10 comments/ 23997 views/ 18 favorites Roger's Mirka Ch. 01 By: masked_maiden Mirka was running though the woods. She did not know where she was or where she was going. But she knew what was behind her and she would not go back to that. The chains on her arm, legs and neck were heavy, but she kept running carrying them the best she could. Thorns caught on her legs and arms, leaving scratches. But she kept running as she stumbled and fell in to the mud of a river bank. The thin toga they had put on her did nothing to keep the cold water from her. For a moment she thought she could not get up; she was starting to feel exhausted. But then the sound of baying dogs reached her. She drew on strength that she didn't know she had and got up she ran into the river and using it to cover her sent, ran down stream in it before running out the other side. But her trick did not work she could hear the men on horse back catching up to her. They were only about hundred yards behind her. She ran until a link on one of her chains caught on a tree branch and pulled her back. She stumbled and smacked her head on a fallen tree branch. Her last conscious thought was that at least she had found a warm boulder to die next to. The two men on horse back had seen her running and followed her to where she fell. One dismounted and walked over and checked for her pulse. "Well she still is alive. Do you want to take her back? If she wakes up she is still worth a lot of money. The scratches are not too deep they won't leave scars." The other one sat and thought before saying "We might as well. She is still a virgin and worth a lot at the slave market. Here, I will come and help you get her up." Only after he dismounted did the large white boulder behind the woman move. It opened its eyes and had whispers of smoke come out of its nostrils. The dragon growled at the men. Its growl sent the horses in a panic, running though the forest. He raised his head and sent a jet of flame at the two men as they turned to run. With one of his massive front feet he gently picked up the unconscious woman. He spread his wings and took off. "Should we follow it?" "Are you fucking stupid? That thing is probably eating her as we speak. Let's go find our horses." The dragon flew for miles until he spotted what he was looking for. He came to a mountain and he circled lower and lower as he went down for his landing. There was a clearing at the base of the mountain where a long house stood. On the other side of a band of trees there were several more longhouses grouped together. He could see clearly the two bodies that were running playful through the clearing that had its late spring flowers blooming. One was that of a woman and the other was the long body of a centaur. Their playful game ended as they saw him coming in for a landing. The woman went and stood by the centaur. They did not run from the dragon. On the contrary when the dragon landed on his three legs the woman came running forward. "Isabella is worried," Rafa called out to the Dragon. "She wants to know if you are hurt." The dragon shook his head and then sent a small fire ball down to the meadow starting a small fire so they could see the woman in is claws. While it would seem odd to others that the centaur was talking for the woman when she hadn't made a sound, Roger knew that Isabella was a mute and had special powers that allowed any one who shared her blood to hear her thoughts when she projected them. "Now Isabella is pissed at you? She is saying how dare you kidnap a poor woman. That woman has probably died of fright at the sight of you." The dragon set the woman down and changed into his human form. Rafa handed him a blanket that he and Isabella had been playing with. As Roger wrapped it around his hips he spoke. "I didn't exactly kidnap her. She was running away from some slavers. She hit her head and fell next to me while I was resting. The elves have moved to the other side of the mountain valley and it takes more time to fly across it. There may also be two horses on the run if any of your centaurs want to find them I can take you to the spot I last saw them. Can you help her Isabella?" Isabella was gently picking up the chains and in the dwindling firelight, looking at the damage done to the poor woman's body. But she finally nodded. "Isabella doesn't want to do it here. Can you carry her to that longhouse?" "Yes," Roger picked Mirka up and walked into Rafa and Isabella's longhouse. He laid her down on a pallet of furs that Rafa had pulled out and laid in front of the fire. "Roger, do you want to stay here? I am going to go and wake Blake. He is our chief iron worker. Isabella wants those chains off of the woman as soon as possible." "Sure." Roger was eager to see Isabella heal someone. He remembered how Isabella had healed him by just a touch of her hand but he had never seen it. A flash of anger went though Roger as he now saw the burn wounds that were on the bottom of the woman's feet. The slavers had burned the bottom of them to try and keep her from running away with out diminishing her value of beauty. Isabella wrapped a vine from a wandering Jude plant around the upper part of one of her arms. Then she placed her hands on either side of the woman's face. Soon Roger saw the cuts and scraps on the woman skin fade and heal but they showed up on Isabella. Then Roger saw the woman's feet heal and go from open oozing wounds to soft pink flesh. He heard Isabella whimper and went to comfort her but Rafa's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "If you touch her you will distract her. Do you want her to have those burns on her feet?" "No" Roger said as he knelt down at Mirka's side to keep himself form wanting to touch Isabella again. "Blake will be here in a moment. He had to get some tools and he knew Isabella would take a while." They watched as a deep bruise started to cover Isabella's arms. Roger looked at Rafa curiously. "That is from the concussion she is healing. A concussion is a bruise on the brain. Isabella can't take the risk of losing control over her thoughts, so she makes the bruise go else where then she will channel it into the plant." As Rafa spoke the bruise faded from Isabella's arms and they could see the leaves of the plant darken as it took on the bruise. Then the vines started to fall off of the plant as the small scraps were also channeled into it then a long vine shriveled as if it had been burned. Only then did Isabella let go of the woman. She slumped over and Rafa caught her before she hit the floor. "I am going to take her to our bed she will be tired for the next few days." As Rafa returned Blake entered the long house. He was a solid black centaur. He had a tool that came to a sharp point. He whistled when he saw the woman on the furs. "Has anyone claimed her yet she would make me a good mate." Roger got up and punched the ironworker. "You filthy beast don't you talk about her that way." As he went to hit Blake again Rafa caught his arm. "I think Roger has claimed her Blake. Just get the chains, off if you can." Blake rubbed his sore jaw he was seeing stars but he was sure he could still get the cuffs off. "Sure I will as long as you hold him. Roger, I was just asking a question. I am sorry." He then stepped around them and gently pushed the tip beneath the first cuff with a quick sip the cuff broke but it had left a bruise and a small cut. Before Roger could argue anything Rafa said, "Isabella can heal that in the morning. She couldn't tonight because the cuff was still causing the bruising. Now if you can control yourself, we can help him get the chains off." Roger still wanted to fight but he now controlled his actions to helping lift an arm or leg for Blake so he could get a better angle. Roger also held her hair out of the way as Barracks cut the shackle off of her neck. They found a slim gold chain under the collar. A small blue stone was resting in the hollow of her throat. He was gently rubbing her face as he said, "Thank you Blake. Is there anything you need in the smith shop?" "I could use a few things why?" Blake said warily. He had not dealt with the dragon before and was unsure of what to make of him. "I will come by tomorrow and we can make a list I want to repay you for your help and my bad behavior." "Ok, I am going back to sleep now do you want me to take the chain?" "No leave it here for right now. I have some plans for them." Roger said. After Blake had left, Rafa picked up the chains and put it in a small pile. Roger wanted a better look at the blue stone on the necklace. He had a hard time believing that the greedy slavers would leave a gold chain on a slave. Just as his hand touched the gem his hand exploded in pain, it felt like it was on fire. He quickly released it and looked at the burn on his hand. When he didn't see any sign of a burn on her, he decided to leave it until he could ask her about it. Rafa came over and looked at his hand. "I will have to tell Isabella not to touch that. You know how she can be some times and she doesn't need to be hurt any more. He then handed Roger a blanket to cover up in. "Sleep well Roger," and then left the room. Roger took the time to finally get a good look at the woman he had rescued. She was bigger then Isabella was. They were about the same height but this one out weighed Isabella by about thirty to forty pounds. Isabella was slim like a willow branch. The extra weight on this woman didn't make her fat but she had the soft look that he liked in a woman. As he lay down next to her ready to sleep, she moved and curled herself around him. She sighed as his warm body relaxed her sore muscles. Even in his human form his body temperature was about a hundred and ten. The firelight danced over her face. Her hair was light brown, almost the shade of sand. There were streaks of lighter almost blond hair. It framed her round face as she smiled in her sleep. He could see the apples of her full cheeks. Her nose was a sharp ridge that contrasted nicely with the full roundness of her face. Her upper lip was thinner then her lower lip but they made him want to kiss them and taste the fullness of them. It was with these thought in his had that he drifted off to sleep wondering if he had found his mate. In his dream he was walking up to the four poster bed in his treasure cave. Thin gossamer curtains fluttering softly in the breeze that frequently drifted though the cave. Through them you could see the muted form of a woman kneeling on the bed. Roger's broad tan hand divided the curtains as Mirka turned her face to face him. Her hands were folded in her naked lap and her large breast rose and fell with her every breath in. The blue stone was riding in the valley between. As she looked into Roger's eyes he could see fear reflected into them. Rodger moved slowly, gracefully, almost cat like to join her on the bed. He kneeled so they were looking into each other's eyes. He slowly raised his hand to touch the curve of her cheek. "Mirka, you are so beautiful. Can you believe that I never want to hurt you?" "Yes," her voice was shaky as she looked back at him. They kissed as he ran his hands down her neck. His left hand ran down her back as the other gently cupped her full breast. She buried one of her hands in his thick hair. Her other hand ran down his chest to caress the silken hair. His silken hairs lead her hand down to his hips. She then wrapped her hand around his large shaft. Her hand could barely fit around it. He groaned at her touch and whispered into her ear. "Don't be afraid of that I will make sure that it doesn't hurt you, as long as you don't hurt it." He ran his hands down to her knees and pulled them out from under her so she was lying on her back. He kissed down to her breast and sucked on her nipples. She moaned and moved her hips against the leg between hers. The fires of passion he was stoking were burning away any fear she had of his monster size. He moved his other leg between hers and started to rub the shaft of his cock against her. Her neither lips parted and his shaft rubbed against her love button and made her shiver in excitement. Then he pulled back and swiftly entered her. Before she could register any pain she felt a warmth flow though her as her muscles quivered and she dug her nails into Roger's arms. She felt that if she let go of him she would drift way from everything. Roger kissed over her breast and then up her neck. He then leaned back and lifted her legs up until her feet were resting on his shoulders. Mirka made a small squeak of surprise as he slipped in deeper. His deep thrust and slow pace soon had her on the edge and then he started to speed up the pace. He felt her velvety walls flutter against his shaft as she came. He pulled out his shaft he nudged her so that she rolled over on to her belly. He pulled her up till she was kneeling in front of him. He held her as she was so relaxed from her orgasm that she just let her head and shoulders rest on a thick pillow. He leaned over and kissed her between the shoulders as he entered her. She whimpered as the new position made him feel even bigger and was now slightly painful to her oversensitive walls. But she wanted to repay the favor of finding the sweetness of release so she bit down on the pillow. As he got closer to his climax Roger found himself losing control over his shape. He started to turn in to his dragon form. He tried to stop, it but before he could it was past his control. His arms transformed into his white front legs, his talon feet pressed down on the bed. Soon the bed collapsed from his massive weight and the canopy was ripped as his spiny back pressed though it. When he reached his full size, his orgasm over took him. He let out a roar of pleasure before looking down to see Mirka. She was impaled on his shaft with is cum dripping out of her mouth. During his transformation and orgasm she had been killed. Roger quickly shifted back to his human form and cried over her dead body. He sadly reached for her body and cradle it, as the dream faded away. He woke up with a start. The sadness of the dream was still heavy on him and he could feel a few tears still falling form this eyes as he felt Mirka's warm body next to his. He listened to her breathing for a minute before taking off in to the early morning. He needed a walk as he figured out what to do. He had tried to take human mate in the past only to find that he lost control of his shape and the women always ended up dead. He had never talked to Mirka but he still felt a powerful connection to her. He decided he would have to go away and try to get more control over his powers. Roger's Mirka Ch. 02 In the morning Rafa and Roger talked about where to keep Mirka. Roger had his own longhouse but it did not have much in it. Then they agreed that she could stay with Isabella and Rafa. Roger took the chains into his longhouse so that he could do something with them later, but they wouldn't remind the woman of her past. Roger was going to be away for a few weeks taking care of some of his own business, but first he wanted to take the centaurs to where he had frightened the horses. He respected how the centaurs felt about their cousins, the horse. They often times found horses that had been turned out by men and taken care of them as once they had been domesticated it was often hard for them to find food in the wild. Rafa and Roger left the long house. Rafa went to tell his king Juan Carlos about Rogers mate and to where the elves had moved. Roger went to the smith shop and made the list with Blake. He would buy Blake a new set of bellows and a variety of tools that had been damage due to the prolonged use. Blake knew that the dragon was being very generous but was also asking him to help Rafa watch over the woman as many of the singe centaur males would want to try and take her as their mates while Roger was gone. True to Rafa's words, Isabella healed the last of the woman's wounds when she had woken the next morning. Roger was thankful, but also saddened that it had taken so much of her energy, now that he could see that she was heavy with child. He had been so worried about the woman he had forgotten that she was about eight months pregnant. She just smiled weakly as Roger tried to apologize. Rafa walked in and said in an uneasy voice, "Come on Isabella, Juan Carlos wants to see all of us." When Isabella's footsteps were slow and unsteady Rafa kneeled down and let her mount on him. Very few centaurs let their mates ride on their back. Most of them would find it degrading but they would all allow it when necessary. Rafa didn't care if Isabella was on his back. In fact, he liked the feel of her on his withers as she very rarely wore undergarments so he could feel her wet cunt sliding over him as he walked. The three of them walked over to the chief's long house. "Hello again Roger," Juan Carlos said as they entered his longhouse, "and a good morning Rafa and Isabella. I see you have done some healing again." She smiled over Rafa's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his upper body. "The tribe of Folk is sending over a few young warriors for us to train. So you may want to stay way Roger as I can't guarantee that they won't try to shoot you if they see you in any of your forms. And I want Isabella to try and keep her healing powers quiet. We don't want them to be tempted to steal you. I know we all want to help other tribes in the area but we haven't had the time to explain how we got to be friends with a dragon or acquired a magical healer." All three knew what the king meant. Some centaur tribes believe all dragons needed to be killed and if they saw him in his human form they might also kill him to keep their existence a secret. They also might believe that anyone who used magic was a witch and also needed to be killed. Or they might want her for themselves and try to steal her. "I was planning on taking a trip anyway. I need to buy a few new things for your smith shop. I was leaving today but I would like reassurance that I have your permission to leave the woman I brought here to keep her safe. She was in slaver's hands. I have scared them away and they will not come to find her because they think I ate her." "Of course we will keep her for you." Juan Carlos said anxiously. "We are expecting our guest anytime soon. Please leave as quickly as possible. We will be giving you the horse you helped rescued the last time you were here to ride until you are a safe distance to change. I think it might be better to see a man riding way then a dragon flying." They left the longhouse and Roger gave a hug to both Rafa and Isabella, then he mounted the horse and road off with the centaur Feli who would bring back the horse. He left just in time. Just as Roger was lost to view, a pack of three young centaurs came from the other way. They had tattoos that swirled like the wind over their human halves. "We are from the Folks Tribe and we come to learn from you. We mean you no harm. My name is Markus." He was standing in front of the other two. "Then welcome. Our chief is inside and he is awaiting you." Rafa said as he bowed his head in greeting. "I now doubt that we can learn anything from you if you allow yourselves to be treated like common mules." Rafa bristled at the insult. "If you are referring to the woman on my back, this is my mate Isabella. She is heavy with foal and has been getting weak. But we are part of the chief's family and he wanted to see her. But he also wanted to make sure to be in the meeting house when you came, so I have to carry her. Insult her again and I will kill you myself." Rafa walked off to Nat's longhouse to relay Juan Carlos's message. "Hey Nat, I have to talk to you." Rafa said as he entered with out knocking. Nat stepped out of the back she was just getting dressed. She came out tying up the back of her dress. "We have visitors. They think Isabella is weak because of the foal and that is how the king wants it." "I know he visited me quick this morning and the word has been spread. We waited as long as we could to tell you guys because Blake had told us of what happened last night. We figured it would be best if he told the three of you together. I also see Roger got out fine." "Yes he got out fine. Now I will head back to our longhouse as we are taking care of Roger's soon to be mate. I don't want her trying to run on us so I want to be there when she wake up." With that Rafa left Nat's home and returned to theirs. Rafa could see that he was already too late. Mirka had woken up and was trying to leave. "Hold on Isabella," was all Rafa could say before he lunged in to a full gallop. He quickly caught the woman and carried her back into the longhouse. As softly as he could he placed her on the furs. Mirka jumped up and quickly grabbed a small knife that had been left on the table. She was pointing it at Rafa. Isabella quickly slid off his back so if he needed to run again he could. She was nauseous from his movements. "We mean you no harm. Look for yourself we healed you. Even your feet are no longer burned." The woman looked at her feet and then back at Rafa suspiciously. "I guess you did, my name is Mirka. What is yours?" She lowered the knife slightly. "I am Rafa, and her name is Isabella but she can not speak because she was born mute. You are going to stay with us for awhile. You are free to move around the village but we have some visitors form another tribe with us so you should try to avoid them." "Then I will make it easy for you just let me go?" she half yelled at Rafa. "I am sorry I can't let you do that." Rafa smiled. "Roger asked me to keep you safe for him and I would just have to catch you gain. Do you think you can out run me?" "No." she said half heartily, "but I could find a way to escape." "Then we would just have to put those chains back on you." Rafa said ominously. "So do you promise not to run again?" "Yes," she said admitting defeat. Rafa continued, "I also want you to take Isabella with you always she will help you understand everything we do. If any one asks you belong to Roger. He is away doing some business for the tribe. This is for your protection. Do you understand?" "No why do I need more protection?" "Like I said we have visitors from a different tribe. They might take you as their mate. Then there is also the fact that once there was a woman who didn't have a mate. She was used by many of the single males of the tribe before any of the paired males could pull them off. She unfortunately died. I would hate to see you go the same way. I am also afraid of what Roger would do to me if I let you get hurt. So do you understand now?" "I think I do but you make me one promise." She said, and she prepared herself for a fight. "Depends on what the promise is." "You do not hand me over to the slavers I ran from." Rafa laughed. "If I tried to hand you over, Isabella is likely to hit me with a frying pan. She hates to see all her good healing go to waste. Besides Roger would kill me if I gave up his mate." "So I am Roger's mate? I have no choice in that mater?" she said laying down the knife. "Of course you do. We don't force our mates but most women chose to be mates once they see how we fawn all over our mates." Rafa said with a smile. With that Rafa put his arms around Isabella and she smiled. She leaned back into him stretching her back as he placed his hands over her swollen belly. Mirka had to admit that Isabella looked like the picture of serenity and joy. "I expect you to help Isabella for the next few days she is tired from staying up doctoring you all night." "How am I to know what she needs me to do if she can't talk?" Mirka asked "Isabella can show you pictures of what she wants if she puts her hand on your face. I would like it if you stay in here for a few days or got out with Nat, our other healer. She will be by later today to check on Isabella. The visitors we have might not react well to Isabella's gifts. So we are trying not to let them know what she can do." Rafa's face took on a pleading look as he said his next words. "You may be holding Isabella's life or happiness in your hands. As the best case they will want to kidnap her so they can have her worst case is they think she is a witch and kill her." The pleading look in his eyes made her heart break. "I will do all that you ask." Mirka found it easy to get along with Rafa and Isabella. It took a few days for Isabella to get back on her feet so she stayed in the large bed that was in the back room. Mirka would bring her chicken broth and bread to help her regain her strength. Mirka also found out that the images that Isabella could show you were very detailed and even had sound so they worked together getting things arranged for the baby. Mirka continued to sleep on the pallet of furs by the fire but it never seemed to be as soft or as warm as the first night she had spent there. She even liked Nat who had stopped by on the second day and came to check on Isabella every couple of hours. She seemed to be very worried about Isabella. They had decided to take a walk to Nat's house as Isabella was starting to get restless. When Mirka asked Nat, "How long is her pregnancy going to last?" "Since the baby will be part human and part centaur, it should last about 10 months. Isabella is about eight and a half months along. So soon the baby will be here." Nat said as she smiled at Isabella. Just then a strong arm grabbed Mirka around the waist and pulled her off of her feet. "Let me go" she yelled in the face of the tattooed centaur that picked her up. "Only if you kiss me," Replied Markus "I am the mate of Roger you will let me go or face his wrath." Mirka said raising her chin in defiance. "Well I don't see him around to protect what is his, so he deserves to lose it. Especially, since you are just a woman. I would love to..." But what ever Markus would love to do to Mirka, they didn't find out as a large black fist came over Mirka's shoulder and struck his face. Markus fell to his knees. Blake caught Mirka before she could hit the ground. He set her besides Isabella and shielded all of them with his body. Markus glared at Blake as he stood back up. "What was the meaning of that?" asked Markus. "I could ask you the same thing." Blake brought him self to his full height which was about half a foot taller then Markus. "I was just having a little fun." "No you were mistreating a mate of my tribe and." Blake started but Markus cut him off. "In my tribe we share woman. You should too as a sign of good faith in us." Blake grabbed him by his throat and lifted him up until his front feet left the ground. "I will not allow you to touch any of the women of this tribe." "Blake what are you doing?" Juan Carlos Called as he came across the scene with Rafa and the other two Folk tribe centaurs. Blake let him go as he bowed to Juan Carlos as he gave his answer. "He had grabbed Roger's mate and was trying to assault her." "I just wanted a kiss." Markus said sulkily, "In our tribe we share mates. That way every one wants to see the foals thrive as there is no way of knowing who the father is." "Well we do not do that here. You will not touch a woman of this tribe or you will face the penalty." "Yes sir." "You will join us as we are going to go sparing. This is after all what you are here to do unless I was mistaken. Blake I will deal with you later." A dark look passed between Juan Carlos and Blake. Blake bowed and said "As you wish I will meet you at your house when you are done with the sparing match." Blake watched as Markus left with the others. Rafa stayed behind for just a moment placing his forehead on Isabella's as he whispered something to her. "Don't worry Rafa, you go with the king I will walk with them if he is interested in Mirka I think it would be wise for us to keep our guard up." "Thank you Blake," was all that Rafa could say as he stepped around them and broke into a trot to catch up with the others. "I didn't mean to intrude but it was better that I do it then Isabella." "What do you think Isabella could have done? She is just a woman like me." Mirka said slightly confused by his comment. "You would be surprised by what she can do if she needed to do it. We will tell you all after Markus and his gang leaves. I also think it will be wise of us if I stay with you all. After all you three are some of our most precious treasures we have." "You're just saying that because you don't want to face Roger if Mirka gets hurt." Nat said half joking but there was a dark undertone of truth to it. "No not Roger, I don't want to face the combination of Rafa and Roger. I know that it would upset Isabella and I would have Rafa breathing down my neck for letting anything happen to you two. " They had reached Nat's house and as they entered Mirka asked the next question that was on her mind "Is Roger that powerful of a centaur?" A note of fear was in her voice. "Roger is probably the most powerful being in the forest." Nat said as they entered her longhouse. But she gave a look to Blake and Isabella none of them fully understood why they were not correcting her about Roger being a dragon and not a centaur. "He is also the kindest thing around. We are just happy he finally found someone he wanted to mate with. Why did you ask? Are you worried about him hurting you?" Mirka looked slightly guilty as she said, "Well since have never meet him I am a little afraid of him." "Haven't you been watching every one here? Do you think we would try and keep you safe if he was going to hurt you?" "No, I am just nervous why you all think he would like me as we have never even met. I mean why do centaurs take some women as mate but not others?" "We have different reasons," Blake answered. "But the most I can tell you is every stallion comes to a point in his life were he gets the urge to have a mate. Most will go off and look in the nearest villages. A very few have just grabbed the first young girl they find. The biggest problem with that is the girls have to be checked to make sure they are virgins. You see we only take virgins as they are less likely to bring any disease into the tribe. The smarter and more patient ones watch the villages for a while to see which woman they like the most. Then they watch to see if that woman is attached or if she is sneaking form one house to another at night, which of course means that she is probably not a good mate." "Why haven't you mated Blake?" Mirka asked curiously but even before he answered Mirka could feel the change in him. "I was mated. I think I will wait out side while you women chit chat. I am going to work on a design that I have been working on so when Roger comes back with the bellows I can complete it." Blake's voice was hollow. As he left he literally laid his body in front of the door. He sketched on a piece of paper he had taken out of the tool belt that was around his waist. "I didn't mean to insult him. How can I apologize?" Mirka asked Nat. "I would do nothing right now. As you can guess his mating went bad. We don't often talk about it. You see he had decided on his mate but he watched her for a long time and the werewolves who were watching figured out which woman he wanted. They convinced her to allow herself to be kidnapped and then to tell them where we had hidden our tribe. Her betrayal cost many lives." "We are at war with the werewolves?" Mirka asked, slightly in awe of the fact the werewolves were real too. "No not since Isabella came. With our visitors here it is not the right time to tell you that story but as soon as they leave you will be given a full account of what Isabella means to this tribe." The women were working silently on a small hammock that would be strung up besides Isabella and Rafa's bed for the baby to sleep in. As they put in the final stitches in, Mirka asked the question that was on her mind, "Why do the centaurs have to kidnap women? Isn't there any female centaurs?" "There weren't any female centaurs for generations but, now there is Maria, Rafa's younger sister." Nat beamed at the other two women. Isabella lost her color and dropped the ceramic mug she had just filled with tea. The cup smashed in to pieces as Isabella ran from the longhouse. Blake had gotten up at the sound of breaking ceramic and was looking in to check on the girls as Isabella fled past him. "What is wrong Nat?" Blake asks urgently. "Isabella just thought of something we all forgot about. We forgot to hide Maria! What if they see her? You have seen how that one acts with Mirka. What do you think he would do if he finds out about her?" Nat said as she and Mirka rushed from the hut. When they caught up to Isabella she was leaning against a longhouse on the edge of the sparing fields. She was waiting for Rafa to get done sparing and come over. When Juan Carlos blew the whistle for a break he came over with Rafa. "What is wrong?" Rafa asked as he pulled Isabella in to his arms. "I think she had a bad dream." Blake said loudly as he had noticed that Markus was trying to listen in. Mirka notice that Rafa's eyes became extremely unfocused. She also noticed that the others were trying to cover up the fact that any thing was happening so she would play along. "I remember those days," Juan Carlos said, "I remember when Sofía was pregnant. It seemed that every five minuets she was coming to me because she had some new fear. Either it was a dream that there was a problem with the baby or that I had gone missing. At least Isabella is almost due." Rafa's eyes returned to normal and he smiled and bent down to kiss Isabella who was visible calmer. "I am safe and so are you and the baby." Rafa then looked at Juan Carlos as he said, "I am sure that Markus's treatment of Mirka could have set off the bad dreams. I am sorry for the intrusion to our training Juan Carlos. Nat, could you keep Isabella with you? I trust you to be able to keep her calm until we are done." With that Rafa and Juan Carlos went back to training. Isabella walked over to Nat and put her arm around her friend and they left the training field with Blake walking with them. It was a while later that both Nat and Mirka jumped as Rafa entered the longhouse. Isabella who had her back to the door just leaned back as if she had expected it to be him all along. Rafa just nuzzled her neck as he spoke to the others. Roger's Mirka Ch. 02 "Juan Carlos has put out another tribe decree. He doesn't want a single woman to be with out a grown centaur around. He doesn't want another scene like the one Markus made. As far as Maria right now she and the other foals are out in the woods with my father learning about healing plants. Feli was going hunting so we have given him a message to pass onto my father about what is going on, so they shouldn't come back until after the Folks tribe leaves. Thanks to Isabella's thinking Maria should be safe. Mirka are you ready to go back with us?" "Actually I was going to ask Nat If I could stay here with her so I could go over some things with her." "I don't mind if you want to stay, Rafa could you pull the spare furs out for me?" "Sure I can." After Rafa pulled the spare furs out he looked at Nat "do you want me to stay until Apolo comes home?" Nat picked up a rather nasty looking knife and smiled. "Thank you for the thought Rafa, but Blake made me this and Apolo trained me on how to use it as he feels better knowing that I can defend myself if the need arises. So good night, you two, and sleep well." "Ok I trust you can take care of yourselves, but if you need anything you know where I will be." Rafa kissed Nat on the check and patted Mirka's shoulder. As he left he put his arm around Isabella's shoulder both a protective and comforting motion. Nat and Mirka ate and talked about what was expected from the average woman in the tribe as clearly Isabella was not the average woman. Nat went to sleep in her room and Mirka went to sleep on the pallet of furs. The fire had burned down and at first Mirka thought it was the chill that had awoken her but then she heard hooves moving softly over the floor. She could see where the knife was in the dim light that the dyeing coals were throwing off. She could not reach it before the black body of a centaur moved past her. He slowly moved the drape back that hung in the doorway of Nat's bedroom. Mirka took the opportunity to quietly grab the knife. She raised it up preparing to strike anything that she could reach. He Leaned over Nat's sleeping form and said in gentile voice that barely carried back to Mirka. "Wake up my angel I have come home." Mirka lowered the knife slightly waiting for Nat's reaction. It was almost immediate. "About time Apolo, now give me a kiss." Nat sat up and reached for him. He pulled her off the bed and up to him. She wrapped her legs around him as she sighed. "I miss you when you are gone for so long." "I know but the stars are signaling another big change is about to happen again. They are similar to when Isabella came to us. I have been trying to figure out if it is in response to the baby. I am afraid that Isabella might not make it though the birth if it is about the baby." "Could it be about Roger's new mate?" Apolo pulled back a little to look at Nat's face. "Roger has a mate? It could be about that when was the ceremony?" He sounded interested and relieved. "There is no ceremony yet as we have visitors from the Folk tribe. So Roger has left and we are keeping Isabella's power's a secret form them as we don't know how they would have reacted to them." "Yes that does explain some things that the stars have been doing. But enough talk about the stars I have missed you. Let me stoke the fire and then I will show you how much I have missed you." Mirka quickly lay back down and pretended to be asleep. "Just be careful Roger's mate Mirka is sleeping in front of it. She usually stays with Isabella and Rafa but she wanted to stay with me tonight." "Ok." He careful stepped over Mirka and soon had a roaring fire going again. He then went back to Nat. Mirka looked up and saw that his human body was milky white and his head was coved in hair as black as his body. Mirka watched as they started kissing again. She was mesmerized as his hands moved down over the night shift that she had worn to bed. He put his hands under it and then pulled it up over her head. Mirka watched as he ran his hands over Nat's breast and gently massaged them. She could also see that his penis was getting hard. Her Jaw dropped as she saw the length and thickness of it. As a virgin she could not see how Nat could handle that being inside of her with out it breaking her into two. She watched as one of Apolo's hands moved down to Nat's spread legs. His thick fingers slid deep inside as Nat moaned and whimpered. With out realizing what Mirka was doing her hands traced its way down her body to her own pussy. She was surprised to find it wet and slick under her fingers. She gently started to explore the sensations that were going though her. The folds started to quiver as she for the first time explored what her fingers could do. She watched as Apolo removed his hand when Nat's body started to quiver. He then lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him again as he buried his think shaft into her folds. She let out a loud groan but not from pain but pleasure. Apolo started to kiss her again as Nat's hands either scratched at his back or gently slapped at it encouraging him to go faster. "Oh baby please, yes Apolo" Nat chanted over and over until Apolo pulled Nat off of him and had her kneel on the bed as he entered her again. She whimpered as his hands squeezing her waist roughly as his pace quickened. Mirka could both see and hear as Apolo's slick balls slapped against Nat's neither lips. Mirka's own hand had quickened, causing her to moan slightly as a sensation of a warm relaxing wave broke over her, but neither Nat nor Apolo seemed to notice. Apolo's body and tail twitched as his pace speed up even more. Then suddenly his body quivered and Mirka could see his balls pull up to his body as his shaft was pulled out as Nat collapsed on the bed. Apolo let his cum cover Nat's back and butt. He slowly rubbed it over her back as if he was rubbing it in. She just gave a satisfied but exhausted sigh. "Move over I am tired and you are taking up the whole side of the bed." Apolo said teasingly. Nat just moaned but she did move over slightly. Apolo hopped up onto the bed and pulled Nat close. Mirka felt slightly guilty about what she had seen as she drifted off to sleep. Roger's Mirka Ch. 03 Mirka awoke to the sounds of Apolo moving around the long house. She sat up, her movement drawing Apolo's attention. "I am sorry if I woke you. I was just taking stock of things that need to be refilled before I leave again. I am Apolo, Nat's mate." "I figured that since I don't see a knife sticking out of you anywhere. Can I help at all?" Mirka had a hard time looking at Apolo; she started to slide the charm on her necklace back and forth nervously; she was embarrassed when she remembered the images of him and Nat having sex. "Sure, do you want to start breakfast? I think Nat might sleep in a little and I don't know when Rafa and Isabella will come for you." "Alright, what do you want for breakfast?" "There should be some bacon out in the smoker, so bacon and eggs sound good to me." "Thanks." Mirka went out and got some bacon from the smoker behind the longhouse, and cooked up some bacon and eggs. As she was cooking she asked Apolo "Where have you been, if you don't mind me asking?" "I went up the mountain. I am this tribe's star seer. It means that I can read what the stars are saying about what is going on in the cosmos. When I go up to the mountain I can be gone for weeks, but I know Nat can take care of herself." "The women are not allowed to go anywhere with out an Adult centaur with them now." "Why? What happened?" "I am afraid it is my fault. The centaur Markus from the Folks tribe has taken a liking to me, apparently; he tried to make me kiss him. Blake came to my defense and punched him, but Markus said that this tribe should share their women with him and his comrades as that is how their tribe works. Juan Carlos doesn't want any more fights so he wants the women to stick to their mates I guess." "That is not your fault. It was Markus's actions that caused it not yours; just like you watching us last night. I should have closed the curtain." Mirka blushed at being caught. "I am sorry, I..." "You don't need to say anything many women in your place would be interested. There is no shame in what you have done, but I would ask that you not look again. I am also going to make sure I pull the curtain next time." "The next time what?" Nat asked as she came out from the back room. Her dress was hanging loose with the ties waiting to be done. Apolo slipped behind her and kissed her neck as he started to tie her dress, "The next time we make love we will have to remember to close the curtain." Nat blushed, "Yes, next time you should, you should have this time. I am sorry Mirka, when he comes home from being away he forgets his manners." "It is fine. I could have looked away. Are you guys ready to eat? I think the eggs are ready." After they had eaten they walked over to Isabella and Rafa's hut. Mirka could sense the change in the tribe. Yesterday women had been moving from one task to another with laughter and with out any thought of where they were going, or who was around for they had been safe. Today, the few women who were out, stayed close to their mates and moved with a single minded purpose to get their task done and get back into the safety of their homes. When they got to Rafa's house Mirka saw a woman clearly trying to avoid attention. When Rafa came out he quickly grabbed the woman and kissed her on the cheek. A surge of anger swept though Mirka at the thought that Rafa would cheat on Isabella while she was in such a delicate condition. She ran ahead of the others and started punching Rafa's side. Rafa gently put the woman down and side stepped the next wave of Mirka's punches as he quickly caught both of her wrists and gently held them. "What is wrong Mirka?" "You cheating bastard! You have a wonderful mate who is risking her life for your baby and you are running around with this whore!" Out of nowhere a kick to the side of Mirka's leg silenced her and took her down to her knees. When she looked up at who kicked her, she was surprised to see that it was Isabella. Mirka cowered at the sight of Isabella's rage. Mirka had the feeling that if looks could kill she would be dead several times over. "Mirka, I would be proud to introduce you to my mother she will be staying with us while my father is away," Rafa said and Mirka could hear that he was trying to contain his laughter. "Your mother? But you kissed her." "Since when is it wrong for a son to kiss his mother on the check? By the way my name is Anna and you must be Mirka. I like you; another strong woman is just what Rafa needs in his life." Mirka blushed at her mistake. Rafa rolled his eyes as he looked at Apolo, "Tell me you are going to take one of these women off of my hands." "Actually, I was hoping for some time alone with Nat, so you are stuck." Apolo said with a chuckle. "Then we are all going to go to the sparring field. Blake and I are going to be sparring with the Folks tribe, so there will be no one to watch over these three." Rafa had included Mirka in his count of women to watch over. "I have got to see that." When Apolo saw that Mirka was puzzled he explained. "Blake doesn't usually spar with others. As we grow up we are all trained to master the sword but then we also tend to get specialized in certain kinds of combat arms. Rafa is an all over fighter meaning that he is master at the sword and bow but he is also fight with spear. Feli is a Master at spears while his twin Moya is a master at the war ax. Blake, as a blacksmith, is a master at every form of armory you can have. That is because he has to test out ever spear, ax, war hammer, sword and anything else he might make for battle to make sure that the balance is right. He does not feel it is right to spar with any one besides the other blacksmiths because of his knowledge. I wonder why he is sparing now." "I have a feeling he wants to spar with Markus after how Markus treated Mirka." Rafa replied in an off handed way as the started to make their way to the sparring field. "I guarantee you that is the reason, both for the insult on our tribe and so he can tell Roger that he protected Mirka the best of his ability." When they got to the sparing field Mirka noticed that the whole tribe had gathered to watch. Apolo lay down and they watched as Rafa talked with a small group of centaurs, then three of them drew straws. When Rafa drew the short one he came over and lay down at a slight angle so that he and Apolo made a V between them with both Nat and Isabella sitting cross-legged in front of them. "Moya and Feli also wanted to spar so we drew straws to see who got to stay in. I drew the short one so I get to watch." Mirka watched as Anna sat next to Rafa and leaned into him placing her arm on his back to make her self comfortable. Mirka sat the same way next to Apolo. There was a slight chill in the morning air and she gladly accepted the blanket Isabella offered her, absentmindedly playing with her necklace as she and Anna spoke. The centaurs were talking amongst themselves about who was going to win. The general consensus was that if Blake was pitted against Markus, Blake would win. The women were also talking to and waving at each other; it gave the day a festival-like feel. A groan of disappointment went though the crowd as the youngest of the three Folks centaurs came forward with Blake. "Apenimon," Rafa told Apolo, "I was told it means trustworthy in his tribe. Of the three, I would trust him the most. He seemed very embarrassed by Markus' treatment of Mirka. I have had the opportunity to talk to him. He does not seem to like how his tribe shares their women." Every one went quiet as the two men saluted each other to begin the sparring match. They started slowly with simple strikes and blocks; then they began to speed up. While Blake was stronger and more aggressive, Apenimon was lighter and quicker. He landed a hard blow with the hilt of his sword in to the center of Blake's human back. Unfortunately it was at that exact moment that a young centaur came running down the mountain side. Apenimon took in the long hair and the leather vest, but what caught his attention was her voice as she called out to her mother. Blake had not been distracted by Maria. He, like the others in the tribe, had gotten use to her during the six months since her birth, but Apenimon's distractions cost him dearly. Blake swung his sword in a wide arc that should have been very easy to block, but in his distraction, Apenimon did nothing. Too late, Blake realized that Apenimon was distracted. Even as Blake tried to stop his strike, his sword cut deeply into Apenimon's chest. For one heart beat, there was complete silence as Apenimon fell to the ground. Isabella was already up on her feet moving to Apenimon's side as fast as her pregnancy would allow her. "You have killed a member of my tribe when we came here on friendly terms." Markus started yelling as he stormed out on to the sparing field, "I demand that you hand over the girl as repayment." When he noticed that Isabella was kneeling next to Apenimon, he reached down and grabbed her by her hair. "Get this bitch way from him." He went to shove her away but instead found the tip of Rafa's sword in his shoulder. His hand went slack and Isabella fell to the ground. A shiver of fear ran down Markus' spine as he looked in to Rafa's eyes; they were black with fury at how Markus had handled Isabella. "My mate can heal him." Rafa ground out between clench teeth. He nodded at Isabella, "Go ahead. We are already in trouble; we might as well be in it all the way to the hilt." Markus watched as Isabella placed one of her hands on Apenimon close to the wound. She put the other on the ground. The wound started to slowly knit together as the grass touching Isabella's hand began to fall to the ground as if it had been cut. "Blake, Isabella needs to speed up the process; she needs more skin contact. Can you cut the top of her dress off?" Blake looked at Rafa for reassurance as he started to gently and slowly cut her dress. Rafa notice a look of desire come in to Markus' eyes as the dress exposed her full breast. "Look away pig or I will kill you." Markus glared at Rafa but did turn his face. Rafa watched as Isabella leaned over and placed her chest against Apenimon. A surge of anger washed though Rafa at the intimacy of the touch but the rage faded quickly as Rafa acknowledged the need for it. "Rafa, release him to Moya and Feli." Juan Carlos's voice came from Rafa's side, as he put his hand on Rafa's shoulder. Rafa backed up and stood beside Isabella and Apenimon. Blake had moved around to the other side of them as Nat came over with a blanket. She handed one corner of the blanket to Rafa and the other corner to Blake shielding Isabella from view. "I have another blanket on the way. Make sure that he doesn't move or distract Isabella when he comes to." "I know that, Nat," Rafa said tensely, "I am sorry..." "No worry, Rafa, I know we are all tense right now." Nat said with a hint of amusement in her tense voice. Rafa moved aside as a second blanket was brought. Nat wrapped the blanket carefully across Apenimon's back as she took a quick look at how the healing was going. The broken ribs had healed and the muscles knitted together; all that was left was to close the skin. Nat placed her hand on Apenimon's shoulder as he started to move. "Be still or you will kill the woman who has saved your life." He moved his head to nod but did not move anything else. He was shocked as he watched a small fissure open in the ground under Isabella's hand. When she raised her head, Rafa Immediately wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her close, he covered her with the blanket saying, "Don't move too much, Apenimon, she can only heal the wound; she can't replace the blood you lost." "Blake and Tony, take Apenimon to Nat's hut and stand guard till I get there." Juan Carlos ordered. He made a gesture that had five centaurs at his side. "Moya and Feli help take Markus and Chua to the visitor hut. They are not allowed anywhere without you. As of right now, I want you to consider them prisoners until Apenimon is healthy enough to make the journey back to their home. Mirka and Anna, I want you to take Maria and go with Rafa and Isabella until I come and talk to you. "Ángel, Guerrero and Tomás I want you to go with them. I want plenty of protection on Isabella, Mirka and Maria." The Centaurs moved to obey Juan Carlos's commands. Ángel picked up Maria as the other two centaurs came to bring Anna and Mirka to Rafa and Isabella. As they walked, the centaurs made a circle around the women with Rafa taking the lead, carrying Isabella in one arm and his sword in his other hand. Mirka walked silently, talking in the new information on Isabella. It was no wonder that they had wanted to keep Isabella's powers secret. Mirka liked Isabella but she was torn between the Isabella she knew and the fear of Isabella's power. When they got back to the longhouse, a small white lizard sat on the table. It watched silently as Rafa carried Isabella to the back of the hut. Mirka sat down and absentmindedly started to stroke the lizard with one hand and played with her necklace with the other. Rafa was slightly startled by the lizard when he came back. "You like lizards?" he asked. "What?" Mirka had not realized what she was doing, "I am not afraid of them like most girls; for some reason I have always been drawn to them. Is this Isabella's pet? Maybe she will want him to keep her company." "Isabella doesn't consider him a pet. To call him a pet would mean Isabella either owns him or controls him; no one could possibly do either of those things. He is considered more of a friend of the village. He tends to show up when there is trouble and we are sure in trouble." Rafa considered her. "You look sick, are you ok?" "I will be fine. I am just shocked at Isabella. Now I can fully understand why you kept her power a secret. Is there anything else she can do?" "Yes, she sometimes has visions, and once she hurt someone with just her mind, but she hasn't done that in years. I hope that you understand that Isabella considers you a friend and over time you will see that the last week you have shared with us is pretty much the norm for us; you won't even notice anything different around Isabella unless she does some healing in front of you." "OK," Mirka considered this, "I think I need a nap." "That sounds like a great idea; why don't the three of us take a nap while Rafa goes and talks to Juan Carlos about what is going to happen." Anna said. "OK, Mom, you three sleep well. Don't forget you have guards outside, so you are completely safe." Rafa walked out of his longhouse and spoke to the younger centaurs that had been sent to guard the long house. "They don't go anywhere until I come back, you understand? I also don't want any one going in there till I come back; even if my father comes home and wants my mom to come out." "Yes sir," stammered the centaurs, afraid that Rafa was about to lose control. As he made the turn around the small patch of trees that hid his home from the rest of the village Rafa saw Juan Carlos about to step into Nat's longhouse. "Sire, may I join you?" Juan Carlos looked up at the sound of Rafa's voice. "Only if you are going to control your temper." "Yes sir." Rafa let Juan Carlos enter before him and stayed close to the door in case he had to leave to vent his frustration. Apenimon was settled on a large pad of furs; he looked pale and tired but Rafa could see that he was making an effort to stay awake and speak to Juan Carlos. "You now know that we have a magic healer and a female centaur. If I release you back to your own tribe what will you do about it?" Juan Carlos asked. "About the magic healer, I can do nothing except defend her with my life. That includes killing my chief if he tries to hurt her." Juan Carlos was puzzled at this response, "Why would you do that?" "For honor I would be dead right now if it not for her. By my tribe's laws, I am indebted to her until I save her life. If she were single, I would make her my mate." When he saw Rafa stiffen up he added, "I know she is not, so I will not ask. As far as the young girl centaur, I am a peaceful stallion and have enjoyed the weeks here more then I could tell you. Our tribe has been fighting amongst itself for over a year now. I would do nothing against this tribe and would even go so far as to call Markus a liar if he speaks about her. That would be dangerous for me as he is the chief's son. So I would actually like your permission to stay here and become a member of your tribe." "I will think on that request. If you do join us we are called a village or herd not a tribe." "Thank you, sir." "Rest well, Apenimon, I hope you have been truthful to us. If you have lied to us I will make the punishment swift and severe, which is a blessing for there are others that are concerned for Isabella's health and happiness." "Rafa, you have a good mate there. I understand that you might not like me or even trust me right now. But I truly hope that we can become friends so that I may keep my honor. If you plan on cutting me out of Isabella's life completely you might was well kill me for I will be nothing if you do not allow me to honor my commitment to Isabella." Juan Carlos notice that Rafa's hand moved to the hilt of his sword be fore Rafa said, "I will let my king decide your fate. If you have been truthful to him there is no reason for me to stand between you and Isabella becoming friends. Apolo and Nat will help make you well; do every thing they ask of you." With that Rafa left the long house. When Apenimon looked up at Juan Carlos with doubt in his eyes, Juan Carlos truthfully said, "Rafa is protective, but Isabella hates to see anyone killed. He will abide by her wishes and he spoke the truth, if you have been truthful you have nothing to fear." "Then I will give you a warning as well: Markus is dangerous he believes that every thing is owed to him as the chief's son. It is his behavior and that of his follower's that have split our tribe. That is why our chief sent him here, to try to weakening his following. I was supposed to keep him under control I am sorry that I failed." "I am off to speak to him now. I think you have been truthful so don't worry. Rest now you will need it when you take him back to your tribe." With that Juan Carlos left and joined Rafa outside. It had been a long day and the sun was starting to set. "Come we have to talk to Markus and make sure he understands your strength so that he doesn't try anything foolish." Almost as soon as they entered the visitor's hut Markus was in their face. "I want that filly and the witch. I promise you her death will be quick." Rafa was quick in his retort. With a simple move of his body, Rafa had turned putting Markus onto his back with a sword at his throat. "You will respect my King and you have no place to make demands." "Your blacksmith almost killed Apenimon." Juan Carlos put his hand on Rafa's shoulder as he said, "Rafa back up. Apenimon's injury was an accident, and as you said almost. When he has regained his strength you three will go back to your village. We will be moving, so do not come back here to find us. Come Rafa, there is obviously no talking to him, let us not waste our time." After they left the visitor's longhouse they headed towards the king's longhouse. "I would like to speak with you; I wish Roger was here so I could speak to him too." "He is here. He is in with the girls; I could go get him if you like." "Yes, he needs to hear this too." Rafa went to get Roger. When they came back Roger was perched on Rafa's shoulder. "I thought it was best that he continue to be just the lizard in case they were looking out of the window." Rafa explained as Roger changed into his human form. Roger's Mirka Ch. 03 "Good, I do not think we want any thing else to set them off. What are your feelings on how I should deal with Markus, Roger? It was your woman he manhandled and wants as payment." "Rafa filled me in on the way over. I think your plan of sending them home is good but I don't want to make the whole village move." Roger said. "I would not make them move. I am going to ask the elves to put a spell over our village so the Folks tribe can not find it again. That is how the elves keep the humans from finding them." Before Roger or Rafa could respond they heard people shouting outside and a horn start blowing. The three short blasts signaled that someone's longhouse was on fire and every one needed to form a bucket brigade. Juan Carlos, Rafa and Roger ran outside to see the visitors' longhouse on fire. As Blake ran by to join the line Rafa caught his arm. "Where did you put that large leather bundle I gave you?" "It is In the storage room above the blacksmith's shop why?" "You will see. Ready to try our idea, Roger?" Rafa turned his head to look at Roger. He had already changed into his largest form. Roger just nodded his head as he and Rafa headed to the forge. Roger waited till Rafa pulled out the thick bundle of folded leather. It was almost two feet thick and about six feet wide. Rafa quickly opened it and laid it out, the waterproof leather was only about a half an inch think but was a twenty foot square, and stepped away as Roger stepped over it and took a corner in each of his large clawed feet. He spread his wings and flew over to the lake and tipped forward filling up the leather pouch. Then he flew up and around to the visitors' hut. Keeping a firm hold on the back two corners Roger let go of the front two corners dousing the whole longhouse with hundreds of gallons of water on it. The hot steam rose up and caused Roger to pump his wings to get away from it. Then he landed in the clearing as everyone spread out. The long house was still smoldering and a few or the tribe members were placing their pails of water near it as they searched for hot spots that might reignite. Juan Carlos was the first to notice that Markus and Chua were missing. "Did they get out?" Juan Carlos called out to the two centaurs that had been the guards. "Yes, Sir they came out saying that Markus knocked over a candle and there was a fire. They grabbed two buckets each and ran to the river. In all the commotion we lost them I am sorry sir." "That is fine I think they meant you to lose them." With that He turned to run after Rafa who was already running to his longhouse with the human form of Roger running at his side. As they came around the small glade of trees Juan Carlos could make out the dark form of Rafa's mom stumbling out of the longhouse. Rafa grabbed her before she fell. "They took them, they took them all." She was crying. "Isabella was lying down and I turned to stir the pot when I heard the horn blowing I turned and felt something strike my head. When I woke up everything was dark and the girls are all gone." She started to cry. "I do not know who took them, but I failed in protecting them. You have to find them." Rafa handed his mother over to Juan Carlos as his vision started to blur. Isabella was showing him the path that she and the others were being carried down. "Come on Roger, we can find them. Isabella is sending me visions, they went north." Roger turned into his largest form and grabbed Rafa around his middle. * Isabella kept watching for landmarks to pass along to Rafa as they were carried off. Chua was carrying her and while he held her with one of his arms around her back and the other beneath her knees, he was not too concerned of keeping her head from hitting branches or even the trunks of some of the smaller trees. Mirka and Maria were being held by Markus. He was holding Maria tucked under his arm and Mirka was on his back with her arms tied together around his throat. All Mirka wanted to do was pull back on her arms and strangle him but she was afraid that when he fell either she or Maria would be hurt. They paused at one point while Markus handed Mirka over to Chua. "Here hold her; if we come into the village holding all three the old fool might be able to rally the tribe against us. We don't need to give him a rallying him point. I am going to hide the little one and wait a few days before we bring her to the village, that way I can say I found her as a gift from the Gods." After a few minutes Markus came back. He pulled Mirka into his arms and kissed her. She tried to knee him in the groin, but as she moved her leg Markus shook her, hard. "I like the spunk but I don't have the time to play my kind of games with you." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "If you try to get any one to let you go I will kill you and the girl, understand?" Mirka nodded; she vowed that she would find some way to make this jackass pay if it was the last thing she did. They made a turn and a village of teepees came into view. There were arranged in a wide circle. The sun was setting and as they came closer she could here drums beating. An old centaur came out to meet them. He had a large feather headdress on although he looked so old and frail that instead of making him look powerful it made him look small. "What is all of this, Markus?" "I have brought home a mate, father. Her name is Mirka. The other one is a witch that we need to kill before it is too late." "Welcome Mirka. I am happy to have a daughter." The chief's words had a speculation of doubt in them, "We are about to have Inteus and his mate's, mating ceremony after that we will kill the witch. Where is Apenimon?" "He got sick and could not journey back with us, but he will be better soon." "I am sure you did your best. Now, let's go to the ceremony." They tied Isabella to a pole. Her hands were tied behind the pole and the rope was then wrapped around her body so she could barely move. Markus tied Mirka to the pole as well. "Just so you don't think you can get away during the ceremony. I want you to see what is expected of you." As Markus walked away, Mirka moved closer to Isabella. She had noticed that during their travel Isabella had tried to stay wake and alert but now Isabella looked terrible. Her eyes had dark circles around them, and her skin had taken on a grayish hue. Isabella's head hung awkwardly as she gave in to the exhaustion she was feeling. She was hoping and praying that Rafa would find them. Mirka moved to Isabella's side to support Isabella's head, trying to make Isabella as comfortable as possible. She took a look around at the other centaurs there and was surprised. In Isabella's village there were almost a hundred centaurs ranging from the very young to the elderly. Here they were lucky if there were about thirty of them and they all seemed to be about the same age. The women in Isabella's village were happy, from their mannerisms you could see they enjoyed doing the work of cooking, cleaning and making the things the families would need. They had moved around the village in plain dresses with little adornment. Here, the women seemed to only have one thing on their minds, their dresses were stained with cum and filth, the skirts were so short they barely covered the women's butts, the tops of many of the dresses were left untied so that their breasts were exposed, they had heavy chains of precious metals around their necks and bracelets of different colored stones and gems on their wrists; their faces were covered in thick coats of makeup. The women seemed to like to fight amongst themselves because even thought they were at a ceremony, Mirka had already seen two fights. Mirka also notice that the women seemed to be trying to stay close to what she assumed were stands to see the ceremony. The stands were all about waist high and padded, some had leather covers while others had soft wool coverings. The beating of the drums intensified as a woman was led forward to a stand that was set on top of a large flat platform so she was visible above the crowed. She was behaving like the other women making a show of shaking her hips and breasts as she slowly undressed. A dapple gray centaur came from behind her and kissed her neck and squeezed her breast as the other centaurs whooped and cheered. His hands slid down her body and caused the dress to fall away. Mirka watched as he used his hand to play with her delicate folds. She looked into the crowd only to see that many of the women were also undressed and getting the same treatment. She was shocked as she saw one centaur holding one woman with a second woman kneeling underneath him sucking on his large horse cock. She turned her eyes back up to the stage. The woman was clearly enjoying the centaur's touch. As he bent her over the stand and Mirka realized that it wasn't a seat, it was a breeding table. She had seen something similar when the slavers had gone to a dog fight and had watched as the dogs had been bred. At first the woman on stage just whimpered and moaned with pleasure, even as her mate bent her over the table. She didn't even seem to notice when a second centaur came and tied her hands and ran the rope down to a big brass ring at the base of the stand, she still was enjoying her mate's touch too much. It was obvious that the centaur that was to be her mate was fully aroused now. He positioned himself over her and with one hard thrust entered her with the cock of his horse half. The woman screamed in agony as she had not reached her full arousal but her mate did not care he kept a hard fast pace until his body shivered. He was breathing hard as he groaned with his own satisfaction. He stepped away and turned the table so that every one gathered could see his cum and her blood slowly oozing out of her pussy. Mirka was disgusted at how the centaur had treated his mate. Mirka actually did lose her stomach as a second centaur stepped over the woman and started to mate with her too. Mirka looked away but could still hear the woman's moans and pleas for him to stop. Mirka watched as an orgy broke out amongst the other centaurs. Some women kneeled and gave oral pleasure while others lay on the tables allowing centaur after centaur to put their long, thick cocks into them. One woman was lying on her back with her legs wrapped as far as she could around the centaur that was fucking her. Mirka had thought that nothing more could shock her when she saw a centaur pour oil over a woman's butt. He rubbed the oil over her butt and into the crack of it and began to spank her hard. With each rhythmic stroke, a cry came from the woman's lips. He then put two fingers in her anus and spread it as he poured more oil in. The woman shivered and moaned at this, Mirka could not tell if it was from pleasure or pain. The woman cried out in ecstasy as he then pushed this thick horse cock into her anus and rode her until he was done. Mirka's attention was suddenly taken off of the ceremony as someone grabbed her and started to pull at her clothes. It was a short centaur that had dried mud on his sides and feet like he didn't care about cleaning it off. "Ah, new pussy, I know you are just aching for a hard ride. I am..." his voice stopped as Markus grabbed him by the throat. "She is mine first, go find your own fresh pussy." Mirka shivered at the thought that she was actually happy that Markus had saved her. "If I have to wait for a week so do you." He turned to Mirka and explained, "We make sure everyone has a week to rest between ceremonies." When Mirka went back to watching the ceremony, she was glad to see that the new woman's mate was now standing protectively over her as she was untied. As the orgy wound down the group headed off to the river to clean up. When everyone was clean, they began laying logs and brush around Isabella's feet, building a large bond fire around her. When the centaurs had placed the last of the wood and brush around Isabella, Markus untied Mirka and pulled her to his side using the rope around her wrists to keep her close. It was hours after the sun had set and it was now cold. Mirka fingered her necklace as she tried to figure a way to save Isabel and Maria. The chief walked to the center fire and pulled a burning log out of it. He walked half way to Isabella and stopped holding the burning log high with a heavy heart for he doubted that this woman was a witch, she had probably just offended his son. Yanisin knew that if she was put to trial Markus' followers would vote the way Markus wanted them to and he was out Numbered. In a way this was better than allowing some of them the chance to rape her. "I, Chief Yanisin, have heard testimony from my son Markus that this woman is a witch. She is sentenced to burn to death" Yanisin turned from the fire, but just as he took his first step towards Isabella, an arrow whistled though the air and sent the log he had been holding spinning into the dirt. Mirka turned and, to her, it appeared that Rafa must have jumped from some great distance. His hooves left deep trenches as he came to a stop. He had a second arrow already notched and drawn into his bow ready to take a second shot. "I am Rafa from the village of Kent. I have come for my mate Isabella, the woman Mirka-soon to be mate of Roger, and for Maria, my younger sister. All three of these women were kidnapped by Markus. I will allow you to punish him your way as long as you return the women. If they are not returned an all-out war will be brought down on you." "Welcome Rafa, I am willing to speak to you but please, lower your weapon. If my son has done as what you accuse him of, we will return them." When Rafa lowered his bow and relaxed the arrow, Yanisin stepped towards him as he spoke. "Markus says this woman, Isabella, as you call her, is a witch. Is that true?" "It depends on how you define witch. Isabella is a healer with mystical powers; she heals with a touch – a gift your Apenimon is grateful for. He was accidently hurt during a sparing match, no other healer could have healed him but Isabella saved him. If you harm her, you dishonor him." "She is a witch and this Rafa is just under her spell. Every thing about Apenimon is a lie!" Markus yelled as he stepped closer to the fire. "He will thank us as soon as he is released from her spell." He picked up a fiery log and threw it towards Isabella's stake. Rafa could not shoot this one away as Yanisin was in the way. Mirka was running to get it when she skidded to a stop. Fear gripped her at what she saw. Just as the torch reached the pinnacle of its arch, a wolf the size of a small horse exploded from the forest and grabbed it with his mouth, tossing it aside as he landed less then a foot from Mirka. He lifted his huge head and sniffed at her and then looked back at Isabella. From the woods, four more wolves came, positioning themselves on either side of Isabella. The outer two crouched ready to grab any other torches thrown at Isabella. A sigh of relief left Mirka as the wolf stepped around her and growled at Markus. "Mirka go and stand by Isabella." Rafa called. As Mirka went to Isabella the wolf walked backwards keeping pace with her. When they got to the stake he leaned in to her allowing his body heat to warm her, as it was getting cold. "These werewolves are here to guard Isabella. She once saved their leader and has been protected and considered a member of their pack since that time. My village has a peace pact with them and they have even helped us find mates." Mirka tried to untie Isabella so they could make her comfortable as she now knew that she did not have anything to fear from the wolves. When she heard movement in the woods she stepped back quickly and fell over her wolf guard. Two tall, lean people were racing towards her with long swords drawn, their long capes spreading behind them like dark wings. To Mirka they looked like dark angels ready to kill. She sighed as the wolf in front greeted them with a couple of quick barks and a wag of his tail. As they too took up positions on either side of Isabella, Mirka could see that they were elves, one male and the other female. "We are messengers of King Caunidhrenon, King of the Elves. I am Lewis and this is Nesa, my wife. We are also the guardians of Isabella. Our message is this: the whole pack of werewolves, over 200 strong, and all of the elves, over a thousand strong, have met in a clearing not far from here, We are prepared to destroy this village for any harm to Isabella. The leaders of the Elves and the Werewolves are coming with King Juan Carlos of Kent." Yanisin sent a dark look at Markus; almost a year ago they had been a strong herd of almost a hundred centaurs until Markus and his friends had started to cause trouble. Yanisin had allowed his love for his son to blind him and most of the centaurs had walked out of the herd to form their own herd. Now the few that were loyal to Yanisin were about to be killed for his son's disgraceful actions. Nesa cut the ropes from around Mirka's wrists with a small dagger and handed it to Mirka. "I will catch her while you cut the ropes." Mirka first cut free Isabella's hands and then the ropes that were holding her to the stake. As Isabella stumbled into Nesa's arms, Nesa took off her cloak and wrapped it around Isabella. Isabella sat down and the wolf curled around her. "That woman is a witch, but if you want to protect her, go ahead. I am keeping Mirka as my mate, though; obviously her mate can not protect her and deserves to lose her." Markus had come up and was right in Rafa's face. "I told you, Roger was away in service to our king. I was her guardian and if you hadn't burned a building to the ground, you never would have gotten her in a fair fight." "Fine. When Roger comes back, I will challenge him to a rite of combat for her." Markus said determinedly, knowing he would some how trick this Roger in to failing. At that moment the women of the tribe started to scram as a huge white dragon came streaking down from the sky. He sent a jet of flames just over the tepees of the tribe scorching many of them. He landed with a hard thump and a loud roar the caused every one to cover their ears. He had landed with the wolves and Mirka between his front legs. Mirka stumbled back but stopped when the lead wolf looked at her with a cocked head as though he was asking where she was going. The dragon lowered his head on his long neck until he was looking at Markus; then he smiled, showing rows of sharp teeth as long as swords. "I think Roger has accepted your challenge." Rafa said in a smug voice. Roger's Mirka Ch. 04 Markus couldn't believe that just this afternoon he thought he had had everything in his grasp. He had brought home a mate that would allow him to challenge his father for leadership of the tribe and had planned to kill the witch Isabella to further show his strength. It would also get rid of a magical being, something he always feared, although he would never have admitted that. Now he was looking at defeat. Isabella had been saved by her mate and a flea-bitten pack of mutts and there was the looming threat of a war with the elves. His plans for Mirka now had Markus scared and confused as he stood staring at a great white dragon. He looked at his father and said, "I challenged Roger, not this dragon." "This is the dragon Roger, who is also a friend of Isabella; she saved his life and now he in indebted to her, just as Apenimon is. If you want his mate; you will have to fight him for her." Rafa said as he handed his bow to Yanisin and put his arrow back into its quiver "Father, you can't expect me to fight a dragon. Rafa has tricked me into a death fight; his tribe knows no honor." "I will fight in Roger's place." Rafa said with a note of resolution in his voice, "No one expects you to fight him; that would not be a fair fight. We just wanted you to know whom you had challenged and if you cause any trouble after the rite, I think even Isabella will let Roger eat you, even though she doesn't ever want to see anyone die." Rafa explained as he handed his quiver of arrows over to Yanisin. "With your blessing, I would like to start the rite, Chief Yanisin." "As you wish." The whole tribe of centaurs moved to form a circle around the fighters and Roger pulled back to lay with his feet on either side of the group by the stake, his tail curled around him like a cat. "Rafa is Roger's stand-in during the Rite-by-Combat for the woman Mirka. This is a fight to first blood." Yanisin said with up raised hands so that everyone gathered could hear him. Rafa and Markus touched blades and stepped apart signaling the onset of the duel. With in seconds several blows had been exchanged, leaving both fighters untouched and proving to the most inexperienced observer that the two were evenly matched. For every strike Markus Essayed, Rafa had a counter, but when Rafa turned his efforts to the offense the balance of skill shifted. Thought still a fair match in skill, an occasional block would find Markus open to a following strike or Rafa would leave Markus making a hasty withdrawal that left him off-balance. It was after one of theses hasty withdrawals that left Markus losing his footing and swinging wildly that Rafa stepped in to strike and instead caught the tip of Markus' wildly flailing blade in his arm. Rafa looked in shock at this slim trail of blood, it would heal in a moment, but it was still first blood. Rafa turned to apologize to Roger; however Markus drew a dagger and stepped forward to drive it into Rafa's back. The whole tribe gasped as Markus suddenly fell to the ground in agony, clawing at his head. "This is another of Isabella's talents." Rafa explained. Yanisin could hear the slightest tone of humor in Rafa's voice. Mirka took her terrified eyes off of the dragon standing over her to look over at Isabella and, seeing that her eyes were trained on Markus, was worried that she was truly trying to kill him. She watched as Rafa leaned towards Yanisin. And after a whispered conversation, Yanisin raised his hands to speak to the tribe. Rafa called to Isabella to stop what she was doing to Markus and allow him to stand. After a few moments, Markus shakily rose to his feet. "Because Markus tried to kill Rafa after winning the match, he is disqualified from claiming Mirka. We acknowledge that Mirka is Roger's mate. There will be no actions taken against Isabella as she was protecting her mate and did not actually interfere with the match." Then Yanisin walked over to Isabella. "I would like to see this healing power of yours; there is a woman in labor who needs help and we have lost our medicine man." "No, Isabella is too weak from the journey, healing Apenimon, the cold and now from defending me." Rafa said as he but his bow back on his shoulder and put on his quiver, a shudder ran over his body, looking over at his mate. Isabella was leaning on to Nesa, pulling herself up to stand. Rafa gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "Isabella says that she wants to help the woman. It is not her fault that Isabella is cold and beaten." Rafa saw that Yanisin was looking at him curiously, "Isabella can talk to me though a mental connection. It was a gift from the elves as I am her mate." He stated. "Although that time she yelled at me. She doesn't like it when I say she can't do some healing." He said with a chuckle and a smile. "Nesa and I will go with her, we are the ones who taught her how to control her gift and know a lot about healing. The wolves will stay here unless they are needed." Lewis said uncertainly to Yanisin. "As you wish," Yanisin signaled for one of the centaurs to guide the three healers. Two of the wolves whined as they watched Isabella go but stayed where they, trusted the elves to protect her. Mirka also watched them go, she wished she was going with them as she wanted to put some distance between her and Roger. "My son will be punished for taking your mates. I am sorry to the both of you. Do you think that they will still attack us?" Rafa was watching Isabella enter the teepee though the door that was in the east side of the teepee. The flap was just a lighter gray against the darkness; worried she was over extending herself and possibly harming the baby. "As long as she and the baby come out of it fine, they should leave you alone. I make no promises about Markus, though." "I understand. I have no idea where your sister is, though; he only brought these two women with him. I am sure he thought he would take her from hiding after he was mated to Mirka and Isabella was dead so the women's word against his would be meaningless." A horn signaled the arrival of more guests; they entered the camp with Juan Carlos in the lead, Caunidhrenon to his right and Zander, the leader of the werewolves, in his human form to Juan Carlos's left. It took a few minutes for Rafa to realize that there were several more centaurs filing in. "Hello, again, Yanisin. I see Rafa hasn't killed Markus, so I am assuming that Isabella is safe somewhere; and since Roger has not eaten Markus, I am also assuming that Mirka is alright, although she looks like she is in shock." Juan Carlos stated. "Isabella is helping a woman in labor." Yanisin replied. "I see you have some of my former tribe members with you." Yanisin gave a welcoming bow to the arriving royals. "Yes, they were on their way to find a new home when we came across them." King Caunidhrenon spoke in a friendly tone. "When they found out that we had received a message and were now on a war march against you, Elan, their leader, told us that he would try to end this peacefully. He has told us of your recent troubles, perhaps we can help. Some times a neutral party with out a vested interest can help reach peace. Would you mind if we acted as mediators for you?" Yanisin pondered this for a moment before replying, "You and Juan Carlos may stay, but I would prefer the wolves leave." The werewolf leader spoke, "My name is Zander and my wolves and I will leave only when Isabella does. Could we have this Markus come to us? I want some of my wolves to get his scent so we can find where he put Maria." "I am not going anywhere near those filthy mutts!" Markus exclaimed and then spat on the ground. "Markus, you have no place to speak here. You have brought destruction on this tribe. Look around you, even your followers have, started to turn on you." Yanisin pointed out. Markus looked around and saw that his followers had indeed pulled way from him; many were now holding swords and bows at the ready but they were all pointed at him. "Fine! Have it your way, but if they attack me you will be at fault for killing your own son," Markus replied petulantly. "If you are killed it is by your own foolishness! I am ashamed to call you my son! From this point on you can live your life to bring pride back to our family." Yanisin's reply was harsh. "Now stand still." Markus stood still as three of the wolves guarding Mirka moved forward and began sniffing at him. He kicked out at one of them as it sniffed at his back legs, but the wolf had been expecting it and quickly rolled away before he could get hurt. The wolves stepped back and growled at him. "Kicking at them was foolish." Zander hissed, "We came here in peace. We don't want to fight but we will not abide by someone acting so foolish." Turning to the wolves he asked, "Do you three have enough of his scent to find her?" One wolf cocked his head and with one ear moving, he shook his head. Zander turned again to Markus to say, "I suggest you stand still this time or I will allow them to attack you." Two of the wolves began sniffing again but the one that shook his head stayed still, moving his ears and sniffing the wind. Suddenly, he let out a howl, startling some of the Folk tribe as he bounded though them to get to the far side of the circle of teepees. Rafa squinted into the darkness and could just make out his father supporting a weak Apenimon. As his father stepped in to the light they could see Maria holding on to her father's shoulders to keep her balance as she rode him in to the village. The other two wolves dashed to Sebastián and Apenimon, taking up guarding positions as they lead Sebastián though the village. Sebastián bowed to the four kings and then spoke. "I am sorry for the intrusion, but when I arrived home Anna was distraught and told me everything she knew. Apenimon was trying to console her; he is devastated by this betrayal and wanted to help. He said he might know where Markus would hide my daughter and led me to a teepee deep in the woods. We found her there, bound and blindfolded in a chest, but there was a dead woman on the bed who seemed to have been beaten to death." "Follow Sebastian's trail back to this teepee and see if her body looks like the others." Zander commanded his wolves. He looked at Yanisin, "We have been finding the bodies of raped and beaten women at the edges of our town for the last few months. The humans think that it is the work of a human serial killer but the wolves have smelled centaur on these women and have been looking for the one responsible. I was going to ask Juan Carlos about it after the birth of Isabella's child. That is the real reason we were all coming to their village, to see the baby and celebrate." "Markus, what do you have to say about this?" Yanisin asked, but to everyone's surprise Markus was gone. "I am ashamed of him; he has no honor if he cannot face an accusation, I am sorry. The next time you see him you have every right to kill him. Elan, will you be coming back to the tribe?" "If Markus has left, then yes; but only if we can bring about peace between the two halves of our tribe." The young centaur said as he stepped forward to stand beside Zander. "Why do you ask?" "I need to find a new heir. I have proven how unfit I am to be chief and will need to step down. I think you may be the best one to do it. If you would stand in defense of a tribe that you have left, you could lead that tribe to great heights." "I will have to think on that," The heavily tattooed Elan mused, "As I said, I will only come back if we can fix the damage Markus has done." Rafa suddenly interrupted them. "Isabella is coming out; the mother and her child will be fine but need rest." He said as he started to walk towards the teepee Isabella had disappeared into earlier. Isabella was indeed coming out of the teepee, bent over to get though the low opening. Just as she stood up, a hand appeared on top of her head pulling her back. Every on was shocked to see Markus set around the side of the teepee as he growled, "I will free you all from this witch's spell then you will see how great I am." As he said these words, he brought down the knife in his other hand. At the last moment Isabella grabbed his hand, throwing her weight to the side, she turned forcing Markus to drive the knife into his own chest. Rafa and the others watched in horror as Markus fell seemingly in slow motion. Rafa couldn't make himself move as he watched Markus's dead body fell sideways, trapping Isabella beneath it. When Rafa reached her side, she was not moving. Elan and another of the Folk centaurs pulled Markus's dead body aside to allow Rafa to lift Isabella out from underneath. He could see that she had hit her head on one of the teepee anchors. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if she was just knocked out, her injury might not be bad; but as he lifted her he saw something that chilled him to the core: blood was running down Isabella's legs. "Nesa! Lewis!" he cried "Isabella is bleeding!" Lewis rushed towards them asking over his shoulder, "Is there a teepee we may use?" "Mine is to the left; you may use it." Yanisin called. With the sound of thundering hooves, Apolo suddenly appeared in the firelight carrying Nat on his back, her medicine bag slung over her shoulder. "I thought we might be needed here more than with the war band." Apolo apologized to Juan Carlos. "You were right; Isabella needs to be healed. We will talk about it later." Rafa said tersely. Nat quickly slipped into the teepee leaving Rafa and Apolo behind. As Rafa Ducked to follow her, Apolo stopped him. "You need to stay out here. I know how you are; you cannot get in their way. We have to trust that they will do the best for both Isabella and the baby." Rafa grunted his acknowledgment as he began pacing back and forth before the opening. The wolves came and joined him, restlessly circling the tent. Even though there was peace now in the village, they would not let their guard down until Isabella was either back in her own village or dead. Mirka hesitantly walked over to the teepee and shyly asked Rafa "I would like to help in any way I can; I have started to think of Isabella as my sister. May I go in to see what I can do to aid her?" She didn't want to let Rafa know what she really wanted to do was to get a way from Roger. She thought that she was afraid of Roger when he was the unknown centaur, now knowing that they planed to mate her to a dragon terrified her. She would see Isabella healed, and then she could sneak away knowing she was no longer in Isabella's debt. "Yes, but don't get in their way." The view that met Mirka as she stepped into the teepee was a grim one indeed. Isabella's clothes and been cut away and she had been put on a table so Lewis and Nat could examine her. There were deep bruises all over her body and a minor cut on her head, but the worst was seeing the blood on her thighs. Nat examined Isabella's cervix before starting. "She is not fully dilated, the foal is in the wrong position we can't deliver this way." "We could if she had enough energy." Lewis said. "If we had enough volunteers we could take a little life energy from each and give it to Isabella. Then I could tap into her powers and reposition the baby." "You can use mine." Even Mirka was startled by her voice. "She healed me it is the least I can do." "I will start with Mirka. Nesa, Nat, go find others who are willing to volunteer; I don't know how much we will need. Mirka, come stand by me; I need to put my hand on your arm." Taking a deep breath, Mirka stepped over and rolled up her sleeve. Lewis began whispering an incantation and placed his hand on Mirka's arm. A bright blue light suddenly filled the teepee like water bursting thought a broken dam. Lewis opened his eyes and looked at Nesa. "I don't think we will need any one else; see how far Mirka's life force goes." Nesa stepped to the door of the teepee and looked out to see that find the whole village was lit up as bright as day. "Roger, would you fly up and see how far this light goes?" She asked, "We need to know how strong Mirka's life force is and whether it is enough to save Isabella." Roger flew away, returning a few moments later and changed into his human form. "It goes for about a mile in every direction; what does it mean?" "It means that Mirka is not human. We will talk later." Nesa went back into the teepee. "Roger said that it goes for about a mile in every direction." "That is good; it means that we can use a lot of it then." Over the next hour Nat and Nesa watched as Lewis acted as a conduit between Isabella and Mirka. Nat was checking on the baby's position every fifteen minutes and was surprised at how quickly the baby repositioned himself. Once he was there, it took only a half an hour more before his cry was heard though out the village. Lewis finally released Mirka's arm. As the light disappeared, Mirka thought she heard a quiet voice say, "Thank you." She swayed and Nesa put her arm around Mirka's waist to prevent her from falling. Mirka knew that she was no longer in Isabella's debt, but she was now too tired to leave and a profound sadness filled her. When Isabella groaned and began to move slowly, Lewis gently touched her arm saying "Be still, you have become weak. Just rest, Nat has your baby." "He is a healthy boy." Nat confirmed as she laid the baby gently on Isabella's chest. "I am going to take Mirka out and let Rafa in." Nesa said, guiding Mirka outside. "Rafa, you may go ..." Rafa didn't wait for her to finish her sentence before he jumped for the door of the teepee. Looking down at Isabella, Rafa carefully pulled his son close. Isabella was clearly exhausted but her smile was beautiful. He kissed her, reassuring himself that she was indeed fine. He remained there at her side until he felt Lewis at his shoulder. When he turned he saw that Lewis had pulled out a pallet of furs for Rafa to use. Rafa handed his son to Lewis and gently picked Isabella up to carry her to the furs. Once he had her settled, he turned back to his son. Cradling his child against his chest, he then lay down and pulled Isabella close. He kissed both of them on the forehead and peacefully drifted off to sleep. When the baby's cry was heard, Roger had changed back into a dragon and wrapped himself protectively around the tent. Now, he looked down at Nesa as she led Mirka out of the teepee. She gently pushed Mirka down next to his front foot where, an exhausted Mirka curled up and immediately slipped into a deep sleep, Roger's large foot keeping her warm. "They will all be fine. No matter what Mirka is, she is a good friend to have." Nesa said to Roger. When Lewis came out of the teepee a few moments later, he put his arm around Nesa's waist. "We are heading over to our king's tent to sleep. Sleep well, Roger." Roger gently nuzzled Mirka's head with his snout before resting his head next to hers and falling asleep. ******** Mirka was walking down a long beach, the sand soft and warm on her bare feet. A whisper of noise announced the arrival of a man next to her. She immediately slipped her hand into his. "I have missed our walks." His voice washed over her ears, smooth and sweet like chocolate. "I have not had much time to dream lately." Mirka said as she blushed. "I hope that has changed." He leaned over and kissed her on the check. They walked for a while before they sat down on a blanket and watched the waves come and go. They talked about Mirka's journey so far; his hand making small circles on her lower back. When the sun set and a fire sprang up untended, Mirka gathered her courage. She had been craving his kisses, but was afraid of his rejection. She slowly leaned over and kissed him. He pulled her close and returned the kiss, his hands sliding up to cup her shoulders. Mirka's hands slid under his shirt, feeling the warm, solid muscles of his back; she pulled on his shirt, indicating her desire to remove it. He pulled away briefly to pull his shirt off over his head before quickly capturing her lips again. Roger's Mirka Ch. 04 He deftly rolled them onto the sand, continuing to kiss her as he untied her bodice and pulled the top of her dress down. He kissed a trail down her neck, ending at the tip of her breast. When he pulled a nipple into his mouth and began to gently suck, a rush of heat coursed though her; she wrapped her legs around him to pull him closer. She felt his hands smoothing down her waist, hips, thighs – the hem of her skirt and felt them return, pulling her skirt up with them. She whimpered and tried to tighten her legs to pull him closer, but he caught her leg, raising it to his waist. He carefully lifted himself off of her, quickly untying and pulling down his pants. Holding her raised leg in one hand, in one swift move he buried himself in her soft warm folds. She jerked and whimpered with the sudden pain but within seconds she began to moan as his hands and kisses erased the brief moment of pain. When he started to pull out, she felt like she was losing something and tried to hold him to her; he pushed back in and kept up a slow and steady rhythm. She whimpered as it teased and built the tension inside her. She started to claw his back and he finally sped up; she closed her eyes as he seemed to move deeper than she ever thought possible. It took her breath away as a wave of pure feelings washed over her she would never be able to describe it to someone. She felt as if she were leaving her body behind to go to a place where no one could ever hurt her again. When she felt herself drift back to her body he softly kissed her, she opened her eyes and looked up to see his handsome face above her. Suddenly, he was ripped away as a large white dragon pulled him away from her. *** Mirka woke with a gasp and was shocked to see the white dragon next to her. As her dream faded, she realized she was lying next to Roger. With a frown, she rolled away from him slightly and tried to go back to sleep, unhappy that she could not escape him, even in her dreams. Roger's Mirka Ch. 05 When Mirka woke up, she quietly moved away from Roger. He must have heard her; his head lifted off of his foot as she moved. "I am just going to see how Isabella is doing." Mirka opened the door flap and ducked into the teepee. The scene that greeted her eyes was the total opposite from the one from the night before. Rafa was at the fire at the center of the room, dishing up a bowl of oatmeal. Isabella was sleeping on a pallet of furs. The little colt was standing on shaking legs, sucking his thumb and looking up at Rafa. "How are you all doing this morning?" Mirka said softly so she wouldn't wake up Isabella. Rafa came over and gave Mirka a one-armed hug that lifted her off of her feet. "We are doing well. Isabella should be up in a few minuets to feed the baby and eat a little." As Rafa put her down, Lewis and Nesa came into the teepee. "We are just here to check on our favorite patient," Nesa said with a smile. Lewis had stepped around Rafa and was trying to pick up the colt. It quickly let out a cry and kicked out at him. Lewis doubled over in pain. "The colt is fine and strong," he groaned out as Rafa and Mirka laughed. Mirka watched as Roger's shadow left the outside of the teepee. "I guess with you two here, Roger thinks he can leave." "He knows he can trust us to protect her. Are you afraid of him?" Nesa asked. She had helped Lewis into a chair. "I am a little afraid. Weren't you afraid the first time you saw Roger?" "Actually the first time we all saw Roger in his dragon form, we had other problems on our plate." Lewis said with a smile as the fond memory of that day on the battle field came back to his mind. "I had I sword to my own king's throat at the time." "That is a story I am going to have to hear someday." Mirka sat down and was surprised as the little white lizard crawled up her skirt to sit on her lap. "I see you brought him." "No, he came on his own." Rafa said. He was surprised that Mirka didn't recognize Roger, even though he was in his smallest form. "I am going to go and check on the other woman. Want to come along, Mirka?" Nesa asked. She wanted to give the men a few minuets to talk alone. "Sure." Mirka put down the lizard and said firmly, "Stay with Isabella, ok?" before she left with Nesa. When they entered the second teepee, Mirka let out a gasp of surprise. The woman was on a pallet of furs just like Isabella, but her colt was at lest twice the size of Isabella's. "How are you doing this morning?" Nesa asked. "I am doing better then most of the women of this tribe the day after they give birth. I am alive." She smiled. "Even if I am stiff and sore. How did you get him out?" She opened her arms and, the colt took the few shaky steps to his mother and looked back at the woman with wide eyes. "I have named him Yiska. It means the night has passed." "That is a good name and we got him out by cutting you open. We had a special healer heal you." "I would like to thank her if she is around yet." "She is resting right now. Healing you took a lot out of her and it did not help that Markus tried to kill her." The woman spit in the dirt at the edge of the pallet. "I can't wait till I can get my hands on that fool." "Markus has already been taken care of. Is there any thing we can do for you while we are here?" "I am here to take care of her needs," said a deep voice that made both Nesa and Mirka jump. Nesa pulled out a long dagger out of the sheath on her hip as she turned around to face the voice, pointing it at him. He had a dark brown body and long hair that reached his human waist. The tattoos that were swirled around his body looked sinister in this light. "Put that away unless you want to start the feud again. If I had meant to harm you, I would have before you knew I was here." His smile lit up his face, transforming him from sinister to almost angelic. "We are sad that it took Markus's death to bring peace to our tribe, but we are glad to have peace." "Markus is dead? Who did it?" The woman asked wide eyed. The centaur walked around Mirka and Nesa, putting the arm load of wood down at the edge of the teepee so that it would stay dry if it rained. Then he lay down and pulled his mate and child to him. He looked into her eyes as he said, "Yes, Markus is dead. Essentially he killed himself. I was just so happy you were alive, I didn't want to disturb you. I was going to tell you as soon as you woke up." "What do you mean 'essentially he killed himself'?" "He was going to kill Isabella, the woman who healed you. But she moved and he ended up stabbing himself." He looked up at Nesa and Mirka "How is she?" "We almost lost her and the baby, but they should just need rest." "That is good." When he saw the confused look on his mate's face, he explained. "Markus fell on her, crushing her and her unborn child." "She was pregnant? And Markus tried to kill her? There is not a hot enough hole in hell for him." They all shared a laugh. "We only stayed behind when the others left because I was so close to delivering," the woman explained. "We are happy that you stayed. Isabella's saving you two is part of what saved her life. When your tribe members realized that she could save their mates at delivery time, I think they were more willing to let her live," Nesa said. "I think we need to go back and see how Isabella is doing. I will be coming by later to see how you are doing. Ok?" "Thank you, that is fine." The woman said as she smiled and kissed her mate. Nesa and Mirka returned to the teepee where Isabella was up. She had a blanket draped over her and from the large bulge in it they could tell she was feeding her colt. She smiled in greeting "Welcome back, you two." Mirka jump in shock. "Who said that?" "You heard that?" Nesa asked. "Yes, did you? I am not losing it." "No, you're not losing it. That was Isabella's voice, but I don't get why you get to hear it. It is only supposed to be heard by Lewis and me, since we taught her how to do it, and Rafa, since he is her blood mate and any other blood relatives." "Who is your father? Maybe you are one of her sisters." "I don't know who my father is. I have been with the slavers since I was 10 and all I remember before that is men in white robes teaching me things." "The slavers have had you since you were 10? How come they never sold you?" Nesa asked in a very shocked voice. "Oh, they tried, but something always happened. I remember one time they put me up on the block and these men rode into the square. The slavers pulled me down and threw me onto a waiting horse and rode off. When I looked back, the square was on fire. After that they were more careful when they tried to sell me. They would set up 'private sales' in secret places, but then they would hear about some magpies, or something like that, being in the area and call it off. Imaging slavers being afraid of birds." "I think they may have been saying Magi," a deep voice said. When Mirka looked, she was surprised to see a human man sitting in a chair by the side of the door, which is why she hadn't seen him before. His broad face and dark hair that was long enough that it curled around his ear looked familiar to her. Even his voice was familiar, but she couldn't place him. "They might have been saying that and who are you?" He smiled and held his arms out to her. "I am Roger, and before you scream, I am in this form to talk to you. I always wanted you to see me like this first, so we could talk. But when Markus took the three of you, we needed to get here quickly. Flying was the quickest way." "Ok, my first question is why do you want to have me as a mate? Isn't there other dragons that you could mate with?" Mirka was proud of herself for not screaming or running in fear; the only thing that showed her unease was that she was playing with her necklace again. Pulling the chain over her chin and running the pendant back and forth over it. "There was. I was even betrothed to one. Many people fear dragons and want to kill us. We are peaceful beings, but we are protectors. The forest and mountains are full of magical secrets that would mean the end of the world as we know it if the wrong hands get a hold of it. I am here to protect them and make sure that doesn't happen. To the west is a vast Ocean guarded by another dragon that I became great friends with. When his daughter was born, he promised her to me. I only saw her a few times before he hid her away for her safety. I haven't seen any other dragon for years. I fear that both of them are dead. And as for why I want you for a mate, I am not sure. All I know is when I woke up, you were lying next to me, and I could see the salvers coming. You were just so helpless that it pulled at my heart. Then when you first petted me, it was with such gentleness. You were showing so much concern for Isabella that I knew I need you in my life." "I have never petted you!" A spark of anger jumped up in her. How dare he claim she had done anything with him! "Yes you did, the morning that Apenimon got hurt. I was sitting on Isabella and Rafa's table when you came in." "That that was you?" Mirka thought back to that morning, and then to this morning. "That was you this morning too?" "Yes, I find that it is much easier to stay alive if I get small to scope out things like Rafa's herd and to see if I could trust them to help me. Even centaurs are likely to kill a mountain-sized dragon in fear and self-defense. Unfortunately, in a fortunate way, that is how we met. There was a young colt who was about to eat from a poisonous bush. I tried to scare him way, but he just trampled me and ate them. When he got sick, Apolo ran and got Isabella for the first time. She saved him and then me. I am indebted to her the same way Apenimon is. When I saw that Rafa was a good mate for her and that they were going to be pulled apart by the elves and werewolves, I had to try and step in. Nesa, Lewis and Apolo helped in that way too." "What about this other girl? If you find her what will you do?" His story pulled at her heartstrings and made her want to comfort him. She also wanted to belong somewhere for once in her life. She didn't want to admit, even to herself, that besides being kidnapped again, the last week of her life had been the best. "I owe it to her to help her find some form of happiness. But I won't leave you if that is what you're afraid of. If her father is alive and he gets mad, I will find some way of making peace." Mirka could hear the pleading in his voice for her to accept him. "I will consider it," was all she could say. Roger let out a sigh of relief and frustration. "I guess I will have to take that." He turned he head. "Someone is coming." With a blink of an eye, he was back in is small dragon form. "I am Apenimon; may I enter?" Apenimon asked at the teepee's flap. "Yes, you may come in," Rafa called out. "I am sorry to disturb you all, but the leaders want to see most of you in the Elves' tent. If you areit is ok, I will stay here and watch over Isabella while you are gone since it seems the dragon has abandoned you." Roger hissed from the pallet of furs that Isabella was laying on. Rafa laughed. "Yes, you may stay with Isabella, but I am sure Roger is around. He owes his life to Isabella, just as you are, so be careful of insulting him." "I will apologize if I see him," Apenimon said with a smile. "Your father is also coming over with your mother and sister." "Thank you, Apenimon," Rafa said. He watched as Isabella fixed her loaned dress then pulled the blanket back down. She burped the colt gently. He leaned into her and was sound a sleep. She lay back down. Rafa He knew that in just a few seconds she would be sound a sleep. When Rafa, Lewis, Nesa and Mirka entered King Caunidhrenon's tent, Lewis and Nesa gave a small, quick bow. Following their lead, Mirka bowed too. "Come and sit down," King Caunidhrenon said in friendly and welcoming voice. "Nesa and Lewis, have you seen both of the new foals?" Chief Yanisin asked. "Yes, we have," Lewis said prudently. "I would like to hear your ideas on why there is such a size difference in them." "With all due respect, I am much more concerned with bring peace with your tribe because none of us want this happening again." "Elan, Chua, and I have already worked out most of that. The main problem is that Markus' group, now lead by Chua, wants to continue to share all of the women; Elan and the others don't want to. So starting today, any woman coming into the tribe will only be shared if both the stallion and the woman agree to it. There are a few women who were brought here by stallions who don't really care for them, but they didn't want to bring women they would love because they would have to share them. We can't return these women, but they will be protected. They have the right to deny or accept any stallion's advances. If they deny him and he proceeds, he will be punished in the way that the woman chooses. I have found over the years of my life that you women are great at making punishments that make us males suffer the most." As he finished, he smiled at the knowing look on Nesa's face. "Another good thing we thought of is these women can help teach the young colts how to please a woman. Does that meet your standards?" "Yes, it does," Nesa said with a smile. "As far as the size of the colts, I really have no idea why they are so different in size. From what I know, both colts are full term and healthy. I will have to go to the Library back at the castle to see if any one else has ever noticed this." "May I say something?" Mirka asked, surprised at her own boldness. When Yanisin nodded, she started, "Though a strange series of unfortunate events, I have seen how both groups mate." She blushed when she happened to catch Apolo's eye. "Your tribe uses their horse cocks to breed, but Isabella's group uses their human cocks. Perhaps that is why the babies are smaller. The gods who created you knew that at one point, you would have to use human women or die out; that is why they gave you two cocks. The human cock allows for smaller babies so it is easier for the women to survive." "That does make since," Lewis said, "but we will still research it when we get home." "Well if Mirka is right, I think that we should use our human cocks when we know the woman is in heat and capable of getting pregnant. I would also like to ask Isabella if she would be willing to come if we ever need her again," Yanisin said, looking to Rafa. "I will ask her. She will probably say yes, but you must realize that there are times of the year we are far away." "It That is all I can ask. How much time to you plan on spending with us?" "I would like to make a trivet for Isabella and the foal so that they can rest on the journey home. If the path gets rough, my father and Apolo can pick up the poles so they are not bothered. I also want to give Isabella a few days of rest, if you don't mind us staying." "Of course I want you to stay. We are planning a feast in your honor," Elan said with a broad smile. "It is our way of thanking you for everything you did and finalizing my adoption by Yanisin as his next in line." They all laughed. "If that is all, I would like to get back to Isabella." "That is understandable. We are planning a lot of festivities. The wolves are joining us." Mirka joined Rafa as he got up to leave. Nesa and Lewis wanted to stay behind to talk with their king about what books they might need to look though to find the answer to Yanisin's question. "What is bothering you about being Roger's mate?" Rafa asked almost as soon as they were out of the tent. "How does he know he wants me? He might just decide one day that he wants someone new." "I have known Roger for over a year. I have seen many women of the different groups throw themselves at him; he didn't even batted an eye. Did anyone ever tell you he is the one that saved you from the slaversNone of us have told you the full story of how he brought you to us?" When she shook her head, he continued. "He brought you to us that very night. We summoned Blake to come and cut the chains off of you. When Blake asked if any one had claimed you, Roger almost knocked him out with one punch. He didn't act that way with me and Isabella. If Roger was going to leave you for another woman, it would be Isabella. He is indebted to her the same way Apenimon is. Just give him a chance." "I will, but another thing that scares me is which form is his true form? What if he changes form in the middle of sex? What would happen to me?" "That is one of Roger's fears too; he is looking into that. Trust me. He would rather kill himself then ever hurt you." When they had reached the teepee that would house Rafa and Isabella for then next week, Rafa let Mirka in first. Maria ran up and hugged Mirka then Rafa. When Mirka's eyes had adjusted to the light of the teepee, she saw that Anna was sitting by Isabella, holding her grandson. Sebastián and Apenimon were in a deep conversation, which ended when she walked in. "Apenimon, if you are truly going to be part of this family, you need to meet someone," Rafa said as he came in. "Roger, why don't you come out and we can finish the conversation we had before he came in?" Roger crawled out off the pallet of furs and changed into his human form. He was wearing a white shirt with black pants. Apenimon jumped back slightly. "How many other forms does he have?" "I have only one other form; in that one, my shoulder is as tall as Rafa." "Ok, are there any other surprises I should know about?" "Werewolves, elves, Roger, Maria; the only other thing is Isabella's dad is a King who disowned her for being a mute. When she became friends with the elves, he wanted her back. That's about it," Rafa said with a smile. "Ok, I have a question," Mirka said. She noticed how good Roger looked in the shirt. "Every time you change, you have clothes?" Roger smiled. "Only after I came to Isabella and Rafa's defense against the Elves. It was a gift from the elves. The clothes have a spell infused in them so they stay with me. Before that, my human form was always naked." "Mirka, trust me. He is as chiseled as he looks." Mirka looked at Isabella and when their eyes met, Mirka broke out in a laugh that joined the one in her head. "Isabella! What did that mean?" Rafa asked in a slightly annoyed voice. "That he is a good-looking man. But he can't hold a candle next to you." Isabella's face broke out in a smile. Her eyes had a mischievous glint to them. "Now, get your rump over here and hold me." Rafa smiled and moved across the tent. He picked her up, giving her a squeeze while he lay back down with her. "What just happened?" Apenimon asked, looking around confused. "That was the last thing Rafa didn't tell you. Isabella and he can talk though a mind connection because they are blood mates. As far as I know, the only other people she can do it with are Lewis and Nesa as they taught her how to do it. This morning we found out that Mirka can do it as well; we can't figure how out right now. I have an idea, but I need to run it by Lewis and Nesa. Rafa forgot about it because he is so use to it, he forgets that they are doing it," Roger said as he sat down by Sebastián and Apenimon. "Are you coming back to Kent with us?" "I would like to, but I need to talk to Yanisin about it. I may be needed here more for a while. Roger, are you planning on walking around like this while you are here?" "No. When I need to, I will go to my small form, leave the teepee and the change into my medium form. That way I can move around here without trampling everything. I realize that your tribe is not ready to see me this way." Roger's Mirka Ch. 05 "Who is not ready to see you this way?" Lewis asked as he and Nesa entered the teepee. They were very careful not to open the flap too much, both to keep out the light and so no one could see Roger. "This tribe. It just might start another fight as they would think of me just as a trespassing human and accidentally kill me. Do you guys think that Mirka is Isabella's sister?" A look of deep concentration passed over Lewis's face, "She might be, but I highly doubt it. She might be a cousin." Upon hearing this, a warm feeling came over Mirka. She like the thought that she had found a family member and a place to belong to. *** On the sixth night, they had a celebration. There were tables set end to end that groaned with the weight of all the food on them. Barrels of wine and mead were set up for every one to drink. Mirka was sitting next to Isabella with their backs leaning into Roger. The little colts would throw whole roasted chickens up in the air for him to catch and eat. Isabella still had a tired look about her, but she was also content. She looked on as her little Casimiro sucked his thumb and watched the other children throw the chickens. They watched as elves and centaurs danced around the large fire to the music. Gifts were exchanged. Apenimon was named ambassador for the Folk tribe. He would be staying with the Kent tribe. He would also be the one to talk on behalf of the Folk tribe whenever there was a need before the elves. Mirka drank cup after cup of sweet wine and mead; every time she finished one, someone was filling it back up. When Casimiro came and sat on Isabella's other side, he curled up and fell asleep. Mirka placed her head on Isabella's shoulder and fell asleep with the world spinning. When she woke up the next morning, her head was throbbing and she just wished everyone we be quiet. A wagon was being loaded with all the gifts that would be going back to Kent. She stood up and pushed away from Roger. He looked back at her, letting out a rough, short growl that sounded threatening; she knew he was just laughing at her. She gently punched his shoulder and said, "It's not funny. Last night was the first and last time I drink!" After a breakfast of biscuits with tea, Mirka was feeling a little better. She walked over to her place in the party. Apenimon was holding two horses by the reigns. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Once it is safe, Roger wants to ride with you so you can talk." She smiled and mounted up on her horse. It paced nervously when Roger in his medium form came to stand by her. There was a loud cheer and many waves of farewell as they left. Mirka was behind Rafa; she watched as Isabella just curled up on the trivet and went back to sleep. It was a slightly bumpy ride, but she and Casimiro didn't seem to mind. When they had been moving for about an hour, Roger changed and mounted the other horse. Over the past week, they had many conversations. She found him charming and couldn't help the blush that came when ever he smiled at her. She acknowledged that she had fallen in love with him. She had even worked up the courage to ask him what form he took when he had sex only to have her worst fears solidified that he would change into his largest or "true" form. He also told her that he had heard that there was a way for a dragon to lock their shape temporally with a spell. But, it would take time for him to find someone who knew it. As they entered a meadow with forested hills on either side, a group of five men came riding down at them. Mirka's first though was bandits until she recognized the long white robes they wore. Before she could say anything, the centaurs and elves sent a volley of arrows at the men. One of the men waved his hand; all of the well-aimed arrows fell out of the sky with a dull thud. The men brought their horses to a stop, looking down at the group of centaurs and elves. "We mean you know harm," the leader said in a calm, strong voice. "We had something stolen from us a long time ago and we see that you have found her. All we want is Mirka and we will leave you alone. We are the Magi. We are not the only ones looking for her. The others will tear you apart to get Mirka back. Hand her over." "Over my dead body," were the growled words she heard before Roger jumped off of his horse, before his feet could touch the ground, he had changed into the great white dragon. He raised his head as he landed, taking aim. He was going to burn them to a crisp, but he was knocked over as a larger black dragon came screaming down from the sky. As he hit the dirt, the black dragon bit the back of his neck, trying to pin him down. Roger pulled down and rolled away from the other dragon. When he got to his feet, he spread his wings and roared at the black dragon whothat mirrored his actions. Mirka watched as the two dragons now stood with their wings spread, just glaring at the each other while waiting for one to make a move. A strong arm pulled her off of her horse. "Its ok," came a voice in her ear. "We will take you back and..." The Magi, who had used the fact that everyone was watching the dragons as a way to get to her, now fell in a heap to the ground. Mirka didn't have to look far to know why. Isabella was up. Even her hair seemed to be charged as it moved in the gentle breeze of the valley. The other Magi began to move, but the leader put his hand up to stop them. Mirka didn't like the look he was giving Isabella. Apparently neither did Rafa; he quickly bucked off the trivet and picked Isabella up. Apenimon picked up Casimiro. They were both ready to take off. Mirka looked back to see how Roger was and her heart skipped a beat. Both dragons lunged at each other, but instead of attacking, they just butted heads then folded up their wings. They walked back towards their respective group. The black one sat down on his hunches with his tail curled around his feet as Roger changed back into his human form. He had a smile that stretched across his whole face even though his white shirt now had blood running down it. He pulled a blanket out of the wagon and took it back to the black dragon. It changed into a man, who wrapped the covering around his waist. They shook hands and were laughing. "Everyone, meet Miroslav, an old friend,. Mirka, come here please." Mirka, Rafa and Apenimon moved towards Roger. They were joined by Juan Carlos, Zander and Caunidhrenon. The Magi walked around Rafa to stand by Miroslav. "This is Roger Ardeth, Mirka's mate. I would defiantly say that they were meant to be together," Miroslav said as he put his arm around Roger's shoulder. "Who are you?" Mirka asked. "Always the bold one," Ardeth said with a smile. "I am your father." Mirka broke into a nervous laugh. "That can't be. I am human and you're a dragon like Roger." "That's not true, Mirka" Nesa said softly. "Remember the light of your life force? No human has that much life force, but dragons do." "But then how can I have a human form? Roger, you said it took you centuries to figure it out. According to you, I am only 20 and have spent most of that time trying to get away from slavers." "I can show you how you have a human form with out learning how to," Ardeth said, "But I need everyone to move away quickly." Roger was the only one to stay where he was. He changed into his large form and watched his tail twitching like a cat's. Ardeth went to touch Mirka's necklace. "You don't want to do that, it will burn you," she told him. "Not this time," he said with a smile. He opened the clasp and started to pull it away from her. Pain erupted though her the second the stone and gold left her skin. She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her view was different. She was eye level with the tree canopy and the colors were more vivid. She backed up in surprise, finding she had too many feet as she was stumbled around. She flicked the long tail she had and put a three foot deep gouge in the earth. Very quickly she felt her self being pushed down. She moved her long neck to see that Roger had pinned her down with one of his massive feet before she could hurt any one. Ardeth put the necklace back on her. The warm pain moved though her again. She opened her eyes to look up at Roger. She pushed against that foot that was still gently holding her on the ground. "I don't need to be held any more." She was crying from the shock of it all. Roger just tilted his paw enough for her to realize why he was still holding her down; her dress lay around in shredded rags from when she changed. She was buck naked. "Here you go." Mirka looked up to see Isabella kneeling down by her, holding out a blanket. Roger let her up, using his paw to give her privacy. The Magi helped set up the royal tent for lunch and a much needed talk to put together the pieces of Mirka's past. "Miroslav left her with us. We thought that the best way to hide her would be to hide her in plain site so we made the necklace. Too bad it actually worked so well. We had taken her to market to buy some cloth for clothes when she was taken. We continually tracked her. We almost had her at Wenatchee, but Hanif accidentally started the square on fire and they were able to escape. We caught up with them last week; they said that a dragon had carried her off in this direction. We knew that she wasn't dead. We had been tracking her, when we found your village. Unfortunately with the elves spell, we couldn't find the village itself. When we saw that you had left as a large group, we thought you might have moved to a different seasonal home and we followed. I have no idea how Miroslav got here." "I wanted to see Roger and let him know that if he found a different mate, I would understand." Mirka was lounging in Roger's arm. "So the necklace keeps me in a human form. How do I learn to be a dragon?" "We'll teach you. You were always a fast learner." "Is there any way she could be related to a human?" Lewis asked Ardeth "No, why?" "Well, as you found out we have a very special healer. She was born a mute but she had the ability to show you what she wants if she touches you. We helped her improve on it and now she can send her voice by thought. It is only suppose to work with blood kin, Nesa and I since we taught her," Lewis said. "For some reason, Mirka can hear her." "When we were first telling Mirka she was a dragon, Nesa said some thing about a light. What did she mean?" "We were going to lose either Isabella or her baby unless we could get the baby into a better position. The only way to do that was to take some of Mirka's life force to allow me to tap into Isabella's power and reposition the baby." "Well, that's it right there. You can do that with humans and elves with no contamination. Bu, with dragons, it is a little different. If you join a dragon's life force with a human or elf, the dragon's protective magic will stay with it. Now Mirka and Isabella are spirit sisters. They will be able to talk the way you talk but they will know when the other one is in danger, even know were the other is on a map. It does not happen often." Miroslav looked sad as he said this. "Why do you look sad? I am happy to be Isabella's spirit sister. I like having a sister." "For now but what happens when you out live her? Look around. How many 100 year old humans do you see? When she dies, she will take a part of you with her. That quite hum of her life that you hear will be silenced for ever." "That's true, but I would rather enjoy this bond right now, and I will be able to see her in her children and descendents." Mirka smiled over at Isabella. Isabella was leaning against Rafa as they ate. Mirka marveled at Casimiro's growth over the week. He had grown fast; he was starting to have fun and play. Mirka laughed as Rafa got up and ran after his son, who had gone running out of the tent. The laughter died on her lips when a knife appeared at Isabella's throat. Hanif was holding it. Isabella glared at him. "Don't even try it. I have protected myself from you." "But not from me," Ardeth said. With a few whispered words, Hanif was dragged to the center of the tent by an unseen force, forced into a kneeling position with his hands spread wide on the rug. "Now explain yourself." "I will not stand by and see the prophecy come true." Ardeth just leaned back and put his hands together, resting two steppled steepled fingers on his chin as he asked, "What prophecy is that? There have been so many." His voice had an almost board tone to it. "You know exactly the prophecy I am talking about. If you are going to be obtuse, I will tell you it. 'There will be a daughter of a king who will have no voice but she will still speak. She can heal with a touch or destroy with a glance. Woe be it to all if she weds, for it will bring the end to all of us.'" "You know that is not the full prophecy. Is that all you read of it? Or all you understood of it?" "Why would I read more; it clearly tells us we have to kill her. We should also kill her mate and the foal to make sure that the prophecy is not fulfilled." "There will be no need for that. The second half of the prophecy is this; 'If the marriage is done by force, a kind heart will turn to stone. But take hope for; if the marriage is made out of love, it will bring a new time of peace; but only if all six points are brought together.' So the main question we must ask is how this union came to be, isn't it true that centaurs kidnap their mates?" "Yes," Centurion answered. "So her marriage then was by force and you are right." Ardeth stood and drew his sword. Isabella locked eyes with him as he walked towards her. She made no move to stop him. "If you kill her, the only thing you will be doing is bring death to your group." Roger said. "Her marriage to Rafa is out of love, not force. Please sit down and let me tell you the story of how Rafa and Isabella's marriage united the elves, werewolves, centaurs and even us dragons." Ardeth sat back down, releasing Hanif. The sun had set and the stars were out before Roger was done telling the story. Rafa had slipped back in and was holding Isabella. When Roger finished, he looked at Ardeth and asked, "So do you think it was by force or love?" Rafa spoke before Ardeth could. "Isabella wants you to know that if you think it is by force, she will allow you to kill her. She doesn't want any one hurt, but I think it is more. She is trying to protect Casimiro and me." Ardeth laughed. "That right there is the answer. She loves him and that part of the prophesy has already come true. It has already brought a time of peace to these groups. Don't you agree, Hanif?" Hanif scowled but said, "You are my leader, I have to abide but what you have decided, but what of the six points?" "She has five siblings; together they make the six points. She has to reunite with her siblings. If we take her to her father, he would not recognize her union with Rafa and will try to force her into a marriage he favors. Uniting them will be tricky. We may just have to leave that up to fate. Let's talk about happier things, like the marriage between Roger and Mirka." More tents were put up as they would have to spend the night in the glade. Mirka lounged in Roger's arms as they talked about how they wanted their wedding. The next day a large golden tent was set up in the middle of the glade. Mirka was dressed in a long white dress that Miroslav produced from somewhere. Black and blue ribbons streamed down at the waist. Matching ribbons where braided into her hair and wrapped around the wildflowers that she would carry with her. She looked at herself in a mirror that Ardeth produced. She was paler than normal; her hands were making the flowers shake. "What are you scared of?" Isabella asked. "What if I trip? What if I make a fool of myself and say the wrong thing at the wrong time?" "You won't make a fool of yourself. Even if you do, it will be something you and Roger will laugh at for years to come. But that is not what you are really afraid of, you are afraid of what will happen after?" Mirka hated the knowing smug that was on Isabella's face. "What if Roger changes in the middle?" "You keep forgetting that you are a dragon too. You will probably just transform to fit him," Mirka actually laughed as Isabella blushed. "Sorry but I think of Roger like a brother. I don't want to think about this any more." Mirka hugged Isabella as music started to play outside of the tent. "That's your cue to start walking. We will be right behind," Malovak said to Isabella. After Isabella left the tent, Miroslav put his hands on Mirka's shoulder. "I find you just to give you way. At least I know it is in good hands that I place you. If you aren't ready, we can hold off." "No, it is now or I might just get freaked out and run." Mirka smiled and took her father's arm as he led her out of the tent. The gathered crowd of centaurs, elves, werewolves, and Magi were standing in groups, making an aisle for Mirka to walk down. She didn't see any of them. All she could see is Ardeth standing on an old tree stump with Roger; Rafa stood to his left and Isabella waited on his right. Roger's back was to her. She could tell that he wanted to turn around. Every step she took seemed to take forever. Every fear she had in the tent had melted when the sun touched her. All she wanted to do was get to Roger as fast as she could. Her father kept them at the steady pace until they reached the dragon. Roger turned his head. She heard his breath leave him as he gasped. He had never seen anything so beautiful before. She blushed at the look on his face. A sense of pride filled her that she was making him look like that. Ardeth's voice washed over her as he asked something. She heard her father's voice reply; she couldn't do anything but look into Roger's eyes. She felt her father put her hand into Roger's. It felt like a bolt of lighting had stuck her. Ardeth's voice continued on until it paused. It wasn't until she heard Isabella's voice in her head did she realize Ardeth had asked some thing. "Mirka! Ardeth just asked if you take Roger as your husband. I know you are all goo-goo eyes for him right now, but at lest open one ear to Ardeth." Mirka laughed as she said, "I Do." Roger smiled with her. From that point on, Mirka did listened with at lest one ear. They made promises of commitment, faithfulness and to protect each other the best that they could. Ardeth told Roger that he could now kiss his bride; in a quick movement, Roger's arm snaked around her wrist bringing close to him and kissed her so passionately, she bent at the waist. Her arms went around him to return his kiss every bit as ardently. Eventually the sounds of whistles and cat calls reached their ears. They smiled as they straightened up and turned towards the crowd. The newly wedded couple never left each other's side as they ate and danced the day way. By late afternoon the festivities had started to settle down. All the tents except the golden one had been torn down and packed away. Mirka and Roger would be staying here for their honeymoon. When everyone was ready to leave, Mirka gave Isabella and Rafa one last hug goodbye. She stood with Roger's arm around her shoulders as they watched their friends leave. The Magi and elves had placed stones of protection around the area so that nothing could bother the new couple. Roger kissed her temple and she turned her face up to him. Her stomach dropped as he swooped her up in his arms to be carried back to their tent. They kissed with every step. By the time they were at the enclosure, a pleasant tension had started to build in the pit of Mirka's belly. The tent was lit softly with lanterns with colored shades. With deft fingers, he untied the lacing holding up the dress to let it slide to the ground. The rub of silky cloth against her soft chemise sent shivers down her spine and made her break out in goose bumps. Her own hands slipped under the hem of his shirt; she gently ran her nails over the strong, chiseled mussels of his stomach. Roger's Mirka Ch. 05 She moved her hands up to his chest and flicked one of his harden nipples and was rewarded when he took a quick breath. She could feel a faint quiver under her fingertips. She boldly took off his shirt and admired his broad chest. There was a fine, consistent covering of dark hair. Leaning in she used her tongue to flick his other nipple. His hands slid down her back and jerked her to him. She gasped as his hard cock pressed against her. She could feel the heat of it though the thick cloth of his trousers and the thinness of her chemise. Roger growled as he felt her wetness soaking though. He picked her up, allowed both of them to fall back on to the thick pallet of furs. As they landed, she positioned her legs to straddle his hips. She moaned as he made a slow rocking movement with his hips. Silently a cold trundle of fear began to intrude into her impassioned mind. "Wait," she said breathlessly. "What is wrong?" he whispered into her ear. "What will happen if you change? Should I take the necklace off now?" His hands framed her face as he kissed her. "No. Tonight I want to take you this way. You are not yet comfortable in your dragon form and I don't want that to taint our first time. As for me changing, normally I would, but," he lifted his wrist and she notice a leather and gold bracelet; it had strange white stones woven into it that looked to be the same material as the stone in her necklace. "It will work just like your necklace. I got it form Ardeth. So..." He rocked his hips again. All fears left her mind, along with most of her thoughts. He gripped the hem of her chemise, lifting it off of her. It caught momentarily on her breasts. As the material cleared her chest, they bounce slightly. Mirka moaned as she felt his cock grow even more. He leaned in and ran his tongue along the edge of one globe. With his free hand, he cupped the other. Her hands clenched and unclenched on his shoulder as she centered her self. A fine shine of sweat was beginning to cover her body. She felt a hot jolt go though her as he switched breasts and flicked her puckered nipple with his tongue. He rolled them over, using a hand to fan her hair over the pillows as he continued to kiss and suck on her breast. Her legs locked around his waist, pulling him closer. She whimpered when he tried to loosen her grip. "I won't be able to get my trousers off and then where will we be?" A murmur of laughter left her as she moved her leg. In a few quick movements, he had his trousers untied, off and thrown to the side. Mirka focused on his face. She was afraid that if she saw how big he was, she would become too frightened and the warm, pleasant feelings consuming her would be lost. She welcomed his weight as he resumed his position. He kissed her as he ran his nails up and down her sides, easing the mild tension that had started to tighten her body. He placed soft kisses down her neck and gently nipped at her collar bone. As he kissed down the center of her chest, he brushed both of his thumbs over the sides of her breasts. She shivered as he kissed down her stomach, swirling his tongue around her bellybutton. He groaned as her legs slid from his hips, up the sides of his stomach and along his rib cage as he descended her body. When he got to the soft curls at the apex of her thighs, he gently slid his tongue into to the soft folds of skin that they hid. The tip of his tongue found her sex nub, causing her to let out a deep moan. Her hands clutched his forearms. He positioned her legs over his shoulders. He lifted her hips, giving him a better angle in which to tease and tantalize her. Her hands fisted in the firs as her body was rocked by the waves of sensation he was sending through her. He didn't stop until he had her quivering in his hands. Only then did he lower her hips and position himself at her entrance. He moved gently but swiftly, entering her in one swift thrust. She gasped as a brief sensation of pain moved though her. Roger kept his hands moving along her sides and kissed everywhere he could, allowing her to adjust to him. He began an even rhythm of movement. Groaning as shivers went though his body, her slick sides pulled at him as her nails dug into his sides and back, heightening his arousal. Their bodies moved in almost perfect rhythm. Just when he thought he had reached the height of sensations, her walls clamped down on him as her orgasm took her over the brink. Her legs tightened around his hips and her heels pressed down hard on to his butt checks. She cried out his name as her world exploded into bright colors. Roger followed her into ecstasy with a few quick thrusts. His body jerked as he filled her with his cum. He lay on top of her as their bodies quivered and shook with their orgasms. When she finally felt like moving, she just ran her hand over his sweat-slicked back. He moaned and rolled to his side, pulling her close as he covered them with a blanket. He kissed her temple as she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.