Chapter 3

Bruce

I was sixteen when the trouble began. Some fool got the idea to create a bacteria in his lab that would consume CO2. This was supposed to counteract climate change. It began with a constructed DNA sequence, injected into a bacteria. The initial construct had been dubbed "Mycoplasma laboratorium". This evolved into the idea of the carbon dioxide reducing bacteria. The whole idea was a farce, but no one realized how catastrophic it would prove to be. It mutated.

People started dying, and there was little time left. The shit was airborne, and the currents would eventually assure that most of the people on Earth would die. There was no antidote, almost no immunity, and no cure. In short, the environmentalists got their wish. Man would no longer fuck up the planet. I don't think they meant for it to occur in quite this way, however.

The mutation, from what we could gather, did strange things to the human body. Once contracted, a person almost always died within two days. The way they died, was weird. It was like the sickness sucked every bit of moisture out of them, and no amount of intravenous or oral intake of fluids would stop it. We didn't get this from the news. Grandma had friends everywhere, and one of them in Australia called to fill her in. The worst part was that almost every single person was contracting it. The survival rate of those who did, was very close to zero.

The emergency call for the gathering went out as soon as the problem surfaced. It was grandma Ruth that called on everyone to listen to me. Being as young as I was, it was the only way that could've happened. Granny must have had more pull than I knew, because I found myself reluctantly thrust into the spotlight.

I explained that we could travel to another plane, and how it might be done. Out of the five hundred people who came from all over the country, perhaps half believed me at all. Of those, roughly a hundred trusted me to be able to actually pull it off.

The debate was dragging on much too long. Grandma thought so too, and spread the word that all who wanted to make the attempt were to meet at her glade one day from then. All the rest, she added, could stay and die like the lemmings they were acting like, for all she cared.

We ended up with one hundred thirty-seven candidates. I thought it would get even more touchy, once I revealed the entire plan. There was only one way to move that many people across planes. It would require gathering more power in one place than anyone had ever seen, and there was only one way to do it. Sex magic. The largest orgy in the history of the world was about to commence, unless the Greeks or Romans had one I didn't know about. I expected a riot. At the very least, I expected many people to balk. I should've known better. Witches were a notoriously horny and uninhibited bunch, and the most adventurous of them had followed us here. The only complaint I heard was "It's a damn shame we can't submit this to Guinness, it has to be a world record!"

Preparations were hurried, but precise. The ground had to be cleansed, sigils had to be drawn, and the most important incantation these people would ever need had to be learned.

The spell began at ten in the evening, on a night when the moon was full. That it was the third full moon of the season was an added benefit. The blue moons, as they are called, make more power available. I don't know why, they just do.

There was only one minor glitch before the spell was begun, and it involved my mates and me. Tabitha and Connie hurried up to me. Between them was another girl who looked like she was thirteen or so. Tabby, as usual, was the first one to speak. As soon as I saw that look in her eyes as she said "Bruce?", I knew I was in trouble. She wanted something, and wanted it bad. Up to this point, I'd never been able to deny anything either of them had really wanted.

"This is Debra", she continued. "She's all by herself, and desperately needs someone to help her. Can she join us?"

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something harsh, and replied "Does she have any idea what this spell is, and how it's cast? Surely she has some friends or relatives that would be a better choice! Besides, she's too young to be with us during this."

The girl finally looked at me, and was obviously pissed. "Hey!", she retorted, "I'm nineteen freaking years old! I can't help it if nobody told my body that! I know exactly what I'm getting into, or rather, what would be getting into me. As for friends and family, the idiots didn't come with me. Your wives are the only real friends I've got that are here. If you don't help me, I'm toast!"

"Look", I groaned, "I'm not positive about this, and I sure as hell haven't advertised it, but this spell is so powerful that there might be certain side effects."

"Like what?", the trio chorused.

"Like the possibility that you could end up bonded to us, for one", I explained. The more I study this spell, the more I wish we didn't have to cast it. It's fucking dangerous. Are you sure now?"

"Yep!", she growled. "Why, are you saying that being bonded to you is a fate worse than death, or are you implying that me being dead is preferable to being stuck with me?"

Yes, I lost. Again. Maybe I'd get lucky and be wrong. It wasn't like that hadn't happened a million or so times in the past. I didn't think so, though. The spell used all five elements, but it was spirit that seemed to be the problem. I had a feeling that everyone here better like the people they were with, because they'd be seeing a lot of them in the future. Their spirits would likely be intertwined for the rest of their lives.

For two hours, power was stored. It was like a giant capacitor. The whole glade was glowing so bright with magic that it wouldn't surprise me if satellites picked it up from orbit. I was so dizzy with energy that I could barely maintain my focus. It held by a thread when I screamed trigger phrase. The noise and light was like being at the center of a nova. It felt like it, too. My entire body felt as if it was being consumed by flames, as power beyond all belief surged through it. All I thought as consciousness left me was "I hope like hell I had the destination right. If we survive, we're going to be vulnerable for days."

Danny

It was Ami who saw it. We had decided it would be somewhat easier to bear the grief, if the watchers kept their attention on countries other than their old homelands. Her cry of astonishment brought us all to her side, but she could do little except shake her head for a bit. Finally, she looked up at us and said "I do not know exactly what I just saw, but I think it was the most powerful magic I have witnessed since the war's end. It might well rival what Tremaine did at the glass plains!"

We could see the image in her bowl, but all that was apparent was a large area of scorched earth. No people or animals were evident, just an area of black ground. I asked her to describe what she had seen, and she tried. "A gathering of people in this field drew my attention", she explained. "I couldn't believe the sight at first."

Ami's face was scarlet, and it took a moment for her to regain her composure enough to continue. "They were having sex!", she blurted. "All of them. It had to be over a hundred people, and they were doing all sorts of things to each other. In the center of the crowd, there was one young male and three girls. The girls were engaged with one another, while the male was thrusting into one of them. He was saying something, but I couldn't make it out. It was like some sort of pagan ritual or something. Suddenly, he threw his arms open wide and screamed a phrase. That's when the explosion occurred. When the smoke cleared, they were gone!"

No sooner had she finished, than Dartha came running into the room. "Wizard Tremaine!", she gasped. "A great many people have suddenly appeared outside our gates! Sir Wizard, they are unclothed!"

"Well", Robin quipped, "I guess we know where our naked pagans ended up. Shall we go see if they're friendly?"

"Don't get too close!", I warned. "We don't know if they brought whatever the hell is loose on Earth with them. They need to be isolated for a while before we can be sure."

I felt kind of bad about it, but it had to be done. I hoped the spell I cobbled together was up to the task. It was like the shield spell, but covered all of the unconscious people in front of the keep. The tricky part was cleansing and recirculating the air inside. Robin actually handled that part of it after I expressed my doubts of being able to pull it off.

By the time they started to stir, I had transported food, drink, and clothes inside the dome we had made. I cast other small spells, as well. Orloff's spell of understanding being the foremost. The inventors came through with a means of communication for us. They cobbled together an intercom. It was crude, but effective enough.

Bruce

I think the moaning and groaning was what woke me up. Then the pain hit, and I did some of that myself. My head felt like it was about to explode, and I hurt all over. Even my dick hurt. I shifted my weight to try and dig out from the pile of bodies I was under, and heard a gasp of "Shit! Don't move yet! I think my pussy hair is glued to you!"

I looked down, and saw what I thought was the top of Debra's head. She muttered a spell, and slid off to my side. It still took all the energy I had in order to sit up. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Connie and Tabby smiling at me. We made it! Or at least I thought we did. I wasn't positive we were where I wanted us to end up yet.

A shadow fell over us, and I looked up to see grandma Ruth scowling down at me. I would've laughed at her appearance, but I knew how much pain that would bring. From the look on her face, some of it would be from new injuries. Her hair resembled a half built bird's nest, and fluid was running down her legs. I thought I saw a few bite marks on her in various places, too.

"You could've told me, you know", she huffed. "Now I'm stuck bonded to Paul, not that I hadn't contemplated that on occasion. Now the old coot doesn't even have to sweet talk me into it! Get your messy ass up, and let's go see how bad a fix we're in."

Even smiling hurt, but I struggled into the clothes she dropped on my face. They were strange, but I'd seen worse. At least they were loose. Chafing would not feel good at the moment.

My mates helped me walk. All three of them. Damn it, I'd been right. I could feel the link we shared. Not only that, but the one between the rest of us felt even stronger than before. Oh well, Debra was certainly cute enough. She seemed nice, too. I would've preferred getting to know her a lot better before doing something this drastic, but them's the breaks. They were awfully quiet, even Tabby. They were looking at me like I had three heads, too. I figured it was still shock over what had happened.

I staggered to the edge of the crowd, and grandma explained about the shield we were under. My respect for this Tremaine guy went up another notch. He was protecting his people, and that spoke volumes. Our progress was slow, but we finally arrived at a strange looking contraption. What I guessed was a speaker was next to something that looked remotely like a microphone.

I stepped up to it, and looked out over the crowd outside. There he was, right in front. The young face and white hair went together better than I thought it would in person. I couldn't resist the jibe, but when I quipped "The Wizard Tremaine, I presume? I don't recall another who is both young, and old."

The look of amusement he sent back told me he got it, but he shot back "Friend, you need a mirror. We have a lot in common. That must have been one hell of a spell. Tell me, did you channel all of that power through yourself?"

"Yes", I admitted. "I wasn't sure what it would do to the caster, and I didn't want to risk anyone else if it failed. How did you know?"

A cute girl next to him handed him a mirror, and he turned it towards me. I almost fainted. My hair wasn't brown anymore. In fact, it appeared to be the same color as Tremaine's. I scowled at my mates, and Connie gave me that crooked grin. "We were afraid to tell you, babe. It really does look quite distinguished."

"I think he's even better looking", added Debra. "How about you, Tabby?"

"Yep, it's unanimous!", she giggled. He's hot, for an old guy!"

She squealed and shot me a dirty look when I pinched her cute little butt, but they all laughed. Then we got down to business with our prospective saviors. The initial discussion involved the bacteria, and all we had found out concerning it. There was a lot of misinformation being spread about it when we'd left, but one thing was certain. Once contracted, there was over a ninety-nine percent chance that the person would be dead within three days. To be on the safe side, we would be quarantined for one week.

While the logistics were worked out, such as food, tents, and bathing facilities (it still smelled like a bordello inside the shield), a small group of us talked to an equally sized number who were outside. They were interested in our form of magic, but just as much in what mundane talents we might have.

That took some investigating on our part, but our hosts were happy with the results. We had several trades represented among us, as well as college professors and even some former military.

Several orientation sessions were held while we were isolated. I had tried my best to inform people what they could expect before they agreed to join us, and we'd had a lot of initial volunteers back out after that. Although the rest assured us that they understood, the reality was something else. Most took it in stride, and were even eager to help bring improvements to our new home. The rest were experiencing some major culture shock. It was finally settling in that many of the conveniences and pastimes they were accustomed to, would likely never be seen again in their lifetimes.