Fondest Dreams Ch. 08

After a time, Willi began stroking Zsálya's cheek, coaxing her to open her beautiful blue eyes. "Hello, Zsálya," he whispered.

"Hello, Willi," she whispered back.

"You dear, sweet little fool. You should not be here." Willi's soft, caring tone was totally at odds with the words he spoke.

"What do you mean? Are you unhappy to see me?" Zsálya was too surprised to be hurt.

"You are dead, meine Liebe. I saw you die. I felt your body's emptiness afterwards. You should have passed on," the human explained, his eyes full of sadness and worry. "Why did you not pass on, Zsálya? This is not good."

"I do not understand."

"I do not doubt that. As a Were, your soul was supposed to travel to a particular part of the Celestial Plane that mages refer to as the Endless Forest," he explained. "Instead you are here, on the Plane of Dreams. You are lost, my love."

"No, I am not lost. I am with you, Willi." Zsálya smiled and ran her fingers through her male's blonde hair. Her bite mark still stood out prominently on his neck, and he fairly reeked of her scent. Mine! she and her wolf exulted.

Willi sighed and carefully eased himself out of her pussy, rolling onto his back on the rug. "Zsálya, one of two things happens to a soul which does not pass on," he told her, staring up at the wood-beam ceiling. "Either it remains lost until it fades away into nothing, or it becomes a 'body-snatcher,' a monster that attempts to wrest a living body from its rightful soul.

"Ancestors! I would never do something like that!"

"I know." Willi smiled faintly, leaning his head into Zsálya's touch as she reached out and stroked his hair. "Which leaves us with the fact that your body is gone but your soul has not departed as it ought."

"I am... a ghost?" The idea was difficult to process.

"Nein; you are an animam amisit—a disembodied soul. Ghosts are more akin to 'psychic bloodstains' on a specific physical area. They are not sapient."

"Oh." She had no idea what he was talking about, and didn't really care at the moment.

"You have perhaps six months until you fade away completely. Your soul, and therefore your mind, will degrade steadily." Willi sat up and crossed his legs, resting his chin on his steepled fingers and staring into the fire. "The worst part is... I believe that this will remove you from the Were reincarnation cycle. Forever."

Zsálya jumped to her feet, eyes wide in horror. "Ancestors! I—I cannot... my True Mate!"

"Precisely so." Willi's voice was calm, but she could clearly feel his fear for her. Or rather, terror. He was silent for many minutes, eyes half-closed as his brilliant mind poured over the problem.

Zsálya wandered away and sank, still naked, into one of the soft leather chairs facing the fire, tucking her legs under herself and lacing her fingers together. Her hands squeezed each other tightly as she tried and failed to fight off a wave of panic. Her breathing quickened, her heart raced. Suddenly Zsálya was fighting for breath, unable to think through her wolf's sudden, blind terror. The thought of losing her True Mate—worse, of leaving him alone forever—had sent the wolf into a paroxysm of fear, completely overwhelming her human-self.

As always, Willi came to her rescue. He heard her begin to hyperventilate and was beside her in an instant, kneeling beside the chair and wrapping his arms around her. "Shhh, be calm. Just breathe, slowly. That's it, darling..." Willi flooded both halves of Zsálya's mind with love and calm, and his powerful hands stroked her bare back in soothing circles. When she calmed, he pulled away a bit and took her hands in his, gazing steadily into her eyes. "I have failed you once, Zsálya. I swear to you now, upon my honor and my love for you, that I will not fail you twice. I will find you a path to your rightful place."

"How?" Zsálya whispered, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"I do not as yet know. I do know where to begin searching, though, first thing in the morning."

"What shall I do in the meanwhile? While you are awake, I mean? Please... do not abandon me to the dark, Willi."

Willi kissed her softly on the forehead. "I will have to leave, darling, but I believe that I can maintain this dream for you even while I am awake. You will be able to go anywhere and do anything you wish, within the limits of my memories."

"You can do that?"

"I believe so, yes. It should be a simple matter."

"Thank you."

The couple re-arranged themselves so that Willi was sitting in the chair, with Zsálya curled up in his lap. Though neither was exactly happy, given the circumstances, both were content for the moment.

After a time, Zsálya began nuzzling at Willi's neck, occasionally lapping at the bite scar she'd left upon him. Then she began stroking through his chest hair with her small, soft fingers. Before long Willi was moaning softly with pleasure, his big cock fully erect and pulsing against her hip. Zsálya smiled seductively up at him as she ran her hand down and wrapped it around his manhood. She couldn't quite close her fingers around it, which always caused a tingle between her legs when she thought about it.

Several minutes of teasing later, Willi's self-control failed. He pressed his fingertips into Zsálya's shoulders and kept up the pressure as he ran them down either side of her spine, making her shiver and coo. Then he grabbed her cute little ass and squeezed possessively, while his lips claimed hers with a force that thrilled his lover to no end. Before Willi could take charge completely, though, Zsálya decided to take advantage of their unusual position in this big leather chair. She moved to straddle his thighs, pressing her already-creaming pussy against his cock.

Zsálya set her hands on Willi's shoulders and held him in place when he tried to move. He could have easily gotten out from under her, of course, but Willi was such a good boy at heart—when she gave him a clear sign of what she wanted him to do, he always complied. With her handsome hunk of a human in place, Zsálya began to slowly roll her hips, rubbing her swollen clit against his hardness and practically drenching him with her juices.

It was a little scary sometimes, the thought of just how wet Willi made her. Zsálya wondered idly if sex with her True Mate would be this good. Even better! her wolf responded firmly, though she was enjoying this lovemaking too. Zsálya didn't see how sex could possibly get any better than this, but she took the statement at face value; in those matters where her wolf-self had an opinion, she had almost always been right thus far.

The contemplations came to an end as Willi decided to take the emotional initiative, nearly overwhelming both of Zsálya's selves with the force of his love and desire for them both. The feel of his lust stoked Zsálya's own, and she ground herself harder against him. Her nipples had hardened into hypersensitive points, and she absolutely adored the sensation of dragging them through Willi's thick but surprisingly soft chest hair. Her skin was almost painfully hot to the touch. "Oh Willi..." she moaned, her voice wild and wanton. "I love you so much, my knight!"

"Ich liebe dich auch, meine schöne Prinzessin!" Willi gasped in reply, scraping his teeth ever-so-gently over the crook of her neck.

"What?"

"I love you too, my beautiful princess!"

That was worth a big kiss, and Zsálya took it from her lover with gusto. As much as she loved it when he took control, the chance to be on top for a change—both literally and metaphorically—excited Zsálya to no end. She raised herself fully onto her knees and positioned herself directly over Willi's big member, teasing him with feather-light brushes of her pussy against his sensitive head.

Willi let out a long, low groan and babbled something in German.

"What is it, love?" Zsálya asked with an impish smile.

"Oh Gott, Zsálya, please do not tease me anymore!" he begged, gazing up into her bright blue eyes for once.

Those blue eyes gleamed wickedly as she started raising and lowering her hips, her sopping nether lips just barely kissing his cock before ascending again. "Turnabout is fair play, Willi," she told him, somehow keeping her voice prim and proper as she used an expression he had taught her back against him. Willi ran his hands up her stomach and grabbed her breasts forcefully, kneading them delightfully in his powerful grip. In Zsálya's hyper-aroused state, the little tweaks he gave her nipples were pure pleasure instead of pain. "Say 'please,'" she told him in the same patient tone that Grandmother had always used when she said that to her and Orsolya.

Instead, Willi ran his hands further up her body, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her face down so her forehead rested against his and their noses were smushing together. His crystal-blue eyes were blazing in a way that thrilled Zsálya to the roots of her soul. When Willi let out a loud, masterful, wolf-like growl right into her face, her body shivered with a delightful orgasm. A burst of her scalding-hot cream splashed over his twitching manhood. "FUCK ME, WOMAN!" His tone was half commanding and half pleading, and it extended Zsálya's climax further.

She was still climaxing as she drove herself downwards, impaling her body on her lover's hard cock. The young lovers screamed in unison with the raw, primal ecstasy of their union. Zsálya began kissing Willi deeply, roughly, almost desperately as they fucked. Despite their human forms, this was not their usual slow, tender lovemaking, or even the torrid quickie they'd enjoyed just a short time ago. This was pure animal lust, the unleashed passions of two very loving people who thought they'd lost each other forever.

Willi had felt this sort of lust before, but always from Zsálya's wolf-self. This time, though, there was not a hint of gold in her beautiful eyes. The realization brought tears of joy to his eyes.

Though it seemed to last forever, it was actually only a few minutes before they succumbed to a cataclysmically intense, simultaneous orgasm. As the tidal wave of ecstasy crashed over them, Willi buried his face in Zsálya's shoulder and bit down with all the strength in his jaw. He hadn't planned it; it just felt right. Zsálya's grip tightened around him until he couldn't breathe. Her pussy clamped down on his cock more tightly than ever before, and she was now crying as well from the pure joy of the moment.

Neither could say what the next day would bring, let alone the next month or year. Yet at that moment, the entire universe was truly, unbreakably perfect in every way.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

October 14, 1858

Zsálya was a very bored Were. Sixteen hours was long enough in the waking world, but in the dream world it translated into two or three days of perceived time. Zsálya found that, without her darling human around, the time passed with agonizing slowness. She moved around to different places Willi remembered, exploring them in both human and lupine forms. The Louvre and several other art museums held her attention for the longest. Still, it seemed like no time at all before she had exhausted all the places she could think of and her wolf had had her fill of running. It was about thirteen hours in the waking world, and she was bored stiff.

Still, Zsálya admitted to herself that having solid ground and a body to feel it with beat the fur off of hanging formlessly in the In-Between. Souls are not meant to remain in that void for long, she thought with a shudder. I could feel it.

She finally found herself in a huge wooden complex that Willi had said was a mile high in the mountains of Nepal. How on earth did the Blue Stars of old get all this wood up the side of the mountain? she wondered. Magic, probably—she could see no other way. Still, it was a good place to escape from the world, calm and quiet. Zsálya settled herself in a large-ish room, empty save for a scented brazier in each corner and the soft mat on which she was sitting. She let her eyes flutter closed and tried to focus on the meditation exercises Willi had taught her.

It was just too hard to hold her mind in the right patterns, though, so Zsálya gave up and simply let her mind wander. She reflected on all the good memories of her life and her pack, surprised by how many she had. Her visions had overshadowed all the goodness in her life, she realized. The one positive aspect of being dead was that she was finally, totally free of those horrible images. It was almost worth it.

When Willi was finally able to go to bed, he found Zsálya sitting in that same position, lost in thought. She was, without realizing it, meditating very deeply. He hated to disturb her, but was even more eager to share his exciting news. Moving silently as a cat, he slipped up beside Zsálya and sat down next to her. Then he tapped her on the shoulder.

Zsálya nearly jumped out of her bare skin, and gave Willi a reproving glare. "That was mean." A moment later she melted to his charming smile and leaned in for a long, slow kiss.

"I believe I have found a temporary solution," Willi informed her when they parted, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together. "First, I must explain why your soul will degrade in its present circumstances. Put simply, on this plane a soul cannot survive for long without a body. Both the soul and the mind within the soul—minds, in your case—lose energy over time, and they can also be easily disrupted by environmental factors. A body shields the mind from damage, provides a physical vessel to keep it stable, and replaces the energy that is naturally lost by the system. Do you understand me thus far?"

The little female nodded and snuggled closer. Some of the bigger words went over her head, but Willi's point was clear nonetheless. She would remember to ask what those words meant some other time.

"Therefore, the solution to your situation in the short term is to find you a host body."

"I will not steal somebody's body!" Zsálya told him vehemently. The very idea made her shudder.

Willi's eyes flashed. "I would never suggest such a thing," he assured her. "I propose that your soul share my body until I can find a way to get you where you belong."

"Share... is that even possible?"

"It is, though there are serious risks. There is more than enough physical capacity in my brain to handle a second soul, though your presence will severely limit my magical power as long as you remain. This 'empty' space is where a mage stores energy before casting spells," Willi explained. "It is important that both you and your wolf understand that my body is not yours, and that neither of you should ever attempt to take physical control of it away from me. If that happens, our souls will come into conflict. Conflict is very, very bad for both of us. You will have access to the information from all of my senses, though."

"You mean... we will see through your eyes?"

"Yes, and the same for my other four ordinary senses. Whether you will perceive or understand my magical 'senses' remains to be seen. Also, this is very much a temporary solution. It will require a very careful balancing act at all times on my part. According to the ancient texts I consulted, a mage of my skill and experience can maintain this balance for approximately thirteen months without serious difficulties. After that, there is an exponential increase in difficulty."

Zsálya cocked her head to the side in that way she had. "What happens if you do not balance properly?"

"Our souls merge, or attempt to. The result is both unstable and dangerously insane," Willi answered simply. "Therefore, we must send you on your way within a year if at all possible. The good news is that, while you reside inside of me, your soul will be protected and 'nourished.' Shall we attempt to join?" he concluded.

"Right now?" Zsálya was surprised.

"Why wait?" Willi replied with a wry smile. "The process is actually easier while my body is asleep, or so the text claimed."

Zsálya's hand tightened around Willi's, and she took a slow, deep breath. She turned her awareness inwards and consulted with her wolf. The wolf didn't like it any more than the human did, but she was willing to risk it for the sake of their True Mate. "Alright," Zsálya told Willi after a long exhalation. "What do we do?"

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Her first moments in Willi's brain were easily the strangest of Zsálya's life. It was a bit like riding on Father's shoulders as a cub, she thought, only she was instead 'perched' inside Willi's body.

It was bizarre how she could feel Willi right there 'beside' her. All of him; not just his emotions, but his mind as well. His thoughts moved so fast, much faster than hers, and she could clearly perceive the vast trove of knowledge that his memory kept in perfect, orderly arrays. It reminded her somewhat of the Schloss' great library; Zsálya's own memories seemed like a sheaf of scribbled papers in a box by comparison. She saw the full extent of her beloved's brilliance for the first time, and her reaction was a burst of heartfelt pride.

However, for the first time she had a true measure of the vast magical powers he commanded, and they frightened her terribly. Even with her presence limiting him, Willi was clearly capable of devastating an entire city. With his full power and some preparation, he could probably lay waste to an entire country! Now she understood why her wolf feared magic so much; if this was what a single mage could do, no wonder a special organization like the Blue Stars was needed to keep them in check!

Thankfully for Zsálya's peace of mind, they could communicate between minds freely and easily. It was somewhat like a pack bond, she found, only far swifter. In this way, Willi assured her that his abilities were far beyond those of most mages, and showed her legends of draconic blood somewhere far back in the Helsing family tree. Able to communicate mind-to-mind, Willi did not have to tell her the legend in the normal way—he was able to share entire memories with her! Zsálya had to learn to translate from Willi's way of thinking to hers, but the memory came through the process crystal-clear. Amazing!

By far the greatest shock, though, came when Willi rose from his bed and stretched to loosen his stiff muscles. As his eyes opened, she saw everything that he did and recognized his bedroom in Schloss Helsing. The entire feel of his body was alien to Zsálya, far more so than her lupine form had ever been to her human half. After a few moments, she realized why: he was male!

More precisely, she was now a female sharing a male's body. Zsálya would never have expected things to be so different, but they were. It was subtle, but very, very definite. For a start, how could he walk properly with that huge... thing between his legs? And not having to compensate for two weights on his chest made his movements stranger still. This realization removed any desire Zsálya might have had to 'try out' Willi's body; she was certain she'd just get him hurt.

The raw physical power in his body was both strange and thrilling to her, though. Willi had an amazing level of control over his body, more than Zsálya would have thought possible. Now she understood all the things he'd said about being trained from childhood. Willi's every move was considered and deliberate, calculated to achieve what he wanted using as little energy as possible. She'd seen his deadly grace the first time they met, of course, but it was even more awe-inspiring from the inside, as it were.

All of these observations took less than a minute, and it was another ten before the two lovers overcame their initial confusion and discomfort with the situation. Overall, it was not unlike being locked together in a small room. By the time Willi finished his callisthenic routine, his soul had reached an uneasy accord with Zsálya's.