Chapter 28

“Dakota?”

“Hmm.”

“Cathy’s birthday is in July and I think we should do something really wonderful for her.”

“I agree.”

Sorbo finds himself waking up every morning happier than he has ever been before. His days are filled with laughter and wonder, and in the evenings before the fireplace he gets to cuddle with Dakota, and then at night he gets to sleep with the prettiest brunette this side of the heavens.

Things also become more interesting as the power from the shaft part of the Staff of Creation, known as the Staff of Embodiment, starts emanating its grace through out the Andromeda Mountains. Every day another creature or family of creatures are found trying to dig their way in or climb over the defenses they built after the last attack, and after they realized a werewolf is somewhere about.

Eventually they give up and leave the main front gate open and soon the entire courtyard is filled with deer, badgers, squirrels, even smaller rodents, a bear or two stop in every once in a while and so do several mountain lions. Every creature from crawlers to flyers stops by to visit. Dakota and Cathy are in heaven because their witch powers come from nature and soon they are aglow with the wonder of the natural world.

What once were natural enemies are now mostly peacefully coexisting as their family continues to grow. Through out the entire spring and summer Sorbo thinks there is not a day that goes by that he doesn’t see Cathy and Dakota dancing naked outside with the very nature that gives them their powers. Granted he is not displeased. Cathy is a five-foot, ninety stoneling, beauty with long brunette hair and lovely hazel eyes. Dakota is becoming more of a woman everyday as her petite body starts filling out and her dirty blonde hair and blue eyes shine like the stars. Soon it looks like Dakota will be taller than Cathy, but they are both petite and pretty.

Summer comes and they celebrate Cathy’s birthday in grand fashion. Since it would be too dangerous to leave the Free Lands of Andromeda they invite her parents and one younger sister up to celebrate with them. Her father is a wizard of light and both her mom and little sister of twenty-five are witches also. Truly the summer is a time of family and love.

Sorbo knows that having attachments allows for your enemy to use them against you, and Sorbo warns Cathy’s family about that very thing. “Be on guard.”

One night the ever curious and growing Dakota, who is once and again sitting in Sorbo’s lap with his powerful arms securely wrapped around her, asks a question that has been long nagging her, “Sorbo?”

“Hmm.”

“Do you have any family?”

“You and Cathy are my family.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, yes and you, too, Katarina.” She nods her pretty little fairy head as she is adorably curled up sharing in the love and grace.

“Of course, but I mean a mother and father or a sibling.”

“When I left to disappear for good my mother and father were still alive and living in the Darian Mountains as my family has always done. I also had four older sisters.”

“I think we should try and find them.”

“No thanks.”

“Why?”

“Because I have something more important to do for now. If when this is all over and I am still alive I will think about going there and apologizing to them for just disappearing without a word. For now this is my life and I would change it for nothing.”

“Why do you think they haven’t come up here to stay in their family cabin?”

“The cabin can only be found by the direct heir of Pralene, which when I came of age was passed on to me.”

“But Braylard and Cathy can find it!”

“Because I wish it so and the very first time Andromeda showed them the way.”

“So if you wished it, your family could find their way here?”

“Yes.”

“Then wish it.”

“No.” Dakota is becoming frustrated.

“Why?”

“For now it is the same reason that I told Cathy’s family. Anybody that we care about can be used against us to prevent us from you reaching your destiny. It is cold, but it is necessary and we must consider this war and in war all things are possible.”

Dakota seems thoroughly dissatisfied with those answers, but she lets it go for now, and as time does it directs itself to new and wondrous things.

After Cathy’s thirty-sixth birthday gathering, things go back to as normal as things can be with fairies, minotaurs, centaurs, dragons and every known natural wildlife creature about.

Soon autumn is on its way. One evening there is a great commotion out in the front courtyard and they run outside to see what is happening.

“The werewolf attacked our patrol and has bitten Brooden.”

“Is he alright?”

“He is alive, but he has been bitten by a werewolf and if we are to believe the tales of them, then we must watch him closely.” As Braylard is saying that he has his hand resting on his sword just in case.

It is much later, after sleep has overtaken all but the on-duty guards, when a roar the likes Sorbo has never heard pierces the night air and then there is a massive struggle and the alarm goes out.

Half dressed Sorbo goes flying outside with sword in hand. The moon is shining near full and bright. “What is happening?”

“Brooden has changed and he has gotten away!”

“You’re telling me we have a werewolf-minotaur hybrid running wild now?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?” asks Cathy and Dakota, from the doorway.

“Now we have two werewolves about. Close the gate and we’ll start hunting for them tomorrow.” With that everybody turns back in for the night.

Sorbo tucks Dakota in. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I wish I could have seen him. Can you imagine a werewolf minotaur mix?” Sorbo doesn’t say anything, but yes he can imagine it and it worries him to no end.

The hunts come and go without success and soon Sorbo’s forty-eighth birthday is upon them and his two girls spoil him to the heavens and back. From breakfast to dinner, Cathy and Dakota cater to his every whim. Come bedtime Cathy would like to offer something special, but there is already nothing they don’t do so they hold each other close and become one.

Time, always a fleeting thing, marches forward. Soon another Gift Day is upon them. Dakota has a masterful collection of woodcarvings and Sorbo has a most splendid collection of precious rocks. Always are Dakota and Cathy working with the fairies to have new and pretty clothes to wear for their Sorbo. He is grateful and never a day goes by that he doesn’t let both of them know how much he loves them.

The New Year brings with it heavy snows, but at long last the snow starts to fade at their elevation. The minotaurs and centaurs have bolstered their numbers and so have the dragons. They are going to hunt the werewolves until they catch and or kill them.

Cathy and Dakota are safe with hundreds of minotaurs, centaurs and dragons about, so Sorbo takes his forty man team and heads out. “I will be back as soon as possible.”

“Be careful.” Cathy says. Dakota only waves as her Great Protector goes out the front gates in full battle gear.

As soon as the cabin is out of sight they split into four groups of ten, but stay within hearing range, and go for higher elevation. They go so high that the snow lingers here, and there they find tracks of at least one werewolf.

The best tracker, who is a centaur, leads them to a well-hidden cave. Not knowing if there are other exits, Sorbo has fifteen of their twenty dragons fly about the mountain that the cave is embedded in.

Immediately they are met with a howl of rage. It charges them from out of the cave. From above the cave two minotaurs drop a net that is magically charmed onto it. The infuriated creature immediately gets tangled up in it and their one lone fairy comes over a sprinkles dust on it and soon it is deep asleep.

While the werewolf is out they secure it so it can’t get away, but they don’t kill it because they figure the other one will come to its rescue if it cries out enough. That is the ambush. It takes several days of the god-awful racket for the other one to show up. The one thing they notice, unlike in the children’s tales, this one does not turn back into its original form during the day. Eventually they kill both of them and only upon their deaths do they revert back to their original form.

With a well-deserved feeling of accomplishment they return to the cabin and immediately Sorbo is met at the front door by Cathy. “Something is wrong with Dakota! She won’t talk to me and she hasn’t come out of her room in two days.”