. He told her the second secret he had withheld as well. He taught her to take energy from the plants, animals, and even humans in her surroundings. Lastly, he taught her how to store and use energy in gemstones. Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires, Onyx, and Amethyst gems could hold almost endless amounts of energy. This explained why he had given her the belt, which she only took off for bed, and why he had given her the gem in the pommel of her sword.

In the interest of clothing, she had now purchased an entire girly wardrobe for herself. Each piece of clothing made her look sexy, cute, hot, slutty, beautiful, breathtaking, desirable, fuckable, and even like a ten to eleven year old girl depending on her need or desire for wearing it. She also stocked more things in her makeup room, enchanting it all with matching enchantments as the rest of her makeup supplies. Not a day went by where she wasn't dressed well enough to make a man, and some women, drool in one way or another. She was now truly the most desirable marriage in the country.

In an attempt to experiment with the newfound information, she reached out with her mind to the gems on her belt and in her sword. She was surprised to find a good amount of energy already in them, Brand's doing. Before eating dinner, they noticed that a light snow had finally fallen. It was barely three foot high, but it was still there, making everything seem more cold. So it was with gladness that she slipped under the sheets that night wearing a hot pink silk robe, tied at the waist by her ever-present cute little hot pink belt, enchanted into looking like a sash she found when she belted it over the robe. She snuggled down into the warm fur covers with the fire blazing in the room, content and happy with her life, she fell asleep deeply.

And so it was that five months after her arrival at the mansion, her training finished. Her training finished that night, and she awoke the next morning, having slept late, listening with glee at the traders speaking with the city's inhabitants and flaunting their wares. She got out of her bed and slipped out of her robe, putting it into the basket and setting the belt on the bed before slipping into the bathtub. The moment she slipped into her bath, washing off the makeup, nail polish, and dirt, was the same moment that miles away, Jason and his grandfather hitched up the cart and headed toward Teirm.

As Karisa got out of the tub, she toweled off and went to her closet, naked. Much as the most of the town would like it she was sure, she had no intention of going to see the traders naked. She plucked off a purple dress off the hanger. She pulled out her favorite pair of purple underwear, a thong, and slipped it on. She shivered as the back of the thong slipped in between her crack to show off her ass cheeks, both hating the feeling of wedgies', and loving the feeling of both showing her ass off, and something rubbing her asshole.

Giggling to herself at how slutty some of her thoughts and actions were, she left off a bra and went without one, instead slipping the silk purple dress on with warming charms on it. It hung from her shoulders tightly, showing off half of the top of her small, perky boobs so tightly it did not budge. It then flowed down, stopping just below her ass by about four inches. It was enough to cover her ass and pussy, and some of her legs, and flowed enough to prevent it fluttering in the wind and showing off her ass and pussy to the world. It was also short enough to leave very little to the imagination on her ass. She went to the makeup room and put on purple eye shadow lightly, darkened her eye lashes, and put on her glazed pink lipstick. Her nails she painted a royal deep purple. Lastly, she belted her sword belt over her waist, keeping the dress from flowing so much. She turned it purple to match the dress. She took her brush and a comb and alternated them, making her hair straighten in completely straight parts on her head, her bangs covering the tops of her eyes slightly. Feeling beautiful, sexy, and slutty all at once as well as powerful and in control of the situation, she started out the door feeling as though today would be a great day.


	9. Chapter Eight: Of Trading, and Offers

**Chapter Eight: Of Trading, Love, and Offers**

Jason and his grandfather rode towards Teirm, following the traders cut through the drift since it made the road easier. He smiled at his grandfather as Ray told him about when he was younger and had tried to eat the snow, only to grow angry when it melted. He urged the horses onward, his bow bouncing on his back as he rode. As he rode he thought of five things that kept him from the manhood his birthday would otherwise bring in three months. His grandfather knew about them, distasteful as the problems were, and agreed he needed to rectify them today, before it was too late. He owed five people for various things and so long as you owe someone, tradition dictates you cannot become a man so long as they have reason to claim dissatisfaction of repayment.

Jason owed the city smith for helping him get a few tools repaired this summer that he otherwise did not have the money to have fixed. He owed the city's administrator of trade for taxes he could not pay during the last round. He owed the city's general for sending soldiers to help drive off a group of bandits in the spring. And lastly, he owed the city's herbalist, and the city's healer. Most were honest men, or women in the herbalists' case, and would understand about whatever he could pay them. He was more worried about the ones he owed he didn't know very well like the administrator, general, and healer.

As they neared Teirm's main gate, they were very cold and shivering. It was high noon however, and the sun was warming them slightly. Jason did not get warm easily though, on account of his having slightly tanned skin and no hair on it except what he shaved off his face and groin, and the hair that grew sparsely on his arms. He even had a shaved chest, stomach, legs, groin, and ass. This was because of his heritage his grandfather had told him. The only good thing about it was how it showed off his muscle even more clearly. They passed through the gate and immediately unhitched the cart and took their horses to the stables. As Jason came back to Ray's side, he looked over and saw the most beautiful, cute, and sexy young girl about his age he ever saw talking to one of the traders. His jaw almost fell open before he caught himself staring and turned red before he turned towards the cart to help his grandfather.

He probably should have dressed warmer but he had wanted to look nice. As he was entering manhood soon, he would need to find a wife. So he outfitted himself in a black t-shirt that clung to his arms and powerful chest. On bottom he wore a matching black pair of pants that buttoned and zipped up in the front of them. They were old though, so they clung to him tighter than he was used to and bunched up his balls roughly and the entire length of his cock could be felt through them. He tried to pull down the t-shirt far enough to cover it but could not quite manage it. He and his grandfather bartered with the tradesmen and sold much of the meat, vegetables, and tools easily. They sold what they had in the cart within a few hours of haggling. By then the sun was dropping fast.

He and his grandfather divvied up the money they had earned. Twenty percent of the gold he took, leaving the rest to his grandfather so he could trade. Jason walked off looking for a gem salesmen. As he looked, he bumped into the herbalist, whom he promptly paid the gold he owed her. He also passed the smith whom he also paid off. Seeing the object of his searches, he meets the city healer who demands payment from him. Reaching into his gold pouch he finds he doesn't have enough to pay him. Panicking, he asks the healer to wait a moment and rushes over to the Gem tradesman, a snobbish, muscular looking man.

Jason asked to speak to him in private which drew a look from the man. The man looked him up and down critically, then nodded and locked his wares away. He invited Jason into his tent, and having nowhere else to sit, he sat on the floor while the tradesman sat on his cot. Jason showed him the sapphire, ruby, and amethyst he had found and explained how much he needed for all three of them. The man weighed and prospected them. Setting them down, he made an offer that was two hundred off from what Jason needed. Never having learned how to haggle properly, Jason begged the man, explaining his situation. The man smiled, with Jason right where he wanted him and thought about what he could extort from the young man. Hard labor was certainly an option, as was servitude. His cock stirred under his expensive blood red robe. "Damn" he thought to himself, wishing for his servants from home…..oh yes. That would do. His cock hardened into its' full eleven inches at the thought.

Standing up, the man approached Jason. Jason stood up also, and stood straighter as the man examined him. He knew at least that the man would expect something, maybe labor, in return for his extra gold. "Stand and strip." The man said to him. Jason figured the man only wanted to see what he was made of, so he stood up and unclothed himself quickly, leaving them in a pile next to him. The man walked around him again, and stopped directly behind him. "You want that gold lad? Then do what I say when I say, and hold still. Not a sound." The man says as a shuffling sound reached Jason's ears, accompanied by a loud thump when something fell to the ground heavily.

He twitched away slightly when he felt the man's hardened cock press the tip against his soft ass cheek. His fear confirmed of what the man really wanted, he could only stand there in shame as the man continued his rubbing, knowing he wouldn't be able to make the gold otherwise. The man pushed against his shoulder, forcing him into a kneeling position. When he kneeled, the man came in front of him and forced his lips open. He shoved his cock in between them and forced Jason to suck on it for at least ten minutes. "Now stand, bend over with your legs spread, and grab the tent pole. Not a sound or you won't get your money boy." The man said. Jason complied and braced himself. The man grunted as he thrust inside Jason. Jason's knees nearly buckled from the pain of it and a small whimper left his lips but was too soft to be heard clearly. Besides, the man's frantic grunts of pleasure overwhelmed it easily as the man thrust in and out of Jason with no regard for the pain it caused him.

As Jason was being fucked in the tent, Brand came up to Ray dressed in a fine black robe with a black cape pinned to it. He wore fine black fur boots on his feet. Smiling, he shook hands with Ray and asked after his health. Ray responded that he was well. Taking Ray by the shoulder, Brand drew him off out of earshot, and began to tell him of his plans. Brand thought the time was right to inform his son of his heritage, marry him and Karisa, and train him properly. He hoped it would all work out well enough.

Karisa was very busy as well. She had immediately went to a weapons trader. One of them had an elven bow that would match her strength, along with a quiver of fletched swan feathers that would accompany it. There were fifty arrows in the quiver. She immediately bought them and found an alley that was deserted. Muttering a few words she teleported them to her bedroom. She had trained with Brand's bow but she had wanted one of her own.

Right now she was busy though, because she liked to keep herself fresh and up to par on her performance. Particularly since a spell she developed allowed her pussy and ass to remain virgin-like permanently no matter what. This meant of course, that she was very busy on her back on a table in the city stables with her legs spread, thong pulled to her ankles, and the bottom of her dress raised to her stomach. The straps of her dress had been pulled down far enough on her arms to let her small, perky boobs free. Her legs were spread wide, and the lucky boy was the butcher's son who had just turned of age. As long as he agreed to stay quiet about it in the ancient language, he was allowed to fuck her where she said, and when she came to him. This was his first time doing so and he was awestruck at her beauty.

Right now however, he was pumping his ten inch cock inside her pussy over and over while he nibbled and licked her nipples. He continued pumping until she pulled off him and repositioned him at the entrance to her ass. He pumped inside it without hesitation, and within ten minutes had cummed inside it hard. She hopped off the table and pulled up her thong, cleaned herself of cum and sweat with a quick muttered spell, and pulled the straps of her dress up, and she pushed the skirt of her dress down. She then pulled a brush out of a sack she carried on the left side of her sword belt to hold travelling cosmetic items, which right now was a cute little purple belt strapped around her waist over the dress, and brushed her hair back to the way it was. Returning the brush to the pouch and tying it shut again, she moved her hand away and it disappeared. Moving her hand up to cup his sweaty neck, she pulled his face down and kissed him on the lips sweetly, her tongue barely tracing his bottom lip before she withdrew and whispered in his ear, "Happy birthday!" She giggled and ran off back to the celebrations.

Jason finally fell to his knees after having been reamed for twenty minutes. The man took his gems and tossed the pouch containing the money down next to a sweaty, naked Jason. Jason forced himself to stand and dress, he then wretched in the paper basket by the man's bed. He grabbed the coin pouch and divided what he owed into three of his smaller ones. He dumped the rest in his large, main coin pouch. He was happy to find out he had four hundred extra gold. He left and handed a boy a gold coin to take the gold to each of the three people he owed and set off in search of a weapons trader. Finding one, he bought about twenty-five steel tipped arrows and put them in the quiver on his back.

"Interested in archery are you?" A voice said. The pretty girl he had seen earlier appeared beside him.

"Very, but not only that, I use them to hunt with." He said with a laugh. His stomach grumbled loudly and it was the pretty girls' turn to laugh. She took him by the hand and pulled him over to a trader who sold food. He bought a half loaf of sourdough bread and a wedge of cheese. He also treated himself to two sticks of malt candy, one of which he gave to the girl. He bought a flask of mead for each of them as well. He stood on the corner of a sidewalk and ate the hot bread and cold cheese. He then ate the hot sticky candy and licked his fingers wishing for more. He drained the flagon and set it in a waste basket by the trader's fire pit. "What is your name?" He asked the girl. He openly studied her, thinking it fair as she was doing the same to him.

"Karisa, and yours?" Karisa asked him. She found him very attractive looking, and he was very polite too. He had even bought her food without her asking for it even though it was obvious she was more well off than himself and he knew it too. He opened his mouth to answer when his grandfather called to him and beckoned. "Go." She said smiling sweetly. She pecked him on the cheek in a small kiss and pushed him towards them as Brand walked towards her. Jason went to his grandfather, nodded and disappeared into the stables. Brand stood at her side watching them as well. Jason came out, hitched them to the cart, and he and his grandfather got on them and rode out of the main gate.

"So I take it you liked Jason then?" Brand asked her teasingly. Karisa blushed, realizing that it was Jason she had met and liked. She and Brand decided to return home for the night. They bid each other good night and went to their rooms. Karisa unbuckled her belt and lay it on the bed. She pulled the straps of her dress down her arms and let it fall to the floor. She pulled the purple thong off too and dropped it to the floor. Gathering up the clothes she dropped them in the basket. Deciding she wanted to sleep naked tonight, she hung her belt next to the bed and slipped beneath the covers. Her mind was whirling as she now had a face and personality to put to her imagination. She felt warmth between her legs accompanied by an ache. Moaning, she reached down between her legs and rubbed herself a moment before sticking a finger in her pussy. She fingered her own tight pussy until, shuddering, she came. Wracked by pleasure, she cleaned it off with a spell, rolled over, and fell asleep.

When Jason made it home late in the night, he fell asleep on his bed fully clothed and exhausted. On the whole ride home though, his mind never once left the pretty girl Karisa that now haunted his mind and body. His grandfather, Ray, stated they had to talk the next day before going to bed himself. As Jason slept, he discovered the pretty girl even stalked his dreams.

One person who did not sleep until the wee hours of the morning was Brand, who sat up by the fire in his rooms with a glass of wine, sipping it. He thought about Karisa, Jason, Ray, and himself. Everything in his plans were coming together quite nicely. If his luck held, he would soon have a son who recognized him as his father, and hopefully loved him for it.


	10. Chapter Nine: Revelations and Moving

**Chapter Nine: Revelations, And Moving**

When Jason awoke the next morning, it was bright outside. "Why did grandfather let me sleep this long?" He wondered to himself before slipping out of bed and walking into the dining room where he found his grandfather and a fried egg waiting for him. "We need to talk, Jason." Ray said to him as he entered the room.

Jason stiffened, worried, but nodded and sat down to eat. As he ate, he listened as his grandfather began talking about Brand. He spoke of his history, what the man had been, why he is so withdrawn, and everything up to what he had done now by stealing the dragon egg. He then let out the final, wonderful secret about his heritage twisting it so that he made it sound as though he had found out only yesterday. Jason listened impassively throughout it all, absorbing the new information.

Jason was, in all reality, in shock. He had met and known Brand for many years. He liked the man and respected him, but finding out his father was alive and well, and that he knew him, changed his perspective a bit. Knowing who his father was gave him a full name. He was the son of Brand. Now that he had a family name, he most certainly could marry with the only stumbling block being money. "What does this mean for me, grandfather?" Jason asked Ray.

Ray studied his hands and rubbed them together, "polishing his palms" as he called it. "It means you will go live, train, and be with you father and learn what it means to be his son. You are welcome back here any time, as indicated by your father. I do not want you to leave, but I do believe it to be for the best. This is life's natural course." He smiled, slightly sadly, at Jason but got up and hugged him. "You don't leave for a month, but you should pack so that you are ready at a moment's notice just in case." They both got up from the table and went to his room. They packed up all of his clothes into a rucksack, and moved all of his things he could never carry to his grandfather's room.

Jason spent the entire month helping out where he could to keep his grandfather prepared for winter, which meant he spent every day outside for three hours chopping firewood with his axe. His grandfather knew how much the upcoming move meant to and affected him. He worried about how he would do, and how he would be accepted, and even selfishly, whether he would still like Brand now that he knew the truth.

As he returned home, he noticed a ripple in the air near the road. Pushing his mind out to it, he felt the presence of two people and before he knew it he had nocked an arrow in his bow and aimed it at the source, shielding his mind out of reflex. "Whoa, don't shoot son! It's us!" Brand and Karisa both rippled out of the shadows. Both were wearing a black t-shirt made of silk, Karisa's falling so that it emphasized her boobs and the black bra she wore underneath it, and black pants. Brand's was made of leather, and Karisa's was made of silk, and hugged her ass tightly, showing off the cheeks easily as well as the black silk underwear she wore beneath them. The fell low enough that it showed the top of her underwear, and the very top of the crack of her hot ass. They both held their hands up in the gesture of surrender, smiling at him in a friendly way.

Awestruck by the beauty of Karisa and the ease in which she dressed slutty and acted sexy and innocent all at once, he could only nod and put his strung bow back in the quiver, words failing him. He knew she lived with Brand, that Brand would marry them if they liked each other, and he knew he liked her very much. However, he knew he only liked how beautiful she was right now. He was happy they would have time to get to know each other first. Brand clapped him on the shoulder, and Karisa hugged him. "You'll love it at his home. It's amazing." She said before kissing him on the cheek sweetly and stepping away. Brand took him by the shoulder and led him inside.

Jason allowed himself to be led inside. He picked up the pack by the door and said his goodbyes to his grandfather. "Take care of him." Ray said. Brand nodded, and together the three left for Teirm. Jason looked back as the farm slowly faded from view. Promising to return once things were set straight, he squared his shoulders and walked on, not looking back again. Karisa watched all of this and smiled at his fortitude. If she had left a loving family, she couldn't have handled it that well. She kept the smile fixed on her face all the way back to Teirm's main gates, feeling that she could love this man and that with a bit of work on her part, he would love her back.

As they arrived in Teirm, Jason's eyes grew wide as he was led to the mansion. He had never been in such a large house. And upon entering the establishment, he noted Brand's magical skill for as they passed the dining area he noticed magically painted fairths, and that each and every room was magically enlarged far beyond what he could accomplish. Karisa left to her room saying she needed a wash before the evening meal, though Jason privately was disappointed she was leaving though he kept it to himself, and his mind firmly shielded. Brand showed him to his rooms, stopping at a stone door down the hall from where Brand said his room was.

Jason's mouth fell open as the door was opened to his rooms. He walked through them. They were the same essentially as Karisa's rooms, with a few exceptions. His rooms were large, including the balcony, with many more chairs on it. There was a plush red couch along with the customary chairs in front of the fireplace, which was also larger and had a fairth of his mother above it.. The bathtub was much larger than normal, and there were two of them, each of which would hold at least five people comfortably. The closet was larger too, and had a separate side for women. He also as an added bonus, had his own private library, already stocked by Brand with copies of the scrolls and books Jason had at the farm. Jason smiled, appreciating the lengths that Brand had obviously gone through to make him feel at home.

Brand had also stocked his closet with one finely made set of clothing. He had given him a black shirt with a black cloak that could be attached to the shoulders with a hood on it, though it was unattached at the moment. The shirt itself was made of dragon hide, crafter in Brand's days as a Rider, so it was made to fell silky, and yet be warm in the winter. It was dark black to match Brand's set. The bottoms were of the same material, clinging to his strong, muscled legs as it fell. The top also showed off his muscle. Lastly, a pair of boots went with it of the same material. Karisa had a similar set, given to her in the last week so they could all have matching sets. Worn under armor, this clothing would give them the ultimate protection since dragon hide was very strong. The cape could be attached to the armor's back if desired.

Brand left him to wash up. After soaking in the tub, and toweling off after, he slipped back into his familiar leather jerkin and brown pants and boots. Not ten minutes later, as had happened with Karisa, Rickon came up and introduced himself. Born with respect for people of the same station he used to be in, Jason was kind to him, calling him master Rickon and having a polite conversation with him at the introduction. Rickon eventually led him to the dining hall, where one of the middle chairs on the right hand had been removed and replaced with a dragon winged chair similar to the ones on either end. This was where Karisa now sat. Jason was escorted to one of the end chairs, to symbolize him as part of the family.

Moments later, Brand joined him and sat at the other end. As they waited on Karisa to make her appearance, they began a halting conversation. His father was intelligent, he found, and they had a decent conversation. He was growing to like the man already. Brand mentioned how he needed to be trained fully as his son to be able to take his place should something happen to him. Jason agreed, and they agreed to start in two days. This was so Jason could become accustomed to the city and city life. It was in the middle of this conversation that Karisa made her appearance. Unbeknownst to Jason, Brand had requested she look her absolute best in all ways, beautiful, sexy, slutty, hot, gorgeous, cute, and innocent. He had wanted her to give it her all to make a dazzling first impression on Jason. She had done so.

When she came in, even Brand did a double take. She had lavished all of her skill on herself tonight. She wore a silk dark blue dress. She had taken her hair and straightened it, combing the bangs across her forehead and half of her pretty eyes. Her eyelids were colored with blue eye shadow. Her cheeks were colored with a light touch of pink blush looking almost like a real one. Her lips were a glazed pink, a little more lipstick than she normally wore, but it suit the look very well. Her nails were painted a deep blue as well. As for the dress itself, the straps hung loosely on her shoulders, and this allowed the dress to fall and show half of the top of her firm, small, perky boobs. It stopped flowing down her body right underneath her ass. Had she bent over halfway, you could've seen the dark blue silk underwear she wore and known it was a thong. Though it flowed downward and was very short, it flattened against her toned, flat, sexy stomach to show it off as well as her straight back. Down the back of this dress were strings tied together. These strings showed a certain amount of her pale white flawless skin all the way down the her lower back. With the dress she had worn no bra, but her belt was the same color as the dress and looked like a cute knotted belt, and for shoes wore a pair of deep blue high heels.

Leaning back as Jason accidently openly stared, Brand tipped an imaginary hat towards her to which she replied with an uneasy smile. She was happy she had followed his orders well, but she did not know how it was being received by Jason. After she had calmed however, and judged the look on his face, she decided it was going well. Deciding on how she would make her play, she walked to her chair. As she expected, Jason hopped up and pulled out her chair for her. Saying thank you, she bent over slightly and bent her knees to sit down in it. As she said down, still bent slightly in an innocent pose as if she was about to lean back, her dress loosened a bit. Not much, but she knew it was enough to reward his gentlemanly act with an unobstructed view of her perfect boobs, naked, and not covered by the dress momentarily from above. Then she leaned back. Ears and cheeks red, he pushed her chair in and took his seat again. Recognizing her maneuver, Brand flashed her a mischievous grin.

The cooks came out and this time, they served like they had on Karisa's first night. The cooks had lavished all of their skill on it in happiness over their lord's sons' return. Jason ate and talked, finding he did enjoy both their company very much. He really enjoyed Karisa's company. She was intelligent, eloquent, and quite beautiful. As they finished the main course and desert, a pumpkin pie, they all stood. Brand left for his room as Karisa took Jason's arm and led him back to his rooms. He smiled and they spoke about many varied things on the way there. She giggled, laughed, flirted, and spoke at all the right times. She felt like the perfect companion. As they walked through the house, she laid her head on his shoulder. When they made it to the door, he hugged her this time, and in response she kissed him on the cheek before making her way back to her room as he made his way into his. Rolling onto the bed after undressing, he found he was happy here. He missed his grandfather sure, but the engagement his father set was allowed to go at its own pace and at their discretion, he would be trained, and he had a father who was trying hard to be there for him and love him as a father should. He slept long into the morning.

When he awoke and dressed the next day, Karisa waited outside his door and escorted him to breakfast. They at it alone since Brand had business in the city early that morning. Slightly more sober in their thoughts this morning, they spoke of each other. They agreed to the engagement, but to take it slow. They enjoyed each other's company. They also agreed, as was common in those times, to have an open marriage. They were to only love each other, and respect each other, but if they needed to have sex with someone else or flirt with someone else for duty, work, necessity, or to keep themselves acquainted with the proper skills, they could do so and neither partner would be angry or jealous. This would all happen more on her side than his, though he would learn to be gay when necessary too as well as how to please a woman in the best ways during his training. They agreed on all of this, and agreed to spend as much time together as possible from now on too.

With this in mind, they left Rickon in charge of telling Brand they had went to see the town if he made it back before themselves. Karisa dressed in a similar dress to last nights, this one in purple with her nails matching accordingly. When she went out somewhere with him, she wanted to honor him by looking her best possible, whether she felt like it or not. She showed him the sites of the city, and when they grew hungry she bought them lunch, which they ate sitting on the docks with their legs hanging over the edge and watching the ocean. He loved the city, and the ocean where the proud large merchant ships moored and came in and out, as well as the large war ships that moored in a line by the docks. When they had explored more of the city, he especially found the healer an interesting man. He was very intelligent too. He found out from him that the city had twenty healers in all but he was the public and head healer. Karisa also explained that the city had fifty battle mages, a thousand soldiers, and a general, captain, and commander of the guard. Of course there was also the city's king, Marcus Aurellious, who was sworn to the leader of the Varden. Marcus, she said, had served as a general in the Varden twenty years before they took Teirm and made him it's king.

As it grew dark they went back and ate supper together. Brand was still working apparently as he was absent. After escorting her to her room this time, having had a tour of the house that morning courtesy of Karisa, they hugged and she kissed his cheek once more before parting. He left for his room, feeling much closer to the girl than before after having spent the day with her. She felt much the same. They went to sleep that night feeling very content.


	11. Chapter Ten: Jason's Lessons

**Chapter Ten-Jason's Lessons And Brand's Surprise**

When Jason awoke on the third day there, it was early so he surprised Karisa by waiting for her outside her rooms. When she came out dressed in a gold tank top and black skirt with a black bra and black silk underwear beneath them and her nails painted gold and black eye shadow, Jason smiled. Her hair was wavy and flowing down to the middle of her back. He offered his hand and escorted her to breakfast holding hands. They had become much more comfortable around each other the past few days.

As they entered the dining hall and took their seats, Brand did greeted them both, twirling a straw in a mug in front of him. Brand informed Jason he was going to see what he was capable of today and teach him the basics of the things he did not know. As they ate, Karisa kept quiet since she already knew most everything discussed from what she read. Brand interrogated Jason over everything. Jason was intelligent but some things like smithing, and dragons, and history escaped him entirely. Brand discussed the dragons' topic entirely over breakfast. He then took Jason outside, leaving Karisa to her plans for the day. She left the house to go mingle with the town's folk and speak to the town's herbalist. She enjoyed potion making and helped her often.

When they arrived outside, Brand showed Jason everything he had shown Karisa. Throughout the day Jason was put on the same schedule with a few exceptions. Jason was very good with a sword, a natural, and even on the first day he had left Brand with some welt of his own. He was also an excellent archer, surpassing Brand in aim. Strength and speed would come later but when they did, Brand knew he would surpass him entirely. In magic, Brand taught him many things, but skipped over the basics as Jason already had learned them himself. Writing they skipped over mostly, only making him write an hour a day. He had him spend the other four hours in the afternoon of his required training time reading everything from fact to fiction.

Within three months, three less than it had taken Karisa much to her chagrin, Jason was fully trained, given the same abilities as an elf by Brand, and given a belt with twelve rubies in it. It had the same enchantments as Karisa's belt, and contained the enchantment to morph into whatever fit his current outfit best. The only difference was that it would not turn pink. Jason spent every night from then onward putting next to all of his remaining energy from the day into the gems in his belt, and the gem in his sword. It was a longsword, wine red in color, with a ruby in the pommel. It fit him perfectly. Karisa was proud of his achievements, and teased him about the fact that he was better than her at everything but potion making. She loved it too much to be bested in it, though he was competent at it. He was most certainly her superior in the arts of war, spell casting, and mind fighting however. She didn't mind. She was both strong and smart enough to defeat her opponents, whichever was needed for the occasion at the time.

They had grown much closer in the last three and a half months, and now kissed openly in public, and at night before meals, and a few times when they saw each other during the day after they had openly announced their engagement. They were both radiantly happy around each other, and did not complain at separation or jobs Brand gave them as they both knew each other's duties as newly sworn in agents of the Varden. Not to mention having the ability to touch each other's minds and converse anywhere around the city. They stayed in each other's minds as much as possible during the day, sometimes including Brand. Not only did this allow them all to speak to one another when apart, but to also help each other with the current situations each one got into when working. They could also share energy with each other in this manner too.

About a month after Jason completed his training, they loved each other enough to announce the marriage date, which was to take place a week later. Elves didn't practice religion, but no matter how closely they followed the elven society, they were human and thus practiced marriage. As an announcement present to them both, Brand paid for them both to have a newly forged suit of armor. It took five days to be completed, but when they were, they had few equals as the smith Brand had employed was the town elven smith who had forged all of the Riders' swords and more.

Jason's armor was plate armor, and midnight black with gold trim. The plate metal was thick and the gold trimming forged into it so even being hit in battle would not discolor it. It was enchanted that way as was the rest of the suit. It was also enchanted to block most unfriendly spells, keep him warm, and feel lightweight. The plate legs and plate metal boots had similar gold trimming and enchantments as did the plate helm. It was made to cover the sides and back of his neck as well as leaving enough space for him to use his peripheral vision.

Karisa's was the exact same with a couple exceptions. Her armor was a deep royal purple. The chest plate only came up far enough to cup her boobs perfectly the same as her dragon hide. This way it had a couple advantages. One, she looked beautiful and fierce. Two, it protected her well enough and the enemy would always try to hit the spot above them since it was unprotected. And three, the sight of her perfect boobs would distract her enemies sometimes. The last difference was that she also had a plate skirt over her plate legs. She discovered when she wore it she would have to tie her hair into a long ponytail to keep it out of the way, and it would have to be tucked inside her helm when it was worn.

They both thanked Brand for the gifts and practiced fighting each other wearing them outside. Brand practiced with them both on occasion as well, revealing multiple things. He could hold his own against them but not for long without having to resort to magic to win. Jason could best him on his own without magic fairly well. It was challenging to him, but he was better with a sword, and even better when he had a shield. When it came to magic and mind fights he won as many times as Brand did. They were evenly matched in mind strength and defense skills. In magic though Brand was a shade more skilful. Jason beat him on occasion, but Brand was more gifted in the arcane arts because he had had more time to invent spells of his own. The last thing was that Brand wore blood red armor similar to theirs.

Karisa could hold her own against them both for a time, but was not as warlike as them. They were confident that with her current skill level, not to mention the elven speed and strength, she could beat almost anything that came her way though. Anything she couldn't she could rely on the strength in her gems, as well as Jason or Brand as quick as they could come. The city had begun wedding preparations as they had wanted it on the sands next to the ocean near the docks. As a favor to Brand, the king himself had offered to be the one to marry them.

Brand also helped Karisa pick out her wedding clothes. She bought a silk white dress that fell to the floor with white silk underwear to match. The dress was cut low in the front to show off her perfect, small, perky boobs. It fell in the back to hug her smooth, firm, toned ass perfectly. She would go barefoot. She changed her eye shadow to a light pink color, and left the pink blush and pink glazed lipstick on. She changed her nails to a hot pink color. She had her hair straightened too.

Jason wore a fine black leather suit on the wedding day. It was complete with black leather leggings, and black leather boots. He also wore a black cape that fluttered in the wind behind him as he stood, sword strapped to his side with its sheath hanging off his now black belt. He stood next to the king, with his father to his right waiting. The crowd, since all of the city had been invited, gasped and rose to their feet as a beautiful Karisa passed through them in her dress. She walked through them and stood beside an equally happy and smiling Jason, facing the king. She was smiling very prettily as well. When they promised themselves to each other and the king tied the knot around their wrists, the kissed and the crowd stood and clapped very loudly.

After the wedding feast that Brand's cooks provided the wedding guests, Jason picked up and carried Karisa to the house and his rooms. He had Rickon move all of her things to his rooms, their rooms now, while they were eating at the feast. He set her down and shut the door behind them. Romantic as ever, Jason first suggested a bath.

Jason undressed himself and she undressed herself till they were both naked in front of each other for the first time. They both went into the bathing room, unembarrassed. They got into the same tub and talked about the day as he washed her body for her and she washed his. It was very soothing, and they both tired at the same time. It was late night when they finally toweled off and got into bed together naked. Though it was his first time with a woman, it was not her first time with a man. She started him off with a hand job, then progressed to a blowjob. He enjoyed it so much that she did this for several minutes and made a mental note to do it a lot in the future. She then got on top of him and slid his hard cock into her ass. She rode him while he was deep in her ass, pumping upward at the amazing sensation. She noted he liked this as well. Deciding that in the future she would alternate anal and pussy every night, always accompanied by a blowjob, unless he wanted both every time which was fine. She would use him to keep her skills up. He finally rolled her over and pulled out of her ass. He slid inside her pussy slowly and pumped in and out hard. She had never experienced this but she loved it. She loved him. She finally let herself admit it. They made love long into the night.

When they awoke, she was sleeping with her head on his chest and her leg thrown over him. He had his arm slung around her waist protectively as well. Smiling, she looked up into his eyes as he watched her. This was the happiest both of them had ever felt and they resolved to wake up like this every morning. Karisa leaned up and kissed him. When they finished kissing, his gaze roamed over to the two armor mannequins in the corners on either side of the fireplace. With a love like theirs, no one could stop them he thought fiercely. Karisa was thinking much the same way. They did not know where Brand would lead them in life, but they were elven now and would never look any older or differently than they did now unless they changed it themselves, and they would never die from old age so they knew eventually since they worked for the Varden a war would come and they would be in it. With how high Brand, and now themselves as his children, stood in the Varden since he had been the one to start it, they would likely be in the thick of it when the war did come. But that may be tomorrow or a long time from now. Either way, they loved each other dearly and would see each other through it.

They resolved to go see his grandfather the next day since Brand had no plans for either of them then. They had many jobs now. They both had to sit in on the city's council meetings to discuss everything from coin to resources to their army to the resources and money sent to the Varden to the city itself, changes to the city, the mood of the people, and anything else anyone brought up. It would be discussed and everyone would give their input. Usually Brand, Jason, Karisa, and the King always had the last say though. They also had to help Brand with his various connections around the city and keeping them happy. Sometimes Karisa even had to fuck them or flirt with them to keep them happy. Sometimes Jason had to. Most of the time it was just being charming and bribery though. True to their word, neither got mad or jealous at the other. It was their duty to help Brand since his work affected the Varden whom they were sworn to.

They often had to help out around the city when someone on the council asked one or both of them to oversee or help people around the city with different things. Usually both of them were asked, but if it was one specifically the other stayed away unless their help was needed. If one was asked for specifically it was usually for a reason. Sometimes people around the city asked for their help, or the healers or battle mages or soldiers or guardsmen asked them to help out. They took all requests seriously, and helped out where they could. The people respected them and apparently they had made a name for themselves.

Brand said soon they would be in a bit more danger as he would start asking them to see to his connections in other cities and help them with whatever they needed, along with keeping them happy and seeing his side of things so to speak. The leader of the Varden also sent a missive that he would want to meet them soon and that he would begin sending them on missions of his own if he liked and trusted them enough after meeting them. They knew their duty, and so did not say anything about it, but they both knew they disliked the idea of being separated and so far from each other. They would do their duty without complaint though when the time came.

When they went to bed that night after hearing the letter from the leader of the Varden from Brand over dinner, they made love into the wee hours of the morning, reveling in each others' presence and love. They fell asleep in their favored position underneath the warm covers. Winter had passed and spring was fully in position now and so they slept long and comfortably with each other, naked, as was their custom. When alone in their rooms they rarely wore more than robes, and never slept in anything. They slept together deeply, content with each other's presence.


	12. AN

**A/N**

**I apologize for the previous chapters having no A/N to answer any reviews or questions. As always, I do not own any of the content from the three series Harry Potter, Inheritance, nor Lord of the Rings. I just like to take their characters and play with them. Any reviews or private messages I receive will be answered in a quick and orderly fashion either directly, or by author's note if it is a wide concern or comment. Thanks for reading and keeping with the story despite the graphic content, and extreme detail I use. This is a good thing to some, but to some who wanted a quick story it may be disappointing. This story is, as I said, my first I have ever published and therefore will most likely have mistakes. After I am finished writing this story, which has many chapters to go, I do plan on moving on with a sequel. So again, thanks to my readers and reviewers, and please feel free to leave any review you feel necessary or drop me a private message.**


	13. Chapter Eleven: Warning and Preparations

**Chapter Eleven: The Warning And Preparations**

When they awoke, they both dressed together. They both wore their black dragon hide armor and cloaks. Jason silently admired how the dragon hide armor cupped his wife's perfect boobs and her ass under the cloak, and admitted it could be a distraction to other men in battle. Not to him though, since he had seen her fully naked. The belted on their sword belts, both turning black, his thick with a large buckle, and hers small and thin with a small buckle, their swords hanging off them. They both left their bows and quivers at home though. Retrieving the stallions Brand had given them from the stables and mounting them, a male for Jason he named Folkvir, a female for Karisa she named Rose, they rode out of Teirm through the main gate and up towards the farm.

As they rode, they opened their minds to their surroundings. They were taught to do this not only to meditate, but so that when they were around people they could sense harmful intentions. It was dangerous since anyone could leap in and attack their mind easily, but less dangerous than being blind to the world. They reached into each other first and merged their strength, and from there to the limits of their considerable combined strength of mind. They also spoke in their mind about smithing. It was a shared interest of theirs although neither had had the opportunity to pursue that interest. They just did not have the time to spend with the city smith.

The smith was an elf named Rhunon, a female. She had been born before elves had joined with dragons over four thousand years ago. She was kind to those she liked in her own way, but famously impatient with those that got between her and her work. She also did not deal well with the niceties of elven kind. Her personality blended more with that of a human. She was almost always smithing.

She had first learned the craft from the dwarf's most famous smith, Futhark, over three and a half thousand years ago. Having been introduced to the craft by one of the most enthusiastic smiths of their race, she shared his love for it and so had crafted armor, weapons, and other needed things for the elves for over three thousand years. When Futhark died, she left the elves and journeyed to the dwarves where she smithed for them for a thousand years. She then did the same for the humans until King Morzan had flew upon the capital and killed most every elf, dwarf, Rider, and rebel in it. She had fled then to the Varden when Brand had started it. She built arms and armor for many of the elves and dwarves that worked with the Varden, but before she could work on the humans', Brand relinquished leadership after taking over Teirm and he took her with him to settle there. He did not want to lead and be stuck behind a desk. He still was asked for advice by many leaders of the Varden, and his word was second in command when he was there. His children would be afforded the same respect.

They had met and spoke to Rhunon on several occasions though, and both of them liked her. She never minded taking time out to speak to them either, especially after learning they had an interest in smithing. They had asked to apprentice with her in their spare time, and she had agreed. The only problem was they had not had the spare time yet to work in the forge since all of the little free time they had now after being married they spent together. They abandoned the subject and spoke about their respective jobs for the next day Brand had assigned.

Karisa had to go down to the docks to work with the master shipwright and oversee and possibly assist with the construction of two large war ships. Brand wanted to send her to ensure the shipwright carried out his promise to the letter, and was willing to do anything else Brand asked of him in the future. This part of it may require her to flirt with or fuck the man to ensure that, but they did not think about that. If it had to happen, it had to happen. She used spells during such occasions that they used her pussy so she could not be impregnated, but most of the time she convinced them to use her ass.

Jason had to assist the war carpenters in the construction of a new ballista, as during the winter one of their wall ballista had capsized on itself from the snow that gathered on the rope. The weight of the snow had proven too much for the ballista and it broke when the arm flew back and hit the main part. He had asked for Jason to do this since he was more warlike and had also read more on the different ways to construct war machines such as catapults, ballista, trebuchet, and wall fires. He enjoyed reading about construction in his spare time. The library in their rooms was teeming with books of their own now and had to be expanded within a week of them being married.

They were close now to the farm, and as they rode in and put their horses in the stable Ray came out to see what the commotion was. "Jason? Is that you?" he asked in a whisper. He was awestruck in the changes of the boy turned man that he called his grandson.

"It is I, grandfather. I decided since I had the day off to come see you. Well, we did anyway." He replied with a laugh as he put his arm around Karisa's waist when she came to his side. He stepped forward and hugged his grandfather who hugged him tightly back. His grandfather then stepped forward and kissed both of Karisa's cheeks and hugged her too. He stepped back and looked them up and down.

"Well I assume this is the lovely Karisa that came with Brand to collect you and that I have heard so much about around town? The stories do nothing to correctly describe your beauty my dear." Ray said to her making her blush a bright pink.

"It is grandfather, we were married this past week. She is now my wife and companion." Jason said in answer for her. Ray then turned and hugged her again welcoming her to the family. He turned back to Jason still in awe at the changes the training, work, and marriage had been done to the young man. He was stronger, well built, and much more confident.

"Well come on in. Stew is simmering on the stove and I won't stand on ceremony at my own house!" Ray said to them with a slight smile before opening the door and stepping back inside. Deciding to do so before he went inside, Jason sent out tentacles of power into the ground and was delighted to find his idea with the pipes had worked. Just in case, he placed a ward over them to keep them from breaking. He was still slightly shocked at his new abilities when the drain on his strength from the magic was barely perceptible when once before it would have made him pass out.

They went inside, Jason with his arm around Karisa's waist, and sat at the dining room table. The house was exactly how Jason remembered it without a thing out of place, with the exception of his room having been turned into a collection room. All of the things Ray collected in his life were now stored in here. Ray was at the stove stirring the stew. While Jason looked around Karisa stood and after asking where the bowls and silverware was, helped Ray to ladle stew into the bowls and set the table. Table set, they called for Jason who reappeared from his old room and sat back down to eat.

They had a pleasant time talking over the bowl of stew with rye bread on the side. They each drank a flagon of mead with their meal. After they had finished speaking, they decided it was time to go home before the sun went down. They took their leave of Ray and mounted their horses. Riding away once more toward Teirm, they joined minds again and reached out together once more. They enjoyed their time together until they made it back to the city. When they rode through the gates, Brand was waiting for them.

Brand took them to the castle war room where they held their meetings. The king, his generals, and the lead healer, Rhunon, lead battle mage, commander of the city watch, warship overall captain, and the lead captain of the merchant ships were all present. Immediately put on guard and alert, the two took their seats. The king inclined his head to them as Brand handed them a letter. "It's from our scout near Gilead. The messenger who brought it was sickly and had travelled well over a month to get it here." Brand told them as they read it.

The letter detailed an army that had left the city for Teirm two days before the letter was sent. It said the army was about five thousand strong, and that they were being led by the Ra'Zac and their flying mounts the Lethrblaka. Both the Ra'Zac and Lethrblaka at humans. It was the way they were made. Long ago, Jason and Karisa knew from their reading, the fiends were what caused humans to forsake their former lands and move to Alagaesia. When the Riders found out about the creatures' presence in the country, they tried to remove them as they would leaf blight. Two Lethrblaka escaped however, and together had two Ra'Zac babies. The Ra'Zac grew up and King Morzan searched them out and bargained for their services. They now served him. Ra'Zac were strong and fast as elves, but could not use magic. Lethrblaka were as clever and intelligent as dragons and just as large, but were more cruel. After finishing the letter and handing it back, Karisa commented that since the letter had only arrived now, a month later, they had a week at most to make preparations. Only Brand had thought of that and as it sunk in around the table, everyone began talking at once.

The king called for silence and it fell utterly. Brand opened discussions on what would need to be done, and gradually the table discussed it. They discussed, what needed done, who would oversee what, who would pay for what, and how the command structure would be during the battle itself. Four overall leaders were established. Brand and the King would have overall command. Jason and Karisa would be in charge as second in command. The lead General would be in charge under them. The King would be stationed with three hundred troops inside the city should it get attacked. Brand would take two hundred men and guard the west side of the wall near the side gate. Jason was to take command of both the east wall and guard the main gate with four hundred men, as well as control over the twenty battle mages in the city.

Karisa ended up with three jobs since she could use herself and image to get people to work together. She was to be at the docks most of the time on the warships fighting and commanding them since shipping was an area of interest of hers and she spent much time at the docks working, learning, playing, building, and talking. The men there respected her even more. She also was to help the healers during extreme cases of important people being injured. Lastly, she was to keep her mind intimately linked with the king to relay orders to people around the city during the battle with her mind. The intimacy of the link was distasteful to her since he would be able to see all of her memories, including ones of her naked, fucking, and more embarrassing things but knew it was necessary. She hoped he wouldn't take advantage of that. The lead general was to take command of the one hundred men left that were all spearmen, and integrate them at the gates and keep the inner part of the gates protected.

During the week leading up to the battle, Jason was to help Rhunon check the walls, war machines, and arm the men as well as familiarize himself with the battle mages talents and the feel of their minds so that they could work together more easily in the battle. Karisa was to organize the healers, find out their talents, and teach them a little so they could treat a whole new range of injuries. She also had to check the city's warships for damages, familiarize herself with the men on board and command structure between captains and assert her overall authority there. Lastly, she needed to make sure all merchant ships were inside the wall of warships and moored at the port before the battle starts as well as meeting with the king to practice linking their minds completely so it would be easier to maintain a connection during the battle.

Jason's jobs with Rhunon were smooth since the wall and war machines had no problems. Arming a thousand men was difficult, and with so many men and only so much time, he and Rhunon only made them chainmail suits with a shield and steel helms. He learned much about smithing in that small amount of time. It took him six of seven days to finish the job. On the final day, when word began streaming in of the approaching army with farmers and people who lived outside the city who came to it for protection, Jason met with the battle mages. He spoke with them all and found none could fluently speak the ancient language or were familiar with its structure. He had them cast a series of spells to determine their abilities and strengths. After they finished he set his command structure up, gave them new words to memorize, and told them his plan. He would have the lot of them join minds and search for enemy magicians. When one was found, he would merge his strength with theirs and from there, kill the enemy magician. After extracting a promise from them, he went to the gates to meet with his grandfather and settle him into the house where he would be safe. He mourned to learn the farm had been burnt down and everything in it, but was happy his grandfather was alive. Brand's house had wards on it to keep it safe from almost anything. The wards were powered by diamonds that Brand had spent hundreds of years imbuing with his own energy.

Karisa had a much harder time with her jobs. Although respected by the sailors and crews, establishing her authority over them, and their captains, was not an easy task. She ended up taking the quick and easy way out after three days of negotiations and debates got her nowhere. The captains finally offered her a deal that she took grudgingly. She was fucked by all the captains at the same time in the captain's cabin of the main warship. It was degrading, brutal, and very close to rape but it was necessary so she did it without complaint.

Authority finally established, she set about seeing to the ships. All but two were fine. Those two she helped repair herself. The task took another two days. The next day she spent with the healers, and found only two spoke the ancient language fluently, most of the healers only had the strength to heal bruises and cuts. Those she sent on their way after teaching them a spell that would take little energy to perform but would heal almost all cuts and bruises if nothing else were wrong with the wound. The rest she worked with to teach new spells of healing of various degrees and strength.

On the last day she finally went to the king. She had decided what to do, after discussing it with Jason and getting his approval which she felt she needed since they were married now and it wasn't necessary, just easier. She fucked the king, in all three ways, then merged with his mind. As she had suspected, it was much less degrading and distracting, even if he accessed one of her embarrassing memories by accident. She forced an oath from him that he wouldn't speak of the incident again though. In her opinion he didn't fuck very well, other people did better even the captains, but no one equaled Jason. She thought she may be biased though. She liked the king as a person, and respected him as a leader, but was and never would be physically attracted to him.

Tasks done, and their grandfather safe, they went to bed that night after bathing together. They were both exhausted but thoughts of battle kept their bodies and minds alive. They were afraid as they had never participated in a large battle before. Karisa gave Jason a blowjob for twenty minutes straight, and he fucked her in the ass for forty minutes. For several hours after he fucked her in the pussy in many different positions, even one with her on top of him riding his cock. They made love long into the night. After, they lie there in bed together holding onto one another despite both of them being extremely sweaty from the exertions. They eventually slipped into their respective elven type of sleep. They slept, but since they were elven now they had an elven type of sleep. They dreamt and slept but remained fully aware of their surroundings. They woke early and bathed, soaking in the hot water before getting out.

They put on their dragon hide suits, and their armor over it. Tucking their helms under their arms for the moment, they left their rooms. They ate a quick breakfast with their helms and shields set next to them, hugged a worried Ray lightly, and left the house with Brand after all three had strapped their bows and quivers to their backs and strapped on their shields to their hands. Karisa looked very beautiful, sexy, and warlike, Jason looked strong and scary, and Brand looked fierce, calm, and collected. Brand put on his helm, and Karisa and Jason looked at one another. Karisa kissed Jason fiercely before tying her hair back in a ponytail and bundling it inside her helm as she put it on. Jason put his on last. They all three hugged and left for their respective positions.


	14. Chapter Twelve: Battle for Teirm

**Chapter Fourteen: Feasts, Introductions, and Orders**

They roused themselves about an hour before they thought they should need to be present at the castle. They went to the closet together, leaving their book and scroll on the table in front of the couch and the armchairs. Jason fitted himself in a silvery, scaled looking fine silk shirt with black silk bottoms over which hung his sword belt which turned black and small to match the bottoms. He hung his sword from it, asking it in the ancient language to remain in view. He belted on his knife in the back and let it and its sheath fade from sight. He also wore a pair of oxhide black fancy shoes. Karisa did not feel up to changing her makeup from pink nor her nails from pink either since she liked the color. She did put on a light pink blush though, along with a bit heavier glazed lipstick and did end up changing her nails to a deep purple color. This made her look prettier and sexier which she always tried to do when going out with Jason to make him feel even more proud at having captured her heart.

She put on a royal purple form-fitting dress. It fell to the floor, and was strapless and made of satin. It cost her a fortune. It had slits up the sides of her fine legs and even showed the bottom of the side of her underwear when walking, just enough to tell the color and type of it, but did not flow enough to show her ass or pussy. It clung to her ass cheeks when she walked and when she stood still. It clung to her boobs and pushed them up a little more, and as it flowed down it fitted itself to her toned, flat stomach. Over it and around her waist she wore her sword belt with only her knife belted behind it, the sheath invisible unless she reached for it with the intent of drawing the knife itself. The sword belt turned into a cute ropy purple belt. Underneath the dress she wore a lace, strapless purple bra, and a purple lace thong.

When they were both happy with the way they looked, they both took the damaged pieces of their armor down, his plate legs, and her chest plate. They took the armor and left the house for Rhunon's forge. After arriving and explaining what they needed, Rhunon agreed to help them repair the armor. Because of her newly sprung friendship with Jason, she also told them it was going to be free of charge. They spoke with her for half an hour and took their leave. Karisa took Jason's arm and looped hers through it. She also rested her head on his shoulder until they reached the castle. Upon entering the open front doors, she lifted up her head but kept her arm looped through his. She wanted to leave no one with any other impression than the fact that she belonged to him, and he to her.

As they entered the main hall, a servant came towards them from the many standing in a line facing the door. He offered to show them the way and, once Jason had nodded their assent, led them to an enormous dining room that put even Brand's dining hall to shame. The king himself greeted them at the door when he saw them. Most guests were there with the exception of Brand, Ray, and the ships' main captain, Uthar. The King introduced them to his lead general Jorah, whom they had met several times but had not caught the name of nor had a conversation with.

The king introduced the pair to the rest of the people in the room, whom they had already met but never as a married couple, and then proceeded to show them to their seat directly at his right hand, leaving an open seat on their right for Brand and one on their left for Ray. The others took up the other side of the table, which left everyone wondering who the place at the other end with the throne-like chair was reserved for. After Brand and Ray showed up, their question was answered. A dwarf, dressed in noble full plate mail armor with a war axe at his side and a two-handed one across his back, walked in having clearly just bathed. The dwarf was royalty. That was plain by merely looking at the way he carried himself as he entered the room.

Brand stood and bowed to the dwarf, greeting him in his native tongue. Jason and Karisa also stood and introduced themselves in Dwarvish as Brand's children, also explaining Karisa was his child by marriage. Orik, for that was the dwarf's name, also stood and bowed, greeting all three in their native language as was custom among the dwarves when honored in their own language. The king stood at the end of the table, and spoke of the fact that Orik was the dwarf king's nephew and heir, and that he was sent here as an emissary on an important mission. He had already been travelling to see to the state of Teirm and the king on behalf of his own king, but after the dwarf king and the leader of the Varden had heard of Jason and Karisa's feats from Brand and the King himself during a scrying session after the battle to inform their allies they were alive and well, they wanted to meet the couple. They had scryed Orik and let him know so he could lead the couple to Farthen Dur, the dwarves and Varden's home.

Brand was happy for them because of the renown it brought them, but also was not at the same time since it would mean them leaving. Also, after meeting them, they would receive direct orders from the Varden's leader occasionally, and also would receive requests from the dwarf's king too on occasion. Jason and Karisa did not want to leave Brand, their city, or his grandfather, but wanted to travel and visit new places and were excited. Remembering where they stood in the ranking system though, the couple looked to Brand, and then to the king, both of whom gave a nod. Jason asked when they would leave and they were told they had three days before they did so.

Before any more conversation became possible, the meal was served. The king had spared no expense on the meal and it was apparent. Servants flowed out of the kitchens in groups of four carrying trays with various plates on them. The dishes were many and varied, and the food all looked excellent and tasty. There were many foods Jason and Karisa knew of and had not yet tried as well. Even Brand looked on in interest. He had been friends with the king for years and a favorite hobby of the king's was to try and surprise Brand with a new dish of food he had not tried yet when he threw feasts such as this one.

Before them were trays full of tubs of various soups, stews, and round crackers. There was a tray full of long hot loaves of sourdough, white, brown, and rye bread on it. Next to the bread on the same tray were several pots of honey, a few small tubs of butter, and a couple bowls of cream. Next to this tray was another tray, this one stacked with yellow, mozzarella, white, blue, and mixed together blocks, wedges, strings, and slices of cheese. Then there was a large empty plate big enough for a horse to stand on in the middle of the table. Next to this empty spot lay a tray with several bowls of various salads, and several tubs of various toppings and dressings to put on the salads.

The plate to the right of the salads held slices of tomatoes arranged in a circle around the outer edge of the plate, and sliced and fried cabbage was arranged underneath the tomatoes. Inside the sliced tomatoes were eggs, boiled and sliced neatly in half to showcase the yolk inside of each one, arranged in another, tighter circle. Inside this circle was a large pile of okra, fried into little circle okras. The plate next to this one was composed entirely of delicious smelling mushrooms.

The mushrooms were broiled into strips, fried into short strips, burnt and left whole, left whole and raw, and cooked partway and cut in half to showcase the blue flesh inside them. Next to this was a plate full of trout, salmon, and other various fish lain atop of a bed of green lettuce. The fish were fried and baked whole, so the entire fish was there for you to eat. Venison, roasted, baked, and fried alternating between each piece sat on a plate next to the fish. On its other side there was a huge bowl filled entirely with apples, another with oranges, another with grapes, and yet another with berries. Then, the masterpiece and main course of the feast was brought out and laid on the enormous plate in the center of the table.

It was a huge boar, Nagra, if Jason's memory of studying the dwarves served him properly. He had studied dwarves and Karisa had studied elves before they shared the memories of each study with each other. Brand leaned over to Jason and whispered, "The king truly honors us tonight. Only the bravest dwarves hunt Nagra, and only the richest of humans can afford to buy it."

Jason nodded, the memory of that particular excerpt of his studies on dwarves returning to him. The boar was dripping with honey, and blackberry sauce. The spices on it made it smell so enticing it was hard to wait on the king to allow them to fill their plates. The king stood and looked at all of his guests smiling widely, for these people, including Orik, were the reason his people could live and flourish. "Let the feasting begin!" Marcus declared to the group, and sat down again.

Each guest was given three plates and a bowl, and Jason filled his first with fried and boiled mushrooms, the second with salads, and the third with a large piece of the boar, a particularly thoroughly cooked salmon, and an apple, orange, and thicket of grapes. The bowl he filled with a soup made of tomato sauce. Next to the bowl he laid a slice of hot sourdough bread, and a wedge of cold mozzarella cheese. Between each tray was a different kind of drink, and Jason chose to fill his goblet with a red dornish wine.

To his left, Karisa chose a salad with a bit of dressing for her first plate. For her second plate, she put a medium sized piece of the boar on it accompanied by a large trout, a large piece of roasted venison, and a particularly large pile of okra. On the final plate she put berries of every kind, a thicket of grapes, an apple, an orange, a grapefruit, and a couple boiled eggs. In her bowl she ladled hot beef stew. Next to it she lay a loaf of hot white bread, which she slathered in butter and honey from their various pots, and a wedge of yellow cheese. In her goblet was dark ale.

To his right, Brand had filled all three of his plates with a bit of everything so as not to miss out on anything. He had a strange soup with chicken in it inside his bowl. Next to the bowl was a loaf of every type of bread, and a slice of every kind of cheese. His goblet held a pint of excellent beer. He was conversing with the king as he waited on everyone else to fill their plates as was the custom. No one ate until everyone was ready to eat. Ray, having only ate a feast once in his life, also filled his plate with everything and had cold milk in his goblet. He was busy talking to the dwarf, Orik.

The king, seeing everyone was ready to eat, stood and raised his goblet. "To victory!" he cried to the assembled host. They emulated him, standing and drinking to victory before sitting down and beginning to eat. The meal was sumptuous and they all lingered over it for hours on end talking with each other pleasantly. Everyone here was friend to the other. In this kind of government, there were also no bids for power. Everyone was friends here in this room, and it made the night so much more pleasant to not have to guard your tongue overmuch. Everyone was full by the time the feast ended, and was beginning to get tired.

Seeing this, the king again stood. He made a speech about honor, bravery, and courage and what effect those traits had on mankind. He started by saying each and every person in this room had those very traits. He first recognized the lowest achievements unrelated to battle by honoring Rhunon. As he finished telling of her accomplishments to the others, they all drank to her and she sat. Next he complimented the lead healer for her excellent work during and after the battle. She stood when he gestured to do so, and again they drank to her. They did this for every person after her as well. The leader of the battle mages for his bravery and skill in hunting down and defeating the enemy mages, the ship captain for working well with Karisa and eliminating the other ships, and his general for keeping good command over the troops under the king when they joined the battle at the wall.

Finally he honored Brand for his slaying of the Lethrblaka at the wall. At this, everyone at the table cheered his accomplishment, and finally drank to it. Next the king said Jason's name, and Ray looked up with pride as Jason stood. The king told of how Jason held the most difficult place on the wall where the siege towers were landing. How he, despite having fewer men, and being tired out after helping the mages around the whole castle defeat other magicians with his mind, held his ground when attacked. The king told of the Ra'Zac's attack then, and how Jason held his own against the two demons until help arrived, and afterwards held the wall against the rest of the enemy, all of whom wanted to kill he and his wife both. This elicited awe and respect from everyone at the table for the young man standing before them which made his grandfather and father very proud.

Before anyone could clap or honor him though, the king showed the unity between the man and his wife by asking Karisa to stand with him. Of her, the king spoke of the beautiful, blood thirsty woman who commanded over all their warships and destroyed the enemy warships with ease. He then told of how she left to stand by and protect he himself until Jason's plea for help came. When it did, he told of how Karisa rushed to her husband's defense. He told of how together they wounded and routed the Ra'Zac who fled before they could be killed. Lastly, he told of how she and Jason fought back to back, invulnerable, and slaughtered the last of the enemy to try to kill them. This made Ray and Brand even more proud of their young in the family. It caused the other members of the feast to give them a standing ovation and the clapping lasted well over a few minutes before the king got them to drink to Jason and Karisa and settle back down. The king told of his own small role in the battle, and though it was small, he was honest about it and they drained their goblets to him anyway.

The king concluded the feast then, and the attendees wandered to their various homes and places of rest. Jason, Brand, Karisa, and Ray went home. Brand and Ray stayed up late into the night talking, but Jason took Karisa's hand and almost dragged her to their rooms. Kissing her the moment the door closed, they tossed their clothes off and into the basket, and fell on the bed, wrestling to see who would get top. Jason won, and Karisa got to enjoy getting fucked senseless in the ass without having to give him a blowjob this time. They both were reveling in their accomplishments in the battle, and felt amazing at having the king and his retainers drink and clap to them over it. They celebrated by fucking for an hour before lying down on their sides, Jason's arm over her waist, his cock buried deep in her pussy as he made love to her long into the night, her thrusting back against him repeatedly and moaning loudly with each thrust. Jason came deep inside her and left his cock inside her as he draped the blankets over them and whispered in her ear, "I love you." She smiled in response and repeated it back to him, already half asleep.

When they awoke they bathed, and put on their bathrobes from the other day, Karisa changing all her makeup and nail polish to hot pink again. They went down, ate breakfast alone for everyone else was still in bed, and went back to their rooms where they sat in the peace and quiet and read their various book and scroll once more. Knowing nothing would disturb them today, they immersed themselves in the articles of reading they garnered so much pleasure from. Each time one finished a scroll or book, they would go get another from the library. Most of what they read during the day was informational and for study. They left fiction works until nighttime where they enjoyed them better. And so passed the rest of the day in peace and quiet, just enjoying each others' company.


	15. Chapter Thirteen: Cleanup and Aftermath

**Chapter Thirteen: Clean-up, Aftermath, and Orders**

Jason and Karisa then left for the healers, who had relocated inside their houses of healing in the city once more. The men who had fought for the city left for various places, dispersing only once the king had given the order to go rest and recover except the few that were unharmed and had seen little of the battle because they were with him. These he set to guard duty and patrol throughout the city to replace the men who had either been injured, died, or given the day off. Jason led Karisa into the healing houses by her hand. They might have more orders soon, but for now he would see to it his wife was tended properly.

As they entered, they saw the many wounded throughout the place. Many healers were busy attending the men, but when the healer in charge saw them, she ordered immediate care for them. Two healers came over, both male. The woman explained they were the best healers available at the moment since the others were resting from magic use. Jason replied that they were fine and they were taken into a room and ordered to strip off their armor and dragon hide suits. Once they were both naked, although both men spent a little longer than they should've ogling Karisa's flawless body, the men cast series after series of spells to heal the many wounds they had suffered.

Jason had suffered bruises up and down his arm where arrows had hit him after he had taken that particular ward down. He also had a nasty yellow bruise where his shield had mashed against his arm when a war hammer bounced off it. His index finger was out of place where he had held onto the sword for too long at a time and then moved it out of place. He also had blood sheeting down his leg where the plate leg had rent in two from numerous slashes there by one of the Ra'Zac. It still rankled him they had escaped. The other healer was meanwhile attending to Karisa.

Karisa knew the man did the groping on purpose, but she let it pass since he was doing his job technically. In his position she might have done the same if someone of her beauty had come in for this. She had bruises on her boobs, and flat stomach where numerous jolts from the ship she had been on caused her to fall face first onto the deck. He had healed the bruises on her stomach fairly well, but was taking his time on the bruises on her boobs. He had rubbed his hand over both boobs, making sure his thumb passed over her nipple on each one each time he rubbed. He even squeezed a couple of times. He could have healed it with another spell, but he was clever and the spell he had used required him to place his hands on whatever needed healed.

Despite the fact her husband sat next to her being treated, she could not help but enjoy the sensation a bit after the tumult of battle. She did not complain, however, when the man moved his hands off and did the same for the bruises on her legs. She then turned and lay on the bed on her stomach. Using the same spell, he healed the bruises on her back and ass, spending a bit of time massaging the cheeks and squeezing them to "ensure there was no pain." These were from where she had fallen on her back numerous times on the ship. She fell a lot until she got her sea legs. Lastly, he and the other man had to work together to heal the gash on her pretty side. The Ra'Zac she had fought had managed to slip his sword through the side of her armor. The armor's hardness had saved her life though since it prevented the sword from turning to the right any further. It had missed her ribs and boob by inches, instead cutting a gash where the point had slid across the skin. It healed quickly and instantly.

Finished, the men bowed and left the room as Jason and Karisa put their dragon hide suits back on, and the armor over it. They left the helms attached to the back. They left the houses of healing, after Jason, kind man that he was, stopped and expended a little more energy by helping to heal a man whose hand was sliced off and the healer tending him did not have the experience of strength to heal the issue. They sought out Brand and the king. Brand had already healed himself. Seeing them, he rushed over and gave his orders.

They were both to go to the tent where the men who had surrendered were and extract oaths of fealty from them. After doing so, they were to release them and order them to gather their comrades' dead bodies and take them to a burial mound just outside the city in the forest. It had been made just for this purpose. Bowing and curtseying respectfully, they departed. After extracting the oaths and setting the one hundred and eighteen men to work, they sat on the edges of the wall, Karisa facing the forest and Jason, the city. This way they could watch the men wherever they went.

They chatted about how they both fared during the battle, and speculated about Brand's achievements during it. They were astonished to see the Lethrblakas' corpses lying in the dirt behind the wall on Brand's side of it. It took fifty of the men to move each one. Jason and Karisa took pity on them and helped, for which each group was immensely thankful. Finding that the men were pressed into Morzan's service, they felt a measure of sympathy for them. After all the corpses were tended they released them onto the road, after giving each one a small coin pouch that Jason had quickly counted out and held fifty gold each. That was about a half a month's pay for a soldier.

Jobs done, they searched for Brand again. Finding him helping in the houses of healing with the king who was there to compliment the soldiers on their bravery, the king dispatched Jason to Rhunon to help assess the walls and gates for repairs. He sent Karisa to see to the repairs of the ships left, and to barter with the shipwright for construction of a new warship. Thankfully, the man liked her already and the king gave her the gold in a coin pouch to pay the man, so she would have no more strenuous exertions for the day as he thought she might be worn out as it is. For this, she hugged him and went on her way. He had earned her full respect for what he had just done instead of being a pervert and forcing her to fuck the man for the build of the ships.

After finishing with her orders, it was almost fully dark out again and she was weary. They had fought for a full day and night and spent the rest of today doing the things needed to set the city right once more. The ships were repaired and construction of a new one was underway. She went in search of Brand and the king. Finding them, she saw they were as tired as herself, not to mention hungry and thirsty. They had finished with everything except Jason's job, from which he had not returned yet. The wounded were even all fully healed, except one man who was hit by a spell Brand did not recognize and that had killed the man within thirty minutes of examination. She found that out of the thousand men they had started with, approximately eight hundred remained. Only one of the fifty battle mages had died. Everyone else was fine. A great smoke rose over the forest where the king had ordered his general to oversee the burning of the bodies from the battle. All three waited for Jason's return, which did not come until midnight. Stumbling in, he reported repairs complete except one ballista which she had insisted she could complete the missiles for it herself. The king smiled and said he was off to wash the grime of battle away and rest. Brand, Karisa, and Jason all three agreed and left for home.

On the way, Brand congratulated them on surviving their first battle. Jason and Karisa smiled at the praise. When they arrived home, they found Ray had went to bed already, but Rickon waited up for them in the dining hall where supper was left out for them. Ravenous, they devoured everything on the table together, and drank a full three bottles of wine and a jug of milk. They also finished off an entire quarter of a Nidwhal, which was a deep-sea creature that was larger than a whale, about the size of a dragon really, intelligent, and had three thousand shark-like teeth. The taste of Nidwhal was surpassed by few things though.

After eating, Brand drifted off to take a bath and sleep. Karisa and Jason went to their room and shut the door. The first thing done was to strip fully naked together and to put their dragon hide suits in the basket, bundled together so they would not get mismatched and confused by Rickon. Then, they took their armor into the bathing room. Setting it into one of the bathtubs they did not use, although all the bath tubs in the room remained clean at all times thanks to the magic over them, and scrubbed them clean. They then took them out and over to the mannequins. Next to both of the mannequins five bottles of armor oil sat that Jason had bought from Rhunon. They oiled the armor, then shined it with the cloth. They both put the armor on the mannequins when finished.

Done with this, they took each others' hand and went to their bathtub. Soaking in the water, they helped each other scrub completely clean. Despite having seen her naked, and being extremely hard and in need of sex, he put his needs aside and played the gentleman. He instead wrapped his arms around her once they had toweled off and slipped under the covers, kissed the top of her head, and together they fell into a deep sleep.

When they awoke, their bodies still ached and they were more than a little tired. They put on bathrobes, Jason in a black silk one that split down the middle to show a bit of his powerful chest, and Karisa in a pink one that also split down the middle to show off her cleavage. They remained barefoot as the days were beginning to get warm as summer set in, and the stone floor was cool. Tying their sword belts around their waists as was their custom, the belts turned to the corresponding colors and turned into sashes. Jason combed his hair and performed a spell that removed the stubble from his face. Karisa changed her eye shadow to bright pink, her lips remained her favorite glazed pink, her lashes darkened by eyeliner, and her nails were painted pink. After setting the spell to keep it all on, she splashed her face with cold water. Satisfied with their appearances, they left their rooms for breakfast.

When they arrived Brand greeted them with a grunt. Ray was cheerful though and hugged them both, assuring them he had barely slept knowing they were in danger and that he was happy they were safe. They in turn assured him they were whole and well, just tired. The breakfast was large and satisfying. Brand woke up more afterwards and participated in the conversation about the battle yesterday as the other two sated Ray's request for details about it. Brand added in his own experiences in it, which elicited a satisfactory amount of awe from Ray. When their narratives were complete, they drank cold milk in silence for a few minutes.

All of them were going to remain home for the day until Rickon interrupted the silence to inform them a page was waiting at the door with a message. Brand gave the assent for the page to be admitted to the dining area. The young boy, no more than eleven, gave his message well. The king, it seemed, was throwing a huge feast that consisted of guests such as his general, the leader of the battle mages, the leader of the healers, the captain of all the ships under Karisa, and Rhunon, who had made the armor, weapons, and materials to help win the battle as well as doing the repairs afterwards. These people would be there as well as various noblemen and women from around the city from his court. Brand, Jason, and Karisa were to be honored guests and were wanted so that he could honor everyone for their various accomplishments in front of the nobles of the court so word would spread of their deeds and his thanks to them for those deeds. It was to be a large and rather expensive event.

Despite their weariness, they all realized it would be rude to refuse the king of their home city, and agreed to come. They also told the page that Ray would accompany them as a guest. When the page left, Brand, who was used to this sort of tiredness after battles, dressed himself and took ray to buy him a nice outfit to wear to the feast. Karisa and Jason stayed in their rooms for most of the day though. Jason took a scroll he had not read from the library yet that was about an interest of his, magical creatures. Karisa was going to read a leather bound book that was rather large that she had been reading nearly every night before bed about botany and magical plants along with normal ones.

Before they gave in to the pleasure of reading though, they got back in their rooms, stripped, and had sex in every way, every hole of Karisa's, and every position imaginable. Karisa sucked and fucked him for hours, her lust being much less easy to sate than a man's once aroused. She lived by emotions, letting them consume her body. That was why when in battle she lusted for blood, when killing she desired death, when fucking she sucked and fucked for hours on end, and why when she loved someone, it was all the way. This was why she loved Jason so fiercely. Instead of being appalled by the way she motivated herself, she loved her for it and was unchanged by it himself. A lesser man could not love her the same as he did, no one could, and no one could do so like him and still remain themselves as he did. Jason was ruled by logic and clear thinking. He thought everything through, but when he committed to something he saw it through no matter what. This is why he loved her so fiercely, fought so well, was so excellent at spell casting, and so knowledgeable about his interests and whatever else he needed to know. They all made sense to him.

When they finished, they bathed to wash the sweat off. After they finished bathing, they settled into their chairs in front of the fire where Rickon kept a plate of little seed cakes and a bottle of wine at all times, replaced every morning with new snacks and a new kind of drink. They read for hours, poring over the books and scrolls that held information about their respective interests. The knowledge they found they shared with each other. They may not be interested in the same things, but they found that if one was interested in something and learned about it then shared it with the other, they learned more about the subject that way. They may not necessarily have wanted to learn that particular subject but it never hurt to know more than you wanted or needed to. This way also, they could hold intelligent conversations over each other's interests and have the information ready should the occasion arise where they needed that particular information and the other was not around. In this way, they passed the rest of the day away resting, conversing with one another, and reading happily.


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Introductions

**Chapter Fourteen: Feasts, Introductions, and Orders**

They roused themselves about an hour before they thought they should need to be present at the castle. They went to the closet together, leaving their book and scroll on the table in front of the couch and the armchairs. Jason fitted himself in a silvery, scaled looking fine silk shirt with black silk bottoms over which hung his sword belt which turned black and small to match the bottoms. He hung his sword from it, asking it in the ancient language to remain in view. He belted on his knife in the back and let it and its sheath fade from sight. He also wore a pair of oxhide black fancy shoes. Karisa did not feel up to changing her makeup from pink nor her nails from pink either since she liked the color. She did put on a light pink blush though, along with a bit heavier glazed lipstick and did end up changing her nails to a deep purple color. This made her look prettier and sexier which she always tried to do when going out with Jason to make him feel even more proud at having captured her heart.

She put on a royal purple form-fitting dress. It fell to the floor, and was strapless and made of satin. It cost her a fortune. It had slits up the sides of her fine legs and even showed the bottom of the side of her underwear when walking, just enough to tell the color and type of it, but did not flow enough to show her ass or pussy. It clung to her ass cheeks when she walked and when she stood still. It clung to her boobs and pushed them up a little more, and as it flowed down it fitted itself to her toned, flat stomach. Over it and around her waist she wore her sword belt with only her knife belted behind it, the sheath invisible unless she reached for it with the intent of drawing the knife itself. The sword belt turned into a cute ropy purple belt. Underneath the dress she wore a lace, strapless purple bra, and a purple lace thong.

When they were both happy with the way they looked, they both took the damaged pieces of their armor down, his plate legs, and her chest plate. They took the armor and left the house for Rhunon's forge. After arriving and explaining what they needed, Rhunon agreed to help them repair the armor. Because of her newly sprung friendship with Jason, she also told them it was going to be free of charge. They spoke with her for half an hour and took their leave. Karisa took Jason's arm and looped hers through it. She also rested her head on his shoulder until they reached the castle. Upon entering the open front doors, she lifted up her head but kept her arm looped through his. She wanted to leave no one with any other impression than the fact that she belonged to him, and he to her.

As they entered the main hall, a servant came towards them from the many standing in a line facing the door. He offered to show them the way and, once Jason had nodded their assent, led them to an enormous dining room that put even Brand's dining hall to shame. The king himself greeted them at the door when he saw them. Most guests were there with the exception of Brand, Ray, and the ships' main captain, Uthar. The King introduced them to his lead general Jorah, whom they had met several times but had not caught the name of nor had a conversation with.

The king introduced the pair to the rest of the people in the room, whom they had already met but never as a married couple, and then proceeded to show them to their seat directly at his right hand, leaving an open seat on their right for Brand and one on their left for Ray. The others took up the other side of the table, which left everyone wondering who the place at the other end with the throne-like chair was reserved for. After Brand and Ray showed up, their question was answered. A dwarf, dressed in noble full plate mail armor with a war axe at his side and a two-handed one across his back, walked in having clearly just bathed. The dwarf was royalty. That was plain by merely looking at the way he carried himself as he entered the room.

Brand stood and bowed to the dwarf, greeting him in his native tongue. Jason and Karisa also stood and introduced themselves in Dwarvish as Brand's children, also explaining Karisa was his child by marriage. Orik, for that was the dwarf's name, also stood and bowed, greeting all three in their native language as was custom among the dwarves when honored in their own language. The king stood at the end of the table, and spoke of the fact that Orik was the dwarf king's nephew and heir, and that he was sent here as an emissary on an important mission. He had already been travelling to see to the state of Teirm and the king on behalf of his own king, but after the dwarf king and the leader of the Varden had heard of Jason and Karisa's feats from Brand and the King himself during a scrying session after the battle to inform their allies they were alive and well, they wanted to meet the couple. They had scryed Orik and let him know so he could lead the couple to Farthen Dur, the dwarves and Varden's home.

Brand was happy for them because of the renown it brought them, but also was not at the same time since it would mean them leaving. Also, after meeting them, they would receive direct orders from the Varden's leader occasionally, and also would receive requests from the dwarf's king too on occasion. Jason and Karisa did not want to leave Brand, their city, or his grandfather, but wanted to travel and visit new places and were excited. Remembering where they stood in the ranking system though, the couple looked to Brand, and then to the king, both of whom gave a nod. Jason asked when they would leave and they were told they had three days before they did so.

Before any more conversation became possible, the meal was served. The king had spared no expense on the meal and it was apparent. Servants flowed out of the kitchens in groups of four carrying trays with various plates on them. The dishes were many and varied, and the food all looked excellent and tasty. There were many foods Jason and Karisa knew of and had not yet tried as well. Even Brand looked on in interest. He had been friends with the king for years and a favorite hobby of the king's was to try and surprise Brand with a new dish of food he had not tried yet when he threw feasts such as this one.

Before them were trays full of tubs of various soups, stews, and round crackers. There was a tray full of long hot loaves of sourdough, white, brown, and rye bread on it. Next to the bread on the same tray were several pots of honey, a few small tubs of butter, and a couple bowls of cream. Next to this tray was another tray, this one stacked with yellow, mozzarella, white, blue, and mixed together blocks, wedges, strings, and slices of cheese. Then there was a large empty plate big enough for a horse to stand on in the middle of the table. Next to this empty spot lay a tray with several bowls of various salads, and several tubs of various toppings and dressings to put on the salads.

The plate to the right of the salads held slices of tomatoes arranged in a circle around the outer edge of the plate, and sliced and fried cabbage was arranged underneath the tomatoes. Inside the sliced tomatoes were eggs, boiled and sliced neatly in half to showcase the yolk inside of each one, arranged in another, tighter circle. Inside this circle was a large pile of okra, fried into little circle okras. The plate next to this one was composed entirely of delicious smelling mushrooms.

The mushrooms were broiled into strips, fried into short strips, burnt and left whole, left whole and raw, and cooked partway and cut in half to showcase the blue flesh inside them. Next to this was a plate full of trout, salmon, and other various fish lain atop of a bed of green lettuce. The fish were fried and baked whole, so the entire fish was there for you to eat. Venison, roasted, baked, and fried alternating between each piece sat on a plate next to the fish. On its other side there was a huge bowl filled entirely with apples, another with oranges, another with grapes, and yet another with berries. Then, the masterpiece and main course of the feast was brought out and laid on the enormous plate in the center of the table.

It was a huge boar, Nagra, if Jason's memory of studying the dwarves served him properly. He had studied dwarves and Karisa had studied elves before they shared the memories of each study with each other. Brand leaned over to Jason and whispered, "The king truly honors us tonight. Only the bravest dwarves hunt Nagra, and only the richest of humans can afford to buy it."

Jason nodded, the memory of that particular excerpt of his studies on dwarves returning to him. The boar was dripping with honey, and blackberry sauce. The spices on it made it smell so enticing it was hard to wait on the king to allow them to fill their plates. The king stood and looked at all of his guests smiling widely, for these people, including Orik, were the reason his people could live and flourish. "Let the feasting begin!" Marcus declared to the group, and sat down again.

Each guest was given three plates and a bowl, and Jason filled his first with fried and boiled mushrooms, the second with salads, and the third with a large piece of the boar, a particularly thoroughly cooked salmon, and an apple, orange, and thicket of grapes. The bowl he filled with a soup made of tomato sauce. Next to the bowl he laid a slice of hot sourdough bread, and a wedge of cold mozzarella cheese. Between each tray was a different kind of drink, and Jason chose to fill his goblet with a red dornish wine.

To his left, Karisa chose a salad with a bit of dressing for her first plate. For her second plate, she put a medium sized piece of the boar on it accompanied by a large trout, a large piece of roasted venison, and a particularly large pile of okra. On the final plate she put berries of every kind, a thicket of grapes, an apple, an orange, a grapefruit, and a couple boiled eggs. In her bowl she ladled hot beef stew. Next to it she lay a loaf of hot white bread, which she slathered in butter and honey from their various pots, and a wedge of yellow cheese. In her goblet was dark ale.

To his right, Brand had filled all three of his plates with a bit of everything so as not to miss out on anything. He had a strange soup with chicken in it inside his bowl. Next to the bowl was a loaf of every type of bread, and a slice of every kind of cheese. His goblet held a pint of excellent beer. He was conversing with the king as he waited on everyone else to fill their plates as was the custom. No one ate until everyone was ready to eat. Ray, having only ate a feast once in his life, also filled his plate with everything and had cold milk in his goblet. He was busy talking to the dwarf, Orik.

The king, seeing everyone was ready to eat, stood and raised his goblet. "To victory!" he cried to the assembled host. They emulated him, standing and drinking to victory before sitting down and beginning to eat. The meal was sumptuous and they all lingered over it for hours on end talking with each other pleasantly. Everyone here was friend to the other. In this kind of government, there were also no bids for power. Everyone was friends here in this room, and it made the night so much more pleasant to not have to guard your tongue overmuch. Everyone was full by the time the feast ended, and was beginning to get tired.

Seeing this, the king again stood. He made a speech about honor, bravery, and courage and what effect those traits had on mankind. He started by saying each and every person in this room had those very traits. He first recognized the lowest achievements unrelated to battle by honoring Rhunon. As he finished telling of her accomplishments to the others, they all drank to her and she sat. Next he complimented the lead healer for her excellent work during and after the battle. She stood when he gestured to do so, and again they drank to her. They did this for every person after her as well. The leader of the battle mages for his bravery and skill in hunting down and defeating the enemy mages, the ship captain for working well with Karisa and eliminating the other ships, and his general for keeping good command over the troops under the king when they joined the battle at the wall.

Finally he honored Brand for his slaying of the Lethrblaka at the wall. At this, everyone at the table cheered his accomplishment, and finally drank to it. Next the king said Jason's name, and Ray looked up with pride as Jason stood. The king told of how Jason held the most difficult place on the wall where the siege towers were landing. How he, despite having fewer men, and being tired out after helping the mages around the whole castle defeat other magicians with his mind, held his ground when attacked. The king told of the Ra'Zac's attack then, and how Jason held his own against the two demons until help arrived, and afterwards held the wall against the rest of the enemy, all of whom wanted to kill he and his wife both. This elicited awe and respect from everyone at the table for the young man standing before them which made his grandfather and father very proud.

Before anyone could clap or honor him though, the king showed the unity between the man and his wife by asking Karisa to stand with him. Of her, the king spoke of the beautiful, blood thirsty woman who commanded over all their warships and destroyed the enemy warships with ease. He then told of how she left to stand by and protect he himself until Jason's plea for help came. When it did, he told of how Karisa rushed to her husband's defense. He told of how together they wounded and routed the Ra'Zac who fled before they could be killed. Lastly, he told of how she and Jason fought back to back, invulnerable, and slaughtered the last of the enemy to try to kill them. This made Ray and Brand even more proud of their young in the family. It caused the other members of the feast to give them a standing ovation and the clapping lasted well over a few minutes before the king got them to drink to Jason and Karisa and settle back down. The king told of his own small role in the battle, and though it was small, he was honest about it and they drained their goblets to him anyway.

The king concluded the feast then, and the attendees wandered to their various homes and places of rest. Jason, Brand, Karisa, and Ray went home. Brand and Ray stayed up late into the night talking, but Jason took Karisa's hand and almost dragged her to their rooms. Kissing her the moment the door closed, they tossed their clothes off and into the basket, and fell on the bed, wrestling to see who would get top. Jason won, and Karisa got to enjoy getting fucked senseless in the ass without having to give him a blowjob this time. They both were reveling in their accomplishments in the battle, and felt amazing at having the king and his retainers drink and clap to them over it. They celebrated by fucking for an hour before lying down on their sides, Jason's arm over her waist, his cock buried deep in her pussy as he made love to her long into the night, her thrusting back against him repeatedly and moaning loudly with each thrust. Jason came deep inside her and left his cock inside her as he draped the blankets over them and whispered in her ear, "I love you." She smiled in response and repeated it back to him, already half asleep.

When they awoke they bathed, and put on their bathrobes from the other day, Karisa changing all her makeup and nail polish to hot pink again. They went down, ate breakfast alone for everyone else was still in bed, and went back to their rooms where they sat in the peace and quiet and read their various book and scroll once more. Knowing nothing would disturb them today, they immersed themselves in the articles of reading they garnered so much pleasure from. Each time one finished a scroll or book, they would go get another from the library. Most of what they read during the day was informational and for study. They left fiction works until nighttime where they enjoyed them better. And so passed the rest of the day in peace and quiet, just enjoying each others' company.


	17. Chapter Fifteen: Departure

**Chapter Fifteen: Departure, And Travelling A Long Distance**

As they slept the second night, having spent the next two days studying and enjoying each others' presence, neither of them dreamed. They slept through the whole night, and awoke that morning refreshed and finally fully rested and recovered from the battle. They dressed themselves in their dragon hide and attached their black capes to the back. Karisa changed her eye shadow to a faint black, her lips to a glazed red, and her nails to a dark, sparkling black too as Jason combed his hair.

They took two backpacks they had bought enchanted to be endless down from their racks. They rolled their armor in rags and put it in the packs. Carrying it would make them miserable but they had decided in the end that if the need for it arose, they would be happy to have it. They took a large bedspread and fur blanket down that was rolled up next to where the packs hung. It might be summer, but in the wild it got cold at night. Jason carried the heavy blanket and bedspread in his pack. Both were large enough so that they could sleep together. Jason packed the tent into his bag, along with a lantern and a coil of rope and pillows. Karisa stuffed her pack with extra clothes, most of which were the finest articles they owned, but some of which also were the cheapest outfits they owned. Well, cheap to them anyway.

Next they strapped on their sword belts, Jason's turning large, thick, and black with a large black buckle, hers doing the same except becoming small and thick. To their sword belts they strapped on their swords and kept them visible. They belted on their hunting knives behind them as well, keeping those invisible to touch or sight until they were needed. They strapped on their quivers, replenished once more, and their strung bows once more. These too, they carried openly.

The best way to counter violence was to discourage it in Jason's mind. To Jason and Karisa's belt the each tied a money pouch with five thousand gold coins apiece so they could both enjoy themselves at the dwarves homeland, and pay their way should they have to stop at an inn or something. These pouches were invisible to all but each other in keeping with his thought. Orik had been invited to stay the night, and was waiting for them in the dining hall for breakfast. Beside Orik's plate of bacon was stretched a map of Alagaesia. Jason and Karisa filled their own plates and sat on either side of him to study the map. Orik outlined their course, and Jason agreed with a few alterations. Course agreed on, they continued to eat. It was still dark outside when they finished their meals.

Standing, they both hugged Ray and Karisa kissed him on the cheek as Brand went outside with Orik, who nodded briefly to Ray on the way out, so that he could ready the horses for Jason and Karisa. Ray put a hand on both of their shoulders and said hoarsely, "I will miss the two of you, but this is a good experience for you. Remember to always respect those above you, but not to follow them blindly. Always treat those you will meet kindly because you may have need of them in the future, and you certainly have no need of further enemies in your lives. Have fun, but guard yourselves well. You, Jason, some will seek to influence for their own gains. Many will try to gain direct control over you to amass power for themselves, and many women will try to seduce you and get you away from Karisa to better their own standing in life. Treat them all fairly, for you may do the same in their position, but guard yourself and your wife well. You, Karisa, many people will try the same with. Men will also attempt to take you away from Jason. Men will try other things as well, which you must always be on guard for. You are very beautiful and in this world that is both a blessing and a curse. I love the both of you dearly, so take care, and come back as soon as events will allow."

After he finished his little speech, he kissed them both on the forehead. Karisa finished her plate of food as Jason went outside to help saddle the horses. Brand had packed enough food in the saddles, meat, bread, cheese, seasonings, fruit and vegetables all, to last them about a month and a half without even having to go easy on it. All this was divided between both horses as one or the other might be killed, stolen, or run off from fright of something else. He also put two large pots, two saucepans, two frying pans, a large fork, a large spatula, three sets of silverware, three plates, three bowls, and a knife to help with making spits, one of each on each horse, and the three plates, bowls, and knife on Karisa's horse. Also, to each horse's saddlebags he strapped a wood cutting axe. He placed a charm on the saddlebags to make them lighter on the horses. Orik had come with his own pony and saddlebags, in which he had bacon, jerky, and other meats along with the means to cook them. Brand had placed three large wine skins in Karisa's saddlebags and three water skins in Jason's. Orik had two of his own water skins, along with a cask of dwarven beer on either side of his pony.

Brand clapped Jason on the shoulder and hugged him, and did the same with Karisa, kissing her atop her head when she came out of the house to the stables. He looked at them both seriously and said, "This may be a ride of enjoyment, or it could well be dangerous. Scouts have reported Morzan's men crossing the countryside, as well as battalions of Orcs crossing rivers. Trolls have even been seen coming down from the mountains. Enjoy yourselves but be very cautious and remain aware of your surroundings as I have taught and trained you. Also, when you reach Farthen Dur, enjoy yourselves yes, but be wary of the politics. You will become entangled in them as soon as you speak to Ajihad, or the king of the dwarves, Hrothgar. Both are honorable, but some of their underlings are not. Other than that, listen, study, and perform tasks well and honorably. Acquit yourselves as well as you would here. Jason, take this to Ajihad. This scroll details the state of our supplies here in Teirm, as well as the state of our gold, soldiers, ships, and other supplies we have. It is most important. Do not lose this, nor let others besides you and Karisa and Orik read it or know of its existence. Have a safe journey, and return soon."

He finished speaking and handed Jason a massive scroll that he tucked down in the pack he had made that morning. Those packs he and Karisa had decided to carry on their backs rather than tie them to the horses. Mounting their horses after hugging Brand another time, they checked them with obvious skill and trotted in a semi circle so as to be on either side of Orik. Jason and Karisa waited, each thinking their own thoughts, as Orik clasped Brand's forearm and told him they would see each other when they returned, and that he would keep his children safe, on his honor and clan. The three travelers rode off and through Teirm's main gate. Excited as they were about where they were going, Jason, Karisa, nor Orik looked back as Teirm faded from sight.

They rode for about an hour in silence before Orik asked when they had married. Jason replied that they had been joined about five months ago. Orik expressed his congratulations on it and replied that he was promised to a dwarf maid back in his ancestral home. They were to marry sometime near spring of next year. They learned a lot about Orik that day, like how he enjoyed reading, smithing, and fighting with his axe. He told them of battles he had took part in, negotiations he had helped with, treaties he had helped create, and how his parents had died, thus the reason for Hrothgar adopting him as his heir. In turn, they told him of how they met, some of what they had learned, their separate interests, and some of the jobs they did for Brand.

With this, and a few other conversations the day passed quickly. They knew the journey would be long though. When it began to get dark, they searched for a place to hide and rest. They were going to follow the coastline to Narda, and from there pay for a ship to transport them around the waters to the mountains. In this way, they could disembark and skirt the base of the mountains and arrive at Farthen Dur without having to cross too much of the desert. They found shelter in the forest where three trees had fallen and formed a small half-circle. As Jason cut wood for the fire, Karisa dug a trench eight feet across and four feet wide with magic. She then used magic to controllably burn the grass away from the edges of the pit so there was only dirt. Meanwhile, Orik removed the packs off the horses and picketed them. He put his packs next to him and Jason's the furthest from the fire so they knew which packs belonged to whom.

Jason removed the pot and frying pan from their packs, along with a hunting knife, large wooden ladle spoon, and spatula. He also removed two of the rather large and thick strips of venison. He took out a couple of herbs, spices, and honey. Next to this, he laid a couple potatoes, an unbreakable pouch full of salt and one full of pepper, and four strips of rabbit meat. Next to this were twelve thin strips of uncooked bacon from Orik's pack.

Grabbing three sticks from the ground, he sharpened one end of two of them, and both ends of the other. Of the other two, he cut a cleft on their other side. He stabbed the two similar ones in the ground on opposite sides of the fire, enchanting them to be impervious to heat. He laid the other, stronger stick in the clefts over the fire trench, enchanting it for the same. He filled the pot with water by magic, stopping after it was two-thirds full. Using the hook and hooking the pot over the fire, he took a couple flat stones he found lying around their camp and set them inside the fire trench in the center. Taking the firewood he had gathered, he arrayed it across the entire trench, drying the wood with magic so it would not smoke.

On top he put a bed of small sticks he had found. This wide of a fire would burn down through the night, and still be medium sized by morning. He saved another load of wood until the morning so he could toss them on and have a large fire to sit next to for breakfast. He said, "Brisingr!" under his breath which set the firewood ablaze quickly and easily. Within minutes, it was roaring all the way across.

Karisa took out their thick and fluffy bedroll and spread it across the ground halfway between the fire and trees. Orik had spread his own, thinner bedroll across the fire from theirs in the same fashion, with the exception of him being halfway between the fire and the woods. Karisa took out three bowls, three plates, and silverware. She then helped Jason collect stones with which they built a large, makeshift oven over as far left on the fire as they could get.

The oven took up three feet of the fire. The makeshift potholder took up one foot all the way on the other side of the fire. Since she and Jason were equally good cooks and enjoyed it, it was not a requirement as a wife, though sometimes she would feel the urge to help the cooks back home. So did he, he just didn't publicize it to Ray or Brand as much as she did unless he had made something new for them to try. It wasn't as though they disapproved or had said anything, but Jason was just not someone who told everyone what he was doing all the time.

Karisa sat back down after handing Orik a plate, bowl, and silverware. Jason set four more pieces of wood inside the makeshift oven in the middle of it, poking them through holes in the back of it to ensure they would stay. He enchanted them to also be impervious to fire and to also hold more weight than they would normally. He then took the frying pan and set it inside on the wood. The makeshift oven was six feet tall, so he had no trouble reaching inside it to cook, and the frying pan was set on the edge of the fire inside the oven so that he could reach it. He took six strips of bacon from the twelve and set them inside the frying pan. The rest he set next to it along with everyone's plates.

Next Jason moved over to the middle of the fire and levitated the cherry red stones with magic into the pot one at a time. The first made it steam and begin to pop and boil. The second stone brought it to a rolling boil. The hot water cleansed the stones, and then itself, burning out all disease and bad particles the stones had put in it. He diced up all the venison, cupped it in his hands and dumped it into the pot. He did the same with the rabbit meat. Taking the herbs in his hands next, he tore them into bits and dropped them in the pot. He picked up the knife again, and cleansed it with magic. He then picked up and skinned each potato. That done, he diced them as well and dropped them into the pot with the meat. He dropped a quarter of a spoonful of salt into the pot, using his large wooden spoon to measure it out. He did the same with the ground black pepper. He took the different large spice shakers and looked at them. One was labeled venison, one rabbit, one fish, one thyme, and one rosemary. He put the ones labeled fish and rosemary back down, but shook a small amount of each of the others into the golden colored stew.

Leaving the stew to simmer over the fire after stirring everything for two minutes into it, he cleaned all his materials, except the wooden ladle which he left in the pot, and the spatula over next to the frying pan, with magic and returned it all to his packs. Returning to his frying pan, he used the spatula to flip each strip of crispy looking bacon. Letting it fry on that side for about three to five minutes, he removed the six, putting four on one plate and two on the next. He replaced those six with the final six strips. Setting the spatula back down, he walked over to his pot and stirred it for another five minutes. A rich aroma from the bacon and stew together flowed through the forest. It smelled delicious and was starting to make Karisa and Orik's mouth water. Returning to the bacon again he flipped it and waited five more minutes. He took them out and assured there were four crispy strips on each plate. Cooling the pan with magic until it was safe to touch, he picked it up and cleansed it and the spatula with magic. He took them back to the pack and repacked them. Karisa made herself useful by getting up and giving Orik his plate and setting hers and Jason's by their bedroll. Orik waited on Jason to finish the stew and sit before eating as well as was polite.

Jason cooled and shrunk his makeshift oven, casting a spell on it to hold it together. He shrunk it to the size of a small rock and put it into his pack with his other cooking materials. He would do the same with the pot holder in the morning. This would be faster than re-constructing them each and every evening. He took all three bowls and ladled stew in each till every one of them was full. He left the rest of the stew to simmer in the pot, about half a pot full. He returned the bowls to their owners, setting his down next to Karisa. He plopped down next to her and without further ado, the three of them began to eat. It was more than amazing for food ate in the wild.

After each of them had finished their bacon they piled the plates next to Karisa's pack. As each one finished their stew, they went to the pot and refilled their bowl. They all had filled their bowls three times apiece, except Jason who finished off the remaining half a bowl left in the pot. The bowls and plates were cleaned by Karisa with magic and returned to her packs while Jason cooled and cleaned the pot, shrunk the makeshift pot holder, enchanted it to remain together, and returned it all to his packs.

They both lay down on their bedspread and pulled the blankets up to cover them, both facing Orik's direction as they lay down. Orik did the same, facing them. He rumbled in his deep voice, "Well by Morgothal you are an excellent cook Jason. Where did you learn to cook like that, and in the wild of all places?"

"I learned to cook in general by reading books and scrolls on the art, as well as how to do so by magic. I learned to cook in the while by hunting alone when I was younger and living on the farm with my grandfather." Jason answered him. Karisa rolled her eyes. Predictable he had learned it from a book or scroll. She had learned how to cook from a young age, and had a gift for knowing what would taste good with what and how it needed to be cooked. To be fair though, cooking in the wild was something Jason had shared with her through their minds.

"I may have to begin reading more in that case. I believe I prize your food above all others I have had cook for me in the wild, including professional cooks we usually take with us when our clan ventures out somewhere nearby to our home." Orik responded with. He was not saying this merely to be polite either. He suspected that if Jason cooked for a king, the king would pay him nicely to continue doing so.

"Well, I thank you for the compliment, and am very glad you enjoyed it. Karisa is equally good. Perhaps she shall cook tomorrow and impress you more than myself." Jason said with a smile. Karisa smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Enough talk. It is getting late, and we need our rest for tomorrow. Good night." Orik said, and rolled over. Within minutes he was snoring loudly. Karisa snuggled into Jason's chest under the covers. He had removed his dragon hide vest for the night, propping it up against their packs and tying it to them. This left him wearing his black t-shirt he often wore underneath the armor. It was light, and easier to cook in since it did not have sleeves.

She left her vest on. She did not feel safe in the wild with it off at any time. She would only have taken it off if Jason had asked her to. He laid an arm around her waist possessively as she lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes. A smile appeared on her face as he did so. "I love you, Karisa." He whispered in her ear. "And I you, Jason." Karisa whispered back. Together they fell asleep under the dusky pines, warm, comfortable, and happy.

And thus, the first night of their journey ended peacefully. Although they were safe now, outside Teirm they were still wanted fugitives of the empire, a fact that weighed heavily on Jason's mind and Orik's before they went to sleep. Karisa was happy to leave ideas of their course to them, and enjoy the ride as long as they were not in immediate danger. They may be safe now, but many miles lie between them and their destination, and none of them, even Karisa, forgot Brand's warning about the Orcs and Trolls and other such things.


	18. Chapter Sixteen: Travelling on a ship

**Chapter Sixteen: Travelling, and Chartering of a Ship**

When they awoke, as Jason had expected the fire was still of middling height and burning brightly. He threw on the rest of the wood, returning it to its height from the previous night. Karisa was still asleep, as was Orik, so he fixed breakfast for them both and himself. Dragging the oven back out along with the spatula, plates, and silverware, he put the oven in the middle this time and returned it to its massive size. He cooked a fried egg each, along with two round fried sausages each. He cleaned up and replaced the oven, spatula, and pan back into his packs.

Rousing Orik, he handed the dwarf his plate, which the dwarf accepted with a murmured thanks. He went to Karisa and awoke her gently. She smiled when she awoke, and kissed him thoroughly after he handed her a plate. Settling into his own, they all ate breakfast silently. Karisa again cleaned the plates and silverware and returned them to her packs as Jason and Orik rolled up the bedspreads, blankets, and in the couple's case, pillows, and returned them to their packs. Jason put out the fire with a muttered spell, and he used another spell to fill the trench with dirt. The two spells barely sapped any of his immense strength.

Leaving no trace of their camp behind, they mounted their horses, and Orik his pony, they trotted out of the camp and onto the road once more. They rode for a long while in the peace and quiet until afternoon passed and the sun rode up into the sky. As it did, Orik took a swig of his beer that he had poured into a mug from his pack and suggested a game of riddles.

Though they were content to listen to the thoughts of the birds and animals of the forest, and to touch the different life forms around them with their minds, they felt a little guilty. When they grew bored of doing those things they had conversed with each other in their minds, which excluded Orik. They agreed to his game happily then, and withdrew from each others' mind so they could not cheat and declared themselves ready. As the challenger, Orik began the game. It was fun, and revealed that Orik himself was also an excellent companion and an intelligent one too. They were growing rather fond of him already, and he of them in his own way. The game of riddles went on and lasted until they made camp that night, the riddles becoming more and more difficult as they went on. They discovered Jason was the worst at them, as he thought too literally. Orik beat them both easily, but Karisa was fairly good at it.

That night it was Karisa who cooked after Jason had set up the fire and supplies. They camped in the forest, about a mile from the road so if by chance a traveler went by this time of night he would not see their fire, or hear them. She fried salmon and trout. Along with it went an assortment of fruits and vegetables. It was as tasty as the meal they shared the night before, and afterward Orik complimented her as well. He told them he just might have to hire them as cooks for the dwarves of the Ingeitum Clan when the war was over. They smiled at that, Karisa blushing prettily.

And so their journey went on. They found Orik was a good cook too, but only with meats and mushrooms. He had not lived above ground enough to know how to cook vegetables, or make a meal that included them much. He knew how to include fruit, but only certain kinds such as apples. They had traveled about three and a half weeks now when Narda finally came into view. They were relieved, as their supplies were running low. They would have went south to Kuasta, but it was a strange place and full of strange customs. Plus, Morzan would not expect them to go north to get a ship to take them south.

It was decided that Jason would go into Narda alone and find a ship captain willing to help them for the right amount of money. Karisa and Orik both gave him five hundred gold so that he now carried six thousand gold, a vast sum in those times. Karisa would have went instead of him, since she was far more capable of "making" a ship captain sympathetic to their needs, but she was already engaged in helping Orik sort and inventory their stuff and supplies. Jason knew what was needed, so he left for the city after growing himself a short, trimmed black beard with magic. It tickled as it grew. As he approached on his stallion, the guards at the gate crossed their halberds and commanded him to halt. He did so calmly and looked at the white haired guard on the left who had given the order.

"Who are you stranger?" The guard asked him suspiciously. His companion surreptitiously scanned Jason's face along with his horse. Jason smiled. It was well he had taken precautions and disguised himself as they were obviously looking for traitors of the empire here.

"My name is Bergan. I came here to charter a ship to sail to Kuasta. Everyone knows it is too dangerous to ride past Teirm nowadays, especially if you are wealthy." Jason replied to the guard.

"True, and you look it too, son. Just don't go causing any trouble while you are here."

"I'll be sure to take care of myself sir." Jason said, riding past them and through the gate into Narda. He took his horse to a rather expensive looking hotel and put it in the stables. Then, he went inside and asked after a room. The woman commented that their rooms were the finest in Narda and even had bathing tubs in the rooms. Jason smiled, to be polite as well as in the privacy his mind, to laugh at how proud she was of it when at home they had one in every bedroom of the house. He paid the exuberant price of two hundred gold for the room for two nights. Since it was still morning, he went down to the pub and paid ten gold for a mug of beer. He sat in the corner and listened to the different conversations around the room for anything of import or usefulness to him.

Hearing nothing, which if looked at in the right perspective was a good thing as nothing of himself or his wife was heard, he walked up to the bar again after draining his last drop of beer. He returned the mug to the barkeep and asked him smoothly if there were any ship owners nearby who were looking for cargo to ferry to Kuasta. The barkeep responded that there were, and despite the man's wary countenance, he struck up a conversation with him. He told him of happenings he knew of from Brand's spies' reports and they discussed them. He told the man tales he knew of from his reading, and even discussed with him several of Morzan's court women whom he knew was rather shapely. After all of this the man seemed to relax and become more cheerful. Then Jason asked him if anyone in the city were rumored to support the Varden, people, as he said, must exist since this was a port city and rather close to the rebel city, Teirm.

The barkeep smiled and said there was one but fortunately, the man happened to be going out of business rather slowly. Jason asked why and the barkeep told him that no one would rent out their ships since they knew where the gold would most likely go. Jason had expected this, and knew that there were more with more sense not to open their mouths. However, part of his plan when they left was to openly show the people of Narda that rich patrons did indeed help the Varden as well, although it put them in a bit more danger. His hope was that this knowledge would make them think about it and realize that if even the rich would support them, then they must not be so bad. Finding the man was easy, as he lived in a wooden house right by the shore with his wife.

He went to the appropriate house and knocked. As he waited, shifting from foot to foot, he heard footsteps from inside. A woman came to the door and opened it an inch or so, poking her face out. "Well what do you want? Here to ridicule or hurt my poor husband? Why can't you leave us well enough alone eh? There is no proof we work for the Varden, nor have we done anything to any of you!" She said, bespeaking a rather forward personality that resided in her.

"I am here to speak to your husband if he is available. I've a proposition that may make your lives easier." Jason said to her kindly.

"So you say. Who is to say you aren't lying?"

"I have no one here to speak for me, dear lady. However, I am considered an honest man by most and like to think of myself as one. I do have a proposition for your husband, if you are willing. If not, I will, of course, leave without any clamor." Jason said. She considered him a moment and told him to wait before shutting the door and walking away from it briefly. As he waited he thought to himself, _Well based on that meeting, I may as well have asked her about what I needed and been done with it. A woman that fierce either has a fiercer husband, or one who is a coward. I hope it is the former in this case._

The woman returned to the door and beckoned him inside. When he had entered the house, she shut the door behind him, bolting and otherwise locking it. She led him through the house to a sitting room where she offered him a seat across from a rather thin, paling man. The man looked underfed, pale, and sick. All in all, he looked poor. There was no other way to explain his condition except a lack of money to buy what he needed. Jason nodded to him and leaned forward, as did the man until they were facing each other at eye level.

"As your wife may or may not have told you, I have a proposition for you that may not only help me, but may help you as well." Jason said to him, trying to sound as educated and diplomatic as possible.

"That is what she had told me, but I must warn you I am in no state to buy supplies, or goods, nor any other thing you might sell. I also have not had any sort of work come my way since someone spread rumor of me working for the Varden. What then can I help you with?" The man asked, looking him in the eye squarely.

"And are you with the Varden? For I am looking for just such a person to help me." Jason replied.

"Gods above and below forgive me for giving up but there is no use in denying it any longer. Yes. Yes, I work with the Varden. I smuggle them supplies, weapons, people, and anything else I can to assist them."

"Good. I spoke truly when I told you I sought someone of the Varden with a proposition. I would like to charter one of your ships." Jason told the man, receiving a large, slow-spreading grin in response.

"One of my ships? To charter for a journey? Of course! What or who is being transported, and where do you need to get to?" The man asked, grabbing a map and pad of paper with quill and ink from a table to his right.

"We need to get to Kuasta, as for what and who, three people. Myself, my wife, and a Dwarf who goes by the name of Orik. I can pay you here and now if you like." Jason replied, taking his money pouch from his side while the man recorded the figures, and figured up the cost from the distance. Seeing as Kuasta was still within the empire and it wasn't a true smuggling, it wouldn't cost Jason as much as it could have, but the man was understandably desperate and did escalate the price a little.

"Before I complete my pricing, I've a few questions for you. First, do you want a true ship, for comfort? Or would you prefer something simple and quick, a rowboat or barge perhaps? Secondly, since you have no intention of attempting to sell any goods where I am ferrying you, whereas normally I would take ten percent of the profit of a trip, would you agree to helping pay for the crew for either vessel instead?" The man asked him, looking him in the eyes intently.

"I would be amenable to paying the crew entirely, and as to the vessel, I would like a true, well-built ship. Whether a merchant ship or war ship makes no difference, so long as it has the ability to provide comfort for those of us on board. How many a crew do you need, and how much would it cost if I may ask?" Jason replied.

"I need four guards for the ship, three cooks, one ship carpenter, two maids, and another six for the running of the ship. Normally I pay the guards a fair fifty gold each, the cooks twenty, the carpenter a hundred, the maid twenty, and the crewmen a hundred. I would sort it out between them if you give me the money, or if you wish you may pay them yourself, thought the cost either way is still one thousand gold for that alone. My next question, is if you, as the contractor, want to fully provision the ship so we may go in comfort, or if you only wish to pay for the barest necessity?"

"I shall give you the gold and trust that you will pay them their due. As to the ship's provisions, I would like the ship fully provisioned. Also, I would like harpoons and a rowboat set aboard as well as nets of every size and kind, fishing rods, and a hook and rope set to haul up anything we catch. Fishing is something I have always wanted to try, and it may also make the trip more fun and lively for the men aboard as well." Jason said. He knew this would cut into his gold he had brought to pay for his fun and items along the trip, but to him this would be fun. It would also be worth it in the way that one of Karisa's big dreams was to ocean fish. Who knew, maybe he would take a bigger liking to it than he thought himself. Either way, he didn't need all his gold to buy material possessions to make himself happy. He would be content with what he could buy when they arrived, and with how much fun he planned on making this trip for himself and his wife. Above all, making her happy would be worth it all.

The man sighed happily, ready to ply his craft again. He calculated all the costs as close as he knew them, then raised it by five hundred gold. This was to ensure they had enough gold for what was asked for and needed, and to pay the crews. The difference would be his pay, both as captain and owner of the ship. The one he had in mind even had enough master bedroom suites in its bowels to leave one for all on the ship. It also was large enough to accommodate them if they should catch even two Nidwhal.

After his calculations were complete the man rounded it off and said to Jason, "All of this together is a ghastly number my friend, though I suspect that you knew that before you asked. It is a two month journey to Kuasta, and that is without accounting for both bad weather, and other bad luck that may cause us to change course. For supplies, what you asked for personally, the crew, the use of the ship, and the long time the adventure would take thus increasing the risk of being harmed or lost at sea, the total cost will be five thousand and five hundred gold, friend."

Jason surprised the man by standing and pulling out his money pouch. He counted out five hundred gold and removed it to a slightly smaller pouch before tossing the other on the table. "Payment, in full. I need us to set off in about three days, less if possible. Can you do that?" He asked. If he were alone, he would wait and risk the much lower risks posed by it, but he was not. He wanted to be off before soldiers or someone else recognized himself, Karisa, or even more deadly, even managed to see Orik. Three days was pushing it as it was, but he knew it would take time to board and load the ship.

"Three days or less it is sir. Didn't catch your name before sir, but mine's Thatch." The man said, standing and offering his hand to Jason. They shook, Jason introduced himself, and they parted ways. Jason went back to his hotel, for it was far later than he thought it would be by now. Reaching the dining area, which was mostly empty due to the late hour, he sat at a table and asked for a mug of beer and dinner. After waiting for what felt like a long time due to his gurgling stomach, a cook hurried over and set down a mug of beer, along with a plate of fried fish, mashed tubers, and a loaf of bread with a small wedge of cheese. He thanked her, and she smiled and curtsied before heading back into what he assumed were the kitchens.

He ate quickly, and although the food was only just adequate, the beer was excellent and more than made up for it. As a result, he quaffed a lot of it before bed and went to sleep that night with his mind slightly muddled. His dreams were slightly different than the usual waking dreams, but after the dream had finished itself out he had trouble remembering what it was about.


	19. Chapter Seventeen: Embarking on the seas

**Chapter Seventeen: Embarking on the High Seas**

When he awoke the next morning, he muttered a spell that cleared his mind. That particular spell he had learned from his father after nights they had stayed up talking and drank far too much. He rolled off the bed, and walked through the door of his room. Having been curled in a ball most of the night, he had to roll his shoulders a few times to release the tension. Jason thought about what he wanted to do, aside of run back to Karisa and hug and kiss and never leave her again, and decided that in the interests of that venture he would skip breakfast and go see to the ship.

Arriving at the docks, he sought out Thatch. Hailing him with a raised arm, Jason sprung aboard the enormous, grand ship anchored in the port. He was confused that people would take mistrust and hate to the extreme that they wouldn't even pay for their goods or selves to be ferried by such a proud vessel. Watching the crew pick up and store items onboard, Jason decided to quicken the process and jumped in himself to help. He considerably sped up the process, especially with the knowledge of ships he had at his disposable because of Karisa's fascination with them. Matter of fact, as he walked about the ship and thought about it, the more interest he garnered for them. He thought he may have just found another shared interest between them. Although admittedly, he thought more of the fun opportunities for fishing it presented.

After everything had been loaded, by which time noon had rolled around, Thatch took Jason aside to speak to the crew. Together, Jason and Thatch spread the crews' pay among them. Thatch introduced him to each member of the crew as well, most of whom normally sailed with him every time he did get a chance to set sail. Thatch then took Jason on a guided tour of the ship.

The bedrooms and kitchens were rather large. The glass windows around the walls of the bedroom allowed them to see out, and were enchanted so that even a shark could not break them. A Nidwhal might be able to, but not before the ship either got away, or someone killed the Nidwhal. Cool, beautiful, and awe-inspiring as Jason found the bedrooms with their windows, enormous bed with feather pillows and fur covers, and two nightstands, one on each side of the bed with lanterns on top of each cemented in place with a spell, he still did not find drowning a good way to die. To that extent, he cast additional spells on the wall windows of what was to be he and Karisa's room to ensure that even a Nidwhal would find it hard to get in. He also added spells to alert him if something repeatedly hit any part of the bottom of the ship, bedroom or otherwise. There was the huge storage room with all the crates they had loaded on, a room with a stable in it, and finally the dining room, which was in the middle of the bottom of the ship. The hall had four doors, two leading to the kitchens, and two leading off to the hallway where the twelve large bedrooms stood.

He returned to the deck, and oversaw the placement of his fishing gear and whaleboat. Satisfied with them, and with the fact he had placed spells on them to ensure only he and his companions could remove them from their place on the floor of the deck. Storms, nor movement of the ship would be able to make them roll, fall overboard, or otherwise move from their original place. He hopped off the ship with Thatch, and told him that he would arrive by nine the next morning, at the time of high tide. Thatch smiled, nodded, and shook his hand happily.

Seeing that the sun would be setting soon, he went to the hotel. He untied Folkvir and hopped on him. Ignoring the fact he had paid for his room for another night, he was eager to be with Karisa and rode off through the gates, and toward their camp in the woods nearby the city. As he trotted in, Orik and Karisa jumped up from their respective bedrolls in surprise. Orik was cooking bacon, jerky, and a bowl of chicken soup.

"Jason!" Karisa shouted in surprise, tackling him with a hug. She let go of him after a long while and held him at arm's length. "We weren't expecting you for another day! What happened?" Orik got up and surprised him with a rough hug. Once they had settled, and Jason had settled comfortably in their shared bedroll with a change of clothes on, he answered them.

"Well, you will be glad you brought your bathing suits." He started with a smile and a kiss to her forehead. She smiled uncertainly and responded by kissing him gently. He explained about the ship, keeping some secrets like the bedroom. He had already told Thatch he wanted to surprise her and he had put the idea in the other sailor's heads with religious zeal. He told her and Orik of the fishing supplies he bought as well. Both seemed happy with his reasoning and purchases, but bemoaned that he had spent so much of his own gold. He waved off their concerns airily claiming that he did not mind.

After they had eaten and decided on a place to meet up the following day, they rolled up in their respective blankets. Though Orik was nearby, the couple had not seen each other in a day and a half and missed each other dearly and made up for that by Karisa allowing Jason to silently fuck her pussy before they lay in each other's arms and fell into a restful slumber until early morning, when Jason allowed the other two to sleep and rose himself to dress and meet Thatch inside Narda for departure.

He wore his finest black silk shirt and pants. He mounted his horse and strapped on his bow and arrows along with his sword. His shield and armor he left in his packs. He rode until noon and reached the city gates. Unfortunately, the first two guards he had encountered were on guard that day. "Halt!" they cried to him as he drew closer.

"Well, here you are again. I thought you had chartered a ship? And now you also have a bow." The white haired guard said to him.

"As I said before, it's an unsafe world out there. Thus, my purchase of the bow. I decided also to set sail today. My cargo I need to take had to be taken by myself and my slaves to a place nearby the sea we can dock at. I couldn't very well cart it through the gates." Jason replied, dismounting and taking his horse by the reins.

"You lie. I tried my hand at being a gentleman of fortune once. It cannot be done by many. Very few men may hope to cart their goods around the country themselves and hope to live out the year." Was the soldier's reply. He scratched his chin and glanced at Jason closer. As he did, Jason surreptitiously released the horse's reins and wrapped his hand around his sword. "What's your name? It wouldn't happen to be _Jason_ would it?" The white haired man said.

Jason had drawn his sword and stabbed the white haired man through his chest even as he finished his sentence. Pulling the blade out and blocking the other guard's spear. Shearing off the tip of the spear, he hit the shield hard enough to split it in half and sheared half the man's face off in the same go. In the same blow, he went backhanded and cut off the man's head. Kicking it to the weeds, which lie about ten yards from them. He grabbed both men's bodies and hid them similarly before using magic to scourge the area.

He went through the gate with his horse and rode it straight to the docks. He was about five minutes earlier than he had said he would be, and so he tied the stallion inside the stables quickly and jumped back off the ship, leaning against a nearby post trying to remain casual looking. He was determined that no one should be able to look at him and know he had caused any trouble. He spotted Thatch coming from across the docks. Raising a hand, he called out to him and fixed a smile on his face. Thatch did the same and soon was introducing his family. His wife he had met her before, but not his daughter for she was not home at the time. His daughter was fourteen and flirted with him enough to make him grow hard. He concealed it well though and politely greeted her before turning away. The daughter was very cute, and she knew it, but he had Karisa.

Thatch said his goodbyes, and hopped aboard the ship. Jason did the same and asked if it were possible for them to leave immediately. Thatch laughed and said, "Eager for the sea eh? We will cure that soon enough but you ought to know we can't go until the tide starts pulling us out. What's wrong? You look as if you have seen the ghost of Morzan himself!"

"Don't worry, it's nothing a bit of sea air won't cure." Jason said, fixing his features into a more pleasant look. He strode to the side of the ship and grabbed the railings. Soon enough, though impatience made it seem longer, they were setting off. The sails were dropped, and they took to the waters. The large ship looked almost majestic to those watching as it sailed out of harbor. Jason was almost relieved when a great bell began sounding within the city. Thatch saw Jason's concern, and told the crew to row so that they may get away from the city faster. Jason looked at him in thanks and Thatch nodded.

Jason was walking about the ship calmly, but started when Thatch put a hand on his shoulder. He patted it and said, "What caused the mayhem there Jason?"

"I killed two soldiers who recognized me." Jason replied calmly.

"Well, they shouldn't be able to send a party out to search for us for a few days. By then we will be gone."

"If need be, I can always burn the ships who follow us with magic. They probably couldn't catch us anyway. And if they could, they would be hard pressed to board or sink us." Jason said, showing a stern underside to him most would not have guessed existed. He did smile though, when an hour later they put to shore and Orik, Karisa, and their steeds climbed aboard. He happily enfolded Karisa in his arms and kissed her soundly. How she looked only encouraged him.

She looked extraordinarily beautiful that afternoon. She wore a red tank top with a pink bra beneath it. On bottom she had on a pink thong, and a pair of black silk sweat pants over it. For shoes she wore a pair of black leather boots. She had on pink eye shadow, pink glazed lip gloss, and her nails were painted hot pink. She looked like a sexy teenager still attending her lessons.

As they stored their stuff and food with the rest of it all, Thatch showed Orik to his bedroom, and Jason excitedly took Karisa to theirs. When he opened the door, she clapped and gasped excitedly, looking around at the multicolored fish surrounding the boat's bottom. He set their bags down and took her by the hand. He led her to the dining hall where the cooks had set out dinner. They ate, and as they ate they told each other of their day. She laughed when he said he had killed the soldiers and when pressed for a reason why she replied that he always had adventures when she was not present.

Jason and Karisa finished eating and walked from the dining hall to the deck of the ship. They were just leaving the valley after which they would be on the open seas. The plan was to sail straight until they had left the sight of the shore about ten miles behind them. They then would turn the ship left, upon which time Jason would cast a spell to tie the ship's wheel to latitude and longitude points where they were supposed to turn the ship to head to Kuasta. His spell would not turn the ship or move it in any way, but would alarm when they reached the point they needed to turn at. Most times they would conserve strength and let the ship float in the proper direction, but if needed or pressed for time suddenly they had oars and sails to use.

Leaving the shore behind so far was a slower way, but was a safer one as well. This way they could not be seen and pursued by enemies as they sailed, as they would be if they took the quick route and followed the coast. At the very least, they would be stopped and asked where they are going and why, and they wanted to avoid even this. Also, it was more enjoyable to be further out at sea, and would provide more fishing opportunities as well. Karisa and Jason had grown and trained in the largest port city discovered and built yet, and were no strangers to the ocean. Teirm docks were hemmed in by a valley as well though, and thus they had never seen the open seas yet.

When the ship left the valley, the sun was setting, lighting up the open sea with an orange glow. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Jason and Karisa intertwined their fingers and, holding hands, walked to the very front of the ship to gaze out at the ocean. They were both speechless. The water was so clear, you could see fifty paces down. They stood there, admiring, until the sun had set and it became dark. Everyone had went to their respective rooms, and Jason took Karisa to their own. They undressed after lacing the rooms with anti-eavesdropper wards, along with ones to lock the door so only they could open it and stop people from spying on them in any way magically. They made love to one another long into the night. They had finally achieved one of their desires and were sailing on a beautiful ship on the open seas. Together they slept long and fitfully through the night, not awaking until it was almost nine in the morning.


	20. Chapter Eighteen: An Enjoyable ship ride

**Chapter Eighteen: A Comfortable and Enjoyable Ship Ride**

When they awoke on their first day of the journey, every one of the crew members was awake and working. Breakfast was to start at eight and end at eleven every day, so they knew they were already late and everyone else had probably eaten. This didn't bother them though, as they planned to spend the day swimming and exploring the ocean to see the many different creatures within it. Jason also had another motive aside learning though, he wanted to see which creatures he would fish for first. It was going to be an exciting day for the both of them.

Jason dressed himself in a simple black t-shirt and black silk shorts with ties on the front of them. He grabbed a towel for himself and Karisa and stuffed them in a waterproof small bag he carried. They were both carrying one in case they found something interesting. They would use magic to transport the items inside the bags. Karisa kept on the pink makeup, lipstick, and nail polish she had on yesterday. She dressed herself in a pink bra and underwear swimsuit. The bra showed the tops of her perky, small, perfect boobs and showed off how they stayed straight and pushed up without any support. The pink underwear barely covered her small, firm, slightly muscular ass cheeks. Over all of this she wore a shirt that was see through, but only if you stared long enough. At a passing glance it would seem like just a very long t-shirt. The shirt was white, and only covered one shoulder, hanging down to show her cleavage a bit and ending underneath her shoulder on the other arm. She swung her pack on and together, they walked to the dining hall for breakfast.

As they suspected, no one was there but the cooks, working on the midday meal. They ate a couple pieces of bacon and two eggs each. They took their time eating it and afterward they enjoyed a cup of milk each. Letting the food settle, they went over the spells and things they would need for the day. They were both excited, and ready to swim in the nice, warm weather. Winter had passed before they left Teirm, and spring had seemed non-existent as it was very hot this far south. On the ocean however, it did not seem too hot, nor too cold. The water air kept it cool, but the relentless sun kept it hot, thus making it warm. The water itself was cool, but not unbearably so.

They walked out on deck, and every man paused at least once, if not twice, to stare at Karisa. Her cheeks flushed slightly at all the attention, but she felt gratified and safe in the knowledge of how beautiful she was. Walking to Thatch, they explained their plans. They had no fear of losing the ship, since he intended to merely let it float for the day. Armed with all the knowledge they needed, and leaving their weapons in their rooms except a hunting knife belted onto the backs of their belts, they walked to the side of the ship deck. Jason stripped off his t-shirt, as did Karisa, leaving him bare-chested and she in her pink swimsuit. They stood on the edge, and jumped together.

The water was nice and cool after being in the sun. It was warm enough if they stayed near the top of the water for them to be in it for hours on end without freezing. When they came up for air, Jason cast a spell that covered their heads with a bubble of air that let out stale air into the water while keeping fresh air inside it. So long as he had the strength to sustain the spell, which could be turned off with a flick of his mind, they would have air to breathe. Karisa amended the spell with one of her own. The waters were her area of interest after all, and as they were exploring underwater the thing she remembered was pressure.

Once thirty paces down, the pressure increased and so on until you crumpled up. She set up an air bubble around the both of their whole bodies, which had two effect. The first was unintended. It kept their bodies at a temperature conducive to what it would be if they were standing outside on dry land. The second effect was to stop the pressure from affecting them. It also could be turned off with her mind, and would keep them both safe so long as she had the strength to keep the spell up. Pleased with their spell work, the couple joined hands and dove underneath the clear water in excitement.

The first thing they saw was the multitudes of multicolored fish. The fish varied in size, going from the size of Jason's hand, to twice the length and width of them. All of them seemed fairly harmless though. They noticed squid and octopi of all sizes. They saw crabs, lobsters, snakes, some of which were very large and mean looking, and sharks of all sizes and types. Most of these were already hunting, but just in case Jason checked both of their wards with a quick spell. They swam further down bit by bit, taking in all the sights and committing as many of them to memory as possible.

Jason had to tap into his belt's reserves of energy first, as the spell he had cast was constant and much more demanding than he had expected. Karisa's energy level was fine since blocking pressure was much more easily done than one would think. The deeper they went, the darker it got. Then they both saw whales of several different types and were in awe of the immense sizes of them. That was when they saw it, and felt it in their minds too for that matter. It felt cruel, and its mind spoke volumes about the creature's desire to kill and eat. They were in shock of the immense size as well. It was a Nidwhal. It had well over three thousand teeth, and easily dwarfed even the blue whales. Even in its eyes, you could see the burning intelligence that lingered there.

The creature passed on to another part of the ocean soon enough, and Jason and Karisa felt it safe to explore a bit more then. Diving down to about seventy paces below the surface, both Jason and Karisa were tired from the swimming and wards energy consumption. They agreed to go back up to the ship. Even as they did, Karisa spotted a golden crusted chest lying half buried in the sand at the bottom. With her mind, she showed Jason her discovery. He wheeled around in the water and his eyes found it quickly. Swimming to it with her, he grabbed it and attempted to pull it up. He was met with a small amount of success. It was far too heavy. She looked at him and they both nodded. She grabbed one end, and he the other. Simultaneously, they lifted it. Carrying it between them, they made it to the surface and canceled their spells.

Joining minds and using each other's belts energy too, they used magic to fly up and over the edge of the deck. Jason took the towels out of his pack and they toweled off and put their shirts back on as the crew came over to look at the chest. They were all fascinated by it, but Jason and Karisa agreed to wait till after dinner to open it. They carried it to their room along with their packs. Staying dressed the same, with the exception of Karisa putting on a black silk robe over her swimsuit to cover herself better, though not by much still as with most of her clothing, and leaving the other shirt hanging on the door. Both of them strapping on their swords to their belts, or in Karisa's case now, sash.

They left their rooms, and walked to the dining hall. There, they sat in the back of the hall and waited on the cooks to finish and for their companions to join them. Bored, Karisa began slowly sliding her hand in Jason's shorts and rubbing it over his cock in a long, slow motion. She kept stroking it softly as every time her hand moved up and she flicked the tip with her thumb, Jason would twitch and squirm in his seat. She kept at her attentions, under the table so no one would notice. When he had a huge bulge in his shorts and was turning purple in the face, she "accidently" dropped the empty cup in front of her onto the floor. She dropped to retrieve it as the cooks returned to their cooking. When her knees hit the floor, she took his huge cock out of his shorts and licked the tip.

He shuddered at this and, delighted, she did it repeatedly, taking note to do it from then on. She began sucking up and down on the shaft of his cock, licking up and down it as well and always pausing at the tip to lick around it. She kept at it for a whole two minutes before he had cummed down her throat when she deep-throated and took him in all the way. She smiled and wiped her mouth clean before returning to her seat. Jason smiled at her, but took her hand in his, both as a romantic gesture, and as a warning not to do it again right now.

Pretty soon, the cooks were laying out platters full of fresh mutton, fruit, vegetables, and bread. They also laid out rum bottles and cups. About at the same time the crew trickled in one by one and took their seats. Jason and Karisa laughed, talked, and ate until they were content. Then some of the sailors brought out dice. Deciding playing couldn't hurt, they stuck around for a few games. Jason proved to be no good at dice, while Karisa was perfect at reading her opponents faces, especially since they were men and in her opinion men only had a couple faces apiece.

She also cheated a tiny bit, reasoning to herself that she should use everything in her power to win. She would watch a man, one at a time, and smile radiantly, or sexily, or cutely depending on which man she looked at and what she determined was needed for the situation. Then, when the man seemed like he was interested, she would nod towards his cards and then the table, and would lick her lips, or rub herself somewhere openly and "accidently" to get them to fold. On the last hand, she got them all to fold for a large sum of money by dropping a card and scooting her chair back behind Jason to get it. Once behind him, she pulled her robe off her shoulders to reveal her pink swimsuit top. She lifted it up, displaying her perfect, firm, small boobs with the nipples at attention both because of the cold she felt, and the fun she had when teasing people. She put them back and pulled the robe up and by the time she finished, they had all folded.

After playing, they all left for their respective rooms. Jason and Karisa locked their door with the spell, and both undressed. They hung their sword belts on the door. Naked, they kissed once before walking to their bags and pulling on sleeping robes. Blue silk with pink lining for her, and silky red with gold trim for him. They both walked over to the chest they had found. It was a magnificent sized chest. It had five locks on it, one for each level of the chest. From what Jason could determine, there were also spells to dispel weight, and to make it bigger on the inside of the chest. There were also many traps. This was discovered when Karisa pointed at the top lock and said, "Ladrin!" The chest, instead of opening, shot out an electric shock that struck her wards, barely missing her because of them. She blinked at the sudden energy loss. Jason tried to reach over and pull it open next, stopping when his wards flared and inch from the lock.

They thought about it, and talked amongst each other for several minutes. The chest seemed impervious to any and all physical contact, and obviously it was a talented spell caster who put the spells on it. Especially if they refused to open at an elves power. That it was sunk so far suggests the owner hid it so he could come back for it, or that it was very old. They didn't care. "Finders keepers" Karisa told Jason. That was all great and good and everything, but only if they could find out how to open it. _Brand would know if he were here_, thought Jason. Finally, after much thought and consideration, they both agreed to sleep on it. They had already played with it and discussed it until well past midnight.

They both stood, and Jason surprised Karisa by carrying her to the bed and tossing her on it. She giggled and climbed under the covers as Jason did the same. He put his arm around her slim waist and pulled her to his chest. She lay her head down on it and got comfortable. Before they went to sleep, Jason kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I love you." She responded in kind with the words and a small peck on the lips. Smiling and content, they both went to sleep. As they slept, Jason dreamt of what lay inside the chest and how to open it.

He and Karisa wanted gold and treasure enough to find an abandoned, fruitful island they could name and build a castle and city on themselves. They wanted to set themselves up as a separate kingdom, away from the Varden and Empire. They would still be allies of the Varden, but would not answer to anyone. They believed this to be an excellent solution. Besides, when they talked it over with Brand and received his blessing, he suggested that they could take their friends they made, and fugitives from wars across the known lands once they've visited them, and have those make up their citizenry. Also, they planned to meet both the dwarves, and the elves and make allies with them as well once they found the island and built their kingdom. What they don't realize, is their dream is not very far away…


	21. Chapter Nineteen: Treasure and a stop

**Chapter Nineteen: Fishing, Treasure, and a Slight Change of Course**

When Jason awoke the next morning, he noticed Karisa was still sleeping. He quietly slipped out of bed, and went to kneel next to the chest. He had thought about it a while last night and decided to try a way to open it without actually using the word "open" in the ancient language. This time, he asked it to lift the lid instead of opening the first lock. Despite his anticipation, nothing happened. He calmly sorted through his ideals and selected another, more subtle approach. He reasoned that although the spells blocking the opening may block that directly, he may be able to think up a way around the wards that block that specific action occurring through magical or physical means. This approach would be mental. Instead of opening, or lifting the lid, he mentally found the internal latch that held it closed and pushed it into an unlocked position.

Hoping that this had disarmed the wards around it, he reached out his hand to the lid. Lightning flared at his wards. He dropped his hand and glared at the chest. Sure, now it was unlocked, but it was just as unapproachable as before. Deliberately unhelpful was what it was. He sat there glaring at it a few moments until, deciding upon a new course of action, he began chanting under his breath in the ancient language. Instead of other attempts which were accomplished by himself, this spell was not directed at the chest, nor himself. This spell caused a vine to grow from the floorboards. It grew fast as he fed it energy until it touched the lid. It began opening the lid, but as it did, it caught fire. Jason continued chanting, adding a spell to keep the fire from reaching the floor. He fed it energy until it had completely opened the lid. When the top lock's lid was fully opened, the fire stopped and there was a blue shimmer around the chest as all of the wards disarmed themselves.

Elated, Jason vanished the vine with a wave of his hand and a flick of his thoughts. He leaned back against the bed with his eyes closed. The spell had taken more energy than he had anticipated. Great though his energy was, this was an elven spell and thus required more energy than a normal one. He climbed back into bed next to Karisa, lying down and resting another hour before she awoke. When she did, he got up himself and took her hand. He took her to kneel in front of the chest, and showed her what he had done that morning. She was most impressed by this. She kissed his cheek and told him they should eat first, then they could satisfy their curiosity. He agreed, more out of hunger than because he honestly agreed. She laughed knowing this and stripped down to dress for the day, as did he.

Jason wore a black, long sleeve flowing silk top. On the bottom, he wore a pair of black cloth pants that matched the silk top handsomely. He also pulled on a pair of fine black boots. He combed his hair back a bit so it did not sit on his forehead. His belt turned black and was thin so that it matched his pants. Then he sat down, laughing slightly at Karisa trying to choose an outfit that wouldn't but would attract attention, and that would fit the day's events properly. She finally chose to change her eyeliner to black as well as her eye shadow. She put on blue nail polish and with it a white t-shirt that fit itself to her body, showing off her slim stomach as well as a small bit of cleavage, enough to catch attention yet at the same time seem innocent. On bottom she wore a pair of black sweat pants. She pulled on a pair of black shoes to go with it. She straightened her hair around her face again. Her lips she left at their normal pink color, without any lipstick. Her sword belt turned into a cute little blue ropy belt. Jason didn't care how simple it was, it still looked damn sexy to him. And every other guy although he tried to ignore that thought.

Together they left their room in search of breakfast. They had slept even later today after the night's activities. They ate bacon and biscuits and gravy alone with a glass of cold milk to wash it down properly. Jason ate ravenously, making sure there wasn't a drop left before they were both sated. Excited, yet worried about what they may find, they returned to their room and locked the door. Karisa got their packs and kneeled on the floor in front of the chest with Jason.

Jason opened the first of the five lids anxiously. They peered inside and their hearts stopped dead. Inside the first lid were at least a hundred books on every subject including spells. They shrunk all of these with magic and put them inside their packs. They opened the second lid and looked inside. They groaned when it was empty. It was the same with the third. Upon opening the fourth however, Karisa squealed with delight. Inside were many pages with ink splattered on the sides where someone had written down step-by-step instructions on several basic, complex, advanced, master, and personally invented potions. Each potion, even the ones that Jason remembered from books Karisa had read and shared with him, had been written down step for step because in almost every step, someone had crossed out one or more parts of it and written in his or her own way of doing it. Then they opened the last lid.

Inside, rolled up so you couldn't see inside it, was a scroll. It was tucked and packed away in cloths. Jason unrolled it and found a map, with an x on it. He hopped up and retrieved the map from his bags. Scanning it, Karisa found an island nearby them that looked like the other map. Jason confirmed this by holding them up together. Laying it over a blank piece of parchment they had, he chanted a spell that allowed the ink to spill through into the other parchment, effectively creating a copy of the treasure map. He gave the copy to Karisa so they would both have a copy in case something happened to one of the copies. They put it in their bags, along with all the other things they had found inside.

Rolling his shoulders he said, "Right then. It's time to go have some fun. Let's go fish!" He took her arm and practically dragged her, with her laughing the whole way, to the deck. When they arrived on deck, she picked out the poles and some bait they would use today while he walked to Thatch at the wheel to see about a slight change of course. Jason managed this easily, especially since Thatch enjoyed Jason being around a lot and had been offered five hundred more gold for the trouble, which Jason paid to him then and there. As the ship turned right further to aim for their new course, he walked over to Karisa and helped her to set up the rods.

Once the rods were set up and ready to go, the couple sat in two chairs, set high enough to see into the clear sea over the side of the ship and enchanted not to tip, fall, or break, as well as having unbreakable straps that went over your stomach, and your legs. They locked themselves in and tossed their lines into the sea, setting the rods down next to them and letting the lines float by themselves. While they waited, they joined minds and discussed what their plans were when they arrived at the detour location. It wasn't that they didn't trust Orik, who had stayed in his room at all times except meal times while on the ship, or the crew, who had taken them as one of their own. They trusted them all fully, but it wouldn't do for someone to steal the information from their minds, or overhear them speaking of it in case the treasure there be stolen, or their plans be stopped or fought against.

Jason's line started making a zipping noise, and he grabbed the rod quickly. He tugged on it, and watched as the line zoomed outward. _It has to be a big fish to pull so hard!_ Jason thought as he tugged harder, pulling it to a stop. It began weaving left and right to try to break either his grip or the line. He fought it for over half an hour before he finally pulled it up and onto the ship deck. It weighed close to fifty pounds, was large, and had a rainbow color to it. He took it and hung it in the fish meat locker room below deck before rejoining Karisa to fish some more.

They fished with the poles for the rest of the day. They had wanted to try the nets, but Thatch told them that they would not reach an area that had shrimp and lobster until the next day. Karisa ended up catching thirty-two various fish, and Jason, forty-three. He gloated over his victory at dinner that evening so much that she eventually gave him "the look." This was the look that told him he would be receiving no attention from her until he had stopped. Silence fell so immediately that the whole crew laughed. Jason blushed and busied himself with quietly eating his grilled salmon. Karisa studiously ignored him throughout dinner, but gave him a hug and kiss when they arrived in their room that night to make up for it. They slept until they were fully rested, which took until about seven the next morning.

When they awoke, they weren't hungry and went straight to the deck after getting dressed. Jason helped Karisa ready the nets, but when they were ready the couple got a drink for themselves and had to sit and wait until they could sense the lobster and shrimp below them. When they could, they abandoned their drinks and readied the nets in their hands. About three of the crew came over to help and show them how to use the nets. They tossed them out and let them sink into the water. When they had sunk far enough that they could no longer be seen by the naked eye, they pulled on the ropes until they had pulled both in. They had caught many lobster, and many more shrimp in each net. They emptied the nets into containers enchanted to keep them alive, and separated until they were taken to the meat locker room below deck. It was also enchanted to hold as many as desired till it was too heavy to be lifted.

Using the nets were so fun and easy to use, and they both enjoyed fishing so much, though Jason certainly did more and was better at it, that they eventually did just that. They only noticed how full the containers were when it was nearing dinner and Karisa was going to stop and watch Jason's last few tosses and noticed she couldn't pick up the container. Jason helped her, after they had closed the lid on both of course, and together they managed to carry it downstairs. They did the same with the other one and checked with their minds how many lobster and shrimp together they had caught in both containers. The number was in the several hundred region. Laughing at the fun they had had, they went hand in hand to dinner, ate heartily and had fun and good conversation, and went to bed early because they were tired out from the days' events.

The next day they came into shark and whale territory, a day and a half from their current destination. Again, curiosity made Jason and Karisa wonder where the map was taking them and what it would look like. They spent the day in a whaling boat hunting sharks of different types with harpoons. They avoided using magic, except to keep themselves safe when the sharks grew angry enough to snap at their boat. Otherwise, they used the harpoons.

It was very taxing and challenging. They caught five, although every time they did actually manage it, they had to take the beast and row it back to the ship to have it lifted on the deck and carved up properly. The meat was rarer than usual and thus fetched a good price. The skin was even more rare, which of course led to more gold once in the company of those who would buy it. The next was whales with the same result, except the process was slightly different in the way that they had to use a lot more magic to keep from capsizing, lift the whales and row them back, and to allow the harpoons to go deeper and further underwater than they usually could. Happy with their results, they went to bed that night and studied and discussed the map, the area they were currently in and heading to, and the spells they might need for this. Happy with their revision, they went to sleep, and allowed themselves to sleep until nine as they would not arrive at the island until noon.

When they woke the next morning, they dressed in their dragon hide armor. Karisa looked beautiful, sexy, and like a bloodthirsty war goddess. Jason looked every inch of the fiercely loyal and savage warrior. They strapped on their sword belts and bows as well as their swords. They had an enormous amount of power stored in all their gems. They had found that when an animal died, it had energy left in its body that could be taken and stored. So during every meal of the journey so far, they visited the cooks as they cooked the evening meals and transferred the remaining life force of the animals slaughtered. Every night before sleeping they also poured their own energy in the gems until they could pour no more. With the power they each had stored, they could both move a mountain three times, so although power wasn't necessarily always the answer, they had plenty of it. They left for the front deck.

They both stood next to Thatch as they saw an Island, about the size of both Teirm and the capital put together. The ocean surrounded the island, which had an enormous forest on it that covered the entire place, except a huge cliff that rose up over the forest right in the middle of the island. It appeared entirely deserted by human, elf, or dwarf. Jason had Thatch lay anchor a mile from shore. He and Karisa loaded onto the whaleboat and rowed out to shore.


	22. Chapter Twenty: Discovery of an island

**Chapter Twenty: Discovery and a Perfect Island**

When the whaleboat arrived on the island shore, Jason and Karisa both tensed for an attack. No spells went off, nor did any warriors or creatures attack them. They had noticed on the way over however, that the ocean around the island was full of sharks, whales, Nidwhal, shrimp, lobster, and multitudes of different fish until you got to about fifty feet from the shore. They were well pleased with the island itself so far, especially as no one claimed it under their own dominion.

Together hand-in-hand, they walked about the island through the forest. They kept their minds open to see what lived about the island as they walked. They heard jaguars, panthers, lions, bears, many different deer, boar, pigs, cows, horses, and much more. They were left alone because of their alien feel to the animals that were not used to human presence on the island. Jason grew even more excited when they passed an enormous chasm in the forest that contained many different kinds of ore. One of each that he had learned of in fact. _This alone could bring us a fortune! _Karisa thought, watching in amazement as Jason broke off a piece of ore sticking out, and it re-grew right in front of them. Jason shouted in delight and tossed the ore down. They promised to come back to the site with more men and pickaxes.

They reached the cliff and climbed all the way to the top. The space on the cliff was extremely huge, more than large enough to build a castle on. Karisa took out the treasure map. It showed them to the bottom of the cliff on the back side. They walked about three miles as the sun climbed toward the edge of the world. When they reached the aforementioned spot, there were a clump of brambles and branches blocking their path. Jason burned them down with a spell, and they continued to the cliff where they found an absolutely solid wall of rock and stone. There was no door, no treasure, and no way through. Karisa consulted the map again while Jason paced.

When Karisa had confirmed that they were in the correct spot, Jason swore and kicked at the Cliffside. His foot went straight through it as if it was not there, and he fell on his back. He quickly got up and looked at it. Fearlessly, Karisa plunged straight through, pulling Jason by his hand. It was dark for a moment, then, even though they had closed their eyes, they could see the light hit their bodies. It was extremely bright even shining through their eyelids. When they had gone through and had the courage to open their eyes, their mouths dropped open in shock.

Before them were five chests. They were set in a circle with one in the middle, and a diamond hovering in the air over them. Karisa looked expectantly at Jason, and he began muttering under his breath in the ancient language. He found multiple wards around the chests, as well as several on the chests themselves. He looked at it and thought carefully about their options. They could either try to circumvent them, or break through them. Circumventing them may take more time and energy than they had, plus there was also the chance that they may be spells they didn't know and they wouldn't have the knowledge to do so. Joining minds to join strength and break the wards by force might end badly as well, since they didn't know if the strength held by the diamond would exceed their own. If it did, they would die without question.

Looking at the diamond again, he realized that while the chests were protected, the diamond itself only had three wards protecting it. One kept it afloat, one kept it from physical harm, and the last one kept it from being magically damaged. Jason did not damage it, he simply removed the energy with his mind from that diamond to his own rubies at his belt. Picking the diamond up, he bounced it on his palm, grinning at the stupidity of the people who had hurried when they tried to protect the chests and forgot to protect the diamond.

He dropped the diamond, which the wards were still clinging to waiting on energy to be deposited into it so they could run again, and crushed it under his boot. He had to stamp on it multiple times to break it since diamond was a hard material. Then, taking Karisa by the hand, he led the way this time straight to the chests. Stopping at the most frontal one, they knelt down. With a sense of awe, Karisa opened it with trembling hands. Inside was a staircase. They looked at each other and mounted the stairs, Jason unsheathing his sword, and Karisa fitting an arrow to her bow. They nearly dropped their weapons when they reached the bottom of the stairs and came to a sudden darkness. Jason cried out, "Naina!" in a soft voice. With that command, light filled the enchanted chamber.

The chamber was huge and, as Jason found out with a series of spells, was enchanted heavily. It could not be detected without going inside the chest, it had no extra weight, and the room expanded to fit the user's needs. Karisa smiled widely and shouted in delight at seeing the contents, and Jason smiled quietly, both in happiness at the discovery, and because she was so happy and excited. The entire chamber, twice the size of Brand's home, was filled with gold coins. In the center, which they reached after five to ten minutes of walking, was a book. When they touched it, a woman's voice came out and told them their total amount in the chamber was twenty billion gold. The book also recorded deposits and withdrawals from the room, as well as who made them, automatically determined by a spell on the book. Excited to have their own vault without having to trust goblins or anyone to hold onto their stuff, they climbed out of the chest where Karisa used a spell to make it smaller and featherweight. Jason then used a spell Karisa did not understand. It made the chest disappear and vanish from sight or touch. It hovered in an invisible and very small pocket of space behind Jason's head and followed him. This way, they would have to tell absolutely no one of their discoveries unless they wanted to. They walked to the chest on its left.

This one was exactly the same as the other one, except in it was five hundred gold bars, and many different amethysts, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds of every size. Each gold bar varied in worth depending on size, and the room automatically sorted them based on that, as well as with the gems. The gems held no energy, and were just to sell, but energy could be stored in them if they so needed. They did the same with this chest after climbing out of it, and moved on to the one directly behind the middle chest.

Opening it, they went down into a very small chamber compared to the others, until they looked up. It was barely wide enough for three people to stand in there, four if someone was ground up against someone else, but when you looked skyward, a ladder that moved in circular motions around the room went up for almost five miles high around the shelves. The shelves were full and labeled alphabetically, with potions and poisons of every kind, type, and potency there was discovered in the time this was put here. This must have been quite recently, because Jason saw many of the newer types here. They climbed out and put that chest away too. They went towards the second to last chest.

This time, it was a large chamber that held hundreds of glittering swords from the days of the Riders on the left wall. On the right wall were hundreds of enchanted arrows of every different imaginable enchantment, and directly in front of them was a wall full of compendiums. These were scrolls that someone had collected from all the known and discovered countries. They had symbols from the ancient language where time and again each person who had previously owned the scroll had recorded the spells he or she knew and what they did. These were all rare and it was with great regret that Jason let Karisa tug him away from them. She was giggling cutely at his amazement and concentration. When he had put the chest away, she kissed him sweetly. He kissed her back and together, they walked over to the final chest in the middle and opened it.

Proceeding down into it they saw that, as with the others, it was a huge chamber. In the chamber however, when it was lit they saw large glittering orbs all around the walls. On the left were various sized sapphires, behind them were amethysts, to the right were rubies, and directly in front were diamonds. All of these were full to burst with energy. Jason took thirty minutes with Karisa and they counted five hundred of each kind, two thousand in total. Then they noticed something they had missed, and tripped in their excitement to reach it. In the middle of the room, on a purple plush pedestal, was a green dragon egg.

More excited than ever, Karisa wrapped it up in cloths and put it in her little pack she had brought along. They left and Jason packed away the chest, and even though it was put away, he found that he could still feel the energy thrumming from the gems in the egg chest. With it, he could do amazing things. Karisa had a mind for only the egg right now, whom it would hatch for, if the Riders would come back, and if it was safe wrapped only in cloths. They walked back to the whaleboat and rowed back out to the ship, much happier now that they knew where to build the castle, and that they most certainly had the means to do so energy, supplies, and money-wise.

They merely said to Thatch that they had found a home as soon as they were ready when he enquired as to their journey. It was night now, and everyone aboard the ship agreed to wait until the next day to resume their journey. It would be about three days until they would reach Kuasta. The plan was to land to the right of it, at the base of the mountains. They ate dinner with everyone else, and went to their rooms. There, they planned. When they arrived at the dwarven kingdom and had time to themselves, they would sell some of the stuff they found, and use that money while in Tronjheim. It would pay for all the stuff they needed at their new home, as well as entertainment inside the dwarven home. They would need to impress the leader of the Varden and the king of the dwarves. To that end, Jason would dress to look strong and in command, and Karisa would dress beautifully and warlike, but slutty, to capture the eye of any man or woman who looked at her. This would be an occasion she would flirt, fuck, or do anything to get them to agree.

To this end, Jason unpacked the chests that had to do with money, and they both went inside with two large pouches. Jason filled one with gold until he had ten million gold inside, and the other he filled with fifty of each type of gem, each of varying sizes. Karisa filled one with gold until she carried thirty million gold, and put ten small gold bars worth one million each in the other. They left and Jason packed up the chests again. Jason tied these pouches to his sword belt, as did Karisa. Then they stripped for the night, and lay down together.

Flushed and pumped by their success, Jason initiated things by kissing Karisa roughly, his hand creeping between her legs and cupping her pussy. He rubbed it smoothly, and began fingering her as they kissed. She arched her back in pleasure and slid her tongue in his mouth as they kissed. Breaking off the kiss, Jason slid his mouth down to her nipples. He cupped her boobs and squeezed them gently with his other hand, and nibbled and sucked on her nipples causing her to groan with pleasure each time his teeth grazed a nipple. He stopped everything and laid back as she put her hands on his chest and pushed him over and down.

She expertly takes his cock in her small warm hands and begins pumping up and down gently. She teasingly licks the tip of it, then kisses it before sucking on the head swirling her tongue around it. Then she slides her warm mouth up and down the shaft very slowly licking the underside then sliding her tongue over the top of it. She reaches a hand down and begins gently squeezing his balls. She continues this for about five minutes before climbing on top and sliding it into her warm, tight pussy. She rides him hard for about fifteen minutes, causing them both huge amounts of pleasure.

Then, he flips her over and puts her on her hands and knees. He grabs both her boobs from behind roughly and squeezes them hard several times. Karisa moans and he grabs her hips, shoving his entire cock in her ass in one go. She grunts in pain, but then moans in pleasure as he begins wildly pumping in and out of her ass, shaking her back and forth with the force of his pumps. The pleasure was so intense, she shudders with an orgasm. He fills her entirely one last time, before releasing his cum deep into her ass.

They fell on their backs side by side sweaty and flushed. Jason then allowed Karisa to lay her head on his chest and curl up to him. He pulls the covers over them and kisses her gently one last time before they both fall into a fitful sleep together. They slept long and fully until noon the next day, tired as they were. Jason, as always, awoke first. Deciding that since they had two days left on the ship, he wanted to fish some more. This time, today, he wanted to learn to fish for Nidwhal.

As he gets dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts, Karisa wakes up. She rolls out of bed as he tells her the day's plans. She gets up and puts on a purple bra and underwear swimsuit. As always, it barely covered her perfect form and made her look drool-worthy. They left for the deck and went to the harpoons and began untying them. When they had finished, they both jumped overboard without a trace of fear. Holding two harpoons each, one with a rope tied to the end, they swam deeper in the water. When they were about fifty feet down and they put up their spells for underwater times, they found what they were searching for.

A huge black Nidwhal the size of the ship swam at them both. They scattered in opposite directions, reading the other's intentions in their minds. Jason threw his first harpoon at the creature's left eye, blinding it, while Karisa pierced it's left fin. The second was at the right side. When it still wasn't dead but was pulling them both by the ropes on the last harpoons, Jason took out his hunting knife and stabbed through its ribs. The beast died after five more minutes of swimming. Jason and Karisa tied the ropes to their bodies and swam up toward the ship after enchanting the creature to be lightweight. It was, but not by much. When they had tied it to the back of the boat like Thatch had asked they do with any whales, sharks, Nidwhal, or other large sea creatures, they climbed on deck and went to their rooms. Jason dried them off with a spell, and he put on a silk black robe with gold trimming, and she put on a deep royal purple silk robe over her swimsuit. It fit her form so perfectly that you could still see the shape of her ass, and the tops of her boobs on either side with the cleavage, and also had gold trimming about the waist to set off the royalty look.

Thus dressed, they left for a late lunch. They ate quickly, and used the rest of the day to lie about their room and talk about plans for the day after tomorrow. They had planned it out carefully. They remembered their lessons on customs for kings and queens, and as well as for men and women in the country as a whole. They meant to change those, not all of them, but most. That would come later though, and for now they revised the customs and laws as they were currently. They planned also how to dress and present themselves. When that was done, they spoke late into the night about what might be expected of them. After all, since they were being summoned in this fashion, they did expect to receive some sort of mission or jobs. They both feel asleep one by one, and woke up the next day curled up to each other.

They spent until about three hours past noon preparing for their departure of the ship. Mostly the only thing they needed to get together and pack were clothing, however that was why it took so long. Their clothed had scattered about the room throughout the journey. They spent about four hours in their robes relaxing on chairs on deck watching the ocean and sipping on drinks. They also conversed with the crew a bit more, and with Orik, who had finally came out of his room more than for dinner now that they were closer to land. They all ate dinner together, and let the ship float on the water for the night as they all enjoyed one last night aboard together.


	23. AN 2

**A/N**

**Thanks to those who have been reading the story and keeping up with it, and special thanks to my very first follower, ragnar thorson. This story has come to me many times but this is the first time I have actually put it into chapters. Please continue reading the story, and please feel free to private message me about the story and write reviews on anything from what you would like to see, what you like most, or constructive criticism. I will respond to every review as I get to them. The next five chapters are the last of the prewritten chapters and you will have caught up to me. I will try to update twice a week from then on.**


	24. Chapter Twenty One: The Ramr River

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Ramr River Attack, and A Surprise Visit**

The next day came around to reveal the couple dressed and ready for travel on land. Once they landed, it would take four hours by horseback to reach Farthen Dur. They both wore their dragon hide suits and weapons for this bit of the journey. They made landing at three hours prior to noon. They said goodbye to their crew and friends, and to the captain as well. They all had grown to be close, and they had given Thatch a good life back. When they made their own kingdom, they promised to make his life even better. They saddled up, and all three rode onwards, the other two letting Orik lead as they got to the base of the mountains.

They had been on the trail for about two hours and were crossing the huge Ramr River, when they heard many loud, harsh cries coming from over the hill on their right. They reigned in their horses, dismounted, and tied them to stakes in the ground. Orik drew his axe, and Jason his sword. Karisa nocked an arrow. She stood behind them in front of the horses. She thought it was both cute and annoying that Jason had maneuvered it so she was behind them both, however he was the husband and he made the decisions on this trip. The cries became louder, and then suddenly a whole battalion of Orcs came over the hill. They were loud, fierce, and armored. Their crude weapons looked harsh and sharp, and in their eyes you could see little to no mercy.

The Orcs came down the hill at them with weapons raised high over their head, screaming harsh battle cries in their tongue. Jason raised his hand and spoke in the ancient language. His words struck with precision, and about a minute later twenty of the fifty fell clutching their knees where bone protruded through the skin. Five more succumbed to Karisa's thirsty arrows. Jason and Orik roared loudly and jumped into the heat of the battle. They slew many, and the rest fled in fear at Jason and Orik's fierce expressions. Jason sheathed his sword, and Orik his axe. Karisa put her bow back in the quiver, and helped the two men move the bodies in a pile. They counted a total of thirty-five orcs dead.

Karisa looked over at the hills again as the other two readied the horses, and was astonished to see hordes of the beasts coming over them, straight for themselves. The orcs were organized into lines, larger than normal, and all armored heavily. She quickly warned the other two, and they all hopped on their horses. They rode up the riverside, following it as close as they could to try to find a place to ford it safely. The orcs, despite being on foot, kept close. They reached a rope bridge, which they dismounted at and led the horses across on foot. Karisa went first, Orik second, and Jason last. Jason cut the bridge behind him. They only hoped it would be enough to discourage their enemies from following.

Personally Karisa doubted it. She remembered Brand's teachings about Orcs, and his warning of their gatherings. She knew from her lessons that they had only gathered like this three times in the history of their race, and only then for great slaughter. She wondered if they were after the Varden. She put it out of her mind soon since Orik and Jason both seemed intent on killing her and her horse from exhaustion by nightfall. They laughed when they finally stopped in the dead of night and she made her and Jason's bedroll and fell on it, covered up, and slept right away. Jason kept watch that night and woke them all after three hours of rest. They got back on the horses and sped off into the night once more.

They reached the Beor Mountains by morning and were all tired. Nonetheless, Orik had Jason and herself march throughout the day with only two brief halts to let the horses drink and eat. During those halts they also ate cold bread and cheese. Orik became too tired to lead them further by nightfall, and they found a cave large enough to house themselves and the horses. They ate, risking a brief fire to do so, and they all went to sleep except Karisa. She kept guard that night. She was tired, cold, and miserable because of it. She had traded her dragon hide armor that night for a more comfortable pink bra and thong, pink nails and eye shadow, pink lipstick, a pink t-shirt, a pair of very tight fitting blue jeans that reached her waist only barely and slung down to show off the crack of her cute ass, and her pink rope belt which had a dagger strapped to the back. She left her sword next to Jason and her bow as well. Over all these clothes was a fur blanket, since the desert got so cold at night.

About halfway through her watch, she thought she heard voices carried through by the wind. There was a forest outside the caves that led into a valley, but she did not want to wander too far to check. She walked over to stand outside the cave, her thick blanket tight around her. She saw a flash of color nearby the forest. Walking towards it, cold air struck her bare, cute little feet. Her toenails were painted pink also because it looked cute, and she had been bored. She stood at the edge of the forest, and looked around. Nothing was in sight so she turned around. When she had taken her first step toward the cave again, a large, firm hand covered her mouth and a strong arm encircled her stomach and pulled her up off the ground into a muscular grey chest of an Orc. The realization made her scream into his hand. Chuckling softly to himself, the creature took her deep into the forest, with no one being the wiser.

When she finally was dropped, she hit the ground with a thud in front of a fire pit. Groaning in pain, she quickly found her feet, drawing the thick blanket around herself again. She was surrounded by Orcs, all of whom were staring at her and jeering, and several men with swords who stood, gazing at her for far too long. None of this registered to her though, as the moment she stood up a large hand grabbed her blanket and ripped it off of her, leaving her exposed in the clothing she had on before. She rubbed her arms, cold. Then she noticed him. The man sitting in a chair by the fire who had been silent before now. He stood up and faced her head on, and she gasped in fear. Standing there, in front of her, was her father.

"You-!" She managed to yell at him while drawing her dagger. Before she had fully lifted it or finished the words coming out of her mouth, an Orc grabbed her hand with the dagger, and twisted it until it hurt so bad she had to drop it. She did so, and cradled the hand to her chest. The Orc picked her up and tied her to a tree, her hands bound together behind it. Her father walked closer.

"Karisa! How good to see you here safe and sound baby girl. I've missed you dearly. If only you would have stayed things would've been easier on you in the end." He paused his speech when he had reached her. He slowly and cruelly ran a thumb over her cheek, looking into her pretty eyes with a slow smile. After her escape, he joined the empire's army, and helped look for her. His mind wandered over many ways to use her luscious and curvy body. He slid his hand down further and brushed over her boob through her shirt as he continued speaking, "Now that you are back, and married as well, you will do two things for us dear. You will provide information on Jason, Brand, and anyone else we ask for, when we ask for it. Also, you will swear oaths to me and my men before that. You will do what we want, who we want, and you will do it all when we want. Life will be unbearable if you do not comply. What do you say? Shall we skip the unpleasantness?"

Karisa looked at him with contempt and spat in his face. He wiped it off with the bottom of his tunic, and backhanded her hard enough to make her mouth bleed. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and kissed her hard on the lips. He tongued her mouth for a moment before releasing her and walking back a few steps. He ordered her to be naked, and one of his men leaped forward and cut off her t-shirt, leaving her pink, overflowing bra exposed. Her jeans were roughly forced down to her ankles. She thanked the gods the fact she wore a thong was concealed by her ass facing a tree. Then her bra was torn off and her thong ripped. It left her beautiful, sexy, perfect body naked for them to see. Then her father did one worse. He cut her from the tree, ordering the men to use her as they would.

The only problem was, this Karisa was trained. This Karisa knew how to kill. This Karisa was bloodthirsty when angry. She was over her shock now. Playing the hopeless little girl still, she forced out tears as one man shoved himself in her pussy, another in her ass, and another grabbed her jaw, trying to force himself down her throat. She surprised all three by opening her mouth wide and engulfing the man's cock whole, and thrusting down and back on the other two. She took advantage of their moments of surprise by pulling away from all three and choking out the word, "Brisingr!"

All three men caught fire. Another five ran at her with swords out. She uttered the word, "Jierda!" and watched in satisfaction as they fell to the ground, necks broke. She pulled up her jeans, fastening them in the lull of the battle so that she at least had bottoms on, although her perfect boobs bounced slightly with every movement. It kept the men captivated though, as she killed them one by one with magic. She used her reserves in her belt for energy as well, though little was left. By the time the men were dead, she was exhausted even more, and collapsed onto her knees. Her father walked up, smiling.

"That's my baby. They deserved it. But it seems you now know your place." He slapped her hard across the face, and grabbed each of her boobs, one at a time, and squeezed them roughly. He smiled wider when she made no reply. "Take her!" he commanded one of the orcs nearest her. The orc complied happily, grabbing her small body and swiveling it toward him. For the first time in her life, she saw an Orc cock. It was huge, much larger than a human's. It must have been fourteen inches long, and six inches wide. It scared her. Even worse, the Orc proceeded to shove it down her throat over and over as she began to choke. She knew she would never get out of this one. That was when a light entered the camp, and the orc in front of her flew away from her and hit a tree hard.

With a savage roar, Jason and Orik burst into the camp, killing indiscriminately in the dark. She watched her father slip off into the shadows as they did. She passed out and knew no more. When she came around, she was back in their camp, in a fresh pink bra and thong, with her pink shimmery silk robe around her. She had a blanket drawn over her shoulders. Jason was lying with her, and she cuddled close to him to ward off the bad memories. She noticed Orik was gone and asked why. Jason jumped, not having been aware that she was awake. She smiled and kissed him to reassure him she would be fine. She knew she would be. It wasn't as horrifying ever since her training. He told her Orik was cleaning up the bodies, and together they fell asleep until Orik woke them near noon. They all continued on their journey to Farthen Dur together, hoping that the worst of this trip was behind them.


	25. Chapter Twenty Two: Farthen Dur

**Chapter Twenty-Two: **

**Farthen Dur**

After a long time of travel, the three companions stared at the waterfall through which lay the Varden, the dwarves, and their ancestral home, Farthen Dur. The orc army had pursued them and was not far behind. They had made camp in the valley behind them. They had only slept about four hours apiece in the past few days, taking turns leading the horses. Orik walked forward and plucked a large stone from the lake. He banged on the wall next to the waterfall and cried out the password. When finished, he took a step back.

The walls of the cliff transformed into two huge metal doors. The doors turned inward to admit them, and Karisa and Jason both stood there in awe. They followed Orik onto the stone path that led inside the dark mountain. The doors boomed shut behind them as they entered. The inside of the hall they were in was enormous, and lit well by flameless lanterns. Karisa looked around the hall in wonder, but Jason's attention fell to a group Orik was speaking to.

The group was comprised of two bald men that looked like they might be twins, ten warriors and ten dwarven warriors. They accepted Orik without question, but when the couple approached them, they ordered them to halt. One of the bald men stepped forward, staring at Jason hard, having considered him a higher threat. He looked him up and down before saying in a loud voice, "Halt! None may pass through without being tested."

"Why?" Jason asked him dryly. He didn't like the man's manners.

"To be sure you aren't in Morzan's service, and to find out why hundreds of orcs are pounding our door demanding entrance!" The bald man replied angrily.

"You should be sure we are not in Morzan's service by our arrival with Orik. That alone proves we are no threats. As to your second question, I would say that Morzan knows where you are hidden and is sending them to kill you. You will not probe my mind." Jason said firmly.

"You don't have a choice!" The bald man said angrily. He stepped closer to Jason and grabbed his left arm to hold him in place, who slid Karisa behind him with his right while projecting the words in her mind, _Let me handle this._ The bald man's mind brushed Jason's, and rammed into his defenses. He kept ramming into them everywhere around his mind he went. Jason smiled at the group viscously. Karisa drew her sword and sidestepped Jason, ignoring what he said. Jason had known she would though, and attacked and overwhelmed both twins' minds. He drew his sword, and Orik drew his axe and strode to stand beside them. The warriors watched for a moment, facing them.

The king of the dwarves and leader of the Varden walked up behind the warriors. Taking in all that was in front of him, the leader of the Varden ordered the warriors to stand down, as did the king. "Are you harmed?" The dwarven king asked the couple and Orik. Replying that they were fine, they sheathed their weapons, though Jason kept a hand on the pommel of his sword. Ajihad, leader of the Varden, ordered the men and twins away. Hrothgar, king of the dwarves, did likewise. Ajihad motioned to the couple and led them behind him into the heart of the mountain, away from the door. The kind did likewise with Orik.

About three miles from the door was another, this one larger, and much more grand because it was made of gold. Ajihad turned towards them. "No outside has set eyes on Tronjheim, greatest of the dwarf cities, for millennia. Look well then, but remember to follow me closely. Your father, Jason, created us the Varden. You are someone important. As his wife Karisa, you are just as important. People will expect things of you. Try to look and act the part. We will speak more when we reach my study."

So saying, he turned and led them through the huge gold doors. As they walked through, the couple held each other's hand. An enormous crowd had gathered at the base of the stairs leading down into the city. Jason and Karisa waved at them, Karisa taking the lead somewhat since people was her thing. Karisa pulled Jason into a sexy kiss, allowing the crowd to see it all. They broke into cheers as she pulled away, pausing only long enough to grin seductively at Jason where only he could see it. Holding hands, they proceeded down the stairs following Ajihad to his study. As they walked through, the crowd respectively parted to allow them access. The cheering continued until they reached Ajihad's study about a mile outside the city itself.

Ajihad motioned to the six men outside his door and opened it, allowing the couple to enter before he shut it. He walked to an ornately carved black mahogany desk and sat in an eagle backed chair behind it. Gesturing to two wooden chairs in front of the desk, he said, "Please, sit. We have much to discuss with one another."

The couple seated themselves and Jason quickly let a spell loose for fear of eavesdroppers. Satisfied he turned back to a now smiling Ajihad. The black-skinned man rubbed his eyes wearily and said, "You are very like your father. He always gets a small bit of paranoia and uses that very spell every time we speak to one another. Now, I will start with the beginning at why you are here."

Ajihad adjusted himself, and looked at both Jason and Karisa. He leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him before starting to speak. "I have led the Varden for twenty years now. I have known your father for all of those years. He has given constant, good advice. He has helped on missions, and with political situations. He is my very close friend. This is why I asked for you two, and how I knew to ask by name. He and I have kept in contact for years now. I would have asked him to come, however I need him to stay in Teirm to both advise the king, and protect the city. If we lost Teirm, all would be lost. I fear that Morzan is close to trying again. However, I rejoiced upon learning of your marriage to Karisa, Jason. It is good to have two people tutored by Brand, and of good moral standing as well." Here he smiled for a moment, but then frowned.

Coughing slightly, he continued. "I will be frank with you. The Varden are overextended, low on supplies, and are very poor. We are receiving little recruits now. I mean to change all of this with the help of both of you. I do not yet know how, but I thought it important to meet with you, learn your capabilities, and have you meet the dwarven king, Hrothgar. Also, now you know how to get here should I ever need you. I am going to have a mission for each of you before you leave that will help the Varden, and to have both of you help rid us of the orc army outside our walls. My objective is to have you back to Teirm to help guard it as soon as possible. I know you are not beholden to me, but I beg you to act as though you were, and to help the Varden's efforts." Here, he paused and looked at them both.

Jason nodded, and Karisa said, "Of course Ajihad. That is why we have come. I am glad you are not someone who we merely have to impress and move on from. You seem much more in command of situations, less proud, and more kind-hearted than most noble fools we have dealt with."

"I will have to test both of you for proficiency in combat tomorrow. After that is done, and I receive reports on it, we will discuss your missions. Now, you must be tired. I shall have Orik lead you to your quarters. They are normally for Riders only, but since they are no more, and Brand uses them often, I shall allow you to use the Dragonhold above the giant gem in Tronjheim as your quarters. Orik!" Ajihad said in a loud voice. The dwarf came rushing in, and Ajihad delivered his instructions. Orik bowed, and led Jason and Karisa from the room. They followed him, and though they were tired, between both of their minds they were able to remember the way to the hold. It was up about five miles in the air, near the top of the mountain. Despite the height, it remained warm due to spells the dwarves have used over time. They picked a cave, and bedding was laid down for them, as well as a sink and large stone bathtub being in there already. Orik bade them a good afternoon and night, and departed.

It was only mid-afternoon, around three. Both of them emptied their packs and arranged the things neatly inside the cave. A table and chairs sat on the right side of the huge bed, and the sink and bathtub on the left. Arranging it all neatly and in the proper places, they then stripped naked and lay the dirty clothing at the cave's edge, and slipped into the hot bathtub together. They soaked and washed the dirt from themselves for about an hour before climbing out. Jason slipped on a red long-sleeved tunic with gold embroidery. On bottom he wore silk red pants to match, and his black fine boots. He strapped on his sword belt, which turned a matching red color, and belted his sword to it, leaving it visible. He left his bow and other weapons and armor in the cave, but belted on his hunting knife to the back of the belt. He put a black cape on as well, fastening it with a golden leaf brooch.

Karisa dressed to impress as well. She changed the eye shadow to light blue, the lipstick to glazed pink, the nails to a bright blue, and put on a slight pink blush. She put on a blue bra that was too small and overflowing, and a blue thong. Over them she wore a blue dress that was form fitting until it flowed down like a skirt to just barely below her ass. It showed the very bottom of her ass cheeks. In the back it laced up from her lower back to the top of the dress. In front, the dress cupped her boobs, showing all of the boobs down to her nipples, which it barely covered. She put on blue high heels to match. She let her hair wave down to frame her pretty face. She and Jason sat at the table across one another and enjoyed a debate about which bows were better. Despite the dangers, they had arrived and were still feeling as though it was a fun adventure. They enjoyed Tronjheim immensely, and Farthen Dur as a whole. They were impressed by Ajihad, and did not regret anything they would have to do, or had done to get here. They just enjoyed each other's presence.

At about five, a servant came up. He carried two platters filled with fried fish and mushrooms, along with bread and cheese. Dwarven mead came with it. Thanking him, they settled in to eat. The food was excellently prepared, and the mead was stronger than they were used to. They enjoyed it immensely. They finished eating and both were reading scrolls they had brought at the table when a servant dwarf came into the cave and asked if they would meet with Hrothgar. They had dressed up for that purpose, and agreed readily.

The servant led them to him in a large throne room. They both walked forward and kneeled in front of the throne. Hrothgar looked them both up and down, his gaze lingering a little on Karisa and relaxing slightly. "Rise, you need not pay tribute to me." They both did as he asked.

The king studied them then said, "I am Hrothgar. I am the king over the dwarven nation as I am sure you know well. I am old, even by the reckoning of our race. I have lived long enough to have seen the Riders in their glory. Old enough to remember the savagery of the dragons before their pairing. And now, I have been old enough to see this war. I have held the throne through all that time, and will relinquish it without regret when mine time comes. It has been hard to rule over a nation that is constantly at war with others and themselves. I realize now, that although dwarves wanted no part of being Riders, it has hurt us as well when they fell. I know your father well, Jason. I will help the Varden, yourselves, and whomever opposes Morzan without regret or question, save one request. We dwarves would like to join the Riders after the war, if the dragons come again. Your father agreed to this, but I want to know. Do you, warrior Jason, believe it to be a just condition? Do you, fair Karisa? Or do you believe we gave up that chance long ago? I ask not for advices sake, but for the sake of knowing whether others will see it as I do."

Jason and Karisa shared thoughts with each other, and had a few moments debate with each other. Their problem existed not with the question itself, but with the purpose behind it. Karisa thought that it may be a test to see if they would blindly follow and do as their superiors did, or whether they thought and did for themselves as well. Thus Jason answered him, "We believe that dwarves should have thought of this long ago. For themselves, of course. It would be unreasonable of anyone to expect them to have foreseen this war, but to ask for something they were once offered and refused, yes. However, it is not an unreasonable request. The Riders were created to establish a watch and control over all nations. To keep the peace, and establish justice, even over kings and queens. How are they to do that if they do not have someone from every race there to assist with it? No, we believe the dwarves, elves, humans, and every other sentient, good race has the right to ask to be a part of them."

The king grunted and said, "Oei, your answer is a good one. By it, you show your maturity, as well as your intelligence. I look forward to seeing what you may accomplish in the future." With a clear dismissal, he looked down at his lap. Taking the cue, they walked away, back to the Dragonhold. It was almost eight when they arrived there. With inhuman strength, Jason lifted Karisa and carried her to the bed, with she giggling the entire way. He took off her clothes, and his, and she gave herself to him, mouth, pussy, and ass entirely. He was so deprived of it from their usual routine that even being as tired as he was they didn't finish until close to midnight. Sweating, he pulled the covers over them both. Karisa went right to sleep. She would have sooner, but he was fucking her ass and despite the pleasure it brought, it always hurt immensely. Jason soon followed suit, fully satisfied.

They woke up at nine the next morning, and found breakfast waiting on their table. They dressed in their dragon hide suits, and put on their weapons also. They ate quickly, and shared a kiss before heading down Vol Turin, the endless staircase that led to the dragon hold. At the bottom they met Orik, who stated that he was to lead them to the training fields to meet the weapons master who would be testing them.


	26. Chapter Twenty Three: Testing

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Testing**

They arrived on the testing field with Orik close to nine thirty. Frederic, the weapons master for the Varden, was waiting for them. He was a huge man, wearing an oxhide suit of armor, and a huge sword strapped to his back. Raising an arm in welcome, he trotted over to them and looked them over. As always with most men, and some women, his gaze lingered too long on Karisa. They didn't care, they were used to it, Karisa especially so. He shook hands with Jason and Karisa, and grasped Orik by his forearm.

"Knurla Orik, you have been gone too long! There has been no one for me to spar with." Frederick said to Orik.

"That's because you bruise everyone from head to toe with that monster sword of yours." Orik said, grinning mischievously under his beard.

"Everyone except you." Frederick corrected him.

"That's because I am too quick for a giant like you." Orik said, laughing. Frederick grunted and switched his gaze to Jason and Karisa, his stare both calculating, and professional. He took them both and drew them off into a room that looked as if it was used for storage. Jason locked the door and sealed it so none could hear them with two spells quietly out of habitual paranoia. Frederick turned towards them and seemed to chew over the words as he spoke them carefully.

"I am Frederick, weapons master of the Varden. I have been ordered to examine you, and test your proficiency in battle. The more private things we will do in here. So, let us start with Jason. Do you know how to use anything besides that sword and bow?"

"My fists. Plus magic, although I doubt that has anything to do with this testing." Jason said after a second pause.

"Good answer! Well, let's start you off with the bow and see how you do, and then we will see about a duel with the sword. Karisa, we will do the same for you, unless you know of another weapon and how to use it. No? Good. Now, Jason, remove your clothing so I can see what you are made of." Frederick replied with a short, bark-like laugh. He picked up a clipboard and quill, setting the inkpot on a nearby desk. Jason removed his armor and white underwear, and set it in a pile. He walked to the center of the room and stood. Frederick dipped the quill in the inkpot and walked to stand in front of him. He made notes on Jason's muscle, strong jaw, obvious ambidexterity, and that there were no distractions like scars to help distract an opponent during battle. He ran a hand over Jason's entire body. Making another note, he also included a side note in his mind that Jason had a huge cock, so that his wife would have something to gossip about the other women didn't know. Having Jason get dressed and turning the sheet over, he motioned to Karisa, who walked forward.

She took off her armor as well as her dark blue bra and underwear. Thankfully not a thong, as she didn't wear those when in armor. She blushed bright red under the man's concentrated gaze. Her cheeks burned a little more when he ran his hand all over her body. Professional as he was, he did get in a little squeeze here and there on her boob, and her ass. He may have rubbed her pussy a moment longer than necessary too, but she ignored it. He made many notes, as well as noting her great beauty, which was enough to distract an army. She, in turn, made note that he was attracted to her a lot. He noted that she had a strong, flat stomach, which told him she exercised often. He also made notes on her toned legs and arms, and her tight grip. Thanking them for being patient, he put his notes away in his tunic and, after they had both re-dressed properly, led them both to the archery range.

He set them both at side by side targets and timed them in his head. With thirty arrows each, it took them both exactly ten seconds to bury each arrow in the center. They even split other arrows in half to hit the center. Impressing Frederic was not easy, but they easily surpassed his expectations. _Brand must be a good teacher, _he reasoned.

Declaring himself well pleased, he led them to the center of the training field, and asked Jason to block the edge of his sword for him if he could. Jason smiled and complied, doing the same to Karisa's. Although she was perfectly capable, she was happy to let him perform small spells for her. It showed he cared. Frederick called Karisa forward into a ready stance. She complied, and was soon squaring off against a young looking elf. Confused she looked at Frederic who said, "I am not as strong or fast as an elf. This will be more fair for you to fight Lindir." The young male elf looked at her with a slight contempt. She knew this was simply because some elves mistrust humans and thought them weak and slow-minded. Determined to prove him wrong, she leaned forward in a ready position, shield and sword pointing at the ground.

Lindir smiled nastily before leaning forward as well. Then she did something unexpected. She smiled radiantly at him and growled. It was a small, playful, sexy growl. He stared at her, momentarily distracted. She leaped forward and held the point of her sword against his neck with inhumane speed. Frederick laughed and complemented her on her quick thinking, but told her it showed nothing of her swordsmanship skills. She readied again, as did Lindir. This time he leaped forward and struck without warning. She parried and struck against him. Despite her obvious skill, he touched her twice on the ribs, and once on her leg. Pride stinging slightly, she backed off, unguarded her sword, and smiled at the thought that Jason was next.

Jason readied himself the same as Karisa, except he held his shield in front of him. Lindir readied himself, and they stared at each other. Expecting the husband to follow the wife, Lindir struck at Jason hard and fast. Jason merely tilted his shield and deflected the blow to the side and swept up his sword to his collarbone. Backing away after the win, he settled into his ready position once more, as did Lindir. Jason struck first this time. He stuck fast at the elf's side, knowing he would deflect it. He did, and Jason curved his arm over the blade, letting it turn so that he held it as a knife. At the same time, he knelt and hit the elf's leg with it. Twisting as the elf howled in pain, he stabbed the blunted point against the elf's stomach. Backing up once more, he let Lindir heal himself, and the settled again.

This time, the fight lasted thirty minutes. They enjoyed sparring with one another and Karisa groaned. She had a bad feeling they would be down here every morning now. Not once did Lindir touch Jason, despite his obvious skill with a blade. Jason laughed and bowed to Lindir elf fashion, who repeated the gesture. They spoke for a moment and agreed to meet tomorrow at the same time. Jason walked back to them, where Frederick was smiling. The two would make perfect additions to the Varden. However, as they were about to leave the fields, they were intercepted by two people they did not want to see. The twins stepped onto the field just in front of them.

"We were ordered by Ajihad to test your skill in Magic before you may leave the field." One of the twins said arrogantly. They marched Jason and Karisa to an empty corner of the field. Orik and Frederic watched nervously, and Karisa was separated from Jason and they were set standing across from each other with the twins on either side. The twins cast a spell to block eavesdroppers and said, "We are the leaders of the magic group of the Varden, Du Vrangr Gata. We would like to extend the both of you an invitation to join us. We need talented people such as yourselves. We also could share secrets with you that we have learned, and if you saw fit to share some scraps of your own knowledge in return we would be eternally grateful."

Jason snarled and replied, "Do you think we are half-wits? I find it funny you are so desperate to learn what Brand has to teach that, when you could not steal it from my mind, you resort to beggary. Is that how you were taught bald ones? No! We would not join your group even if it were a requirement of joining the Varden as a whole."

The twins' faces twisted in anger. They drew pentagon shapes on the ground next to Jason and Karisa and stepped into them. They arrogantly looked over Karisa a little bit openly, then said to both Jason and Karisa, "You will complete the tasks as we assign them."

One twin lifted a polished rock and set it on the ground in the middle of the four of them. "Lift it in the air, Jason." He said. Jason said the words and the rock lifted. Halfway there, it halted and a smile touched the twins' lips. They were trying to make him fail! Snarling, he reached into Karisa's mind, and they merged their strength. The rock jerked to eye level. The twin to his right coughed in disbelief. They began altering between he and Karisa for each job. There were many tests such as lifting the rock, moving it, changing its color, putting up wards, scrying, making water, fire, rock, air, and healing. They continued the tests for about three hours. Jason and Karisa were both exhausted, but refrained from asking for a respite until the twins did. They succeeded excellently in every test, making the twins absolutely furious. Finally, the twins quit testing them. "You have passed." One said, before they both stomped away from the field.

Orik and Frederick came to them smiling widely at the performance, and asked if they were okay. It was nearing night now, and they were tired but otherwise fine. They replied as such, and Orik led the two back to the dragon hold. He told them the next day or two was their own until Ajihad had heard the reports and come to a decision. They went into their own rooms, where hot steaming fish, bread, cold cheese, and a bowl of fruit was awaiting them. They ate happily, and drank the entire bottle of mead that was there also. Then, too tired for anything more, they undressed, stowed the armor away, and went to bed. They slept long and deep into the night.

When they awoke the next morning, they decided to get a bit of work done. They pulled out all the chests and laid them neatly side by side and sat on the bed together. Jason got up and dressed in a fine dragon hide black shirt with a black cape and black leggings. He put on his matching black leather boots to accompany them. He strapped on his now-black sword belt, and strapped his sword to it. Done, he sat on the bed while Karisa dressed. She put on purple eye shadow, pink lipstick, pink blush, and painted her nails a royal purple. She left off a bra, and put on her purple thong. She put a purple dress on that was so short you could see the bottom of her ass. She put on purple glittering high heels, and also went to sit on the bed.

They separated the sellable gems chest, and the gold and gold bars chest and set them side by side. The weapons chest they put back in the spell hole. The chest with enchanted gems they put back in the hole, the egg still in Karisa's pack under many spells. They would scry Brand later that night and find out what was to be done about it. The potions chest they sat by their bed, under many spells. They would use it after shopping. They opened up each chest and began work. What they were doing was organizing the gold into piles using the book. It automatically used a spell that rearranged the entire room and set mounds of gold around the book in a circle that expanded outward, but left two walls with shelves entirely untouched. Then, they set the four hundred and ninety gold bars in a neat row on the shelves from the other chest. They emptied out the other chest, which turned back into a small dark room when empty, and set the sellable gems in a neat row on the other shelf. Spells on the room would keep them organized. They left that chest and put it back in the hole.

With the empty chest, they carved out oval shapes in the wall all around it. In the center, Jason conjured two plush red armchairs with an end table in the middle of them. The walls were then enchanted to rotate according to the user's wishes. In the oval shapes, they would put mirrors they would purchase that day, with spells on them to scry, see and hear whatever they wanted it to. They would set them for different locations. The locations could be changed if they wished, and were not permanent. Then, they left that chest and set it next to the potions chest with the same spells. They sat on the edge of the bed and talked a few moments while they rested. It was near noon, and so the couple walked to the endless staircase and went down it, ready to trade.


	27. Chapter Twenty Four: Trading and Work

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Trading and Work**

They reached the bottom of the staircase and, holding hands, continued on to the heart of Tronjheim where many dwarves were busy flogging wares of all kinds. First, they sought out a gems specialist. They found her with her husband on the far side of Tronjheim. The dwarf woman was selling a diamond the size of their fist. After almost an hour and a half debating prices of each gem Jason brought, she paid him fifty million gold, which about twelve dwarves carried out one pouch at a time, and Jason dumped into his. They left the dwarf woman and her husband amazed at the fact humans could have so much and be so rich. As they walked away, Karisa heard them begin discussing opening a store in a human city when the world was good again.

Moving on to a jeweler, Karisa debated prices with the male dwarf running the stall. He paid her ten million gold for her gold bars, which was only slightly more than they were worth. She and Jason put their empty pouches in the back of Jason's boot in case they wanted something they didn't want to teleport to their room. Happy with their success, and with fifty million gold each, they walked about looking at various items on sale. They soon found a potions salesman. It was one of the Varden's men. They purchased four potion holsters from him. There were five potion placements inside each holster. They paid a thousand gold for each of them, and both attached one to each side of their waist on their belts. The holsters would only let the potions or poisons it held come out if the set password was said while touching them so they could not fall. It also was enchanted to keep the vials heated and cooled as needed, and to keep the bottles from breaking, even in extreme circumstances. The holsters grew and shrunk as necessary to accommodate the bottles.

They then went in search of the mirrors they wanted. They wanted ten of them, and the same size for each. They found them for a (what it seemed like to them) measly amount of ten gold each. After buying them, Jason used a spell to transport them to their room, and to cushion their passage and landing when there. Though they were almost ready to go upstairs and work, they saw a restaurant and had to stop. It was a dwarven restaurant, and the outside was built excellently with golden pillars holding it up. Inside, each dwarven god was displayed with a hirna, a statue, each around forty feet tall. The tables were all oval, and were separated into three sections. In the middle, dwarves and humans sat together, on a higher shelf on the right were humans, and on the lowest level, the dwarves. It was built by an architectural genius in Karisa's mind. Jason was too busy trying to read the carvings around the top of the building.

A dwarf came over and settled them into a booth sitting across from one another. He gave them both a menu to look over, as well as one filled with only drinks. Leaving them for a few moments to decide, the dwarf bustled off to take care of the other customers. It seemed like a busy day. They had looked over the menu only a few moments when Karisa hopped out of the booth and curtseyed. Both Ajihad and King Hrothgar were standing there watching them with a smile on their face. Jason got up and bowed to them, and they both bowed back in return. Jason and Karisa sat side by side, and the other two sat across from them, nodding slightly in acknowledgement when the dwarf handed them a menu as well. They all settled in to read the menu for a moment first.

When the dwarf came back, they all ordered and sat back in their booth. After a moment, the dwarf king sat forward and placed his hands on the table, folded together. "How are you both finding mine city?" he asks them, looking from one to another. They look at each other quickly before Karisa leans forward to respond.

"It is an honor to be in a city so large as this. But, you once asked us for the reason we would come, other than for Ajihad. We now have an answer. One that we have hopes will excite you both for us as much as it excited us. We found an uninhabited island. We intend to build there, and make ourselves king and queen of the island. Once we have, people will be invited to the city. Elves, Dwarves, and Humans alike are all welcome. The city will be a free independent city from Morzan. We would like to ally ourselves with the dwarves and the Varden, and the elves as well once we are strong enough to defend ourselves and be considered for allies. Would you, when the time comes, agree to this?" Karisa asked them. She had tried to be most eloquent, with a slight bit of flirtatious movements when speaking. She thought she had succeeded when both the dwarf king and Ajihad leaned forward to listen and were nodding. Then Ajihad spoke.

"I cannot speak for Hrothgar, but for myself I find this acceptable IF and only IF you make yourselves strong enough to support your own before supporting us. I will not pledge our assistance to those who cannot help themselves. I had begun to wonder where you two would fall on the power scale and this finally gives me my answer. One I feel is acceptable."

"Thank you, my lord. I am glad you would trust us enough to even consider what we propose." Then, Hrothgar sat forward, rubbing his beard with his left hand.

"I believe that you will make for fine allies. You have treated Orik well, and even the knurlan you have met here, within this mountain. Most humans do not treat us so. Also, you have shown me the proper respect due a king, though I am not your own king. Should you manage to fulfill Ajihad's requirements, I will also be glad to consider you an ally of the dwarves." Karisa leaned forward and kissed his hand.

"Thank you. You are indeed a wise king. You may not be our own king, but while within your walls and your hospitality, we are happy to consider you one." Karisa sat back in her seat once more, taking Jason's hand again. The dwarf came back to serve the meal. Everyone dug in enthusiastically. It was really excellent, and it was Jason who paid the dwarf a hundred gold tip. The rest of the meal came free since the dwarf king was there. The king took his leave, and Ajihad sat forward.

"Now that I know what you intend to do, I have decided on jobs for both of you tomorrow. So, tomorrow I want both of your at my door at dawn. These will not be difficult tasks, nor related to combat, but ones I feel important to bettering your awareness of things, and to give you a taste of the difficulties of common problems. Good night." With that, Ajihad left as well and Jason released a pent up breath. He and Karisa both left, and held hands all the way up to their room. The difficult part was over. Now came the hard parts. Plus, it was already dark and he was tired and still had to work a little on the suitcases.

They made it to the room, and Jason put his cape in the rest of their clothing. Rubbing his hands together, he got to work. Picking up the mirrors, he and Karisa went down into the room with the cut outs in the wall and the armchairs in the middle. They set the mirrors into the cutouts, and Karisa added a spell of her own invention to keep it from falling out. They set a button on the table between the chairs and set a spell on the wall connecting it to the button. The button would, once pressed, rotate the wall to the next mirror. Moving on to the mirrors, Jason enchanted the first one to show Brand, wherever he went. Since they were not using a temporary scrying spell, in which a permanent one had never been used before, nor thought of, they found it only took the energy once. It also did not alert anyone they were watching unless they used a spell that allowed them to see and hear them also. Jason moved on to the second mirror.

In short order, Jason made the mirrors show this: the second, the entire island from above, including about ten miles of ocean around it. The third: Hrothgar. The fourth, Ajihad. The fifth, Orik. The other five they left until they had more places to show. Jason also put anti-scrying wards around himself and Karisa. That way the only way people could scry them was to contact them by other means, or be scryed by them first. They left the suitcase, and put it back into the hole with the others. This left the potion and poison room, which both of them were excited about. They went down inside, potion holsters clipped onto both sides of their belts.

When they went inside, Jason went first. Deciding he would put the five potions on the left, and the five potions on the right, he started with potions. He got a major healing potion that would fix both broken bones, and deep wounds. He chose a fire resistance potion, a water breathing potion, a potion that cures bleeding inside and out, and a potion that would cure any known poisons. Going to poisons, he chose in this order: 1- stun poison, 2- torture poison, 3- seithr oil, 4- internal bleeding poison, and 5- fire poison. The first one makes them immobile, but allows them to feel everything. The second, feels as if knives are puncturing you repeatedly. The third is a rare oil from the leaves of a seithr plant. Once special words are said over them, it gains the property to burn any sort of flesh. The fourth makes the drinker bleed on the inside, but renders it numb so the drinker does not know until it is too late. The final poison makes the user feel as if they are on fire on the inside. Eventually, although it is only an illusion, it will make them go mad. Stepping back, he allowed Karisa to take her turn.

She chose much the same as him. She got a major healing potion that would fix both broken bones, and deep wounds. She chose a fire resistance potion, a warming antidote, that kills poisoned chills or frostbite, or just warmed you after a long night in the cold, a cooling draught to fix the opposite, and a potion that would cure any known poisons.

When she went to poisons, she chose much the same as him again, with one exception on the final poison. In this order, she chose: 1- stun poison, 2- torture poison, 3- seithr oil, 4- internal bleeding poison, and 5- disintegrating poison. The first one makes them immobile, but allows them to feel everything. The second, feels as if knives are puncturing you repeatedly. The third is a rare oil from the leaves of a seithr plant. Once special words are said over them, it gains the property to burn any sort of flesh. The fourth makes the drinker bleed on the inside, but renders it numb so the drinker does not know until it is too late. The final one makes your bones disintegrate from the feet up.

Potions and poisons chosen, they both left the suitcase, putting it in the hole. Discussing their choices, they both stripped and bathed together. Dripping, but clean, they both were so tired from the day's events, they both climbed into bed without bothering to put night clothing on and fell straight asleep. They slept fitfully until dawn, when one of Jason's personally made spells awoke them to go see Ajihad.


	28. Chapter Twenty Five: Jobs

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Jobs, and how they are accomplished**

They awoke at dawn, thanks to Jason's spell, and dressed in their dragon hide suit armor. Karisa applied black eye shadow, eyeliner, and pink lipstick. She painted her nails black as well. They strapped on their sword belts, potion holsters, swords, and bows. Yawning, Jason took Karisa's hand and led her down the endless staircase towards Ajihad's study. When they arrived forty-five minutes later, two guards were standing at the door at attention. After a brief moment of determining their faces, the guards banged their swords on their shields and allowed them inside.

Ajihad was seated at his desk, reading a scroll. A page stood beside him, and looked curiously at the two as they sat in front of his desk. Ajihad finished reading the scroll as the couple waited patiently. They were too tired to complain of a few minutes more rest. Ajihad got out a bottle of ink, a quill, and a sheet of parchment. He wrote about two paragraphs on it before blowing on it to make the ink dry quicker, rolling it up and tying it, and stamping it with an inky red stamp with his insignia on it. Handing it to the page he said, "Get this to Hrothgar immediately. And I don't care how long it takes, wait until he gets a response written out otherwise this time you'll work in the mines for a week!"

Turning to the couple as the page left, he rubbed his temples. He studied them a moment before saying, "Forgive me for ignoring you for the moment, but I needed to finish that report or I never would. Your jobs will be separate jobs, but ones I believe you both either have experience in, or need to learn. Karisa, today you will be helping the builders examine and fix Tronjheim's outer buildings and wall. Jason, you will be assisting the lawgivers for the Varden today. I expect you both to acquit yourselves well as not only will this be for experience for when you own a castle, city, or more, but it also profits the Varden and I expect nothing less than the best you can do. Is that understood?"

Jason and Karisa stood up, nodding. Before they left, as a show of courtesy, Jason bowed and Karisa curtseyed to the man. They left the room, and found Orik and Frederic there to guide them. Orik took Jason to get breakfast since his job did not start until noon that day, and Frederic took Karisa, since hers and his both started immediately, and ended at the same time. Orik used to work with the smiths, but now that he was heir to Hrothgar he worked for Ajihad to rule as a judge for the humans and dwarves in the Varden. Many respected him for his fairness both in rewards and punishments.

Ajihad also made the couple separate to teach them, if need be, to work apart. Before parting, the couple kissed and departed from one another without much more than the suggestion, which was correct, that if they worked together things would be accomplished faster. Under other circumstances they were right, since Jason had knowledge about repairs from working with Rhunon, and Karisa was a just person in her own right. This however, was not normal circumstances and they knew it was a test. Jason and Orik quietly entered the kitchens where breakfast was served free for working folk up at that hour.

Karisa and Frederic, however, headed to the walls. Once there, Frederic pointed out an eager looking old dwarven man who was waiting for them. Nodding to the dwarf politely and telling Karisa he'd be here waiting when work ended, Frederic slipped off to the training fields and weapon tents. The dwarf led Karisa over to an enormously long bench that held over a hundred tools. The dwarf then began to instruct her in what the tools were, how to use them, the history of dwarven construction, and the different things to fix and build with what tools. Jason had received elven construction, history, and smithing knowledge from Rhunon, but the dwarf was teaching the dwarven way and history to Karisa. They spent until about five in the afternoon working on various walls, buildings, and even a statue that was falling apart. Karisa learned loads, and would've finished at noon but insisted on continuing until the day was done. She wanted to learn a lot about it so she could have input on where, how, and when to build certain aspects of their castle.

When the day was finished, dirty and muddy Frederic led an equally dirty Karisa to the mess hall for dinner where she met Jason and Orik, both clean and wearing white lawgiver robes, sitting at a table enjoying dinner and talking animatedly. She sat down beside them and kissed Jason, making him wrinkle his noise teasingly as she dug in as well. Everyone laughed.

Jason and Orik had left at noon. The court was held every day from noon to five. Orik taught him both the human and dwarven way of law, and would've taught elven too but Jason had read about it and could answer every question on it Orik had. Then he taught Jason all the sets of rules for the court, the proper wear of lawgivers unless they are a queen, king, prince, or princess, and the proper punishments for different crimes. They spent the next five hours learning much about different cases that came up, and Jason actually helped on one by verifying one of the men's memories of what happened. Jason, however, thought that open court was only wise once or twice a week. He believed most of these things would simmer and end overnight if given the chance. Every day court was a way to exercise hatred in his opinion. In the end, he told Ajihad, who surprisingly agreed and restricted the days to a certain number he and Orik agreed on.

The couple were both starving and ate their entire platter and a whole flagon of ale was drunk by each. Holding hands and both filthy now, Jason and Karisa went to their room to take a bath. They bathed and soaked for about fifteen minutes and got out. They dried off and, tired, went to bed together. They slept for about eight to nine hours before Orik woke them up, saying Ajihad wanted to see them. He left, smiling at the couple's awkwardness at being seen in bed together when they were naked under the covers. They got up, dressed in their armor once more, which they cleaned regularly with magic along with the rest of their clothes, and walked to Ajihad's study.

When they entered, he had them sit. He offered them both coffee and sat smiling at them as they gratefully accepted and drank it. Despite the fact that they had forgotten the jobs were for the Varden, they grew nervous again as they waited on his verdict. Finally, he stood and they followed his lead. He walked around the desk to stand in front of them. Then, he extended his hand to both of them, commending them on their work. He was told of Karisa's eagerness to learn and stay late, and he saw and took a recommendation from Jason himself on his side of things. Today, he told them, they would swap jobs. They stood, again bowed and curtseyed to him out of respect, and left.

Today, Karisa went to breakfast with Orik, and Jason went with Frederic. Come to find out, Jason was just as good a builder as Karisa, but where she liked flowers, and simple pretty things, he knew how to make war-time constructs better, as well as grand things. Karisa was a good lawgiver, but where Jason was stern and just, she was kind and just. The people loved her for that, just as they loved Jason for his ideas on how to make them feel safer. They met with Ajihad at the end of the day, before dinner. He again commended them, and told them they would be leaving in about two weeks. In return, they asked to work as volunteers, and swap jobs each day until that time.

Ajihad agreed delightedly, and together they went over to dinner and ate heartily. They went to bed that night feeling accomplished. The next four days they swapped jobs back and forth continuously. The people in the Varden, and most of the dwarves began to love and respect them. However, the peace did not last forever. It never does, and amidst everything going on, they had all but forgotten about the orc army waiting in the valley outside. They had all felt safe and busy inside their fortress and city, and had not given a though to bothering with anything other.

That night, while they were sleeping inside the fortress, orc scouts began scouring the mountain for the hidden door. Unfortunately for them, two sentries spotted them and informed Ajihad and the king. They, in turn, sent runners to fetch different people from their bed. So it was that a dwarven page ran up to the dragon hold and woke Jason and Karisa. Informing them they needed to meet with Ajihad and the king, he departed at a run. Glancing at each other for a moment, they got up and hurried into their dragon hide armor.

Remembering the orcs in the valley, for out of everyone he alone had not forgotten, he recommended their other battle armor be worn over their dragon hide. He decked himself out in his midnight black armor with gold trimming, tying the helmet to his waist. He also slipped on his bow and arrows, and his sword. He strapped his shield to his arm. Karisa did the same, except her armor was the royal purple armor, instead of black. He took her hand, and they shared a brief kiss. Still holding her hand, they ran down the endless staircase, quick as elves could run. They came to Ajihad's study about fifteen minutes faster than it would have taken normally. When they came in, the door shut behind them and everyone looked at them. Inside the room was Ajihad, a gray haired man they did not know, Hrothgar, Orik, the twins, and themselves. Jason groaned. He had a feeling it would be a very long night.


	29. AN 3

**A/N 4:**

Okay, just want to say it's been rough lately. I have had to move, and in between moving, work, paying bills, and setting up a house, it has been extremely hard to type. I did a little bit every night, but until now could not get back into it. Took a day today to finish up chapter 25 and publish 20-25. Hope you enjoy it. Please, read and review so I know I am doing this for more than my own amusement. I have gotten a lot of hits, for which I am grateful, but unless I get reviews I do not know what everyone wants to see in the story. So please, R&R, and I hope you all enjoy the next few chapters. In the next ones after this, you will see new introductions, and I will be adding a few things to spice things up.


	30. AN 4

**A/N**

**Special thanks to the first person to favorite this story, animal lover13! Also, special thanks to Dakillx10, and ragnar thorson, my first followers! People doing so make me want to continue the story. Wanted to give special thanks, so please read and review! Feel free to message me about your thoughts on future events, sometimes I use your guys ideas later in the story.**


	31. Chapter Twenty Six: The Battle

**Chapter Twenty-Six: The Battle of Farthen Dur**

The couple approached the group standing around a detailed map of the mountains they were in. Ajihad looked at them and said, "Good, you are here. We will need you two." He went back to studying the map and waiting on everyone to be present. When everyone was present, he spread his hands over the map and looked at them squarely. "An orc army is attacking the mountain. What's more, they are attacking from underground, not over it."

Everyone began asking questions at once. Jason made himself heard over the din, "Why didn't we know sooner? Don't the dwarves have scouts in the tunnels underneath Farthen Dur?" Orik yelled out an answer, and Jason quieted to hear him. "We were lucky to know about it this soon! Those tunnels have been empty since the day they were mined. We could easily have received no warning at all! Only eccentric dwarves who desire no contact with the surface dwell there now and a lucky thing! It was one such dwarf who alerted us."

Ajihad studied the map of the tunnels, and spoke quietly and with authority. "We will need to move quickly. Jason, you will go with the builders and inspect for structural damage, or anything we can do to make this easier. Karisa, you will go to the healers and organize them. Orik and Hrothgar will ready the dwarves. Twins, follow me. Jormundr, I want you to ready the men. Move, and do so quickly. This is one battle we cannot lose. Jason and Karisa, when you two are done with your tasks, I want you to oversee the evacuation of the women and children, then you will join the battalion in the middle on the grounds outside Tronjheim."

"Yes, sir!" was echoed around the room. Everyone split in separate directions to complete their assigned tasks. Jason and Karisa worked through theirs slowly, but what seemed to them like insane speed, anxious as they were about the upcoming bloodshed. When they had completed their tasks, they rejoined one another to complete their last one.

They both sat down to rest shortly after the last task was finished. They sat side by side in behind the enormous battalion in front of them. The Varden did have a bit of men, however they then remembered the orc army's size and quailed. The orc army easily outnumbered them ten-to-one. They had found a plate with two loaves of bread and two slices of cheese, along with a flagon of ale each awaiting them. It was better than going hungry, so they ate without complaint.

As the night wore one, Orik came and sat beside them. As he took out his axe and began sharpening it he said, "We'll be funneling the orcs into these three tunnels. They aren't equipped to dig other tunnels, even with magic seeing as their magic users need to be here to protect their troops. Orcs are fast, vicious, and cunning. The one thing they do not have is strength, for all their numbers. That doesn't mean I am counseling you to charge straight in though. There might be one or two strong orcs out there in every battalion. It has happened before. We dwarves have more experience fighting orcs since they raid our halls often. They have a bad misconception that these are their homes and we are the ones who have plundered them. Ajihad would like the two of you to stay with this battalion as much as possible. This is the middle tunnel where we will try to funnel all of them. Good luck, and stay alive!" He walked away with a cheery wave.

Jason and Karisa lay back, she against him, and he against a dune where the archers would stand. He let her rest as much as she could before the coming fight. He gazed across to the tunnel openings where burning oil was stationed over the tops of each one, with trenches of oil in front of each opening. That had been his idea, and although repulsive, may save them in the long run. He closed his eyes, trusting the others would wake him when the orcs came.

A few hours later, close to one in the morning, Orik shook Jason awake. "It is started." He said. Jason woke Karisa, and the couple stood. They both pulled out their bows and fitted arrows to the string. Orik pulled out his axe and eyed the dwarves' battalion on the left as he said, "A dwarf ran out of the tunnels about five minutes ago reporting a large host marching this way. They'll be here any moment." He waved to them and walked over to join his battalion.

Jason and Karisa readied themselves in behind the middle battalion with the archers. Sure enough, a few moments later harsh voices and cries could be heard issuing from all three tunnels. All the archers drew their bows and aimed. Hundreds of orcs rushed out of their tunnel issuing war cries. At the smallest, they stood a foot lower than a man, but were so fast that it didn't matter. At the tallest, they were about ten feet tall, and were strong as well as fast.

The archers loosed their arrows, and the couple released their arrows into the deadly swarm. The arrows felled the entire front line of orcs, but more just took their place. The archers fired once more, and again the orcs broke lines just to regroup and charge. The front line jabbed with spears and pikes, but they could do no more than slow the orcs down before they were overwhelmed.

The two drew their swords as the main bodies of both armies met for the first time with a roar. The couple dove into the cacophony of noise and flashes of movement. Karisa tried to hang back somewhat to take in what was happening while Jason happily swung away with his sword. That plan shattered when her first orc swung at her. She parried and lashed out, expecting her elf-like reflexes to be unstoppable. The orc tilted it's shield and deflected her blade to the side, and replied with a quick slash to her ribs. _Of course, _she thought, _the first orc I fight just has to be one of the fast ones, and I am stupid enough to let it get a chance to kill me. I have to do better. _She blasted out with a killing spell, and the orc turned inside out. She backed off, breathing hard and looking for her next opponent.

Looking out over the combatants, she drew hope from the orcs' expressions. The defense was much more brutal and skilled than they had expected. She saw Ajihad, bashing a shield over an orc's head brutally before moving to the next enemy. She saw Orik over in the dwarven battalion, hewing off their necks, Frederick in the Varden's battalion smashing the enemy over their heads one by one with his monstrous sword, and the dwarf king, Hrothgar, slamming his war hammer into every orc that was foolish enough to stand before the dwarf king and his guards. Jason was going every where he was needed, switching from battalion to battalion, working well with everyone. He was now sitting on his stallion, Folkvir, and cutting through every attack with a savage snarl on his face.

As fine and well as all of that was, already everyone was growing tired. The gods must've had a sense of humor that day, however, because she had to use the restroom. In the middle of the fight no less. Brushing that thought aside, she knew everyone was already tired and wearing down. Another orc jumped at her and slashed with strength greater than most normal humans had. This is why everyone was wary of fighting orcs. You never knew what talent which one had. _Of course, now I get the one that makes me think I need to work out more, _she thought grimly before charging at it with a fierce gleam in her eyes.

Jason thought it couldn't get any worse. Then, he berated himself for thinking that when it did. He had been swapping battalions, helping out as best he could, when he noticed Ajihad in danger right in front of the main tunnel. Rushing over, he slew five of the orcs surrounding him, while he slew the rest. Jason yelled defiantly in the ancient language, raising his hand as he did so. Twenty bolts of energy flew from his hand and smote the orcs in front of him in their chests. They slumped to the floor, lifeless. He leaned on his sword, and took stock of the battle. They were badly outnumbered, and the human warriors were half outmatched. Fantastic. Then he heard it, and his day got worse in a hurry. There was a deep roar from inside the tunnel he stood in front of.

He had thought they had it bad now. That was when a ten foot tall troll came out into the fight. It was naked from the waist up, but muscular and gray skinned. It's arms were close to the length of Jason's body. It had a brown loincloth on, but it's legs were otherwise nude as well. It smelled like rotten eggs as it roared again, you know, just in case no one had heard it the first time. He scowled at it like, hey, can't you just walk the other way? You are only making things worse. Of course, the troll ignored that. It held a club with spikes along the edge, because being smashed obviously wasn't horrible enough. Jason yelled and jumped between its legs as it's club passed through the space he just occupied. He slashed at the thing's legs, creating a slight gash where black blood flowed like a flood. It roared and swung again. He jumped to the side once more and slashed its arm. It just kept swinging at him. It occurred to him that all he was doing was making it more angry, but what else could he do? He happened to look up at the moment it swung and noticed that he bent over every time he used the club. Jason smiled as the idea passed over him.

His realization had cost him though. In the moment it took him to formulate his plan, the club had grazed his shoulder. Fortunately, it was with the blunt end. Unfortunately, it was enough force to send him sprawling into a group of orcs with the troll closing in for the kill. Instinct allowed him to hold onto his sword and shield luckily. He took advantage of the orcs' confusion by kicking out and tripping one, which caused it to fall into the one beside it. That confused the rest long enough to allow him to recover his balance and stand up. He quickly killed three of them who were normal orcs, neither strong nor fast. The other two, however, represented both sides of the coin. He traded blows with them for a moment, barely strong enough to hold off the one, but making up for it by being much faster than the fastest orc. He dispatched the strong orc first, since he was slower, and then brought all of his strength onto the faster one.

By the time he had killed it, he turned around just in time to duck the troll's next swing. _No time for rest. Gods, where is the justice? _He complained to himself silently while avoiding swings from the troll. He waited until the troll swung downward again before bunching up his leg muscles, and bounding onto its arm and from there, its shoulders. He grabbed the top of the head for balance as it did the natural thing. It straightened up and roared angrily. He stabbed his ruby red sword straight into the back of its neck. He slid it out as quick as he could, and jumped from the trolls back as it roared one last time and fell. The ground boomed when it hit.

Rolling to his feet just as he hit the ground, he swept off the head of the orc in front of him. Holding the pose for a moment, he counted until he heard the troll hit the ground. Then, he straightened up and surveyed the field, looking for his friends. Finding each one, he assessed their situations quickly, and ran to the nearest one who needed the help the most. It was Orik, and he was surrounded. Jason moved through them all quickly, even more so when Karisa came from nowhere and helped. Enemies dead, and the rest of Orik's battalion shielding them, all three leaned on their weapons for a moment for a respite.

Orik smiled at Karisa and said, "Thanks. Felt like Jason and I would be overwhelmed at any moment."

Karisa smiled back and replied warmly, "Anytime Orik." She turned to Jason and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the lips for a moment before saying, "And you, need to warn me next time before doing something as awesome as jumping on and killing trolls."

Jason laughed. It was a warm, lightly done laugh that made her shiver with happiness herself. He looked at her and Orik both before replying with, "Well, no one else seemed to want to help, so I assumed that meant it was my turn to deal with big and ugly today."

They all three laughed before heading back into the battle together. It lasted for hours upon hours, and still yet, close to four hours later, the orcs never ran out of support. Both Jason and Karisa wondered exactly how the orcs, who seemed to all be from differing clans, were getting along well enough to fight them together. Everything Brand taught them of orcs told them that they did not get along when they were born of different clans. Orik didn't think of it, and was just happy to get to kill something.

They got their answer though, when a huge shadow came from all around them and landed in front of Ajihad in the shape of a man in pure black armor with an emerald green longsword. Karisa gasped, remembering him from Brand's story of what happened when he stole the red dragon egg. This man was more dangerous than the Ra'Zac. Ajihad struck at him, and began the fight. Korzak just laughed however, and dodged all of his attacks as if this were a game that amused him. Jason and Karisa began fighting their way towards him.

Right when they arrived there, Korzak seemed to notice them. He grew bored of his current game and stabbed Ajihad through the side before pushing him over onto the ground and turning to them. "So." He said in a haughty voice as if they would either amuse him, or annoy him. "These are Brand's brats. The Ra'Zac told us much about you. The weakling Jason and his slutty wife Karisa. Not much of a threat. Then again, no one is these days, and you two ARE better than the usual. The king would like to meet both of you. I'm to take you there as a matter of fact. Come quietly, or, you can fight and still accompany me back. It has been a while since I fought someone of your caliber."

Jason and Karisa traded looks. Jason was ready to attack because of the insults aimed at he and his wife. Karisa just wanted to kill him because he acted as though they were hardly worth his attention. They both knew this was a foe beyond either of them separately, but if they couldn't beat him, who at the Varden or dwarves could? They joined minds and set up defenses, and, after a very brief I love you with their eyes, they charged him together.

First, they assaulted his mind as one, seeking to overwhelm his defenses. Second, they attacked him bodily. Lastly, they set up more defenses in their mind. This was all done nearly simultaneously, but not quite. Korzak, for his part, easily blocked his mind, but had not anticipated the both of them being as fast and strong as an elf. Colors blurred as they fought and their swords and armor crossed one another in blurs. Karisa attacked his right side, and Jason took his left. It was a good strategy, but they were completely outclassed. Korzak had trained with the king, and that was like fighting an army. He always lost, but it still more than prepared him for these two. He dodged and attacked with the speed of a falcon and the grace of a lion. He toyed with them a moment, but realized it may not be a good idea to toy with these two when Jason opened up a small cut through his armor on his arm. He growled in anger and yelled out in the ancient language. Both were blasted off their feet and onto their backs. Jason recovered first and stabbed at him with lightning speed, but Korzak just disarmed him with a lazy flick of his wrist. Karisa tried to jump up, but quick as she was, Korzak was faster. He spun behind her and grabbed the back of her armor, slamming her to the ground again. He spun so he faced them both and in a flash, had disarmed her as well. He put the point of his sword against her throat so Jason wouldn't respond.

They would have been captives then and there, since Jason didn't know how to react with Karisa in danger. Just as a smug smile came onto Korzak's face, someone who was short and all but invisible behind him stood up. It was Orik, and as he stood, he planted his axe into Korzak's back. He had been with the warriors who the dwarf king had sent to ensure Ajihad made it to the healers safely. He had watched them do battle and sat down, wisely thinking he would end up dead if he had interfered. When Korzak went for the win, he had stepped in. The wound did not kill Korzak, his armor stopped the worst of it, but it did distract him long enough for Jason to leap to his sword, and Karisa to hers. Korzak glared at them murderously, and said, "I'll be back. This is not over!" before he erupted in black flames and exploded into shadows that disappeared. The explosion knocked the three of them off their feet.

As they got back up, they noticed the orcs had grown out of a trance-like state. They began to fight amongst themselves as they normally should. They glanced at one another and rejoined the fight. Now that the orcs weren't really fighting them, it was insultingly easy. The enemy army disintegrated within an hour. As the battalions chased them down the tunnels, Jason, Karisa, Orik, and the dwarf king hung back, leaning on their weapons wearily. The king suggested they rest first, and have a council meeting tomorrow. They all agreed unanimously.

Before going to rest however, the couple stopped by the healers' house and helped heal Ajihad. They left him sleeping there and returned to where they slept. They found a hot bowl of beef stew each waiting, and a loaf of bread. A mug of beer for each also awaited them. They wolfed it all down and drank eagerly. Then, too tired for much else, they both stripped naked and arranged their armor and weapons in neat rows along the wall for cleaning. They put on sleeping robes, and lay in the bed. They cuddled together, and told the other they loved them. Kissing once, they fell into a deep sleep, happy because of their survival.


	32. Chapter Twenty Seven: Aftermath

**Chapter Twenty Seven: The Aftermath of Farthen Dur**

When Karisa awoke, it was almost three in the morning. Despite how exhausted she was, and how much she wanted to roll back over and sleep, she felt sort of guilty when she thought of all the lives they were claiming. Then she cursed herself for feeling guilty. Jason just did what he had to with no complaint. Brand would have, and so would Ray. Why then, did she have to feel so weak? This wasn't how a warrior should feel, how a _hero_ should feel!

Angry at herself, she got out of bed quietly and, completely naked still, walked over to the jug of water sitting on the table. She poured a glass for herself and downed it quickly. It soothed her somewhat and she climbed back under the covers. Jason instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, which made her smile happily. She closed her eyes and sank back into her dream-like state where she all but forgot about her mixed feelings on war.

When they both awoke, it was together. The couple got out of bed, stretched, and cleaned their armor and weapons. They dressed in their dragon hide armor. They felt it especially proper since the battle was over and they didn't want to wear all of their armor, lest they look afraid, and yet they looked smart for wearing some protection just in case. A flustered dwarf from Orik arrived as they were finishing breakfast, and asked them to attend a victory feast later. They sent him on his way with their answer.

Satisfied with their appearance for the moment, they sought out Ajihad. He sat them down in his study after greeting them. He looked at them both and laughed, saying, "Both of you have grown up to be fine young adults. I had few doubts about you proving fine allies of the Varden, and the ones I had vanished after watching the two of you last night. You showed maturity, bravery, and courage beyond what I have come to expect of my men."

Karisa smiled charmingly as Jason bowed his head and replied, "Your words do us much honor, Ajihad. We hope that we will prove to be strong, reliable, and influential allies in the future. We wish to help the Varden where we can, when we can. To that end, we will strive night and day until it is achieved."

Ajihad nodded. "I expected nothing less from children of Brand. He was very impressionable, especially with dwarven folk. Speaking of Brand, I had scryed him earlier today and informed him of the battle, your deeds, and the aftermath of such. Our feast tonight will be the last of yours here for the moment. Tomorrow, at dawn, you will begin the journey home. Orik will unfortunately be unable to accompany you home, but I suspect you will manage. I will send an armed escort with you to Hedarth, the dwarven trading outpost." He said, looking them both in the eyes.

The couple rose, bowed, and left for their rooms. Once they arrived, they packed everything, including some food they bought while they were here. Then they began thinking of the feast. Well, Karisa thought of it anyway. She figured they should make an excellent appearance tonight, and make sure they weren't forgotten. Jason just wanted it over with. He was still weary slightly from the events of the past week. He put his black silver shirt on with black bottoms and a black cloak. He pulled on his dragon hide boots to match and left their rooms to go say farewell to Orik. What he didn't, and hopefully never would realize, is just what sort of impression Karisa intended to make. Although, she secretly believed that if she weren't there, he wouldn't get half as far as he did. He played the game honorably. She did not.

She stripped naked and examined herself in a mirror. She experimentally pushed her boobs up a bit, then turned slightly and grabbed her ass cheeks. Satisfied with the first idea that popped in her head, she went to her clothes. She pulled on a hot pink push-up bra, and then grabbed a hot pink lace thong. Putting it on, she modeled in front of her mirror again.

She took out a dress she had hidden away even Jason didn't know of. It was also hot pink, and it glittered and sparkled every time she moved. Also, if she thought about it doing so, it was enchanted to be see through. It was a strapped dress, but it fell down to cup and push up her boobs perfectly, as well as tightening at the stomach so you could see her flat, sexy stomach. It continued falling until it reached her ass. It fell so that when she was standing up, you could see the bottom of her ass cheeks and the curve in her ass. When she bent over, it rode up high enough for you to see half of her ass, and all of her pussy. Her legs were a beautiful pale white when set against the pink. She put on glittering hot pink high heels to match. Then she sat down and applied blush, eyeliner, mascara, and pink eye shadow. She also put on hot pink lipstick, and painted her finger and toenails hot pink. Then she straightened her hair around her face and down her chest.

She took off, trying to hurry before Jason got back. She felt guilty about someone else seeing her dressed this way before he did, but it's not as if she was doing it to go cheat….just to flirt a little and make sure they get the proper help when it is needed. Knowing the Varden's builder leader was friends with the dwarven one, and that he had an enormous crush on her, she went looking for him. She walked for nearly an hour and a half before giving up and stopping at a clothing store where a burly dwarf man was working. She spoke to him a little, and found that his assistant woman was not here today, she decided to help a little since it was only midday. Plus, she was dressed as a model for clothing anyways…or a slut. She tried not to think about which was more appropriate. Also, she always kind of enjoyed working a little.

About two hours later, no less a person than the one she was looking for came in. He had a bit of a smirk on his face when he saw her working in the store. He asked her if she was a model for the store's clothing. When she giggled cutely at the compliment and replied that no, she was not, he answered by saying that was a shame because he would have brought in his wife and had he buy some clothed to mimic Karisa's charm. She blushed at the compliment, but was thinking privately, "_His wife lets him flirt like that with every woman?"_

He wandered the store for a moment, and she told the dwarf she had to go after he finished up looking around. The dwarf nodded with a stern look. He was a hard boss, and dwarf custom and laws dictated that if you work for someone then they own you temporarily. She supposed she was lucky he let her go that easily. Then again, she would have only had to work another hour, since his shop closed early today. The man, John, had found an outfit in the meantime. He found a blue button shirt and black silk pants. He went to the changing room while she recorded her sales for the day.

Then she went and knocked on the changing room stone door and said, "Everything okay in there? We close soon."

"Uh, I think I might need some help in here."

Karisa looked in alarm at her temporary boss. She didn't want to go into the changing room with the man before speaking to Jason about it. At least if he was there he would know why she did it. Her boss simply looked her up and down, gauging her age, and nodded. He said, "I will go close store. Make the sale."

She considered refusal, but then realized he would be allowed to execute her for refusing orders. She sighed, and walked into the changing room. He was standing inside, the shirt fitting perfectly, but with the pants on and unzipped around a cock so enormous and hard she almost passed out. She covered her eyes slightly so she didn't have to look at his hard on and looked him in the eyes. She said, "What did you need help with?"

"The pants won't fit." He replied, smiling as if it was good news. She closed her eyes briefly as if praying for patience before responding.

"I can go get you another pair."

"Well, I like this pair a lot. I would like to buy this one, but it has to fit first."

She gave up and kneeled down in front of him. She took hold of his cock, ignoring the repulsive pulsing feeling it gave off to show how much he liked what she did, and tried to push the massive hard on back into the pants. She tried pushing on the head and every part of the shaft but it wouldn't fit inside. She glared at the ceiling, promising punishment to the gods for this problem. Plus, she really had to go soon. She had no desire to speak to this man any longer; it would make her late for the feast. "_Great idea Karisa. Now look where you've gotten yourself."_ She thought to herself as she debated on what to do.

"Well, it doesn't fit. I'm sorry. I'll have to get you another pair." Karisa said to John, still kneeling in front of him, holding his cock down inside the pants. She didn't know what was worse to be doing without Jason's knowledge. Kneeling in front of a guy, or holding his dick so she didn't have to see it. Fate, it seemed, thought neither was bad enough, when she followed the next orders John gave her and got a dick on her face and lips.

"I said I want these pants, and your boss told you to make the sale. Drop your hands." John said to her, smiling down at her triumphantly. He had her trapped and he knew it. The worst part was, she had only herself to blame. She dropped her hands to her knees, and immediately regretted it when his massively hard cock rose and smacked her chin, rubbed up her cheek, and fell to rest on her pretty pink lips. "Now, you can make the sale by making these fit. They will fit if the hard on goes away. Hold still dear."

He rubbed his cock all over her cheeks, face, and lips. He kept coming back to her lips as he rubbed it all over her face and stroked it simultaneously. It came to her that she was being raped, and despite all her training, fear shut down her mind and she became a mute robot. Inside, she knew she would be fine when it was over because if she analyzed it, she had no choice and therefore would not torture herself over it. Suddenly, he looked down at her and said, "Stroke it. Suck on it. Don't stop until I tell you, or it gets soft."

Without thinking, She cupped his cock in her small warm hand. She did the same with the balls with her other hand. She began stroking and squeezing them in synchronization. Then, she licked the tip tentatively. She fit the whole head in her mouth and began sucking on it. She popped it out of her mouth and licked up and down both sided of the shaft, then ran her tongue underneath it once before popping the head of the cock back in her mouth. Then, she began taking the shaft in her mouth too. She sucked up and down the entire shaft until he took her head in his hands and began pounding in and out of her mouth slowly. He made sure to wait a moment each time she went so far down the hair on his groin tickled her face as she was forced to deep throat his cock. He did this multiple times, and every time she began to choke, unable to breathe through her nose or throat, he pulled her halfway back up the cock. Then, as he got closer to cumming, he went faster.

He stopped after fucking her face for about five minutes, and stood her up. By this time, she figured she would be the silent victim, because that is what he wanted and she had wanted him to remember her after all. He wanted a victim who didn't scream, but was silently horrified and scared of him. It wasn't too hard to play that part at the moment. When she was standing, he slapped her so hard it left a bruise, barely covered by her blush on her cheek, and sent her sprawling to the floor with tears in her eyes. He grabbed her throat, squeezing so hard she couldn't breathe, and stood her back up, slamming her into the wall so that her back and ass faced him. He pulled the straps off her shoulders and let the dress fall to reveal her perfect boobs encased in the pink bra, and her perfectly shaped hot ass still in the pink lace thong. He undid the bra and let it drop, giving a full view of her boobs, which he immediately began grabbing and playing with roughly, bruising them in the process.

He dropped a hand and her knees buckled when he roughly began fondling her pussy and ass. He tugged down the thong and guided his cock between her ass cheeks. She guessed he wanted to hurt her now, and was right on the money when he shoved his cock in her ass fast. Jason went fast too sometimes, but mostly it was slow, loving, and sensational. This was newer to her, and it hurt immensely. The cock went in her hard and fast and kept going in and out. Her ass was burning as if it were on fire. After about thirty minutes of fucking her ass, he moved out of it and slid his cock in her pussy. He fucked her there for twenty more minutes, thankfully not noticing her whispering a contraceptive spell. He finally finished fucking her and pushed her on her knees in front of him. He made her kiss the tip of his cock before releasing his cum all over her face. He said, "Hmm, I don't really want these pants after all. Thank you for helping though. Your assistance was appreciated."

He left and her presence of mind returned. She used a spell to clean herself off, and heal herself. Then she re-dressed and fixed her makeup and face. Satisfied she was as sexy as she looked when she first came in, she left the room. As she passed the dwarf, an ugly idea occurred to her, and she acted on it without remorse. As she passed him and left she said, "He didn't pay for anything he took." The dwarf looked up with an angry glint in his eye as she left the store for the dining room for Ajihad and the King. She had forgotten to tell the dwarf he took sex and not clothes without payment….oops.

Jason's day with Orik had proved fun too, although all they did was train at the training field. They did almost head to the marketplace. He had wanted to buy something for Karisa, but for some reason he decided against it. He and Orik were now on their way to the feast as well. They met with Karisa, who gave Jason an enormous kiss for some reason, and went to the feast together, with the couple holding hands.


	33. Chapter Twenty Eight: Return to Teirm

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Return to Teirm**

The feast had been excellent, and many speeches had been made by various persons. They were wished good luck and farewell, and were bid to come back anytime they had the chance or desire. Now, the couple were on their horses, bags packed, and with an escort of armed and mounted warriors, both dwarven and human. They were heading out of the valley at a fast pace, making for the dwarven outpost of Hedarth where a ship awaited them to take them to Teirm. It was the same ship who brought them close to here. Thatch had moved to Teirm, where he was now renowned for his craftsmanship and had taken all sorts of contracts to build and sail different ships.

They arrived at Hedarth with no incident about four hours later, close to six in the afternoon. They boarded the ship and greeted Thatch gladly. He and Jason grasped each other's forearm, and he gave Karisa an enormous hug. As the ship set off, she and Jason went below deck to their room to set it up and change out of their riding clothes for dinner. Jason threw on a simple wool black long sleeve shirt with wool black pants on bottom. He also wore his black fur boots. Karisa still had the same makeup, lipstick, and nail polish as the day in the clothing store, so she just put on a pink sweater black sweatpants that were skin tight and clung to her shapely ass perfectly. She also put on fur boots, but hers were brown.

They left the room and went to the dining hall, meeting old sailor friends from their last trip. They had shark and shrimp, and drank and ate their fill. The couple left after dinner to go to their room, realizing that since they left home they hadn't made nearly as much time for each other as they should have and that they both needed it. That night they made love long into the night in every way possible, reaffirming their love for one another. As they went to sleep, Jason thought about their future, as Karisa spoke to him quietly about the beauty of the fish around them before falling asleep.

When they awoke, they dressed in comfortable clothes and walked to the deck. Only Thatch and a couple others were awake as it was early. They stood to the side and watched the ocean roll by. It was beautiful. Thatch took a break from the wheel to join them. They spoke with him of their adventures since taking their leave of him. The crew soon gathered to listen in, all wanting details of the great battle that had, over the course of two days, had tales told of it across the sea and back. They told all they could remember, as they remembered it with only slight embellishment. When the tale was told, and entire crew sat dumbstruck, staring at the couple in wonder.

Thatch soon recovered from the shock of everything and ordered the crew back to work. He himself took the wheel up once more. The couple went back to their room and set about organizing their supplies, clothing, and belongings throughout it. Then, they read the rest of the afternoon. And so the days passed likewise. They spent the rest of the journey reading, eating, speaking with Thatch and the crew, and once every three days they went fishing or harpooning. They were soon a day from Teirm.

On the morning of their arrival, they both woke early and sought to dress to impress. Jason put on a silver silk shirt with black sleeves. On bottom he wore his black silk pants and black fine fur boots. He also wore a black cape made of silk. His sword was strapped to his side on his belt, which had obliged the occasion by turning gold to match the outfit. He even combed his hair down. He looked like an elven princeling, or a male modeling god to Karisa.

As for Karisa, she wore a beautiful forest green dress. It flowed down to halfway above her knees. When she walked, it tightened to cup her ass cheeks flatteringly and yet still flowed. The top had crossing straps down to her mid-back, and also was cut to show the top half of her perfectly sized boobs. Underneath she wore a glittering bra in the same shade of green. It was too small by one size. On bottom she wore a matching set of underwear that was lace and see-through on the back.

She had painted her nails all the same shade of forest green. She wore dark green eye shadow and black eye liner. She put on cherry red lipstick. Her hair flowed down over her shoulders, parted so that it flowed over her chest and back both. Instead of covering half of her face, it instead framed her face to show how pretty she really was. She wore a pair of green heels with the dress, along with her customary belt, which happened to this time morph into a cute purple rope belt, from which her sword hung.

Jason smiled evilly when he saw how sexy she looked. She saw the look and returned it intensely, her eyes glazed over as they always did whenever she thought of sexual behavior with him. He pushed her against the wall and held her there with his body, using one hand to hike up her dress a bit, and the other to tug her underwear down to reveal her sexy ass. Already hard, he shoved the full length of his cock in her pussy, making her moan loudly and push back down onto him. He fucked her against the wall for several minutes before swapping to her ass, penetrating it hard and deep. When he came, he did so deep in her ass, and it leaked out slightly. She sighed, eyes half lidded in pleasure, and pulled her underwear back on and fixed her appearance back to perfection, just as he did. As soon as the sex buzz wore off, she realized what he had smiled so evilly about. She felt the cum leaking out of her ass and into the underwear, and she had no time to change anything. She glared at him and said in her mind to him, "_I will get you back for this!" _He had the nerve to grin.

Picture perfect in appearance, they walked out on deck, hand in hand, and watched as Teirm rapidly approached. The boat pulled into harbor swiftly as the sun was setting, and docked in the middle of the docks, where Brand, the king, and Ray were waiting patiently with smiles on their faces. The ship's walkway lowered, and the couple walked out slowly, holding hands, and waving to the crowd. When they reached the crowd, they took turns shaking hands with the king, and hugging Brand and Ray. They walked among the crowd of Teirm with ease, shaking hands, accepting hugs (Karisa more than Jason of course), and laughing at jokes old friends made. They had grown ever more confident and comfortable around others since they left on their trip.

Eventually the king dispersed the crowd, and formally invited the couple to dinner at the castle, which they accepted. Brand led the way, and after a few minutes of silence, they reached the gates. They went inside, and took places across from Brand and Ray. Throughout their dinner of lobster and salmon, they were plied with questions about their journey and the battle from the king. They replied politely, but kept much of the personal things, as well as their thoughts and feelings, to themselves. The dinner was sumptuous, and they enjoyed it immensely after being on a ship for a few months. Soon however, they had to excuse themselves for bed, and left with Brand and Ray.

When they reached the house, despite Ray, Brand, and the servants watching, Karisa had to get out of her dress. It may have looked amazing, but it was tight and uncomfortable. Under the amused gaze of her husband, father, and grandfather, she stripped off the dress, leaving her only in her emerald green bra and underwear. Fortunately, she had turned away from them so that they could not see her ass. She hurried to their room as the men talked and changed into black sweats and a black tank top. She came out as they were speaking about the trip in greater detail.

"Nice of you to join us again…" Brand says to her with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

Karisa blushed and didn't answer, taking a seat next to Jason. Jason told Brand everything about Korzak and the battle. He told them about the things they learned while there as well. Brand ran a hand over his face, thinking. Then he said, "Well, it is worrying if Korzak is now coming into the open. It means he is secure about his dragon's safety, and confident in his ability to defend himself. In the castle coming after me was one thing, but leaving the city entirely is another. Now, about this dragon egg. I am going to ask it of you, and hold it until the time is ripe to look for Riders for both of the eggs."

The couple nodded. They had expected that, and Jason brought it out quickly. They also gave Brand and Ray a tour of the chests. Ray then claimed himself tired, and excused himself for bed. The couple was about to do the same, but Brand held them back. "I have something for the two of you. A courier brought it by recently and I held onto it for you. I will give it to you in the morning, but it is an invitation to go to Hogwarts. It is a magical school, and I know the two of you have heard of it. You have the choice to go or not, and I know you will have an advantage with your combat skills as well as your wandless magic. It may be unnecessary, but I also believe wielding a wand would allow you to perform more magic, and without using much energy at all. Also, should you get jobs in the future that are to do with magic; most of them require an OWL or NEWT grade from Hogwarts to qualify. Also, they teach many classes there that will match your interests and skills, and improve a few as well. I, myself, took courses there as a lad. Also, when you are sorted, they have married rooms. I leave the choice to you both, and will speak further in the morning. I will say this though; you will only be moderately safer from the war there than you would here. While it is true Hogwarts has Dumbledore, as well as numerous magical protections, King Morzan and his wand/wandless experts' lieutenant Voldemort, both want the place to themselves. Voldemort constantly looks with his death eaters for a way of entry. That said, good night."

He turned and swept towards his own rooms, leaving the couple to find the way to their own. They did so, and stripped naked before falling into the bed. They were exhausted but spent a long while discussing the pros and cons of going to Hogwarts. They both wanted to excel, and make their lives as amazing as possible, but there were three factors in leaving. They would leave their family, spend little time working on the island, and would be able to do little for the war effort. They also knew that the classmates would range from eleven to twenty in age. At twenty, you no longer could join up. You also now had to take a proficiency test in knowledge to determine what year you belonged in. Lastly, they took into consideration that Severus Snape, the potions teacher, was a personal friend of Brand's, and so was Dumbledore and the Weasley family.

They knew they could count on Snape and the rest, and Snape could speak to them as a friend. All he had to do was pretend to Voldemort it was to gather information on Brand. Though they knew him to be sarcastic, snarky, and have a general dislike of Gryffindor students, he was also a good man when you got to know him and he let his guard down enough. Putting deliberations aside, Karisa put a leg in between Jason's, and lay her head on his chest. She leaned up and kissed him good night before falling asleep. Jason lie there a little longer and deliberated with himself before he caught himself and kissed her forehead. He lay his head back down and closed his eyes. It took a while, but he finally fell asleep too. He was happy to be home at last.


	34. Chapter Twenty Nine: Decisions

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Decisions**

When Jason awoke, Karisa was still sleeping. He extracted himself gently, and stood up and stretched. He walked to the closet and pulled out a fur house robe. He was still thinking about the Hogwarts thing. He pulled the coat on, and walked to the dining hall. The servants brought him out two fried eggs and four strips of bacon with a cup of milk. He had plenty of time to eat and after doing so he sat and thought while drinking the milk and smoking a little from his pipe. Around an hour later, Brand came down in a red sweater with a pair of jeans. He knew Karisa liked the tight fitting jeans, as well as the short shorts, but he never had much a taste for wearing them. Secretly, he liked it when she wore them too though. Brand took his seat and the servants brought him a cup of coffee, and one for Jason also. After a few sips Brand was able to speak.

"So, have you begun to think about the invitation yet? If you accept, there are many things we must do before term starts. Fortunately, Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, the wizarding marketplace, are still under our control. All of them. When you apparate, or teleport in some form, it takes you to the nearest Diagon Alley. We have one in Teirm, but there are a dozen others in the country. Sparta, I believe, may be the only other country to have one. They occasionally send the odd student along who excelled at magic. Spartans are usually born with a resistance to magic, which means they cannot use it themselves. The students they send are usually born and bred with another countries' citizen." Brand said to Jason.

"We spoke of it last night for many hours, and I have thought this morning as well. I have a large desire to go, but I cannot speak for Karisa. If she does not go however, I do not wish to." Jason replied guardedly. He had other reasons for wanting to go, but did not share them. He also was thinking privately that he was technically of age now to use magic outside Hogwarts, meaning anything he chose to do would be his own choice and not his father's.

He had no doubt Brand would let him choose his own path, but he may not approve of some things Jason would do to the kids who touched or acted inappropriately toward his wife. Speaking of his wife, she appeared at the top of their staircase looking beautiful as ever wearing her shimmering, short pink robe. It was cut in a v style so that it emphasized her perfectly sized small, firm, perky boobs, and cut off to show off her pale white legs. It cupped her perfect ass nicely too. She walked down the stairs, hair back in a ponytail, and took a seat next to Jason, graciously accepting a cup of coffee from one of the servants.

Brand asked her if she had thought any more of Hogwarts since last night. She sat in silence a few moments and sipped her coffee. Then she looked up and between Jason and Brand for a minute. She looked straight into Jason's eyes and then to Brand and said, "I'd like to go. But I won't go without Jason."

Jason smiled and took her hand and said, "Well, I guess that settles it. We both want to go."

Brand said to them, "Well, that is good news. We just got you back, and we will miss having you around, but it will be for the better. I should let you know also that I have extended Ray's life to match our own immortality as sorcerers and being a former Rider on my part. It took much energy, but was worth it in the long run I think. He has no natural magic in him though, which made it more difficult. Here are your letters. I will take you myself later on, or my friend Severus will should he show up in time." He got up, handed them both an envelope, and walked away to his rooms.

The couple did the same, opening the letters as they went. It was a standard invitation to attend, with a list attached for each year of supplies needed depending on which year they would start in. They decided to give a good impression of themselves, and got dressed accordingly. Karisa wore black eye liner, mascara, and hot pink eye shadow. She also painted her nails pink. Then she put on a pink bra and pink underwear, with a pair of tight fitting jeans, (their swords and armor would stay in the mirror room chest while at school), and a pink t shirt that was one size too small. It showed the smallest bit of her flat, sexy stomach. Her belt morphed into a pink rope belt.

Jason wore a pair of blue jeans also, and combed his hair down. He threw on a black long sleeve with it, and rolled the sleeves up to the elbow. It may be getting colder, but it barely seemed to affect him. Then, they both grabbed a book, or in Jason's case, a scroll. They went onto their balcony, and lie back in the chairs with a glass of brandy and read in the last bit of warm weather they were likely to get before next spring. A few hours later, they heard a thunder crack, and looked down to see Severus Snape in his black teaching robes walking down the street toward their house.

The couple hopped up and took their glasses inside and set them on the table. They put their books or in Jason's case, scroll, away. Then, they rushed downstairs to meet him at the door with their lists clutched in their hands. Just as he knocked, Jason opened the door. Jason greeted him and he walked inside. He stopped to stare openly at Karisa a few moments, and then greeted her cordially. He looked the couple over and shut the door.

"I assume you know I am here to help you both take your tests, and after to assist you with going to Diagon Alley for your first time. I will also remind you that should you make it in my class; I will treat you as I would any other student in the classroom. I do not play favorites. Either you do well, or you do not. That remains to be seen. Outside the classroom if we happen to be friends that is different. The headmaster, and Brand, would like me to remind you both that nothing is to be said about my role in the war to other students. That said, I have the examination papers with me so let us go to the dining hall and take a seat. I heard you studied subjects with Brand; let's see how many he broached." Severus said, and turned on his heel to walk into the dining hall.

When they had taken their seats across from him on separate ends of the table, he passed them both a sheet and a quill with a pot of ink. "You have one hour. Begin." He said to them before looking down at a book he had brought. The test proved easy, but it was long. Brand had at the very least touched upon, if not directly discussed, all of the subjects involved. They probably had the graduation certificate in the bag already if they didn't have to start at fifth year at the most. Rules were rules however.

Severus took the couple's papers as soon as their quills quit scratching on the paper. He took out a folder with the ministry of magic (who were thankfully under their own authority, not the king's) stamp on top of it. From it, he took out a grader's sheet for the exam papers. He took out a quill with a pot of red ink, and began to grade their sheets. They waited nervously as he casually went through them both. Snape realized this, and made it a point to slowly go through them, and frown the whole while as if in disappointment. Jason and Karisa watched with tangible anticipation as he did. Soon, he looked up from their sheets and handed them back. "Brand taught you well. There isn't a single mistake on these sheets. That is the easiest grading I have done in a long while. Unfortunately, the best I can put you in is fifth year. If I had my choice, you would only have to spend one year at that school and you would have graduated."

Jason stood, Karisa mimicking his movement, and he said, "That is perfectly fine with us Severus. We would like to experience Hogwarts anyway, and I don't believe we could do so fully within a year's time. We are prepared to leave for Diagon Alley as soon as you are."

Severus looked at the couple, and smiled for the first time in a while. He almost felt for a moment as if he actually had more than Brand as a friend who cared for him beyond what skills he possessed. He turned around with his trademark billow of robes and said, "Follow me then. When we are outside, grasp my arm and I will guide you through side-a-long apparition."

The couple followed him, and silently placed a hand on his arm. He turned on his heel, and they all were squeezed into nothingness as they teleported straight into the middle of Diagon alley. They brought out their lists, and consulted the fifth year supplies, books, and robes needed. They were confused to find it blank. Severus solved this by tapping the top of each with his wand. Fifth year showed up on top of the parchment in large black lettering. A list of classes appeared below it. There were several main classes that were required, and a few extracurricular classes offered. Also, there was a list of sports and extra activities and clubs offered. Severus explained that all they had to do was choose the extra classes and activities they were interested in, and he would select it for them.

The classes required and offered were a large list, and the couple took turns looking at them. The extra activities were smaller, but still large in its own right. The list went like this:

Core (required) classes:

Astronomy

Charms

Defense against the Dark Arts (DADA)

Transfiguration

Potions

Flying (First years)

Herbology

History of Magic

Extracurricular (optional) classes:

Ancient Runes

Medicinal Magic

Arithmancy

Muggle Studies

Care of Magical Creatures

Divination

Apparition (teleporting)

Magical Theory

Elemental Magic

Jason went first, and made things easy. He chose all of the subjects except for flying. Since Karisa was a bookworm and loved to study also, not to mention a desire to be with her husband in all of their classes, she chose the same. Internally, Severus smirked. It only made this job easier than most kids made it. If he had been honest with himself, he saw a bit of himself in the couple's decisions. He would have made the same choices. He selected the classes for them, and below the list of their chosen classes, of which a schedule was currently being drawn up, a list of their supplies needed appeared. It was a lengthy list, and would cost some money. The list went as such:

Fifth year supply requirements:

Three sets of black work robes

One winter cloak (Black)

One or more pair(s) of protective gloves (Dragon hide or similar)

One wand

One telescope

One set of glass or crystal phials

One set of scales

One cauldron (Standard size 2)

One set of standard ingredients

Dress Robes

Pets are allowed, meaning owls, cats, toads, or SAFE substitute. Any extra supplies bought will be permitted, but are not required. Any students needing financial aid may contact Professor Dumbledore by Owl.

Fifth year book requirements:

Standard book of spells (grades 1-5)

History of Magic

Magical Theory

Advanced and Beginner's guide to transfiguration

One thousand magical herbs and fungi

Advanced and Beginner's Magical drafts and potions

Fantastic beasts and where to find them

Dark forces: a guide to self protection

Unfogging the future

Monster book of monsters

Numerology and Grammatica

Home life and social habits of the normal Muggle

Spellman's syllabry

Advanced Rune Translation

Defensive magical theory

Hogwarts; A history

Soon after looking at the list, the couple sighed in relief, happy they had found the gold they had. This would have cost Brand a fortune. Who knew that wanting to be brilliant would cost so much? The couple glanced at each other, and then looked at Snape for their next instructions. He considered them for a moment quietly, having expected them to want to change their mind because of the extravagant list. When they did not, he merely turned on his heel and started out the door with a stiff, "Follow me."

The couple did so, Karisa first, submissiveness still one of her traits she couldn't get rid of when someone intimidated her. Jason followed behind her for three reasons. One, from the rear he got to see every place they went to longer than any of the others. Two, he wanted no one to stare at Karisa from behind because it made her uncomfortable unless it was someone she knew. Three, he wanted to stare for himself. At any rate, Severus took them to an alley by the house and turned to them. He offered his arm to the both of them, and they each lay a hand on it. "On three then." Severus said to them quietly before turning on his heel and making them all twist and disappear with a small crack of thunder.

They reappeared in front of a brick wall, Diagon Alley having been much too crowded to teleport into directly with such a large group. Severus pulled out his wand and tapped the wall in front of him. This caused the wall to essentially melt in front of them, exposing a very large paved road with extravagant shops on both sides, and a very large white domed building at the end of it. Jason was in awe of the very obviously magical buildings on either side. Karisa was trying to take in the size of it all. Smirking slightly at the expressions on the younger couple's faces, Severus Snape stepped forward into the entryway to the alley, beckoning to the couple to follow him.


	35. Chapter Thirty: Shopping

**Chapter Thirty: Shopping**

The couple followed Snape, who had turned to them and said in a loud, angry voice for the benefit of anyone watching, "Whenever you two children have decided to quit drooling over things you won't buy, I will be at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor by the bank at the end of the road. Try not to take too long. I am a busy man, and don't have time to babysit all day." After the couple nodded to acknowledge his statement, he turned and strode to where he said he would be sitting and waiting for them.

Excited, the couple took out their lists and decided to just go to every shop down the line, starting with the shop on their right which happened to be the robes store. Remembering they needed three sets of normal robes, and one or more sets of dress robes, the couple decided to get their measurements first. They went up to the lady in charge, a Madam Malkin, and told her politely that they were from Hogwarts and needed their uniform robes. Nodding understandingly, she took the couple and had them follow her to the changing rooms. She split them up and decided to do it separately, despite noticing they were married.

She decided to start with Jason, as there was less to have to measure on a guy. She took him through a wooden door and told him to stand in the center of the room. As he looked around her noticed the room was barren aside of a desk in the corner with a sturdy looking chair behind it. He did as he was asked and walked to the center. Once there, she instructed him to remove all his clothing and spread out his arms and legs, which he did after a moment's hesitation. She walked up to him with a tape measure and clipboard in one hand, and a quill and inkpot in the other. She sat the objects down next to him, and pulled out her wand. Waving it once, she caused all of the objects on the ground to float in the air, quill poised against the clipboard already soaked in ink, and tape measure floating next to her hand. Choosing to pick up the tape measure, she set to work.

Malkin began by measuring from Jason's shoulder to fingertip, then around his head, around his neck, the length of his arms as well as the width, the size of his feet, and the length and width of his legs. She then measured between his legs, and the length of his cock. While he blushed slightly, she ignored it and moved around to measure around his hips and ass. That done, she picked up the quill and clipboard and proceeded to write down the measurements as the tape measure began measuring on its own. The woman continued writing things down, and when she looked back up she snorted in surprise. The tape measure had continued measuring, and it was now doing so between his nostrils. She flicked her wand at it, and it fell to the ground in a heap. She told him to get dressed, and then stepped out of the room to fetch Karisa.

Jason dressed and stepped out of the room just as Karisa stepped in. As with Jason, Malkin ordered Karisa to strip, and once she had done so fully, having taken some coaxing to take off her underwear and bra, she proceeded to measure her the same way as Jason with the exception of measuring around her boobs, between her legs, and around her ass. When Karisa had dressed again, the woman took them both out into the shop and found their correct sizes in black robes. They had memorized their sizes themselves, and took off to look for more robes, as well as dress robes, leaving the school robed up front with her.

Jason bought four more pairs in black, two silk, and two of them with fur on the inside. He also found two sets of dress robes he liked particularly. He bought them both. One was a blood red that was silk and had gold trimming on it. The other was a deep blue that was also silk, but shimmered when he moved akin to water rippling on the surface. Along with all four sets of robes came polished black dress shoes, polished black boots, two sets of fur boots, and a pair of leather boots in brown.

Karisa bought four more pairs of normal robes as well. Two were in silk, and two had heating charms on them. One silk was in pink, the other in purple. The thermal was black, and the other in red. Her dress robes were magnificent. They showed half her small perky boobs when it came to cleavage, and stopped just halfway above her knees. Both sparkled and flowed. They were both silk, and one was pink, the other red. She bought four pairs of black fur boots, three shiny red boots, two brown leather boots, four pairs of black polished dress shoes, and four pairs of heels, one in black, purple, red, and pink respectively. The couple also purchased a few t-shirts, jeans, shorts, underclothing, and a couple dresses and skirts in Karisa's case. They knew they were spending a ton of money buying everything first-class, but they did want to represent their house well when they arrived. They did need the clothes too, as they would spend several months there. Then, they saw a suitcase. This suitcase looked normal, but it read that when it was opened, it acted as the chests they found did.

Excited, they picked it up as well. Also with a mere thought and some wandless magic, Jason turned their chests all into suitcases as well so no one would question why they might have chests if he needed to take them out. Bringing their purchases to the front, they waited as the now very happy Madam Malkin counted up prices. This took a little while as she used a quill and parchment to total it all. Jason had the price in his head, but waited to see if he was correct. He used magic to conjure another pouch replica like the one he owned, and also to transfer the amount he thought it would be into the pouch. Malkin looked up at them and said, "You dears were really kind and easy to work with, so I knocked off some on the price. It still came up to 1,450,000 gold. It was the suitcase that nailed you in the end."

Jason smiled and handed over the pouch saying, "Here, I had it figured in my head without the discount. While I thank you for it, you really earned this with all the effort you went through to be kind to us on our first time here." The lady sat in shock that the couple had afforded the exuberant price. With a small bow and curtsy to the woman, Jason and Karisa left the store after shrinking their purchases and stowing them in their pockets.

They headed to the store across the street which happened to be the bookstore, something they had been looking forward to visiting. They consulted their list again, and handed it to the store owner when he asked if he could help them. As the man took Karisa around the store to collect the various needed materials, Jason went to the alley outside. He opened the new suitcase up and went inside. He made eight rooms in it. One was a bedroom, big enough to hold a huge bed with red and gold thermal blankets and several feather pillows. Underneath the bed was a rug. In front of the bed a large wall fireplace roared with an ever burning fire that took no energy at all, and a stone sink next to it about three feet away in the shape of a large snake with the water coming out of the mouth. There was a nightstand next to both beds with a lantern on each. By the bed was an enormous closet. In the middle of it stood a mirror on both sides so she could do her makeup and such, and he could shave or something. It also held shoes and all other accessories such as makeup and lipstick and nail polish on her side, and ties, belts, and such on his own. It held four extremely long racks on both sides of the closet room. One side for each person.

Coming out of the closet, he asked the room (which was how everything was being built, as if the room were a form of magic in itself, responding to every desire of the owner.) to create a hot tub big enough for four to be placed on the other side about five feet from the bed on the other side of the door. Leaving the bedroom, he created a bathroom with a swimming tub in it. It got to ten foot deep, had twelve different colored bubble bath water jets that let the water out, and a steamer. He added three towel racks, one with pink towels, one with black, and one with white, all of them fluffy. He also put in a stone gargoyle sink, double wide for two, with a mirror behind it. A storage mirror went to the side of it as well to put all their toiletries in. He then put in the toilet, next to the sink. He left the bathroom and then created a file room.

The file room was a simple room with over a thousand empty file cabinets. Each one was labeled differently such as; potions, Herbology, transfiguration, magical creatures, and ideas for spells, ideas for potions, and so on. He then created the sitting room. It had a plush red couch, with a side table on either side. In front was a mirror that would magically show any mirror's image in the mirror suitcase. The mirror was very large, being fifty inched across and about the same in height. There was a lantern on both side tables. There was also an armchair on either side of the side tables. Against the far wall facing the rest of the room two desks were placed. They were extravagant, black mahogany desks complete with a stack of parchment on each, along with six quills and pots of ink to go with them. He then created a room that housed an enormous thirty foot long swimming pool that got up to twenty feet deep. In that room he also put three towel racks full of fluffy towels in white, pink and purple. Next he created the kitchen. The room only stretched big enough for two refrigerators, much to his displeasure, but looked nice with a black stove and black wall over to go along with it. It had four cabinets, and a double wide black two-headed dragon sink. There was a table big enough for four with four mahogany wood chairs around it. After seeing to it that it was stocked properly with food taken from Brand's house by magic, her left to make the next room. Next, he made a room for the mirrors in the other suitcase. Magically transferring them to this room, he made it the same as the room in the other suitcase with plush red armchairs in the middle, an end table between them, and the mirrors rotating on the wall at a single word command.

Then he created in sequence the potion and poison room, making it enormous enough to be almost 500 feet high, and about 200 feet high with the ladder in there, the weapons room with it being only slightly larger with the swords, arrows, bows, and scrolls being all in the same place and organized, and the money room, where he put all the gems and gold bars for sale in order, and organized the gold coins in stacks of 500 gold each. Being done magically, it didn't take more than a minute to have it done the way he imagined it.

Leaving that room, he created two last rooms, the first one a library with over a thousand shelves. This is the only room he left un-warded from things teleporting in so that only he could teleport books here. He set the room to organize the books by category, then by alphabetical order under category. The categories were labeled on top of the shelves. He then asked for copies of every book he ever read to be placed in there, and the room complied. The room was over-full when he requested Karisa's books and scrolls copies. The room was set to magically expand to fit any new books he may want to add at any time.

He then created a potions laboratory. It had fifteen tables with room for eight cauldrons on each table. There were wooden benches along one side of each table, the other side you had to stand on. Twenty cabinets appeared on the other side of the room for storage of ingredients. On the wall opposite those, there were twenty more cabinets to store glass, or the more expensive option, crystal phials in. Each wall would expand to fit more cabinets for ingredients or phials as necessary. He then left the suitcase and put it into the invisible pocket he had all the other now empty suitcases in. Taking those out, he banished them to his father's home, thinking he may find a use for suitcases such as those. Little did he know, they surprised Brand when they appeared in front of the door with a pop just as he was leaving the house.

Jason walked back into the book store just as Karisa came back with the store manager, not having noticed him missing with how little time it took for the magic to work. They now had all their course books. Jason asked for a copy of each of those, along with two of every book in the store so that he could add them to the library. As the manager went away to happily comply with his wishes, Jason told a bewildered Karisa what he had accomplished in the last few moments. She laughed and gave him a kiss as the manager stacked the books in a bottomless bag, grabbing them off the shelf two at a time. The couple joined in the effort and had it accomplished in under an hour. They brought them to the front as the manager, a little smarter than the robes store lady, gave them the price he had figured up as they collected the books. "That will be a whopping total of 35,750,350 gold. Are you sure you can afford this?"

Karisa laughed and she and Jason both used magic to get the money out in a pouch for the man. "This should cover it. It is thirty-six million even. Keep the extra. From now on, we would like you to owl us with two copies of any new books or scrolls you find or receive, including special requests from other customers, provided we don't have it already." Karisa told him as she passed over the pouch. The man sat there eyeballing the young couple in front of him before nodding.

The man bowed them out of the store while thinking he wanted to stay on their good side, and the other half of his brain now deciding what to do with his new found money. The couple left and walked into the Quidditch store. They had decided what they wanted to be on the team, and wanted to get the supplies now so they could practice. To that end they both bought the newest firebolt edition out. They also bought two broom servicing kits. They then bought a full set of Quidditch gear for each position. They paid close to fifteen million for the whole lot of it. As usual, they shrunk their purchases to deal with later. The books had been sent to the trunk where they were now sorting themselves out, a job that would've taken hours by hand. They were thankful they had seen the suitcase and were no longer wondering why it had cost so much. They left for the next store where they spent about fifty gold on quills of different kinds, and a lot of ink pots as well as heaps of stacks of parchment.

Leaving that store, they bought a wide variety of joke products from the joke shop, ten of everything in fact, which was all placed inside the weapons room on a wall that magically created itself with shelves that the items were then placed on, organized. The next store was a store for armor for wizards and muggles alike. They had one set that could stop both a sword, and most spells. It was dragon hide, and extremely expensive. Funnily enough however, they both owned a dragon hide armor set. They resolved to wear them under their robes at all times. With a small, unnoticed wave of his hand, Jason made their dragon hide suits appear in their bedroom closet in the suitcase.

They approached the person running the store and asked for four sets of black dragon hide gloves. When paid for, two sets went to their closet. They left for the potion shop. Jason was getting very excited, as potions was his favorite subject. Karisa liked it too, but on a lesser extent. As they walked in, Jason's eyebrows raised at the sheer amount of supplies the man had. Jason walked around and bought one hundred and twenty cauldrons. The potions master in charge asked if he was a teacher to which Jason replied that he was not, confusing the poor man slightly. He bought all of them as gold cauldrons. Gold cauldrons usually were for master level potioneers, since they would reflect whatever material cauldron the potion or poison required. They were very expensive. He also bought two pewter cauldrons for both of them for school. He paid for two school kits of ingredients, and then asked for one hundred of each type of ingredient they had in the store. In the end, he sent their school supplies into the same pocket he had the suitcase and the rest of the school supplies separated in, and sent the extra ingredients and cauldrons and equipment to their potions lab in the suitcase. It had cost him three hundred million gold, which nearly made him have a heart attack, but was worth it. He was setting himself up to make money later. They left the store for the care of magical creatures store.

Now it was Karisa's turn to be excited. She loved animals and had wanted an owl ever since reading the letter. As they entered, they looked around the entire shop and both said, "Whoa." Simultaneously at that. The store was huge with every kind of magical creature available. They looked at the owls and two caught each of their eyes respectively at once. Karisa went to a medium sized tawny owl. She held out her arm and he jumped right on it. He was a magnificent snowy white color. Choosing him right off the bat, she looked to Jason. He was stroking a very large and muscled sleek black owl that looked kin to one of the great eagles of the north. He looked nearly like nobility in the owl world, as all of the owls including hers seemed to be waiting on his reaction to being chosen. He leaned out and nipped Jason's ear affectionately. They took their purchases to the lady in charge, before letting them fly off with instructions to await their arrival at Hogwarts. Karisa's had cost three hundred gold, and Jason's had cost nearly 1500. They both left for the final shop, the one that excited them both.

They both looked at the sign as they entered. It said Ollivander's Wands. They walked in and were met by Mr. Ollivander himself. He smiled at them and said to Jason, "I wondered when you would be in here young man. I have seen your father many times over the years, but never you with him. Never mind that, let's try to get you both sorted eh?" He took them around to sit in two arm chairs, and started with Karisa. He took the sight of her in, looking her up and down. "_Make-up, lipstick, nail polish, all done nicely. Pretty girl too. Frame never too small. Not a thing wrong with her. Fierce expression. Hmmm, I am inclined to think she favors transfiguration or charms. More than likely charms." _Finished with his deliberations about her, he disappeared into the shelves holding many different forms of wands.

Returning after about ten minutes with an armful of wand boxes, he sets them in front of her. "There are seven of them. Four are wands attuned to people with an affinity for transfiguration magic, and three are for people with an affinity for charms. Try them." Karisa waved one after another but nothing happened until the last two. One of them shot out green sparks, and the next one, red. Confused, she looked at Ollivander, who was watching with a much more professional look on his face than before. He gathered up all but those two, and put the rest away. Coming back, he said, "You are very powerful dear. Not many people could manage to use two wands at once, and out of those select few, even fewer had two wands choose them. The one with green sparks is for transfiguration power boosts, the one on the right for charms. I will merge them with a spell, which can be undone later should you wish, so that you only have to carry one to have to power of two. I will do the same for your husband should the same happen to him."

After doing so he turned to Jason. He studied him as he did Karisa. "_Hmm, he carries himself with confidence. His words are always measured so far, and he is protective. He does not trust others as easily as he should at all. He has quite a bit of muscle, and seems to look handsome without actually trying, which tells me he doesn't care how he looks particularly, so long as he believes he looks intimidating. Power for the dark arts I think. Or it could be potions. His father was more for defense so not much help there." _ He disappeared again into the back.

When he reappeared, he had ten wands in his arms. He was surprised however, when not one, not two, but three wands chose Jason, one of them shooting out a golden beam. "A triumvirate." The old wizard said under his breath in awe before transforming them all to be one left the one that shot gold sparks out as the one everyone saw. In explanation he said, "The green sparks was the one that was compatible the least out of the three and it was dark arts. The second one that was red sparks, was for defense. The final one, which shot gold sparks, was the one that was for potions. You will be a very gifted and powerful wizard Jason." When they had paid a hundred gold apiece for their wands, Mr. Ollivander bowed them out of the shop.

Jason and Karisa went to find Snape who was still sitting in the ice cream place despite how long they took. They shared an ice cream with each other since no one was watching, and they told him they were ready to go. He teleported them to the alley by the house before stating he would see them at Hogwarts. They went inside and stripped down. It was late. They unpacked their suitcase from the invisible space, and lay down to a deep sleep together.


	36. AN 5

**A/N 5:**

**WHEW! Finally got the next five chapter finished and published. I apologize for the time it took to do so, but life has been hectic. My van broke, and the wheelchair lift quit so I have been resorting to lifting myself into the driver seat to get back and forth places. On top of that, I hit writers block. Today, it hit me what I wanted to write, and I just did it. By the way, ONE THOUSAND VIEWS! On my first story too. Thanks guys! As always, please Read and Review. Feel free to message me privately about your thoughts as well! Next five hopefully done by next week. Maybe sooner.**


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