Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 09:04:21 -0400
From: George Gauthier <georgegauthierdc@gmail.com>
Subject: Elf-Boy's Friends 1

			Elf-Boy's Friends 1
			Frost Giants Part I
 			by George Gauthier

[The further adventures of characters from the novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends']

			Chapter 1. Elysion

Two splendid youths grappled and twisted as they sought advantage in a
practice bout, the sweat on their nude bodies glistening in the bright sun
of early afternoon. Both youths were well-trained in unarmed combat, a
traditional sport for the people of the secluded valley of Elysion and of
the original homeland of the smaller of the two.

The taller of the combatants was Artor, first born son of the local
nobleman, landowner, and district judge Lord Taitos Klarendes. A good
looking lad in his early twenties with his father's sandy hair, Artor stood
above medium height and was blessed with the deeply tanned athletic build
of a swimmer: narrow hips, strong shoulders, and large hands.

His opponent Aodh was a much smaller youth, one who barely reached five
feet in height and weighed only a couple of pounds over a
hundred-weight. Small, skinny, and smooth muscled, comely as an angel, with
skin like porcelain which never tanned or burned, the raven-haired beauty
looked utterly fragile and vulnerable. In actuality the epicene youth was
easily twice as strong as he looked to be thanks to his magical nature.

Aodh was a shapeshifter or wir, which in his case meant he could take on
the shape of a black panther. The magical process of transformation also
healed wounds, injuries, and disease and kept him perpetually young,
looking no more than sixteen though he was actually well into his twenties.

The foes separated to catch their breath. Artor shook his head.

"How can such a tiny body could be so strong! Father, I fear I am
overmatched and that is without your lover using his claws on me."

His father laughed.

"Indeed Artor, Aodh's petite physique is much stronger than it looks, but
the greatest advantage conferred by magically enhanced strength is the
element of surprise, which no longer applies in your case."

"True but that still gives him the advantage of speed. Aodh's doubled
strength makes him move faster than I can."

"Indeed, his enhanced speed and strength were what enabled him in his
panther form to kill a full-grown dire wolf in single combat even though
the beast massed more than twice what he did. Our little Aodh here is a
formidable opponent. Of course you are quite formidable yourself thanks to
your magical gift, not to mention your combat training as a Hand of the
Commonwealth."

That was a reference to Artor's ability to control heat and fire and to
cast it either as a flaming stream or in great clinging balls of flame, a
magical gift he had inherited from his father. Most sentients on the planet
of Haven had one or two magical gifts such as Calling Light, Healing, a
Green Thumb, or an Unerring Directional Sense. Other gifts such as Mind
Speech, Fetching, and Firecasting were less common. The rarest gift of all
was ability to wield many sorts of magic. That was the gift shared by war
wizards and druids alike despite their very different approaches to the
magical arts.

"Oh come on Artor," the young wir teased. "A fine strong fellow such as
yourself shouldn't have any trouble taking on a little bitty kitty kat like
me."

Just then Klarendes steward approached escorting a visitor, an
apple-cheeked young man who stood over six feet tall and was powerfully
built under the green silk shirt and trews that the wore. The steward named
him one Finn Ragnarson of Varangia, though that place name was unknown to
any of them. Finn's boyishly handsome face featured a straight nose and
firm chin, graced by grey eyes, all framed by a tousled thatch of dark
hair.

Then the steward formally introduced his master.

"Finn Ragnarson of Varangia, I present to you the Honorable Taitos
Klarendes, Chief District Magistrate, Dispenser of the Middle Justice and
the Low, Dwarf Friend, Lord-Zamindar of Elysion, and Count of the Eastern
March."

"Also his son and heir Lord Artor, who is is a journeyman Hand of the
Commonwealth." With a wink to Aodh he added. "And that impossibly cute
fellow over there is Sir Aodh of Llangollen, spouse to Count Klarendes. I
should mention that his title is not simply a courtesy title from his
relationship with the count but one conferred on him by letters patent for
distinguished service to the Commonwealth."

The introductions brought a shrug from the young visitor's.

"My people don't have much use for titles. Oh we have our headmen and
war-chiefs but no gentry or aristocracy and not much of a government
either. Still with all your tens of millions and the great extant of the
Commonwealth of the Long River, I can understand why you need more
structure in your society."

"Just who are your people anyway, Finn Ragnarson?"

"Frost Giants."

Seeing the tension which his announcement brought he added hurriedly:

"I come in peace, Count Klarendes. Will you hear me out, sir?"

"Say what you have come to say."

"I am an emissary of the colony of Frost Giants stranded north of the
Eastern Plains. We would make peace between us and the Commonwealth. We
also ask for lands of our own where we may settle and resume our old way of
life as woodsmen, shipbuilders, masons, and blacksmiths. In exchange we
would form a binding alliance."

"It is true that we were enrolled on the other side during your recent wars
with the eastern barbarians and the military-industrial nexus which the
life-leech Urloch built on that foundation, but we joined up as
construction workers not as fighters. We ourselves never directly engaged
the forces of the Commonwealth nor have we had any hostile contact in the
years since."

Finn went on to explain that until recently the Frost Giants had been under
siege at the staging area Urloch had assigned the giants construct for
him. After the destruction of Urloch's capital, shipment of supplies from
the east stopped, threatening the centaurs with starvation. In their native
land, the creatures lived exclusively by the hunt, their population widely
dispersed over the land.

The centaurs turned on their allies as their only source of meat. First to
die were the barbarous humans from the eastern lands, many of whom had an
admixture of orc blood. That distraction gave the Frost Giants the chance
to retire to the stout fortress they had secretly built within their own
precincts.

Over the next year, using their hoarded supplies, the giants managed to
hold on long enough for the centaurs to finally turn on each other,
cannibalizing their own numbers, but always fighting to get at the
encircled Frost Giants as well. Eventually the ranks of the centaurs were
reduced enough for the Frost Giants to take the offensive, to sally from
their defensive works, and to engage the centaurs in open battle, which led
to their extermination, at least in those parts.

"So why did your leaders send you and why did you come to me?" Klarendes
asked.

"Lord Klarendes, you must understand that I myself am very young and far
from full-grown. I am only seventeen and won't reach my full height for at
least twenty years. It was thought that I could pass for human and so
travel freely across your lands bearing no weapon save a quarterstaff, a
walking stick really for all the use I have made of it. A full-grown Frost
Giant traveling from the north might have been taken for a hostile."

"As for yourself, Lord Klarendes, you have a continent-wide reputation, you
and your friends. That includes little Aodh over there, who all by himself
took out a Frost Giant armed and armored for battle though he was, those
twin archers Jemsen and Karel gifted with unerring aim, the giant-human
hybrid Balandur, a Dread Hand of the Commonwealth, the unicorn Meirionnydd,
and the young druid Dahlderon, an elf-boy originally. I understand you have
a considerable admixture of elf blood in your own family, which explains
your longevity and youthful appearance. I understand you to be in your
forties but you look only half that. "

"You are well-informed, though I wonder whether you are empowered to
negotiate for your people, being as young as you say you are."

"You are right on that score, sir. I am just a messenger. Our leaders hope
you will conduct me to your capital city and get me a hearing from the
government. My job there would be to invite the Ruling Council to appoint
an emissary with full powers to return with me to meet our chiefs and
settle matters between our peoples."

"I am all for peace, Finn of Varangia, so I welcome you to Elysion. Now, it
will take me a couple of days to settle my affairs here. Then we shall set
off. Both these youths will accompany us. Aodh is my spouse and lover and
best friend. My son Artor is himself a journeyman Hand of the Commonwealth
and due to report soon to the Chief Hand for his next assignment."

"Artor, after he settles in why don't you show our visitor around?"

Artor nodded and beckoned for the young giant to come with him. The steward
showed them to a room where Finn set down his kit, then followed Artor for
the grand tour of the manor house and then of the village and its idyllic
setting.

"As you can see, Elysion is a secluded valley shaped liked a bowl, about
eight miles across, surrounded on most sides by forested slopes and closed
off to the east by vertiginous cliffs and the ravine through which the
river that drains the valley passes."

"Yes I walked along that road and through the formidable fortification that
guards it."

"We call it the Stone Castle though it is really just a fortified
gate. Still it does the job."

"I saw empty barracks near the Stone Castle but no soldiers."

"Well it is no secret that Elysion was envisioned as a final redoubt for
our Army of the Plains, if a military disaster or overwhelming odds ever
forced them to retreat. The village itself is a fortress of sorts. It
occupies a low hill on an island surrounded by fast flowing streams. The
villagers could take shelter in their stoutly built houses should invaders
ever penetrate that far."

"It is all very well thought out. Artor. Although by trade I am an
apprentice blacksmith, my uncle is a stonemason and builder so I have an
eye for such things."

"And an eye for comely young males, I would say from the way you have been
staring at both me and Aodh with those grey eyes of yours."

"Can you blame me? You are quite handsome and little Aodh is... how can I
put it? Aodh is a boy so beautiful he takes your breath away, the epitome
of a young male in the full bloom of his youth. Impossibly pretty yet a
deadly predator underneath, he is a melding of the innocent and the
cruel. I find the combination devilishly attractive."

"Well thanks for your interest in me, but I consort exclusively with the
female of the species. With another boy there is simply no spark. Nothing
personal since you are quite presentable yourself."

"More's the pity. You see, I am at the age when I am small enough to
consort with young males of the other races without damaging them. Once I
am full-grown that becomes next to impossible."

"Maybe not for Aodh, though. He had no problem taking Balandur though of
course old Balan was only seven and a half feet tall. You Frost Giants
generally run a foot taller."

"So do I have a chance with Aodh?"

"Maybe. You can ask, but I have to tell you he is very much in love with my
father."

"Who said anything about love? I fancy him for a tumble -- that's all."

"Then maybe you will get your wish. Ask him."

"Er, just one thing, Artor. Does Aodh ever lose control of his form while,
er, in the throes of passion? I mean with those sharp claws and all ..."

Artor giggled as he visualized the scene of the young giant trying to make
love to an Aodh whose paws were busy kneading away at the giant's
belly. Between giggles he managed to gasp: "No, Aodh never loses control of
his form. No claws."

Grinning wickedly as an image of a panther giving Finn oral service popped
into his mind, Artor pointedly glanced down at Finn's groin and assured
him: "Aodh doesn't bite either!"

Artor then lost it completely, dissolving into helpless laughter. His laugh
was infectious, and soon Finn was chortling as well.

Finn did ask Aodh for a tryst, and that night, with the count's blessing,
Aodh slipped into Finn's room.

The young giant could hardly believe his luck. The lovely wir-boy and
sometime minstrel was a vision of youthful male pulchritude. Dark haired,
short and skinny, he stood five foot zero and weighed 102 pounds (45 kg)
looking like a barely legal street urchin, maybe fifteen or sixteen, an
epicene gamin. His petite physique was a visual delight. Taut skin covered
a hard body though the boy's musculature was smooth rather than defined. He
had a good bone structure with narrow shoulders, slender torso, and sharp
bladed hip bones. On his flat chest a well-defined midline separated small
pectorals accented by tiny nipples. The swale of his lower back lead to a
pert rump, the small tight buns jutting out just enough to provide a
potential lover a good grab or a good spank.

The youth's complexion was very fair, with skin pale and pearly white and
as smooth as any milk maid's and entirely without body hair. Large green
eyes dominated the stunning face of the androgynous youth which tapered
from a wide brow down a pert nose to a narrow chin. Adding to his fey look,
the wir was sloe-eyed, his orbs shaped like almonds and slanted faintly
upward above prominent cheekbones. From there the planes of his face
tapered to a small mouth with pouty lips just begging to be kissed and a
sharp chin. His eyebrows bent in a angle rather than a round arch. He wore
his hair in a shaggy cut with bangs and sideburns that framed a face as
cute as a kitten's.

As a lover the young wir was exciting, energetic, athletic, physical, and
vocal. Good thing for the thick walls. The young giant relished the way his
wiry boy-toy squirmed in his arms, twisting and straining that tight body
of his. Slick as he was with sweat, it was hard to keep a grip on Aodh when
Finn wanted to roll the boy onto his belly or flip him onto his
back. Grabbing the boy's ankles, Finn opened the slender legs like a
wishbone in preparation for an assault on his boy hole. As his cock thrust
into the welcoming orifice which grasped his member with its moist velvet
walls the young giant relished the way the boy's innards clutched and
sheathed his virile member.

From experience with quite a number of human lads Finn knew just how to
make love to sexually submissive boys like Aodh. You didn't want him to
just lie there and let you fuck him. You wanted your boy to put up a bit of
fight, to make the dominant partner work at maintaining his domination and
control. And you wanted to make your boy laugh and cry, to moan and
whimper, to both beg for it and to resist, even as the boy admitted to
himself that he desperately wanted the dominant male to work his will on
him, to make him do all manner of naughty things, sexual things.

Fortunately a boy's stiff prick made a good control handle, and the shaggy
thatch atop his head afforded a good grip during oral service. Gosh Aodh he
looked so cute down there, kneeling between the young giant's legs, pouty
lips closed over his shaft, sucking and slurping, circling the glans with
the tip of his tongue, doing everything in his power to drive his partner
wild with his buccal ministrations.

In the fullness of time Finn spent himself twice in Aodh's nether orifice
triggering the boy's own orgasms. As lovers they were
well-matched. Afterwards, in post-coital lassitude, Aodh snuggled up
against the young giant who stroked and petted him, running his big hands
along the chevron of the boy's ribs, fingering the sharp hip bones, sliding
down the smooth skin of his thighs then back up to fondle his buttocks. The
cat in Aodh loved the attention and the petting. His supple body was meant
to be touched and stroked. Even in human form, Aodh could purr softly when
contented, as after sex or a good meal. It was one of his most endearing
characteristics.

			Chapter 2. The Capital

The next morning, the mismatched couple showered together, which led to
more than a little grab ass fun, before going down to breakfast. Aodh
sported a hickey on his neck plus bruises on his butt cheeks from Finn's
firm grip. Bare-ass naked as the wir was, the evidence of their energetic
lovemaking was visible to all. As for the young giant, he had a goofy grin
on his face.

The count was just going in to breakfast. He nodded over at Finn and
remarked, ever so casually:

"I can see that you got over your fears about Aodh and love bites and all!"

Finn smiled shyly and winked at Aodh.

Klarendes his two sons were already at the table. Klarendes introduced the
giant to Eborn, his second son, a nice looking lad a couple of years
younger than Artor whose looks favored his father even more than his older
sibling.

Picking up on their cue the two youths waved cheerily and quipped in
tandem:

"I am the heir."

"And I am the spare."

Finn grinned at what was obviously a very old joke and a regular part of
their schtick. Was everyone around there a comedian or what?

The count and the young giant wore light silks against the tropical heat
though Aodh and Klarendes' sons went naked.

"In the Commonwealth so many of your young males typically parade around
without a stitch on both in the country and in the towns. With us Frost
Giants, casual public nudity is much less common. Our homeland is quite
cool. We get snow in winter and ice forms on still water though never in
flowing streams and rivers."

"That said, we have no problem with nudity in our sweat lodges. In the
antechamber we scrub with soap and water and douche. In the sweat lodge
proper we pour water over heated stones to generate steam which fills the
room and promotes perspiration. We also gently brush the skin with bundles
of fresh birch twigs with their leaves still attached to further open our
pores. I know that sounds weird to outlanders, but it is actually quite
refreshing. The best part is afterwards when you immerse yourself in the
plunge pool. Actually most people wade into the cold water gradually rather
than jump straight in, which can be quite a shock."

"And that is what passes for creature comforts among Frost Giants?" Taitos
asked skeptically.

"Here in the Commonwealth, we long ago gave up nudity taboos as utterly
pointless. The three habitable continents on Haven straddle the equator so
the climate ranges from subtropical warmth to intolerable heat in the Hot
Lands along the equator. Young males work the fields, exercise, and train
in the nude, partly for practical reasons but also as a courtship display,
to show off the trim taut bodies they have so recently grown into. Nudity
is quite common among the sentient races save the dwarves or dwarrow, as
they call themselves, who dwell in caves and caverns which are dark and
cool though never actually cold like your land."

Artor added.

"I do dress up when on duty as a Hand of the Commonwealth. Sometimes it is
a simple loincloth though more typically silk trews and shirt much like
yours along with a weapons belt."

"How long have you been one of these Hands?"

"Only three years now plus a year before that as a trainee. I finally
persuaded Father than being his heir might be my duty and my destiny but it
was not a life's work. It will be centuries till I inherit, the gods
willing, if they exist. Meanwhile I have to contribute, to work at
something, not loll around as a some rich wastrel. Father's own adventures
as a very young man at the side of Balandur inspired me to try out for an
appointment as a Hand. My gift of firecasting did much to recommend me, but
I still had to train hard, earn my place, and prove myself worthy of
trust."

"You see the Hands are the chief trouble-shooters for the Commonwealth. As
plenipotentiary agents of the state, our authority can override that of any
civil official or military officer. The Hands were accountable for the
actions only to the Chief Hand, Baron Jarmond, and the Ruling Council. We
have a reputation for being incorruptible, deadly in combat, and decisive
in removing any threat to the well-being of the state, whether it be a spy,
a corrupt governor or a crime lord. No one cares to cross a Hand."

"Of course, as a journeyman I myself do not wield full authority. Oh I can
act on my own freely enough, answerable only to my chain of command, but I
cannot override civil or military authority. Not yet anyway. Also once I am
promoted, the Commonwealth's war wizards will teach me how to throw white
fire. All of them can do it even though few have the magical gift of
firecasting. My father learned how to do it on his own the day he went into
a killing frenzy on a battlefield, which saved our militia from a crushing
defeat."

"Oh? Can I ask what happened Lord Klarendes?"

"That is not a day I remember fondly. My first lover, the blacksmith's son
Ahndray died that day. A hairy barbarian with a two-handed sword shattered
his skull, spraying brains and blood and bone chips all over me, my armor,
my face. That final horror set off the eruption of emotion that had been
building for days, a psychic storm made up of pain and fear, grief and
rage, numbing fatigue and loss of hope, but it was the death and
desecration of my lover that finally drove me into a killing frenzy.

Screaming my anguish I unleashed my will on the barbarian horde, setting
fire to the tall grass they stood in, igniting their clothes, their greased
hair, and the leather coverings of their wooden shields. I stalked back and
forth like a fire demon, casting great balls of fire or burning streams of
flame, laughing and cackling and hooting, utterly deranged, as the flames
consumed the barbarians amid horrid screams and cries for mercy. But I had
no mercy in my heart that day. I still don't, not for them, though I do
have regrets, especially about the pleasure I felt in killing them."

After I came to my senses, I saw what I had wrought. Their dead bodies were
hardly recognizable as human. Cloth and hair act like wicks for the body
fat that melts from flesh at those temperatures. I had turned living men
into human candlesticks. All that was left were piles of disarticulated
bones burned black."

"The psychic backlash nearly killed me but it also opened the channels of
my mind that control my gift. Since then I have been able to throw White
Fire which nothing can resist. The strongest armor or stone wall simply
disintegrates under the fury of that burning, its substance joining and
strengthening the effect.

[Not to be confused with blood plasma, White Fire is subatomic plasma, an
intensely hot ionized gas which modern physicists call the fourth state of
matter.  Plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe. The
stars including the sun are mostly made of plasma. ]

"That is quite a story, Count Klarendes. "You are a dangerous man. No
wonder that raid on Elysion failed so miserably."

"Show him the hand." Aodh urged Artor.

"Oh, right. The hand. It's both a signal and our credentials. We Hands
identify ourselves by triggering a small magic. These days it makes our
entire hand glow with a pearly white effulgence. We use it not only as a
credential but also for task lighting and to send signals in the dark,
flashing the same code used by military heliographers. We don't actually
flash the light on and off, we simply cover or uncover the shining hand
with the other one.

"I see. Say, are those Molossian hounds I hear barking by the kennels?"

"Yes, they get excited like that when its time for a feeding. Would you
like to visit them?"

"Sure. Molossians are the most popular breed in our homeland, not only as
hunting dogs or to protect livestock from dire wolves, but as household
pets. They are great with kids. As children we wrestle with them. To humans
Molossians are gigantic. To Frost Giants they are just the right size."

Later Aodh took Finn over to the high cliffs from which a scenic waterfall
fell into a pretty lake. It was the site of a popular resort which provided
employment for many locals.

"Er, Aodh, I'd like to see you transform. Is that OK?"

"No problem."

In seconds, the pretty boy-toy Finn had bedded turned into a sleek black
panther. Aodh ran around a bit, reared up and slashed the air with his
claws, snarling to look fierce. Then he morphed back into the Aodh Finn
knew.

"Wow! I had no idea you could change so fast, or that the change was like
you were melting from human to cat and back again. And that was quite a
horizontal leap you took a moment ago."

"Yes, the legs of a panther are proportionally the longest of the big
cats. Even your normal tawny panther can jump say forty feet (12 m)
horizontally and nearly half that vertically. With my magically enhanced
strength I can do much better than that."

"In fact, that was how I took out that Frost Giant during the raid years
ago. A pair of them snuck up on Taitos while he was busy killing
centaurs. I don't know if they even saw me at his feet crouched low atop
the watch tower. Anyway, the giants thought they could take Taitos
unawares. The one in front looked over to his companion with a predatory
grin. That moment of inattention was when I launched myself over the gap
and attacked. I ripped his face off and slashed his throat open before he
threw me against a wall breaking some of my ribs. Taitos unleashed White
Fire on him and cut him in half before he could bleed out."

That night Aodh slipped into Finn's bed for the second and last time. It
seemed that his fling with the beautiful Aodh would be limited to those two
trysts. The attraction between the tiny wir and the strapping young giant
held the fascination of the exotic for both parties. Aodh had never had sex
with a Frost Giant nor Finn with a boy who was a wir-panther. Having
scratched that itch, henceforth they would simply be friends.

Their journey to the capital of the Commonwealth proved uneventful though
intensely interesting to the young Frost Giant who had as yet seen little
of the world. The way led southeast across the Eastern Plains to the
garrison town of Dalnot, then west along the military road through the
mountains to the walled town of Bled. Their pace was slow for Aodh had to
travel on foot for no equine could bear the touch of a feline like
himself. Finn also went on foot. Adult Frost Giants are simply too massive
for horses so the younger ones never learn to ride. A notion popped into
Aodh's head:

"I think the only mount that could carry a full-grown Frost Giant would be
a brontothere."

Finn's puzzled look lead the young wir to elaborate.

"A brontothere is a huge beast, looking like an armored one-horn or rhino,
only as tall at the shoulder as a Frost Giant. Unlike the rhinos, their two
horns point forward and are composed of bone and set side to side at the
nose. Bizarre in the extreme. They are highly intelligent, nearly sentient
in fact, and generally of placid temperament. But if they perceive a threat
or they get angry, well the charge of a herd of brontotheres is virtually
unstoppable. My druid friend Dahlderon calls them the juggernauts of the
jungle."

Klarendes and his son did ride horses, their saddles equipped with the
newfangled stirrups that gave them a much more secure seat than the
old-fashioned pronged saddle. Previous generations of riders had had to
wedge their hips into one of those old-fashioned horned saddles. Stirrups
had been invented only a couple of decades earlier but had quickly become
universal, especially in the cavalry.

A rider could brace himself or even stand up in the stirrups and swing a
sword with his full strength, confident that he would not fall off his
horse. Ever better, stirrups let a cavalryman wield a lance without getting
pushed off the back of his horse by the impact with his target. In the old
days a rider held a light spear overhand trying to stick it into an enemy
or threw a javelin. These days the rider couched the shaft under his right
arm and guided the spearhead with his grip on the shaft. In a charge, the
stirrups concentrated the full weight and momentum of both horse and rider
to the point of the lance with irresistible effect.

Once they reached the town of Bled just west of the mountains the travelers
took a public coach to a port on the great river. From there the party of
four took a riverboat downstream to the capital where they found lodgings
at a government guest house.

While Klarendes contacted the authorities Aodh and Artor showed the young
emissary the town.  As during their entire trip, Aodh remained in the nude
though Artor donned a loincloth once they reached town. The sightseers took
in the chief points of interest then headed for the last one on the
itinerary, which lay on the other side of a large park laid out with lush
lawns and copses of trees and plantings of flowers and ornamental shrubs.

A group of nude youths were sailing pie tins to each other, a game which
the martyred elf-boy Randell had introduced to the Commonwealth. It had
caught on fast. The game, or sport if you will, could have been designed to
display the youthful male body to advantage as the participants ran and
jumped and flung the pie tin to each other, as Aodh explained to Finn.

Suddenly Aodh realized that the young giant was not attending to his words
but was looking off to the right at another group playing the same game. He
gaze was fixed on a pair of slender blond beauties, identical twins by the
look of them. Like many males of the sentient species dwelling on Planet
Haven, Finn had an eye for a pretty youth, and these two were among the
very prettiest, a pair of palomino colts with healthy boyish bodies and
cute fine-boned faces, their heads crowned with cornsilk blond hair. The
total effect was incredibly sexy.

Once Aodh realized that the boys who had mesmerized Finn were his old
friends and lovers Jemsen and Karel the young wir waved to get their
attention.

"You know those blond boys?" Finn asked.

"Intimately!" Aodh replied with a smug look on his face. Then he realized
what was going on. Finn was smitten.

"Fancy blond boys do you, Finn? Well those are two of the best. Hi fellas,"
he added as the twins ran up and hugged him. After they pulled apart,
Jemsen asked:

"So who is your handsome friend here, Aodh?"

"Why don't I just let him introduce himself?"

Finn's silence puzzled Aodh so he turned his head to look at him. The way
the young giant stared at the twins said it all. Yep, Finn had it
bad. Artor wasn't slow on the uptake either and threw a wink to the young
wir.

"Er, yes, of course," Finn stammered as he realized he had missed his
cue. "I am Finn, Finn Ragnarson of Varangia. You can only be the legendary
twins Jemsen and Karel."

"In the flesh!"

"And all of it on display!" Artor noted naughtily, which earned him a frown
from Jemsen.

"What? Just trying to help." Artor said defensively. The twins just shook
their heads at their friend's brazenness.

In a few sentences, Artor outlined what had brought his party to the
capital.

For their part the twins explained that they had partnered with a printer
to publish a series of individual maps and a comprehensive atlas of the
borderlands, publications aimed at travelers and traders. Using different
dashed lines, their maps highlighted the main roads and described their
manner of construction. The maps classified each road for their suitability
for foot, hoofed, or wheeled traffic. For river routes, they offered depths
at high and low water, the span between between riverbanks and the width of
the useable shipping channel. Their maps also showed the locations of
mines, quarries, and other industries and provided a gazetteer of place
names. That work was so well in hand that the twins had taken the day off
for some fun with local friends.

As the twins chatted away, the young giant marveled at their physical
beauty. Of fully human stock, the brothers were of medium height, blond,
slender, and incredibly cute. The small tattoos on their left shoulders
showed they had been recognized as both elf-friends and
dwarf-friends. Either folk would automatically extend their hospitality and
protection to them. From what he had heard about them, the twins were not
only brothers but lovers, comrades in arms, and each other's best friend.

"Are you guys up for a game?" Karel asked.

"I'd like to play" Finn ventured uncertainly but I don't know how."

"Don't worry. It's all in the wrist." Karel assured him. "You just flip the
pie tin to the next fellow. I'd be glad to show you how."

"You have to take your clothes off first." Artor observed
mischievously. "You play this game in the rude nude."

"That is not actually in the rules, but everyone does play that way." Aodh
assured him. "Look, you and Artor can hang your clothes on this low branch.

"Uh, OK. What the heck." Finn said as stripped off to reveal a strongly
built body.

Like many of his race, Finn had very little body hair save in the usual
three places. Nor did he have anything to be ashamed of down there either.

Just then a couple of young ladies in colorful skirts and blouses walked
by, slowing down to eye the attractive young males. Artor straightened and
returned their gaze, raising his eyebrows interrogatively, but they were
not interested in him. One literally sneered at him. Chagrined at the snub
he seethed till he saw the girls appreciatively eyeing the young giant and
his endowment.

"Hi there, big boy." one of them said.

Grinning predatorily Artor called out:

"Sorry girls, that one is already taken. By them," he added pointing to the
twins. He laughed as they tossed their heads and left in a huff. Meanwhile
poor Finn blushed red with embarrassment.

"That was not nice," Jemsen remonstrated.

"You are right, of course. What I did just now was unkind. Well-deserved,
mind you, but unkind."

"Don't mind him. Sometimes Taitos' first born is just impossible." Jemsen
assured Finn who nodded then asked both twins:

"What do you say if after the game we get a meal at a fancy victualing
house then maybe go out on the town for dancing and drinks."

"Fine by us," Jemsen said. "We can try several night spots in Twinkle Town
and see which ones you like best."

Artor rolled his eyes and was about to comment on that suggestion but
subsided under Aodh's glare.

So they turned their attention to the game. Finn quickly realized that it
was harder than it looked. Only the throw was 'all in the wrist' as Karel
had assured him. Still it had been pleasant when the slender blond youth
had taken him through some dry runs, their nude bodies pressed close while
Karel guided his right arm and wrist. Finn mastered the throw fairly soon,
but his size made him slow compared to smaller players like the twins and
Aodh.

"How the hell can those three move so fast, Artor? They are so quick and
nimble, it is uncanny."

"Uncanny is right, Finn. Or rather it is magic at work. Aodh is a wir with
double the strength you would guess from his size. Druidic magic conferred
longevity, perpetual youthfulness, and keener senses on the twins. Over
time it doubled their strength too. Now none of them is as strong as you
are, but they have less than half the body mass to move. The twins are nine
inches shorter than you and are slender. You are muscular. As for Aodh, he
is a skinny kid who stands just five foot zero. "

"Ah. Now I understand."

A brief visit to a public shower left the youths squeaky clean and smelling
fresh. The twins donned white linen kilts which set of their sun-bronzed
skins perfectly.

After a fine meal and a pleasant post-prandial walk, Finn asked:

"So what is this Twinkle Town? Is it close by?"

"Yes it is quite close. Twinkle Town is a cluster of dancing and drinking
establishments favored by those who fancy pretty boys and by pretty boys
who favor being fancied."

"The twins want to show you off, Finn." Artor explained. "In these parts,
you are quite the catch."

"I am?"

As Aodh and Artor split off from the would-be lovebirds, a very much amused
Artor remarked to Finn:

"I leave you now to the tender mercies and voracious sexual appetites of
those legendary lovers, the twins Jemsen and Karel."

"Not to worry, Artor. We'll bring him back alive." Karel assured him.

The next few hours were a whirl of dancing, drinking, and sexy bodies
swaying and rocking rhythmically to the beat of a band. Engrossed in each
other, the three youths kept themselves to themselves.

"That is so unfair," a voice from the crowd grumbled. "All three of them
are walking wet dreams, but they have eyes only for each other."

After which the twins took their new friend to their rooms.

"Nice digs, guys," Finn remarked looking around at the comfortable though
unostentatious appointments of the twins' lodgings. Are you a pair of rich
kids like Artor?"

"Hardly, just country boys who got lucky. For one thing, there are our
business ventures, like the maps and the improved pie tins soon to go on
sale. We designed ours with a more aerodynamic shape which is also easier
to grasp, so we think guys will pay the small price for a better
experience. We really got lucky when we hooked up with Balandur for various
adventures. In his will he bequeathed his landed estates and personal
effects to his brother but split his financial investments among the two of
us, Aodh, and our druidic friend Dahlderon. The funds were held in trust by
Klarendes till we reached our twenty-fifth birthdays a year or so ago."

"You two don't look a day over eighteen."

"No we don't and we won't for centuries to come thanks to druidic healing
magic. It was our reward for contributions to the Commonwealth, humans, the
other races, and to the biosphere in general."

"Yes I can see the small tattoos on your left shoulders that mark you as
both dwarf-friends and elf-friends, rare honors indeed taken singly but you
won both. You two must have had some adventures."

"That we did and then some," Karel affirmed. "A word of advice though if
you are hankering for adventure. As our mentor Balandur once observed,
'Adventures are dangerous and uncomfortable and they don't always serve
meals on time.'"

"Now that we are alone at last, Finn, just the three of us, why don't we
get out of our clothes and make ourselves comfortable."

"Don't mind if I do."

In very short order all three young males were naked and reclining on the
bed.

Finn could hardly believe his luck, first Aodh and now these twins. A very
different type from Aodh though all three were walking wet dreams. Aodh was
cute as the kitten he so much resembled. The human twins were a brace of
palomino colts. The brothers were of middle height and blessed with a
well-defined musculature. Lithe, boyishly handsome, and very blond, they
were utterly alluring with their slender physiques and youthful features.

Is there anything more beautiful than a teenage boy in the bloom of youth?
And here there were two of them, identical twins. Jemsen and Karel were not
only brothers, but also lovers, comrades in arms, and each other's best
friend. The twins might be taken for elves except for the lack of points on
their ears. Boisterous and rambunctious they exuded good health and sex
appeal.

Finn paired off with the twins, one at a time and had a lot of fun getting
acquainted with their boisterous style of lovemaking. Sexually
ambidextrous, the twins could top as well as bottom. As males, the twins
liked to sink their turgid cocks into a firm round butt, to feel their
members grasped and milked and massaged by the moist velvet glove of their
partner's innards, to follow the instinctive drive of the male to
penetrate, to thrust, and to ejaculate. But they had the most fun bottoming
for the young giant. For Finn's part the twins were the best ride he had
ever mounted or was likely to.

The trio were up nearly half the night, making love in all possible
combinations and positions including a three way. One time, in all that
excitement, Karel rolled right off their bed and onto the floor, only to
pick himself up and rejoin the lovemaking.

Finn's assignation with the twins was everything he had hoped and lusted
for, leaving him utterly wrung out and satiated. For their part, the boys
could only wonder at the unflagging potency of their hulking sex
partner. Finn was the gift that kept on giving.

Good thing for the thick walls and carpets of the upscale lodging. The
tryst of the three young males was a time for the expression of unbridled
teenage lust, sexy kids sparking off other guys their own age, romping,
stomping, and rocking, their surging hormones rising to an explosion of
eroticism and spunk.

Finally tired and spent, the three fell into a satisfying post-coital
slumber.

			Chapter 3. Peace

The next morning, as the three friends took breakfast together. Finn asked
the twins about their improved pie tin. Jemsen explained that its bowl was
rounded and the edges curled over for a better grip. Also the toys were
decorated with a spiral design in blue or red. The twins had originally
hoped their design might qualify for an inventor's license from the
commonwealth which conferred exclusive rights for a period of time to
commercially exploit a new device or process. Upon taking legal advice they
learned that to qualify for a license, the device had to be original, not
obvious, and useful, none of which was true of their pie tin. However they
were told that they could procure a trades-mark by giving their toys a
distinctive name and appearance.

The problem was that the twins were stumped on the name. Variations on
Randell's name just did not work. Neither did cutesy names like Whirlo or
Spinno. No, they needed a name that was distinctive, descriptive, and cute,
a name that promised fun. It was less a toy than a piece of sports
equipment for all ages, so the name could not be anything childish.

"I understand," the young giant said. Finn turned his attention back to his
breakfast. After a bit he asked:

"Say Karel, the rolls at your end of the table are out of even my
reach. Could you zing one down to me?

In a flash of inspiration, as the blond boy tossed him a sweet roll, Finn
blurted out:

"That's it. A Zinger!"

"Yes, of course! That's brilliant, Finn!" Karel chimed in. "Thanks. Zinger
it is."

Finn saw the quick minds of the twins as one of their most attractive
characteristics. There was a lot more to those two blond beauties than
pretty faces and sexy bodies.

Klarendes got the young emissary of the Frost Giants his meeting with the
highest authorities. He presented the young giant to the Ruling
Council. Also present were the Chief Hand plus Artor and the twins, the
journeyman Hand in his silks and the twins in sarongs.

Klarendes and the Chief Hand, Baron Jarmond, had known each other for
years, so before the meeting started the count asked why his son Artor was
there. Jarmond shrugged.

"He was due for a new assignment. This is it. Oh and the Council is going
to ask you to be part of the peace delegation. The Frost Giants respect
you. I am sure you can figure out why I brought the twins into this."

"As guides, obviously."

"And mapmakers too."

The twins had already mapped much of the Hot Lands on their expedition with
Balan years earlier and had cross the Western Plains too though only west
to east not north to south. Nevertheless, their magical gift of unerring
direction would get them through. They would map the route of march across
the Western Plains. The standard maps of the area were woefully inadequate.

At first things did not go well.

"How can we make peace with a people who allied themselves with those
horrible centaurs who devour human beings and other sentient races?"
complained one member of the Ruling Council.

"Not to mention the Dark Prophet with his intolerant religion or that
life-leach Urloch who militarized and industrialized the heartland of the
barbarians. Balandur, Rolf, and Arik destroyed their power center just in
time to save the world from the reign of perpetual evil."

Finn's counter to those points was to explain that the Frost Giants never
really allied themselves to the centaurs. The had been kept in the dark by
their employers. Then one day, the centaurs showed up at the military base
and supply depot which the giants were paid to build for Urloch. The truth
is that the giants did not like or trust the centaurs who looked like a
cross between a reptile and an insect if such a thing can be imagined. As a
precaution the giants secretly constructed a redoubt within their precincts
and stuffed it with provisions. A deep well provided water. When the
centaurs ran amok, the giants fought them to a standstill and finally
killed them all.

Finn pointed out that the Frost Giants did not act militarily against the
Commonwealth except for the participation of four of their number in the
raid on Elysion aiming to kill Balandur. Urloch's emissary had demanded
their participation and the four giants who went on the raid were a double
brace of hotheads no one missed. Finn also noted that, as individuals, tens
of thousands of Frost Giants lived in peace within the borders of the
Commonwealth, had done so for centuries, working like everyone else, paying
taxes, raising families, and not making trouble. Frost Giant males trained
with the local militia in units of auxiliaries made up exclusively of their
own kind.

The Ruling Council grudgingly accepted the sincerity of their offer of
peace but intended to drive a hard bargain on where the Frost Giants might
settle. The Commonwealth would use the giants for strategic advantage. The
giants would be offered the homeland of the centaurs which lay far to the
southwest, beyond the Western Plains. Quite a few centaurs still roamed
there, those which had not migrated at Urloch's behest. So the first task
of the giants would be to clear them out, which was quite a tall order.

Finn did not know whether his people would take the Commonwealth up on its
offer. His people had sought peace after a long war but the peace offered
by the Commonwealth came with a new war attached. Nevertheless he agreed to
guide a delegation to his people.

Artor's role was to represent the Hands and the Commonwealth and to lead
the long march. Also to employ his firepower at need. Jemsen and Karel
would act as guides. Klarendes and Aodh would travel with the
Commonwealth's peace delegation for their meeting with the Frost
Giants. Once the alliance was forged, Count Klarendes would take leave of
his son and his friends the twins and yes now young Finn too and return
with Aodh to Elysion. Such was the plan.

The peace delegation traveled north by riverboat. The head of the
delegation was Lord Zaldor, a member of the Ruling Council who traveled
with just a bodyguard, a single servant, and surprisingly light baggage.

During the trip upriver the other members of the delegation pretended not
to notice the sounds of lusty sexual congress resonating from the cabin
shared by the twins and the young giant. Talking with Klarendes, Lord
Zaldor did wonder aloud whether is was seemly for the twins to consort with
the enemy. Klarendes allowed that they were only establishing amicable
relations with the Frost Giants on a personal basis as a prelude to a
general peace. Zaldor conceded the point and said no more about it.

Once they reached the head of navigation the route led overland across the
Eastern Mountains via the (formerly) secret tunnel which the Entrapment
Army, as it came to be called, had passed through years earlier to attack a
horde of 90,000 barbarians which was trying to break through the defensive
lines of the Army of the Plains. The two armies attacked their enemies from
both sides. It was more than a victory. It was a battle of annihilation.

Zaldor requisitioned mounts and an escort of twenty troopers from the
garrison at the mouth of the great tunnel, just enough to uphold the
dignity of the delegation but not so many as to present a threat. The
delegation started on the long slog northwards at an easy pace to
accommodate Aodh and Finn who were afoot.

"If only I were full grown, Aodh, I could carry you on my shoulders."

"That would be a switch, me mounting you!"

The twins were in their riding silks from their days as army scouts, their
quarterstaffs, unstrung bows, and kukris in saddle scabbards. Artor also
wore his silks and a weapons belt bearing war axe and kukri. Aodh was still
in the nude and carried no weapons. He himself was a weapon, his claws
always at the ready. As for Count Klarendes, a sword hanging from a baldric
slung over his shoulder sufficed. He was a firecaster after all.

Along the way the twins checked and updated the maps of those regions that
Balandur and Arik had made on their scouting expedition so many years
before. Finn asked how they happened to have maps of the area. Klarendes
provided the explanation and mentioned how Balandur had killed a Frost
Giant in unarmed single combat.

"So that is what happened to Tilber Bjarnson. We always wondered at his
fate. Scouts did not find his body for some weeks. There was no sign of who
had killed him."

"There wouldn't be. Not with Balandur."

The twins expressed surprise at how well Lord Zaldor put up with the
primitive accommodations of an army camp. He smiled:

"I wasn't always a noble. I started out as a soldier, a ranker, won a
battlefield commission then worked my way up the ranks in wars fought
before you younglings were born. I retired as a colonel then went into
politics."

"It's been downhill ever since!" he added with a chuckle.

Just before they arrived at the stronghold of the Frost Giants, Aodh
wrapped a sarong around his narrow hips. For him that was the height of
formal wear.

Upon arrival they were shown to quarters which the giants had built years
earlier for a barbarian army that never arrived.  The delegations broke
bread that evening in an open air pavilion leaving formal negations for the
next day.

The leader of the Frost Giants was Oddr Bjarnson, brother of the late
Tilbur. Over dinner Finn related his fate. Klarendes expressed his hope
that this would not cast a pall over the negotiations.

"Nay, Lord Klarendes. I know now that my brother died honorably. It is only
unfortunate that it was in a war we did not want. We were gulled into
taking the job of building this staging area. We never knew the ultimate
goals of the Dark Prophet nor of Urloch. Had we known, we would never have
thrown in with them. Understand, we Frost Giants are a civilized people. We
are not barbarians and we have good relations with our neighbors. Indeed we
sometimes intermarry with humans. Balandur was one such hybrid."

"Oh, I know that we Frost Giants sometimes come across as arrogant or even
overbearing. Our detractors complain that we look down on the other races
in more ways than one. I will admit that there is some truth in that. Still
most of us do realize that while we might be gratified to be so big and
strong it makes no sense to be proud of it. Our size and strength were none
of our own doing, just nature at work."

"Indeed. Your mention of that old friend of mine just now puts me in mind
of what Balandur used to say about the Frost Giants. He acknowledged that
you were neither evil nor barbarous but he allowed as how you weren't fully
house-broken either."

That produced nods and self-deprecating smiles from the giants. Oddr said
that more than a few giants had known old Balandur back in the day and had
befriended him. That was why only four could be persuaded to go after him
on that raid.

"We got the story from the retainers left behind at their last camp. They
observed the debacle and brought the news back with them. They told of how
nimble boys slung small glass globes filled with an inflammable oil at your
enemies. At the apex of their flight, you Count Klarendes ignited the oil
and rained liquid fire down on them. Clever that, using ranks of boys as a
multiplier for your fire casting. Later, once the centaurs broke through
your lines, you tossed great balls of fire which clung to them and cooked
them like lobsters in a pot."

"The magical gift of firecasting runs strong in my family. My son Artor is
a powerful firecaster in his own right."

"Did you take part in that battle young Klarendes?" Oddr asked.

"Only briefly. I was in my teens and only just coming into my powers, I
could not help much in the clash of arms. Instead I was put in charge of
the defense of the manor house which sits beyond the village so it a kind
of back door. Sure enough a couple of centaurs tried to get in. Only one
centaur at a time could fit through the stone vault that led to the
gate. One of our retainers put a bolt into him with his crossbow. That just
made the creature mad. He slashed at us through the bars and roared in
anger. As he took a breath, I saw my chance and flung a bolt of flame down
his throat and burned out his lungs."

"The second centaur dragged his dying comrade out of the way and looked to
give it a try himself. Well, by then, I had pretty much shot my bolt and
was dizzy from my effort. Nevertheless I stood my ground and tried to look
cool, crossing my arms and tilting my head to one side. Then I spoke ever
so casually saying: 'Plenty more where that came from.' The centaur must
have understood our speech or maybe just my body language. He turned tail
and stalked away."

"Bravo! You showed courage and good tactical sense, young Klarendes. I take
it then that your powers are now fully developed?"

"Father, permission to show off?"

"Go right ahead Artor!" he grinned.

The young firecaster gestured dramatically though that was entirely for
effect. Firecasting is an act of will. The lanterns and camp fires began to
go out in a wave that centered on Artor and spread to the farthest reaches
of the holdings of the Frost Giants. Artor gave it a few seconds then
snapped his fingers. The flames returned everywhere instantly.

The next day at breakfast Lord Zaldor and Klarendes discussed the impending
negotiations.

"We have made a good start by establishing amicable personal relations with
the Frost Giants. And did you notice how after your son's demonstration of
his powers he was no longer addressed as 'Young Klarendes' but as Lord
Artor. He has won their respect, which he will need on the long march
ahead."

Despite all the good feelings, at first the Frost Giants reacted badly to
the Commonwealth's peace terms.

"By the gods, we just barely survived one war with the centaurs. Now you
are asking us to march halfway across the continent and start another war
with them. Are you trying to send us to our doom?" bellowed the war chief
of the Frost Giants one Harald Sigurdsen. Oddr Bjarnson nodded his
agreement.

"We number only six hundred or so, all but eighty male. True we won our war
here but mostly by fighting from fixed defenses. What you propose is the
conquest of a considerable country by an army entirely too small for the
task. And we would have to fight on foot in the open against cavalry. We
could never bring them to battle save on their terms. "

"We do not expect you to do the job by yourselves. Far from it. The
Commonwealth army will contribute much larger forces than your own
contingent. Our cavalry will flush the centaurs from hiding and drive them
onto your shield wall. Together we will crush them hammer to anvil. Between
your swords and our lances, we will annihilate the foul creatures.

"Well that is more like it." the Frost Giants admitted. "How large a force
do you intend to put into the field?"

"Two regiments of two thousand soldiers each, a road building battalion,
and various commissary, quartermaster and other support units. Five
thousand in all.

"Five thousand sounds like overkill. Do you intend these soldiers to
garrison the newly conquered lands and lord it over us?"

"Nay. Once our joint conquest is complete, most of that army will push on
to the flatlands beyond. You see, trouble is brewing in the far west of the
continent. A militaristic state has arisen that threatens the peace of that
region. Should they consolidate their power and take over those lands, in
the long run they might threaten the Commonwealth. We have no intention of
allowing a military peer to develop on the continent of Valentia."

"The problem is those lands are politically fragmented, at odds with each
other, and militarily weak. They have petitioned for annexation as
associated states. Now the Commonwealth has long traded with those lands
via the Great Inland Freshwater Sea or navigable rivers that flow into it
from those lands. Our navy dominates the Inland Sea, but annexation is
unthinkable without a land link. That is where the centaurs come in."

"Or go out!" one Frost Giant quipped which produced a rumble of
agreement. Zaldor continued.

"The Commonwealth will build military and trade roads across your new
country. We still station only a small garrison of battalion size there to
show the flag, to patrol the roads, and to protect the road
builders. Together our two peoples will assert title to this territory by
rights of conquest and of occupation. That is where you giants come in. You
will earn your new country with your blood and your sweat."

"That sounds much better." Oddr allowed but now let us turn to political
matters. We want to be under our own laws not those of the Commonwealth
proper."

"Not a problem. The Commonwealth is flexible about law codes for the
sentient races. Your own laws will prevail in your land just as those of
the elves prevail in their secluded vales and those of the dwarves in their
subterranean labyrinths. You will have to adopt our commercial code for
dealings with the rest of the Commonwealth."

"Fine. What about tariffs?" Oddr asked.

"The Commonwealth does not levy tariffs on exports, only on imports. Since
you would be within our customs union, you would not pay any tariffs on
your trade with us. Indeed, once those threatened lands to the west are
absorbed by the Commonwealth, you could trade freely with them too."

"Fair enough, but what of other taxes."

"We will grant you a tax holiday for twenty-five years. The Ruling Council
realizes that, with your small numbers, the tax yield would be
insignificant to us but perhaps a burden on you as you struggle to build a
country from scratch. No, the only taxes you will pay for the next quarter
century are those you levy on yourselves."

"Since this will be a second homeland for Frost Giants, we need to be able
to restrict immigration so we won't be overwhelmed by the vast numbers of
the population of the Commonwealth."

"Agreed. Though you cannot bar your fellow citizens from traveling freely
there you will decide who may settle among you."

"Can't complain about those terms."

"One more thing," Klarendes added. "There is no reason why you should not
augment your numbers from among those of your kind who live in the
Commonwealth. Those who join you might double or triple your numbers, bring
skills you currently lack among your small population, and provide brides
for lonely bachelors.

"Now you are talking!" one of the younger giants remarked to general
acclaim.

"In that connection," Oddr began, "Can you arrange for a supply of those
depilatories the elves export from their vales? One treatment every three
months is so much more convenient than daily shaving. We want our young
swains to look their best when they go courting. Beards may still be in
fashion in the old country but nowhere else Frost Giants live, not with all
this heat and sweat."

"Though finances might be a problem." Klarendes continued. "You will need
to import all sorts of manufactures including farming implements and
machinery for your industries like sawmills, quarries, or shipyards. The
land of the centaurs is mountainous in the north then dwindles to low
hills. The headwaters of the rivers run fast and will provide hydropower
for mills. The lower stretches are navigable all the way to the Inland
Sea."

"Actually money will not be a problem." Oddr announced with a
self-satisfied look on his face. Our stronghold was where Urloch's
paymasters kept their gold. It is ours now. All of it."

"I think we are in agreement then on the terms of the peace." Zaldor
concluded. "Tomorrow we meet in a council of war as allies. Till then, let
us celebrate the peace and our new alliance."

That sentiment was shared by all.

After the feast held to celebrate the accord Finn and the twins went off to
celebrate in their own inimitable style. For that matter, so did Klarendes
and Aodh.

			Chapter 4. Council of War

At the council of war Lord Zaldor called on the twins to give a briefing on
the geographic scope of the campaign introducing them by saying:

"Don't be fooled by the pretty-boy good looks on those two. Believe me the
twins have earned their spurs as hunters, explorers, and in the wars as
scouts for the Commonwealth army. As Sir Balandur's proteges, the twins
marched over and mapped much of the route you would travel, both in the Hot
Lands and the Western Plains. In their time they have crossed both eastern
and western mountain ranges and traveled the entire navigable length of the
Long River and produced excellent maps of those regions.

Their magical gift is that of unerring direction, which makes them ideal as
guides and also makes their archery uncannily accurate. Furthermore, it was
these ingenious fellows who developed contour lines to depict elevation and
slope on maps. For that accomplishment they were knighted as well as
inducted directly as Masters without ever having served as apprentices or
journeymen into the Honorable Guild of Cartographers."

"For their selfless courage they were named both elf-friends and
dwarf-friends. They also won the the Military Cross for Valor from the
Commonwealth. They are, by my personal reckoning at least, two of the most
valuable young citizens of the Commonwealth. Gentlemen, I present Sirs
Jemsen and Karel."

With a bow of his head, Jemsen said: "Thank you Lord Zaldor for your
generous remarks. I only hope my brother and I can live up to our billing."

As Karel posted a pair of maps on the wall, Jemsen launched into the
briefing the two had worked out. With Karel indicating the various features
with a pointer as his brother spoke, Jemsen noted that the spine of the
Commonwealth was the mighty Long River which flowed due south in a great
rift valley hundreds of leagues long and eighty wide. Ages ago geological
forces had thrust blocks of stone up to create parallel mountain ranges,
forcing the land between them to sink into a rift or graben. The flatlands
of the graben were considered the Commonwealth proper. Its rich alluvial
soil supported a population in the tens of millions.

The mountains facing the river were quite rugged but their outward flanks
were much less steep. Few passes crossed these mountains. As the
Commonwealth expanded, first by conquest and then by more or less voluntary
annexation or accession of its neighbors during the Formation Wars, it
occupied the mountains, not only for the sake of clear and secure borders
but to obtain the resources of those lands from mines and timberlands, and
such. Wise stewards of the land, the rulers of the Commonwealth conserved
the forests which protected their watersheds.

Outward from the mountains were wide areas of plains. Those to the east had
previously been uninhabited, a no man's land. Beyond them lay a huge area
of rugged terrain, a series of plateaux and mountain ranges and basins with
interior drainage occupied by millions of barbarians, a perpetual threat to
the peace. To create a defensive buffer zone, the Army of the Commonwealth
occupied the Eastern Plains and brought in settlers. With a few decades the
plains became a prosperous province of the Commonwealth, dotted with
ranches and farms and the towns that served them.

The Western Plains were another story entirely. Long inhabited by nomads,
the country wasn't all grassy plains by any means. Scraggly trees lined the
swales; brush and thorn bushes formed thickets.  Patches of scrub forest
sprung up at the base of rocky outcrops.

In ages past the nomads had roamed freely and raided widely over the plains
till the Commonwealth forced them into fixed territories, making it clear
that civilization would no longer tolerate raids and inter-tribal warfare
which always spilled over into settled lands. Although the Western Plains
lay within the political boundaries of the Commonwealth including its
customs union, the Government took a hands- off attitude toward their
governance. The Commonwealth administration did not extend to that
territory nor did its commercial code apply. The nomads ran their own
affairs.

"As will we." Oddr Bjarnson noted

The lands of the centaurs lay southwest of the Western Plains. In
furtherance of the campaign and the Commonwealth's strategic objectives,
the army would build roads across the plains which would eventually
traverse the land of the centaurs.

Now their job, his and Karel's, was to get the Frost Giants from their
stronghold to the land of the centaurs, which lay diagonally across the
entire Commonwealth. To get to their goal would require a march of nearly a
thousand leagues along the shorter route. That route led southwest from the
staging area across the low lying Hot Lands, around the northern tip of the
Western Mountains and then diagonally southwest across the Plains. The
alternate route was much longer: first due south in a march the length of
the Eastern Plains to Dalnot, then west by road to the river, due south
again by riverboat for a stretch, then another long march due west. The
lines of such a march aligned along the cardinal directions and with the
three right angle turns of the axis of advance made the total distance two
thirds longer.

The twins strongly urged the Giants to take the shorter route. Yes they
would have to cross the Hot Lands, but the Giants could use the waterholes
that had been dug for the migration of the centaurs nearly a decade ago and
likely refurbish some of their shelters. The maps the twins had made during
their mission with Balandur also showed the course of perennial streams,
seasonal ponds, and the sweet water springs near the mountains. Also, the
Ruling Council would much prefer not to have an army of Frost Giants march
the length and breadth of its heartland.

"I can well understand their caution." Oddr allowed.

The council tabled a decision on the route to move on to other issues,
logistics chief among them. As the saying goes, amateurs talk tactics;
professionals talk logistics.

Next Klarendes questioned his new allies about weapons and armor. He was
pleased to learn that the Frost Giants had standardized on weapons taken
from the military stores at the staging area. No, they had no bowmen; their
only standoff weapon was the sling. Fortunately the centaurs' upper limbs
were not articulated in such a way as to allow them to employ the
bow. Except for scouts, the Frost Giants were all heavy infantry, each
armed with an oversize spear twelve feet long, a sword slung on the back,
plus a kukri in a scabbard at the hip. They wore scale armor though only on
chest and back for freedom of movement. On the march they slung their oval
shields on their backs, making them look a bit like gigantic turtles
walking upright on two legs. On this march through uninhabited country
their shields would be transported on supply carts drawn by rotating teams
of giants. They themselves would carry little besides their weapons and
water gourds.

As for tactics, their war chief Harald Sigurdsen explained that the Frost
Giants formed a shield wall, those in the front line brandishing swords the
second line standing offset from the man in front, their spears held
vertically by their side, ready to rotate to a horizontal position and
thrust at their foes in the space between the men in front. Behind them
stood two other ranked pairs of lines, ready on command to execute a
passage of lines to let those in front retire to the rear and
rest. Reserves mustered in a compact square ready to turn toward threats
from any direction then deploy into line.

The council of war ultimately adopted the shorter route the twins had
urged. Oddr, Harald, Klarendes, and Zaldor worked out a timetable for
preparations and set a date for the march to start. After farewells, the
escort for the Commonwealth delegation formed up and escorted Lord Zaldor,
Count Klarendes and Aodh back the way they had come. A week later,
Klarendes and Aodh split off from Zaldor and his party and headed directly
south, to traverse the length of the Eastern Plains. Zaldor graciously lent
them a pair of troopers as an escort to see them safely to Dalnot. This was
more of a courtesy than a military necessity. A firecaster and a
wir-panther could take care of themselves.

The giants set out with the twins and Finn in the lead. The twins had
tossed their packs and quarterstaffs on a cart. They carried unstrung bows,
their quivers of arrows slung over the shoulder, with a scabbard strapped
to it for their kukris. Though bare to the waist Finn at least wore trews
and sandals; the twins went unshod and sky-clad or nude as was their
wont. That brought whistles from some of the younger giants. Karel
responded, remarking blandly:

"Gentlemen, if you haven't noticed already, the weather in these parts is
hot. And where we are headed, into the Hot Lands, it will only get worse."

Karel and his brother then perched straw sombreros atop their heads much to
the amusement of the giants. Could anything look sillier: two
preternaturally beautiful youths without a stitch on save a wide-brimmed
straw hat?

More than one of the giants at the head of the column commented favorably
on the sight of the twins walking just ahead of them, their pert buttocks
dimpling and twitching provocatively with their movements. Nude boys look
so cute to those walking behind them. Their firm round buns and the
delightful crevice between delight and arouse males who appreciate a pretty
boy. From the rear, the twins were all curves: the calves, the thighs, the
globes of the buttocks, the shoulders and swale of the lower back. The
effect was tantalizing.

Not expecting any military threat along the way, the giants marched without
flankers, four abreast, in three detachments, with the last one, which
included the lady giants, escorting the baggage train which was loaded down
with food, water butts, armor and their shields, plus the gold hoard. They
marched out heads high, singing old sea chanteys, on the march toward a
brighter future in a second homeland for their folk and a second chance for
themselves.

[Concluded in Part II]

			Author's Note

If you have enjoyed this story and others like it, consider making a
donation to the Nifty Archive. It is so easy. They take credit cards.

This tale is the first of an occasional series about the further adventures
of the characters introduced in the fantasy novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends' and
published on Nifty Archive. The chief protagonist of the novel, Dahlderon,
elf-boy and druid, will appear in these stories in a supporting rather than
starring role. Each story stands on its own, with the focus on one or just
a few of the original characters. This story is entirely fictional, with no
resemblance intended to any person living or dead.

Readers who like these stories might want to try my two series 'Daphne Boy'
and 'Naked Prey' in the Gay/Historical section of the Archive. My 'Jungle
Boy' series of Hollywood tales is posted in the Gay/Authoritarian
section. The recent series 'Andrew Jackson High relates the trials and
tribulations of five of its gay students. For links to these and other
stories, look on the list of Prolific Authors on the Archive.

Comments and feedback welcome.