The sound of rocks being erratically disturbed broke the afternoon silence. An occasional grumbled oath could also be heard by anyone sitting peacefully on the edge of the stony plain. That same observer would also be able to see a lone, tall biped stumbling his way along through the field of medium sized stones. 

Although the nuggets of the irregularly shaped granite weren’t large enough to make for stable purchase, they also weren’t small enough to simply step on easily. To make matters worse, their natural spacing made it impossible to find easy footing between them; making each step for the ill-tempered traveler a conscious effort of coordination. 

He muttered and groused as he made his way across the boundary of the steppe and onto more hospitable ground. Moving twenty or so paces along, he stopped and sat tiredly. He heaved a large and long sigh before leaning back and sinking the rest of the way down.

“Damn. Damn. Damn.” The large man repeated his epithet several more times to the sky before sitting back up and removing his shoes. Although they were in good shape and had not been noticeably damaged by his trek across the angular rocks, the feet within them were still very sore. He rubbed them for a few moments and realized that it had indeed been some time since he had trod anything more uneven than fine sand and grass. 

Replacing his shoes, he stood and started to wander further away from the rocky field that had given him so much grief and into an area of short dry grasses and weeds. He could see lumpy bent trees of some sort in the distance and hoped that there would be some way to get water nearby. 

After a few hours of walking, he reached the sparse woodlands. At the edge, the weary traveler looked in all directions as well as up into the trees themselves. This was not his world and he had no idea what surprises were waiting. Finally, he turned to look once more at the harsh area where he had arrived in this strange place.

“Where the hell am I, Mera?” he asked the empty air. There was no response and he had mostly not expected one, however there was a small part of his mind that missed the other presence that had been sharing his thoughts for the last few months. He hadn’t realized how much he had become accustomed to their mental conversations and, now that they were gone, he was going to have to readjust to being the only one in his head.

Giving his lonely head one last rueful shake, he took the first steps forward into the woods. 

For nearly an hour, Ashur trekked into the oddly familiar woodland. During his short time traveling with his blue companion, he had seen worlds that were vastly different from the one he had grown up in. Places with differently colored skies, alternate plant and animal life, and even some where the very air was abnormal to him. This place, however, was so close to the planet of his birth that he felt that, if he walked far enough in the right direction, he might find his way back to the kingdom of Oudromore.

The Guardian chuckled a bit. He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t thought of Oudromore as “home” even though it was where he had been born and, for the most part, raised. With the death of the last of his comrades, he had been basically set adrift in the universe. Granted, he certainly could have rejoined the army and, in the course of time, become reintegrated, but the fantastic existence he had found with his partner and lover made the idea ludicrous. 

Thoughts of the azure Caretaker made him stop for a moment. He wondered if Mera was okay. He knew that she had been physically unharmed at the time he became trapped here, but her mental state might have been shaken by his disappearance. She would find him, eventually. With her ability to traverse among the various universes and realities via her traveling platform, he knew it was just a matter of time before she came upon the right place…and time was something they both had plenty of.

His worry stemmed more from the shock she would have had at his abrupt severance from her own thoughts. As Caretaker, her domain was the mind and she had reveled in their mental intimacy once he had been able to connect to her that way. How much more was she missing the psychic bond? Would she be fighting her depression and breakdown again? He hoped not. 

His musings of their mental relationship brought his own powers to mind. Mera had once told him that their abilities stemmed from the Library and would be diminished in other worlds but had not elaborated more. Ashur had no idea if his own power to change his physical body was still available to him and decided that discovering his limitations now was much preferable to coming up short in a hazardous situation later on.

Finding a convenient log to rest on, he held up one of his hands and concentrated on letting the power inside of him flow down his arm. It felt sluggish and slow; as though he was trying to shove cold honey through the tissues of his body. After a full five minutes, the middle three fingers of his hand began to elongate and stretch. Not bothering with any other major alterations, he focused on the one simple task. Another five minutes ticked by before the changing digits stopped. 

Ashur blew out an explosive breath and used his other hand to wipe the sweat dripping into his eyes. Although pushing the energy hadn’t really taken much effort, the mental control he had needed had far surpassed the exercises Mera had been drilling him in. If he found it necessary to make any changes or heal himself here, he would need to be prepared both in time and strength. The rapid modifications he had been able to effect in the Library would not be the case here. With a resigned sigh, the Guardian wiped his face again and set about the task of restoring his hand before moving on.

By the time the sun was starting to set, Ashur had found a stream and a tree that was old and large enough to hold him. Combined with his earlier mental efforts and his laborious escape from the field of stones, the rest of his hike had exhausted him. 

He worried that he might have lost some of the situational awareness learned during his time in the army and wanted a resting place that might give him a measure of safety. He didn’t delude himself that bunking down twenty feet up in the “S” curve of the tree would keep away any nocturnal predators so he used the cord that held the Staff to his belt to build a crude tripwire tied to his finger. It was the best he could do with the supplies he had and he resolved to spend part of the next day gathering materials as he traveled. 

As for the Staff itself, he had no worry. During his preparations, he inadvertently dropped it. Less than halfway to the ground, the magical rod defied gravity and floated back up to him. Reassured that it would still behave as he expected, he haphazardly placed it on the five-foot thick trunk of the tree above him and, rolling onto his stomach, did his best to rest. As he expected, it did not come easily. Even with years of sleeping in forests, every little noise brought him to instant awareness and the night was nearly halfway over before he was able to drift off. 

When his eyes opened again, the sun was up and had been for what he guessed was an hour or more. His legs and feet were still sore from his frustrating trek the previous day and he took a moment to massage them before climbing down from his tree. The nearby stream served to quench his immediate thirst but when his stomach growled loudly at him, he decided that finding some kind of food would need to be a priority today. He couldn’t begin to guess how long it would take Mera to find him so gambling on his nutritional needs in this strange place was necessary and he hoped that if he consumed something harmful, his abilities would let him either adapt or clean it from his system quickly. 

He was about to choose a random direction and start walking, but an almost ephemeral sensation drew his attention upstream. Even with his quasi-limited experience with foreign worlds, any kind of impingement on his awareness instantly put his guard up. However, since he had nothing else to guide him, Ashur decided that following the water was as sensible a choice as any other.

As he slogged along the soft banks of the stream, he half-expected the feeling to grow stronger but it remained fleeting for the rest of the day. His grumbling gut forced him to stop from time to time and experiment with various berries and the occasional unearthed tuber. Thankfully, none of them were instantly poisonous although a few did cause an intestinal burble or two. To his consternation, even as a conglomeration, the small handfuls he found were not exactly filling and he settled down for the evening in another tree with his hunger only slightly assuaged.

He trekked like that for several more days without seeing any other type of animal life forms although he became more adept at spotting the plants that he had deemed to be the safest. This discrepancy started to worry him. In just about every other forest, swamp, and even desert he had been in, there were animals, even small rodents and insects and they left behind tracks of some kind or another. This world seemed to have none and it bothered him more the longer he thought about it. Was there something in the air or the water that kept them from surviving? Was it just this area or was the entire world nothing but plant life? If the phenomenon was local, then there was a good chance that either a disease or overwhelming predator had decimated the area. Worse, it was probably a recent thing since it looked as though the ecosystem hadn’t had a chance to repopulate in even the smallest way.

Squaring his shoulders, Ashur kept moving forward. If it was a disease, then he was most likely already infected and could only do his best to battle it internally. A predator that could do this kind of damage was something else entirely, especially since he hadn’t seen any evidence of it. In his days of travel, there had been no sign of tracks, droppings, or any of the other tell-tales that a top-level hunter left behind and that concerned him greatly. If there was some sort of hunter out there, it was smart enough or developed enough not to give itself away and all the human could do was stay wary and react as fast as possible. It made the going nervous and slowed him down a little, but he wasn’t in any real rush anyways.

Around the middle of his fifth day, he reached the edge of the forest and stared out at a line of foothills that reached the horizon in both directions. Beyond them was a range of mountains that had snow only on the very tips of their peaks. The air around him was warm and almost stifling. He turned to look back into the thick cool forest and checked his pockets for the foodstuffs he had stashed there. They would need to last him for a while if he was going to be climbing and he debated collecting more, but his pockets were already at capacity, so Ashur started forward once more.

The next week was spent climbing up through the valleys that fed the stream since there was little choice. From the tops of the foothills, he had confirmed that the mountains and forest bordered each other without break for what would probably be days and days of travel. He found various nuts and always had the stream, but his stash of berries and tubers was almost gone after the third day. 

By the end of the week, he was starving and running low on energy, but really didn’t have much choice. The feeling that had started him in this direction was now a calling and, as his mental capacity waned from starvation, he focused on it more and more. Finally, he crossed the ridge of a low pass and stopped suddenly. Below him was a lake nestled into the hollow created by the intersection of five mountains. It was vast and clear with small waves that rolled in haphazard patterns with the wind.

The weary Librarian made his way down the slope in the hopes that there were fish in the lake. He had still seen no evidence of animals, but his aching belly overrode his brain. It wasn’t until he was almost to the lake’s edge that he became aware of the cottage.

It was a small affair. Only one level peeked out from the ground forty feet from the water’s edge with stone walls that couldn’t have been more than twenty-five feet to a side. The few windows were simple squares, yet the glass in them appeared to move in waves as though they were a part of the lake surface that had somehow become vertical. The slightly pitched roof was thatched not in wood or straw, but a metal that wavered in time with the windows. The iridescent patterns it made as the sun and clouds moved overhead were hypnotic and Ashur found himself having to repeatedly pull his gaze away from them as he approached.

“Hello, the house!” he called from a healthy distance. He didn’t want to startle any inhabitants and cause misunderstandings. 

There was no response so he stepped forward a few more feet, cupped his hands around his mouth and tried again. The house remained quiet so he counted to an even two hundred and stalked carefully up next to a window. When he tried to glance in, the shimmering of the “glass” obscured any view he might have had. 

Not seeing any other option, he moved around the building until he found a door on the side facing the lake. He was surprised to find it made of wood and, standing to the side, knocked. At his rap, the door swung open and he nudged it further with his knuckles. It swung easily on its hinges. Still cautious, Ashur poked his head around the jamb and looked in. 

It was like looking into a palace. 

From his view at the door, he could see a foyer that dwarfed the one at the house in the Library. A grand staircase rose along the left hand side and a hallway ran deeper into the structure on the left. Stunned, the Guardian took a full step into the building and didn’t notice when the door closed itself behind him. Instead, he looked around at the white walls and multitude of other entryways that surrounded him. To the right and left, large doors made of the same metal as the roof were closed, but still shimmered in wave-like patterns.

Not quite ready to start opening unknown doors, Ashur made his way down the long hallway. It was peppered by over a score of doors on either side and took him almost five minutes of careful walking to find the end of it. When he did, he entered a vast circular chamber with glorious windows that reached up and over him in a gentle curve which dwarfed the Librarian statues at home. The inside walls were decorated with hundreds of images of alien races and landscapes but no other doors presented themselves so he returned to the entrance and climbed the staircase.

At the top, he was faced with an impossible array of halls that should not be physically possible...at least not if the rooms on the other side of the dozens and dozens of doors he saw were larger than a few square feet. Each corridor shot away from him at sharp angles from its neighbor like rays of the sun. The idea of exploring all of them made his head hurt. Apparently it was time to start opening doors.

Once more back in the entranceway, he picked one of the doors at random. The shimmering metal was cool under his touch as he gently shoved it open to find yet another hall, but this one was as devoid of openings as the massive windowed gallery and curved gently upward and to the right. He followed it for what seemed to be about two hundred feet where it terminated. The weary man heaved a large sigh at yet one more large door. How could one place have so many?

This one was actually normal-sized and opened into a bedroom suite. It was opulent and ornate, however, instead of the white, grey, or green he might have seen in a similar setting on his own world, the walls were a tasteful range of pastels.

“Hello?” Ashur called out. If anyone were going to be in this impossible place, it had to be here. He stepped slowly and carefully into the room. A circuit of the place showed two more exits and he was just about to take the handle of one of them when a booming voice reverberated in his head.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”

The impact of the telepathic shout overwhelmed his mind and he blacked out.

***

Ashur came slowly back to consciousness crumpled on the floor. His head was ringing slightly and there was a dull throb behind his eyes. He shoved his palms into them in a vain effort to assuage the pain with little effect. A hand started to stroke the back of his head, making him freeze in place.

“I’m so sorry. You startled me and that’s something that hasn’t happened in a very long time.” 

The hand continued to caress him and, with each pass, his headache started to ease and the voice continued.

“I thought about letting you take care of it yourself, but you seem to be limited right now for some reason and it’s the least I could do for causing it in the first place.”

The unseen voice was most definitely female. It had a rich, vibrant depth that seemed to flow into his bones. It also had an undertone that made him feel as though the stranger’s vocalizations were echoing in a large assembly hall. Wondering if he had been moved during his lapse, he pulled his hands from his eyes and ventured a look around to find he was still in the bedroom and must have fallen where he was standing.

The recovering Librarian slowly stood and looked around. The room was empty and yet he still felt the cool hand on the back of his head.

“Umm... As nice as that feels, I’d like to ask a question or two if I may,” he said to the room in general. That hand stopped abruptly and pulled away from him.

“Oh! Yes! Again, I apologize. I haven’t interacted with anyone on your level in so long, I forgot.” 

Near the bed, a light began to form. It expanded and developed into a human shape before dimming. In just a few seconds, a tall, shapely woman stood in front of the astonished man. Her flawless skin was a deep maroon that contrasted her extraordinarily long verdant green hair. Her gown was a sleek and silky material that hugged her body. She smiled a little shyly at him and his breath caught as her eyes lit up with it. To say that she was stunning would have been a gross understatement. It was as though all of the perfections of the human body had been distilled into her.

“So, I guess I should apologize for intruding in your house. I tried calling out, but there was no response so I went exploring. I’m sorry for trespassing.” He took a moment to bow his head slightly before looking back up at her. He was glad not to see any signs of anger or consternation, but was slightly confused by the grin that she wore. She strode to him and, reaching up, touched his face. Her eyes were of a strange black that made him think of a starry night and, even as he looked into them, small sparks of light seemed to flicker where her irises should have been. 

“Wait…,” she murmured, “I know you.” She looked around and seemed to really take in the room for the first time. “Are we at that point already?” Ashur watched with even more confusion as she strode over to the door that he had been about to open before he fainted. She pulled it ajar and stuck her head into the next room. A moment later, without looking back at him, the unknown woman imperiously waved her hand in an obvious gesture for the baffled man to join her. When he did, she took hold of his chin and firmly pointed his face in the same direction.

His jaw dropped at the expanse of stars in front of him and he grabbed the door jamb in a frightened effort not to fall through. Beyond the threshold he saw whole galaxies swirling in a slow, measured dance. There were millions of them and he goggled at the awesome view before him. 

“Oh stop that,” his hostess muttered and batted his hand away from its grip. He was slightly embarrassed to realize that, when his arm had shot out to take its hold, it had brushed across her chest. He jerked it back with a furious blush. “I need you to focus for a minute.”

“On what?” he asked. His gaze wandered aimlessly, caught by the movements of nebulas and quasars. He resisted the urge to grab hold of the door again, feeling as though if he stepped across into that space, he would be lost forever.

“Your partner,” she huffed. “What else?”

“Mera? Why? What? Madam, who are you and what is this place?” He shot the questions at her while turning his back on the universe behind him. 

She studied him for several heartbeats as though trying to figure out a puzzle that he presented. Her eyebrows drew down and then shot up in excitement. 

“Oh! It’s that one! Oh! I do love that one!” She took his arm and drew him back into the bedroom while closing the door behind them. He was forcibly pulled along behind her despite his best attempts to plant his feet. 

Dragging him over to one of the chairs, she pushed him into it before pulling another up close and plopping herself down across from him. 

“Did you know,” she bubbled,” that there are twenty-three million, seven hundred and eighty-three thousand, four hundred and nineteen versions of this and this is always one of my favorites? Ooo! Just wait until the twenty-third stroke! You’re going to love it!” She practically vibrated in her seat with excitement.

He didn’t answer her for some time. Eventually, he cleared his throat several times and said, “I have no idea what you are talking about, where I am, or what is going on? I’m going to ask again: Who are you?”

With a rather large smile, she sat back and tapped a finely tapered finger to her chin. 

“In this one,” she replied speculatively, ”I think you can call me Xakelle. Yes, I think that one will work. And you are Ashur of Oudromore though that’s not really true anymore if I remember correctly. Now you are tasked to that library of yours and you said your partner’s name is...Mera? That sounds almost right. Wait...Ah! Zomera? That’s her full name right?”

“Um..yes,” he answered. How did she know him? How did she know Mera? He was started to get a little worried by the extent of her knowledge about them. 

“I thought so! Oh good! This is the right one then!” The maroon woman clapped her hands in obvious joy. It might have been contagious if his fear hadn’t been turning into irritation.

“Alright,” she said once she had settled down. “I know you’re a bit scared right now and I promise that I will answer all of your questions, make my request, and then we’ll have some fun, but first we need your other half here. How long has it been since you left your library?” When he told her, she stood and pulled him back to the starscape room. He tried to hold back again but her strength was exponentially beyond his and he could only stumble along behind. Once they were looking back out into the infinite space, she murmured to herself for a moment, reached out a hand, and pulled it back to her as though tugging on a fishing line. She repeated the motion a few more times, then closed the door and started for the entrance where he had first come in from. When he didn’t immediately follow, she waved her hand at him urgently. 

“Come along! We don’t want her to be alone when she gets here. She’ll be in a terrible state as it is!” With that, her long legs took her out of the room and he raced to catch up. He followed her back to the foyer, down the long hallway, and almost bumped into her when she stopped at the edge of the great windowed chamber. 

“Now where will she...Ah!” Ashur was once again dragged along to a spot near one of the windows. Xakelle stopped and put her hands to her hips. “Hmm... she should be here by now. Oh!” They both stepped back as the traveling platform popped into existence before them. A very startled and scared looking Mera was clinging to the control podium for dear life. The azure woman was facing them when she appeared and it obviously was taking the normally unflappable Caretaker a few seconds to get her bearings.

“What in the...Ashur!” She stumbled off the platform and raced into his arms. He held her tight as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Then, she abruptly broke free, reared back her arm, and belted him with an open-handed slap. 

“That’s for making me worry, you insensitive, inattentive, stupid...barbarian!” 

Ashur rubbed his jaw and smiled wryly as she jumped back into his embrace. “Don’t ever do that again,” she directed into his chest.

“I’m afraid that might not be an option,” Xakelle’s voice came from over the big man’s shoulder. 

Mera leapt away from him with a yelp. “Who…?” she asked her partner.

“I’m still waiting to find that out myself, “ he chuckled. “Mera, this is Xakelle. As far as I know, she is the owner of this place although I still don’t know where this is.” He turned back to their hostess and raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes, yes. In good time.” Xakelle waggled her head with a slightly exasperated tone. “For now, however, let’s go sit down somewhere so I can explain a bit and make my request.”

The mysterious woman lead them back to the foyer but turned to the other door this time. Mera’s gaze wandered all around but her hand never left Ashur’s. Xakelle stopped and ushered them into what seemed to be a rectangular sitting room or large study. Bookshelves lined the walls but the “books” in them were not only of various sizes, some were even different shapes. Others seemed to blur in and out of sight again. A six by four foot surface hovered near one end with a green well-cushioned chair floating behind it. It reminded Ashur of some of the furniture he had seen of Mera’s culture and guessed that it was some sort of desk. The other end was taken up by a long couch and several chairs in a configuration that was obviously meant for casual discussion and, to his mild relief, were definitely grounded on the floor.

Once they had stepped far enough into the room, Xakelle closed the door and took a seat in one of the chairs that faced the couch. With a wave of her hand, she invited them to sit opposite from her. After a quick glance at each other, they complied.

“Well,” the lady of the house began, “now we can start with the explanations. Let me go through everything first. If I don’t then I’ll get sidetracked and this will not go as well as I’d like it to.”

Firstly, yes, I know about your little loose library. I’ve come across it many times on its random wanderings. I want to say that you should have fixed that by now, but, to be honest, it’s probably the only thing that’s kept you safe so far. If you actually had that thing on an actual pathway, it would have been taken over or destroyed long ago. As it stands, you’ve been moving too fast and too erratically for anyone to really pin down...yet. You’ve been moving around long enough that certain linear beings have started to take notice in the way you might only notice a fly after it’s been buzzing around the room for a few minutes. Unfortunately for you, a few out there are starting to reach for the swatter.”

Now, to fix that, we are going to have to make some changes. Don’t worry, they’re not huge… actually, I take that back. They are going to be enormous on your level. On my level, however...not so much. Then we’ll have to give you a bit of a power boost, rewrite some of your linears, and then expand your sidereals. After that, we can get into the good stuff. Now, let’s go get started!”

Xakelle started to get to her feet, but Mera’s upraised hand stopped her. “I know that you asked us not to interrupt, but I really must insist on asking a few questions. Who are you? How do you know about the Library and us? Who are these other beings? And do you have some food and drink?” The Caretaker looked at her partner who was starting to droop. The excitement of finding this place and Xakelle as well as reconnecting with Mera had started to take their toll on her starving partner and he was fading fast.

“Oh! Of course! How rude...is that the concept?...of me. Do you have a preference?” When Mera suggested something light for Ashur’s deprived system, Xakelle pointed at the space between them. It was instantly filled with a low floating table and a small banquet of fruits, vegetables, and meats in small portion sizes along with empty dishes for serving. Glasses and goblets of various sizes held an assortment of beverages. Mera leaned forward, half-filled a plate, and placed it on her lover’s lap. After sniffing a few of the cups, she selected one that very nearly matched Xakelle’s skin.

Ashur stared dully at the plate until Mera raised a crisp slice of vegetable to his lips. Then his hind-brain took over and he started to eat on his own. The drink Mera gave him was a refreshing fruit juice that seemed to cleanse his palate between bites. He had almost finished the helping when his body decided that sleep was the next priority and his eyes started to close. Movement at his side and a tug on his arm roused him briefly. He heard Mera urging him to stand.

“Perhaps this conversation should be postponed.” Xakelle’s voice permeated his mental fog. “I had forgotten that he had been walking in this one. He was riding in so many others. Well, it won’t change anything yet, but I think it might soon if he doesn’t understand the decision he’s going to have to make. Why don’t you come with me.” He felt himself being lifted and carried, but that was the last thing he remembered.

***

Ashur awoke to a warmth against his side and the familiar smell of Mera’s hair. He lay still and listened to her deep breathing. She must have fallen asleep too and he did his best not to wake her. Unfortunately, a cramp in his back made him shift slightly and she opened her eyes.

“Hi,” he said quietly. “How long?”

She smiled and brushed the side of his face with her cerulean palm. 

“I’m not sure. Maybe only an hour before I dozed off too. I think we both needed it.” He nodded an agreement before leaning down to kiss her lightly. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It was all I could think of to get that thing out of the Library. I’m sorry for scaring you.” Her smile was full of forgiveness and everything felt right between them again. He leaned down to kiss her with more passion. Her stroking hand reached around to cup the back of his head and she pulled herself up to lie atop him. His arms went around her and pulled her even tighter. 

“Mmm… I missed you,” she purred. Her kisses grew more insistent and he found himself moving from one side to the other as she tried to take his clothes off. It was at that point that he realized they were in the bed...someone else’s bed.

“Uh, Mera. What about Xakelle?” The Caretaker stopped abruptly and gave him a weird look. “Well, it’s her house,” he said quickly. “What if she walks in?”

His partner snorted. “At this point, she can join in if she wants. I really missed you!” With that, she began frantically pulling at his clothes again and, this time, he rolled them both over and lifted his filthy shirt over his head. He chuckled a bit as it sailed over the side of the bed. 

“Sorry. I’m not exactly “fresh”. I tried to clean off in the stream from time to time, but it’s just not the same.” They both laughed as he held up one arm and mimed sniffing his own armpit. “I couldn’t find any of your soaps along the way.”

“I think I can help with that,” Xakelle’s voice came from the door. Ashur jerked to the side guiltily, but Mera simply lay where she was. “You both have been traveling hard in your own ways. Now that you feel up to it, would you like to freshen up, as it were?” She pointed to one of the blank walls and another doorway appeared. This one was without a door and lead into what seemed to be a pool carved into the side of a hill. Steam rose gently out of the water.

The two Librarians stood and moved to the opening. On one side of the pool, they could see towels on a wooden rack and a bin of some type. On the other side was a small waterfall with enough space under it for two or three people to stand under. 

“You can place your clothing in there and it will be cleaned.” Ashur turned to see where Xakelle was indicating and started in surprise. She stood directly behind Mera and was completely naked. He quickly averted his eyes until his partner tapped his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, barbarian. She certainly isn’t.” Indeed, Xakelle had moved past them and was sinking down into the pool. Ashur looked over in time to see the tops of her legs and the bottoms of her buttocks slide beneath the water. She turned then and pointed down in front of her.

“There are stairs here,” she informed them. Ashur barely heard. His gaze was captivated by her body. Her maroon breasts were full and firm, the nipples pointing out just a little. The dress she had worn was form fitting, but now every detail was in full view and he felt himself getting hard once again. Turning guiltily to Mera, he was surprised to see her knowing grin.

“I told you she could join in if she wanted to.” Much like in their early days, she seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. With a gentle caress to his face, she dropped her dress in the bin and slid into the water, smiling over her shoulder at him. Xakelle, in the meantime, had moved to the far side and was sitting down on an underwater ledge. Her breasts were slightly larger than Mera’s and had a tendency to bob as the water was disturbed. The effect was made more evident when she rested her outstretched arms on the side of the pool. 

As Mera took a seat part of the way around from their hostess, Ashur shook himself and started to disrobe. For a split-second, he had to resist the urge to cover his crotch. He deposited his travel-stained clothes with Mera’s and joined the two ladies. 

The water was just warm enough that he could feel its heat soaking and relaxing his muscles without being so hot that he started to feel like he was boiling. Being marginally taller than Xakelle, his groin skimmed the surface of the water and tried to imitate her floating chest. His partner chuckled, reached out, and stroked the underside of him as he approached to sit next to her. He gently swatted her hand away with a grin of his own and settled down. Then he surprised her by reaching over and lifting her onto his lap. She squeaked in surprise, but patted his arms as they wrapped around her and they both turned their heads to give Xakelle their attention who was looking at them in fascination.

“I’d forgotten how close you two are in this one,” she confessed. “This is so much nicer than the one where you are both arguing. That one is annoying and frustrating and you almost never say yes.”

She wound down for a second and Ashur took the opportunity to ask, “You keep mentioning “this one” or “that one”. Can I ask what you’re talking about?” 

Xakelle focused on him and smiled broadly. “Probabilities! Possibilities! There are so many and even I have a hard time keeping track of them all until they actually happen again. I never know which one is going to occur this time around.” When she saw that she was still confusing both of them, her face scrunched up for a second. 

“I think I’d better start over,” she mused thoughtfully. “I’ve been around a very, very, very long time. Actually that’s not entirely accurate. I’ve been around for all of time...several times. I’ve always existed and I will always exist, but not in the same ways every cycle. Whenever time starts over, events unfold in an almost infinite number of ways and I have to remember which way is happening during this go around otherwise I get confused and forget to cull out some of the more undesirable probabilities.”

Mera held up a hand. “In this reality?”

“Oh! Goodness, no!” Xakelle exclaimed. “All of them! That’s how I became aware of you two...well, first you,” she pointed to the Caretaker, “and then your partner. I mostly remember all of the events that have happened before, but I sometimes get mixed up when cusps happen. Like now! There are so many possibilities converging right now that I’m having to really concentrate to pin down which one this is.”

Ashur spoke up. “So that’s why you were confused when you first had me look out at all those stars?”

“Exactly! Well done!” Xakelle clapped her hands together which made her chest do distracting things for a couple of heartbeats. “I had to pin down which possibility was happening!”

“Anyway,” she continued, ”as I was saying earlier, your little library isn’t going to be safe for much longer. There are too many beings out there who have become aware of it. Sadly, this happens every cycle where your library exists. Sometimes, you make it, sometimes...you don’t. Much more than that, I can’t say until you answer my request.”

Mera slid from Ashur’s embrace and settled down next to him. Under the water, she took his hand in hers. He could feel her bracing herself to ask the question, but beat her to it.

“What is your request?”

Xakelle looked between them both solemnly and nodded. “Good,” she said. “I was hoping it would go this way.” It was her turn to draw a preparatory breath and it was a measure of his trepidation that Ashur didn’t take note of the rising of her breasts.

“You both have some experience with the nature of the realities that exist. Zomera more than you, obviously, but you know what can be out there. Unfortunately, the nasties you have faced so far are very much on the low end of the malevolence spectrum. In fact, just next month, by your time standards, I will have to block the efforts of a being that will try to subvert an entire dimension. I’d like to say that it will be easy, but she already knows that I am out there and will take steps to counter my counter. I will then have to counter her counter to my counter and well… you can see how this is going to be unpleasant.

“I will still prevail, but it is always a close thing. There are very few things that I can’t do and I have the advantage of knowing what happens with every cusp. Unfortunately, this will take most of my attention for some time and I won’t be able to care for other probabilities like I would prefer. To make matters worse, she is not the only one by any stretch and every one of them takes attention and effort that I could be putting to good use elsewhere. So, I need you, if you are willing.”

Xakelle pulled her arms down from the wall and leaned forward in the water. Her expression was deadly serious.

“So, here I have some good points and some bad points. On the positive side, if you agree to help me, I can give you and your library more power and capabilities. You will be able to start controlling the direction of your travel without having to hang on to your homeworld. In fact, while you are helping me, you will be free of it completely.” She focused her attention on Mera.

“I will help you to increase the power generation and rewrite the control streams that you and your original team started. They were well done but, while you are an exceptional Lexicographer, your people were just beginning. I will help you to improve and refine those “spells”. 

“As for your library itself, this is one of those rare probability paths where it has started to develop its own consciousness. I think you started to notice it a bit when Ashur showed up, didn’t you?” At Mera’s slight nod, she continued. “The conglomeration of your maintenance, function, and protection routines created the possibility of a very low level awareness and, for the last few hundred years, it has been working towards a greater focus on the protection part.

“I told you earlier that more and more beings were starting to take notice of you and that notice translates to a brush across the bubble that your library sits in. Since the number of those interactions have increased, the proto-awareness that has developed started looking for more ways to protect itself.”

Mera’s face lit up with realization. “So that’s how the tether moved! The Library did it to bring me help! I was so scared that whoever was the origin of the Cataclysm did it. I was racking my brains trying to figure out how they did it!” 

Xakelle nodded somberly. “If you agree to help me, we are going to expand that awareness so that it can take a more active role in keeping itself...and you...safe. Thus far, it has been like a plant reacting to face the sun. You need it to be more if you are to survive regardless of helping me.”

It was Ashur’s turn to join in the conversation.

“I understand that you can help us to be stronger and better, but can you really turn us into gods enough to face something that can destroy an entire dimension? That’s a lot of power to share!”

The maroon woman shook her head. “No, I’m not going to turn you into “gods,” she stated firmly. “I can, but I won’t for three main reasons.” She brought one of her hands out of the water and started ticking off points on her dripping fingers. “One: It would alter your probability paths too far and cause more damage later on. Two: You couldn’t handle it. Your consciousness isn’t set up for that kind of scope and your mind would be destroyed before it could cope. Third: I’m not asking for your help with problems of that level...which leads me into the bad part of my request.”

She lifted herself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool with her feet resting on the underwater ledge. Neither of the Librarians were in the mood to appreciate her naked beauty. They were still intent on her grave expression and explanations.

“If you agree to help me, the level of danger you will face will be greater by several orders of magnitude. On one hand, you will no longer have to worry about those random little accidental intrusions. Your days of shoo-ing lost and itinerant herd animals will be over.

“On the other hand, you will be actively looking for trouble, in a manner of speaking. To make matters worse, trouble will be looking for you too and it will be up to you to handle it. That Sheernt that you both fought will be weak in comparison to some of the beasties that will be headed your way.”

Ashur interrupted her. “What’s a Sheernt?”

“The skinny creature that hurt you so badly. When they go rogue like that, they are locally known as Sheernt and, as I said, something of its power will be on the easy side of what you will face.”

“If you say yes, your lives will be much harder for a while. I will help prepare you as best I can, but your mortality odds will go through the floor.”

She stopped and looked up thoughtfully. “In all fairness, your odds of survival are dropping anyway due to becoming more noticed, but if you help me the risk will go up faster.” Her gaze lowered to meet theirs and she stepped back down into the pool. Instead of sitting, she moved to stand in front of them.

“So, to summarize, I am requesting your help in keeping things moving forward across all of existence. I will do everything I can to give you the tools you need, but, for the most part, how you accomplish it will be up to you. I won’t be able to help very often.

“You will face enemies that will try to stop you, end you, or simply take your library and the power it contains. They will be strong, malevolent, relentless and you will be in constant danger.”

Her reddish-purple hands reached beneath the water to take hold of theirs.  

“No matter your decision, I make you this promise. I will help to give you a little more protection. You are good people in this one and I want to help. I also can’t afford for the power your library is holding to fall into evil hands, if I can help it.”

She released her hold, stood up straight again, and took a step back. “I will leave you to discuss your decision now. I promise that you will have complete privacy. When you are ready to give me your answer, simply poke your head back into the bedroom and say my name.” With that, she disappeared.

 

***

“Well, that was interesting.” 

Ashur turned his head to look at his partner. The look of horror that had taken over her expression made him grab her by the shoulders and turn her to face him.

“Mera! What?!?” Her attention finally came back from wherever her fear had taken her and she focused on him. 

“I never realized,” she stammered. “I thought I was safe. Protected. I didn’t know that there was anything out there that could threaten the Library. I thought we were in our own little hidden bubble! Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit!”

Ashur’s grip tightened slightly to get her attention. “Mera, we face dangers from the overlaps all the time. What makes this so new?” He was surprised at her reaction. One of the first encounters he had faced with her was something that had been consciously encroaching on the Library. Why did Xakelle’s revelation hit the blue woman so hard? 

“Because!” she yelled. “Now I know that it could have found me! Found the Library!” She started to tremble almost as badly as she had when explaining her century of insanity. He could see that she was turning inward again and knew that he needed to head that off quickly. 

“Mera! Who? Who could have found you?”

“The one who caused the Cataclysm, that’s who! I thought that when we submerged the Library, we were hiding it! What if it could still find me and was just taking it’s time?”

The big man pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, trying to think of a way to comfort her. He was starting to comprehend something more about his partner’s emotional state. She had explained to him the exercises and mental training that she and the long-lived races learned as children, but he had taken that to mean that she could handle most situations with aplomb. Now, he realized the troubling corollary to that: whenever she did run up against an emotion that she couldn’t cope with, it would be huge. Apparently, she was currently trying to deal with the traumatic and debilitating fear that stemmed from the destruction of her world. He had to find something to break her loose from her emotional trap.

“Love,” he began and felt her body jerk in recognition that he was using the word as a name for her, not as an answer. Startled, she pulled away to look into his face and he continued. “If whatever it was that caused the Cataclysm was still out there and could find you, it probably would have by now. From what you told me, it wiped out everything and everyone reasonably fast. It’s a good bet that it would have come after you as soon as it could. If it hasn’t, then you’ve been protected from it and, by what Xakelle says, quite a few other things at this point. That means that you have been safe all this time. 

“Right now, however, we need to discuss what is apparently a much bigger issue. If she’s telling the truth, then that protection isn’t going to last much longer and that concerns me. How much longer are we actually going to be safe? Do we really need her help? Are we going to help her? 

“I’m inclined to say yes, but, from what she just told us, we’re going to be putting ourselves in a lot more danger instead of just keeping ourselves and the Library from being overrun.”

He let go and turned on the ledge to face the center of the pool. Mera’s body pressed against him and she took his hand once again under the water. They both sat in silence for a bit. When Mera spoke up, her fear was still there, but it had diminished and was continuing to fade as her mind started reacting to his words. She moved to sit back in his lap.

“I want to say yes too,” she started, “but I have a few other worries. You were right when you said “if she’s telling the truth”. How do we know she is who she says she is? The power coming off of her is astounding and all of this,” she waved a hand around to indicate their surroundings, “could simply be a ploy to get us to let her into the Library. For that matter, why is the Library so important anyway? I’ll admit that the Well has a great deal of power, but there are greater sources out there. I’ve come across a few of them. Why us?”

Ashur shifted his weight to rest his elbows behind him. 

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “I guess we could ask Xakelle, but how do we trust her? She knows about us and has a lot of power, so she could have just smashed our defenses and taken what she wanted. On the other hand, it’s possible that she has just enough power to create this house, but not enough to get past the Library’s outer shell. If that’s the case, then she’d need us to let her in before she could take over. As much as I appreciate the food, the bed, and the bath, this could all be a ploy. Is there any way that you can think of to prove she is who and what she says she is?”

Mera shook her head. “I really don’t know. But if she’s trying to trick us, what can we do? We’re not strong enough to beat her in any case. For now, we have to take her at her word simply because we have no other options.” She leaned back and rested her upper body against his. Her exposed skin had chilled slightly, but the heat between them soon warmed her. His arms went around her and he playfully cupped each of her breasts in his hands. She swatted at them, but without any real force. “Stop that,” she laughed.

“So we tell her yes?” he asked, wanting to confirm her half of the decision. 

“We really don’t have a choice,” she nodded. “I’m not getting any feeling of malice or deception from her, but she could be masking that. I hope this works out.”

“Me too,” he agreed. The big man shifted his weight forward and made to stand up. Mera resisted for a moment until he pinched her nipples. With a squeak, she jumped off his legs and moved away before turning back to him with a grimace that promised retribution later on. Apparently they were both feeling better having made their choice. 

Letting Mera stay warm, Ashur stepped from the water and followed Xakelle’s instructions. He stood for a moment watching the other bedroom doorway, but the immortal woman didn’t appear. He called again and jumped a few inches into the air when her voice sounded in his ear. 

“I’m right here, silly man. Why do you keep calling?” 

He pivoted quickly to find their hostess right in front of him. To his chagrin and brief pleasure, he found she was still quite naked when his arms and chest brushed her breasts as he turned. “Oops! Sorry!” he stammered, but she appeared not to mind. Her smile was bright and hopeful.

“So! Have you decided?” Xakelle pushed up against him in her exuberance and curiosity. It was interesting to see her bubbly again since she had been so somber during their earlier discussion. He took a firm grasp on her shoulders...and his libido...and nudged her backwards a foot or two. She was really soft in some really nice places.

“For the most part,” he responded, “but we have some questions.” He walked around the pool and sat down on the edge where he could see her and the door. Mera joined him, but remained standing in the water. “First off, how do we know that you are being honest with us? This could be an elaborate ruse.”

Xakelle waved away his question with a grin. “That’s easy! Your Library could tell you that. Didn’t you know that? It can tell if I’m a threat or not. That’s why it started looking for help...namely me!” After a momentary thought she waved at the human. “Well, you too, obviously, but mostly me. It’s been trying to connect with me and my places for almost a year now. That’s why you kept intersecting so many more random realities lately. It’s been trying to find me! Just ask it!”

Ashur gave her a confused look. “Umm. How do we do that?” 

Mera answered for Xakelle. “Remember the control panel in the Well? That’s how. We’ll get an answer that way.” She turned to the other woman. “What is it about the Library that makes it so desirable? The power that’s generated isn’t really all that great and if it were to stop gathering, it would drain out pretty fast. Why would anyone want it?”

In answer, Xakelle waved a hand toward the air above the water between them. A general layout of the Library’s main floor appeared. Reminiscent of the ever changing maps that Ashur carried, he could see that this diagram covered the entire floor plan. The lines which delineated the Shelves were glowing slightly brighter than the walls and other structures.

“You may have heard that phrase “Knowledge is power”? Well, in this case, that actually holds true a little more than you know. When you and your godlings created this,” she waved at the picture, “ you wrote in a power structure that you didn’t realize.

Knowledge, or to be more precise, information creates a certain order to the space around it. In small instances, this really doesn’t make a difference or influence anything. A single book or even a normal library won’t contain enough ordered data to be even remotely noticeable. However, you and your friends built the largest collection of information in any reality. Add in your particular form of magic and the eventual possibilities of what you can accomplish are almost endless.”

Ashur raised an outward palm to stop her. “Wait. Her form of magic? I’m getting a little lost here.”

Xakelle nodded and waved at the image. It was replaced by a flat white sheet. “Think of this as the nature of reality. Most forms of magic influence it without changing it much.” Ripples and waves moved throughout the sheet like water. “Some are more influential than others.” Now shapes with hard edges formed out of the image material but, while they moved back and forth, they still gave the impression of a wooden block pushing up from underneath a blanket.

“Mera’s godlings were more clever than most and her Lexicon rewrites reality.” Now the sheet folded and unfolded on itself in various directions. The hard shapes formed once again but separated from the sheet to hover across as it continued reshaping over and over. Even the size of the sheet was changing. 

After a moment, he nodded. “Okay,” he drawled. “I think I understand. Now where does the information from the books come in?”

The layer flattened out again and Ashur’s viewpoint seemed to zoom in. Eventually, he was able to see what looked like strands of cloth or fiber. Their pattern was haphazard. Some were longer than others and most overlapped. All of them undulated in every direction.

“Think of this as how the fabric of reality is formed. It is normally without pattern, even when changed by magic. However, the inordinately large amount of information in your Library alters its nature.” Now the random strands started to straighten out and line up. Row upon row of threads ran parallel to others until the entire area looked like the warp and weft of a weaver’s loom. Once that happened, they all began to vibrate in harmony.

“The ordered pattern you see makes the Lexicon’s reshaping easier but, more importantly, the vibrations create a power that can be tapped into. Right now, your “Well” is collecting most of its energy from your world. That’s useful and stable, but inefficient due to how you connected it. If you were to rewrite that collection script to take power from this,” she pointed at the vibrating threads, “you would need a much bigger Well and I can help with that.

“Unfortunately, this is what makes you a target. The beings that are noticing you are starting to comprehend the nature of what is inside your little bubble and they are going to want access to that.”

Xakelle gazed steadily at each of them in turn then looked back at her image. The map of the Library floor reappeared. 

“To return to what I was saying about power structures, Mera, when you built this, your team wrote in an expansion ability.”

The blue woman nodded. “Yes. It was so that we could keep folding space to make room for future generations.”

Xakelle pointed at her demonstration. “Well,” she said, “you included the entirety of the building in that script, but primarily the bookshelves. I’d like you to take a look at the pattern of your design.” She let Mera study it for a moment, then changed the view to the next floor “down”, then the next, and the next. Ashur was totally lost, and, this time, Mera was too. 

“I don’t…” the Caretaker started. Suddenly, her eyes went wide and she stumbled back to plop down on the underwater ledge. “How did we miss that?”

“What?” Ashur asked. “Ladies? Maybe a hint for the new-ish guy here?”

Xakelle smiled at him gently. “What your partner has just realized is that in the architecture design of the bookshelves and the way they expand is an infinitely repeating pattern that ultimately focuses the energy of the ordered vibrations to a single point which isn’t the Well. It’s the center of the statue. Or, to be more accurate, the male statue. Your statue.”

Ashur looked to his partner for confirmation and explanation. Mild shock battled with speculation, contemplation, and hope on her face. 

“Mera…” he started. Xakelle held up a hand to forestall him. She was watching the Caretaker’s mind as it ran through all of the choices, opportunities, and options that would be available to her, her partner, and, most importantly, her Library. Eventually, Mera stood up and took the other woman in her arms.

“We’ll help,” she announced. “You have our support.”

Now it was Ashur’s turn to be shocked. “Mera! What?” He was floored. Whatever his lover had figured out or realized was beyond him. Worse yet, she had thrown them in with Xakelle and all the extra danger that would be involved without asking him. What was going on?

Mera spun in place to him and clasped her hands in front of her chest. The joy and excitement in her eyes rivaled that of when she had realized that he had been chosen to be the new Guardian. 

“Don’t you see? Can’t you see it?” She realized that she was addressing her “barbarian” and laughed. “Of course you don’t. I’m so sorry. Uh. How can i explain this…” She looked to Xakelle for help but only found a faint smile. 

“Why the male and what does the focus mean?” he asked. That stopped her up short for a minute. She turned back to the image and studied it. Then she gasped and put her hand to her lips. “It changed! The design changed! Is this accurate?” She turned to Xakelle for confirmation who nodded. Mera reached out and ran her hand through the image. “The Library did this, didn’t it? Oh, Gods!” She glanced briefly at Ashur before turning back. “It really did pick him,” she said quietly to herself. Their hostess nodded again. Mera faced her partner. 

“Ashur, when we first built the Library, the focus of this would have been the Well, even if we didn’t see it at the time. All that power would have been channelled to the center of the Librarians and the conduit there, but it’s moved. The Library altered itself so that your statue, The Guardian, will be the focus.” She looked to the immortal once again. “It knew that the days when it needed a Caretaker more than a Guardian were ending, didn’t it? It knows that it needs a powerful Guardian to keep us safe and it chose…” She turned to fully face her partner. “You.”

“My love, once we implement the revisions that she is talking about, you will have access to more power than the Gods who helped us build this.” 

Ashur shook his head disbelievingly at her then looked to Xakelle accusingly. “You said you wouldn’t be making us like you.” 

She returned his gaze with a level look of her own. Over the course of their conversation, she had reverted to serious again. 

“And I won’t,” she said. “You will, eventually, have access to a great deal of power, but you will not match me and mine by a long shot. Your gods are small and constrained to their world. They are children playing with toys. You will still be a man; one with maturity and experience which will guide you to use that power wisely. You will also have the help of your other half.” She waved one hand towards his lover. “Her experience eclipses yours many times over. Perhaps in a few thousand years, you will start to catch up. In the meantime, however, it would behoove you to trust in her counsel on most things while staying true to your heart.”

He shook his head. “I’m going to rely on my experience now. I’m just a man and I know I can’t handle power like that. I wasn’t built to be given that kind of responsibility. I’m fallible and have my bad days just like anyone else.” He stepped up out of the pool and wrapped one of the towels around his waist.

“No. Just no. I will do my best in every other way to help you Xakelle. Mera has said that we will help and I’ll honor that, but I can’t agree to bear that burden.”

He walked through the bedroom, down the halls, and eventually found himself sitting against the platform podium staring at the floor between his knees. After some time, he heard soft footsteps approaching. 

“I can’t, Mera,” he said without looking up. “I don’t trust myself enough to have that much power.”

He felt her slide down next to him on an adjoining side. Her hand found his and squeezed. 

“Do you know that I actually came close to killing you when you first arrived?” she started. “I thought you were an agent of some evil mage who had found out about the Library. Or maybe even a scout sent by the originator of the Cataclysm. There were a couple of times when I thought the best thing to do would be to collapse that cell while you were still unconscious. But then I got the chance to really look into your mind and saw the kind of man you are. 

Ashur, I know you are only a man just as I’m only a woman. We are going to make mistakes. It’s inevitable, but…”

“But,” he interrupted, “if I make a mistake, it could mean a whole lot more than “Ooops, sorry about that.”

“But,” she continued, “knowing how good and conscientious of a person you are, I know that, without a doubt, you will do your absolute best not to make those mistakes. Will they happen? Yes, they will. Will some of them be bad? Yes, they will. With or without the power Xakelle will help us unlock for the Library, you have been growing in your strength as a Guardian and the chance of making a terrible mistake was still there.

“What gives me comfort is knowing that not only will you strive to be responsible, but that you will also do your best to make amends. You’re not the type of man to hurt someone and walk away from them. I don’t think you know how to.”

He chuckled and gave her a squeeze back. “You do remember that I was a soldier that hurt and killed a lot of people, right?”

She reached around him to smack his shoulder. 

“Yes, Barbarian, I do remember. However, that was different.” She moved around to face him and he met her eyes. She had a towel wrapped around her waist, but had neglected to cover her chest. “Let me ask you this: if you had the power of a God and came face to face with an enemy army, what would you do? Would you obliterate them? Would you destroy them rank by rank? Turn them into dust? More importantly, would you enjoy it?”

“Gods, no Mera!” he exclaimed. “Are you mad? There’s no way I would enjoy it! Why would I?” His face screwed up in disgust then settled back down to concern. “If I were at that level, I wouldn’t have to face their army. I would deal with whoever was commanding them or, if necessary, whoever ruled them. The men of the army are just doing what they’re told. My fight wouldn’t be with them.”

She unwrapped his towel and spread it out to rest her knees on as she loosened her own covering. She straddled his thighs and crossed her arms behind his neck. “And that is one of the reasons I have come to love you, my Guardian. You are kind, compassionate, and thoughtful.” 

She kissed him. 

“You are strong, handsome, and brave.” 

Another kiss. 

“You’re…”

“Ok,” he interrupted again. “I get it. You like me. Well, as I’ve said before, I think you’re pretty amazing too.” It was his turn to kiss her. 

They went on like that until he felt her hips starting to hunch against him. Her hands tightened around his head as she pulled herself closer and started rubbing her chest against his. 

“I believe we were interrupted earlier,” she purred into his ear. “Don’t you think it’s time we picked up where we left off?”

“Well,” he replied, resting his forehead on hers, “I certainly smell better now.”

Mera tucked her nose into the side of his neck and drew in a deep breath. “You could still do with a bit of soap, but…” She nipped the skin of his neck with her lips. “I think we can make this work.”

He was hard now as a result of her kisses, grinding, and nibbling. She looked down at his cock which twitched in time with his heartbeat and unlocked her hands from around his neck to reach between them. Her fingertip traced his length from scrotum to tip where it collected a drop of pre-cum that had collected there. 

Looking up at him through lidded lashes, she brought the finger to her lips and, with a long lick, transferred it to her tongue. She sucked the tip into her mouth as though trying to get every bit from her blue skin. 

He groaned at her antics and took a firm grip of her rump in each hand. When she braced herself on his shoulders, he lifted her and maneuvered her above his member. She sank slowly down onto it with a sigh. He immediately felt the heat of her body as she enveloped him. 

“Oh...yes…” she sighed. “I missed this.” 

He blocked off any further comments by resuming his osculation. She grabbed him by the shoulders and used them for balance to rock her hips against him. His hands on her ass helped her along. Their kisses grew in passion and he began to thrust against her. He felt her wetness drip and coat his thighs and balls as she moaned her first orgasm into his mouth.

Once she started to come down from it, he rolled them both until she was on her back. Her gasp of shock at the cold stone floor drew a sheepish “sorry” from him and he lifted her to shift them back onto the towels. The amusement on her face was quickly replaced by pleasure and she moaned again when he started a measured pumping in and out of her depths.

Mera wrapped her legs around him and tried to draw him in further with her heels on the backs of his thighs. He rested his elbows on the floor and took his turn to clutch her shoulders from underneath her body. His hands drove her downward onto him at the same time as his pelvis rose up into her. Sweat was pouring freely from both their bodies and mixed with the scent of their lovemaking. 

She grabbed his head with both hands and pulled herself up in an attempt to take his mouth once more, but was defeated by their position. Instead, she reached under his arms and took hold of his torso as leverage so that she could lift her ass from the floor. The new angle drove the head of him into her most sensitive spot and she tilted her head back to scream as another climax overtook her. She shuddered uncontrollably, her entire body shaking and she lost hold with both her hands and her feet. 

Ashur’s pace slowed to give her time to recover but his need soon took hold and he resumed his frenetic pounding. Her renewed moans mixed with his grunts of exertion and closing climax. Finally, he could take no more and shoved her hard into his groin as his body shot his seed into her with enough force that she actually jumped a little when the first jet sprayed her insides. His hips lunged into hers with shorter thrusts as his balls expelled their contents.

His movements eventually stopped although they were both still breathing heavily. He kept his weight on his elbows and knees, but otherwise collapsed in exhaustion. Mera was already limp beneath him. He looked down to admire the slowing rise and fall of her breasts for a few breaths then slowly pushed himself up and away from her. She mewled a bit in protest when her vagina released the last inch of him, but that didn’t stop her from rubbing her fingers through the fluids that spilled from between her lips.

“That looked like it was a lot of fun!” came Xakelle’s voice from above them. She was leaning on the podium with an excited grin. “Is it my turn next?”