Dreams Can Come True - 6. Chapter 6

It was an unsettled day on the bench where the sorcerer’s cottage stood on the side of the mountain. They were all in attendance: Gregor the Sorcerer; his mate Edwina or Timothy; their three children, Beatrice, Trudy, and Ben, eight months past their birth, but looking and acting more like four-year-olds; Rubiette the dwarf midwife who stayed on; Margo the wet nurse and now nanny; Harold the raven ghost; Exetor the pixie; Percy the dragon and his prospective mate Deirdre, who was naked. Everyone was looking at Gregor.

“Hurry up, Gregor, the picnic is already laid out and Deirdre is starting to get goose bumps,” Edwina said. “Rubiette made dwarf muffins and you know they need to be served warm or they’ll get too hard.”

“The ones made with rock flour?” Gregor asked.

“Of course, dear,” Edwina said. “With blueberries and those candied cherries you like.”

Rubiette smiled meekly.

“Okay, Deirdre lie down on the grass on your back and close your eyes,” Gregor began. “Percy stand at her feet. Try to get as erect as possible, yes, like that. Exetor stand on Deirdre’s right.”

“What do I have to do with this?” Exetor asked. “I don’t want to be turned into a man.”

“You’re not, it’s just part of the liturgy,” Gregor continued. “Rubiette stand on Deirdre’s left.”

“Oh, I remember this, the four points of the netherworld,” Rubiette said. “Certainly you remember this Exetor.”

“Well, I’m not the seer, but I think I’ve seen this done a couple times to draw out bad humors, before we had Gregor, that is,” Exetor said.

“Yes, he’s quite the medical wizard, isn’t he?” Rubiette said.

Lightening came out of the clouds and danced around Rubiette, who exclaimed, “Okay! Okay! He’s not a wizard. That’s just a synonym for sorcerer. Don’t get your magic in an uproar.”

“Can we continue?” Gregor asked.

“Oh, sure, go right ahead,” Rubiette said with a smirk.

“Now, Percy, when the time comes you have to mate with Deirdre, it’s part of the liturgy, a very important part,” Gregor said.

“You mean fuck her when I get a man’s willy?” Percy asked.

“For the god’s sake, yes,” Rubiette said.

“Do I have to cum?” Percy asked.

“Yes!” everyone exclaimed.

“With all of you watching?” Percy asked.

“That’s why we’re here,” Exetor said. “Now, do you want to go through with this or not?”

“Okay, but this is going to be embarrassing,” Percy said.

“Come on, Percy dear, I know you’ll do what’s right,” Deirdre said with a knowing smile.

“Okay, let’s begin,” Gregor said.

“I am Gregor, eighteenth in the line of the Psimilias Sorcers of Hymballia. I have the power of sight. I claim the right of Psimilia. I am Gregor the Sorcerer!”

White lightning flashed out of the sky and danced around the four points of the netherworld cross.

“I am Gregor the Sorcerer. I call on Mother Earth to hear our plea. Grant this dragon his desire to shed the veil of immortality and join with his chosen mate. Grant their love to prosper and bear fruit of their loins. Grant this in the name of Eros and Gaea. Grant this in the name of Psimilia, the first sorcerer of the netherworld.”

The lightning changed colors from white to red to blue to green to red until a rainbow of lightning danced around the cross. Gregor raised his right arm and made a fist. Blue lightning burst out of it and flew around and around.

“Percy, do you love Deirdre with all your heart?”

“I do.”

“Deirdre, do you love Percy with all your heart?”

“I do.”

“Will you give up your life for the other if asked by Mother Earth?”

“Yes,” they said in unison.

“Then in the power granted to me by Psimilia I bless this union. Percy you shall join with Deirdre and become one with Mother Earth.”

The blue lightning enveloped Percy and he shrank and shrank until he was no taller than an average man. Then the magic really began as Percy slowly part by part changed into a real man. He stood there in the bright blue light looking at Deirdre lying before him and became erect with desire. He knelt between her legs as the lightning changed to a rainbow of color, matching the lightning from the sky. As he entered her and began to thrust in and out all of the lightning came to a point above them, dancing in the rhythm of their love.

Deirdre and Percy kissed and caressed as they made love. Ever so slowly their tempo increased until Percy’s thrusts shuddered into the woman who was to be his mate forever. Suddenly, at the moment of Percy’s and Deirdre’s simultaneous orgasm, the lightning changed to blue and enveloped them. They lay there on the grass with labored breaths recovering from their moment with the gods.

“We thank you Eros and Gaea for your generosity in this union. We thank you Mother Earth for granting our desire for this couple’s love to grow and prosper. We thank all and give all in your name.”

The lightning dissipated into nothing, the clouds cleared, and the sun began to warm the air.

“Clothes please,” Gregor said. In a flash, a frilly white dress formed around Deirdre and Percy gained leather leggings, a matching tunic, a silver belt, and short leather boots. He looked rather dashing for someone who used to be a dragon.

- - - - - - - - - -

Pink grumbled as their little train of dwarfs, horses, and asses set out from another Hinterland village. This one was unremarkable except for an unusual variety of sausages. It seemed to him if it could be stuffed into the lining of an animal’s gut; it was probably in a sausage sold in the village. What made him angry was they hadn’t bought any. Both Arthur and the dwarfs seemed to be exceedingly wary of those sausages saying anything could be in them. Well, wasn’t that the whole point to sausages? Grind up the icky bits, mix them with herbs and such, and stuff them into the linings. All you had to do then was either smoke them or let them dry in the sun.

But, would they let him buy any? No! They said he had to save his silver and gold for the return trip. Supposedly they were close to where the sorcerer lived and then in a week or so they’d be down to where the dragon was. Then he could do the slaying and get the head mounted in the nearest village. Unfortunately, that didn’t make him happy at all.

At least they let him buy some dried fish. They were light and the dwarfs said they knew of a way of softening them up so they’d be digestible. Anything other than those muffins and scones Kisk was always preparing. They’d last for days, but the texture left a lot to be desired. Sort of like eating unflavored dirt was Pink’s best guess.

They were in another forest, but this one was very different. For one thing, all the trees were conifers. The other thing was the nymphs and fairies stayed close to them as if there was something in the forest that wanted to eat nymphs and fairies. One other thing was the way the wind whistled through the tops of the trees, it was almost like singing. Frankly, it was kind of unnerving.

“Keep your wits about you,” Karn said. “They said back there this forest is haunted. They said a demon used to live up near the pass, but now it’s the sorcerer who’s there. See the nymphs and fairies; even they don’t like this place.”

They rode on through the dimly lit forest floor listening to the river rushing at their left and the trees whistling above. There was little vegetation, just a blanket of fallen needles that softened the plodding of the animals. Unexpectedly, they heard the sound of children laughing.

“Hold up here,” Karn said. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Pink wanted to say it just sounded like happy children, but they’d probably hit him again. So he sat quietly on his horse.

“Think they’re ghosts?” Kisk asked.

“Likely are,” Karn said, “trying to lure us away from our destination. We need to follow the blazes because if we don’t we might be stuck in here forever.”

That’s easy for him to say, Pink thought. He and Arthur were going to die a lot sooner than forever, a whole lot sooner.

“They’re getting louder,” Kisk said. “I hope they’re not dancing. You know I can’t help myself around a pirouette, especially if it’s a woman, especially if it’s a human woman. You know what happened last time. You fellows practically had to scrape me off the ceiling of the cavern.”

“Grab a hold of Pink’s horse’s tail and shut your eyes,” Karn said. “We’ll lead you through. If they’re not pirouetting, I’ll let you know. It’s likely they’re just skipping and such. Whatever they’re doing, they definitely sound gay.”

They walked on getting closer and closer to the singing. Pink was hoping it was just children having a good time in the forest, but here in Hinterland one never knew what you were going to find. Plus, they did say this forest was haunted. Suddenly, a little girl ran in front of them chased by a little boy. They circled around and came back. They stopped beside Arthur’s horse.

“Are you the knight who’s come to slay the dragon?” the girl asked Arthur in a sweet voice. Her brown hair was closely cropped to her head, but her face was bright with the freckles of childhood. Her smile was infectious. Her gray frock hung loosely down her slender body, stopping a few inches below her knees and a few inches above her black leather boots. She scrunched up her face and said, “You don’t look like a knight.”

“Are you the knight who’s come to slay the dragon?” the boy asked Pink. His hair and features were very similar to the girl’s giving Pink a thought they might be twins. He was wearing a gray cloth tunic over gray cloth leggings and had similar black boots.

“Yes,” Pink said.

“I knew it! I knew it! I told you I’ve got some of Papa’s magic in me,” the boy said. “My name is Ben. She’s Trudy. Bea and Mummy and Margo, our nanny, are over yonder ways looking for morel. Do you have a sword?”

“Yes,” Pink said.

“You don’t need it anymore, ’cause the dragon’s been changed,” Trudy said.

“Hush, Trudy, you know you’re not supposed to say anything to strangers,” Ben said. “Why can’t you keep a simple secret like that?”

“’Cause I’m a girl and girls don’t have to keep secrets if they don’t want to,” Trudy said. “’Sides it’s called goss’ping and it’s what Mummy and Margo and Deirdre and Rubiette do all the time.”

“Did you say Rubiette?” Karn asked. “The midwife, Rubiette?”

“Ben, do you know a different Rubiette?” Trudy asked.

The boy shook his head.

“Rubiette is my mate,” Karn said. “I thought she’d be back at the mountain by now.”

“No, Papa said something about you coming here with the knight and you and her could go on from here together,” Ben said. “Rubiette said something about staying here because she found a vein of quartz over toward the pass and was nearly certain there were signs that it might contain silver.”

“Well bless her, bless her. Did you hear that, Kisk?” Karn asked. “Quartz veins! Then the legends must be true. I bet if we looked down in the talus we might find the adit.”

“We’d have to consider babes,” Kisk said worriedly.

“You’re my favorite cousin, if Rubiette approves you can bear, too,” Karn said.

Pink thought about this for a moment, either Kisk was actually a female dwarf or dwarfs did things different from humans. He wished he could ask.

“Where’d the children go?” Arthur asked. They looked around and the children were nowhere to be seen. It was almost as if they’d vanished into thin air.

“Well, wherever they went, we need to continue on,” Karn said.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Well, there you are,” Gregor said as the little pack train came up the trail from the valley. “I was wondering what took you so long; then I saw that you’d run into a bevy of elves and had to backtrack around them. If I’d have been more forthright, I’d have taken care of them myself, but it was kind of fun watching the goblin do it. He hunted down and killed every one of them. Anyway, come, relax, and let’s talk about the dragon.”

“There was a girl, uh, named, Trudy, down in the valley who said the dragon had been changed, is that true?” Pink asked as he walked up to Gregor. He definitely was not interested in letting the dwarfs stop him from finding out the truth here.

“You must excuse him, my lord,” Arthur said. “He’s not from the Hinterlands and doesn’t know our customs.”

“Oh, that’s alright, I’m not from here either,” Gregor said. “So, Sir Knight what do we call you?”

“I am Sir Pink Daisy of Baron Daisy’s manor,” Pink said, surprised he could sound that proud.

“Daisy? Did you say Daisy? We were tenants on the Daisy manor. Pink you said? Yes, I think I remember. You were just a child when I left to be apprenticed with an uncle across the mountains, near the ocean.”

“You’re just a peasant?” Pink sneered. “And, now you think you can call yourself a sorcerer. How can that be?”

A bolt of lightning burst out of a cloudless sky and grounded a few inches in front of Pink’s foot.

“You’ll have to excuse the magic, but it gets rather testy when someone threatens me,” Gregor said. “Arthur, why don’t you take the knight over by the great oak, you can make your camp there. The facilities are in the little house at the foot of the talus, the well is over by the great oak, and we’ll all, including the uppity knight, take our meals in the cottage.”

“Well, I never!” Pink exclaimed.

“Come on Pink before he burns off your willy,” Arthur said.

“I want to know about the dragon right now!” Pink exclaimed.

“On your way up out of the valley, did you see that little farm down there?”

“Yes.”

“Did you meet the farmer?”

“He said his name was Percy and introduced me to his wife Deirdre. It seems she’s with child.”

“Yes, well up until a few months ago, Percy was the dragon. He wanted to be a man, so I changed him.”

“You can’t do that!” Pink exclaimed.

Another bolt of lightning struck a tad closer this time.

“What am I going to do? Everyone back in the kingdom expects me to come back with a mounted dragon’s head. What’s to become of me now?”

A white pavilion suddenly appeared over beside the great oak.

“Arthur? Why don’t you take Pink into the pavilion,” Gregor said. “I’m almost positive the magic has provided everything you will need for a comfortable stay.”

“Come on Pink, dear, let’s go see a man about a sausage,” Arthur said as he pulled Pink away.

“But, what am I to do?” Pink moaned and moaned as Arthur pulled him along.

Once inside, they saw thick pallets, pillows, blankets, and quilts. Arthur knew exactly what was needed and began to undress Pink.

“What are you doing?” Pink asked, still bewildered at the sudden changed in his life.

“I’m undressing you and then I’ll undress,” Arthur said. “Then I’m going to suck your cock because I haven’t been able to do that for a long, long time. Then I’m going to lay you down on that pallet over there, shove my cock up inside you, and fuck your brains out. Afterward, we can talk, but right now we’re having hot and dirty sex until we can’t do it anymore.”

- - - - - - - - - -

They all, including Percy and Deirdre, gathered at the table in the cottage and dug into the meal Edwina, Rubiette, and Margo prepared. There was magical ale (You can drink it all night without getting drunk; though you’ll have to piss a lot.), wine from somewhere to the southwest where it was much warmer, and a fizzy drink for the children that Rubiette made from spring water she found higher up the mountain. They ate chicken in morel sauce, roast beef with brown gravy, lamb with mint sauce, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, and a bowl of seven different kinds of beans. Afterward, there was cake with cream icing and pixie mead for all, the children getting a quarter portion mixed with water. Edwina was most strict about the children and mead.

The women and the two young girls cleared the table and retired to the kitchen. Ben followed the men out onto the front porch. The sun was just sinking into the great oak and another warm summer day was coming to a close.

“Gregor was telling me you came all this way to slay a dragon,” Percy said offering a topic of conversation, albeit a sad one for Pink.

“Yes, well, that seems to be a wasted trip,” Pink said.

“What’s to become of you?” Exetor asked. “You know you could stay here.”

“There’s plenty of room down in the valley for another family,” Percy said. “Deirdre and I would be more than happy to have you and Arthur join us.”

“What do you know about us?” Pink asked, shocked at the supposition that everyone knew of their relationship.

“It’s as plain as the face on your head,” Gregor said, “but I have to admit I know a bit more, though I haven’t said anything to anyone. You two are in love and you need to settle down and possibly raise a family.”

“How can we have children?” Pink asked.

“You’d be surprised what the magic can do, but I think in this case we’d be looking for orphans from the villages around here,” Gregor said. “Does that sound like something you could do?”

“I suppose,” Pink said.

“Well, I’m all for it,” Arthur said.

“You’ll have to keep them on the sunny side of the valley,” Karn said. “I’ll not be having any of that same sex marriage stuff around me and mine.”

“Don’t tell me you’re staying too,” Gregor said.

“Rubiette told me all about the quartz vein and tomorrow Kisk and I’ll go over there and see what’s what. There’s a legend about a dwarf troop coming into this valley and being chased away by the demon.”

“Well, I suppose we can accommodate them on the sunny side,” Exetor said. “It would certainly be better crop-wise. I’ll get with the tree nymphs tomorrow and see what they say. Since we’ll be doing a good service for the children in the area, I suppose it’ll work out okay. What about the local village?”

“They won’t be a problem,” Gregor said. “They’ll be going away soon and the forest can extend further down the valley, practically all the way to the gorge.”

“A bit of magic?” Exetor asked with a smirk.

“Just a bit,” Gregor smiled. “So gentlemen, what do you think?”

“It sounds fine with me,” Arthur said. “Pink?”

“I guess, but I was hoping for some treasure from the dragon. They say that dragons always have treasure. Percy, did you have a treasure trove?”

“Just a few baubles I gave to Deirdre on our wedding and a few I gave to her village to pay for the damage I’d done,” Percy said trying to keep a straight face. Gregor and Exetor looked away lest their smiles give away the secret. “There wasn’t much to begin with and it’s all gone now.”

“Oh, well, I guess since I haven’t found what I came here for, other than Arthur of course, I guess spending the rest of my life with him doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

All of these things occurred in their course and Pink and Arthur lived happily ever after as husband and husband.

And, yes, there was a treasure trove, but farmers need implements and families need clothes and baubles can easily be turned into cash if you go to the right establishment in any village in the Hinterlands.

END