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Inverness [FF, fantasy] - Part X - Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon

Crimson Dragon

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(c) Copyright February 2001 - All Rights Reserved

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Bluffs, like the sheer sides of a long valley, grew up where the trees
had formerly stood.  Alison shook her head, and blinked again.  Her
feet rested in warm sand, the pine needles replaced by the banks of a
narrow river.  Her toes sensed dampness in the sand there; humid salty
air assailed her nostrils.  The bonfire still burned, somehow
suspended above the centre of the water.

"Told you to watch out," Mercury laughed from somewhere close.

Without surprise, she sensed the black gown return to embrace her bare
body.  Sondra, too, regained her long lost white toga wrap.  Again,
without surprise, she noted that Mercury's top had not reappeared, but
that her shorts remained about her hips.

Crimson's voice continued from the centre of the stage that lay
suspended in the middle of the river.  His was the only male voice in
this new valley.  With a start, Alison realised that no men remained
near the bonfire, only women dancing in its flickering light. 
However, the women that remained found the rhythm and danced through
the sand without missing a beat.

Alison craned her head upwards.  The males lined the tops of the
cliffs above, staring wistfully down at the dancing girls, some moving
to the sounds of the music from below.

"How?"

"Magic," Mercury cried back, her voice carried away by the music.

Alison resumed her dancing, suddenly thankful for the black garment.

Young girls are coming to the canyon...

                         <---===***===--->

I saw her again last night.  And I know that I shouldn't...

The changes became a blur, shifting from cityscape, to wilderness,
from mountains to ocean.  The crowd danced in abandon, celebrating the
Solstice like pagans immersed in festival, which she supposed it
wasn't far from.

The rapid shifts in scenery had disoriented her at first, but the
novelty of dancing on pavement and then on water, within seconds,
ultimately fascinated her.  She abandoned herself to the magic.

And as quickly as it had begun, the clearing returned, pine needles
cushioning her bare feet, firelight cast by the bonfire that she had
lit an eternity ago.

Sondra had twirled away with Janey somewhere in the middle of the
shifting scenery, leaving her with only Mercury.

As the music paused, Mercury grinned at Alison, her face flushed with
exertion and pleasure.  Perspiration trickled down the side of her
face as her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing.

Mercury extended her hand.  Alison's fingers entwined with Mercury's.

Alison glanced up towards the stage.  Crimson, without missing a beat
waved cheerily at her.

To string her along, just ain't right.  If I couldn't I wouldn't...

                         <---===***===--->

The black gown lay crumpled on the stone, lit by flickering
candlelight.  A pair of blue cut-offs kept the gown company.

Bass beats from the forest wafted through the open window, carried by
the breeze.  The sounds of a thousand revellers continued somewhere
far below.

Her body ached as she slipped back against the pillows.  Her legs,
arms, and nipples cried out in protest.  Mercury's skin slipped over
hers.  Shivers.

Fingers touched her nipples, gently twisting.  She moaned.

Mercury's mouth floated millimetres from her lips.  She wanted those
lips.  Her body shouldn't have wanted sex, couldn't have wanted sex,
but she did.  She reached up, fingers entwining in Mercury's damp
hair, pulling her close.

Fingers entered her, gently.  Lips brushed at her nipples, her lips
brushing at Mercury's soft skin.

She cried out.

                         <---===***===--->

Sunlight splashed across her face, waking her gently.  The canopy
fluttered above her in the cool, morning breeze slipping through the
window.

Mercury lay asleep with her head cradled in the crook of Alison's
shoulder.  Sometime in the night, Sondra had crawled into the bed, and
she was curled up, too, her bare arm goosebumped, one hand cupping
Mercury's breast from behind.

Alison squirmed out from beneath Mercury, gently lowering her head
onto a pillow.  Mercury mumbled something incoherent, one hand
reaching for the coverlet that wasn't there.  She curled back up,
snuggling back into the warmth of Sondra.

Alison rubbed at her eyes, swinging her bare legs out of bed.  Her
back teeth were floating, and she automatically clenched her legs
together.  She ached all over, her muscles protesting her activity of
the last day or so.

Instead of stone, her bare feet touched softness.  She leaned beyond
the canopy, gathering up the coverlet that had dropped there sometime
during last night's lovemaking.

She carefully covered up Mercury and Sondra, then padded to where her
gown graced the floor.

Smoothing the fabric, she debated simply not wearing anything, but in
the end decided to slip it over her head.

She leaned briefly on the windowsill, breathing in the clean air.  The
sun lit the green of the forest across the countryside in front of
her.  Smoke rose lazily from a wide clearing below her and to the
right.  She shook her head slowly, and retreated from the window.  Her
bladder screamed at her, and she padded barefoot to the doorway.

                         <---===***===--->

The hot water had transferred relaxation into her muscles.  Her hair
dripped onto her shoulders, dampening the green towel that she'd
wrapped around her torso.  The black gown lay draped over her right
arm, still miraculously unwrinkled.

As she opened the door, she spied Mercury sitting naked on the floor,
the coverlet under her.  Sondra sat cross-legged on the bed.  They
both turned as she entered.

"What's wrong?" Alison asked as she stepped into the room.  She smiled
as she saw the tall man seated in the chair, his face reflecting a
sombre mood to match the girls.

"I didn't know you could sing," Alison remarked to him without waiting
for an answer from the girls.

The Dragon smiled.  "I didn't know you could dance."

Alison blushed, could feel the blood rushing to her toes even.  She
shook her head.

"I'm sorry about Josh.  Sometimes the authors don't talk to each other
as much as they should."

Alison shrugged.  "'tis all right.  We sorted things out.  We would
have seen each other eventually."

"You did the right thing, if that means anything."

"I know," she whispered.  The room lapsed into silence for a moment.

"Quite a trip," she remarked.

"All trips must come to an end," Crimson sighed.

Alison stopped walking, glancing at Mercury and Sondra, and then back
at Crimson.

"Now?"

He nodded slowly.

"Can I stay?"

Mercury rose to her feet, stepping quickly towards Alison.  She
embraced the girl, her lips reaching for Alison's.

"You needed this, but you also need home."

"I want to stay."

"And we want you to stay," Mercury whispered her finger gently against
Alison's lips.  "Sondra and I are heading home, too, after you go. 
Living one's life in a fantasy isn't the healthiest thing in the world
to do."

"It's real here."

"It's magic here," Mercury gently corrected.

Alison fought back the tears.  "Will I see you again?"

Mercury smiled and hugged her tight.  "Oh yes.  I can promise that."

Alison broke the embrace and walked over to Sondra.

"Thank you," she whispered.  Sondra smiled and offered her lips.

Alison returned to Mercury.  "And thank you."

"We had fun."  Mercury kissed her deeply, her body inviting, sending
throbs again through Alison.

Alison released Mercury, resting her eyes on Crimson.  She wiped at
her eyes, and then found a smile.  She dropped the towel, cocking her
head to her right shoulder.  The Dragon grinned, but kept his eyes
upon hers.  Without a word, she slipped the dress over her head,
settling it around her body.

She raised her hand.  He took it, guiding her slowly to the doorway. 
As she passed through, she turned and waved.

                         <---===***===--->

"Torchbearer!"

She looked up as she entered the vast room.  She'd never been in a
library quite like this, shelves and shelves of books stretching on
forever.  Green, comfortable reading chairs stood beside soft lights
on ornate end tables.  See-El rose from one of the easy chairs,
dropping the manuscript that he was perusing.  She ran lightly across
the brown carpet to embrace the big man.

"Thought I'd lost you."

"Never."  He released her.

"It's time to go home," she looked up at him, almost pleading with him
to tell the Dragon that she'd prefer to stay here.

He bent his head with a wink.  "We all need to go home once in a
while.  Reality isn't that bad, you know."

She turned to the Dragon who was watching quietly from near the
doorway.  For some reason, his face reflected an old pain, like
someone witnessing something that she cannot do, but so desperately
wants to.

She grasped the barkeep's hand and guided him back to the Dragon.

"I...I'm ready.  I think."

The tall creature nodded, his hands defining the shining portal
shimmering near the chair from which See-El had risen.

Alison released See-El's hand, rising up on her tiptoes.  She kissed
the Dragon full on the lips.  To her surprise, the Dragon responded,
kissing her back, but for a moment.

"And thank-you, most of all," she whispered.  The Dragon nodded in
quiet acceptance.

She turned, slipping her hand back into See-El's grasp.

Together, they walked towards the shimmering, heatless blue light.

                         <---===***===--->