Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:05 +1300
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: the thread chapter 11

				THE THREAD


				CHAPTER 11


				 BY ARTHUR



It was in the late afternoon when we decided to leave the scene of the
massacre, this was not a place to stay the night, it was also too open to
attack and would be hard for our small group to defend against large
numbers, even with the added talents we all now had.

We moved until the sun was nearly below the far off hills, we had not seen
a sight of the Xhosa and, although we were happy to have not run into them,
we were still apprehensive about being in their lands, even the slave boys
could feel the tension in the air and were as vigilant as any of us, Tzuma
led from the front and about ten paces ahead of the rest, he seemed to move
like smoke from one dark patch of ground to the next, now he had proven
himself, he had taken on the persona of the Leopard, one moment he was easy
to see and the next he had almost disappeared into the foliage or long
grass.

As the light faded, we halted at the very edge of a copse of trees, the
slave boys were set to gathering large bundles of thorn bush to make our
temporary Kraal, the archers were set to guard duty while the rest of us
looked to the food and setting up the large tent, it was fully dark and
only the brightness of our large fire lit the surrounding Kraal, the slave
boys were going about serving everyone before settling down to eat
themselves.

The four guards had been given a plate of food while they watched into the
darkness, Gregor, Tzuma, Peitro and I sat close to the fire as we ate, the
night sounds of this land echoed into the darkness, it was time for us to
think seriously about our location and what we could meet ahead, the strong
pull of the Thread tugged at my stomach as though a physical force, faint
images were forever coming into my head as it grew in intensity, it felt as
though my boyhood was now permanently at attention during the night, it
took very little of the groans of pleasure from the other boys to set my
own desires on fire.

I was aware that, had I not been a Mage, I could have selected any of the
slaves or other boys to join me for relief but, this was not possible for
me, all of my needs could only be met by my intended, the hardest time was
during the night when Peitro became the centre piece of both Gregor and
Tzuma, how his small frame could handle the two larger boys was beyond my
understanding, but Peitro only seemed to enjoy the double experience with
them and every morning would be glowing as he arose to tend to something,
during the day he never left my side but his eyes often strayed to either
Gregor or Tzuma, his desire seen plainly in his smiles.

Our night went undisturbed and, in the morning, we decamped to continue our
journey, the sounds of the jungle we were now re-entering, grew less as we
made sounds that disturbed them, Tzuma was now truly in his element, his
slender dark body seemed to disappear into the rich dark jungle, it was
only when he returned to report to Gregor that we saw him, the slave boys
were now showing signs of nervousness, this thick jungle, with its green
hue and stifling humidity was totally strange to the Dinka, who were used
to wide open grasslands and deep Whadis, this place where you could only
see ahead for short distances was not too their liking.

For the next five days we travelled through the dense jungle, small insects
found us a handy meal and the animals of the jungle kept their distance,
those of us that felt ill came to me at the end of the days travel and I
was able to easily heal them with the aide of Creator and so, we remained
well and strong, of the feared Xhosa, we saw no sign, on the morning of the
sixth day we came to a wide fast flowing river, on the far bank was a small
village that appeared to be active and there were the low narrow canoes
lined up along the far bank.

Tzuma told us all to stay hidden in the trees as these people would not
have seen others with white skin; he would go forward with the slave boys
and call for canoes to come over, once the canoes were on our bank we could
come out of the trees and then travel over to continue our travels, he did
not think that strangers like us would inspire the villagers to come over
otherwise.

After much calling by Tzuma, the villagers finally decided to come over and
collect him and the slave boys although, they could not see the reason for
more canoes, it took a lot of calling and conversation before they though
he wanted the extra canoes for his cargo, ten minutes later and the line of
canoes were pulled up onto our bank, as Tzuma walked towards them, he
reassured them that all was ok, when close enough to be able to stop any
from running away, he softly whistled and we all appeared from our hiding
places, it must have been the sight of our white skins and shining armour
that caused the canoe men to stop in their tracks and fail to move before
we were close enough to stop them.

There were more discussions and it took another half an hour before the
canoe men were able to relax and set about sorting out the distribution of
us among the canoes, there were still one or two that thought we were some
sort of spirit but their peers, although wary, seemed to accept Tzuma's
explanation, as the sun passed its zenith, we made it to the other side
and, although the villagers were wary and the women and children had hidden
themselves in their huts, we were finally welcomed to stay, albeit with a
certain amount of hidden glances and a slight tension in the air.

By nightfall, Tzuma had finally gotten the confidence of the villagers and,
they had finally accepted that we were not spirit folk of the forest,
slowly the sounds and laughter of the children returned to the village, the
small girls staying close to their mothers side, the small naked boys
running around and splashing in the water at the rivers edge, the older
boys, also naked and totally unaware of their bodies, ran around or went to
handle the canoes as they fished the shallows for small fish, the men sat
around under trees and talked or just sat back and enjoyed the sun while
attending to their weapons, again the long spears that seemed common
throughout this land.

We were given three huts on the very edge of the village for our use, our
strange clothing also took the notice of the villagers and, many times the
children would sidle up to on or other of us to touch the Dragon cloaks as
they shimmered in the light, the boys armour also caught much attention as
did their bows and swords, by the late afternoon, their were numbers of
children around the boys, touching and playing with the equipment, the
innocents of the young soon helped to break down any barriers the adults
had.

That evening we were treated to a large feast of fresh fish and vegetables
along with the usual thick beer, by now the boys knew not to overindulge in
the millet beer, the feasting went on for hours and it was late in the
night before we all left the central fire and returned to the huts for
sleep, Gregor set the sentries as he did every night, often, either he or
Tzuma would walk out into the night to check on the guard posts.

The next morning I spent a short time healing a few small wounds the
villagers had, by midday we were once again ready to leave and continue our
journey, giving thanks to the village head man and his people, we set off
into the jungle once more, this time we had only to go for a few hours
before we broke out into grasslands, the thin band of jungle seemed to hide
the village completely.

The grasslands spread before us in an unending vista broken only by the
usual tall wide spread trees of the plains, wild animals teemed everywhere
we looked, in the distance were large herds of the mighty Elephants, there
were new animals we had not seen before, a strange four legged beast,
similar to a horse, with black and white stripes ran at speed in great
herds while another animal was the strangest of all, by all common sense,
these tall yellow animals should have fallen over themselves, the extremely
long necks should have been to much for them to keep upright and their long
legs seemed too fragile to carry them at any speed, it did not take long to
prove us wrong on all fronts.

As we moved out onto the grasslands, we got occasional glimpses of the wild
cats in their small family groups, above us drifted the large black
vultures looking for their next meal of carrion, we stayed close together,
this is not a place to wander off alone.

As the sun sank closer to the far off horizon, we prepared to set our camp
for the night, the slave boys, by now well versed in their duties, quickly
had the large tent up and were preparing the evening meal of dried meat and
fresh vegetables from the riverside village, after all this time we were
now a well oiled operation, the guards were set and we sat around waiting
for our meal.

Just as we began to eat, Tzuma lifted his head and tilted it to one side,
his gesture told us to be silent as he listened, very quickly I also began
to hear it, a deep throbbing sound that drifted over the grasslands in the
stillness of the early night, Tzuma softly whispered that it was signal
drums of the Xhosa, the drums played on into the night as Tzuma told us it
was a call for warriors to gather in a far off place, this may mean we had
been seen and could soon expect a visit from the blood thirsty Xhosa.

Our night was a restless one, we were not in a good place to be surprised
by a large group of warriors, at the first sign of dawn we decamped and set
off at a quick pace towards what looked like a tall barren cliff, if
nothing else, it would give us protection to our rear if we could get close
enough to put our backs to the cliff, we would then only have to watch our
front if the Xhosa came for us.

Under the hot sun of midday, we settled against the cliffs, we were in a
narrow defile which made it almost impossible for us to be attacked from
any direction but straight ahead and this was narrow and would not permit a
large group to charge us on a wide front, it was the best we could do apart
from setting the slave boys to gathering masses of the long thorny bushes
to make a defensive wall, if attacked we had the benefit of our armour and
better training.

The slave boys were put back against the cliff wall behind us for their own
protection once the spiked wall had been finished, all we could do now was
wait and see if we were to be the target of the drums, it was a long wait
and there was a heavy tension in the air as we kept watch out over the
grasslands before us.

It was Tzuma that saw them first, how they got so close without us seeing
them is still one of those mysteries to me, for one moment the grasslands
were bare and barren, the next it was filled with running warriors that
appeared to grow from the very earth itself, Gregor was quick to call the
archers to fire as the massed ranks of dark skinned warriors charged our
small temporary fort, it was soon clear that the long spines of the brush
were not to be taken lightly as warrior after warrior was forced onto them
by the press of those behind, the archers were quick to take advantage of
their situation.

It was some little time before the warriors decided to stay off the thorns
and launch their spears at us from the other side, as the first long spear
was in the air, I set my feet into the ground and raised my right hand, not
to attack, but to set a barrier shield over my men, the spears fell
harmlessly to the ground as they struck the shield, even after this
demonstration, the warriors seemed to be only more determined to get at us.

The narrow defile made it difficult for them to attack in any great numbers
but those behind kept pushing forward, forcing those in front to keep
coming at us even as their comrades fell before our archers, while holding
a shield was not too overtaxing, I could not hold it indefinitely or I
would be too weak for any emergencies, the boys armour was easily enough to
protect them from harm but it was the slave boys I was more concerned with,
to this end I reduced the shield and held it only over the slave boys,
Gregor reset his lines so that the five swordsmen could watch for the
thrown spears as the archers did their work of slaughter.

With the smaller shield I was able to now use my far sight, I searched
behind the mass of warriors until I found the small group of leaders, to
the front stood two old men dressed in skins and with bones and rattles,
they danced and sang as the very large, very obese chief stood ordering his
warriors forward.

I searched the minds of the two witch doctor/shaman and, much to my
surprise, found that they were not true shaman, these two were nothing more
than tricksters, they used poison and other tricks to fool the chief and
the warriors into believing they had the power of the sprit world behind
them, it was all for their own greed, these two were my first targets, the
large chief was the next, the warriors, once freed of their leaders, would
be more inclined to withdraw when they had no one pushing them forward, no
man, even the bravest of all, wants to die for nothing.

Our defensive wall was now under pressure from the dead that the warriors
were now throwing on top of the thorns to give them a bridge of human flesh
to cross on, I had no time to waste, raising my right hand, I began to
chant the words of a death spell, the ley lines under my feet warmed and
flowed into my hand, first one then the other of the false shaman fell to
his knees and finally to the earth, at this act, there was a strange pause
in the attack, I then went for the chief, slowly the large bulk of the man
fell to his knees, his dark face turning even darker as his heart began to
try to work harder to hold his massive bulk upright, as he finally fell to
the ground, there came a wild yell from the massed warriors, as one they
stopped and turned, within minutes they could not be seen, only the dead
remained, in the distance, the three bodies were lifted and carried off,
there was a sigh of relief from the boys as they watched the disappearing
backs of the attackers.

Our first meeting with the Xhosa had not been a good one, if this were to
be the type of meeting with them all the time then we were going to be hard
pressed to make it to my intended, the pull of the Thread was now almost
overpowering, we were close and it took all of my strength to stop from
running wildly out onto the grasslands to follow the strong pull.

Around me, the boys were relaxing after the fight, on the other side of the
thorns were more than fifty dead, Tzuma immediately had the slave boys
outside and working on moving the dead far enough away that the wild
animals of the night could feast without disturbing our sleep, the guards
were doubled for the night and we finally settled down to a cold meal and
sleep.

At the first light of dawn, we were all up and moving, we turned West South
West and hugged the cliff face, the pull of the Thread was now
overpowering, I was so close to my intended that it brought a pain into my
innards, my legs shook and my head swirled with images, by midday we were
at the end of the cliff face, as we turned the last corner we saw a small
shallow bowl, it was what was at the centre of the bowl that brought and
instant loathing to my mind.

We all stood on the small rise and looked into the bowl, there were about
thirty warriors and one shaman gathered there, there was also someone else,
it was my intended, while the others could only see the gathering as
warriors and a captive light skinned boy, I saw the true colours of the
Thread, the boy was lit up like fire from the influence of the Thread, it
was as though a switch had been turned as his head rose and he smiled as
his eyes met mine, even at this distance, we knew we were soon to be joined
by the Thread.

Unfortunately, there remained a small problem, namely about thirty warriors
who had a blood lust, my intended was tied by his thin wrists to an
overhead tree branch, he had been stripped naked and his feet barely
touched the dusty ground underneath him, the old shaman had been using his
knife to make small cuts in the flesh on his chest, the blood oozing down
in small rivulets as the old man danced before him, the watching warriors
were laughing and jeering as my intended screamed with pain, his hair was
now matted to his forehead and back, it was as long as mine but neither the
dark black of mine nor the bright golden blonde of the Elf, his was
somewhere in between, it flowed in curls of soft reddish gold, his skin was
more tawny than white or brown and, even at this distance, I could see his
ears were not fully pointed like most Elves.

It appeared that the Creator had decided to bond me with a half Elf, his
sense of magic was visible to my mage eyes but it was underdeveloped and he
had not been trained in its use, I had found my mate, all I had to do now
was free him alive from the clutches of the blood thirsty Xhosa who now
held him.

At the sight of my intended being held under such duress and tortured by an
old fake who called himself a shaman, my blood began to boil with hate, it
is not a good place to be for a war mage, as my blood rose, I heard Gregor
call for his boys to get ready, the archers spread out in a single line
while the swords men closed on each side of Gregor and Tzuma, Peitro stayed
by my side but I could tell even he, as young as he was, could feel my hate
rising, today would be a day of vengeful justice, this was now a time for
my war mage to come to the fore.

I slipped the sandals from my feet and settled them deep into the soft soil
around us, feeling for the ley lines I pulled power like never before, with
the words of the spell loud in my throat, I cast the death spell forward,
this was not only a death spell but also a capture spell that would set the
warriors and shamans spirit to wander in limbo forever, even in death they
would find no peace, this small bowl would become the home and agony of
their souls, only my intended would be spared my wrath, his physical pain
had already well paid for his devotion.

The power I used on the ultimate death spell, quickly began to drain me but
it was soon over, my knees shook with the strain but nothing would keep me
from my intended, even as my head spun from the power use, I set my steps
towards where my love was waiting, the bodies of his captors littered the
ground and I ignored them, even as I walked through the bodies, I could see
their spirits writhing in agony as they tried to free themselves from the
hold of the small bowl, it would never happen, they were here to stay, this
would become a place of dead spirits.

I reached my intended and looked up at his beauty, even the bloody cuts on
his thin chest could not take away his beauty, his eyes never strayed from
mine as Gregor and Tzuma arrived and began to gently cut him down, as soon
as he was laying on the ground, I went to my knees and used what little
strength I had left to heal his wounds, as the last cut healed, my world
went black and the shining light of my love was extinguished as I collapsed
from exhaustion.

I awoke the following morning with the feeling of a smooth warm body laying
curled up in front of me, the leaf scented smell of fine reddish hair
filled my nostrils and the gentle purr of a warm breath brushed my face as
I became more alert, slowly opening my eyes I saw the vision I had been
chasing for more than nine months.

His sleeping face was tawny and had the faintest brush of freckles over the
bridge of his smallish upturned nose, long light lashes rested on his
cheeks and a small wrinkle in his brow showed through the curls of his hair
that fell over his narrow forehead, even as he slept I could feel the
magnetism that held us both in its grasp.

There was an instant reaction from my nether regions, it was then that I
realised not only was I naked, but he was also, the warmth of his skin
radiated from his slender body and the boyish smell filled my nostrils with
desire for the touch of his hands, a sudden sucking in of breath told me he
was awakening, I lifted my eyes to meet those of his, there was an instant
flash of recognition and then the Thread had us both, with little thought
for the many sleeping slave boys around us, we fell into each others arms,
from there to consummation was only a few minutes, the rest of the world
disappeared as we performed the final act, his thin legs wrapped tightly
around my waist and his slender arms clasping my neck, we became one, the
jolt of power as we exchanged fluids gave us a glow that I was sure would
light up the land around us.

When we returned to the here and now, I looked down into his glowing eyes
as he smiled back and wriggled his butt where I was still well seated; he
then uttered the first words that I had heard from him.

"I waited so long, I had to come too look for you, I never thought of the
Xhosa capturing me, but you came, you saved me, just like I knew you would
even when they were going to cut me up."

I could not bring myself to speak, my voice had been stilled by his beauty
and his heat as I lay on top of him, I felt the first tear slide down my
cheek as the realisation of what could have happened to him had I been
slower in coming here, I could think of nothing and, in the end only buried
my face in the gentle curve of his neck where I could suckle lightly on the
tender fresh skin that curved down to form his slender shoulder, his light
whimpers sounded like the mewling of a kitten as both our bodies responded
to the stimulation.

When we surfaced for the third time, I suddenly realised I did not even
know his name, in all the time I had been searching, even Creator had not
given his name to me, as I watched the small rivulets of his perspiration
slide slowly down his cheek and chin, I fell into his eyes, resting my
forehead against his damp one, I whispered my question.

"What do I call my gift of the Thread?"

"I am Melkos, son of Evander and Tsina from the land of mists some ten days
south of here, are we going to find our own homeland, I was told by my
Father that, that is what will happen when we become one?"

I eased myself from his tightness and lifted up until I could rest my back
against the central pole of the tent, with little though, Melkos lifted
himself until he could lower once again back onto my still hard boyhood, he
then leant back to rest his body on mine as we looked out at the still
sleeping slave boys around us, it was then I came to the realisation that
Creator must have stopped time for us, by my reckoning we had been in each
others arms for most of the morning yet the lack of light outside told me
it was still pre dawn and the slaves were still sleeping deeply, to be a
child of Creator is a marvellous thing for Elves and even special Half
Elves.

Melkos weight seemed perfect for me, his size fitted me like a glove and
each curve or bump fitted with my own as though we had been made for each
other, it was also at this time that I felt the new magical power in me,
even as I supported Melkos slender body I could feel the ley lines
underneath our bodies trying to fill me further, as I nuzzled his slightly
pointed ear, I could feel the trickle of power moving through him, it was
instantly recognisable to me, where as I carried both the power to heal and
destroy, I could feel in Melkos only the power to heal, he was to be my
counter point, where I was the war mage that destroyed, he was the healer
that laid hands on the damage and repaired it.

As I nuzzled his ears I took note that they were not as pointed as mine,
this must have been because of his blood on his mother's side; I was to
learn at a later date that the followers of Evander had bred with some of
the women of the Ebo, of them all, only Evander had had a son, Melkos was
of both blood lines, I also found that he was some six months younger than
I, on one hand he was my lover and on the other I felt a great need to
protect him as though he was still a small child, I wrapped my arms around
his still warm body and nipped his ear lightly.

A whimper from his warm lips told me I had found the key to his desires,
his slender body shivered with desire as I continued to nibble lightly on
his warm lobe, in seconds he was writhing and he was pressed so tightly to
me that we were as one body, gasping, we surfaced from our mutual
ministrations, the scene around us had still not changed and the time
stayed as it had been before, not a sound nor a movement disturbed our time
together, Creator had given us this place of timelessness for our use, it
was with regret that I realised we would have to surface back into the real
world or our friends would sleep for the rest of their lives, with this in
mind, I began the last of our couplings, it was like the first time all
over again and, when we both returned from the euphoria of our connection,
I pulled him to his feet and began to dress him in clothes that had somehow
miraculously appeared beside those of my own, including a smaller version
of the Dragon Cloak for him.

Once we were clothed, there came a shimmering in the air around us and
suddenly, there was a stirring of the slave boys as the dawn broke through
the darkness, the sounds of wakening boys and the changing of outside
guards told us both that we had returned to normalcy, it was the first day
of our lives and it was time to look for our own homeland.

We left the tent to the sounds of the slave boys working to dismantle it
and ready everything for the move, as we stepped out into the rising sun we
were met by the smiling faces of Gregor, Tzuma and Peitro, as one they
bowed to us and Gregor, with a broad smile still on his face and an arm
around both Tzuma and Peitro, said.

"Welcome my Lords, to the first day of the reign of Prince Alexi and his
consort Melkos, may you both reign long and true."

Hearing Melkos name from the lips of Gregor had me wondering how he knew
it, I was soon made aware that Melkos had told him when I had collapsed the
evening before, I was about to reprimand Gregor for his greeting when I saw
each and every boy, both free and enslaved, bowing low to us both, it was
then I became aware that we now had our own small army and family to begin
our new lives.

Melkos snuggled into my side as we sat to break our fast, once done we
moved out on our journey of discovery, somewhere out there was our new
homeland, we set our course to the east, it was the direction of the new
rising of the sun each day and seemed appropriate as this was a new
direction for both Melkos and myself, a new beginning and a new day.

Ahead of us lay more adventures and it was to be months before we found our
homeland where, even today, we live our lives unseen even by the modern
world, we are protected from harm by the gift of Creator and even if you
try, you will not find us for we are under His protection and can only be
seen when we wish it to be so, oh yes, even now in the 21st century, we are
still here, we still look the same as when we first held each other, the
boys are still with us and would not be known by you as anything other than
young teenagers, our slave boys have long passed on and were all given
their freedom to go their own way, all refused and stayed with us until
their dying day, by then we were in our home where we are today.

In all the millennium that have gone, we have seen war and destruction not
known in your modern world, we watched the spread of diseases that wiped
away many humans and watched silently as your greed and avarice destroyed
families and created famine and genocide while you looked on and counted
your ill gotten gains and children died in their mothers arms but, be
warned, there is a time coming that you can not buy, you can not hide from
and you can not do anything about, you will see your wealth become sand in
your hands as all those around you fall to their knees in askance, and
still you will not see it.

The time is near, look to your brothers and hold out your hand in aide,
only those who have walked in the shadow of Creator will see the sun rise
and watch as the Earth heals itself from your greedy and grasping hands,
there are still Elves today, it is we that will bring back that which you
have tried in your childish attempts to destroy, of our story? if you are
still of this earth in time, then I may enlighten you further on our
travels and challenges but, that of course will depend on how you see the
world around you in the times to come, until then, remember, Elves are
real, we have always been and always will be, you have been warned.


END


Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz