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Chapter 83: Wisps and Spirits

Geoff walked beside Nathanial, with Kiera and some of those odd lights following behind. Nathanial was back to normal, thankfully, and was carrying on a light-hearted conversation, as if nothing unusual had ever happened. Geoff found him to be so irresistibly cute when he looked vulnerable or, like now, excited about something. Everything Geoff showed Nathanial, everything that meant something him, was met with delight and a peppering of questions. The small elementary school, the bus stop that took Faelen and him (and the Furs in Weaver's Point) up to the schools in Crosshaven, the grocer's store where Geoff used to drag Faelen off to buy candy (though the grocer would often secretly give him a little extra), or the field where a pup-sized soccer field was set up (wow, the hours he'd spent here practicing, with Faelen stuck as the goal keeper). Geoff was now approaching the set of walls, railings, posts and things that he used to learn parkour on. Faelen would have fits when Geoff was first learning how to free run, chasing after him always so worried that Geoff'd hurt himself. Which Geoff frequently did. Then Faelen would drag him off to hide under the porch around the corner so Geoff could manifest and heal up. Once the pain was gone, Geoff would be right back out there trying again. He learned rather quickly, if he did say so himself, and Faelen would always be running off after him, trying to keep up. Always. He looked back over his shoulder to where his friend should be, and saw Kiera.

Nathanial looked over at him, concerned. "Are you all right?"

Geoff shook his head. "Yeah. Fine. I..." He sighed heavily, "Just can understand Liam a bit better, I think. Change can be hard, and such simple things can trigger a flood of memories. I can't imagine... Being away from home, from so many things that are so familiar, and coming back to it just... I've only been gone for two months." There was more he was going to say, and more coherently, but it wasn't Faelen walking with him, and he wouldn't give Liam's secret away to some stranger like that. Even if it was Liam's great-granddaughter. "I learned how to parkour here." Geoff waved his paw at the collection of small houses, stone and wood fences, and... everything.

"Really?" Nathanial sounded a little excited, but suddenly frowned in confusion. "Where?"

Geoff smiled; he expected that response. He ran up to a low stone fence, jumped on to it, then jumped onto the telephone pole on the other side. He dug his claws into the wood and swung around it, so he could kick off the far side and get onto the roof of the shed behind it. He heard Kiera muffle a noise of protest as she began to chase after him. He paused to glance back and saw Nathanial eyeing the fence, before shaking his head and following Kiera. Geoff grinned and kept going, soon drawing away from his entourage, as they had to find ways around the obstacles he was using as a path. Faelen knew all the shortcuts, but they didn't; Nathanial wasn't doing bad at all, though, and Kiera soon learned to follow the akita.

Nathanial telepathically called over to Geoff to stop him, saying, *Okay, we get it, Geoff. Kiera can't keep up. Can you try tomorrow, with me, when we have Faelen and Liam with us? We should probably be getting back, anyway, we told your mom that we wouldn't be long.*

Geoff jumped off the roof he was on and landed by them, grinning widely.

Nathanial leaned against the building as he tried to catch his breath.

Kiera was only panting slightly when she caught up several seconds later. She looked at them appreciatively. "I'm impressed. I do a lot of endurance training for the biathlon, but I wasn't expecting you guys to go so fast and not get too winded." She shook her head. "I guess I need to step up my training, work on adding more speed to my regimen."

Nathanial chuckled, "I don't think Gwen will give you problems like this. I can't see her running around a lot."

Geoff rolled his eyes and said, dryly, "Not unless she sees a strange new rock." He looked at the odd lights, which were still following Kiera. "What are those, Nathanial? You were talking about Fey and wisps and stuff, but they look just like those lights you made on your birthday."

Nathanial looked at them, again. "They do, don't they. I'm not controlling them, so they can't be, though. I don't recognize the magic... hmm." Nathanial walked over to one and peered at it, closely. "It is my magic signature, but there is something else here, too. Um, maybe."

Geoff leaned against the wall and waited. Kiera stood slightly ahead of him and to the side, as if she was ready to guard Geoff from Nathanial. Not that he could blame her for feeling that way. Geoff was still a little shaken by how quickly Nathanial had snapped, how jealous he'd seemed, and how easily he seemed to decide Geoff's Clansmen were as much a threat as Hunters were. Nathanial was ready to give Knights the benefit of the doubt, but any Spirit who may have something to do with Rolph was instantly branded a dire threat to be... dealt with. "What did happen to them?" Geoff didn't mean to say that out loud, but it was a valid question.

Nathanial straightened up in surprise. "Shoo." The lights vanished. "To who?"

"The Spirits you sicced those lights on. You said Uncle Rolph was leaving the Clan lands, and one of the other Spirits fell into a rosebush, but what happened to the rest? Or those two after that?"

Nathanial shrugged, supremely indifferent. "Don't know, don't care. They were bullies."

Kiera and Geoff exchanged looks. Geoff sighed, "Nathanial, those were members of my Clan. Even if I don't like everyone in it, I'm still responsible for them. And you. What you do to them, or they do to you, is something I need to deal with. Can you find them?"

Nathanial grimaced. "I suppose. You sounded so... dutiful that I can't argue with you," Geoff flinched, but Nathanial kept talking, "The lights weren't exactly Fey, I don't think. They seemed to be some spell I don't know, but it had components of my altered Mage Light spell, that firefly version of it, and the changes I accidentally made to the Binding Tentacles spell. The changes that made it uncontrollable and aggressive. I think. Oh, and intelligent, to some degree. I dismissed the lights, so it seems I didn't make the change that had them self powered. That could've been bad. I don't know what the rest of it was, but I think the core came from those two spells. Maybe it had some parts from Ghost Galleon; it looked kind of familiar, but not too familiar." Nathanial looked a little depressed.

Kiera caught that, too. "You were hoping you summoned will-o'-wisps?"

Nathanial shrugged. "Kind of. I haven't read anything that said they've been sighted in a long time. The latest sighting I read about was from in the Industrial Revolution during the Unseelie War. It would've been neat to be able to say I saw one. Summoned one."

Geoff stopped the new tangent, "The Spirits."

Nathanial smiled at him, a little wryly, but still warm. Geoff's tail started to wag but quickly stopped, making Nathanial's smile get a little wider. "I know, Geoff. I was still looking." He frowned. "They're pretty far away; I haven't found anyone, yet." Nathanial looked around. "Snow?" The dog walked around a building, and Nathanial met Snow's eyes. They stared at each other for a minute before Nathanial spoke, again, "Thanks, Snow."

Five more mastiffs showed up and started running off in all directions, but Snow stayed by Nathanial. Nathanial answered the questioning looks, "Snow is sending the pack out looking; twelve are going out from where we last saw them, five from here, and one is staying in the Plane of Darkness so they can get back easily. And Snow will stay by me so he can talk to me." Nathanial scowled, fiercely. "Rolph went toward the cliffs. Should we head over there, or wait for word from Snow?"

Geoff rubbed his forehead. He wanted nothing to do with his uncle, but they needed to make sure everyone was all right, and Rolph was too valuable to lose. "Cliffs. Go with a more certain lead rather than wait around; besides, none of them are as valuable to the Clan as Rolph is."

Nathanial opened a portal while giving Geoff an oblique look. "A life is a life, Geoff. Can you honestly say someone is more valuable than someone else?"

Kiera's jaw tightened, but she said nothing.

Geoff shook his head. "Hello? Dark Spirit here. It's what I've been hearing my whole life. Elementals are more valuable than non-Elementals. Light and Dark Elementals are the most valuable of all. Those with stronger powers are more valuable than those with weaker powers, but that gets affected by the contributions to the Clan. The Alpha is second in value to me, then Da, then Rolph and Gwen. It's drummed into everyone's head, and everyone has a rough idea of the Clan's hierarchy that way. Strength still rules here, Nats. Strength and status, but status is strongly affected by strength."

Nathanial grimaced, again. "I hate that. It's so wrong."

They walked through, with Kiera following Nathanial and ahead of Geoff. Nathanial closed the portal behind Snow and looked around. "Over there." He pointed along the cliff top toward a dark shape, which was standing at the edge of the cliff staring at three glowing lights. One hindpaw was raised in mid-step out over the open air. Nathanial sighed, "I dismissed the spell. What are they still doing here?" He began running toward the wayward Spirit, with the other two Spirits following.

Geoff's mind latched onto the thought of 'wayward Spirit', and it made him chuckle. He intoned in a deep voice, "Lost Spirit has been found..."

Nathanial began laughing and answered, "Hades have mercy on the lost..."

Kiera looked at them like they were mad, but said nothing as she moved up to stay between Geoff and Rolph.

They slowed down as they got close to Rolph; he was still frozen in mid-step, but they could see his muscles quivering as if he was fighting something. His voice was full of grief as he whispered, "Ainfean," and leaned slightly farther forward as he reached for the lights.

Nathanial's voice sounded loud as he asked, "Who's Ainfean?"

Rolph gave a start and stumbled backward, before tripping and landing on his rump. "The fuck!?" He jumped up and manifested. "What the hells are you doing here? Get away from me, or I'll burn you to ash, Mage!"

Nathanial cackled, sounding just like Jack Skelington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, again. "Ooh! So scary!" His voice dropped a few octaves, "Try it, you quivering little cinder, and I'll bury you in the Dark."

Geoff growled, "Stop it! Both of you! Nathanial, we have to find the rest. Uncle Rolph, your friends are in danger."

Both of them snarled at each other but then looked away.

The three lights drifted closer to them, twinkling in a friendly manner. Geoff's ears twitched as he heard Faelen calling for him. "Faelen? What are you doing here?" He looked around, but couldn't see his friend. It sounded like Faelen was partway down the cliff. Geoff went over to check when he was suddenly grabbed and thrown to the ground.

Kiera stood over Geoff glaring at him, angrily, with Nathanial standing beside her looking worried. Rolph looked... scared? Sympathetic? Amused? He certainly looked amused, now.

Kiera grabbed Geoff's shirt and half lifted him. "Where were you going? A midnight stroll through empty air?"

Nathanial looked at the lights and tapped his muzzle as he paced along the cliff. "These are different." The lights kept pace with Nathanial, twinkling merrily. "They have Fey magic in them, but I can't tell if they are actual Fey, or if a Fey just tampered with my spell at some point. I... don't think they're will-o'-wisps."

Rolph chuffed, "Will-o'-wisps? They're extinct, Mage. You creatures wiped them out when you sided with the Knights against the other magic beings."

Nathanial waved at the lights, dismissively. "Shoo." They floated off over the water, curving slightly to go toward the far side of the harbour instead of out into the Atlantic. "I meant go back to where ever you came from, or for the spell to end." The lights blinked out. "Thank you."

Nathanial turned to Rolph. "I think the Arcane Society sucks. I think the Hunters of the Damned should be hunted down and sent to Tartarus. I think the Knights Templar have it all wrong and should join the Monks. Everyone has the right to exist and live in peace, unless they choose to live off of other sentients. Spirits, Mages, Furs, Fey, Nightwalkers, whatever. Don't paint us all with the same brush, Rolph. I'm quitting the Society when I'm old enough."

Rolph grinned evilly. "If you live long enough, Mage. Get off Clan lands and don't come back, or you won't get the chance."

Geoff stood up, since Kiera had finally moved away. He ignored his uncle for the moment and asked Nathanial, "Has Snow's pack found anyone else?"

Nathanial glared at Rolph as he answered, "No. If you fucking try anything, asshole, to hurt Conor, Geoff, Faelen, or their families..."

Kiera shouted, "Stop it! Stop it, now! We have a bunch of missing Spirits to find, and this isn't helping! Do you, either of you, want me to call the Alpha to tell him why they went missing or why we aren't looking for them?"

Rolph and Nathanial looked away from each other and reluctantly muttered, "No."

Geoff saw Kiera relax, obviously very relieved that things stopped escalating. Geoff shook his head. "Okay, can you sense anyone else in the area, Nathanial?"

"No, but this section of the cliff isn't stable," Nathanial said as he began quickly waking farther inland. He was followed by shocked stares, then a hastily moving trio of Spirits and one lackadaisical mastiff.

Nathanial stopped a hundred metres or so in. He closed his eyes and looked like he was focusing.

Rolph began humming the Itsy Bitsy Spider rhyme, which made Nathanial start to smile. A rather creepy looking smile, too.

Kiera gulped as she saw it. "Can you two just focus, please?"

Rolph smirked, then leered at her. "Sure, just take off your top, and..."

He was cut off when she punched him in the nose. "Don't even go there, Mr. McDougal," Her voice was icy.

He growled angrily and manifested. "Fucking bitch!"

Nathanial giggled, "Oooh! Is it play time?"

Kiera staggered away from Nathanial, horrified. "No! No, please, just everyone..."

Snow let out a loud bark, silencing Nathanial, but it made Kiera and Rolph scream and shout.

Nathanial rubbed his head. "Snow found some of them, they've fallen into some sort of aquifer. Two are in the water and can't get out, and another is on a ledge, bleeding. Snow thinks he's hurt pretty badly."

Kiera's voice was shaky as she asked, "Can you open a portal by them? It's probably the old quarry."

"No. I don't know where it is, and even if I did, I can't see it. I might open the portal in someone. I don't know what would happen, but it wouldn't be good."

Geoff became manifest. "I know where it is. It'll be quicker to fly and it'll save some of your magic." He focused and made two bats, then made a pair of wings for himself. "Will you ride with Nathanial, Snow?"

Rolph's belligerently cut in, "Hey! What about me? Or do I get to ride with the O'Conall?"

Kiera bristled, but Geoff just answered politely, "Sure, I can make a bat for you; I just didn't think you'd trust me enough not to drop you. No, you won't ride with Kiera; the bat can't support that much weight." His uncle gave him a dark, searching look, which Geoff just met evenly.

Rolph shrugged. "Fine, nephew, I'll try to behave. Now, make me a bat. I'm not sitting out of this. It's my duty as the Alpha's eldest. His heir."

Geoff struggled to keep his eyes from rolling, but he made a bat and got everyone on. He jumped into the air and began flying to the old quarry.

It took five minutes or so to get there; it was on the far side of the cluster of the Clan houses, and it was fairly far in the woods. It would've been a little faster, but it was hard to orient themselves in the air. They could see the three Spirits. The two in the water looked like they were getting tired, and the third had fallen a couple metres and seemed to have broken a leg. The old quarry was an open pit, mostly full of water; one side was a good bit higher than the other, and was used for diving by the young Spirits. The injured Spirit must've stepped right off to fall onto the ledge.

Nathanial sounded confused, "Why don't those two just climb out? It looks like there are several areas to get out from."

Rolph laughed. "Drunk, Mage. Billy and Dudley were drinking a lot this evening. Not much else to do since you keep us locked up here."

Kiera looked disgusted. "Dubhaltach, I should have known. And his buddy William the Wastrel." She snorted. "Gods have mercy, those two. They aren't 'locked up here', they're young enough to do something, like go to school and be useful. They could go get jobs and help support the Clan, financially. They could help around the Clan lands. Don't go blaming the Mages for this one, Mr. McDougal, it's all on them."

Nathanial shook his head. "Don't go blaming Mages, anyway. Blame the Society if you want, it's their decision. Not all of us agree with it. Anyway, how do we get them out? I could pull the ones in the water to shore, but they might panic and drown themselves if they're drunk."

Geoff sighed. "I'll just make some something and get them out. Save your magic." He directed the bats to land on the lower elevation, as close to the Spirits as he could. He focused and made a large squid, before he flew out over them. "Hey!" He called out, "It's Geoff! I made something to get you out of the water, just relax!" The squid wrapped some tentacles around them and dragged them to shore, keeping their heads above water. Despite his warning they screamed and struggled, but they were too tired and drunk to do much.

The injured Spirit was a little more complicated. Geoff circled overhead twice before going with the simplest solution he could think of. He landed and made a bridge going over to the ledge; now that he thought of it, he could've done that with the other two.

Nathanial and Rolph ran along it and stopped on the rock, before glaring at each other. Nathanial's lip curled as he said, "I can open a portal right to the Alpha's, if you want to carry him through."

Rolph sounded just as disgusted as he said, "So you can close it behind me and leave me out of the rest? I won't abandon my responsibilities like that." The middle aged wolf between them moaned in pain.

Nathanial took a deep breath before he struggled to calmly say, "Fine. I promise not to close it behind you, all right? I can do it myself, if you don't trust me."

Rolph's eyes narrowed as he thought for a moment, both of them ignoring the person between them. "Fine. I'll do it." He reached down and hauled the wolf up and slung him over his shoulder, which caused the injured person to yelp in pain. "Shut it, would you?" Rolph said to the Sprit. Nathanial opened the portal and Rolph walked through. "Da! Hey, Da! I got some injured guy, uh, Eammon, here. Take him off my paws, would you!?"

Geoff got 'Dudley' and William through, while Grandda and Geoff's mother ran out of their houses. He noticed Nathanial was staying out of the Alpha's sight.

Avery put her paws on her hips as she glared at the soaked Spirits. "Dubhaltach and William. Drunk, again? Bacchus has two overly devout followers in you two. You're disgraceful."

Alpha Luke raised his voice, "Tanai, call the nurse... right. Faed..." He ran his large paw over his face and growled. "Avery, you go call the nurse. Let me deal with this." Avery gave a slight bow and ran back into her house, while the Alpha turned to his son. "Rolph, that isn't the way to carry someone who's injured." He took Eammon from his son and carefully put him down. "How bad is it, pup?"

Eammon weakly smiled. "I'll be fine, Alpha. Don't get mad at Rolph, he was trying to save me from that damned Mage's magic."

Geoff growled angrily, "It wasn't Nathanial... Ah, it was Nathanial's magic and his friend that found you. You could've bled to death while your drunkard friends drowned because of their stupidity! They were only a few metres from shore, but they were too drunk to find it!"

Rolph growled in Geoff's general direction, "They wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for that Mage in the first place!"

"And he wouldn't have used magic if you weren't trying to corner us before that!" Geoff felt his own temper flaring to match Rolph's; faint flickers of light were flaring to life across his uncle's fur, despite the fact he wasn't manifested.

"Silence!" The Alpha's descendants fell silent at his roar, "Nathanial Marks! Get over here!"

Geoff saw a trembling Nathanial creep through the portal. He stood behind Geoff and stared down at his hindpaws. Geoff struggled to stay where he was and not go comfort his boyfriend. When Geoff saw Rolph's delighted smile at how scared Nathanial looked, he could help but growl loudly and step toward the bully menacingly.

His grandfather stopped him simply by saying his name. The warning was very clear, but the growing smile on his uncle's face was almost enough to make him ignore his grandfather.

"Just try me, little nephew. You aren't in my class, not even close." Rolph sounded utterly contemptuous as he manifested. "You can f..." He was cut off when he was suddenly flung across the yard.

Nathanial stepped around Geoff then began skipping toward Rolph, who jumped up with a howling roar. Nathanial's voice was light but still managed to carry a threatening note, "You want an itsy, bitsy, spider, cinder pup? I know where I can get one for..."

It was Nathanial's turn to be cut off, this time by two large domes of rock, one over the Mage and the other over the Fire Elemental. The Alpha was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, seemingly torn between anger and amusement. His voice didn't sound all that amused, "What the fuck is it with you two!? Can't you spend more than ten seconds in each other's presence without coming to blows? Don't answer, just... stay there. O'Conall. Report." He held up a paw as he called back over his shoulder, "Tanai, get me a glass of scotch... fuck. Damned rottweiler." He rubbed his chin. "He had great taste in scotch, though." He shook his head. "Go ahead, Kiera."

She gave a quick bow and ran through the relevant events of the night, ignoring the kiss and when they went in separate directions for a few minutes. She ended with, "It seems they're protective of each other, sir. Neither seems able to stand aside when they think their friend is being threatened, just like Faelen can't."

"Is the Mage a threat to the Clan if he drew that many Spirits off to who knows where, that easily?"

Kiera seemed reluctant to answer the question, but she sounded honest when she said, "He's... no more a threat than someone makes him. I've only felt... concerned around him when it seems Nathanial feels there's a... threat, in one fashion or another, to Geoff McDougal."

Geoff wondered if she was including an emotional 'threat' in that, for when Nathanial got jealous.

Nathanial telepathically said to Geoff, *Snow found the rest. They're scattered around the countryside, unharmed. Some of them seem a little disoriented and drunk, but most of them are making their way back. No one was injured. It seems all of the other lights vanished when I dismissed them, so whatever was drawing the Spirits on left.*

Geoff relayed that on to the others, and he saw Kiera relax, slightly. She must've been genuinely worried; his grandda just nodded almost indifferently.

Kiera looked around for something before hesitantly asking, "Is... Snow able to judge something like how healthy someone is or how dangerous of a situation they're in? He's not like us, from what I understand."

Geoff, who was still manifested, could see Snow wandering around her, but he knew no one could see the dog any more than they could see him... which he should probably fix. He suppressed his power and shrugged. "I'm not sure. He's familiar enough with us, so he can relate that to the Spirits he found. He'd easily be able to judge things by how scared they were; if they aren't scared they probably aren't in any danger."

Avery walked out of her house carrying some towels. She threw them at 'Dudley' and William, as her lips curled back in a snarl. She glared at the two sodden Spirits, who were still huddled on the ground. "Get up and dry off, before you catch cold and use up more of the Clan's resources. Gods, you two need to start pulling your own weight before we decide to exile you. It's not like you're even worthwhile as potential fathers."

They blinked up at her, mutely, as if they could barely understand her, but they struggled to get to their hindpaws and began drying their heads.

The Alpha addressed the two domes of rock, "You two going to behave?" He was answered by muffled 'yeses', so he lowered the domes of rock. Nathanial and Rolph were sitting there; Nathanial was looking a little nervous, and Rolph was still a little steamed, but no longer in his manifest state. Luke seemed satisfied by their generally subdued expressions. "Rolph, go home. Nathanial, with me. You were brought here for a reason, I want you to stop making trouble and do your job."

Rolph glared at Nathanial, then his father as he stood. "What? No 'thank you, Rolph' for saving these three? No, 'good job for stopping the psycho Mage terrorizing the Clan'?" He snorted, then stalked away, "Yeah, whatever. I know the drill, Da. Have fun trying to keep that pup in line. I certainly won't let Mages run free when I take your job."

Nathanial was staring after Rolph with an odd expression, he almost looked sympathetic. The akita picked at some of the burnt grass beside him from his earlier run in with Rolph as his ears drooped.

Alpha McDougal shook his head and suppressed his Spirit. "Hera help me, what am I going to do with him?" He began walking toward Geoff's house.

Nathanial bounced up and began following, his tail drooping as much as his ears. "You could say 'thank you' to him. Maybe an 'I love you, Son' once in a while, too."

The giant wolf stopped in his tracks. "What? Why...? Mind your own business, Nathanial. You're here to look at the teleporter, according to Conor, not meddle in things that are well beyond you. When you've, heh, if you somehow have pups of your own, you can talk to me, one da to another. Until then, stay out things you don't understand."

Kiera looked at Nathanial and opened her mouth, but closed it again without saying anything.

Geoff growled as he saw the hurt expression on Nathanial's face. "He's raised his two brothers on his own, Grandda. I'd say he's fully qualified to talk to you about how to raise pups. I think he's right. Uh, I guess. Well, Uncle Rolph is a complete ass and a bully, but it couldn't hurt to try."

His grandda looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "That's the first time you've growled at me, Geoff. I don't think I like it. I'm guessing you didn't like the way I talked to your friend?"

The stress on the word 'friend' was very slight, but Geoff caught it. He blushed and involuntarily took a submissive posture.

"Better, pup. Mind your place; I'm your Alpha and your grandda. Don't talk back to me."

It was Nathanial that growled, this time. "It sounds like you could use a bit more talking back to. Are you so afraid of being contradicted, of being wrong, that you can't listen to another viewpoint? Maybe you should stop being Alpha all the time and try being a father and grandfather more. You might be surprised at how much it'd help you be a better Alpha."

The Alpha stopped at the top of the steps by the front door and spun around to glare at Nathanial. "You two really can't stand seeing the other get put down, can you? Nathanial, shut your yap, I don't want to hear any of this from you, and Geoff, if you want to come along, stay quiet." He seemed to notice Kiera. "O'Conall, as you will."

Kiera bowed. "Sir." She nodded to everyone else and left.

Geoff felt himself stiffen up in anger, and saw Nathanial's hackles rise. Geoff knew he was angry at how indifferently Kiera was dismissed. Just like Uncle Rolph said, there was no indication of gratitude or acknowledgement of the job done. Geoff twitched, he couldn't really believe he agreed with his uncle on something. First Nathanial had made him feel sympathy for Hunters, and now he felt sorry for Rolph. Not that he'd ever trust his uncle, well, certainly not any time soon.

Avery was left outside with the three they rescued, while they waited for the nurse to get there. She put her finger up to her lips when Geoff glanced at her, in a shushing gesture. He nodded and kept following Nathanial.

They went downstairs and into the teleporter room. Grandda Luke stopped just inside the door and stepped aside. He motioned Nathanial on. "Get to it, Nathanial."

Nathanial looked at it, then at Geoff. He gulped and met the Alpha's eyes. "U-um, if I'm being ordered to do this, then it isn't a favour to Conor anymore. We need to talk about payment."

Geoff's jaw dropped, and he saw a small smile flicker across his grandda's muzzle before it was replaced with a glower. The Alpha indignantly asked, "Payment? How much money are we talking about, Mage?"

Nathanial glanced at Geoff, again. He straightened up, and said, firmly, "I don't need money; that's not what I'm talking about."

Geoff felt like he was going to melt through the floor. He'd never felt so embarrassed, scared, or proud in his life. Or so in love. He didn't notice he murmured, "Oh, Nathanial," out loud, but they did.

The Alpha actually did smile for a second this time. Just a second, but it was there. "What the fuck you talking about, Mage?!" The fury in that roar didn't sound faked.

Geoff didn't realize he moved, but he was suddenly nose to nose with his grandfather, yelling right back, "Don't you dare talk to my boyfriend like that! I don't care if you are my grandda or an alpha; no one yells at him and gets away with it!" He blanched as soon as he noticed what he said and stepped back.

His grandda snorted, "Finally. So what does that make you, if you have a boyfriend, Geoff?"

Geoff wanted to curl up and die, but he forced himself to say, "I-I'm gay, Grandda Luke. Nathanial is my b-boy... my boyfriend."

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" His face was stony, and his voice sounded... mixed. Angry, happy, proud, disappointed, upset, amused. A complete mess, really. "So, oh, gay Spirit, how are you going to deal with the mess you've chosen to throw in my face?"

Geoff wasn't sure how to answer. The most obvious thing to say was a question, "You aren't angry? You don't hate me? You... aren't going to kill me for being... gay, are you?"

He was met by a moments silence, then his grandda turned around and walked to the wall he was now facing. He leaned against it, with his head resting on the forearm of his right arm. "Yes, no, and by law, I should. I should, at the very least, kill Nathanial for corrupting you."

Geoff's blood ran cold. The way it was said, so tired and indifferent, was even scarier than the yelling from earlier. He had no idea what to do or say, and it looked like Nathanial was just as uncertain. "Grandda? I-I can't... I couldn't let you do that. I love him, I won't let you hurt him, please... just tell me you won't."

His grandfather stayed where he was, his tone unchanged. "Our lives would've been easier if Avery did kill him at that first dinner. She may have acted without thinking, emotionally, but she was following the law... both Spirit and Society law. I'm the Alpha, Geoff. My duty is to enforce the law, to keep the peace in the Clan and in the Hidden World at large. What do you want me to do? I can't kill you; you're the only Dark Spirit known to currently exist in the world. It'd cause a civil war. I can't exile you for the same reason, with the difference being that every clan would be fighting to try to claim you. And in both those cases word would get out and Nathanial would still be killed, and the Hunters and Knights would seize... fuck it. You've probably heard all this anyway, but if I don't follow the law and do my duty, I'll lose all but the flimsiest shred of authority. I'll be forced to step down and that'd just pass the problem off to whomever replaced me, which would be your father or uncle, meaning the other would likely have been killed in the duel to claim the title. A duel you'd be forced to watch. Could you watch your father fight to the death, pup?"

Geoff fell to his knees as he tried to keep from throwing up.

"Change the laws, then." Nathanial sounded so matter-of-fact that it made both Spirits turn to stare at him in shock. He shrugged and continued, though his knees were shaking slightly, "You are the Alpha. Speak to the council, personally explain the situation to those you think are amenable, and convince them to pass a bill striking down the law. Get the younger Spirits to start making noise to push for it. There's a lot of things that need to be done to pull the Hidden World out of the Medieval Era, and this is one that's in the news enough to be relevant to most." He stepped over to Geoff, knelt, and wrapped his violently shaking arms around the wolf. "I-I won't give him up. I'll fight for him. I can't let you hurt me, either, 'cause my brothers still need me. I swore before Mount Olympus and on the River Styx that I wouldn't let anything happen to them, I'd fight whomever I needed to to keep them safe. I need Geoff, and they need me; I won't let anyone hurt either of us."

The stunned look on Grandda Luke's face had faded while Nathanial was talking, to be replaced by amusement and a little admiration. "You think it'll be that easy? Idealism is cute in pups, Nathanial, but you're getting too old to be cute."

Nathanial shook his head. "N-no. Not easy, but I think it's necessary. Do you want to try to have this changed through dialogue and a political process or through your sons' duel to the death, or whatever nonsense you go through to resolve major issues? Which is easier?"

Geoff put his paw on Nathanial's and squeezed it. "He's right, Grandda. I couldn't live with myself if Da was killed or hurt because of this, and I'd see the Clan damned and torn apart if they tried to hurt Nathanial. Talking is the only way to fix this without someone getting hurt."

"It'd be easier yet if you just grew out of this like..." He trailed off with a headshake, then continued, "Or owned up to your responsibilities and just kept the Mage on the side. It would've been easier if you kept fancying Faelen and married some Spirit girl. You wouldn't have been the first Spirit to do that. How do you think you can be an alpha and have a gay romance with a Mage?"

Geoff gulped, then stammered, "I-I don't w-want t-to be an alpha. I don't th-think I'd be a good one. Gwen would be a lot better at it than I would."

Alpha Luke's eyes narrowed into slits. His mouth opened and closed once before he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The whole house shook for a few seconds while they heard the sound of heavy rocks crashing together before they heard him cursing and swearing as he stormed away.