Summer, 1000 A.D.

Newfoundland, Canada

Bon stood there, not sure what to do as he watched Alexis in between the tents standing with the other women. If he walked over to her he would definitely be seen by Genna. And he didn’t want to risk finding out what would happen if he were seen. He had to get back to the portal and tell Kronos, he thought. Maybe Kronos could change his appearance back to the Viking’s or figure out a way to get Alexis to return to the portal.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard several loud shouts from the women. Not being quite able to see the Viking ship, he looked around and seeing no one in sight, ran lithely over to one of the nearest tents and cautiously peered around it. His view was unobstructed now of the Valerian and the other pirate ship and he realized that the two ships had engaged in battle.

Fire bombs were catapulted from the pirate ship, most of them missing the Viking ship as it was at close range which made it difficult for the missiles to find their targets. In retaliation, fire spears, which were much more controllable were thrown from the Valerian and many of these successfully landed on the pirate ship’s deck finding their targets as the rogues went down.

An ongoing barrage of spears were thrown by both ships then and Bon saw several people on the Valerian get struck and fall into the water. In addition the pirates were now invading the Valerian and as Bon watched he could see the Viking warriors cutting them down with swords and axes.

Suddenly Bon’s eye was drawn to the women by the shore. He saw Genna turn and walk away toward the servants tents.

Bon watched her disappear inside a large tent and feeling a ray of hope, he realized now was his chance.

He quickly raced over to the two remaining women and grasped Alexis’ arm, who turned around surprise lighting up her features.

“Alex, I have no time to argue with you. You’re coming with me right now!” Bon stated forcefully, his face determined.

As her jaw set and her eyes grew steely, she opened her mouth to argue, but Bon brought back his fist and punched her solidly on her jaw, as Tasha gasped.

Alexis crumpled and Bon picked her up in his arms, feeling like the world’s worst heel and said to a silent Tasha, “Sorry Goddess but I need to get us both the fuck out of here before I’m seen!”

He turned then and said, “Can you lead me back to the portal?” Tasha nodded and he followed as she led the way.

In less than three minutes they were at the portal and saw Kronos waiting near the golden beam of light.

As he walked nearer, Kronos said, “What has happened to Alexandria?”

Bon told him that he’d had to knock her out to get her to come with him, explaining Alexis’ stubbornness.

He shifted her body and said to Tasha, “I hope everything goes well for you Goddess and I hope you understand that I would help if I could but we both know it’s just not possible.”

Tasha said, “I understand Bon. May the Gods protect you and Alexis on your journey.” She smiled shyly then, moving closer and looked at Alexis. Alexis’ jaw had already swelled from Bon’s punch and was red and nasty looking. Tasha reached up and gently caressed the area as a white light emanated from her fingertips.

In a matter of seconds the swelling had disappeared as well as the discoloration and Alexis looked perfectly fine once again.

“You have the gift of healing that’s right,” Bon said, “I’d forgotten.”

Then as Tasha stepped back he said, “Alex had it once too but it seemed to have disappeared shortly before all of this began.”

Tasha said smiling, “She had the gift Bon, because I had amalgamated with her.”

Bon was silent for a second, staring at her, then said, “Of course, now I get it. When Alex gained the gift, it was really coming from you. And then when you left her body and returned to this time, that’s why she suddenly lost it.”

“That is correct,” Tasha replied.

Kronos then looked at Tasha and said, “Goddess, I will leave you here with your host until the morning, but then I will return for you to take you back to earth’s current time. You must return with me then without argument. Is that understood?” Tasha nodded, feeling relieved that she would have more time to be with Bjorn.

Alexis moaned and Kronos walked over to Bon and quickly waved his hand over Alexis’ face. Bon looked at him and Kronos said, “I have induced a sleep effect on her as it wouldn’t do to have her awaken while we are time traveling.”

The two men said goodbye to Tasha then as both of them quickly stepped through the portal.

She saw a brief flicker of blazing light and then the portal disappeared. She turned and hurried back to find Genna....

Thursday, July 19th

Cape Neddick, Maine

Kronos had set the coordinates to bring Bon and Alexis back directly into Bon’s bedroom at his estate and once inside the bedroom, Bon laid Alexis onto the bed. He noticed that she was now dressed in her robe, for the dress had disappeared.

Kronos said, “You must remove her robe Bon, she must be as she was before she left the bed last night.”

Bon sat her up and slipped her robe off as Kronos turned his back having noticed Bon’s quick look. A moment later Bon carefully slipped her underneath the covers which were halfway down the bed from when they had left it.

Kronos hearing the bed covers rustle turned and said, “Perhaps you need to rest now. You both have been through a great deal and time traveling can make one weary as well.”

It was true, Bon thought. He felt like he had just run a marathon race and could use a few winks himself. He removed his pants, shirt and shoes and climbed into the bed next to Alexis and in less than a minute had fallen asleep.

Kronos had returned the couple at approximately 10:00 am and walking to the bed he suddenly, softly, began speaking the words to evoke the memory effect.

Then without fanfare, he quietly disappeared without a trace....

Alexis was dreaming the dream again. The same one with the warrior and the beautiful woman. But this time the warrior turned and said, “Alexis where have ye gone?” She saw his face. He had the face of Bon.

She woke then and sat straight up wondering why she was having this dream. Only this time she dreamed of Bon as some kind of warrior who had called her name! Feeling confused she turned and looked at the clock. She blinked as she saw it was 12 noon. Oh my God, she thought. To say they had slept late was an understatement.

She turned and looked at Bon, who was sound asleep. The odd thing was she still felt tired. They had went to bed late last night around midnight but still to sleep 12 hours?

She bent down and kissed him lightly on his whiskered cheek and then climbed out of bed and padded into the bathroom to shower, thinking maybe that would wake her up.

Twenty minutes later she had showered and dried her hair, and walked back into the bedroom. She looked at the bed and Bon, who had just woken said, “Morning babe. Is it really almost 12:30?”

“Yep,” Alexis replied. “I can’t believe how late we slept. What’s crazy is, I still feel a bit tired.”

“Yeah,” Bon said, sitting up and running his hands through his rather messy hair. “That makes two of us.”

She said, “And I had another really strange dream.”

“Tell me about it,” he said lighting up a cigarette and leaning back against the headboard. He casually threw down the covers exposing his nakedness as he raised his leg bending it at the knee.

“It was you only it wasn’t you,” Alexis told him as she started brushing her hair. “A man who had your face but was built more muscular than you and who had long brown hair. He looked as if he was some kind of warrior from another time,” she said. “And then he called my name and that’s when I woke up,” Alexis finished.

Bon put out his cigarette and got out of the bed and sauntered over to her where she stood before the dresser mirror and wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his erection poking her in the ass and she felt flames of fire darting from her core.

“You’re right baby, that was a strange dream,” he said. “But what’s even stranger is that I had a rather odd one myself,” he told her. Her eyes met his in the mirror as he continued.

“I was standing in front of a beautiful woman who reminded me very much of you, except that she had violet blue eyes. From the dress she was wearing, she too looked as if she was from another time.”

His hands slid up from her belly and started caressing her breasts, pinching her nipples lightly with his fingers as he said, “That’s odd that we would have similar dreams, seeing people that look like us but seem to be from a different time.”

She agreed and he said, “But then again, I guess it was one of those crazy coincidences cause dreams are just dreams.”

Alexis turned in his arms as he pulled her up tight against his body, his mouth in one quick smooth motion covering her own. They kissed deeply and it wasn’t long until lust totally invaded their every pore and both of them quickly forgot about the strange dreams they both had experienced.

Bon his arms still holding her pinned to his body walked her backwards until the backs of her knees hit the bed. The kiss broke as she fell backwards and she quickly opened her legs. God how she wanted him. She ached to have him inside of her.

“Slide back further darlin,” Bon commanded as she obeyed quickly. He knelt on the floor between her thighs and bent down fastening his mouth over her hot aching pussy, gently teasing her clit and licking the head, sucking it and driving her wild. He slid two of his fingers inside of her and quickly finger fucked her and when her cries started to get wild he knelt on the bed and positioned his throbbing cock against her moist pussy and then slowly slid inside.

He braced his forearms on the bed as Alexis’ legs wrapped around his waist, his hips moving as he fucked her slowly at first. They stared in each other’s eyes, their mouths slightly open, breaths coming in gasps with each thrust of his hips as her own pelvis rose to meet each of his own. Alexis felt his balls slapping against her asshole which added to her pleasure and she moaned.

He suddenly sat back on his lower legs and pulled her up so she was sitting on him and she braced her hands behind her on the bed as he held her back with one arm. She leaned back which thrust her breasts up, her pink tipped nipples engorged and stiff. Bon saw that piece of visual stimulation and without hesitation bent his head and fastened his greedy mouth on a nipple, sucking and teasing it with his tongue as he continued to thrust inside her wet aching hot hole.

After a bit of that she came forward as his head came up and she placed her arms around his neck. He reached around and grabbed her ass, with both hands on each cheek, as his pace quickened, his cock slamming faster into her then.

Alexis felt an unbearable feeling of pleasure and knew she was coming. Her head went back as her fingers worked through his mane of hair and she cried low and guttural....“Ohhhh God.... Ohhh fuck....Bon! Cumming baby....I... love... you... Bon...” her voice broke and tears overflowed from her eyes as she spoke the words.

Bon upon hearing her felt a tremendous wave of raw pleasure push him over the edge as he came, his seed ejecting deep into her womb and he said, still pumping into her...“I love you too Alex...Sweet baby, how I love you!” Her head came around and he kissed her hungrily his body still moving into hers, his tongue thrusting deep toward the back of her throat as she sucked it hard, her voice moaning into his mouth.

Slowly he stopped stroking and then she lay back with Bon stretched out on top of her his head against her own locked in the throes of the aftermath.

After a moment he raised himself, kissing her gently and then extricated himself from her body and turned over on his back to lay next to her.

They lay there in silence for a moment both waiting for their heart beats to slow and their breath to return to normal and after a few seconds, Alexis turned her head. He was laying there with his eyes closed, his lips parted. She raised herself up and then bent down and kissed his lips softly.

Then his eyes opened, those big baby blue eyes she loved so much. “Did I hear you say you loved me Alex?” he asked in that soft husky voice of his, as he caressed her cheek with his guitar roughened fingertips.

“You heard right,” Alexis said. “I love you Bon. I’ve known for awhile now and was waiting for the right moment to tell you.” She caressed his furred chest with her hand as she spoke.

She bent and placed a kiss on his chest and then looked back up into smiling eyes. “And what you said, did you really mean that as well?”

“Absolutely darlin’,” Bon replied. “I would never say that unless I meant it. I’ve known for the past week, only I was afraid maybe you didn’t feel the same way as I did. ”

He looked so handsome and sexy and sweet all at once that Alexis felt her heart nearly burst with emotion. She kissed him and then lay her head on his chest as they cuddled and enjoyed the afterglow of their love.

Summer, 1000 A.D.

Newfoundland, Canada

An hour later and the battle was over. The pirates had been defeated by the Vikings but many of Leif’s warriors were dead.

Tasha and Genna had spent the last hour watching the battle not knowing whether their men lived or died. At the very last they saw the pirate ship was on fire. And not long after, they saw some of the Viking warriors climb down the side of the ship into the smaller boat as they rowed back to shore.

Both women never took their eyes off of the boat as they were straining their eyes to see if they could see Bjorn and Rye.

As it drew closer Genna suddenly exclaimed, “I see him. I see Ryden He’s safe, thank the Gods!”

Tasha continued to look at the men, but she realized that none of the warriors in the boat looked like Bjorn. Her heart was frozen in fear at that point. She saw Leif himself, but did not see Bjorn.

The boat finally made shore and the men climbed out on to the beach. Tasha hurried over to the Viking Captain, her face worried.

The Icelander said, upon seeing her, “Put your fears to rest, wench. Bjorn is still alive. Though he has been injured. Some of the servants are attending to his wounds and he then will be brought back here,” he finished.

Tasha looked and saw several of the servants climb inside the boat and start rowing back to the Valerian.

“Are his injuries severe, my Captain?” Tasha asked him.

“Just minor all except for one on his thigh,” Leif answered her. “That cut from a sword was deep. He will have to be looked after Tasha, as we need to try and prevent the wound from getting infected.”

Tasha said she would take good care of him and then looked at some of the other men as Leif gave orders to the servants to help the warriors to their tents. Almost every one of them had been wounded in some way. Blood dripped from their shoulders, or arms, hands or legs. Though all of these were superficial wounds.

Bjorn, Leif told her, suffered the severest wound from the Captain of the pirates whose name was Fredericko the Fierce. The man was Spanish and this particular pirate league was not very well known, except to Leif who knew of most of the pirate clans, but he had never had a run in with him and his rogues until now.

“He’s dead now,” Rye said who had just walked over to them. Genna was at his side staring up at him adoringly. “Our Captain finished him off after he attacked Bjorn.”

Tasha reached out and hugged Rye noticing he only seemed to have one small cut on his forehead as she said, “Praise the Gods, you are safe Rye.” He blushed and said, ’It would take more than a few pirates to bring me down, my lady.”

Just then they heard a shout, and everyone turned and looked toward the two ships. The pirate ship was now sinking beneath the water, having suffered severely in the fire. The servants on board the Viking ship had rowed and moved the Valerian a fair distance away from the burning ship, and as they watched they then began to climb back down into the smaller boat and lastly a single Viking climbed down the ropes, moving rather slowly.

Tasha realized it was Bjorn and her heart leapt.

Soon the smaller boat made the land and Tasha hurried over. Her eyes met Bjorn’s as he carefully climbed out of the boat and walked toward her, her eyes taking in every detail of his appearance. There was a small cut on his arm and another on his shoulder but his upper thigh was heavily bandaged and every step he took, was slow and obviously painful. When he reached her he was white faced and sweating, yet his face broke into a smile upon seeing her.

“Greetings my love,” he said, and then his knees gave away as Leif and Rye who were standing close by rushed to grab him before he hit the ground. Unconscious, the men carried him into his tent as Tasha quickly followed.

******

Alexis and Bon were sitting at the breakfast island eating a brunch that Fran had just prepared consisting of steak, egg and cheese bagel sandwiches, sliced fruit and coffee.

Bon was at the moment trying to eat and talk to Rye at the same time on his cell phone. “Yeah I just heard your meshage a bit ago. Axx an i shept laydm,” he said, chewing a big bite of his sandwich.

“What??” Rye said in his ear. “Hey man, speak English!”

“Sorry,” Bon said, swallowing his food. “I’m trying to eat and talk to you at the same time and it ain’t working.” he laughed. “I said that Alex and I slept late, even for us.” He took a sip of his coffee and said, “So we’ll see you guys when you get here. Just give us a call when you arrive at the airport and we’ll meet you,” Bon said and then said goodbye.

“They’re on their way here,” he told Alexis who had finished her sandwich and was eating some of the fruit now. “Wow,” she said. “They’ve only been gone for four days.”

“Yeah, Rye told me that he got all his business finished already plus spent time with his daughter too,” Bon told her popping the last piece of sandwich into his mouth.

“Good,” Alexis said. “Though I’m surprised Liv didn’t call me.”

“Have you checked your messages this morning?” Bon asked her.

“Yeah actually I have,” she replied. “But I’ll go check and see if I got any new ones.”

“Also, I got a call from Dane a bit earlier,” Bon told her. “He and Ronnie are heading to England right now.”

“Yeah,” Alexis replied. “I got a voice mail from her, I guess they will be visiting her favorite Aunt. So they should have a good time as England is beautiful this time of year with lots to see and do,” she told him.

She stood up and walked around the island and wrapped her arms around him as they kissed briefly. Bon whispered, “Love you darlin.”

She said, “I love you too babe.”

They kissed again and she left the room as Bon sat there and finished his coffee feeling very content.

Kronos’ Prophecy Room

Titania, The Realm

“So you mean to tell me that Alexandria actually resisted going back to her own time?” Eos asked Kronos, who was leafing through the prophecy book looking for any changes or recent additions.

“That is correct Goddess,” he replied. “Bon had to use force in order to get her back to the portal.”

“And you’re sure that no one saw him?” she asked, a frown on her lovely forehead.

“Yes,” he said. “I just checked the block a bit ago, and saw everything. No one saw him leave with her as the servants were all inside their tent along with Genna. Only Tasha witnessed it, which of course is not a problem.”

Eos breathed a sigh of relief thinking they were very fortunate that everything had worked out with a positive outcome but she noticed that Kronos was looking rather perplexed. “Is something wrong?” she asked the middle aged timekeeper.

“I don’t know. There is something new here this morning in the book,” he told her.

“What is it?” Eos leaned forward in her chair.

Kronos was silent for a moment as he read and reread the seven words that were now on the page. “Seven words. It says, further mischief from a deity will occur,” he told her.

They were both silent for a moment then, Eos blasphemed and said, “What in Heaven’s name could that possibly mean?”

Seeing Kronos’ look for her taking his Father’s name in vain, she said, “Forgive my blasphemy, but what do you suppose it means?”

Kronos said, “That I don’t know, I am at a loss to understand what it could possibly be referring to.”

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin and said, “A deity. It didn’t specify male or female,” he mused.

“Do you think it’s referring to the memory effect you used on the mortals?” Eos asked him.

“No, I do not Goddess. A memory effect is something I’ve used before and I have never received a prophecy because of it. No, this is something far deeper, far more impacting than my using a memory effect on a mortal.”

As the two of them sat there lost in thought, suddenly a voice was heard. “KRONOS! EOS! COME TO MY LEVEL, NOW! I WOULD SPEAK TO YOU BOTH!”

Eos and Kronos looked at each other as Kronos said, “Wonder what has gotten my son in an uproar this time?”

“Oh, I do hope that it is not more bad news!” Eos said, feeling a brief flicker of anxiety.

They both stood then and closed their eyes concentrating and in a moment had disappeared, on their way to Zeus’s lofty domain.

Thursday, July 19th

Transatlantic Flight 1502,

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

As Ronnie and Dane sat in their seats in First Class, Dane was telling her a funny story about what happened with one of their fans many years ago.

“Yeah so there we all were,” he said, “and this rather heavy set blond girl, just yanks down her jeans, bends over and exposes her ass to us! She had Bon’s face tattooed taking up both cheeks!” He laughed remembering how shocked he and the other guys were.

Ronnie laughed and said, “Was it a good likeness?”

Dane chuckling, said, “Yeah it WAS a good likeness, but I only took a quick look and then turned away, but yeah, I remember it looked just like him!” They both dissolved into laughter then.

He bent his head and kissed her mouth then giving her some tongue and as the kiss grew deeper, Ronnie felt hot and lustful. Man he could kiss, she thought. She broke the kiss her face flushing as she looked around to see if anyone had been watching them.

But the people across the way, which were an elderly couple, were both asleep and snoring softly.

“Don’t worry,” Dane said, “nobody was lookin, I checked it out before hand.” He bent his head to hers again as they kissed hungrily. Ronnie wanted to fuck him badly, her body was aroused and she knew Dane felt the same.

She tore her mouth away and whispered “Meet me back by the restroom in 2 minutes.”

Dane smiled wickedly. Ooo... he thought. He had never been a member of the mile high club before but he’d just now received his invitation.

Ronnie stood and walked down the aisle and seeing the restroom was unoccupied slipped inside, closing the door.

She quickly unbuttoned her blouse and then slipped her bra off, then removed her boots, jeans and panties.

Right after that a soft knock came at the door.

She opened it a crack and seeing Dane’s smiling face let him in. Seeing her almost totally naked state except for her blouse was enough for Dane. He quickly pulled his shirt off and then undid his jeans. Ronnie helped him slide them down over his hips.

Their mouths came together then as Dane reached behind her and cupped her bare ass. Her breasts were pushed up tight against his furry chest and his package was stiff, pressing against her belly. He caressed her ass and after a moment she broke the kiss and slid down to the floor on her knees putting his cock in her mouth, sliding all the way down on it and started stroking him with her hand as well. Dane leaned his head back against the wall feeling intense pleasure from her hand and mouth, but he soon knew he had to stop her or he was gonna pop.

Gently he lifted her head back. He pulled her to her feet as they kissed again and he carefully walked her around so that she was back against the wall. He reached behind her grabbing her ass as her legs went around his waist, her arms encircling his neck. He lifted her up a little higher and then with a free hand positioned his cock at the entrance to her pussy and then pressed upwards. She slid all the way down at that point. He pressed her back against the wall and began fucking her steadily as she moaned in his mouth and their kiss had never broken once.

As their moans became more urgent, he slammed his cock into her over and over, his speed fast and furious. Ronnie screamed into his mouth as she came and then yanked her mouth away as she moaned, “Ohhhh shit... Unnn...sweet Jesus!”

Dane came too then, his seed emptying into her womb, and moaned hoarsely, “Ronnie....!” He continued to slam inside of her until every last drop had been expelled totally milking his orgasm.

Finally he slowed and then stopped. They stood momentarily, with her face on his shoulder, as he lightly caressed her ass, and then her head came back and they kissed once again.

“I love you Ronnie,” Dane told her, his eyes tender.

“And I adore you Dane,” she returned. Once again they kissed and then she stood.

She smiled at him as she reached for her clothing and started to dress. Dane pulled his pants back up and then pulled his shirt over his head just as a tap came on the door.

Both Ronnie and Dane froze, looking at one another, their eyes wide.

“You might want to use the other restroom as it’s one of just one of those days for me I’m afraid,” Ronnie called, thinking fast. She heard the woman mumble something like, “Well shit! The other one’s occupied too!”

Just as Ronnie was scrambling for something to say she heard the woman say, “Oh good, they’re done!”

Both her and Dane relaxed as she quietly opened the door and seeing no one was around she quickly left the restroom and went back to her seat.

Dane waited about fifteen seconds and then opened the door and came out just as a middle aged woman exited from the other restroom.

She walked by him giving him a strange look and said under her breath, “I coulda sworn a woman was in there,” shaking her head as she went on.

There was and what a woman, Dane thought and with a smile on his face he headed back to his seat...

Zeus’s Domain

Titania, The Realm

Seconds later Eos and Kronos found themselves at the uppermost part of the inner realm where only Zeus resided. Eos and Kronos saw that they were standing on a huge white marble floor. There were no walls and they looked all around at a dark sky with huge thunder clouds.

The only other object in sight was a white framed doorway which was raised approximately twenty feet hanging over the far edge of the floor.

Kronos deliberated on how he and Eos were going to get up to the doorway, for at this level, this was as far as they could go, having to rely on Zeus to get them the rest of the way to his abode.

Just then two of the largest thunderclouds rumbled and a huge sliver of lightening streaked toward the two at an alarming rate.

However neither of the deities were overly concerned, knowing that this was all part of Zeus’ fun and fanfare. Comparable Kronos thought, to a male mortal watching his favorite cartoon while he drank his morning coffee.

The bolt of lightning just before it reached the two stopped as it crackled and glowed and then abruptly started to transform. In seconds it had become a staircase and it suddenly floated back and upwards until it had joined with the doorway. Then the staircase started to elongate until the lower step touched the floor.

Kronos and Eos walked across the floor and then mounted the staircase which had exactly 22 steps, which not coincidentally, Kronos thought, was the number of children Zeus had fathered.

Once at the top, the deities looked through the doorway seeing only the sky with it’s still rumbling thunderclouds on the other side.

But as soon as they both stepped through the doorway they found themselves standing on a well manicured lawn. An imposing white marbled mansion sat less than six meters away with a huge sweeping staircase adjoining the house. Huge evergreens and other deciduous trees flanked each side of the house and the lawn had gorgeous gardens interspersed here and there containing a variety of flowers emitting various wonderful aromas.

Eos and Kronos walked by the magnificent gardens of roses, rhododendrons, peonies, every colored lilac bushes and other flowers, flowering trees and assorted perennials and eventually reached the stairs.

They ascended and found themselves in front of a set of large black double doors. However the doors had no knobs, door knockers or any kind of handles at all. There was a doorbell there on one side of the door in the likeness of Zeus’ face which had a sign above it that read, “Do not bother to ring, for I will not answer thee.”

Kronos and Eos both laughed shortly, knowing this was for those who were uninvited. In addition they realized that Zeus was known through the ages as being a rather mischievous God and loved to confuse, trick or confound others. It was one of his greatest joys they both knew.

Just then both double doors opened inwards and the two heard a loud thundering voice which said, “WELL??? WHAT ARE YOU BOTH WAITING FOR??? COME IN!!!!

They both looked at each other once again with slight smiles and turning, stepped inside the mansion then.....

Summer, 1000 A.D.

Newfoundland, Canada

Tasha leaned over Bjorn, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a cool cloth. It was just a few minutes later after the men had carried him inside the tent. Rye tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a skein of water. “Splash some on his face wench,” he told her softly.

Tasha said, “We don’t need the water Rye, just leave me with him.”

Rye stared at her and then said, “Are you certain? He will no doubt thirst when he comes to, lady.”

“Alright,” she turned and took the skein. “Now please Rye, leave me with him.”

Rye nodded and then left.

Tasha set the skein down and then carefully undid the bit of twine which held the bandages to his thigh. He moaned as she moved his leg but still did not come to.

Carefully she unwound the bandaging. There was a poultice over the wound that contained herbs and salve to help fight off infection. She gently removed it and Bjorn moaned again. She glanced at him and saw a another slight film of sweat on his brow and knew he was in pain. She must hurry, she thought.

As she pulled away the large poultice she gasped. His wound was at least 6 inches long, dots of blood still oozed here and there. Someone, she saw, no doubt one of the servants, had put stitches in using twine trying to sew the wound together. If it were not for her, he would have been left with a horrible scar.

She placed both hands directly on the wound, as Bjorn jerked and moaned loudly. However heat and light came from her touch and as she watched she could feel movement beneath her hands. When the light disappeared she removed her hand. His flesh was as before. The wound was gone as well as the stitches.

“Tasha?” Bjorn put his head up. “Yes my love,” she answered moving up closer to him.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I have healed your wound,” she told him.

Bjorn sat up and looked at his thigh. He shook his head. Then looked at her with a worried expression on his face. “Tasha the others must not find out about this. They might label ye as a witch. We must pretend that my wound is still here. Place the poultice and bandages back on, wench.”

She did as he ordered and then he lay back down and she lay next to him. “I will stay in the tent until the morning where it will appear that I have made a quick recovery then,” he told her.

He raised up and then bent his head and kissed her and then laid back down. Which was fortunate as Rye then walked in.

“How is he?” the dark haired warrior asked. “By the Gods! He is awake! You look much better my friend,” Rye said smiling.

“I will be fine,” Bjorn told him. “How are the other men? How many did we lose?” he asked keeping his voice soft making it appear that he was weak.

“We lost many of the men,” Rye answered. “About twenty-four including, Gorge, Fergus, Otto and Liam.”

“We lost Liam?” Bjorn said and sat up. Liam was a good friend of his, and Bjorn felt terrible grief upon hearing this news.

“I’m afraid it’s true,” Rye replied. “Also the Captain said we will be returning to Greenland once the ship is ready. Oddly enough it suffered only minor damage from the pirates.” He paused and then said, “We need to get more men as we are only left with sixteen. In addition the men who died, their kin need to be informed. The Captain says when we return we will be bringing the remainder of our village, women, children and the other servants as well.”

Tasha seeing Bjorn’s still grief stricken face, gently pushed him backwards then and said, “That is enough talk for now love. You need to rest. You can discuss this with Rye when you are stronger.”

Rye said, “The wench is right. You need to heal, Bjorn. I will be back later before I retire to look in on you.” Then he left the tent.

“I am so sorry Bjorn, about your friend,” Tasha said softly caressing his cheek.

Bjorn didn’t say anything for a moment but there were tears glimmering in his vivid blue eyes, Tasha noted.

She lay her head on his chest her heart aching for him as he lay there stroking her hair, trying to come to grips with his grief.

******

Eos and Kronos walked into the large mansion and found themselves in a large foyer. There were three doors on the far wall. They walked over to the first door and after the both of them stood there for a moment, not moving, Eos said, “Perhaps you should open it Kronos.”

Kronos reached out and grasped the handle and opened it wide and a loud roar came from a huge head of a gigantic beast, which caused the both of them to jump with Eos letting out a tiny shriek.

Loud laughter could be heard then.

Kronos looked at Eos with a long suffering look on his face as they went over to door number two. “Your turn, Goddess,” he said.

Eos hesitated and then pulled the door open quickly steeling herself, but found herself looking into what appeared to be an ordinary study. They both relaxed then and stepped through the door as the floor suddenly disappeared, the both of them plunging downwards at a very rapid pace. Eos screamed again and then suddenly they both found themselves back inside the foyer in front of door number three.

Kronos said, “SON! Desist from these foolish games!”

Door number three opened then, and Zeus walked into the foyer. “FOOLISH GAMES ARE THEY?” he asked his face gruff and petulant looking. “Yea, you should know about foolish games, my father. By the way, may I ask what took you two so long to get here?” he inquired, his tone annoyed.

“We came as soon as we heard your voice, son,” Kronos replied, puzzling at Zeus’ previous comment. “Now can we get to business please?” he asked.

“DON’T RUSH ME FATHER!” Zeus replied totally irritated with him now.

Kronos stared at his son wondering what had gotten him in such a state. Zeus’ face looked fiercely angry and there was another emotion there as well. It almost looked like fear.

Kronos sighed and Eos spoke then. “Your Grace, perhaps we could sit down and have a civilized conversation,” she said in a pleasant tone. “Then you could tell us exactly what why you called this meeting?”

Zeus walked away from them both and then whirled and said, “There is no need to sit and have a conversation Goddess Eos.”

He hesitated a second and then said, “I called you both here to tell you that as of midnight tonight I am ruling The Adonis Mission a failure. The Goddess of Eternal Beauty and Healing will be returned to Titania.”

Both Eos and Kronos looked at each other with twin expressions of shock and dismay.

Kronos said, “But why son? The mission is back on track now. The mortals have been returned to earth’s current time line and everything is going smoothly!”

“I do not have time to discuss this with you, father,” Zeus told him. “I am overdue at another engagement. However I have requested a special meeting of the council tonight at 10: p.m., United States, Eastern Standard Time. Be there, the both of you, as I will then explain the reasons for my ruling,” he said.

“But son...” Kronos started to say, however Zeus cut him off saying, “That is all!”

He then exited the forum through the same door, as it slammed shut, leaving the other two deities standing there staring at the door with stunned looks on both their faces.