Elf Boy's Friends

Elf-Boy's Friends 32

The Northlands

by George Gauthier

[The further adventures of characters from the novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends']

Chapter 1. Delvers

The Corps of Discovery planned to traverse the Hot Lands by stages, stopping at three more of the nine oases strung out along the trade route that ran from the border of the Commonwealth to the ridge that marked the northern edge of the Hot Lands. At each stop Jemsen would delve for minerals.

Jemsen knew that he would have time for only a preliminary geological survey at each stop. So before he left on his survey he conferred with Dayyub and recommended that the Medkari recruit their younger delvers, those of apprentice and journeyman rank and send them to the Institute of Wizardry and Magic back at the capital of the Commonwealth for professional training.

These younger delvers, being in their teens and early twenties, both youths and young ladies, would be of a more flexible mindset than their elders. And since these younglings had already mastered the basics of delving for water, their training would be expedited.

Jemsen explained that the course of study the Medkari cohort would undertake would cover all of the earth sciences including geology, mineralogy, soil science, and seismology. The Institute did not charge tuition. Instead it was supported by an annual government grant plus operating funds drawn from its endowment which was continually augmented by bequests from former students and gifts from living well-wishers.

With Commonwealth training, the Medkari delvers would be able to do more with their gift. Instead of using it just occasionally to locate sites for drilling artesian wells at new oases or finding the best building sites for their underground dwellings, they could search for minerals like cinnabar and antimony and feldspar under the Hot Lands. A proper survey would take decades, providing all of them with a career. As Jemsen explained:

"I expect some of your young delvers are actually earth wizards who can use magic to bring ore bodies or at least sample right to the surface for easy mining. Also with delvers raising ore bodies to the surface your miners would never be in danger of the kinds of accidents that can happen when tunneling through the earth, something which we ourselves witnessed early in our expedition when we helped save dwarves trapped by a cave-in at a tin mine."

Dayyub nodded:

"Revenue from mines would let the Medkari purchase manufactures from the Commonwealth."

"Like autogyros!" Raqqub enthused.

The young headman was a fetcher of moderate power and had flown with both the yoke and a rigid gliding wing imported from the Commonwealth by which he flew long distance past the large salt lake to the north all the way to the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea to visit family. And after Drew took him up for a couple of flights in his racer, he wanted an autogyro of his own in the worst way.

Dayyub smiled at the young man's enthusiasm.

"Or more prosaic items like the solar stoves which let us cook without fuel and the insulated boxes which let us chill food with ice made by our firecasters, iced-cream makers, and even clever new toys for the children. And yes, autogyros would indeed be useful. If we built an airfield halfway across the Hot Lands it would support not only our own machines but also postal autogyros to speed the mail from the Commonwealth to the lands to the north. And eventually we might start passenger service as well."

"Just how long would our students be away?" Dayyub asked.

"No more than six months, Dayyub and maybe as little as four. That's not so very long, is it?"

"It's not how long they would be away, my friend, but whether they would all still want to return here to the Hot Lands after seeing the bright lights of the big city."

"You have a point," Jemsen conceded, "but in my experience country folk often find the city is not for them, and six months or even four is long enough for boys and girls to get homesick."

"I suppose we can only trust them and hope they make the right decision at the end of their training. Anyway, where would they live, and how much would that cost?"

Jemsen explained that the students would reside at a dormitory on the grounds of the Institute which could host as many as fifty students at any one time and seldom had much more than half that many. As for living expenses, there was usually a modest charge for room and board. However these expenses could be waived and covered by a bursary.

"I am not sure we Medkari should accept charity, however well intended."

"Not charity. We consider bursaries to be an investment in the future which will likely be repaid many times over in bequests and donations to the endowment of the Institute. Also consider that a fully trained cohort of delvers will doubtless open up a trade in minerals beneficial to both our countries."

"Can you be sure our students will be awarded bursaries?"

"Count on it. Bursaries are awarded on on the recommendation of those well thought of at the Institute. It just so happened that the Sir Willet, the dean of the Institute of Wizardry is a mentor to Drew, Liam, and Axel as well as the twins. Drew is the dean of the fetchers and the editor of their professional journal `Magic.' He is also good friends with Sir Angus Mcfadden the head of the Institute of Magic. Drew, Axel and the twins are themselves generous donors to the Institute. Finally the recommendation of a Dread Hand of the Commonwealth cum avatar of a thunder god carries great weight."

"Yes, I can see that. One more thing. It is a very long journey to the capital of the Commonwealth..."

Before he could continue Axel shook his head.

"Not far at all if I Jump them there."

"All right. You have persuaded me. I'll send out word via our infrasound messaging network and have our students ready for pickup at their oases in, shall we say, ten days' time?"

"Fine. We'll collect them in the transport aerocraft as we fly back from the northernmost oasis where the rest of our party is laying over. That way the flight to Amity will give them an overview of the whole of the Hot Lands. After we get to Amity, Axel can teleport them in an instant to the capital."

And so it was settled.

Once again Dayyub reflected on how lucky his people were to have such good neighbors and friends as the Commonwealth in general and these fine young people in particular. And who knew what mineral wealth lay beneath their feet?

Dayyub had always known that the few delvers the Medkari had were specialists trained mostly exclusively in locating underground aquifers and streams. (Delving building sites was much easier so required little training.) Their gift allowed them to tell the drillers what kinds of soil and rock to expect at depth and how far down they had to sink their shafts. Locating profitable ore bodies had always been beyond their training and experience but not beyond their capabilities according to Jemsen.

Jemsen had explained that though an earth wizard might locate bodies of iron ore and copper and raise them to the surface, the mining of bulk metals like iron and copper would never become a major industry in the Hot Lands, not without a goodly supply of water for the mine. Nor did the Medkari have a way to ship heavy loads long distances. There were no iron roads or rivers or canals in that arid region of mostly short grass prairie. Nor were there markets or customers close enough to ship to.

The Medkari should look to develop an export trade in lighter minerals. There were significant deposits of cinnabar located around alkaline hot springs. That mineral could be processed into elemental quicksilver or into the brilliant pigment called vermillion which would fetch good prices anywhere. Similarly certain compounds of the metal antimony were an important ingredient in cosmetics.

Came the day, and Liam flew the transport autogyro to Amity with all five student delvers aboard who were to have some final words from Dayyub. Two of the students were brother and sister, good looking red-heads about seventeen. Beside the sibling there were another girl and two more boys all of them a year or two older. Needless to say the eager kids were just bubbling with enthusiasm.

Clearing his throat to get their attention Dayyub told them:

"You five are about to embark on the first great adventure of your young lives. It will be a formative experience both professionally and personally. Now you will be away from home without any chaperone other than your companions. So look out for each other. We expect you to work hard to learn as much as you can of delving and the geological sciences. But a focus on your studies doesn't mean you should not have fun too. This is your time, the juices are flowing, so it is only natural that you enjoy yourselves and perhaps find boyfriends or girlfriends.

At this point, the three males among the five shook their heads and said in union,

"Forget girlfriends. Bring on those boyfriends!"

The red-head's sister rolled her eyes: "Boys!"

Dayyub chuckled. Young Medkari males often dallied with those of their own gender till it was time to marry and settle down which virtually all of them did. Among the Medkari the family wasn't just a social unit, it was the smallest practical economic unit as well.

The red-head turned to Axel and asked it were true that boys in the Commonwealth ran around in public without a stitch on. Axel explained that, yes it was true, with nudity taboos virtually non-existent, young males always exercised in the nude whether on the running tracks in the parks, at swimming pools, or while playing games on the grass like tossing the Zinger. And few males bothered with clothing for any kind of sweaty work.

"All students are expected to take part in physical training to keep themselves fit. So you too could find yourself running around in public bare ass naked."

The red-head shrugged.

"Not a problem. It will be a relief to get out of these long robes which we adopted to deal with the hot dry climate here not because we are body shy. Back where we came from, the shores and islands of a large freshwater lake, boys often run around in the nude. And even in the hot lands you will frequently see nude Medkari boys swimming in one of the recreational pools in the center of the oasis."

"And not so incidentally showing their sexy bodies off to potential boyfriends." His sister observed. "Their rambunctious grab-ass wrestling and dunking is just thinly disguised foreplay, if the truth were known."

"Now sis, come clean. It's not just potential boyfriends who ogle our sexy bodies. The girls' clubhouse has a clear view of the boys' pool. Did you really think we boys didn't know about those far-viewer tubes you girls keep handy for a discreet look-see."

His sister blanched at the realization that her sisterhood's supposedly covert surveillance of naked boys was common knowledge.

"It's so unfair," the girl complained. "Around the shores of the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea boys hardly bother with clothing. The older generations of girls didn't have to sneak peeks the way we do now that boys hide their bodies under those robes."

Dayyub's and Raqqub's eyes twinkled with merriment.

"A word of advice about boyfriends." Axel interjected. "There are cute guys everywhere in the capital, but the very best place for you to meet them is in Twinkle Town."

"Twinkle Town?" the red-headed boy asked.

Axel nodded:

"Named for the twinks who are its chief denizens Twinkle Town is a district or rather a cluster of dining, drinking, and dancing establishments favored by males who fancy pretty boys and by pretty boys who favor being fancied. You'll fit right in."

"You bet I will!"

Dayyub gave each of the students a pouch of silvers to cover incidentals during their stay. The oldest boy also got a letter of credit for contingencies.

With their carryalls in their left hands, the five stacked their right hands atop Axel's who instantly jumped them to the capital and made the introductions. Sir Willet took the students in tow and got them settled. Over kaffay and cakes with his mentor, Axel brought him up to date on the activities of the Corps of Discovery.

Afterwards, Axel went over to the Bureau of Ships and found Eike was testing his latest invention at the naval proving grounds, something of a misnomer since it was really a small lake. Eike was standing at the end of a pier, his attention fixed out on what was happening in the water so he was unaware of Axel's approach.

The young naval architect was barefoot and wore only a skimpy loincloth, a panel of buckskin passed between the legs with the ends flipped over a thong tied low around his narrow hips. For Eike, a boy who had spent five years stark naked as a castaway, that was practically formal wear.

Standing on a pier and intent on what was happening on the water, Eike was unaware of his friend's approach till Axel deliberately scuffed his feet on the planks. Eike spun around, exclaimed happily, then threw himself into Axel's embrace.

They made a cute couple.

Slightly built, slender, and smooth muscled with blond hair the color of corn-silk, Eike looked to be no more than sixteen though he was nineteen going on twenty. He would stay that way for centuries thanks to druidical healing magic. Far prettier than any boy rightly ought to be, Eike had a flawless complexion and fine boned features including a broad brow that hinted at his intellect, high cheekbones, a straight nose, plus subtly pointed ears and chin which gave him an elfin appearance, Large green eyes were set wide apart under finely arched brows, their lashes too long to have ever have been meant for a male.

Axel was of an age with Eike, along with Corwin Klarendes, they were the youngest of their circle. Unlike Eike and Corwin, Axel was a red head with hair the color of copper. Short, slightly built and boyishly cute, with fair skin, his face was dominated by large green eyes set over heart-melting dimples.

"It's been too long, Axel."

"Only a few weeks, but I know what you mean. Anyway what is this new invention of yours?"

Eike had created an anti-ship weapon which he called a torpedo. Made of wood and steel, tubular in shape with a blunt streamlined cap, it was two feet in diameter and ten feet long.

"It neither sinks nor rises maintaining neutral buoyancy by balancing water ballast against the buoyancy of an air tank. A fetcher stationed on a mother ship can push it along at the surface or even underwater for a stealthy approach to its target. When it hits, the incendiaries in the warhead go up with a whoosh and set the vessel on fire with flames that cannot be doused by water It can also be used against piers and docks. And as with my autogyros, it does not take a really strong fetcher to push the torpedo through the water. Which means, as the admiral likes to say, you don't need a thunder god to deliver shock and awe."

"How will this help us in our war against the trolls?"

"It won't. It's a weapon for combat at sea, whether the Great Inland Freshwater Sea and some day even the outer ocean. Admiral Van Zant wants to get the Navy ready for the next war before it starts."

"The next war? Against whom?"

"Who knows? In this tempestuous world of ours there is always going to be a next war."

"Such cynicism does not become you, Eike."

"I'm not cynical at all, Axel, but I am a realist."

"The difference being?"

"A cynic believes that people are selfish and motivated purely by self-interest, that they never act for honorable or generous reasons. As a realist I know that is simply not true, that there are plenty of good people in this world who often act for honorable or unselfish reasons. People like yourself and our friends. But as a realist I also know that not everyone is a good person. Sometimes you have to fight the bad guys. That is why we have an army and a navy in the first place."

"I can't argue with that."

"Anyway, what have you guys been up to on your grand expedition?"

"Why don't you wind this up and knock off early? We can head over to Twinkle Town for some food and fun, and I can tell you about our adventures to date. You'll read the details soon enough in the Capital Intelligencer. I dropped off Drew's reports at their office before I came over. And more good news: I plan to spend the night here before jumping back to the Hot Lands."

"Excellent. We are almost done here anyway. But before we leave what say we go for a swim?"

"After the Hot Lands the lake water sure looks tempting. As do you yourself, Eike, running around in next to nothing like that."

"Next to nothing? I can do better than that!"

Suiting his actions to his words, Eike loosed the knot of his thong at his hip and let the loincloth fall to the planks rendering him entirely naked.

"Your turn."

Axel was so eager to get his clothes off he fumbled with the buttons. In frustration he tugged the last one off by main strength, though he was conscientious enough to stick it in a pocket. Once Axel was naked, the boys embraced warmly then dove into the water.

What ensued was more like foreplay than normal grab-ass water sports as the eager boys wrestled and dunked each other. Drawing Axel to the shelter of a stand of reeds along the shore, the boys clambered up on the bank and made love right then and there under the open sky.

By then Eike's assistants and the fetcher who had operated the torpedo had long since absented themselves, taking the torpedo with them, giving the lovers the privacy they needed to fully express the passionate love they felt for each other. For the next hour the lovers joined their bodies as lusty lads will, in a tangle of limbs and thrusting hips, hungry kisses, heavy petting, and words of love and less articulate sounds expressive of their joint passion.

Later they had dinner in Twinkle Town at the Sign of the Whale and spent the night making love in their suite of rooms in their residential hotel. The next morning Axel teleported himself back to Amity.

Chapter 2. The Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea

The next day,as their autogyros soared high above the border of the Hot Lands, Jemsen looked back from Finn's aerocraft at the nine oases strung out like pearls along the line of the trade road which continued northwards to connect with the territories beyond the Hot Lands.

"You know Karel, I was pretty much left out of the fight against the locusts. There was not much an earth wizard can do to against a cloud of bugs. So I was glad that by sponsoring students for training in delving I too could contribute to the well-being of our friends the Medkari. They are good people."

"Yes they are. You're not such a bad sort yourself, dear brother." Karel said ruffling his twin's hair.

"I am glad that on our mission we have been able to make a positive contribution to the lives of those we have encountered along the way. First they were the folks at that river town suddenly left high and dry when a bank of clay slumped and dammed the flow. Then there were the dwarfs trapped in the mine. And now our Corps of Discovery has helped the Medkari in two different ways."

"Right. And we are just getting started on our explorations. I look forward to what lies ahead of us, especially with you and all our friends along to share our adventures with. I gotta admit that life is looking pretty good these days. The war against the trolls now seems very far away and a long time ago."

"Good. And I think that it is especially true for Axel, in case you haven't noticed."

"I have. Axel is almost his old self again. He is such a sweet kid, isn't he."

"He is that and more. Our Axel is one of the finest people you could ever meet."

Karel nodded, then with a mischievous grin on his face added:

"Did you notice how sleepy Axel was this morning? You would think he hadn't gotten a full night's sleep last night even though he slept in his own bed at home back in the capital."

"I can't imagine why that might have happened." Jemsen said dryly.

With that the twins resumed their aerial survey of the terrain below, making preliminary terrain sketches which would help them draft maps later on.

Late that afternoon the salt lake Dayyub had spoken of came into view. It lay in an endorheic basin, meaning that it had no outlet but maintained its size, within modest fluctuations, by balancing evaporation against the inflow from an intermittent river, flash floods, groundwater seepage, and direct precipitation.

The Corps of Discovery stopped briefly and were told by the manager that the Medkari installation was an outpost of the colony in the Hot Lands. Workers harvested salt from evaporation pans built at the southern end and transported it to both the Hot Lands and the Medkari settlements around the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea.

The country north of the salt lake Lands was higher in elevation so it got more rain. Short grass prairie yielded to tall grass prairie which supported a cattle industry. Roads radiating from a palisaded settlement piqued their curiosity. They landed and were told that the wall encircled the headquarters of no less than six ranches, whose lands were outlined by the radial roads. The concentration of homes and bunk houses, barns, storehouses, and corrals made it easier to protect everyone from bandits, raiders, or rustlers. In the event of an incursion a reaction force of militia could quickly form up and ride out to confront the threat.

One of the ranchers told Finn that quarterly cattle drives to slaughter houses near the lesser Inland Freshwater Sea supplied beef to the Medkari colony around its shores. Invited to stay overnight, the explorers were treated to the best beef dinner anyone had eaten in a long time.

The next day, as the flew northward the scene changed from tall grass prairie to a tropical dry forest of teak and mountain ebony, also called the orchid tree for its beautiful flowers. Both species were deciduous in the dry season, when they dropped their leaves to conserve moisture. Trees on better watered sites and those whose roots were able to tap ground water were likely to be evergreens like the showy flame-of-the-forest.

Finally the travelers reached the body of water the Medkari called the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea.

Cradled by a range of hills to the east and south and roughly trapezoidal in shape with the short side to the east, it stretched one-hundred ten miles at its greatest dimension south to north and forty miles west to east. The indented shoreline featured peninsulas, bays, coves, inlets, and canals. An archipelago filled much of the southern zone near the mouths of the three rivers which emptied into the lake. At the northern end a gallery forest marked the course of the lake's only outlet, an rocky creek whose waters ultimately drained into the northern ocean.

The lake waters teemed with fish mostly introduced by the settlers centuries earlier with the help of a druid who had ensured an ecological balance of plants and animals. Fish also abounded in the tributary rivers and were also raised in fishponds while huge flocks of aquatic birds nested in the marshes and many islands, only the largest of which were inhabited.

The farmers lived in villages strung along the river valleys. Crops grew in the fertile bottomlands which were never built upon. The higher ground was devoted to roads, vineyards, orchards, and workshops while houses either stood on piles over the water or floated on the water. Fishing villages lined the lakeshore and were set on some of the larger islands as well.

The inhabitants were Medkari but their way of life was not at all like that of their friends back in the Hot Lands. These folk depended on rainfall agriculture and on fishing and light manufactures to provide their livelihoods rather than irrigated farming and trade. These Medkari did not use draft animals or mounts except for external trade. Practically everywhere was accessible by water. Boats propelled by oar or sail were everywhere, their crews wearing only the skimpiest of loincloths and often nothing at all. No long robes for these Medkari.

Dayyub always said that it was their adaptability which had allowed the Medkari to settle distinctly different lands scattered around the continent, always in unclaimed lands without threatening neighbors. Each enclave or colony was independent of the others but link by bonds of kinship, culture, and language plus a diplomatic alliance for mutual defense.

The language of the Medkari was virtually impossible for outsiders to master with its many homonyms differing only in tonal values and hard to articulate consonant clusters. However, of necessity all Medkari learned the common language of Valentia and were fluent in what for them amounted to their second tongue.

The autogyro attracted everyone's attention as the Corps of Discovery flew along the shore and out over the lake and the fishing fleet some of which seemed to be propelled by fetchers rather than by sail or oars. Obviously none of these folk had ever seen a flying machine, but that did't mean that none of them could fly.

A young fetcher strapped to a short yoke designed only for flight not for carrying a load flew up to meet the visitors and directed the Corps of Discovery to a sizable town built at the mouth of one of the tributary rivers, the buildings were strung out along the distributaries and canals rather than clustering in a densely built up center.

As the autogyros settled to the ground, the fetcher dropped down next to them. He was a fine looking sandy-haired youngster with hazel eyes, no more than seventeen. Standing just under middling height and with a slender build smooth musculature he had delicate features including finely arched brows. The boy was comely enough to give Drew or Axel or any of the other twinks in their party a run for his money.

Unlike most of the fisher men and boys in the boats who were nude, he was dressed, if you can call in that, in a pair of square-cut low-rise short shorts made of white silk which contrasted nicely with his tawny skin. Bronzed from constant exposure to the sun his skin was smooth and wholly free from body hair, much like an elf, though this boy's heritage was entirely human.

"We come in peace" Finn called out as his autogyro rolled to a stop in little more than their own length.

"Then in peace we welcome you, we the Medkari of the the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea. My name is Kyle."

"And I am Finn Ragnarson. No offense young Kyle, but you hardly look old enough to speak for your people. Not that I find anything displeasing about your looks. Far from it." Finn added with a wink which brought a saucy grin to Kyle's pretty face.

"Oh, I am not our spokesman. That duty falls to my uncle Farhad who is our senior headman. I work for him as a messenger boy. I can run like the wind and fly too, which is why he tasked me to bring you to him. Now where you set down is as good a place as any. Your machines and effects should be safe enough left here. So if you will all follow me. You can make the introductions when we get to the Assembly."

By this time the other members of the expedition had gathered around Finn so they joined him and their guide for the short walk through town along streets clearly restricted to pedestrians and push carts and graced with a line of shade trees down the middle.

"What kind of pavement are we walking on?" Jemsen asked.

"Rectangular blocks of teak sunk perpendicularly into the sandy soil and bonded together with a paste more akin to an organic glue than a mineral-based mortar. It provides a hard smooth surface that lasts forever. The roadway does get slippery in the rain, but that is better than mud."

Many of the buildings were built of bamboo though the more substantial ones were framed in the local teak. Regardless they were airy structures whose shaded porches, decks, and verandas showed that these folks like to sit and socialize out in the open in the fresh air rather than behind walls.

Kyle led them to one of the few two storied structures in the center of a town where would be met by the town's headman. The walk gave the travelers a good look at Kyle's bum, outlined so revealingly by the shorts which molded themselves around and barely covered his pert buns which twitched fetchingly as he walked ahead of them.

"I think I am falling in love!" Drew declaimed with only half-feigned fervor. This Medkari youth really appealed to him.

"Hands off, Drew." Finn warned in mock jealously. "I saw the boy first."

Kyle turned and grinned at their banter. "You guys won't have to contend for my favors. I am not exclusive that way. As anyone around here can tell you I am quite the social butterfly."

"They say that about me too." Drew remarked grinning. "It's fitting that we have that in common too, beside our magical gift, our pretty boy good looks, and our obvious attraction to each other."

That provoked the twins to roll their eyes while Finn shook his head at his auburn haired friend's brazenness.

When the reached the Hall of the Assembly, Kyle unstrapped his harness and hung his flying yoke on pegs just inside the doorway. He walked over to a lanky man of early middle years who was standing across the room studying a large map of the region hung on the wall. Comfortably dressed in a dark green sarong and buckskin vest with sandals on his feet, the man slipped the small magnifying glass he had been using into a pocket of his vest as Kyle said:

"Uncle -- I mean Headman Farhad -- this is Finn Ragnarson and his party from the Commonwealth. I didn't get all their names so they will have to introduce themselves."

Finn made the introductions. The headman nodded and acknowledged having read of their exploits in Drew's best sellers. The Medkari imported printed books of all sorts from the Commonwealth for their lending libraries.

"Gentleman welcome to the Vale of Asshur, as we call this land around the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea. Your fame proceeds you, and your reputations reassure me as to your good intentions. What can we Mekdari do for you?"

"We are on an expedition to explore the northern regions of the continent. Most recently we stopped at the Hot Lands where we lent a hand against a plague of locusts. I think these letters from Dayyub and young Raqqub will explain things."

After the headman had read the letters he smiled.

"You come well recommended, especially after what you did to save our oases in the Hot Lands. Dayyub has the respect of all Medkari, and young Raqqub was the very first of us to learn to fly with a yoke. He is entirely self-taught by the way having got the idea from your first visit. Raqqub taught several of our younger fetchers to fly including my nephew here."

"Now as to arrangements, let me extend to you the hospitality of the largest tavern in town of which I am the proprietor."

Finn shook his head. "We certainly appreciate your offer, but it is only right that we pay our way. The expense of lodgings is negligible to us since we are all quite wealthy. Well maybe not the elf-boy."

"Definitely not." Dylan clarified. "Not that I am complaining. I get by just fine on my salary as a forest ranger."

"Ah, and you would be this elf-boy Dylan who wants to train under our beast master Padraig. I shall send for him."

"Why don't you all get settled in. My staff will be happy to exchange your gold coins for our local coinage in orichalcum to facilitate purchases around town. Let's plan to meet again before the evening meal with an assembly of local notables plus the Beast Master Padraig. You can tell us how you help defeat the plague of locusts and of your adventures of your Corps of Discovery so far and where you plan to go from here. Kyle will see to the arrangements."

"Now just let me scribble the names of those I'd like you to meet."

Pulling a small pad from another pocket of his vest and a pencil, he wrote down a dozen names.

"There you go Kyle. First see to the visitors then the conferees."

"You got it uncle." Kyle said cheerily. "Now gentlemen, if you will follow me, it is this way.

While Kyle arranged for their accommodations and took them around to their rooms Drew chatted him up, clearly smitten by the sexy young fetcher.

"I love those white shorts you are wearing, Kyle. While baring most of the body, they cover just enough to preserve a sense of mystery while hinting at what lies beneath the thin fabric. I'd like to buy a couple of pair while I am here."

Kyle's square-cut shorts rode low on his hips, had less than an inch of inseam, and were split a third of the way up the sides. More of a fashion accessory than a garment, they left just enough to the imagination to tantalize the onlooker.

"No problem. Tomorrow I'll show you the best places to shop for everything."

"Kyle isn't a Medkari name, is it?"

"No, it is the name of a famous druid, an elf who helped us settle these lands centuries ago. Every generation each village christens a boy with that name to keep the druid's memory alive. We Medkari cherish those who have aided us like the druid in the distant past and now the Commonwealth."

"No long robes on anyone. No clothes at all on many of the young males in the fishing fleet or in the streets. Why is that Kyle? Inspired by this elven druid?"

"Actually we don't bother with clothes much for the same reason that the elves and the younger males of the Commonwealth don't -- namely a tropical climate with a lot of rain except during the dry season. Unlike with the giants or dwarves who live in chilly if not downright cold climes, young Medkari males get by just fine going around skin clad or in skimpy shorts, which for us constitute formal wear."

"Practicality aside, you rather like the chance to show off that trim and taut body you have so recently grown into and are so proud of. Isn't that right?"

"Only too true. Most of the time I go around starkers. The truth of the matter is that I am a shameless showoff. Gosh, does that make me a bad person?"

Drew smiled.

"No, not in my book. It makes you a boy after my own heart."

Chapter 3. Teachers

The Corps of Discovery returned to the Assembly Hall that afternoon to meet with the elders of the Medkari, at least the dozen of them who lived close by. More than half were men but a good third were women. Farhad explained that in their regular quarterly sessions they numbered nearly eighty. Each town and each major island sent a representative to make their laws and to talk over common concerns like trade and foreign policy. Otherwise the local jurisdictions pretty much ran their own affairs.

"Ours is a loose form of government that suits our pattern of scattered and strung out settlements. It helps that we don't have enemies on our borders so we don't need an army just a militia plus a constabulary, courts, and registries for land and births, that sort of thing."

"How many people live around the the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea?" Finn asked.

"Our folk number four-hundred thousand scattered in seventy settlements on the mainland plus a couple of dozen inhabited islands. That is actually quite a large population for the amount of arable land available in the river bottoms with their alluvial soil. Which is why we depend so much on orchards laid out on the high ground which furnish tree crops like nuts, fruits, and above all the olive whose oil is our greatest export."

The Medkari also mined the mineral chalcedony, which occurred in several varieties of semiprecious stones like onyx, agate, jasper, aventurine, carnelian, and heliotrope. Medkari artificers shaped, polished, and mounted the stones in broaches and rings and pendants for export to surrounding lands. The proceeds helped pay for manufactures from the Commonwealth like solar stoves, books and pencils.

"And then there is fishing. The reason we hold the druid Kyle in such high regard is that he helped us stock the lake with edible fish. You see fish cannot swim upstream, past the rocks and cataracts so the only fish native to the lake were three species of trash fish introduced accidentally by raptor birds. The druid fixed that so we would have a sustainable fishery."

"At Kyle's direction we built artificial reefs in sections making it easy for our fetchers to drop into place. You can see their locations marked in purple on the map on that wall. The reefs provide shelter for prey species while we fish for the predators higher up the food chain."

"More than in most nations, Medkari are likely to be fetchers like my nephew," Farhad continued, with a nod to the nearly nude boy standing unselfconsciously in a room where everyone else was fully clothed and mostly shod.

"The fisherman who are fetchers propel their boats telekinetically rather than with sails or oars. In emergencies their speed helps us muster our militia from the islands and around our shores. Not that we face serious threats, though fierce predators roam the surrounding forests."

Finn explained the mission of the Corps of Discovery then outlined their adventures so far. They had already read the letters from Dayyub and Raqqub that Farhad had passed around.

A lady councillor put a hand to Kyle's shoulder and asked:

"Since you plan to spend some time with us, I wonder whether your pilots would be willing to teach our young fetchers to fly an autogyro?"

"Ma, please! I was fixing to ask Drew Altair myself."

"Ask him when? In pillow talk? I saw the way you two were looking at each other."

Kyle colored, which brought a chuckle from the others while his mother ruffled his hair affectionately.

Finn said that both Drew and Liam would be happy to give flying lessons. He himself would do the same with their masters of magnetism. His offer brought nods from the gathering, pleased at the willingness of the visitors to help them.

Farhad expressed the hope that one day an airfield on the shores of the lake would become an aerial crossroads for the whole northlands. It was certainly well placed for it.

Afterwards they all went over to Headman Farhad's tavern which was actually a complex of buildings: a taproom, a dining hall, bed chambers for travelers, plus a detached residence for the owner and his immediate family. The stables were some little distance away on the edge of town where the odors would be less of a bother.

In back a narrow canal ran past a landing used by customers arriving by boat and also for taking on supplies and removing refuse. A dung boat stopped by after hours to transport night soil to a local disposal facility where it would be incinerated after daybreak in a solar furnace.

One section of rooms at the inn was reserved for assignations with the tavern's three wine boys. who included Kyle, the only wine boy who lived on the premises though in his uncle's residence in a room entirely separate from those reserved for trysts.

"My folks live all the way across town which is why I live here with my uncle and not with them."

"Do wine boys here work in the nude as in the Commonwealth?"

"Of course. That is why I usually don't bother with shorts or a sarong. After all I am naked at work, in bed, at the table, and for fun and exercise. I mean who would think to wear clothes to run or swim or wrestle or throw around the Zinger."

"So the Gemini Zinger has reached even this out of the way corner of the world."

"It has, though I am not sure what the Gemini part of its name is all about."

"Gemini is an obscure reference to twins. And yes, I do mean those twins."

"Really? The famous twins Jemsen and Karel. Who knew?"

Kyle explained that he planned to work as a wine boy for the next few years, long enough to acquire the capital to start a passenger and air freight business.

"I've been able to set aside most of what I earn what with not having any living expenses to speak of. I have quite a decent income, I dare say since I am very much in demand, thank you, in part because a fetcher can make love in ways that defy gravity, so my dance card fills up fast every evening I am on duty."

"Do you really have so many travelers coming by the inn?"

"No. Most of the trade is locals. Even after marriage guys occasionally hanker for an romp with a cute boy, as a change of pace and as a memory of the joys of their youth. Fortunately their wives do not see a tryst with a rent boy as a threat to their marriages, not like taking up with another woman would be. Anyway, I hope you don't think any of the less of me for my less than manly occupation."

"Of course not. In my not so humble opinion manliness is an overrated virtue. Some people have sneered at me for being a boy toy as if there were something wrong with that. I love being a boy toy, and I don't have the least bit of interest in manning up."

"Besides, we are all of us good friends with the wine boys back home at the Sign of the Whale. And would you believe that early in their careers the twins themselves worked as rent boys?"

"Did they really? The famous twins Jemsen and Karel? Wow!"

Meanwhile Dylan and the Beast Master talked about the elf-boy's new gift. Dylan told Padraig that his perceptions were growing more acute though as yet he had no control over animals.

"Control will come soon enough. The gift starts with a psychic awareness of the presence of animate creatures: mammals, birds, reptiles, and even the hive mind of the social insects. In time you will read their thoughts and emotions and later perceive through their senses. Actual control is the last phase in the manifestation of your gift. And before you ask, the process takes about four or five weeks. Since you started a couple of weeks ago, you should come into your full powers within two or three weeks."

"Excellent!"

"That all happens naturally. Where my training can help is to sharpen your perceptions, to help you understand what they tell you, and to increase your strength and control. We'll get started tomorrow and train every morning, leaving you the afternoons and evenings free to explore and socialize. All work and no play and all that..."

"Thank you Master Padraig."

"It is I who should be thanking you son for this opportunity. I am very old, and my powers are on the wane, so I thought I had long since trained my last apprentice. Now you show up and give me yet another chance to pass on my knowledge. It is a good feeling for an old man: to have another chance to be useful."

Indeed, even among the long-lived Medkari who lived to a proverbial seven score and ten, Padraig was ancient. Though his eyes were clear and his mind sharp, his hair was white and he moved slowly and carefully though from stiffness and caution rather than pain. Dylan would find him in the morning just after he had finished a set of slow rhythmic exercises designed to maintain flexibility and balance rather than strength.

"One thing more. Your gift will let you sense shape shifters, even clever ones like that wir wolverine in your company who disguises himself with a tanned skin even though the skin of shape shifters is always a white which neither tans nor burns. He strikes me as a formidable foe in either form, someone you don't want to get on the wrong side of."

"That is true Master Padraig, Madden Sexton is incredibly formidable in combat, as I have seen at close hand, but he is a good friend. He has taken me under his wing and given me wise counsel, and he is the only one in our company who likes me but doesn't fancy me for a tumble. As he always puts it, he consorts exclusively with the female half of the species. With my empathic sense I can vouch for his good heart, despite the fierceness that lurks within."

"Such friendship is priceless, Dylan."

"Now as you travel northward you may encounter wir elves who call themselves snow elves after their coloration. They have alabaster skin and ash blond hair that reaches past their shoulders. They are said to be breathtakingly beautiful and reclusive though not hostile. They prize their independence and peripatetic ways unlike the more sedentary sylvan elves."

"Snow elves with alabaster skin and ash blond hair, eh? I'll certainly keep my eyes peeled for beauties like that, believe me." Dylan assured his mentor.

"And your psychic sense too, young Dylan, but remember this: never try to exert psychic control over a shape shifter even in his animal form. First the attempt itself would be a grave infraction against the ban on compulsion of sentient creatures. Second, it wouldn't work, and the shape shifter would sense the invasion and resent the attempt."

The next morning, right after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, blueberry muffins, and kaffay, Dylan presented himself to his new teacher for his first formal lesson.

"One question Master before we start. Is beast master two words or only one, and should it be capitalized?"

"Either spelling is correct, though I prefer it as two words. I don't see any gain in writing it as a single word. Capitalize the title when addressing a beast master in writing. Otherwise lower case is fine."

With beast master Padraig training meant individual tutoring, self-study, field trips, and practical exercises more than classroom studies. He often hinted or spoke elliptically, expecting or at least encouraging his student to fill in the rest with a burst of insight or intuition. It was the most indirect sort of schooling Dylan had ever known.

"Reach out with your psychic senses, Dylan especially your empathy. Don't perceive only with your eyes, but don't neglect the natural senses that extend beyond your body: sight, sound, and smell. Feel for the minds of the life forms all around and watch them for cues to what they are thinking and feeling."

"As a hunter and forest ranger you already recognize many animal sounds and know whether it is a mating call, an alarm, a hunting cry, or hungry offspring wailing for parents to return to the nest. You can tell whether the animals are disturbed or placid, on the prowl or fearful of a predator. Take a deep breath and identify the various scents in the air. Is that the spoor of an antelope or the stink of a striper. If so, what could have alarmed it?"

Dylan initially thought that was little more than an elaborate way of telling him to keep his eyes and ears and nose open. He had learned that lesson long ago. Still Padraig's techniques of visualization and concentration did help him sharpen both his psychic perception which was already strong from his empathic gift and his natural senses. Within a week he could not only sense animals within his range but even look through their eyes for remote scouting.

What a thrill it was to look through the eyes of a hawk at the ground two hundred feet below then follow the raptor as it dived to snatch up an incautious ferret in its talons and snapped its spine with its cruel beak. Dylan felt a pang at the poor creature's death. Yes he understood that nature was red in tooth and claw, but he was so very fond of ferrets. They were soft and furry and cute and made good pets for country folk despite being even more fond of mischief than house cats.

That got Dylan wondering.

"Can a beast master look through the eyes of another person whether human or elf or giant?" he asked.

"Sometimes, but only if the other person has a considerable degree psychic ability of his own and is willing to share his skull with a visitor. You know that some people cannot see colors at all. To them everything is a monochromatic black, white, and grey. Some special humans and elves can see an extra range of colors no one else can. And if you look through through their eyes, your brain could perceive this marvel as well. The downside is that after you drop the connection and for several days afterwards the everyday world looks rather washed out to you."

"Always respect the animals and be mindful that though you might command them they were not put on the planet merely to be your servants. They have lives and destinies of their own. If necessary the animals will fight for you to the limit of their strength even unto death. Don't waste their lives. In particular don't throw their lives away in a pitched battle against trained troops."

"Don't worry. I'm not likely to fight in pitched battles. I am not a soldier but rather a forest ranger, a civil officer of the state. My foes are fugitives and bandits and outlaws and raiders not soldiers. And many of those we rangers track aren't criminals at all but simple folks who got lost in the woods or maybe sick and injured. We bring them back and reunite them with their families."

"Animals will be the perfect auxiliaries for me in my career both on my regular job as a ranger and for these special missions I go out on these days like against the brontothere poachers and now this expedition. My new gift could not be a better match for who and what I am. I couldn't be happier."

"Remember Dylan that a Beast Master can control mammals and birds and all but the smallest reptiles. Your control over fish will always be weak though you can readily command marine mammals and crocodilians. Forget amphibians like frogs and salamanders and such. As for insects, alas their minds are too dim to really engage with your powers except for the hive mind of the social insects. One more thing. Druids also control plants but your powers are restricted to the animal kingdom."

Dylan's training in controlling animals really got started when Padraig found Dylan gesturing at his calico cat, trying to make her roll over or give him a paw.

"No, no, no, Dylan. Those are tricks a dog might learn but never a cat, not unless he or especially she thinks it is her own idea. More generally do not try to force animals to behaviors that are not in their repertoire. Don't command them to do things they would never dream of doing on their own."

"For instance, you know how druids can take control of elephants which are sometimes called oliphants. One thing such a beast cannot do is jump, not even the least little distance. An elephant, like a brontothere, is too massive to ever get all four feet off the ground at once. So it cannot jump a ditch or a trench that is too wide for the animal to step across or to step into and climb out of. It just won't do it. Similarly don't tell and animal that cannot swim to go jump in the lake."

"OK, but suppose I really need to stop the charge of a rogue elephant who has killed innocents and destroyed half a village and looks likely to continue? How can I drive it over a cliff or into a mire?"

"An enraged animal is difficult to control and subdue. Not impossible but difficult. A group of predators like a pack of wolves or a pride of lines cannot be controlled while they are in a killing frenzy. Either get into their minds early when they are merely stalking their prey or wait till the killing is over. There is no other way, for beast masters anyway. Druids are so strong in magic that none of this matters."

"So just getting the attention of you elephant on a rampage might not be possible. In any event as long as it perceives the cliff or mire for what it is the beast just won't go there. Instead project a reassuring scene into its mind. Make the animal perceive the ground before as firm and level. Then it will charge toward that cliff or mire when you command it."

Padraig's calico cat quickly became Dylan's favorite test subject. She climbed a tree or trotted right over to him when summoned psychically, eager for the tasty treats she knew the elf-boy would give her for the trouble he put her to. She was a friendly feline who often stropped his legs as a signal that she wanted to be petted, chuckled under the chin, and generally made a fuss over.

Back at the landing field the first lessons for the budding aviators among the Medkari came from Axel who used a chalk board to diagram the structure and mechanical workings of the autogyro. He stressed the need for daily inspections and regular maintenance to keep the aerocraft flying safely.

Liam explained the theory and physics of flight including the principle of the airfoil as exemplified not only by the wings but by the rotors as well. An aerocraft could move around any of three axes in motions called pitch, roll, and yaw. In flight it was subject to the forces of gravity, lift, wind resistance, and load. Flight by autogyro was safe because autorotation kept the aerocraft from falling even when no longer under power.

Then came the fun part when the three pilots took their students up for their first flight as passengers. Out of their fifteen students two got airsick and upchucked their breakfast. Soon enough everyone got his "sea legs" under him, as Liam put it, and things went well.

As a fetcher Kyle was one of Drew's students. Since he was strong enough to fly with a yoke, pushing an autogyro was easy as far as magical effort went. Kyle soon learned to develop new habits of flight. A pilot works with his machine, using its aerodynamic properties to rise and turn, not just the brute force of his telekinetic powers. In a sense, the pilot and his autogyro were equal partners in machine mediated flying.

Finn's own students were masters of magnetism who flew by pushing his steel framed autogyro through the sky. One day a mischievous youngster named Willem asked Finn how he would battle a fetcher or a master of magnetism wielding steel spheres like Drew's. Finn told him that he would use his control of the planetary magnetic field to bury them in the earth. Fortunately the youth did not ask how Finn would cope with an attack by something non-magnetic, say a flock of billiard balls which were made of ivory.

The impertinent lad later ask what Finn would do if a powerful master of magnetism took control of his war hammer Mjolnir while it was in flying to a target or returning to his hand. Finn replied that he would simply overpower any miscreant bold enough to try such a tactic.

"Prove it!"

Finn's eyes narrowed, and without warming he flung his hammer at a mountain ebony tree which the boy was standing next to, snapping it in twain. The boy had been caught by surprise but recovered quickly and exerted his magnetic powers to the utmost to keep Mjolnir from flying back into Finn's grasp. He might as well have told the wind to stop blowing.

Finn engaged the planetary magnetic field to overpower the impertinent youth's own magnetic gift. The boy had to watch helpless as the hammer ignored his attempt to control it and flew straight back to its master. Triumphant, Finn raised Mjolnir and called a clap of thunder and a lightning bolt out of a clear sky to strike his hammer. Shouting his war cry:

"By the power of Thor!" he then flung the bolt he had called and blasted a rock a safe distance away from everyone shattering it to shards. The youth paled.

After which Finn shook his head.

"Foolish mortal! Know then that only he who is truly worthy may wield the hammer of Thor!"

To Axel who had witnessed these goings on with eyebrows raised, Finn explained with wink:

"Just staying in character, Axel," he assured the young wizard's aide.

Finn soon realized that young Willem was the most talented pilot among the masters of magnetism. He had an instinctive feel for seat-of-the-pants flying and was willing to let the control surfaces maneuver the autogyro while he just supplied the propulsive power. Much to Willem's surprise, Finn complimented him on his flying in front of the others.

"You really should consider a career in aviation Willem. You have what it takes."

Young Willem wasn't certain how to take that. He thought he had alienated the Frost Giant

"Then you are no longer mad at me?"

"I never really was. I have learned to be indulgent of impertinent youngsters such as yourself having found that character trait is often a hallmark of enthusiasm and spirit. As with a certain auburn-haired imp who travels in my company."

"Hey, I heard that!" Drew called over.

Willem beamed.

None of Liam's students was an impertinent scamp like Willem. They listened soberly to what he told them and dutifully carried out the exercises he set them to.

Though they were not permitted to solo, for their last few flights they did take the pilot's seat in the cockpit with their instructor in the passenger seat. After which, Finn presented them with sets of wings to pin to their breasts. Patterned after those awarded to flyers in the Commonwealth though without its distinctive emblem, they had been made up by a local artificer to Finn's specifications.

At the end of their training Liam got with Axel and worked out a proposal to put to the newly minted flyers. If they really wanted to get into aviation, now was the time. Liam and Axel would finance the venture for a share of the enterprise. The young war wizard told them:

"You boys will have to devise a business plan, hire or go partners with a business manager, and maybe hire some guys who are mechanically inclined to maintain and repair the autogyros. That is if enough of you are not up to that job yourselves."

"Yes and you should write to Raqqub and his friends back in the Hot Lands and ask them to throw in with you." Axel added. Work things out with people whose judgment you trust and be ready with that business plan when we stop by the Vale of Asshur on our way back."

"If we like what you have come up with, Axel and I will return to the capital, consult with our business agent and buy a small fleet of aerocraft, most with bamboo frames and others with steel frames like Finn's. Then Axel will jump them and a shipment of spare parts to Amity and Asshur and you boys will be in business."

"You would really do all that for us?" Kyle asked.

"Understand we are not doing it simply as a personal favor but as a sound business investment" Liam insisted -- not entirely convincingly. His generosity was only too apparent even as Liam insisted:

"Axel and I will be getting in on the ground floor of commercial aviation in a part of the world where only aviation can link the dispersed centers of population."

Liam really was confident that the possibilities were enormous: a fast postal service linking the Commonwealth to all the northern countries, passenger service initially for businessmen but later for tourists, air freight of lightweight cargo like chalcedony jewelry or cochineal dyes, the timely communication of news, and so forth.

With his three centuries of life experience Madden Sexton took the long view of things.

"Small countries like yours need a comparative advantage to be able to engage in commerce to the betterment of all parties. What to export and what to import, and what to make for themselves depends on their resources, talents, and location. Exports don't have to be physical goods. They can be an intangible service like flights to places people want to go. And who better to develop aviation than the Medkari both of Asshur and the Hot Lands. You are in ideal locations and many of your populace are fetchers. With earnings from aviation the Medkari will be able to import manufactures from the Commonwealth and elsewhere."

Finn nodded approvingly. Aviation could only strengthen the ties among the Medkari colonies or enclaves and between the Medkari and the Commonwealth.

One final point remained to be settled.

"And how much of an interest in this new venture would you and Axel take?"

"Fifteen percent."

"Each?"

"No. Fifteen percent all told, half for him and half for me."

The flyers were ecstatic at the prospect of the realization of their dream much earlier than they had ever hoped. Kyle, of course, showed his appreciation in his own inimitable way. So did Willem and another boy.

Chapter 4. The Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea

The twins went to work making copies of the maps the Medkari had drawn not only of the lake region and the Hot Lands but also of lands which lay beyond. The Corps of Discovery would not be flying blind. These copies were not the rough sketch maps and spot elevations and terrain sketch maps which the normally made as they traveled. The Medkari cartographer provided them with his own professional tools so they could produced finished maps.

The only limitations were that the Medkari maps did not use contours based on a geodetic survey but showed relief as hachures and spot elevations. The twins also recorded their observations on the local fauna, fauna, and geology, information which one day might find its way into one or more of their popular field guides.

Kyle made good on his promise to share his charms with everyone in the Corps of Discovery. Only Madden Sexton turned him down. No surprise there. The wir wolverine was one who lay only with the female half of the [human] species.

Kyle could hardly believe in his good fortune at taking to bed such a variety of sexy males: a frost giant, an elf-boy, blond twins, a couple of cute red heads, and a raven haired beauty with a strong upper storey. He couldn't wait to feel those arms around him. In size his lovers ranged from petite to literally gigantic in Finn's case. Equally various were their magical gifts. The group included an avatar of a thunder god; three wizards of war, earth, and air; a fetcher and a jumper. In short, Kyle was on top of the world.

The giant was all top while Drew and Axel were abject bottoms while Dylan, Liam, and the twins could play both roles. Mostly Kyle took them on one at a time but the twins double teamed the insatiable Medkari youth.

It was hard to say which lover excited him most. Finn was supremely masculine, literally impaling Kyle on a prong so prodigious it was a wonder his anal ring could stretch that far. Never had Kyle felt so filled so thrilled and so thoroughly fucked. Finn was so big and strong he could easily lift Kyle's much smaller body into all sorts of sexual positions. Finn liked to fuck a boy while standing up with the boy bent in half, legs thrown over the giant's shoulders while his fundament sank onto Finn's cock.

By contrast, Axel was petite and boyishly cute with fine-boned features and heart-melting dimples. Axel was no stranger to a gravity-defying techniques devised by fetchers for making love. Liam had taught him well. It went even better with Liam. Fetchers might not be able to lift their own naked bodies, but two fetchers could lift each other and turn and position their lovers in all sorts of naughty and improbable ways. You just to be careful not to bump the other guy into the furniture or the walls.

The twins were like a pair of palomino colts who mounted Kyle as if he were their filly and occasionally slapped his rump with a hearty "Giddy-up" for emphasis. Or one of the twins would stretch out and let the filly straddle him and post up and down on his cock as if Kyle were astride a trotting horse. Kyle had done the same with Finn but had never been able to sink all the way down on what really deserved the name horse cock.

And so it went.

Kyle dressed formally in his white short shorts only for flight training. He just felt more secure that way, "girding his loins" as it were, rather than letting it all hang out, whether flying by yoke or autogyro.

Otherwise Kyle went around skin clad like any fisher boy or youth about town. He ran and swam almost every day to the delight of his many friends, neighbors, fans, and clients past and future.

As a wine boy Kyle had a responsibility to keep his body toned and taut to maintain visual appeal to clients and to perform athletically and acrobatically in bed. Habitual nudity was nearly as important aesthetically in letting the sun's rays reach every part of his skin and make it gleam with that bronze shade that signified that here was a boy who was not simply naked at the moment but as a matter of habit. For a wine boy, the two-tone look just would not do.

Finally, the application of depilatories gave the wine boy the smooth glabrous skin of an elf without off-putting body hair even in the usual three places. It did not hurt that being smooth and bare even at the fork of the legs made his manly parts more prominent.

Of course in all this Kyle was motivated more by his own own vanity than by purely occupational reasons.

Kyle grew particularly close to Drew. The boys bonded quickly, finding they had so much in common. The two fetchers could engage in forms of lovemaking that defied gravity and sometimes common sense. Not even a thunder god could match what Drew could do to and with Kyle and vice versa. Their lovemaking was extraordinarily inventive as well as energetic, acrobatic, athletic, and loud.

With a nod from is uncle, Kyle took on the role of tour guide and cultural ambassador. Kyle took them all around town. They got to see the workshops where artisans crafted broaches pendants, and rings out to chalcedony. They went to the fish market where fishmongers and restauranteurs and housewives made their selection from the day's catch. They viewed olives being pressed and joiners making furniture out of teak.

Liam and Axel and Drew all bought a couple of pair of the flattering white short shorts which Kyle wore. On impulse Drew selected a third pair, in a colorful red and yellow pattern. It came with a set of narrow red suspenders or braces as the locals called them which fell from the shoulders, paralleled the boy's well-defined midline, kissed the aureoles of his nipples, and clipped onto the low rise waist band.

Impatient to see how he would look in his new outfit, once he paid for the shorts Drew threw off his expeditionary outfit and put on the shorts and braces and examined his reflection in a full-length mirror. He saw himself as others would see him, a scrumptious studly boy-toy just begging to be courted. The reds of the braces and shorts complemented his auburn locks and the lighter red of his aureoles making for an indescribably sexy look. Drew could hardly wait to step out onto the dance floors of Twinkle Town and strut his stuff.

The twins had been planning to buy silk sarongs to replace their old wraps, alas now grown threadbare, but chose shorts too, color coded of course.

"Shorts are just the thing, Karel for occasions when we cannot be sky clad and do have to wear clothing. I am thinking of sitting down to meals at the the dining room in our residential hotel as well as establishments in Twinkle Town like the Sign of the Whale. And who knows, the five of us just might start a fashion trend back home."

"I quite agree Jemsen. Naturally we cannot wear white but must have them in color coded green and blue. Mmmm, feel the fabric, Karel. The silk is so very smooth it feels like it is caressing the skin. And though it is not sheer, it is thin enough and clingy enough to mold to and to emphasize the shape of the rump and what we have up front."

"Right, Karel. Also the style is very low rise and square cut with an extremely short inseam all of which leaves the torso bared to the hip bones and the legs entirely bare. Which means when we do have to wear clothes we'll be wearing less and baring more of our shapely legs."

"Indeed, long and slender and graced with the sculpted musculature of an athlete or acrobat, what is there not to admire about our legs?"

"Who knew the twins were their own mutual admiration society?" Kyle said in an aside to Drew who shrugged and replied:

"Only everyone who knows them, and I don't mean that critically. Understand Jemsen and Karel aren't just identical twins, they are lovers, soul mates, life-bonded, comrades in arms, and each other's best friend. Yet they still have enough room in their hearts for lovers and friends. I count myself lucky to be one of them."

Everyone murmured agreement including Madden Sexton. He might be the only one in the Corps of Discovery who did not fancy the twins for a tumble, but he could admire their youthful male beauty in an aesthetic sense. Slender, blond, clean-limbed, toned, taut, and tanned the twins were like a pair of palomino colts exuding good health and sex appeal.

The Medkari not only lived around the lake they played in its waters, on its surface, and even underwater. Besides swimming and sailing and rowing, everyone swam recreationally though the young females usually went off by themselves. The younger males had no such inhibitions and were happy to display the trim taut bodies they were so proud of.

At one spot a half-a-dozen thin naked younger boys were jumping and diving into the water where a low bluff looked out over a deep spot. The bluff made a fine jumping-off point. After the boys splashed into the water they swam to where the ground sloped down to the shore and clambered out of the water only to run up the trail that led back to the top of the bluff.

The boys shouted back and forth and joked and laughed and carried on as boys will, clearly having a grand time. And why not? What boy does not like to jump and run and climb and swim in the company of his friends?

"Those lads seem happy and healthy enough though still skinny from their growth spurt." Axel observed.

"Yes," Dylan agreed, but they would have a lot more fun if they knew how to dive properly instead of just landing in the water boulder style."

"So? Show them how it is done." Axel challenged. "Just as you did with me and the twins."

Which was just what Dylan proceeded to do. At first the boys were skeptical but were soon impressed by Dylan's athleticism and style, not to mention his physical beauty. Dylan demonstrated several graceful dives popular among the elves in his home vale. In one he stretched his arms out wide like the wings of a swan before closing his arms and knifing into the water. In another he did a forward somersault in the air, and in another he bent forward in mid air, hands reaching for his toes only to straighten out at the last second and slice cleanly into the water, feet slipping under the surface last.

"Now that is what I call diving!"

Kyle turned to Drew and remarked dryly:

"And here I'd thought we two were the shameless showoffs of the bunch."

The boys insisted that Dylan train them to dive as he did. Anyone could see that fancy dives like those were splendid ways to show off the beauty and athleticism of the male form. Okay so maybe the sport of diving owed as much to sex appeal as to athletics, but it was a hell of a lot of fun and a great way to meet new friends and catch the eye of potential suitors.

With the help of the twins whom Dylan had tutored in diving years earlier soon after they met, the Medkari kids quickly got the hang of it. All they needed from that point was practice.

One popular sport and also a way to travel short distances over water was to stand on a pointed board and propel yourself with a paddle. Fetchers of course could just push it along telekinetically. Upright posture put one's physique totally on display and visible from all angles. This was one of Kyle's favorite diversions, shameless showoff that he was.

Drew and Liam joined in, wielding the paddles only for balance. Kyle challenged his fellow fetchers to a race. As the most powerful fetcher Drew expected to win but came in last. It was Kyle who came in first due to his long experience on the board. Liam came a close second thanks to better "sea legs" than his city boy competitor, a landlubber if there ever was one.

Another sport was hanging on to a swim board while propelling it telekinetically. A fetcher could zoom across the surface of the water as fast as he could run on land. The boards had extra handholds for passengers so everyone joined in the fun with all three fetchers, Kyle, Drew, and Liam, providing the propulsive power. Even Finn and Madden Sexton stripped down and plunged in to take part.

Using swim boards, the members of the Corps of Discovery joined Kyle in diving to explore one of the artificial reefs the Medkari had built. Kyle had brought along several pair of goggles like those used by divers for fresh water pearls. The goggles let them see clearly underwater. As a shape shifter Sexton didn't need goggles. Instead he grew a nictating membrane over his eyes which served the same purpose.

They plunged forty feet down to watch the smaller fish as they darted into holes at the approach of a predator. Schools of shiny fish swam through the water column in a synchronized ballet. On the bottom were sessile organisms including fresh water corals which used the artificial reef as a substrate to build upon. One day the living reef might reach the surface but the top was still fifteen feet down.

The waters of the Lesser Inland Freshwater Sea held no threats. Nothing in the lake could harm a human. The largest fish ran to only thirty or forty pounds. There were no toothy reptiles like those which lurked everywhere in the Amazon Basin. No poisonous water snakes either.

By partnering with a fetcher, anyone could enjoy the sensation of flying underwater by holding on to a swim board while his partner moved the board in three dimensions, diving, turning, even rolling it and them as they traveled underwater for as long as they could hold their breath, a feat everyone could manager for at least three minutes given their high level of fitness and or magical enhancements. The twins especially loved the way the flow of water caressed every part of their bodies at once.

Everyone agreed that underwater exploration was a hell of a lot of fun, the highlight of their stay in the Vale of Asshur.

Kyle also took them to eating places which offered not only fish but also the prime beef which the Medkari raised on the tall grass prairie to the south. It was at one such dinner that Kyle proposed an excursion around the lake. They would stop at various towns, islands, and scenic spots. Dylan was finally free having finished training under Padraig. The elf-boy was now a full-fledged though as yet entirely inexperienced Beast Master.

Before they set off on their excursion their guide told them:

"Don't think you have to dress up on this trip. Save your new shorts for when we meet notables in the bigger towns. Otherwise do what comes naturally to you."

The twins, Drew, Liam, Axel, and especially the elf-boy Dylan welcomed the chance to shed the garments they had worn most days of their expedition and to go about skin clad for an extended period of time.

Given their cultural backgrounds it was no surprise that only Finn and Madden Sexton defaulted to clothing rather than the clothing-optional life style of the elves. Not that either was a prude. They would readily strip down for a swim or in the sauna or at bed time.

For four days the Corps of Discovery sailed or rather sat in a boat which Kyle propelled telekinetically around the lake. They made quite a crew, all but two in the nude, all clean limbs, tanned bodies, bare bums, and pretty faces, an entire boatload of youthful male beauty on the move. Everywhere the locals were eager to meet the visitors whose names had already been known from books and news-papers but were now respected also for what they had done for the Medkari in the Hot Lands.

They stopped at several of the major islands one of which was where the Medkari's had first settled in the Vale of Ashur, a site picked for defense. On the mainland they climbed to the top of a scenic cataract whose waters flowed rather than fell over a slanted rock face. Naked already the boys, jumped in one at a time and let the rushing waters carry them over the smooth stone face to the bottom only to clamber out of the pool at the bottom and climb back up for another ride. Even Finn and Madden Sexton stripped off and joined in the fun. For the finale, the shape shifter shot the cataract in his animal form.

Jemsen was surprised and told Sexton when he was back in human form:

"I didn't know that wolverines swam."

Sexton smiled and told him:

"They don't, but I do."

Sexton caught Kyle ogling him and raised an eyebrow interrogatively.

The professional wine boy shrugged and admitted: "I can't help thinking that it's such a waste that you don't fancy boys."

Laughed and swept his hand down his naked body:

"I assure you young Kyle, that none of this goes to waste."

"Have you ever married?" Kyle wondered.

"Yes, over two centuries ago. Her name was Andromeda. She was beautiful, smart, and kind. Also a fine musician on the lute and the lyre and with a fine singing voice and perfect pitch. She never gave me children. Unions between wirs and normals are seldom fruitful, but we were happy during our decades together."

"What happened?"

"My wife was fully human and thus mortal. To spare her feelings I altered my outward appearance to keep pace with her as the years passed though I never aged inside. Alas, her fate was to be born, to live, and to die. At the very end she asked me to transform so she could see me one last time as I had been when first we met."

"I never married again."

Farther along the shore was cove featuring odd pillars of sandstone shaped by erosion to resemble a quartet of looming giants. Just beyond lay a mysterious outcrop of granite on whose face some early culture had chiseled petroglyphs. Kyle said that a small population of orcs had once lived in the region though nothing definitely marked the glyphs as the work of orcs.

An excursion ashore gave Dylan his first chance to really use his new powers. The group had climbed up to a scenic outlook and at the top found a shepherd boy armed only with a crook and a sling facing off against a pair of dire wolves.

All of them save Finn and Sexton were unarmed as well as unclothed and even those two had only a single weapon each. As Sexton reached for his kukri and Finn his war hammer Dylan held up a hand to urge restraint.

"Let me handle this."

Finn nodded, and the others took their cue from him.

Dylan pointed at the wolves and told them:

"No!"

As the wolves slunk back, Dylan summoned an antelope and had it run past heading for the high timber. Dylan held the wolves for a moment to give the antelope a decent head start. Once released from Dylan's control and without further prompting the predators took off after their normal prey, leaving the young shepherd in peace. The boy, who could not be more than fourteen, allowed that it was usually his big brother who looked after the flock. As a fetcher he would have made short work of a couple of wolves, but the older brother was back at their village courting.

Sexton was impressed by the elf-boy's restraint and fairness. The fledgling beast master recognized that predators were not evil creatures but rather a necessary part of the balance of nature. He had intervened on the side of the human youth, but he did not simply hold the wolves back, he presented them with an alternative prey but given it a head start. Fair all around.

Dylan's new powers were just what he had been longing for. Now he could play a more significant role in their adventures. And he made a better partner for Sexton in their normal jobs as forest rangers.

The powers of a beast master and those of a wir were complementary, being in the same realm so to speak. Excellent in both archery and fieldcraft, they both had a psychic link to the mind of the New Forest. Also his own virtual immortality and Dylan's longevity as an elf meant that theirs could be an enduring alliance and friendship. Now Sexton's feelings toward the younger male were not romantic, nor were they fatherly nor even avuncular. For Sexton Dylan was becoming the younger brother he had never had. It was a good feeling.

"You know," Jemsen began, "this incident puts me in mind to suggest that maybe the druids should recruit beast masters rather than mind speakers to help the Amazons communicate with their new allies the brontotheres."

"That is an acute observation, my friend." Sexton agreed. "So be sure to mention it to Dahl and the others when we get back to Elysion."

Back aboard their boat, as they passed through a fishing fleet Kyle explained that the fishermen among the Medkari did not use nets, only poles or drop lines with barbless hooks. That way they could throw back fish that were too small or too large.

"Too large?" Karel asked.

"It is a lesson my namesake druid taught us. Of course everyone understands why you need a minimum size -- so that the little ones will survive to grow large, but what do you think would happen if you continually culled the fish population by always taking the very largest?"

"I see," Karel said nodding. "Over time the average size of the population has to decrease since you are selecting against size. It makes sense."

"We Medkari take pride in being good stewards of the land and the waters."

Their last day they came upon a fishing boat that had gotten swamped when it came about too quickly and the wind heeled it over enough for gunwale to dip below the surface and the boat to fill with water. The fisherman themselves were not in immediate danger since all Medkari could swim, but their boat was barely afloat with only its gunwales above the water

Kyle motioned for the fisherman to swim aside. Once they were clear he started rocking the boat, left and right, spilling water out of it till only a foot was left in the bottom. The fisherman clambered aboard and bailed her out the rest of the way. Meanwhile another fishing boat had collected their gear which floated all around and brought it over. Once the crew re-stepped the mast they were back in business.

"Thanks for the assist young Kyle!" the captain called across the water.

"Our hero!" Drew enthused facetiously.

Kyle snorted:

"Bosh. The crew would have got the water out of their boat themselves by rocking it with sheer muscle power and their weight but at the cost of exhausting themselves. Now they can get right back to fishing."

Later that day, when they returned to port, the captain personally delivered the best of his catch to Farhad's residence as thanks for his nephew's assistance. That evening Kyle and his uncle's whole family sat down to one of the best fish dinners anyone had eaten in a while.

Author's Note

This story is entirely fictional, with no resemblance intended to any person living or dead.

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This story is one of an occasional series about the further adventures of the characters introduced in the fantasy novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends' and published by Nifty Archive. The chief protagonist of the novel, Dahlderon, elf-boy and druid, will appear in these stories in a supporting rather than starring role. Each story in the sequence stands on its own, with the focus on one or a few of the original characters.

Readers who like these stories might want to try my two series 'Daphne Boy' and 'Naked Prey' in the Gay/Historical section of the Archive. My 'Jungle Boy' series of Hollywood tales is posted in the Gay/Authoritarian section. The recent series 'Andrew Jackson High' relates the trials and tribulations of five of its gay students. For links to these and other stories, look on the list of Prolific Authors on the Archive.