Mike Lagherdy- 15

Aymus Lagherdy- father

Dawn- Mother

Able- 18 brother

Verin- 28

Nyx- 27

Medaly- 26

Mara- 25 Dark brown hair, brown eyes with a tint of red around the middle.

Stephanie- 19, moved out on her own, in collage studying Art. A sex slave to Able

Sera- 17 sister, black short hair, fighting, large boobs. Kind of conceited about her loveliness and strength, but is deserving of the conceit.

Amy- 16, red hair, acts younger than she is

Nina- 14, innocent, brown hear, dark brown eyes.

Black wizards

Professor Baberios-

Ms. Nerthus-

Professor Zapan-

White wizards

Jacob Alexander the first- He fought in the elven wars as a natural scionic, sporting the newly created Elven contaminated scionics to victory.

Veros-En- age unknown, young girl Elve, Mikes true love

It still needs some work and some editing, but for now this is what I have from this story. Hope ya like it. Ow ya, and that whole warning thing about afending people and being for adults as well, ya well, whatever.

The Shame of Leviathan

By, Robert AM

Mike Lagherdy shivered, feeling a cold run down his spine that had nothing to do with the cool wind. He leaned against a tree, his head whirling from everything that had just happened.

The morning that had started it all had begun like any other. He got up, ate breakfast with his family. It was a fairly large family, with mostly girls, but for himself, his father and his older brother, Able.

With nine kids in the house he was left fairly independent. He had gotten a part time job after turning fifteen so as to lighten the burden on his parents, and planned to move out once he got through high school. With an older brother of eighteen and a decent father there was support enough so that he didn't have to play any kind of dominant male family role, but just sit back and relax, nothing expected of him but that he would do well in what ever suited him.

The fifteen your old boy helped out the others when he could, but generally he could stick to himself as much as he wanted.

Freedom was his only concern, and nothing made him feel more free then taking a simple walk. He'd take trips out into the national park at times to go fishing, sometimes coming out where he would visit for another day or two with a friend across the border before coming back home. He'd usual go alone, but occasionally take one of his siblings or a friend from school.

That morning after breakfast, he said his goodbyes and headed out. He got a ride out to the visiting center for the park, filled out his intended rout, exit site and presented his passport. He was still a little pissed at having to have a passport now for entering Canada, but one had to make due in all circumstances it seems. It was still morning by the time he headed out into the woods, feeling the sort of cheer that he only had when starting a journey like this. For him this was about challenging himself, it was about escape from his monotonous life, but mostly it was all about that sense of losing himself in exploration.

It would take about a week on foot to reach the other visiting center that was his destination. It was his plan to reach it in only two days, so he started off at a run. There were a few rivers he had to cross that would slow him down the most, but other than that at this pace he would make good time. His pack was light with a bottle of iodine tablets for water and enough beefjurky to get him by on for a few days at least. In case he was slowed down, he brought fishing equipment and a small compact bow. He had no illusions that complications didn't arise out there. Injury, sickness, or any other eventuality was taken into account when he had packed. It wasn't heavy, but still wasn't light either, and he knew that it would take all of what he had to maintain this pace for these two days.

After four hours, he was exhausted as he reached the first stream along the journey. There he filled up with water, doubling the weight on his back instantly. He added a few iodine tablets to it and then after a minute to rest he took off again. It would be another two hours or so before he'd be able to drink the water without getting sick, but already he was getting very thirsty.

After six hours into his trip, it was already noon. Drained, hot and dripping with sweat, he had to force himself to not drink the whole thing. He was starting to think that he couldn't be able to keep this pace up for to much longer, but after checking his map and his position, he suddenly got his mental second wind. An hour more and he'd be at the first river, by evening he'd be at the half way mark. Sleep for five hours, start off again and he would make his goal by tomorrow evening. This, he could do.

Mike got to the river in only forty minutes, his calculations being off he realized that he must have sped up. The river was large and fording it wouldn't be easy. If it took him very far down river he might lose too much time and even risk injury or death. But, this was only the first of the three rivers that he had to cross, so there was no use getting intimidated now. He walked out into it, feeling himself slide a little even in these first few steps. It went up to his knees and then his waist. Now he was getting pushed down river a little with each step, but not enough to affect his journey. He reached the middle and then was starting his slow, but steady walk to the other side. It had gone down to his knees again when he slipped, something knocking him over as it caught his leg.

He went under, felt himself being pulled downstream. He was jostled once and lost his breath, thought that he was going to drown, but then caught an outcropping of rock with his fingers. It's sharp edge bit into his grip but the boy dared not let go. His lungs hurt with the strain, but for some reason he was very column, even as his burning eyes saw a flow of red that he knew was his own blood. His other hand went out, then his other and again his other. Ever so slowly, he pulled himself and what ever was caught to him out of the river.

His breath came in gasps as he pulled himself out. Looking back, he was going to pull what ever was latched onto his legs off of him, but stopped when he saw that it was a person. Instead, he pried the fingers loose, pulled the figure all the way out of the water and began to undress him. After a few bleary moment he realized that it was a girl, but his embarrassment at what he was doing didn't change the fact that he had to do it. Out of his pack, he pulled an extra pear of cloths. She was breathing, but needed some worm clothes in order to make it. He had no idea how long she had been in the water, but by the looks of her, it seemed like a long time. That she was still alive was no doubt a miracle, but that she was going to stay alive would be nothing more than his own competence in dealing with this crisis.

Keep her worm, treat her injuries, resuscitate her if she stops breathing. He was working on nothing but a machine like detachment as he pushed himself on. Three hours later and many close calls the girl’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled, introduced himself as Mike and then promptly collapsed, passing out in a fairly undignified way.

When he came too it was dark, but he could smell the fire. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and noticed the tell tail signs of fever. He reached around, finding his pack close by. In it, he pulled out a few pills and swallowed through a dry throat. There was no way that he wouldn't survive this, no way in hell. His father, being a Baptist preacher man, wouldn't be proud of his dark side, the side that refused to dye no matter what. That side of him was mechanical in it's calculations, and terrible in it's means. That part of him had always been there to get him through, and now seemed to be the only side that was left standing. It drank the nasty iodine tasting water and ate some jerky before leaning back on a tree to settle it’s muddied mind. The beast retreated and he began to shiver, a cold climbing up his spine that had nothing to do with the chill wind.

As he slumped down he could make out figures around the fire, hear them moving around. A word or two was whispered but he couldn't make it out. All he could think about in this haze that he found himself was how he wasn't going to make his deadline. Two days was now out of the picture, but a week was still not that bad. Get well enough to take up a light jog and be there in a few days, maybe even two more if god was willing and his mind and body strong.

Freedom, Mike reasoned, was all that mattered. Freedom to walk on his own two feet. The beast was there in the background, a slow growl excepting his mouth as he pulled himself to his feet again. It was time to find out who his rescuers were, for he knew it couldn't have been just the girl who had brought him here. Really, she was in no shape to carry any one in her condition.

He could make out, by the deep shadows that the fire made, that figures turned his way as he walked up. Some one made room for him as he went to sit down at the fire's side. He looked across the fire and saw a few of his rescuers there. Hippies, he thought at once, seeing there odd dress. A woman had only some green fabric rapped around her waist as she held a child against her bear breast. Another looked up at him as she sharpened what looked like an arrowhead. There ears were oddly pointed, giving them a sort of Elven appearance, but he had seen odder things people had done to themselves for cosmetics sake. A friend of his had gotten his canines replaced with fangs and another had gotten horns attached to his scull. In an age of inexpensive medical science and universal health care, it was cosmetics that made doctors rich.

"Thanks for saving me back there, but I'm afraid I'll have to be on my way tomorrow morning so I can't stay long."

The back of a hand touched his forehead and then withdrew. He turned and saw the girl that he had pulled from the river, a frown and a creasing brow telling him more than if she had spoken. He thought about what she had looked like naked and smiled. A cute girl, but he probably wouldn't see her again.

"Your burning up with fever." She said, and he only laughed in return. Her concern was very touching, but unnecessary.

Mike smiled, explaining that he would be just fine with a little rest. This seemed to reassure the rest of the women there, for he noticed that there wasn't a man among them, but the girl seemed more unconvinced then the rest.

"Your staying with us until your well, Mike, and that's final." There was a look in her eyes that he recognized from his older sisters. It was a look that made most men squirm in there seats, but he was way to used to in to be at all daunted.

Laughing again, he brushed a little sweat from his forehead and took out a small pipe that was just a little water logged. The small baggy came out next, the contents still dry. "Medicine." He explained, as he filled it tight, held a lighter to it and took a puff. All was well. He passed it on after taking another puff. He laughed as the girl imitated him with lighting it and taking a puff, but then went into a coughing fit afterwards, rubbing her throat. And, he had thought they were hippies.

Each one in the group around the fire took there turn at the pipe until it was back around to him and each one seemed like it was there first time. Cultists and not hippies, he reasoned as he packed a little more into the pipe. He removed his damp shirt and propped it up with a stick a little away from the fire. It would get dry by morning, but would stink like campfire as well.

"Your very strong willed for a man." One of the ladies whispered, a very cultist thing to say.

"Where do you hail from?" The girl asked next. He explained where he had come from and what he had been trying to accomplish. The failure of his goal evident in the resigned sort of expression that he held up.

"How would you like to stay here with us instead of going back?" One of the other women asked and he was surprised to find the river girl scowling at the woman who had asked this.

"No one is to touch the young creature." The oldest of the women said, getting up from where she was sitting. She must be the leader of the cult, Mike reasoned by watching her commanding attitude. "All of Elven kind owes this one a debt for the life of one of our own. Unless otherwise demonstrated he will be forevermore a friend of the wood Elves."

A cult, definitely a crazy feminist cult.

He took another drag and passed it on. The drug mixed with the fever was getting to him it seemed, for the night seemed to be much more alive and magical than he remembered it being. Everything wavered around him and he found himself laughing with the women and dancing and listening to stories of old and recent Elven wars. To them, it seemed, the plague that had reduced the population so drastically during his grandfather’s time was actually the aftermath of a war between man and Elves. That night he lost his virginity to the girl who said her name was Veros-En.

It was all a blur then, but for the need and the excitment of the union. Her slender legs parting to receive him and him needing so badly to comply. She was so soft under his touch. She was so delicate that he thought that he would brake her. He remembered later taisting her tears when he kissed her and looking down to find her bleeding.

Mike would have stopped then if he had been in his right state of mind, but the passion he was feeling mixed with the drugs and the fever was to overpowering, so instead he went on. After coming inside of her he laughed with her a little, rolled around and then went at it again with her on top. The rest was just bits and peices, a kiss here and a nibble there. The smell was sweet, the color of the her eyes were a deep green, but beyond these details the main picture was lost to him in the daze.

When Mike finally fell asleep it was in Veros-En’s arms. He dreamed that night of the wooded and dark places, and of Elves and there great sense of personal freedom.

He woke up alone, his fever gone. The fire was put out and there was not trace of those women from the night before. Although, how much of last night was fever induced and how much was real he couldn't say. Still, it had been a pleasant night and he knew for sure that he had lost his virginity, the pleasant soreness, and smell of sex being proof enough.

Elves, if only they truly did exist this world would be a much more interesting place. Cult or hallucination, it didn't matter now. It was already late in the morning and he had a very long distance to travel.

His pipe and weed were gone, but everything else seemed in place, so he inventoried all of the positions he had left and then set out. He would need to find food now that he had added a day to his journey. Fishing was out of the question if he was to make any kind of time, so instead he just kept an eye out for any edible plants. By evening, he found the second river, and what was more was that he wasn't at all tired and was making great time. He'd cross the river in the morning and the next one before noon. Then it would be just a race to the finish line as it were. He'd miss his mark by a day, but three days was still very good time.

His heart beat with a rhythmic, but easy pump, as he ran the next morning. The river had been treacherous to cross, but he made it across this time without incidence and just a little swimming. He checked his watch as he made it to the next river and was surprised to find that it was still fairly early in the morning. It seemed he was even faster through these woods now than he had been before the fever. By noon, his clothes were dry and he was at the exit point of the park. Again, he needed to process through, the security in and out of Canada being tighter what with the threat of new viruses and a few new extremist groups that were apt to use them.

When he was through, he called up a friend of his father’s who would get him back across the border and onto a Greyhound. Although everything ended up all right in the end, he couldn't stop thinking about that girl, Veros-En. He wanted more than anything in the world to see her again, but he had a terribly sinking feeling that he would not get that chance.

It was many hours later, and very late when he got back home. No one was up when he got in, so he fixed himself something to eat in the kitchen and then went back up into his room without delay or welcome backs. He was home. Nevertheless, really, after being out in the woods for this long it never seemed to feel like home anymore, and for some reason this was especially true this time. He suspected that it was just that he had left his heart with that girl back in the woods. Veros-En, an odd name, but fitting for an Elve.

The serpent ascended from the depths of the waters, stretching into the shape of a man as it emerged. He could hear its terrible banshee yell and feel it as a force like an immense wind. Slowly the creature quieted as it looked at him, wings extending, floating, dripping above the blue sea.

With a commanding voice it then spoke to him, "It's time to wake up Mike!"

Mike Lagherdy woke with a jump. It was Sera, one of his older sisters. His eyes took her in with a hunger that came with his morning wood. Sera was in a t-shirt and undies this morning, sweat outlining her bra through her shirt. She had obviously done her work out this morning with out him, which meant that she hadn’t expected that he’d be home yet. She had an exquisite body, and tits that were larger than he could rap his hands around, not that he had ever had a chance of rapping his hands around them. Short black hair, almost Asian features, but tall and very strong. Since he had been training with her he had never won a fight against her even once. Not that he minded being pinned by such a cute girl, even if that girl was a sibling.

“You all done for the morning or you want ta get in a quick scuffle before shower and breakfast?” Mike asked as he got up.

“A glutton for punishment aren’t we?” Sera teased, looking down on him. She was still taller than he was even after this growth spurt. “I’ll meet you in the reck room in five minutes.”

Mike checked his watch. It was still early, but every one should start getting up in an hour or so. After all that strangeness it was nice to find himself stably back in his boring old life again. A bed to sleep in, a shower, a good breakfast with those that he loved, that was all it took in the end to anchor him.

The boy through on a pear of shorts and a large work out t-shirt and took off down the hallway. The mansion was his mother’s, but was designed by one of her secondary husbands who were long dead and buried. Back, after the plague, there was a big panic with the lack females in the dwindling population. Age enhancements were deployed systematically and with all the moral obligation that a desperate people could muster, which is always little to none. Now a days every one was treated to live as long as they could stay alive. Overpopulation wasn’t really an issue at this rates.

With genetic diversity more of an issue now that population growth children were mostly designed more than born. Himself and his brother were both naturals and therefore full of the genetic failings that nature intended. He was shorter, a little weaker, and a little stupider than his peers were. This he had come to terms with, but didn’t let it stop him from pushing himself beyond what his peers were willing to go. Although, maybe that was just the short man syndrome that he had been ridiculed for having.

Because of that inner push he didn’t realize that he had just leaped down the entire staircase until he was already on his feet again, then he wobbled, fell and rolled until he hit the opposite wall with a thump. He got up gingerly patting himself off. No bruises, no sprains, no broken bones. He bounced on off the balls of his feet, flexed and then through a punch. He was fine, strong, better then fine even. For some reason he didn’t think that his older sister would be a match for him this time. A smile creped over his face and he took of again, but this time with a slow, urgent speed.

The reck room was in what they called the Girl’s wing. It had all the girls’ rooms as well as most of the entertainment add ons, the little Theater and so on. As he entered his sister called to him, “Your late.” as she finished stretching. She was still in her pink panties and white t-shirt, making him gulp as he watched.

‘God, if she only knew.’ He thought, and as if on that command she turned his way with an odd expression on her face. ‘What did...?’ He stopped the thought before it formed. What was, was. No more time to think or be embarrassed or horny. Now was the time for the beast. He was suddenly cold again, unconsciously moving into stance as he stood there.

“So,” His sister stopped stretching, as she watched him, now without any humor or warmth. “you took out dark Mikey for this then, so you must be serious. In that case I‘ll be serious as well little brother.”

It was like watching two strangers facing off for Mike, him being somehow both distant but also acutely aware. He dodged her first blow with an ease that would have shocked his sister, if she had been in any state to be shocked. For this, in the middle of a fight, was her forest, her dreamtime. In this place, anything was possible for her and she was free. He dodged her again, but this time made a counter to her side. She took it with a grunt and aimed her neck next blow at his head.

He could see her getter frustrated, getting mad, yet the beast wouldn’t let up even if he wanted to just let it drop and let her win from here. The beast saw an opening and took it. She stumbled clutching her arm, yet not giving in just yet. He saw what happened then in a sort of blur. The Beast attacked her as she stumbled back, undefended. She seemed to spin around the attack though, hit his feet from under him and then hit him with such force that he went part way through the wall. He spat up a little blood and knew that she must have broken at least one of his ribs.

“Jesus!” Sara screamed, crashing out of her fighting persona. “Mikey, are you hurt?”

Mike only looked up at his older sister with such admiration in his eyes that she could barely stop herself from crying.

“You were wonderful, but now, the question remains, do you think you can do that again?” Mike pulled himself up, feeling his injury, but now not feeling it as pain anymore. The Beast was there, and it didn’t like to lose. This time Mike was right there pulling the coldness on, using it instead of letting it use him. The freedom of the forest, of the fight, of the moment was upon him and he could no longer hold back.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me and I don’t want to fight anymore, but I can see in your eyes that you’re serious again, so I will honor that and fight seriously as well.” Her voice got lower at the end and her expression disappeared.

Mike wasn’t just a bystander now and knew exactly who the two facing each other were. There was a girl that thought that she was a dragon that faced off with a boy that thought he was a god. In this fight, anything was possible, so even breathing fire and sprouting wings would not have come as a shock to either of them.

Mike through the first punch this time, missing as he cut the air with his fist. He was hit once and then twice before the blur of his sister's moves subsided into a semblance of clarity for him once more. Attack, react, defend. Everything was automatic and yet perfectly thought out as well. It went on and he smiled as he was pushed back, each blow feeling like he was getting hit by a sledge hammer, yet some how he could take it now with a minimal of resistance. His sister smiled back, the coldness between the two seemed to have some how been left behind some where earlier in the fight.

He was pushed back against the wall then, but instead of taking advantage of it, Sara caught herself in time, putting her fist through the wall to the right of his head. She put her other hand on the other side. She seemed to stop there, facing him, breathing steadily and slowly compared to his quick sharp gasps.

“You know, you’ve grown.” said Sara, pushing closer to emphasize. Mike winced as she pushed against him, her lips just touching his.

“You’re hurt.” She breathed and he inhaled the breath. Mike had her in his arms a moment later, kissing her with more passion than he thought was possible. His hands explored the back of her as his tongue found it’s self in a sparing match of its own. He held her ass and pulled her against his erection.

They stopped only as they heard a scuttering in the hallway, followed by a bit of muttering. They froze for a second, still entwined with each other, before separating quickly at the opening of the door.

“Hey, you guys trashed this place!” The girl’s voice was shrill, before seeing him there and then it got pleasant again. “Mike’s home! Mike, ow, bet you can’t guess what happened while you were gone.”

Mike and Sara both turned to each other for an unsteady instant and then broke out into laughter.
“I drove Dad’s convertible. Can you believe it, I DROVE?” She blurted out and then looked at the two trying to stifle there laughs and decided to join in to what ever was going on since her news was being ignored anyway.

His sister Amy had red hair and was a year older then him, although he usually thought of her as younger because she always acted so childishly. She would be getting her drivers license this next year, which meant two things. First, that Mike would soon be depending on her for rides, and second that he wouldn’t be getting those rides if he didn’t play his cards right at the present.

“Hay,” Mike said, leading the other two out of the reck room, that was now ironically enough now a reck of a room as well. “We should celebrate this first step in my wonderful older sister’s life.”

Sara turned his way then, startled and then embarrassed as she realized he was addressing Amy and not her. He went, first to take a shower and change, and then met up with the two again when he was done. In the kitchen was where he planned to do the celebrating, although it was more like a bribe in more than one sense. One to secure rides when Amy got her first car, and second to make sure that any suspicions that might have been rolling around in that cute little head of hers was snuffed out by the taste of a good meal.

He caught Sara’s eye a few times and couldn’t seem to suppress a burst of laughter. The boy didn’t know what it was that was happening to him as of late, but it seemed to have some how spread to his older sister, Sara, as well. He rubbed his chest absently as he prepared the food, the soreness almost completely gone now. He was sure that she had broken a couple of his ribs, but now it seemed that he was a bit bruised, but otherwise undamaged and that was it. Was that hole incident even real then? Or, did he just dream it up, the same way as he dreamt up what happened in the woods? And as for making out with his own sister, that just seemed even more impossible than being punched through a wall.

He made crapes with a couple of fruit fillings and a little maple syrup on top. It was one of the only things that he could make that his sisters would get a kick out of. He sat down with them when he was done with a good enough amount so that if any one else would show up they’d be able to eat as well. It would have been pleasant, except that every time he glanced up at Sara she’d look back down at her plate, and the puzzled looks that Amy was giving him made him feel not at all secure.

Before they were done his older brother, Able, showed up, too groggy to really notice the tension that he was walking in on. He made some coffee and then sat down, a plain crape rolled up beside his cup. This was Mike's brother's typical manner, the plain crape, the black coffee and the tired expression. He was not a morning person at all, but for some reason the kid was usually one of the first up and about of all of them. He had graduated early from high school and moved out, but still lounged around here when he could get away with it. Mike suspected it was just his brother trying to get away from his fiancé and not any real fondness he had for them that he stayed over so often.

Mike thought back to his own love, Veros-En. No, she, if everything else was a dream, was still real. He remembered her smell, her feel, her cries. It was a good first experience, but more than anything else, he wanted it not to be his last, at least with her.

“Able,” whispered Mike quickly as his brother was getting ready to leave the table. “do you believe in Elves?”

His brother sat back down with a frown creasing his features in a way that always made him look older than he was. He said simply in return, “Yes.” and then got up again, deciding, it seemed, not to say any more right then.

This was not the answer that Mike had expected, but then why the hell had he gone ahead and asked in the first place? Mike felt like his head was about to burst. God, what he needed was something, anything to distract him.

Alone again with the girls he felt a foot roaming up his leg. He lifted his own leg to trace where it was coming from and was startled to find that it was cute little Amy instead of the aggressive older Sara initiating this. He smiled at both of the girls in affection and then got up to put the dishes in the washer. No, it would be getting out of hand, if the innocent little Amy got pulled into his madness as well. Better to leave at this point and not come back for a while. Back to his woods to where all of this had started would be best.

To late, he heard others entering the dining room and his mother’s voice rising over the others. What to do now? Leave out the back and escape or stay here and risk his hole life and every one in it being taken up in this craziness. Suddenly there was a picture in his head of his mother spreading her legs for him. He shook, not knowing what to do, not wanting to know what he was capable of.

“Some one help me.” He whispered into the sink, his head bowed in a mixture of fear and excitement. “Some one save me.”

“Able told me you were asking about Elves.” said a low voice in back of him. Mike twirled around only to find it was his Father.

The boy leaned back against the sink. “You scared the piss out of me.”

His father pulled his chin up, looking into his eyes as if examining him. Mike the beast growl at this inspection, no it was more like a violation according to the beast. There was a wall of rage suddenly and a pain in his head that was very intense.

“Don’t touch me!” growled the beast, leaping away from the man. His father only smiled at this, with the crack of his man’s jaw the doors to the kitchen shut and locked of there own. Mike felt like a trapped, desperate animal. The Beast whined low in an animal’s terror.

But, this was too ridicules for Mike to bear. He pushed to the surface, absorbing enough of the creature that he could figure out what was going on but without giving it any freedom of movement.

His father smirked. “Invoking a guardian, and maintaining a bit of control as well. Not bad for a beginner, but until you can physically manifest it you’ll be no match for me, boy.”

“What the hell are you talking about Dad?” demanded the boy, a bit of hysteria showing through his tone. “What’s happening to me and why the hell is it dragging every one around me down with it?”

His father looked suddenly stunned, then unbelieving, then in the end just smug.

“So, you’re telling me that the imprinting on Sara was done involuntarily?” asked the man, more speculative now and less aggressive.

“You mean mind control!” Mike exclaimed with a shocked exhale of breath. “But she could punch through the wall and my ribs healed themselves and, and, and...!”

“Calm down.” His father commanded, and a calmness overlapped the panic, but failed to penetrate. “Calm down, your panicking so much that you’re putting up a beerier against me. Just, take deep long breaths and try to concentrate on a visual symbol, like opening a door for me to enter your head. I want say it wont be uncomfortable, but I need to find out what’s happened to you if I’m going to help you, OK?”

Mike did as he was told, the door opening just as he was told. The door was there and as he walked through it, the oddest thing was there on the other side. It was a bulldog. The bulldog nodded to him as it entered and then the vision vanished in a white wash of the most unpleasant pain he had ever felt. He yelled out, screamed, scratched at his head and yet it was already in him and probing. Memories cut across his awareness. He was suddenly Running again, knowing that he would make the goal he had set for himself. Crossed the initial stream. There was a blur as the memory sped forward, but as he focused, it became clearer and the pain diminished a bit.

The river, the girl, the cannabis, the fever. “...forevermore a friend of Elves.” Veros-En, his true love. She still smelt of flowers and tasted like a woman ought to. The confusion the next morning, his doubts, getting back home so quickly, impossibly fast for some one recovering for a fever. Back home, his bed, and then...

...the serpent that was a man floated above the face of the blue sea, looking down at the Bulldog in a wrath that only the greatest of that which is outside of god’s dominion could produce.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD.” It demanded in a language that was Mike’s madness incarnate. The words tore through the dog, throwing his father full force from both memory and mind. Mike gasped twice and then puked, the words in that other language still on the edge of his tongue. It was a moment before he saw his father’s bloody body spread out over the kitchen floor.

“Dad, don’t dye!” He yelled, moving to his side. There was an intake of breath from the body, and Mike sighed out relief.

In burst his brother Able then. He looked down at his father, then over at him, then down at his father again.

“I don’t want to know what happened.” His brother said calmly, nodding as he moved his hands over the man’s body, as if trying to detect something. “I’ll take care of Dad. I already took care of the family, so you just wait in your room until I call for, all right?”
Able smiled, but Mike could sense the fear, could smell the terror as a pungent sourness in the air. That more than anything made Mike feel even more terrible. His own older brother was terrified of him. Mike complied, stepping out of the kitchen, noticing that the lock had been caved in, and he wondered idly if his brother had done that with his mind. The rest of his family was no were to be seen, the house feeling empty as he walked through it. In his room, he found his bed and lay down. If only he had made the choice to leave sooner. If only... and yet, he doubted he would have met up with Veros-En and the other Elves again in those woods.

He closed his eyes and dreamed of a man who was a serpent. He dreamed of the sea and of the sky. The creature formed more into human shape as it rose, ascending upwards. The wings fluttered, more leathery now then scaly, its skin still a bleak blackness with a blue tint that seemed to make it glow. When its transformation was enough that he had the basic human form it finally came to a hunt, obviously exhausted. It was frustrated and scared and completely confused, yet it still looked outwards, its snake eyes unblinking.

Mike spent the rest of the next day in a bit of a stupor. His family was still gone, his house still empty. The blood was gone from the kitchen, but the door was still broken. In the reck room he found the same mess that he and Sera had made. A hole through the wall where her fist had gone through, a dent outlining where he had been thrown. He couldn’t have been manipulating her there, for he could feel how free she was, how powerful and in control. No, he may have been affecting her, but she had chosen to fight him, and she had chosen to kiss him as well. Then at the table, there was Amy, playing footsy with him. That had surprised him, or did it? Hadn’t he, right before it happened, wanted something to distract him? What was a better distraction than a little pleasant shock? Unconsciously controlling them, no way, there was just no way was that possible.

How did his father put it, imprinting? Could he have imprinted his desires, his emotions, and his growing power into them? He wandered what Sera would do if he told her that. She would probably only ask if there was any way he could imprint her to get her even stronger. No, she could feel the freedom as well as he could, and would know that he hadn’t been controlling her. But in Amy there had been no freedom, only the carrying out of his will. Distract me, so she complied, but why sexually? He wasn’t horny or anything like that at the moment, was he? No. Then it must have been her interpretation of his command then. She was the one that was horny and obeying the prompt became an excuse.

“She’s young and innocent though.” He said aloud.

“NO SHE’S NOT.” He said again, but this time in a way that hurt his throat and made the air turn cold and chill around him. “SHE ACTS INECENT TO MONIPULATE OTHERS, ESPECIALY HER MAYLIABLE YOUNGER BROTHER. SHE IS FULL OF SIN THAT ONE.”

Mike thought over what he had just said a little bit before deciding that he’d concede the point plausible, possible, but not likely. She was older than he was, and girls were supposed to mature faster than boys did, but she just didn’t seem like the type to think in terms of manipulation and control.

School would be starting again for the spring. He sat out in the garden for a while, but the gardener didn’t show up today. It seemed even the staff was had been pulled away from him. He felt like he was being quarantined. Isolate the contamination and exterminate the threat. Maybe that was his fate, to be put down before he hurt any one else. A mad dog was what he was. A shotgun, a mercy killing would be best.

“Are you getter depressed?” Able called out. Mike looked up and saw his brother accompanied by another man, a bolding man dressed all in black.
“You look like shit.” The other man said, an arrogance to him that reminded Mike of his father.

Mike got up, fearful for what was going to happen next.

The man in black tipped his hat as he greeted the boy, introducing himself as Professor Baberios. “Your father Aymus Laugherdy will take a while recovering, but I think he’ll be fine with a little time. As for your family, it’s not our policy to interfere or judge. Your father recommended immediate training, but I was thinking that it would be best to start out slowly. Maybe have your older brother here tutor you in the basics and then start the formal classes when you get a little bit more up to speed.”

“Don’t judge, what do you mean by that?” Mike asked and then thought of something else before he had time to answer the first one. “And, who do you represent Professor, something from the government?”

“No, no no no no...” The man laughed at the question. “You’ll learn all about our organization later, but for now all you have to know is that it’s independent and, like I said before, it’s policy is that it doesn’t judge it’s members lifestyles or choices. We’re secret... well, for the most part anyway, and we generally like to keep it that way. Allows us more stretching room in society at large.

“I saw the job you did on a couple of your sisters. A real fine peace of handiwork. Most of us aren’t nearly as subtle in the field of Scionics, so I’ve no doubt you’ll make a real fine artist in no time. It looks like you also tapped into some other fields as well. The physical augmentations to your own body is interesting to some one like me, who is a professor of the arts of biological manipulation. However, what caught the eyes of our delegate was what you had done to your sister Sera’s scionic level. We’re studying her now, but this kind of kind of reaction is just not something we’ve ever seen, or at least in human that is.”

“So,” Mike concluded in a dismissive grin. “you’re saying that I’m not human then.”
“That’s enough Professor Baberios.” intoned his brother, before the professor had any time to answer. “He’ll learn all about the Elven wars when he begins his training, so there’s no need to get into any of that now. When the family gets back we’ll start on the basics for now, so don’t worry about any of that boring crap for now, for you’ll have plenty of time later when you’ll wish you didn’t have to.”

The Professor looked amused instead of insulted, and Mike didn’t understand why until he heard a sort of buzzing going on some where in the background. He could almost make out words within that faint sound. It was almost as if they were communicating at a different frequency. One that he could only slightly pick up. Holding two separate conversations at once, one with him and another among themselves. It was an amazing ability.

“I’ll come back in a week to check on your progress with Able here and we’ll see where we’ll take it from there.” The man in black said and tipped his hat again before he left, leaving him and his brother to themselves.

“About me and the girls...” Mike started but was interrupted by a wave of his brother’s hand.

“It’s alright.” He said simply in return. “Do what you want. In fact, I experimented on them when I first woke to these gifts as well. Dad, as one of his projects for me, had me condition mom to stop smoking and for Stephanie to be my willing love toy.”

“You mean you slept with your own sister?”

“With mom to, but I augmented both of there memories later so neither of them will remember it.”

“So, anything I do is reversible?”

“Not one of your actions is reversible in life even when it comes to Scionics, but you can clean up a mess or two later on if you have to. Any kind of conditioning is something that in it’s self something that’s made for permanence though. For instance if you condition some one to be or act one way you wont be able to change it later unless you rip out there hole personality and create a new one in it’s place. The kind of conditioning you seem to be doing naturally to Amy and Sera is both dangerous, permanent, and very, very subtle. Best to be very careful with this type of power.”

Mike looked back at everything that had happened so far and decided that his abilities were being vastly underestimated. The whole world seemed to stand on its head just to satisfy his most offhand whim. A little lust could be disastrous, a little anger even more so. What would happen if he got really pissed at some one? Would just by wishing they were dead cause there end? How far could this go anyway? If he got depressed and wished the world would end then, for him, would it?

Mike shivered. “Fuck being very careful, I need to, down right, suppress it all together.”

Able nodded in approval. “Usually that’s the last thing you learn, but then, with you, it’s not such a bad idea. With our kind it’s easier to learn by observing others and simply trying to mimic the ability so I’ll start out, and I’ll simply be here to give you pointers if you have any problems.”

His brother closed his eyes and at once Mike started to shake his head. It was as if there had been a tiny ringing in his ear that he hadn’t noticed was there until it was gone. He looked at his brother, as his sibling just seemed to be just standing there with his eyes closed. Mike felt a not a little silly. Mimic the ability, he says. So, what the hell is that supposed to mean anyway? He wished this were easier, that he could some how just see what his older brother was doing.

All of a sodden he could see it, the power rapping around his mind like a shield. But, it seemed like such a wasteful ability, since not all that energy was needed. Mike pulled up a bit of energy like a stream through his body until in reached a few critical spots, then he circulated in through those spots, adding more only as it demanded. When he was done he looked around, stunned at the silence that met him. There was so much noise that he hadn’t even been aware of because it was so constant, and now it was suddenly all gone. It was almost like losing one of his five senses. He wobbled on his feet, unsure of himself for a moment before adjusting his crown. After a bit of toying with it he got it so that it was now adjustable in areas, but he was sure that it still needed a bit more work before he could call it mastered.

“I’m done.” said Mike at last, and his brother opened his eyes again looking at him at first skeptically and then in wonder as he examined him closer.

“I think Dad was right about you.” Able exclaimed, shaking his head and letting out a sigh. “You need some one more qualified than me to teach you, bud. Maybe, Ms. Nerthus, or Profesor Zapan. I suppose that Alexander would be the most qualified to handle a case like yours though.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’d have to explain the politics of the world you’re entering into in order to explain who he is, and also why I dread the idea of you having to get trained by him. For all that you’ll learn quickly enough when you get there and start your training. But, right now I just need to figure out a suitable project for your time with me.”

“I don’t want mine to be anything like making a sex slave out of any one, but helping some one quit smoking sounds fine.”

Able scowled for a moment at hearing this, and then smiled after a moment’s thought. “In that case your project will be, in one month’s time, to have slept with every female in this household. But the ketch will be that they will have to initiate it without any prompting from you.”

As he paused Mike took the time to turn pale.

“Your second assignment will be simpler though.” assured his older brother with a smile that said it would, indeed, not be any simpler. “All you have to do is become the most popular kid in school. The catch on that one will be that you won’t be able to directly alter any of the students, although I will concede to teachers being free game to make it more interesting.

“These two tasks involve you learning a variety of techniques and abilities, some of which I can teach of you, but most you’ll have to teach yourself just by experimenting, using your own imagination and by just getting out there and getting your hands dirty.”

“My god!” blurted out Mike after hearing all of that. “Do you not have any morals at all? These are people like you and me, not fair game in some twisted game of “let’s play god.” Control the social climate of my school to my advantage; equip myself with a harem made up of incest. You’re a monster.”

“You have until the end of the month.” commanded his brother firmly in return. “The consequences for an initiate not finishing his first assignment within the allotted time is complete exile from our world. They’ll come and strip your powers from you, take your memories and replace your personality. In extreme cases they’ve been none to simply weeding off the initial failures by having them killed.”

Mike’s mouth suddenly went dry. Death sounded bad enough, but being wiped clean of everything that made him who he was beyond frightening. He looked up at his brother, seeing him for the first time for who her really was, a monster. This man before him would shoot his own brother himself without any moral scruples.

He should have run away from all of this when he had the chance, but now he had no choice but to accomplish these dread tasks.

The same voice that he used to argue with himself before spoke up just then with in his mind, ‘AND, WHY DOSE THIS TASK HAVE TO BE SO DRED FOR YOU? WHY NOT TRY TO LEARN WHAT YOU CAN FROM THIS? THINK OF IT AS A WAY TO TEST YOUR OUN MORAL AND ETHICAL BOUNDRIES AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS. MAYBE THE WAY TO TRUE FREEDOM IS TO LEAVE BEHIND SUCH BOUNDRIES ANYWAY.’

True freedom. He liked the sound of that. To be truly free his own personal bindings had to be severed. Plus, he was curios to see what else he was capable of. Turning invisible, reading minds, flying. It all seemed like things that he would like to learn, and what other way was there to test most of this on but on others. The more he thought about these two assignment the more he was thinking less on why he shouldn’t do them and more on how could.

Mike startled his older brother by saying, “I think I’ll do it. But, let me get a good night’s sleep before I begin to give these problems any more thought.”

“Fair enough.” sighed Able, looking at his watch. “I have to be at work soon, but you can give me a call if you run into any problems, or if you need a little help.”

After Mike went to bed that night, he was lost in thought and didn‘t fall asleep until late.

Mike breathed and those that dreamed dreamt of him. He breathed again and all the tension was added. Again, and a little need, a little lust. He was hovering above there dreams, examining his progress, changing a few details where he should. His sister wasn’t hard, her memories of the kiss they sheered looping back upon it’s self and growing. Amy needed a little prompting her brother being added into the dream as a companion, but as nothing more. Being used to his presence would have to suffice for now. Different dreams of different sisters required slightly different touches to them. For now, he influenced most of them in very small ways, adding in his character, but with little to no involvement. NOT YET, he whispered in that same terrible voice.

“MIKE, WAKE UP” he mumbled to himself, but on opening his eyes, he found that his sister, Sera had been, again, the one to have said it. She was in her T-shirt and undies again, but this time it was earlier. He yawned and sat up, smiling at this beautiful sight in the morning.

“It’s airy, Mike.” commented Sara as she sat down next to him on his bed. “All the others think that they had never even left. All there memories had been forged for yesterday and the day before. It was pretty frightening to watch, but also, I have to admit, a bit fascinating. They told me that since I’m a Scionic they wouldn’t change me.”

“Did you meet Profesor Baberios as well?”

“No,” answered Sera. “but there was an old guy called Profesor Alexander though. He said that he would be my sponsor before I enter into the school. He gave me a few assignments of moving objects with my mind and improving my Chi control. It‘s pretty amazing isn‘t it? To just wake up and find out you have magical powers is just unbelievable.”

Mike blinked a couple of times, otherwise frozen. A few easy tasks to do for her and two insanely difficult ones for him. This Alexander that he kept hearing about must be the good guy and his brother must be the bad one.

“Are you alright?” She asked, leaning over to him in concern.

“It’s just that...” He thought fast, and decided to lye. “...it’s about the other day...”

“Let’s just forget it ever happened.” She said quickly, looking away.

“Sera.” He cooed, moving her chin to have her face towards him. Something in her froze then, a barrier going up telling her that this was wrong. He melted this icy barrier with a single command and then sent a pleasure signal through her in relation to the touch. To condition an animal it was best to keep offering rewards in relation to certain acts. He kissed her on the cheek, doing both steps of melting the barrier and releasing a reword before getting up to get dressed. It was necessary to relate him with sex if he was going to do this right, so he started to change before his sister had time to leave. She caught herself watching only after a moment and left him. Her choice, but with the choice to watch him he had released a reward and for the one of leaving he released a punishment. They were both subtle, almost none noticeable, but it was best to start out small with such a complex project.

His brother and father were both not at breakfast that morning. His brother was giving him space, no doubt, to finish his assignments, while his father was still recovering. His family was talking about father being in the hospital. Part of the fake memory it seemed. He scanned every one of them during the meal, looking for places to add the appropriate award or punishment. A stray thought that had to be backed up, a negative emotion that had to be chastised. It was minute, exhausting work for him. And, in the end, he didn’t touch his breakfast at all.

“You have something on your ear Nina.” He said to his only younger sibling as he confronted her in the hallway after breakfast. He pretended to get a speck of dirt from her right ear, but in the course of doing so, he brushed from the lobe to the top. She shuddered, and he took the time to reinforce a positive response and eradicate the negative. She seemed the most receptive to this, the most malleable as it were. But, then she was young. Having her initiate an actual sexual encounter with her older brother would be the tricky part, for even if she were willing she wouldn’t be willing to act out anything unless her hand was held through the process.

His sexual tension in all of this work was driving him nuts, and he let down his barrier enough for it to effect every one else around him as well. All he wanted was to masturbate at this point, but that kind of personal release would no doubt destroy the spell that he was casting.

...spell he was casting. Yes, this was not the ordered path that his brother had in mind, but was rather a way of truer, unlimited power. From simply his will and heart alone, he could do anything from seduce a stranger to destroy a country. Painful desire, demonic rage, love as a consuming thing. Magic, yes, as a god is magical. And, so like a god he was.

"Are you okay Mikey?" asked Nina. He had been staring at the wall this whole time and now felt foolish at his rambling mind.

"I don't know." He admitted, clutching his head with one of his hands. "Maybe I just need some rest."

She reached up and touched his forehead with the back of her hand, pulling it back with a startled expression. She muttered, almost panicking, "You’re burning up..."

Nina rushed off, no doubt to get help from some one else, some one that knew what to do about fevers. But, there was nothing wrong with him in this case. The fever was simply his blood starting to boil as the Elven energy flooded him as so much divine excess.

TAKE WHAT THOU WILT IS THE LAW. He smiled, letting his chest fill with air and then empty out again, each breath bringing him to the brink of absolute disregard. His eyes opened, and he didn't even remember closing them. Some one had his arm and was pulling him. He looked over, everything seeming to slow down as he turned. It was Mara. All he could think of was that it had been awhile since he had seen the girl.

She spoke, but all he could hear was the beating of her heart, the motion of her breath and the ruffle of her dark brown hair. As she was ten years older than him she had once seemed more like a parent than an older sister. Now, she only seemed like a goal. His intention wove it's self around his older sister, weaving it's self into her very skin like so much divine thread. She shuddered and he felt it, breathing it in as his fever reached one hundred and six. He knew that he should be dead by now.

"Stop this!" yelled Able as he through open the bathroom door. His sister thought that he was yelling at her and quickly stepped back from the bathtub, sweat rolling down her forehead and her breath coming in quick gasps. She had removed Mike's cloths and placed him in the bathtub. His temperature was by now dangerously high. She didn't understand why she felt so guilty or why she ran out of the bathroom on being caught. It wasn't as if she was doing anything wrong, yet that's not how it felt.

"Power without control is dangerous, both for yourself and those around you." Able tried to explain as he started the cold water. Able didn't even try healing the boy the easy way, seeing the flames dancing off the porcelain of the bathtub in a serenade of infernal energy. "No direct control, remember? You were only to influence, creep around there fantasies, there emotions a little. Do you want to pass, or do I have to remind you of the consequences of failure?"

The water turned to steam as it touched the fifteen-year-old boy's bare skin. His fever now spiked passed one hundred twenty and rising. Lust, rage, hate and pain. He was the Demi-Urge, the sorcerer and the source.

HE SAYS THAT HE CAN TAKE YOUR POWER FROM YOU, SAYS THAT HE CAN KILL YOU. IS THIS TRUE LITTLE MIKEY?

"Don't call me Mikey like I'm just a little kid!" The boy yelled out then, the steam dancing around him like a mystic cloud.

"I didn't call you anything!" protested his older brother, backing up a few pacing at what he was seeing. "You’re going to end up destroying yourself if you don't calm down and find some self control."

"Destroy myself?" laughed Mike. "No, that's your job isn't it? Destroy any one that won’t play your stupid games. Give me a task, any task. Seduce my family, no problem. Make every one love and adore me at school, no sweat. BUT, HELL, WHY NOT SKIP BOTH OF THESE AND JUST ELIMINATE THE PROBLEM ALL TOGETHER. I HAVE THE POWER; WHY NOT FEED THE MONSTER AND JUST DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT. GO AMOCK, KILL THE INECENT, RAPE THE PURE, VIOLATE THE ENTIRE DAMNED WORLD!"

Able screamed as tendrils of will broke through his psychic barrier as flames of steam and energy rapped around his physical body. He was whipped around and thrown through the door like a rag doll. Mike's body floated, limply in the air as the will of the flames moved him forward.

"NOW, I PRESENT YOU WITH A SIMPLE TASK, MY WEAKLING OLDER BROTHER." spoke Mike, his voice coming out as rasping growl from his unmoving lips. "STAY ALIVE LONG ENOUGH TO GET A MESSAGE TO YOUR LITTLE MAGICAL PALS THAT I'VE FAILED MY TEST AND MUST BE ALIMINATED. BUT, HERE'S THE KETCH, I'M GOING TO REMOVE YOUR POWER SO YOU'LL HAVE TO DO IT THE OLD FATIONED WAY."

With that the tendrils withdrew, taking with them Able's ability to see them, the flames or anything but what was physically in front of him. The steam, the floating body of his younger brother. Everything else was silence, was blindness the likes of which terrified him more than even death. He did then what any mammal would do when injured and caught by a much larger predator, he ran.

The flames died to light flicker after a few moment and his body fell to the floor, still limp and looking charred and weak from the misuse. He breathed still, but uneasily, the pain being intense as a burn victim's pain was intense. The first thing he did was trigger the release of dopamine, cutting the distraction in half for what he had to do. He didn't know where to start to begin healing all of this mess. Brain damage, tissue damage. Most of his internal organs were also badly scared, along with much more that he didn't know the name for, but could still plainly see.

TRY INCORPERATING YOUR ENERGY WITH THE NATURAL PROCESS OF HEALING, AND THEN COME UP WITH A MORE OFICIANT METHOD FOR YOUR BODY TO HEAL SO THAT THE PROCESS CAN GO FASTER. It was good advice, so he took it.

Experimenting on his own body like this was not how he would have liked to learn how to master these techniques. The healing process felt like an engine crackling to life inside him. He did as the voice suggested, implementing energy and then teaching his body to weave it affectively. It drained the flame, devouring his power at the same rate that he released it.

He realized than that he would need to figure out a way to conserve his strength in this technique if he ever wanted it to be at all affective. However, that would have to wait for a later date.

Now, he closed his eyes, sleep taking over at last. He dreamed of the serpent, it taking on a much more human appearance by now.