Lythael slammed her fist onto the table. She glared at the gods assembled with her. No one could meet her fiery gaze. They knew she was under increasing strain as Bagorda tested the Sunstone time and again. Their plan had been set back 300 plus years because Kilaal had used the Sword stupidly and lost it to man. For all those years it had been locked away accomplishing nothing while Bagorda’s strength grew by leaps and bounds. And now her emissary was with someone or something none of them knew about which shouldn’t have been possible.

"Who is he?! Who is this Evals?!" she asked vehemently. Her angry eyes suddenly riveted on Sensael. "Surely you have seen him before, Sensael. He can’t still be a virgin. Surely he has had a woman sometime in his life."

"He has," Sensael acknowledged, "but he has never loved a woman. He has used prostitutes to relieve his needs, but he has never been in love."

"Then how do you know about him?" Lythael demanded. Her temper made even Stelaf flinch.

"There are several women who love him. Unfortunately, he is only an object of desire, a romantic figure for their fantasies. None of them knows anything about him."

"It would seem that if none of us knows about him, then he must be one of Bagorda’s pawns," Cefaan said.

All nodded their agreement except Aquariael. "That is one possibility, but there is another." The other gods turned their attention to her. She smoothed her aquiline hair. "We forget that while we are the major gods, there are others below us who may be entering the fight. We are not the only ones who have something to gain or lose."

Vulcan snorted. "Surely you jest. No godling is going to strive to wrest power from us. I could crush all of them single-handedly. No, Aquariael, you’re wrong. This Evals must be one of Bagorda’s minions, probably one of Erridaba’s lieutenants."

"Probably," Aquariael conceded, "but we must not close our minds to any possibility."

Lythael nodded her agreement. "That’s true. Still, your idea does seem extremely remote; however, we can call in Historia and see if she can tell us anything about this Evals."

"It will take her years to sift through her books," Stelaf complained. "We would do well to just get rid of him. That way we will be in better control of the situation."

Cefaan shook his head. "It would be a waste to destroy a tool just because we don’t know its worth. What we do know is Bagorda defeated us last time, and it seems we are traveling that same road again. None of you wishes to adopt his tactics as I suggest, which I understand, but I don’t think we can afford the luxury of destroying someone or something just because we suppose he is an obstacle. No, I think we must wait. After all, he has taken Lythael’s emissary closer to Sirens’ Forest than anyone else we have at our disposal could have."

Lythael said, "Cefaan says wait. So long as this Evals doesn’t threaten Cosis’ mission, I agree." She looked around the table. It was apparent Vulcan and Stelaf disagreed, but they would not voice their opposition yet. No, they would wait until they could rub salt in the wound if her decision was wrong. Besides, it was their creation that had let a human touch it and live, something that supposedly couldn’t happen.

"Then it is settled. We will wait. While we wait, Aquariael, see if you can get Historia to find anything on Evals. There must be a reason why he was able to do the impossible."

A week out of the trappers’ village the flat spruce and birch began undulating as it grew over larger and larger hills. The mountains that had been brown and white breaks in the horizon now stared down on the two riders. Evals kept them moving north and a little west. He was now in country he had never traveled, but he had seen enough maps to know he would have little trouble finding the enormous lake Cordan had spoken of.

On the second day into the foothills, Evals found a stream flowing towards the mountains. "This will take us to Crystal Lake," he told Cosis as he bent down to take a drink from the fast flowing water. Cosis said nothing as he miserably slapped at yet another cloud of mosquitoes. As the summer progressed, the bloodthirsty pests were becoming ever more voracious.

Evals started to get up when he noticed a track. It looked like a bare footed human’s. He followed the tracks upstream until he found a good imprint. It didn’t quite look right. The toes seemed spread a little too far apart, and the dirt didn’t peak between the toes as it should have, but was pressed down but not by a great a weight as was supported by the rest of the foot.

He returned to the horses and stroked the bay that seemed more nervous than usual. "Have you ever heard of a web-footed person?" he asked Cosis.

Cosis’s eyes brightened. "Yes, a sprite."

Evals pointed to the stream. "Well, one of them has been walking along there."

Cosis smiled. "That stream does lead to Crystal Lake."

"I said that," Evals huffed. He started to mount when a high pitched scream rent the air. "Stay here," he said as he unlashed his bow, strung it, grabbed his quiver and took off towards the sound.

He traveled along the creek bank at a fast trot. His eyes and ears scanned the forest and ground as he went. When he had gone a hundred yards, he saw familiar tracks on the ground. Two Pychnies had picked up the trail of the sprite. Another panic filled scream spurred him on. When he had gone another fifty yards, he heard the sounds of struggles and hoarse guffawing.

The stream split around a small island, and Evals saw two huge Pychnies shedding their pants as they held a young woman pinned to the ground. Even as he nocked an arrow and let it fly, he noticed she had slightly green tint to her skin.

Evals’s arrow struck one of her attackers in the ribs just as he was about to mount her. Bellowing, the Pychnie fell to the ground clutching at the shaft buried to the feathers. Evals started to nock another arrow when he saw two more Pychnies appear on the far side of the creek. He heard the brush behind him crackle and jumped aside.

A Pychnie stumbled into the water, carried by the momentum of his missed axe swing. Evals released his half-drawn arrow into the smaller man’s back. Another charged out of the bushes screaming and swung at Evals’s head with his mace. Evals deflected it with his bow, which snapped on the jarring impact. Evals quickly drew his sword and in one motion deflected the next blow and gutted the blood maddened Pychnie.

The two from the far side were almost across as was the second who had been accosting the young woman. Evals met them at the water’s edge. While they fought to maintain their balance on the slick rocks, he showered blows on them and soon all three were floating downstream after the Pychnie with the arrow in his back.

Evals cleaned his blade on the front of the dead Pychnie lying on the bank. He picked up his bow and sighed. It had been his best. Worse, he hadn’t seen any decent wood to make another for weeks. The birch and spruce that dominated the forest were worthless bow material.

He looked towards the island but saw no sign of the woman. Well, she is probably running, he thought as he trotted back to where he had left Cosis.

"What happened?" the little priest asked fearfully.

"Some Pychnies were molesting a young woman, and I stopped them," Evals replied as he swung into the saddle. "I don’t think we should stay around here. Those Pychnies didn’t seem to be the adventuresome type. I have a feeling this area is probably crawling with them."

Cosis glanced over his shoulder nervously and quickly fell in behind Evals. "How many were there?" he asked.

"Six," Evals replied without looking back. He was concentrating all of his attention on their surroundings. He didn’t think Pychnies would be able to sneak up on them, but if there were Mandogos, and one or two were Jinkus, and he didn’t have a bow anymore... He shivered involuntarily.

Six, Cosis thought. This far north, and Evals thinks there are more nearby. Things were worse than he had imagined. He knew she should be quiet, but fear made him talk. "What happened to the woman?"

Evals shrugged. "She was gone when I finished with the Pychnies. I don’t think they harmed her. They were still trying to get out of their pants when I surprised them. She was strange. I could have sworn she was greenish colored."

"She was a sprite," Cosis said. "It’s too bad you didn’t get her."

Evals stopped and turned to the priest. "What do you mean by that?" he asked angrily.

Cosis stared at Evals shocked. "I...I mean that if you would have gotten her, your virility would have been assured for the rest of your life."

"My virility is fine and will be for a long as it should be."

"But she was just a sprite," Cosis tried to explain.

"And am I just a man?" Evals asked hotly.

Cosis started to speak but could find no words. Evals’s glare silenced his every thought. Evals turned and started down the game trail they were following. Cosis stared at his back. Didn’t he understand? Sprites were different. They would mate with anything, even a fish. Getting mated by an elf was a privilege. Sometimes they just had to be persuaded, but they always enjoyed it in the end.

"Evals, sprites enjoy being taken."

Evals stopped and again turned around, his countenance so hard Cosis wished he had kept his mouth shut. "They do? That woman’s screams were screams of pleasure, and her fighting as hard as she could was her foreplay?"

"No," Cosis explained. "They don’t enjoy being taken at first perhaps, but once the act is under way, they love it. They even ask for more when a man is totally spent."

"And you think that makes it all right? Cosis, you don’t know anything. If what you say is true, then their being unable to control their bodies only adds to their humiliation." He saw Cosis wasn’t following him. He listened intently and heard nothing from the forest around them.

"Cosis, I have always been a big man. When I was just reaching manhood, I was already as big as most men, but I wasn’t grown inside. There I was still a boy. I was beginning to have urges, though. Once when Daxlan took me to the city five young women trapped me in a stable. With one on each arm and each leg they used me.

"That was humiliating enough, Cosis, but the fact that my body responded and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do only made it worse. After awhile I was grunting like any dog after a bitch in heat, but that didn’t make it right or make me feel better. It only dragged me down to their level." Evals was visibly shaking. "They laughed and left me in that stable feeling no better than the shit that was mixed in the straw. So don’t tell me just because they respond to Sensael’s call they enjoy it."

Cosis followed Evals the rest of the day stunned. He had never thought of sprites in the light Evals had shown him. He wondered if any elf had. Surely none he knew. In his younger days, they would venture to the north shore of Crystal Lake hoping to bless some sprite with their favors. Thinking of that with Evals’s understanding made him sick.

When darkness overtook them, Evals called a halt. He didn’t chance even a small fire. He had seen too many signs of Pychnies in the area. At least we haven’t come across any Mandogos, he thought as he curled up under a spruce near the horses.

His dreams swept him into loves more perfect than perfect. He dreamed of beauty beyond compare. He wanted nothing more than to throw himself down the highest mountainside while proclaiming his love to - to no one he knew, but it didn’t matter. He wanted to die to preserve the perfection of his dream love. In death he and she could live in ecstasy forever.

Evals awoke with a heavy heart. He didn’t really know why. He just felt a terrible loss. Slowly he remembered snatches of the dreams he had. Those snatches only leadened his heart even more.

"We must be getting very close to Crystal Lake," he said as they saddled their horses.

"Why do say that?" Cosis asked.

"Last night I had dreams, dreams of loves and dying for those loves. This morning I can barely shake the feeling."

Cosis saw Evals did look haggard. The time was very near when they would have to part. He quaked at the thought. He felt secure with Evals nearby. There was no way he could fight off six Pychnies. He couldn’t fight off one.

Around noon, they reached a huge meadow in full bloom. Lupine covered it with a blue carpet. Wild poppies dotted it with orange, white, and yellow. Evals didn’t want to cross it, but he saw Crystal Lake on the far side.

"There’s the lake," he said to Cosis. The little priest broke into a huge grin. He was getting nearer home. He had been all the way to the other shore during his youth. Without thinking, he spurred the chestnut into a gallop and took off across the meadow. He was almost to the far side when several heads suddenly popped up on the shoreline.

"Damn!" Evals cursed as he spurred the roan forward whipping out his sword as he watched Cosis dragged from his horse. Howling like a rabid wolf, Evals charged towards the four figures. He saw instantly they were too tall to be Pychnies. His guts cringed. Four Mandogos and he didn’t even have the element of surprise. He pulled a dagger from his boot sheath. He could see their wide grins as they waited for him, but instead of pulling up like Cosis did, he spurred the roan into a harder run.

One of the Mandogos cried out as the war-horse slammed into him. Another stared in disbelief at the knife hilt protruding from his abdomen. He sat back on his haunches and stared as his life’s blood poured out. The roan stumbled as he tried to turn, and Evals pushed out of the stirrups just as the horse tumbled to the ground.

The two remaining Mandogos charge him, their scimitars glistening in the sun. Evals caught the hacking blow of one and put him between the other one and himself. Their initial charge stopped, the Mandogos backed off and made a more controlled attack.

Evals’s sword caught and deflected blow after blow. The Mandogos grew impatient and began making risky moves. Evals knocked the unbalanced thrust of one aside and clipped the taller man’s jugular. The Mandogo felt the blood flowing from the wound and backed away as his companion covered him. As he reached to feel how badly he was wounded, he crumpled. His partner glanced at him and didn’t see Evals’s thrust that caught him just below the sternum. He fell next to his friend.

Evals pressed on a cut on his forearm as he went to Cosis. The priest glanced up at him from his prone position. Evals smiled.

"Lythael must be watching over you, Cosis. I thought for sure you were dead this time."

Cosis struggled to his feet. He rubbed his rear where one of the Mandogos had planted a boot. He tried to smile but couldn’t. He had been too close to death.

"Since you’re okay, I had better check on my horse," Evals said. He walked over to where the roan stood cropping a tuft of grass sneaking through the thick cover of lupine. Evals stroked his mount’s neck and checked each leg. It ignored him, so Evals led the horse back to where Cosis was still trying to get his senses back.

"You can’t leave me," Cosis said as Evals tightened the cinches of both saddles and readjusted the pack on the bay that had trotted up after the fighting was over.

"I can’t leave you yet, that’s true," Evals replied. He mounted and waited for Cosis to do the same. "There are too many signs of Pychnies here, and now we know there are Mandogos, too. I will stay with you as long as I can. I don’t know how long that will be, though. I can’t take too many nights like last night." Cosis nodded and followed Evals as he started around the lake.

Evals pushed them until dark. Again they camped without a fire. Cosis hadn’t realized how much comfort a small flame could bring. He didn’t question Evals, though. He knew better. His yielding to his enthusiasm and galloping across the meadow had nearly cost him his life.

"Would it be all right if we talk awhile?" he asked.

"For a short time," Evals replied. He could already hear the faint whisper of the Sirens’ song, and he wanted to wrap his ears as Cordan had done to protect himself.

"How did you learn I was an elf?"

"Evals grinned. That had probably been troubling Cosis since they had left the trappers’ village. "Cordan, the innkeeper, told me. He used to be the best trapper in these parts. He saw some elves once."

"When did he ever see any elves? Except for me, we have always stayed away from man."

"It was about thirty years ago, I think." Evals shook his head to clear it. The song was worming its way deeper. "He was trapping next to this lake. One night the Siren’s song was of horrors instead of love. It drove him mad until he awoke with his head in an elven woman’s lap. He said she had cured him of the song’s sickness." A slight sweat broke out on his forehead as he struggled to ignore the beckoning beauty of the song."

"An elven woman can do that," Cosis said.
"I wish one was here now. The strange part of the tale was that she was pregnant and with a man. He said the man was bigger than me and had even better trapper’s sense than he."

"Kimarael," Cosis said in awe. He could see even in the darkness Evals was struggling hard against the song. "Evals, did he know what happened to them?"

Someone called his name. Through the fog developing, Evals saw Cosis. The priest repeated the question. Evals pushed the fog back. "Yes, they were both killed by elves, all of whom they killed. The baby, though, the baby..." The fog slid back over him. Love, love so pure. Evals swayed with the beautiful music and lost himself in the sounds.

Cosis shook him violently. Evals stared at him with a drunken smile on his lips. He slapped the big man. The pain seemed to register. He slapped him again, with all of his strength. Sanity flickered in Evals’s eyes. "What about the baby?" Cosis demanded.

"He could never find it. The woman said..." The Sirens’ song swept him away again.

"Evals!" Cosis yelled and slapped him again and again, but not even pain could break through to him. He was trapped.

Cosis whimpered silently. He felt as helpless as Evals was. He curses his elven brethren for forcing him to go to Sirens’ Forest. Their unyielding fear and hatred of man was going to be the death of both races.

He heard Evals humming tunelessly. The powerful warrior was trapped by something he had no weapon to defend himself with. He wouldn’t even know when his end came, but he would gladly welcome it. In fact, he would kill himself. Cosis knew what he had to do. He rummaged through their supplies until he found several cords and tied Evals as best he could. He then fell to sleep with the soft music of the Sirens lulling him past the fears churning in his gut. He didn’t hear the bare feet scurrying around their camp or the excited whispers as small hands lifted Evals and whisked him away.

Evals felt nothing. The song was promising him never ending loves, loves so perfect he could never experience them in life. Such loves needed a great sacrifice. The sacrifice would make them beautiful beyond all imagining. He knew what he must do...

He blinked. Something wasn’t right. He felt too light, and he couldn’t feel the affects of the Sirens’ song. He was sure it had been driving itself into his mind while he and Cosis were talking. A hand stroked his head. He jumped to his feet, but his movement seemed slow, restricted by some unseen force.

He gulped when he saw his surroundings. He was in a large room whose walls shimmered with thousands of colors coursing through them. Countless hues of reds, greens, and blues undulated and faded into the white background. Seated around him in open clamshells on velvet cushions of all colors were twenty beautiful women. All were very petite, and all were naked. Sprites! Evals thought seeing they had a light green tint to their skin.

Something small moved at a leisurely pace to his left. A fish! Panic nearly erupted from his breast. Where was he? His hand felt for his sword hilt and felt nothing but his own flesh. He, too, was naked. One of the women started to giggle, but a stern look from the eldest looking woman stopped her.

"Please do not be alarmed, Master Evals," the older sprite said. "We had to bring you here to protect you from the Sirens. We removed your clothes to protect them from the water."

Evals sighed. He was dead. He couldn’t be underwater. It was impossible. He didn’t even choke as he breathed in the liquid atmosphere. He couldn’t choke on this water any more than he could choke on air. He slumped back on the soft bed where he had been.

A young woman standing next to it grinned at him sheepishly and averted her gaze. Evals felt stirrings within him that had nothing to do with the Sirens’ song. She left his bedside and sat in the shell seat next to the elder sprite’s.

When she was seated, the elder sprite stood. "Master Evals, my daughter Amorphial is forever in your debt. You saved her from a fate worse than death." She approached him. "We are all in your debt. You have protected our next Lake Mother, something no one has ever done.

"You are the first male who has ever understood our kind." Evals looked at her perplexed. She smiled. "We have been watching you ever since you save Amorphial. You see, all animals see for us if we ask them. We may in his time bless each as directed by our goddess Alimana. We heard of your rape by the women of your kind. Like you, Sensael’s call is very strong in us." Conscious of his nakedness, Evals tried to cover what was plain for all of them to see.

"Because of you courageous act and because you know us, we wish to help you." She paused.

Evals knew she was waiting for a response from him. He wasn’t handling the situation very well. He was still stunned by the small fish swimming by now and again. He tried blocking out where he was and concentrate on the woman speaking to him. That didn’t really help because while she may have been the oldest, she was beautifully naked.

"I, uh, I always appreciate help," he stammered, "but how could you help me? I don’t really think any of you could stand up against a Pychnie or Mandogo."

All of the sprites laughed gaily. "You are right, Master Evals. We could not help you in that way. We can, though, protect you from the Sirens’ song."

Evals smiled. "That help I can surely use, but how can you do it?

She smiled and a gleam came to her eyes. "We can give you what their song only promises."

Evals gulped. "Oh," he said weakly.

"Sensael’s call is strong in you, so it may take most of us to do it," she said.

Evals blushed. "What about your husbands?"

"We have no husbands. All sprites are female," she laughed.

"Oh," Evals said again.

"Do you want our gift?" she asked. An electric expectancy filled the room. Evals could see her chest’s rhythmic rise and fall quicken. Words stuck in his throat so he nodded.

She came to him and kissed him passionately. The kiss fired his loins, and as they sank back on the bed, he asked, "What is your name?"

"I am the Lake Mother," she whispered huskily into his ear as she intertwined her body with his.

After she had given and taken all she was able, Amorphial took her place. So it went with each sprite giving herself freely and passionately. Fired by such abandon on their part, Evals strove mightily to please each. When his energies flagged, they brought him an aromatic broth to rekindle his strength. When the last of the sprites had given herself to him, Evals fell into an exhausted, happy sleep.

--------------------

Winnowlas kissed Alimana and rolled off her. Both gods were drenched in sweat. He kissed her again and stood. "Evals has more stamina than I," he said.

Alimana laughed as she replaced her shift. "My dear Winnowlas, not even Sensael has more stamina than you." Her brow knit in worry. "Do you think we distracted her enough to keep her from seeing what happened?"

"If not, she has changed in the last few days which I know she hasn’t. I have to leave now. Bagorda has been calling for some time."

Alimana flinched at the mention of the imprisoned god. "Do you have to go to him?" Winnowlas nodded. Before he left she asked, "Are you sure you are doing the right thing?"

"No, but I am sure if I don’t, the outcome will be the same again.

---------------------

A gentle kiss on his cheek awoke him. He saw Amorphial staring down at him, a worried look on her face. "Lake Mother says you must go now. Cosis has been captured."

"Damn!" Evals growled. That little elf couldn’t stay out of trouble if his life depended on it, which it did. He followed Amorphial out of the opal room. She led him through a long series of halls that opened into room. Sprites who saw them took time out to give Evals a friendly peck on the cheek or at least a wave and a smile. They made him feel very good.

Evals gasped when they reached the outside. He really was in the lake. Panic gripped him for a moment, but Amorphial’s reassuring touch pushed it back.

The Lake Mother was waiting for them. "Evals, you have strengthened us more than we can say. You have freely given each of us a bit of your essence, your strength. Protecting you from the Sirens’ song seems a paltry gift in comparison." Evals started to protest, but she stopped him. She placed a chain over his head. On it was an exquisite carving of a sprite reclining on the bed he had used. "So long as you wear this, you need never fear water again."

She then placed another chain around his neck. It held a small flask. "I should not ask this of you, but if you should ever meet a Siren, please give her this if you can and show her the same kindness you showed us."

"Of course," he said.

"Alimana go with you," she said and returned to her home before Evals could thank her for everything.

"We must go," Amorphial said as she pulled on his hand. They walked hand in had along the lake’s bottom. Evals looked back. The sprites’ home appeared to be a large half-buried pearl.

"It’s beautiful," he said.

"Thank you," Amorphial replied. They said little more. Evals was too caught up by the newness of walking through a lake. He could tell the lake’s bottom was muddy in spots, but they never sank into it. It was as firm as any ground he had trod. They pushed through plants swaying gently in the water’s currents. Many stretched up out of sight as they strained to reach the beckoning light of the distant surface.

Too soon they started up an incline and their heads broke the surface. A bright blue sky suddenly replaced the dull green of the lake’s waters.

"Your clothes are over here," Amorphial said leading Evals to a clump of alder growing almost to the shoreline. She helped him dress, then they walked back to the lake. She broke away suddenly and ran to another clump of brush. From it she retrieved a Pychnie bow and quiver of arrows.

"I know you broke yours saving me. I hope this will replace it," she said with downcast eyes.

Evals hugged her fiercely. "It is perfect." He lifted her chin. "I left you some of my strength. Remember that. You needn’t avoid anyone’s gaze. You are a member of a very beautiful and special race. Be proud of that. I am."

She smiled at him, her chest swelling. " That fox will lead you to Cosis," she said and ran to the beach, turned and waved. She dove in and a beautiful sliver fish did a series of jumps as it raced for the center of the lake.

Evals watched her leave and sighed. He had felt so welcome there. It was almost like being in Daxlan’s cabin again when he was a small boy - warm and safe. Finally, he turned and saw a small red fox staring nervously at him.