The occasional tourist passed by, but we might as well have been there on the beach alone. Drew was lying on a beach towel next to me, smiling when I touched his cheek. His fingers buried themselves in my hair when I leaned down to kiss him.
We went to a bar in Austin after that to listen to jazz and have a few drinks. Yeah, I was a little drunk afterward and somehow let those guys talk me into getting into the hot tub with them when we got home, sans clothing. They undressed me and that wasn't erotic or anything.
"No touching," Drake laughed when he made his clothing disappear. "Karzac says you're still recovering, so no sex for another day." I wanted to find Karzac right then and have a few words with him. Drake and Drew both would have put just about anyone to shame, and they didn't try to hide their arousal. Yeah, I couldn't look away. It's a good thing they got in the water quickly. I was yawning before long and one of them, I'm not sure which one, lifted me out of the water, folded me to my bedroom, wrapped me in a towel while his brother helped and both of them got me into bed afterward.
* * *
"Jaydevik, why am I hearing now that there may be Croth and Drith on the Southern Continent and that you may have known about this already?" Glinda was poking a finger in Jayd's chest.
"Glindarok, we did not wish to trouble you with this," Jayd said, trying to pull her against him.
"Has anyone been farther south than Baetrah an Hafei to investigate this?" Glinda moved away.
"Not farther south. The area was completely covered in ash and impossible to get the wagons through to check. We found Kifirin there and he disappeared with Niff—I mean Lissa, shortly afterward. The reconnaissance party came home after that."
"Jayd, someone needs to go and soon. I do not trust any Croth or Drith left alive."
"I will send someone," Jayd sighed, successfully pulling her against him this time. He didn't tell her that he'd allowed Garde to wait until after the fall rains were over on the Southern Continent. Rumors were growing, however, and Jayd knew he should have sent a scouting party already.
* * *
The second gate from my dream was the objective when I woke Monday morning. I discovered it was Monday, May tenth. As Earth measured time, anyway. I misted away right after eating a quick breakfast. Mike and Jamie were off on Sundays and Mondays, so I cooked for myself. I figured the twins were out sparring with Dragon and Crane. The second gate I went through landed me in the middle of a jungle. The animals were all missing when I arrived and it wasn't hard to determine why. More stench. Thirty pairs of Flakkar this time, but they were scattered. I found deserted villages for hundreds of miles in all directions while I hunted. The predators were becoming prey as I tracked them and their scent. Just for fun, I attempted the Saa Thalarr trick of Looking. No, I hadn't tried it before. I assumed it wasn't possible. What can I say? I was going to have to be more adventurous. I found a few more nests that way; the knowledge just settled into my mind as if it belonged there. Breathing a happy sigh, I went after those Flakkar, ridding the planet of them.
It wouldn't have taken these very long to destroy all life on the planet; they'd already accounted for nearly a third of it. What did those creatures imagine they were going to live on, if no more prey was available to devour? It made me wonder where they came from, and in such great numbers, too. Did they have natural enemies? What about their homeworld—how had it survived with their predations? Questions for which I might have to Look to find answers.
I gated to the world I'd gone to the day before just so I could double check with my newfound ability, making sure there weren't any other Flakkar to kill. I found one nest and took it out.
* * *
"How much longer?" Queen Friesianna demanded of the newly crowned Ra'Ak Prince. "When may we submit our demand for the Ka'Mirai to be given to us?"
"We will give it another week or two to ensure the Flakkar devastation is severe enough," the Ra'Ak Prince smiled. He had no care for the Elemaiya and what they wanted. He only cared for his own desire, and that involved bringing the High Demons to their knees before destroying them. The Ka'Mirai could help with that. He already held her Dark Elemaiya counterpart, and if he had both, nothing could stop him.
He smiled at his subtlety—the Elemaiya had no idea he planned to ignore the bargain. The Elemaiya would serve him until he had no further use for them, and then they'd be eaten or destroyed. The creature that saved the High Demon world before was dead. That news was everywhere. There was nothing left to save them a second time, and he'd already made contact with allies remaining on Kifirin. He looked forward to using them just as his predecessor had, to eliminate others of their kind. Then it would be a simple matter to be rid of them completely. They would struggle against one another for power and that could kill them all. Prince Narval of the Ra'Ak would become King of the Dark Realm and all would bow to him instead.
"You know the Flakkar cannot be found by Looking," King Baltis of the Dark Elemaiya complained. "How will we determine how successful this venture is?"
"By checking the devastation instead," Narval smiled maliciously. "I have already done this only this morning. The first world has lost a quarter of their population already. The second has suffered even more losses." Friesianna and Baltis both Looked, they knew which worlds were seeded with Flakkar. Narval had bent time greatly to gather the nesting pairs from known worlds destroyed by Flakkar. And then, with the help of the Elemaiya, his kind had spread the starving creatures across vulnerable worlds, sending them through gates located on those worlds while the Elemaiya held the gates open. The creatures were easy enough to capture; starving Flakkar on devastated worlds dropped their shields—they had no strength to maintain them.
"Very nice," Baltis complimented Narval's efforts. Being of the Dark Elemaiya, he reveled in death at times. Friesianna was less comfortable with it, but felt it necessary to accomplish her goals.
"Good," she nodded instead. "The Ka'Mirai should be ours soon. I will draft the demand."
"No, we will draft our demand; we share in this, remember?" Baltis growled at Friesianna, his words causing her to go cold. Baltis had his own designs on the Ka'Mirai. Who knew what he might ask to change with her Power? Friesianna hid her shudder.
* * *
"Lissa, we want you to come for dinner," Merrill folded into my bedroom while I was wrapped in a fluffy robe and drying my hair with a towel. A bath had been a necessity after taking out Flakkar earlier.