Kara completely destroyed the training dummies at the guard's practice yard and returned to the house. Jessica came back with a stack of books and the acolyte behind her had another stack. Josh had just finished his own lessons with Evangeline and the head acolyte came out of the kitchen with food for everyone. She served them in the small dining room and went to get Steven. They all sat down and the head acolyte said a quick prayer to the Goddess Chaiya, then everyone ate the meal.

Steven started to complain about the taste and Kara, once again, reminded him that things were different here and he needed to adjust to that. He sighed and nodded, finished eating and thanked the head acolyte for the food, then went to bed. The head acolyte told Kara and Jessica that they would have to share the bed in her room and she would stay in the living room.

“We can't impose on you like this.” Kara said. “We are guests, not...”

“I need to pray and prepare things for your group.” The head acolyte said. “I won't be sleeping much at all tonight, so I don't need the bed.”

“Are you sure?” Jessica asked. “I don't have a problem with staying in the living room.”

“No, you need to rest.” The head acolyte said. “Plus, you'll be in the way and won't be able to sleep with my chanting.”

Jessica wanted to argue; but, she saw the smile on the older woman's face and nodded acceptance. She and Kara went to the room at the end of the hall and closed the door.

“You two better get to bed as well.” The head acolyte said to Josh and Evangeline. “I'll have the proper verses ready for the both of you in the morning.”

“Mother, I...” Evangeline stopped talking and her face flushed red.

“It's all right.” The head acolyte said with a motherly smile. “We all saw what was going to happen.”

“But... what if...”

“He's just as nervous as you are.” The head acolyte said and looked at Josh and his red face. “Joshua, please believe me when I say that what I saw didn't make me uncomfortable or make me judge you.”

“But... but...” Josh stammered.

“If you hadn't noticed, none of the acolytes were bothered by it at all.” The head acolyte said. “In fact, we all saw that you are going to be as caring and as gentle as any of us could ever hope that a man would be towards a woman.”

Josh's face was bright red and even the tops of his ears were red. “Ma'am, I... I should help with the dishes and...”

“Nonsense.” The head acolyte said and stood up. “Don't try to subvert what the Goddess blessed us to see.” She said. “We all saw what needed to be done for her expectations to be fulfilled.”

“I can't believe you're okay with... in your house and... your daughter...” Josh couldn't complete a sentence because his thoughts were racing so much.

“Acolytes aren't all maidens. You can see my daughter is right there.” The head acolyte said with a smile. “We don't take vows of celibacy, nor are we required to.”

“But...” Josh looked at Evangeline and her blush hadn't faded in the least. “I should probably...”

“Take the acolyte's hand, Sorcerer Priest.” The head acolyte ordered, and Josh did so. “Stand up.” She said and he stood and Evangeline stood as well. “Now go to her room and care for her as a man should for a woman.”

With her mother's explicit permission, Josh only felt a little awkward as he walked over to the hallway and entered the first door with Evangeline. He didn't even look at the sparse furniture or the worn blankets. He only had eyes for the beauty in front of him.

“C-can you... turn around so I... I can change?” Evangeline asked.

Josh felt something inside him want to refuse, so he went with that feeling. “No.” He said, and her eyebrows raised. “I want to help.”

Evangeline stared into his eyes for a moment, then she smiled a little and nodded. Josh's heart leapt when she didn't refuse him, and he took his time undressing her. When he was done and she stood naked in front of him, he admired the sight. She watched his eyes to see if there would be disapproval there, or disappointment, and he looked into her eyes.

“You're perfect.” Josh said and stepped close.

“Joshua, I... I've never...”

“Me, either.” Josh responded truthfully. “I mean, I...”

“We can find out how this is supposed to work... together.” Evangeline said and cupped the sides of his face. “Do you want me to...”

“Yes!” Josh said, a little excitedly, and she chuckled. She helped him remove his simple white robes and when he was fully naked, she admired the sight as well. She hadn't seen a man like that before and her eyes lingered on certain parts before she looked at his face. She didn't say anything to him as she took his hand and led him to the bed. It was at this point that Josh realized that it was really going to happen, and his heart started to beat twice as fast as normal.

Almost as if she felt his reaction, Evangeline lifted his hand to place it between her breasts. After a moment, he felt that her heart was beating just as quickly as his was, and he slid the hand up to her neck and not to her breast like she thought he would. Her eyes sparkled as he stepped close to her and put his arms around her to give her a kiss. They both closed their eyes and pressed their lips together. Neither of them had kissed anyone like that before, and after a few awkward moments, they stopped trying to think about how to do it properly and just let it happen naturally.

Josh broke the kiss and let her go, and Evangeline climbed onto the bed and laid down. He looked her over for a second and thought about doing some of the things he had seen countless times in porn videos on the internet, then assumed, quite correctly, that it was way to soon to introduce her to everything that he wanted to do to her.

Baby steps, Josh. He thought to himself and climbed onto the bed with her. Evangeline spread her legs automatically so he would fit between them and he settled down with their bodies touching from crotch to chest. They stared into each other's eyes and unbeknownst to each other, they both prayed to the Goddess to let everything go right. They felt a calm feeling and smiled at each other, and Josh shifted himself down and prepared for what was to come.

Josh reached down and touched her there and discovered that she was surprisingly wet already, so he eased himself inside and then hit some kind of resistance. He wasn't sure what it was, then Evangeline reached down and grabbed his hips and pulled on him. She hissed and tears came to her eyes. He was about to ask if she was okay when she lifted her head and kissed him, which stopped him from talking. After staying like that for a few minutes, Evangeline stopped kissing him and laid her head back to nod at him. Josh knew what that meant and slowly started to move out. She winced a little and he waited for a few moments, then kept going. They stared at each other as he moved in and out, like clockwork, and after a few minutes, Evangeline's whole body flushed slightly red and she started to pant. Josh didn't need any more clues that she was starting to feel good, so he sped up to make himself feel good, too.

Josh didn't last long the first time. He was just too excited to restrain himself and her beauty and body were just too much for him to not finish quickly. He wasn't stupid enough to finish inside, especially since there wasn't anything like contraception on this world, and he made a mess on her belly. Evangeline stared at him as he did that until he was done, then she sat up when he laid down beside her. “Is that how you do it where you come from?”

“It... depends.” Josh huffed. “I... didn't want... well, not that I didn't want to... it's just... can you get pregnant from the first time?”

Evangeline's mouth dropped open in surprise, because she hadn't even thought about that. All she had cared about was being with him and she didn't consider any of the consequences.

“You really do care a lot about me.” Evangeline said, to his surprise. “You weren't just thinking about tonight, you were thinking about the years to come!”

“Well, I... not that far ahead.” Josh said.

Evangeline grabbed a piece of cloth from the side of the bed and wiped herself off, then she rolled onto her side and caressed his chest. “Don't belittle your efforts.” She said. “Even in the... when we were... you thought about me bearing your child and knew we were too young to have it right now.”

“I guess I did.” Josh said.

“You are a good man, Joshua Hector Harrison.” Evangeline said and rested her head on his shoulder.

“So, do you want to go again?” Josh asked, and she caught her breath.

“Wh-what? Again?” Evangeline asked, surprised. “Aren't you satisfied?”

“There's no way I'm losing this thing for a while yet.” Josh said and pointed to his erection. “It seems a shame not to use it while it's still around.”

“But... that's not... how can you...”

“This might not happen all the time; but, it's happening now.” Josh said with a grin. “So, if you want to keep going...”

“I do.” Evangeline said, her face red. “I really do.”

“Maybe you'll go this time, too.” Josh said as he resumed the missionary position.

“What does that mean?” Evangeline asked, then she gasped as he entered her more forcefully.

“Hopefully, we'll find that out together.” Josh said and started to move again.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night, because no words were needed, not even during their occasional breaks to rest and recover.

*

I really should stop for the night. I thought as I came to a stop on a big tree branch. Staying here so close to the ground might not be the best idea, though.

I looked around for a good spot, high in the trees, and climbed up near the top of the tree I was on. Even using Presence to climb, it still took a few minutes to get to a good spot in the canopy of the trees. I couldn't really see around it, since it was surrounded by other similar height trees.

How do the things below grow if the tree leaves block out the sun? I asked myself and picked a branch wide enough for my bedroll. I created a solid Presence box to set my bedroll on and then mostly covered myself with another solid box. I left room for air to flow in and hopefully no insects or something similar would find their way in. I huddled into my bedroll and with Detect Presence I looked up through the leaves to the stars above. I didn't recognize any of them, and I really didn't expect to.

I hadn't seen the night sky since I was back on Ulathall, The Order's home world, and the stars there were unfamiliar, too. I took a deep breath and let it out, used several mental techniques to put myself into a calm and meditative state that I could wake from in an instant, and closed my eyes.

*

“I don't know how he got so far away so quickly!” Sela said as she and the group with her rode their horses through the forest at their best speed after the man they chased. Ari, Nita, Maylia, and three of Princess Sylvana's personal guards were among the retrieval group. The healer had been sequestered by the elders for questioning and they hoped that she woke up soon.

“Perhaps you should have asked what his capabilities were and none of us would have been so surprised by what he did.” One of the personal guards said.

“His name would have been sufficient to discover that.” The second guard said, almost accusatory. “It will also be difficult to find a specific cloaked man in First Sothen Kingdom, even if the clothing is marked for easy recognition.”

“The location spell can be used multiple times as long as one of us has the mana.” Nita said and pointed to the princess' boot tied to one of the guard's belts. “When we stop to rest, we can cast it again and see how far away he is.”

“If his speed remains constant, he will be far away indeed.” The third guard said. “I've never heard of a man moving like that without a horse.”

“Forget about men doing it.” The first guard said. “Even we can't maintain this speed, except in short bursts.”

“Which means we need to stop.” Sela said and glanced around with her perception. “I see a nesting tree over there.”

“Excellent.” The first guard said. “We can replenish our mana and the stamina of the horses.”

The group of seven female elves went to the nesting tree, tied their horses to it, and quickly climbed twenty feet up to a set of branches that were set in a star pattern. Without a word they set up thin ropes and tied themselves to the central trunk of the tree and each rested on a separate branch. The tree glowed slightly as it fed them mana and energy to restore them. They had to be careful of predators, since they weren't up very far, and they stayed there for half an hour without incident. When they all said their mana was full, Nita performed the location spell on the bloody boot. A one foot wide slightly green see-through bubble appeared in the air above it and showed them the closest hundred feet, then it expanded and showed out to a thousand feet.

“I knew we should have brought a more experienced tracker.” The second guard said.

“I'm... the best tracker... in this city-forest.” Nita said and poured her mana into the spell. The bubble expanded to two feet wide and showed them almost half of the elves lands. A white pulse appeared in the view nearly a third of the way between the town they had left and the land's border with the protective barrier. Nita was breathing heavily at the mana expenditure and they saw that the pulse wasn't moving like the last time.

“If we're lucky, he stopped for the night.” The first guard said as the bubble faded. “Let's go.”

“I need... a few minutes.” Nita said and leaned against the tree trunk.

“Stay here and recharge. You can catch up to us later.” The first guard said, nodded to the other guards that included Maylia, and the four of them climbed down and mounted their horses. They took off in the direction of the pulse and sped up when their horses were covered in mana.

“I knew they were going to leave us behind.” Ari said with a pout.

“You... can go.” Nita said.

“We won't leave you behind.” Sela said. “We found him the first time, so we'll find him this time, too.”

“You're sure of that.” Nita said. Since her mana was depleted, it would take about ten minutes to get it all back.

“We've been close enough to feel his energy. I'm sure we can find him before the others.”

“He was shackled at the time, though.” Ari said and touched the spot on her neck where the locket used to be. “I wonder why he was upset over that necklace. Only women are supposed to wear jewellery.”

“Maybe because he didn't give it to you?” Sela asked, teasingly.

“No, that can't be it.” Ari said, confidently. “You saw how nice it looked around my neck.”

“That's not really a reason, despite us being required to remove all of his valuables.” Sela said. “I'm surprised he didn't have any weapons on him, though.”

“We should have stripped him.” Nita said.

“I couldn't cut the fabric.” Ari said. “My knife just scratched the surface up.”

“The more I think about him, the more questions that come to mind.” Sela said. “The elders agreed with me, too. We should have just killed him.”

“If we had, we wouldn't be where we are now.” Ari said and the other two looked at her. “What?”

“We would still be living our normal lives and not trying to make it up to our people for messing things up.” Sela said. “How is where we are now better than that?”

Ari couldn't really answer that question.

“Come on. I think we can catch up to the others before they reach him.” Nita said and stood up.

“You need a few more minutes.” Sela said.

“We're not pushing ourselves.” Nita said and started to climb down the tree. “If he is stopped for the night to rest, then we can get to him before he wakes.”

“The princess really wants him back, doesn't she?” Ari asked as she and her sister climbed down, too.

“She's never been so embarrassed.” Nita said and the three of them mounted their horses and went through the forest at about half of their top speed. “Imagine losing to a man in a formal duel.”

“We lost to him and he was still shackled.” Ari said, and both women stopped talking as they thought about that. None of them had ever heard of anyone that could use mana while in the shackles, let alone actually escape from deep under the protection tree. Nita easily followed the trail of the four guards and their horses, since they weren't trying to be stealthy at all, and advanced towards their target.

*

Kara laid in bed next to a sleeping Jessica, and she looked at the palm of her hand. She had used Preserve Presence on her hand to keep Ullir's blood in the best condition it could be in. She knew they needed it to track where Ullir was, because they didn't have anything else of his to use. She closed her eyes and thought over their last fight. She played it over in her head and knew she hadn't made any mistakes. She had successfully tricked him and used his own weakness against him.

Kara had dealt him a fatal blow despite only wanting to subdue him and stop his resistance; and yet, if she had the chance to do it again, she knew that it was still the best way to end the fight without further bloodshed. The only thing she would change would be the placement of the blade so that he wouldn't be mortally wounded and only incapacitated.

I'm really sorry, Ullir. Kara thought, her heart full of regret. The Goddess as my witness, I won't make that mistake again. She used a mental technique to enter a meditative state and calmed her thoughts and emotions. She needed her rest after exhausting herself at the training grounds. Even that small amount of training had let her 'remember' how to properly use the odd metal swords. Her skills with Light swords translated over almost flawlessly and she had been surprised at how easy it had been to adapt.

The Goddess really did bless me to be useful here. Kara thought before she drifted off to sleep.

*

The head acolyte worked all night and prepared the proper verses for the Sorcerer Priest and her daughter to chant in the morning and during the day. She had the feeling that they would need as much protection that she could request from the Goddess, and she included a lot of thanks and appreciation in the prayers. As she whispered her words and prayers to the Goddess, her hand moved almost on its own as it wrote down additional things for them to say in the morning. By the time the morning arrived, she had a stack of papers almost half an inch high.

The head acolyte looked at the stack and held in her laughter. The Goddess wants to help them as much as she can! She thought happily and put the stack of papers on the small table by the wall, where she knew another stack would appear when the other acolytes arrived and added theirs. She went to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone, because the rest of the acolytes would be there soon with their own work to give to their Sorcerer Priest and would be as hungry as her after staying up all night.