Mixed Blessings Ch. 02

Laslie glanced over at Alicia. The tiny woman was still asleep. Passed of from pleasure, she continued to lean heavily against the door. He smiled slightly at the look of utter contentment on her face. He had seen her joyous, even orgasmic, but never before had he seen this simple peace. He wouldn't disturb her for the world.

He stopped the car, as directed, but instead of turning around he turned of the ignition. The false trooper, for Sidhe would never take a job which left such an identifiable records trail, was trying to tell him something. Through the soundproofing of the jeep, it was nothing more than pantomime. Laslie undid his seatbelt, an action which stopped the other man's complaints, and slipped from the vehicle. He made sure Alicia was secure, and asleep still, before he turned back to the other Sidhe.

Uncertain and suspicious, the man's right hand hovered over the butt of his gun. This stopped Laslie in his tracks. While the bullets could certainly hurt him, he could still take much more damage than a mortal. What had stopped him was that the man had actually gone for the gun. If Laslie had been human, than the gun was completely unnecessary. Even a young Sidhe could easily overpower most mortals. And if Laslie was Sidhe, as he was, the guard should have already seen that with his own other-sight and know that the gun would be far less effective than other weapons. Of course, if they have put the weakest on sentry, then he could fear being overpowered both my mystical or physical means.

Laslie shook the worry from his head and held up his hands to placate the nervous Sidhe. None of this made any sense. Even if the guard was foolish enough to have forgotten to check Laslie's race, the nature spirits for miles around would have reported his approach. "I am Laslie and this is my tribe's Freehome. Who are you and why do you bar my way?"

Laslie had not turned off his 'sight but neither did he focus exclusively on it. Everything living, indeed almost everything in the corporeal world, held some form of spirit. Many Sidhe would look exclusively with their eyes in the spiritual realms, secure in the knowledge that they could still see the entire world around them. What they forgot was that other Sidhe knew tricks that could hide their spirits; their Astral bodies. All they would need to do was use the human's hunting tricks to keep their physical form hidden, and they could be considered truly invisible. With a weak Sidhe prepared to shoot him, Laslie would not be surprised to find much stronger warriors amongst the sparse trees, prepared to join the attack.

"I am Valless of the Dancing Moon Tribe." Laslie started, the Dancing Moon tribe's Freehome was a number of hours drive away. What was he doing keeping people away from his? "You are more than free to enter the Stronghome, but your companion is not."

Laslie had thought he was shocked before, now he was downright stunned. One simple word had completely thrown his entire world on its ear. The use of that word also instantly described why the foreign Sidhe would be guarding here. Declaring this a 'Stronghome' admitted that the Sidhe were now formally at war.

Laslie staggered backwards to lean against the hood of the car. His lost gaze looked blindly at the Sidhe before him. "Please, tell me what has happened?"

The Sidhe guardian relaxed at his obvious confusion. "Don't worry, we're not technically at war." A little of Laslie's tension drained with the pronouncement, but his confusion only increased. The other man took pity on him and continued explaining. "Hunter has called a Retreat. No one knows why, but the seers all claim that something big has been set into motion. He wants no part of it so he has enforced seclusion for our kind." The man's tone changed to confusion. "It's a wonder you haven't been contacted! Even the half-bloods are being brought in."

This was all too much. Hunter, the Lord of the Hunt, general of the Seleigh Sidhe, was their greatest warrior. Traditionally, he held very little authority as every Freehome was an independent entity, ruled by a council of its eldest members. Only when war was declared did he have the power of martial law. That Retreat had been confirmed stressed how bad the seers saw times to come. If even the half-bloods were being dragged back, to pollute the Freehomes, matters were truly desperate.

"How far is the disruption?" Laslie couldn't keep the bewilderment from his voice.

Valless shook his head. "You really need to speak with the elders. But very explicitly, that woman is not Sidhe, or even half-Sidhe, so she cannot come any closer."

Laslie looked back to see Alicia still fast asleep and his heart leapt at the sight. It hurt to even contemplate leaving her behind. Even a brief sojourn, here on their attempted vacation, seemed interminable. He thanked the gods that the sheer intensity of the emotions, flaring around her empathic nature, had not been cause enough to wake her. "I will go to speak with them and she will remain here, as you like. Should she wake, you will treat her with the utmost respect." His tone was serious.

"If anything should happen to her, anything," Laslie let his power breath outward. He slipped free the control he held on it and let it brush outward to fill the small clearing. It was truly a show of force, "I will personally challenge each and every warrior on duty to a duel." He let his energy speak for the likely outcome of any such duel.

He left a very concerned Valless behind as he traveled farther into the woods. He was still a couple of miles from the 'home, but he didn't mind. Since his road trip, the previous summer, Laslie had not truly gotten a chance to simply cut loose and run. Sure, he could jog through the suburbs, in fact he did every day, he could even run on the treadmills at Alicia's gym, but this was different. He was a Sidhe warrior, and a hunter, at heart. His strength speed and endurance were many times that of a human, and second, among his kind, only to the packs which traveled with Hunter or the Dark Huntsman.

The very trees seemed to bow before him. Laslie was Sidhe, he was nothing more than the embodiment of harmonic coexistence with nature. He could sense the gaps in the branches, knew the roots that stretched forth. He watched the spirits of the animals as they slid deeper into cover. They knew a hunter was near, even though he was part of nature, they were all still prey before him. It was the order, the cycle, of life. The Sidhe were so much stronger, but also so much less numerous, only then was the balance maintained. When a species slipped its bounds, as the humans had done, then nature cried out for a means towards parity. Likely, that was the great cataclysm that had forced Hunter to declare Retreat.

In mere minutes, he was there. Alicia would have raced him, and likely won, to be standing before him and gloating as he caught up. For all his speed, Laslie could never follow her actions when she so desired. Something must truly have distracted her, for him to have been able to dominate her so completely, on the trip here. He knew she had been made helpless by her cries. Never before had she pleaded with him. Always, she played the penitent submissive, but never had she seemed truly helpless, and deception was not in her nature. He had surprised her and her body had reacted as he never thought possible; overwhelmed by instinct.

His thoughts flew back to the jeep, and he hoped she was still asleep. She did not deserve yo learn that the Sidhe, his people, did not deem her worthy of acceptance. But he was here to change that. He would argue her case. He was no lore-teller, to argue the merits and precedents of allowing a non-Sidhe into a Stronghome. He was a leaf-walker, a hunter and warrior. He had trained in fighting, in tracking even in tactics, but dialectic was beyond him.

The council was easy to find, they had already congregated in the meeting area. They were expecting him, as they should be. The spirits that watched him as he made his way towards the checkpoint would have gone ahead, or sent others ahead, to inform both the guardians and the 'home proper. In addition, at least one of the unseen guards would have raced ahead of him with news. It was always possible he could have reached the 'home first, fast as he was, but he doubted it. Likely they had left before he even threatened for the safety of his love.

An elder Sidhe came forward. Laslie smiled, as he recognized a tribesman, and nodded his respect. Rakin smiled sincerely and nodded in return. "Laslie, of the Barren Rock tribe, welcome home. You have been greatly missed. Your grand-father has worried." The last bit pained Laslie the most. He and his grandfather had a disagreement a few years back, and the rift had never truly healed between the two. Laslie thought it might be time to begin such mending.

He spotted his grandfather amongst the crowd of elders, both foreign and recognized, and moved over to clutch the older Sidhe's forearms. Their eyes met for a moment of understanding before they pulled each other into a hug. "I have missed you grandfather. And I owe you an apology."

His grandfather pulled back slightly, a wry grin on his face. "Yes, you do, child. But that can wait for later, for I have missed you too. You have stories to tell, of your trip, but those too must wait. At the moment, there is a vehicle, with an unusual woman, awaiting an explanation."

"I am to understand Hunter has called a Retreat? I have only just heard by our new guardians. Why hasn't anyone informed me?"

"Yes, the Lord of the Hunt has called all Seleigh into the Stronghomes. This was near the end of last summer! By now, virtually every blooded Sidhe has returned to those Freehomes that are most hidden. We had no knowledge of where you were. When you did not reappear from your trek, we assumed you had hidden within a Stronghome somewhere on your return path."

Laslie's head fell forward, in amused frustration, as his hand came up to hold his face. "Grandfather," he began, "I know some of the changes among the humans can be difficult to follow, but I could still be reached." He sighed as he pulled the cell phone from his pocket. "I had my phone with me the entire time."

He noticed many eyes widen as he pulled the phone. What surprised Laslie was that the expressions were of fear not interest. His grandfather, simply blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I admit, I had forgotten." His expression turned serious very quickly however. "Even if I had remembered, it would have been forbidden."

This time, it was Laslie's eyes that widened. "Forbidden? How? Why?"

One of the other elders smiled patiently. "It has to do with the retreat. The Lord of the Hunt has declared that the mandate that severs all contact with humanity, must include many of their technological luxuries. It is getting so that their technology resembles much the magic of old. Without anyone sufficiently knowledgeable in it, we cannot determine what would betray us and what would be safe."

Laslie nodded. He understood the concern, and even the fear he saw at the sight of his phone. He quickly popped the battery from the back. He couldn't remember if this model had G.P.S. capabilities, but it could easily be tracked if in use. The purpose of Retreat was to hide. "Then why choose this as our Stronghome? The Dancing Moon tribe is far more thoroughly concealed, and much farther from humanity than we are."

"Apparently," the same elder who had spoken earlier seemed embarrassed, "the New Forrest Freehome was discovered back tracking the delivery, some many years back, of their portable toilets. Your tribe has never had any items delivered to this location. Many tribes, such as the Dancing Moon, had large items delivered before the Freehome was established. We did not understand that any organization would track such things and remember. Now we know differently"

Laslie choked briefly before he burst out laughing. He couldn't help himself. The concept that a Freehome had been compromised by port-o-potties was absurd, but not beyond belief. None of the assembled admonished him for his mirth. Likely they had been forced to deal with the situation many months ago. Shortly, his laughter faded and he accepted the reasoning. "I understand the mistrust of any technology, and phones in particular. Many, these days, have circuits specifically designed to use as locators, regardless of where you are."

He turned to his grandfather. "There is the other matter which must be addressed however. Alicia, the woman in the jeep, is my soul."

A number of people in the growing crowd gasped in wonder. The Sidhe were a long lived race. As such, they viewed relationships of all kinds differently than the humans did. They had countless lovers and friends throughout their lives. They could even marry and divorce without any social stigmas. However a Sidhe would only ever refer to one person as their 'soul.' They weren't always lovers, and occasionally not truly even friends, but they were the person with whom the other could not envision spending their life without. It was from the Sidhe that the humans had developed the term 'soul mate.'

"Do you understand what she is?" The question took Laslie back slightly. He looked at the unknown elder suspiciously. He had been expecting them to ask the question in a different manner. This fashion implied he already knew the answer but wasn't certain that Laslie did.

Laslie nodded. "She is Dhase." Most of the crowd looked at him in confusion. Someone, a woman, gasped in horror. The elder who had asked simply nodded, as if confirming his suspicions.

The unknown elder stepped forward. His voice raised to address the assembled crowd. "The elders will meet in private to discuss this matter." He lowered his voice so that only Laslie and the closest, all elders, could hear. "You will come with us to our cabin."

Thank you for reading Mixed Blessings. As always, your comments are appreciated. If you enjoyed Alicia, you might also enjoy my Gifting Night series for the adventures of other Dhase. The Dhase are a creation of my muse and anyone wishing to use them should contact me for more information. Thank you, once more, for reading and, again, please vote.

Copywrite January 2007, by Deathlynx