Satyr Play 04 Pt. 01

Siobahn was waiting nearby with her eyes closed, so Henry gave her a friendly kiss and a hug.

"Mmm! I wasn't expecting you to be so warm after being outside," she said in surprise.

"Ah, I forgot to turn off the heating spell," he said and did so.

Camila rushed over to get a kiss and hug, which was naturally outrageously sexy, and he had to struggle not to react. "Find me later when everything settles down," she whispered in his ear, her tongue teasing his earlobe as she pulled back.

Shocks and tingles raced through his body as she pranced back to the counter. Henry took some deep breaths as Siobahn patted his arm.

"What did you need to ask me?" she said.

"It's about General Crane. I have one of his Silver Soldiers coming to help me open a connection to his hospital room. I need you to look at his aura to see if there is something off."

Siobhan's eyebrows went up. "Right! You said he's not affected by Wild Magic. He'd be the only one to be that way," she said quietly.

He nodded. "He's also the only Human who was in a separate dimension when Mab tripped the curse. I believe he's the only fully Human man on Earth. I need you to take a look at the General but be careful, okay? Just a surface look."

"When do you need this done?" she asked.

"One of the Silver Soldiers will be coming to the condo. I'll bring him here so he can open a door into the General's hospital room," Henry explained.

"I'll be here," she said, patting his arm, then returned to the counter to help.

Henry joined the ladies sitting at the table. He kissed the heads of the two babies, then kissed their mothers, Marisa doing an excellent job of mimicking her mother's earlier efforts. She gave him a hot smile as he pulled back from her lips.

He stumbled over to stand before Sigrid. "Good morning! How are you feeling?"

She pouted, and his eyes locked on her bottom lip. "I feel as big as an aircraft carrier!"

Henry snorted at the imagery. "Nonsense! You look amazing!" He couldn't resist any longer, so he swept in and caressed her mouth with his and paid extra attention to that plump lower lip.

"OHMmmm!" she moaned and clung to his arms. He pulled back, and her blue eyes locked on his mouth hungrily.

Hilda made a noise to draw his attention. He faced her. "Good morning, Hilda."

"You're going to leave me feeling left out?" she asked with a sly smile.

He froze, then he glanced between the others at the table. "I don't know the protocols here. How-how does one kiss the mother of one's girlfriend? And no, it's not the same as Marisa and Camila."

Tish just shook her head as she grinned, and Sigrid snorted in amusement. Marisa offered advice. "Follow her lead." That made Hilda's grin wider, and her eyes flashed with what looked like a challenge.

He moved to her side, and she turned to face him, still smiling. He bent to gently touch his lips to hers and felt her fingers slide into his hair on the back of his head. She took a tight grip then began to kiss him deeper. This was another dominance contest for her. He could tell he was going to have challenges with this one.

He slid his fingertips along her jawline, and her bold tongue thrusts paused as he sent a torrent of tingles rushing down her neck. She tried to take the initiative again, but he was cupping her face in his big hands, lightning was racing through her nerves, and his mouth began to caress hers, nibbling at her lips, the tip of his tongue stroking across them, gently sucking on them and her tongue.

Her eyes closed as his fingers massaged the back of her neck. She struggled to catch her breath and gasped into his kiss.

When he pulled back, she swayed on her chair and grabbed the table to steady herself.

"Good morning, Hilda," he repeated, looking into her eyes.

"G-good morning... Henry," she breathed.

Sigrid could no longer suppress her laughter, and the cheerful sound lit up the kitchen. The others who'd been watching silently also joined in.

Hilda suddenly realized she had an audience and looked around in surprise.

Sigrid patted her hand on the table. "Mother, never try to out kiss a Satyr."

She looked back at Henry. "No... I suppose not," she said softly, which caused more giggles.

Mahati and Kali arrived, and Henry kissed them on his way out. Both looked quite pleased.

He spotted Dayshia and Sandy stepping out of the door to the vestibule. Henry was immediately engulfed in Kesini's embrace. He chuckled and smiled at Sandy when he noticed she and Dayshia were carrying large shopping bags.

"Whatcha got there?" Henry asked curiously.

"Toys for the tables," Dayshia said with a grin, and Henry just shook his head curiously.

Sandy pulled one of the items from the bag. It was a set of miniature building blocks that could be used to build a variety of shapes. "We have a variety of different toys, and we'll put one in front of each place setting on the table, so everyone has something to play with," Sandy explained.

"That's so cool! These will be a big hit!" he grinned.

"Does that earn us a hint as to what your surprise is?" Dayshia asked slyly. Sandy cheered.

"Nope! Nice try, though," Henry chuckled as he pulled the blonde into his arms.

She was swooning when they parted, and Kesini had to carry her shopping bag.

Dayshia got a hot kiss as well and pushed at him rather frantically as she caught herself grinding against him and was getting too excited.

They rushed away toward the kitchen, grinning back at him as they kept each other steady.

Henry stepped through the door into the cavern vestibule and saw one of the doors opening. He smiled at Lorelei, who he'd caught mid-yawn.

"Sorry, I'm more of a night person," she said as she blushed in embarrassment.

"I've been up since dawn," Henry said with a smile.

"Ugh! You're one of those!" she teased.

He laughed. "No sleep shaming!"

She held up her hands and nodded her agreement.

He held out his hands to her and gathered her against him once she placed her hands in his. He kissed her sweetly, and she sighed ever so faintly. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you. I might be willing to be more of a morning person if I can get more of that," she said sweetly.

"If I told you they're available at all hours—"

"I'd never wake early again," she immediately answered.

"Don't go changin'," he sang, and she burst into giggles. "Hey!" he exclaimed with a pout.

He pretended to stomp away to his door.

"You're leaving?" she asked.

He smiled back at her. "Just for a bit. I'm meeting one of the Silver Soldiers in a few minutes, and I'll be back."

"Don't take long," she said as she walked past and tapped his lips with a finger. She giggled at his surprised look as she headed for the kitchen.

He went through the door and went to his front door, but the hall was empty. He went into his bedroom and rummaged for something he could use to store energy in that wouldn't immediately leak it all out.

He found some dumbbells Tish used to use before her muscles outgrew them in the bottom of the closet. The heads were encased in rubber with a chromed handle between them. Henry picked up the thirty-pound weight set and gripped the handles, directing the energy from his rift down his arms, forcing it into the handle and the connected heads. It took a lot of effort to feed the power into the solid metal. Once he'd filled all of the available space in both heads for each weight, he released the handles. He couldn't see the energy, but when he gripped the handles again, he noted they wouldn't accept any more, so it seemed to be holding.

There was a knock at the door, so he carried the weights to the small table in the hall and confirmed it was the soldier before opening the door.

"Welcome, Mr. Yablonski!" He welcomed him in and locked up.

"Hey! The Sergeant mentioned you'd top me up?" the soldier said immediately.

Henry smiled and gestured to the dumbbells. "Grip the handles."

The soldier glanced at them. "Thirty pounds? That's nothing!"

Henry nodded to them with a smile, so the soldier took a grip on both.

"OH SHIT! YEAH!" the soldier exclaimed with a large smile as he felt his energy levels surging upwards until he had to let go.

"That's pretty smart!" Yablonski said as he smiled at Henry.

He needed to know how much the soldier had taken, so Henry took a grip and forced more energy inside the heavy metal. It didn't take much, so these two weights would probably be enough to charge the entire squad at least once—hopefully.

Henry had spent more time in his condo than he felt comfortable with, so he grabbed a small reusable fabric shopping bag from his kitchen and put the weights inside. "Let's go."

He stepped through the closet door into the mansion and went up to the entrance to the kitchen.

"Siobhan?" Henry called out, and the woman turned to look at him. She nodded and joined him in the hall. "This is Mr. Yablonski," he said, gesturing to the silver man. "This is Siobhan."

They nodded and smiled at each other.

Henry tapped on a door to a two-piece bathroom in the hall, heard nothing, and no one was inside when he opened it. "Good. Mr. Yablonski, picture in your mind the hospital door that leads to General Crane's room.

The man nodded. "Keep thinking of that door as you touch this one." Henry touched the back of his hand and launched the spell. "Okay." He handed the shopping back to the soldier. "Give these to the Sergeant when you see her. I'm going to go outside, then you knock on the door." He gave Siobhan a look, and she nodded.

With a final nod, Henry walked to the front of the house and stepped outside.

Three minutes later, Siobhan came running out and threw herself against Henry's chest. She was trembling and crying. "What? What happened? Are you okay?"

She squeezed herself tighter against Henry. He waited, but it took five minutes for her to calm enough to be able to speak. He put his heat spell on again, and his warmth finally drew her out. "It's awful, Henry!"

He saw the Sergeant standing in the front doorway. "Henry, can you turn off the Magic Door so I can leave the General's room?"

"Sorry," he said and guided Siobhan back inside. He had her take a seat in the formal living room as he brought the Sergeant back to the door to the hospital room.

Mick stopped him just outside the door to the hospital room. "I know you need to get back to Siobhan, but I wanted to thank you for the energy dumbbells. They're brilliant!" Her expression showed she was uneasy about something. "I-I need to ask another favor, but I'll let you get back to her. Call me when you find out what she saw. She really freaked us out," Mick said, and he nodded. She stepped inside, and he closed the door and released the spell.

He rushed back to Siobhan and sat next to her, pulling her to his chest once more.

"Start from the beginning," he said gently.

She nodded, and a tremor went through her muscles. "I-I did as you said, just a surface look. The Sergeant and Yablonski were in the room too. She wasn't glowing as brightly as Yablonski. Some of your excess had poured through the doorway, but when it flowed near the bed and the General, he seemed to fade into a shadow that pushed the Wild Magic away." She sucked in a deep breath. He could see she was calming herself, so he remained quiet until she was ready.

"I didn't mean to. I was just so startled by the darkness moving I looked closer, and then I was inside." Her eyes opened, and she turned her face from him, but she left them open. "It was dark, cold, ancient, vast, alien, and it felt like there was more than one. Our minds didn't touch, but I got all that just from the briefest glance. They-it was so vast, I was insignificant to it. I-I think I might have screamed. I shut down my sight and ran from the room."

Henry sighed as he knew what that darkness was. He was putting pieces together, but it formed an unhappy picture.

"I'm sorry I exposed you to that, Siobhan."

She shook her head. "You warned me. It's not your fault." She paused. "You know what it is."

He wondered if he should tell her, but she was better off not knowing all the details. "I have some hints from Baba's knowledge. You're fine, though. You never linked to it, just got pulled by the gravity into its influence briefly. That proximity leads to heightened paranoia. You can let it go as it was just an external stimulus. It isn't permanent or meaningful, and it fades quickly."

Henry could see Siobhan relaxing as he spoke. He lifted her to her feet. "Please don't tell anyone about Crane until I work out what we can do. Okay?" She nodded. "Thanks! Let's go to the kitchen and see how the others are doing."

She nodded with a little smile, and they marched down the hall and into a room filled with talking and laughter. Henry watched the last shreds of the clinging dread wash away under the sound of friendly voices.

When he was sure she was settled, he slipped back into the hallway and made his way out the front door once again. He pulled out his cell and called the Sergeant.

"Henry! Did she tell you what she saw?" the woman asked nervously.

He thought her anxiety levels seemed higher than normal, which would also be a sign of this shadow's influence on her.

"There is good news. The General is not in any imminent danger. Can you tell me if anything odd happened to him lately? Aside from last night, any dangerous situations he somehow avoided?"

"The car bombing! Someone planted a bomb in his rental car. As he was about to get in, he said everything went black, then he was across the street!" Mick exclaimed.

Henry sighed as this confirmed his suspicions. There were ramifications and conclusions for this line of thought, but he still needed time to prepare himself for that, so he set it aside.

"Yeah, like that. Listen, as I said, the General isn't in any imminent danger, but you and the team will be if you stay in close physical proximity to him. You need to be around positive influences to counteract the thing that's protecting him. Laughter, family, relaxing, these will restore balance. You can still have short intervals in the General's presence, but when possible, use your cell instead of a face-to-face."

"You say no imminent danger, but there is a danger, isn't there," Mick said.

Henry knew he had to be straight with her. "Yes, but it's an over-time accumulative danger. He's fine for now. I'm working on it."

He heard her sigh in relief.

"You said something about a favor?" he reminded her.

"Now I feel doubly guilty," she moaned.

"Out with it! I'll tell you if it's outrageous."

She chuckled a little. "Uh, you mentioned family a moment ago, and being around them would be good. You know the Squad's family are all Silver People now, yes?"

"Yes, you mentioned that to me," Henry said with a smile.

"Well, they're all out doing rescue missions on the highways due to the storm. They're pulling cars out of the ditches, ensuring the people are safe, warm, and have food and water while they wait for emergency vehicles, anything they can do to help," Mick explained.

"That's wonderful!" Henry said.

"The problem is, the storm has been going on for so long, they're becoming exhausted."

"You need me to recharge them?" Henry asked.

"Could you?" the Sergeant asked timidly.

"Where are they now?" Henry asked.

"They've been following the storm, so most of them aren't far from you. Not far in terms of how fast one of us can run, that is," Mick explained.

"Okay. Listen, tell them the address of the mansion and how to get here. Tell them to walk through the energy field and be careful of the kids like I described to you. I'll initially charge them myself, but I'm going to set up a charging station in the woods behind the mansion. Future top-ups can be done there."

"Thanks, Henry!"

"I'm just glad to be able to assist them in their rescue efforts. They're doing good deeds. That should be rewarded!" Henry said with a smile.

"You're one of the good ones too, Henry," Mick said fondly.

"Thanks! You too. Talk to you later."

Henry knew what he needed for the charging station. He'd picked up the main component last night with Meixiu's assistance, but he needed a base. He walked over to the garden shed and went inside. There were supplies for a garden that Walter never constructed in the back corner. One item caught his eye. It was one of those reflective orbs people put in their gardens to reflect the beauty around them.

He dug it out and saw it was a chrome metal orb bolted to a concrete stand. He carried it out of the shed and left it at the edge of the woods behind the mansion. Then he made his way back to the front door and went inside. He listened, but the voices sounded like they were in the dining room, so he slipped into the vestibule then into the cavern. He quickly made his way to the hidden corridor and slipped inside. He picked up the largest of the crystals he'd collected and made his way back to listen at the hallway door.

He was still clear, so he quietly stepped to the front door and outside. He decided to take the long way around to eliminate any chance of someone inside seeing him carrying part of today's surprise. When he was in the woods behind the home, he took some deep breaths and turned his perceptions inside to listen to the Wild Magic. He was listening for a deep hum that would indicate the crystal he was carrying was resonating with the crystals in the hidden corridor in the cave deep under his feet. He moved in an expanding spiral until he heard the hum, deep and strong. He set it down then went back for the chrome orb and concrete stand.

It was a tricky maneuver, but he used two tears, one to Eden and one inside the chrome orb's interior, and transferred the large crystal inside. It barely fit, but he released the tears, and the sphere contained the crystal.

"Henry!"

He looked towards the house as that was Roy's voice calling out for him.

"I'll be right there!" he yelled back.

He wondered how Roy found him then recalled that Siobhan could probably find him by his glow.

He'd have to do this quick. The crystal was inside, but it wasn't connected yet. He put his hands on the chrome orb and dumped some Wild Magic into the metal. It took a fraction of a second for this charge to create a path to the crystal inside. This caused a pulse in the crystal, which jumped down through the solid rock to link to the power generator he'd set up in the cave. A conduit was made, and Wild Magic pulsed on the surface of the Chrome orb. The charging station was working!

He added a binding spell to anchor the concrete base to the ground. He'd have to come out in the Spring to pour a real concrete pad to bolt the stand to.

With the task done, he jogged through the snow to the back of the house, where Roy was giving him an annoyed look.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Didja perhaps fail to mention to anyone that we'd be getting a whole lot of Silver visitors?" he growled.

"Oh! Damn! Sorry, I thought I'd have time before they got here. They're family members of the Silver Soldiers. They're doing highway rescue work due to the storm, and they needed a recharge," he explained.

"Ah, okay. Well, your guests are all out front."

"Could you ask them to come around into the backyard?" Henry asked.

"Aye," Roy grumbled and went back inside.

Henry walked back to the woods' edge and turned to see the first of the Silver People jog around the building. He waved to them, and they adjusted their path to reach him.

"Hi! I'm Henry," he said to the first one who seemed to be their leader.

"Hi, Ron Tennison. Papa of Sergeant Michelle Tennison. This is my lovely wife, Dixie," the man said, gesturing to a shorter female.

It was hard to gauge age on silver faces, but Ron's voice had command authority in it. He was likely a military man himself, once. Henry saw the rest of the group had caught up.