Chapter 23

The bond that has formed and continues to grow and strengthen between Dakota and Sorbo can never be undone by design or lies. Their love is pure and their motives so unselfish and pristine that even the gods marvel at the honesty of it all.

“Sorbo?”

“Yes, my love.”

“When Cathy comes back I’ll sleep in my room so you and Cathy can sleep together.”

Sorbo hugs her and says, “Oh, babygirl, I love your unselfish beautiful heart. Does that mean you are going to sleep with me until then?”

“Yep.”

“I love you.”

“Yep, I know.”

After another relaxing evening of watching the flames dance, the fire crackle and listening to Katarina telling stories of far off worlds to her people, yawns once and again send them off to bed. Dakota wearing her normal royal blue pullover long sleeve shirt that now hangs to just below her eleven-year-old knees, instead of all the way to her feet when Sorbo first let her wear the shirt when she was just eight-years-old. As usual Sorbo is wearing his shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

He has never been a part of anything so pure and honest. He sees before his very eyes this little eleven-year-old girl that he loves more than he has ever loved anyone or anything in this world, and she is openly, unselfishly and totally unafraid sharing her magic with him. Cathy’s words come back to him now that he has done one hell of a job with her.

Immediately Dakota scoots over and cuddles into Sorbo. Sorbo wraps his powerful arm around her. “I feels so, so, so special, when you hold me. I feel like I am loved.”

“You are loved.”

“I know, but it is love in warmth not words. I mean...”

“It’s okay, babygirl. I know what you mean. Thank you for the trust you show in me, and thank you for the honor you are sharing with me. It is like the warmth from our shared souls is what is going to save the world.”

“Yeah, it’s marvelous. Does it feel like this with Cathy?”

“No, with Cathy it is wonderful and it is ... more, but it is also so much less. With Cathy it is like two bodies sharing of each other, but here now with you it is like two auras sharing of each other.”

“Yeah. Sorbo?”

“Yeah, babygirl.”

“How old do you have to be to have relations?”

“I don’t believe in saying there is a specific age. There are thirteen year-old girls who are ready and nineteen year-old girls who aren’t. So it doesn’t matter how old the girl is as long as she is doing it willingly and fully understands what it is all about. Basically, as long as she has someone who cares for her deeply, not just doing it to get it over with to see what it is like.”

“Sorbo?”

“Yes, my love.”

“I think I am going to wait until I’m seventeen like you were.”

Sorbo smiles and says, “Good girl.” and then he attacks her with tickles and a million little kisses on her cheek and ear. After the giggles subside and Dakota snuggles further into him, Sorbo’s eyes well up with tears because he cannot believe the honest purity of this moment that he gets to share in. He didn’t think it was possible, but he falls further in love with this special eleven-year-old sweetheart of a girl.

After Cathy returns and laughter and love perforates their home the bliss remains, only it is transformed into a family unit of three, well four including Katarina, well seventy-five including all of the fairies, well seventy-eight or nine if you include the dragons. Anyway, the times are joyous and time moves forward graciously and once again they are preparing to get under way to head to the City of Divinity and the gathering. In a matter of a week Dakota will be twelve years old.

All of a sudden Dakota comes running into the house with Cathy in tow and she is jumping up and down all excited. With a smile Sorbo asks, “What’s this about?”

“Guess what Cathy calls her new horse?”

“Hmm, actually I don’t know.”

“She calls him Cuddles.”

“So our horses are called Hugs, Kisses and Cuddles?”

“Yep.”

“Too funny.” and with that Sorbo puts his arm around Cathy’s waist and Dakota’s shoulders and they start heading outside.

Dakota flies out the front door to the horses. Sorbo has decided it will be best that at least one dragon stay here all the time, even when nobody is home. Normally all the fairies and dragons go with them to The Gathering, but of late Cathy said she has been getting an odd feeling as if being watched or that somebody had been there while they were out.

Lender decides to leave two dragons and will send two more back in a few days so the original two can at least spend a couple of days at The Gathering.

Once they have made it out of the mountains and have turned east-southeast a localized lightning storm comes rolling in on black clouds. Oddly, even though many lighting bolts fly this way and that, there is no thunder accompanying them.

The black clouds roll into position exactly along the path of where they are riding, and it appears to be waiting for them. Sorbo’s Sword of Might starts vibrating as dark magic is in the air, and both Dakota and Cathy pull out their wands ready for anything.

As they look on, a face that is not quite a face as much as it is a pair of eyes, cheeks and lips form within the dark clouds.

“Form up.” Sorbo takes point and draws his sword. Cathy positions herself between Dakota and the dark apparition.

When Sorbo pulls out his sword a malevolent chuckle comes out of the black rolling clouds. “So the Great Protector is going to do battle with a God?” The voice is a booming baritone with an odd hissing sound coming from deep within it.

Just then a lightning bolt strikes the ground ten paces in front of them and now standing there is a black-cloaked figure with the hood pulled up so you can’t see any part of him, and he is now walking towards them.

Sorbo dismounts and points his sword at the cloaked man and says, “That is far enough, Loki!”

With another sinister laugh the dark god says, “Fear not, Great Protector, I have not come to do battle. I have come to meet the White Sorceress and bask in her glory.” As he says that last part, again a malevolent chuckle echoes across the skies.

Cathy rides forward and blocks his view of Dakota and says, “You will not approach her, Dark One.”

Loki turns his hooded head towards her and malice emanates from out of him.

Dakota unafraid rides around Cathy and comes to Sorbo, dismounts and stands at his side. “I am the White Sorceress and there is enough power and room on this world for all of us to coexist in peace. Return to your lands Loki and stop spreading your lies and chaos.”

“I assure you, little princess, that I do not know what you are talking about.”

Then there is a bright light. “Don’t you?”

“Ah, Andromeda,” says Loki, bowing sincerely. “I was wondering where you were.”

“Now you know. It has been many ages since you have visited my lands. What brings about this great honor?”

Another low malevolent chuckle rises from the depths of the abyss. “I came to visit the world’s savior. Andromeda, you have been skirting on the boundaries of your allowed interference.”

“Never! My participation is not interference; it is a part of the White Sorceress Prophecy, nothing more.”

“See to it that it remains that way, Radiant One.”

“You have annoyed me, Dark Child, leave my lands now!”

“Or what?”

Just then Dakota reaches over and takes Sorbo’s hand. All of a sudden his sword becomes engulfed in the blue flame and shoots directly into the dark clouds. “We’re not afraid of you,” says Dakota, over the roar of the blue flames.

Loki first looks at her and then up at his dissipating black clouds. As the clouds begin to dissipate Loki begins to sway in and out of the physical realm. As the last of the black clouds dissipate so does Loki leaving behind a dark malevolent chuckle.

Andromeda turns towards Dakota with pride and bows to her greatness. Sorbo can tell she is getting ready to vanish again so he says, “Andromeda, are there things that you cannot tell us?”

“Yes.” and with that and a bright flash she is gone.

When Dakota and Sorbo turn around they find Cathy shaking from the experience of meeting the dark god. “When he looked at me I felt as if my time is now marked.”

“Cathy, don’t you worry about that big bad bully. If he tries to hurt you I will turn him into a frog.”

Cathy looks down at the beautiful Dakota and slowly a smile comes to her pretty face.

The opening celebration is a marvel to behold. This time the whole city has come together to celebrate their hero’s courage against the dark god, as Andromeda quickly let the tale be known because she knows hope is one of the strongest weapons against darkness. Love being the most powerful. That is why Dakota and Sorbo stood before the dark god Loki truthfully unafraid. All of the things that they share with each other that might seem odd or improper to some are the very things that are building a bond that will be unbreakable when the time comes to shine its strength upon the world.