The Worlds of the Sheaf

Essca - Part 1

     Tassley hadn't heard any more than that, so they didn't yet know what the result of the request would be, but Thomas hoped they would be allowed to come. The idea fascinated him! A small group of people completely isolated from the rest of civilisation, free to pursue their curiosity without having to worry about deadlines or superiors. Able to take as long as they liked, days maybe, to uncover a particularly fragile and precious find. Spending the evenings gathered around a small, cosy campfire as they discussed the findings of the day and what they hoped to accomplish the next morning. Friendships growing. The intimacy of a shared obsession. Something that couldn't be shared with outsiders but which led to a growing closeness and shared understanding within their little group. The idea held a strong attraction for him, and he found he could picture himself and Lirenna among such a group very easily.

     He shook his head, dismissing the fantasy. It might be his idea of paradise, but he couldn't imagine Lirenna enjoying such a project for long, and neither of them would want to be away from Derrin for the months or years that would probably be involved. Even as it was, they were both wondering how he was getting along without them, and were looking forward to the day when they could return to the valley for a while. Their beautiful dwelling tree was also much on the demi shae's mind, and she often found herself wondering how it was faring without anyone to look after it. If they were away too long, of course, the shae folk would find someone else to see to its maintenance, but Lirenna had grown so attached to the tree that she resented the idea of someone else intruding into what she now saw as her home. She was even beginning to have mixed feelings about returning to Haven...

     Normally, at the end of the day Lirenna would have gone up to deck one, the shae deck, but by the strange telepathy they shared from having come to know each other so well they both knew that Flinda Luell would have the quarters they shared to herself that night. Instead, the demi shae followed Thomas to his cabin, neither of them speaking a word, nor needing to, and as soon as the door was closed behind them they struggled wearily out of their clothes and crawled into the small bed, wrapped in each others' arms. Too tired even for lovemaking, they simply lay there next to each other, enjoying each others' company after such a long time in separate beds, and after a few minutes they were both fast asleep.

☆☆☆

     Neither of them were assigned duties the next day, so they were able to have a lie in, their bodies pressed close together in the small single bed, and they spent a long, luxurious hour staring at the ceiling, lost in their own thoughts and delighting in the warmth and softness of the bare skin pressed against their own.

     Refreshed by a long night's sleep, they made love, but quietly and carefully. Painfully aware that there might be crewmen passing by in the corridor outside. Having to restrain themselves like that detracted a little from the event, and they longed to return to their own home, either the dwelling tree or their cottage in Haven, where they could satiate themselves in their customary wild abandon. It was still good, though, and they were both completely fulfilled and satisfied when they finally lay back side by side, each of them drenched by the mingled sweat of their two bodies.

     After a few minutes, when they'd gotten their breaths back, Lirenna turned over onto her side, facing her husband, and examined his face thoughtfully, noting every beautiful feature. Feeling a warm glow in the very heart of her being that the love of her life was right here beside her, and that they could stay there all day if they wanted to.

     It was some minutes before Thomas, lost in his own thoughts, became aware of the scrutiny he was receiving, and then he also turned to face her, stroking her arm idly. "What are you thinking?" he asked softly.

     "Oh, not much," the demi shae murmured contentedly. "Just thinking, that's all. You really surprised me when you cast that spell the other day, making the hole in the floor of that basement. Do you think you'll be able to recreate more of Tak's spells?"

     "I'd love to be able to recreate his vitamorphic spells," Thomas replied, making sure to keep his voice especially low in case Saturn was passing by outside. The University had very definite ideas about wizards researching new spells independently. They only put their seal of approval on spells developed in the University itself. Spells that had been rigorously tested to make sure they were safe and not likely to misfire in the middle of a crowded city, antagonising the mundanes. Technically, there was nothing they could do if a wizard did ignore protocols and research his own spells, and many of the most popular and powerful spells had been developed in exactly this way, but the University could make life very hard for him if he ever returned to Lexandria Valley. Thomas intended to remain in the valley for quite some time yet, and so he had no intention of doing anything to get the senior wizards angry with him, but the temptation was still very great.

     "The idea of moulding living things into new forms. Of blending different forms of life to create something new... I can easily understand why Tak became so obsessed by it. Think, Lenny. If we really could breed a new form of dwelling tree wasp, able to survive in a cold climate. Dwelling trees in Haven! Just think what your uncle would say to that!"

     Lirenna's eyes shone with delight. They'd talked about the possibility many times since her husband had narrated the first part of Tak's life, and she'd been quietly reading up on the subject of vitamorphosis. A long lost art that had been, it was widely believed, responsible for the origins for all the world's chimeric life forms; those whose bodies contained elements of two or more other creatures. Griffins, for instance, with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, and pegasi, the winged horses. Thomas had, so far, been unable to remember whether such creatures had existed in Tak's time or whether they'd been created by later wizards, and he was secretly excited by the thought that Tak himself might have created them in his later years, when he'd been at the height of his power.

     "Have you remembered any more of his life yet?" asked Lirenna eagerly. She'd been captivated by the tale of Tak's early manhood and had been prompting Thomas mercilessly for him to continue the story, but her husband was adamant that he wouldn't do so until he was sure he remembered it in sufficient detail and gotten all the pertinent events in their correct chronological order.

     Now, though, he grinned back at her and the demi shae's heart pounded with excitement. "I suppose I can carry on now," he said. "To cover the next major chapter of his life, anyway. I still can't remember anything of his old age and declining years, but I think I've got the years of his prime pretty well sorted out. Do you want to hear it?"

     "Just get on with it!" urged Lirenna impatiently, and Thomas laughed aloud as he began choosing his words...