By Raven
Raven and Chris stepped back into the doorway once again to the place that would now and forever be there home. This place was once again familiar to her, as familiar as her wrinkled hands and face.
She held the old black cat that was her friend and had been tied to her very soul. His life, and hers, were tied together till her end. Neither would have it any other way. Then there was Christian, her husband and beloved, who was her partner, lover, soul mate and best friend. Who understood her to the point that he knew that she would do what was needed and that it was her heart that ruled her.
They looked once again at each other, at their old faces and white hair, and smiled. This was one memory that they would keep. That was when Stephen, [or as he was called most of the time, Doc] hit the three with the regenerator. The gift that he had brought to her from somewhen else. The device was now empty, and would never need hiding again.
They looked at each other with new eyes- ones still filled with the love that they had for one another.
�Won�t be needing this anymore.� Chris said as he put the cane that he had used for nearly two thousand years on a shelf. The cat woke up from the light doze that he had been spending most of his time in lately and jumped down from her arms.
�I am so glad that I can do that now, and it doesn't hurt.� came his mind voice to them both. It was then that Shawn entered the room.
�Is everything all right?� he asked.
�We�re fine, Shawn,� Raven replied, �Just fine.�
�Good.� he said. �Robin said that there was something wrong then he just collapsed.�
�Go. I�ll keep up.� Raven replied.
�Not without me!� Chris said in a hurry.
�Get on then- we need to hurry!� They site to site transported once they were clear to do so and she spieked to Sean to stop. Not quick enough though to keep him from doing a pratfall that would do Buster Keaton proud.
�This is a rather undignified position for a deputy prime minister, don�t you think?� came Chris�s voice in her ear. So, she dropped him when they reached the Holosuite door. Robin was lying on the Bio-bed, and Julian was looking, well, stumped, to say the least.
Brett looked at them. �Robin said the words �Chronal shock� before he collapsed and sent us the images of you two.�
She mind spoke to Chris. �Take his other hand, love, then give me yours.�, then she reached out and called. It was a few minutes before she reached Robin�s conscious mind. As she called she sifted through the moments in her life, all hundred thousand years of it. The length of time was the same for her husband, and Robin�s time sense was assimilating all of it in these moments. His eyes opened.
�Mother.� came his voice, both to the ears on her head and the ears in her heart.
�It�s all right, little one.� That was funny, because he stood nearly a foot taller than she did. �Sleep now. It will be all right.�
�Was Robin there with us?� came Chris�s voice in her mind.
�Yes, beloved, he was and will be. Its getting foggy as it should.� Raven sent to her husband.
�He�ll be fine.� Brett said as he looked at them, not asking, but telling her as if he knew- and he did. �Less than an hour, I think.�
Raven saw the start of a good party and all the excesses there- Shawn�s Milky Ways, his sweet tooth�s poison de suer. Robin's fries smothered with cheese and a big bowl of chili. Mahree with her bowls of salty chips and things. She could never get enough salt. Brett and his peanut butter cookies and mint ice cream. He is the only male to escape the male familial allergy to peanuts, a point that he reveled in with his mother since he had been small.
�Have plenty of tissues ready. That one movie is a real tear jerker.� Raven said. Shawn saw them back to the house, then transported back.
�Ever the body guard.� Chris added as he left. �Raven, I know that we have done something important, but why can�t I remember?�
�You will remember in dreams, love. I will remember more, for different reasons.� Raven responded gently.
�I won�t be a puppet!� Chris said angrily.
She could feel his rage. �You aren�t. We needed to do what we did, and for our own safety, we were made to forget. Some of it you will remember in fading dreams, but most you will not.� Raven said quietly.
�Why?�
�You wanted it that way.� was all Raven could say. She would remember it all, to some degree or another, but would only be able to speak about it to a few people. Her father, Stephen, and the cat were the only ones. To the first two, only what they would remember themselves. To the cat, he would know all that she did because Salem had been there for all of it with her. They opened the door to the room below and met Doc and the cat.
Stephen handed her the regenerator. �You may as well keep it. It can be recharged.� he said in a dangerously dry voice.
�I was going to use it as a paper weight, but in that case, maybe one day I�ll use it again.� Raven replied.
�I will be going.� Stephen said as he looked at them. �I have some meditating and reading to do, Ancient Mandarin can be a little tricky.�
�Tell Chen he really needs to update the first draft of his book- the gag is getting a little old!� Raven laughed. Turning to Salem, she said,�Well, off you go, you furry reprobate! I�m sure that you�ll find a card game somewhere, or you can teach the fire lizards a few new bad habits.� Salem�s mumbling could be heard as he disappeared.
The doors closed behind both Stephen and the cat, one all too real, and one of magic. �I�m tired.� Chris said.
�Not too tired?� Raven asked. Chris nodded. �Good! I need a little drink, how about you?�
�What do you have in mind, Champagne?�
�Works for me. Be right back!� she said with a wicked smile. �While I�m gone, you get comfy.�
Chris stripped off the clothes he had been wearing and got on to the bed that was concealed behind the curtains. This was Raven�s sanctuary- her place that she would come to be alone.
Raven headed for the wine cellar for her precious collection- the one she had left behind had been much more extensive, but this was the one that had always been and always would be home. She went to the Champagne wall and chose an incredibly old bottle, the oldest that she had. On the way out, she grabbed some glasses and stripped- the bots would bring the clothes up later.
She strutted into the room like a queen. As always, his wife�s body in motion made a part of Chris anxious. He loved watching her move, the fluidity of her motions showing she had grace and power. Her every step was that of the perfect predator- the world was hers to own, and she knew it. Like a house cat in its home, she was the one large and in charge. Truth be known, he would have it no other way.
She had the strength to make choices that he knew that he was unable to do. To make sacrifices he was incapable of, for reasons that could not be told. She was his partner and lover, keeper of his heart, and life was good.
The champagne was excellent, but it was what came after her toast to life a new one that they both wanted. She bit him on the neck as she had done so many times before and once again her existence filled both of them. Their souls touched in a way that made the love play more than anything anyone could imagine. When telepaths or empaths made love, it was good if both partners were because then they could share how deeply they felt for one another. But for him and Raven, it was different. She was both telepathic and empathic. He was neither, but it did not matter- they were soul bonded, and that was stronger than any bond that one with a Talent could have. The universe was there when their souls were forged and they were together. His blood flowed though her veins and her soul flooded his with unbridled love. The actual act was practiced, and the finish was the same. Her releasing her fangs from his neck and toppling to the side, in a heap of arms and legs. They fell asleep in each other's arms as they had done a thousand thousand times before.
What was different for Raven was her sleep- when she was truly relaxed and slept, she would dream. Not dreams as with humans, but memories. Here is where and when her other children were- the ones she had left behind would come to her. She had borne twelve children that Chris had known of. Six had been his, six were not, but he raised them as such. There was something that he did not know- that to other men on other worlds, she had borne twelve others. Those that had been left behind were there as part of missions. That they, or their descendants, were needed to maintain the time line. She had also sired nearly two hundred night children, vampiric children. All had been left on their home worlds, and only she and the cat knew all their names and faces. Doc knew some- those that were safe to share the feelings for, but never the names.
The first one to come to her mind was Isolde, born to the same world as Andohar�s father. Arthur Pendragon could not have had an heir without forever changing history. So, the child had been brought to the guild, still covered in his afterbirth and screaming loudly. The one who had helped in the birth was Isolde- she was the daughter born to her and the mage Merlin. She was all those things that made Raven strong: vampiric like a day walker, but with her father�s magic. She had something more- Merlin was thought the greatest mage ever, but his daughter was greater. She had a thing that was more than the wild magic. The magic that was of the cosmos, rare and strong in her blood.
She had been born to Raven the same night, in fact the same instant, that Arthur had been born to his mother. Merlin had hidden Arthur as time dictated, while she bore the girl alone in a cave with only a cow to sustain her afterward. The first weeks had been the hardest, because she could not sleep as she had before. Salem was with her as always- he had brought her small animals, and guarded her for the few hours that she was allowed to rest.
Merlin knew that his seed would bring a child as strong as the Pendragon�s. He had hoped that the two children would be married, and in doing so, avoid the prophecy of him and his life. Raven knew that it would not be possible, so she hid with the child. Merlin knew not of the cat, nor of his magic. It was as strong as his, if not stronger. He cloaked them from Merlin�s probes.
They lived in the woods and forests for the first three years of the girl's life. The night was her playground, and magic her toys. She learned to hunt and survive from her mother, and from Salem she learned magic. She was taught to love Merlin as much as her mother, for he was her father. She knew in her heart that her mother would one day leave her. She accepted this. The other thing that she accepted was that she could not see her father till Arthur�s death. To do so before would change history, and cause time itself to be unraveled.
Isolde had one other teacher. His name was Turoth, that world�s last Dragon. An ancient gentle beast that loved the girl as one of his own. They had met one night, when Raven was moving to another safe place. Merlin had found her trail while teaching Arthur to track. The children were nine or so. She had taken what she could carry, placing it in an oversized pack. With that on her back, the cat holding on tight, [or maybe it was a bind spell], she held the girl to her chest and flew as fast as she could, wanting to put as much space between the girl and her father.
Dawn was fast approaching- in this world, she could not have her sunglasses, so they took to ground. The cliff face was high and inaccessible to humans. The sea would be able to provide well for them, in new dyes and other things. What Raven did not feel was the Dragon resting in its vast depths. Mind you, it had been a while since she had felt a Dragon anyway.
Isolde felt him first. �Mama, there is another here, and he is old, like you.�
�How old?�, Raven asked as she dislodged the pack and turned on her senses.
�Old as the earth- and tired. He is looking forward to the final sleep.� she answered simply. Isolde had time sight like Robin. It was different, though. She did not need to touch a being to see. She also had the gift of Prophecy. Not precognition as some would think, but true Prophecy. This came early to the child, as did all other things. By her eighth year, she had come to full power in all her abilities, magical and otherwise. The funny thing being that she was a true vampire in most ways, but without the weaknesses. She also had all her mother�s control over her �beast�- she could live on both blood and food. This had made it easier when hunting was bad, or they needed to move suddenly, like this time.
�Get back, love- I need to see the threat.� Raven said.
He was huge as he looked at her through lidded eyes. �I have no quarrel with you, moon daughter, nor with your mother.� he said slowly and ponderously, the weight of his years hanging on his words.
�Peace with you, old one. We will leave if our presence bothers you.� Raven responded politely.
�No. I am near death, and the company will make the time pass quicker.� was Turoth�s reply.
�It�s true, Mother. He has not long by his standards, but for us it will be a while.� said Isolde. We stayed with him till I was needed to perform my other task.
I went to Arthur�s court shortly after the return of Galahad and those that had quested for the Grail. While they quested for the cup of Christ, I searched for the Spear of Longinus, to give to my daughter- she would need it later in her life.
I had gotten there, made my way into the court and by Merlin, thanks to a potion that Isolde had made for her father to cloud his memory of me. The unfortunate side effect being that he fell in love with Nimue, but that was also foretold.
When I was able to prove to Arthur that Guinevere was barren and that it was not her fault, I agreed to play surrogate to the couple. It was then that Mordred made his move. With Morgaine�s help, they brought down her half brother.
I was round with child, and had been hiding in their personal chambers for many months. I made those that serviced the couple forget that they had seen me. Morgaine had put a spell on Arthur, much as the spell she had used to make Guinevere barren, and knew that someone else bore the seed of a union with Arthur. Salem and Isolde had used their magics to produce a blind spot in Morgaine�s scrying spells, or more to the fact, a camouflaged space over me. Salem had provided the nutrients that I needed in the form of rabbits- the carcasses were fed to the hunting dogs.
When the final days came, I was weak from malnutrition, the baby taking everything. When the final assault came, I used the confusion to get Guinevere to the convent. In the process of escaping, I killed several of Mordred�s forces- this gave me the strength to make it to the cave. I could barely walk and was in labor when I arrived- it was my will that kept the boy from coming. I was in hard labor for many hours, and the child took his first breath as Arthur took his last. Both Isolde and I knew that with his cry Morgaine heard it- she knew in her soul that there was an heir, one who bore the mark of the Pendragon line. We had only moments to get me away from the cave and to safety.
I was too weak to remove the transdimensional device from its hiding place. So, with great care, Isolde took her claws and opened the flesh on my hip. It had been placed in the bone, and set with only a retrieval code button system. One press would take me there, and the next time it was pressed, I would go back to the guild. I wanted to say more to her- how I would miss her, and that I would always love her and be proud. She placed the boy child in my arms and Salem hopped to my shoulder.
�I love you, Mother.� was the last thing I heard and the last time I saw her. I appeared in the guild hall, a bloody wreck of the woman they sent before. The light hurt, then there was blessed darkness.
The next thing I would remember was a dim room, with Doc there, and Chris holding a sleeping baby boy.
�Well, my dear, welcome back to the world of the living. I do say that was close. You were hemorrhaging quite badly. In fact, you had nearly bled out. Somehow, you managed to fall in such a way that the little fellow was not hurt one bit.
�Well, I will leave you alone now.� Doc said primly before he made a quick exit.
�He is beautiful, Raven. What will we call him?� Christian asked.
�His name is Gareth Tristan Somers ap Pendragon, and he is ours to raise.� I said. I could not help crying for Isolde, though. Isolde would come to guard the last two dragon eggs, that would one day bring them back to her world. She would also free her father, and aid him in his defeat of Morgaine and her plans to rule the world through the use of the cave of time. That was why she needed the spear.
�Well, he needs to feed, then you both can rest.� Chris said. I would sleep the death sleep nearly three weeks. Chris would be there always, caring for the baby, holding him to my breast so that he might get milk, and wiping my brow as I slept. I was weak for nearly three months after that.
The next face to creep into her mind was Talynn and his cadre primnoch. This was the world that she would meet Harry Tophet in for the first time in Harry�s past. The star system it was in would have some importance later in its time line. This harsh desert world was going to be the only producer of something simply called the Universal Panacea. The flower and pollen from this night blooming plant could cure everything from everywhere.
Harry came to the world to take all the plants that were growing naturally before they could be cultivated. I had been sent there to make sure that this did not happen, and to find a way to make the flowers grow more abundantly. I was to accomplish this by any means possible. This was a funny thing, since it was Founder Two who had said it. Coming from him, it meant no holds barred. Problem was I could not take any tech with me, because it would upset the development of the world.
The first thing I had to do was to get the tribes of the region to unite. This proved easier than I would have thought. I simply had to beat the clan chief of each group in combat. They used spears and clubs, while I used my claws and inhuman speed.
Once I had them united, I found out why they warred. The world had things that would give me nightmares- things that made anything that went into the desert a snack. Mortality was high, and they had little water, so growing crops was not easy.
First thing I did was persuade the cat to open the artesian wells a little more. Then I taught them to irrigate the natural crops of the region. I had done that when Harry made his presence known.
He had set his ship down about a hundred meters from the one village that had been my recent project. His machine was seen as a god, and he had given some of his toys to the villagers, in trade, of course, for the red flowers that the women wore. Well, when I heard and saw this, I took the toys from the villagers and convinced them that he was evil. Then, I did what I needed to do to get rid of Harry. I tapped that which is mine, and made the biggest presence that I could. Essentially, I pulled the best imitation of a porcupine that I could. I scared him pissless.
�Leave here, Harry Tophet, this world is mine. Do not return here, lest you wish your own death.� I growled at him. It worked- in fact, I laughed myself sick when he blipped out. Harry had seen that the world had a guardian, he just did not know who, or better yet, what.
The next thing I needed to do was figure out how to get the flower to grow. It grew only in deep caves, that were as dangerous as the open desert. They only bloomed at night, and lost their properties if not processed immediately. Also, the flower seemed to have something wrong with them- they did not cure anything.
I had another problem to deal with- in being Head Chief, I was to provide food for all thirty-four villages that constituted this planet's population. The original people had crashed on this hell rock seven thousand years earlier and, in time, had forgotten their origins. So, how do you get rid of a lot of predators? Make a higher predator.
Well, I started by hunting the beasts myself and distributing the meat. Too many people to feed too few vampires. I declared that all, both male and female could compete, and that the best twenty would be given a great gift. The trials took a very short time.
I then spent two of their years- which were seven hundred and twenty days long, each with thirty-four hours in a day- in training. Getting to know the ones that I would make like me- a vampire. I gave them all up to the night when they would cross into the darkness to decline-all stayed.
They learned better ways to hunt the creatures before I made them like me, so that when they crossed, they would know what to do. I also made sure that they all cherished life. The one thing I found was that they had all lost a loved one to the creatures that they hunted and hunted them.
Marriage was not as what would be expected- they did not have a lasting one. Instead, a price was set by the women for the right to sire a child. Females were seen as equals, and the community raised the children. With mortality so high, this was needed. Loss was felt by all, as was a new birth.
Well, as we were making preparations for the change, I had taken to clearing the caves that the flower grew in. It was in one such cave that a creature had wounded me, and some of my blood has splashed on the seed pods. I did not notice till the flowers grew to maturity. Instead of being a light red, they were so blood red that they were nearly black. They had all the properties of the flower and then some. I realized that with them, I could grant at least partial immunity to sun and fire to the children I would make. So I took and blooded the largest group of flowers.
Going to a few of the caves with my blood, I treated another bed of flowers, then I waited. Sure enough, it happened again. This was about when I was ready to create the children. I had captured several of the largest and most dangerous creatures, and held them in pens for what I would undertake. With each one I brought across, I ate a few blossoms and then made them drink. I made them all in one night- the days during the change, I would feed on the creatures and eat blossoms so that my blood was saturated with them.
While my Children slept, I exposed them to sun and fire. They became immune to fire immediately. Sun was not the same. It would burn as if the were all very fair skinned, but not cause them to immolate. They could function in the sunlight, but would be sluggish as if drugged, and when they were not needed, they would fall into an unnaturally deep slumber. Once this was accomplished, we set about to providing for all the villages, and growing the flowers en masse.
With prosperity and protection came expansion- simple, right? Nope, wrong answer. We would need to relocate villages to safe outcrops of rock after we had cleaned them out and set up wells, in a sense, terraforming the area.
I had been there two hundred of their years by the time Talynn�s father had approached me. He was enterprising and had a good sense of humor. I had taken them from the brink of extinction to a good working society. Crime was nonexistent when I got there, because any crime that was higher than stealing of food meant that you were dropped off the rocks onto the desert floor. Hence, no crime.
Well, with me figuring out about the blood, it only took a few drops of the children�s blood, and a whole new generation of plant yielded the miracle. We also found out that if we did not expose the plants to any light during the processing, they did not lose potency.
We now had a hundred and seventy communities, and there were fifty that called me mother. Five rock outcroppings of villages and a telepathic communication network between its protectors. Mind you, the day was still as dangerous as before, but the things that would wipe out whole villages were no more, in the sense that they provided food for the villages. War that had been over food was no more, so they, as a whole society, lived in peace.
Talynn�s father had come to me, wanting to be made like one my other children. There was a problem though- he was not receptive to my blood. When we did a test to see if it would fix the problem with the weak eye he had, I nearly killed Johar when he had a violent allergic reaction to my blood. Had Salem not been there, the man would have died. He was sick for a very long time, and, since I was responsible for his becoming ill, I took to being his nurse while he recovered.
I should have suspected something when he had told me that the flower had not helped him. While he recovered, we fell in love- he was so much like Christian, and I missed him so much. We had made love many times before I became pregnant, and I did not know I was when I was away.
I had been helping to herd something away from one of the other villages, when I received a summons that Johar was dying. He had been bitten by a batu snake that were usually active in the daylight. Except this one had young and was at the well. Salem had tried his magic, but by then, it was too late. This world was mana poor, so any magic the cat did taxed him more than usually. I held Johar as he died, giving him the suggestion of no pain and peace before he died in my arms.
It was a few weeks later when I became sick, and could not sustain myself on the animals of this world. I realized I was pregnant, actually, it was my children and the cat who confirmed it. My children of the night took turns sustaining me- all eating a few blossoms before feeding me. The pregnancy was made more difficult by a bite from a tinjery- a creature resembling a spider, and the size of a turkey platter. They inhabit the caves where the flowers grow naturally, and sometimes find their way back in. I was bit by one of the young, which are more dangerous than the adults for some reason. Needless to say, I spent a lot of the time I was pregnant sick or asleep. The blood with the blossoms sustained me and the child, making him way stronger than your normal day walker, to say the least.
When he was born, I was given blood mixed with the panacea to speed the recovery. I slept only half the day and was fully recovered.
I left that world to Talynn and the others shortly after he had made the initial treaty to export the Panacea. He was, by human standards, a little under thirty. The deal was made to ensure that their culture would be left untouched, and that the panacea was their sole property. The deal made me proud, and the culture survived intact and whole.
She woke to Chris watching her sleep and a gentle smile crept across his face. �You were dreaming again, the happy kind, too. I can tell, you know.� he said.
She knew that he did- he knew now when she had good dreams of nightmares. �I know what time it is and before you can ask the dreaded question- about seven thirty.� Chris said with a yawn.
�Oh crap! I�m supposed to meet with Amanda and Melody to look at the kids' choices of houses at eight.� Raven exclaimed.
�Well, off you go- back to the rat race already.� Chris said. She smiled- the memories were bitter sweet, but there was joy there too and she had a whole other life ahead of her.