Where There's Smoke...

"Rhuax is that you, what's the meaning of this, let me out, now!"

"I told you we'd get even for your prank. We're going to take you where your mortal and your parents will never find you. In time the bubble will dissolve and you'll have to find your way out of our domain. That will teach you."

Mandy was tossed from side to side before she could answer. The bubble was moving. She could hear the scuffle and scratch of many feet; they were carrying her somewhere, somewhere where no one could find her.

Help me, my Zack, help me.

***

Zack hung on to Blaze's crest as the creature charged among the tunnels at a speed that belied his stubby legs and waddling gait. Zack could feel Mandy's life force touching his mind as delicately as a bee alighting on a flower. She was leading him to her...

HELP ME, MY ZACK, HELP ME.

The intensity of her thought rang in his head and he swayed dazedly in the saddle.

"Are you all right, Zack?" Blaze asked, slowing to a trot.

"Yeah, Mandy just called to me for help. It about made my head pop. Turn left at this cross tunnel. We're getting close."

Blaze ran faster, swishing his tail for extra momentum.

***

Kali clung to Lagar's massive shoulders as he charged down one tunnel and then another at her direction. They heard her cry for help, further enraging him and increasing her fury. The Imps would rue the day they had taken their daughter.

***

Mandy heard squeaks of fright and the crunching of running feet as she was flung about in the bubble. Something had scared her captors. Not being able to see out was maddening.

***

Zack and Blaze emerged from a tunnel onto an irregularly surfaced landscape. Running toward the ridge ahead of them was a cluster of running Imps carrying an ivory ball.

"They've got Mandy," Zack hollered.

"Hang on," Blaze replied and took off in a dead run. In no time they had narrowed the gap between them and the Imps. Their stubby legs were no match for Blaze's leaping strides.

Zack could hear them chattering and squeaking among themselves as they drew closer; suddenly the Imps stopped, then sent the ball rolling down the slope and scattered in all directions.

Blaze turned sideways, catching the ball with his curved tail. Zack ran up and pounded on it with his fist.

"Mandy, Mandy, are you hurt?"

"No, just dizzy; Oh Zack, you did rescue me."

"Blaze gets the credit, not I. Let's get you out of there."

"I tried burning my way out and I couldn't."

"Hold on, I'll hit it with a rock."

He swung a large chunk of pumice against the ball, but the blow did nothing except shatter the pumice.

"Here's some help," Blaze announced as Lagar and Kali ran up to them.

"My daughter, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mother. I'm trapped in here. Can you get me out?"

Lagar had been studying the sphere, running his hands along it's smooth surface.

"Daughter, curl into a ball as tightly as you can."

"Yes Father."

"Stand away, all of you."

He turned around, tapped the sphere experimentally with the tip of his tail, then raised it and dealt the sphere a crushing blow. A fracture line appeared. He tapped again, and then struck a second time. The fracture widened. A third blow shattered Mandy's prison into fragments and she lay curled on the rough ground.

Kali lifted her daughter in her arms and held her close, rocking and softly crooning an ancient song. In a moment Mandy's eyes opened and she kissed her mother.

"You sang that song to me when I was a baby."

"You will always be my baby."

"Zack, where is he?"

"Right here," Zack answered, stepping forward.

Kali put Mandy down and the lovers embraced, kissing happily.

"Now to find those Imps and teach them a lesson," Lagar growled, bunching his fists and swishing his tail.

"No need to search, here they are," said a familiar voice.

The Supreme One materialized before them, holding a net filled with Imps; the silver strands no thicker than a spider's web.

"May I have them for a little while, Mother?" Lagar rumbled.

"May we have them?" Kali purred, eyes flashing.

Rhuax and the other Imps began to squeak in terror, each trying to hide behind another.

"My my," the plump little woman mused, "If I let you have them you'll no doubt tear them to pieces and it will take them quite some time to reconstitute themselves. That could be a suitable punishment for their shenanigans."

The Imps began to wail in shrill voices.

"Please Mother, not dismemberment. We're sorry."

"I have a better idea. All of you will assist Lagar in his volcano construction and run errands for Kali until I decide you've been sufficiently disciplined."

"Thank you Mother, thank you. We will do what you ask."

"So be it. Peace be unto you, my children."

"And unto you, Mother," they all answered.

She disappeared, leaving the Imps in a confused tangle on the ground.

"Ho, ho ho," Lagar chuckled. "I already have some tasks in mind for you fellows. Sort yourselves out, come along and don't dawdle."

Mandy stuck her tongue out at Rhuax who would not meet her eyes.

He and the other Imps formed a line behind Lagar and Kali, disconsolately following as the strange procession disappeared over a hill.

Zack picked up a shard of the sphere.

"It's a crystalline substance, but more resilient. Pretty strong though."

"Not as strong as father's tail," Mandy laughed.

"Hop on you two," Blaze said. "Let's go home."

***

Zack and Mandy spent a delightful honeymoon traveling from Realm to Realm; seeing their friends and making love wherever and whenever they chose. When their idyll ended, Zack became concerned about his other life and he and Mandy decided to return for a while to check on things.

They waved goodbye to Lagar, Kali and Blaze and stepping through the flaming portal found themselves in their living room; the portal closing behind them.

Zack was puzzled; the apartment looked exactly as they left it, spotlessly clean. He ran a finger along the mantel, no dust. He went in the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator. The lettuce was fresh, the milk smelled fine...

Mandy was stretched out on the couch and idly flipping through the TV channels.

"...and that's Channel Thirteen's Six O' Clock News Roundup for August 28, 20..."

"Wait, did he say August 28?" Zack shouted. "That's the day we left."

"Of course," Mandy replied. "Time means nothing in the Realms."

"So we haven't lost a single day after all the time we..."

"Not a minute, now come here and give me a kiss."

They cuddled on the couch, kissing and caressing. Zack's stiffening cock brushed against Mandy's wet pussy; she moaned and guided him inside her. They began a slow, grinding fuck exchanging openmouthed kisses. Mandy's hips rose to meet his thrusts as the pace increased, her body becoming warmer as her desires intensified. She no longer had to control herself, as Zack was one with her now and impervious to heat.

They clung together, hips churning as their passions rose, her pussy gripping his cock as a hand in a velvet glove. He grunted and thrust even harder into her, feeling her body quiver, knowing she was nearing orgasm. She wrapped her legs around his waist and with a final thrust exploded in ecstasy; he was right with her jetting deep inside her clasping wetness.

As they lay cuddled in the afterglow, Zack smelled something smoldering. Mandy had charred the sofa cushions. He hadn't felt a thing except her soft skin against his. They decided to shop for a new sofa and fireproof bedding in the morning.

***

"Gail, did you re-warm the babies' bottles?"

"No, Nurse Jeffries needed me in the other ward."

"The poor little things bottles must be cold by now, let me help you."

"Thanks, Nurse Proctor. Now that's odd."

"What is?"

"The Pearson baby, his bottle's still warm."

"How do you suppose that happened?"

"I have no idea."

End.

_____________

Next: Elemental, My Dear Husband.