Chapter 1

It had been a long, hard day at work and the traffic during my drive home was a mess, too. For most of the way it had been stop and go with the result the average speed I had been able to make had only been about 10 miles an hour. It was a pleasant relief when I finally passed the accident that had been slowing things up.

The accident happened almost as soon as my car reached the speed limit. In the opposite lane of the freeway a semi-truck suddenly lost control and suddenly turned toward the middle divider. The divider was unable to resist the massive weight of the fully loaded truck and it flew apart, in the process flipping the truck onto its side. All this happened in an instant though somehow it all seemed to happen in slow motion.

There was no time to avoid the truck it was just upon me too fast. There was traffic blocking every possible escape route so all I could do is just watch the truck make its inevitable approach. The out of control truck came upon me quite fast yet it seemed to approach in slow motion. There wasn't time to do anything but watch in horror as the truck rapidly approached my car. The two vehicles smashed into each other with a gigantic crash, I felt a sharp wave of pain and then nothing at all.

I awoke to the sound of a male voice chanting and initially I could not understand the words but then the language came to me and I understood, though the pronunciation and accent were still very strange. Somehow I knew the words were those of a magical invocation and somehow I could actually sense the slow buildup of arcane energy as the spell invocation progressed.

My thoughts were rapidly becoming clearer and the memory of the accident suddenly slammed into my awareness, yet somehow I didn't feel any pain or any other sign of the massive injuries I knew I had to have suffered when the truck slammed into my car. Despite what I knew had happened to me I didn't feel any pain or injury at all, strange.

Another surge of memories burst upon me, but these memories only added to my puzzlement even further as they were those of someone else, a completely different person. Yet somehow at the same time this different person seemed to still be me, it was very strange and I really didn't understand it. Somehow I was both myself, Andrew Carter, and another person named Avar, the personalities of both of use merged into one. It was something that I would have to take some time to think about later.

My thoughts were rapidly becoming clearer, though the mixture of familiar and unfamiliar thinking continued. Suddenly an understanding of the nature and purpose of the chanting came to me, it was a magic spell. The part of me which was Andrew Carter knew nothing about such things but Avar had both an extensive ability and even greater knowledge of things magical.

Suddenly I realized my eyes were closed so I tried opening them and the sight that greeted me when I did was a big surprise. I was looking into a room lit by several candles and a lantern, which left dark shadows in the corners of the room and behind several large objects in the room. Several men wearing mail armor and armed with swords stood against the walls of the room. The walls, floor and ceiling of the room were made of smoothly finished stone and gave the impression we were underground.

What really caught my eye though was the man who was doing the chanting, as well as the woman nearby. The man wore clothing decorated with gold and silver thread, none of the patterns or the clothing design were familiar to either my or Avar's memories. The woman was more distinctive since she was quite beautiful and wore nothing at all, but her arms and legs were tied to an X shaped wooden frame. The part of me which was Avar was starting to get a feel for the pattern of the spell the man was working upon, I could tell it boded ill for the helpless woman tied to the X frame.

It was the workings of the chanting man which was the cause of me being where I was now and the merged state in which both Avar and I were now in. The remains of the previously executed magic pattern revealed spell work which had both drawn the personality of Andrew Carter to this universe and awakened Avar from a long period of sleep in stasis. Furthermore the ill cast spellwork had facilitated the inseparable merger of my essence with that of Avar, but the wizard before me was not yet done with his work. There was one further purpose that seemed to be his intent.

I could tell the wizard was building a spellwork which seemed to be intended to bring Avar under the wizard's complete control, yet Avar's talent also told me the wizard would fail in his intent. The spellwork being cast by the wizard would soon require him to sacrifice the woman secured to the frame, yet even with her life energy added to the spellwork I could tell his intent would fail. Despite whatever the wizard might be thinking, the spellwork he was building would have no effect upon Avar at all and therefore no effect upon me either. The rapidly approaching sacrifice of the woman would be a useless waste even more than otherwise would be.

Somehow the whole scene before me was sparking a rapidly building anger in the part of me which had come from Avar, and the knowledge the approaching sacrifice of the woman would be completely useless fanned that anger greatly. A powerful desire to interrupt the wizard and save the woman suddenly swelled within me and Avar's personality essentially took control. Avar quickly ascertained his sword, which had been sealed into stasis with him, remained sheathed at his left side. As the wizard raised a dagger to slash the throat of the helpless victim before him Avar sprang into action.

Avar leaped out of the niche in the wall where he had been placed so many years before and landed in easy reach of the wizard, drawing his sword as part of the same swift motion. Before the wizard could even react to the sudden move by Avar the sword slammed into and through the wizard's midsection. The chanted spellwork was silenced as Avar just as swiftly withdrew his weapon from the wizard's body. The wizard wore a startled look as his strength faded and he fell to the floor.

The part of me which was Andrew Carter was completely astonished by this swift turn of events yet there was no time to think upon it at all. The guards which had been standing against the walls quickly sprang into action as the wizard who had been their leader lay dying on the stone floor. I found myself set upon from every side as the guards responded to my attack upon the wizard. What happened next astonished me even further than the sudden assault upon the wizard.

While Andrew Carter had little experience with swords beyond playing with one a few times, Avar had been and remained a consummate swordsman. Despite being outnumbered nearly ten to one by the guards Avar made short work of them, the entire group had soon joined their leader in stillness on the stone floor of the chamber. The whole battle seemed even easier to Avar than usual, somehow the guards, while aggressive enough, had moved in a somewhat wooden and unimaginative way. Against a fighter of Avar's caliber the guards had no chance at all.

As soon as the last guard had been dispatched Avar turned his attention fleetingly to the naked woman still tied to the X frame, he noted in passing her startled expression at the sudden complete turnabout in the situation. I was content to allow the part of me which was Avar to continue on control of our actions and there was no attention to spare for the former victim yet. Avar turned back toward the niche in the wall from which we had sprung and as soon as his eyes brought it into sight I understood the reason for Avar's preoccupation.

Avar had not been placed into stasis alone; he'd had two companions with him who still remained locked in stasis in the wall. Remaining within their places in the wall niche were the twins, Aisha and Lana, Avar's closest friends and companions for most of his unnaturally long life. The two women inside the wall were not actually twins, sisters, or even related to each other at all, which was obvious to anyone who had the opportunity to see them. Yet somehow the two women had picked up the nickname of twins and they had been known by that for the last years before they had been placed in stasis.

Lana was a small, slim woman with long blonde hair, small breasts, and narrow hips. Aisha was taller and plumper, with jet black hair, larger breasts, and wider hips than Lana. Aisha looked to me to be almost like a woman from Northern China, somewhat stock in build, yet Aisha carried no unnecessary weight. The two women looked nothing like each other but they had been constant companions with each other for as long as Avar had known them. Looking into Avar's memories I found the length of time he had known them to be an unbelievable surprise. According to Avar's memory he, Lana, and Aisha had been companions for 852 years, before the three had been placed in stasis.

The dead wizard had been forced to resort to extraordinary and rare spellwork to break Avar from the stasis which had held him, but it would be far easier for me now to release Lana and Aisha. The spell which created the stasis was extremely powerful and secure but had been designed to be easily broken by Avar, and thus by myself now. Since Avar was now free from the stasis spell it was an imperative the twins should be released as well.

As time progressed my personality was becoming more and more merged into that of Avar and the feeling that he and I were in any way separate individuals was fading fast. Whatever thoughts and motivations Avar had we rapidly becoming my own, and mine his. Because of this I just stopped thinking of him and me as two different people, from then on he and I were one person.

I reached out and touched the faintly shimmering stasis field which guarded the niche within which the two women were entombed and, using Avar's magical ability, applied the spellwork key to open it. The barrier and the stasis imprisoning Aisha and Lana were instantly dissipated. The two remained inside their niche for a couple of moments, blinking in sudden awareness, and then both jumped out into the room. I waited silently and they looked wildly around the room, taking in the situation they had awakened into.

"What's with the girl, Avar?" Aisha asked after a moment, indicating the naked girl still tied to the frame.

"It would seem the recently deceased wizard who broke me out of stasis planned to use her as a sacrifice for the next part of his spellwork." I answered.

"I see. I can feel the foul stench of the remains of his poorly crafted magic still," Aisha said. Lana walked over to the girl and drew her dagger to cut her loose from the frame.

"Yes. I'm afraid I was forced to stop him in the middle of what he was doing," I told her.

"I can see what he was trying to do to you. As if that would work on one of us," Aisha said.

"Since he would have killed the girl in any case I didn't give him a chance to go that far."

"What do you think is going on here?" Aisha asked.

"I haven't a clue, I've only been awake for a few minutes more than you," I answered.

"Whatever it is it seems bad. I can tell that just from the remains of magic around. Somehow you seem to be changed now as well," Aisha said, perceptive as always. It was inevitable the twins would sense almost immediately that I was not the same Avar they knew from before, his memories of those two women told me that much.

"You're right, but I don't think this is the time or place to talk about it."

Lana returned just then, holding the woman from the frame by hand. Since the girl was still naked she blushed when she sensed my eyes upon her. But at the same time she was spunky enough to not try to cover herself, realizing it would be pretty pointless now.

"You're making a good start on your new harem," Lana said as she reached us. Fortunately Lana spoke in the Mershan language which concealed her words from the naked girl she still held by hand. Mershan was the language the twins and I had first spoken with each other, and one of several dozen languages that Avar, and now by extension I, spoke fluently.

Lana and Aisha were both lesbians and I'd never known them to have any interest in men, except for some unknown reason, me (as Avar). During the many long years we had been together those two women had been intimate with hundreds of other women but not a single male except for me. Most of the time they had also insisted that I share with them the other females they happened to find for themselves over the years.

I'd first met the twins when the captain of company in the army of a nation lost even before we had gone into stasis, no one remembered it except they and I. The two had been inseparable even then and fierce fighters, but always obeyed my orders when it was needful to do so. At the time my interest was in what my soldiers did on duty, what they did on their own time was their own affair. Perhaps it was my laid back attitude toward their proclivities which had warmed them toward me, somehow the three of us had ended up spending more and more time together.

A commotion out in the passageway into the chamber brought my attention back to the present. Lana and Aisha stiffened into attitudes of readiness showing they could hear it too, the sound of armed and armored men running at the double. It seemed the wizard and his guards had companions outside who were finally coming to check on their master, though of course they were already too late to save him. The twins and I leaped into action as the first arrivals emerged from the tunnel into the room,

The three of us attacked the arriving soldiers savagely since that was the only way we would have a chance against so many. The tunnel was so small the incoming soldiers were only able to enter two abreast and soon the twins and I were cutting them down as they emerged into the tunnel. Again there was this dullness in the arriving soldiers' fighting ability; it was as if they were fighting under the influence of something which slowed their reaction times. Whatever it was it made things easier for the twins and I than they otherwise would have been, the three of us cut through the new arrivals like a hot knife through butter. Yet at the same time if it had been anyone else besides the twins and I they would have been quickly overpowered by the sheer numbers of soldiers emerging from the tunnel mouth, it seemed there was no end to them.

The part of me that was Andrew Carter felt amazement at what I and the twins were doing. I knew from Avar's memories that he and the twins were veterans of several lifetimes of battle under all sorts of conditions. In addition the three of us possessed a magically enhanced speed, strength, and stamina even the overwhelming numbers of guards were unable to match. It wasn't long before the two women and I were pushing into the entry tunnel and cutting the soldiers down as we went. Much of the time in the tunnel we had to step around and even on the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

Eventually after a lot of hot work the twins and I forced our way through the entry tunnel to the outside. Outside we had to deal with several score more soldiers who had remained outside but were waiting for our emergence from the tunnel entrance. These fresh soldiers attacked us without hesitation yet there was the same sluggishness in their actions shown by the others we had fought inside. This made fighting them even easier for the twins and I than it otherwise would have been but even so we had a busy time taking care of them all. And take care of them all is exactly what we did since strangely no matter how hard we pressed them not a single one tried to abandon the fight and run away.

As the number of enemy dwindled it became obvious that their fight with the twins and I was not the only action they had been engaged in. A small part of the enemy forces had been guarding several captives as well as several more bodies, all dressed in uniforms distinctly different from those of their captors. The twins leaped in to attack the guards posted near the captives because even though it wasn't obvious from their appearance we could tell both the captives as well as their fallen comrades were all women. We had just cut down the last of the enemy and the twins released the first of the captives when the girl who had been on the frame inside the cavern appeared in the entrance, still naked.