The Breed
By Dream Janus
Disclaimer: All rights are protected and the story cannot be reproduced without permission.
This story is a work of fiction and contains scenes of gay sex between consenting individuals. If you find this offensive, are under the age of 18, it is illegal wherever you are to read this, stop reading now. Leave this site. If you are offended by harsh language, please exit this page immediately. You have been warned. This work of fiction is property of myself and may not be copied or used in any way without my express consent.
Much thanks and appreciation goes to Rubilacxe, my editor and second set of eyes.
Note from Dream Janus: I now have a presence in Yahoo groups.
On Yahoo it is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dream_janus_stories/
If you want, I can be emailed at dreamjanus@yahoo.com.
2nd Note from Dream Janus: You may or may not notice that I deleted the MSN group from above, I can no longer access it and no one was really joining it.
3rd Note from Dream Janus: There are scenes in this chapter that did happen to my sister, while I am not sure what exactly happened, nor do I want to know, the general idea is there.
Chapter 22 "Revelations"
"Where is George?" Mike asked the doctor over the shoulder of Ray.
"He is at the hospital with Sherry," Dr. Dal`gen'gel answered quietly. "She lost one of her eyes and is still unconscious." He explained.
"Can we contact him?" Mike asked.
"Of course," Dr. Dal`gen'gel said with a laugh dialing George's cell phone number.
"I have two very impatient patients that want to see you," Dr. Dal`gen'gel said into the phone with a smile. "Yes Ray and Mike are awake."
"Ugh, Doc, I may be myself and awake but Ray died. From now on I am only Toban."
"Yeah, Doc, and I am Kardama (Shadow)"
Dr. Dal`gen'gel looked at the boys for a moment and then smiled. "I understand."
"They prefer to be called Toban and Kardama now though." Dr. Dal`gen'gel said into his phone.
"I will be right there." was heard through the phone in George's excited voice.
Within fifteen minutes a very excited George ran into the room and into a crushing three-way hug with Toban and Kardama. All three sets of eyes were sparkling with tears as they kissed each other alternating back and forth.
"Kardama huh?" George finally asked as he pulled back slightly from his Zoméa.
"Well Kar, but yeah I am the same, but I am also very different. The old Mike died" He explained.
Over the next hour George gently tested his Zoméa making sure that they were still themselves and not lacking anything. Even though Toban realized quickly what George was doing, he easily accepted the gentle testing of his Alpha Zomé. Kar's eyes kept drawing George's attention until finally George had to ask about them.
"Are those new eyes permanent or can you change the color back?" George asked softly.
Kar laughed and then concentrated. The black color drained from his eyes and left the color the George was used to seeing in Mike's eyes, except for a faint black ring on the outside of the eye. "I can but as with everything else, they are not exactly the same as they were."
A knock on the large wooden door startled the three from further conversation. It did not surprise anyone that Dr. Dal`gen'gel entered the room, but the surprise was that Antino followed him quickly. Antino grabbed Toban in a tight hug and twirled him around as he turned Toban Antino also kissed him on the mouth with happiness. Antino then turned to Kar and picked him up and repeated the same process.
"I am so glad it worked." Antino said gushing.
"Yeah it worked," Toban said with a rye smile. "But now I am starving," he groused.
Antino laughed and the kissed Toban again. "I am sure you are."
Without being told to do so, Dr. Dal`gen'gel handed Antino a freshly processed bag of O negative blood. Antino then handed the bag to Toban. He smiled when Toban looked at the bag in a mixture of lust and hunger that had never crossed the young man's face before.
Toban growled throatily as he began to smell the blood through the plastic of the bag. He opened his mouth and forced his elongating fangs into the bag. The taste of the bag was a bit off for Toban, but the taste of the slightly cooled blood made up for it. The iron and other nutrients in the blood washed over Toban tongue as any great delicacy, the pain in his stomach soon faded and was replaced by a content feeling. The small amount that remained in the bag after the content feeling washed over him gave him the feeling of being full, as if he had just eaten a large meal.
The blood leaked down Toban's mouth and chin as he drank. It dripped lightly onto his chest and upper stomach muscles. Subconsciously he began to rub the blood into his battered skin. The blood on Toban's body began to fuse and heal the wounds that riddled his body, within moments the wounds were healing and the blood was absorbing into his body. When he placed the empty bag on a nearby wooden table, the wounds were totally gone.
"Feel better?" Antino asked with big smile.
"OH YEAH," Toban answered with a growl.
The room echoed with laughter, even from a slightly blushing Toban. They then calmed down and took a deep breath. Toban then cocked his head and asked Antino, "So am I now a Fang or Vampire?"
"YOU ARE NOT A FANG!" Antino roared. He then blushed about his over reaction and then smiled apolitically. "Your blood being part Wolf and Bear did not allow for a complete normal transformation, but the ghoul and human portions were able to accept Vampirism." He began to explain. "You are now 1/8 Wolf, ¼ Bear, ¼ Thoul (Vampiric Ghoul), 3/8 Vampire. So you are technically 5/8 Vampiric."
The realization that he was now at least partially vampiric was oddly comforting to Toban. His mind then turned to another related subject. "Am I alive or undead?"
Dr. Dal`gen'gel grimaced at Toban's question but responded, "As near as I can tell you are somewhere in between. If you were totally alive your temperature would be 98.6º, an unfed vampire would have a temperature of about 76º, and you average about 92.5 º. If someone were to take your temperature they would just assume that something had lowered it slightly.
The doctor then turned to Kar and smiled, "May I draw some blood to check on some things that I suspect?"
"Sure," Kar said with a shrug.
Dr. Dal`gen'gel withdrew a syringe and vial from his pocket and began preparing it. When he had it prepared, the doctor swabbed Kar's arm and began to draw the blood sample. Everyone that watched was surprised as the blood came out; it was very dark red and swirling with black inky liquid shadow energy.
"As I figured," Dr. Dal`gen'gel said holding up the vial to the light. "It seems that the integration of human and shadow is almost 100%." He then shook the blood violently. The blood itself sloshed equally violently, but the shadow traces remained moving at the same slow pace.
"I figure that you absorbed the remains of the shadow armor and the discharged shadow energy that was in the room," Dr. Dal`gen'gel said guessing the truth.
"Yeah," Kar said with a distant look in his eyes. "Plus there was the shade that killed me mourning over me at the time of the release; it was also absorbed as well as stolen life force of those around at the time."
"So apparently the combination of shadow energy and stolen life force was what brought you back then." Antino said solemnly. His love for the boys not withstanding the tragedy, Antino had to know what brought them back and that they were themselves.
Over the next three hours, they continued to talk. Occasionally Kar or Toban would show a small amount of their powers new and old to prove that they were both enough of their old selves and new as well.
"Well damn," Antino said with a bit of smile. "I am to have to give you a title now, Kar." He said with a slight shrug. "Not to mention some changes for you as well Toban."
"Yeah I know," Toban said with a distant look, "but we have a much bigger problem to deal with first."
Antino looked at him silently.
"Jeremiah is a traitor," Toban blurted. "He is the one that killed me. The Regia'an Queen is the one who killed Rex," He then paused. "Herself."
Antino nodded his face and remained as cold as granite. He already suspected that someone close had been a traitor. "I will have a warrant issued for his capture, but I am sure that the Zoméa will issue a blood oath against him."
"I have another issue to deal with in another room that is along the same lines," Antino said changing the subject. "Karl was kept captive by the reported Dhunphir and now Karl is protecting him, until I can see the boy."
"Hum," Toban said softly. His eyes gleamed "I want to sit in on this meeting. I have a feeling..."
Daniel and Karl were sitting at a small wooden table playing cards when the large door opened up allowing Antino, Toban and George to enter the room. The moment that the three men entered the room all three of them gasped in surprise when they saw Daniel. They each recognized Daniel's facial features as the features of Marcus. There was no disputing the fact that Marcus was the father of this Dhampir teen.
Antino immediately grew angry again and slammed his fist into the nearest wall. The wall shook and the stones cracked under the force of the punch. One of his oldest children had broken one of the oldest laws and was a traitor. He did not understand how the third most powerful Breed vampire could turn traitor.
Karl reached across the table and grasped Daniel's hand and projected, [It is because of who you look like, not because of you.]
Antino roared and sent out a wide command for attention. A moment later a small woman no taller than 5 foot hurried into the room. "I order the arrest of Lord Marcus and Lord Knight Jeremiah on charges of treason. Further charges for Lord Marcus are the unlawful creation of a Dhampir and further charges for Jeremiah are the murder of Ray McFearsome and the attempted Murder of The Shade Prince Toban McFearsome."
The woman's hands flew across a note pad that she carried, her head remained bowed respectfully until Antino was silent for a moment and then she looked up briefly seeing if she was being dismissed on not. When she saw that Antino was in thought she remained silent and stationary, waiting.
"I further order that the Dhampir be placed in the custody of Master Karl until such time as I make a decision as to his disposal." Antino finally ordered looking directly at Karl. [IF he turns out to be a plant, spy or a danger, it will be your neck.]
Karl nodded respectfully in acknowledgement of the thought transmission. [Yes, Ancient]
An hour later a very relieved George drove Toban and Kar to the house. Davey, Shanny, Iris and Gene were all waiting excitedly. After a few moments of explanation there were hugs all around and they all went inside. Toban and Kar took the children up to the room that had become the `Toy' room and quietly played with them as George brought Iris and Gene up to date on everything that had happened.
In the `Toy' room Davey walked up to Toban and touched his face softly, "You are differ'nt now, aren' ya?"
"Yes, but not in any way that you need to worry about, Bud," Toban answered truthfully. "The Ancient had to do something to me to help heal me and it changed my body, but my heart where my love for you lives is still the same."
Toban then tickle attacked Davey, who squealed with laughter and glee at having his big buddy back.
Shanny looked at Kar with a discerning eye and walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "You changed too, but you are the same, but lots stronger," she said bluntly.
"Yeah, Baby," Kar admitted and kissed her cheek as well.
That night as the three Zoméa prepared for bed, the specter of the missing Rex hung on their minds. Toban paced back and forth just inside the bedroom, waiting on George and Kar to be ready for bed. George was sitting on the edge of the bathtub trying to contain his tears as a combination emotions collided in his body: relief over regaining Toban and Kar but also the loss of Rex. Kar was standing in the dressing room staring deeply into one of the three directional mirrors.
Kar was staring at his eyes with a critical look. He kept his focus on the mirror as he began to take off his shirt and pants. His compact muscles flexed and rolled as he moved to remove his clothing. Kar's eyes never left the mirror as he blinked and began to concentrate.
Kar focused on attempting to change his eye color. He planned on making tribal tattoos on his body, just like Toban. The shadow makings began to etch out from his neck, down his chest and back and then flowed down his arms. Kar kept the focus on his eyes until the blackness began to drain from them, but by then the markings had moved down his stomach, passed his perky ass and down his legs. When the shadow tattoos reached his hands and feet, Kar sighed and withdrew the tattoos completely.
A multi-tonal growl escaped Kar's throat as he glared at himself in frustration. He caused his eyes to revert to the blue color with the black ring, "Damn"
Kar then thought for a second and considered several options and then concentrated once again. A black cloud formed around his whole body covering him from head to toe. After a moment the cloud began to shrink and was again absorbed into his body. Kar again stood there but was dressed black loafers, black jeans, a black long sleeve button up shirt, black sunglasses and a black baseball hat. He lowered the sunglasses and looked into his sparkling blue eyes, totally clear of any black. Kar let out a loud whoop of joy; he had found how to hide the fact that he was different, at least from casual observers.
George and Toban both came to Kar's side to find out what the noise was about and found him dressed in totally new clothes. Kar began to explain to them what he was excited about and what he had tried. They discussed the outcomes and the possibilities, after a few minutes, Toban and Kar decided that they should go window shopping in a few days to give him a few more ideas as what forms the energy could take.
Kar absorbed the energy back into his body and climbed into the large bed. The bed seemed so much bigger for all three of them as each of them prepared to sleep. George cuddled into Toban and Kar turned into Toban and held tightly on to George's arm. Sleep did not come easy for any of them.
It had been decided by Antino that to save the remaining Zoméa additional heartache and pain that Rex's remains would be interred the first night that they were together and without them being present. It was decided between Antino and George that Rex would be given a resting place in the Conclave catacombs many levels underneath the Conclave complex itself, instead of a traditional bears internment. Antino made sure that the Rex's body had been pieced back together as much as possible and that he was buried with his Joining bracelet, even though it was against traditions of both the Bears and the Conclave. His final resting place was a small mausoleum style hole in the wall that was sealed with a capstone that read:
Here lies Master Corporal Rex McFearsome
Zomé of The Bridge of Us All
Beta Zome of the Shade Prince Toban
Brother of Master General Gew'org
Zomé of Kardama Shadow Librum Warrior
Protector of the Conclave way of life
Dark Sacrifice for us all
The majority of the capstone was crafted in the same stone of that surrounded the walls, but the memorial itself was formed out of lead and silver. It was placed in the capstone in such a way that it would be almost impossible to pry out. Unlike human funerals, there was no casket, just the body wrapped in scented linen, placed in the opening and finally sealed shut.
Iris attended the small ceremony as she felt someone from the family needed to be present. She knew that something was not right but she chalked it up to the feeling that the remaining Zoméa would exact revenge. Iris never trusted her psychic based instincts.
Just before sunrise George felt the bed move several times and was confused as it seemed that it came from several directions at once. His sleep filled mind began to think it was some form of attack until he felt a small set of hands touch his face, followed by a small kiss. Unknown to him at that same moment Kar was feeling the same sort of assault. Davey was kissing Kar and Shanny was kissing him. They almost immediately cuddled into their parents and drifted off to sleep.
Two hours later, Toban woke up to find himself wedged between Shanny in front and Davey behind. With a deep contented sigh he smiled and sent out a large ripple of love to both of the children. Almost immediately both of them snuggled even tighter to him and also sighed. Toban laughed to himself and just laid there absorbed in the contentment of the moment.
Across town Valen was crying, Rosann was working the night shift at the hospital and Moe was left alone with her and Toby at night. It started out as just touching, but last night Moe had stuck his THING in her and it HURT BAD. She would have told her mommy but Moe had a real gun with bullets and said that if she told he would hurt her and mommy and Toby. Valen wished Ray was here he would make mean old Moe go away, like he did Paul.
Valen walked to the bathroom and washed her face so she would look better for when Rosann came home. She then hid her night gown in the dirty clothes in the laundry room, slipped into another nightgown and went back to bed. Valen had another two hours before she was expected to be up and wanted to hide all the evidence.
Rosann was driving home and had made a decision. She felt that she and Moe were enough of a couple that she could introduce him to Ray without too much of a problem. Of course she planned on introducing him to Iris and Gene first. Rosann knew she would have to get Ray to give his word not to hurt Moe first. That was a must.
Over the next week several things happened, Junior was finally released from the hospital much to the relief of Karl. Junior, Karl and Daniel moved into the house with the Zoméa. Sherry was also released from the hospital. The Librum Guild requested an audience with both Kar and Toban while the Conclave required an audience with both Toban and Kar and the assassin Guild called for Sherry.
At first Junior was a bit jealous of Karl and Daniel but that quickly evaporated when Karl's tongue went down Junior's throat and it was revealed that Daniel was totally straight. From then on Junior reveled in attempting to torture Daniel as the `token straight boy'. Daniel took everything with ease and even got Junior back several times.
When they moved in to the mansion, Junior at first teased that they only needed one room and only a King sized bed, but when Daniel stated that he was only a top, the exclusively top Junior changed his mind and agreed that they needed two rooms inside. It was quickly decided that the three of them would divide `munchkin' duty as the Zoméa's needed it. Daniel had already fallen in love with both Davey and Shanny.
When Sherry was released from the hospital there was a minor fight between her and George as to where she was going to stay, She planned on returning to her own apartment which she had lost and did not know about and George wanted her to go to the mansion. The fight was quickly decided when Toban and Kar interfered and told her that she was family and she was expected to act like it and to get "her ass where it belonged, now"
Sherry was distraught over her appearance in that she no longer had one eye and could not support an artificial replacement. She was forced to wear a patch, though it was soon replaced by another patch crafted by Kar that gave her sight of a sort. The patch was made of shadow material and connected directly to her optic nerve. It allowed her to see the shadow realm and as such gave her a limited form of sight.
When the Librum Guild requested the audience with both Kar and Toban they both were scared. Neither knew what to expect or what the reason for the audience was about. When they were called they were brought into the library and sat down in a couple of chair across from the three that had attended that Joining.
"The reason that we called you here today is simple and at the same time complex in its reasoning, Gentlemen," the oldest man said. "We are attempting to classify you for the records."
Both Toban and Kar breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled.
"It is rather difficult to quantify the race and the type of Breed that the entity called Kar is now." explained the woman.
"May I speak?" Kar asked softly.
"Of course," the older man responded.
"Thank you," Kar acknowledged. "I have given this some thought over the last week," he paused. "While I appear to be human physically I know that I can alter my body both inside and out to be something else."
To prove his point, Kar extended his shadow self until it covered his whole body and reformed into a large bear. He then continued to talk. "It appears to be limited to anything that my mind and the amount of energy I have on hand can create." He then returned to normal.
"While it is not shape shifting in the truest sense and it is a talent that any shadow has, it is not something that I was born to be able to do," Kar began to finish his rambling. "Would it be acceptable to be called a `Shade man' or `Shadowman'?
"I see no reason that Shadowman could not be entered into the registry," answered the younger man.
"Then it is settled," the older man responded.
"Now on to His Highness Lord Toban," the woman said.
"I ask that the illustrious Librum Guild Counsel to instead join the full Conclave so that we may complete this matter at the same time," Antino interjected from the slightly opened Librum library door.
"Agreed," all three Counsel Members echoed.
Twenty minutes later in the Conclave cavern three additional thrones had been added and Marcus' and Jeremiah's had been removed from the dais. Without any ceremony the thrones and different areas filled as people arrived. Antino, Elzabeth, Toban, George and Kar were the last to arrive. This time Toban and Kar were not expected to stand in the pit or act a certain way, but Toban and Kar were told by Antino they were expected to stand at the front of the dais.
Once everything was quiet, Antino began. "Ten days ago traitors from within were revealed and assassination was completed," he began.
"The Death Knight Jeremiah has been found guilty of the crime of assassination and treason against us all," Antino began to recount, "assassination of the Shade Prince Ray McFearsome by bullet of silver, gold and lead. He is only restored to us by the dark kiss of myself."
"The former Conclave counsel leader and Elder Marcus has been found guilty of the crime of creating a dhumpir and treason against us all," Antino continued. "The dhampir has the features of his sire and presently and for the foreseeable future protected by Ancient directive."
"They are from this moment forward blood enemies and to be killed on sight," Antino said with a raised voice.
"I add to the Regia'an queen's list of crimes against the breed and against humans that she ordered and carried out the murder of the Shade Prince's Zomé Mike McFearsome, who stands here today only by the power of the repentant Shade that caused his death, the shadow power of his Zomé, the life force of those present at that time and their bound love," Antino explained.
At this point the cavern exploded in cheers and people clapping over the restoration of the Zoméa. Though the party atmosphere was short lived, as everyone noticed that every person of the dais, except for the Librum Guild Counsel had their hand up attempting to silence everyone. Within moments the room was again deathly silent, as everyone waited for the Ancient to continue
"I further add to the Regia'an queen's list of crimes against the breed in the brutal murder of Rex McFearsome," Antino added without flourish or additional wording.
The people in the cavern waited expectantly to hear that Rex had been restored as the rest had been. The realization that he was not with the others began to bring tears to eyes and eventually the sound of crying could be heard all over the cavern. After a respectful few moments Antino called for silence and the room quickly quieted down.
"The way that Prince Toban and Mike were brought back opens many issues as well as reveals these traitors," Antino explained. "Now Prince Toban is Vampire as well as Bear, Wolf and Thoul, His existence and the way he came into being fulfills the prophecy of `The Bridge for Us All'
There were several gasps around the cavern, even from Toban himself. The shock of being the one spoken of in prophecy was even too much for him. The Librum Guild Counsel all were nodding in agreement as Elzabeth stood up to speak.
Elzabeth's eyes were as white as snow with no other color as stood. The madness of the Prophesy was upon her and she could not see or hear anything but the words.
The generations of the bridge are five:
The first shall be highborn with blood pure beyond reproach, Kingdoms to build, to hold and to divide.
The second shall be of mixed blood and crazed for the flesh as no other, whose death shall ride before this prophecy is fulfilled.
The third is the bridge yet unfulfilled waiting for love and death to make it make and give its dark kiss
The forth is the bridge itself born of shadow and rage, betrayal and love. From it shall come peace and love.
The fifth the Ancient of all shall not see, but shall the number three; left, right and center be. To brace the bridge and Zoméa three.
The `Bridge For Us All' will be born of mixed and hidden blood, both of the darkness and the light, mind of darkness and heart of light.
Shunned by the greatest and accepted by the least, Raised up by the oldest and loved by the youngest.
Bound in blood by love to the Internal Protector and the Dark Sacrifice,
He will be forged in life, death, rebirth and immortality to weld the Dagger of Bridges, Sword of Infinity and the Sword of Unity,
Binding the darkness to the light for all eternity.
The `Bridge For Us All' will create love from destruction, know sorrow and love. Be Father and Mother to us all. Be the greatest of us all.
The cavern was silent as the prophecy was spoken. Most had heard parts of it but few had heard all of it. After a moment of silence people began to talk amongst themselves trying to interpret. A moment passed and then they noticed that Elzabeth had not moved and had not even shut her mouth, the room quickly became silent again.
The Internal Protector shall forever be bound to the Bridge and Iron Bear by the bounds of loves unbroken, for not even death shall shatter those chains.
The Dark Sacrifice swims in the waters of darkness, but shall rise from the depths as a leviathan and destroy those who would destroy the light.
The Bridge, Internal Protector, Dark Sacrifice and Iron Bear are forever.
Elzabeth then collapsed on the dais. Several female attendants rushed out and helped move her out of the way.
"Well, that explains a lot," Antino said with smile.
"Now to business, "Antino said with a raised voice. "Prince Toban, You have just been declared the Bridge of Us all, by the Breed Oracle, as the Ancient I accept it as your new title, adding it to Shade Prince." Antino then paused and smiled.
"Please bring out the Artifacts," Antino said speaking behind the curtain.
George appeared carrying a case that held the Sword of Infinity, Shal'narl diamond, Jade fork, Shall'dan ruby and Opal of Y'AlnarFal. Without a word he placed the diamond in front of Toban, the fork to his left, the ruby to his right and the opal behind him. George then handed the small sword to Toban and smiled. He mimicked a sword salute and then backed up.
Toban repeated the sword salute more out of habit than anything else and was surprised by the results. Each of the items that had been placed around him began to glow and float in the air. After a second they began to spin slowly around him and a small sword. A moment later the Jade fork flew at the sword and attached it self to one side of the hilt, with the two tines pointed toward the handle, covering a portion of the large hole in the hilt.
Once the fork was fitted the opal fitted itself to the left of the fork inside the hole on the hilt. The platinum in the blade began to flow like liquid and lengthen the blade until it looked like a short sword instead a large dagger. The Ruby then forced itself on the right side of the fork. The gold in the blade began to fill in ancient De'wann runes that covered the face of the blade itself. Finally the diamond set itself in the placement on the opposite side of the hilt. The sword grew to the size of a long sword and was covered with vicious serrated groves and it and Toban glowed with a dark energy.
"This proves he is the bridge," George announced.
"I also declare the blood that runs in his veins my blood and as such I declare him my Heir apparent!" Antino said shocking everyone including Toban.
There was a universal gasp even from Toban when they heard the new coming from Antino but the Ancient did not stop or pause as he stepped closer to the edge of the dais. "From this moment forward he will take over all activities that Marcus did and hold every office that he held." He then turned to his other children and asked, "ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS?"
"Double damn," muttered Toban when no one said anything. He really was tired of all the accelerated advancement, but he realized he had been warned by Antino that he would have a different life once he took on the responsibilities of being a member of the Conclave.
"Also Mike is from this day forward known to one and all as Kardama McFearsome, Shadowman the Internal protector, Shadow Librum Warrior and Ancient liaison to the Librum Guild, with all the rights, powers and responsibilities therein," Antino announced.
A cheer was heard from every area of the cavern. Toban's three Shillular (pregnant surrogates) and their father Thomas, Regent of the Bears, stood with pride and added to the cheers volume.
"All monies and properties of the Death Knight Jeremiah shall be seized and immediately transferred to the control of the Heir Apparent Shade Prince Toban McFearsome as recompense for his murder and rebirth at Jeremiah's hands." Antino directed. He then looked to one side and continued, "Further, all monies and properties of the former Conclave counsel leader and Elder Marcus shall also be seized. 25% of all monies shall be transferred to the Conclave treasury, 50% to be divided equally among the Conclave counsel members and the remaining 25% shall be divided between the Ancient fund and the Heir Apparent fund."
"The Properties shall be divided according to the following plan, 1 blood bank, 1 club of his choice and 1 office building of his choice shall go to Toban." Antino stated. "The Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans and Oklahoma City houses are also now his." He then smiled "All other properties shall be auctioned to benefit the Conclave treasury."
While Antino was saying this he thought transmitted to Kar, [Sherry has to go somewhere else, please follow her, but secretly.]
Kar nodded and walked off the dais and out of the cavern though the dais door. He then blended into the shadows on the wall, totally hiding his location. Within a few moments he was able to locate the skulking Sherry as she made her way down a set of stone stairs toward an area of the Conclave complex that Kar had never been in before. The whole area looked old and rarely used; the tunnels were rounded instead of squared like most of the rest of the areas.
Sherry stopped at a blank wall with a small torch and holder in the center of the wall. She gently pulled the holder down and wall slid to the right slightly forming a small doorway. Sherry slipped into it.
Kar as a shadow slipped through the doorway as the wall began to slide back into place. He found himself in a small room similar to the Conclave cavern, but without a dais and only a single light in the center of the room. Kar noticed that Sherry stood in the center of the room apparently blinded by the light shining directly down on her.
"Sherry," an obviously modified voice said. "We understand that your injuries are so severe that you are unable to continue to work in the duties as an Assassin."
"Master, please," Sherry said with an almost begging tone. "The modifications that I have gained to my eye allow me to see into the shadow realm and give me enhanced abilities for the most part and my fighting skills have not been lessened."
"We know of the modifications that you speak," the voice said. "It is not enough in every situation. We need your skills to teach our next generations of assassins more than we need you attempting to prove yourself on missions."
"I understand and accept the change in position, Master," answered an obviously upset Sherry. She realized that even though she did not like the situation, it was for the best and for the greater good of everyone. Sherry bowed and then turned walking back to the opening that she came from. She pressed an exposed brick and the doorway opened again. A very defeated Sherry left quickly.
Kar began to follow Sherry though the small tunnel, but just as he reached the opening it quickly slammed shut barring his escape from the room. He then turned around to push the release switch and found that it did not move. Kar then began to panic when he heard the modified voice again, "Kar!"
"Kar, I know you are there," the voice slightly changed.
"Please turn yourself visible so we can talk." The voice began to sound familiar to Kar.
Kar turned himself visible but remained intangible and in shadow form. He remained just outside of the direct light. Kar was not comfortable in this situation and for his protection created three small shadow stars, shadow versions of throwing stars.
"That would be a good idea, if I was a threat to you," the voice said as it became very familiar.
Suddenly a large form dropped from the stands above and wrapped itself around Kar. Massively muscled arms pulled the immaterial form of Kar not only back into the physical but back into itself. For a brief moment Kar was scared and then a familiarity coursed though his body and he moaned, allowing himself to become solid and slump into the massive muscles behind him. The shadow stars melted away into nothingness.
"Damn you George, You scared me." Kar moaned in relief and lust.
"Sorry love but I had to keep the secret that I am the Master of the Assassin Guild until we were alone. No one but Antino knew, but now you know," George explained. "I want to train you, but only in secret. No one is to know, not even Toban."
Kar did not like the idea of keeping things from either of his lovers, but he felt that if it would one day protect them then it would be alright, so he said "I don't like keeping secrets from him or you, but Ok."
"Well one thing that you need to understand is exactly how deep my loss of Rex really is," George began to explain. "He was not my brother as he and everybody thought, he was actually my youngest son."
Kar was shocked by George's revelation but kept his emotions in check as he listened to the man he loved reveal his deepest secrets to him. He felt nothing would change that love for the man that was holding him so lovingly. Kar felt George's heartbeat increase as the emotions began to flow freely.
"I may look somewhere between the age of 35 and 45 which is a natural skill of the Thrope, but in reality I am much older," George revealed. "I just passed 250 years last winter."
"Elzabeth feeds off of Antino so she does not have to feed off of others and so she can remain at his side," George continued to explain. "He feeds me so that I may continue to serve the Conclave as the General of the Conclave Army and the Master of the Assassin Guild, as well as Antino's best and closest friend."
By now Kar was in so much shock that he slumped more into George's arms and was entranced by his words. There was no fear, just surprise and admiration of his love's life and the adventures he must have had. Kar was verging on rapture as he listened.
"Rex's mother was a true born vampire, one who was born a vampire. She died giving birth to him. He showed no vampiric traits at all." George said in a wistful murmur. "He was the only child I had out of my own species, the other five were with bear females and I never married any of them."
"Rex was raised by my oldest children as their own; I was in and out of his life, so they just told him I was his much older brother to make things easier," George continued with the story.
"When Sherry's parents were killed on a mission for the guild, I had the kids adopt and take care of her. It worked until she decided to join the guild herself. As her adopted brother I argued against her joining the guild and as the Guild Master I made it very difficult for her to pass the tests. She passed the test well above what was expected and there was nothing I could do to stop her entry," George explained sadly. "She ran away after that."
"Well, we need to schedule your training for next week, around your time with the Librum and our time with Toban and Antino," George began to finish up. "Antino will be easy to schedule around—he knows what is going on. Everyone else on the other hand is another matter."
"Yeah," Kar said with a smile and kissed George on the lips.
The next week was busy for the Zoméa as they prepared for Davey's birthday party, they planned on making most of it a surprise. George surprised Toban and Kar by driving them to the Galleria Mall. He pulled the car into the covered parking and parked near the elevator. When they arrived at the elevator Toban and Kar were surprised when George pressed the down button instead of up.
When the elevator opened up they found themselves in a well lit underground copy of the Galleria Mall but the stores were obviously geared toward Breed customers. The Breed mall was a two story mall with its own food court, electronics, clothing and jewelry stores. Both Toban and Kar were shocked to see the size and magnitude of the mall.
"Where should we go first?" Kar asked.
"Well..."George said thinking rubbing his chin. "Davey loves Hera to pieces and she needs a companion when we are away, so let's go to the pet store."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Toban said with a smile.
They walked to the pet store named "El'jarn Pets – Breed based Pets". The window was filled with assorted cages containing various animals. Kar immediately spotted several cages with dogs and wolf hybrids. He walked over the cages and began looking at the dogs.
Toban became intrigued by cages that were holding finch-like birds that according to the sign `have mood changing feathers and can learn to talk'. As he watched several of the birds' feathers changed from blue to green while others changed from blue to red. The ones whose feathers turned red began to chirp loudly.
George was looking at the cages of cats and was intrigued by the triple morphing bob-tailed lynx. The lynx had brown and silver fur and gold eyes. The information card showed a holographic representation of the three forms the lynx could take: house cat, large cat, monster cat.
Each of the Zoméa debated in their own mind the merits of the pet they were looking at as a pet for a human boy being raised three breed fathers. Kar felt that another dog may be good for the boy but might be a bit much to deal with for the guys. Toban looked at the birds and thought that they may be easy for Davey to take care of and easy to blend in to the human world but were worthless if he needed protection. George looked back and forth between the Lynx and the dogs.
"Well guys," George finally asked, "What have we decided?"
"I don't think a bird would do any good," responded Toban.
"I am not too sure if we need to get another dog or not, with our new schedules and with him being so young," Kar said with a slight shrug.
"What do you think about getting him this triple morphing Lynx" George asked. "It would be a good house cat, good protector as a large cat and excellent protector and ride when it is a monster cat."
"Hera might have a bit of an issue with a cat, but she and the lynx are young enough to eventually form a bound."
"Sounds good to me," Toban said quickly.
"Me too," Kar agreed.
Within five minutes the small female human shop keeper had filled out the required paperwork and setup when the lynx would be delivered two days later, the day of Davey's birthday. When the paperwork was complete, she had the lynx's cage moved to a waiting area in the back room. She then took Toban's credit card and processed the sell, smiling when she realized that there was no credit limit on the card.
Ten minutes later the Zoméa were in "Yal'mar Apparel". A clothing store specifically for breed children. Most of the clothing seemed normal and would pass in the human world, but the clothing as you went further back included robes and became stranger and more foreign to human sensibilities.
Toban walked up to a rack of pants that looked like regular denim jeans, but were tagged "cut proof". He picked out three pairs of pants, one blue, green and black. Kar took the hint from Toban's selections and began looking at shirts. Kar looked at a rack of shirts that were marked as "waterproof" and he chose white, red, blue, black and green. George selected a white child-size ceremonial sash and three different pairs of shoes, tennis shoes, loafers and dress shoes.
The Zoméa took time out and went to the food court. There were a total of seven food stands in the area ranging from ghoul chow named "Roadkill on a Stick" at the far end of the court, to human food stand named "McFrenchies" closest to the entrance, a vampire stand with both fresh and bottled blood which was next to human food stand and was named "Suck and Gulp".
Toban and Kar quickly found a place to sit and George found out what they were hungry for and then went and got them. George went to McFrenchies to get food for himself and Kar and to "Suck and Gulp" for Toban with a side of fries from McFrenchies as well. He returned carrying a rare triple stack burger, a well done triple stack burger, three orders of French fries, a pint of fresh AB- blood in a drink cup, a quart of bottled AB- blood and three diet soda pops. Once the food was placed on the table Kar handed the food out and everyone began eating.
Toban nibbled on the French fries as he drank the blood from the drink cup. He felt the old familiar tingle that the blood gave him before the recent changes, but he also felt the blood restoring his strength and mental alertness. Kar ate silently as he watched the people moving around the mall, most of them appeared to be human, at least in appearance, but a few were obviously not. George ate while watching both of his Zoméa enjoy the new surroundings.
Once they finished eating, the three Zoméa decided to walk around the mall exploring. They spent the next two hours looking at the different stores and the wide variety of carts that the mall possessed. The Zoméa finally decided to call their excursion to the mall to an end and return home.
Two days later Davey is surprised when he is awakened by Toban who decided to bounce on the boy's bed playfully to get him to wake up. That devolved into a tickling and giggling wrestling match. Kar joined in and Davey had to beg to be released before he peed on himself. Once he was done in the bathroom, Davey ran downstairs thinking he would be protected.
Davey was met on the stairs by Karl who grabbed him up and ran at top speed down the stairs, out the house and into the yard. As he ran Karl decided to do a forward flip and then did one with Davey in his arms. Davey screamed in shock and then began laughing, "Again, again."
Karl repeated the flip three more times to please the giggling boy. It was of course a way to keep the boy out of the house long enough for Kar, Toban, Junior and Daniel to prepare the house for the party at parahuman speed. Shanny watched the activity with more and more sadness in her eyes as the house became more and more festive.
Finally Kar noticed that Shanny had become dejected looking and withdrawn. He followed her into her room and asked, "What is wrong honey?"
Shanny looked as if she was about to cry, "I don't, don't know when my birthday is at..."
Kar smiled knowingly and hug her "That is alright sweetie, let's decide a good day to have as your special birthday."
"Can It be the day that daddy Toban brought me home?" Shanny asked.
"Sure," Kar responded with a big smile.
"It is in five weeks then," Shanny giggled.
An hour later, Davey was brought back into the house just as the Lynx as being delivered through the back door of the mansion. He was surprised to see the house and all the presents. Davey received the clothes from his Zoméa fathers, a computer from Antino, a video game unit and three games from Junior and Karl and finally the Lynx. Davey was thrilled with everything especially the lynx which was happy to curl up into his lap at the first opportunity and go to sleep.
Davey named the Lynx "Dixie" until he was told that the cat was a boy and then it was renamed "Dixon". When Hera was introduced to Dixon, they both circled each other for several seconds with a light amount of growling and nasty stares, but neither of them wanted to be the first to attack the other so they both decided to end the stand off by just tail and walking off. Davey watched all of their actions and laughed at their behavior.
Davey spent the rest of the morning modeling his new clothing for everyone else. Shanny took it on herself to be his personal fashion coordinator and advisor. Toban then remembered that that they needed to plan to go shopping for back-to-school clothes for himself, Kar, Davey and Shanny pretty soon.
Editor's Comments: This was one jam-packed chapter, for sure! I can imagine Hera and Dixon getting into all sorts of mischief. And with Kar's new role developing, it should prove important over the next several chapters.