Chapter 5

He was quickly loaded on the ferry and he was excited that he would see Jim soon.

He loved spending time with the old man, even though he didn’t look much older than mid-thirties by Burgis standards. Jim was a Pix and wore an Earth Novice ring. Trae had learnt a lot from Jim over the years that he had been visiting him. He speculated on what Jim would think of all of the treasures he was bringing to him this year.

He also knew that he and Jim would need to have a discussion about his new abilities. He remembered that some people were able to see a glow when another person had magical abilities. After all, he had always been able to.

After what had happened to him before he left home, he now suspected he had awaked some new ability within himself. It was the only plausible explanation. He also believed the strange crystals had something to do with the changes he felt within himself.

He had eight of the ten rods he had put in his coat pockets still in them. He’d had to put them in fine cloth bags, so he didn’t get zapped if he touched them the wrong way. He knew that his coat was saturated with tiny crystals from when he had collected the bigger ones.

He had washed his coat before he left home, but it seemed the crystal dust was now embedded in the material. He had probably added to them when he collected a second lot of crystals. He’d have to remember that in low light, the coat did glow.

Trae pulled the unassuming, little blue-covered book from his pocket. He also suspected what the book was. He’d started reading it again as the ferry took him over the passage between the two islands. He was amazed that he was reading a language he had never seen before.

He had worked out the night before that the pages on the right were close enough to the common language that he had no problems except for the odd word or two. The script on the left-hand page, however, was foreign to him, even though he understood it.

He was sure that it was a Mages magical book. He had surmised that he could only be reading it if he had magical ability. He was a bit frightened by what this meant to him. He was also excited by the possibilities. He sure had some surprises for Jim on this trip.

He felt for his medallion. He’d worn it as far back as he could remember. He often forgot it was even on his chest. He gasped when he suddenly comprehended that he had activated it when he added the magical crystal. It looked very similar to a picture of a medallion in the book.

He had learnt from the book that the special crystals were called Quaz crystals. He felt himself start to sweat. He had twelve, half kilo bags of crystals in the hidden boxes and the same amount at home. Even the crystals that he carried around in his pocket were worth a fortune he realised. He determined their magical abilities were why he had put them back in his coat after he had washed it.

He looked around, but no one else was in the holding area with him. The others had gone up top to the passenger area, while he was still sitting on the seat looking at the book. The trip took just over an hour, so he had elected to stay with the cart.

He needed a shield spell to help hide the crystals, he thought. The pages in the book flipped and stopped. He read the spell and mumbled it under his breath as he tried to make sure he pronounced the words correctly. Then he said them a little louder.

He sat up startled when he felt the shield form around the cart. He chuckled softly and said, “I need a good repair spell.” The pages flipped again, and it took him several minutes to practice the pronunciation of several words before he tried to say it correctly.

He heard the cart groan a little and noticed that the rough timber sides now looked smooth and polished. “Now I just need to keep the dirt off it,” he mumbled. He grinned when the book again flipped pages. So, he happily worked out how to say this spell.

He felt tired after he had finished doing the spells, so he stretched out along the seat and napped, while the ferry finished its journey over the sea.

He felt refreshed after his nap.

To his surprise, he was also feeling horny. He’d not had a lot of problems with relieving himself the few odd occasions that this had happened but this wasn’t exactly the time or place. He knew Mark and David thought he was a bit odd when he didn’t flirt with the girls when they had been in taverns.

Until recently, he’d not felt a desire to seek another to help with any sexual urges. He knew that for a while, his friends had thought he preferred men. That had changed thanks to Kathy, the barmaid in Clawton. She had laid a big kiss on him the last time he was there with them. In turn, he had kissed her back and gotten hard.

The lads seemed relieved that he was normal as far as they saw it. The Burgis and Prol races could be a bit strange about males being with males. The Pix and their cousin races were more open to anything goes. Trae hadn’t really ever had a burning desire to be with a man or any particular woman either, so he kept an open mind on this subject.

He hadn’t done anything about the kiss either, Kathy had been coming into season, and he had no intentions of getting her pregnant. He also didn’t feel she was the one for him. He thanked her for the kiss but didn’t otherwise touch her. He knew she had been disappointed but he had a strong enough will, not to be caught by a pretty girl in heat.

The way he was feeling at the moment though, he had a feeling it might be a bit harder to say no. He looked up sex in his book. He was amused to find that using magic was why he felt horny. The book told him if he couldn’t get a recharge through sex then either sleep, find a heat source, some sun or eat.

Sunshine and eating he could do since he had slept and he must have recharged some.

It took another half hour to get his cart off the ferry.

He happily sucked up the sunshine as he directed his lanky to Jim’s house. The travel rations had helped a lot too, so he knew to keep more of them in his backpack in future. He often did have them with him whenever he travelled or worked away from the cabin.

He was starting to wonder how often he had truly used magic in the past since he must have had the latent abilities to be wearing magical items now. This fact and its consequences hadn’t truly sunk into his brain.

It was mid-morning and the streets were teeming with vehicles. Moe didn’t like the travellers being too close, but Grace was more tolerant. He was glad he had swapped them over after he got off the ferry. He did like the fact that, this trip he’d have his lankys with him.

One disadvantage of the carrier was no transport at the other end. It was just as well he wasn’t against walking. He had nothing against using the Riders (taxis) in the city, but they did cost more than he had wanted to spend on them.

He directed Grace down the narrow alleyway to the back of Jim’s shop. He jumped down and started dropping the harness from Grace. Jim had a stable with two stalls and a carriage house he could store the cart in, so that was why he had brought both lankys.

“Hoy? What are you doing?” a female voice called down to him.

He looked up and his morning boner came back with full force. He found himself staring up at the young women. He was glad he was on the other side of Grace. He’d not met a woman who had affected him like this before.

She was exquisite with her Pix face and long legs. The tight pants emphasised her hips and legs, and he bet she had a great arse tucked in them as well. She was leaning on the balcony and had her tits resting on her arms, Trae found his eyes hard pressed to move from them once he had seen them.

The top she was wearing only had thin straps over her shoulders and floated loosely around to her midriff. He could see her pants hung low on her hips and her flat tummy. The ‘V’ neck of the silky looking green blouse had been pulled down lower due to her leaning on it. A result, the swell of her lovely breasts was visible to Trae.

He dragged his eyes back to her face and noticed the hair. He was fascinated by the copper streaks blended into the almost white hair. It came down to her nipples, and she had a loose bow tied halfway down it, so some of her curls escaped and floated around her head. He loved her big tawny eyes and her sexy mouth with the sensual thicker bottom lip.

“Who are you?” Kat tried again since the man seemed struck dumb.

Trae finally found his tongue, “Trae Quinton, ma’am. I’m a friend of Jim’s.”

The woman stood straight and cocked her head to one side. “The mystical Trae. Pater was expecting you a couple of days ago,” she informed him.

“Yes, I had a few things to bring with me this year, so I bought the cart,” he replied and decided he had better finish getting Grace in the stall after he adjusted his throbbing cock.

In the small shed, he found several bales of hay and a bag of mixed feed suitable for lankys that Jim had put there for him. He had sent Jim a message a month before that he was bringing the lankys. At the time, he hadn’t decided on the cart until he made it.

He filled the feed buckets and then the water buckets. He then put Moe in her stall and started brushing Grace down. By this time, the woman and Jim had joined him. Jim interrupted him and gave him a customary hug. Jim turned and pointed to the cart, “What is all this?” he asked his young friend.

Trae grinned and his eyes light up. “Treasure,” he said with excitement.

Jim chuckled. He then turned to Katrina, “Kat, this is my young friend, Trae. Trae this is my great-granddaughter Katrina. She is staying with me at the moment, so we fixed the apartment up for you. I hope you like it. Kat has been trying to sort out the mess I had in it, and she has even built a wall for you, so the bedroom is private.”

“We hope you don’t mind, but she is using the other part as a sort of workshop. We were hoping you would help her clean up the old items so we can resell them. I’ll also be able to give you lessons up in your apartment but of course, you are welcome downstairs and in the shop at any time.”

Trae smiled at Jim, “Sounds like fun. I do have some other business I need to conduct, but I am also here to learn. I, hum, need to have a private chat with you later, about something I have learnt in the last couple of weeks.”

“Have you found your parents?” Jim asked.

Trae shook his head, “Far more important than that.”

Jim nodded, “Fine, let’s get you settled. Show us what you want upstairs and what stays in the cart. I assume you have items you wish to sell.”

“Yes, you can advise me on whom to go see. I do have something special for Jenrry. I have a new assistant called Paul. He and I had some fun with the flour mill, and I think Jenrry will like what I have for him,” Trae said as he opened the back of the tall cart.

He glanced over the crates, he pulled one forward and told the lid to lift. He was delighted when the simple spell worked. He pulled out a bag that held 5kgs of flour and opened it for Jim’s inspection.

Jim sniffed and placed a finger in and then tasted it. “Trae, you will have a friend for life. You know how fussy Jenrry is about his flour.” He turned to Kat, “Kat, go get Jenrry and tell him to bring Howey. Tell him, ‘Trae did it’, he will know what it means.”

Kat frowned and did as her Pater asked.

When she entered Jenrry’s shop, she heard him cussing in Pix.

The Pix language was a slightly different from common. Most of the races still learnt their own languages as well as common. She called out to him and he came out to greet her.

“Jenrry, Pater sent me to get you. His friend Trae has turned up at last, and Pater said to tell you that, ‘Trae did it’, whatever ‘it’ is.” She was surprised when Jenrry almost pushed her out of the way and hurried over the street.

She called out to Howey that he will need to bring the delivery trolley and to come to her place and out the back. The long-suffering Howey did as she asked and followed her across the street. They turned up to see Jenrry hugging Trae enthusiastically. He was almost weeping with joy.

Howey groaned and explained to Kat, “So, he made the mad man’s flour. It will be all I will hear about for months. How wonderful Trae is.”

Kat looked at Howey in surprise. Her Pater also seemed to have the opinion that this Trae was wonderful. She admitted to herself that he wasn’t bad looking and he did have a charming smile. However, there were a lot of good-looking men to be found.

They joined the men, and Howey found himself the job of transporting the eight crates across the street to the bakery. He also had to make two extra trips once Jenrry found out what else Trae had in his cart.