Chapter the Twenty-fifth: Determination.

Iysla had won me over. The black dog of my depression was banished once more and for the first time in many months I was able to feel an almost light headed enjoyment of the days. The confidence she had managed to instil in me let me breathe more easily and stand taller. In such a manic state, I ran each morning from the farmhouse into the fields, jogging until the exhaustion rush began to flood me. The few people I met on the way were often bemused by my obviously enthusiastic greeting and even the field animals were met with jaunty calls.

I know, I know; it sounds like it was a fucking fifties musical, but that was the effect of uncorking the stopper that had been tightened on me. And it was no less sweet for all its sugariness.

The grassy slope of the south-facing side of the valley was clambered with little more than a slight rise in my heart-rate. My physical fitness was at the highest level it had ever been. The morning was cool and sunny and I could feel the perspiration drying from my back as I stood at the top of the rise. I called for Bran, standing for a moment next to one of the big trees cresting of the hill.

Across the valley, like the ribs of a long buried ship were the Erking standing stones. The valley was lovely in the early spring sunlight and life seemed the be everywhere.

Bran appeared at my shoulder, quiet, as if he had stepped from the trunk of the tree itself. I smiled as I realised it was probable that that was exactly from where he had arrived. We both stood and surveyed the surrounding countryside. I took in a deep breath of the morning air and spoke to him.

"We have a little bit of tidying up to do Bran. Then this thing is going to be finished with." My resolve was pretty strong and I spoke to him directly and with certainty.

"It is good to hear your true self speaking again. The task is not one to consider lightly but I agree, it will soon be time to quash this evil."

We sat on the grass and began to discuss the issues that still confronted me. I had never been one to plan very well and this, organising of a campaign, was inspiring as I watched Bran's obvious skill at marshalling facts and arguments.

We reviewed the 'score' between us and Shaw's camp and for the first time, I managed to see a clearer picture of my responsibilities without getting overwhelmed by the evil that had been visited on my loved ones. Bran saw this and went to great lengths to ensure that the fire of hatred still managed to burn fiercely inside me but now no longer threatened to consume me. Bran even had some ideas for the way we should proceed. He told me that he would consult with 'his peers' to confirm some of our suspicions.

I had to hold my inner calm when Sara's condition was brought up. She still languished in a coma, her skin pallid and waxy. The long chestnut tresses, although brushed every day by Aileen and sometimes by Amy when she visited, seemed less lustrous than before. Her eyes, when I lifted their lids were bloodshot and waxy. We had just spent our time, patiently waiting for the spell she was under to break and carefully turning her to avoid bedsores.

Bran had once come with me to see her. He spoke quietly to me as he stroked her forehead;

"The protection you cast on her is but one part of the enchantment. She is still held by Shaw. If she is to ever be returned to you, a way has to be found to cut through his spell."

Even at that point, we were both at a loss as to how I could achieve that. I knew what the shroud that had been spun around poor Debbie felt like, but there was not a single place that I could find in this one which looked like a weakness. Sara's own 'soul' was no longer shining brightly enough to show through. It was a catch-22, if I could get through, I could revive her, but to get through she needed to be revived. I hated to think that she might still be visited by the hell that we had fallen into. In my new found confidence however, I managed to put the problem to one side and although sorrowful, I went back to living. Things would sort themselves out, I would just have to hope that the outcome was in my favour.

Bran and I walked back to the farmhouse our voices low but our spirits high as we discussed our tactics and our strategy.

Bran was quite determined that I should not allow myself to turn away from my new nature. Shaw's power, he told me, came from the magic of the brutish, the vicious and the nasty. Mine was based upon nature's renewal, the drive to build rather than destroy, to love rather than hate. I found myself smiling at the incongruity of his stiff officiousness and the light hearted way he described rampant fucking. But the bottom line was that I had, in his eyes, a duty to allow my powers to be enhanced by tapping the sexual energies around me.

"A sword arm becomes stiff and slow without regular practice, you will need to be no less diligent with your skills." he had told me with a smile.

I felt his handiwork as the old horniness began building in me again and realised that at last, this dark time was beginning to lift.

"Careful with your influences Bran," I warned, "If I get any more of those pushes, you might find me trying it on with you!"

Aileen, usually quiet and, I had thought, slightly disapproving of me in her manner, took me to one side and urged me to go back to my home and try to revive myself.

"We'll all pray for her here and you can try to find a way to sort out this nastiness."

It was obvious to us all that my time of seclusion at the farmhouse was over. We sat together and ate a pleasant enough lunch and then I gathered up my stuff with as little ceremony as possible and left.

Maggie had been effectively 'dumped' at home, my heart was so empty after the shock of losing Valerie that I hadn't even bothered to take off the spell I had cast on her. She had spent the intervening months in complete domestic 'bliss.' The only contact I had had with her was one phone call that she had made to the farmhouse when Amy had needed to talk to me about some query at the school.

Maggie, Amy told me in a lowered voice, had invited her to stay for dinner. Amy couldn't really believe that my wife would be quite so understanding about having her around. I told her to go ahead and enjoy the meal. My wife (nearly ex-wife I had to keep reminding myself) had always been a good cook.

The drive back into town was made with the window down and the radio blaring.

The brilliance of the early afternoon sunshine making my face smile. I needed to stop for gas and a leak so I pulled into the sprawling Shell garage on the main road. After filling up the car and emptying my own tank, I stood in line at the cash desk in the store.

The young guy standing to the right and slightly behind me, seemed to be acting in a strangely nervous manner. The pretty girl he was obviously with was standing behind one of the shelving units apparently looking at greeting cards but from the way she was watching him, I didn't get the impression that anyone was anticipating a birthday. I started to think that there was going to be some sort of shoplifting going on. The two were in their mid-teens and from the flushed look on his face, it was evident that he was gearing up to do something.

I paid for my purchase and stepped to the side to fold the receipt into my wallet. The young man stepped up to the desk and spoke.

His first syllable came out at such a high pitch that he could have passed for a squeeze toy. He had to actively gulp and start again. He held out a couple of bars of chocolate.

"These please," he began, and lifted a pine air freshener for the car off the stand on the countertop.

"... And this too..." He proceeded to accumulate quite a pile of disparate objects from around the counter until finally; "... and... "

I suddenly realised what the deal was and smiled as I surreptitiously watched his distress. His skin was blazing red as he drew a ragged breath and all but lunged for the packed of condoms that lay in the top dispenser. His voice cracked once more as he offered, with just a whole lot too much nonchalance

"... and these please."

The girl behind the counter didn't bat an eyelid and to the amusement of all but two of the occupants of the store, took great pains to hold the packet up in front of the young lad's face and slowly look for the bar-code to scan.

"How much does it say these are?" she asked him, pointing over the front of the counter. His confidence was almost completely shot and he just managed to croak out the price.

She tallied up the cost and took his money with a smile. He had some trouble trying to find a pocket to put all the chocolate bars in without dropping the change and the treasured packet.

He walked hurriedly to the door, his young girlfriend slipping out behind him.

I felt it was too much of a temptation not to get involved with the two of them.

I was beginning to put behind me, the old moralising that had come back in recent times and I found my body beginning to respond favourably to the situation...

The two teens sat in the front of their old car and were obviously relieved at their success in getting past the big hurdle. I watched them from across the forecourt and could see the excited gleam in both their eyes as they leaned together and kissed. We started our vehicles at the same time and both cars pulled onto the road simultaneously from the two exits. I followed unobtrusively behind them and sent my feelers out in front of me to get an insight into how they were feeling...

It was finally the time! After the very first time she had met Gary, at Laura's party almost a year before, they'd been heading towards this night. Ginny sat slightly sideways in the car seat and looked across at him. Gary was staring intently at the road. He was still flushed with the ordeal he'd just gone through. Of all the stupid things to forget! they'd known they were going to have sex and both forgot to go through with getting the rubbers!

Gary had almost called it off but after she had told him how much she wanted to finally be with him, he'd done it. The pink blush still stretched behind his ears and down the front of his neck. It had taken a lot for him to show his determination like that and she wondered whether he realised how much she felt the overwhelming excitement, now that they had actually managed to take the step.

This was going to be for real.

Gary.

One of the things she loved about him was his sensible nature when it came to the important things. He never fooled about when he was driving and wasn't one go doing silly things like some of the other guys from their class. That sure didn't mean that he didn't 'fool around' though! he was always able to use his hands and mouth and his mind to get her really juiced up! What she had managed to find out was that the staid exterior covered quite an exciting and sensitive boyfriend. He had been adamant that he should wear protection because he didn't want her to get into trouble.

The word boyfriend had a certain resonance. He had been, in fact would always be, her boy 'friend' but now he was much more than just that. The evening had been planned by the two of them for almost the past month. His folks thought he was on a school trip and hers thought the same. The half truth was that the trip was actually going ahead; without them. It had seemed such good fortune that Gary said they couldn't afford to pass up the chance of being alone.

Ginny sat back and watched the scenery pass by. Gary's car was, like him, solid and comfortable. She smiled to herself as she thought about all the things that the two of them had got up to inside it, on the back seat, in the front, even once tried it in the trunk! it was their little place of isolation. But they'd never gone all the way. At first it had simply been because they didn't know each other well enough. Later it was just too difficult to get into the right situation. Gary had his dad's business to help out at in the evenings and she was too much involved in the soccer team that the two of them only managed to get together during school and on one evening at the weekend. She smiled wickedly to herself as she realised how the memory of last Saturday's outing to the park had shown her just how much she could show Gary what to do to make her feel good.

When they'd first started 'fooling around, ' she'd been a little reluctant to give him any directions on what to do with a girl, but as time and blunt prodding went on, she finally realised that boys just didn't have a clue when it came to girls! A little mauling of her boobs might have been quite pleasurable but a rough finger straight into her panties when she wasn't expecting it was no fun at all!

And much to her surprise, when she told him she needed to explain what she needed him to do 'down there' there had been a look of almost absolute relief on Gary's face. From that evening onwards, Gary had been a completely willing pupil in the subject of Ginny's physical enjoyment. There was none of the grunting and puffing and blowing that she'd endured with previous boys. She and Gary actually talked to each other.

Not that Gary didn't teach her a couple of surprises. Like how much he liked her to touch his legs or squeeze his butt when they kissed, or his having his nipples touched. It had become quite a regular game for them to take it in turns to alternate kisses on each other's bare breasts. His muscular chest felt simply beautiful beneath her lips and she loved the natural smell of his skin. And he in turn, could get pretty carried away in his worship of her boobs.