Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 09:04:21 -0400 From: George Gauthier Subject: Elf-Boy's Friends 1 Elf-Boy's Friends 1 Frost Giants Part I by George Gauthier [The further adventures of characters from the novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends'] Chapter 1. Elysion Two splendid youths grappled and twisted as they sought advantage in a practice bout, the sweat on their nude bodies glistening in the bright sun of early afternoon. Both youths were well-trained in unarmed combat, a traditional sport for the people of the secluded valley of Elysion and of the original homeland of the smaller of the two. The taller of the combatants was Artor, first born son of the local nobleman, landowner, and district judge Lord Taitos Klarendes. A good looking lad in his early twenties with his father's sandy hair, Artor stood above medium height and was blessed with the deeply tanned athletic build of a swimmer: narrow hips, strong shoulders, and large hands. His opponent Aodh was a much smaller youth, one who barely reached five feet in height and weighed only a couple of pounds over a hundred-weight. Small, skinny, and smooth muscled, comely as an angel, with skin like porcelain which never tanned or burned, the raven-haired beauty looked utterly fragile and vulnerable. In actuality the epicene youth was easily twice as strong as he looked to be thanks to his magical nature. Aodh was a shapeshifter or wir, which in his case meant he could take on the shape of a black panther. The magical process of transformation also healed wounds, injuries, and disease and kept him perpetually young, looking no more than sixteen though he was actually well into his twenties. The foes separated to catch their breath. Artor shook his head. "How can such a tiny body could be so strong! Father, I fear I am overmatched and that is without your lover using his claws on me." His father laughed. "Indeed Artor, Aodh's petite physique is much stronger than it looks, but the greatest advantage conferred by magically enhanced strength is the element of surprise, which no longer applies in your case." "True but that still gives him the advantage of speed. Aodh's doubled strength makes him move faster than I can." "Indeed, his enhanced speed and strength were what enabled him in his panther form to kill a full-grown dire wolf in single combat even though the beast massed more than twice what he did. Our little Aodh here is a formidable opponent. Of course you are quite formidable yourself thanks to your magical gift, not to mention your combat training as a Hand of the Commonwealth." That was a reference to Artor's ability to control heat and fire and to cast it either as a flaming stream or in great clinging balls of flame, a magical gift he had inherited from his father. Most sentients on the planet of Haven had one or two magical gifts such as Calling Light, Healing, a Green Thumb, or an Unerring Directional Sense. Other gifts such as Mind Speech, Fetching, and Firecasting were less common. The rarest gift of all was ability to wield many sorts of magic. That was the gift shared by war wizards and druids alike despite their very different approaches to the magical arts. "Oh come on Artor," the young wir teased. "A fine strong fellow such as yourself shouldn't have any trouble taking on a little bitty kitty kat like me." Just then Klarendes steward approached escorting a visitor, an apple-cheeked young man who stood over six feet tall and was powerfully built under the green silk shirt and trews that the wore. The steward named him one Finn Ragnarson of Varangia, though that place name was unknown to any of them. Finn's boyishly handsome face featured a straight nose and firm chin, graced by grey eyes, all framed by a tousled thatch of dark hair. Then the steward formally introduced his master. "Finn Ragnarson of Varangia, I present to you the Honorable Taitos Klarendes, Chief District Magistrate, Dispenser of the Middle Justice and the Low, Dwarf Friend, Lord-Zamindar of Elysion, and Count of the Eastern March." "Also his son and heir Lord Artor, who is is a journeyman Hand of the Commonwealth." With a wink to Aodh he added. "And that impossibly cute fellow over there is Sir Aodh of Llangollen, spouse to Count Klarendes. I should mention that his title is not simply a courtesy title from his relationship with the count but one conferred on him by letters patent for distinguished service to the Commonwealth." The introductions brought a shrug from the young visitor's. "My people don't have much use for titles. Oh we have our headmen and war-chiefs but no gentry or aristocracy and not much of a government either. Still with all your tens of millions and the great extant of the Commonwealth of the Long River, I can understand why you need more structure in your society." "Just who are your people anyway, Finn Ragnarson?" "Frost Giants." Seeing the tension which his announcement brought he added hurriedly: "I come in peace, Count Klarendes. Will you hear me out, sir?" "Say what you have come to say." "I am an emissary of the colony of Frost Giants stranded north of the Eastern Plains. We would make peace between us and the Commonwealth. We also ask for lands of our own where we may settle and resume our old way of life as woodsmen, shipbuilders, masons, and blacksmiths. In exchange we would form a binding alliance." "It is true that we were enrolled on the other side during your recent wars with the eastern barbarians and the military-industrial nexus which the life-leech Urloch built on that foundation, but we joined up as construction workers not as fighters. We ourselves never directly engaged the forces of the Commonwealth nor have we had any hostile contact in the years since." Finn went on to explain that until recently the Frost Giants had been under siege at the staging area Urloch had assigned the giants construct for him. After the destruction of Urloch's capital, shipment of supplies from the east stopped, threatening the centaurs with starvation. In their native land, the creatures lived exclusively by the hunt, their population widely dispersed over the land. The centaurs turned on their allies as their only source of meat. First to die were the barbarous humans from the eastern lands, many of whom had an admixture of orc blood. That distraction gave the Frost Giants the chance to retire to the stout fortress they had secretly built within their own precincts. Over the next year, using their hoarded supplies, the giants managed to hold on long enough for the centaurs to finally turn on each other, cannibalizing their own numbers, but always fighting to get at the encircled Frost Giants as well. Eventually the ranks of the centaurs were reduced enough for the Frost Giants to take the offensive, to sally from their defensive works, and to engage the centaurs in open battle, which led to their extermination, at least in those parts. "So why did your leaders send you and why did you come to me?" Klarendes asked. "Lord Klarendes, you must understand that I myself am very young and far from full-grown. I am only seventeen and won't reach my full height for at least twenty years. It was thought that I could pass for human and so travel freely across your lands bearing no weapon save a quarterstaff, a walking stick really for all the use I have made of it. A full-grown Frost Giant traveling from the north might have been taken for a hostile." "As for yourself, Lord Klarendes, you have a continent-wide reputation, you and your friends. That includes little Aodh over there, who all by himself took out a Frost Giant armed and armored for battle though he was, those twin archers Jemsen and Karel gifted with unerring aim, the giant-human hybrid Balandur, a Dread Hand of the Commonwealth, the unicorn Meirionnydd, and the young druid Dahlderon, an elf-boy originally. I understand you have a considerable admixture of elf blood in your own family, which explains your longevity and youthful appearance. I understand you to be in your forties but you look only half that. " "You are well-informed, though I wonder whether you are empowered to negotiate for your people, being as young as you say you are." "You are right on that score, sir. I am just a messenger. Our leaders hope you will conduct me to your capital city and get me a hearing from the government. My job there would be to invite the Ruling Council to appoint an emissary with full powers to return with me to meet our chiefs and settle matters between our peoples." "I am all for peace, Finn of Varangia, so I welcome you to Elysion. Now, it will take me a couple of days to settle my affairs here. Then we shall set off. Both these youths will accompany us. Aodh is my spouse and lover and best friend. My son Artor is himself a journeyman Hand of the Commonwealth and due to report soon to the Chief Hand for his next assignment." "Artor, after he settles in why don't you show our visitor around?" Artor nodded and beckoned for the young giant to come with him. The steward showed them to a room where Finn set down his kit, then followed Artor for the grand tour of the manor house and then of the village and its idyllic setting. "As you can see, Elysion is a secluded valley shaped liked a bowl, about eight miles across, surrounded on most sides by forested slopes and closed off to the east by vertiginous cliffs and the ravine through which the river that drains the valley passes." "Yes I walked along that road and through the formidable fortification that guards it." "We call it the Stone Castle though it is really just a fortified gate. Still it does the job." "I saw empty barracks near the Stone Castle but no soldiers." "Well it is no secret that Elysion was envisioned as a final redoubt for our Army of the Plains, if a military disaster or overwhelming odds ever forced them to retreat. The village itself is a fortress of sorts. It occupies a low hill on an island surrounded by fast flowing streams. The villagers could take shelter in their stoutly built houses should invaders ever penetrate that far." "It is all very well thought out. Artor. Although by trade I am an apprentice blacksmith, my uncle is a stonemason and builder so I have an eye for such things." "And an eye for comely young males, I would say from the way you have been staring at both me and Aodh with those grey eyes of yours." "Can you blame me? You are quite handsome and little Aodh is... how can I put it? Aodh is a boy so beautiful he takes your breath away, the epitome of a young male in the full bloom of his youth. Impossibly pretty yet a deadly predator underneath, he is a melding of the innocent and the cruel. I find the combination devilishly attractive." "Well thanks for your interest in me, but I consort exclusively with the female of the species. With another boy there is simply no spark. Nothing personal since you are quite presentable yourself." "More's the pity. You see, I am at the age when I am small enough to consort with young males of the other races without damaging them. Once I am full-grown that becomes next to impossible." "Maybe not for Aodh, though. He had no problem taking Balandur though of course old Balan was only seven and a half feet tall. You Frost Giants generally run a foot taller." "So do I have a chance with Aodh?" "Maybe. You can ask, but I have to tell you he is very much in love with my father." "Who said anything about love? I fancy him for a tumble -- that's all." "Then maybe you will get your wish. Ask him." "Er, just one thing, Artor. Does Aodh ever lose control of his form while, er, in the throes of passion? I mean with those sharp claws and all ..." Artor giggled as he visualized the scene of the young giant trying to make love to an Aodh whose paws were busy kneading away at the giant's belly. Between giggles he managed to gasp: "No, Aodh never loses control of his form. No claws." Grinning wickedly as an image of a panther giving Finn oral service popped into his mind, Artor pointedly glanced down at Finn's groin and assured him: "Aodh doesn't bite either!" Artor then lost it completely, dissolving into helpless laughter. His laugh was infectious, and soon Finn was chortling as well. Finn did ask Aodh for a tryst, and that night, with the count's blessing, Aodh slipped into Finn's room. The young giant could hardly believe his luck. The lovely wir-boy and sometime minstrel was a vision of youthful male pulchritude. Dark haired, short and skinny, he stood five foot zero and weighed 102 pounds (45 kg) looking like a barely legal street urchin, maybe fifteen or sixteen, an epicene gamin. His petite physique was a visual delight. Taut skin covered a hard body though the boy's musculature was smooth rather than defined. He had a good bone structure with narrow shoulders, slender torso, and sharp bladed hip bones. On his flat chest a well-defined midline separated small pectorals accented by tiny nipples. The swale of his lower back lead to a pert rump, the small tight buns jutting out just enough to provide a potential lover a good grab or a good spank. The youth's complexion was very fair, with skin pale and pearly white and as smooth as any milk maid's and entirely without body hair. Large green eyes dominated the stunning face of the androgynous youth which tapered from a wide brow down a pert nose to a narrow chin. Adding to his fey look, the wir was sloe-eyed, his orbs shaped like almonds and slanted faintly upward above prominent cheekbones. From there the planes of his face tapered to a small mouth with pouty lips just begging to be kissed and a sharp chin. His eyebrows bent in a angle rather than a round arch. He wore his hair in a shaggy cut with bangs and sideburns that framed a face as cute as a kitten's. As a lover the young wir was exciting, energetic, athletic, physical, and vocal. Good thing for the thick walls. The young giant relished the way his wiry boy-toy squirmed in his arms, twisting and straining that tight body of his. Slick as he was with sweat, it was hard to keep a grip on Aodh when Finn wanted to roll the boy onto his belly or flip him onto his back. Grabbing the boy's ankles, Finn opened the slender legs like a wishbone in preparation for an assault on his boy hole. As his cock thrust into the welcoming orifice which grasped his member with its moist velvet walls the young giant relished the way the boy's innards clutched and sheathed his virile member. From experience with quite a number of human lads Finn knew just how to make love to sexually submissive boys like Aodh. You didn't want him to just lie there and let you fuck him. You wanted your boy to put up a bit of fight, to make the dominant partner work at maintaining his domination and control. And you wanted to make your boy laugh and cry, to moan and whimper, to both beg for it and to resist, even as the boy admitted to himself that he desperately wanted the dominant male to work his will on him, to make him do all manner of naughty things, sexual things. Fortunately a boy's stiff prick made a good control handle, and the shaggy thatch atop his head afforded a good grip during oral service. Gosh Aodh he looked so cute down there, kneeling between the young giant's legs, pouty lips closed over his shaft, sucking and slurping, circling the glans with the tip of his tongue, doing everything in his power to drive his partner wild with his buccal ministrations. In the fullness of time Finn spent himself twice in Aodh's nether orifice triggering the boy's own orgasms. As lovers they were well-matched. Afterwards, in post-coital lassitude, Aodh snuggled up against the young giant who stroked and petted him, running his big hands along the chevron of the boy's ribs, fingering the sharp hip bones, sliding down the smooth skin of his thighs then back up to fondle his buttocks. The cat in Aodh loved the attention and the petting. His supple body was meant to be touched and stroked. Even in human form, Aodh could purr softly when contented, as after sex or a good meal. It was one of his most endearing characteristics. Chapter 2. The Capital The next morning, the mismatched couple showered together, which led to more than a little grab ass fun, before going down to breakfast. Aodh sported a hickey on his neck plus bruises on his butt cheeks from Finn's firm grip. Bare-ass naked as the wir was, the evidence of their energetic lovemaking was visible to all. As for the young giant, he had a goofy grin on his face. The count was just going in to breakfast. He nodded over at Finn and remarked, ever so casually: "I can see that you got over your fears about Aodh and love bites and all!" Finn smiled shyly and winked at Aodh. Klarendes his two sons were already at the table. Klarendes introduced the giant to Eborn, his second son, a nice looking lad a couple of years younger than Artor whose looks favored his father even more than his older sibling. Picking up on their cue the two youths waved cheerily and quipped in tandem: "I am the heir." "And I am the spare." Finn grinned at what was obviously a very old joke and a regular part of their schtick. Was everyone around there a comedian or what? The count and the young giant wore light silks against the tropical heat though Aodh and Klarendes' sons went naked. "In the Commonwealth so many of your young males typically parade around without a stitch on both in the country and in the towns. With us Frost Giants, casual public nudity is much less common. Our homeland is quite cool. We get snow in winter and ice forms on still water though never in flowing streams and rivers." "That said, we have no problem with nudity in our sweat lodges. In the antechamber we scrub with soap and water and douche. In the sweat lodge proper we pour water over heated stones to generate steam which fills the room and promotes perspiration. We also gently brush the skin with bundles of fresh birch twigs with their leaves still attached to further open our pores. I know that sounds weird to outlanders, but it is actually quite refreshing. The best part is afterwards when you immerse yourself in the plunge pool. Actually most people wade into the cold water gradually rather than jump straight in, which can be quite a shock." "And that is what passes for creature comforts among Frost Giants?" Taitos asked skeptically. "Here in the Commonwealth, we long ago gave up nudity taboos as utterly pointless. The three habitable continents on Haven straddle the equator so the climate ranges from subtropical warmth to intolerable heat in the Hot Lands along the equator. Young males work the fields, exercise, and train in the nude, partly for practical reasons but also as a courtship display, to show off the trim taut bodies they have so recently grown into. Nudity is quite common among the sentient races save the dwarves or dwarrow, as they call themselves, who dwell in caves and caverns which are dark and cool though never actually cold like your land." Artor added. "I do dress up when on duty as a Hand of the Commonwealth. Sometimes it is a simple loincloth though more typically silk trews and shirt much like yours along with a weapons belt." "How long have you been one of these Hands?" "Only three years now plus a year before that as a trainee. I finally persuaded Father than being his heir might be my duty and my destiny but it was not a life's work. It will be centuries till I inherit, the gods willing, if they exist. Meanwhile I have to contribute, to work at something, not loll around as a some rich wastrel. Father's own adventures as a very young man at the side of Balandur inspired me to try out for an appointment as a Hand. My gift of firecasting did much to recommend me, but I still had to train hard, earn my place, and prove myself worthy of trust." "You see the Hands are the chief trouble-shooters for the Commonwealth. As plenipotentiary agents of the state, our authority can override that of any civil official or military officer. The Hands were accountable for the actions only to the Chief Hand, Baron Jarmond, and the Ruling Council. We have a reputation for being incorruptible, deadly in combat, and decisive in removing any threat to the well-being of the state, whether it be a spy, a corrupt governor or a crime lord. No one cares to cross a Hand." "Of course, as a journeyman I myself do not wield full authority. Oh I can act on my own freely enough, answerable only to my chain of command, but I cannot override civil or military authority. Not yet anyway. Also once I am promoted, the Commonwealth's war wizards will teach me how to throw white fire. All of them can do it even though few have the magical gift of firecasting. My father learned how to do it on his own the day he went into a killing frenzy on a battlefield, which saved our militia from a crushing defeat." "Oh? Can I ask what happened Lord Klarendes?" "That is not a day I remember fondly. My first lover, the blacksmith's son Ahndray died that day. A hairy barbarian with a two-handed sword shattered his skull, spraying brains and blood and bone chips all over me, my armor, my face. That final horror set off the eruption of emotion that had been building for days, a psychic storm made up of pain and fear, grief and rage, numbing fatigue and loss of hope, but it was the death and desecration of my lover that finally drove me into a killing frenzy. Screaming my anguish I unleashed my will on the barbarian horde, setting fire to the tall grass they stood in, igniting their clothes, their greased hair, and the leather coverings of their wooden shields. I stalked back and forth like a fire demon, casting great balls of fire or burning streams of flame, laughing and cackling and hooting, utterly deranged, as the flames consumed the barbarians amid horrid screams and cries for mercy. But I had no mercy in my heart that day. I still don't, not for them, though I do have regrets, especially about the pleasure I felt in killing them." After I came to my senses, I saw what I had wrought. Their dead bodies were hardly recognizable as human. Cloth and hair act like wicks for the body fat that melts from flesh at those temperatures. I had turned living men into human candlesticks. All that was left were piles of disarticulated bones burned black." "The psychic backlash nearly killed me but it also opened the channels of my mind that control my gift. Since then I have been able to throw White Fire which nothing can resist. The strongest armor or stone wall simply disintegrates under the fury of that burning, its substance joining and strengthening the effect. [Not to be confused with blood plasma, White Fire is subatomic plasma, an intensely hot ionized gas which modern physicists call the fourth state of matter. Plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe. The stars including the sun are mostly made of plasma. ] "That is quite a story, Count Klarendes. "You are a dangerous man. No wonder that raid on Elysion failed so miserably." "Show him the hand." Aodh urged Artor. "Oh, right. The hand. It's both a signal and our credentials. We Hands identify ourselves by triggering a small magic. These days it makes our entire hand glow with a pearly white effulgence. We use it not only as a credential but also for task lighting and to send signals in the dark, flashing the same code used by military heliographers. We don't actually flash the light on and off, we simply cover or uncover the shining hand with the other one. "I see. Say, are those Molossian hounds I hear barking by the kennels?" "Yes, they get excited like that when its time for a feeding. Would you like to visit them?" "Sure. Molossians are the most popular breed in our homeland, not only as hunting dogs or to protect livestock from dire wolves, but as household pets. They are great with kids. As children we wrestle with them. To humans Molossians are gigantic. To Frost Giants they are just the right size." Later Aodh took Finn over to the high cliffs from which a scenic waterfall fell into a pretty lake. It was the site of a popular resort which provided employment for many locals. "Er, Aodh, I'd like to see you transform. Is that OK?" "No problem." In seconds, the pretty boy-toy Finn had bedded turned into a sleek black panther. Aodh ran around a bit, reared up and slashed the air with his claws, snarling to look fierce. Then he morphed back into the Aodh Finn knew. "Wow! I had no idea you could change so fast, or that the change was like you were melting from human to cat and back again. And that was quite a horizontal leap you took a moment ago." "Yes, the legs of a panther are proportionally the longest of the big cats. Even your normal tawny panther can jump say forty feet (12 m) horizontally and nearly half that vertically. With my magically enhanced strength I can do much better than that." "In fact, that was how I took out that Frost Giant during the raid years ago. A pair of them snuck up on Taitos while he was busy killing centaurs. I don't know if they even saw me at his feet crouched low atop the watch tower. Anyway, the giants thought they could take Taitos unawares. The one in front looked over to his companion with a predatory grin. That moment of inattention was when I launched myself over the gap and attacked. I ripped his face off and slashed his throat open before he threw me against a wall breaking some of my ribs. Taitos unleashed White Fire on him and cut him in half before he could bleed out." That night Aodh slipped into Finn's bed for the second and last time. It seemed that his fling with the beautiful Aodh would be limited to those two trysts. The attraction between the tiny wir and the strapping young giant held the fascination of the exotic for both parties. Aodh had never had sex with a Frost Giant nor Finn with a boy who was a wir-panther. Having scratched that itch, henceforth they would simply be friends. Their journey to the capital of the Commonwealth proved uneventful though intensely interesting to the young Frost Giant who had as yet seen little of the world. The way led southeast across the Eastern Plains to the garrison town of Dalnot, then west along the military road through the mountains to the walled town of Bled. Their pace was slow for Aodh had to travel on foot for no equine could bear the touch of a feline like himself. Finn also went on foot. Adult Frost Giants are simply too massive for horses so the younger ones never learn to ride. A notion popped into Aodh's head: "I think the only mount that could carry a full-grown Frost Giant would be a brontothere." Finn's puzzled look lead the young wir to elaborate. "A brontothere is a huge beast, looking like an armored one-horn or rhino, only as tall at the shoulder as a Frost Giant. Unlike the rhinos, their two horns point forward and are composed of bone and set side to side at the nose. Bizarre in the extreme. They are highly intelligent, nearly sentient in fact, and generally of placid temperament. But if they perceive a threat or they get angry, well the charge of a herd of brontotheres is virtually unstoppable. My druid friend Dahlderon calls them the juggernauts of the jungle." Klarendes and his son did ride horses, their saddles equipped with the newfangled stirrups that gave them a much more secure seat than the old-fashioned pronged saddle. Previous generations of riders had had to wedge their hips into one of those old-fashioned horned saddles. Stirrups had been invented only a couple of decades earlier but had quickly become universal, especially in the cavalry. A rider could brace himself or even stand up in the stirrups and swing a sword with his full strength, confident that he would not fall off his horse. Ever better, stirrups let a cavalryman wield a lance without getting pushed off the back of his horse by the impact with his target. In the old days a rider held a light spear overhand trying to stick it into an enemy or threw a javelin. These days the rider couched the shaft under his right arm and guided the spearhead with his grip on the shaft. In a charge, the stirrups concentrated the full weight and momentum of both horse and rider to the point of the lance with irresistible effect. Once they reached the town of Bled just west of the mountains the travelers took a public coach to a port on the great river. From there the party of four took a riverboat downstream to the capital where they found lodgings at a government guest house. While Klarendes contacted the authorities Aodh and Artor showed the young emissary the town. As during their entire trip, Aodh remained in the nude though Artor donned a loincloth once they reached town. The sightseers took in the chief points of interest then headed for the last one on the itinerary, which lay on the other side of a large park laid out with lush lawns and copses of trees and plantings of flowers and ornamental shrubs. A group of nude youths were sailing pie tins to each other, a game which the martyred elf-boy Randell had introduced to the Commonwealth. It had caught on fast. The game, or sport if you will, could have been designed to display the youthful male body to advantage as the participants ran and jumped and flung the pie tin to each other, as Aodh explained to Finn. Suddenly Aodh realized that the young giant was not attending to his words but was looking off to the right at another group playing the same game. He gaze was fixed on a pair of slender blond beauties, identical twins by the look of them. Like many males of the sentient species dwelling on Planet Haven, Finn had an eye for a pretty youth, and these two were among the very prettiest, a pair of palomino colts with healthy boyish bodies and cute fine-boned faces, their heads crowned with cornsilk blond hair. The total effect was incredibly sexy. Once Aodh realized that the boys who had mesmerized Finn were his old friends and lovers Jemsen and Karel the young wir waved to get their attention. "You know those blond boys?" Finn asked. "Intimately!" Aodh replied with a smug look on his face. Then he realized what was going on. Finn was smitten. "Fancy blond boys do you, Finn? Well those are two of the best. Hi fellas," he added as the twins ran up and hugged him. After they pulled apart, Jemsen asked: "So who is your handsome friend here, Aodh?" "Why don't I just let him introduce himself?" Finn's silence puzzled Aodh so he turned his head to look at him. The way the young giant stared at the twins said it all. Yep, Finn had it bad. Artor wasn't slow on the uptake either and threw a wink to the young wir. "Er, yes, of course," Finn stammered as he realized he had missed his cue. "I am Finn, Finn Ragnarson of Varangia. You can only be the legendary twins Jemsen and Karel." "In the flesh!" "And all of it on display!" Artor noted naughtily, which earned him a frown from Jemsen. "What? Just trying to help." Artor said defensively. The twins just shook their heads at their friend's brazenness. In a few sentences, Artor outlined what had brought his party to the capital. For their part the twins explained that they had partnered with a printer to publish a series of individual maps and a comprehensive atlas of the borderlands, publications aimed at travelers and traders. Using different dashed lines, their maps highlighted the main roads and described their manner of construction. The maps classified each road for their suitability for foot, hoofed, or wheeled traffic. For river routes, they offered depths at high and low water, the span between between riverbanks and the width of the useable shipping channel. Their maps also showed the locations of mines, quarries, and other industries and provided a gazetteer of place names. That work was so well in hand that the twins had taken the day off for some fun with local friends. As the twins chatted away, the young giant marveled at their physical beauty. Of fully human stock, the brothers were of medium height, blond, slender, and incredibly cute. The small tattoos on their left shoulders showed they had been recognized as both elf-friends and dwarf-friends. Either folk would automatically extend their hospitality and protection to them. From what he had heard about them, the twins were not only brothers but lovers, comrades in arms, and each other's best friend. "Are you guys up for a game?" Karel asked. "I'd like to play" Finn ventured uncertainly but I don't know how." "Don't worry. It's all in the wrist." Karel assured him. "You just flip the pie tin to the next fellow. I'd be glad to show you how." "You have to take your clothes off first." Artor observed mischievously. "You play this game in the rude nude." "That is not actually in the rules, but everyone does play that way." Aodh assured him. "Look, you and Artor can hang your clothes on this low branch. "Uh, OK. What the heck." Finn said as stripped off to reveal a strongly built body. Like many of his race, Finn had very little body hair save in the usual three places. Nor did he have anything to be ashamed of down there either. Just then a couple of young ladies in colorful skirts and blouses walked by, slowing down to eye the attractive young males. Artor straightened and returned their gaze, raising his eyebrows interrogatively, but they were not interested in him. One literally sneered at him. Chagrined at the snub he seethed till he saw the girls appreciatively eyeing the young giant and his endowment. "Hi there, big boy." one of them said. Grinning predatorily Artor called out: "Sorry girls, that one is already taken. By them," he added pointing to the twins. He laughed as they tossed their heads and left in a huff. Meanwhile poor Finn blushed red with embarrassment. "That was not nice," Jemsen remonstrated. "You are right, of course. What I did just now was unkind. Well-deserved, mind you, but unkind." "Don't mind him. Sometimes Taitos' first born is just impossible." Jemsen assured Finn who nodded then asked both twins: "What do you say if after the game we get a meal at a fancy victualing house then maybe go out on the town for dancing and drinks." "Fine by us," Jemsen said. "We can try several night spots in Twinkle Town and see which ones you like best." Artor rolled his eyes and was about to comment on that suggestion but subsided under Aodh's glare. So they turned their attention to the game. Finn quickly realized that it was harder than it looked. Only the throw was 'all in the wrist' as Karel had assured him. Still it had been pleasant when the slender blond youth had taken him through some dry runs, their nude bodies pressed close while Karel guided his right arm and wrist. Finn mastered the throw fairly soon, but his size made him slow compared to smaller players like the twins and Aodh. "How the hell can those three move so fast, Artor? They are so quick and nimble, it is uncanny." "Uncanny is right, Finn. Or rather it is magic at work. Aodh is a wir with double the strength you would guess from his size. Druidic magic conferred longevity, perpetual youthfulness, and keener senses on the twins. Over time it doubled their strength too. Now none of them is as strong as you are, but they have less than half the body mass to move. The twins are nine inches shorter than you and are slender. You are muscular. As for Aodh, he is a skinny kid who stands just five foot zero. " "Ah. Now I understand." A brief visit to a public shower left the youths squeaky clean and smelling fresh. The twins donned white linen kilts which set of their sun-bronzed skins perfectly. After a fine meal and a pleasant post-prandial walk, Finn asked: "So what is this Twinkle Town? Is it close by?" "Yes it is quite close. Twinkle Town is a cluster of dancing and drinking establishments favored by those who fancy pretty boys and by pretty boys who favor being fancied." "The twins want to show you off, Finn." Artor explained. "In these parts, you are quite the catch." "I am?" As Aodh and Artor split off from the would-be lovebirds, a very much amused Artor remarked to Finn: "I leave you now to the tender mercies and voracious sexual appetites of those legendary lovers, the twins Jemsen and Karel." "Not to worry, Artor. We'll bring him back alive." Karel assured him. The next few hours were a whirl of dancing, drinking, and sexy bodies swaying and rocking rhythmically to the beat of a band. Engrossed in each other, the three youths kept themselves to themselves. "That is so unfair," a voice from the crowd grumbled. "All three of them are walking wet dreams, but they have eyes only for each other." After which the twins took their new friend to their rooms. "Nice digs, guys," Finn remarked looking around at the comfortable though unostentatious appointments of the twins' lodgings. Are you a pair of rich kids like Artor?" "Hardly, just country boys who got lucky. For one thing, there are our business ventures, like the maps and the improved pie tins soon to go on sale. We designed ours with a more aerodynamic shape which is also easier to grasp, so we think guys will pay the small price for a better experience. We really got lucky when we hooked up with Balandur for various adventures. In his will he bequeathed his landed estates and personal effects to his brother but split his financial investments among the two of us, Aodh, and our druidic friend Dahlderon. The funds were held in trust by Klarendes till we reached our twenty-fifth birthdays a year or so ago." "You two don't look a day over eighteen." "No we don't and we won't for centuries to come thanks to druidic healing magic. It was our reward for contributions to the Commonwealth, humans, the other races, and to the biosphere in general." "Yes I can see the small tattoos on your left shoulders that mark you as both dwarf-friends and elf-friends, rare honors indeed taken singly but you won both. You two must have had some adventures." "That we did and then some," Karel affirmed. "A word of advice though if you are hankering for adventure. As our mentor Balandur once observed, 'Adventures are dangerous and uncomfortable and they don't always serve meals on time.'" "Now that we are alone at last, Finn, just the three of us, why don't we get out of our clothes and make ourselves comfortable." "Don't mind if I do." In very short order all three young males were naked and reclining on the bed. Finn could hardly believe his luck, first Aodh and now these twins. A very different type from Aodh though all three were walking wet dreams. Aodh was cute as the kitten he so much resembled. The human twins were a brace of palomino colts. The brothers were of middle height and blessed with a well-defined musculature. Lithe, boyishly handsome, and very blond, they were utterly alluring with their slender physiques and youthful features. Is there anything more beautiful than a teenage boy in the bloom of youth? And here there were two of them, identical twins. Jemsen and Karel were not only brothers, but also lovers, comrades in arms, and each other's best friend. The twins might be taken for elves except for the lack of points on their ears. Boisterous and rambunctious they exuded good health and sex appeal. Finn paired off with the twins, one at a time and had a lot of fun getting acquainted with their boisterous style of lovemaking. Sexually ambidextrous, the twins could top as well as bottom. As males, the twins liked to sink their turgid cocks into a firm round butt, to feel their members grasped and milked and massaged by the moist velvet glove of their partner's innards, to follow the instinctive drive of the male to penetrate, to thrust, and to ejaculate. But they had the most fun bottoming for the young giant. For Finn's part the twins were the best ride he had ever mounted or was likely to. The trio were up nearly half the night, making love in all possible combinations and positions including a three way. One time, in all that excitement, Karel rolled right off their bed and onto the floor, only to pick himself up and rejoin the lovemaking. Finn's assignation with the twins was everything he had hoped and lusted for, leaving him utterly wrung out and satiated. For their part, the boys could only wonder at the unflagging potency of their hulking sex partner. Finn was the gift that kept on giving. Good thing for the thick walls and carpets of the upscale lodging. The tryst of the three young males was a time for the expression of unbridled teenage lust, sexy kids sparking off other guys their own age, romping, stomping, and rocking, their surging hormones rising to an explosion of eroticism and spunk. Finally tired and spent, the three fell into a satisfying post-coital slumber. Chapter 3. Peace The next morning, as the three friends took breakfast together. Finn asked the twins about their improved pie tin. Jemsen explained that its bowl was rounded and the edges curled over for a better grip. Also the toys were decorated with a spiral design in blue or red. The twins had originally hoped their design might qualify for an inventor's license from the commonwealth which conferred exclusive rights for a period of time to commercially exploit a new device or process. Upon taking legal advice they learned that to qualify for a license, the device had to be original, not obvious, and useful, none of which was true of their pie tin. However they were told that they could procure a trades-mark by giving their toys a distinctive name and appearance. The problem was that the twins were stumped on the name. Variations on Randell's name just did not work. Neither did cutesy names like Whirlo or Spinno. No, they needed a name that was distinctive, descriptive, and cute, a name that promised fun. It was less a toy than a piece of sports equipment for all ages, so the name could not be anything childish. "I understand," the young giant said. Finn turned his attention back to his breakfast. After a bit he asked: "Say Karel, the rolls at your end of the table are out of even my reach. Could you zing one down to me? In a flash of inspiration, as the blond boy tossed him a sweet roll, Finn blurted out: "That's it. A Zinger!" "Yes, of course! That's brilliant, Finn!" Karel chimed in. "Thanks. Zinger it is." Finn saw the quick minds of the twins as one of their most attractive characteristics. There was a lot more to those two blond beauties than pretty faces and sexy bodies. Klarendes got the young emissary of the Frost Giants his meeting with the highest authorities. He presented the young giant to the Ruling Council. Also present were the Chief Hand plus Artor and the twins, the journeyman Hand in his silks and the twins in sarongs. Klarendes and the Chief Hand, Baron Jarmond, had known each other for years, so before the meeting started the count asked why his son Artor was there. Jarmond shrugged. "He was due for a new assignment. This is it. Oh and the Council is going to ask you to be part of the peace delegation. The Frost Giants respect you. I am sure you can figure out why I brought the twins into this." "As guides, obviously." "And mapmakers too." The twins had already mapped much of the Hot Lands on their expedition with Balan years earlier and had cross the Western Plains too though only west to east not north to south. Nevertheless, their magical gift of unerring direction would get them through. They would map the route of march across the Western Plains. The standard maps of the area were woefully inadequate. At first things did not go well. "How can we make peace with a people who allied themselves with those horrible centaurs who devour human beings and other sentient races?" complained one member of the Ruling Council. "Not to mention the Dark Prophet with his intolerant religion or that life-leach Urloch who militarized and industrialized the heartland of the barbarians. Balandur, Rolf, and Arik destroyed their power center just in time to save the world from the reign of perpetual evil." Finn's counter to those points was to explain that the Frost Giants never really allied themselves to the centaurs. The had been kept in the dark by their employers. Then one day, the centaurs showed up at the military base and supply depot which the giants were paid to build for Urloch. The truth is that the giants did not like or trust the centaurs who looked like a cross between a reptile and an insect if such a thing can be imagined. As a precaution the giants secretly constructed a redoubt within their precincts and stuffed it with provisions. A deep well provided water. When the centaurs ran amok, the giants fought them to a standstill and finally killed them all. Finn pointed out that the Frost Giants did not act militarily against the Commonwealth except for the participation of four of their number in the raid on Elysion aiming to kill Balandur. Urloch's emissary had demanded their participation and the four giants who went on the raid were a double brace of hotheads no one missed. Finn also noted that, as individuals, tens of thousands of Frost Giants lived in peace within the borders of the Commonwealth, had done so for centuries, working like everyone else, paying taxes, raising families, and not making trouble. Frost Giant males trained with the local militia in units of auxiliaries made up exclusively of their own kind. The Ruling Council grudgingly accepted the sincerity of their offer of peace but intended to drive a hard bargain on where the Frost Giants might settle. The Commonwealth would use the giants for strategic advantage. The giants would be offered the homeland of the centaurs which lay far to the southwest, beyond the Western Plains. Quite a few centaurs still roamed there, those which had not migrated at Urloch's behest. So the first task of the giants would be to clear them out, which was quite a tall order. Finn did not know whether his people would take the Commonwealth up on its offer. His people had sought peace after a long war but the peace offered by the Commonwealth came with a new war attached. Nevertheless he agreed to guide a delegation to his people. Artor's role was to represent the Hands and the Commonwealth and to lead the long march. Also to employ his firepower at need. Jemsen and Karel would act as guides. Klarendes and Aodh would travel with the Commonwealth's peace delegation for their meeting with the Frost Giants. Once the alliance was forged, Count Klarendes would take leave of his son and his friends the twins and yes now young Finn too and return with Aodh to Elysion. Such was the plan. The peace delegation traveled north by riverboat. The head of the delegation was Lord Zaldor, a member of the Ruling Council who traveled with just a bodyguard, a single servant, and surprisingly light baggage. During the trip upriver the other members of the delegation pretended not to notice the sounds of lusty sexual congress resonating from the cabin shared by the twins and the young giant. Talking with Klarendes, Lord Zaldor did wonder aloud whether is was seemly for the twins to consort with the enemy. Klarendes allowed that they were only establishing amicable relations with the Frost Giants on a personal basis as a prelude to a general peace. Zaldor conceded the point and said no more about it. Once they reached the head of navigation the route led overland across the Eastern Mountains via the (formerly) secret tunnel which the Entrapment Army, as it came to be called, had passed through years earlier to attack a horde of 90,000 barbarians which was trying to break through the defensive lines of the Army of the Plains. The two armies attacked their enemies from both sides. It was more than a victory. It was a battle of annihilation. Zaldor requisitioned mounts and an escort of twenty troopers from the garrison at the mouth of the great tunnel, just enough to uphold the dignity of the delegation but not so many as to present a threat. The delegation started on the long slog northwards at an easy pace to accommodate Aodh and Finn who were afoot. "If only I were full grown, Aodh, I could carry you on my shoulders." "That would be a switch, me mounting you!" The twins were in their riding silks from their days as army scouts, their quarterstaffs, unstrung bows, and kukris in saddle scabbards. Artor also wore his silks and a weapons belt bearing war axe and kukri. Aodh was still in the nude and carried no weapons. He himself was a weapon, his claws always at the ready. As for Count Klarendes, a sword hanging from a baldric slung over his shoulder sufficed. He was a firecaster after all. Along the way the twins checked and updated the maps of those regions that Balandur and Arik had made on their scouting expedition so many years before. Finn asked how they happened to have maps of the area. Klarendes provided the explanation and mentioned how Balandur had killed a Frost Giant in unarmed single combat. "So that is what happened to Tilber Bjarnson. We always wondered at his fate. Scouts did not find his body for some weeks. There was no sign of who had killed him." "There wouldn't be. Not with Balandur." The twins expressed surprise at how well Lord Zaldor put up with the primitive accommodations of an army camp. He smiled: "I wasn't always a noble. I started out as a soldier, a ranker, won a battlefield commission then worked my way up the ranks in wars fought before you younglings were born. I retired as a colonel then went into politics." "It's been downhill ever since!" he added with a chuckle. Just before they arrived at the stronghold of the Frost Giants, Aodh wrapped a sarong around his narrow hips. For him that was the height of formal wear. Upon arrival they were shown to quarters which the giants had built years earlier for a barbarian army that never arrived. The delegations broke bread that evening in an open air pavilion leaving formal negations for the next day. The leader of the Frost Giants was Oddr Bjarnson, brother of the late Tilbur. Over dinner Finn related his fate. Klarendes expressed his hope that this would not cast a pall over the negotiations. "Nay, Lord Klarendes. I know now that my brother died honorably. It is only unfortunate that it was in a war we did not want. We were gulled into taking the job of building this staging area. We never knew the ultimate goals of the Dark Prophet nor of Urloch. Had we known, we would never have thrown in with them. Understand, we Frost Giants are a civilized people. We are not barbarians and we have good relations with our neighbors. Indeed we sometimes intermarry with humans. Balandur was one such hybrid." "Oh, I know that we Frost Giants sometimes come across as arrogant or even overbearing. Our detractors complain that we look down on the other races in more ways than one. I will admit that there is some truth in that. Still most of us do realize that while we might be gratified to be so big and strong it makes no sense to be proud of it. Our size and strength were none of our own doing, just nature at work." "Indeed. Your mention of that old friend of mine just now puts me in mind of what Balandur used to say about the Frost Giants. He acknowledged that you were neither evil nor barbarous but he allowed as how you weren't fully house-broken either." That produced nods and self-deprecating smiles from the giants. Oddr said that more than a few giants had known old Balandur back in the day and had befriended him. That was why only four could be persuaded to go after him on that raid. "We got the story from the retainers left behind at their last camp. They observed the debacle and brought the news back with them. They told of how nimble boys slung small glass globes filled with an inflammable oil at your enemies. At the apex of their flight, you Count Klarendes ignited the oil and rained liquid fire down on them. Clever that, using ranks of boys as a multiplier for your fire casting. Later, once the centaurs broke through your lines, you tossed great balls of fire which clung to them and cooked them like lobsters in a pot." "The magical gift of firecasting runs strong in my family. My son Artor is a powerful firecaster in his own right." "Did you take part in that battle young Klarendes?" Oddr asked. "Only briefly. I was in my teens and only just coming into my powers, I could not help much in the clash of arms. Instead I was put in charge of the defense of the manor house which sits beyond the village so it a kind of back door. Sure enough a couple of centaurs tried to get in. Only one centaur at a time could fit through the stone vault that led to the gate. One of our retainers put a bolt into him with his crossbow. That just made the creature mad. He slashed at us through the bars and roared in anger. As he took a breath, I saw my chance and flung a bolt of flame down his throat and burned out his lungs." "The second centaur dragged his dying comrade out of the way and looked to give it a try himself. Well, by then, I had pretty much shot my bolt and was dizzy from my effort. Nevertheless I stood my ground and tried to look cool, crossing my arms and tilting my head to one side. Then I spoke ever so casually saying: 'Plenty more where that came from.' The centaur must have understood our speech or maybe just my body language. He turned tail and stalked away." "Bravo! You showed courage and good tactical sense, young Klarendes. I take it then that your powers are now fully developed?" "Father, permission to show off?" "Go right ahead Artor!" he grinned. The young firecaster gestured dramatically though that was entirely for effect. Firecasting is an act of will. The lanterns and camp fires began to go out in a wave that centered on Artor and spread to the farthest reaches of the holdings of the Frost Giants. Artor gave it a few seconds then snapped his fingers. The flames returned everywhere instantly. The next day at breakfast Lord Zaldor and Klarendes discussed the impending negotiations. "We have made a good start by establishing amicable personal relations with the Frost Giants. And did you notice how after your son's demonstration of his powers he was no longer addressed as 'Young Klarendes' but as Lord Artor. He has won their respect, which he will need on the long march ahead." Despite all the good feelings, at first the Frost Giants reacted badly to the Commonwealth's peace terms. "By the gods, we just barely survived one war with the centaurs. Now you are asking us to march halfway across the continent and start another war with them. Are you trying to send us to our doom?" bellowed the war chief of the Frost Giants one Harald Sigurdsen. Oddr Bjarnson nodded his agreement. "We number only six hundred or so, all but eighty male. True we won our war here but mostly by fighting from fixed defenses. What you propose is the conquest of a considerable country by an army entirely too small for the task. And we would have to fight on foot in the open against cavalry. We could never bring them to battle save on their terms. " "We do not expect you to do the job by yourselves. Far from it. The Commonwealth army will contribute much larger forces than your own contingent. Our cavalry will flush the centaurs from hiding and drive them onto your shield wall. Together we will crush them hammer to anvil. Between your swords and our lances, we will annihilate the foul creatures. "Well that is more like it." the Frost Giants admitted. "How large a force do you intend to put into the field?" "Two regiments of two thousand soldiers each, a road building battalion, and various commissary, quartermaster and other support units. Five thousand in all. "Five thousand sounds like overkill. Do you intend these soldiers to garrison the newly conquered lands and lord it over us?" "Nay. Once our joint conquest is complete, most of that army will push on to the flatlands beyond. You see, trouble is brewing in the far west of the continent. A militaristic state has arisen that threatens the peace of that region. Should they consolidate their power and take over those lands, in the long run they might threaten the Commonwealth. We have no intention of allowing a military peer to develop on the continent of Valentia." "The problem is those lands are politically fragmented, at odds with each other, and militarily weak. They have petitioned for annexation as associated states. Now the Commonwealth has long traded with those lands via the Great Inland Freshwater Sea or navigable rivers that flow into it from those lands. Our navy dominates the Inland Sea, but annexation is unthinkable without a land link. That is where the centaurs come in." "Or go out!" one Frost Giant quipped which produced a rumble of agreement. Zaldor continued. "The Commonwealth will build military and trade roads across your new country. We still station only a small garrison of battalion size there to show the flag, to patrol the roads, and to protect the road builders. Together our two peoples will assert title to this territory by rights of conquest and of occupation. That is where you giants come in. You will earn your new country with your blood and your sweat." "That sounds much better." Oddr allowed but now let us turn to political matters. We want to be under our own laws not those of the Commonwealth proper." "Not a problem. The Commonwealth is flexible about law codes for the sentient races. Your own laws will prevail in your land just as those of the elves prevail in their secluded vales and those of the dwarves in their subterranean labyrinths. You will have to adopt our commercial code for dealings with the rest of the Commonwealth." "Fine. What about tariffs?" Oddr asked. "The Commonwealth does not levy tariffs on exports, only on imports. Since you would be within our customs union, you would not pay any tariffs on your trade with us. Indeed, once those threatened lands to the west are absorbed by the Commonwealth, you could trade freely with them too." "Fair enough, but what of other taxes." "We will grant you a tax holiday for twenty-five years. The Ruling Council realizes that, with your small numbers, the tax yield would be insignificant to us but perhaps a burden on you as you struggle to build a country from scratch. No, the only taxes you will pay for the next quarter century are those you levy on yourselves." "Since this will be a second homeland for Frost Giants, we need to be able to restrict immigration so we won't be overwhelmed by the vast numbers of the population of the Commonwealth." "Agreed. Though you cannot bar your fellow citizens from traveling freely there you will decide who may settle among you." "Can't complain about those terms." "One more thing," Klarendes added. "There is no reason why you should not augment your numbers from among those of your kind who live in the Commonwealth. Those who join you might double or triple your numbers, bring skills you currently lack among your small population, and provide brides for lonely bachelors. "Now you are talking!" one of the younger giants remarked to general acclaim. "In that connection," Oddr began, "Can you arrange for a supply of those depilatories the elves export from their vales? One treatment every three months is so much more convenient than daily shaving. We want our young swains to look their best when they go courting. Beards may still be in fashion in the old country but nowhere else Frost Giants live, not with all this heat and sweat." "Though finances might be a problem." Klarendes continued. "You will need to import all sorts of manufactures including farming implements and machinery for your industries like sawmills, quarries, or shipyards. The land of the centaurs is mountainous in the north then dwindles to low hills. The headwaters of the rivers run fast and will provide hydropower for mills. The lower stretches are navigable all the way to the Inland Sea." "Actually money will not be a problem." Oddr announced with a self-satisfied look on his face. Our stronghold was where Urloch's paymasters kept their gold. It is ours now. All of it." "I think we are in agreement then on the terms of the peace." Zaldor concluded. "Tomorrow we meet in a council of war as allies. Till then, let us celebrate the peace and our new alliance." That sentiment was shared by all. After the feast held to celebrate the accord Finn and the twins went off to celebrate in their own inimitable style. For that matter, so did Klarendes and Aodh. Chapter 4. Council of War At the council of war Lord Zaldor called on the twins to give a briefing on the geographic scope of the campaign introducing them by saying: "Don't be fooled by the pretty-boy good looks on those two. Believe me the twins have earned their spurs as hunters, explorers, and in the wars as scouts for the Commonwealth army. As Sir Balandur's proteges, the twins marched over and mapped much of the route you would travel, both in the Hot Lands and the Western Plains. In their time they have crossed both eastern and western mountain ranges and traveled the entire navigable length of the Long River and produced excellent maps of those regions. Their magical gift is that of unerring direction, which makes them ideal as guides and also makes their archery uncannily accurate. Furthermore, it was these ingenious fellows who developed contour lines to depict elevation and slope on maps. For that accomplishment they were knighted as well as inducted directly as Masters without ever having served as apprentices or journeymen into the Honorable Guild of Cartographers." "For their selfless courage they were named both elf-friends and dwarf-friends. They also won the the Military Cross for Valor from the Commonwealth. They are, by my personal reckoning at least, two of the most valuable young citizens of the Commonwealth. Gentlemen, I present Sirs Jemsen and Karel." With a bow of his head, Jemsen said: "Thank you Lord Zaldor for your generous remarks. I only hope my brother and I can live up to our billing." As Karel posted a pair of maps on the wall, Jemsen launched into the briefing the two had worked out. With Karel indicating the various features with a pointer as his brother spoke, Jemsen noted that the spine of the Commonwealth was the mighty Long River which flowed due south in a great rift valley hundreds of leagues long and eighty wide. Ages ago geological forces had thrust blocks of stone up to create parallel mountain ranges, forcing the land between them to sink into a rift or graben. The flatlands of the graben were considered the Commonwealth proper. Its rich alluvial soil supported a population in the tens of millions. The mountains facing the river were quite rugged but their outward flanks were much less steep. Few passes crossed these mountains. As the Commonwealth expanded, first by conquest and then by more or less voluntary annexation or accession of its neighbors during the Formation Wars, it occupied the mountains, not only for the sake of clear and secure borders but to obtain the resources of those lands from mines and timberlands, and such. Wise stewards of the land, the rulers of the Commonwealth conserved the forests which protected their watersheds. Outward from the mountains were wide areas of plains. Those to the east had previously been uninhabited, a no man's land. Beyond them lay a huge area of rugged terrain, a series of plateaux and mountain ranges and basins with interior drainage occupied by millions of barbarians, a perpetual threat to the peace. To create a defensive buffer zone, the Army of the Commonwealth occupied the Eastern Plains and brought in settlers. With a few decades the plains became a prosperous province of the Commonwealth, dotted with ranches and farms and the towns that served them. The Western Plains were another story entirely. Long inhabited by nomads, the country wasn't all grassy plains by any means. Scraggly trees lined the swales; brush and thorn bushes formed thickets. Patches of scrub forest sprung up at the base of rocky outcrops. In ages past the nomads had roamed freely and raided widely over the plains till the Commonwealth forced them into fixed territories, making it clear that civilization would no longer tolerate raids and inter-tribal warfare which always spilled over into settled lands. Although the Western Plains lay within the political boundaries of the Commonwealth including its customs union, the Government took a hands- off attitude toward their governance. The Commonwealth administration did not extend to that territory nor did its commercial code apply. The nomads ran their own affairs. "As will we." Oddr Bjarnson noted The lands of the centaurs lay southwest of the Western Plains. In furtherance of the campaign and the Commonwealth's strategic objectives, the army would build roads across the plains which would eventually traverse the land of the centaurs. Now their job, his and Karel's, was to get the Frost Giants from their stronghold to the land of the centaurs, which lay diagonally across the entire Commonwealth. To get to their goal would require a march of nearly a thousand leagues along the shorter route. That route led southwest from the staging area across the low lying Hot Lands, around the northern tip of the Western Mountains and then diagonally southwest across the Plains. The alternate route was much longer: first due south in a march the length of the Eastern Plains to Dalnot, then west by road to the river, due south again by riverboat for a stretch, then another long march due west. The lines of such a march aligned along the cardinal directions and with the three right angle turns of the axis of advance made the total distance two thirds longer. The twins strongly urged the Giants to take the shorter route. Yes they would have to cross the Hot Lands, but the Giants could use the waterholes that had been dug for the migration of the centaurs nearly a decade ago and likely refurbish some of their shelters. The maps the twins had made during their mission with Balandur also showed the course of perennial streams, seasonal ponds, and the sweet water springs near the mountains. Also, the Ruling Council would much prefer not to have an army of Frost Giants march the length and breadth of its heartland. "I can well understand their caution." Oddr allowed. The council tabled a decision on the route to move on to other issues, logistics chief among them. As the saying goes, amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics. Next Klarendes questioned his new allies about weapons and armor. He was pleased to learn that the Frost Giants had standardized on weapons taken from the military stores at the staging area. No, they had no bowmen; their only standoff weapon was the sling. Fortunately the centaurs' upper limbs were not articulated in such a way as to allow them to employ the bow. Except for scouts, the Frost Giants were all heavy infantry, each armed with an oversize spear twelve feet long, a sword slung on the back, plus a kukri in a scabbard at the hip. They wore scale armor though only on chest and back for freedom of movement. On the march they slung their oval shields on their backs, making them look a bit like gigantic turtles walking upright on two legs. On this march through uninhabited country their shields would be transported on supply carts drawn by rotating teams of giants. They themselves would carry little besides their weapons and water gourds. As for tactics, their war chief Harald Sigurdsen explained that the Frost Giants formed a shield wall, those in the front line brandishing swords the second line standing offset from the man in front, their spears held vertically by their side, ready to rotate to a horizontal position and thrust at their foes in the space between the men in front. Behind them stood two other ranked pairs of lines, ready on command to execute a passage of lines to let those in front retire to the rear and rest. Reserves mustered in a compact square ready to turn toward threats from any direction then deploy into line. The council of war ultimately adopted the shorter route the twins had urged. Oddr, Harald, Klarendes, and Zaldor worked out a timetable for preparations and set a date for the march to start. After farewells, the escort for the Commonwealth delegation formed up and escorted Lord Zaldor, Count Klarendes and Aodh back the way they had come. A week later, Klarendes and Aodh split off from Zaldor and his party and headed directly south, to traverse the length of the Eastern Plains. Zaldor graciously lent them a pair of troopers as an escort to see them safely to Dalnot. This was more of a courtesy than a military necessity. A firecaster and a wir-panther could take care of themselves. The giants set out with the twins and Finn in the lead. The twins had tossed their packs and quarterstaffs on a cart. They carried unstrung bows, their quivers of arrows slung over the shoulder, with a scabbard strapped to it for their kukris. Though bare to the waist Finn at least wore trews and sandals; the twins went unshod and sky-clad or nude as was their wont. That brought whistles from some of the younger giants. Karel responded, remarking blandly: "Gentlemen, if you haven't noticed already, the weather in these parts is hot. And where we are headed, into the Hot Lands, it will only get worse." Karel and his brother then perched straw sombreros atop their heads much to the amusement of the giants. Could anything look sillier: two preternaturally beautiful youths without a stitch on save a wide-brimmed straw hat? More than one of the giants at the head of the column commented favorably on the sight of the twins walking just ahead of them, their pert buttocks dimpling and twitching provocatively with their movements. Nude boys look so cute to those walking behind them. Their firm round buns and the delightful crevice between delight and arouse males who appreciate a pretty boy. From the rear, the twins were all curves: the calves, the thighs, the globes of the buttocks, the shoulders and swale of the lower back. The effect was tantalizing. Not expecting any military threat along the way, the giants marched without flankers, four abreast, in three detachments, with the last one, which included the lady giants, escorting the baggage train which was loaded down with food, water butts, armor and their shields, plus the gold hoard. They marched out heads high, singing old sea chanteys, on the march toward a brighter future in a second homeland for their folk and a second chance for themselves. [Concluded in Part II] Author's Note If you have enjoyed this story and others like it, consider making a donation to the Nifty Archive. It is so easy. They take credit cards. This tale is the first of an occasional series about the further adventures of the characters introduced in the fantasy novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends' and published on Nifty Archive. The chief protagonist of the novel, Dahlderon, elf-boy and druid, will appear in these stories in a supporting rather than starring role. Each story stands on its own, with the focus on one or just a few of the original characters. This story is entirely fictional, with no resemblance intended to any person living or dead. Readers who like these stories might want to try my two series 'Daphne Boy' and 'Naked Prey' in the Gay/Historical section of the Archive. My 'Jungle Boy' series of Hollywood tales is posted in the Gay/Authoritarian section. The recent series 'Andrew Jackson High relates the trials and tribulations of five of its gay students. For links to these and other stories, look on the list of Prolific Authors on the Archive. Comments and feedback welcome.