Alaina, “She is Azon's final work. When I say Azon I mean the brother of Zarena and the same person who wrote the books you're currently reading. He put all the knowledge he gained and developed into her as well as a bit of himself in an attempt to fix the sister's problem. She has the potential to allow the sisters to adapt without having to sleep for years or months. Unfortunately he couldn't complete her.” As she spoke Alaina could feel heat building in her throat. This wasn't a situation where she was resisting the will of the other protectors. She was trying to ride it out instead as the mental battle raged between the groups with several protectors switching sides numerous times.

It actually surprised Ridon and worried him even more when he notice the trouble Alaina was having talking. Her usual clear voice was shaking and her legs seemed to bind from time to time as if weakening and then strengthening. “Alaina are you okay? Are you fighting some security function in order to bring us here?”

“No and yes. We are in disagreement as to if I should show you this or not. Which at this point doesn't matter as I've already done it!” As Alaina called out it was meant for the protectors rather then Ridon. Immediately she felt her head clear up a bit as some of the voices went silent with the simple realization. Others still wanted to debate if it was the right thing or not but it made it easier to focus. “That is better!”

Naidra, “I agree. Wow I hate it whenever we can't reach an agreement quickly.” Naidra took in a deep breath and gave herself a moment to rub her head before speaking. “As Alaina mentioned those books you're reading were written by Azon and should ultimately lead to you learning how his work was made. Unfortunately she isn't complete or perhaps it would be better to say she can't perform her task entirely by herself they're two things missing. One of them is enough power to make the necessary changes. This is what prevented Azon from making use of her. You have contributed significantly to meet this requirement Joseph. The second thing is someone with enough understanding to work with her during the alteration process. She can't perform the task entirely on her own.”

Dan, “So you gave me those books so that I could learn enough to help her perform the process?”

Alaina, “Well that or to finish her so that she doesn't need you to perform the task. It was never Azon's intention that she would need support but to complete her with his knowledge would have been as difficult as developing the necessary energy source if not more so.”

Dan actually felt rather excited as he looked at the young woman. At least she appeared to be a young woman though not entirely human. At times in the back of his mind he had wondered if what they were trying to do was even possible. Now it had been confirmed that it was indeed possible and the road wasn't quite as long as they had believed it to be. “What is her name though is she sentient?”

Alaina, “Azon desired that his sister be the one to name her. She should soon be reaching the part of his journal in which he tells her about her existence and asks for a name. Azon theorized that once his sister could remain awake long enough for her to read that far many of the necessary parts would be coming into place or our society would have collapsed completely. As for if she is sentient. Yes she is. In order to perform the necessary processes a simpler construct wouldn't work. One of the things Azon found most difficult about the task is insuring her nature so that she would happily be of assistance. The other part was waiting for a spirit to inhabit the body. This didn't actually happen within his life time.”

After a moment of silence Joseph gave a slight nod and stepped towards the sleeping figure. They were several things that he wanted to know at the moment. One thing that immediately came to mind though was her condition. “How well has she handled the ages?”

Naidra, “There has been no indicators of decline in all the time she's been asleep. Azon was very careful to insure that she would be comfortable while she slept. Once she is awakened however it won't be possible to put her back into her current state. So we have to be certain that those who awaken her are ready to work with her and have the ability to carry out his intentions if not finish her. We would prefer if both of the cases happened.”

Dan was lightly biting on his lower lip as he considered the situation. He had began this project before Joseph or Ridon so he was somewhat ahead of both of them despite sharing what he knew. One thing he couldn't help but wonder was what type of construct she was. When it came to mystic constructs it could mean so many things. A faelom was a construct so was a golem, a slime and even the intelligent spells they'd learned of. “Just how powerful of a construct will we be awakening once we do have the required knowledge to work with her?”

The Luvarians had several masterworks in their time that they felt were too dangerous to make use of but safe to learn from. A few were so dangerous it seemed too dangerous to even learn from them. One could not finish their work if they were dead after all. So the protectors weren't too upset that Dan would ask such a question. Azon's work related to his work but she wasn't his work. They weren't certain if such questions were in line with being a Luvarian but it might not be out of line either. It seemed to fit some of the longer lived Luvarians and one benefit of living a long time was having more time to contribute. “Well as you might imagine to be able to change the faelom she had to be very well built. This gives her the ability to change a great many things. That includes her environment and herself.”

Dan, “That makes sense. If she is going to help something as well built as a faelom transform itself she would have to be quite good at transformations. So is she more like one of you or more like a slime?”

Alaina, “Well she's really more like a spell. For example. She is projecting light at the moment rather then reflecting light as a physical being such as one of us does. I wish there was a common example that you would be familiar with that was more comfortable but she's really more of a lich then a golem. Spirit wouldn't really be a fair comparison in this case due to her relationship with the world being different on many levels. She isn't something born of the natural order after all anymore then well once again a lich is.” Alaina gave Naidra a look as she finished. “We really need to think of a better comparison. In this day and age there is simply no positive connections with a lich.”

“I know but most similar beings simply aren't well enough known.”

Ridon, “So how long do you believe it'll take us to reach a point where we can awaken her?”

Naidra, “A decade or two at the latest. We're hopeful that you could reach the needed point in five to seven years.”

Joseph knew that this time frame was practical. In order to aid her they were going to have to learn some very difficult and powerful forms of magic. He felt like his heart had jumped into his throat and he responded without thinking. “What! Maria was hoping this could be done before our child was born!”

Alaina gave a nod and a warm smile to Joseph. There was little that she could do in this situation despite her desire to help him. The type of magic they were going to learn was the type that could reshape the users flesh simply by them retaining the knowledge. It was one reaosn Azon had aged as well as he had. “Joseph I'm afraid I don't see that happening. I can only think of a few beings who were capable of going from where you are now to where you need to be in less then a year. In most of those cases the price of doing so would simply be far too great.”

There was no immediate response from any of the men. Dan was actually feeling Joseph's pain as well though. Mina had learned of Maria's intentions. To cut back how much she ate while she continued to improve with the glyph so that she didn't outgrow the citadel or even the forest. They didn't have the same concern that Joseph did as far as Dremera's situation. A sister had far less fear of their environment being too large for them then a human did even a young one. Their concerns were often that it would be too small. Yet they had still spoken about it. What would they do if she outgrew the citadel? It was Mina's decision that she would support his work by no longer increasing how much she ate and no longer growing. “Well I don't believe our mates are going to be happy to hear that.”

Alaina, “Well I'm fine with Ridon requiring a decade or two in order to master this type of magic. Sure I would be proud of him if he managed to do it sooner but I can wait.” Alaina couldn't help but grin as she reminded the group that she was Ridon's mate. Unlike their faelom mates she had no fear of outgrowing the citadel. The tease seemed to have the desired affect as Ridon smiled at her but the other two men gave her rather annoyed looks.

As Ridon listened to Alaina an odd thought came to him. She spoke as if the protectors had less to worry about then the sister's. Yet he couldn't help but wonder about Azon's work. Could it be used to benefit them as well? “Alaina could this possibly free you from your ties to the citadel? That or at least make it possible for you to survive in the event that you lose your power system?”

To this Alaina gave a nod. “Yes. Well just having enough energy for her to function would provide us with a safe guard as well. At least it would for a time.” Alaina hoped she wouldn't have to tell Ridon that in time her spirit would move on and the new Alaina would be a bit different from her. She was the spirit of his past lover after all this gave her a connection to him she wouldn't normally have had. Whenever she finally did die and the next Alaina woke up the memories would be there but not as much of the emotional connection. This was a mercy in some ways as she thought back to her past lives. If she felt all their connections as strongly as she felt the ones she'd made it would be very painful.

“I know. I'm just not comfortable with the way you're bound to the citadel like this even if it's very well defended. Any energy source that could feed you like a sleeper would be able to sustain you right?”

“That's correct.” It seemed like Ridon was thinking of his next project now. She hoped he would find a way to make use of the knowledge he'd already developed. Her attention turned to Joseph and Dan who seemed to have gathered around Azon's work. There wasn't anything they could learn just by looking at her. Yet it seemed they at least wanted to be closer to her physically if they weren't closer to her on an intellectual level. That would hopefully change.

***********************************************************************************

Mina smiled as she watched Dan and Dremera playing. They weren't playing their regular game of chase this time or tag. This time they were working on a game of control. Dan had drawn a line on the ground and set some marbles down. The goal of the game was to roll the marbles as close to the line as you could without actually going over it. This was actually proving very difficult for Dremera as she seemed to only have two modes. She could be gentle or she could be very forceful. Gentle wouldn't get her marbles close enough to the line while forceful would send it over. She watched as her daughter's tail flicked about in irritation as her father put another marble within a few centimeters of the line. She was distracted for a moment as she felt a wave of pain but then relief. “Are you sure I'm going to feel better after this and not worse?”

“No. I said you would feel worse and then much better then you do now.” It was nearly impossible for Mina to get a massage from any of the faelom. She was simply too strong. This wasn't a problem for a protector though and currently Naidra was working on giving her one. After several weeks of training it was more then past time. Today would be a day of relaxation for their students instead of training. Though Maria was apparently having issues with this as a sharp scream shot throughout the room even turning Dremera's attention towards her as Lestel must have hit a spot in great need of loosening up.

Lestel, “I don't see how a faelom that's so limber manages to put herself in this situation!”

“Let me go you psycho!” Maria couldn't believe how badly that had hurt. The body of a faelom was a remarkable thing with very little waste or toxins to build up in joints and muscles. Their body did a wonderful job of purging such toxins when they did build up. So she had no idea why this was hurting so badly. Part of her was certain that Lestel was just making this hurt intentionally as part of some kind of lesson. Unfortunately she couldn't get away from her. Even if she could run Lestel was faster then her or could be faster then her. Plus she wouldn't risk harming her child. Instead of Lestel relenting though Maria found herself forced down once again.

“Maria if I stop at this point you're only going to be worse off then when we began. Maria I hate to tell you this but when your body works at an accelerated pace you build up toxins and other concerns at an accelerated face. However, you don't have faster healing then any other faelom.”

“So this is because my body is built for speed!”

“Well yes.” Lestel had to keep herself from laughing as Maria gave a frustrated sigh and practically slammed her head against the table she was laying on. Fortunately it was made strong enough to endure the impact. “I am curious how your body is going to respond whenever it begins to feed on more and more purer forms of energy.”

“Huh?”

“Your decision to cut back on your eating as your training progressed. The quality of energy flowing through your body even if the amount of energy doesn't increase the nature of the energy should cause a change in the environment. Imagine a river that has just a little salt water in it compared to one that is even more pure. Okay I'm going to stretch here a bit. This is probably going to hurt.”

This time Maria was able to contain her outburst. Looking at Dremera actually helped. “Hey there kiddo. I'm sorry for interrupting your gaaame.” Maria had to lock her jaw tightly shut in order to keep herself from crying out again as Lestel found a muscles that needed loosening far more then expected.

It seemed like Maria was in need of a distraction. It meant she couldn't watch her mate and daughter as much but Mina turned her attention towards her. “How are you doing with your decision to cut back on how much you're eating? I imagine knowing that you have a son on the way and what it could mean for him really helps.” Hopefully if Maria was thinking about her child and her current efforts she wouldn't be as focused on the pain or worry about it as much. It was a good sign whenever she smiled at Mina despite Lestel's continued efforts.

“They're going about as well as you might expect. It isn't like whenever I had just woken up after being forced to sleep. Thank goodness. I actually feel better now. Well except perhaps in this hour then I have in years. After all I haven't been this big in years. One of the problems I am having is I no longer look forward to setting down to a meal as much as I used to especially as the size decreases. Having that happy moment to look forward to used to help me make it through a lot of days. Fortunately there is still my time with Joseph to look forward to and I've began trying to find other fun things to do. It doesn't help that I really can't do my old hobbies like I used to.” Maria had learned to like using her speed. Running through the forest at her top speed while for a moment everything seemed to hold still could be a rush. Now she couldn't do that. At least she couldn't until she gave birth.

“I understand what you're saying.” Mina had actually began cutting back on how much she ate as well after coming to understand Maria's reasoning. She could understand where she was coming from with such desires. Mina didn't want to force Dan to choose between continuing his work in the best possible environment and living with her. She didn't tell him that naturally. So she had began cutting back like Maria was doing. It seemed this was best for Dremera as well as the citadel had certain facilities that would benefit her. Once Dremera was grown Mina was uncertain as to what she would do. She wasn't certain how long it would take Dan to complete his work either.

A delighted yelp escaped Dremera as her marble rolled particularly close to the line and she immediately looked towards her father sticking her tongue out at him. Her marble had bumped into one of his and pushed it over the line. What made this beneficial was it had taken enough energy out of hers to keep it from rolling over the edge. So his loss was her benefit. She gave another yelp and jumped backwards whenever she tasted and felt something on her tongue. She freely showed her surprise upon realizing that her father had smacked her on the tongue. She recognized the taste from when she'd licked him before. Her response was to give him a quick smack with her tail. After seeing her mother do this several times she was certain it was allowed so long as she didn't hurt him.

The set wasn't actually over with yet. Dan had a few marbles that he could roll  and Dremera did as well. However, if he quit now it would mean Dremera had won. As smart as Dremera was she hadn't learned to count so she didn't know when a set truly ended and they had played a few throws. Dan settled quite quickly on ending the set now and gave his daughter's head a pat before standing up to go retrieve the marbles. “Nice game Dremera.” It actually surprised Dan whenever Dremera quickly leaped towards the line and began to gather up the marbles before he could even take a step.

It took Dan too long to walk even a short distance for Dremera's taste. Now that she had a method of winning she wanted to play more games. She was also becoming more skilled at controlling how much force she put into the throws. Filling with confidence due to her recent victory she felt ready to even the score between her and her father. She didn't know exactly how many times that he had won but he had managed to win more times then she had.

At least as the massage continued Lestel was finding fewer and fewer ways to cause her pain. Maria was rather grateful for that. What surprised her was that her body actually felt like it was beginning to loosen up. “I thought the Luvarians had built us better then this. Massages were something that humans needed due to their flawed design and something we simply played at.”

Lestel, “No system is that perfect and some preventive maintenance can go a very long way. We regularly give one another massages. Alaina is actually tending to one of us right now.”

“Are you serious? What part of your body do you tend to have the most issues with?”

Naidra, “We're similar but our bodies do differ some. Lestel for example tends to have issues with build up in her back. Alaina for her part actually has more issues with her thighs then any other part of her body. I'm similar to Lestel though my issues tend to be less severe. Then again Lestel's abdominal and back muscles are somewhat denser then mine.”

Mina, “Are you serious?” Mina risked raising up a bit to better look at Lestel and then Naidra. They didn't seem to mind though she did lay back down rather quickly.

It was rather amusing to Naidra to hear the shock in Mina and Maria's voice. They were so often thought of as such perfect beings that the notion something as simple as a massage would benefit them would seem strange. They were hardly the first to think as much. Even during the days of the Luvarians they were many apprentices and even low ranking Luvarians that believed such. “Yes I am serious. We're closer to being perfect copies of one another then you are but even the Luvarians couldn't make perfect copies of beings like us or you for that matter.”

Maria, “I bet the relationship between our bodies and spirits influence that a lot.”

Shock seemed to run throughout the protectors. They knew Maria was smart but the ease with which she made the statement and the simple truth of the matter surprised them all. It seemed rather clear that she was learning her lessons. It was Lestel who responded. “That is correct Maria! I see that you're learning the relationship between your spirit and body well.”

“You know how much Joseph talks about such things.”

Mina, “Dan to.”

Dan, “Hey! I just want to make sure that you know what I'm doing to do you.” Dan couldn't help but chuckle whenever Dremera quickly moved to stand beside him the moment he finished speaking and gave a sharp hiss making it clear who's side she was on. His daughter's language was still rather limited but she could make it clear who she stood with. “That's my sweet girl. You tell them who's right.”

For a moment Lestel and Naidra stopped working and looked towards Dremera. It took a great deal of willpower not to rush over to Dremera and hug her. Instead they froze for a moment and then managed to resume their work. Both Mina and Maria noticed this pause though and shot each other surprised looks. It was Mina who spoke up. “Have you always been this responsive to young children?”

Naidra, “It well. It depends. Okay seeing young faelom brought into the citadel and not being able to speak to them because we chose to go silent was a nightmare. Our maternal instincts are just as developed as yours after all however we don't have children of our own. Oh the times I've just wanted to steel one of the children away for us to raise him or her! I swear I believe I would have if I believed we could mentor them properly.”

Lestel, “No. You would not have. You couldn't bring yourself to cause a mother that kind of pain.”

Naidra didn't respond right away but took a deep breath. She actually found herself imaging the situation with the help of the other protectors. She tried to bring up the emotions she would feel upon taking a faelom from her parent or the community. It made her heart shake for a moment and she opened them again. “Yes you're right. Still the desire was there. Okay Mina you're done.”

A sigh escaped Mina and she began to raise up. As she went to shift her weight to her legs though she was surprised how weak they felt. She didn't nearly fall or stumble but the words came. “Wow. I don't believe I could jump to the top of a middle aged tree with my legs feeling like this.” As she finished speaking Mina began to twist and extend her right leg trying to convince the limb to feel like it originally did.

Naidra, “You will be back to normal soon.”

Upon seeing Mina stand up Maria was tempted to do so as well. Lestel hadn't stopped her work though. “Hey does that mean I'm nearly done to?”

Lestel, “You still have a little while to go.”

“Mina's finished though!”

“Yes but Mina hasn't spent the last few years moving about at an enhanced rate. If you come to us once every month or so this will become far more pleasant.”

***********************************************************************************

This felt quite odd to Azera. She was currently locked away and not allowed to go roam the forest as she had been. Certain forms of labor had been required of her and she even had a brother and keeper watching over her. Yet she felt like the other faelom trusted her more then they ever had before. It felt very awkward and she didn't know if it felt bad. She did know that some of the other distrusted had stopped liking her and even became increasingly hostile towards her. Others seemed to be following her example but they appeared to be the minority. In truth it was leaving her with relatively few people to talk to even for a distrusted and that was beginning to get to her. It seemed things were changing now though as she followed Markus. That was another strange thing. She was truly following Markus as Mirara was walking behind them. She had no doubt that if she was to move on Markus though Mirara could stop her.

Mirara seemed to think that it was good for Azera to become used to following a male in one way or the other. All faelom were used to following the higher ranking faelom already. Even the distrusted had plenty of experience with that. Yet she wasn't willing to leave them alone even with Azera's good behavior. Good behavior that was going to be rewarded. “Azera I just want to say that you've done really well and we believe that it's time things changed for you. We recently managed to prepare some rooms for guest that show promise. We've also noticed that you've been spending a lot of time alone. We can't force the other guest to get along with you but we do have some other guest you might get along with.”

“So you're separating me from the others?”

Now Markus came to a stop and turned to look at Azera. It felt strange to see a distrusted as large as her. Before he would have never thought that they would be allowed to grow to guardian size. At least the size of the guardians from several years back due to the threat they posed to the brothers. It was likely due to the notion that the distrusted would be contained and growing their own food that they had been allowed to grow to their current size. “No. You can go speak with the others whenever you want. However, if you want to keep your distance from them you also have the ability to do so. Plus we have some people that we're going to introduce you to.”

Azera wasn't certain what she should think whenever Markus opened the door and she noticed a few males working. She didn't have to think much to realize that they were claimed. Yet she also noticed they seemed a bit different then the standard claimed. For one thing they were moving about the room with a variety of chemicals that she recognized as rather dangerous. The type of alchemical reagents that one could make use of in an escape. Also their clothing seemed like it was different. “What's going on here?”

Mirara, “This is currently the first class of our education to promotion system that has been implemented.” Rather then continue the explanation Mirara turned towards one of the men that didn't seem to be too busy. “Travis do you have a moment to come over here and speak with us?”

Travis couldn't respond immediately. Rather he continued to look at the beaker in front of him. After taking a moment more to make sure the reaction was stable he stood up and began to approach them. “Sure. I take it this is Azera. Pleased to meet you Azera I've heard you're changing a lot of peoples minds about the distrusted.”

Azera made no move to take Travis's hand but she looked down at him. The snarl that most distrusted would have worn when being approached in such a way didn't appear. “Okay what is this education to promotion system.”

“We're all claimed that were to be freed but we asked to remain and continue our work and our studies. We all have our reasons but all of us see an opportunity to obtain knowledge and skills that we couldn't hope to get anywhere else and if we should choose to return to human society afterwords it would benefit us to have them. I mean. I was a stable cleaner and other things before I went into the forest in hopes of bettering my situation.” Travis gave a slight chuckle as he remembered his path and thought about how he was learning alchemy now.

“Wait you said claimed to be freed?”

Mirara, “We're making some changes to the claimed system. All claimed are to be pardoned so we can start fresh. From this point on there is going to be a criminal trial deciding the cost of the persons actions and the service they are to do in order to repay it. The old days of we capture you so you're dead and must regain your life are over with it seems. We haven't quite worked out the finer details yet.”

“What!” Azera actually felt like her heart had leaped into her throat. Even a distrusted was higher ranked them a claimed at least officially. Now she was being told they were doing away with the system. “And just how do you plan on retaining our numbers in that situation? It isn't just the labor but acquiring enough mates as well.”

“The orcs are helping us out with both.”

“You mean they've began capturing humans?”

A delighted giggle escaped Mirara as she shook her head in the negative. “No! We can mate with them you know and some of our sisters find them rather appealing. They're also helping with the manufacturer of certain goods. Finally with our increased resources we've began to open ourselves up to trade again. It's been amazing how much more metal we've been able to bring in the last few months. Even without the ship Zarena found in the ocean.”

Metal? Zarena finding a ship in the ocean? It was clear to Azera that she was missing a lot of information. It actually made her feel rather dizzy as she realized while they were contained the world was continuing to move around them. It wasn't on par with when she'd learned about the glyph and all faelom being forced to use it in order to better themselves. It was still rather stunning though. “What are you doing! I mean. I can see where some of us have gone too far but you're letting them take over our entire culture.”

Mirara, “By making us more powerful?”

“By making us dependent!” For a moment Azera thought she was in trouble whenever Mirara placed a hand on her shoulder. Yet Mirara's smile didn't even flinch as she looked down at her. Rather it seemed rather warm and comforting.

“We had that debate. We haven't forgotten what relying on the outside world cost us in the past. We're not going to destroy the manufacturing buildings or let the skills leave us. We had several long hard debates and put a lot of research into figuring out the best way to open ourselves up to trade but avoid dependency.”

“And I'm just suppose to trust you?”

“No but. We did vote on it and even if you were allowed a keepers vote. Well actually even if all distrusted were allowed a keepers vote it wouldn't have changed these decisions in the end. Now during the first few weeks of debate you could have moved things all sorts of ways. I wish I could convey to you how hostile some of us became over certain issues.”

“Over what?”

“Well it's like you said. By opening ourselves up to trade we run the risk of becoming reliant on the goods of others. This would grant them power over us and that isn't something we can allow. This could seriously hinder our ability to protect ourselves, our children, our mates and our brothers. Yet it would also bring greater resources and greater power. So we resolved that we're going to set production goals for home made goods. We'll then maintain these levels to insure that the facilities remain functional and we don't loose the needed skills.” Mirara hoped that this would help Azera relax but she doubted it would. She still had something of a distrusted mind set.

“I see. So why did you bring me here?”

Markus, “Like we said. We want to introduce you to some people. Azera we would like you to work with the education to promotion system.”

This wasn't what she expected. While Azera had began to change her thoughts a bit and admitted to it this seemed to be going rather far. She agreed that the brothers were important members of their society and did contribute. Yet the faelom could survive without them while the brothers wouldn't be nearly as well off. “So what do you expect me to do?”

Markus, “I would like you to continue what you were doing. Only the plants you're going to be tending to are far more valuable then the one from your earlier garden. You'll work with Travis and the others to improve your yields while also determining what plants are the most needed. This does include benefits for you as well. Now you won't be allowed to increase your size directly but if you're willing you could begin training with the glyph.”

Azera felt herself perk up a little bit. That wasn't what she had been expecting. Learning to direct more mystic energy into her body so that she would grow larger wasn't something that could be taken away from her. They could force her to sleep and regress in size when it came to food but this was different. “How long until I could begin training?”

“Well that depends on your productivity.” It was fairly clear to Markus that Azera was interested. Part of him worried that letting her undergo such training was dangerous. Yet she had shown good progress and he believed this would help guide her further down that path. He didn't know if she would consider it such a reward whenever she realized how difficult such training was especially in the beginning and the results were slow in coming.

***********************************************************************************

Joseph was glad that Dan and a few others were there with him. In truth he felt rather awkward though as he looked around at the massive number of faelom. He knew that they were a relatively small number of sisters but between their size and their presence it sure felt like more. It didn't help that Zarena was there as well. Currently the massive sleeper was setting in front of him behind a large group of protectors and guardian ranked sisters. Stella was currently standing in the middle of the gathering addressing all the faelom there.

“We know that we have a great many resources the outside world wants and has tried to take from us by force. They have resources we want and we have been a good bit nicer about how we obtained them. Now in the past we've known that inviting people into our forest to trade is also inviting them to take from us. That's going to happen again. We all know at least a few merchants are going to try to sneak a few extra plants or potions from us. That isn't our biggest concern. Our real concern is the merchants that try to corrupt us and those that become corrupted. That is what I want to talk about.”

As Joseph listened to Stella continue he was rather surprised. She had a good point. Trade also meant opportunity for bribery and back room deals. The faelom weren't immune to such things. If they were they would also be above trying to sneak extra food or add on an extra quarter centimeter with no one noticing. Stella to his surprise wasn't trying to hold onto isolation but was talking about the need for a sort of watch group to keep an eye out for corruption. He agreed with her on that point but he couldn't agree with her views on the proper punishment. She wasn't alone in her beliefs but every sister didn't hold them either. He was rather relieved whenever Flora spoke up.

“I agree that we do have to be mindful of corruption within our own ranks. Food was our great motivation for a long time but as that need is met other needs are going to come to the front. As these new desires form I'm certain there will be those that seek to manipulate us with them. I believe that you're going a little far with your notion of proper punishments. Yes if one of the merchants is found bribing one of us they are encouraging corruption but I don't agree that should result in the merchants death. Rather I would recommend a period of time as a claimed for their contribution to the degradation of a faelom. As while they might encourage such behavior responsibility also falls with the faelom that gave in.”

There was silence for a few moments. Dan knew that they faelom were actually speaking to one another but they were being too quiet for a human to hear. He knew that it was rude but he wasn't certain what a brother was suppose to do at these meetings to begin with. At the risk of being rude he stood up and noticed all the sisters including Flora and Zarena look towards him. None of them said anything and that made it even more awkward. “If you were caught bribing a public official in my home nation execution wasn't an uncommon type of punishment. No one wanted you to have an unfair advantage over them after all.”

Flora, “Then do you support such an extreme punishment?” Flora was actually rather surprised that Dan seemed to be taking Stella's side. His voice didn't have the usual confidence at least. Likely he was speaking from his experience with other systems rather then his personal beliefs. Flora did agree that such things should be punished harshly but execution seemed a bit too harsh.

“Bribery is a very serious offense Flora. I believe it's more serious then you realize. It degrades trust in the system and thanks to preferential treatment it hurts a lot of people. It hurts the other buyers and sellers as well as the consumers that come after that. Plus if the official or in this case the faelom involved actually took the bribe you have to wonder how many times they've already done so. I don't believe in a hard absolute rule though even for minor bribery. Perhaps the punishment should be based on the amount of damage done?” Dan took this moment to set down. He had more to say but speaking in front of the faelom felt harder then speaking in front of the brothers for some reason. He wished Mina was setting closer.

While she listened to the conversations even the ones the apprentices couldn't hear Zarena finally chose to speak up. “The Luvarians had to deal with people trying to bribe them as well. Perhaps if you paid the Luvarian selling the golems directly they would give you a discount on the overall sell. As you might imagine the Luvarians as a whole were not fond of such business practices. I believe we should adopt their tactics. Attempts at corrupting officials should result in the seizure of goods and either baring them from future deals or placing stiff fines upon any such deals. The goal is to make such practices not worth the risk.”

It was nice to have Zarena on her side. Flora did worry that Zarena's presence would override the thoughts of the others and that wouldn't be good. So she was glad whenever the conversations didn't stop. She did feel somewhat bad for the apprentices. They couldn't hear what was being said all around them but knew anything they said would be heard. At least some of them had began to speak among themselves about the policy. “Indeed we don't want to induce fear in those that are coming go trade with us after all. We want them to feel comfortable and not have to worry about being killed for no reason or because of a mistake on our part.”

Joseph, “I believe you may need to be aware of other peoples cultures as well. Such business practices really aren't unusual in certain regions.”

***********************************************************************************

Currently Joseph found himself laying on Maria's stomach. His head was pressed against the underside of her breasts while she used her right hand to massage his feet. His feet weren't really hurting but the attention felt nice. His head was positively throbbing. Her voice actually did a lot to ease his pain. “So what did you think of one of our meetings? It's a bit different from what you see with the brothers isn't it?” Maria knew the answer to the question already but she wondered how Joseph would answer it. In truth that meeting had been quite calm likely due to the presences of several of the brothers. The sisters were instinctively more polite and careful whenever they were around.

“I felt pretty out of place to be honest. I knew that some of you were having conversations among yourselves but I couldn't hear a thing. Even when the other brothers whisper we have some idea of what's happening. It actually made me pretty nervous. I didn't know what to think whenever Alexa was accused of putting the brothers in danger and how angry she became in response to it.” The meeting had been calm and peaceful for quite some time like the brothers. Then the accusation had come and the sisters had started to become more energetic and louder. Suddenly the ability to process a lot of voices talking at once had become very important and Joseph had thought they were going to end up having a fight.

Maria gave a slight giggle and removed her hand from Joseph's feet to careful draw her right index finger over his forehead. He pushed his head more firmly against her finger as if her touch was soothing. From the way his body was responding that seemed to be exactly what it was. “We try to stay calm whenever we're having our meetings but at times someone says something that really upsets us.”

“I understand that but shouldn't have Zarena calmed you all down?”

“Well we were being calm.” Maria couldn't help but laugh as Joseph raised up and gave her a rather surprised look. “So long as the injuries are kept down to ones that will heal in the next few hours we consider that being calm. We tend to be quite passionate about certain responsibilities after all.”

“How does that work though with the differences in your sizes?”

“Well a sister isn't considered right just because she proves she's stronger then another sister. It just means she lost her composure. Attacking another faelom doesn't help ones argument and beating them doesn't help it either. It could actually end up hurting someone's argument especially if a keeper has to step in. Well unless the argument was that the faelom in question is too weak to carry out her responsibilities. Then a beating can serve as  clear proof. We are biologically conditioned to respond to certain challenges with force after all.” Maria gave a slight shrug after a moment. The meeting hadn't gone beyond yelling and noting past successes and failures. It wasn't even truly loud but the constant assault of words could induce a head ache.

“Was anything actually achieved? I know early on Dan and a few others were able to get in a few words.”

“You didn't hear?” Now Maria was getting an idea of how distracted Joseph must have been. They had actually managed to come up with a few guidelines during their meeting. These would be further developed by the keepers and matrons. The guardians and lower ranked faelom didn't need to be involved in the fine details normally.

“No. What was decided while my head was pounding?”

Instead of responding right away Maria proceeded to raise up slightly. Her tail wrapped around Joseph in order to hold him stable as she looked down into his eyes. His response was to take hold of her tail as if making sure that it was secure. The fact that she was looking down at him between her breast brought a large smile to her face. Once again part of her couldn't help but think of the fun she could have with him if she was a sleeper. Yet there was so much she would lose as well if she was to grow that large. “I really hope I end up with a mutation that allows me to adjust my scale. As for what we settled on. It was resolved that there should be stiff criminal charges for bribing a faelom even a small bribe. We'll need to make these rules clear to any traders coming here otherwise the fault would be with us. Execution was decided to be too much but simply charging them a fee wasn't satisfactory.

After all. If they've already had a dozen corrupt deals slip by us the fees might not be enough to keep them from profiting or repair the damage. The punishment needed to involve something they couldn't just compensate for with past successes. So we resolved that anyone caught bribing a faelom will have to spend several years as a claimed. The number of years will depend on how severe the offense was and if we can find proof of past doings. The more immediate details haven't been resolved yet. Plus we're still arguing over what is considered a bribe.”

Maria's last sentence actually surprised Joseph. He tended to think of a bribe as something that was rather obvious. “What do you mean?”

“Well we all have rights to the forest. So if you pay me to go into the forest to retrieve some special tree bark for you but you're not going through official paths is that bribery? I don't believe it is. As I had the right to that bark and I'm taking from the resources I'm allowed and trading them to you. Bribery comes into play whenever the goods are being bought from the community storehouses for example.”

“So each faelom is allowed to conduct a little business on the side if she wants.”

“That's correct. After all we aren't going to have everything someone wants in the storehouse. What if they want bark from a tree of a certain age that has had a dryad living in the area for a long time? There is simply no guarantee we'll have such bark on hand.” As she spoke Maria was hopeful that Joseph would agree with her. All the faelom had realized shortly after the meeting that they had drown out the brothers as they became more emotional and began to debate more energetically. As the brothers weren't given their voice despite being invited it meant they could come back later and start the debate over again.

“I can see that. Is that the only problem?”

“Not quite. We're still arguing a lot over bringing someone a gift. What if the merchant simply gives a faelom a bag of spice as a sign of friendship and good will? Right now we're thinking that will be allowed but only after the deal has been completed.”

Before responding Joseph began to turn about so that he could be facing Maria. Her well trained tail actually cooperated with this making the task relatively easy despite the secure grip she had on him. “Well what about the faelom that make such deals?”

“That's a tricky one. Does allowing yourself to be bribed or worse yet seeking a bribe mean you should be lowered to the rank of distrusted? Some of the old punishments aren't going to work with the new food sources we're developing and well training with your glyph. I mean normally the main punishment for a sister was restricting how much she could eat for a week or so. We're thinking about taking the labor path but we're not certain what jobs are going to be around. Plus if we're going to punish the merchants for such actions a corrupt sister really needs to suffer an equivalent punishment.”

The faelom were trying to be fair about it at least. Joseph could also understand where Maria was coming from. For a long time restricting a faelom's food further was a severe punishment that was easy to apply. Without that stick in the options anymore they were having to come up with new systems. “You could treat them like one of the claimed merchants you know.”

“That's true but it's normally so much easier for us to do something then it is for one of you.”

“That just means you need to scale up the labor a bit. Think about it like this. Any faelom caught accepting a bribe could be relegated to fishing on the ocean front village. That is after all a task you have unusual levels of difficulty doing. Unlike other sisters that spend their time fishing though such a faelom would have to donate her catch to the community. Plus they could help the sleepers prepare their homes. I'm sure they're some fine details that Zarena could use some help with.”

“That is a good idea! I'll bring it up to the others. So are you feeling better?”

Instead of responding right away Joseph reached up and placed a hand on the front of each of Maria's breast. The fact that her breast positively dwarfed his hands now only added to the excitement as he pushed them into the soft flesh. Her smile grew a bit as he began to work his hands against her flesh moving them in small circles before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her stomach. “ I believe that I am.”

“You've been rather focused on your work lately.”

“I know. I just wanted to finish project hastened alteration as soon as possible. I guess I needed someone to set me down and show me how long that was truly going to take.” A sigh escaped Joseph as he looked towards Maria's stomach for a moment. Their son would be at least ten years old before he managed to complete the work and it was possible that it would take longer. Maria was going to have to wait ten years to grow again. At least that was his current belief. Could she even hold out that long though? These thoughts made it hard for Joseph to stay still and not resume his studies.

“I understand. At least with your new perspective we know what to expect and can slip some fun time in.” As she spoke Maria placed a hand under Joseph and lifted him higher so that he was level with her breasts. Her left hand reached up and she gently pressed her left index finger against the front of his pants. She could feel him hardening in response to her touch while her nipples swelled and pushed out from underneath her fur. Joseph didn't need much prompting and took her nipple into his mouth lightly sucking on it while both of his hands pressed against the side of her right breast. “Mm you know when our son comes you're going to have to help me with feeding him. Let's see if we can work on your milking routine a bit.”

Joseph wasn't entirely certain what Maria wanted. He had practice working her breast and plenty of it at this point. He had a rough idea of what she was talking about whenever her hand came up and moved his head away from her nipple. His attention turned up towards her face.

“Not so greedy.”

For a moment Joseph wasn't certain what to think. He was sucking on her breast like he normally would. A slight chuckle escaped him after a moment more and realization came to him. Instead of taking her nipple into his mouth he placed a hand against her breasts as if he was holding a cup of some type. His other hand grasped the top of her nipple and he squeezed gently on it while pulling forward. At the same time he pressed his face against the side of Maria's breasts and gave it a firm kiss. His hand relaxed as he pushed against her breasts and then squeezed as he pulled forward once again. He could literally feel it whenever Maria moaned. “I don't know if you have to worry about me being greedy. I'm sure you're going to make enough for both of us with these.”

Maria gave a slight giggle and inserted two of her fingers into Joseph's pants. As he squeezed her nipple she gave his penis a light squeeze and listened to the change in his heart rate and breathing. “I believe that you're right.” As Joseph continued to work her breasts Maria squeezed her legs together. Joseph truly had been spending quite a bit of his time working. She hadn't given it much thought but it seemed like her body had been building up her desires. Unfortunately both her hands and tail were busy with Joseph which meant she would just have to wait.

“That's my love.” Joseph gave Maria's right breasts another kiss and looked over towards her left. Unfortunately there was little that he could do in his current position. The solution came before he could think on it too much as Maria began to shift him to her left. “I take it that means your right is tapped out.”

“Maybe.” A slight giggle escaped Maria before Joseph began to work on her left breasts. “Now make sure you don't spill a drop.” Currently Maria wasn't actually providing any milk. Yet just the words added to her excitement. “Lighten the pressure a bit and increase the speed. Perhaps you could give my nipple a few licks on the side.”

Joseph's response was swift in coming. His hand left her nipple and he pressed his lips against the side of it. Given that Maria was well over four meters tall her nipple felt quite healthy against his lips especially in its pert state. As he kissed her nipple he lightly sucked on the side. Maria gave an excited gasp and began to lean backwards. While pretending to hold the cup with his right hand he reached to his side and began to play with the nipple of her other breasts. Sure there was no cup over there but if she was already tapped out then that should be fine. He felt Maria moving beneath him as she shifted her hips and heard the cushion respond to her shifting weight.

As Joseph worked her nipple Maria slipped her fingers further into his pants and underneath his balls. Lifting up on them she began to shift her fingers about both lifting and lowering his balls while rubbing her her fingers against the side of his penis. When she felt him reflexively thrust against her fingers she moved him back and slipped her hand out of his pants before taking hold of the base of his shirt. “Let's take this off of you.”

There was no protest from Joseph as he took a moment to take in a few deep breaths. The air felt good against his hot skin as Maria removed his shirt. She had lifted him slightly higher in the air so that he was looking down at her now. His bottom wrested in her left hand while she was using her tail to keep his position stable. “Do you believe we have enough milk?”

“Well perhaps for a few feedings.”  Maria couldn't help but giggle as Joseph pretended to put a lid on his make believe cup. “You know this could be very hard. We had better make sure to prepare a batch every morning.”

“That's true.” In truth Joseph wondered how much time he and Maria would have for such things whenever their son came along. He knew they wouldn't be able to be as open as they were now. That meant they needed to enjoy themselves now of course. He was made to shiver whenever Maria moved him closer and ran her lips along his stomach for a moment letting him just feel the edges of her teeth. As she lowered him she leaned back and actually removed her hands from him. It took him by surprise for a moment as she looked at her smiling face. Maria almost never let go of him during sex. Even her tail was made to relax its hold. It actually left Joseph feeling somewhat uncertain. Normally sex with Maria was a gentle battle for control.

For a moment Joseph did nothing but Maria waited. He seemed to decide on what he wanted to do and rotated so that he was facing her crotch. The moment he had finished turning Maria couldn't resist and gave his rear a quick pinch. Her lips clamped tightly shut as she struggled to contain her laughter upon noticing Joseph jump a bit. “Let me help you take your pants off.” That hadn't been Maria's intentions but it was the best thing she could think of saying. She was rather surprised whenever Joseph laid down the moment she had unbuttoned his pants. His plan became clear as she held onto his pants and he began to crawl out of them. The action wasn't graceful. It was jerky rough and meant his body was rubbing against hers quite vigorously. She really enjoyed it.

Joseph was used to Maria ripping his clothing. They had been made quite tough to avoid that and lately the protectors had even repaired some of them for him. So he wasn't too concerned about damaging his pants as he fought free of them. Rather he was more interested in moving his body against Maria's. As her crotch moved closer to his face he felt his own excitement growing and he almost pounced upon her crotch the moment his legs were free. Looking down at Maria's labia he remembered whenever she shaved it. Right now Maria's labia gave off the impression of being covered by a set of very fine and tight panties. Except these panties could open up.

A sharp gasp escaped Maria whenever she felt Joseph's lips press against her labia. His left and right hand were placed on either side of her lower lips and she felt the index and middle finger of both hands pressing against the side of them. A low moan escaped her and Maria arched her back for a moment. Soon Joseph's fingers began to move against the sides of her lower lips while his feet teased her stomach. She felt his tongue press against her clitoris. It felt so small compared to the first time they made love but that seemed to excite her even more. Reaching down Maria slipped her right hand under Joseph raising him slightly and taking his penis between her fingers once again. She could feel it pressing firmly against her body.

Maria's attention only served to drive Joseph further as he kissed her clitoris. He could still remember what it was like at several of her sizes. Each time she grew the little bit of flesh became more noticeable and much to his surprise Maria seemed to become more responsive to such attention. As he worked her clitoris with his mouth his fingers pressed past her petals. Joseph proceeded to apply a light pressure parting Maria further while beginning to work his fingers within her. He had to adjust whenever her massive body would shift beneath him as her right leg curled upward for a moment. He heard her gasp and thrust lightly against her in response to her attention.

Soon more of Joseph's fingers entered into her pussy. As Maria squeezed on his hands she pressed them together for a moment. Joseph's position was awkward for his task though yet she gave a slight whimper whenever she relaxed and he withdrew his hands for a moment and began to reposition himself so that he could get more of his arms into the task at hand. As he settled between her legs Maria lightly squeezed him between her thighs rubbing them against him.

Before resuming his efforts Joseph gave either one of Maria's thighs a kiss. As his lips met with them she flexed her legs making the muscles swell and harden. It was a strange thought that Maria was considered a light build amongst the faelom. This prompted Joseph to gently rub his face against her leg while looking at her smiling face. “You're beautiful Maria.” Leaning forward Joseph once again pressed his fingers inside of Maria's vagina. It felt like the heat had increased even further. Bringing himself closer he once again press his lips against her clitoris before shoving his arms even further within her body. He heard her gasp and she grasped his arms with her vagina once again.

“Try to pull your arms out.” Maria had to be careful now. She didn't want to hurt Joseph but she didn't want to make this easy either. His initial progress surprised her a great deal as he pulled with far more force then she was prepared for. A sharp gasp escaped her and she was only able to stop his arms when the only thing inside of her was a fourth of his forearm. A delighted squeal came from her as he began to actively shift his arms from side to side both rubbing them against her insides and pulling them out. “Ah! That's good!” Maria's legs had by now curled around behind Joseph and she used them to gently squeeze him as he worked his arms out. Just before his fingers left her vagina she felt him thrust forward again.

Joseph had to be careful when thrusting into Maria. He had long ago came to appreciate how strong her inner muscles where. When he would thrust into her he made certain to form a tight fist. Fortunately the more excited Maria became the easier the task became.

“This isn't fair! I can barely reach you.” As Joseph worked her vagina Maria used her tail to tease Joseph. She ran it against his penis and wrapped it around his shaft as best she could. It was hard to apply the type of pressure she wanted especially in her excited state though without risking hurting him and she didn't want to do that. Joseph's response was to pump his arms within her all the more quickly. It was nearly more then she could take and Maria quickly set up and brought herself forward making use of her remarkable abdominal muscles and her agility.

A soft weight settled down atop his body and Joseph didn't need to think much to realize what it was. He had seen Maria lean froward from a seated position and place her chest against the ground while teasing him several times. The pose always made him cringe a bit as he imagined every muscle in his back being torn if he tried to take on such a pose especially as easily as she did. He felt her right hand clamp down on his rear and give it a squeeze while one of her fingers snaked up from behind him and teased his ball sack. He could feel her nipples pressing into his back as she gently brushed them over his body even as he worked. Without thinking the kisses he was giving her clitoris were becoming more and more passionate.

It seemed to surprise Joseph whenever Maria plunged her fingers within herself along with his. The fit was tight but her fingers didn't stay long as she brought her hand out and took hold of his penis with her cum soaked fingers. Joseph froze for a moment and she began to work his penis while he continued to pump his arms into her. “You can cum first Joseph. I know that you want to.”

It was between labored breaths that Joseph managed to respond. “Not before you.”

That wasn't expected. The moment Joseph had responded he had been withdrawing his fingers and suddenly he had spread them pushing them as firmly against the walls of her vagina as he could. She didn't know if he realized how effective it would be but the shot of pleasure that slammed into Maria's brain made it go blank for a moment sending her backwards back into a reclined position rather then bent forward.

As Maria's body respond Joseph pressed his face firmly against her and began to rapidly lick her petals and clitoris. As she came he felt her legs tighten up around him as if to insure he couldn't escape. He had believed this would be a bit of a relief for him as for the moment she stopped giving his penis the attention she had been. Instead he found it very hard to contain himself and was left breathing almost as deeply as he was. As he felt her legs relaxing their hold on him he was taken off guard by her tail wrapping around him and pulling him forward. His upper body was pulled onto Maria's stomach while he felt his penis enter into her. Her vagina was made to tighten up on his erection immediately and he was rather surprised by how firm of a grip she could exert upon it.

“Let's see if we can do that again.” With Joseph inside of her Maria relaxed her hold on him. Their massive height difference did pose something of a problem. It was difficult for him to reach her breasts in his current position. She would just have to put on a show for him. Pressing up on the underside of her breasts Maria lifted them to her mouth and ran her tongue along both of her pert nipples. As she swirled her tongue around either bit of flesh Joseph began to thrust within her while his attention seemed firmly focused on her breasts. “Once you're done down there perhaps you'd like to spend some more time with them. Perhaps they could snuggle you a bit.”

As he thrust into Maria Joseph was doing his best to keep himself from orgasming. Her words weren't helping the situation. With her breast out of his reach Joseph reached to his side and grasped as much of Maria's stomach as he could. He turned his attention away from her breasts above him and pressed his face into her stomach kissing it with as much force as he could manage. As he kissed Maria's stomach he could feel the well defined wall of muscle laying just beneath her fur. He could feel the power in her legs as they wrapped around him and that drove him to thrust within her with even greater energy.

“That's wonderful Joseph! Oh yes.” Maria stopped teasing her breasts for a moment and ran her tongue along her lips. With Joseph laying on her stomach she couldn't bind like she did before. It was something of a frustration as she wanted to kiss him now. Lacking that ability Maria reached down with her right hand and carefully ran it along the back of Joseph's neck and shoulders. As she lightly squeezed the back of Joseph's neck it seemed to give him even more energy as his thrust became even faster. Her finger tips ran gently over his back letting him feel the very tips of her claws for just a moment. Reaching down further she gave his rear a slight squeeze just as he thrust into her. A large grin formed on her face as she felt Joseph shiver.

As Joseph thrust into Maria her attention had been welcome and distracting. His focus disrupted for but a moment he found himself cumming before there was anything to do about it. His body slammed firmly against Maria's stomach and he squeezed as much of her as he could for all he was worth. Her legs tightened up around him as if to insure that he remained deep within her and he found himself looking at her. The fact that he hadn't managed to get her off while within her didn't reach him until moments later. The feeling that came with this realization was oddly depressing yet he wasn't certain what to say as Maria pulled his rapidly relaxing penis out of her body.

“Enjoy the show.” As Maria spoke she turned Joseph over so that his back was on her stomach and pulled him up so that his head wrested amongst her breasts. Her left hand came to wrest upon his chest while her right hand reached down and began to pet her lower lips. She could feel Joseph's body tense as he tried to raise himself up but she wasn't going to allow that. “Just watch Joseph and enjoy my breasts.” As Maria spoke she began to move her thumb against her clitoris while pressing two of her fingers within herself.

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“I'm telling you that the north rise is simply to close to a human fortification. We need to use the southern plains. Besides the trade deals we have managed to begin have all been in the south.” Currently Alexa found herself standing before a group of keepers, a few guardians who wanted to attend and a few brothers. They were trying to figure out the best place to set up a trading hub. The notion was that it would be tended to by a few faelom at the end of each week and those who wanted to trade with them could. The locations were close to the forest and from the human perspective would be dangerously close to the forest. This was actually the idea. They didn't want to intrude on the land of others but they weren't quite ready to bring them into the forest.

Flora, “But the north is where most of our long term trading allies come from. Are we going to require them to travel all the way to the south if they want to make a deal with us now?” Flora understood what Alexa was saying. The towns of the south had been more willing to trade then those in the north and more willing to take risk. Likely the war that had been destroying the land when Joseph had fled influenced such behavior. Yet those former claimed who had continued to trade with them after leaving the forest mostly lived in the north.

Alexa, “They can still come into the forest to trade with us.”

Flora, “You know they have to spend more resources to do that then they would normally and it limits what they can bring us. The forest isn't exactly a good place for wagons after all.”

Did they risk damaging their relationship with past allies or take advantage of new resources? Joseph found himself listening quietly but one thing did come to his mind. “Why don't we just use both locations? You don't plan on sending a great many faelom to both of them do you?”

Flora, “We're not sure how the humans will respond or how many faelom each location will need to insure that it's safe. If the turn out is as good as he hope but doubt will happen and someone attacked we would have to send  a lot of our sisters to defend them. If both locations were to come under such an attack I don't believe we could defend both locations and our home sufficiently.”

“Even with your increased size?”

“Unfortunately protecting a large number of people can still be an issue especially if they panic and begin to split up.”

Joseph gave a slight nod. Flora and the other faelom were very serious about protecting their allies and were simply trying to insure they would be safe. He could respect that though he didn't think using both locations would be taking too great of a risk. He doubted that he would be able to convince them otherwise though. The faelom were very careful whenever it came to protecting their allies.

Alexa, “How about if instead of holding the trade every week we held it every two weeks and we alternated locations? I mean the journey might be easy for us but that isn't going to be the case for human traders.”

Flora, “That is a wonderful idea. That would mean that as far as either the south or north was concerned we're only having these trade meetings once a month. Now what about the sea front village and making use of the ships to trade?”

Stella was made to cringe for a moment as she remembered something rather important. “Yeah. The trade ship we were working on there wasn't quite as ocean ready as we believed it was. The little boats that are being used for fishing are doing fine now but the trade one sort of sunk and had to be carried back to land by Zarena. We apparently didn't take the stresses a large vessel would experience into full consideration.”

For a moment no one said anything but Flora did bite down on her lower lip. This entire going to ocean business made her a little nervous. Sure Kersara was training several sisters how to swim and she was a great swimmer herself but it still made Flora nervous. They knew there was food in the ocean but there was also a lot of ocean. “How bad was it?”

“The ship didn't split in half or anything like that. There were just several parts of the ship that weren't quite as water tight as we believed. From what I've been told they need to come up with better corking material.” With Allen more involved in his studies and Maria no longer able to make trips to the ocean front Stella had been chosen as one of the faelom to travel to the ocean front regularly and bring back news or help with supplies. She always worried about Allen whenever she left but was also happy whenever she came home and her baby was fine. It really helped her that Pera was often with Allen.

Mirin, “ We knew some incidents would happen when building such a large ship for the first time. I'm certain that they'll have the problems resolved before long.”

Alexa, “Don't we have any claimed that use to be a captain or at least a sailor? I know Kersara has brought people back from the waterfront from time to time.” Alexa looked around for a moment. Given the number of keepers in the room she felt certain that one of them would have an answer to her question. She heard some hushed conversations before someone responded.

Alora, “I believe that there is one currently working in the former laboratory. He wasn't a captain. His name is Daniel and he knows quite a lot about ships. We could ask him to move to the ocean front and help with our ship building efforts as well as selling. It might also be a good idea to know what process to use while docking at a strange port. After all no one is going to really know what our intentions are.”

Stella, “Okay. I just hope he's willing to cooperate. A lot of those former claimed stayed with us in order to develop their knowledge. I'm not sure if he's going to appreciate a side job.”

Flora, “Well if he needs more of a reason I'm sure we could compensate him somehow. Perhaps we could allow him to go further with his education or provide him with some goods for whenever he decides to leave. That or if he stays we could do something to make him more comfortable.”

Joseph, “I believe you're going to have to come up with monetary system before long.” Joseph felt somewhat strange when everyone suddenly looked at him. The faelom had a society based on rank, position and contribution. You weren't paid for your labor or efforts but you were rewarded for it. He could understand why the notion of a money system would be strange to them. As they began to trade more with others though a monetary system would smooth things out a great deal. He wasn't certain what they would base that system on though given how they tended to treat rare metals.

Flora, “Perhaps but that is something to talk about at a later date.”

What would the faelom use for money? They had a very limited supply of rare metals but an abundance of extremely valuable but perishable goods. They wouldn't want to relegate something they actually use to the status of money either. He didn't mind that Flora returned their attention to the ships. Joseph didn't know anything about ship building himself so he took this time to think about what the sisters could use as money. One thing he did consider was a simple promissory note. Moneys influence was determined in large part by confidence in the system that made it after all. Once the outside world knew how powerful the faelom were as a society and how important honesty was to them their money even if just promissory notes could have great influence.

Stella, “Yes they used corking material. They simply didn't use enough or didn't pack it tightly enough to keep the water from pushing through. I actually wondered why they didn't just use magic to join the wood together into one solid structure. After all. Not having any gaps between the wood would be better for the ship then filling then with something.” Stella had found the entire ship building process rather strange in truth. She understood the need for a large ship. They needed to be able to carry a lot of goods and the ship needed to be large enough to combat high waves. The site of the ship taking form had still been strange to her.

Mina, “So what are they doing with the ship that sunk?”

Stella, “They're trying some new corking materials and techniques.”

“Why don't they just use magic?”

“Well from what I was told. First you make the ship able to endure traveling on the ocean without the use of magic. Then whenever you actually use magic to reinforce the structure and keep out the water you can be truly certain that it is safe.”

Several sisters gave quick nods as they noted the wisdom of the words. There was even several murmurs of agreement amongst them. If there was one thing that the sisters understood it was the need for safety. They were having enough trouble with the notion of their brothers and mates traveling to other nations with extremely limited protection. The fact that they couldn't see what was beneath the ocean waves didn't help matters either. Typically a faelom could be rather confident she could take down any one creature on land. In the ocean that confidence weakened a bit.

Flora, “Did they say when they would be ready to try selling the ship again?”

“No. If we're going to send someone to help them I believe we should do it as soon as possible just the same. After all. I imagine they would be upset if we sent someone and they arrived just in time to tell them the remarkably time consuming repairs they've made were done wrong.”

***********************************************************************************

It surprised Dan whenever he entered the work area to find Joseph setting at his table. That wasn't unusual. There was no certain way to say who was going to arrive first. What was odd was that he seemed to be sulking about something. This was made even more strange given the attention that Maria had given him just a few days earlier. “Joseph what's wrong?”

“Hey Dan. It isn't anything much. I told Maria about my plan for a monetary system for the faelom or I started to. She told me that I really need to focus on my current ten year project and shouldn't be side tracked by issues others can handle. We had a bit of a disagreement over if I was just offering some advice or not.”

Did he really want to talk about this? Probably not. Dan knew what Joseph was going through. He had been side tracked by little problems while ignoring the bigger one a few times in his life. With Joseph's drive to fix things he considered an issue though it could be even more troubling. Dan actually agreed with Maria. If Joseph let himself be distracted by every little issue that managed to sneak up on them there was no way he could finish his current project. “I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. That's something that the faelom or some of the lower ranked brothers should be able to handle without any trouble at all. If you really want to help out I would just write down my ideas and give it to one of the keepers that is interested in the problem.”

“But Dan it could help with our project as well. The more smoothly the economy is running the easier it is to acquire goods. It might be a bit of a distraction in the beginning but I'm sure that it would speed things up in the long run.”

Oh no ran through Dan's mind almost immediately. Joseph was upset that Maria had told him to ignore a problem and now he was hunting for someone to agree with him. Likely he didn't even realize how willing he was to argue the issue. “I don't believe so Joseph. If we had trouble gathering resources that might be the case but with our recent trades and the resources of the forest that just isn't the case. That's especially true whenever I consider the help the protectors give us. I bet if I were to ask for a device to isolate the mystic energies produced by a person naturally and those energies in the environment the protectors would have it to us in a moment.”

Naidra, “Are you talking about isolating small samples or large ones?”

Both men seemed to give a slight jump as Naidra entered the room. It as Dan who spoke though. “You really have such a device?”

“We have more then one. The energy produced by yourself is far easier for you to control. So for projects that required very fine control many Luvarians liked to filter out the energy from the environment to avoid random power spikes or drops. Actually, as you're finishing Azon's work I believe you'll want to spend such time with such equipment. He did believe fine control was important.”

Instead of responding to Naidra's comment Dan looked back towards Joseph. “See? We have no trouble gaining access to materials. Sure it's always nice if things run smoother but we need to make sure being side tracked is worth it.”

Joseph, “Naidra I doubt you just came in here to give Dan more ammunition. What brings you by?”

Now Naidra gave Joseph a wide grin. “Well I am rather board so actually I might do just that. We once met the needs of this entire fortress filled with Luvarians working. The current demand leaves us with a little too much free time. Dan I came by to tell you that your time as an apprentice to Joseph is over.”

Dan, “Huh?”

A slight chuckle escaped Naidra as she looked at Dan. “Come now Dan. Joseph is a Luvarian but he's a low ranking one. If they were higher ranking Luvarians in the building you would have either been given status as a Luvarian by now or apprenticed to one of them at least. As you were currently working on finishing Azon's work the citadel and by the citadel I do not mean just the protectors has decided that you are his apprentice now despite his being dead. Joseph as the Luvarian that has taken up his cause you get some benefits as well. This includes freer access to his materials.”

Dan was actually rather surprised by this news and couldn't help but look at Joseph. He seemed quite surprised as well. There was one thing that Dan had to worry about first though. “What about Ridon?”

“Ridon may be assisting you but he's currently focused more on his own project. Don't worry about him. Alaina is giving him all the encouragement to reach full Luvarian status that he needs.” Naidra gave both men a rather large grin. Alaina knew of the conversation and had responded quite positively to the comment as well. She had fond memories of Azon from the her that lived before. However she had her own hopes for Ridon that didn't involve him being an apprentice to someone else. He was making good progress as far as the protectors could tell.

Dan, “Now hold on. How am I suppose to be an apprentice to someone that's dead? Sure I'm studying his research and trying to finish his project but that doesn't mean he's around to teach me.”

Naidra gave a slight nod. “That is true he isn't here to teach you. It's a shame he's well past the ability to contact using necromancy. That said we retain the memories of everything that he did while here. I regret to say that we don't believe this is going to accelerate your progress but they are some rewards to it. Joseph, Dan would either of you be interest in some life extending treatments?”

The forest society had life extending magic and potions. Both Joseph and Dan had began using them long ago. After all. The sooner you began using such items the better the result. Effectively every brother was expected to take advantage of such items in hopes of matching the life spans of there very long lived mates. There was no question in either of their minds that what the protectors were offering was a bit different then what the others could be offered. Joseph was the one that decided on his question first. “Just what kind of life extension are you talking about?”

To this question Naidra gave a slight shrug. “Well for now it would just be basic necromancy. We know and can perform some treatments that slow the process by which your body loses vitality. Your cells handle the passing of time better is a simple way to put it.  We're aware of the treatment you already receive as an apprentice but this is a little more advanced. Effectively you are considered worth expending some worth while resources on to keep you around longer.”

Joseph, “Hey! Why wasn't I offered this treatment once I became ranked as a Luvarian?”

“We did offer you some life extension.”

“Yes but not like this.”

“They are perks to continuing the work of a higher ranked Luvarian. It's one of the main reasons apprentices would compete not to just become a Luvarian but to become the apprentice of a well renowned Luvarian. Technically neither of you would be given this treatment but due to the work you've chosen to continue rather then your own projects and the change of status that has brought some perks are opening up.”

Dan, “So does this do anything else?”

“Yes. It improves your odds of survival in certain conditions. A sword through the heart for example isn't nearly as fatal once you've undergone the intended process.” Upon noting the way the two men were looking at her Naidra couldn't help but cross her arms. They looked shocked and uncertain. “The magic provides an additional safe guard against behavior that doesn't support life. Think of how a necromancer can keep their blood from flowing out of them even when cut open. This magic acts like a invisible layer of very difficult to damage flesh that keeps things flowing properly. Wait a minute. Are you two really that surprised that the Luvarians would need such magic?”

Joseph, “Kind of. They seemed quite in control.”

A groan escaped Naidra as she shook her head. “The reason they were so often in control is they had spells like this. At times when you're working on a new construct things don't go quite as planned and someone ends up with a claw or an entire limb through their chest. Maybe the construct was too aggressive or perhaps it simply didn't fully understand what was happening but accidents happened. The more powerful being often the bigger the accident so you need as much accident forgiveness as possible.” It felt rather strange to Naidra to be explaining this simple lesson of being a Luvarian. Given how Mirin had been injured twice in the process of his research with the new energy system it should be obvious.

For a moment neither of the men said anything. Being made more resistant to being killed could have benefits. Neither of them wanted to leave their mates earlier then they had to even through death after all. They were some concerns though and Dan voiced his. “What happens when we actually die?”

“Well the magic does make it easier for you to be raised as one of the undead and often insures you'll be quite a bit more powerful then you would be if you weren't prepared in advance. It does not however do anything to make it easier for a necromancer to bind you to their will. If anything it makes such things harder.”

Joseph, “And you're sure you can't provide this for Ridon or all the brothers?”

Naidra bit down on her lower lip for a moment and found herself accessing the memories of the other protectors. She needed to know how much of the required compounds they had in stock and how quickly they could make or acquire more. She knew Joseph and Dan would be a bit worried but it took her several seconds of searching in order to come up with the best answer she could. “In fifteen years.”

It felt like Joseph had been struck by an extremely powerful burst of wind. He had expected a no. A yes would have been surprising. However, a time schedule was completely shocking to him. “Why fifteen years?”

“It's not a simple spell Joseph. There is a relatively small number of you compared to the past. We could comfortable produce enough of the compound to treat all the current apprentices in fifteen years. That's actually quite a bit faster then I believed it would be. Now as for your next question of will we do it the answer is no but if you would like we're willing to bring up the issue of treating everyone who achieves the rank of full Luvarian. Given the relative small number of apprentices we have available I'm certain that an agreement will be reached that every current Luvarian is too valuable to risk losing.”

Dan, “Talk with who?”

“Well normally this would be sent up the chain of command but given that chain is mostly missing it would be.” For a moment Naidra went silent once again. This was a strange question. It wasn't unheard of to extend special benefits to lower ranking Luvarians during certain events. “The recognized Faelom, ourselves, the Luvarians and recognized apprentices, the citadel and the heart of the forest.”

Dan, “You mean we get in a say in how the citadel works?”

“If enough of you achieve Luvarian status or high enough status you can change the rules we operate by. To an extent. That kill infernal beings and those who deal with them on site order is pretty well in there.” As she spoke Naidra tapped her head. Just thinking of the order seemed to awaken something within her. Something that began to look around as if suspecting that the simple mention of such instruction might mean there was an infernal being near by. She actually felt somewhat dizzy whenever the awakened thing was made to relax and gave her head a slight shake. “Yes that is a very powerful command.”

“I take it that was reinforced by the fall.”

“Yes. I really don't know if anyone or any number of Luvarians could override that command at this point. It was an order at one time but it feels like it's been more hardwired into our being at this point. Believe me there are not many orders that fall into that category.” The order to kill an infernal being was given by the highest ranking Luvarians of their time, had been reinforced by personal experience and great emotional pain. It was a pain that went beyond the usual memory connection between lives and still made some of the protectors fill with rage. Naidra suspected at times they were actually feeling the rage of the senior protectors.

Joseph wanted to be with Maria as long as he could be. What Naidra was offering would give him a better chance of that and lower the chance of an accident killing him. “Naidra are there any negative side affects to this treatment?”

“A few sort of. If we give you this life extending treatment other treatments become less viable. There is for example a treatment we could give someone that makes it easier for them to cast restorative magic. For most this isn't a major issue but for some it has been a problem. Do you improve your odds of survival so that you can be certain you'll be there for your allies or do you improve your healing so that you're certain you can help them? As neither of you are trained in healing magic I don't see why this should be a problem for you.”

Dan, “Is it reversible?”

“Yes it is but we really do not like reversing the procedure. Like I mentioned earlier this does involve the use of certain resources that we do have to be mindful of the use of. If either of you were learning healing magic we probably wouldn't be offering you the treatment at this point. Besides both of you have a very good idea of how powerful of a healer you would have to be in order to help a faelom.” Some of the protectors didn't like that Dan had asked about reversing the process. This wasn't the type of thinking they liked to hear whenever offering such treatments especially to someone who wouldn't normally be given it at the moment. Surprisingly Lestel did a lot to shut up the more negative protectors as Naidra felt her consciousness flare for a moment. A portion of Lestel's memories pushed forward reminding the other protectors of their current situation and how rare of an opportunity these two presented. It was well worth the risk. Lestel always did tend to know when it was time to add to the pot.

Naidra had a good point about them not being mages trained in healing. They weren't even mages. “Hey does that mean that it would tend to make necromancy stronger?”

Naidra, “Yes it would. If you're wondering about Julia. She's altered her body a little too much for us to use this technique on her. She's missing certain features that this spell really needs to function properly.”As Naidra spoke she chose not to mention all the changes that Julia's body had undergone. The way her veins and arteries had adjusted in order to distribute heat throughout her body and especially the changes to her lunges to help with cooling.

Dan, “That wasn't what was on my mind actually. Naidra I would like to talk to Mina about this first. Is that alright?”

“It would be fine. What about you Joseph? Would you like to speak with Maria first?” The decision seemed rather simple to Naidra. She was actually surprised that Dan or Joseph would be resistant. She wasn't upset despite how simple the choice seemed though. If they wanted to speak with the one they loved about such things before undergoing the procedure that was fine.

“I believe I'll speak with Maria.”

***********************************************************************************

Maria was rather surprised whenever she saw the crystal start to dissolve and then turn into a bright red gas. It seemed to make Joseph and Dan uncomfortable as they gave her a somewhat nervous look despite the protectors assuring them it would be safe. Maria had to speak up. “Lestel you're certain this isn't going to alter their minds in anyway and it won't harm their bodies?”

Spells alone wouldn't be enough to make the needed changes. In order to have the desired affects Joseph and Dan's bodies would need to be saturated with certain materials for the magic to grab onto. These particles would remain part of their flesh and bones for decades to come. In truth the modifications weren't permanent. As the person lived and went through their live shedding cells and replacing bone the particles would eventually be filtered out. It just took such a long time for these changes to happen so the alterations were considered permanent. “I am certain Maria. Joseph and Dan are far from the first to undergo this procedure.”

Maria, “What about their scent? I'm kind of worried for Dan. I mean what happens if Dremera's father comes home smelling different?”

Now Lestel gave Maria a large smile. “Mina already asked me about that. Yes their scents are going to change to some extent. They will still smell like themselves but I wouldn't be surprised if you could smell the magic as it were. It would be as if Joseph has drank an alchemical potion recently and you could smell it as it ran through his system and came out in his sweat.”

Maria gave a slight nod. It would be fine if Joseph smelt different. She was glad whenever he asked her about the changes but there was no way she was going to say no. “Are those crystals what make this process so costly?”

“Unfortunately yes. If we could only grow them more easily we could extend the service to others but even here they grow slowly.”

“What are they exactly?”

“You wouldn't recognize their name but. Well let's see how can I put this.” Lestel had to be careful with her wording. She didn't want to risk upsetting Maria. It wouldn't change the current situation but she knew Maria had encouraged Joseph to undergo the treatment and Lestel didn't want her opposing future changes. “I'm sure you're aware of organic stone due to the basilisk in the forest. Have you ever wondered what would happen if such poisons were used on one of the undead? They are after all already beings that move despite not being alive.”

“So it's undead that have been turned to stone?”

“Not quite but it is related. You can't make those crystals with just any undead after all and we don't use basilisk. As dangerous as they are venom from a gorgon is preferable for such processes.”

“So you have access to gorgon venom?”

“Yes but we're not using it. Our supply is very limited as well we have no gorgons to trade with. Oh on that. If you could find some gorgons and begin trading with them we would really appreciate that. We're simulating certain things for this. The blood could be compared to what you would find within a vampire or certain similar undead while it is treated with simulated gorgon venom. We process it here and refine it and this is the end result. Now like I said we don't actually have a supply of gorgon venom we can replenish readily and we don't have any vampires detained here. We do have certain items that can create things similar to this.”

“I see but if you did have access to such things would you have used them instead?” Maria didn't like the idea that Joseph was going through a second hand treatment because the protectors didn't want to use the good stuff. If that was the case she would be far more suspect of anything they offered in the future. It seemed Lestel had picked up on the intention of the answer.

“Maybe and I am being honest about that. It all depends on the power of the blood and the venom. What we are using now is truly very high quality Maria. You would find few vampires that could have more powerful blood then the simulated material we're using I assure you.”

“Should we look for one just the same?”

A sharp chuckle escaped Lestel whenever Maria gave her a large grin. “By all means! We have a pen meant for holding such creatures.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

***********************************************************************************

“Stop kidding me Mira!” Maria couldn't help but grin despite her words as her sister poked her in the stomach. Mira had finished with her responsibilities for the time being and didn't feel like taking on any side projects. Instead she'd come to visit her sister. It felt somewhat awkward for Maria as she once again found herself looking up at Mira but it wasn't as bad as she expected it to be. “So you're planning to stop growing half a meter before you outgrow the citadel.”

“Yeah. I like being able to come here but I'm not that interested in living here.” Mira had been surprised by Maria's decision. She had even put some deep thought and time into if she wanted to follow the same path as her. She had decided against the decision. Part of Mira imagined living on the edge of the forest as a massive guardian. The thought of being able to hold an apprentice in her hand sent a tingle up her spine and made her more then a little hot. Then there was the notion of being truly free of her hunger. That is if she grew to such a massive size. She had seen some odd behavior amongst the other faelom recently. “Hey sis it has been a while since you last went out hasn't it?”

“Yes!” A delighted laugh escaped Maria as she noted a surprised look on Mira's face. Maria couldn't help the energy she put into her voice though. She had grown so used to running around the forest and hunting as she willed that she hadn't realized how much she would miss it. She wasn't willing to put her son in danger just so she could go release some predatory energy but she wanted to at times. “I haven't sunk my claws into prey in such a long time. All my training is helping to keep me relaxed but you know at times I really wish I could go out. I was a little worried that I might start having predatory drives like Mina did when she became pregnant. The need to establish a domain.”

“You mean you haven't been feeling the need to establish territory?”

To this Maria shook her head. “No. Which is rather surprising really. I heard stories about how Stella felt the need to establish her domain when she became pregnant with Allen. I guess I take after mom in that I don't feel the need to show everyone who is boss.”

For a moment Mira just looked around at the citadel itself. “Are you sure that it's do to that and not do to your location? I mean. This is pretty much as safe as it gets for a new born faelom or a new brother.”

“Well that is true. It may be the protectors themselves. So what were you going to say to me?”

“Oh yeah! Well some of my guardian friends have been speaking to me. They've been talking about the rate at which some of our hunger has been declining and well the notion that some sisters may end their hunger before others. What they're really focused on is the fact that the keepers and matrons don't seem to be experiencing this same decline. I mean. Have you spoken to Fera or Sora in a while?”

Now Maria set up. She actually found herself growing a little concerned. “Well I've seen Fera around the citadel practicing with the larger glyph. Sora comes by every morning to spend some time with Mirin and every evening. She's put on some extra height so has Fera. Why what are the guardians talking about?”

“Well some of them are starting to think that those sisters who can't satisfy their hunger even at matron size should be asked to leave the forest. I don't mean just live away from the main village either. I mean leave the forest.” It was fairly clear to Mira that this had Maria worried.

“What! That's ridiculous. If we spread out there would still be plenty of room for us. Besides many of those larger faelom are our top contributors in terms of resources, protection and even reform. I've heard stories about how Kersara has began to add on the centimeters since I last saw her.”

“She has. Believe me she has.” It wasn't surprising to Mira that Maria was upset. There was other things to consider to. “It doesn't just stop there. They're also talking about how there is no way they could pass such a decision because it's the keepers and those that are like them that have the most authority.”

Maria felt her body twitch a bit. It was true. She was a keeper now and there was no way she would support such a plan. Even if she was sacrificing so she wouldn't grow like that. “Mira what is going on? You make it sound like that as our hunger is fading we're starting to turn on one another. We put all these systems in place to insure that we would never have to undergo the sleep in mass and leave the forest unguarded.”

“Yes but those systems are losing their purpose. Apparently other issues that our need for food had covered up are beginning to come to the surface. I've heard talk about approaching some keepers that might support the idea. As for spreading out. I guess they believe that introducing a large predator into different environments would change them. If it happened at several locations it would end up changing the entire forest. Plus there is the issue with travel.”

“I see. So the major theme of their argument is where once we had a food allowance now we have a space allowance. Some faelom are simply too big to fit within that allowance and.” Maria took in a deep breath. “They kind of have a point don't they? I don't like the idea of telling one of our sisters that she has to choose between completely ending her hunger or staying within the forest but well. How do we know that is going to happen though? How many faelom are really going to end up that massive?”

To this Mira gave a shrug. “I don't know. It's something they're scared of and talking about and as you said it yourself they have a point. Unlike past issues though they're not certain how to bring it up so they're started going around talking to other faelom in secret and well that includes me.”

“Why you?”

“Hey I've a pretty long list of friends.” Mira gave her sister a large grin. Being Flora's daughter helped with a lot of things and some even saw Mira as a younger version of her mother. Those faelom that weren't comfortable going to an elder faelom for advice would often come to her. She kept their secrets. This was one of the very rare times she spoke of what she'd heard with anyone and that was only because she felt it was important and wasn't certain how to handle it herself.

“So who's side are you on?”

“It doesn't seem fair to me. We spend thousands of years trying to find ways to end our hunger. Then whenever we finally manage to do so we find out we might outgrow our home or end up altering it in ways we never intended to. So suddenly we need to put a height cap upon our sisters or tell them they're going to have to leave the forest. At least until Dan and Joseph manage to finish their work. Where would they go though? If they go too far from the forest they would end up in a desperate situation and may have to sleep. They could begin setting up settlements on the edge of the forest but that would mean cutting into the surrounding territory. We would becoming an invading force.”

“What about Zarena's idea?”

“I thought of that to but do you really believe we can extend the shoreline fast enough? What kind of consequences might that end up having as well?” A long sigh escaped Mira as she realized why she'd come to her big sister about this problem. She wasn't sure where she stood on the issue. A bunch of sisters four or six times the size of a matron walking around the forest pounding it flat wasn't a good thing. Yet when an end to their hunger was so close telling them they would either have to leave or keep their hunger wasn't easy either.

For a moment Maria wasn't certain how to answer. She knew this was a project for Zarena and she was having to put quite a bit of time into it. Apparently building her home so that the ocean wouldn't reclaim it was proving to be quite a task. She enjoyed the effort given her situation but what about faelom that weren't as large as Zarena and couldn't search the ocean as easily? There smaller size might help them as well as they wouldn't require as large of a section of land to work with yet they unlike Zarena might want some of the smaller comforts of home. “This situation really stinks. Well okay first we need to find out how large a faelom could be and comfortably move around the forest without damaging the ecosystem. Obviously Zarena is too large.”

For a moment Mira wasn't certain what to say. After a moment of silence she couldn't help but giggle. “You sounded like Joseph just then.” Once again Mira was made to chuckle as a shocked expression flashed onto Maria's face.

***********************************************************************************

“Well it really depends on how she moved about the forest. Obviously the days of you playing in the trees are over with. Soon that will be a fun game that only your children are allowed to enjoy.” Lestel had heard Maria and Mira's conversation well in advance of them coming to her. She had chosen to begin speaking before they could begin asking their questions even as she busied herself preparing some equipment for Joseph, Dan and Ridon. They had planned to prepare the equipment themselves but it had been a long time since she'd actually allowed that to happen. “If she would limit herself to walking and keep a close eye on her environment then naturally she would do better. I would also recommend that she stick to paths that are the most difficult to travel.”

Mira, “So that she would upset the least wild life?”

“That is correct. You all have a very good fill for how the forest works so you should be able to avoid things like hidden eggs. I have to say though it also depends on what section of the forest you're in. The center and the east could handle travel far more easily then the west could do to the greater density of the wild life in the region. Now another issue is of course living accommodations. Well that's not the question we're on right now. If you limited yourself to the eastern sections of the forest and the center sizes of twenty to twenty five meters should be acceptable.”

Maria, “That would cover a lot of the faelom wouldn't it?”

“Yes quite a large percentage of you would be able to remain in the forest and end your hunger at that size. Well travel in the forest. How did that happen?” As she spoke Lestel took a moment to inspect one of the beakers she was holding. She could see a tiny fracture that she didn't remember being there before or happening. With the way the protectors watched the citadel it was surprising whenever something was damaged without them knowing how it happened. Likely it was due to internal stresses that cracked the glass at some later point. In any case the beaker would have to be repaired before it could be used and Lestel set it aside before retrieving a replacement.

Maria, “That's pretty large Mira. Maybe if we can show the other sisters that most of them don't have to worry about being driven out of the forest it will help them to relax.”

To this Mira gave a nod. She was actually glad to hear that the forest could handle such large faelom traveling around it. At least it could so long as they stuck to certain regions and used certain paths and guidelines. “That was just traveling in the forest. What about living though?” Lestel do the protectors have any advice on this? I mean did the Luvarians plan for such issues?”