Realms of Eden: Book 5: Hyak Anali

"We do not have to my friend," said Enyalius. "The people we seek live within the cliffs and the mountains. We will simply find a place to camp at a likely spot beside them and wait until they find us."

Enyalius was not quite as confident as he appeared and sounded. Something about this whole trek was a mystery to him. His mind had still not adjusted to the lives he glimpsed in his dreams and sometimes in the waking hours as his trekked across the country. A powerful force was drawing him on this journey and for the oddest reason he could almost sense that force watching him as he travelled.

"Maru?" he asked his companion, "Does it feel to you as if we have been walking for years to find this place? I feel as if we have battled enemies, loved women and drank the fire-water of the local tribes as we have journeyed. Yet for some reason I do not feel in my bones that we have been on this world for more than a few days."

"You have been touched by the Gods, Enyalius!" exclaimed his companion. "My feet are telling me that my boots have become thin and feel every rock and twig I walk over. I am surprised that half the village elders are not following us seeking our balls, with the women with have coupled with. I am sure that many of those delightful bodies are now blooming with the roundness of child within them!" He chuckled as he nudged Enyalius with his open hand. "Certainly that greedy red-headed woman you filled many times two days ago will be showing you your son when we return that way!"

"Perhaps, Maru, but something is not right with this journey," insisted Enyalius. "We have come so far, so quickly. I only hope that the fear I have in my stomach is one that has been caused by bad fire-water and not because I feel we are still going to be too late!"

He glanced up at the sky and noted that the sun was beginning to set. It was not a good idea to be stumbling around in the dark in this unknown region. "Come let us find a place to build a fire." Maru shouldered his pack and trudged off behind his leader.

They found a sandy area beside a small stream that rushed over the smooth pebbles on its way to some larger body of water. The area was open a good twenty metres all around them, firewood was plentiful and as Maru laid out their sleeping mats Enyalius busied himself collecting some. Soon the two men relaxed around the cheerfully burning branches and watched the two large rabbits that they had caught earlier in the morning roasting above the coals.

"You take first watch Maru. Wake me when the moon is fully above us," yawned Enyalius as he stretched out in sleeping furs. It was still very cold in this northern region and he kept his sleeping furs wrapped around him as he snuggled down. He was asleep in moments and Maru grinned as he watched his companion with a small bit of envy for his ability.

Nothing disturbed the camp as the moon rose through the night sky. Enyalius however, seemed to dream and Maru watched his leader's face as it went through a strange gamut of emotions as he lay on his back. He sniggered as he watched the man's erection press upwards against his furs and guessed that the red-head still played in the man's dreams.

Maru got up and walked the perimeter of the camp site and stopped beside a small shrub to relieve himself. "So big!" he thought he heard a soft voice say and turned sharply towards the fire. For a moment he could not believe his eyes as he spied two small forms crouched over the sleeping form of the man lying quietly near the fire.

"Hey, what are you doing!" he called sharply and began to rapidly move towards the fire.

"No, please, Maru, wait!" he heard in his head. He stopped still and looked harder at the two figures that seemed to press harder against Enyalius as if seeking his protection. The voice in his head sounded like the man himself but he could see that he was not awake.

"They are friends Maru," the voice came again. "They are the ones that we have been looking for."

Maru nodded and remained where he stood. He felt, rather than saw, several other figures emerge from the surrounding bushes. His eyes widened as he watched three pairs of round glowing eyes come towards him. "I am called Jan," said the closest being to him. Maru rubbed a hand over his eyes. In the full light of the moon the most gorgeous female looked up at him. Her hair was honey coloured and her eyes, round and bright were of the deepest sea-green. She barely came up to his chest and Maru did not consider himself a large man. Certainly not in comparison to the big warrior that still lay on the ground where the other two figures snuggled against him.

"I am Maru," he whispered.

"We know," said another of the beings as she came to his right hand side. "I am Wen and my friend, who is still too shy to come and say hello, is called Kia. We have been waiting for you."

"How long have you been waiting?" asked Maru enraptured by the three women who now stood in a semi-circle in front of him. Kia was a beautiful dark haired woman, her breasts were large on her small body and Maru could not help the reaction of his body to her.

"You like me," the small figure asked. Her large round eyes battered their lashes demurely as she twirled for him to see her properly.

"You are beautiful," the lovestruck man said softly as he knelt on the sand before them.

"I think you are very handsome," a voice sounded in his head. He could not tell which of the little ones had sent the message to him.

"Thank you," he said bashfully.

"Will you and the warrior come with us now?" another voice spoke in his mind.

"If I can wake the lazy bastard up," grinned Maru. "He has had some strenuous nights of late," he added with a giggle.

"We know," said Jan as she stood directly in front of him as he continued to kneel. "We have had to move quickly to return here from your last camp. Easy for us but still a night of loving with you and the warrior did leave us a little less energised."

"You and us," Maru said surprised.

"We have been tracking you for the last few days. Drawing you closer to our home," said Kia softly as she leant her small body against Maru's shoulder. "We had to be sure that you were the ones we waited for.

"The last time the warrior was with us he was very much different."

Maru looked across the gaze of the woman and saw Enyalius stirring as the other two figures gently stroked his head. For a moment he saw the red curls of the woman that lustfully and noisily coupled with his companion as one of the figures stood. Her body was outlined by the fire and Maru could not help the sudden lurch in his buckskin trousers as the gleaming green eyes caught and held his for a moment.

"My goodness," he breathed. "Who are you people?"

"They are the Seeurs, Maru. Do not let their small size deceive you. They can become anything, anyone and are quite capable of killing you and I where we stand without raising a sweat. However, these five seem to love us quite strongly. They have been with us for almost the past week.

"But now it is time to go and meet the rest of them and see what the hell we can do about some of Elam's pets that are still hanging around searching for them!" said Enyalius as he stood and watched his friend.

"So big!" came a soft voice again and Maru almost collapsed in laughter as one of the beings with his leader stroked a tiny hand down his flaccidly hanging penis.

"Well apparently she loves something about you, my friend," grinned Maru as he arose. The three little ones around him cuddled in close to him for a moment before they scurried off to find his pack.

In minutes the seven were on their way after dousing and covering the fire. The darkness was diminished by the full moon and Maru and Enyalius easily followed the small figures as they led the way.

"Tam, Mor!" called Enyalius as the two figures seemed to disappear in front of the group. The two women came back into view. It appeared as if they had walked directly into the cliff face that they had been following for the past hour.

"We are here, Sydney!" they called in lilting humorous voices.

"Close your eyes, warriors," urged Jan.

"Now open them," instructed Wen after the man had obeyed Jan's command.

A well lit opening was directly in front of them in the cliff wall. Enyalius blinked again and then grinned as his eyes took in the two forms of Tam and Mor waiting inside a large room. At the urging of Kia and Wen the two men quickly strode forward to catch up with the two other women. Jan looked around cautiously before she stepped through the illusion of the cliff face and sighed as she re-activated the shields around the cliff.

"Why did they need shields, Sydney?" asked Belinda in surprise. "Surely they could protect themselves against what would have been a very primitive society? Why such elaborate subterfuge?"

"Ah the reason we were rushing back to help them, Bel," answered her husband with a grimace. "Apparently Elam had directed some of his scouts to keep a watch on Earth and they had detected my return from La Range. The Seeurs had managed to create a jamming system to stop transmissions back to Elam from the ships we passed in space.

"I found out later that Ken, one of the engineers on board when we returned, had deployed jamming and detection beacons along the route we came back in through our solar system. It was something that they had developed on La Range before we left. They have seeded almost the entire galaxy with them now.

"It has helped the Zygotian and Seeurs space fleets to cut off many of Elam's troop carriers."

There was a collective gasp around him as he spoke. "You mean that Elam's horrors knew they were still alive and were chasing the Seeurs even back then!" cried Martha.

Sydney nodded and continued his tale.

The party quickly helped the men lay aside their packs and weapons. "They will not be necessary inside our city, Maru, Sydney," explained Tam as the two men seemed reluctant to put aside their weapons.

Maru shrugged and allowed his quiver of arrows to be taken away by another young man who reverently carried them away. He grinned as several others carried his spear and bow as if they were precious relics. He envied his leader for the easy way in which his sword and shield simply disappeared as did his armour and boots.

"Why do they call you Sydney?" he asked suddenly. "Twice now Tam has called you by that name."

"That is because he is Sydney," answered the woman herself. "Our saviour and protector. Enyalius too sometimes, for that too is his name. We shall always know him as our shining knight and though he be many things for this we shall always honour and love him."

Maru could only look on in puzzlement as the little woman clasped his companion's large hand in both of her own and pressed it firmly against her breasts. "Come we must get you to Orial so that she can bring you back up to date. It has only been several months but many things have changed since you left us as you streaked for the blackness of space."

"I knew it!" the big man exclaimed. "Years on the journey my eye!"

"How can that be, Eny-, Sydney?" Maru grinned widely as he changed his companion's name part way through his question.

"Bloody women!" the man grinned back as Tam shyly battered her lashes at him.

"Not just women Sydney!" she exclaimed. "There are two others that wait impatiently for your return and a third is on her way here! Though she must curb her impatience for a few years yet!"

"Es and Marmess?" Sydney queried as the little women around him began to jog to keep up with his long strides. Maru also found himself having to hurry his steps to keep up.

A bright glow of aqua surrounded the group and Sydney grinned as he ran forward and swept up the squeaking and excitedly bouncing Zygotian that alternated her forms between a facsimile of the little women that watched in awe and the fierce spider-scorpion of the Zygotian. The Zygotian form won out as Sydney almost crushed her in his embrace as she threw herself at him when he was a few metres from her.

"Oh my lord," she sobbed into his chest. Her six limbs gripped around him firmly as her claws raked across his back. Esmeralda's long tail twined around his hips as she held him fiercely.

"It seems my dear," remarked Belenus as he watched the reunion, "that Zygotian love is not for the weak. If the warrior was not so strong she would crush him to death."

Nugua giggled as she wiped away some unexpected tears from her eyes as she watched indigo and magenta glows almost bury the man under them as they too wrapped around the man whose arms and heart finally reached out in physical contact of his companions of the last 150,000 years. "I think not being able to do anything more than talk to them has made him truly appreciate how much they need his touch and he theirs. It shall be interesting times ahead Belenus when the angels reappear and those two find their loves again."

"Let us make sure that they have something to come to Nugua," the man said grimly as he walked to the still hugging aliens and the tall dark haired, dark-blue eyed man between them.

"So started a war, much the same as the one we are about to head into in Fiji," said Sydney grimly. We finalised the constructions of the city and prepared for the forces of Elam that we knew were coming. At first their was only a few ships, most we managed to confuse and cause to crash in the cold reaches of the poles where we knew that neither snake-lord or wolverine could survive.

"The major strike force arrived and we watched them set up their bases. It was a very strange tactic of Elam's. It was as if he could not bring enough of himself from the void to truly direct his efforts. Our battles were hard and bloody. Many brave Seeurs perished as did most of you."

"In the end, it was the warrior who turned the tables," spoke Es proudly. "He and his companions found and destroyed Elam's ship that he had foolishly landed in the verdant plains south of Villes des Coeurs. Why he chose such an indefensible place no-one really knows. It was wide open with access on all sides and nowhere to run to.

"With Bonnadrice and Maru only, did he penetrate and place the destructive explosives of the Seeurs within its belly."

"No Es," said Bonnie softly. "It was not just I. The conclave acted, as we always did when our master requested it. We have dedicated our lives to the destruction of the greatest evil that we know.

"Elam planted his ship on the plain as a direct result of the minds that showed him his doom. He landed and then ran like the coward he was back to his master. The ship was only protected by the last of his loyal lieutenants who did not even know that their cowardly leader had fled in fright.

"Its destruction was the final blow for beings that were leaderless and uncertain of why they were here. The conclave numbered only a dozen then, but now we number hundreds.

"This time Elam's fear of us keeps him hiding and avoiding war until he believes we are weakened by the conflicts he will force us to engage in with his pawns. But we will wait patiently for him to show himself and gloat over his small victories. Then we shall destroy him, and his master, once and for all!"

Sydney felt his hearth thump loudly in his ears as he saw the dark irises of Jo, Bonnie and Alison flare brightly as the three women grinned at him in almost manic delight.