Myka's Tail Ch. 07

Kass squealed in delight as she tackled Kelli into a fierce hug, and pulled me into it as well. I could feel her happiness, and the emotional high that Kelli was sending over our bond made me glad I was sitting. I glanced over at Paul, and while he still looked clueless and panicked, I could feel the slow burn of proud delight coming from deep within his heart. I also noticed the slight grin on his lips as he watched the three of us together.

"Do you really think you can do it," Kass asked Kelli with glee. "Can you actually work it so that we are all ready at the same time?"

"I think so, but I am not completely sure. I need to talk with a couple of people and find out what they know about it. Off the top of my head, though, I think there is a really good chance that there will be some spell or ritual that someone knows of that will do what we need it to do."

"Wow, I hope so," she gushed again, with a little giggle thrown in for good measure. "It would make for one hell of a night, or weekend. Or maybe a whole week!"

"Now wait just a minute," Paul cried out in complaint, but I could both hear and feel that he was pretty much putting on a show. "I haven't even agreed to this in the first place. And now you all want to drag me away somewhere, lock me up, and have your way with me until I shrivel up and die?"

"Oh Paul, you need to know when you are out classed and beaten," I laughed out loud, and winked at the others. "Yes, you will agree to this you handsome devil. If we drag you away and lock you up, you will certainly enjoy it. And if the three of us take, and take, and take from your body until you have nothing left to give, well... At least you would die with a smile."

The look of shock on Paul's and Kass' face when I said this lasted only moments before we all broke down into a fit of hysterical laughter. The bond between Kelli and I was humming with an emotional excitement that felt like fireworks going off inside our chests, and I could also feel the resonant vibrations of love and friendship that had the threads tying the four of us together glowing golden, like the sun.

"Look, I don't want to be a buzz-kill," Paul told us once we had regained control of ourselves. "What you are asking is a really big thing, and deep down I am inclined to go along with it because it feels right, and because Kass wants it too. But can you give me a couple of days to think about it. You can do what you need to do and talk to who you need so that you can get your magic ready while you are waiting, but I really need a little bit of time. Is that ok?"

"I think that's probably a good idea," Kass agreed, and kissed the side of his head. "Will that cause any problems at all?"

"Not any that I can think of," Kelli answered, nodding as she considered the possibilities. "It will probably take me at least that long to get the information on any fertility magic that I would need, and then I would have to figure out how to put it together properly, and have it looked over by someone who has more experience with that kind of thing. So, yeah. Take your time, both of you, and think it over."

"And when Kelli gets things figured out, I will give you a call," I added. "Now how about a little more desert."

With the mood lightened once again, we spent another hour just enjoying being together here in our clearing. Talk turned back to little things that had been going on in our lives, and some of our future plans that didn't involve our discussion about children. And we all had the opportunity to laugh and smile about things that didn't matter a damn, because we only brought them up for our own amusement.

The thought of just hanging around the clearing for a few more hours, under the shade of the enormous yew tree, was tempting, but Paul and Kass had to meet the others for a scheduled rehearsal. Even with the slight time crunch, though, they helped us pack up what remained of our lunch, and walked with us back to our house. Once we had everything squared away, Kelli led us all down to the basement bedroom where the permanent transport circle to our apartment was inscribed.

"Alright, just step into the circle and I'll take you back so that you can make your rehearsal on time," Kelli said as she joined them within the ring of arcane marks and symbols. "And I will be back in just a few, sweetie."

The look of amazed concentration on Kass' face as Kelli spoke the words that activated the magic made me chuckle with amusement. I was sure that she was trying to figure out how Kelli was using the magic that she commanded, but I also knew that there was no way that she could completely understand what was happening as the three of them vanished in an instant. Less than five minutes later, after I had moved upstairs to go over some refuge paperwork, and organize part of my research project, I felt my bond with Kelli flare for a moment as she returned.

"Alright, sweetie," she said to me after giving me a kiss. "I have a few phone calls to make, and some magic to study up on."

"Well, have fun, and say hi to everyone for me," I chuckled as she walked away.

Over the next few days, she kept herself busy talking to Ali and Gina, and even had a short discussion with Mary about how to establish the kind of magical construct she needed. We certainly made time for each other, but I had a ton to do as well, including getting two of the professors in the department to finish up their letters of support for three grants that we were trying to secure. I was also teaching our moms and the younger members of the Circle self-defense twice a week, which was a requirement for me to continue advancing in my belt rankings.

In the middle of it all, we ended up at Paul and Kass' place for dinner a week later, where we learned that after thinking about things, and being brow beaten by his wife, Paul consented to do what he could to be the father of our first children. It was plain that he was still quite nervous about it, and really didn't feel prepared at all. Kass just kissed him, though, and let him know that it would be alright.

For his part, Paul let us know that he was now looking into a place for the four of us to go, that would be private, and would be something that we would all remember for years to come. We were all excited to see what he would come up with, but Kelli still needed a bit of time to have things ready for the three of us girls to be completely in sync, body and soul, before this would work.

To my surprise, however, she invited Kass to come out to our place early the next week, saying that it was the full moon that night, which would be needed. I mentioned that Kass could come and join our moms and our friends in my class, which just happened to be the same evening, and we could make a total girls night of things. We were bombarded by her signature squeals and hugs, and it was clear that she was delighted.

"And Paul," Kelli said over her shoulder as we were leaving. "Once I cast the magic I've been preparing, we will have one lunar cycle. From the full moon to the next full moon is the time frame for the three of us to reach our peak fertility as one. Just remember to take that into account when you make your plans for us."

I couldn't help but giggle when her comment made him blush from his toes to the tips of his ears, and Kass just laughed out loud. Kelli gave them a saucy wink and a blown kiss before taking my hand and transporting us back to our house.

As I expected, the next few days became busy as hell. Since we were probably going to be taking a trip for several days, there was a lot that had to be done to make sure that we could leave our lives behind for a little bit and enjoy some personal time. I had the grant applications to the point that I could pass them off to the young woman that the department had hired to write them for us. She let me know that the data we had would be analyzed and added to the paperwork, and that she would have everything ready to submit in sixty days.

I had to spend two days with the fish and wildlife rep that had arrived to make sure we were following all the regulations that the refuge was bound by. It was certainly a hassle, but I made sure that we had dotted every I and crossed every T as far as our obligations to the government was concerned. Since most of the land that made up the space set aside for preserving the wildlife in the area belonged to them, I was adamant in not giving them any reason to take it away from us.

There was also a great deal of reading and writing that made up the foundation of my dissertation, and I spent most of my time studying for my qualifying exams that I would have to take at the end of the next semester. The pull in so many different directions had me stressed, so much so that even Kelli could feel it without our bond. Adding a pregnancy, and eventually children to that mix, had me walking on eggshells. I knew what my heart was telling me, and I would follow it to the ends of the earth, but I still thought that I was completely crazy for doing so.

Since we had already explained many things about magic, and some of those that moved through that world, Ali was more than happy to bring Kass along when she and Jess transported to our house for self-defense lessons. She looked as gorgeous as ever in a pair of form fitting sweats and a loose t-shirt, and both Kelli and I felt an intense heat rise in our cheeks when she bent over to set down the bag with the change of clothes we told her to bring. She didn't know it yet, but the magic that Kelli had come up with was going to require us to completely bare all to the light of the moon, which meant both our skin and our hearts.

An hour and a half later I stood back and gave a crisp bow to our group, and released them from the area in our back yard where I was instructing them. Dad and I had really worked everyone into a good sweat, and yes, I had finally come around to regularly addressing Steve Harrison as dad. I had actually called him dad quite a bit, but until the night that we all lost my dad, Dan, it was more a term of affection. Over the past year, however, Kelli and I had slowly come to the realization that all of our parents were just that. Our parents, and we now addressed them as such.

"That was a good session little girl," dad grinned at me while I was getting in a couple more stretches. "Everyone seems to be coming along, and inviting Kass to join was a great idea."

"Yeah, it really was," I replied with a smile. "I should have invited her sooner. Maybe I can get Paul to join us too."

"Well, considering how much time the four of you spend together, that is probably another good idea. In the end it may not help prevent another catastrophe, but teaching everyone like this only improves your skill, and you never know. Doing this for everyone might just save a life somewhere down the road. Both of you, and the Circle, you're all watching your backs, right?"

"Yeah, we are dad," I sighed as I gave him a hug. "The spells and wards we added to the clearing stones are working like they should, and I know that Millicent and Cassandra have been able to enlist the help of some of the other covens that are relatively close. There are a couple of witches that are really good at scrying that have been helping us a lot."

"Scrying," he asked, with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah. They can use a bowl of water, or a mirror, or some other magically active device, and when they do they can see short glimpses into the present and the future. There have been a few times that they have called us and some of the other covens with some information, and we're pretty sure that in those instances we were very close to catching the Betrayer. She was the woman in red that killed dad."

"I thought that was what Millicent did. See the future, I mean."

"Not like that. Millicent sees far into the future, and has a really good grasp on the big picture stuff. The two that have been scrying see only a short way into the future, and they mostly see the present. They focus on something, or in this case, someone, and their short visions can give clues to where they are and what they are doing."

"Well you just keep yourselves safe," he admonished, giving a glance in Kelli's direction as well.

"We will, dad. We are being very careful now."

"You better be. Now I have to get back to the house and get cleaned up because your mothers and I are going dancing tonight."

"Oooh! Sounds like you might get lucky, if you play your cards right."

"You should watch your mouth, little girl," mom said as she slapped my ass on the way back to their house.

"Yeah, you really should," and my other mom slapped my other cheek with a giggle. "But you're probably right. Though I think Steve will need to play his cards really right to guarantee it."

They both gave me a saucy wink, and walked off into their house, leaving our dad standing there with his mouth hanging open for a moment. It didn't take him long to recover, however, and in a short amount of time he was running across the yard after them. Their antics had both Kelli and me laughing with delight, and I was thrilled that more and more love was replacing what had been lost that Halloween night.

"Alright, I will see the rest of you on Saturday morning, where we will do this yet again," I called out, turning back to everyone else. "Have a good evening, and don't hesitate to give us a call if you need anything."

"We will," Ali replied, and then winked at Kelli. "And may the light of the moon leave you with the breath of a kiss on all of your lips."

Her suggestive comment had Kelli blushing and I could feel the heated embarrassment almost pulsing over our bond, and I sensed a bit of confusion from Kass. I turned to ask Ali what the hell she was playing at, but before I could open my mouth, she spoke the words that activated the transport spell and she, Jess, Mary, and Gina all disappeared, leaving me with nothing but the ghost of her sly smile.

"Well now that was awkward," Kass breathed out, and suddenly I was lost in a fit of giggles.

"Let's just go inside and have something to eat," Kelli huffed, and she turned and almost stomped off into the house.

"So what is it we are doing tonight," she asked Kelli, sitting down on our couch with a groan.

"I bet you have some parts that are sore that you didn't know were there, right," I asked and Kass gave me a nod while grimacing in discomfort. "It will be that way for a few weeks, if you want to keep it up. And as to what we are doing tonight, well, it's the full moon and Kelli worked up a spell that she needs to cast so we can move on to the next step."

"Already? I thought that it would take longer than this. She made it seem like there was a lot of research to be done."

"There actually was quite a bit of research," Kelli called out as she came over from the kitchen with some plates of snacks. "But Ali was quite helpful, as were Gina and Mary. I was able to talk to Millicent, as well, who is the closest thing to an expert on old magic. She gave me a lot of guidance and encouragement, and when I brought her the finished spell, she made me go over it again and again until all of the possible errors had been worked out or eliminated."

"You never told me you talked to Millicent," I said to her in surprise.

"I know, but you were so busy with things at the time, and she was the final person I needed to figure out a couple of details, and I didn't want to mess up this process. The consequences of a mistake would be... Well, bad would be the understatement of the year."

"What do you mean, bad" Kass asked, and I could feel a small amount of fear coming from her now.

"You have to understand that this is very old magic. Millicent said that spells like this were used and practiced when humans were still hunter gatherers. It was pretty much the first magic that was sought after and used. It is the magic of fertility and life, and as such, it taps into the energy of a person's life force and manipulates it to achieve some end. Most often to insure a good harvest, but it was also used to improve the chances of pregnancy."

"Well, how can that be a problem? Isn't getting pregnant our goal."

"It is our goal," Kelli replied with a sigh. "However, when you use magic to manipulate life force and you get it wrong, you can destroy someone's soul, or drain them of life. Millicent talked about accounts of witches and warlocks throughout time doing exactly that. There is a lot of myth that abounds because these horrible people took the energy of others to increase their own power, and many of the ancient cultures that practiced human sacrifice did so under the control of truly evil individuals. I would never do that, but I also wanted to make sure that when I cast this spell there would be no errors of my own making that would cause harm to any of us."

I took Kelli into my arms, and invited Kass over to join in giving her the comfort that she needed. I could feel her fear of doing something that would hurt me especially, but even the thought of causing harm to others was something she was terrified of. The three of us sat there on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms until I didn't sense the negative emotions from anyone.

"Ok. We have snacks," I said as I jumped up from the group. "Let's put in a movie and just enjoy the evening until it is time to head to the clearing. Sound good?"

Both of them agreed with me, so I made sure to put in something light that would not bring us down. It was supposed to be a good night, where the three of us would become as one so that we could bring new life into the world together. There was no need for words between us at that moment, because we were all feeling so in tune that it was almost frightening.

The time we spent there together served to bring us closer as friends and occasional lovers, and once the worries were washed away, a sense of rightness seemed to fill our minds. The moments flew by while we enjoyed our companionship, and before we knew what was happening, Kelli stood and indicated that the hour had arrived.

"Ok. We will go ahead and get undressed here," she explained to us as she began taking off her shirt. "Then we can walk to the circle. The moon will be close to its apex by the time we get there."

"Umm, get undressed," Kass asked with just a touch of confusion. "Why are we getting undressed?"

"Because the magic won't work if we are dressed. I will be manipulating our life force energies and tweaking them to prepare our bodies to bring forth new life."

"So what is the rest of what we have to do," I asked, already standing there in my skin. "And you shouldn't feel embarrassed Kass. You have the body and voice of an angel, and your smile could light a room on fire. Show the world what you have, baby. Besides, no one is in the field this time of year and I am pretty sure our parents are going to be way too busy with each other to notice if we are walking around bare assed. And they are the only ones who would be able to see us from the house."

"Seriously? We are going to walk out there in the nude," Kass exclaimed, still in shock and still dressed.

"Yes. Yes we are," Kelli answered with determination, and I couldn't help but shiver at the sight of her bare skin. "The spell requires the light of the full moon at its apex to bathe our bodies, and we can't do that clothed. Plus, we will need to take a purifying bath in the pond before we begin. This kind of magic was almost always sexual in nature, but seeing as it is fertility magic, that's fitting. We don't have to do it if you don't want to, though."

"No! No, I want to," she responded. "It's just, I don't even go without a towel in the locker room. I am just nervous as hell about it."

"Don't be," I said in as soothing a voice as I could, and I smiled as Kass began to undress for us. "This night is about nothing but love and happiness, and it is for the three of us, and no one else. Well, except perhaps Paul, but he only gets to enjoy the after effect. Tonight is ours."