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Subject: {ASSM} WITCH CHRONICLES 011b (tg, fantasy, lots of stuff)
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 20:10:04 -0500
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Now, onto the boring stuff

-------------------------

DISCLAIMERS

-------------------------

This story contains scenes of an erotic and/or controversial nature, 
and is not intended for the perusal of minors.  Further if perusal of 
such material is considered illegal in your area or immoral by your 
religion or personal beliefs, you should likewise bypass this story.

This story remains the property of the author.  Permission is granted 
to download, photocopy, copy and repost so long as any such action 
contains these disclaimers, and no attempt is made to profit from 
this story.

All characters in this story are the creation of the author, and any 
resemblance to real persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

This story may contain aspects of fantastic science or magic.  The 
parameters of what this science/magic can accomplish are completely 
at the discretion of me, the author, and, as such, I make no 
apologies for any rules of "real" physics, chemistry, biology, or 
magic that may be broken within the story.

-------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff

-------------------------

[Lieutenant Quentin Dargent]

I am a soldier.  It is my first duty to escape.  I have told myself 
that every morning when I woke and every evening when I went to 
sleep, plus a half dozen times every day for the last couple weeks. 
Today, I got away.

I am a lieutenant in the United States Army.  My father is the head 
of the Navy, one of the joint chiefs of staff, and direct advisor to 
the president.  That's why I went into the army, so there'd be no 
conflict for either me or my dad.

I was a minor officer posted to the force assigned to siege the 
capitol and, if possible, take it back.  We were sure we could do 
that.  We had no intelligence on the people who had thrown that dome 
over D.C., but we were the U.S. Army (said with all the appropriate 
fanfare).  We could handle them.

Hah!

Ever seen the movie "Independence Day?"  Remember the scene where 
Will Smith and the other pilots are talking about going out and 
kickin' E.T.'s butt, and then go out and get their butts kicked? 
That was us.  Except we didn't go out in a fiery blaze of glory.  We 
were just taken out.

We had surrounded the dome and were waiting.  Then one man came out 
and confronted General Wilfred.  One man!  They had a conversation; I 
was too far away to hear what was said.  The man then wrote something 
on his pad.  There was this wave of energy from the pad.  As soon as 
it struck us, we changed.  That's the only way I've got to describe 
it.  We, all the men, were changed into women.  We retained our 
genitals, but in all other ways, we gained the appearance of 
beautiful, big busted women (and these breasts sure as hell feel 
real).

Then we were overcome with sexual lust and proceeded to attack and 
rape anyone we could.  We all fought until we could rape our 
opponent, then moved on to the next opponent.  I say with a bit of 
both pride and shame that I was the ultimate victor over all the 
other soldiers there, but after we were finished, we were too stunned 
and emotionally drained to resist as we were stripped naked, rounded 
up, and marched into the dome.

We were separated into men and women (who were now all dressed like 
something out of an S&M fantasy) and the women were taken elsewhere. 
For I don't know how long, we men were kept in a large open area like 
cattle.  There was some kind of electric field that kept us in, 
bouncing us back painfully every time anyone tried to cross the 
boundary.  Most were too stunned and/or ashamed to do anything. 
There were a few conversations, but they mostly just showed we had no 
idea what was going on.

I responded to speech directed at me, but for the most part just sat 
patiently and watched.  Most of the speech was directed towards 
filling the empty void of not knowing, but I recognized the delay for 
what it was.  They were keeping us waiting and in the dark in order 
to rattle our collective cages.  For the most part, it worked.  Being 
transformed into near women, forced to rape or be raped, then kept 
waiting needlessly would be enough to rattle almost anyone.

At some point a few hours after we were put there, the same man who 
came out of the dome earlier flew up.  He was on this circular disk 
that floated about twenty to thirty feet in the air.  I saw no 
visible means of support, and it was totally silent.  It floated 
right up to the edge of our "pen" and stopped.  In a voice that was 
clearly amplified, he said, "Good day, ladies.  You are now prisoners 
of the Dark Alliance.  We are an alliance of sorcerers who have bent 
our powers towards the domination of the world.  Your first 
inclination will be to doubt my words.  Look to your own bodies. 
You, who were once men, now have the breasts and shapely forms of 
women.  We have allowed you to retain your manhoods as a form of 
incentive.

"Your military is useless against us.  We... You have proven this. 
Those who oppose us will be crushed, their leaders changed into 
something like you.  Or worse.  We now give you a chance to join us. 
Your first reaction will be to reject us.  But what will your 
rejection gain you?  What will your loyalty gain you or your 
military?  We will still defeat them and you will be stuck as you are 
forever."

One of the men (couldn't say who since no one still looked like they 
once did) angrily said, "You think you're so bad!  The U.S. Army has 
faced meaner and nastier than you."

"Oh, really?"  The man took a wand out and pointed it at the man who 
had spoken up.  A beam flashed from it to the soldier.  When it 
struck him, the people around him moved away and I could watch what 
happened.  His breasts, already large, grew even larger.  They 
expanded from the size of cantaloupes through basketballs and 
watermelons and finally stopped when they reached the size of beach 
balls.  He then fell to his hands, knees, and tits (frankly I'm 
amazed he remained standing as long as he did).  His cock grew and 
curved around and entered his ass.  He whimpered as he then got 
fucked by his own cock.  After a bit, he rolled over onto his back 
and rubbed at his own breasts.  He could barely reach his own 
nipples, but that didn't stop him from thrashing about, trying to get 
off.

The man representing our captors called out, "Make no mistakes, 
ladies.  You have NEVER faced a meaner or nastier opponent than us. 
We punish our enemies, but we reward loyalty.  You can join us, or 
you can suffer.  I will give you one hour to decide."  He then flew 
off.

Immediately after, naked women collared like slaves pushed carts with 
some kind of pots of heated mush and bowls into the pen.  Each person 
was given a bowl that was then filled with mush.  A few of us talked 
about the offer as people milled about, trying to avoid the spectacle 
of the changed man on the ground.  A man who had identified himself 
as a captain was saying, "Perhaps we should accept and join, but then 
try to sabotage them from within."

Before any of us could say a thing, the girl nearest us who was 
dishing out mush, a pretty, young thing with eyes the color of jade, 
whispered, "No!  You must not accept under any circumstance.  If you 
accept, they will saddle you with magic devices that will force 
compliance, that will enslave you."

"Even if I accept this whole magic nonsense as real, if they have 
such devices, why not just use them on us anyways?"

"Because it takes too much energy.  The discipline, the training you 
got in your military training makes permanent changes incredibly 
hard, possible only with the most powerful devices, or with spells 
cast by the most powerful sorcerers.  But if you accept, then the 
necessary power drops incredibly."

"Oh, come now."

"Surely you must know the stories?  People trying to con the devil or 
an evil genie, but getting something other than what they expect, but 
always exactly what the devil promises by the WORD of their 
agreement?  Agreeing, even when you don't know exactly what you're 
agreeing to, opens the doors to their power."

"So we'll just make them spell things out in fine detail then work around it."

"You think you can do that?  Out manipulate these people?  Tell me, 
what do you think they've already offered?"

"A return to our previous self in return for servitude."

"No, they didn't," I commented.  "They just said that we'd be stuck 
as we are if we don't join them.  They never actually said they'd 
change us back if we did."

Another person said, "Thinking about it, I don't think they actually 
promised anything for joining them."

We all thought about that trying to think of something specific. 
There was none.  The only thing I could remember was being promised 
punishment for defying them.

I asked, "So they can't permanently affect us?"

The woman said, "Not your mind, not with their magic.  They can still 
affect your bodies with magic, and temporarily influence your minds, 
as they have already proven.  With that, the torture they can inflict 
is considerable."

"How do we fight them?  How do we fight people who can do this?"  I 
waved my hands down my body.

"By holding dear to all that you find good.  By holding on to what 
you hold most dear.  It will not be easy, and most of you will be 
broken."

One of the others asked, "If they're so powerful, why fight?  If we 
can't win, why not just give in?"

"Because these people are Evil with a capital E.  More, they glory in 
their evil.  In their pursuit of power, they would gladly sacrifice 
anyone.  Women, children, elderly, sick, none would be safe.  Only 
what you can give to them makes you of any use.  If you join them-"

Her collar glowed and she gasped in pain.  She started walking away 
with the cart.  "I must go.  I've taken too long.  Remember my 
words."  As I watched her walk away, I promised to try to help her if 
I could.

After our hour was up, we were herded out of the pen, separated into 
groups, and brought to offices.  We were placed into a single file 
line and marched to a man at a desk.  Each person made a choice and 
was sent through one of two other doors leading out, either left or 
right.  Most were going through the right door, so I assumed that was 
the door for those rejecting these people's offer.  When I got close, 
however, I heard the choice offered and found that the right was for 
those accepting.  It disappointed me to find that most were joining 
these people.  Apparently, their object lessons were well made.

When I got to the front of the line, I was offered the choice to join 
them, but I summarily turned them down and was sent through the left 
door.  I was made to wait briefly in a room with a few others.  In a 
first in, first out system, we were sent one at a time into another 
room, a couple minutes between each departure.

At my turn, I went into the room.  There was one man and a stack of 
those collars like the woman had been wearing.  As soon as the door 
closed behind me, a red light bulb turned on, and I was frozen in 
place.  The man took one of those collars, pulled my hair (now long) 
out of the way, and clamped it around my neck.  He touched a small 
rod to the collar and uttered some strange words.  The collar grew 
uncomfortably warm.  He then held up his hand, showing me a ring.  He 
explained that any who had a ring could order me, but that the collar 
was keyed to one ring in particular.  Whoever held that ring had 
supreme control over the collar, although the specific ring could be 
changed.  He explained that I could choose to try to disobey, but if 
I did, the collar would inflict pain until I obeyed.

Another door opened and the light went out, allowing me to move 
again.  He ordered me through the door, and I decided to test the 
collar and resist.  Less than a second later, a shocking pain came 
from the collar and shot through me.  The collar tugged me towards 
the door as though on the end of an invisible leash, and I decided 
not to fight it.

I went through the door and was lead to another holding area with the 
now much smaller group of collared soldiers.  I was ordered to be 
silent, and then left alone with the others.  At that point, anyone 
who tried to speak was shocked into silence by his or her collar. 
Our group was slowly added to over the course of the day, until night 
fell.  Altogether, maybe only ten percent of our original force was 
present here.  The same man on the flying disk came up and said, "All 
have made their choices.  You have chosen, either because of 
misplaced loyalty or belligerence, to throw in with our enemies.  You 
are now the property of the Dark Alliance.  Expect no mercy nor 
compassion from here on out.  You will sleep here tonight, the cold 
air your only blanket.  Obedience is now your only option."

A few people tried to leave, but were shocked by their collars, a few 
even pushing it to the point of unconsciousness.  After an 
uncomfortable night's sleep, we were once more herded together and 
marched off.  We were taken to an area where we systematically passed 
out like property to women.  Judging from the black leather garb they 
were wearing, I guessed they were previous female army officers from 
our assault force.  I was given to a pretty brunette, whereupon she 
touched her ring to my collar.  I felt that same warmth and was 
ordered by her to follow.  I chose not to disobey.

Along the way, I saw many of the transformed soldiers.  Sure enough, 
not a one had been changed back.  What had changed was their 
attitudes.  No one seemed to care that they were now almost women, 
and, in fact, were strutting about, shoulders back, breasts thrust 
out as though they were proud of their female forms.  Many were now 
kissing and openly groping each other like out of control, lust 
crazed, lesbian lovers, and more than a few were out of their 
"uniforms", their new uniform apparently being a black bikini, black 
boots, and black gloves, and having sex right in the open like 
something out of a porn film.

The woman took me to a tent that had been set up in the middle of the 
encampment.  Once inside, she ordered me to kneel.  I tried to remain 
standing, but the collar enforced her order by pulling me to my 
knees, with accompanying shocks.  I tried to appeal to any loyalty 
she might have had left, but she just backhanded me, ordering, 
"Silence!  You are property now, not fit to address your betters! 
You will speak ONLY when spoken to.  As to your new duties, for 
meals, you will act as serving wench, serving food to those smart 
enough to have accepted the offer of our new masters.  For the rest 
of the day, you will wander the encampment and assuage the desires of 
anyone who asks it of you."

She sat in a plush chair.  She told me, "Now it's time to start your 
job."  She opened her legs.  "Lick me out."

I decided that, for now, obedience would be necessary.  Until I could 
find an escape, wearing myself out would do no one any good.  So I 
crawled over to between her legs and buried my face in her muff.  I 
began to slowly lick her out, but she apparently didn't want to take 
it slow.  She wrapped her legs around my head and forced me so deep 
into her crotch that I was at risk of being smothered.  I was forced 
to lick fast and furiously in order to get her off before I 
suffocated.  When she did orgasm and release me, I fell back, gasping 
for air.  Then, with less concern than one would have for a used up, 
disposable pen, she ordered me to go out and help with the morning 
meal.

Outside, the troops were getting seated at picnic tables that had 
been set up.  I went over to where the food was being prepared. 
There I found out what had happened to the man who had spoken up the 
day before and gotten his breasts super-sized.  His breasts were 
still super large and he was now collared and chained in a kneeling 
position.  His dickhead was buried in his asshole, but rather than 
fucking himself, another person (one of the bikini uniformed 
converts) had his penile shaft in hand and was pumping it in and out 
of him in a motion akin to an old fashioned well pump, and like a 
well pump, every time his penis was pushed in, his breasts sprayed a 
liquid into a pot in front of him.  I assumed it was milk, but if the 
stories of magic were true, it could be anything.  Also, judging by 
the look on his face and the whimpering he was doing, the man was in 
serious pain.

My duty was to push a cart of stew through the aisles and fill bowls 
with the heated meal.  It wasn't great food, but certainly better 
than M.R.E.'s (which are actually a step up from that mush they 
served the day before).  While serving, I was pinched, fondled, and 
groped like some tavern maid.  It only got worse after the meal.  As 
I collected the dishes, I was often ordered to give blowjobs or climb 
on someone's dick and get fucked, and thanks to that damned collar, I 
had no choice but to obey.  None of my fellow "serving girls" fared 
any better.

After we collected and washed all the dishes, we were given a bowl of 
that mush we had the day before.  A dog bowl.  A dog bowl that we 
couldn't lift and couldn't stick our fingers in.  We were forced to 
stick our faces in it and eat like dogs or go hungry.  No one chose 
to go hungry.  Afterwards, we were all ordered to wander the 
encampment, where we were subjected to even more degradation and 
abuse by those who were once our compatriots.

For the next week, we went through the same thing, day in, day out. 
We were then brought back to the offices we were brought to before 
and given another opportunity to join their forces.  I turned them 
down and was returned to my slavery.  Less than a quarter of those 
who refused the first offer turned down the second offer.

After another week, things got hectic, but because something was 
going to happen.  For those first two weeks, the job of these new 
troops was to keep the civilian populace in line.  But then the 
troops were being moved around for some kind of military offense, 
rather than a holding action.  I, of course, was not told what, but 
it was eventually revealed.  About midday (I had no watch) the troops 
were all lined up in preparation.  There was a short wait, then the 
north side of the dome suddenly stretched out into the distance.  The 
troops went first, and we, the slaves, were dragged along behind.

The dome, now an oblong oval, had taken quite a bit of new territory, 
and it was the troops' job to suppress resistance, which they did 
with unnecessary fervor.  There was very little in the way of armed 
resistance, some military, but mostly just local law enforcement. 
Local law enforcement that was decimated if they even tried to 
resist.  Most were either killed or wounded, and more were killed 
than wounded.  They gave as good as they got, but they really had no 
chance.  The transformed military men fought with a berserker style, 
with no concern for their well being.  Normal fighters trying to stay 
alive had no chance against that.  And it was no surprise to me when, 
the next day, the ranks of the slaves increased some, and the 
depleted ranks of the transformed shock troops were replenished by 
new transformees.  Transformed cops, I assumed.  About equal amounts 
went to each.  I guess that since the cops saw their fellow officers 
cut down rather than having every one captured without a fight, fewer 
were willing to join up.

It was this new infusion of troops that opened the door to my escape. 
A little after noon that day while I was scrubbing dishes after the 
noon meal, that pretty girl who had warned us on that first day led 
some of the new slaves to our portion of the encampment.  Our 
woman-in-charge ordered the girl to sit, and then walked the line, 
touching her ring to their collars and telling them their new duties.

While she was busy with that, I took the opportunity to glance to 
that girl, only to see her doing the same thing.  We were taking a 
risk.  Although never given a specific order to that effect, we were 
expected to keep focused on our work and were punished if we were 
caught dwelling on other matters.  I think the reason we weren't 
given specific orders to that effect was so that they had an excuse 
to knock us around a bit, but it was that opening that I exploited. 
The woman, my "owner," caught the girl peeking my way and strode to 
her, knocking her down with a clenched fist.  The woman then started 
kicking the girl mercilessly.

My anger at this woman only grew as she beat a downed and helpless 
girl.  I grabbed a bowl and charged her.  I felt the shock from the 
collar as I left my assigned post, but my rage allowed me to ignore 
the pain.  I swung the bowl at the back of her head, shattering it on 
the base of her skull.  She went down like a sack of potatoes.

There was a stunned silence that I knew would not last.  I bent to 
try to remove her ring, but nearly burned my fingers when I touched 
it.  I realized there was probably some protection against my (or any 
collared slave) touching it, so I didn't try again.  Instead I 
grabbed the girl, yanked her to her feet, and ran.  Judging by the 
furor I heard, others were following my lead, which I was glad for 
since it would cover our escape.

I expected the pain to increase as I ran, but the opposite occurred. 
My belief is that the greater distance there is between ring and 
collar, the less the potency of the effect.

I took the girl and ran through the city we were in.  I think it was 
Annapolis, Maryland, but I'm not totally certain.  We ran into a 
suburban section of the city, a section devastated and abandoned due 
to the recent assault.  Most of the houses were damaged in some way, 
and more than a few had been decimated.  I saw no one living around 
here.  I saw more than a few dead.

I knew that we couldn't run forever, so when I saw a blasted house 
with an open basement window, I decided to take a chance and pushed 
her through it and dove in behind her.  One corner of the basement 
had collapsed and there was no way out other than the window we had 
entered through.  I thought of leaving and looking for another hidey 
hole, but heard people coming down the street and knew we were stuck.

I ran behind a pile of the rubble for cover and lucked out.  The 
rubble had fallen in such a way that it had formed a small space not 
visible from the other side.  I shoved her inside, then slid in 
beside her.  It was a tight fit, but we had no choice.

It was only a short while later that we heard people walking the 
street and calling out for us to come out.  As soon as I could hear 
the order, the collar started to burn and tug me out of my hidey 
hole.  The tugging was minimal, but it took a good amount of 
willpower not to cry out from the burning.

The girl did not have that willpower.  She cried out in pain. 
Desperate to keep her silent, I pressed her face to my chest.  I 
intended to press her into the space between my breasts, but our 
mutual positions instead got my nipple into her mouth.  But it kept 
her from screaming, so I didn't try to move her.

The pain slowly increased as the voices repeated the command to come 
out.  The girl did shriek a couple times, but the sound was muffled 
by my flesh.  It took everything I had not to cry out, particularly 
when she bit my nipple, but I managed to remain quiet.  Eventually, 
she went slack, unconscious from the pain.  Thankfully, I passed out 
shortly thereafter.

When I woke up, I was inside a nearly dark room.  I felt a tingle of 
magic on my breast, and I leapt up, figuring I'd have to fight for my 
freedom.  The only other person in the room though was the girl I'd 
rescued.  She whispered, "It's okay.  We're safe.  They've moved on."

My eyes adjusted to the light (or lack thereof) and I saw that we 
were still in the basement we had hidden in; it was just night 
outside.  The girl had recovered first and gotten us out of our hole. 
After checking the room and checking outside, I returned to her and 
asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you.  You saved me.  You saved us."

"Part of my job."  I lifted my breast to try to look at it.  "Funny, 
I thought I felt magic."

"You did.  I'm a witch.  Earlier, I drew blood when I bit you.  I 
used my magic to heal the damage."

"A witch?  You're one of them?"

"No.  A witch is different from a sorcerer.  A sorcerer is a human 
with magic potential who, after having a spell cast on them, can 
train to cast spells.  A witch is born with the ability to manipulate 
magic, although they can't actually do it until they undergo their 
transformation.  On the birthday of a year following a multiple of 
six, seventh birthday, thirteenth birthday, and so on, they change 
and gain the ability to control, or at least to learn to try to 
control, their magic."

"If you've got magic, why didn't you use it against them?"

"My magic is weak.  Not everybody has the body altering, reality 
shaking power you've seen.  That minor healing is about the upper 
limit of my power, although that was to your benefit."

"How so?"

"Healing for a witch is a form of transformation.  Healing a person 
without changing them into something they're not is a special skill. 
If I were much more powerful, then I wouldn't have been able to 
safely heal you.  I don't even have the power to cover my 
transformation."

"Cover your transformation?"

"The change I spoke of earlier wasn't just metaphorical or internal 
or spiritual."  She reached up and pulled her hair behind her ear. 
It was hard to see in the dim light, but I eventually did notice that 
her ears were sharply pointed.  She joked, "Please no Vulcan jokes." 
She pulled the hair back so her ears were covered once more.  "The 
transformation causes a permanent physical change to the body of the 
witch, usually the change is in direct proportion to the power they 
get.  Most witches master spells to hide their transformed body, 
although the spell cannot be used too often or for too long.  I, 
however, lack the power to effectively use those spells."  She grew 
sad and spoke with a melancholy tone.  "I think that may have saved 
me."

I lay a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.  "What happened?"

"We never figured that we'd be attacked, that the capitol would be 
attacked.  We figured they'd attack the enclaves of the most powerful 
witches and sorceresses, good sorceresses.  When the domes formed, we 
knew what had happened and tried to escape, but they were ready for 
us.  Anybody with a spell on them was rounded up and taken somewhere. 
I was just collared and enslaved.  My family, all the witches I knew, 
and I'm not with them 'cause I'm such a nobody with no power."  She 
started to cry.

I wrapped my arms around her.  After she calmed down, I said, "Don't 
feel bad that you're not with your family.  Maybe it was destiny that 
you were ignored so that you could get help to save them."

Somewhat doubtfully, she said, "Yeah, you and me.  A she-male soldier 
and a nearly powerless witch.  They don't stand a chance."

With inflated jubilance, I replied, "Exactly!"

She looked at me and then gave a short, snorted laugh.  "Thanks, I 
needed that."

"We'd better get going.  Moving at night will give us darkness as 
some cover."  I took her hand, but noticed something.  I lifted her 
hand into the light to get a look at it.  "You've been bleeding."

"I know.  I had to.  I have to shed some of my own blood to cast 
spells.  I almost passed out, though.  I tend to faint at the sight 
of blood, particularly my own."

"Doesn't that make it hard to do magic?"

"That's kind of the point.  Every witch has a crutch, something hard 
but not impossible to do.  The focus of getting it done translates 
into focus to cast the spell."

"So every witch faints at the sight of blood?"

She laughed.  "No.  Different witches require different crutches, but 
it's always something difficult.  My mom was allergic to cats.  Her 
crutch was petting a cat without sneezing."

"Is that cut going to be okay?"

"Sure.  I don't need a lot of blood.  I've suffered worse at the 
hands of our "masters" over the last two weeks."

After that, we left and started towards the dome.  Along the way, we 
went through abandoned houses, looking for clothes, food, supplies, 
and anything else we might've needed.  I had a bit of luck (whether 
good or bad, I'm not quite sure) when we found a bra for me.  I 
wasn't sure about wearing a bra, but not having my boobs bouncing 
with every step I take is a plus.  I also have to wear girls' 
clothes.  Although I could get by with men's pants, the cut, but the 
cut of girl pants is far better for my new body.  Men's shirts are 
pretty much out of the question.  Unless I want to wear a tent, men's 
shirts that fit around my torso aren't going to go around my 38DDD's.

I also found this notebook.  I decided to write down my story.  I'll 
hide the notebook someplace.  If I get through all this, I'll come 
back for it.  If I don't, then I can only hope that it's found by an 
enemy to this "Dark Alliance," and that they can somehow use what 
I've written down against the bastards.

************

[Travis Beckman]

Things have gotten a lot tougher.  Cammy and I had got some 
information on a minor base of the Dark Alliance and had prepared to 
recon and, if possible, take them out.  We got there in the morning 
and watched the place for a while.  I should've been more suspicious 
when we didn't find any innocents in surrounding buildings.  Traffic 
in and out of the base was pretty light, and Cammy only sensed one 
mage amongst all those coming and going.  She couldn't "see" through 
the shields, but if we only sensed one mage out of the couple dozen 
people we saw, then this place probably only had a few mages inside 
the entire base.

We never got inside.

We got as close as we could to the base without looking too 
suspicious.  I then activated my sword and the armor that came with 
it while Cammy shifted into her four armed combat form, and we 
charged the base.  When we got to about ten to fifteen yards from the 
base door, a fireball blazed in the doorway and a man and woman 
stepped out of it.  The woman tossed a ball into the air.  When the 
ball reached the top of its arc, it exploded while the man said, 
"Travis Beckman, look on me and fear for your life!"  I felt the 
tingle of a spell on my armor, the sign of a failed mind control 
spell, and assumed they were trying to magically force a quick end to 
the fight.

I struck a combat pose and said, "You know who I am?"

He actually smiled.  "Yes, I do.  You should feel honored, Travis. 
You've become enough of a pain that my superiors have brought me in 
to deal with you."

"I'll feel honored later."

"I'm afraid you don't have much time left.  I'm going to have to kill you now."

"You're certainly sure of yourself."

"Yes.  I am."  He then tossed a ball of blue fire in between Cammy 
and me.  We both leapt back and away, avoiding the explosion as the 
ball struck the ground.  Cammy shot out one of her arms towards the 
man while I blasted towards the woman with my sword.  The man side 
stepped her arm, and then smashed down on it, his hand glowing with 
power.  The woman stepped back into the building and generated a 
personal force field.  Between that and the building's now active 
shields, my blasts did no damage.

The man's glowing fist, which I expected to do nothing, actually 
caused Cammy's arm, at least the far half of it, to turn brittle and 
shatter like cheap crystal.  Worse yet, the brittleness started 
moving up her arm like a fast growing mold.  Cammy was forced to rip 
the arm off at the shoulder to keep the spell from getting to the 
rest of her.  The man then smashed the ground, creating a big hole. 
The hole grew in a jagged line, pieces falling into the sewer beneath 
it, stretching out to the place where I was landing.  As I fell into 
the sewer, I saw a crowd of people charge from the building.  I 
assumed they were the innocents we hadn't seen before, entranced to 
fight against their will, and I briefly lamented their fate.  They'd 
encounter Cammy first, and she wouldn't hold back.

I landed and was going to quickly leap out of the sewer, but before I 
could, the man jumped down with me, then leapt into me, driving me 
backwards.  I let him push me and rolled with it, rolling onto my 
back, but flipping him over and behind me.  We both rolled into a 
standing position, facing each other in combat stances.  He smiled 
and said, "Not bad, but if that's the best you've got then I hope 
you've got your life insurance paid up."

I replied, "Hardly," and swung my blade at him.  He wasn't within 
cutting distance, but that wasn't my purpose.  The tip of my blade 
generated an arc of energy.  When my swing completed, the arc snapped 
off and spun towards him.  He leapt over the spinning energy, but I 
was ready for that.  I jumped up and swung my blade at him.  A sword 
appeared in his hand and he managed to parry my blow with it.  As our 
blades collided, I twisted in midair (this  armor allows me to do 
some nearly impossible things) and kicked him in the chest.  He flew 
back, but quickly recovered, back flipped, and landed (so to speak) 
against the wall, jumping off and swinging at me.  I parried and 
sidestepped, but he twisted and followed me.

We clashed blade to blade for a few seconds, but I broke it off 
quickly.  Thanks to the armor, and some learned skill of my own, I 
was more than a match for any normal opponent, but this wasn't a 
normal opponent.  He was as fast as I was, he was far stronger, and a 
slightly better swordsman than I.  There was no way I could win a 
sustained fight with him.  So I broke it off, jumped back, and threw 
my blade at him.  I made it look like a desperation move, and he fell 
for it.  He dodged it, then turned back to me, and said, "That was 
foolish, throwing your weapon away."

The sword buried itself in the pipe I had thrown it at.  I smiled and 
said, "Would be if I was aiming at you."  I then leapt back and up, 
out of the hole into the air above the street.  I saw the man briefly 
look back at the sword rather than immediately follow.  I saw Cammy 
finish off the last of the men who had run from the building.  The 
woman was still hiding just inside the doorway.  Cammy saw me, 
shifted into her pegasus form, and started to fly up to meet me.

Then I did it.  I had buried my sword in the gas pipe that fed the 
Dark Alliance base, and, with a mental command, blasted into it, 
causing the entire building and much of the street to explode.  With 
another command, the blade flew to my hand.  Cammy caught me just as 
I caught it, and we flew off.  As we left the area, I glanced back 
and saw the man climb from the sewer and knew we'd meet again.

************

[Reginald McDonald]

I climbed out of the pit I had made to see Beckman flying off on a 
winged horse.  I briefly considered casting a flight spell and 
chasing him when I heard Larinda groan.  I went to her side.  Her 
body was as perfect as ever, but she was definitely hurt.  She 
croaked out, "Massive burns.  Muscle deep."

I swept her into my arms and teleported back to the base infirmary. 
I called for a healer and made sure she was being taken care of. 
While the healers were working, I heard from behind me a cold, "What 
happened?"  I turned and saw Dorina Tempus herself staring at me with 
icy fury in her eyes.  "You were supposed to eliminate Travis 
Beckman.  Instead, I hear that a base has been destroyed and you've 
teleported back here carrying a badly wounded partner."

I stood tall.  "I underestimated the boy.  He's a better fighter and 
a better tactician than preliminary reports led me to believe."

"So you're blaming bad intelligence?"

"No.  I should've been ready for him, no matter what his skill."

"And all it took to learn that lesson was a minor base.  Don't let it 
happen again, Reginald."  Without a further word and without waiting 
for a reply, she turned to leave.

Before she left, I said, "Miss Tempus, the boy destroyed the base by 
blowing the main gas line.  The magic he used was outside the 
shields, but its effect was not.  Other bases should be protected 
from similar effects."  She glanced back only long enough to 
recognize my words.

I turned back to Larinda.  She looked up at me and said, "I can't 
wait for another shot.  I owe them some pay back."

I told her, "I'm not taking you on the next encounter."

"Why not?"

"Your spells were totally ineffective against the boy and the 
construct, and the construct seems unconcerned with innocent life 
thrown against it.  Your presence would only be a liability.  Your 
current injuries prove that."  I turned to leave, but she lashed out 
and grabbed me.  I knew that must hurt, so I decided to give her the 
benefit of the doubt and hear what she had to say.

She angrily said, "Don't you dare cut me out of this!  I will not 
tolerate that from anyone, including you!  Issues of recharging our 
Dark Wishes aside, I have earned my position, both in terms of rank 
and at your side.  I am a better mage than most with many times my 
power.  You need me there."

"Larinda, you are a mind mage.  These two are proof against that."

"Only because we were not ready for them.  I didn't get a good scan 
of the boy, but I did scan the shifter.  It has a magically 
constructed simulation instead of an actual mind.  It will take some 
work, but I can and will create a series of spells to disrupt the 
thing's control."

"Alright, but if you wind up back in here for any reason before the 
conclusion of this hunt, you will be removed from this hunt."

"Understood."

I leaned over and kissed her forehead.  "I'll leave you to the 
healers.  It's almost time for our recharge, so heal quickly."

I left the room.  She was right, of course.  She was most familiar 
with the assignment and had the experience.  It wouldn't make sense 
to bench her now.

************

[Elizabeth Norman Thompson]

For over a week, we stayed in the temporary capitol near the veep. 
It was mostly to be available to answer questions and establish 
defenses.  We didn't think there'd be another attempt on the 
vice-president's life, but it was a possibility.  I think the most 
annoying thing is constantly trying to explain the differences 
between sorcerous and Witchly magic.  I get tired explaining to those 
who bring me items to enchant that I don't do enchantments.  They 
seem to think that magic is magic is magic and anything a sorcerer 
can do, I should be able to do.

They also don't seem to get it that magic takes energy.  They wonder 
why I don't just cast a bunch of spells to get what I want rather 
then ask them for it.  Food, clothes, shelter, doesn't matter.  You'd 
be surprised at the looks I get just from asking for a sandwich.

Anyways, Sam is recovering nicely, although he's still grounded and 
bitching about it every second he's got someone who'll listen.  He's 
tried to sneak out a couple times, but the vet stopped him.  Frankly, 
I'm impressed.  Both times, the vet had to put himself between Sam 
and the hangar door (Where else are you going to put a gryphon to 
recover?) and stare Sam down until he returned to his nest.  It takes 
a lot of chutzpah to stand up to a restless gryphon.

I thought it was another of these periods of restlessness when 
Lynnette and I walked into the hangar to find Sam trying to get 
around the vet.  The vet was trying, with only a modicum of success 
(I knew if Sam was really trying, he could've pushed the vet into 
Canada without breaking a sweat), to push Sam back into his nest 
while saying, "You need your rest!  Now get back in bed!"

Sam, steadily moving the vet, responded, "I need to talk to Lin Su. 
I am still commander of the magic wielders' war effort, and I have to 
discuss recent events with her."

"I'll get her.  You stay here."

"I can't afford to-"  Then he saw me and Lynn and called out, 
"Lynnette, perhaps you can answer my questions."

"If I can.  What do you need?"

Sam stopped moving and sat back on his haunches.  The vet continued 
to try to push him back, but it was kind of like trying to push a 
semi with your hands.  Sam ignored him as he asked, "The domes, the 
ones in New York and D.C. that are now linked, wouldn't they have had 
to have nearly identical magic frequencies in order to be linked so 
easily?"

"Yeah, but that could be done just by using the same caster."

"Or the same caster enchanted the magic items creating the domes."

"Yeah, so?"

"I need intelligence reports from the sorceresses around D.C."

"I don't have those."

I added, "I've got some cursory data, but Lin Su has the complete reports."

Sam said, "I've got to see those reports.  Contact her and get her to 
bring them here."

As Lynnette cast her spell to contact Su, I asked Sam, "What is it? 
What do you think is going on?"

"I think I've figured out why the domes are so hard to deal with. 
Why they're so resistant to attack, both magical and mundane."

Lynn came out of her trance.  "Su is on her way."

The vet said, "She's on her way, so you've got no excuse left.  Get 
back in bed."  Sam looked down at the vet, then turned his head away 
and rolled his eyes.  Sam then leapt back and glided back to his 
nest.  The vet yelled, "You are NOT supposed to be flying!  The 
muscles you use to control your wings pull on your wound!"  In reply, 
Sam just stuck his tongue out and razzed the vet.  I then determined 
that a gryphon giving somebody the raspberry is one of the funniest 
things you can see.  The vet did not share my amusement.  His mouth 
moved, but no sound came out as he tried to say something over his 
rage.  Finally, he turned to me and said, "You!  Keep him from moving 
around!" and then turned and left, muttering about elephant 
tranquilizers.

I walked to Sam.  "You really should cut him some slack.  Most of his 
patients can't give him grief, and he is trying to handle something 
he's never dealt with before."

Sam sighed.  "I know.  I just feel so frustrated here.  After my 
Transformation, at least before this damnable injury, I could fly. 
The freedom, the joy of having the wind blow through your feathers is 
incredible."

"Not having feathers, I wouldn't know."

With a hint of amusement, Sam replied, "I suppose not.  But the 
sensation of flight is so... liberating.  Now, though, I'm stuck 
here, grounded until I heal a little more."

"You were the one who turned down the full healing."

"And you know why I did it.  A, natural healing is more effective, 
and B, we can't afford to have our healers depleted if the Dark 
Alliance decides to make a major strike."

"Yes, and since they're your reasons, don't make the lives of those 
helping you into hell."

Before Sam could reply, Lin Su came in with a stack of papers.  The 
vice-president came in right behind her.  She asked, "What's going 
on?"

Sam looked over me to her.  "In your report, you said no one detected 
the dome, the new one connecting New York and D.C., before it 
actually went up.  Is there any new data saying otherwise?"

"No.  We're still trying to figure out what happened and how they got 
it up so quickly."

"It's a trans-spatial spell."

"Impossible.  Do you know the kind of power that would take?  Even if 
we're just talking about just New York and D.C., the costs of a 
trans-spatial effect would be phenomenal."

"It's the only thing that makes sense."

The vice-president asked, "What's a trans-spatial spell?"

Su explained, "A single spell that creates effects in multiple 
locations simultaneously.  It's rarely used because the costs are 
prohibitive.  It actually costs less to magically create across 
space, rather then bypass space with a trans-spatial spell."

Sam said, "But a spell cast across space leaves trails that can be 
detected and even traced.  Those trails weren't there."

"So that just means that the spells were cast from separate sources."

"If that were true, then the domes would've had to be adjusted before 
they connected."

"That could be bypassed.  If a single sorceress were to create 
multiple mystic items that create the domes, then they could be 
linked and then readjusted."

"That will work only if the sorceress creates the multiple items in a 
single working.  Only a handful of sorceresses in the world could 
make more than a couple at one sitting.  Jenny could only do four, 
maybe five, tops."

"So?  At some point, They had some people sit down and make them in 
sets of two or three at a time."

Sam pulled out a pad of paper and handed it to Su.  "I've been doing 
some number crunching.  Giving the benefit of numbers to the Dark 
Alliance and assuming that dome creation devices were created four at 
a time, the cost of creating the domes, linking what can be linked, 
recalibrating the shields, and stabilizing the new set up actually 
becomes less than a trans-spatial spell doing the same thing."

Su looked over the paper.  "Well, your numbers are accurate, but 
there's one thing not factored in.  A trans-spatial spell would need 
to be cast by one person.  Having separate spells and connecting up 
all the domes, even assuming that's what they plan, may cost more, 
but it could be spread out among many different spell casters to 
lighten the load.  Even factoring in the use of device creation, the 
caster would have to expend upwards of 250,000 points of energy to 
get the results you're talking about.  Jenny, working with ritual, 
would have to go over 500 hours straight, more if we're talking about 
enchanting an item.  And since no one has more power than Jenny, I 
just don't see how it could be possible."

"No one in the White Sisterhood has more power than Jenny.  When she 
confronted the Dark Alliance sorcerer, Ben Chalker, she had to link 
with Wanda because Ben's power was higher than hers.  And when she 
did destroy him, he did say there was another who was far more 
powerful than he.  If his dying statement was true, she has a power 
of over 60,000, which would mean it would be possible to create the 
item we've been talking about with only sixteen hours of work.  More 
than enough for an accomplished mage to handle in a single stretch."

"Come now.  Do you really believe that Chalker was telling the truth? 
That he wasn't just trying to scare us with his last words?"

"We can't assume one way or the other.  We need to find out.  Someone 
will need to go to at least half of the domes and scan them to see if 
they are indeed the same spell."

"I'll handle that myself.  I know what to look for.  I'm not sure I 
believe you, but I will be thorough."

Su then left and the vice-president asked, "So what does it mean to 
us if this spell is trans-spatial?"

"The bad news is, that would make the domes a hell of a lot harder to 
take down.  Any attack on one would be distributed over the continuum 
of domes.  It also means that the domes could be easily linked, like 
what happened in the east.  Their claimed territory could grow by 
leaps and bounds."

"Is there any good news?"

"If we could take the domes down and keep them down, they'll all go 
down at once."

"How do we do that?"

"The attempt would have to be two pronged.  The first part would just 
be knocking the domes down.  We could arrange that by just hitting 
them with lots of force.  If we barrage all the domes simultaneously, 
that should knock them down."

"Why don't we just do that now?"

Lynnette said, "Because they likely won't stay down.  They'd have to 
have been really stupid not to have thought of the domes being 
knocked down with a unified attack.  Most likely, the device will 
absorb the energy, analyze it, then incorporate the force into the 
matrix and immediately rebuild the dome, making them stronger than 
before.  At least, that's what I'd do if I had designed the dome 
building device."

"So what will we need to do to keep the domes down?"

Sam said, "That's part two of the plan.  We'll need to find the 
source of the domes, knock them down once, then slip somebody in to 
take the dome generator out at the exact same instant we knock the 
domes out again."

"So we'll have to knock them down not only once, but twice?  How do 
we do that when you've said that the domes will get stronger if we 
knock them down?"

Lynnette said, "That won't be so hard.  The first time, we just use 
conventional weaponry.  If we barrage all the domes at once with 
enough heavy artillery then that should knock them down.  The trick 
will be that it'll have to be a coordinated attack.  You can avoid 
targeting no more than three domes, and you shouldn't even allow 
that.  Otherwise, the untouched domes will be able to soak the 
damage."

"Okay.  It'll be tricky, but I think we can pull that off.  Then what?"

"Then the White Sisterhood and Collegiate Brotherhood go to work 
enchanting weapons.  A simple spell can be impressed into guns, 
tanks, missiles, and other various weapons that will double their 
effective firepower.  Then, when the second date comes to pass, we'll 
have more than enough power to knock them down again."

"Sounds good.  So why do I expect a big but somewhere in here?"

Sam said, "Not a but.  An if.  If whoever we get into the dome 
doesn't get to the prime dome generator, then the domes will come 
back and we will be screwed."

I said, "I trust this is all a moot point if Su finds out the domes 
aren't trans-spatial?"

"Somewhat, but I know I'm right."

The veep asked, "So how long until Su does get back?"

Lynnette replied, "Thirty six to forty-eight hours, rough estimate."

"So we're back to waiting until then?"

Sam said, "Unfortunately, yes."

On that, we agreed to let Sam get his rest and left.  Outside, after 
the veep had gone on to handle other business, Lynn said to me, "If 
Sam's right, then we now have a way to fight back that we didn't 
before, but part of me hopes he's wrong."

"Why's that?"

"We've been saying all along that Ben Chalker had to have been lying 
about the power of this woman leading the Dark Alliance.  In the 
entire history of the White Sisterhood, the highest powered sorceress 
only had a power of 29,500.  If Sam is right, she has to have a power 
of over 60,000, just like Ben said."

And that scared me more than anything.

************

[General Keith "Katharine" Wilfred]

George came to me and outlined the plan.  I was to lead an assault on 
the U.S. dome.  This time there would be no siege nor any attempt to 
negotiate.  When the word was given, and the time had not been set 
yet, I was to go in and hit the dome with everything I could to knock 
it down.  If I succeeded, I was not to approach the dome, but rather 
withdraw.  I didn't understand it, but didn't question.  People may 
think me foolish for not questioning more, but the more people you 
tell about a plan, the greater the likelihood of the enemy getting 
access to details you need to keep secret.

I was also given a new aide, one Marie Callender.  She had been 
promoted to the rank of captain so as to grant her the authority she 
needed as my aide.  Truth was, most  of my aides had been majors or 
lt. colonels, but since Captain Callender had been there when I had 
undergone my transformation, there would be no need to prove who I 
was.  Her outfit and the fact that it would change anything else she 
wore would also act to convince anyone else who was still a doubting 
thomas about the existence of magic.

I went looking for her and found her in the chapel again.  She was 
sitting in one of the pews.  I got close, listening to see if I was 
interrupting any prayers.  Not hearing anything, I cleared my throat 
to gain her attention.  She immediately snapped to.  "Sir!"

"At ease, captain."

Knowing she hadn't yet been informed of her promotion, I wasn't 
surprised at the confused look on her face.  "Captain, sir?"

"You've been promoted and assigned the duty as my aide."  I held up 
the box with the captain's bars.  "Congratulations."

In a somewhat lackluster tone, she replied, "Thank you, sir.  Could 
you keep that until I find a place to put it.  I have no pockets and 
if I pin it on, it'll only be transformed."

"Of course."  I pocketed the bars.  "Please sit, captain."  She sat 
down and I sat beside her.  "Is there something wrong?  You don't 
seem too excited about your new rank."

"Sorry, sir.  I just never really wanted to be in the military at all."

"So why'd you join?"

"I come from a long line of military men.  Dad, grandpa, great 
grandpa, all were lifers in the military.  But I'm the youngest of 
four girls, none of whom joined."

"Let me guess.  With no brothers or sisters interested in a military 
career, you, as the youngest, were just kind of pressured into it."

She nodded.  "Nobody actually said I had to, but it was made clear 
that somebody was expected to join."

"And now, because of your time in the military, you've been 
transformed into a living example of our opponents depravity and 
power."  She nodded.  "Are you going to be able to do the job?  I 
could arrange for a transfer to some place where you could finish 
your tour in seclusion."

She jumped to her feet.  "No, sir!  I will not shirk my duty.  Nor 
will I stand by and allow these terrorists to threaten my country.  I 
will see this threat ended."

I stood beside her.  "Good for you.  It's time to go to work."

We went together to the debriefing area.  A grouping of military men 
ranging in rank from captain to colonel and representing most of the 
U.S. military would be there to get their orders.  A convocation like 
this was unusual, but this was an unusual war.

We entered the room, a meeting hall at a local hotel, and called for 
attention.  After the obligatory saluting and other preliminaries, I 
started my address of the troops, describing their goals and 
assignments.  About five minutes in, one of the captains started 
hassling me, asking very rude and unnecessary questions filled with 
sexual double entendre.

The fact that I was being harassed was no surprise.  In any big group 
there's at least one, some punk lieutenant or captain who thinks he 
knows more than the generals who have more years of experience than 
he has time out of diapers.  What was surprising was the openness of 
his "assault" on my command.  Most often, the offending officer just 
asks really stupid questions in an attempt to lure me into doing what 
he wants.  This man, however, was openly rebellious and insultingly 
lewd.  My guess was that with my now more feminine body, the man was 
emboldened and felt his impertinence would be overlooked.  The 
military may have been sexually integrated, officially, but it was 
still unofficially an old boys' club.

I couldn't just order him to cease, nor could I have others silence 
him.  If I did, then his rebellion would become covert, sowing the 
seeds of dissent when and where there was no one around to stifle his 
resistance.  Even in today's "modern" army, there was the occasional 
need to use the old means of discipline, so the next time he made his 
noise, I stormed down to him, stood over him, and asked, "Do you have 
a problem, captain?"

He arrogantly remained sitting, even going so far as to lean back on 
two legs of his chair.  He stared up at me and said, "Let's just say 
I'm not sure you have the... testicular fortitude to do this job 
anymore."  And there it was, out in the open.  The belief that, due 
to my feminine appearance, I could no longer handle my duties as 
general.  Judging from the relative silence that came after his 
statement, I assumed that the doubts weren't confined to him.  This 
was a power play, one I had to win if I had any hope of maintaining 
my command.

I stood over him. "Why don't you just stand up and prove that I don't?"

He didn't even miss a beat.  He just smiled and said, "Even if it 
weren't for the fact that you're technically of a higher rank than 
me, I don't hit women."

I looked around at the rest of the group.  "Everybody here, no matter 
what happens next, you didn't see anything.  That's an order."  I 
looked back at the captain.  "That takes care of the issues of 
different ranks.  As for you not hitting women, keep in mind that 
despite my outward appearance, I am not a woman.  If you don't,"  I 
kicked his chair on the back legs, just under the seat, unbalancing 
him and tossing him on his back, "it's going to make it real easy for 
me to wipe the floor with you."

He jumped up.  He seemed ready and willing to take a swing at me, but 
he did hold back, just saying, "Stupid bitch!  You're lucky I don't 
hit you."

I got right up in his face.  "What's the matter?  Afraid of hitting a 
man who looks like a woman?  Tell you what, I'll make it easy on you. 
You can take a swing at me and afterwards, we all forget your 
insubordination.  You don't and I'll bust you so low, you'll be 
saying, 'Yes, sir,' to grunts who haven't even gotten through Basic 
yet."

He hesitated, then looked around.  From the looks on the faces of 
others, it was clear that he was losing this little altercation.  No 
big surprise there.  I had played this role so many times, I could 
almost write the script in advance.  He hesitated, turned away, then 
quickly swung back towards me, trying to ambush me, again, no 
surprise.  I blocked his arm, back-fisted his face, then side kicked 
him onto his butt.

I left him on his backside and returned to the stage.  I stood tall 
and yelled, "All of you, listen!  You look at me and wonder if I have 
been weakened by my change.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 
I was not just changed to look like a woman.  They also attempted to 
make me brutalize and rape my own men.  I know the depths that these 
psychos will sink to.  Currently, they control a part of our country. 
I intend to get it back.  Any of you not willing to devote your all 
to that task should go home now.  However, you should keep in mind 
that if you don't stand up to them now, then one day this," I hefted 
my boobs, "may happen to you."  I waited for any response.  When none 
came, I said, "Then let's get down to business."

The rest of the meeting went smoothly, and I got all the assignments 
passed out.  Afterwards, I returned to my room with Captain Callender 
following behind me.  Inside I sat down and the captain asked, "Sir, 
may I ask a question?  Weren't you taking a risk confronting that 
man?  Your body isn't what it used to be."

"Couldn't be helped.  I couldn't back down, too many people were 
doubting me already.  As for my body, the fact is, the Dark Alliance 
did me a small favor by changing me.  I used to have the body of a 
fifty-eight year old man.  An incredibly fit body for one of my age, 
but still an old body.  Now, my center of balance may be wildly 
different from where it was, but offsetting that is the fact that I 
now have the body of a twenty year old.  Yes, it's a woman's body, 
but I'm young, spry; I even think I'm a little stronger than I was. 
I guess I got off lucky."

"Are you really younger?"

"Not exactly.   The sorceresses tell me there's something about aging 
that can't be overridden.  Magic can keep you alive and healthy to 
the full extent of your natural life span, but you're still likely to 
die in your nineties or early hundreds."

"But you've still got a kind of rebirth on life?"

"I guess I do."

"I guess this means that physically, I'm older than you."

"Yeah, so?"

"So that means you need to treat your elders with respect, young 
lady."  She gave me a big smile.  It was the first real smile I had 
seen on her since we had been saved by that four armed warlock, and 
it really lit up her face.  It also did something to me that hadn't 
happened since my wife died.  It made me horny.  Her outfit forced 
her to exude sex, but that smile, as well as everything she did or 
said, presented a wide eyed, catholic school girl innocence.  The two 
images created an erotic blend that was almost overwhelming.  My wife 
could do that when she tried, but the captain was doing it without 
trying.  At least I think she was.

It wasn't going to happen, of course.  It would've violated so many 
fraternization rules, that it just wasn't worth it.  It was a nice 
fantasy to dream, though.

************

[Lieutenant Quentin Dargent]

It's been a few days, and I found a new pad of paper, so I figured 
I'd update my report.  I'm going to assume my first report hasn't 
been found and go on from there.  There was too much in it, and I 
haven't the time to rewrite all of it.  Suffice it to say, we were 
transformed, caught; I met a girl, was put through many sexual 
tortures, and escaped with the girl.

I also found out the woman I met was a Witch (she says it's common 
convention to capitalize Witch so as to differentiate her race from 
Wiccans), a member of a sub-breed of humanity capable of casting 
spells.  Her own spell casting ability is somewhat limited, but just 
the little bit I saw has impressed me.  I've been out of touch for a 
few weeks, but if the government hasn't formed an alliance with these 
Witches, then they should.  She also tells me that a year before the 
war started the Witches met with an alliance of human spell casters 
dedicated to ending the threat of the Dark Alliance by any means 
possible.  Again, if it hasn't happened already, then these people 
should be sought out and allied with.

We're still at large, and I hope to remain so until we can get  free 
of the dome and get back to unconquered territory.  Beryl (my Witch 
love's name, not sure if I mentioned it in my last report) wanted to 
go towards the dome on a straight path, but I figured we'd be caught 
if we went that route.  We headed back towards D.C., then when we 
could have some assurance of freedom, we'd make a break towards the 
dome and escape.  Judging by the amount of troops we saw between 
Annapolis and the dome, I think we made the right choice.

As we move south-ish, we have to be careful not to be out in the open 
when patrols pass by.  I don't think they're looking for us 
specifically.  If they were they'd use those rings for our collars to 
try to force us into the open.  Regardless, we still spend a good 
deal of time hiding from the regular patrols of the area.  There are 
enough abandoned buildings around that we haven't had to worry, yet, 
but that doesn't keep them from scaring Beryl.  Every time they storm 
by, she buries her face in my cleavage, trying to shut out the sounds 
of their presence.  It's kind of cute.

But that's what got us to our current level of intimacy.  We were 
hiding out in the back of a gas station when a patrol of Dark 
Alliance soldiers, the transformed once men, went by.  Beryl buried 
her face in my cleavage until they passed.  I had gotten used to 
that.  What was new was that when I had given the all-clear, I felt 
her slide her hands up the blouse I was wearing, and before I knew 
what was happening, she had taken my breasts in hand and was gently 
massaging them.  I asked, "Beryl, what are you doing?"

She pulled her face out of my boobs and said, "Please, Quentin, I 
need you.  If you don't want me, I'll stop, but I love you, Quentin. 
Would you love me?"

Part of me, the starched suit, military part, thought I should end 
this.  It was neither the time or place for it.  But when I looked 
down at her, I couldn't say no.  I realized I did love her.  I think 
I have loved her ever since that first day in the pits.  Besides, her 
hands on my boobs felt surprisingly wonderful.

I think I should mention, I have heard the statements of rapists who 
say their victims really loved it, and I will admit to having read 
some of those X rated stories where some woman gets raped and winds 
up begging for more.  Having experienced rape, I now have to say I 
don't believe a word of it.  My anger, my rage kept me from feeling 
anything approximating arousal, and I refused to allow myself to feel 
afraid.  I can't imagine that some woman, angry and terrified for her 
life, really enjoys that.

But this was different.  My breasts were in the hands of someone who 
really cared for me, who wanted to give as much as take, and that 
made all the difference.  I took her in my arms and crushed our lips 
together.  When we separated, we looked around for a place to lie 
down.  The best we could find was a bunch of coats we threw together 
in a pile.  It wasn't glamorous, but it would do.  We stripped off 
our clothes with an almost frantic need and added them to the pile, 
laying together on the clothes.

Beryl immediately took my breasts in hand again and stroked them as 
she wrapped her lips around my nipple.  I took her breasts in hand 
and tried to fondle them as she was doing to me.  Since I couldn't 
suck her like she was doing to me, I don't think I did as well as she 
did, but she did seem to enjoy what I did do.  Finally, I rolled her 
onto her back and lay atop her.  I was going to guide my penis into 
her, but she beat me to it.  I started moving in and out and she 
returned her hands to my breasts.  The sensation was phenomenal and 
overpowering, and I quickly exploded in orgasm.

I do have to thank the Dark Alliance for one part of my change.  My 
body had been redesigned as a sex toy, and a sex toy that goes soft 
too soon is no fun, so my endurance was phenomenal.  I didn't go soft 
for even a moment and continued to pump her like a piston until she 
came.

But she wasn't finished with me.  She rolled me on to my back and got 
over my dick, taking it in hand and sucking it into her mouth.  She 
moved up and down just a couple times before letting it out of her 
mouth and telling me to play with my boobs.  I was too excited to say 
no and did as she asked.  The feeling was incredible.  We probably 
looked like some porn movie, but I didn't care.  I exploded in 
orgasm, arching my back, and shoving my dick into her mouth.

I was still hard, so she climbed on top of me and slid my dick back 
into her cunt.  She remained upright and bounced up and down on me. 
I moved my hands from my breasts to hers and rubbed them as she 
moved.  She put her hands on mine and returned the favor.  It was 
only a short time later before we exploded together in simultaneous 
orgasm, collapsing in a sweaty heap.

While we were laying together, something bugged me and I had to ask 
her about it.  "Beryl, can I ask you a question?"

She dreamily said, "You can ask me anything you want," and snuggled up to me.

I didn't want to offend her, but I had to ask, so I took a deep 
breath and asked, "Are you a lesbian?"

She looked up at me with this smile that had me thinking she knew 
what I was thinking.  "Why do you ask?"

"It's just you seemed to really enjoy playing with these breasts I've 
been given.  Even when you gave me a blowjob, you had me play with 
them, so I was wondering..."

"If I was more attracted to those with boobs than those without?"

"Yes."

She smiled and gave an amused giggle.  "I always get a kick out of 
listening to norms talk about sexual preferences."  She slid up my 
body so her face was right over mine and our breasts were nicely 
nestled together.  "Fact is, dear heart, I'm bisexual.  Most Witches 
are.  We can change our bodies around.  Well, I can't, but other 
Witches can change them or me.  If what is being changed wasn't what 
was changed by the Transformation, it can even be changed 
permanently.  As a result, the person inside is more important than 
the body on the outside.  If you're worried if I'm going to look for 
somebody else when you get rid of those then stop worrying.  Unless 
you become something other than the kind protector who risked his 
life to drag a frightened girl out of harm's way, then I plan on 
being with you for the long haul."

"Thanks."

We kissed, then she said, "I do have to admit one thing, though."

"What's that?"

She slid down my body while sliding her hands up to my breasts.  I 
moaned softly (we still had to be careful) as she played with me.  "I 
do enjoy playing with these while I ride your cock."  She removed one 
hand from my breast to slide my cock into her, but as soon as I was 
within her, she bowed her head and started nursing on my nipple.  We 
spent the rest of the night sucking and fucking in as many ways as we 
could think of until we fell asleep in each others arms.

I was woken the next day by her lips on mine, a truly beautiful way 
to wake up.  As we got dressed, I found this pad and decided to write 
my next report.  Looking back over it, I realize it isn't a very 
military report, but I had to write down how I feel.  If we get out 
of this alive, I'm marrying her.  If she'll have me.

Y'know, prior to today, the possibility that I might be stuck with 
this body for the rest of my life did scare me.  Now, with Beryl at 
my side, it's not so scary a proposition.

************

[Travis Beckman]

It was a few more days before we encountered the mage couple who 
wanted us dead.  This time we were sent packing, barely escaping with 
our lives.

After I had destroyed the other base, we were forced to start over 
from scratch.  Normally we got some info from one of the base 
personnel before we destroyed it, but we were too pressed for time in 
our last encounter due to the intercession of that man and his 
partner.  So we walked the city streets until we found a dark mage 
and followed him back to his base.

When we found the base, we approached it quickly, only to have a 
flare of fire in front and in back of us.  The man stood between us 
and the base, while the woman stood behind us.  I quickly activated 
my armor and both Cammy and I took battle stances.  The man said, 
"Time to die, Beckman."

I decided to try a flip response.  "Really?  And here I am, gonna 
die, and you haven't even told me your name."

He just replied, "No, I haven't," and charged at me.  I met him half 
way and we battled.  He wasn't using a sword like last time.  This 
time he fought with his hands and feet sheathed in some kind of 
impenetrable energy field.  I guessed that he was modifying it on the 
fly.  My sword could normally cut through energy shields of any type. 
And if the fact that I couldn't cut through his shields was bad 
enough, it turns out he was better at hand-to-hand combat than he was 
at sword fighting, and I could barely hold up against him sword to 
sword.  I was forced into a defensive fight, using every trick I had 
just to keep him from smashing my head in.

Finally, he landed a solid blow to my gut, knocking me back onto my 
butt.  I looked up, thinking to call in Cammy, only to see she had 
her own problems.  The female mage had a hubcap sized mirror.  A beam 
of light shone from the reflective surface onto Cammy, freezing her 
in place.  I could tell from the way that her body was shaking that 
she was trying to move, but was in some way being restrained.

I barely had time to recognize what was happening with Cammy before I 
saw the man leaping down on me from above.  I barely rolled out of 
the way before he smashed the ground beneath where I was.  I stood 
quickly, only to feel his foot slam into me, knocking me back once 
more.

I remained on my feet this time, but it wasn't much help.  The man 
pressed his advantage, driving me back.  I managed to block most of 
the blows and, thankfully, all the serious ones, but he landed enough 
minor blows that I was really beginning to feel it.  Finally, he 
landed a good, solid uppercut, and blew me back into the wall of an 
apartment building.

I knew we had to get away and fast.  I took my blade, jammed it into 
the wall behind me, and blew the front of the building off.  As it 
fell between us, I ducked into the building, ignoring the frightened 
stares of those inside, and ran straight through, and through the 
back wall.  I immediately jumped back on the roof of the building I 
had just blew through, crossed back, leapt to the ground, picked up 
Cammy, and ran for the hills.

The man, who was climbing out of the rubble I had buried him in, 
quickly followed.  We took our run to the rooftops, leaving his 
female partner far behind.  It didn't help Cammy; she was still stiff 
as a statue, and her feet and hands had taken on the color and 
appearance of marble.  We covered many roofs trying to get away from 
the man.

He somehow managed to keep the same distance behind me, neither 
losing nor gaining ground.  I was almost to the point where I thought 
I'd have to turn and face him or he'd chase me across the city, when 
a circle of light appeared in front of me.  I didn't even have time 
to stop, although I tried, but I fell right through it.

Next thing I knew, we were back in the hotel we were using as a 
temporary residence.  There was no sign of our opponent, but, on the 
bed, was a strange, clay disk.  Beside it was a note that said I was 
to press it to the CMS.  I didn't know what was going on, but since 
the bad guys almost had us, I figured who had saved us was on our 
side.  I actually guessed it was the Master, but didn't have 
definitive proof.

I put Cammy on the bed, took the disk, and pressed it to her 
forehead.  She immediately morphed into a big capsule, and I could 
feel magic at work.  Not knowing how long it'll take, I took a seat 
at the cheap desk they had and updated this diary.

While writing, a news report came on.  A local children's hospital 
has been surrounded by an impenetrable dome.  While the report was 
running, the face of that man appeared in the dome.  Judging by the 
lack of response by the reporter, I guess only I can see it.  He 
said, "Travis Beckman, in three days, meet me at the junkyard on the 
north side of town.  Run away again and everybody within dies."

I can only hope Cammy is back by then.

************

[Elizabeth Thompson Norman]

It was a couple days later when Lin Su returned.  The vet had okayed 
Sam for light exercise (brief walks and short flights), so he was out 
on the runway with Karasina closely supervising.  Sam may have been 
willing to harass the vet, but when his own wife would stand in front 
of him, staring him down, and demanding he follow the vet's orders, 
he backed down like a kitten.  Of course, once she was out of 
earshot, he grumbled like an angry lion, but he didn't disobey the 
vet's orders, and that was the important part.

When Su got back, Sam returned as quickly as he could run.  Karasina 
and the vet both gave him some dirty looks, but understood the 
severity of what was going on and said nothing.  As soon as Sam had 
settled into his nest, he asked, "What did you find out?"

Su said, "You were right.  The domes, all the domes, were the same 
spell.  I couldn't even find any evidence of other casters' 
assistance in the formation of the spell.  I did discover that the 
domes were coming from an enchanted item.  I traced the item to D.C."

Almost as if on cue, the veep and General Wilfred came in.  The veep 
asked, "What's going on?  Did we miss anything?"

"We were just discussing the domes.  Lin Su has discovered that the 
domes are trans-spatial and that their source has been planted within 
your own capitol.  Now we go with our plan.  We knock down the domes, 
slip somebody in, and back off while the domes reform."

"So who's going in?"

Su said, "I am."

I said, "Wait a second.  Don't you think we should discuss this? 
Maybe take a vote."

"No.  As General Wilfred pointed out before, we cannot run this war 
by committee.  I'm the best choice for the job.  We can't send in a 
Witch.  We don't want to risk capture.  I'm one of the most powerful 
sorceresses on the planet, yet not so young or new to my power that 
I'll be prone to use magic at the drop of the hat.  I've switched 
specialties a few times over my career, from physical transformation 
to covert intrusion to mind control; all of which will be very useful 
inside the dome where I'll be cut off from support."

Sam said, "Agreed."  I had to agree too, although I didn't like the 
concept of one of my friends so alone and at risk.  "Be careful, Su. 
We want you back here alive and in one piece.  Now where do we insert 
you?"

Su said, "I hate to say it, but the best option will be east of New 
York.  It'll take a while to get down to D.C., but it'll minimize the 
risk of someone catching me prematurely."

"How long will you need to get down there, find the dome generator 
and take it out?"

"Give me exactly four weeks.  I don't think it'll take quite that 
long to get there, but the extra time will give me some extra leeway 
in finding the generator and taking it out.  I can easily time my 
assault for twenty-eight days from today."

"General Wilfred, President Bartell, can you arrange the simultaneous 
assaults we need?  One as soon as possible, one tomorrow?"

The general said, "The initial assault can be held tomorrow.  The 
troops, both local and international, have been chomping at the bit 
to do something against the Dark Alliance.  It'll actually be a 
welcome release.  As for four weeks from now, you get us those magic 
enhanced weapons, and we'll be ready then."

"Then until tomorrow..."

We broke up and went to our separate rooms.  Lynn and I were too 
tense to do anything but snuggle.  I called Aunt Sarah that evening. 
The kids are doing fine and all the sorcerers, sorceresses, and 
Witches are going to be ready in a month.  I can't help but notice 
that our scheduled assault will be the same day that the Temple of 
Dalinor moves.  One month from now, for good or for bad, everything 
hits the fan.  Great Maker preserve us all.

************

[General Keith "Katharine" Wilfred]

The troops are all set up and ready to go.  Elizabeth, her wife, 
Lynnette, and I took a flight straight to Richmond, then drove fast 
and furious to get to the troops and have them set up.  It's 8:58. 
The attack is timed to go off at 9 A.M. Eastern Standard Time exactly.

************

Things have gone really bad.  More accurately, things went as planned 
for us, but we underestimated the deviousness of the bad  guys.  The 
attack went off exactly as planned.  At 9, forces around the world 
made a simultaneous attack on every dome the Dark Alliance had.  It 
took five minutes of heavy barraging, but the domes finally came 
down.  I knew Lin Su would be making her mad dash into N.Y.C., so I 
ordered the immediate withdrawal of the troops.

That was when the shit hit the fan.  We saw bolts of red lightning 
streak out from D.C.  It took me a few seconds, but I figured out 
that they were headed towards nearby cities.  Lynnette suddenly 
screamed, "Damn!  We got to get out of here!  Now!"

I asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're not using the energy to make the domes stronger.  They're 
using it to expand the domes.  There must be sub-generators in local 
cities and they're using the extra energy to catalyze the start-up 
procedure.  If we don't get out of here, we'll be trapped!"

"I'll order the withdrawal."

Elizabeth screamed, "No!  Only the planes would have any chance of 
getting away in time, and even then there's no guarantees.  Order 
everybody in tight.  I'll teleport us out of here."

I didn't have time to argue.  She started her dancing, and Lynnette 
started chanting.  I ordered everybody in tight and sent warnings to 
our overseas allies.  I just finished as Elizabeth and Lynnette 
completed their spell.  I briefly saw the dome start to reform before 
a wave of light enshrouded us all.

Next thing I knew, we, everybody we, were back at Houston.  I turned 
to Elizabeth and Lynnette to ask some questions, and saw both were 
unconscious.  I ordered some soldiers to take them to the infirmary 
and sent for a doctor and a sorcerous healer.

In about an hour, I found out that both were just totally exhausted. 
It had taken everything they had to get everyone out safely.  They'd 
sleep for a day or so, and need to take it easy for a while, but 
they'd be okay.

It was a testament to the flying skills of our boys that, despite the 
cross continent teleport, there were no aerial accidents and all 
landed safely.

In the orient, no expansion of the domes occurred, and there was no 
loss of man power.

That was the end of the good news.

There is now a massive dome covering a large chunk of the American 
northeast.  From Augusta, Maine to Richmond, Virginia to Charleston, 
West Virginia north into Canada to Toronto to Ottawa and back to 
Augusta is now under Dark Alliance domination.

It only gets worse when you look at Europe.  All of Europe, with the 
exception of Iceland and the northern British Isles is now trapped 
under a massive dome.  Worse yet, most of our forces there have been 
lost.  They had sorceresses helping, but they didn't have the power 
of Lynnette and Elizabeth combined, and what teleporting they could 
do was only into other parts of Europe.  Only those in southern and 
eastern Europe managed to escape into Africa and Asia.  Eighty five 
percent of American troops assaulting D.C. managed to avoid capture. 
Only ten percent of the European troops did the same.

With such reduced force, we'll have to revise our second attack. 
It'll still have to go off at the same time, there's no way to get 
word to Lin Su to change the attack plan, but with our reduced 
numbers, we will have to change things.  I just hope we can still 
pull this off.

************

[Jenny Welker and Wanda Adams]

INT:  We're back, discussing the events of the Restoration War with 
Jenny Welker and Wanda Adams, two of the war's most prominent 
figures.  For those of you just tuning in, we have gone from more 
than a year prior to the war to a point almost a month after its 
start.

Now, Jenny, you and Wanda were in training with Egypt's protector, the Sphinx.

Jenny:   Yes, and for about a week, we learned quite a bit from him. 
Mostly combat spells and the art of keeping up maintained spells.

Wanda:  Then came the dome assault and the subsequent capture of Europe.

INT:  But it wasn't just Europe that had fallen, was it?

Jenny:  No.  Oman, one of the few mideast countries not under 
Egyptian protection, had its capitol city of Muscat captured under a 
dome.  The Sphinx decided he had to do something due to its proximity 
to Egypt.  So he went out, telling us to wait in the training camp.

Wanda:  We shouldn't have waited.

Jenny:  No, we shouldn't have.  The Sphinx strode straight to the 
dome in Muscat, swung his sword into it and shattered it.

INT:  Forgive my interruption, but I thought that the domes were all 
linked, yet the Sphinx managed to shatter two of them without taking 
them all down.  How was that possible?

Jenny:  The dome in Cairo hadn't been fully established.  Taking it 
down only destroyed the sub-generator.  The dome in Oman hadn't been 
part of the system.  It had been established solely as a lure to draw 
out the Sphinx.

INT:  So the Sphinx shattered the dome.  Then what?

Jenny:  A sole human suddenly grew from nothing to the size of the 
Sphinx, uppercutting him as she grew.  She was a large breasted, 
blonde, and somehow we knew.  It was Dorina Tempus, leader of the 
Dark Alliance.  She pressed her advantage, beating the Sphinx down. 
We prepared and cast a teleport spell to take us as close to the dome 
as we could.

INT:  Why not just go straight there?

Jenny:  Couldn't teleport through the dome, at least not without 
prior knowledge of the Sphinx so he could adjust for it.

Wanda:  But we were too late.  Just as we finished our teleport, 
Dorina Tempus killed the Sphinx.  We felt the Sphinx's shield dome 
start to fail, so we grabbed the energy essence of the spell and took 
over maintenance of it.

Dorina Tempus then teleported to within 100 yards of the dome.  We 
figured she'd assault the dome, but she instead just yelled, "Jenny 
Welker, I can feel your essence in there.  I know your essence 
because I know your father's essence.  I ripped it apart with my bare 
hands.  I killed your father, Jenny.  Come to me.  Avenge him if you 
can."

Jenny:  I felt the others at the base camp take up the duty of 
maintaining the dome and almost ran to do as she said, but Wanda 
stopped me.  She pointed out that Dorina wouldn't be goading me if 
she weren't prepared for me.  She also pointed out that I wasn't 
ready for Dorina.  I knew Wanda was right, but she still had to 
restrain me as Dorina taunted me.

She called out, "I killed your father, kidnapped your sister, have 
thwarted your allies at every turn, and now destroyed your greatest 
asset.  Come, Jenny, let's end this once and for all."

Then she yelled out something that almost had me blast from Wanda's 
arms to get at her.  She yelled, "If you won't avenge your father's 
death, what of your mother's defilement?  I raped her, you know." 
She paused while I struggled with Wanda.  "That's right, Jenny.  I 
RAPED your mom.  Didn't you ever wonder how your mother survived the 
encounter that killed your father, a much less powerful mage?  After 
your daddy sacrificed himself and the Temple of Dalinor had 
teleported away, she and I were alone in the jungle of southeast 
Asia.  She thought that I'd kill her, but instead I raped her and 
left her alive so that she and everyone would know that no one can 
stop me from taking what I want, when I want."

Wanda:  Jenny almost fought free of me at that point.  Only by 
telling her she'd have to hurt or kill me to get free was I able to 
hold on to her.

Finally, Dorina Tempus said, "Doesn't matter, Jenny.  We will fight 
some day.  You and I are destined to clash.  It has been prophesied. 
We are the two greatest mages of the day, Jenny, and this war will 
end on the day you and I clash.  Until then, Jenny Welker."  Then she 
teleported away.

Jenny:  I dissolved in tears.  I so wanted to end that bitch's life.

INT:  I can see you need a break, so we'll cut to an early 
commercial.  Back after this.

************

[Dorina Tempus]

I teleported into the base.  It would've been satisfying to kill the 
Welker bitch in Egypt, but I suspect that destiny didn't have it in 
the cards for us quite yet.  I wasn't lying to her.  I rarely lie. 
I'm too powerful to have to.  But I knew that we would clash from the 
Temple of Dalinor.

The Temple was the original Temple of Delphi.  The original priestess 
who foretold the so accurate prophecies died about the same time that 
the Roman Republic, later to become the Roman Empire, was becoming a 
thriving force.  Others tried to take her place, but no one gained 
the ability to see the future as she had.  Until a priest named 
Dalinor came on the scene, falling asleep in the same spot that the 
priestess had before, muttering prophecies just like she had.

For fifty years, things went on as they had under the original 
prophetess.  Then Jesus came to the temple.  He waved his hand, said, 
"Your power is needed elsewhere," and the entire temple disappeared.

One hundred and fifty years later the temple was found by a White 
Sisterhood sorceress, but it disappeared before she could get anybody 
else to confirm her finding.  Another hundred years after that, it 
was discovered in a completely different part of the globe.  Dalinor 
himself had disappeared, but there was, in his place, an obelisk with 
his face carved into one side.  The obelisk would answer three 
questions of anyone who entered the Temple.  That was how they found 
out about it moving around.  Somebody asked where it had been since 
the last sighting.  When it listed a hundred different places, it was 
asked why and it explained things.

Fifteen years ago, when I found the temple, I asked the face about my 
plan for the future of the Dark Alliance.  It told me that the plan 
could succeed, but the daughter of the sorceress who would face me on 
that day would be my undoing.  I knew that it was Elizabeth Welker 
who was coming, and I knew that, at the time, she had no girls, so I 
asked what would happen if I killed her that day.  It said that her 
family would not rest until my destruction was attained.  I asked 
what would happen if I killed her husband.  It told me that killing 
her husband would change nothing.

Little did I know.

A short while later, the Welker couple arrived.  I hid and listened 
as Elizabeth asked the face how they could stop me.  It said neither 
of them could.  She asked how I could be stopped.  It said that the 
key would lie with her daughter, and that one of her children would 
join the White Sisterhood as the most powerful sorceress of the order 
and that on the day she confronted me, her daughter would provide my 
undoing.  She then asked when that confrontation would occur.  It 
said that the Dark Alliance would wage war and on the last day of 
that war, we would meet.

The man stepped up, but I decided to prevent any more questions, 
trying to prevent them from learning too much about the Dark Alliance 
and the future.  I shot a single bolt into the room, and called them 
out.  The rest is history.  Daddy came out, I killed him, mommy threw 
up a force field to keep me out, I waited until the end of the day 
which was the end of the year and the Temple disappeared from around 
both of us, leaving me and her alone.  We fought, she lost, I raped 
her, then went home.  I felt that despite the statements of the 
Temple, I had the power to change the future, and even if I couldn't, 
I could ensure a Dark Alliance victory.

Back to the present, so to speak.

After I returned to the base, Lois brought me the report of what had 
happened after the Light Alliance's assault.  After skimming it, I 
determined that everything had gone according to plan.  But then Lois 
said, "Check the last page,second to last paragraph."

I did so, then said, "In D.C., two slaves escaped almost two weeks 
ago and not only are they not recaptured, they're only just getting 
reported now?  Two mortals escaped?"

"Our Dark Alliance men said that they felt it was too inconsequential 
to mention.  I get the feeling they were just afraid of retribution 
for their incompetence."

I rolled my eyes.  "Have them collect all the slaves together into 
one area in each city, then scan for the collars.  The two should 
stick out like sore thumbs."

"And the man in charge of finding them?"

"I'm feeling generous right now.  Turn the slaves into uncontrollable 
sex fiends, temporarily strip him of his power, and throw him in with 
them for a couple hours."

Lois gave me a crisp, "Yes, ma'am," and left to do my bidding.  I 
poured myself a glass of cognac, sent for my slut, and sat back, 
waiting for her to arrive.  I had killed the Sphinx, the Dark 
Alliance had captured Europe and the northeast U.S., and our plan to 
capture Witches by following their norm relatives would soon bear 
fruit.  I was on top of the world.  Even my baby's whining for food 
didn't bring me down.

************

[Beryl McQueen]

Great Maker, I have lost him.  We had decided to head towards the 
dome when the dome went down.  We made a break for freedom, and maybe 
if we had been closer, we could've made it, but when the dome 
reformed, we were still inside.  Just by looking, we could tell that 
the dome was now much further away.  We sighed and started walking.

Two days later, things really got hot.  Patrols started getting heavy 
in our area, forcing us to hide out in some abandoned roadhouse/bar 
thingy.  We had been forced to change directions to avoid patrols so 
often, I couldn't have guessed exactly where we were.

We were hiding when we heard a voice call out, "Quentin Dargent, 
Beryl McQueen, we know you're in there.  Come out now!"

Our collars started to burn, and we knew we had to do something.  I 
stood and said, "I'll run.  You have a better chance to get away 
alone.  I'll run to get them to follow me and you sneak out the 
back."  It took everything I had to make that announcement.  I don't 
think Quentin will ever know how terrified I was as I turned to run. 
Before I could move, I saw stars and fell to the ground.

When I woke up, I snuck to a window and saw the Dark Alliance forces 
moving away.  Quentin was at the back of the group, a chain at his 
throat, with his wrists cuffed behind his back, being pulled along. 
I don't know what he said to get them to leave me here, to not search 
for me, but part of me wished I was by his side, even under Dark 
Alliance control.

After they were gone, I looked around and found a note on a bar pad 
from Quentin.  It said, "I'm sorry, love.  I can't let you sacrifice 
yourself for me.  I could never live with myself, knowing you were in 
their clutches.  I'll try to get them away.  If I succeed, get to and 
out the dome and contact your relatives.  I hope to see you again, 
but if we don't, know that I will always love you."

I took the time to write down what happened.  Now I'm torn.  I'm not 
sure I can make it to the dome.  It was Quentin who kept us from 
being caught this long.  I can go after Quentin, but how am I going 
to find him, and what am I going to do if I do?

Great Maker, what do I do?

************

[Travis Beckman]

I was in my room the morning of our encounter.  I was about to leave 
when I heard, "Don't leave yet."  I turned and saw Cammy in her 
female form, freshly morphed from her capsule.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"Yes.  The Master's upgrade will shield me from similar attacks."

"So how are we going to handle this?"

She shifted into an exact copy of me in armored form.  "With 
confusion and misdirection on our side."

************

[Reginald McDonald]

We waited at the junkyard.  Beckman really had no choice but to show 
up.  It was just a matter of time.

Finally, at just before noon, I saw Beckman on top of a pile of old 
cars.  I asked, "Ready to die?"

 From another pile of junk, I heard, "We could ask you the same 
thing."  I turned and saw another Beckman.  I couldn't tell the 
difference on sight.

I saw Larinda flash her paralyzer at both, but she screamed, "It's 
better shielded.  I can't even tell the real from the phony!"

I growled, "Then stay out of this; stay hidden!"  Larinda dodged 
behind some piles of junk, and I yelled to the Beckmans, "One on one, 
or two at once, I will destroy you!"

They jumped down and we fought.  Retreat wasn't an option.  I wasn't 
going to fail the Dark Alliance again, if Beckman retreated I 
would've destroyed that hospital, so both of us fought with our lives 
on the line.  It only took a few minutes before I knew which was the 
real Beckman.  The construct was colder and harsher in its fighting 
style.  Larinda figured it out, too, but even concentrating her beam 
on the real thing didn't work.  It was too well shielded.

We fought, neither side gaining the upper hand.  We were too evenly 
matched.  But after a couple hours, it started to happen.  My dark 
wish started to give out.  I couldn't very well recharge it now, and 
if I lost my strength, I was dead.  Larinda knew it, too.  She 
couldn't do anything either.

But she tried.

When our battle got close to her, she leapt out.  I didn't know what 
she was planning, but it didn't matter.  The construct spun around 
and buried its sword in her chest.  I screamed her name and ran to 
her side, ignoring Beckman.  I suppose if Beckman had been ready, I'd 
have died then and there.

I got to Larinda and felt the construct attack my shields.  Beckman 
called it off, but I didn't care.  I held Larinda and said, "I'll get 
you to a healer."  That's right.  It shouldn't have been an option, 
but I thought of running.

Larinda grabbed my shirt.  "Rej, I'm losing my dark wish."  Her body 
started to become that of a plain woman's, and I nearly cried.  The 
only time a dark wish deserts a dark sorcerer is if they take enough 
damage that a healer can't save them.  She said, "Don't look at me, 
Rej, please."

She hated looking plain, so I told her, "You're still beautiful, Larinda."

She asked, "Really?"

I nodded.  "I love you, Larinda.  You will always be beautiful to 
me."  She died in my arms with a smile on her face.  I cried, 
realizing I had not been making things up.

I, Reginald James McDonald, have committed the cardinal sin for a 
Dark Alliance sorcerer.

I had fallen in love.

But I still had a mission to perform.  I clutched Larinda to me, gave 
her one last post-mortem gift, and transmitted this report.  On 
finishing, I will cast my Armageddon spell.

Death before dishonor.

************

[Travis Beckman]

I was surprised that the mage cared for his partner, but I could tell 
he mourned her loss.  That was why I called Cammy off.  Maybe I 
shouldn't have, but compassion is part of what makes me human.  He 
talked with the girl briefly, then I felt magic in use.

Cammy suddenly grabbed me and wrapped herself around me.  Not just 
with human arms, but she had actually melted and flowed around me, 
totally encasing me.  I wondered what she ws doing, particularly 
since I couldn't breath, but the felt extreme heat and force buffet 
me from outside.  It was the Armageddon spell.  Every dark mage 
masters a spell that can turn his or her power in on itself, causing 
the mage to explode.  Most don't have the power to do more than self 
immolate, but this guy had more.

But even after the blast ceased, Cammy didn't shift away.  She had 
been baked hard as a rock.  I collected all my strength and flexed 
out, breaking free and shattering Cammy.  The first thing I did was 
take a deep breath.  Then I saw that I was now standing in a blasted 
zone sixty yards across.  The only thing that had made it through 
unscathed was me and the woman's body, pristine and beautiful.

As I collected myself, I felt a wriggling on the back of my hand. 
Looking, I saw a small bit of Cammy briefly shift into the shape of 
an ear.  I put the little piece into my ear and heard Cammy say, 
"Travis, that blast decimated me.  It will take me weeks to reform. 
You must persevere alone.  Keep this piece of me on you.  It'll help 
home in on Bambi.  Now go.  Bambi needs you."  I took the time to 
sweep all the pieces of Cammy into a small pile.  Close proximity of 
her parts would speed recovery time.

I then left the junkyard.  What else could I do?

************

[Bambi Welker]

I was alone in my room, doing some drawing (not much else to do in 
here) when Lois came in.  I could tell she had something serious on 
her mind.  She said, "Bambi, can we talk?"

"Of course.  What's up?"

She brought out a thing that looked like an over-thick ping pong 
paddle.  She held it parallel to the floor.  A rotating, holographic 
picture of the globe appeared over it.  Europe, a good part of the 
Eastern Seaboard, and a bunch of spots all over the world were red. 
She said, "The red is what we've taken, most of it in only the last 
two weeks.  Your side is losing the war."

I turned away.  "Is this some kind of taunt?"

She knelt beside me, behind me with my back turned.  I felt her hand 
on my shoulder.  "Bambi, I'm not telling you this to taunt you.  This 
may be your last chance.  We could still use your talents.  If you 
join us willingly then you could still bargain for your family's 
lives."

"Lives as what?  Prisoners?  Slaves?  And no matter what you keep 
them as, you'll have to remove their magic, have to perform a mystic 
lobotomy.  They'd never understand why I did that, or even if they 
did, they still wouldn't forgive me.  One thing mother has made clear 
is that she'd rather be dead then live in a world ruled by the Dark 
Alliance.  I can't do that to them."  Tears came to my eyes.  Why did 
I have to make these decisions?  I'm just a teenager, barely a legal 
adult.  I shouldn't have to make life or death decisions.

Lois wrapped her arms around me.  "I understand, Bambi.  Really, I 
do.  You do understand I had to try?"  I nodded.  "Bambi, you once 
offered me your shoulder.  Would you like mine now?"  I turned 
around, buried my face in her blouse, and sobbed shamelessly.

************

[Daphne Newell]

A month of war and things have gone so horribly.  The Dark Alliance 
now controls way too much of the world.  The military has taken 
serious blows because of it.  The Sphinx in Egypt is dead.  His 
shield survives, but it's nowhere near as powerful and it takes a 
half dozen sorceresses and Witches to maintain it.

Despite the fact that the Vice-President has openly commended Lizard 
for her role in saving the forces that assaulted D.C., a lot of 
people still blame Witches for the war.  I'm wondering how they'll 
react if the Dark Alliance offers to end the war in return for all 
the Witches out there?

Great Maker, help us all.

-- 
Send all comments, suggestions, etc. to
J R D
jrdss@micronet.net
ICQ#37222294

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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