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Cultural Exchange Ch. 01

By: Tenou



This is a story where the action, romance and other elements are more important than the raw sex scenes. Please be warned. 

Along time, I hope it develops into a novel-length story, but that depends on how good your reception is. 

Special thanks to my editor SexyGeek for his patience with my grammatical "horrors". 

++ 

It all started with the tremors. High intensity tremors all over the world... with the most odd quality that they were all concentrated in room-sized areas. After further investigation, it was found that these tremors didn't affect the surface or damage buildings because they didn't come from underground,but from the air itself 

Or that is what our science led us to believe. 

After the tremors came the rifts: cracks in the matter of space and time, overflowing with unknown types of energy too dangerous for anyone to approach. The gas, oil and electric companies all over the world were rubbing their hands with watering mouths in anticipation of the benefits they could make once the rifts would stabilize and their energy could be exploited. Oddly enough, the green community was up to support nuclear energy instead of the one that came from the rifts, given that the effects of otherworldly energy were not thoroughly tested. 

And with the stabilization of the rifts came the pillars: Structures made of an unknown material; silvery white(seemingly) stone with gold-like bindings and engraved symbols of some kind of powerfully glowing crystal. 

The pillars turned the rifts from some kind of raging energy into screens of something calm and almost liquid, bordered by the pillars themselves. And we discovered that we could cross those screens into a world different from ours. 

All over the world, the governments requisitioned the land around the rifts and sent small patrols of scouts to enter, recon, watch and get out without making any kind of contact. 

The results where the same from all of the rifts: Elves, Dwarves, Centaurs... It seemed like they had found the homeland of all fantasy novels, movies and video games. 

Then our natural arrogance took the best of us: just like centuries ago the Europeans thought they could go into Africa and rob the natives of all their lands, possessions and even their freedom, we went into the Far (Fantasy Alternative Reality) and tried to claim all they had for us. 

We thought they were undeveloped. We thought they were uncultured. We thought they were feeble... We thought we could conquer them without breaking a sweat and overpower them with our superior knowledge of science. 

We had never been so wrong... 

Their magically enhanced armor could reduce, if not totally nullify, the damage from bullets. A Dragon was able to take out full fleets of combat fighters, even bombers and heavy carriers. A Fireball spell was as effective as an anti-tank missile. Their healing magic meant that wounded soldiers could go back to the fight in hours, instead of days. And their weapons of mass destruction in the form or Arch-mages, Battle Golems and other gigantic creatures were something we could not hope to imitate.  

And on top of that they had the Knights: humanoid mechanical armors like those only seen in Japanese animation or video games. 

Luckily, it didn't take too much time for both sides to realize that the conflict was leading nowhere and peace treaties were rapidly negotiated: Regulations about magic, science and the mixing of both; Rights and obligations of each race; Laws for the control of dangerous, savage species... And finally the treaty for cultural exchange: Individuals from each side would move into the other in order to establish themselves, learn the culture of their hosts, and prove that coexistence was not only a necessity, but the way to a prosper future for both sides. 

Why am I telling you this? Because my trembling hands are holding a letter that says that I have been approved for the cultural exchange program. 

My name is Brandon Cooper and from the day after tomorrow, I will be living with a tribe of Mountain Elves. 

The way this works is simple: There is no volunteering process; they choose the people they consider adequate and send them the letter so they can have the rest of the day to notify the family and say their goodbyes. In an instant you get your life decided without your consent. Annoying, right? 

It is hard as hell to reject being moved. They've had everything in on the record before: Work, family charges, medical records... my neighbor tried to escape by declaring himself a xenophobic bastard and now he is in the 'Put under surveillance' list for the rest of his life in case he tries something against the species that are to come. 

Why the rush and the lack of information? The program is pretty new and they don't want misinformation to spread. 

Maybe they supposed I could be a good candidate because my recently cured social withdrawal had left me with no job and vast theoretical knowledge in themes revolving fantasy stories: legends, popular knowledge, weapons, fighting styles, work with metal and more. 

That, and also I was not fat like almost every other Neet. You don't need to interact socially to go running or to lift weights. 

So, the morning after receiving the letter I opened the door to my room and I found myself face to face with three government employees: the typical fox-faced, middle aged man that does all the talking and his two silent and stoic muscle mountains. 

"Mister Cooper, good morning, we are here to retrieve you." His perpetually narrowed eyes and smile made it hard to tell if he was mocking me. "You have five minutes to say your final farewells before we leave. No need to pack your things; In fact we'll run a check on you before we leave so you don't carry any type of technology from here into the other world. Any kind of necessity will be provided upon arrival," was his fast outburst of instructions, said in a monotone way as if he had been reading them from a list so many times that they were now engraved in his brain. Totally probable thing. 

I had no one to say goodbye to in my apartment, so I spent those five minutes erasing the porn images in my mobile phone (the ones in my computer where painfully erased the day before) given that my personal items were going to be received by my closest family. It was almost like the fear of every shut-in: to die suddenly and have your family see your porn stash and know all of your fetishes. Shame in advance. 

It really pained me to part with my music: six years of surfing the net in search for the full version of Japanese animation songs were about to be abandoned and I wouldn't be able to listen to them again until I should have spent a number of years in the Far and was given permission to come back on visits. 

I got out of my loft (although calling it loft would make it seem much more glamorous than it really was) and started walking with my guide. The pair of gorillas positioned themselves instantly at both my sides and slightly behind. No doubt about that message: "You're not running anywhere, boy." I had already resigned myself to this, so why the intimidation? We boarded the car without a word and hit the road to our destination: a helicopter platform in the roof of the hospital, from where we would be transported to the nearest rift. 

Against my silence, the old guy frowned and said, "It's rare for a traveler to be as silent as you. Isn't there anything you want to know, son?" 

I played the hard guy and answered without stopping to look through the window. "I've read on the Internet how much secrecy you put into these things to prevent misinformation. So I hope and expect that when I need to know something, you will tell me." 

At this, the man made a sound between a sigh and a chuckle and answered: "Now that you have no chance to escape, i can at least give you this basic information on the world you'll be living in." Then he re positioned himself in the seat to get more comfortable before starting his speech. 

"Even though in Sil'thri Realm (Far is a name invented by the sensationalist press, don't use it there) exist tens of sentient races, they have what they call the 'Seven Blessed Races'... As a matter of fact, Sil'thri means something akin to 'Seven Gods' or 'Seven Creators' or some other synonyms you could find suitable. The common knowledge is that each one of the gods corresponding to the seven elements of creation brought one race into the world: El'Dara, goddess of water, created the Elves; El'Thorn, god of earth, created the Dwarves; El'Ishan, god of wind, created humans; El'Zaye, goddess of fire, created the A'jins, creatures who look like humans with animal characteristics; El'Sazeth, goddess of darkness,created a race of gray-skinned creatures with horns called Deyimas; and El'Misaia,goddess of light created The So'oren,a mysterious race that always wear masks in public." 

After finishing counting with his fingers while talking, the guide took out his smart phone, lighting the screen to show me a rough sketch of a map to continue the lesson. "As you can see,the Realm is divided into twelve patches of land, that is what provokes the most internal conflicts between the natives. It seems that each one of the Blessed Races received one country to reign as they see fit, leaving the other six countries between them as 'Land of No-One'. This leaves the countries that have no recognized government as lands full of violence that are inhabited by Orcs, Centaurs and other creatures along with those members of the Blessed that have been exiled from their country... and the ones who have decided by their own accord to abandon their race and homeland." 

I took that chance in his rapid fire talking to ask a question. "You started talking about seven races, but you only defined six, and you've been talking about six countries separated by six patches of land with no government, what are you leaving out?" From his languid position in the seat, he just raised his hands as if saying "You just didn't give me time," and after opening a small bottle of water and taking a sip, he continued his explanation. 

"In the center of the Realm, at about three hundred meters high, there is a floating island of around four hundred meters of radius. That's the land of the seventh race." 

He took another sip while I waited for him to elaborate his answer. While he was drinking, he used his other hand to point to the small fridge the car had installed between the back seats. Tough luck, no alcoholic drinks right when I needed a good shot, so I opted to take an energy drink. 

"The seventh element is something we really hope will never be used against us. The seventh god, named El'Eazar, is the god of Chaos, the thunderous and raging matter from which all other elements are born. It seems that this god has some strange sense of humor and thought that joining a dragon and a woman in the same being would very well define his element. That is how the race of Draghan came into existence." 

We both took another sip of our drinks and then I noticed we had arrived at the hospital. Not knowing what else to do, I took the can with me when I got out of the car, having a pair of sips along the way until I could drop it at the first trash bin I could find. 

There was something bugging me and as we were still alone I asked directly: "You said that god of Chaos joined woman and Dragon to create a race, so what happens with males? Or are they immortal and so they don't need to reproduce?" 

He looked warily around him before answering in a lower voice. "They're not immortal, and they need a male partner to mate with in order to lay their eggs, but from Draghan eggs only females are hatched. Their creator thought that if his creation had males and females to reproduce freely, they could eventually become a threat to the realm given the fact that they can control small quantities of Chaos. So he made them without males but with compatibility with the males of every other Blessed Race. In the Realm, there is no higher honor than being chosen as a partner by a Draghan." 

We entered an infirmary and I was ordered to undress for a last external check-up before going up to the heliport. 

My gray-haired, fox-faced partner kept talking; so I thought the nurse worked for them and it was safe to talk here. 

"Being born from a superior god,and living in a territory out of the range of the other races, the Draghan have received the task of watching over the other races, so they don't choose their partner based solely on their emotions: you have to prove yourself worthy of the tasks you'll have to share with her to make her heart beat and make her lean to you. If you ever see a male of any Blessed Race with a kind of flat jewel shaped as a diamond, big as the palm of my hand, and in color green, blue, red, silver or gold, treat him with the utmost respect. The pendant I described you is nothing less than the scale that covers the pubis of a Draghan, that comes off during her first sexual act with her mate. Another reason why they choose their mate so carefully is that once they have made their choice, they can't take it back nor even go directly against his wishes." 

I Frowned at that, sighing inside my mind and wishing deeply to become the target of a Draghan's desires. For a man who so many times had been used, cheated and deceived by women,it would be great to have a wife that doesn't have the choice to be unfaithful or feel attracted to another guy. I would choose anyone like that any day even in the case her body was covered in scales. 

At that,the nurse intervened with a nasal voice without turning her head from my inspection: "Gregor, do you always just talk dirty stuff?" She was giving her back to him, so she couldn't notice the hungry look in his eyes as he looked at the way her leaning over me lifted her skirt to just millimeters of showing her panties. This fact I know because he told me later. 

"You only let me talk and not get into action, Sue," was my guide's answer. 

"That's sexual harassment,you old fox," retorted the nurse without showing real discomfort. 

She stood up, almost catching the man in the middle of eyeing her ass, and said while nodding her head. "No external injuries nor symptoms of any illness. He's ready to go" 

Then he stretched his arm and pointed with his finger to the other side of the room. "Brandon, come take a look out the window" 

Just when I turned my head I heard a short hissing sound and at the same time I felt a sharp pain in my nape. When I turned my head again I saw the nurse with a sly expression in her face and a pneumatic injector in her hand. I jolted up from my seat but immediately had to sit again due to the dizziness that overcame me for a second. 

"What have you shot me with, bastards?" 

The fox man came closer, obviously trying not to snicker and told me with a relaxing voice. "Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous. In fact, it's the very first bastard son between science and magic. The pill shaped as a grain of rice we have injected in the back of your neck will dissolve along the next three to five hours, its content being directly absorbed by your brain. You are the first human from this world to receive a linguistic potion in this manner." 

I felt my eyes and mouth open wide and I protested: "So you take me for some kind of guinea pig?" 

Gregor waved his hand dismissing my worries, abandoning his games and smiles to answer, in a serious tone that admitted no objections. "It is necessary. We do not have years to teach you the main languages of the world you are going to live in from now on. And we also received legal complaints from other travelers because of the side effects of taking seven normal language potions." 

"So I am not the first to make the trip?" 

He snorted and said, "No, boy, you aren't. The United States has been sending travelers for a year. You are the number thirteen American." His eyes lighted when he noticed something. "I hope you don't believe in superstitions like that." 

Without saying the smallest word I dressed up again and we went up to the roof and then to the heliport were the transport was ready and waiting for us. 

I did as shown in most movies, lowering my head before boarding and then took a seat in the middle of the passengers area, as far as I could from the doors and buckled the seat belt the way I was taught by a member of the crew. 

Not long after that, the fox bastard put on some headphones from atop his seat and motioned me to do the same with mine. "You need these things inside the chopper or the noise from the rotors wouldn't let us speak without screaming aloud. I suggest you sleep all the way to the door we'll be crossing. That will help with the assimilation of the linguistic pill and you won't have such a bad headache when the process ends." 

I didn't answer and just closed my eyes, moving in my seat to find a comfortable pose and try to sleep. 

I think the pill might have had some kind of tranquilizer because it took me far less than I could expect to fall asleep. 

The ups and downs of the landing woke me up, and right after that I noticed the punch of a headache on both my temples. So this is what he meant about the pill giving me a headache when it dissolved completely... well, I guess it's no use having a pain like this if you are forced to learn several languages in five hours. 

Right when Gregor was about to wake me, he noticed I was already awake, but pressing my eyes in an attempt to reduce the pain to a tolerable level. 

His fox smile had returned and he offered me a hand to help me stand and get out of the vehicle. 

"How are you feeling, son?" he asked me as soon as we went far enough from the helicopter to walk straight and talk without raising our voices. 

"I'm not your son, and I've had worse hangovers," I lashed back at him with a rash tone. He went silent, and seconds later I recognized my mistake and said in a softer tone, "Sorry about that, pains make me grumpy and I snap easily." 

The guy nodded and said as well, "Well, it was our fault to begin with, but that is in the past now." 

He stopped so suddenly that I almost bumped into him. I raised my head and saw him stretching and opening his arms the way a magician (a trickster, the way real Mages from the other side called them) and said in a theatrical way "Behold your future!" 

It was fucking impressive to see it real-life and so close. 

Two pillars that vaguely resembled Greek architecture, made of pure white marble, but with crystal veins that resembled some kind of magic runes, both pillars entangled and tied together by gold chains. And between them, something that looked like the surface of a clear blue lake, calmly rippling... but in vertical ripples! 

My fox guide's smile became wider and with a laugh in his voice said, "Boy, you better not blink your eyes from now on, this is but the first and smallest of the surprises that await you." 

Then he walked straight to the rippling screen between the pillars and went through it with no concern for his safety, so I hurried my pace and went after him, stopping warily in front of the entrance and pushing it with my hand tentatively. It was like poking jelly... so I closed my eyes and pushed against it with my whole body: I felt cold and moving against a slight and sticky resistance, until that resistance suddenly disappeared and I found myself stumbling to the other side. 

I opened my eyes and I remembered Gregor's words when I noticed I couldn't blink even if I would want to. 

We were on a stone platform, around two hundred meters wide, surrounded by the deepest darkness you can imagine. To be more precise, it was like we were in the void of deep space but with no stars on sight. 


Cultural Exchange Ch. 01



If that wasn't overwhelming enough, in the center of the platform there was a tower, at least sixty meters wide, and so tall that no matter how much I strained my eyes, I could not see the top. The walls were made of a material I could not define, and they never stood still in the same position... as if the exterior walls of the tower were made by puzzle pieces, they were constantly moving up, down and sideways. 

Looking a little more intently I noticed that the edges of each section of wall looked like the teeth of a gear, making the outside face of the structure like a gigantic clockwork device. 

"Absolutely marvelous, right? Every rift in the whole world leads to this space," I was instructed by my guide's echoing voice. "Our scientists aren't able to understand even the most basic parts of how this device works, and the more concise explanations we received from the other side didn't make much more sense. The most simplified version states that this is what connects both worlds, and when you exit this surface, somehow your intentions are read and you are automatically guided to where you want to exit; be it America, France or Japan." He took out of his pocket some kind of crystal-made trinket, and after looking inside it he said, "Well, the time for chatter is over, we have an appointed date, and given that time here flows differently, we have to make haste: minutes here could mean we have made your hosts wait days for your arrival." 

So we entered the tower and headed straight for the stairs, ten meters wide and made of gray stone. 

The inner wall was made of the same material, with torches hanging from it at regular intervals, but the other side of the stairs had no handrail and it led to the moving wall after some meters of empty space. 

What an intriguing place. If I had the time I could have spent hours examining it. But the prospect of new life and the notion that, if Gregor said the truth, an hour here could mean six decades outside kept my curiosity in check. 

My legs were burning and I was panting and short of breath, given that I hadn't had much exercise lately and we had been going up what had seemed to be one hour without rest. I noticed Gregor didn't seem as busted as me, so between pants I asked him what made him different from me, and he answered briefly, "I had no time to explain you,but in this space, willpower is more important than physical energy: if you put your will in your movements, it will replace the use of your physical stamina and you'll be able to keep up the pace." 

As I was not able to keep talking, I started to think about what he said... and that did the trick: instead of just moving my body, I started to think about moving my body, and that made me faster without mining my resistance. 

An undetermined time later, we stopped in front of a line of signals marked with red paint on the ground and my guide turned to instruct me with the most serious expression I had ever seen in him. "This is the Turning Point, boy. Listen carefully and act as I instruct you: once you've caught your breath back, breathe deeply, keep the air in your lungs, close your eyes and steel your resolve to keep moving forward no matter what you feel." His face became even grimmer when he said, "Or you'll be forever lost in the void that prevents both worlds from colliding." 

That didn't help at all to keep my nerves under control, but I did as instructed: I closed my eyes, held my breath and put my will into moving ahead. 

At the beginning I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, but then I started feeling a little dizzy. That was shortly followed by a slight pressure that increased steadily until at some point I felt like I was going upstairs while somebody tried to pour a whole river on me. My dizziness kept growing until I suddenly stopped feeling all of the previous effects. 

Then I noticed that even though I was focusing on my will to move ahead, to the other side of the tower, now I was going downstairs, and light was coming from there. 

This time, instead of the same platform I would have been on if had turned around, I was at the entrance of a silver tower in the clear of a forest. 

Trees of a kind I have never seen projected different shades of green all over the place, with dark, short grass under them and an even darker moss on their trunks. 

The area around the tower had no green, just reddish-brown sand, almost completely cleaned up of stones. 

Not far from the door, several figures seemed to be waiting around a campfire, even though the weather here was like that of spring or early summer. 

Many times has happened to me that some part of my mind didn't really take in the changes and circumstances around me unless I am left with no other choice than to face reality. This was one of those times. 

I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the fact that I was in a completely different world, unthinkably far away from everything I knew, and was going to live for an undetermined quantity of years with these creatures. I call them creatures because aside their similarities with us, they were not humans. 

As I have already said, I started to feel really nervous. 

Just as they took notice of us, one of them spoke and all those who had been sitting down stood up to attention and formed up, marching towards us. 

It was at that moment when I noticed that even though it was the first time I heard that language, I understood he said, "They have come!" followed by a word I couldn't understand. Right then I understood that maybe he was saying the name of his boss. 

While we waited for the elves to reach us, Gregor came to my side and whispered, "Boy they regard you much more than I could imagine: they've sent an escort of seven to fetch you." I kept looking at the people that were going to be my guards: all of them obviously elves, given that their helmets had narrow triangular plates to protect the ears without hindering them. Also, males and females were easy to tell apart given that the breastplates on their female armor were modeled to accommodate their breasts. 

So, right now I was seeing three males and three females. Two of the females carried long bows on their backs and a short sword at their belts, the other carried a long spear with a sharp, tear-shaped blade at one tip and a solid sphere, a little smaller than a fist, at the other. One of the males carried a spear too, and the other two were armed with swords and round shields. 

Aside from the mentioned distinction between sexes, their armors were equal: campaign plates with almost no ornaments, made to be practical in actual combat. In fact, they weren't even polished: they kept the dull, dark pearled gray of the rough steel. 

I was trying to find differences between them to tell them apart during the trip. The archers had brown hair, one with dark eyes and the other blue eyes. The female lancer's hair was more reddish than the other two, and her eyes were of a glowing amber tone. The male lancer and one of the swordsmen had a clear brown color to their hair, like that of the sand, both with blue eyes. The male lancer was the tallest and the most muscular of the group. The last swordsman had black hair and I noticed his storm-gray eyes were piercing me with contempt. 

Then I saw the chief of the party and I couldn't see or think about anything else. Haven't you ever gone to the zoo and had the sensation that, even though you know it can shred you to pieces, you haven't been able to take your eyes off a Tiger or a Panther? The mix of fear, excitement and attraction emanating from a beautiful and stylish predator? That's what she made me feel at that moment. 

Although I am in no way saying she is an animal. A book about Elves I read recently stated that as they live so long, they see most humans as nothing more than a mix between a little kid and a really smart squirrel. 

She was taller than me: roughly her chin was at the height of my eyes. Her armor was lighter, made of leather with metal plates bolted to it, and it didn't cover the whole body, so I could see her belly, and the skirt made of threaded stripes of leather left the side of her hips and her thighs exposed. 

She had tanned skin, and her build was athletic bordering with muscular. Although, contrary to what happens with human women, she had not lost feminine attractiveness in order to gain physical prowess: her breasts were round and full, and even though I could not see it perfectly from the front, I was sure her butt was round and firm. 

If her body was not stunning enough, when I saw her face my knees staggered lightly: rosy inviting lips, high cheekbones, glowing emerald green eyes and blazing orange hair with strands of golden blonde, cut short in a boyish way and tightly tied back with a metallic diadem that left only one long forelock falling over her right eye to her jaw. 

She left the rest of her group behind and approached us raising her chin in a proud and haughty demeanor. She stood in front of us and crossed her arms, which made her breasts stand out a little more (though I think that was not her intention) and spoke to my guide. "From the description I got from my lord, you must be the envoy from the governments of atop the tower." Her voice, even though slightly deep and with a hard and commanding tone, was not unpleasant. In fact, it could have been very seductive if she'd spoken in a softer way. "You two arrive later than expected, Van'Gregor, we had to wait for you all morning. If you had arrived at the appointed time, we could have made it to the city by tonight. Now we are forced to camp in the wild and reach walls by mid-morning tomorrow." 

Gregor excused himself using some "traveling isn't stable yet" kind of excuse, and then searched inside his coat and took out a fold of paper and said, "Your new guest here is Brandon Cooper, Lady Ralya. I hope your people will welcome him well." 

At that, Ralya frowned slightly and her look hardened, as if she considered that an insult. "We are welcoming him with an escort of seven, like an ambassador of the highest ranking." 

Gregor pointed the woman to a side to talk to her more privately, so I just stood there without knowing what to do. 

As minutes passed by while the "bosses" solved the paperwork about my transfer, I noticed that some elves were staring at me, so I stared back. Most of them looked other ways, but lancer-girl not only kept looking at me, but she waved hello at me with her hand and smiled broadly. I responded in the same way. Where the leader of the group had an aura of danger and beauty that appealed to your animal instincts, this one reminded me of a teenager: playful, pure and cheerful. She made me relax a little thinking that maybe Elves were not so different from us. At her gesture, the black haired elf who hadn't stop looking at me as if he had a grudge against me, punched her in the shoulder and whispered her something to make her keep her composure. 

I formed the words "I'm sorry" with my lips when only she was the only one looking at me and she smiled again and gestured a "Don't worry" waving her hand while showing the tip of her tongue in a naughty way. 

I heard Gregor say, "With this, I leave him in your care," and he headed towards the gate of the tower not even giving me a last look. 

Then I felt momentarily abandoned and defenseless, until Ralya came to me and nodded her head in a gesture of greeting. "Veil'Brandon, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Land of the Seven Gods." 

From inside her short cape she took something wrapped inside a linen cloth and offered it to me. "Let this be a welcoming gift from the Hierarch of the Mountain Elves in person. Our young use it to pass their Coming of Age Trial, no matter male or female. I am bound to inform you that you will not be accounted as an adult among us until you have a trophy to hang from it." 

I opened the wrapping carefully and found myself hanging a long knife inside a blackened leather sheath and a handle made from what seemed to be deer horn. I unsheathed it to inspect the blade: the tip was triangular with both sides sharpened, but the blade had only one edge. Neither the knife nor the sheath had any kind of engraving or ornament. It was a simple and functional hunting knife. 

I tied the weapon to my belt, folding the cloth it was wrapped in to put it in the chest pocket of my shirt. "I am very thankful for this present, Miss Ralya, I promise you I will use it well." 

At this, she frowned and hardened her factions and voice tone one level to answer me. "Miss? I know you are new here, but please, adhere yourself to the correct ways of addressing my kind." 

Well, this is not a good start. I looked over my knowledge of medieval ways; pretty big taking in account that I have read several times my weight in books of fantasy and medieval themes, to come up with an answer that could let me save face. In the end, I put the palm of my right hand on my chest, over my heart, and bowed my head slightly to answer. "Please, don't mistake my ignorance with any kind of ill will. I have not been informed of any special ways of treatment to deal with your noble kind. I would feel honored if you could take the time to instruct me" 

Her hard expression was replaced by a slightly surprised one. "Well, at least you know how to speak with some manners. I should ask you, too, to forgive my hard tone earlier." She invited me with a sharp but elegant gesture of her hand to walk by her side. "Follow me to the camp and I will give you a simplified version." 

I thought it was going to be a simple as Hell version if she was gonna finish it in the twenty or so meters that separated us from their campfire. 

"We add a form of treatment before the proper name of the person we are addressing to, having forms to distinguish the social standing: Dem is used with children; Veil is for normal guests and young who haven't proved themselves; Sol for males, and Sal for females are the common ways of addressing proven adults; Van is for both males and females with an important position or a standing over yours (this applies to anyone with an important status, not only Elves) and finally, Yuan is used to address the Nobility or the ruling charges." 

We were nearing the camp when I asked, "What do I do if I don't know the position of the person I am addressing to?" 

She nodded approvingly at my question and answered. "The most simple way is to just ask. Well, here we are. Never forget the forms of treatment unless your listener gives you permission. If that happens, it is a permission for life unless you offend or irritate said person. You will offend and irritate your listener if you take that liberty on your own, even with children." 

Ralya... or should I say Van'Ralya even when I'm just thinking about her? She entered the camp speaking loud and clear. "Company, this is our protege, Veil'Brandon of the Cooper Family. He has been given his novice knife, so from now on he counts as one of our young. Treat him accordingly. On matters concerning our mission, we have been delayed by... unexpected circumstances, I've been told. So we are going to have an early meal and gain as much road as we can until the sunset. Then we will make camp and I will send one of our archers to scout the rest of the way to the city to send word of our situation and ask for a carriage for the rest of the way if possible." 

Everyone sat down around the campfire and opened small bags, from which they took bread, fruit and portions of salted meat or smoked fish. Another thing to be happy about: it looked like all the stories I had read were wrong to say all Elves were vegetarian extremists. 

Not seeing another choice, I sat down in another stone around the campfire. To my luck, I had Ralya to my right and that nice lancer girl to my left. Then I noticed that the tall lancer had taken off his helmet to eat... and he had beard! There was a thin gap at one side of it. At first I mistook it by a line of white hair, but it was a scar in the jaw. But the fact was that he had a thick, well groomed beard. 

Didn't my books say that Elves don't grow facial or body hair? Then another reality knocked into my head: why would human legends match the reality of a world they didn't even know it existed? 

That left me unsure of the real use of some of the things I had been learning. 

I was looking at the fire when I was poked by a thin finger in my left shoulder. The girl was handing me one of the food bags with a big smile. God, I was starting to like this girl so much. 

I took the bag and nodded at her with a smile of my own. "Thank you, er... Sal..." I left the phrase hanging to give her the chance to introduce herself. 

"Oh, you can just call me Silna, forget the honorifics," she answered without the smile ever leaving her face. 

"In that case you can just call me Bran." 

"I thought your name was Brandon," said Silna with one eyebrow arched. 

"In my land, we let friends, family and close people to use a shortened version of our proper names." 

At that, her ears perked up like those of a cat, and then they came down at the same time her tanned face became hotly blushed. 

Then she stuttered, "P-p-please a-allow me to do so. A-an-and please j-just call me Sil, if you please." 

I had to control myself hard to not hug such a cute thing. She was starting to make me forget all of my worries about the kind of people I was gonna find. 

"Then thank you for the food, Sil," I told her with a smile and in a softer tone of voice. 

Well, I think I just made my first friend. 

I started eating a little bread with smoked fish when I heard a voice coming a little farther from my left, and it was not talking to me. It was the black haired Elf scolding the cute Sil. 

"Sal'Silna! How can you be so nice to the Qui'Leh?" 

I tapped my ear with a finger, frowning at the fact that that last word hadn't been translated. A fail in the linguistic treatment? 

I didn't need a translator to know he had said something bad. Everyone had tensed up waiting for my reaction, but as I didn't know exactly what he said I had no way of retorting accordingly; so I opted to stay silent and look another way, taking care not to make direct eye contact with anyone. 

Well, there I had the final proof that there's every kind of people everywhere. I had found my first irrational racist. 

To my left, Sil continued the discussion in an even lower tone of voice. "You have just been awfully rude to someone who doesn't deserve it, Sol'Elam! You are lucky he decided not to confront you. And by the way, I am nice to him because I want to!" She joined her hands together to keep them still, but couldn't prevent her linked fingers to fidget before following. "And he may become Nue'He in the coming days, I want him to like me." 

Another word I didn't get translated. I started to doubt the effectiveness of the language pill and took note to ask for a wizard or someone capable who could look over it once we arrived in the city. 

Elam opened his mouth, but before the situation could escalate, I stood up from my stone calmly, tied the knot of my supply bag and looked to my right to ask, "Van'Ralya, is there something I can do to help?" 

She looked up at me and answered almost immediately. "You are our guest and our mission is to guide you to the safety of our walls, I can not order you tasks like I would do with a common soldier." 

I palmed the sheath of my knife and said, "This is supposed to mark me as one of your young ones. What would you ask a young one to do in this situation?" 

The frown in Ralya's expression softened a little and she looked briefly around. "I would ask you to bring sand to extinguish the fire while we adults prepare to depart, and then that you yourself get ready too." 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 01



Everyone stood up while I was using a flat stone to gather sand and pour it over the campfire, not only killing the flame, but preventing it from giving out any more smoke. 

Ralya ordered me to go to her, and then the rest of the party took positions around us: the lancers in front, the swordsmen at the sides, and the archers behind us. At one move of her hand, all of us started walking. 

I had Ralya at my left and Elam at my right. I nodded at him and said with faked seriousness, "I leave my safety in your hands, Sol'Elam." He groaned slightly and Sil snickered. 

The landscape, as well the hours, passed us by slowly, so I was looking everywhere for anything to start a conversation and kill some time. Did I say before that their armors were all the same, save for the chest? Well, forget that. As they were sitting down I didn't think to look at their legs. Both sexes had the same armored boots with knee protection, but where the men had leather trousers, the women had leather stockings to half thigh and a white, long loincloth. 

You may ask, "Why is he ogling Elven girls when he stated before that women had treated him like shit?" The answer has two points: One is that Human women have treated me like shit, and the other is that my psychologist says that the lack of affection while raising me has resulted in making Love is one of the highest things in my scale of values. That's why I keep trying. Because I firmly believe that failure only comes when you surrender and stop trying. 

I was looking at Ralya when the idea crossed my mind. "Van'Ralya, do you mind if I ask you why you don't carry a sword or any other weapon? It strikes me as odd to see you dressed in armor but carrying no weapons with you. Or is it that you are some kind of sorceress?" 

She nodded "no" with her head before starting to explain. "My primary specialization is Nun, a female Monk. We are forbidden to use normal weapons. Instead of that, Monks and Nuns from the Mountain Elves learn Tang'Shu." She moved her hands to her back, only to take them out covered in gauntlets that had been hidden inside her cape. Finger less, metallic gloves to half forearm with sharp blades in the back of the hand and short claws in the knuckles. "We use these gauntlets to practice what you would call..." She frowned a moment looking for the word. "Mixed Boxing? Fist fighting mixed with a few leg moves. Tang'Shu combines mixed boxing with a form of shamanism. We summon certain spirits and allow them a limited possession of our bodies so they can help us in combat. For example, the style of the Hare Totem increases our ability to dodge, and the style of the Bear Totem increases our defense and our capacity to deal stronger blows." 

I was momentarily dumbfounded and she noticed the expression in my face. I immediately tried to rectify. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful in any way. It's just that this is the first time I have heard someone to speak so casually about Magic, like it was an everyday thing." 

Ralya nodded her understanding. "Well, to us, magic is an everyday thing. Even you could be found capable in certain branch of magic and educated in its use." 

Now that's something to think about: little old me turned into a wizard throwing fireballs with my staff. In that moment I felt like a kid dreaming about Christmas presents. 

I wanted to ask her about the words Elam and Sil has used earlier, those that my pill hadn't been able to translate earlier, but I didn't dare to. Both of them were really close and in the hearing range of all the group, so it could create a really awkward situation. 

Instead I decided to just keep looking at the landscape (including the movement in Sil's butt walking) and thinking about what would be a good question for the next topic of conversation. 

That's right when I saw my first indigenous creature. Something so incredible that my brain had to admit it slowly and by stages. 

First I saw the red eyes glowing in the clear of the forest. Then I saw that those eyes belonged to a Panther. A Black Panther around the height of a Pony. A Black Panther high as a Pony with its back covered in natural armor. And another two pairs of glowing eyes above it made me realize that this creature had another two heads, similar to Moray Eels protruding like tentacles from its shoulders. 

Remember what I said about attractive predators? Well fuck that. This thing was plainly fucking scary. 

Elam tried to jab me with his left hand without stopping to look ahead, what ended up in him slamming my shoulder with his shield. Then he spoke fast and low. "It's a Kharnager, don't look at it directly or it will take it as a challenge. We may not be able to bring it down without receiving some severe injury." 

I whispered my answer while forcing my head to keep looking at the front. "I know it's fucking big and that it's well armed and protected naturally. But how can it be so much dangerous for seven trained warriors?" 

Elam looked at me as if I was plain stupid and then answered with his voice filled with disdain. "Because it is not only well geared for physical combat, it has a magical ability called 'Shadow Walk'. Kharnagers can physically sink in any patch of shadow as if it was water. And then, as if they were part of some kind of underwater network, emerge from any other shadow to attack from almost any direction you can imagine. That, if you have not noticed yet, is the reason why we are walking faster. Before he decides hunting us eight is a good enough challenge." He turned his head to look at me directly, and the bones of his neck cracked lightly to prove the tension he had been putting into not enraging the predator. "It would feel vastly disappointed with you." 

My patience with this asshole was running lower by the minute. 

We didn't slow down our pace in around one hour, until the group wasn't fairly sure the Kharnager hadn't been following us by using its Shadow Walk. 

The sun was starting to set. The sky was turning orange in front of us and I, just for curiosity's sake, looked back to see the phase of the moon. 

And if the Elves and the monstrous creature of the forest weren't enough hints, the sky also told me that I was in a totally different world. There were two moons rising up the sky. One of them seemed to be pink and a little bigger than our dear white moon. The other was crystalline green and at least the double size of the pink one. 

Before I could comment something, Ralya's voice sounded loud and clear at my side. "Company, when we leave the next cross roads behind at a secure distance, we set camp for the night." 

Content sighs of relief came out from almost everyone. And their steps became a little more springy with the promise of food and rest. 

Then, as we approached the cross roads, I felt a knot in my stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. I was feeling a pressure similar to when the Kharnager was watching us earlier. I cleared my throat to attract as much attention as possible and spoke warily. "Why is it that all the animals in the area have gone silent?" 

At that, Elam snapped before anyone could answer and snapped at me with contempt bordering open hate. "Because there is a damned Kharnager in the area. They have gone silent for the sake of not attracting attention form the predator." He looked to his front again and mumbled in a way that made his words perfectly clear. "Damned Qui'Leh just arrived in this world and he thinks he can lecture us even when he is less than a child. We should tie his neck and drag him like the animal he is" 

The whole company froze in their steps and looked askew at Elam. 

I was frozen too for a second, but I was gonna answer him, and I saw that Sil was about to do so, too. 

But our answers were stopped in our open mouths at the sound of the slap Ralya administered in Elam's face. 

He was just dumbstruck, rubbing his cheek, when Ralya spoke to him. "Apologize for your insolence to our new brother." 

Elam looked back at Ralya with angry eyes, straightened his shoulders, and answered slow and clearly. "I may apologize to you, but I am not going to apologize to a Qui'Leh. He is no brother of mine, just a savage sent to spy on us." 

Ralya slapped Elam again before speaking in a more menacing way. "He has come to live between us. He has come to learn our ways. He has received a novice hunting knife so he can prove himself and become one of us. By all standards, save by blood, he is now one of us. Call him Qui'Leh again and I will challenge you personally." 

Elam's face went white (or as white as it can get when you are naturally tanned.) and started stuttering in search for a response. 

I took the chance to ask. "What does Qui'Leh mean, exactly?" I said, fighting with the pronunciation. "It seems that it didn't enter the linguistic treatment I received before coming here." 

Ralya sighed at my question, obviously awkward with it. "In ancient times, when the Elven kind were young and unified, the Qui'Leh were a race of simian creatures very skilled at ambushing and attacking long range. They were close to conquering us and turning us into their slaves. In fact, they are the cause of the division in the race of the Elves. Some of us stood and fought in the plains, giving birth to the High Elves. Others learned to ambush and hunt in the forest, becoming Sylvan Elves. Our ancestors moved into the mountains, where the work of building fortresses and protecting them made us physically strong and tanned our skin. Some others went down into caves to study dark branches of magic, becoming Cave Elves or Elves of the Deep. And the last faction trusted in El'Dara's favor and stood close to lakes and rivers. They ended up becoming Undines, or River Elves as the Humans call them. Now that we talk about it, the Empress of all of the Elven kind is always an Undine." 

After thinking for a second, I said, "Why would I feel offended for being called like that? Well, I obviously don't like being called monkey, but I don't really see it as more than an insult a child would use." 

Someone snorted behind us before Ralya answered me. "Because given the fact that the Qui'Leh haven't been seen in this world for millenniums, there are those who think that they found a way to enter one of the World Towers and that your kind are not really Humans, but descendants of the Qui'Leh." 

I turned slowly to look at Elam and ask him in calm, controlled tone of voice. "Please. Tell me, Sol'Elam. In what way do I deserve your hatred for what you race suffered tens of centuries before I was born?" 

Elam grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, ripping it in his rage, and opened his mouth sucking air to scream at me. 

But he never could do so. 

With a zzuuumm, a wet noise and a splash of blood, an arrow came from behind us and pierced his neck from back to front. 

In that instant, his last act was to take my hand and put it in the hilt of his sword. Someone screamed, "Ambush!" 

In a sort of daze, I realized that it had been me the one who had given the warning. 

Another arrow came flying and punched the shield of the swordsman that was behind me. One more came flying toward me. Our own archers found out the source of the enemy arrows and started shooting back. 

Muffled, hissing screams came from the top of two trees. Quickly I untied the knife from my belt, tightened Elam's shield in my arm and tied the knife with its scabbard in the inner side of the shield. 

I had just finished doing this when a force of huge green humanoids came out roaring from the edges of the forest. 

My guards came into action. 

Ralya took out her gauntlets and screamed. "I call forth upon the Spirit of the Bear to grant me his strength and resistance!" And I swear that I could see the smoky figure of a bear roaring silently while its shine faded at the same time it entered Ralya's back. Then she punched her first enemy in the face without giving him time to raise any defense. 

The archers shifted their positions to cover our rear, firing round after round against the enemy. The swordsman and both lancers were already exchanging blows with them. I could see Sil deflecting an attack and using the momentum of her movement to turn her weapon and hit her opponent in the jaw with the mace-like end of her spear, making green blood spurt from his mouth. 

Then I heard a scream from my left. Three creatures had ganged up on Ralya and taken her to the ground. 

I looked terrified and disgusted as two of them had her immobilized, keeping her legs open for the largest one as he loosened his belt to enter in action with her. 

I stood up and charged shield first to the boss and jumped with the whole weight of my body to embed the edge of my shield into his neck, throwing him to the ground. 

Then I saw the one at my left, jumping to strike with the whole weight of his body. 

I shifted my shield slightly to a side to make the attack slide across the surface. Neither my shield nor my arm broke, but I felt almost instantly my shoulder starting to go numb. 

I took that chance to throw the tip of my sword at him. It slid along the face plate of his helmet to enter the eye visor. I was just lucky. 

I could feel through my arm how the tip of my weapon collided with the bone entering the skull. 

Instant death. 

Ralya was fighting the one that was still trying to keep her to the ground when the boss stood up spitting moss-green blood and words in his guttural and brutal tongue. 

For sure he was not praising me. 

He slammed the bone handle of his axe against his shield taunting me to attack first, but I moved slowly sideways looking for an opening in his guard. 

Then a gurgling scream behind me told me that Ralya had finished her last opponent. 

A silence fell upon us. I was the last one fighting and everyone was looking at us. It all happened in the few seconds before they could come to my aid. The big leader charged at me with a vertical attack from his axe, but I barely avoided it by jumping back. He imitated my shield punch and struck me in the chest. I don't know what madness took over me, but I rushed at the ugly creature, feinting a thrust to his chest to make him raise his shield. He fell in the trap, I locked my shield with his. I dropped my sword, and used my right hand to take out the knife from inside the shield and stab my enemy twice in the gap between the shoulder armor and his helmet. 

The first hit entered his throat cleanly, severing his windpipe. I felt the second one scratching his vertebrae before piercing between two of them and breaking the medulla. 

He fell to the ground, taking with him my knife. I was still in some kind of combat shock. I screamed incoherently and waved my shield around when someone touched my shoulder. 

I heard words said in a soothing tone, but I could not understand them. Now that the fight was over, my mind was reliving the whole fight, the things I had seen, the things I had done. 

I untied the shield, letting it fall along with the scabbard of my knife. Then I stumbled across the path to the edge of the forest, using a hand to support myself against the trunk of a tree before leaning to vomit noisily on the grass. 

I stood there an undetermined time until I could more or less present myself again in front of the others. All of them were inspecting the zone of the fight searching for clues. 

All of them but Sil, who was crying and screaming loudly with her face pressed against Elam's chest. 

I had a chance to examine the enemy dead. Ralya called them Orcs, and they were very much like the fantasy creatures I thought of. They had olive green skin, and even though they were taller than me, their arms were longer than their legs. They had small red eyes and wide, square jaws with thick fangs coming out form the lower jaw. Their wide chests were covered by crude iron plates tied together with animal skins, and their hands grabbed unrefined stone and metal axes and shields made from thick tree barks reinforced with bands of iron. 

I had no idea how I had managed to not only stay alive, but overcome these enemies. Then I realized that I must have dug up memories of the many movies, novels and video games that had helped me survive. Remembering a T.V series about King Arthur and the way Lancelot trained some soldiers had led me to untie the knife from my belt, tighten Elam's shield in my arm and tie the knife with its scabbard in the inner side of the shield, between the plate and my arm. Lancelot had taught his recruits that it would be hidden from view and would be more comfortable to draw in case of need. When I needed this tactic, my mind brought it forth. 

I realized that in the fight against the boss Orc, I had used movements I had seen from the character Sophitia from the video game series Soul Calibur, dropping my sword and using my now free right hand to take out the knife from inside the shield and stab my enemy twice in the gap between the shoulder armor and his helmet. Again my memories sprang forth when needed. I was amazed that I, an untrained fighter, had been able to draw tactics and skills out from my subconscious during the frenzy of battle. 

Quickly we did what had to be done. With hard work we were able to separate the bodies and all of us started gathering our things to march at full speed in case the they had any kind of reinforcements. 

I was looking for my knife when Ralya handed me the belt with Elam's sword sheathed, along with his shield. "I have something I have to do with your knife, Sol'Brandon, so use Sol'Elam's gear. You have proved yourself more than capable to wield it." 

"Are you sure it is appropriate for me to have it?" I asked cautiously sending a meaningful look at the poor Sil. She was still trembling and trying to keep herself from busting into tears, but she used all of her strength to nod 'yes' at me with a broken smile. 

"I appreciate your delicacy, but we may be attacked again. Please, gear yourself up so we can get moving as soon as possible." 

I rapidly fastened the belt around my waist and once again I tied the shield to my arm while I heard Ralya whispering into Sil's ear. "We have no choice but to leave him here for now. But for my name and rank, I promise you he will rest in his home." She just nodded before taking up her spear and moving to her post in the formation. 

I had an idea concerning Elam's body, so I offered it to Ralya, as she was the boss of the group. "Van'Ralya..." I was immediately stopped by her finger on my mouth. 

"You and I have something serious to talk about, Sol'Brandon, but that will have to wait. For now, I inform you that you have my permission to drop the honorifics when we are not in an official act. Now, what did you want to ask?" 

It took me a second to reorder my ideas after what she had told me before talking. "Well, first I thank you for your permission to speak to you more closely, you too can stop using them with me if you want to. Second, I just noticed that since the fight ended, you have started addressing to me with 'Sol' instead of 'Veil'." 

"That is due to the fact that you have slain in single combat a Chief Orc and one of his guards in front of six witnesses. According to our traditions, that is several times more than necessary to prove you a man of worth and an adult before our eyes." 

I felt my face blushing and I shifted my weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Didn't you see how I threw up after the fight? It was my first time in a real combat." I moved in closer to her and lowered my voice. "What are we going to do with Sol'Elam's body?" 

Ralya rubbed her arm where one of the Orcs had held her. "It is a problem. We cannot take him with us, and if we leave him here, scavengers or worse thing will take it." 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 01



Something came to my mind and I said it without thinking. "Why don't we move him to that bridge ahead and tie him to it from its underside to keep him hidden and away from scavengers?" 

"Not a bad idea. I will consult it with Silna, she was his sister, after all." 

My eyes opened wide. "They were siblings and they used honorifics when talking to each other?" 

I didn't expect Ralya's answer. "It is not my place to speak of other families' matters, Bran, so you will have to ask her." It was the first time she spoke to me so softly, and the purr almost hidden in her voice made my skin tingle. 

After getting everything ready, including the hiding of Elam's body, we got on the move again. 

Just that this time, it was faster and farther than we had planned at the start. 

We made camp, Ralya sent one of the archers to the city to inform of the situation as planned, and we started eating in silence. 

It had not been long when the archer that was left looked at me in a naughty way and said, "I hope we don't have to fight tonight, or Sol'Brandon here will spoil his food again." Everyone laughed at that, even Ralya and Sil smiled. 

Then the tallest of them, the male lancer spoke with a deep and powerful voice. "Don't mock the boy, it was his first fight, he did good in keeping his pants from changing color." More laughs. 

The next one to talk was the swordsman, who looked really impressed. "Was it really your first combat?" 

Ralya herself intervened. "That is what he has told me. And I tend to believe him due to the fact that he acted according to training during the fight and when it ended all the weight of the situation fell on him and he vomited." That last part left me surprised. She had said it smiling. And god, what a bright and warm smile she had. 

Before anyone could find my reaction (or so I hoped) I swallowed the meat I was chewing and entered the conversation again. "Forgive me for correcting you, Ralya, but I have never received a formal training with these kinds of weapons. I just acted on instinct and merging moves I learned from watching several masters in different styles." 

At that everyone went silent and looked at me like I was lying. I took the words Ralya had used to comfort Sil and putting a hand on my heart I said with a serious face but a playful tone, "I swear on my name and rank." 

The giant lancer broke into a noisy laughter and said, "Then, boy, I am craving to see you after you get some proper training and experience. By the way, my name's Bruen. And before you start adding syllables in front of it, I think I speak for all of us if I say that you don't need honorifics. We have covered each others' backs in battle, so we are now brothers and sisters in arms." 

The swordsman nodded his head. "Rancer, my pleasure. And I hope you can teach me some of those shield moves." 

The archer said with a soft and almost whispering voice. "Nera, and the one that has gone ahead to the city is my twin sister Melfa." 

I recognized her voice and lowering my head a little I said, "Nera, I think I have to apologize for the way I reacted back there when you tried to calm me down." 

She answered with her characteristic tone of voice. "Don't take it to heart; it's something normal in your circumstances." 

Then Rancer called for my attention. "Hey Brandon, how did you take your knife out so fast in that fight?" 

I stood up and got closer to him while saying, "Grab your shield and put it on." I waited for him to tighten the bindings and then moved his shield so everyone could see its inner face. Then I stuck two fingers between the shield and Rancer's arm. "The whole fight I had it in there, hidden and tied to my arm." 

All of them looked at me. Bruen just said, "Clever." 

This time, it was Ralya who called me. "Take it, Bran, I have done what I wanted to do with it. Now it proves you as a tested adult." 

When I took again my knife, a clacking sound notified me that something had changed. Ralya had used two thin leather stripes to tie a tusk of each one of the Orcs I killed to the mouth of the scabbard. 

Before I could even thank her, she stood up and said, "Well, get some rest while you can. Nera, you take the first watch. Bran, come with me a minute, we have a pending conversation." 

We walked away from the camp, and when we had a small lake in sight, she said, "Stay here, count to one hundred and then come after me." 

With that, she started walking again and left me alone in the dark. 

Maybe I made the count a little too fast because anyone, not only me, would freak out a little if he was left alone at night in the middle of a forest in a world you don't know. 

I started walking towards the direction Ralya had gone to. It wasn't long before I could start seeing from between the trees that she had gone to a clearing in the forest with a small lake in the middle and a big, flat stone beside it. 

I was reaching the edge of the forest to enter the clear when I heard Ralya's voice coming from the water. "Please stay there!" This time, her voice had a tinge of uncertainty. 

I looked at the stone by chance and saw Ralya's full gear on top of it. I froze in my steps and knelt on the ground right where I was. I didn't want to play smart and get her to kill me. 

From my position, I was only able to see the black silhouette of her head showing up from the water. It appeared she was Immersed to the neck. 

All of her haughty demeanor had completely disappeared when she spoke to me in the soft, almost purring voice she had used earlier. "I imagine you still haven't been taught about what we Elves call 'The Binding'." 

I interrupted her without thinking. "Sounds to me like what we Humans call 'Marriage'." 

She giggled before answering. "In many ways it is. The difference is that you Humans can get tired of your partner. Your emotions can shift, you can commit infidelity and you can even abandon your partners." Her voice was starting to sound... sad? Worried? 

Once again I spoke my feelings. "I couldn't do that. I have been the victim many times in the situations you've just mentioned. In those and in others you couldn't believe." 

"That puts me at ease." She said with a sigh before continuing. "The difference is that when we Elven women Bind to a partner, we lose in mind, body and heart the capacity to feel attraction to any other male than our mate. And the Binding comes when we give our Purity, or when it is taken from us." 

I felt a chill as I was starting to see where this conversation was going. "I think I already know, but why are you telling me this?" 

"To have you know what you have saved me from. Can I ask you why you only entered the fight when you saw me about to be... forced?" 

"That's a secret I haven't told even my parents or brothers." I doubted for a second, but when I heard her say, "Oh," everything seemed to click together. We were far, yet so close, that in that instant I felt a connection between us that made me feel free to say it all to her. "So I hope you don't tell anyone." 

"Please, don't insult me." But there was no real anger in her voice. She was obviously glad and thankful for this display of trust on my part. 

"When I was about seven or maybe eight years old, a man did to me what that Orc was about to do with you." She gasped when she heard that, but I kept speaking. "And not only once, he did it several times along weeks or maybe even months. I can't say for sure because I have been trying to suppress those memories so much time that they're no longer clear. I'd like to say that today I acted only because I didn't want you to go through the same as me, but maybe some part deep inside me made me do it as a way of getting revenge." 

I got breathless when I looked in front of me again. Ralya was standing one step away from me... completely naked and with her skin still wet from her bath. 

She took my face between her hands and purred in a low voice, "Sorry to keep you waiting, I wanted to cleanse myself from the touch of the Orcs before receiving your contact." Then, after a moment of hesitation, she kissed my lips. 

It was soft, pure, without opening her mouth. Just her lips pressing mine like the innocent first kiss of a schoolgirl. 

I grabbed her softly from her waist to bring her to me and deepen our kiss. 

At first she fidgeted a little, but after overcoming her hesitation, she hugged me around my shoulders and arched her back to press her breasts lightly against my chest. Our tongues entwined and played for... I couldn't say. Any notion of something like time had completely flown out of us. 

My excitement grew another level and I lowered my right hand to caress her left cheek. 

That made her jolt back, and with a look of apology in her face she said, "Nothing from the waist down, I beg you. I swear on my name and rank that when I'm allowed, I will give you from the bottom of my heart what you have kept from being stolen today. But not right now." She started opening my shirt, which gave me the chance for a close look at her breasts: round, firm and with small nipples of a rosy color similar to that of her lips. I pinched softly one of them, bringing out from her a sweet and cute moan. 

She nipped my neck before cooing in my ear, "Let me do this to soothe your desire, at least for tonight." Then she started kissing my chest, sometimes biting softly, along her way down until she was kneeling in front of me, opening and sliding down my trousers after a little fight with the button and zipper. 

Looking at her from above, I noticed her ears were hardly pressed down and the moonlight (or the light of the moons? Hell, that didn't matter right now) hinted that her face was furiously blushed. 

She pulled down my boxers and took my member with care between her hands, starting immediately to cover the shaft and tip in numerous soft kisses that showed her lack of experience but her will to please me. 

She tentatively left the tip of her tongue out to try the taste of my skin. It seems she didn't dislike it, because she started to lick me. At first soft and short licks, longer and harder as she gained confidence as he heard my moans of pleasure. I looked down at her just to get dumbfounded at the sight of her pressing a side of my shaft against her cheek and sticking in and out all of her tongue to give me longer and more intense licks. When she saw me looking down at her, her green eyes pierced mine, glowing lightly in the dark. 

Then she looked down again, opening her mouth to receive me inside it, as she could not yet receive me with her whole body. She swallowed me to half-length and started moving her head up and down, slowly and without pressing, letting her lips caress my member. 

My pleasure was not coming only from the treatment she was giving me, but from the sight of her pleasuring herself with her fingers. The Moons were high enough to light the moment she stopped stroking her nipples to move her free hand down to pass a finger along her wet, reddish petals, tearing from her a moan of pleasure that vibrated on my manhood and took me another step closer to the climax. I had to lift my arms and grab a branch from the tree behind us to resist the urge to take her to the ground and go all the way with her. 

The pressure of her lips and the speed of her head increased at the same pace it did the rubbing on her dark red-haired, dripping flower. Her moans and mine began entwining, though hers were muffled and sent vibrations not only through my shaft, but through all my spine, making me arch my back in pleasure. Our love rhythm became frantic when I saw that Ralya's back was starting to suffer spasms. I hadn't felt a woman in the last three years, so I reached the end of my endurance. 

"Ralya, I..." Just at that moment, she reached her own peak and let my member fall from her mouth to scream her orgasm. That made me accidentally pour my seed over her. 

When both our climaxes started receding, my member twitched at the sight of Ralya kneeling in front of me, her tanned skin stained with my white fluid on her chin, neck and breasts. She took again my manhood in her hand to clean it with her mouth, forgetting every display of shame in the degree of intimacy that we now shared. 

Once she finished, I took out of my chest pocket the cloth she had given me with the knife in. It now looked like that had happened in another life. 

I knelt in front of her with the cloth in my hand and said, "Sorry, I got you dirty. Let me clean you up." She didn't stop looking at me intently while I wiped her skin softly, making her moan lightly at the rubbing of the rough cloth against her nipples. 

She lifted my chin with a finger, and without taking her eyes off mine, even though she was still blushing, she said with a wink, "It's not dirty if it is for love." Then we kissed again and spent the afterglow of our orgasm hugged, with her head resting on my shoulder. 

After we fixed our looks, we went back to the camp holding hands until we were close enough to get in sight of our comrades. Then she let go of my hand and whispered, "Sorry my dear, but I am supposed to be on duty. I will compensate you the next chance we have." 

I just nodded my head and went directly to my sleeping bag. It seems that they had them ready know that my arrival could be delayed by days. 

Aside from Nera, who was patrolling around the camp, everyone was soundly sleeping. Sil was inside her sleeping bag covered up to the ears. Maybe she wasn't even sleeping due to the loss of her brother. 

Just when exhaustion was about to finally bring me down, Nera knelt by my side and whispered in my ear with that voice of hers, "Congratulations." That snapped my eyes open again, and took me a long time to calm myself enough to drift into an uncomfortable sleep full of nightmares with shining metal and green mountains of muscle. 

I was awoken by a hand that moved me violently and a voice that screamed my name with annoyance. "Bran, for the Water Maiden's sake, wake up already!" 

After a pair of seconds of confusion, I stood up abruptly, trying to take out the sword from my belt. Even though I had untied it and left it at hand's reach to sleep more comfortably. 

Still in the stun of after-sleep, my head was clear enough for me to mumble, "What, we're under attack again?" 

Right at that I could hear Bruen's thundering laughter, followed by the more discreet mirth of my other companions. Ralya tried to keep her face straight to scold me properly. "No, but you would not wake up even if that were the case. In fact, I think you would not have awoken even in the middle of a pack of stampeding Gengas." Everyone laughed again, this time with a tinge of surprise at the fact that Ralya had made a joke. Her haughty attitude was back, which made me wonder with a little sadness if our encounter last night had been just a dream. 

I answered while rubbing my eyes, "Sorry, my slumber is pretty deep by nature... and what the heck is a Genga?" 

"They are birds, too big and heavy to fly. The savage ones tend to get scared very easily, but a long time ago we learned to tame them and turn them into pasture beasts. Their flesh tastes more or less like chicken, but one Genga breast can make up for seven or eight full chickens. Also, they have colorful feathers that are often used in ornaments and trinkets." 

Well, one more thing to learn about this world. Another one to add to an increasing pile and that in a certain sense made me feel like a little kid in the body of an adult: a grown-up body with little knowledge of the world around me. 

Instead of stopping for breakfast, we packed up and got moving while eating our last pieces of fruit along the way. 

Unlike the day before when we parted, now that they counted me as one of them they started chatting to kill time, but without really looking at each other. Instead, their sights were on the trees of the forest and the shadows under their branches. 

At certain point during the conversation, my eyes met Ralya's for a moment and her ears twitched at the same time a faint smile and a tinge of blush came to her face. 

Thank God, it wasn't a dream. 

The company was commenting on the attack yesterday, so I got into the conversation and said, "There is something that doesn't make sense to me." 

Nora's voice came from behind. "True. Orcs don't have archers. And the tip of their arrows had saw-like edges. They had Lizard-men mercenaries." 

After a moment of thought I said, "Well, I don't know about Lizard-men, what I was meaning was their strategy." 

Rancer had been moved to my right in the formation, from there he looked at me with a puzzled look for a brief moment before asking, "Are you capable in the arts of directing armies, Brandon?" 

"Well, obviously I have never directed an army in a real battle, but in my world there many simulation games where you have to direct your army not only in the field, but also taking up tasks as training troops and keeping them fed and sheltered." They looked very interested at this bit of information, so I kept talking, hoping in secret not to make a mistake that could leave me in shame. "From the tactics I learned from those games, it is odd that they attacked our swordsmen first. The wise thing to do would have been to take out our archers first and take from us the chance to counter attack from a distance. Instead of that, they shot three arrows at the center of our formation: one at Rancer and the other two at the side where I was." 

Silence fell upon the marching company while everyone pondered what I had just said. 

Bruen and Ralya shared a wary look, but before I could ask anything, Sil's voice came up a bit hoarse from her screaming and crying from yesterday, "Carriage approaching!" 

All of us moved to the sides of the paths, weapons ready even though we knew that the most probable was that it came from the city to retrieve us as fast as possible before the event of another attack. 

When they got closer, my grip on the hilt of my sword relaxed a little. There were two coming: a four-horse carriage with enough space to take all of us in the back, and a two-horse chariot with space for one driver, a helper and an attachment obviously devised to carry a prone body. 

They presented themselves as riders sent by Guard Chief Van'Oner to retrieve us and Sol'Elam's body and take us to the safe inside of the city walls. 

Ralya made sure to introduce me as Sol'Brandon Cooper before sending Sil along with the chariot driver to fetch Elam's body from its hiding. 

Now that we had horse-power, the trip moved faster from here. The Sun was almost at its zenith when we finally reached the city wall and crossed the wide and thick dark wooden door to the inside. 

I marveled at the sight of the city that would become my new home. 

Instead of the soft, high and stylish towers made of white marble that I would expect from the High Elves, or the Tree-houses built in symbiosis with the forest that legends attributed to Sylvan Elves, the Mountain Elves lived in houses made of gray stone blocks with wood and thatch roofs. It was like I was in a Viking town. 

Our transports made their last stop in a wide square with two big buildings. The left one immediately gave me the feeling it was some kind religious temple, the right one I supposed it would be a government building or maybe some kind of meeting hall if I followed the Nordic traditions. 

The stone-paved way between both buildings went straight to a set of stairs that led to what seemed to be a fortress. Yes, all like in Viking movies, a town with a wall and a fortress inside to keep women and children safe in case of an attack or a siege. 

From the right building Melfa came out with a man a bit taller than Ralya, with dark red hair and green eyes. His chin sported a thin and short goatee and he had a curved scar over the arch of his left eye brow. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 01



Both the look in his eyes and his smile looked genuine friendly when he approached me with his right hand outstretched waiting to share a handshake. 

I shook his hand with a smile of my own while he introduced himself. "I am Oner, Son of Yuan'Errom, Hierarch of the Mountain Elves. Be sincerely welcome, Sol'Brandon. My partner (with that he pointed to Melfa. What a shame she was taken) has told me how you defended yourself with the Orcs yesterday. I'm impressed." 

Ralya intervened before I could answer. "You should be more than impressed, Big Brother. Bran has sworn on his name and rank that it was his first fight and that he had never receive formal training before." 

Oner's eyes went full wide at that, then he composed himself, throwing a naughty look at Ralya... wait, had she just call him big brother? Was he her real brother or was that another form of treatment? Oner stopped to look at me more appreciatively, nodding his head while he rubbed his goatee. "Then I will take on your combat training personally, Little Brother. You can call me Big Brother from now on when in casual conversation." 

So that was it. She had called him Big Brother because he had trained her. "I look forward to your guidance, Big Brother. Please, skip the use of honorifics whenever you feel like it," was the most polite answer I could come up with. 

Oner patted my shoulder and left his hand there before saying, "Let's go to the Hall of Shields. The Hierarch Himself is waiting to welcome you personally before starting your welcome celebration." 

I saw by the corner of my eye that the chariot with Elam's body had just arrived. I looked at Oner and said, "Excuse me for a moment, Big Brother, but there is something I must do right now no matter what." 

Then I started walking directly to the chariot, but a few steps further I had to start asking the Elves that had come to see my arrival to let me space to reach my target. 

The mass of people started whispering. Whispers that started to become enraged screams when I lifted the cloth that covered Elam's body. I saw a piece of fruit fly over me and hit a wall. 

The things could have escalated into serious issue if not for Oner who screamed, "Don't lift a finger against him or I'll take it personally!" 

I swallowed the knot in my throat before nodding a "Thank you" at Oner, who answered me with a puzzled look. 

I unleashed the belt around my waist and put the sheathed sword on Elam's chest moving his hands and untied the shield from my arm to put it covering his chest and hands. Then I went down to one knee, bowing my head at Elam and raising my voice for everyone to hear me. "I thank you for the loan: I will never forget it saved my life!" I didn't really need the to do all that, but I felt I owed Elam at least a bit of respect for trying to save me, leaving aside his personal feelings. Also I hoped this little act would me look a little better in front of my friends and neighbors-to-be. 

Oner's voice came high from the other side of the square. "What are you doing, Sol'Brandon?" 

I noticed his intentions and answered raising my voice without moving from where I was standing. "I took his sword and shield to defend myself after he died. I believe that every warrior who dies in combat has the right to pass his gear on to his heirs or to take it with him to the other life." 

Oner bowed to me and when he raised his head, he spoke again for the whole crowd to listen. "Here is a lesson for those of you who opposed him coming with us. He apologizes to a dead warrior for taking his gear and humbly gives it back thankfully. Who dares to doubt his honor now?" 

Nobody in the crowd stood challenge, so I went to join Oner, Ralya and the other surviving members of the welcoming party to enter this "Hall of Shields" together. 

As its name suggested, starting from the roof down, the walls of the hall were covered in shields. Round, triangular, pentagonal, rectangular, made of wood, different kinds of metal and I even saw one or two bone shields made from the skull of terrifying beasts. 

The hall was longer than it was wide, having space for three ten meter long tables placed along the room. A fourth table, shorter and standing on top of a dais, was obviously the Table of Honor for the master of the city and his guests of honor. 

Talking about the master, he was standing in front of the steps to the dais, the most impressive specimen of Mountain Elf I have or will ever see. He was at least a full head taller than Ralya, what made him even taller than Bruen. His shoulders wide as an Orc's. His dark red hair showed strands of silvery white in both temples and his beard. The visible right eye was a deep and glowing emerald green. The other was covered in a leather eye patch reinforced with cross-shaped metal plate. 

Yeah, I know I take my time describing people. But I'm a bit bad at remembering names at first meetings, so I try to remember faces at least. 

When he spoke, it was almost like an avalanche. Even when speaking calmly, his voice had an impressive strength. "Be welcome to my Home. Your deeds during your first day in our world have reached my ears and impressed me, Young Sol'Brandon. Please look at that section of the wall." It took me a moment to figure out exactly what point he wanted me to look at. For a person like me, who almost never has been praised in his whole life, it brought tears to my eyes the sight of a coarse rectangular shield made of tree bark and iron bands. I had just arrived and it looked like these people were already counting me between their heroes. 

When I looked back at him to try and say some words of gratefulness, Ralya was by his side whispering in his ear. He looked at her seriously for a moment but then nodded abruptly with a shine of satisfaction in his eye. 

With his rumbling voice, the Hierarch Errom called, "Oner, to my right. Ralya, to my left. Sol'Brandon, stand here in front of me." 

"Oh, please, you don't need to use honorifics with someone of my status, Yuan'Errom," I said bowing my head while I fast-paced to him. 

"Honorifics are always needed in formal matters, such as the one that concerns us right now." 

I stood in front of him as instructed, waiting for him to explain that formal matter he had just mentioned. 

"As all of us in this noble hall know," he started, joining his hands and looking at each of us by turns, "the objective of this program of cultural exchange is to prove that both worlds can work together for mutual benefit. In order to get that, the travelers must join and mingle with culture and life of the town that adopts them." That last bit he said looking directly into my eyes. "Yesterday, astoundingly sooner than I had expected, you proved yourself an adult, as the Orc tusks in your knife demonstrate." I thought he was going to open a hole in my forehead by the sheer intensity of his gaze. "The normal thing for a just proven Young would be to look for a partner among the suitable candidates in the town. But you still don't know about the families yet. You have no knowledge of assets, allies and enemies and a wide variety of important things to take into account." 

He put his right hand on my shoulder and followed. "You have come here to obey our laws and live by our customs. And according to our customs is improper for a man like you to stay without partner. It falls on my shoulders to take measures, and this is the conclusion I have reached." He took air as if he was making a dramatic pause. "By my authority as the Hierarch of all Mountain Elves, I decree that next time the Moons join, we will perform a wedding ritual between you and my youngest daughter." At that he put his left hand on Ralya's shoulder. "And when the ritual is over, you two will move to a private place to perform the Binding." 

Oner smiled broadly and said Ralya, "Congratulations, Little Sister." And looking at me, he said. "I hope you make her happy, Little Brother." 

Oh, so these two were really siblings. 

And then reality assaulted me again and I freaked out. 

I was gonna get married?? 

++ 

In a dark room, a figure was sitting silently in a luxurious armchair. He was enjoying his cup of wine while his face was turned to the thick curtains that blocked almost all the light the growing dusk outside could throw. But he was not really seeing anything as all of his concentration was in the thoughts of his schemes. 

The door opened suddenly and almost hit the wall. The new person who had stormed into the room without even knocking threw a severe look and a furious gesture of his hand to the servants waiting by the walls for them to get away before kicking the door closed. He breathed in deeply before addressing the man who had stayed impassive before his display. 

"Your plan has failed. No, it hasn't failed, it has backfired." He was clenching his fists and his tone of voice quivered. He was obviously wishing to scream his frustration but keeping himself from committing an error in front of a superior. "The Qui'Leh not only has not been murdered, but he has proven himself and now has a trophy on the wall of the Shield Hall. The welcoming party tonight has become a Gods damned engagement party!" He kicked down a chair and was about to scream when he heard his elder leaving his cup calmly on the table. The deliberate "click" of the glass had been a warning and a call of attention. 

"Well, we underestimated him. We thought we could make use of inferior beings to dispose of an inferior being." The sitting creature had a voice that would make you think of snakes and dark places. He refilled his cup, doing the same with another one already prepared on the table. He took his drink and motioned his "guest" to sit down and drink to calm down. "Well, at least you should be thankful that he saved the woman. Your ambitions would have turned to nothing if that Orc had succeeded in Binding her." 

The impulsive man went silent for a second before retorting, annoyed, "Just a drop of water in the lake. You also lost your agent." 

The older one shrugged his shoulders so lightly that he looked like he didn't really do it. "An affordable loss. He agreed to act as our last resort because if Van'Ralya did not accept the Human as her husband, out rat's little sister would have taken her place. He considered the first choice a shame for the Mountain Elves, and the second an attack to the pride of his family." He took another taste of the wine, appreciating it before going on. "But you are wrong in saying he was a loss. Dying pitifully by the hand of the savages, he saved us the trouble of looking for a way to 'silence' him discretely later on." 

"You planned to assassinate your assassin from the very start?" Asked the young one with an eyebrow arched in an amused grin. "I knew you were merciless, but maybe this is taking it to another level." 

"No, my young, it is being practical. It is not leaving loose ties. We could not afford to let him live with the knowledge of our... strategies. Doing so would be inviting the chance he could feel remorse and tell others, or try and threaten us with telling the truth to the Hierarch. I hope the woman deserves all the danger we are facing and the valuable allies we are spending." 

The young barked a laugh at that. "Ha! I don't really desire her, I already have two mates. What I really wish to attain is the position and the privileges that come from Binding a daughter of the Hierarch." He abruptly left his cup on the table and leaned forward to look at his partner in the eye. "Well, how do we proceed with the Qui'Leh from now on? I hope you don't expect me to challenge him for the marriage rights, he is under Yuan'Errom's protection." 

The older man had barely moved from his initial position, trying to transmit a calm his visitor didn't perceive. He sighed inwardly thinking he needed to train his young into being less transparent. "Don't worry, we will stick to the subtle approach for now. We have time before the wedding and I have already arranged for some... 'accidents'." 

Both men raised a toast with a sharkish smile on their faces.



Cultural Exchange Ch. 02



First, I want to thank all of my readers for their encouragement and support. You have made this possible. 

Second, I must apologize to those who have sent me feedback messages; I haven't been able to answer because my lazy brother shares my mail account instead of making his own and erased many of them thinking they were spam. 

Third, thanks again to my editor SexyGeek for his help in shaping up the story and the characters, as well as his attention to my grammar. I make many mistakes just by losing concentration. 

Fourth, this chapter was going to be much longer than the first, but I decided to cut it. Good news are that all the events for third chapter are already outlined and if nothing fails too much it would be released soon. 

That's all, enjoy my work. It's what makes me happy. 

***** 

I was sitting naked in the bed of the master bedroom of the guest house I had been assigned. I was trying to remember as much as I could from the moment of the announcement in the Hall of Shields until now. 

I was stupefied due to the shock and was more or less working on auto-pilot. I remember that Errom (would I need to call him "father" from now on?) called for a servant and sent word to the welcome party that the program had changed. I can't remember clearly how it had changed, just that he ordered another servant to lead me to the guest house that would be mine until I married Ralya and became master of all her possessions. 

I arrived, calmer and owner of myself, at a two-story house supposed to be near the training field where all kinds of warriors were trained every day. It seemed that once a Mountain Elf had passed his or her coming of age, they were tested both in physical abilities and magical potential to know which could be the most suitable class for each one. 

Unlike in role playing games from my world, the classes could be as varied as the quantity of people: a Knight could learn Battle Cries and become a Juggernaut, or learn Holy Support magic and become a Paladin or even find a Witch to teach him Dark Magic Curses and become a Dark Knight. And that was just the beginning; remember how Ralya mixed Martial Arts with Shamanism. 

The door to the house was opened by a maid who received instructions from the servant. Then he bowed to me and stood there looking at me almost without blinking. I stood there, awkwardly between the looks of the maid and the servant until the young boy finally asked, "Can I do anything else for you, Sir?" 

The I understood that he was expecting any further instructions from me or my permission to leave, like the waiters in high class restaurants. "No, thank you. You can leave, and sorry for keeping you waiting." He bowed and left trotting in the direction of the Hall. A little late I understood that maybe he was also expecting some kind of tip. 

There we were, the maid and me. Now that I was calmer I had the chance to observe her and I noticed she was the oldest female Mountain Elf I had seen up to that moment. Her hair was a tone of sand brown bordering blonde, with a little white in the temples like Errom. Her eyes were clear brown, and even though her black dress with white apron covered her whole figure, it was obvious she was still attractive. 

"Please my Lord, come in. We have much to do if you wish to have some rest before the celebrations." The smile she had when she said that was sweet and bright. 

"P-please, you don't have to call me that. I have just arrived in this world and I'm barely the owner of my hunting knife and the clothes I'm wearing." Anyone from my world, save for rich people, should be able to understand my awkwardness at the way she was treating me. Add to that the fact that she had a motherly aura that made me feel a little bad if I were to treat her like a servant, even though she was. 

She covered her mouth with the tip of her right-hand fingers before chuckling and answering amused, "Hu-hu, you are a better person than I had expected, and funnier. But please, do not worry about little me. During the next nine days until your wedding you will be living here, which means that during the next nine days you will be my Master. As I have been instructed, Master will become part of the Elven nobility, so you must start getting accustomed to being served. But oh, goddess, I'm making Master wait in the middle of the street, even when it was silly me the one who said that we may hurry. Please, forgive me and welcome to your home, Master." Being called "master" four times in just one burst of speech started to confuse me. It was like soldiers in the army, finishing almost every sentence to their superiors with "Sir". 

The entrance door led directly to a small reception hall with a dark, oval carpet with a low coffee table that had two velvet benches for three people each. At the opposite side there was an L-shaped bookshelf taking the corner by a door and in front of me there was the stairs to the second floor. All the furniture, as well as the railing of the stairs and the balustrade of the second floor where made in the same cream colored wood with a shiny lacquered finish. 

"By the way, Master, my name is Merita. Excuse me for not introducing myself even though I tend to talk so much, hu-hu. The schedule for today starts right now with a bath, a lunch and maybe a little sleep before you get dressed to wait for the carriage that will take you to the Arena for the first of the activities in the list of your welcome and engagement party. I must say I have seen Van'Ralya run around this city since she was a kid, and she has become an astounding woman: beautiful, wise and with a great sense of duty to her people. You are very lucky to have her, but take good care of her or we will take care of you, hu-hu." 

I don't know what was scarier, her threat or the fact that she had said it without her bright smile changing in the least. "Rest assured that I don't want to make her unhappy," I said frowning and with an angry tone of voice. Even I was a little surprised at how much her comment had annoyed me. "If you don't mind, I prefer to have lunch before the bath. The bath will relax me, that way I'll have more chances to fall asleep." 

Merita nodded her head and bowed down bending her knees a little to make the gesture deeper. Her tone of voice and attitude changed. "Please, forgive my surpassing my boundaries, Master. Also, you don't have to ask for my convenience to do anything: you order and I will follow within reason to the best of my abilities. Please make yourself comfortable while I go prepare your meal. I will call you to the dining room when everything is ready." 

She left the room without almost making a noise and I was left alone in the room to wait for her return. I was glad to notice that the linguistic treatment I had received before leaving the earth not only included speaking and listening, but also writing: I was able to understand the titles of the books in the bookshelf. For the titles I could suppose most of them were poetry and historical texts. It would have been great to find my first book of magic. 

I patted my trousers to clean them a bit before sitting on one of the benches by the coffee table and I was starting to feel drowsy when Merita knocked the door, entered the room and bowed before informing me, "The lunch is served, Master. Please, follow me." 

"Merita, it is true that you have gone a little too far, but you don't have to act so distant," I said while standing up. "I am going to need you explaining me some things before going to rest and I'd prefer it if you would go back to a more cheerful tone." 

At that she smiled broadly again and said, "Yes, Master. Never fear. I will inform you of everything you may need to ask me. I can tell you about the noble families and about important people of the city. I don't know much about politics, but I can tell you about the gossip that runs around: who gets out of his house late at night and who comes later than expected from their trips, hu-hu. For example, did you know that some of the houses that offered daughters to be your mate secretly hate you? It's just that their greed lets them ignore that before the fact that they could get their hands on an ambassador from the other world. Van'Silna was the second in the list after Van'Ralya, but her brother promised to kill you if you put a finger on her, and don't think that was because he cared for his sister, no. He just hated you without knowledge. He was always so cruel with the poor cute girl. Only because Van'Elam's mother died of illness and his father took Van'Silna's mother as a replacement. And also..." 

I don't know which was worse, having her acting "business only" or letting her free to chat as much as she wanted. 

"Wait a second, are you using 'Van' to refer to all of them? I thought that was used for people with important positions," I took my chance to cut her a little before she gave me a headache. 

"Oh, 'Sol' and 'Sal' are only used among peers. We, the lowly commoners have to address all of you Nobles using the more respectful 'Van'. The same way people of the same status can give permission to someone close to drop the honorifics, we can be allowed to use the less formal ways of treatment in private. It can take a lifetime of service and deep trust to be allowed by your Master to speak with him without honorifics in private. But we can't forget our place and take those liberties in public or we would whipped, hu-hu." I was again flabbergasted at how she could laugh at such grim things. 

The dining hall had a dark table for around ten people, with wide windows at the left and a wall with three shields at regular intervals to the right. Instead of being of naked gray stone like in the reception hall, here the walls were soft and painted from halfway up to the top, leaving the lower half of the same clear wood as the hall. 

At the head of the table there was a service prepared with a bottle of water and a glass. Noticing the direction of my eyes, Merita said, "I'm sorry, Master, but according to the orders I have received I can't serve you wine or any stronger drink with this meal. Yuan'Errom has ordered that you stay sharp for the celebrations. We don't want you walking around drunk to stumble and fall or make any other show, right? Hu-hu. My, I remember that business meeting when a young merchant insisted on testing by himself the Dwarven Beer. He got so drunk that he went to a dancer girl and..." 

I had to interrupt her again. "Don't worry, I don't really like wine, and don't use to have alcohol with my meals, either. If you had served it, I would have asked you to bring water." 

After the water glass and bottle, the first thing I noticed with no little relief was the familiar shapes of a table knife, fork and spoon. Seeing how much this place looked like what was considered medieval or even older like the Viking towns, some part of me had started to expect that I would be forced to eat with my hands without having at least a napkin. 

The next thing I looked down at was the food that had been served: a wide clay bowl with salad and a simple dish consisting of two steaks of clear meat and something that looked like potato mash, but a little green in color and a slight smell of something familiar that I couldn't identify just yet. Noticing my look, Merita informed me of the menu. "This meal consists of an Orchard Salad and a main dish of Genga breast with a tuber paste that has onion mixed in for flavor. When you are ready for the dessert, let me tell you it is a mixture of fruits with syrup." 

"I'm surprised at how much this food resembles that of my world, except for some ingredients. But..." I doubted a little before telling her, "It's a little awkward for me to be eating with you standing by my side. Would it be possible for you to join me or something?" 

Her eyes widened and for a moment she stuttered before regaining her composure and answering, "Forgive my rudeness once again, Master. I have already had an early lunch, but even with that I am by no means allowed to share table with the Master of this house. I will retire myself to make sure the preparations for your bath are ready. Please, ring the bell by your right hand when you are ready for me to serve your dessert." 

With that, she left the dining room through what I supposed would be the door to the kitchen and left me alone with no other thing to do but eat my lunch. The salad had lettuce, tomato, onion and cucumber, but they were harder than those I was accustomed. After a few tastes, I thought it would be due to them being raised in the harsh climate of the mountain. Also, as Ralya had told me, the Genga meat tasted like chicken, but from my personal experience I discovered it had a texture more similar to pork. 

It took me some minutes to realize why I was feeling uncomfortable during the lunch, as if I lacked something. That something was noise. Through my whole life I have always had my meals with the T.V or the radio as background, even when I wasn't really paying them attention. The only days I haven't done so it was because of a failure in the energy supply or something like that. Yesterday I didn't notice because I was in company, but now that I was completely alone it depressed me. I started to regret a little having sent Merita out, so I called her back with the bell. 

It took her several minutes to come back, and when she did, she rapidly excused herself saying she had been busy preparing the bath without even stopping on her way to the kitchen. When she presented the dessert I took the chance to stop her for a little talk. "You have needed to rush yourself to come here, are you the only one working at this house?" As I listened to her answer I tasted the first piece of fruit from my dish. The acid fruit made a strange contrast with the caramel flavor of the syrup, but it didn't taste bad at all. 

"Yes, I am the only one in charge of this house as of now. All of my children proved themselves and got married long ago, and my... husband, as you Humans say, died in battle ten years ago while he was serving as a common Man of Arms. That's why most of the maids in noble houses are widows like me. We can't be Bonded again, so we are usually taken as 'one use' bed partners by unmarried young nobles. Or even by the Master of the house whenever they get tired of their wives." 

I dropped my spoon with its content before turning to look at her. "You are ordered to have sex..." I thought for a second she wouldn't understand the word and I changed it, "intercourse without your consent? Isn't that just a crime?" I left my dish aside as the turn in the conversation had disgusted me and made me lose my appetite. 

Merita took my dish while explaining, "It is not a crime because we are not forced by word or action. It's just that after losing our mates we never get to feel the same ever again and don't care much about those things anymore. But even so, we are women and we keep having desires, the difference is that the world of emotions we felt with our partner fades and we are left alone with physical pleasure instead of the fulfilling sensation of being one in soul and body with your chosen one." She stopped at the door to give me a playful wink and say with a husky, seductive tone, "So as long as you are my Master, you can call me any night you feel lonely. I promise I'll be discreet. Hu-hu." I stared at her in amazement as she gave me an arch look and slipped out the door. 

I stood up to stretch my muscles and get ready to be guided to the bath while mulling over what she had just told me. Even if she was not actively forced, the prospect of losing her job or something worse could be enough to get her to do anything. In my book, bedding a woman who doesn't really desire to have sex with me amounts to prostitution or maybe even rape. 

The bath was in a corner of the backyard covered by its own section of roof. It consisted of a round stone structure that supported the bath itself while leaving the center hollow to light a fire to heat the water. Inside the bathtub, made of metal, there was a wooden floor to protect against contact with the hot metal and a small bank at each side, so it was prepared for two people to bathe together. 

Even though the weather was warm, there was a fresh breeze to it that made necessary to heat the bathing water so the fire was lit and I noticed a metallic smell that surely came from the hot bathtub. 

I was starting to get naked when I noticed that Merita's presence hadn't disappeared, so I turned to her with my shirt in my left hand to ask, "Do you need something?" trying to control my tone to hide my annoyance and embarrassment. 

She tilted her head and smiled. "Hu-hu. No, Master. I am here in case you need something. For example, I have to retrieve your clothes for the wash. That shirt could use some stitching to the neck, too. Also, you can ask me if you need or desire for me to wash you, hu-hu." The glint in her eyes and her smile suggested that there was more to this invitation than the simple fulfillment of duty. 

"Truly sad will be the day when I can't wash my own body." I was starting to get really nervous. Since I was six years old or so I haven't bathed or taken a shower in company. Even when in High School I used to wait for everyone to leave before having a very fast shower. I feel a little uncomfortable not only letting other people see me naked, but also seeing my naked reflection in the mirror. The only times when I haven't cared have been when I was in a relationship, especially my last girlfriend. We lived together for a time and a few times in summer I even walked around the house totally "au natural" as they say in the French territories. 

Merita licked her lips before saying, "Well, that sad day is today. I don't think you are able to wash your right side and your back with that bruise in your left arm. Please Master, why so shy?" 

I had no choice but surrender. I really had a bruise in my left arm where the shield had hit me when I fought the Orcs. It would go away by itself in a few days, but for now it hurt a little and I couldn't make some moves, so I ordered Merita to turn around while I finished taking off the rest of my clothes and covered myself with one of the towels and asked her to be fast and let me alone to finish. 

"Please Master, sit in that stool. This will also serve for you to know how we usually bathe around these parts." She explained me at the same time she was doing it. "The bath is fuller than needed so you can take some buckets of hot water out of it to start the bath and to rinse you when you finish." With that she poured a bucket from the tub all over me before soaking a towel and start rubbing soap over it to start scrubbing my back and around my right arm, the parts I was supposed to not be able to wash because of the bruise. The soap had a good scent, but the towel had little rough touch to it. 

"We normally clean ourselves outside and enter the tub to relax and enjoy the benefits of the mineral water of the mountains. Inside there is another room prepared with a base like this one, so we can move the bath in or out, but we only take our baths indoor during winter or the rainy season. Also, let me clarify that the walls of the backyard are purposefully build with height enough to keep away the peeping toms, hu-hu." 

"Aside from the part of bathing in the backyard, in my world there's a country named Japan where they follow almost the exact same process. When I finish washing am I also supposed to enter the bathtub and count to one hundred when I'm in to the neck?" 

"Well, I don't know about the count, but it is true that you shouldn't stay too much time inside. The water is hot enough to give you heat-stroke if you stay too long. Well, this is a job done. Do you really want me to leave you alone, Master?" She said pouting her mouth a little. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 02



"Thank you Merita, but I can take over from here." I started to scrub myself with the towel while waiting for Merita to leave me finally alone. I looked at my left wrist to see the "y" shaped scar I had there for years now. This bath had taken me back to the time I was in the hospital and my mother had to do for me the same as Merita. Note for you guys: never lose focus when you're working with sharp and/or pointy tools. 

After rinsing myself with another bucket of water I proceeded to enter the tub and sat in one of the banks. The water was hot but not scalding, so I was comfortable enough to spend some minutes soaking in it until I noticed my eyes were closing and I was nodding my head. 

So that's how we get back to the present moment. After drying myself I noticed that Merita had taken my travel clothes to wash and repair the shirt Elam had ripped, so I had to walk around covered by nothing but a towel until we reached my room. I was left alone to rest for an hour or so before I had to start getting dressed to wait for the carriage. 

I moved the sheet to cover at least my middle section as I was not comfortable sleeping completely naked and exposed. I was drifting off to sleep when I heard a flutter of wings. 

"Caw!" I heard the caw of a crow while the shining black bird landed at the edge of the open window and started staring at me. I had a bad feeling in my gut and started to move slowly to my knife that was on the table in front of the window, two meters away from it. I went for the knife first because I am by no means an expert in birds, but this crow seemed like a variant from this world, much bigger than the ones on earth. 

When I was a meter away from the knife, the crow cawed again and I moved my arm by instinct trying to scare it away. That was one of the worst mistakes I had made in this world up to now. Instead of getting scared and turning away, the crow lowered its head emitting a long and menacing sound at the same time it spread its wings. I was instantly awestruck when I saw electric bolts jumping between the black feathers of the animal. 

I had just a moment to jump aside when the creature threw itself at me like some kind of electric projectile. The move saved me, but got me away from my only weapon again, and I was sure I was going to need something to take that thing down considering it had left a burnt mark where it had crashed against the wall 

The crow-like creature stood on top of my sheathed knife on the table, and let out a streak of short caws, as if it was laughing at me. I threw a boot at it and it evaded the attack and flew again at me covered in electric sparks. This time my jump made it crash against the wardrobe, and I had to jump away immediately because it was closer than ever. But my jump over the bed was badly calculated because my foot got tangled in the sheet and I fell to the floor dragging it with me. 

The sheet! It made me remember what I had done when a bat had entered my apartment and I had to take it out without killing it because it was a protected species. In my next jump I took the sheet with me and the crow got tangled in it. I twirled my arm over and over until the creature was trapped inside the ball I had made with the fabric, unable to flap its wings or even move. 

I smashed the ball with the crow inside twice against the ground before hearing, "Stop! Don't kill it, Master." Merita had come to the sounds of the fight. "It is just a lost Stormcrow. The rainy season has already passed, so it must have been separated from its flock because of an injury or something like that." 

I unwrapped the sheet so Merita could see if it was still alive. The bastard was a tough one, because it had no broken bones, just the commotion from the impacts and even that wasn't serious because the sheet itself had protected it partially. 

A Stormcrow. It reminded me of a book vaguely based in the Norse mythology where the king of Gods used Stormcrows as messengers because of their traits and the fact that storms didn't stop them, but made them stronger. I knelt to touch the unconscious creature on the chest. I remembered the crow boss, the only one who had the right to perch on the God's shoulder. "Turak..." I had said it aloud without thinking. The crow twitched once. 

Merita looked at me, but I could not hear what she said because I suddenly felt weak and dizzy and fainted. Maybe I was overcome by how close to dying I had been once again. 

An hour later I was getting dressed for the party while thinking about the episode with the Stormcrow, a little pissed off at Merita for saying that it had been my fault that the damn thing attacked me. She had left it on the backyard table to fly away when it came back to itself. 

My formal attire consisted of a long sleeved white shirt with a cord instead of buttons, black trousers and tall boots. I was about to put on the open black vest that went over the shirt when I noticed I had to put on the other piece first: a sash of a creamy light green color. I had never put on something like this, so I was fighting with the garment wondering why I had to use it if I already had my belt tightened. In the end, I had to call for Merita, who taught me that I only needed to wrap it around my waist counter-clockwise over the belt and use the cords from the sheath of my hunting knife to tie it. 

The carriage was already waiting when I got out of the house. A page boy opened the door for me and got in to give me conversation along the way. He kept up running commentary as the carriage took me without incidents to the east gate of the city, so I had a view of a different part of it because I had entered through the southern one. To the north there was no entrance because that's where the Hall of Shields and the fortress were, and the western gate there was a wide open space for loading and unloading vehicles, and for receiving guests and traders from other cities or even other countries. As I noticed the day before, for defensive purposes there was an outer wall that only had two gates but none of them was directly in front of the ones of the inner wall to make the enemy fight all the way until he could find an entrance into the city. The page boy informed me that as I was the guest of honor for the celebration it was my place to arrive the last, so we had plenty of time to look around. 

To the east of the city there was a wood and stone structure known as the Arena. It was made a little rough and without ornaments given that it was outside of the city walls and it would be a waste of resources to rebuild it very richly every time it was brought down during an attack. The carriage took me to the back side of the Arena where Errom and his family were waiting for me. 

Errom was wearing the same clothes as that morning, only that he was now wearing a skin-collared cape. By his side was Oner, wearing a set of clothes not very different from mine but his sash was bi-colored with pink and green lines, and he was there standing like a Sir with Nera and Melfa each clinging to one of his arms. Now that I noticed, Nera's dress was green and Melfa's was pink, so that made me think that maybe it was in the protocol to use the sash as some kind of color code to identify those who were together at the party. I imagined Ralya for a moment and I thought the clear green color of my sash would go very well with her tanned skin. 

Then I noticed a pair of people that I had never seen before, people that obviously were not Mountain Elves. The male had unruly black hair down to his shoulders, had yellow eyes and his ears were on top of his head. They were triangular and covered with black fur except for the tip, which was white. I have had enough pets to know those were the ears of a canine creature, as also was the fluffy tail that could be seen swishing calmly behind him. Just like his ears, the tail was also black with white tip. 

When he offered me his hand with a cold smile I had a fraction of second to notice his fangs and when I took his hand in mine I was able to see his black and slightly pointy nails. "Well met, cub. I am Yalgir, and just so you know, at first I only came here to bring my wife to meet you. I did not think I would respect an unproven young one. But after Oner and my little sister told me how you took out two Orcs alone, I have found that I do... have an interest in you. I hope we can spar one of these days before little sister puts the shackles on you, he he." 

Even though his words seemed friendly, the smile didn't reach his eyes. That made me feel as if I was being coldly evaluated, and the grip of his hand on mine was a little stronger than needed. His tail stopped its swishing, and his ears stood up a bit. His cold yellow eyes bored into mine until he was interrupted by the lady 

"Husband, don't scare the boy, it's the first time he's seen one of your kind. For all I know, it's also the first time he has seen anyone of any kind but for Humans and Mountain Elves." The silky voice that came from behind Yalgir belonged to a woman... damn, I had to look twice at the sky to make sure the sun was still out. The woman clad in a blood red dress in front of me had pointy ears like those of the Elven kinds, but her skin was almost milk white, with long and straight dark blue hair and red eyes. Was I really looking at a vampire married to a werewolf? This was the first time I really feared for my sanity. 

"Allow me to welcome you into the family, little brother. I am sorry for not being able to welcome you in person this morning, but we had to fight a group of bandits while crossing the Ownerless lands. I am Zirilla, Ralya's older sister." 

I was so overwhelmed at this instant that I could just mumble a "Thank you." So Ralya's older sister had been turned into a vampire and was now married to a werewolf? I was struggling to make any sense out of this when I saw Ralya and any coherent thought flew out of the window. 

She was really wearing a dress of the same color as my sash, and it really did suit her skin tone. But instead of something medieval as I had expected, she was wearing something more similar to a party gown from earth. It was tight at the waist to show the forms of her toned body, with a slit to the left that opened and closed with the sway of her hips to show her shapely leg up to her thigh. It had a scoop cleavage that displayed her round, beautiful breasts and at the upper right it had a white lace sleeve leaving the left shoulder and arm naked save for a white ribbon threaded from the wrist to the elbow. A similar white ribbon, tied to the neck, acted as a choker with the remnant of tissue prancing in the wind. She hadn't changed her hair style, but instead of the metallic diadem, she was wearing one made of what seemed to be jade carved to look like two dragons facing each other on top of her head. 

When I could snap out of it, I noticed that everyone had been staring at me while I was looking at Ralya dumbfounded. I could feel the heat in my face as it turned red and lowering my head I pointed at her and just blurted out without thinking, "Well, she's so beautiful she could make a goddess cry in envy." 

Ralya's eyes widened and turned her back to us, lowering her ears while Oner laughed even harder. "Good one, little brother, it's the first time I have seen my little sister blushing to her ears." 

He kept laughing until he was cut by a frowning Nera who stepped on his foot. "Why do you laugh at him?" she said with her whispering voice. 

"Yes, you never say those kinds of things to us." This time it was Melfa who protested, but their discussion was abruptly cut by Errom's voice. 

"Children." Even though he said just one word, the strength it carried made all of us stop to regain our composure. "Everyone is waiting for us. As guests of honor, Bran will sit to my right and Ralya to my left. Oner's family will sit by Bran's side and Yalgir's family will do the same by Ralya's side." He lowered his head a second before looking at me directly. "Ralya has told me how in your world it is common to let close people use a simplified version of your name. She heard that when you had lunch together when you arrived and took that liberty by herself after you saved her from being raped. I also have taken the same liberty as your soon-to-be father, is that proper?" 

If you had seen Errom and heard his voice you would understand why it was impossible for me to answer another way. "No, it is very proper, Yuan'Errom. I wouldn't..." 

"Boy," the word fell like a hammer cutting my stutter, "it is about time you start getting accustomed to calling me 'Father' when we aren't in official business... Son" 

Feeling small under his gaze, I just answered, "I'll keep it in mind... Father." 

We got into something like a formation with Errom in front. Ralya and I stood side by side and behind us came Oner's family and Yalgir's family in the final line. Maybe the norm was that Ralya and I would go in the back and that way we would be forming by the age of Errom's children, but Ralya and I came to the front because we were the guests of honor. 

Standing by her side I had a moment to notice that the one who had chosen our clothes had been a little clever. While my boots had a thick sole with a little heel, Ralya was wearing white sandals with flat soles. Like in her left wrist, the sandals had white ribbons threaded almost to her knees. Our shoes had been chosen for the optic effect of reducing the height gap between us. 

Errom nodded in agreement and we all moved behind him to the stairs leading to the box for honored guests in the Arena. I had noticed that Ralya hadn't approached me in any way or responded to my compliment in any manner, she just kept her distance from me. That revived my fear that she could hate me for provoking a situation where she had to marry someone she didn't love. 

I tried to break the ice getting a little closer to her to whisper, "I don't understand it. Your sister is a vampire and her husband is a were... uf!" She had hit my ribs with her elbow to make me shut up. 

"My sister is not a vampire, her mother is a Cave Elf. And her husband is a Wolven A'Jin. Maybe you don't understand the distinction right now, but they would feel deeply offended to the point of attacking without warning. And don't speak to me." 

Well, that left many things clear. Not only the nature of the relationship that had made me flip out, but the nature of our own relationship. It seemed that she really hated me for what was happening around us, for what her father had decided to do with us. Unexpectedly, that made me sadden more than I had anticipated, and that also confused me. 

After our night encounter the day I arrived and her promise of giving herself to me willingly I started to feel hopeful for finding the kind of relationship I had always dreamed with, and that also brought fears of the possibility of being deceived by a woman again, that she had lied to me at some point or that she had no intention of fulfilling her promise. Three days ago I didn't know anything about her, but now I really liked her. She was tough, but she also knew how to be soft. She was strong, but for the love others showed towards her, I knew she was also kind. As far as I knew about her, she was my type, and the prospect of knowing that once I made her mine she wouldn't be able to betray me or leave me was a plus no one could ignore. 

But that last bit was also a double-edged sword. Was it really right to tie her feelings to me against her will? What if forcing her love didn't stop her other feelings and she became forced to love me and hate me at the same time for the rest of her life? Could I be happy knowing that her love for me wasn't real, but something forged by the magic of her first time? It was getting more saddening with each second I thought about it. 

Maybe something showed up on my face because Ralya leaned to whisper, "It is part of the protocol, dear. We can't contact directly each other until my father makes it official that we are engaged." 

That lifted my spirit a bit, but not much. When you have been rejected as many times as I have, you end up learning that the longer you stay in uncertainty the worse is the pain when your hopes get crushed. 

Our seats at the Arena were the only ones that had a real roof built with wood. The rest of the building was protected by cloth awnings. The area reserved for us was slightly more luxurious than the other with its carpet, the set of table and chairs made of carved wood and the two servants at the back corners waiting to serve us. Honoring its name, the building was centered around a wide rectangle of dark sand, but contrary to what anyone could think by looking from outside, the inner side of the building was almost all of it made of wood. When I asked Oner about this, he said, "Yes, it has another special use this way. When the need has arisen, we have lit it on fire purposefully to use it as a giant torch when the city has suffered a night raid."  

We stood in front of our respective seats waiting for Errom's opening speech, when the crowd started to scream and cheer. It felt like that time when I was ten years old and I got up on a stage to tell jokes. When I felt all those people looking at me at the same time I blanked out completely to the point I wasn't even able to stutter. Maybe I have managed to overcome my lack of ability to socialize in small groups, but crowds were still too much for me. I felt a bad shiver going down my back when I thought what would happen in case I would be forced to take part in a real battle, one of those with hundreds or maybe even thousands of warriors for each side. 

My frantic thoughts were stopped when Errom lifted his hands to bring the crowd to silence. "My City, my Brethren, my Family. This fine evening we gather ourselves to welcome between our walls and our arms a new member of the Family. I know he comes from a strange land, but he behaves himself with Honor and Courage..." 

While Errom's powerful voice echoed through the Arena, Oner by my side patted my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "Start thinking what you're going to tell them, little brother." 

I panicked instantly and stuttered, "W-what!? I-I have to give a speech too!?" 

He snickered and said, "Of course, you are the guest of honor today. All of them have come to greet you. It's your duty to address them directly and thank them for coming. Better start getting used to these things, little brother. You are going to be part, not only of the Nobility, but the ruling family of one of the five Kinds of Elves." 

My mind was working at full speed when I suddenly noticed the silence and Oner's hand gently pushing my back for me to step forward and speak. I inhaled deeply, raised my voice... and several seconds later I stepped back again while people applauded. 

"Not bad, Son. Are you used to speaking in public?" was the first thing Errom said when we finally sat down to watch the first of the shows in the program. 

"Yeah, you seemed to be out of yourself when I told you that you had to step out there, but you've been pretty eloquent." That was Oner chuckling with a grin on his face. 

Now that I felt a little more relaxed, I confessed, "Really? You tell me what I've just said. I was panicking so much that I don't remember a word." Then I looked at the sky because of a sudden noise similar to the rumbling thunders in a storm. Finally I looked to my left and realized that it was Errom laughing. I had to cover my red face with my hands when I could hear everyone's laughter behind the noise Errom was making. 

When everyone calmed down Oner looked me and said, "Your almost literal words were 'I humbly thank all of you for taking the trouble to come meet me. I am still new to this land and there's much I need to learn, so please be patient with me. You have my word, on my name and rank, that I'll always try to behave to your standards of Honor, Courage and Loyalty' Don't worry. We were not laughing at what you said, but at the fact that you were chickening out so much that you don't even remember it." 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 02



The program started with tests of strength and skill, like lifting rocks and an archery competition. To my amazement, I saw Silna throw her spear through three burning rings the size of my open hand and hit a target right in the middle. The crowd was cheering for her while she looked for me and pointed at me with her finger with a wide smile. 

Given the shape and size of the Arena, horse or carriage races were not possible. So instead of that we had a game of "Shield and Lance." It was game played between two teams of five players, one with a shield and the rest of them unarmed. It was vaguely similar to Handball, but using a spear. The team member with the shield was in charge of guarding the three rings used as goals while the rest of players tried to disarm the one carrying the spear and use it to score by getting the spear through one of the opponent's rings. As I was instructed, the middle ring scored three points because it was lower and was the easiest to guard from the enemy, while the rings at the sides scored two points each one. Additionally, there was a penalty of one point to the enemy team if you broke the spear while trying to steal it or if you used the tip of the weapon to attack. It was amazing to see the fighters (hard to call them players in a game like this) using hand-to-hand combat moves to block each other, to try and steal the spear from the enemy team. The one holding the spear had an obvious advantage, using it in sweeping moves to throw opponents to the ground and feinting different thrusts before throwing the spear at one of the rings. The game was usually played up to twenty one points, but this time they had shortened it to fourteen to leave time enough for the main event of the evening. 

While we were enjoying the match, I had the chance to lean to Oner and tell him, "You know? In my world there were Arenas like this one long ago. Some of them were built almost entirely of stone and were so big that they allowed chariot races." 

Oner was surprised at that, but he couldn't answer due to a loud scream of the crowd. "Ah, the match has ended. We can talk more calmly now while they get everything ready for the main event." 

"Maybe a fight? The Arenas I was talking about used to have fights between gladiators or between gladiators and beasts." 

"I think I'm going to need you to explain that to me. Here, a Gladiator is a class of close combat fighter that mixes the use of one different weapon in each hand with the Battle Cries they learn from a Barbarian," Oner said frowning. 

"Ah, they were slaves. Nobles and rich merchants used to have some slaves trained in different arts of combat. There were those who used spear and shield, short sword with a small shield or even some of them combined a trident and a fishing net. The result was that in the Arena they had their slaves fight to the death with the slaves of their rivals. There was a huge business behind the fights of gladiators." Seeing the expression in Oner's face, I saw myself forced to say, "But that happened centuries ago, now it is considered a barbaric thing." 

"Then maybe you won't enjoy very much what is coming now. My father has arranged for a fight between Knights. Do you want me to have them cancel it?" answered Oner with a doubtful look on his face. 

I had misread his expression, but I recovered from my stupor just in time to say, "Please, don't do it. In my world Knights are things that only exist in fiction. For many people it would be a dream made true to be able to see them in real life." 

Oner sighed before answering, "What a relief. Do you know, little brother? Exhibition fights between Knights are very expensive. You not only have to offer a prize big enough to pique the interest of the fighters, but you also have to give them an opening pay enough to make them feel sure they can pay the repairs to their armors even in case they lose." 

A thumping noise like that of giant drums started to be noticeable. Not long after that, it acquired a metallic tone and finally the outer doors of the Arena opened and I was able to see them both walking side by side. Armors seven meters tall that walked like armored giants. Obviously they didn't move fast as a normal person would, but their moves seemed to be faster, more precise and elegant than one could imagine by their size. They knelt in front of the honor seats and their chests opened with the hissing sound and the white clouds of the pressurized steam to show the cockpit inside them and the pilots who stood up to pay their respects to us. 

A little later than everyone else, I stood up to greet both fighters. One of them was an Elf with blue hair standing in a stylish Knight painted in a faint blue tone, while his opponent was going to be a dark red knight piloted by a tall and muscular man with twirling horns at the sides of his head. Maybe noticing my curiosity, Oner whispered, "The Elf is an Undine. His opponent is an A'Jin like Yalgir, but this one belongs to the Ram Kind." 

I nodded my head and took the chance to ask, "Why are they wearing those suits instead of armor?" They were dressed with tight leather suits that only had metal protections on the shoulders, wrists, hips and ankles. 

"Armors are uncomfortable inside the command seat of a Knight, and even though those suits may look odd they are Contact Suits. The metal plates are connected directly to some of the inner systems of the knight. For example, without the connections on the hands it would be impossible to get the feeling of how you are holding your weapon and it would be easy to drop it or have your enemy disarm you." 

"It would be great if I could use one of them one day. I mean, I can barely fight on my own two feet, so I don't expect in the least that I can do it right now. But one day when I am skilled enough, why not?" 

Oner patted my shoulder and looked at me apologetically. "Not everyone can ride a Knight, little brother. You must have the right amount and flow of Spirit to be able to interact with the systems of a Knight and be able to become part of it. As far as we know, people from your world have low amounts of spirit." 

Did that mean that I wouldn't also be able to use any magic? I was mulling over that a little disappointed when I noticed that both armors started moving again. Each one of them moved to opposite corners of the Arena to retrieve their weapons before coming back to the middle and wait for the start of the fight. The A'Jin pilot was armed with a two-handed war hammer that had a ram head opposite to the flat side of the hammer. On the other side, the Elf was wearing a more exotic weapon. It consisted of a short sword with a broad blade and a dagger with the same shape, tied together by the handles with a chain. 

Both contestants started circling the Arena, measuring their opponent's guard when Errom spoke. "Children, who would you bet for? Bran?" 

It took me by surprise that he asked me first, the one that had less combat experience, but I tried to answer the best way I could. "The blue one looks lighter, which gives him an advantage in speed and maneuverability. Also, his weapon may give him a bit of advantage in range attack if it works the way I think." 

Yalgir's voice came from the other side of the room. "But the A'Jin has a more powerful weapon and is better armored. He can finish the Elf almost at the first strike, while the Elf is going to need many stabs of that weird-looking sword to make any real damage." 

"A big weapon can be very hurtful, but only if it gets to strike its target," I retorted almost without thinking. A little late I thought that maybe limitations of weight didn't affect the speed of these machines. 

"I agree with Bran," Errom spoke appreciatively. "The Elf can make use of his agility to turn this into a victory by exhaustion." He lifted his right arm to sign the battle could start. 

The red Knight charged shoulder first rumbling the ground like an earthquake and tried to strike his enemy in the head with his hammer, but the blue armor jumped back and evaded cleanly. The hammer slammed the ground lifting a cloud of dust and sand from the Arena, and the blue armor emerged through it with his sword up. This move proved to be a feint by the A'Jin Knight, because he was waiting to strike the Elf with the hilt of the hammer. In the same motion, the Elf jumped back again but this time using the chain to spin the dagger and hit his enemy in the gap between the shoulder and the breastplate. I was surprised to see the "wound" spraying a gooey blue substance. The A'Jin fighter tried an arc attack using only his left hand to describe circles around him with his weapon and give himself a little space. 

Yalgir almost screamed. "Forced to use containment moves so early? What a shame!" 

Oner had to rise his voice too so he could be heard. "There's no helping it, Yalgir. He has received a strike in a conflicting spot. Who knows what damage he may have suffered in that joint, and the right shoulder no less. Your fellow countryman may be forced to yield because of inability to keep using his weapon." 

Seeing as I hadn't been very wrong the last time I spoke, I dared to say what I thought once again, "Or maybe it's just a feint. The A'Jin warrior might be feigning worse damage than he really has to provoke overconfidence in his opponent." 

I received a light punch from Oner, who said, "You are showing a keen eye for these things, little brother. My hopes on you are getting higher and higher." 

A scream from the crowd turned our heads to the show. The A'Jin had attacked using his hammer only with his left hand to force an opening in the Elf's defense so he could throw a low punch to the belly with the right hand. The Elf responded swinging again the dagger at the end of the chain, but this time the rider of the red armor was ready and lifted his weapon getting the chain entangled in the hilt of the hammer. The A'Jin took advantage by punching him over and over, bending and cracking plates. The red armor was pushing back the blue one, which started to ooze a thick clear green fluid from some of the fractured armor shards. 

Yalgir spoke again. "Ah, the Elf is done for. He can't use his sword freely with the chain entangled in the pole of the hammer. The A'Jin is going to punch him down until he yields." I couldn't see him well from my side, but I think I noticed satisfaction in his voice. 

"Let's hear what Bran has to say time, Yalgir. Do you mind?" said Errom, tilting his head to repose his chin on one of his closed fists. Yalgir's response must have been a mute one, because Errom said, "Go ahead, Son. Having the battle commented from the point of view of someone from the Earth is proving to be interesting," without taking his eyes off the battle. 

This time I took some seconds looking intently before saying, "He's not good at fist fighting. His attacks aren't well aimed. See? He's punching the big areas of armor instead of aiming for the joints to cripple his opponent's movement. I don't know anything about the mechanics of the Knights, but in a living body, his tactic is like hitting muscle: painful, but not really incapacitating." 

In the Arena, the Elf was able to pull some kind of mechanism in his sword to separate it from the dagger, which stayed along with the chain in the A'Jin's weapon. The Elf used the surprise effect to cut deeply into the red armor's left shoulder, making it rain blue fluid. 

"Even with that, he is pretty badly beaten," Melfa said. 

"In my world, there was someone who said 'A wolf can bite you even after you cut its head off'." I thought for a second and added, "No offense intended, Yalgir." 

"Don't worry, I take it as a compliment," he answered with a smile in his voice. 

"Son, you have forgotten the 'Van' when speaking to someone of high ranking that has not specifically given you permission to address him in a friendly manner. You are now counted as an Elf, and we Elves adhere strictly to the forms of treatment. Right now it doesn't matter because we are family and we are in a private location, but with another person or in public it can be taken that you have purposefully tried to offend. Keep it in mind and be more careful." Errom lectured me openly. 

I was going to answer him apologizing when the battle came suddenly to an end. The A'Jin tried to smash the blue Knight's head into his body with a hit of the hammer, but the Elf evaded the attack to thrust his sword... into the ground? Then I realized that he had used the hand guard of the sword to pin the hammer down to the ground, preventing his owner from moving it. Then the blue armor grabbed the dagger still entangled to the hilt of the hammer and pulled it making sparks fly at the friction of the chain and pointed the dagger to the center of the chest of the A'Jin's armor. At first I thought, why not the neck? But then I understood that he was pointing to the zone where the pilot was sitting. 

Errom raised an arm to signal the fight was over. With the end of the main event, everyone stood up for a short ceremony where Errom congratulated both fighters and gave them their prizes, and little by little the crowd left the Arena to prepare themselves for the dinner party at the Fortress. 

Ralya's voice was heard for the first time in the whole evening. "I am surprised at Bran's sharp analysis of the fist fighting movements of the A'Jin, and I agree completely with him. Muscle attacks can make them go numb, but it can take time and it's safer to attack joints and other points where the effects are more immediate. Father, can you ask him how he knows so much about hand-to-hand combat?" 

Instead of repeating the whole question, Errom just asked, "Son?" 

"During his youth, my father practiced Martial Arts. Let's say he learned several ancient styles of close combat. Since we were around seven years old he used to make us get up and practice with him every time he saw any of us lazing around. Along time, we ended up turning it into a competition sport. We even went to real competitions as spectators to learn other people's moves" 

A metallic cup hit the table and Ralya's voice sounded strained. "But he swore on his name and rank that he had never received any training! How could he make such an important promise on a false base?" Even though she was obviously angry and wanted to reprimand me directly, she could not do so due to the protocol. 

I tried to excuse myself, "It was not formal training. Of course as kids, and later as teens, we had to practice what my father showed us on each other. As I already said, we made a competition sport out of it, but that was all. We never went to a training school or had any other real training. Learning at home from my father and fighting with my brothers can hardly be called a regular training. It is true that I have never been officially trained by the army or anyone else. I excuse myself if there was a misunderstanding." 

Yalgir barked a laugh and said, "Let me get this straight. You learned combat more or less the same way the peasants learn to fight in case they have to go to war, and you used it to kill a Chief Orc and one of his personal guards alone? Cub, if that's what your world calls 'Competition Sports' I would love to learn 'Real Battle' moves." 

"I would also like him to teach me some of his moves," said Ralya with a much calmer voice. 

Oner retorted, chuckling, "I know you want him to, little sister, but that will have to wait until the wedding night." 

All of us laughed at that, even Errom who said, "You have made it too easy for him, my little girl!" 

At that, Ralya just mumbled, "I'm not a little girl, I will turn sixty in two months." That added one more thing to my list of worries. 

Zirilla said, "In the end, Bran was right and the Undine Knight won the duel, even though he had to resort to trickery." 

Yalgir retorted, "Ha! A Cave Elf talking about trickery? In the end, the Undine did what he needed to do in order to defeat his enemy." 

At the exit of the Arena there were two carriages waiting for us, as it was customary that men and women arrived separately to the celebration. As the landscape changed rapidly from the forest to the city, I breathed in deeply and spoke to the three men in the carriage with me. "Er... I think that I must clear another misunderstood before it leads to an awkward situation like the one before. I don't think that I deserve so much praise for my fight with the Orcs. I was just lucky with a stab to the face and I tricked the bigger to lock shields and stabbed him with my knife. I don't think I deserve so much praise, or the high expectations you have put on me." 

It was Errom himself who answered. "I appreciate your humility, Son, but you are underestimating yourself. I am aware that you felt a change within you while climbing the Tower of the Worlds. That change was the awakening of your Spirit. The Spirit is a measure of inner energy moved by your willpower to alter the reality in small events. Spirit is mostly used to fuel magic, but it can also be used to fortify physical skills. During the fight, you used your Spirit unknowingly in a life or death situation. Your first attack was a Power Thrust, one of the two most basic sword attacks that make use of the Spirit Power. It is not that your strikes were lucky, just that attacks improved by Spirit rarely fail." He came closer to put one of his big hands in my shoulder and look at me in the eyes. "You deserve praise for not giving in to your fears. You deserve praise for fighting a superior foe in order to defend a fallen comrade, and you deserve praise for not letting it get to your head and boast about it. It is going to be an honor to have you as one of my children." 

I started to feel really proud of myself, at the same time that I tried to follow Errom's advice and not get overconfident. Oner joined the conversation. "I have intentionally piqued Yalgir's interest in you because your training is not going to be a normal one. You are obviously at the stage we call 'Reduce the wisdom of the fool' what means that we have to strip you of what you think you know in order to start teaching you the real lessons. The problem here is that you know combat moves and tactics we have never seen or heard of. It is going to be tough to differentiate what is useful and what is not." 

Yalgir intervened as well, "This is going to be a process where both you and us will end up learning from each other, that is one of my main reasons to help in this task. I think that the best should be to start with your choice of weapons. But it is better to save that for tomorrow when we hit the training grounds." 

"Bran, now that we are talking about choices I would like you to take a moment to think about the Icon that will represent your Household." 

That took me off-guard. "An 'Icon', Father?" 

"Yes, Boy. An Icon, your personal emblem will be as well the emblem of your House and all who will serve under you." This time his voice sounded a bit impatient. 

Along the years, I had used many personal emblems in several online games. However, this time I had no doubt and took my favorite, the one that had the best meaning to me. "A star. A black star made of eight arrow heads." 

Errom looked at me seriously before replying, "That has been fast. Any specific meaning to it?" 

"Yes, Father. An eight-pointed star can have many interpretations, but for me is a symbol of hope. The way I see it, the star points the eight main directions of the compass. To me that says that there is always a direction to take, an open path to take." 

"Blind optimism," said Yalgir in a grouchy tone. 

"Don't be so harsh, old wolf. I like your way of thinking, little brother," said Oner. 

Errom cut the conversation saying, "Get ready, we are arriving. Bran, I'll have an artist show you some draft designs before making the ring you will be wearing in the middle finger of your right hand." At that, he showed me his right hand so I could see the ring with the shape of a green shield with a white deer. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 02



Looking at it, I remembered something I had always wanted to do and asked, "Can I ask for one more ring aside from that? A ring with a blue spherical stone, together with another one in white, but smaller. It's a present for Ralya." 

Oner seemed ready to jump with one of his jokes, but right at that moment the carriage stopped and a group of servants came to open the doors and guide us inside the Fortress. To my amazement, it had been carved directly on the face of the mountain. There were no seams between the walls and the ground or between the ladders and the breast wall at the top. The door to the inner Fortress was open, what gave me the chance to see that it was completely made out of thick metal plates and very few pieces to not leave weak points in its building. 

We entered a hall full of people and I instantly felt insecure at the quantity of faces looking at me. In the Arena I had been able to more or less control my panic because the size of the crowd didn't let me see actual faces, but here we were very close and I could really feel their gazes on me. I knew more or less what was expected from me, and I tried my hardest to swallow my nervousness while smiling and trying to memorize the unending list of names and titles of the important people I was being introduced to. Given my state of nervousness, it took me almost half an hour to notice that all the people I had been talking until now were men. The women were talking at the other side of the hall until Errom went to the staircase that divided the room in two and stepped up to call everyone's attention. 

When the silence finally fell in the hall he started talking. "First of all, I want to thank you for accepting our invitation to the party tonight. At first instance, you had been invited to a welcoming party, but circumstances have changed and the planning with them. Yesterday, while on their way from the World Tower to our city, the party dispatched to accompany Van'Brandon into the city was attacked by a group of Orcs. We lost one of our brothers, and my own daughter was in the verge of being Bonded to an Orc. But Van'Brandon fought and killed in single combat the chief Orc and one of his guards. For that I want to give him my sincerest gratitude." He raised his cup in my direction and everyone started applauding me. Great, making me the center of attention didn't help my awkwardness. 

Oner patted my shoulder and whispered, "You are supposed to raise your cup and answer him." 

When I did raise my cup everyone went silent again. Knowing how much they valued righteousness and honor, I tried to say what I thought would leave a good impression in them. "I don't need to be thanked. Letting a crime happen in front of you makes you a criminal as well." Everyone started applauding again and I sighed my relief. 

Errom went on with his speech. "As I said, this was supposed to be a welcoming party, but our new Brother has proved himself against a foe not everyone is capable of defeating. Even with that he is a humble man and states it was just luck. As we had discussed before his arrival, now that he has proved himself a man according to our traditions, he has to take a partner. We had a list of candidates ranked according to the status of each family, but in the end, the chosen one is my daughter Ralya." Opening his arms he said to us, "Come here, children." 

Ralya and I walked to him and stood in front of each other, separated by the distance Errom marked with his arms. My heart was beating furiously because of my emotions: my nervousness, hope, fear and other things not even I could identify were trying to overwhelm me. I grabbed my hands in front of me just to prevent them from visibly trembling. 

All sights were on us when Errom looked at me in the eyes and said, "Van'Brandon Cooper, in this ceremony I am going to put in your hand the hand of Ralya, my youngest daughter and last of my unmarried children. What do you have to say to that?" 

I looked at Ralya in her eyes for a moment before looking at him to say, "On my name and rank I swear I will pursue her happiness and well-being before my own, and I will do my best to live up to the honor of having her as my partner in life." 

He nodded before saying, "I take note of your oath. As her father, be sure that I will punish you personally if you break your word." He turned to Ralya and said, "Daughter of mine, I have chosen Van'Brandon Cooper, Human Ambassador from The Earth as your partner. Do you wish to say something before I put your hand on his?" 

Without looking at me, she answered, "I accept his oath, and I also give my word of doing what I can to become the kind mate he wishes me to be." That was all? Didn't it sound a bit forced, like a memorized answer? 

"Both parties have stated their promise. As a father and as a governor, I declare you both betrothed in marriage. Van'Brandon, please present your hand with the palm up." He came to us and took Ralya's right hand to deposit it in my own hand and keep both hands together between his. "It is done. According to custom, four days from now we will have a private dinner for the exchange of wedding gifts. Five days after that, the day the Moons join, we will celebrate their definitive union in the chapel of El'Dara. Let's celebrate for the rest of the night!" 

The first thing I could hear was the sound of a glass breaking. In one of the front rows there was a young Elf with brown hair glaring at me with blazing eyes. The sound of broken crystal had come from the broken cup in his hand. He had gripped it with enough strength to break it and now his hand was bleeding from many cuts. In reaction to his stare, I moved my left hand to the sheath of my knife by instinct. He just turned and left the hall. 

I jolted when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ralya. Now that she could speak to me directly, she told me, "Don't worry about him. That was Dodger, an idiot that has been desiring me for seven years now. I bet he doesn't take well the fact that I will never be his. Come, dear. The dinner will start soon." 

Like in the Arena, I was sitting by Errom's right, but now that Ralya and I were officially engaged, she was seated at my side. To be true, there were so many things in my head at that moment that I don't even remember what we had for dinner that night. Ralya was chatting with her brother, Errom with Yalgir and Zirilla, and I felt as lonely as I ever had since I arrived in this world. 

After the dinner, everyone stood up and the servants swiftly cleaned the tables and changed their arrangement in order to leave space in the center of the hall for those who wished to dance. Also, each table was served with a variety of sweets and liquors. To my delight, there was chocolate in this world. I decided to pick something that looked like the chocolate sticks I used to eat when I was a kid and a cup of Blackberry liquor. The sweet was perfect, but the liquor was stronger than I had expected. Ralya was standing by my side, with a cup of some kind of purple liquor but nothing to eat. 

After several minutes of awkward silence, she took a step to the improvised dance floor and asked me, "Do you want to dance?" 

Just what I did not want to do. I am very bad at dancing, and even worse, when I try to dance I have the uncomfortable feeling that everyone is looking at me and mocking me. So I tried to escape with a joke. "Sorry, pretty, but I have more or less the same grace dancing as a drunk duck with a wooden leg. I think I am going to need lessons if I want to fit in the high society." 

She had no chance to answer me because we were approached by a pair of Elves who wanted to congratulate us. Ralya did almost all of the talking, and I only answered when someone spoke directly to me. Most of the conversation was guided towards the wedding gifts we were expecting from the guests to the wedding celebrations. Both the groom and the bride had the right to ask for one gift, and it was a custom to keep in secret who had granted that particular wish. Normally those secret gifts came from the family, but sometimes expensive or exotic gifts could be afforded in groups. I said that as I had been a very short time in this world, I wasn't sure of what I could ask, and the man looked at me with a friendly smile and spoke to me with a somewhat soft voice. "Well, many people ask for daily-use items, others ask for artworks or jewels. But if we sum up that you are good at fighting but have no proper gear with the social standing you are about to reach, I think you could even opt to ask for a weapon or an armor forged by Dwarves. As long as you don't ask for something almost impossible like a tamed Unicorn as my daughter did, you will be fine," he said the last phrase laughing. 

Maybe it was the liquor, but I felt light enough to answer, "Now that I think about it, with my lack of combat equipment my fiancee would feel much more relieved if I were to choose a full set of armor." The men around me laughed at the joke. 

"Well, this is your perfect chance. Four days from now we will receive a caravan of Dwarves who are bringing wares to sell. I can arrange for you to meet their leader and get your measurements. I will send them word that you will be at the Western Gate by the middle of the morning. Two hours before lunch to be precise." 

I thanked him the gesture and then I noticed that we had been separated again in groups of men and women. I was starting to feel fuzzy in the head so I excused myself, "Gentlemen, I beg you excuse me, but this liquor punches harder than I thought, or maybe I am not used to drink and I need to get some fresh air." Even so, I still took my cup with me when I got out through one of the doors that lead to a spacious balcony. I left the cup on the balustrade that protected people from falling down the mountain and stood there, looking at the moons and mulling over my worries. 

While I was finishing my cup, Ralya joined me. She didn't look as confident as always, but even with that she approached the topic that worried her directly. "I hope this is just my imagination, but you seem to be keeping your distance with me. Have I made something to offend you? Or could it be... could it be that you are somehow angry at me because my father has decided that we have to marry?" During the last part her voice had started to tremble. 

Could it be? Could it be that we were having the exact same worries? "What about you? During that ceremony you looked like you were reciting some kind of traditional greeting instead of speaking your feelings. I have been worrying all day if you hate me for putting a beautiful Elf in a situation where she has to marry..." I opened my arms and said, "me." 

At first she looked surprised, but then she kicked the floor and answered, "First, stop underestimating yourself, and second..." she mocked my gesture of opening the arms, "do I look in your eyes like a woman who can be talked into doing something she doesn't wish? You are an Ambassador from your world, which means that the family who adopts you by marriage will get inconceivable advantage in commerce and other fields when the lines of communication get stabilized. Because of that there was a list of families offering their daughters to marry you, some families even offered more than one woman. My father's position gave him the right to put me the first of that list, but that didn't mean I was going to obey quietly. I went as far..." Ralya looked aside while grabbing her hands over her belly while her voice faded into silence. Maybe she feared saying something that could be very hurtful or rude towards me? 

I felt curious at her attitude and pressed the matter. "You went as far as... what?" 

After thinking about it for almost a minute, she answered in a lower voice, as if she was regretting what she was going to say, "I went as far as to threaten Father saying that if he forced me into marriage with someone I didn't approve, I would take the Path of the Outcast." 

"You know I arrived in this world yesterday. You will have to explain what that means." Without noticing, I was getting closer to her. 

"It means that I would no longer be counted as an Elf. I would lose my name, my rank and all of the material possessions I could not bring with me in my trip to the Ownerless lands." She pointed to a patch of land with a windmill near a river. "Do you see that valley? There I own a field of wheat and a Genga farm. You will be Lord of all that when we get married, but I was ready to leave it in my brother's hands and live in poverty in case I didn't get to like you." 

That brought tears to my eyes, but now that we were solving all the issues I had to get rid of as much doubt as I could. "Well, that solves part of the problem. But we still have to talk about our compatibility." 

"Yesterday night by the river I felt we had a good compatibility." For a moment, she had let herself use a playful tone. 

I groaned, annoyed at her try to direct the conversation another way. "I was not talking about that, although that is part of the problem I'm trying to point out. You are an Elf and I am a Human." 

She got angry hearing that. "Don't tell me you are one of those racists." 

"No, I am not. What I am trying to say is: what happens with the physical differences between our races? In my world, there is this story called 'The Lord of the Rings' where in the end, the King Aragorn marries Arwen, the Elf he has loved for many years. They are happy together for decades and they even have a son. But in the end, Aragorn is a Human. He ages and dies while Arwen keeps being young like the first day because Elves do not grow old. In the end, Arwen spends years roaming alone in the forest where her mother lived, until she gets tired of living and decides to just lay on a stone bed in the forest sleeping until the end of times. She can't even find comfort in her family because she was forced to choose between staying with her husband or going to the other side of the sea with all of the Elven Race." 

Ralya was looking at me dumbfounded with her mouth and eyes open, but I didn't give her the chance to retort. "So what will happen with us, Ralya? Will I grow old while time doesn't pass for you and you end up being a widow who goes to bed with anyone without care, like my maid? Will we be able to have children? And if we can, will they be like you and live centuries losing the memories of who their father was? Or will they be like me and you will be forced to suffer the torture of watching your family aging and dying while you stay fresh and young? I prefer jumping over this balustrade before tormenting you that way." 

Ralya clenched her teeth, but even with that her chin trembled. The light of moons shone on the tears that started flowing down her cheeks. She jumped at me, grabbing fistfuls of my vest with her clenched hands in her intent to hug me. She cried in my shoulder while trying to speak, but only loose words came out of her mouth, strangled by her sobs. I hugged her and stroked her back, trying to comfort her while entwining my fingers in her hair. It took her several minutes to calm herself enough to speak clearly again. "I didn't know you were thinking so much about us. That you were taking our union so seriously." She sobbed again before going on with almost pleading voice. " But I have my doubts too, you know? Two weeks ago I didn't even know you existed. When I first met you I only knew your picture and a not very promising short resume." 

"Wow, that's flattering," I interrupted her, which provoked her to nip me in the shoulder. 

She let out an angry groan and said, "Why must it be so hard to tell apart 'Like' from 'Love'?" 

It was a rhetorical question, but I answered, "It's not hard at all. If you are fascinated by the good traits of someone, it is 'Like'. But if you are able to see beyond those good traits, and not only see the bad ones, but also understand and accept them, then you have found 'True Love'." 

Ralya was almost completely calm now, her voice only trembled a little bit. But even so, she didn't break our hug. "How are we going to find out? We have barely a week before the wedding." 

After thinking about it for a moment, I came up with an idea. "Why don't we ask your father to let you stay in one of the rooms in my house until the wedding? Merita can act as a chaperon and living together most of the time will be a good way to get to know each other more deeply." 

Ralya considered it and answered nodding her head, "I think it is a good idea. In any case, you are going to need someone to give you lessons." 

That intrigued me and I asked, "What kind of lessons?" 

Ralya rubbed her cheek on my shoulder and said, "In the mornings, Brother and Yalgir are going to train you in combat. But after lunch you will be receiving classes to learn about the basic mechanics of this world. Additionally, now that you are joining the upper echelon of my race you are also going to take lessons in etiquette, diplomacy and commerce. It could be useful that I stayed the night after the end of your classes, and as you say, we can get to know each other deeply if we spend the morning in the training field and the evening at home studying." 

Studying. That posed a problem, because my brain worked in an odd way. When I was in kindergarten, I already knew how to read because I had been paying attention when my mother taught my brothers. I passed an I.Q test and my result was a sixty per cent over the normal score for my age. The psychologist said that the main problem is that I only apply it to things that interest me. 

Ralya relaxed her hands and started stroking my back as well. "So, let me answer your questions about what happens when two members of different races join for life. When I knew of the chance that I could end up Bonded to you, my curiosity took me to find what I could about your marriage rituals. My knowledge about them is scarce, moreover when there are so many kinds of different ceremonies, but what I can tell you is that the wedding rituals in this world don't consist of just gestures and pretty promises that the wind can take. There is real magic in the ceremony we will undergo together. Tell me, dear. Do you know by chance the word 'Nue'He'?" 

After thinking a second, I could only answer, "I know I heard Silna say it yesterday, but it wasn't in the information I received from the linguistic pill I got before arriving here. I thought I would need someone to review the contents in order to find fails." 

Her back shivered when I stroked part of the exposed skin at her nape. "It is not a fail. The word I'm talking about comes from the Ancient Elven, a language we have kept alive since the times when the Five Kinds of Elves were one. Its almost literal translation is 'Half of my Being'. During our wedding, I will receive in my body a fragment of your soul, and that gap in your soul will be filled with a fragment of mine. That will make slight changes in your body and soul. You will age at the same rate as me, your senses will sharpen a little over what is normal for humans, and there also exists the chance that your maximum Spirit reserve increases. Another side effect is that both of us will gain an additional sense that will let us know the general direction to find each other in case we get separated, along with the ability to feel each other's status. You know, healthy, injured, in danger... or when we feel desire." 

I was feeling amazed at the repercussions of what she was telling me. "So I'm going to be able to live centuries like the Elves?" That thought was immediately followed by another. "Is that why the Orc tried to... take you yesterday?" 

She shivered again at that thought. "Yes, even though Orcs don't have females and don't reproduce sexually like us, he still tried to use his sowing tool to Bind me and force the union." 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 02



Another bit of information that caught me off-guard. "The.. his... what? Then how do they reproduce?" Right after that I almost regretted asking and said, "Please, spare me the crude details." 

She giggled while rubbing her face on my neck and chest. "Orcs are farmed and harvested almost the same way as fungi, that's why all of the tissues in their bodies are green, even their bones. When you see a long dead Orc you will recognize him immediately because the skeleton turns yellow and fragile like dying grass." 

While digesting that, I was only able to say, "Amazing." 

She pecked a kiss on my cheek before saying with husky voice accompanied by her rubbing her breasts against my chest, "Talking about reproduction. There do not exist mixed races, or the less polite term 'Mongrel' as they are called when minor races mingle between the to create new spawns. When two members of the Blessed Races have children, the baby is always a member of the same race as the mother, although that doesn't keep him or her from receiving some external traits from the father. The first example that comes to my mind is my sister Zirilla. She has my father's cheekbones and forehead, although she covers that with her bangs." 

The night had brought a cool breeze, but Ralya's body warmth was comforting in more ways than one. That, together with the pressure of her curves against my body and the scent of her skin was making my member harden against her thigh. Thinking that it could kill the mood in case she noticed, I tried to distract her. "So it is really mutual love? No one forces you to marry me?" 

She said, "I am going to get angry if you keep asking," though there was no real annoyance in her voice. Besides my efforts, she had noticed my state and started rocking her hips lightly to rub my erection with her pelvis. "Mutual love... I am mostly sure that is what this is. The only thing that leads me to marry you is my own desire to do so." In contradiction with her shy first kiss, this time she was fierce and passionate, and I answered with all my heart. 

Ralya let one hand down between us in order to caress my manhood while I grabbed her butt with one of my hands and used the other to cup one of her firm breasts. Through the thin fabric of her dress, I felt her nipple harden rapidly under my touch. I pinched it lightly, what made Ralya moan inside my mouth. 

In the end, she was the most disciplined of us two and broke our contact with a look of apology in her eyes. She gently took my hand off her breast and kissed my palm before clasping it tight in hers. We went back to our embrace, just enjoying the sensation of being together while our panting breaths came back to normal slowly. 

We stayed in each other's arms until Oner entered the balcony and said softly, "Hey lovebirds, I know you are enjoying your time alone, but this is your party and you have to be present." Then he went back to his normal tone, "Keep something until after the wedding." 

I answered because Ralya was blushing and lost her cool for a second. "Yes, we are going. We have one thing we would like to discuss with your father. It's something important for the wedding." 

And with that, Ralya and I went back into the hall, holding hands with our fingers firmly entwined. 

***** 

The morning after the party, while her master was attending his Physical training at the camp, Merita was brought to the presence of Yuan'Errom in his personal office. He didn't seem to be in a good mood because of the news she had brought him. 

"Speak clearly, maid! Are you saying it was no coincidence? How can that be remotely possible?" 

Even though she was kneeling, Merita flinched at the raised voice of the Hierarch. With her hands nervously wringing the edge of her apron, the woman answered, "The clue is in the bath, my lord. When I went to clean it, it had a faint metallic scent to it. But that is not possible because they receive an special treatment in their making to prevent just that. We are sensitive to those things, as you know..." 

"Don't wander off-topic, stick to the important parts." Yuan'Errom cut her abruptly. 

"Yes my Lord. Excuse me, but I become even more talkative when I'm nervous. The fact is that at the beginning I thought that maybe it had something to see with my Master's physical nature. But shortly after I discovered it was not so. When I took out the wooden floor from inside the tub, I found a thick substance at the bottom. Knowing it could not be dirt from my Master's body, I inspected it more thoroughly until I was able to understand what had happened. I was amazed to see that somebody had put very thin slices of copper fruit at the bottom of the bath for them to melt and mix in the hot water. Stormcrows are attracted to the smell of metals, specially copper..." 

Merita was cut again by an increasingly impatient Hierarch, "You are saying that someone put the fruit in the bath for the off-chance that a Stormcrow passed by to attack my daughter's fiance? What if no Stormcrow had been near? What if the animal would have felt attracted to the bath, the biggest source of the scent? Stop wasting my time in half-baked conspiracies, woman." 

"That's exactly why I think it was not a half-baked conspiracy, but a very clever attempt on my Master's life! The season where Stormcrows nest in the mountains is long past, there should be none left. So the fact that it conveniently appeared at the right time leads me to believe that someone brought the crow in a cage, altered the bath, and waited for me to clean it before setting the bird free near my Master's window to promote the attack!" 

Both of them stayed silent for some minutes before Yuan'Errom spoke again. "So there is a snake in my city. A sneaky rat that uses intricately woven plans to attack my family based on old hates or simple greed." He stood up and started walking up and down the studio such a long time that Merita started doubting if she should ask him if she had to leave, but then he asked, "What has happened with this bird?" 

Merita looked at her Lord with a puzzled look before answering, "After my Master left it unconscious I put it on a table at the backyard. It left flying when it recovered, but I have seen it by chance perching in one of the trees of the training grounds." 

Yuan'Errom nodded and said, "Well, it seems it can no longer guide us to the criminal." He started walking and thinking again until he finally stopped again and told Merita, "Go back now to your duties, but be ready to receive another guest in the house you manage." 

"Another guest, my Lord?" 

"Yes. Yesterday at the party my daughter asked me for permission to stay at your house until the wedding in order to get to know the personality of her future husband better. I was going to deny her wish, but her reasons together with the need of a discreet security detachment for the young Brandon force me to accept. Though stay sharp, maid, because your duties from now until then will include the task of watching over them so they don't get too... 'intimate'. You may retire now" 

Merita bowed deeply and stood up with sore legs to leave the room. Once he was alone, Errom mumbled, "Labyrinths inside labyrinths, I hate that. Knowing your enemy's name without a proof to fall on them is like having a bow with no arrows when the Orcs are at your walls. I just hope my daughter and my future son can get out of this alive." 

***** 

Because of the bandages covering his right hand, Dodger kicked open the door to his basement and went down the stairs while ranting, "Where the Hell are you, damned bitch? Your stupid trick with the Stormcrow has served for nothing more than putting them on guard! How can you be so useless? I thought you came from a group of professionals, not from the Gods damned circus." 

Two things happened almost at the same instant. The door behind him closed without him seeing even a shadow, and a throwing knife stabbed through his shirt to pin him to the wall like a butterfly. He was about to start yelling again, but instead he froze in his position at the cool feel of a sharp blade against his neck. The feminine voice in his ear was like the steel of her weapon, soft and sharp. "We are not a 'group'. We are the Snake Clan, one of the five that form the race of the Deyimas." An irony that no one would know about was that, even though Errom had used that word to insult the hidden assassin, he could never imagine how close he had been. "The first rule of our Code states 'The word of your contractor is law, unless this word enters in conflict with the subsequent rules'. My contractor ordered me to commit an untraceable assassination, and that's what I tried to perform. I have been informed that a new chance has been prepared for three days from now. At the western gate of the city, two hours before lunchtime." 

The furious young Elf swallowed his pride and said, "Then I will become your contractor, too. My word is that if your next attempt fails, you will take the first chance you have for a direct attack on the same target my father has ordered you to take out." With swift movements, the woman sheathed the short sword at the scabbard on the back of her right shoulder and retrieved her throwing knife. Now that this idiot had made an oath to pay her price, she could no longer unsheathe her weapons in his presence unless she was ordered to protect him. 

He turned back, rubbing his neck and straining his eyes to ogle her figure in the dim light that entered the slightly open window behind them. "And if you succeed, maybe I can give you an extra reward... in bed." 

He was not able to see the disgusted look on her face. "I am no prostitute, I am an Assassin." 

While climbing up the stairs again, he waved a hand dismissively and said, "Whatever, just do your work. If you fail again doing it the way my father ordered you, do it as I told you without coming back here. We'll meet again once you are done." 

Alone in the darkness, Sha'Zella of the Snake Clan whispered, "Pray that no one contracts me to take care of you, because I am going to enjoy making it slow and painful."



Cultural Exchange Ch. 03



Well, here we are again. 

First, my apologies for taking more time than intended, both my editor and I have been unexpectedly busy these days. On my side, my brother is expecting twins by December and I've had to help around his house among other things. 

As for notes, I have to say that this was intended to be a longer chapter than the previous ones, but in the end it was decided to be split in two. The next chapter is almost completely written already so expect it soon, although I can't give you a definitive date. It will be shorter, but it compensates because it is more thrilling and has more Literotica content. 

Gratitude to all of you who follow and encourage me and my editor, SexyGeek, my brother in arms in the battle against the beasts of grammar, plot holes and character development. 

******* 

An unexpected weight fell on me, forcing me to expel all the air in my lungs. Whatever it was that had attacked me, was still sitting on me, preventing me from moving or fighting back. In my half-asleep state, I remembered that in old times on Earth they believed that nightmares were induced by small demons that sat on people's chests. What if that had some kind of real base in this world and I was being attacked by some creature, like happened yesterday with the Stormcrow? 

"By the Holy Seven! Wake up already, Master!" Merita's pleading voice came to me through the sheets and covers. 

After squirming a few moments, I was able to give a muffled answer, "You're going to choke me to death!" 

She uncovered my head and stared at me frowning, still sitting on my chest and making it hard for me to breathe. "By the Gods, Master, I didn't know you were so sluggish in the mornings! Van'Oner and Van'Yalgir will be here in an hour or so to take you to the training grounds and you are still wrapped in your sheets like a croquette! You need to groom yourself and get some breakfast." She stroked my cheek and added, "You also might use some shaving. I have urgent matters to attend at the High city, so I'll only be able to make you a simple lunch if I am to help you in getting ready. So, is there anything I can help you with, Master?" 

I did what I could to answer her with a strained voice, "Can you start by getting off me?" 

She jumped off the bed and after getting her dress straight again she bowed and started apologizing. I started to get up on my elbows to sit on the bed while gasping for air. "Jesus Christ!" I said when my breathing started to normalize. 

Merita tilted her head with one of her bright smiles and asked, "Who?" 

On the bedside table I found hot water, a towel and shaving tools. The last ones were even older in style than those my grandfather used. I shot Merita a doubtful look and asked, "I haven't used one of these razors before, could you shave me?" 

"Oh, don't worry, Master. I can shave you soft as a baby's butt, hu-hu. My Nue'He used to ask me to shave him at least once a week. He used to say it was good for the partnership communication." 

Very unusual of her, she went silent without going on with her rattle, so I felt forced to say, "If it brings bad memories or if you feel bad in any other way, you don't have to force yourself. I'll manage somehow." 

She chuckled and said while starting to prepare the shaving foam, "I really appreciate your concern, Master. You are a very nice person, and I don't have the least doubt that Van'Ralya will be very happy by your side. But this is my job, and I mustn't let personal feelings interfere with my duties. In any case, shaving you doesn't bring bad memories or make me feel bad in any way. Just the opposite, it reminds me of the time when my life was complete. Even though it was a simple life, I was happy and felt fulfilled." 

As she took the razor in her hand, she went silent to focus on her task and I felt thankful for that. Who knows what disaster could have happened if she had kept going on with her chatter while working on my face. Remember what I told you about the scar in my left wrist and not getting distracted if you're using sharp or pointy tools? As Merita finished, I told her she could let me alone to finish and start preparing the breakfast. She pointed at the set of clothes on a chair to inform me that was the common dressing for training in warm weather and left the room swiftly. We were running out of time, so I rapidly used the hot water and the towel to wash my face and swipe off some of the sweat I had accumulated since my bath yesterday. I was planning to have a bath after the training was finished. Talking about training, my clothes for said task consisted of simple, brown working trousers, a sleeve-less white shirt and low boots. 

I went down to the dining room when Merita was serving the breakfast. As I sat down I was flabbergasted again. This meal consisted of a big cup of milk and toast with an egg fried sunny side-up on top of it. The toast was wide as a dish and the fried egg covered it completely, and the yolk of this egg was more or less as big as a tennis ball. 

Merita chuckled at my expression and explained, "Gengas start laying eggs during their second stage of maturity, but these eggs are all infertile. When they reach their third and final stage, their eggs are almost twice as big as this one and develop a much harder shell. Sorry, Master. If we had had more time I could have prepared you something better than just a toast with egg and a jar of milk with honey. One of these days, I'm going to..." 

"I don't mean to be rude, Merita, but you said both of us had tasks to attend. Now that we're at it, what did you mean when you said 'the High city'?" 

"As you surely have noticed, a big part of the city is directly carved into the face of the mountain. We call the northern part, that is physically higher than the rest, the High City. That is where the Chapel, the Hall of Shields and the other government and justice buildings are located. It also has the plaza with the space needed for festivals and multitudinous religious services. Right now we are at the eastern side, known as the Residential District. Given that the Western entrance is where most of the merchants come from, that side is called the Commercial District, where the market and shops are located, and the south side is the Artisans' District, for obvious reasons. Even though artisans have their workshops there, they still have apprentices or business partners that run a shop for them on the Commercial District." She took out from her apron a familiar object made mostly of crystal and looked at its flat surface. "Oh, my, look at the time. I have to get going right now, Master. Sorry for leaving you alone, but this is an appointment I can't afford to miss or be late to." 

She lifted the front of her skirt to not step on it while running and left the room like a bullet, leaving me in a fearsome battle against the monster egg in my dish. I was having the last sip from my jar when someone knocked the door. I stood up to go answer the door, thinking that surely Oner and Yalgir had arrived when I froze for a moment between two opposite reactions. My mind was telling me to go open the door and my muscular memory was telling me to take my dish and jar to the kitchen as I had been doing for years now. In the end I schooled myself to go open the door, feeling a little guilty for leaving the dirty stuff on the table so Merita had to clean after me when she came back. 

"Ready to move out, little brother?" was Oner's greeting right when I opened the door. He had tied his hair in a ponytail at the back of his head and was dressed like me. 

I hesitated for a second, trying to figure out how such a delicate and complex operation could be possible in an environment like this before answering, "All set, except for the door. The maid has left on an errand and hasn't left a key for me to lock it before leaving." 

Oner laughed and Yalgir chuckled. The first told me, "Technically speaking, guest houses like this one belong to my father. Nobody in his right mind would dare to enter uninvited." At that point in time, none of us knew that there had already been one person to enter, and that it wouldn't be the last time. 

I limited myself to closing the door and followed them to the training grounds, which were less than five minutes by walk from my house. Along the way, we crossed paths with people heading the same way who could be easily divided in two groups: the unproven young who went for their basic training and the older people who went for a more specialized training. 

The grounds were a big space of hard brown dirt with irregular patches of weeds. It was divided in sections according to different kinds of fighters and surrounded by trees. Somehow those trees made me uneasy because I couldn't shake off the feeling of someone staring at me from them. 

The first thing Oner and Yalgir did was to go to the side for close combat training and start gearing themselves with training armors. Yalgir chose a set of light leather armor and Oner put on a heavier one reinforced with metal plates. 

Noticing the way I was looking at them, Yalgir spoke, "I use light armor because I favor speed and evasion. Oner is a Dreadnought class, he's a Knight that uses the Challenges from the Code of Honor to balance his fights. That's why he uses the heaviest armors to gain in defense and resistance." 

Once they were geared, they guided me to the different racks to explain me how things worked so I could decide in which categories I was going to specialize. Given we were already there, we started at the weapons rack. 

Oner started the lesson. "Your first crucial choice is your weapon. It will be what defines your fighting style and your class, because most of the time the rest of your gear is dictated by the weapon style you choose. Many weapons can be used either with one or two hands, but there are weapons that can only be used with two hands. For example, a spear can be used to pierce and sometimes to cut, so it can be used alone or in combination with several kinds of shields. On the other hand, pole weapons are based mostly in wide swings to cut enemies, so it would be difficult to use in case you try to combine it with a shield. Even with that, strange classes sprout here and there, like Sagittarius, a kind of Archer that equips medium armor and learns a technique to equip an armguard in the same arm they wear their long bows." 

Yalgir took from here and made a wide gesture of his arm to signal the array of different training weapons. "As I have learned from another man from your world that lives in my land, in your games the weapons are divided in just a few classes: swords, blunt weapons, daggers, bows and staffs for Mages, not much more and some of those games don't even have some of the ones I have mentioned. The choices in real life are obviously much wider. We have three kinds of swords, short blades (a category to sum up daggers and short swords) and the list goes on, no point in explaining you everything when you will be specializing in just one." 

I came closer to inspect the weapons while Yalgir went on. "Knowing about your fight with the Orcs, my guess is that you are a man who prefers swords, so I'm going to stick to explaining the three classes available. The standard is the straight sword. It has a good thrust and a decent edge, but is slower than the other two. In comparison, the curved sword has better slashing damage and is faster, but has poor thrusting. The third choice is the rapier, that has superb speed and penetration, but it deals almost no damage when trying to cut and you can't be combined with a shield because it would rob you of the agility you need to use it properly." 

I was looking at the available training swords when I saw one that resembled a Japanese Katana, so I got it right away without thinking. I already had a training Katana at home, and I knew the basic moves through one of the many illustrated guides my father had. Together with it I had what I used to call "two pieces of iron that looked like real katanas." In the end, I know it would be much more simple to call them "decorative swords." Both men looked at me before Oner said, "So you will be keeping to the curved sword. Yalgir is very adept at it, he can teach you some good moves... if he wants to." 

"It's not just a matter of if I want to or not. He needs it, and even though it's going to take time, I'm mostly sure that he is going to end up becoming a great warrior and a worthy rival like you. Maybe something even more interesting than you, Oner," retorted Yalgir. That gave me the feeling that he was a man who loved fighting and that he was training me for the sole reason of having a duel with me in the future. 

Oner took a stick covered in wool and Yalgir armed himself with similar stick, but this one even more curved than my fake Katana and a shorter stick for his left hand. "In a real fight, I use a wide-bladed saber in my right hand and a dagger in the left," was his explanation. 

From wizard robes to heavy armors, there were four kinds of protective gear based on the quantity of plates and weight of the materials. Oner took his time to tell me the difference between each other while Yalgir got more restless with each minute. 

"Well, at least you are teaching him the fundamentals without trying to force him into being a battle snail like you, Oner," chuckled Yalgir at his explanation. 

I quickly said, "I think I'm going to stick with the medium armor for now. I like the idea of having a heavy armor that isn't too heavy to move around. You know, the point is that there are attacks that no armor can block, and in those situations is good to have enough freedom of movement to jump out of the way." I felt the need to jump between them before they started a discussion that could escalate. They seemed to have some kind of friendly rivalry based on combat acknowledgment. 

Yalgir said, "It is not a bad choice. Even people who go to battle with light armor start their training with medium armor to tune up their muscles." 

Given that he was the most used to the task, it was Oner who taught me the right way to dress myself in medium training armor. Probably it was the lack of habit, but it was much heavier than I thought it would be at first. Oner noticed my uneasiness and told me, "Even though we call them training armors, the truth is that they are heavier than actual combat armors. The point behind this is that if you get used to a big weight, in real combat your gear feels as if it wasn't there. That's what Yalgir was trying to mean just a moment ago. Armor-handling, also called armor expertise, is an important ability because it determines how much armor weight you can carry without hindering yourself." 

Yalgir pointed to the last rack and told him, "Have him make his last choice. You are more suited to that task, and I'm getting tired of all this chatter. My muscles and my blood are getting cold." 

The last rack was loaded with shields of several shapes and sizes along some strange bracers I had never seen. I understood what Yalgir had said; maybe using a different weapon in each hand didn't qualify him to teach me about shields, so Oner took his place. "You can choose not to wear anything on your left arm for several reasons, the main one being you want to focus on a pure two-handed style. Another reason is wanting to learn a second weapon, the way Yalgir uses a dagger. For now that choice is out of your reach; you lack expertise. But you may be able to learn the use of throwing blades. Though speaking again of how you have already fought, I think it would be wiser to explain you the three categories of shields." Saying this, he picked up a common shield, one of the smaller ones and one of the strange bracers I had noticed before. 

"You don't need too many explanations about this one, it is a common shield. In exchange for the extra protection, it is heavy and reduces your agility. Also, you are forced to combine it with one-handed weapons because its area is wide and you need your hand and part of the arm to keep it in place." He left the shield on the rack and showed me the smaller shield. "This is an armguard. Obviously it protects less than a shield because it has less area, but it doesn't hinder you so much and leaves your left hand free enough to perform certain two-handed movements with your weapon of choice." Leaving the armguard in the rack, he proceeded to enlighten me about the strange item that seemed so out of place. "The last in the list is the rune. This bracelet projects a glowing emblem that acts as an energy shield. On the good side we have that it has the same area as a common shield and offers a fair defense against magic. Also, it can be combined with a two-handed style without losing much in terms of strength or attack speed. The drawbacks are that it doesn't have a Physical presence, so you can't use it to shield-punch your enemy, and that it has the lowest physical defense out of the three types. That is why it is called 'Mage shield'. Many kinds of magic users combine the staff with a rune for protection." 

The theoretical lesson was starting to get overwhelming, but I understood that it was necessary for my well-being. Also, I wasn't able to shake off the feeling that attracted my attention to the trees. "I'll choose the armguard. More or less for the same reasons I chose the medium armor. Also, I like the idea of having a shield that gives me some freedom of movement and tactical flexibility to strike with one hand or two. More chances to catch an enemy off-guard." 

Oner scratched his chin while thinking out loud, "Medium armor, curved sword and armguard, right? If you want, I can teach you the basic skills from the Code of Honor. That way, you'll become a full-fledged Samurai class." Some part of my head knew that he had used a different word, but my linguistic treatment had translated it into Samurai as the closest match in my vocabulary. 

Leaving aside the notion of becoming a Samurai, I had a doubt I needed to solve. "What is this of the 'Code of Honor'? You say it in a way that makes me think it is not just words." 

"The Code of Honor is a minor form of Magic that lets you impose rules on your enemies or on yourself. For example, 'Oath of Swiftness' increases your attack speed every time you defeat an enemy for a short time. On the other side, Challenges apply only on your enemy; like the 'Challenge of Mist' that makes you more difficult to see and be hit by your enemies. But well, that's for when you have passed the basic training. You will be starting with Yalgir right after you do your warm-up." 

This way, I spent the next hours practicing the basic moves. Yalgir was merciless and used his wooden sword to correct my stance frequently and made me repeat each movement countless times in order to forge my muscle memory, or the way they called it, 'make my body remember the right forms'. 

After that, the challenge escalated and I was taught to willingly use my Spirit in a basic move called 'Power slash'. My first tries gave no results. To my embarrassment, one the attempts failed so badly that I fell to the ground. Not only Oner and Yalgir laughed at me, but so did some of the bystanders that had come to take a curious look at my training. I stood up dirty, angry and embarrassed, and vented my frustration in a hit of the sword that sounded strangely loud and raised a small cloud of dust from the ground. I was told to remember the feeling, because I had found the standing point in the use of my Spirit in Physical skills. 

But the worst had yet to come. The next part of the training was a sparring match against Yalgir, and if I had thought he was merciless during the first stages, he was about to teach me a new definition of the word. He used his two weapons to pummel me, and even though training weapons were covered in wool for protection, I knew perfectly well that some of the hits I was receiving were hard enough to leave bruises. Oner cautioned him against going too seriously against a beginner, but he countered by saying that I had already beaten two Orcs. The thing was starting to get serious; his attacks were becoming fiercer by the second and I didn't have the skill to fight two weapons coming at me from different sides at the same time. At some point, he screamed at me and I instantly lost my stamina and fell to one knee. All I could do was raise my left arm to cover my head with the armguard. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 03



Then a cackling voice came from the trees behind us. "Don't you worry, Boss! I've got your back!" I heard a flutter of wings and Yalgir stepped back groaning curses. I dared to lower the armguard and my jaw dropped at the sight of a Stormcrow batting its wings at Yalgir's face and trying to scratch him with its claws. Finally Yalgir tried to smash the animal, but it flew away from him and perched on my left shoulder saying, "Slowpoke, I can beat you up any day of the week!" 

Both of my trainers looked at me dumbfounded. Oner exclaimed, "What in the Thirteen Hells is happening here? The Stormcrow has just come to your aid and now it goes to your shoulder like a tamed animal?" 

The crow tilted its head in a strange imitation of a person shrugging his shoulders and answered, "Well, that's more or less what happened. I see your eyes are not just for decoration. Boss, translate them what I say for them. Unless some conditions are met you're the only one who can understand me." 

Instead of doing that, I asked the crow, "Wait, are you the same Stormcrow that attacked me yesterday?" 

He did the same laugh-like sound that he had done yesterday when he perched on top of my knife, and answered, "Good guess, Boss. For a moment there I feared you might mistake me for one of those other hundreds of Stormcrows that are flocking around in this city. Duh." 

The situation was getting more and more surrealistic. "But what's happened for you to start following me around and calling me 'Boss'?" 

The crow tilted its head and answered, "You showed your authority over me and then you gave me a name." 

Oner and Yalgir had been looking at us during the whole exchange losing their patience little by little. I don't know how I was able to do it, but I chuckled imagining how would we look. Me, talking to a bird and the bird cawing back at me. Before they would totally lose patience, I looked back at them and said, "Oner, Yalgir, this is Turak," and I spent the next minutes explaining to them how Turak had entered my room and repeated the explanation I had just received. 

Yalgir frowned and said, "I have a basic understanding of what it has just said." Oner and I looked at him with a quizzical look and he went on, "My wife is a Dark Sage, She mixes Dark Magic curses and Summoning Magic. What you did with the Stormcrow is called a 'Submission Spell', a form of turning Beasts into Familiars. It is only possible when you beat certain enemies down without killing them and then use your Spirit to give them a new name." 

That upset me. "But I'm not a Mage and I don't have a staff or anything!" 

Yalgir crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Zirilla will have a more accurate explanation, but it seems that under circumstances like those you went through yesterday, like something you perceive as a threat to your life, people with magic potential release their abilities instinctively. Also, about the lack of a staff or another type of proper medium, that's exactly the reason why I would bet you fainted after the fight. Without having something to refine and channel your power, all of your Spirit was sucked out. It's not like you're going to die from that, but it can be very dangerous for your health. Don't forget to take good care of yourself, Cub. You serve no purpose for anyone if you die, and I would bet you don't want to make little Ralya a widow so soon." 

Oner broke the gloomy atmosphere by cheering me on. He looked happy with the news. "Well that explains almost everything. Sorry, little brother, but you won't be able to become a Samurai. This proves you as a Beast Tamer, a Warrior with the magic ability to conquer and dominate Beasts and use other kinds of Summoning Magic. This means that normal curved swords won't work for you anymore. You will need synthesized weapons. These are common weapons that had been merged with wands or staves. This way, your sword will lose part of its physical combat effectiveness in exchange for a certain amount of Magical conductivity." 

"I... just need to sit down a few minutes to swallow all this and rest my pained body." I sighed. 

"I understand, don't worry. Also," Oner came closer and lowered his voice, "he may not admit it, but Yalgir feels ashamed for having entered Combat Frenzy during just a training match. Don't be too hard on him, please. It's something that can happen to any A'Jin if they're very tense, especially in battle. Even the timid Rabbit A'Jins can lose their self-control and become fierce opponents. It's the power they receive from their Goddess when they start to reach adulthood." 

I nodded my head and went away to a nearby fountain to drink and sit down a little. That's when I noticed that the training area by my side had a series of wooden poles thicker than my thigh with the upper half covered in ropes. Unmistakably, they were training poles for close combat practice. I know because when I was a kid I used a home-made one that my father had built for me and my brothers. I looked at the people, young and not so young, that were training when I noticed something odd with the women. 

I was trying to figure it out when Oner came to my side and whispered, "It's not wise to be here ogling girls knowing that your fiancée might be around here too and can catch you." 

That startled me and I said, "No, it's just that even though some women have pretty big breasts, these don't sway or bounce as much as they should." Perfect. Did that make me a curious person or just a pervert? 

"Ah, it's just that. Well, women are women, and they can't get rid completely of their natural coquetry. Some centuries ago, a female alchemist found a procedure that forces part of the pectoral muscle to grow inside the breasts. This way, they get additional strength and their breasts don't sag as much as they normally would, at the same time the bosom gets enough support to not go swaying and bouncing around in battle." 

"Alchemy sure is something amazing, like the treatment that made me learn the seven languages in just a few hours," I pondered. 

"Heh, that's not how it works, little brother. What that treatment did is alter a small percentage of your brain so our tongues would be automatically changed into something you could understand. Or don't you think it's rare that things like common expressions are similar or equal to those of your mother language? It also works the other way around. You think in your language and the changes in your head turn what you say into something akin to our common way of speaking. Oh, speak about the Devil. There is your fiancée." 

Ralya was dressed in a pair of short, black trousers and a tight white shirt that left her navel exposed. She was reprimanding a young fighter out loud in front of everyone for the weakness of his punches. 

Turak moved his legs to accommodate himself on my shoulder and said, "So that's your mate. Eh, Boss? I don't know the greatest thing about mammals, but she looks like a good partner. Strong hips to lay big and healthy eggs." 

I told Turak to take off for some minutes and I moved to Ralya and asked her discreetly, "Do you mind if I teach him a form to put more of his body weight behind his punches?" She nodded her head with a faint smile. It was obvious she had been expecting to learn some of the Martial Arts my father had taught me. 

I went to the scolded young Elf to tell him, "She's right, your mistake is that you only attack with your fists." 

He looked at me like I was an idiot and retorted, "That's why you call it a punch, you idiot Human. Because you hit with your fists." 

Ralya moved in to show him how to give a good punch, but I stood between them. I caressed Ralya's cheek with the tip of a finger and said, "He's just frustrated, honey, don't be so hard on him." I turned to the boy and taught him, "What I was meaning is that you punch with just the strength of your arms." 

He went pale when he realized with who he had been messing with and stuttered an answer. "S-sorry for my discourtesy, Sir! I'd be deeply honored if you took it in your heart to enlighten me!" 

"Then come to one of the practice poles and follow my instructions." Under Ralya's vigilant gaze as well as the other Elves who were training unarmed combat, I spent the next minutes explaining to the boy how this particular move worked, emphasizing the importance of making every body move with the right synchronization. 

He started practicing when my gaze was attracted by Ralya, who was in front of a training pole in the stance I had taught her disciple. With a scream and a glow coming from her hand, she hit the pole breaking it in half among a burst of splinters. Everyone, including me, looked at her surprised. While walking to me, she shrugged her shoulders and spoke to me directly and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear us, "I just followed your instructions and powered up the attack with my Spirit. How is this move called? It will be a great addition to the art of Tang'Shu." 

I looked at the broken pole and said, "Well, its original name was 'Oi Zuki' which more or less means 'Frontal Punch'. It is the most basic fist attack in a martial art called 'Karate'. But you have taken it to a whole new level so I think that the name that fits this new version is 'Tekken'." 

Ralya arched a brow and said, "And what does that mean? You are using words outside your native language, so they are not affected by the linguistic potion you took." 

I grinned, knowing that she would like the answer. "The most literal meaning I know is 'Iron Fist'." 

She grinned back and took my arm to guide me back to Oner and said, "Well, thank you for teaching us the 'Iron Fist', dear. While you were resting, my brother has explained to me about your new power. In case my sister Zirilla agrees, I have decided to split your evening lessons so you have time to receive Magic training from her. Also, maybe I should inform you that when our souls interlink, I will be able to understand all of your Familiars' speech as well as you." 

That caught me off-guard and made me ask, "You said, 'All'? Does that mean I can have more than one?" 

As usual, she controlled herself in public, so she just squeezed my arm instead of coming closer to me. It seems that she needed no sixth sense to know that physical displays of affection were important for me. "As a Beast Tamer, you can have many different Familiars. But it takes a part of your Spirit reserves to keep them tied to you as long as they live, and even if you defeat another Beast you will have no chance to Submit them without enough Spirit to make that bond. Also, Summoning Magic is not only about creating Familiars. With practice, you will be able to call powerful Beasts from another planes, and the spells to fortify your Servants or the link you have with them is also part of this branch of magic." 

"Now that we're talking about magic, there's something I've noticed about yours," I told her. She just answered with a questioning look and I went on, "When you explained to me how Tang'Shu works, you told me you summon certain spirits or Totems, but you only mentioned normal animals. Why not for example call a Stormcrow Totem to use their electric powers?" 

She patted my shoulder to clean some dust away and said, "Common animals produce what we call 'White Totems' because they are bond by pledge to help us. The rest of the creatures, known as Danger Beasts, produce 'Black Totems'. There is nothing that forbids us from calling upon Black Totems, but they are not bound by pledge to help us. Many times has happened that a wounded Monk has called a Troll Totem in despair to use his healing ability, only to end up completely possessed by the Totem." 

We arrived back to where my training had started, and Oner came to ask me, "We have more or less an hour before lunch time, do you want to spar with me? I promise I'll be more merciful than Yalgir." 

At this point, I was a bit afraid to enter again in combat with these people, but Ralya pushed my back gently to encourage me, and there I went. Oner really was better instructor: he took the fight more calmly and sometimes he even went as far as to stop the fight to correct my stance or to teach me the best ways of blocking, evading or countering some attacks. When the training leveled up and became more serious, I was rapidly overwhelmed. But at that point, people were starting to retire, so we did the same. While Oner and Yalgir guided me back to my house, we chatted about our impressions on my first day of training. 

Yalgir didn't speak until we started to talk about the part where I sparred with Oner. "Why didn't you use all of your weapons?" 

That surprised me and I could just say, "What?" 

He pointed at Turak and said, "You just learned that you control that Stormcrow. Why didn't you use it? To have a weapon and not to use it is a mistake and a waste." 

Turak answered, "Well it's also a mistake not to skin a wolf and a waste not to use that skin as a carpet. Don't go treating me like an item, dog." I was glad Yalgir could not understand him. 

Luckily, the discussion didn't go any further because we arrived at my house. I invited them to come in with me, but they excused themselves saying their carriage to the fortress was already here and they needed to have a bath before lunch. 

"Welcome home, Master. You have a guest waiting for you at the entrance hall. He has been served a drink, so please attend him and go have your bath while I go prepare lunch for you and the other guest that will be staying with us." Fantastic, Ralya had gotten permission from her father to share this house until our wedding. About the guest waiting for me, I had no clue until I got in and saw the things he had spread on the tea table. 

"Van'Brandon, my name is Suvan and I come by orders of Yuan'Errom to prepare an order of two rings: the one that will be the ring of your Household and another ring for your fiancée... maybe your wedding gift to her?" This Elf was even older than Errom. The parts where his hair wasn't white it was gray. He had a big nose that supported small glasses in front of his amber eyes. 

"That's exactly it, Van'Suvan. Where do we start?" I asked him, sitting at one side of the table and inviting him to do the same at the other side. I purposefully used a high honorific in respect of his status as a Master Artisan. He showed me a scrap of paper with several drafts of the Icon I had chosen, explaining me that it was irregular to make the ring with just the Icon without any kind of base. In the end I chose a design where the arrow tips were well defined and the tips at the diagonal branches were smaller than the others, embedded in a hexagon-shaped white crystal. 

"About the ring for your betrothed, I state Yuan'Errom's words. 'It must have two spherical jewels: a blue one and a white one, the blue being the biggest one. Hells curse me if I know why'. If you excuse my boldness, such a specific order has a meaning most of the times." 

"Yes, it has. It is a promise, and the first to hear it must be my future partner," I answered taking care that my voice sounded neutral. 

"Of course, you have all the rights to keep your reserve. Well, with everything tied up like this, I'll move to my workshop to start working. I'll have both pieces ready for the morning of two days from now. That is the day when both of you exchange wedding gifts. Just in time, right?" he chuckled and I followed him to the door and when he left, I raced to the bath to be ready for when Ralya's arrival. 

I was wearing dark green trousers and a brown shirt, all made in thin fabrics along with a type of shoe that looked very convincingly like slippers when Ralya arrived followed by a red haired maid. She left part of her luggage at the feet of the young woman and came to hug me with a big smile, but a training sword appeared out of nowhere to cut her path. Notice that the sword was positioned as a barrier, not pointing to Ralya. That would have been a very bad idea and she could have felt free to retaliate. "What do you think you are doing, maid? Put down that weapon right this instant," said Ralya without hiding her displeasure. 

"Excuse my rudeness, Van'Ralya, but you both are not allowed to enter close proximity. Also, I'll be with you all the time every time you are about to be alone. Lastly, Master's bedroom will be closed with the key one hour after dinner to prevent 'night visits' hu-hu." 

"Explain me why the House Maid is imposing her rules on the Master and his guest?" My fiancée put her hands on her hips. She was rapidly losing her patience. 

"Your father in person ordered me to not let you two get 'too intimate' and even though it would not be a bad thing to be reunited with my Nue'He, I'd prefer my pretty head not to roll on the ground until I have the chance to meet my grandchildren, hu-hu." Again, Merita surprised me with her ability to laugh at the most discomforting situations. 

"I'll abide by my father's orders, but what you just said about 'night visits' and getting 'too intimate' includes you too. I don't plan on sharing him with any other woman until we decide on his Seconds." 

"You don't have to worry about that, Van'Ralya. Master hasn't ordered that kind of service and I don't think he ever will. We are in a purely platonic relationship, hu-hu. I would bet Master thinks it is near disgusting to have physical relationships just for the sake of pleasure instead of using it as a means to show a deep emotional affection. Poor me, the affection he may feel towards me isn't the one that leans towards the bed, hu-hu." 

I knew Merita was just playing, but she had chosen a dangerous partner. That forced me to intervene because Ralya looked positively about to jump on her. I asked about the meal and Merita asked us to follow her to the dining room. Ralya dispatched her maid and we went back to a calm conversation. I took note to ask Ralya what she had meant with "Seconds." I had a bad feeling about it. I could almost hear the sound of problems approaching very fast. 

We had soup and grilled fish for lunch. While we were eating Ralya told me that her sister would come right this evening to start my Magic lessons. I had my reserves about what I could be really able to do, but I was fairly hopeful. I thought it was obvious that my first target was to overcome my primary drawback: my lack of a deep Spirit reserve. I was feeling abnormally tired for the hour of the day, and so I told Ralya, thinking that maybe it was due to the morning training being fiercer than I could imagine. 

She smiled and said, "You still haven't noticed after two days in this world, dear? Well, I think it could be hard to notice if nobody tells you. We count seconds, minutes and hours the same way as you do, in multiples of sixty. But the days here last twenty-eight hours. Right now we are in the season where the proportion between day and night is the same, but the longest day of the year has nineteen hours of light. Now that we are talking about this topic, weeks have eight days: one for each one of the seven gods and the last one for the rest of the Lesser Races. Every month consists of exactly four weeks and the year has fourteen months, because each God took two months to bring a piece of land from the depths of the sea and populate it with the race they had created." 

"Interesting, we measure the years based on the time it takes the Earth to revolve around the sun. So each season always occurs on the same months. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter." I said, choosing a pragmatic approach at the fact that I would have to get accustomed to longer days and nights. 

"Oh, here it happens the same. But the seasons come in a different order. Summer ends with a huge snowstorm that marks the beginning of Winter, then the snow melts and the evaporation of that water brings the rainy season, that produces the necessary changes on the soil to start the Spring." 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 03



That's how my lessons about the basics of this world started. I learned things that surprised me just for how similar they were to the common knowledge of the Earth. We were talking about this kind of thing when the biggest surprise of the day came. Ralya was explaining about the cycles of certain things in the world when she said, "The number of days in a month come after the number of days that take the two Moons to join completely. By the way, my sisters Nera and Melfa were named after the Moons." 

I interrupted her without any bad will to say, "That's why yesterday Nera was dressed in green and Melfa in pink, right? Like the moons. By the way, how does their relationship with your brother work?" 

Ralya sighed before answering, "I suppose there is no point in delaying this lesson about protocol. Remember when I told you about the influence my father was about to gain through our marriage? Well, each Household in the nobility of this world gains political, economic, military and sometimes even religious influence through marriage. More often than we'd like, there are Household Wars that can't be supported by the government because it might lead to favoritism suits or international conflicts. To answer your question, my brother is married to both Nera and Melfa, because this way he gets double the support from their family in case his Household is attacked in any way." 

I was so surprised that it took me some minutes to speak again. Even with her obvious nervousness, Ralya waited for me to swallow the new information. "So... Polygamy is legal in this whole world? And you are telling me I have some kind of obligation to perform it?" I know it would be the dream of many men to have a harem of their own, but I stopped to think about it the other way. If one wife can drive you crazy, what happens when you have three or more? Also, I remembered my conversation with Ralya in the balcony the night before. Taking not one, but several women as wives because of political and economic reasons? Can a family be happy like this? 

"It is not only legal, it is a widely accepted fact in the Nobility of all the Seven Races. I know you have your doubts about this, I have them too. I already think of myself as your woman, and I don't like the idea of sharing you. But if we stay this way, anyone bold enough to make a move on us can use threats or any other tactic to force us into using our resources on their benefit. For example, if we lost a Household War they could..." Her voice started to quiver. "They could force me into bearing a child from one of their men." She was on the verge of tears. " So their blood would mix with my father's and they would gain advantage from your position in one fell swoop." She drew a deep breath and continued, "It would not be the first time someone has gained access into a ruling family that way." She cast her eyes down and could not look at me. 

I stood up to go hug her, but Merita stepped forward. I don't know what kind of face I was making, but she stepped back and lowered her head. I brought Ralya's head to my chest and stroke her hair to calm her down. "We'll build a strong Household so nobody will touch you or our loved ones, but the thought of marrying other women besides you makes me feel like I'm being unfaithful to you." 

When she heard that, Ralya sobbed against my chest and said, "Thank you for always thinking about me first, dear." I just held her tightly while Merita kept her eyes cast down and allowed it. After a moment, she pulled herself together and looked up into my face. "What do you think about leaving this topic aside until the day after our wedding? After all, the unbreakable rule is that no one can attack our Household until one year after you've taken your First." She pinched my butt playfully and said, "That's me, in case you were wondering." 

Then we went onto Geography lessons to keep our minds off from more bitter topics. Luckily to my memory, the landmarks were not as much as I had expected. This wasn't the Lord of the Rings, where every mountain, river, hill and almost every freaking stone had a proper name. 

Ralya was fighting to get into my head the list of the mountains around the city when the doorbell rang (literally, it was a bell by the door) and Merita went to open it and came back followed by Zirilla. The first excused herself and went to the kitchen to bring drinks and the second walked to me when I went to greet her. That's when I noticed she was bringing a staff crossed at her back and a long package in her arms. She presented it to me and said, "My husband asked me to bring you this as a token of apology for his behavior this morning. It comes directly from his collection of war trophies. He says that its previous owner would have been no match for you, but you'll have to torture him to get these words directly from his mouth." She said that last part chuckling and Ralya went to greet her sister before excusing herself to let us alone based on some urgent task she had to finish within a pair of days. 

Zirilla giggled while I unwrapped what at first sight looked like a common steel scimitar, but then I unsheathed it and noticed the glowing symbols on the blade that surrounded the green crystal embedded near the hand guard. "The details you are admiring prove that the sword has already been synthesized, so this present also serves the purpose of equipping you for our lessons. Anything you want me to clarify for you before we start?" She sat down keeping a hand on her staff, which had a head shaped as a spider made of bones with a purple jewel at its center. 

"Well, there are so many things that I don't really know where to start. How about we start by talking about a way to overcome my main problem, my small Spirit reserve?" I offered. 

The pale Elf leaned forward and asked back at me, piercing me with her red eyes, "Why do you think there is no one who excels at both physical and magical combat? You can be either good at both or a master in one, not a master of both at the same time. The reason is simple: the time you spend mastering one is time when you lose practice in the other." 

I took a sip of the tea cup Merita had brought and answered, "I suppose it makes sense. I had hoped there would be a fast way, like when I used my Spirit to the point of fainting yesterday. You know, when you exercise a muscle for the first time and you get cramps the next day but later it gets stronger." 

She sighed and said, "Yalgir told me about that, and I can't say you are totally wrong, but don't ever try that again. That way you strain the physical channels that move your Spirit through your body to the point you may even end up breaking them. If that happens, not only you will be unable to use Magic again, but you won't be able to put your force of will into physical efforts. The base of this problem lies in your total lack of knowledge about magic, it is like..." Zirilla left the phrase unfinished. 

"Like teaching someone from a different world where Magic doesn't exist?" I finished for her. 

Zirilla answered angrily, but in a way it was obvious she was just playing. "You don't have to get sarcastic. For example, your people don't even understand the Tower of the Worlds. Don't you find it odd that you could send your big vehicles through the steps of the tower? You may think that those flying machines could fly along the outer wall of the tower, but what about the others? The answer is that once you cross a Gate, everything is just energy. The tower is a 'Concept', an image that provides you with every stimuli needed to convince you that you still have a material form in order to prevent your energy from dispersing, what would amount to death. You can even use tools or weapons. Drivers of big, terrestrial vehicles saw another Concept to guide them, and those who guided flying machines saw yet another different one. This illusion can go as far as providing you with physical sensations to keep you on the right path. You felt exhaustion and pain, but you can even fall asleep or lose consciousness. The biggest fail of the concept is that it makes violence and even killing people possible." 

She shrugged her shoulders and drank from her cup of tea. "Well, that is more general history or theory than usable Magic. After all, I've been called here to teach you Summoning Magic. Call your Familiar, we are going to start from the 'Silent Link'. That is a passive ability that will give you access to the five senses of one of your Familiars at a given time, as well as allowing you to speak to them and give them orders even if they are away from you. When you gain your second Familiar, you will notice that it's impossible to use Silent Link with both of them at the same time. You can only focus your mind on one of them at a time." 

That's how my Magic lessons started. Under Zirilla's guidance, I started to practice the most basic exercises for the most basic skill of my branch of Magic. After three hours, I got under control the basic hints to speak telepathically with Turak. The next step was the synchronization of our senses, though it wasn't at all an easy task. I was supposed to close all of my senses and send my mind to the body of the Familiar I had chosen as my target. After more than an hour, I got a black and white glimpse of the reception hall where Zirilla was looking at me. I didn't like at all my own appearance with that strange look of concentration I was making. I kept trying, with few and slow improvements, until my teacher called it off for the day and excused herself to go back to Errom's house. 

We had a light dinner and Ralya and I sat down together at the tea table in the reception hall of the house to have a tea and talk until the time I was "imprisoned" in my room. We just spoke to each other about our respective childhoods. That's how Ralya learned about the lonely kid I had been and I learned about how she had been separated from others by her father's position. She told me that at that time she was apart even from her brothers and sisters because she was born from one of Errom's Seconds and her mother had died giving birth to her. She had the choice to decide which one of them would be saved, and she made the decision to give her life for her daughter. The way I see it, Errom's other wives saw him suffer that loss and vented their resentment on the small girl Ralya was at that time. A kid should never be submitted to hardship for the decisions taken by her parents. 

Sitting in her corner, Merita had started nodding, so she stood up and said, "Master, it is time to get going to bed. I know you two are getting to the interesting part, but even lovebirds have to go sleep, right? Hu-hu." She must have been very tired to just cut to the chase instead of speaking endlessly as she always does. 

As I entered my bedroom I heard the lock closing behind me. I hovered my hand over the crystal embedded on the wall and the lamp of the room lighted on. Yes, in this world there were many kinds of devices that were similar or equal to the ones we use in our everyday life, but made with Magic instead of technology. For delicacy's sake, I'll say that there are sanitary installations, but I don't see the point or need for describing them in-depth. 

I started to undress to go to bed and I vaguely noticed that my training clothes had been washed and were waiting for me on the chair, and my new sword had been deposited under the bed, in a point where I could easily reach it. I had an idea and just before going to sleep I sent Turak to Ralya's window and tried again that thing of peeking through his eyes. I could more or less see Ralya still awake... sewing? She was working on a piece of black cloth with focused intent. "Whatever you're doing, don't strain yourself too much, honey," I mumbled, and then Ralya looked at the window, screaming and hiding her work. I noticed too late that Turak had cawed to her trying to relay my message. 

At this time of the year, night was longer than any span of time I had spent sleeping in one go, so I had no problems with waking up in time for breakfast. The drawback was that I had to withstand Ralya's scolding for using Turak to peep on her the night before. This time, she was the one who guided me to the training grounds, where we went our separate ways to train with our respective groups. Just like the day before, I spent hours practicing different moves, Power Thrust and Power Slash included. 

I was doing the exact same poses endlessly when I decided to stop for a minute and ask my teachers, "Why the same basic moves all the time? I think I have them well enough to start practicing movements in two steps or combinations." 

Oner patted my shoulder and told me, "I understand your eagerness, little brother, but you must learn to stand firmly on your feet before you try to run." 

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "I think I have a slight idea of what you're talking about, but could you be clearer?" 

He said with a smile, "I mean that you can't learn advanced material before you practice thoroughly the lessons they are based on. To ease your eagerness a little, today we are going to increase your repertoire of choices by having you decide which will be your 'Battle Stance'. There are three basic stances: Defensive, Offensive and Evasive. I think the names are self-explanatory, so I will just tell you that later on, they divide into stances that focus on more specific types of combat." 

Yalgir added to the lesson, "Also, for every warrior comes a time when they chose their inclination, or better said, the way they manage their emotions in combat. Well, I say 'choose' but the truth is that most of the times it depends on your basic nature. What I'm talking about is the moment you start learning skills to take advantage of that nature. The two possibilities consist of becoming either an 'Inner' or an 'Outer' warrior. Outer warriors, like me, are those who let their rage explode in controlled outbursts during combat to gain physical proficiency and Inner warriors are those who make their rage implode to gain upper concentration and reaction speed. Oner is a dangerous opponent because he is an Inner Defensive fighter. That makes him almost a walking fortress. I am an Outer Offensive fighter. Very dangerous too, but the other end of the stick, so to say. Something even more dangerous than me is an Inner Offensive fighter: someone who fights all out keeping the wits to strike the weakest points of his enemy without losing awareness of his surroundings." 

After considering the choices, I thought that if I had been on the defensive the day I arrived I would be dead, so I decided to choose the Offensive Stance. That made a strange glint shine in Yalgir's eyes. Thinking about my theory that he was training me to fight me, just like a farmer fattens a pig to eat it, I think he was expecting me to become one of those 'Inner Offensive' fighters he admired so much. Yalgir took again the turn to teach me because he was the perfect choice: he also used a curved sword in Offensive Stance. He was as harsh as yesterday, beating me to correct my mistakes until Oner told him half jokingly that he was going to kill me before I could improve enough to have a decent spar with him. 

After that, I was able to escape and have a time of relaxation before my final sparring session with Oner before the time to leave. I drank from the fountain close to Ralya's training zone and took out my shirt to inspect the points where Yalgir had beaten me the hardest. I had many bruises, although some of them where small and they were fading already because I had suffered them the day before. 

Ralya came to greet me and "suggest" me that I put on my shirt again, and promised to have a serious talk with Yalgir about his lack of self-control. Then, after a moment of silence, she asked, sort of hesitatingly, "That was a good move you taught us yesterday. Do you know any others that might be useful in our training?" 

I had already considered it and answered, "Most of your moves are upper body attacks. Would you like me to teach you a pair of leg moves?" She nodded with a smile and I took the basic defensive stance and explained to her, "This move is called 'Kao loy' and basically, what you do is grab your enemy's head or neck and jump with all your strength to hit your enemy in the face with your right knee. It is very useful, for example, if your enemy tries to grab you." I jumped two or three times to show her the right form and then went on to explain to her the other move. "This one belongs to the same Martial Art, and is called 'Yan Erawan.' When an enemy rushes to you, you receive him in an unguarded stance to blow a knee-kick on his chest, where the heart is located. Combining the force of this strike and the power behind the opponent's speed, this attack is powerful enough to stop an unarmored person's heart on impact, even without adding Spirit to it." 

"Hmmm it sounds like something useful, dear. I will try it as soon as possible, but... I see that the starting stance for these moves is different to that of the one you taught us yesterday." Answered Ralya with a doubtful look. 

"That's because the move yesterday was from Karate, the ones today belong to Muay Thai. This style is different in the point that it wasn't intended just for self-defense, it uses mostly knees and elbows because it was devised to kill enemies on the battlefield." Before she could answer, I kissed the tip of two of my fingers and touched her lips with them, saying, "Sorry, but your brother is calling for me. We'll meet again at lunch time, sweetie." 

Oner was merciful with me and in consideration of my state, he passed from actual sparring and taught me about tactics and strategies. One of the things he tried to make me understand was the cold feeling you have when you realize you are fighting someone you can't overcome. He tried to teach me that nobody is perfect and, even if my enemy is better and more experienced than me, I can always find a way to surprise him or exploit even the tiniest opening in his guard. 

Back at home, Ralya and I had lunch without any inconvenience and went to the hall to retake my lessons. To my despair, this time it was a lesson in history, with a long list of dates, battles and names of kings and queens. I learned that curiously, all Elves practiced retirement, even the governors. The custom was that if an Elf had a successor, the Elder would retire when their hair became white. With Oner being an adult man, the direct successor and the son of his First wife meant that Errom had a dozen of years or so before his son took his place, unless the Hierarch died or someone overturned him. 

We were having a conversation about the different kinds of governments in my world (she found Democracy strange and Communism outright stupid) when the doorbell rang like the day before. Instead of Zirilla I found a messenger who handed me a small package and excused himself. I opened it to find a book and a letter. The letter was from my teacher in Magic and basically it said that she wasn't able to give me lessons today because she had to attend a political meeting with her husband. It also said that the book was a present for me: a copy of her first manual of Summoning Magic, and that I had to read the introduction and the first chapter to prepare for our class the next day. The note emphasized that I wasn't allowed to try anything on my own, I could only read it. There were also some simple exercises to improve my ability manipulating the Silent Link with Turak. I invited Ralya to stay with me and work on whatever she was doing while I did my "homework" but she refused, mumbling some excuse I wasn't able to hear while she went upstairs. 

Many of the terms in the introduction were completely alien to me even with the help of the linguistic treatment, but the first spells in the book were pretty easy to understand. Later, Turak and I played something similar to a game of riddles: he had to stare at something out of the reach of my senses and I had to find out what it was through our bond. It got so frustrating that I ended giving up and picked a History book from the shelf. Maybe I could memorize it better if I thought of it as a fantasy novel. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 03



I was reading the records of a war between Elves and native Humans (I make this distinction to point out that they were humans from this world) sixty years ago when Ralya came down the stairs. We dined and chatted in harmony, having an enjoyable time punctuated by Merita's fun and long intermissions. In contrast with the night before, we vowed to talk about happy or funny memories from our pasts. Time flew by until we finally had to go back to our rooms to spend the night. 

The next morning started more or less like the one before, but with a slightly different breakfast. The difference was that today, Ralya and I went to the training grounds arm in arm, her ears a bit lowered and a slight blush on her cheeks. 

Today, they sent me a special teacher. Yalgir was teaching me the uses of the curved sword and the Offensive Stance, while Oner was helping me to practice combat. During the evenings it was Zirilla who taught me Magic, but up to now, I had nobody to teach me the use of the armguard. That was solved when Oner asked somebody else to come and help me. He took Yalgir aside to fight his impatience in a pretty literal way and I was left alone with Silna. It felt awkward having to be so close to her knowing she had volunteered to marry me and she had been dumped. It also made me feel guilty as if I had betrayed her, all of the previous mixed with some kind of longing towards her I couldn't resolve. What was happening with my feelings? At this rate I'd end up needing professional help. 

Back to the sweet Sil, I noticed that she didn't look as bright and cheerful as the first time I saw her. In fact, her eyes looked red and swollen, like a mix of crying a lot and not getting enough rest. In a monotone way, she explained me the two basic skills of the armguard: the Guard Punch, an attack to stagger the opponent with a chance of stunning him and the Guard Haste, a skill to increase temporarily the speed of my left arm to have more chances of blocking with my armguard. 

The awkwardness of the situation seemed to be escalating, so I tried to talk with her. "I didn't know you had mastered the armguard. If memory serves me right, you were fighting with just your spear against the Orcs the other day." 

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It was Honor Guard Duty. In those missions we have to wear a specific set of equipment, even if it goes out of our range of expertise. I had to leave my armguard, Bruen usually fights with pole weapons and my brother preferred rapier and throwing dagger instead of straight sword and shield. I still think it is idiocy to prioritize looks over battle power, but that's how old rules work." 

I totally agreed to that, but I didn't dare to say anything for fear of offending their customs. A person can criticize his own country but will defend it when a stranger does the same, I have experienced it. After one more hour, we took a rest by the farthest fountain of the field. It was starting to pain me to see her in that unhappy condition, so I took her hand and told her, "I don't like to see you like this, so if there is anything I can do to help you, then tell me. I know it must have been hard to lose your brother, but no matter the kind of relationship you had with him, I don't think he would like to see you in this state." 

She left out a broken laugh and looked at me with a crooked smile. "My brother is part of the problem, but most of it comes from you. I suppose nobody has taught you about the 'Impetus'. Am I right?" 

Against my silence, Silna kept speaking. "That is what we call an ancient natural mechanism we had for natural selection during the first centuries of our race. It helped the first Elves to recognize the best possible mates, but it faded with time, although even nowadays it happens from time to time. You could say that it is something similar to love at first sight, but refined and powered by Magic. When the Impetus strikes you, it's like a giant hand enters your chest and pulls your soul towards the person you're looking at. There are documented cases of people who lost the capability to Bind to anyone but their desired mate." 

Her voice had started to tremble and tears flowed down her cheeks while explaining this. "I offered myself to be your First Wife because that's what I felt as soon as I saw your picture. When we met, I tried my best for you to like me. But in the end, you are betrothed to Van'Ralya. I can understand that she approved you and her father made use of his authority to set everything for his benefit, but it pains me to imagine you both... together." The gestures she made with her hands left no doubt of what kind of "together" she was thinking about. 

She took me completely by surprise. She was like that for me? I admit that at some point during our training that idea crossed my mind, but I had not dared hope it would come true. I tried to not be so conceited as to let it go to my head. 

She covered her hands to not let me see her crying face with her ears completely lowered back, but even with that her tears fell from between her fingers and her shoulders convulsed with her sobbing. Examining my feelings, I made a decision that most likely would bring me nothing but trouble. I held Silna against my chest and started to stroke her back to calm her down. She tried to rebel at first, but in the end she left herself go. When she calmed down enough, I told her, "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but would you settle with being my Second? My wedding with Ralya is already arranged, but I want you to know that I felt drawn to you from the first time I saw you, greeting me with that broad, bright and sweet smile of yours." 

That made her cry again, and I had to wait for her to settle down again before I could finish taking out what I had inside. "Ralya and I have made a pledge to not speak about Seconds at least until the day after our wedding, but if you agree with this I'll do what I can to convince her. But this is making me crazy. The feelings I had for Ralya are unchanged, but the more I look into my heart, the more I notice my feelings for you are similar." I rubbed my temples to ease the headache I was starting to feel. 

Silna rubbed her nose against my cheek and said, "Maybe it is confusing for you because you come from another world, but here it is normal. We have a saying: 'The Heart of a House is a labyrinth with many exits'. It means that the Head of a Household can direct the same feelings to all of his partners, that's why multiple marriages work so well. There is no jealousy or betrayal because everyone's feelings are balanced. The only drawback is that I'm going to have to wait a full month to be yours. Marriage between species needs a different kind of magic and so, it can only be performed when the two moons join. Also, I don't think Van'Ralya will give you problems. You are the Head of your House, so in the end, she'll have to bow to your rule. I just hope it doesn't create a bad start for us. As for me, I don't mind being Second to Van'Ralya as long as I get my part of you." She pecked a kiss on my lips and stood up giggling to wash her face before everyone could notice our situation. 

Just before going back to training, I whispered to her, "You have to keep this talk a secret between us, you can't even tell your family. I want to go and make a proper visit to your House to make the Proposal." By the way she had cheered up, I took notice that asking her to keep it a secret might be almost useless: this girl could be so transparent sometimes. 

After the armguard training finished, it came the time to spar again with Oner. This time, I could defend myself slightly better thanks to the lessons I had received from Sil. It was during this fake battle that, when our swords were locked together Oner whispered, "Well, everything settled with the girl?" 

That surprised me and I almost lost the focus, but I found the will to look at him in the eye and say with a grin, "You prepared this from the beginning. Right, big brother?" 

Oner just grinned back and answered, "Prove it." 

Given that I was still suffering from the bruises I had received during Yalgir's beating the day before, my performance was nothing out of the ordinary, but I think I did well enough until it was time to go back home. When Ralya and I arrived we took turns to go have a bath in the backyard, with Merita standing guard at the door with her training sword in her hand. We had lunch calmly and we went to the reception hall to sit at the tea table to resume my lessons. Today it was a lesson in local politics, where Ralya taught me about the main Households with power in the city. I had a very awkward moment during this session, because she took longer to describe Silna's Household to me. Their assets, their allies, their enemies... Silna's family was one of the three best positioned in terms of economy, politics and military force, including Errom's House. But the way she was describing everything so in-depth made me think of two possible choices: either she knew what had happened between Sil and I that morning and she was hinting she approved of my choice, or she didn't know but likewise she was hinting me that Silna was a good choice as a Second. Yes, I said that meaning that I could have more than one Second wife. 

When I asked Ralya about the maximum number, she just answered, "If you had been born a Noble Mountain Elf, having four or more Seconds would be seen as an attempt to overcome my father." 

Maybe she noticed my curiosity, because she answered on her own my unspoken question about the number of wives, "His First, who is Oner's mother, is obviously a Mountain Elf. She is one of the eleven High Masters in the Elven University of Magic. I don't know if she will come to our wedding because she is very focused on her investigations. It can be that she hasn't come because she hasn't noticed the date, or because we don't get along. 

His first Second is Zirilla's mother, a Cave Elf that is actually living underground with her people. Next is Maiella, a Rabbit A'Jin. She was the link with the A'Jin Race that gave my sister Zirilla the chance to marry Yalgir, but she doesn't get out much because she has delicate health. 

Next is... was my mother. You know what happened with her." She stopped there for a moment, but I remained silent because I wasn't sure if I could help her. I too had my own load of family matters that I didn't know how to resolve. 

"The last one is Zazra, a So'Oren who forced my father into marriage because he saw her without her mask. It was that, or trying to kill each other. Casually, right now she doesn't leave her room because somebody broke her mask while she was having a bath. She got so furious that she was about to kill the terrified girl. My father settled things and the servant has been assigned to a guest house and the mask is under repairs, but she might be out before our wedding." 

To my surprise, I found myself thinking that it must be hurtful to have your loved wives spread around the country. Even if he had two of them here, one of them was sickly in bed, and the other wasn't... available to make him company in official events. Only two of five close to him, one of them dead, and the other two away on their business. Maybe this world was starting to affect me in ways I couldn't notice because my father's situation made me sad. We focused on the lesson to keep bad thoughts away. 

Zirilla came at the same time as the first day, and she came making two announcements. First, we wouldn't be doing training or theoretical lessons the next few days because of preparations: we had to prepare for the dinner with formal exchange of wedding gifts between Ralya and me, and we had to start preparing the wedding too. Her second announcement was that the Magic lesson today would take place in a specialized area of the training grounds. Like the day before, Ralya excused herself and went to her bedroom to work on her mysterious project, and Zirilla and I went to keep on my lessons. 

We arrived at a place called the Greenhouse, because it was made of some kind of crystal with the quality to disperse Magic energy. Zirilla explained me that it was impossible for this material to block advanced magic, but it was a good choice in order to keep apprentices from wreaking havoc if they messed up. When we entered, my first task was to call Turak with my mind to have a look over the lessons of the first day. Taking over Turak's senses was still difficult for me, so we kept practicing that until Zirilla came up with the clue an hour after we started. I was trying too hard, the trick was to think about Turak's body as my own. Working from that advice, it took me no time to use my Familiar's five senses. I could even try to make him talk like I did at Ralya's window when I was half asleep the night before. Now that I controlled the basics, I was able to order Turak to use his electrical powers when I needed, but Zirilla wanted to level up and taught me the most important of the basic spells of the Summoning Magic: Heal Servant. 

After several tries, while the golden glow of my sword faded, Zirilla told me, "It seems that you have the basics right, but it's not like we're going to start wounding your familiar to try out how well your spell works, and we don't have time today to show you a basic Calling Spell. So, instead of that, I'm going to teach you an offensive ability called Transfer. With it you can transfer one of your Familiar's main powers to your sword and feed it with your spirit to fortify it during one use." 

The next two hours, Turak and I practiced the way he had to perch on my right shoulder and then, using the Silent Link, have him send his electrical powers through my arm to the sword. The next step was to feed that power my Spirit and then throw it to my target. The first tries were slow and my attacks always missed, but with practice I was able to perform all of the steps faster and get a better accuracy. Things went well and I was even starting to have fun throwing lightnings with my sword when I had to stop because I was getting dizzy. 

My teacher came to have a look at me and then scolded me, "You are using too much Spirit too fast. Take care of yourself better, understood? You must learn to feel your Spirit reserves to manage them correctly. Training is over for today. As I said, the coming days all of us will be busy with the wedding arrangements, so you won't have time for lessons. These first three days have been just to let you get a first approach to our lifestyle. Tomorrow morning you will receive your rings and a tailor will come to get your measures for your wedding suit. My father has said that you must start wearing your Household ring the moment you receive it." 

"Good, I'll do it. By the way, do you know if that thing of the measurement will take long? I have an appointment at the Western gate two hours before lunchtime." 

Zirilla frowned and said, "An appointment? With who? And how did you get to do such a thing?" 

I got surprised at her tone, so maybe I got a little defensive. "The other day at the party, one of the nobles told me he'd arrange a meeting with the leader of a group of Dwarven merchants so they could get my measures in case I wanted to ask for Dwarven armor as my Wedding Wish. By the way, I'll need a guide and maybe a carriage." 

Zirilla thought about this for a moment and then answered, "I'll ask for the preparations to be done, but you will take Turak with you and the carriage will have an additional guard to escort you. This is not negotiable." 

I felt suspicious; her attitude was far beyond from simple worry. She was acting paranoid, or she knew something she wasn't telling me. "Are you hiding something from me?" I asked directly. 

She answered with a very good Poker Face, "Let's just say that not everyone who smiles at you wants to be your friend. Don't be naive, Brandon. There are many people who don't want you here, and others who want you dead in order to prevent you from getting in their way. In any case, you will be well guarded and in a public place tomorrow, so there's no reason to not enjoy your first visit to the Commercial District. My father asked me to give you this, but don't spend it in one go or let vendors swindle you." 

Saying this, she gave me what seemed to be the archetypal bag of coins. I opened it to take a look at the content when she told me, "Notice that there are two kinds of coins. The reddish ones are Elven Crowns, internal money from this country. The golden ones are Sevenths, the unitary coin of this world. We have provided you with both currencies because non-Elven merchants don't accept local coin. Well, that's all for today. We'll resume your classes after the wedding." 

We went to the carriage that took us from the Greenhouse of the training grounds to the door of my house and then parted again to take Zirilla back to her father's house. It wasn't until I entered my house that I noticed the time I had spent training. My dinner was cold and Ralya had already had hers and now she was at her room finishing her mysterious task. 

Turak might have noticed something because he said, "Don't worry about her boss, if you two are about to mate, it's normal that she's spending her time preparing the nest. On the other side, I've worked my tail off today, so I expect a good reward. Copper Fruit, if possible." 

When I was having my dinner, I asked Merita and it seems she had foreseen this possibility, because she had already gotten her hands on some healthy pieces of fruit. It had been no easy task, because it seems it had too strong a metallic taste for most people. The good part was that the wood of the Copper Fruit tree was used in making bows and also could be processed into some kind of resistant fabric used in Magic robes and light armors. Maybe it would not be a bad idea to have my own plantation of this material; it would be commercially profitable and it also assured that Turak would be well supplied of his favorite food. 

Not having much else to do after dinner, I went to sleep directly. Not to mention that I was exhausted from the activity of a day longer than any I had ever lived in my world. Even with that, it took me some time to fall asleep. I had that unnerving sensation of having a presence by your side that vanishes when you look in its direction. 

******* 

In the darkest corner of the room, Sha'Zella stared at the Human laying on his bed, dressed in just his underwear and covering himself with the sheets from the abdomen to the knees. She had been following him for three days straight and she had seen him growing fast as a warrior. The first day he didn't even know what class of fighter he would be, and now he was a novice Beast Tamer, an Offensive warrior that used medium armor and curved sword. If the undercover mission the next day failed, she would have to confront him directly according to the orders of her second contractor. The Stormcrow was an important factor in the equation, as it was basically the only thing he could use to overcome her. 

Taking a good look at him, Sha'Zella decided it was a shame she had to kill him. He was more or less as tall as her, but he had wide shoulders and a well built constitution. He wasn't bulky, rather he was a little thin, but it was a slimness with the well-defined muscles of a swift predator. As for his face... he didn't stand out, for better or for worse. 

But she was intrigued by his scars. One on his forehead, cutting the line of his hair. What kind of fight did he have to get such an injury? The inner side of his left wrist was marked with a big and crossed scar. What kind of weapon could leave such a mark in the body? 

The Deyima assassin used her stealthy step to approach the sleeping man and kneel by his bed to observe him closely. Be it by chance or in purpose, he had the habit of sleeping on his side, which meant that when lying on his left side he could reach his sword with the right hand, and if he was lying on his right side, he only needed to half turn to fall from bed away from her attacks. Not like any of those moves would serve him in front of her. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 03



Sha'Zella rubbed one of her horns while she considered the choice of kidnapping the man for herself and telling her contractors some kind of lie to explain the lack of a body. It was a childish thought, but some kind of instinct told her that she would regret it for life if she killed him. On the other hand, there was the fact that breaking a contract without a solid cause would mean breaking the Clan's code, which would lead to instant banishment. 

At first, she had just been intending to study her future opponent's hard body professionally, but something inside her had started to change, her heart rate increasing, her nipples getting hard and her feminine juices starting to flow. She stopped rubbing her horn and her hand crept downward across her body. It seemed to have a will of its own as it cupped a breast and started rubbing the nipple. Trembling, she abruptly forced it to stop before it could go any further. 

With a kind of sadness she had never felt before, Sha'Zella exited the room, sounding quieter than silence itself.



Cultural Exchange Ch. 04



As always, thanks to all those of you who support and encourage me. You are the ones who make this possible.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Comments shaped as "this is stupid" or those who just point mistakes to say "I'm smarter than you" don't waste your time writing them so I don't have to waste my time deleting them.

Kudos to my editor SexyGeek for his help in giving a better shape to my ideas.

Enjoy this chapter, it may be the shortest up to now but it may be the best too. 

*******

Not long after breakfast the next day, the house was assaulted by a swarm of servants and tailors carrying tools and rolls of fabric to prepare wedding costumes, both for Ralya and for me. The women took Ralya upstairs and the men started working with me at the ground floor, taking measures and comparing them to the list of suits they had already stored at their shop. The costume consisted of a tunic and trousers, both in white with golden embroidery, but when I asked about the shoes I was told that it went against the tradition. It seemed very rushed, but in lapse of two or three hours, they had brought the closest pieces to my size and signaled the adjustments they needed. 

I was starting to get dressed again when I was called to the door by a delivery boy. When I opened it, I was handed two small jewel boxes. As instructed by his master, the boy told me to open the black one first. It contained a broad ring made of a black and shiny metal, with a crown of vines surrounding the white crystal with my personal emblem at the center. I don't know how it was done, but it looked like the icon was floating inside the crystal, not engraved on its surface. Following Zirilla's command, I put on the ring the moment I received it. I took a local coin from the bag I received the day before and threw it at the boy, asking him to deliver a sealed note I prepared the night before saying that I was going to need soon another ring like the one I had ordered for my fiancée. 

After dressing myself properly and hiding Ralya's ring, I went to her room to tell her that I was about to leave for my appointment. She was half-dressed in a shiny white gown... and I didn't see anymore because I turned my back on her and started speaking nervously, "I have to go to a meeting with some Dwarves at the Commercial District. I think I'll be back by lunch time."

I was about to leave when Ralya called me. "Wait!" She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Take care, and... what do you think about the dress?"

Just before running downstairs, I answered, "I... I haven't seen it and I don't want to!"

I was at the reception hall when Merita caught up to me. "Master, I might be going too far for my position, but what the Hell did you do? The poor Van'Ralya seemed disappointed and close to tears. I have never seen her like this."

I sighed and turned to face her. "Tell her that never in my life I would try to hurt her on purpose. What's happened up there is just that in my world, one of the traditions involving marriage ceremonies states that the both of us will have very bad luck if I, as the groom, see her wedding gown before the moment of the ceremony."

She sighed as well. "I see. I'll go and try to calm her down. Are there any other traditions we must be aware of?"

I thought about the ones I remembered and listed them for her. The tradition of the four items (Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue ), the fact that we couldn't see or talk to each other the day before the wedding and some more.

When Merita turned back to Ralya's room, I took note to use this visit to the market to buy her something very nice as an apology. When I got out the carriage was already there, with a tall and stoic Elf waiting for me. His hair was dark and very short, and his brown eyes moved from side to side like as if he were looking for threats. He had a strange leather belt with small hooks at the sides to support the pair of combat gloves similar to those Ralya used. He didn't even introduce himself, he just said he was my escort, and my attempt to start a conversation got only short and concise answers, so in the end I opted for staying silent.

The Commercial District was the most cosmopolitan sector of the city. It had the biggest number of taverns, inns and other kinds of entertainment, so it was frequented by merchants, mercenaries, travelers and occasional adventurers. But from the lessons I had received from Ralya, I knew that not always had been like this. A century ago, the countries of the Seven Races were much more closed, to the point that one could even be killed on the spot under the accusation of espionage just for crossing the border. 

That was a time when Outcasts had a much more difficult life because they could be imprisoned or killed for trying to find a job as mercenaries, so nine out of ten times they used to end up forming bandit gangs and raiding towns near the border. Things started to change with small and tentative commercial exchanges that little by little started leading to political embassies. The final stone in the pave-way to international cooperation was, ironically, our attempt of invasion on this world.

When we arrived, the Dwarven caravan hadn't arrived yet, so I proposed to go see the nearby shops and stands. Every time I asked my companion, he only had three answers: good, expensive and "I don't know." I can't say how good he was with his enemies, but in killing the mood he had no rival. In the end I bought a bouquet of flowers for Ralya and a perch made of brass and wood for Turak. I told the Elf to take it to my carriage, adding that we were in an open space in broad daylight so he didn't have to worry about my safety.

As I approached the Reception Plaza at the Western Gate of the city, I heard a sound very similar to that of a steam train. When I arrived, what I saw left me almost as surprised as the time when I saw the Kharnager beast in the woods the day I arrived. There were four vehicles similar to those 'Army six bys' that the U.S Military uses for supply transport, but they were even bigger and made in a steampunk fashion, with big plates of armor bolted to the hull. All of them had broad, metallic tires with spikes to help them keep traction on any ground. Their roofs were open and from the space between the cockpit and the cargo space, they sprouted their own cranes to unload the huge containers and nets of small boxes they were carrying. Then I noticed that the sound of steam engines came from these machines. Are you kidding me? Steam-powered transport trucks? When I saw the short but stout figures striving around the inventions, things clicked inside my head. In many of the stories I had read Dwarves were known for three things: mining, forges and engineering.

That's when I saw the girl. Even though her curly pink hair was tied high, it reached her waist. Because of that, and because her back was turned, I couldn't see much of her, but I was able to make out the big gloves and boots with metal plates that covered her hands and feet. Her right hand was resting on the hilt of a war hammer made to be a two-handed weapon in proportion to her small body. Similarly to the Ram A'Jin from the Arena, the hammer had a side of its head for combat and the other decorated, but this girl seemed to use a lion head as her symbol. Was she playing to be a grown up fighter?

I got closer to her in order to ask if she knew the leader of the Dwarves when I heard her voice for the first time. If she wasn't the only female in the area, I would have thought it came from a grown-up woman. It had a little bit of a deep tone, and she had a strange accent like German or Russian, by the way she reinforced consonants like R, S, F, T or V. But what impressed me the most was what she was saying. "Move your butts, you bunch of assholes! All this shit should have been unloaded by now, but no! You morons had to fight those Orcs like fucking sissies! Hurry it up already if you don't want me to spread your asses open with my hammer!"

Sorry, but this is part of my nature; I'm not very patient with little kids, specially the spoiled and the bad-mouthed ones. I went to the girl to scold her, but then she noticed my presence and half turned to me, what let me see her from her side. She wasn't a girl, that was for sure. She was dressed in something similar to "Gothic Fashion", with those army boots plated in metal and those black fishnet stockings covering her creamy thighs. She was wearing something similar to a Victorian dress with high neck, where she had a white scarf tied in place with a brooch shaped as a lion head, and short skirt. The chest had a heart-shaped opening to show a white shirt with what I call "inverted cleavage." This means that the lower side of her breasts was completely exposed without showing her nipples, and I could appreciate they were round, clear-skinned and that they were around a C-cup in comparison to a normal-sized woman. 

All the previous details, together with the now noticeable traits of her ears; pointy like those of an Elf's but shorter and broader, and her head, hands and feet being a little big in proportion to the rest of her body, told me she was an adult Dwarven woman. Also, her way of speaking to the workers, made me think that she was their boss. I changed my plan from going to scold her to go greet her and ask for the preparations for my armor.

Just as I started approaching her, I heard a "Crack" over my head. A quick glance up told me that the rope of the crane keeping a net of crates suspended up there was breaking. Instinctively I dashed forward and grabbed the Dwarven lady in my arms and jumped away right when the boxes fell behind us, raising a cloud of dust. We landed on my right side, although the soft straw layer of the ground cushioned the fall and I didn't really take damage. We were coughing and when the dust cleared a bit, I was able to see her face close up because her left arm was around my neck. She had a round face, little strawberry mouth, small nose and big, dark purple eyes... the visible one, because her right eye was covered in a smooth plate of black crystal that worked as a strapless eye patch.

Right when I noticed something soft, round and warm with a little nub in my left hand, she snarled at me, "What the fucking Hell do you think you're touching?" Then she started squirming to get away from me. "Pervert! Groper! Rapist! I'm gonna bust your balls, moron!"

I realized that in our escape from death my left hand had slipped inside her inverted cleavage. I took my hand out and stood up as fast as I could to let her go. I was trying to bring up some kind of defense when she came to me and kicked me right in the middle of my left calf. Did I mention her boots being covered in metal plates? Yes, well the tips too, which made me start a one-legged dance rubbing my leg to calm the pain down.

I stopped when I felt the cold metal of her hammer under my chin. "Tell me who are you and why I should let you live for this insult, you retarded prick." 

Right at that moment, Turak landed on my shoulder and cawed while looking at her, "Boss, let me fry her ass!"

The Dwarven woman stepped back, raised an eyebrow and said, "A Stormcrow? Do you have a frigging Familiar? What shit is the damn thing spewing?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Nothing useful. His name is Turak, and I'm Brandon Cooper, visitor from the Earth as a part of the Cultural Exchange program. I came here because I was supposed to have an appointment with the leader of this commercial party involving an order for a Dwarven-made medium armor. I just reacted on instinct when I noticed the net with boxes was about to fall on us, I didn't mean any harm or improper treatment, I just tried save both of us from this accident."

Turak pecked my temple and said, "Accident my tail, Boss! I saw a dark figure on the roof of that building throwing a knife at the rope seconds before it broke. I think you'll be able to find it under that vehicle there. That huge, shiny metallic vehicle..." Unbelievable, Turak was like zoned out, looking at one of the trucks with his beak open and salivating.

The Dwarf looked at us while tapping the floor with one of her boots and said in an annoyed tone, "Did he say something useful this time?" 

I explained to her what Turak had said before going to la-la-land and we went to look for the knife. I found it first but my size didn't allow me to reach for it, so the Dwarf went for it, taking special care to grab it by the handle. She came to show it to me. "See? If you throw a knife at a tense rope, it normally bounces off. But this knife was covered in an acidic substance to eat away at the rope and assure it fell..." she frowned for a moment. "on me? Why? Someone using a Snake Clan assassin to involve me in a Household war?" she said pointing at the snake engraved on the blade of the weapon. 

After staring at it in puzzlement for a moment, she shrugged and turned to me. She gave me a good looking over, and I noticed her glance at the bulging pouch at my waist. That seemed to make up her mind and she said, "In any case, let me introduce myself. I am Countess Tierra Volknarr, from the Hammer Society of the Dwarven Race. I received the message for our appointment. Go look for Roden, he's the Armorer. I specialize in weapons and I want you to get out of my face as soon as possible. But know this, Human: one of us is gonna pay dearly for this crap that's happened here today. You can bet your balls."

Given the tension of the situation, I finished my business with the Dwarves as fast as possible before the incident with their boss became popular gossip. My guard was furious when he saw me again. He rumbled about irresponsibility until I asked him what had kept him from coming back with me, and he answered that a farmer had received fifty Crowns (the equivalent of two days of work) just for stopping his carriage one hour, blocking the entrance to the Reception Plaza. Highly suspicious. That and the figure Turak had seen made me think that for some reason, someone had woven a complicated plan to kill Tierra. Even though with Zirilla's warning yesterday, I still didn't consider myself important enough to promote those kinds of attempts on my person.

Back at home, the offering of flowers got the desired effect and Ralya waited for Merita to go into the kitchen to plant a kiss on my mouth. We had very little time to relax, because the dinner with Errom was going to be at my house. It was the tradition that the exchange of wedding gifts and the enunciation of the Wedding Wishes was made at the groom's house.

The sky was full of gray clouds pregnant with rain when I got out to receive Errom and his family. We had dinner in a calm and friendly atmosphere, without any noticeable event. Oner with his jokes, countered by Yalgir's gloomy behavior and their respective wives scolding them from time to time made the event enjoyable.

Then we moved to the reception hall for the main event of the night. Errom said, "Let's proceed according to tradition. We will start with your Wedding Wishes. You first, Ralya."

She fidgeted for a moment before answering, "Now that I'm going to be First of a Household, I'm going to need new dresses according to my status, and also..." her face went red as she lowered her ears, "I'd like two or three pieces of Deyima fashion."

Hearing that made Oner spurt the tea he was drinking and he almost choked with the fit of laughter. I was about to break a laugh too when I saw Errom's face: slack-jawed with his eye wide open and his ears lowered. To prevent that, I asked, "Has she asked something bad?"

Melfa answered instead of her husband, who was still laughing. "The land of the Deyima Race is full of hot and humid places, so you can imagine what that says about their fashion. Let's just say that you can't make a coin pouch from the skimpiest Deyima dress I've ever seen." Everyone laughed at that except for Ralya and me, who just blushed. When I looked at her, she answered with a slow and seductive wink.

It came my turn to make my wish. "I hope you don't mind me making preparations on my own, but I have already arranged for a Dwarven-made armor."

Errom Grumbled and said, "I'm aware of that, Son. I had lunch with Countess Volknarr today and she spoke about the incident, saying that she will be forced to extend her visit to my city in order to settle scores with you. May I have your version of the facts?"

I explained briefly and clearly how I had saved her and accidentally touched her breast in our fall. "I can understand she's mad at me for touching her, but she should overlook it and be thankful for the fact that I saved her life."

One of the things that surprised me the most was that Oner didn't try to make a joke out of this. Was I in such a bad situation just for touching her? Well, on the other side, I remember Ralya saying one of her father's Seconds challenged him to a death duel just for seeing her face.

Errom went on. "The Countess is not 'mad' at you for touching her bosom, Son. In fact, she said your hand was big, and softer than that of a Dwarf." Oner and Melfa snickered. Yalgir, his wife and Nera looked indifferent, and Ralya sulked, frowning and lowering her ears completely. He kept speaking. "I know this will be hard for you to understand, but she is furious at you for saving her life."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised a hand to stop me even before I could start. "You must know that Dwarves are the most materialistic Race in this world. Even when dealing with their God, they see everything in terms of gain, loss and balance. You saved her life; in her book that means that everything she enjoys, every business deal she makes and even every time she breathes is a debt towards you. We will have to wait for her to finish the business that brought her here to know what kind of solution she comes up with."

Ralya spoke softly to her father, "Could you intervene on his behalf, father?"

Errom closed his eye and said, "I could." Ralya sighed, but her father hadn't finished. "But I won't. Brandon is an adult and he must start solving the issues of his Household on his own. Now, let us go on with the exchange of gifts between Bride and Groom."

Ralya presented me a brown paper package and excused herself, "Sorry, dear. I took so much time making your present that I didn't have the chance to find a better way to give it to you."

I said that I didn't mind and when I opened it I found myself with a long and tight black coat, with embroidery at the shoulders, chest and wrists. The high neck was made of a fluffy white fur, and when I turned it I saw that it had the white hexagon with my black star in the middle of the back. While I was admiring the great job, Ralya explained me, "Even though it looks like a jacket, this is a magic robe you can wear under your armor. I have woven it with a skill to give it the Magic capacity to increase your Spirit reserve."

That surprised me. "You can make Magic items?"

She shook her head and answered, "Only when it comes to soft armors: wizard robes and light armor. Many people who have a combat class are also trained in a productive class associated with combat. Mine is 'armor tailor.' In fact, I made the armor you saw me wearing when we first met. But we'll talk about that another day." She moved nervously with her hands behind her back. "What did you get me?"

I put my hand inside my pocket and said, "I didn't make this myself, but I hope you like it. I have to explain two things to you first for you to understand its meaning. It may seem unrelated, but please be patient." I caught my breath and started explaining, "One of the ways we use to refer ourselves to our world is 'Blue Planet' because three quarters of it is covered by water. Also, we only have one moon, and it's white. The other thing I need you to know in order to understand what this present means is that centuries ago, people in my world thought that the planet was still, and the rest of the universe revolved around it."




Cultural Exchange Ch. 04



I took my hand out of the pocket and opened the box to show her the ring, "See? A Blue Planet with its White Moon. This way, every time you look at it you'll remember that now you are my world, and that my universe revolves around you."

She jumped at me, and she was about to let herself go when we heard snickers and Errom's coughing. "It is getting late and we should go back. Ralya, tonight you come with us. I don't think that a locked door could stop you from visiting him in the middle of the night." Oner laughed at that and we bid our farewells and I went up to put my new robe in the wardrobe while my new family waited for their carriage outside with Merita.

I was looking out the closed window when the clouds fulfilled their promise and it started raining. A lightning bolt fell close by, illuminating the room. That was the first thing that saved my life that night. Thanks to the reflection on the glass of the window, the light revealed the dark figure with short and spiky white hair behind me. I dove down to my left and the wrinkling carpet slid me under the bed, where I could get my sword. I wouldn't have made this if I tried to do it on purpose. That, and my enemy's sword getting stuck in the wooden frame of the bed, was the second thing that saved me. The weapon in her right hand looked like a ninja sword. 

I stood up with my scimitar in my right hand, keeping the sheath in the left. By the shape of her studded leather armor, it was obvious I was facing a woman, but she had stone-gray skin. I caught a glimpse of black horns curving back over her head. Curved lines of an almost glowing radioactive green color with sharp ends adorned her around the eyes and on her bare shoulders like tribal tattoo. 

With my sword pointing at her, I asked, "Who are you?" No answer. "Who sends you?" Her expression remained unchanged. "Why are you doing this?" Not even the slightest smirk on her thin, pale gray lips. Her golden eyes were fixed and hard. Her triangular ears stood straight up, not moving.

She threw a knife at me with her left hand and threw herself to the attack when I dodged. Too close, she had changed the trajectory of her sword in mid-blow and stabbed through the sleeve of my shirt, scratching my left arm. She easily evaded my first sword attack and forced me to block her counter with the sheath of my weapon. She saw my move coming and kicked me away to throw a knife at me again. This time, I couldn't evade because she had thrown three of them in an arch movement. One of them stabbed deep my right leg in the middle of the thigh. My mind was convulsing between the thoughts of "Did she get my femoral artery?" and "How many knives does she have?"

She slid her sword over my next block, piercing my left shoulder front to back. One of the things Oner had taught me struck my heart like an icy dagger, the realization that I was in front of an opponent I couldn't beat. She passed to a full offensive with a series of blows that I was almost unable to block or evade. They left cuts and superficial stabs over my chest and sides. Her face an impassive mask all the time. Had my mind tricked me or did I really see a tear rolling down her cheek?

I was panting and my vision starting to get blurry at the sides because of the blood loss. Then I heard Yalgir's voice in my mind. "Why don't you use all of your weapons?" I made my plan. Now I had a chance at survival, if not at victory. Gritting my teeth to withstand the pain I threw at her the sheath of my sword. She almost didn't have to move to evade it, but she wasn't my target. The metal-ornamented leather impacted the window, breaking the glass and letting in a dark figure that flew to my right arm. "Turak, Transfer!" I screamed, and then unleashed my new power on her.

Turak's lightning struck her, but she didn't open her mouth. My enemy wasn't moving, and then I saw the glow. She was wearing a golden chain around her neck, and the blue crystal hanging from it was absorbing the electrical charge that engulfed her body. She had been prepared for it. I felt Turak leave my arm and fly back outside to recharge from the lightning storm, leaving me feeling more vulnerable than ever. 

I suddenly realized that Tierra had not been this assassin's target, it was me all along. She had been following me. She knew I had Turak's help and she had brought some kind of magic amulet to protect herself from lightnings. I was doomed, I had nothing left.

The door of my bedroom burst open and Merita came in screaming and wielding her training sword against the assassin's head. The gray assassin had no problems overcoming my maid, but that move left an opening I took. I jumped at the woman and, grabbing the crystal at her cleavage, I pulled it hard, screaming, "Turak, Discharge!" My Familiar streaked in through the window and glowed almost white for a second and threw his lightning at my enemy's back. 

She finally opened her mouth, but she made no sound. The reason she hadn't moved a face muscle was now visible: she had been hiding a needle in her mouth and now she gripped it with her teeth to pierce my eye with it. I saw it coming, so I was able to move my face and make it puncture my cheek instead. The electric explosion threw us to opposite sides of the bedroom, finally breaking the chain. I slumped to the floor, my consciousness fading. I knew in that state she would finish me.

My consciousness was coming and going when I heard voices in the bedroom. Errom had ordered their carriage to come back when they saw the lightning hit my house. When I asked about the assassin, Merita answered me. She was bleeding, but it didn't seem to be something life-threatening. Merita said that since I had been the one who held the stone of the amulet, I was completely protected. But the assassin was still wearing the chain around her neck, which saved her from the worst of the discharge. She had regained consciousness before I did and swayed to the window, fleeing into the night. Maybe it was because I wasn't thinking straight, but I told them to let her go. It would take me months to know that she heard me because she was resting on the roof of my house.

Ralya's voice whispered in my ear. It looked like she was crying. "I have never been scared of the dark, I have never been scared from the storms. I have never been scared of monsters or enemies. But now I am scared of losing you. I love you." My cheek was burning. Probably the needle was poisoned. I fell in the darkness.

*******

In the middle of the darkness, I was looking at myself in a black mirror. I had a glowing green spiderweb stuck to my face and neck, and it was growing to cover my whole body. I couldn't move and I don't know how long I was looking at myself, until I saw my reflection blink my eyes when I hadn't done so. Then my reflection started moving without any synchronization with me and got out of the mirror with the spasmodic moves of an insect, but it was no longer my reflection. He still had the same body and face as me, but his hair was long, silvery and waved in the air as if he was under the sea, and his eyes overflowed with something that looked like black fire engulfed in golden electric bolts. If it wasn't for the state I was in, I would have been terrified at that sight.

With a sleepy voice, I asked him, "Who are you?"

He just answered, "Strictly speaking, I'm someone who needs your help, but I'd like it if you could think of me as a friend. Here, a proof of good will." Saying that, he pinched my left cheek and took off the spiderweb, which crackled and vanished.

"What... have you done to me?" I was starting to think more clearly.

"I have rid you of the poison. To be true, I have saved your life because I have seen that one day you will be the only one in the right position to save one of my daughters. Saving her will be good for this world, but it will set in motion events that may end in a second War of the Worlds. No matter your choice, you'll have to fight the consequences."

My mind wasn't getting clearer fast enough to keep up with this. "What? You have seen the future?"

He chuckled and stretched a finger towards my head. "It doesn't matter now. I'll contact you again when the moment is right." He touched my forehead and I lost consciousness once again.

*******

Do you remember when I told you that my mind works in odd ways sometimes? Well, if the conversation before didn't leave it clear enough, the next part should show it even more. 

The next blurry vision I had was of me, unable to move in my bed and my assassin getting undressed in front of me. Some parts of her body were bandaged, but her slim and toned figure was completely appreciable. Her breasts were round and firm, but not big, with a clearer tone of gray at her nipples. She had shapely hips and well-toned thighs, with a small tuft of white hair between them. She said something I couldn't hear and covered my body with hers to start kissing me fiercely nipping at my lips.

She was in complete control of me during this dream, and she started going down my body, making me feel her tongue and teeth along my chest, belly and navel until she got my clothes off to start nibbling my manhood. She looked at me dead in the eyes while sticking out her tongue to lick my shaft top to bottom over and over, lashing at the head with an almost furious rhythm, her eyes never parting from mine. She opened her mouth to swallow my girth and she started bobbing her head up and down at a fast pace. Her teeth, specially her slightly long canines, were grazing at me, but the glint in her eyes told me that she knew and she didn't care. She took my member to rub it against her face from time to time, or to do other kinds of games. She reached an almost frantic rhythm until she suddenly stopped.

The woman started rising along my body again and straddled me, her knees at both my sides letting me have a good view of her most intimate places. I saw that the excitement had brought a flush to her nipples and lower lips, making them a shadow of grayish blue, shiny with moist down between her legs. She started lowering her hips and I saw a drip of her juices trickle down my member when its head started to open her labia. Once the head was in, she started to move her hips in circles, enjoying the sensation until she looked at my eyes again and smirked devilishly. She stopped putting strength in her legs and her weight came down on me, impaling herself on me to the bottom. She screamed in ecstasy and started rocking her hips without raising or lowering herself until she started to move up and down without stopping her sidewards movements. I was not far from my climax after the treatment she had given me, and her increasing pace made me think she was almost there too. She grabbed my shoulders with her hands, increasing to a maniacal rhythm with her perky little tits bouncing around.

She moved one hand to grab at my hair, moving my head to rub her breasts against my face. I felt her pert nipples on my lips and I opened my mouth to try suck them. She stopped moving her chest, moving only her hips up and down to let me enjoy her breasts. I was nibbling her nipples when her lower body started convulsing. I felt her inner walls tighten and vibrate around my shaft and that made me cum uncontrollably inside her. My gray she-devil closed her eyes tightly and screamed her orgasm to the top of her lungs, sticking out her blue tongue and her whole convulsive body clinging to mine.

The next thing I could see was the woman, dressed again, leaning to me for a farewell kiss. That's when I heard her caressing voice for the first time. "That has been delicious, my Lord, but as things stand right now, I can't stay here. I have business to resolve here and at my home, but I'll be back when you need me. This is my oath to you: I am yours from now on and until forever." This time, she kissed me more slowly, as if she was trying to engrave my taste on her memory. 

*******

The dream ended and an undefined amount of time later, I woke up to see Ralya over me.

She was scrubbing the sweat from me with a warm wet towel. I tried to say, "Watch out where you put that thing," or some other funny line, but I was able to just squawk because my throat was so dry. Ralya flinched, looked at my open eyes and then she bear-hugged me while crying and screaming. When Merita got to convince her that she was choking me, Ralya left me on the bed with a glass of water and started talking to me about the recent events while my maid went to the kitchen to prepare me something nutritious.

It seems that I had been out for a day and a half. Ralya told me the woman that attempted murder on me had been identified as a Deyima from the Snake Clan because of her physical traits and the tattoos on her skin, but there was no trace of her except for the amulet they found in my hand and the knives stabbed on my furniture and body. Somebody had sent the chain to be repaired to add it to my arsenal since it still retained its powers. 

Ralya, with bags under her eyes and an exhausted expression, was fidgeting about telling me something. I softly told her to take it out and she explained me that the poison had left a scar on my face, handing me a mirror with insecure hands. There was a slight depression on my left cheek, and the skin at the bottom of it had turned black. It was as if I had a black tear tattooed under my left eye. Perfect, now I looked like a gangster. 

I learned that it had been Maiella, Errom's A'Jin wife, who had spent a long time using her Natural Magic abilities to make me recover the lost blood, as well as helping me to regenerate tissues. Even with that, both the wounds on my left shoulder and right thigh had left scars. Whenever I tried to move too fast or too suddenly I could feel the pain of the magically healed muscles that had been cut. Because of her delicate condition, the task had exhausted her, but given the situation she was the best and probably the only choice. 

I learned through Ralya that the Snake Clan was a Sub-Race inside the Deyimas that specialized mostly in breeding the most skilled assassins for hire of this world. They had a complex and strict Code of Conduct that guided them through life, and murder for personal reasons very few times was seen as something acceptable, outside of self-defense of course. Then the explanation for the attacks was that somebody inside the city had hired her. That had been the reason why Errom would think it was the best choice not to trust anyone outside of his Household at that moment and call for his wife despite her sickly condition.

After that, the moment came when they finally explained the things that had been happening behind my back the previous days. Trying to keep a calm and expressionless facade, I heard how everyone around me, even Merita, had been aware of the threats that lurked in the darkness around me. Had it been the best choice to keep me ignorant of the danger? Now that I thought about it, Zirilla had tried to hint at it the day before... no, two days and half before, the day before I was victim of two murder attempts in one day. In a certain sense, I felt ashamed that they thought so lowly of me as to try and protect me without my knowledge like a little kid.

When they explained to me that the same assassin had probably been behind my first encounter with Turak, I asked my Familiar, "What can you tell me of what they have just said?"

Turak did his peculiar move of tilting his head and said, "I vaguely remember a dark place too small for me to spread my wings and then the intense smell of copper fruit coming from your skin. The rest is all blurry because I went a little crazy for not having been fed in several days and because I don't have the best memory in this world. You know the expression 'bird brain' right?"

So Turak had been used as a weapon to murder me discreetly, and as it had failed, they tried again with the boxes. Then what had changed for them to try directly after such complicated indirect attempts?

Errom came to visit me as soon as he was informed that I was awake, and he told me that the assassin had escaped and the most probable thing is that she was still hiding inside the city while she recovered and waited for the right chance to escape the country. "That part of the threat is mostly under control," he explained to me. Then, pointing to his eye-patch he continued, "Not many people know, but if you defeat a Snake Clan assassin you don't have to fear future attempts from them, although that doesn't save you from former members that now live as Outcasts."

Without looking at him directly, I answered, "Well, the servant may not be a problem anymore, but what happens with the master behind her?"

"That is a much more difficult task," sighed Errom. "The change in tactics between discreet attempts and direct confrontation implies that the one behind this is getting nervous. With the assassin gone our only hope to bring him to justice is to wait for him to commit another mistake. If he is so keen on getting rid of you, we can hope he will lose control and try to murder you personally during the wedding, the day after tomorrow. You don't have to worry, Son, that will be a multitudinous event and there will be almost an army of guards." 

He stood up to go back to his house and let me rest, but I stopped him, "You didn't even tell me my life was in danger. You thought I couldn't even care for myself? Am I really such an untrustworthy person?"

Errom punched lightly the frame of the door and answered with a hard tone, "It was me who took that decision. This wasn't just about you, Brandon, even if you were at the center of it. Would you have stayed with us if you knew there are people aiming for your life? If you had insisted on leaving us because of such a grave matter, it could have damaged the Cultural Exchange program irreparably." 

He turned to stare at me with steel in his gaze. "Don't take this as if I am threatening you, just think about the repercussions at a bigger scale. What if other people did the same thing as you and the program broke? What if all this lead to another War of the Worlds? Can you think about the people who would die? In my personal opinion, there must be something very wrong inside you if you can say all of that is of no matter to you after the bonds you have created here, especially with my daughter and the lancer girl of the House of the Blue Tree."

I had been in trouble since the day I arrived in this world. I had been close to death more times than I was aware of. It is true, I had been thinking about quitting and demanding to be taken back home. But the problem is that I had done the same way too many times: starting endeavors halfheartedly just to quit at the first sight of hardship; moving on while caring for almost anything, even myself; living just on the easy choices and blaming everyone and everything for my failures when the problem had been me all the time.

I felt tired. Not only physically tired, but in a spiritual way too. I was tired of running. I was tired of hiding behind other people or behind excuses. I was tired of not taking responsibility for my actions and letting others pick up my messes. But over any other thing, I was really sick and tired of losing the things I really cared for just for not fighting enough for them.

With my new found resolve, I stared back into Errom's eye and answered, "Let them try on me whatever they want, I won't let them live enough to regret their mistake." I lifted my right hand to show my Household ring. "I swear as the Head of the Household of the Black Star."

Errom bowed his head without losing an apex of his majestic air and said, "I like the look in your eyes, Son. I knew you had potential, but now I am firmly convinced that you will make me proud. In fact I am already impressed at your resistance against verbal abuse."




Cultural Exchange Ch. 04



I shrugged my shoulders and winced at the pain I felt from the left one. "I have been told worse things from people who were more important to me. Let's just leave it at that." Errom nodded and as he was turning again to leave the room, I stopped him again, "Father, I have one more favor to ask you, if I am allowed."

He turned his head to answer, "What is it about?"

"Merita, the maid of this house, risked her life to give me the opening I needed to defeat the assassin. I'm mostly sure that she'll be rewarded in some way, but I'd like to ask you to remove her from her actual position to appoint her as my personal maid."

"I could, but this house is for the commodity of very high ranked guests, so I'm not going to do that unless I can find some to carry all of her tasks at least as well as she does." As he turned off the light of the room, Errom spoke in a soft tone I had never expected from him. "Now get as much rest as you can, Son. You have much to learn in order to be prepared for your wedding." That reminded me that I was getting married in a day and a half and I still knew nothing about the ceremony.

I woke up the next morning refreshed but still suffering a little pain. I went down the stairs using a crutch in order to not strain my right leg, and after a copious breakfast the preparations for the great day started. The tailors made the last preparations with my clothes and I was given a rest while I waited for Oner, who had been appointed to be my tutor in the lessons regarding the protocols of the ceremony.

Surprise after surprise, he didn't come alone. His wives were helping Ralya with her preparations for the wedding so he came accompanied by an Elven woman who looked only a little younger than Merita and a boy of around twelve years old. Both of them had dark brown hair, but the woman had dark eyes and the kid's were blue, like Nera's eyes. 

Oner looked about to pat my shoulder, but he reconsidered it and just said, "How are you feeling, little brother? Sorry I couldn't arrive before, but I wasn't able to find anyone to take care of the kid, I hope you don't mind. But before anything else, let me introduce you to my mother, Eliniel."

"As the Hierarch of the Mountain Elves First wife, allow me to welcome you into our world, our country and our family." The woman had kept her chin high and spoke to me in a cold, monotone way. In fact, her eyes looked cold as stones. From what I had learned about her from Ralya and the demeanor she was showing, she truly seemed to be an emotionless scientist. "I hope we have the chance to have a chat before I get back to my duties at the University. There are countless things I would like to learn about your world... and you." This time, the glint in her eyes and the tone of her voice did transmit something. She wasn't interested in me as a person, but as a scientific curiosity, like some kind of interesting specimen. It was totally unnerving to be looked at like that, and I was so nervous that I didn't know what to say, but in the end I was saved by the most unexpected person.

"Is it true that you defeated a Chief Orc, one of his guards and a Deyima assassin in the same week despite being just a weak human?" The kid had spoken with sparkling eyes, as if he admired me to some extent even though the words he had chosen were a little hurtful.

Before I could answer, Oner intervened, "Hiol, I have told you many times to choose carefully your words when you speak to your elders." Instead of his usual jokes, this time his tone was serious and authoritative. 

The kid lowered his head and his ears, "I'm sorry, father." Then he looked back at me. Somehow, his big blue eyes and his lowered ears made me think of a kitten. "I didn't mean to offend you, Uncle Brandon." That took me by surprise. Not the fact that Oner had a son as much as the fact that he had instructed him to call me "uncle." That moved me in a way I had never experienced before, but it wasn't unpleasant at all. My "nephew" asked me, with his eyes sparkling again, "How did you beat them even... with your difference in strength?"

I copied the tone I had once heard a friend's father to lecture him gently. "Look, Dem'Hiol, physical strength rarely decides all in combat. I beat my enemies by being smarter than them, planning my moves beforehand and taking advantage of their mistakes."

Oner entered our conversation. "You see, son? This is why I tell you to take your training seriously." He looked at me recovering a little of his usual behavior to tell me with a chuckling voice, "And you, little brother, I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to be so formal. We don't use honorifics with children from our own families."

Eliniel coughed to attract our attention and said, "We aren't here for a pleasure visit, we have a task at hand."

Without much more chatter, Oner and his mother started to explain me the workout of the ritual for the ceremony, while little Hiol sat on a corner of the room looking really bored. They started with something I already knew: each and every move of the wedding ritual had an important significance as they composed the structure of a complex Magic spell. We had to do walk at the same pace, move our hands at the same time and even speak in sync because symmetry was an important focal point of the ritual. 

Getting the moves right and on their proper timing wasn't as hard as expected, but the real nightmare was about to begin: I had to sing. Maybe you are thinking that I'm exaggerating, but not in the least. When I was in school I tried to join the chorus, and my audition ended in three seconds. When I was in high school, I committed the foolishness of trying to sing a love song to the girl I liked in front of everyone. She fled and I was showered by a rain of paper glasses. 

There I was, trying to get the correct tones in their proper timing with my face burning red while Oner and Eliniel tried to contain their laughter. Hiol, being a kid, didn't know delicacy and laughed out loud until his father asked Merita to take him to the backyard and entertain him.

It was deep into the night when, with a sore throat, it was decided that I had improved enough to do my part in the ritual without breaking the delicate structure of the Magic involved in it. Not that I had learned to sing, just that I could barely reach the minimum standard. Just before leaving for the fortress, Eliniel gave me a small flask with an ink-looking liquid inside, telling me to drink it before going to bed to prevent hoarseness during the ceremony. I waited for her to turn around and looked at Oner with an eyebrow raised. He covered his mouth to prevent a snicker and nodded his head. It was good to understand each other at this level. He had noticed my insecurity at being treated like some kind of guinea pig and calmed me down.

That night I didn't have weird dreams with enigmatic entities or lustful assassins, but maybe the idea of forming my own family brought back memories of the other family I had left behind in my world. I woke up sweating and panting near dawn and I resolved to take my time and explain my former life carefully to Ralya and to Silna when she became my Second. 

As they say, the moment of the truth arrived. Dressed in my white attire, I walked up the stairs to the chapel with rubbery legs. I'm not sure if that was due more to the lack of use in several days or to the nervousness I was feeling. The great moment had arrived. The music started, the sign that it was my moment to open the door and enter. This was the first trial; my bride and I had to cross the temple to the ceremonial pool without even looking at each other. 

We were at the middle of the way when an uproar started behind us, then a woman screamed, "He's dead!" I started to turn around, ready to protect Ralya, but Errom's voice thundered over every other noise, "Continue the ceremony at all costs! Every guard that is not on Honor Guard Duty go look for the intruder, and send someone to get this body out of here! The rest of you, continue!"

I realized some strange, and probably very important, thing was happening behind us. I wanted to know what it was, and I could bet Ralya was like me, but in Ralya's words, we weren't just making pretty gestures. I had been thoroughly taught that we were performing a Magic ritual, and the smallest failure could break its structure. If we stopped now, we would have to wait a full month to try again.

We arrived at the focal point of the church: given that Elves worshiped their creator, the Goddess of Water, all of her temples had a round pool in front of the altar, deep enough to sink in it to the navel. When we made it to this point, both Ralya and I started singing our parts of the spell turning our backs to each other to circle the pool in opposite directions. We walked a quarter of the way around the pool to turn and look at each other for the first time. No painter, poet or writer could ever depict my bride as beautiful as I saw her in that moment, dressed in white and surrounded by a glowing aura because of the spell we were singing. With the right verse of the spell we extended our arms towards each other and started walking again, entering the pool from its stairs and sinking step by step until we joined our hands. The song acquired another rhythm and the water started to ripple around us, moving up and forming a transparent circular wall around us and over our heads. Then the whole chapel became silent to hear us perform our vows, first me and then Ralya. That was the last part they had explained to me, they said the finale was a surprise.

Together, we intoned the last line. "And I make this Vow in front of my people, with El'Dara as witness." We looked up together... and I saw that the water wall had formed a dome over us, and the inner side of that dome was a beautiful female face that smiled tenderly at us. Ralya kissed me like she never had done before and the water poured on us, making me lose my breath. Not because it was sudden or cold, but because I felt something similar to the Impetus that had been explained to me. Like an invisible hand entering me to grab at my soul and pull it towards Ralya, but together with the feeling of it ripping and being tied with a piece that didn't come from me. Then, with my eyes closed, I felt a glowing sensation in front of me, like a sun that was about to make me cry with happiness. I opened my eyes and I understood that that was how my new sense interpreted my wife's happiness. With my new senses, I saw her as if the first time, and it made me think that I had been half blind until now, to not see all of that beauty in her. I hugged her tightly to me and reveled in the wonderful feeling of togetherness.

After the rite, we went to change into dry clothes and went back to the fortress for our wedding party. I can't recall much of it, mostly because my wife and I were just spellbound by each other. One of the things I remember is when I asked her, "What was that? The water face?"

I knew she was crying with pure joy when she laughed and answered, "The rite we have made together is partial summoning. We have called for a minimal fragment of El'Dara and she has smiled upon our union. She is the one who has tied our souls, making possible that you can stay by my side and live as long as me."

Also, I do recall someone saying that the commotion during the ceremony had been caused by Dodger, the Elf that made trouble at our engagement. It seems that he had tried to attack me but nobody could tell for sure what had happened exactly. In the happy mood we were enjoying at that moment, it didn't seem important.

At certain moment, I noticed a complex feeling emanating from Ralya when she looked at her father's table. Contrary to weddings on the Earth, here the head table of the wedding was just for the Bride and the Groom. This arrangement was needed in order to accommodate the Groom and all of his wives in case he was marrying a Second wife into his Household. 

Errom's wives greeted us in a formal way, but they seemed to keep their distance. As Ralya's new husband, I took it to myself to fix things with her family, for the sake of my wife's happiness.

After two or three hours, came the least subtle moment of all the ceremony: tradition dictated that we had to state it openly when we retired from the party to go perform the Binding. You know, as if in an Earthling wedding, the bride and groom stood up and say, "We're leaving the party to go home and make love for the first time as husband and wife."

We arrived for the last time at the guest house I had been living in and we ran upstairs to the main bedroom. Ralya untied a knot at her shoulder to let her dress fall to the floor and came to open my shirt, popping some buttons and almost ripping the fabric. Ralya instantly gave me a guilty look when she saw the fresh scars on my body, but then she hugged me planting her naked breasts on my chest and started French kissing me right away, using her hands to press herself against my body while I did the same grabbing her ass with one hand and caressing her nape with the other. 

In this guise, we moved to the bed, then Ralya finished taking off my shirt and started kissing and caressing my chest down to my abdomen and she found herself sitting on the edge of the bed right at the moment she started taking off my trousers and underwear. She pulled down everything together to my knees and opened her mouth to eat hungrily at my manhood, with a passion that made her moan as she moved her head. Every time her jaw got tired, she stopped to lick, kiss or nip my member. One of the times she did so, she looked directly to my eyes and when she knew I was looking back at her, she winked lustily and started swallowing me slowly until almost than three quarters of my shaft where inside her mouth, quite a feat for a beginner. That was the limit she had found herself with, and started bobbing her head with increasing speed while grabbing at my hips with both of her hands. Her rhythm was becoming frantic, and her suckling noises joined with her moans to push me over the limit.

Without having time to warn her, I came in my wife's mouth, pouring the load I had kept for almost four days straight. Ralya wasn't moving, and I was desperately looking for an excuse or an apology when she let my member go and looked up at me to show me her open mouth... empty. She suddenly felt shy and looked aside to say, "I asked the most reliable of my personal maids and she said that men like it when we do this..." Her voice faded as she spoke, as if she wasn't sure what to do or what to say anymore,

I said, "I like it. But more important is..." I took her chin to raise her face and said, "I was still conscious when you arrived after the fight. I heard what you said, and I want to tell you that I love you, too." She hugged my waist and I told her, "I'm going to need some minutes to be ready to go on, so I'm going to dedicate them to you."

This time, she lay on the bed and I moved over her to start kissing her lips again while I caressed her breasts. They were firm, soft and warm, with her hard rosy nipples swollen of excitement. I turned my head to kiss, nip and lick her neck, making her moan and shudder when I also pinched her nipples. I didn't take too long to open my mouth and lick at the full extension of her mounds, nibbling her breasts and sucking her nipples. I moved my hand down to untie her underwear and, passing my fingers over the moistened pubic hair, I started to explore the wet and hot petals of her flower of love. She arched her back in pleasure and spread her legs instinctively to allow me better access to her innermost places.

As I found and rubbed the hard nub between her lower lips, making her shudder and convulse, she opened her eyes and mouth, but no sound came out of it. My mouth went down kissing and licking her belly and navel until I found myself with my nose between her pubic hair. The light of the room was lit, and I had to contain a chuckle because it let me see that her hair color was natural. The orange was a darker tone than her head, making it almost red, but it also had a diagonal strand of dark blonde.

Seeing what I was up to, Ralya raised her head and tried to close her legs, totally embarrassed and saying, "Don't, it's dirty."

I winked up at her and retorted with a naughty smile, "Who is the one that said 'It is not dirty if it is for love?' tell me." She closed her eyes and relaxed her legs, what I took as a sign of surrender, and took a first taste of my wife's womanhood. It was sweet. I'm not using a euphemism, she wasn't sweet as candy, but the kind of complex sweetness you can find in a fruit. I reveled in Ralya's taste; sucking, nibbling and licking her lips and lashing at her clitoris with my tongue to make her shudder and contort in pleasure, her hands grabbing my hair and her throat letting out endless moans and screams of pleasure.

I think she was on the brink of orgasm when she stopped me to tell me, "Raise over me, my love. The wedding has made me your wife, but now I want you to make me your woman. I want you to love me with all you've got."

We kissed passionately while I directed my member to her entrance. She flinched when my manhood started to open her, but her thighs tightened at my sides and her hands grabbed my sides urging me to not stop. I entered her as slowly as my desire left me, with a pained expression on my face at the sight of my wife biting her lower lip to withstand the pain. Her moistened heat engulfed my shaft slowly until I found a resistance that popped after increasing my strength. Ralya moaned in pain, with her nails carving into my sides. I felt the heat increasing. I felt it increase to abnormal levels and spread throughout my whole body, to the point that it didn't let me breathe during a moment that I sensed as eternal.

After the strange feeling subsided, Ralya relaxed and I finally could enter to the end. "Have you felt that? The Binding is complete now. From this moment onward we belong to each other in body and soul. There's nothing that can make me betray you now."

With a smile, I answered, "Do you feel this? I'm completely inside you."

Even though she was already flushed, she turned bright red, with ears down sticking to her head and answered, "Why do you tell me something like that?"

I retorted, "You asked me to love you with all I've got."

Instead of saying anything else, she just moved her hips to invite me, and I accepted. Very slowly at the beginning, gaining speed in very small increments to give her the least pain possible. Soon the passion started to overcome the pain and she increased our rhythm on her own. The noises of wet flesh colliding joined with those of our moans, sighs and grunts to fill the room with the symphony of two people in love who each only thought of their partner's pleasure.

My body moving in and out of Ralya's at top speed and her tightening grip on my member marked the beginning of the end for our first encounter. We kissed profusely and passionately, moaning in the mouth of each other, and then she tightened so much that I thought for a second that she was going to pull me out. In the end, I was able to push myself into her to the end and implant her with my seed. We stayed immobile for some minutes, just breathing into the neck of each other and pecking kisses to the lips, necks or shoulders. I was about to move aside to rid her of my weight when she hugged me hard and said, "No! Don't move out yet, I want to keep feeling you inside me a little more."

We stayed like that, connected and contented to be in the arms of each other, until some time later she started nipping and kissing my neck again, bringing my little soldier back to attention. This time we made love slowly, enjoying each second and every sensation our bodies transmitted to the other. I don't really know how long it took us to reach orgasm, but I consider it the most intimately romantic and sensual experience in my whole life. Just before falling asleep, I felt Ralya kissing soundly my chest and saying, "I love you."




Cultural Exchange Ch. 04



The next time I opened my eyes, Ralya was up, with her hair messy and using her discarded dress to cover her front while she looked at the dawn through the open window. Thanks to our new link, she noticed that I was awake and she turned to me with a broad smile of satisfaction and said, "Good morning, Nue'He."

*******

Aventhal was alone at his studio, drinking again when he felt the presence. "You made a Hell of a ruckus, Sha'zella." As always, there was no emotion in his voice.

From her corner, she answered, "I only followed a contract. It was your son who ordered me to make a direct attack if your subtle approach didn't work."

The man tasted his wine, as if he was pondering something, and with a sigh he decided to follow her game. "But you also failed in your direct action, and not only you haven't made a new attempt on the outsider, but you also protected him when Dodger tried to stab his back during the wedding. My personal physician has said that Dodger died from a poison called 'Dragon Kiss.' A nasty substance that confuses the heart and makes it send all the blood of the body to the head." 

Sha'Zella tightened her grip on the handle of the last throwing knife she had left. "Are you going to look for revenge? There is no longer a contract binding us. I willingly took that man's seed in my womb, so now he is my Lord. Your son received what he was looking for when he tried to kill him."

Aventhal let out a long chuckle. "Revenge? I see no use or purpose in that. He was just the bastard one of my widow maids gave me. I raised him as if he was from one of my Seconds because I thought I could put him to good use, but he was an unrefined, self-centered scum who didn't know his real place. I suppose I shouldn't have had many expectations from him knowing where he came from. After all, cattle will always be cattle. Now he is dead and I have made sure his widows and the advantages from their families remain under my control. My main plan remains unchanged, although I could have made good use of the influence and assets I could have gotten from that union." 

He drank again from his cup and asked, "On the other hand, I feel curiosity towards your change of heart. A man beats you silly with lightning and you fall in love with him? Are you a masochist?"

She sighed in exasperation. "It's not masochism; we fall in love through submission, either by submitting to a strong partner, or by being made to submit by a stronger or sneakier partner. That's the main reason for one of the most important rules of our code: never take a contract over someone who has already defeated a member of the Clan. Now I will be leaving to my country to register that my Lord has beaten me and that I have received him inside me to prove I am his."

He chuckled again. "Do you think that he or his First are going to accept you just like that?"

Sha'Zella shook her head. "I said I belong to him, not that this would be a road of two senses. I'll be the happiest if he and his First welcome me in their House as one of his Seconds, but it doesn't matter. If he wants me to be his bitch, I'll bark. If he wants me to be his sex slave, I'll spread my legs when and where he wants it. But watch out," she said while opening the window to get out, "even if he doesn't want me for any of those tasks, I'll be his sword in the shadows. Anyone who tries to hurt him or what he holds dear will beg for Dragon Kiss compared to what I'll be making him suffer."

Sha'Zella was on the way to her homeland, so she couldn't hear Aventhal's laughter



Cultural Exchange Ch. 05



Here we go again, after such a long time. 

First and foremost, I want to apologize to all of my readers for the time it's taken. I've been promising the release of this chapter, and I ended up delaying it for one reason or another. That feeling of guilt, shame and a little sadness has been nagging at the back of my mind all this time. I sincerely apologize. 

Next, I want to thank my previous editor SexyGeek for everything he has taught me up to this point. We started this project together and he'll always be a part of it, something that motivates me to bring it to its end. 

I want to welcome warmly my new editor, Raiguy, and thank him for his help in shaping up this chapter. You too are one of this baby's fathers. 

To end this rant and let you enjoy (I hope) this chapter, I want to thank personally each and every one of those of you who have supported me all this time. This work wouldn't have made it this far without your support; so, please, let me lean on you for a while longer. 

******* 

In the deep of the night I noticed Ralya moving closer to me and letting me feel the shape and the heat of her body. Her head was close to mine, her warm breath on my neck, when a low purring sound came from the bottom of her throat. Those were signs I had come to identify unmistakably since the day of our wedding. Without preamble, I moved my hand between her thighs and caressed her slowly all the way up to her most intimate place to find it hot and moistened. The purr in her throat intensified to a low growl when she opened her mouth to nibble hungrily at my neck at the same time one of her hands went down from my chest to my manhood, grazing my skin lightly with the tip of her nails. 

I changed my position to lay on my side and grab one of her breasts while my other hand increased the rhythm from a mere caress to masturbate her through her low waist panties. Ralya moaned and grabbed my hair with her free hand to deep-kiss me and bite my lips while her other hand entered my underwear and started stroking me, with her thumb caressing the wet tip of my girth. I untied one of the knots that kept her panties in place and touched her secret garden directly, feeling her wet pubic hair when I spread her lower lips with the tip of two fingers to pay special attention to her hard and throbbing nub. 

I reveled in the taste of her mouth and her lustful moans of pleasure. All the while, my other hand had not forgotten my wife's breasts, alternatively caressing and rubbing both of them through the thin, silky cloth that covered them. Her hard nipples were perfectly noticeable every time the palm of my hand or the tip of my fingers passed over them. 

Without further ado, Ralya straddled me while untying the loop that kept the front of her black negligee closed, her full breasts bouncing slightly from being suddenly freed. I raised my hips a little, almost unknowingly, looking for our union while she gently pulled my face to her breasts with a caressing hand at the back of my head. We moaned in unison when both sensations came at the same time; one of her hard nipples pressing my lips and the tip of my hard manhood pressing her lower lips, as if we were going to penetrate each other. 

Looking up, I enjoyed the view of my wife biting her lip with her eyes closed while she lowered her hips slowly to extend as much as possible the pleasure of the moment of the penetration. I didn't move this time, delighted with her facial expression and that erotic, purring sound she makes when she's trying not to scream in pleasure. Once her moist labia touched the base of my penis, my woman let out growling sigh and kissed me fiercely again, moaning and tightening her inner walls in pleasure the moment I grabbed her ass with both hands and the tips of my fingers dug lightly in the soft and toned flesh. 

With a light push upwards from my hips, Ralya understood the message and started to slide her hips up until only the tip was inside her, only to come back down. She started moving up slowly to fall down in sudden moves, something that she knew made me go crazy. In this position, Ralya had a hand by my head on the pillow and the other grabbing my shoulder, moving only her hips with her head turned back. I took advantage of the pose to launch a surprise attack and bit one of her nipples. The effect was immediate: she raised her head to let out a scream of pleasure and increased the speed of her hip moves. 

From that point on, discretion flew out the window and my wife stopped trying to contain her moans of pleasure, increasing her pace even more. Grabbing her ass even more firmly, I started moving my hips as well, making Ralya grit her teeth before letting out a lustful scream of pleasure. With our lust-crazed pace, I could feel Ralya's hand tightening her grip on my shoulder and her hips hitting mine with the lewd sound of sweaty skin. 

"Pour it all inside me, Nue'He," she said in my ear with a hoarse whisper when she felt through our link that I was about to come. I let myself go and the rhythmic contractions of her inner walls gave me the last push towards orgasm, releasing my seed inside her. "So hot..." moaned Ralya with her face turned upwards, her whole body trembling with her own orgasm as her nails grazing my shoulder... before suddenly leaning down to bite my shoulder, letting out muffled groans of pleasure against my skin. 

Several minutes later, when our breathing came back to normal, Ralya mumbled a few words and the discomfort in my shoulder disappeared. "I have hurt you again, my love. I'm so sorry." She said with a sense of guilt in her voice. 

"You don't have to worry so much, Baby." I kissed her forehead as she rested on my chest. "You're passionate when we make love, and I really like that. I can be pretty insecure sometimes so if you weren't so expressive I could end up feeling that you just do it to please me, and that would make me feel guilty." Feeling suddenly naughty, I added with a laughing tone, "Furthermore, if you didn't bite and scratch, I wouldn't have a reason to call you 'my lioness'." 

"Idiot." She answered in a mockingly angry tone while giving me a playful slap in the arm. The light caress I felt on my chest informed me that she had lowered her ears. My experience convinced me that at that moment, she must have been blushing with a satisfied smile. 

Not long after that, my wife moved slightly to get into a comfortable pose to sleep and I moved as well so that our bodies fit together. 

"You should get in contact with her family soon, there isn't so much time before the next full moon," came the quiet voice of my wife, letting me know she had only moved to see if I was asleep or not. I had waited for a few days after the wedding to confess to Ralya that I had had a conversation with Silna about her feeling the Impetus about me and how I had promised her to approach her family in order to get their permission to have her as the first of my Seconds. No matter how much she tried to hide it, I knew Ralya wasn't really pleased with the situation, but she was the first to admit that it was necessary. 

"Are you sure that this is the conversation you want have right after making love?" I asked her while caressing her hair. 

After a silence, she answered in a warning tone, "We can't delay things much more. We are going to discuss this tomorrow no matter what." After pecking a kiss on my lips and mumbling a "good night" both of us fell asleep in the next few minutes. We needed to rest, for tomorrow was to be an eventful day. At least Ralya would say so, if we were surrounded by more people. 

We woke up at the break of dawn and went down to the dining hall of Ralya's house inside the city walls. I know, I should call it "my" house now, but there are so many things to get used to here that I constantly forget about small details. Both my wife and I had chosen comfortable clothes, as we had a two-hour trip by carriage ahead of us. Finally I was going to make my first visit at Ralya's manor properties in the valley outside the city. Again, my properties. 

While I was reviewing some of the reports that I had been studying the last few days, Merita entered the room to serve breakfast. As I was leaving aside the note books to start eating, the maid turned to look at my wife and me from her post by the door to the kitchen and coughed to call our attention. "Master, Mistress, if you forgive my being blunt... I know you two are young and have been married for just two weeks, but could you please lower your tone at night?" she lowered her ears and covered her blushing cheeks with her hands. "Last night your passion was enough to get this old maiden all warm and flustered, hu-hu." Then she turned towards the kitchen and disappeared before Ralya could regain enough of her composure to answer. 

Still blushing, with her ears lowered and frowning, Ralya said, "You should make clear to her the lines she can't cross no matter what. That maid is becoming bolder with the passing of days." 

"Merita risked her life to save mine when I was just a temporary guest at the house she used to manage. Her behavior shows that she's just a cheerful person. "She must have been lonely, working at that house for years, waiting for someone who would end up staying, only to leave after a few days." I answered, trying to put to rest the importance to the matter so my wife wouldn't get so upset. 

Even with that, she pressed the matter. "I can understand that, but even with all that there are boundaries she mustn't cross. It's your responsibility as her master to tell her so." 

"I prefer a friendly relationship with my employees over having personnel that only know how to act on orders. We're not perfect, and sometimes we need someone to point out our mistakes." I had hardened my tone slightly without noticing, but Ralya's attitude was starting to annoy me. This sounded like "class consciousness" talk to me. 

Her eyes widened before she lowered her head to use the napkin after having finished her breakfast. With a monotone voice I hadn't hear her use before, Ralya answered, "As you wish, House Head." 

That answer got my hair stand on its ends at first, but after thinking a little, I tried to get my wife to reason. "Do you really dislike her that much? Or is it just that you're jealous? I told you that we just get along. Also, you must know that I couldn't see her the way you may be thinking, I see in her something motherly that prevents me from seeing her as a woman. One of the purposes of the ring I gave you is to calm your mind when you have thoughts like this." 

We stood up to go out and board the carriage that awaited us, and I could see Ralya's face rife with indignation. "It's not something as petty as jealousy, I find it extremely annoying that that woman shows a level of closeness with you that I don't have, even though I'm your wife." 

Maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation if we had gone on a honeymoon just like any other newlywed couple of the Earth. At least, that's what I wanted to answer, but I opted to stay silent and not press the argument any further, trying to make it look as if I was thinking deeply about what she had just said. 

The day after the wedding, over lunch, I had to explain to Ralya and Merita the custom we call honeymoon, and both women found it something unpractical, not to say useless or just plain stupid. From Merita's view point, that of a commoner, going on a trip right after the wedding was a highly unnecessary expense. On the other side, a noble like Ralya thought it was a waste to spend days idly while she could be reinforcing the position of her Household. It doesn't matter if days here had more hours than in my world, they didn't seem enough for everything I had to do and learn. It was almost a miracle that I found the stamina to make love with my wife at night. 

Because of these two different lines of thought, instead of spending some days of relax with my new wife, my schedule had become even more packed. Together with physical and magical training, my lessons of general knowledge of this world had increased with lessons in economy, politics and a variety of the skills I needed to know to lead something as big as a Household of the nobility. If all the previous subjects weren't enough, I also had to study a heavy quantity of record books accounting the state of affairs regarding the properties I had acquired through my marriage with Ralya. Now I owned crop fields, a windmill and a farm where Gengas were raised for meat, eggs and feathers. 

Along with the economical resources and political position, every Household had its own limited military force, as Ralya had told me before. Namely, my House counted with seven hundred swordsmen and four hundred archers. In the books I had been forced to memorize, it had been included a list of the units, their equipment and their company leaders. It was a little discouraging to know that all of them were poorly equipped. All of them had inadequate light armor, the swordsmen had common iron swords and reinforced wooden shields, while the archers only had their bows and short swords to protect themselves in close combat. I had learned that the number of soldiers and their equipment depended solely on the economical power of the Household they fought for. Being the Hierarch's daughter didn't mean Ralya could be an exception, again because of the possible accusations of favoritism. If I wanted better gear for them my only chances right now were either reducing the number of soldiers or increasing my income. 

That was one of the reasons it was so important to approach Silna's family as soon as possible. While the carriage went down the road to the valley rattling, with Merita leading the horses and Turak cackling happily as he flew over us, I asked Ralya, "I suppose a direct approach would be seen as a lack of courtesy or something like that, so, how do you think we should make it?" 

After several seconds thinking with her lips pursed, Ralya answered, "Silna's lands are less than one hour by horse from mine. We can use a welcoming event for the new landlord as an excuse to invite the neighbors, Silna and her parents among them. Then we'll have an excuse to approach them during the party and invite them to 'have a tea and chat'." 

I smiled and nodded in agreement. "I think that's a perfect plan, we'll go along with it. Will you work it out?" 

She smiled back at me and answered, "No, you're the head of the House now, so it is your prerogative to issue orders. Letting me do so when you are right there could undermine your authority in front of the servants later." 

With a sigh, I stood from my seat to go sit by my wife and bring her close to me, surrounding her shoulders with my arm. "We still haven't talked about your feelings in this matter. I'd bet an arm and a leg that you would prefer to have me all for yourself a little longer." I said before giving her a long and soft kiss in the cheek. 

She rubbed that same cheek against mine before answering with a chuckle, "Then you'd have extra limbs, something I don't want to imagine." She got a little serious before answering, "But this is the way of life here, we can't lose sight of the things we have to do because of the things we want to do. If I could, I would monopolize you for all of our lives, but that would make us ridiculously weak in a Household war. I would lose you and many things more in my attempt to keep you mine and mine alone." 

I was trying to say something to lighten the mood when I felt pain through my link with Turak. I used my ability to see through his eyes to discover that he was fighting a farmer. The pain had come when the Stormcrow had tried to steal the shiny bolts in the wheel of a cart and crashed against it. I saw myself forced to make use of the power of Authority to make him come back and stay close to our carriage. 

"Why did you stop me, Boss? I could have slapped him upside his head and taken those shiny bolts." Protested Turak telepathically. 

"You don't have the right to do anything of that sort, Turak. If you behave the rest of the travel I'll ask for one of the maids to find you a crystal marble when we arrive." Answered Ralya. 

The Stormcrow cawed when he heard that. "You see, Boss? That's a good mate right there, she understands the needs of a man. You could learn from her." Both Ralya and I laughed at his response. Since the moment we were bound by the powers of the wedding spell, Ralya had been able to interact with my Familiar without any additional help. After this we just stayed silent the rest of the trip, enjoying our mutual company and happy to be able to be in the arms of each other. 

Upon arriving at my lands, I discovered that the mansion had been built in a very different style from the houses of the city. The walls were made of fine gray stone bricks instead of the crude blocks used inside the city, with a roof of black tiles shaped as fish scales. Also, the entrance porch with its thick columns that supported an ornately railed balcony and the ornaments encasing the frame of the windows were made in the same cream-colored marble. 

When we got out of the carriage, there was nothing as fancy as a red carpet waiting for us, but it seems that the people in charge of the service had come to receive us, because there were seven maids, seven butlers and one more man, dressed differently, who I supposed was something like the head butler. 

Thinking that the man in question was going to be the one I had to approach when I needed something, I took a minute study him, according to my habit of remembering faces in case I forget the names of people. 

He wasn't as tall as the other Mountain Elves I had met, and it also looked like he was more slight of frame in comparison. Given that Elves aged at a different pace than humans, it was hard to know his real age, and in this case it was even harder because he could look like a man in his mid-forties but his dark brown hair showed no sign of white. His eyes were of a glacial blue color, and when he bowed to greet me neither his eyes nor his facial expression gave a hint of his real feelings or thoughts. 

"Welcome home, Master, Mistress!" I was startled at the sudden greeting when fifteen people bowed and raised their voices in unison. 

I tried to keep my composure and act according to the lessons I had received, so I raised my voice and said, trying to put a tone of command, "You may raise your heads." 

As we walked between the lines of servants, the man in charge came from the main door to meet with us. With his right hand clad in a white glove over his chest, he bowed briefly before presenting himself. "My Lord, allow me to introduce myself as Alerick, Administrator of this land. My duties up to this day have consisted of managing the daily financial aspects of Yuan'Ralya's properties so she only has to bother herself with the most urgent emergencies." I guess he's just used the honorific "Yuan" due to Ralya being the Hierarch's daughter. 

"Thanks for the welcome, Sol'Alerick, you can send everyone to their usual jobs for now. Furthermore, you can tell them that I trust my wife's judgment completely and that I don't plan on changing or removing anyone from their actual position. That includes you." I told him trying to be friendly without losing my dignified pose. 

"You have heard the Master, go back to your duties." Said Alerick to the maids and butlers, clapping his hands twice. 

I called Merita with a gesture of my hand to introduce her briefly to Alerick before sending her with the maids that went to the interior of the house so she could be instructed in their common protocols. She bowed her head and joined a group led by a woman with red hair tied in a tight bun. It wasn't long before the snickers could be heard. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 05



Remembering our plans, I added, "By the way, Alerick, I have decided together with my wife to host a dinner party for the surrounding neighbors tomorrow night. Make all the necessary arrangements, please." 

"And make especially sure to invite Sol'Silna of the Blue Tree and her parents. My husband and I have matters to speak with them." Instructed my wife with her usual haughty demeanor. Is it my imagination or did I really see Alerick's brow twitch slightly when Ralya said the words "my husband"? 

I had been holed up in the carriage the whole morning and I wanted to stretch my legs, so after a brief discussion, everyone agreed to my idea of going to take a walk around the house to see the crop fields and the farm before lunch. That's when I saw a Genga with my own eyes for the first time. It looked like a heavy framed cross between an ostrich and a parrot, with thick and strong legs due to its work pulling carts in the fields. Later at the farm, they confirmed what I already more or less knew: dark colored Gengas were used for field work, while the colorful ones were raised for food and to use their feathers in clothing and ornaments. 

I conversed with many people, both field workers and farmers, getting a good impression in general, but there was something in my mind the whole time. Long ago, when I was living in the Earth, my girlfriend at that time had a male friend she used to turn to when she needed advice and didn't want to ask me. Long story short, I found out she had started dating him not long after breaking up with me. The glares I noticed in Alerick's eyes a pair of times reminded me of the ones I received from that false friend while I was dating that girl. 

What could I do in that situation? It could be that I was just being paranoid, or it could be something totally unrelated. Having him fired just because of my insecurities and my past traumas would surely damage my reputation. I still didn't know Alerick enough to find out the source of his possible jealousy or hate. He wasn't a noble, so he couldn't be in any way expecting to get married to Ralya. 

In the end, while we were returning to the mansion to have lunch, I decided to keep my suspicions to myself as long as I didn't get any definite proof. If I showed myself jealous in front of my wife it could annoy her or even lower the image she had of me, though my brother used to say that women feel secretly pleased if their man is a little jealous about them. 

It was lunch time and, as it was customary between nobility in this world, the administrator recited the menu before having it served in case my wife or myself would want to make any kind of change, like "I want my steak well made" or "bring me a salad instead of soup." 

As neither Ralya nor I had any objection, we nodded our heads and Alerick chimed a bell to call for the maids to serve us. Merita came to my side of the table and the red haired maid from before went to serve Ralya, both under Alerick's vigilant gaze. Once the first dish was served, they joined by the wall, awaiting for further instructions. I tried to withstand it, but after a few minutes I couldn't help but raise my voice. "Excuse me, but I'm not used to this kind of situation yet and I feel awkward eating with people standing around and watching. Could you please leave the room? We'll call for you with the bell when we need something." 

Merita started walking to the door immediately, but the other maid just stood there in disbelief and looked at Alerick. With a tone I didn't like at all, he said, "Why do you look at me? Master has given an order for the three of us." 

The woman lowered her head before me and answered, "Excuse my rudeness, Master." 

As they moved out, Alerick scolded her even more. "You should know better than ask for my permission to obey Master or Mistress' requests." 

The woman answered apologizing in a low voice. "It's just that the order took me by surprise, Nue'He. Don't be so strict." 

Alerick lashed back at her with a low growl, "I've told you a hundred times not to address me in such a way during work hours, woman." 

The poor maid answered with a wavering voice. "Please, forgive my fault, Administrator." 

I felt bad for the woman, she seriously looked as if she was trying not to cry. On the other hand... Those two were married? Then, those things about the weird looks, the jealousy and Alerick hating me for taking Ralya away from him were just my imagination? 

No. I may have mistaken the hidden reason, but I could never mistake a glare full of hate. I've received so many of those along my life that I can almost feel them on my skin. 

The day up to now had consisted of traveling by carriage and meeting the different personalities that managed the main house and the farms. Now, after lunch and a little time to rest, it was time to meet those in charge of the military power of my Household. Meeting each and every soldier would obviously take too much time, even meeting all of the squad leaders one by one would be troublesome, so in the end, those who came to my new house were a total of fourteen Mountain Elves: the eleven Battalion Leaders, each one in command of one hundred soldiers; the two Division Captains commanding both swordsmen and and archers, and the Commander of all of them. The title of General of the Household Force belonged to me as the Head of the Household. 

Hjolmer, my commander, was a stout Elf with a skin even darker than that of the Mountain Elves I had met so far, aside from the rosy scars he showed on his naked arms. He looked like a wise and good natured man. We spoke about questions such as training and equipment for the troops, as well as combat tactics. That's when I told them the little speech I had prepared for them. 

"I'm not going to impose a totalitarian system. I'm not going to say that my ideas are the only valid ones. Even the squad leaders may have more experience at war than me. So if you think you have a better idea than me, tell me. If you think my ideas are wrong, even if you don't have a better one, tell me so I can learn from my mistakes. The only experience I have managing an army is in simulation games, which most likely won't reflect half of the real difficulties this task entails. With your help, we can protect what's ours, be it defensive or taking the offensive." 

Most of my officers nodded solemnly, and some of them even clapped their hands lightly. Hjolmer crossed his thick arms over his equally thick chest and smiled, a gesture that looked scary because of the diagonal scar that crossed over his lips, from the right cheek to the left side of his chin. "You may be young and inexperienced as you yourself have recognized, but you have an important trait for any man who carries the lives of others on his shoulders; you listen to others, instead of convincing yourself that your way is the only way." 

Talking further, he showed himself glad hearing the news about my union with Sil. "She's not a princess, but adding her to your House will mean an injection of funds that will let us improve our equipment. Also, the troops in her dowry include lancers and a corps of Battle Mages. Among her officers are some of the most terrifying tacticians I have ever seen or met." 

We kept talking about possibilities over tea for a couple of hours, during which I discovered that everyone had learned to time their sips with those of Hjolmer to hide their smirks at the fact that he had the habit of lifting his pinky every time he drank. When we decided to call a stop to the meeting, I accompanied them to the front door, promising to visit the training camp the next morning and have a sparring match with some of my officers, Hjolmer included. 

In a friendly tone, I told them, "I won't forgive you if you go easy on me just for being your boss." 

They laughed and Ranbi, one of my Division Captains said, "Don't worry, we wouldn't miss the chance to beat down a Noble without suffering the consequences." This brought even more laughter until they suddenly went silent at the view of the unexpected guest that had approached us during our friendly exchange. My officers excused themselves in a more respectful fashion and then left, bowing their heads lightly at the man in front of me. 

"Head of the Black Star, forgive my rudeness for coming to visit you unannounced," A Mountain Elf with black hair said. Asking from mere curiosity, I had learned days ago that between Mountain Elves, black hair was as unusual as natural red hair between Humans. So that and some other slight similarities told me who this man was. 

"There's no need to excuse yourself, Head of the Blue Tree. Please, come in. Whatever it is the matter that brings you here, it should not be discussed here in plain sight," I said, gesturing towards the house. Upon entering, I rang a bell to call for a pair of servants, one to prepare the library, and the other to go look for Ralya, who should be refreshing herself in preparation for dinner after the exhausting appointments of the day. 

Once in the library, with a light appetizer just served, I took a sip from my glass of wine and waited politely for my guest to start conversing. I was barely able to hide my choking with the drink when he went right in the direction I least expected. "First of all, I wanted to present you my excuses for the unforgivable behavior of my late son towards you, and thank you deeply that you found it in your heart to honor his death despite that very same behavior." 

"Despite his prejudices, Elam found his death covering my body with his. It was the least I could do for him." I tried to ease the mood and take the conversation to the main point, but Morham, Elam's father, pressed the issue further. 

"I'm ashamed to admit that my son was an extremist supporter of the Elven Racial Superiority. Based on the details I received from my daughter, my guess is that he was out of himself arguing with you and that's why he unknowingly stood in the path of that arrow. If the situation had been different, he might very well have let you die right there." 

Ugh, this is turning grimmer by the minute. After thinking about it for some seconds, I looked back at him and tried my best to be diplomatic. "Whatever it was the reason, it doesn't change the fact that I stand here because he saved my life with his. Let's not tarnish his memory any further, do you agree?" 

He nodded his head with a relieved expression, that's when someone knocked the door and Ralya entered the library and sat by my side after exchanging greetings with Morham. 

"The main reason that brings me here on such short notice is the fact that we're receiving a commercial delegation from your world, and my daughter Silna has been approached by a mining company. It looked like a great coincidence that we learned that you are out here in the fields thanks to that invitation for dinner tomorrow night." 

Surprised, I asked, "Excuse me if I look dense, but where do I fit into this?" 

Morham had a sip of his wine before answering, "Well, obviously because you are the Ambassador from your world in this region. Acting as a mediator in disputes and business deals is a part of your duties. We have already agreed to have a tour around the mining zone they want to exploit during the morning. We can meet to have the negotiations over tea and have some time of rest before attending your dinner-party." 

I understood now. With a smile, I answered, "A friend of my grandfather's used to say 'duties are like rabid dogs, if you turn away from them they'll bite your back'. Don't worry, I'll be there without fault." 

Without further ado, Morham excused himself to go back to his house, and my wife and I finally had a little time alone until dinner. Not even after five minutes of cuddling in the sofa of the library, Ralya spoke. "You do know you're being tested, right? From the start of this visit." 

A little absentmindedly, I answered, "So he's going to use tomorrow's negotiations to know what kind of man I am?" 

My wife pressed her back against my chest harder. "Not only that, he tested you since the start of the conversation, the way you answered to his revelations about Elam has raised your esteem in his eyes." 

I tried to feign the tone of a horrified nobleman. "You dared eavesdropping in our conversation! Do you know no shame?" We laughed together, but I asked with a little of worry in my voice, "What should I do tomorrow? If I don't pass his test, it's possible he won't approve of me as Sil's husband." 

Ralya stiffened a little, but then answered after calming down right away, "I think there is no right answer to this dilemma, so you should just be yourself and do what you think is right." 

As both of us were starting to doze off, Ralya and I went downstairs for a quick dinner. The changes my body had went through thanks to my union with Ralya had helped my internal clock to adjust to the longer days and nights of this world, so now I didn't spend hours of darkness turning around in bed endlessly or ended up exhausted three hours before dinner. Even with that, we were both so tired that we didn't make love that night. It's not like newlyweds are doing it all the time, either. 

The next morning, we didn't wake up especially early, and had a breakfast rich in proteins to help us cope with the day that awaited us. Dressed in our training clothes, my wife and I walked to the training grounds of our House and started stretching and warming up before putting on our training armor, obviously because they would get in the way if we didn't do it like this. 

A couple of hours, some sparring sessions and several bruises later, the general consensus between my officers was that I had attained a solid base, although I still had room for improvement. Between the new moves I had learned since my wedding, now I could use my Spirit to dash towards my opponents, hit their legs with my armguard in order to reduce their chances of dodging and two new sword moves called Shoulder Stab, a move to reduce the enemy's attack speed, and Swift Slash, this one being a refined version of the old power slash. Given that at this moment we were doing purely physical training, I couldn't use any of the new Magic-related skills I had learned, but in exchange, this morning I got the gist of a new move to perform three strong slashes in a very rapid succession. 

After barely evading an attack I didn't expect from Hjolmer, I finally called for a break. "I didn't know you could do something like that with a spear!" I told him while trying to catch my breath. 

Hjolmer chuckled and said, "That's because this isn't a spear, it is a pole weapon, my Lord." He grabbed the training weapon with both hands to show me a practical demonstration. "Spear-type weapons can be used with one hand because they base most of their potential in thrust attacks, but pole weapons have to be used with both hands. To put it simply, spears are sticks with a knife on the tip used to stab from distance, but pole weapons have a blade used to cut in wide swiping moves. They have a tip to thrust in single combat, but in the end, pole weapons are basically a weapon designed for crowd control on the battlefield." 

That made me realize even further my lack of real combat experience. I still had much to learn, not only about weapons, armors and tactics for single combat, but also regarding actual battles. According to Ralya, if our Household were to rise high enough in the social scale, maybe I would even have to learn about global strategy in case an international conflict were to arise. Conflicts between the Seven Races were usually mediated an resolved by the Draghans, but in the unclaimed lands the rise of warlords and bandit bosses trying to establish their own nation wasn't unusual at all. 

I was considering these things when suddenly, a group of angry voices reached me from the edge of the training grounds. The sounds of the sparring matches faded as everyone started to turn around in confusion. As I was approaching the source of the commotion, I saw a Dwarf falling ostentatiously to the ground after being slapped. 

Clad in a tight leather dress with tail, her thick pink mane flaming under the morning sun, Countess Tierra Volknarr turned her face to Ralya and bowed so lightly that she looked like she was just nodding her head. "Allow me to excuse myself on behalf of my underling, mistress of the Black Star," Tierra paused to kick the fallen Dwarf in the ribs. "You can rest assured that this asshole is gonna get his just desserts for his rudeness." 

Ralya answered in a more dignified fashion even though she didn't look exactly like a queen being dressed in her training apparel. "I hope you aren't too harsh on him, after all, everyone makes mistakes." Could that right now have gone with a double meaning? 

At that moment I reached my wife's side. Tierra nodded at her before turning to greet me. "Sir, I'm happy to see you in good health." Even though her words were cordial, her tone was cold, and her smile was sharp as a knife. By my side, Ralya whispered something into a soldier's ear, who took out running immediately. 

"Likewise, Countess Volknarr. What do we owe the pleasure of your sudden visit? If you had announced yourself we could have received you at our house in the city with the commodities that belong to a guest of your rank." It's not that I was trying to accuse her of anything, I was just curious. 

She shook her head to negate and answered, "The armor you ordered was ready for delivery, and when I learned you were out here, I thought I could bring it to you personally and settle scores." Her smile became somewhat predatory. "It's just my fucking luck that you're even in the training field and warmed up for the fight." 

"Please, be rational, Countess. Isn't there any way to resolve this matter peacefully? I find it completely irrational that we have to kill each other because I saved your life." I pleaded, trying to make her understand my point of view. 

She barked a laugh and shook her head again, making her splendid curly mane flow around her like a wave of flower petals. "I owe you every God damned instant of my life from here to the day I die, moron. Not only that, my children, my whole fucking lineage would owe everything to you. Even if I were to give you a damned kingdom and an army of a hundred thousand dressed in black meteorite armor wouldn't be enough, and..." For the first time, I saw her fidgeting and looking aside while blushing, which made her really cute. "Let's not forget that you stained my purity by touching my naked breast. I guess your wife has sent someone for your sword, so let's finish this shit with metal and blood. We fight to the death; if I win, I forgive your life an we're even. If you win, you better take my life or I'll be a pain in your ass until the day one of us ends up fucking the other." 

One of her followers snickered, and in a flash of flowing pink hair, Tierra turned around and kicked his crotch. "Not in that sense, you fucking retard!" I have to admit I was starting to find her really cute when she blushed and acted that way, but the time for those things ended as the man Ralya had sent out returned with my sword, my tunic and an armguard I had never seen before. 

Three of the Dwarves came to leave several envelopes at my feet and opened them while I was putting on my tunic. As I leaned to take the first piece of armor to put it on, Ralya grabbed my wrist with a little more force than necessary and said solemnly, "It is the duty of the wife to dress her husband for war." After saying this, she started with a pair of boots of thick skin with metal plates covering the feet, then the greaves that protected both the shin and the back of the leg and the kneepads. Next a broad belt with a series of metal plates connected between them to cover the outer side of the thighs, tied in place with small buckles right over the knee. Then came a leather vest which covered from the ribs up to the base of the neck, and had a similar system to that of the belt to cover my shoulders. The plates for the chest and the back clasped each other over the vest, and then came the pieces for the hands, wrists and elbows. Finally, Ralya gave me a brief but intense kiss before putting a helmet with its inside lined with padded leather over my head. 




Cultural Exchange Ch. 05



After tying the scabbard of my sword to the belt, I picked up the armguard and called Turak to my shoulder with a mental order. By that time, Tierra was already dressed in a bronze-colored armor and held her war hammer. I noticed again what seemed to be her personal emblem; the lion head in her weapon was also present in the mask of her helmet. Her kneepads had been molded to the shape of the same predator, as well as the cups that covered her breasts at the front of her heavy armor. 

"You really like lions, don't you?" I said, pointing at the glowing rune hovering over her left arm, at the position where the shield should be. 

Looking at where my finger was pointing, she made a scornful grimace before answering, "This isn't a lion, you dumbass. Don't you see the snake eyes and the shape of the fangs? This is a manticore, a predator with scorpion tail. A creature that has total of fifty rows of fangs in its mouth and is constantly shedding them, that's why it always looks furious." 

The pun got out of my mouth before I could help it. "That's why you chose it as your emblem? You also look furious the whole time." Her facial expression changed and the crystalline eye patch of her right eye rubbed the metal of her helmet, producing an unpleasant sound. That gave me the hint to change the topic. "Should I give you some kind of handicap?" 

She looked perplexed for a moment before looking at me angrily again. "What, do you think I need a handicap for being a woman? Or is it because I'm a Dwarf and I'm more than one head lower than you? Don't think for a damned second that I need your fucking pity, and now that I think about it, don't even try to fight me holding back in order to let me win." She came closer and snarled at me while pointing at my face with her hammer, "If I have the slightest doubt that you haven't given it your all I'll take it as an insult worthy of a war of Households." 

Surprised at her ferocity, I could just answer, "I was talking about your right eye. Should I give you some kind of advantage to balance things because of your... loss?" 

Tierra sighed while taking off her helmet. "You're dumb down to unknown depths." Taking off the black crystal, she showed me that her right eye was in perfect condition, safe for the reddish mark on her skin where the item had been held. "This isn't an eye patch, you dolt, it's an enchanted trinket that increases the sharpness of my view. I normally use it to inspect the items I buy or sell, in order to look for imperfections. Why do I wear it the rest of the time?" She shrugged her shoulders while putting on the helmet again. "Because it looks badass." 

My reaction of amusement was cut in its tracks when her stance told me she could jump on me any moment now. As far as she was concerned, the fight had already started, and we were now studying each other. Heavy armor, a two-handed war hammer and a rune glowing on her left arm. She seemed to be the kind of warrior that is known in on-line games as a "tank," or a warrior that sacrifices speed and evasion to focus on high defense and offense. Her weapon didn't show any signs of being synthesized like my sword, which meant that she didn't use any kind of Magic, but that didn't mean that she couldn't use skills from the Code of Honor, War Cries or any other ability I didn't yet know of. 

After raising her head to scream, Tierra threw herself at me with a speed I didn't think she could have. I gave Turak an order and evaded an attack that had been directed to my head using Nervous Pulse, or the ability to use Turak's electricity to increase the response of my nervous system, sharpening my reflexes. I ordered my familiar to take off. Dragging my right foot on the ground, I side-stepped to Tierra's right in order to attack the opening left by her first strike. She waved her hammer to the side to make me step back, but I blocked with my armguard and responded with a Power Thrust. She blocked with her rune, but the power of the strike pushed her back, her feet leaving a line on the sand. With a scream, both of us pounced at each other, our weapons glowing with power. She attacked with her hammer charged with Spirit in a way that it looked like a meteor falling, strong enough to crack the surface of my armguard when I intercepted it, at the same time that my Power Slash hit her rune, provoking sparks to fly. 

Entangled in this confrontation, my left foot slid backwards the moment I looked up to give a mental order. Covered in a blue lightning, Turak threw himself at Tierra's unguarded back, but she screamed at my companion and his flight became erratic for a moment. With his aim lost, the Stormcrow impacted at my right, leaving a dark mark on the ground. My suspicions were right, the Dwarven Countess used War Cries. Her next move was a feint, and I fell for it. She feigned another attack to the head, but with a scream that made me dizzy for a second, she threw the head of her hammer to my belly. Gasping for air, I asked for a Remote Transfer from Turak and I struck her with my sword covered in lightnings. Yes, I had learned the way to use Turak's power from a distance instead of having him perch on my shoulder every time I needed it. Tierra barely evaded the attack, but the posterior explosion caught her and threw her away, leaving another black mark on the ground. 

Instead of following her, I took the chance to catch my breath and check on Turak's status. He was a tough guy and was mostly fine, but he needed time to recharge his electricity. With a groan, Tierra stood up and raised her head to unleash a fearsome War Cry. The visible parts of her skin acquired a reddish blush and she unleashed a flurry of brutal hammer attacks. I stopped and evaded as much as I could, hearing cracks from my armguard. Every time I saw an opening, I attacked or sent Turak to scratch and peck at her from angles I couldn't cover. Comparing her behavior to what happened in games, it was obvious she was using Berserker Cry in the way she was focusing on the attack and almost forgetting her defense. 

At some point, I side-stepped again to surprise her parrying her hammer with my sword and smashing her right shoulder with my armguard. Tierra groaned and her shoulder part lost its original shape. Her attacks started to become slower and her rage fit subsided, but she used another cry again to overcome the pain temporarily. 

Panting, we looked at each other. My armguard was a cheap one, just wooden boards with a thin metal coating, so her attacks just now had left it practically in shambles. I was covered in bruises and I had lost one of the metallic hexagons that formed my chest plate. One of the blocks had caused me to hit myself above the left eye with my armguard, and the blood from the cut fell over my closed eye to the neck. Tierra, on her side, had lost her helmet due to an armguard strike and had a cut in her right eyebrow, but her patch prevented the blood from getting in her eye. Aside from the hard hit I gave her on the shoulder, her only visible damage was the blood trickling down from her fingers coming from the cut I gave her when my sword found by chance the gap between the left bracelet and the elbow guard. 

I dragged my right foot in that same direction to feint an attack at the arm that couldn't move the rune perfectly, and when she took the bait I used Spirit Rush to the contrary in order to strike at her hip with my armguard. This time she yelped audibly before striking furiously at my shoulder, but Turak intercepted the attack at the cost of receiving part of its strength and falling unconscious. 

I took the chance to withdraw some steps back. It was the perfect chance to finish the fight, so I stabbed the ground with my sword crackling with Spirit and intoned, "By my authority, I summon an Ice Fairy to unleash the Forest of the End on my enemy." 

My sword, my armguard, and Turak were the only weapons I appeared to have at the start of the fight. Tierra had expected me to attack her from these three fronts, and I had fulfilled that expectation. She knew that I wasn't skilled or confident enough to try and kick her, so she hadn't really payed special attention at my feet, and I had made use of that from the start of the fight to attack her from a fourth front she hadn't anticipated. Beast Tamers aren't just warriors that can control beasts with special powers, we can do Summoning Magic. After just two weeks of training, my Magic was still weak, so I couldn't summon anything without drawing the proper circle, and because all of my duties, I hadn't been able to learn any other summon than the Ice Fairy, a submissive creature. During this fight, every time I dragged my feet, every time I threw an attack I knew she could parry with no other result that being pushed back, and even when I used Turak's power to strike at the ground, I was drawing a sign. 

Surrounded by a forest of ice blades, the Countess Tierra Volknarr dropped her hammer and fell to her knees. Not being able to feed the spell for much longer, the ice vaporized leaving no trace but the moistened sand of the training grounds. 

Tierra lowered her head and raised her voice. "Okay! Fuck! Damn it, you win!" She stood up laboriously and started walking up to me dragging her right foot and grabbing her right shoulder with her left hand. Looking at me right in the eyes, without losing an ounce of her pride despite her condition, she said, "Now kill me, or I'll come back to fight you again. You'd better not spare my life twice, because you'll put me in an even more fucked-up situation." 

I just couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. One thing would have been giving her a mortal blow during the fight. In fact, I feared for a second that Tierra ended up impaled by Forest of the End. But with the fight over, looking at her in the eyes and killing her in cold blood... is something I just can't do, no matter what. My mind started racing, looking for an alternative, but it seemed to run around in circles. The sun reflected on something and that shine hit my eyes. Ralya had crossed her arms right under her chest and the sunlight reflected on the ring I ordered for her as a wedding gift. I found my solution. 

"I'm not going to kill you in cold blood." I said loud enough for everyone around us to hear. 

Tierra raised her head so fast that she staggered for a second. Her aides started screaming and one of them even pulled out an axe. "Shut your fucking traps, you whiny bitches!" She lashed back at them. Then, she turned around slowly to look at me and ask in a tone that didn't foretell any good, "Are you sure of what you're doing? If I owe you my life twice, I can't go back to my country until I settle that debt or I'll fall in disgrace and lose my status. I won't find a job even as a whore." Her voice trembled with that last line. 

"I'm not going to kill you in cold blood," I repeated. "But I have to take your life, am I correct?" She nodded her head and looked at me with a quizzical look. "Then I'm going to take it the hard way. Instead of taking it all here today, I'm going to take it day by day. Instead of killing you for no purpose, I'm going to make you live for my sake. Taking you as one of my Seconds and have you pay your debt in this way is acceptable, right?" I almost flinched when I took notice that Ralya had come silently to stand by my side during my speech. 

Tierra started laughing, but stopped suddenly at the increase of the pain in her battered body. "A cunning escape, for a dumbass. Consider me your betrothed from this point onward, but excuse me if my condition doesn't let me bow to you right now." That last part said in a playfully sarcastic tone. 

"I'm sorry for hurting you so badly. Would you allow for Ralya to use her Shamanism to treat your wounds?" I offered the Dwarf while gesturing towards my wife. 

Her eyes gleamed mischievously while she answered, "I'll let my personal Cleric to do that. Unless you are thinking of trying the product before the final purchase." Then she licked her lips looking at my arms. 

Ralya answered for me before I could ask what was that about. "I have to treat my husband and we need to prepare for several appointments this evening, so that will have to wait. If your departure is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, we can meet tomorrow to discuss the terms of the betrothal." 

Looking a little disappointed, Tierra said, "I understand, First. Excuse me if I went too far." 

Ralya smiled in a sultry way. "No that I have tasted it myself, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed, just be patient." 

"Sorry to make things without consulting you." I apologized to Ralya while we saw Tierra board her carriage and leave. 

"Don't be, Nue'He, a Countess of the Hammer Society will be an invaluable addition to our Household. But all of that we can discuss it later, right now we have to get you back on your feet and ready for this evening. Two marriage propositions in one day, if it weren't because my brother Oner did the same I would say it's some kind of record." We started moving to the house. 

"By the way, what was all about that conversation right before Tierra and her group left?" I asked out of curiosity. That exchange was obviously more than what it sounded at first. 

"Oh," Ralya made an odd gesture with her lips before answering, "She was offering you a night of premarital sex." 

******* 

Aventhal was starting to get tired of hearing the annoying complaints of the other Elf through the communication circle. 

Slamming his fist against a surface not visible through the circle, the Elf, short and thin by the measure of his people, continued his furious rant. "It's unbearable! A barbaric creature like that shouldn't be between civilized beings, but our Hierarch not only lets that animal between us; he gives it his own daughter as a wife! Can you even begin to understand the humiliation of being the servant of a Qui'Leh? You are the appointed leader of the Elven Supremacy in the region, why do you order this course of action?" 

Aventhal sighed inwardly, wondering if he had a gift to find minions without the ability to control their emotions. "Exactly because I'm the appointed leader of the party, you should be following my orders instead of questioning them. An act of assassination would put your position as Yuan'Ralya's servant. The outsider has attracted the attention of one of my associates. My guess is that he pretends squeezing him of all his possessions for the Cause before getting rid of him." 

Aventhal's interlocutor shuddered at the tone his superior had used with him. In a nervous tone,he answered his leader, "As long as no more Elves get hurt because of that filthy creature, I'll agree with whatever. Especially Yuan'Ralya and her family; it would be a shame on my lineage if they were to suffer for my fault." 

Aventhal closed the circle after some soothing but empty words. Fanatics were the perfect tool. Motivated enough to fight to the death, cheap and disposable. They were capable of anything if you could convince them it was "for the Cause." He used to laugh at that. Most of them where just violent and mentally sick people who needed only a minimal excuse to unleash their darkest side. 

On the other hand, the sudden interest of the Demon for the Human was intriguing. The Demon didn't have the habit of making things on a whim, proof of that was that they had been maturing that plan together for twenty five years. But, at a logical level, Aventhal was unable to find a real use for the Outsider. He had to investigate the matter deeply. If he could find the part that Sir Brandon played in the Demon's scheme, he may be able to turn the tables and have his associate to work under him. 

After all, business partners were disposable tools as well. 

******* 

From far away, the fortress seemed to be in ruins. Broken windows, gaps in the exterior walls, parts of the structure sustained just by the overgrown vines... until you got close enough to see the dark figures patrolling the walls and guarding the inner doors. But if you were to get close enough to see that, you'd be shot down by the guards before you could escape to tell anyone. 

The female figure walked straight, with her chin up and her tail of jade-colored scales curved upwards haughtily, as if she were the Queen of that place. In a certain sense, she was. She accommodated a strand of dark green hair behind one of her horns, that vaguely resembled a tree branch, and stretched her wings before entering the main hall of the fortress. 

"Husband, Aventhal has sent confirmation that he has received your order." After several seconds looking at a rotten curtain, she added, "I can't understand why you insisted on coming back here, of all places." 

Sho'Baron, the man known as the Demon, touched the right side of his face, covered in black leather straps. "Because it marks the start of my downfall. It is the place where my biggest defeat started. It is a mistake to forget your defeats." The Demon had a voice that reminded of places where you'd better not tread. 

"Is that why you asked to get the Human? You're going to make him pay for the defeat you suffered at the hands of the other Human you couldn't vanquish?" 

In other times, Sho'Baron would be strangling his wife for her boldness, but he had learned to cope with her along the last fifty years and he just laughed it off. "It may very well could be, my dear Abynia, but I'm also using him to test Aventhal. Right now, that sly Elf must be straining his brains trying to understand why this Human has any significance to me and use it for his own profit. He may think badly of me, but he recognizes my position here in the Unclaimed Lands and the resources I've amassed along the decades and he's craving for them." The demon went to hug his Draghan mate from behind. He continued talking while cupping one of her enviable breasts with his right hand. "I'll let him stretch his neck out as far as he wants, and then I'll remind him who's the real mastermind in this scheme. 

Sho'Baron rubbed his broken horn with a left hand made of Living Metal. 

"After all, business partners are disposable tools as well."