Chapter 3

Meanwhile Kala and Lucy had finished their breakfast and bathed, then instead of laying out on the rocks to dry themselves, they walked hand in hand, following the course of the little stream that flowed out of the bathing pool and meandered down the secret valley. Both knew it was time to talk. It was Kala who started. "I know you have questions, and there are things that you need to know, things I need to explain, but some answers must wait, not long I promise."

Lucy frowned, "Ok, but not too long, please."

Kala leaned in an kissed her cheek, "thank you," she smiled, "ok, now ask away, I'll do my best to answer."

Lucy grinned, "for starters, am I stuck here? Can I get home? Are there others? What's with the eye thing? How come Eva can understand you but she's not a Dragon, or is she? What would have happened to..." Kala took Lucy's head in her hands and kissed her for a long time.

"Whoa... ! One question at a time... !!"

Lucy grinned, "or what... ? You'll kiss me again... ?

Kala spanked Lucy's ass, a single swat, accompanied by a wicked grin, her purple eyes sparkling with mischief and passion. "No, I'll kiss you anyway, anywhere, anytime..."

"Good," Lucy's own eyes sparkled as she pounced on Kala, pushing her onto the ground, holding her tight as she first licked Kala's lips before kissing her, her tongue seeking out it's playmate. When they finally broke apart it was Lucy who spoke, her voice breathless, "enough, no more until I get answers... !"

Kala sighed theatrically, "very well, if I must I must..."

"Good." Now, from the top, "am I stuck here?"

Kala looked at her lover... "you mean you don't ... no, that's unfair, no, you are not stuck here, it is possible for you to go back, at least it was ... Now maybe it is again, if Eva has the power and you have the strength."

Lucy looked at her lover, her eyes beginning to turn purple. "Oh no, no talking in riddles, explain properly."

"Your friend cut herself when she pulled the ice axe from Torsten's body, when she licked her finger to clean it, she probably didn't realise that her blood had mixed with his. When you killed him, even though it was accidentally, you took his Dragon persona and his abilities. Because his blood was fresh something happened when Eva licked her finger, it should have killed her, for Dragon blood, even when we are in our human form, is toxic, but on rare occasions, vary rare occasions, it has been known to convey the powers of a Haxlz, your friend can understand me because she is now a Haxlz. The Haxlz." She paused and smiled, "that better?"

Lucy smiled back, "much ... so, Eva is a sorceress, well, not exactly, but I can't think of a better translation, so what can she do? And how does that help us get home? And how..." She paused, winked... "aren't you going to kiss me to shut me up... ? Again."

Instead of kissing her right away, Kala flipped Lucy over onto her back, at least she tried to, but she couldn't, Lucy was too strong, even though it was obvious our heroine wasn't even trying. Kala smiled and kissed her. "It's working", she thought to herself, "my love's abilities are taking hold."

Kala broke the kiss much sooner than she wanted to, much sooner than either of them wanted to. "I need you to change, right now, you can change back, but I need you to change, now."

Lucy looked down at her lover, sensing something was wrong, but not knowing what, but she trusted Kala so she stood up, stepped away and for the first time changed without Kala goading her at all. "She was right," Lucy decided, it is easier not to look." Eyes tight shut our heroine concentrated, focusing inside herself, letting her Dragon loose. In moments the huge Dragon stood before Kala, wings unfolding, jaws opening to reveal the razor sharp fangs ... For a moment Kala tensed, afraid for the first time in many years, then one purple eye winked mischievously ... Kala stuck her tongue out ... grinning to hide her momentary unease, Lucy's Dragon was still golden...

Back in her own body Lucy ran to Kala, hugging her, giggling, kissing her face and neck teasingly, then she stopped, looked into Kala's eyes... "Why? Why did I have to change? Why were you afraid?"

"I needed to be certain, I love you Lucy, I trust you, but I had to be certain, there are too many lives at risk to take any chances. Your abilities are taking hold, you will soon find you can do things that I can't, did you notice your Dragon form is bigger now?"

Lucy nodded, "yes i did, why? Why were you afraid?"

"Because Torsten's Dragon was black, matt black, evil. I needed to make sure yours is still golden."

"But why?" Lucy asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice, exasperation diluted by concern.

"Dragons cannot chose their colour, neither is it hereditary, it is a reflection of their heart." Kala smiled, the smile chasing away the last signs of fear as love filled her eyes, those purple eyes that Lucy adored so much. "You my love truly have a heart of gold."

Our heroine's eyes filled with tears, tears of love, tears that Kala gently kissed away as they embraced, sinking down onto the soft warm grass by the stream, there they lay together, expressing their love in the most intimate way, tenderly, passionately they made love to one another, neither wanting the moment to ever end.

If only they knew...

"Hiya, hungry? Have you been to the cave yet? Let me get you a drink, which one are you? I'd love to hear all about you ... I'm talking to much aren't I? Sorry, it's just that it's so great to have someone new to talk to..." The girl's voice faltered as she blushed and grinned.

"I'm Monika, pleased to meet you, if you don't mind me being in your kitchen you can talk all you want." She smiled, for some reason the girl reminded her of an elf, though not like those who laboured to help Santa Claus. "Perhaps it's her features?" Monika thought, for the girl, though not small had delicate features. "Perhaps a pixie? No, an elf, definitely an elf."

"I'm Suze and it's not my kitchen but you are welcome, very welcome I ... I'll shut up and..."

"No, don't stop, please, I'm just as inquisitive as you, how about we take turns whilst I help with whatever you are doing?" Suze had been chopping fruit so Monika looked around for a knife, only to find there were none, only a ... a Dragon's fang, actually several.

"Careful, they're sharp, very sharp," Suze warned her.

Monika smiled and thanked her for the warning, testing the edge of the fang by touching it to an apple, surprised to find it sliced right through without any effort, even leaving a scratch on the stone worktop. "Oh my, they are, aren't they, and I've scratched the stone, I'm sorry"

Suze giggled, "that's nothing, when i first got here I dropped one point first on the floor and nobody could pull it out, it went so deep, they had to ask the white Dragon to get it out." Monika looked down, realising that the floor was just like where they had slept, a single huge flat rock.

"So how long have you been here? Did you fall off a mountain too?"

"Oh no, I was hiking in the forest and found a beautiful pond, nobody was around and it was a hot day so I thought I'd go skinny-dipping, I dived in and when I surfaced I found myself in a huge lake..."

The two girl's chatted away, Monika explaining about the avalanche and being found by the two huge black Dragons, Suze listening intently to every word, eager for every detail. Monika had just explain how Lucy has appeared from nowhere to save Anja when she stopped dead. "Do you know if we can get home? Are we stuck here forever?"

Suze carefully put down the fang she had been using and wiped her hands. "Come with me, I'll show you the cave." Monika put down her own fang, taking equal care, wiped her hands and took Suze's offered hand.

"Let's go see this cave."

Meanwhile Katja had returned to her Mistress. Eva and the girls were still laid out by the bathing pool. "Mistress, if it pleases you, may I guide you to the cave.? The others are headed there and it is the place of the Haxlz, your place my Mistress."

Eva sat up and looked at the girl, "very well my sweet slave, lead us to the cave," her words surprised them both, Katja happy to be confirmed as her Mistress's slave, Eva wondering just how she had come to accept the girl so easily, after all, slavery was not right, was it?

Led by Eva and guided by Katja, they all headed down the valley towards the cave, the girls happy to be doing something, enjoying the sun and the soft grass underfoot, all pointing out new sights as they followed the stream. None of them voicing their greatest fear, were they stuck here forever?

Kala and Lucy arrived at the cave first, their hearts still racing, the taste of each other on their lips. "This is the cave," Kala announced, "this was the way back, it may yet still be a way back, that depends on Eva, for only a Haxlz understands the message of the cave."

Hand in hand they walked up the grassy slope to the cave's entrance, the mountain rock was granite, as Lucy well knew from her climbing, yet before them the opening was not granite but marble, the opening jagged, un-worked, except for the floor, for as they entered Lucy realised that the floor was as smooth and flat as the lobby of the Baur au Lac hotel back home.

The veins in the marble were purple and scattered with tiny quartz crystals that glittered in the soft light of the sun reflected on the white marble, as they walked deeper into the cave it narrowed until they could no longer walk side by side and had to duck their heads, but then it opened out once more to form a large roughly circular space, like an inverted funnel. Kala led Lucy out into the centre where the while marble of the floor became black, a circle of black marble without any veins at all. Looking up Lucy could see that the roof of the cave narrowed just like a funnel, leaving a small opening high above them through which she could see the clear blue sky.

Behind them came the muffled echoes of voices, Suze and Monica had arrived. Suze entered cautiously, gripping Monica's hand tightly, whilst Monica simply looked about her, awed by the expanse of smooth seemingly polished marble, waving to her friend as she spotted Lucy and Kala. Their voices echoing in the cave.

It was not long before the others arrived, Katja confidently leading the way, her nervousness at entering the cave obliterated by her pride in being at her Mistress's side.

All of them gathered around the focal point, the black marble circle, it was Lucy who voiced her friends thoughts. "So what has this cave to do with us getting home?" She gestured around, "as beautiful as it is, it's empty, nothing but solid marble."

Katja seemed to shudder, Suze looked nervous, Kala answered her. "This cave is of the Haxlz, though it has not been used since the last Haxlz, it is unchanged, it's power, it's secrets remain, though I know not what they are, for only the Haxlz know those things." She paused and looked at Eva, "it is yours now, this cave, the houses close by, those who live and work there now serve you." Kala smiled, "though perhaps none with such devotion as Katja..."

Everyone looked at Eva, who simply stood, speechless, only the slightest pull on her hand brought Eva's voice back, for Katja had knelt at her feet, her head bowed, one hand raised, still holding onto her Mistress's hand.

"But ... I'm ... It's ... How... ?"

"All I can tell you, all anyone in the valley can tell you, is that the last Haxlz could send people back from where they had come, and it was from here in this cave that they left." Kala raised her arms, sweeping them around, "within this cave is everything you need, nothing has changed, nothing has been removed, the only changes are time, time and a little dust."

"And you think I can ... Oh fuck me... !!"

"Later... !!" The others chorused, the joke breaking the sombre mood.

"Yes please, my Mistress," Katja spoke softly, yet her words echoed around the cave, Eva intensely aware of just how devoted the girl was to her. Exactly why the girl felt as she did Eva was not sure, neither was she comfortable with the idea of having a slave, though it seemed that she now had many. Not for a second did she doubt the girls sincerity, Katja's behaviour was strange, at least to Eva, but her devotion was unquestionable.

As the others talked, Eva shut out their voices, standing perfectly still, Katja still kneeling at her feet as she looked down at the black marble circle, "it must have a meaning?" she thought to herself ... Squeezing Katja's hand she spoke, "water."

"Yes my Mistress," her slave replied, springing to her feet before hurrying off to obey. Still Eva stared down at the black circle, whilst around her the others continued talking, exploring, but most of all distracting her.

"Out... !!" Eva had not shouted, yet still her voice stilled all the others.

"The Haxlz has spoken, we must leave," Kala spoke firmly, the others surprised at how seriously Kala took a single word from their friend, nonetheless they followed Kala's example, only Lucy stayed, moving to Eva's side she hugged her friend and kissed her cheek.

"You can do this, I know you, you'll figure it out." Another kiss and she turned to leave, her movement catching Katja by surprise as she returned with a gourd of water, the gourd slipped from her fingers, fell to the floor and rolled, spilling water across the marble floor.