{"sf1_id":622968,"sf2_id":null,"title":"From Barrow to Barrow, part 2","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":5532,"posted_at":"2013-12-07T13:38:00.000Z","tags":["Dragon","Human","Legend","Transformation","Unicorn","sword"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/622968-from-barrow-to-barrow-part-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/622968","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=622968\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#23 of Robbin Red","content":" Jon-Tom\nand Alma scouted for a place to set up a foundry. There was an abandoned and\nruined castle sitting on a hill a few miles from the village. It was mostly\nwalls, but it would give them a protected workspace in which to attempt the\nnear impossible. As a bonus it had a well filled with water. Pike had a wagon\nloaded with the items requested and sent them under heavy guard. It would have\nbeen better not to attract attention with such a display, but he was unable to\nsway the Lord Pike to do it any other way. The blacksmith, a big man who was\nnonetheless shorter than Jon-Tom, asked what he could do. Jon-Tom told him to\nhold still. A moment later he had all of the man's information transferred to\nhis own mind. He had never realized that making a blade took so much effort.\nThose shark teeth back at Hobarrow would have sufficed most wonderfully for\nthis project.  Jon-Tom\nallowed the boy to come with them. He warned him explicitly that what he was\ngoing to see was going to be difficult for his young mind to grasp. The boy was all eagerness and interest. He\ntold them there was nothing that could surprise him any more than they already\nhad. He maintained that creed until Alma slowly transformed into a dragon. Of\ncourse, there were no such things here, but the boy wasn't aware of that. He\nmanaged to run behind a wall before his bowels cut loose. He came\nback looking sheepish. \"Sorry about that. I've never seen the like o'that. I\ndidn't know that yer horse be magical.\" \"That's\nalright Arf. I just hope your bowels are empty.\" Without another word he\ntransformed into the biggest, blackest horse the boy had ever seen. The boy stared wide-eyed. Then he too passed\nout. It was an old standby for the brain; when confronted by the indescribable,\nshut down and reboot. When the boy awoke, he was greeted by the smell of smoke\nand brimstone. The\ndragon was releasing a steady stream of fire at the dark chunk of rock. The\nedges were beginning to glow. Every once\nin a while the dragon paused to inhale, and then it was back to blowing fire. Arf\nwas simply amazed. No such creatures were within his knowledge, nor were humans\nthat changed into other animals. Those were tales told of the gods, such as Tuatatis.\nThe thought made him shiver. But he had\nmore to fear from his fellow humans than from these...these; whatever they were. He\nstayed and asked questions, which the big black horse answered as best he\ncould. All through the night the flames\ncontinued, causing the overhead clouds to glow eerily. Come morning, he awoke\nagain to the abrupt sound of clanging. The black horse was propped up over the\nchunk of rock, pounding the glowing mass with his fore hoof. Sparks flew with\neach hit. After a while, the horse stepped down and the dragon heated the rock\nagain. Then on with the banging. Again with the sparks. Then an application of\nflame again.  For hours\nand hours they worked. The metal glowed with a life of its own after the first\nday. And all this while, from time to time, the big black would place his\ncoiled horn onto the mass. He would hold his head still until the tip of the\nhorn began to glow. He would then pull it away and the dragon, with a similar\nmotion, did the same sort of thing. And then back to the pounding. When the\nmetal was flattened out, it was folded by strong dragon hands. And then back to\npounding. And sparks. And more flame. This went\non for days. The boy tried to get them to eat, but neither would relent. After\nfour days of comings and goings he was feeling that magical or not, these creatures were\nnever going to finish their work. As he approached the old castle, he was\nstruck by the silence. He took off at a run. Once inside he found it abandoned.\nBut sitting there, gleaming in the sun was an enormous blade. It had no handle\nor hilt. It was just a bare blade. Well, not \"just\" a blade. It had figures\ninscribed up one side and down the other. He couldn't read, so they meant\nnothing to him. The morning sun reflected off the blade like it was a mirror. The creators were nowhere around. Arf climbed\nup a ruined stairwell leading to an equally decrepit tower. From this vantage\nhe could just make out two figures on a neighboring hilltop. Since one was\nblack and the other was white, the logical conclusion was easy to make. He\nclimbed down and ran towards where they were. When he arrived, the first thing\nhe noticed was that the grass all around them was gone, cropped to the ground.\nBoth of them smelled like a wet fire pit. The black horse was blacker, and the\nwhite horse was gray tinged. The\nblack horse nodded a greeting. \"Hello boy! Did you stop and see our work?\" He\nnodded eagerly. \"Yea, I did! Tis a masterpiece of the hammer, even if no hammer\nbe used. I await the final creation!\" Jon-Tom\nchuckled. \"That will be the easy part. The guard is finished, sans the fine\ngold and silver work. The pommel is also partially done. But those metals are fairly easy to work\nwith. Then it's a scabbard and the sword is done. After that I hand it over to\nPike and our work is done. If he wishes to rally everyone behind this\nimpossible weapon, then so be it. I\ndon't think it will work.\" The\nthree of them walked back to the site of their work and gathered up the gold\ncup and silver bracelets. Jon-Tom changed back to a human, though it took him a\nfew minutes to complete the change. It looked painful. He then stretched and\nwent to work prying the gems out of their sockets. When he was done, he had a\nlittle pile. He held them in his hands for a while, eyes closed, lips mumbling.\nWhen he was done, he dropped them in a depression in the rock. Alma was\nstamping the metal items as flat as she could with her hooves, just like he had\ndone with the sword. The boy noticed how rough his hands looked. He had failed\nto notice his hooves. As they\nworked with the precious metals, the boy played with the gems. They were\npretty, colored as they were in green, red, blue and clear. He eventually grew\nbored with them and curled up in a corner to fall asleep. He woke later when\nthe sun was setting. The tall human,\nfully hooded, was holding the weapon\ngingerly by the blade. The setting sun showed through the large gem on the\npommel. It cast a colored shadow against the stone wall. The amazing thing was\nthe way the man held the weapon, like it was nothing more than a wooden stick. Apparently\nthe man knew he was awake. \"Come here boy. What do you think?\" \"It be\nthe most lovely thing in the whole land, tis that I'm sure!\" The big\nman laughed. \"Oh, it's more than lovely to look upon. It has more to it than\nmeets the eye. Now, whether it works like I expect it to is another story.\" The\nman sounded weary. The boy looked up at him and got a shock. He had aged\ndecades! The horse didn't look much better. \"Sire and, um, lady! What has\nhappened to ye?\" The man\npulled on his beard. \"I've used up what was left of my magic. Now time is\ncatching up with me. It hardly matters that I'm not even born yet, by your\nreckoning. I'm dying because my body ages regardless of what time I'm in. Youth\nwater and other magic will eventually run out. I have hastened it by putting my\nmagic into this sword. So has Alma. It was the most logical thing I could do.\nSince I can't leave, I must die. That way I can avoid doing any harm here. One\nsword will hardly influence the timeline.\" The boy\nwas gazing at them. A tear formed in his eye. \"It ain't right. Ye can't go\ndying on us now! A sword ain't gonna make things better for us nohow, if ye\nain't the one to wield it. Swords only kill!\" Jon-Tom\nsmiled. \"That is true. A sword is designed to cause death. But death is\nsometimes deserved. The question is how to determine that. Many an innocent man has died, and many a bad\nman has lived. The only way to tell the difference is to look deep inside. That\nis a talent none of you have. So I did the best I could.\" The boy\nwas watching the flecks of gold and silver that clung to his robe. They were\npicking up the fading light like so many little stars. Even his beard was\ncoated in the dust, giving him a sparkling appearance. \"But Mare-Aiden sir,\nwon't ye please stay with us? We cannot think to fight on our own. Pike be a\ngood man but no one has heard of 'im outside of this land. Yer fame has spread.\nPeople have traveled to the village looking for ye. They have been turned away\nsince ye wished to be left alone.\" Jon-Tom\nleaned over and kissed the boy's cheek. \"I have nowhere to go, Arf. I will die here. So will Alma. I have no\nstrength left in me to transform again. I might perhaps change to something\nsmaller, but I don't even want to try. It's too bad, because there is so much I\nhave yet to accomplish. It seems to me that I've done more than most wizards.\nThe spellsinger who traveled the cosmos;\nthe human who bedded tigers, lions, leopards, horses, and bears.\" The boy\nlooked sidelong at his new mentor. \"Bears and horses? Be ye serious? Ye be hung\nlike a horse, no doubt, but a bear? That is an amazing feat. The best one does\nhereabouts is the sheep. They ain't too particular as long as ye finish quick-like.\nAnd be you really a wizard? Methought they were myth.\" His\nquestion drew a heavy sigh from the tall man. \"Boy, I couldn't even begin to\ntell you about my life.\" But that gave him an idea. Perhaps he could live on a\nlittle longer as a memory. \"Come here boy.\" He did as he was told. Jon-Tom\ngently pressed his wrinkled forehead to the boy's. It took a while, since he selectively guided\nthe information into his head. There was no point in overloading him. When he\nwas done, the boy looked up at him in admiration.  \"Ye\nwill not die sire. We need ye even more now than before. The sword will mean\nnothing without news of its creation. If ye must die, do so fighting for the\ncause ye so valiantly worked for. Can it hurt in any way?\" Alma\nspoke up. \"The boy is right. We have nothing to lose. It's too bad I will never\nenjoy raising a child, but what will be will be. I don't have much life left in\nme, but I have plenty of fight left in me. I'd rather go down swinging than\nsitting here waiting for the end to come to me.  Jon-Tom\nsighed. \"Oh, what the hell! Screw the timeline.\nLet's go see what we can do to royally mess up history!\" He went\nto get up, but tottered and fell back down. \"Boy, I think we'll stay here one\nmore night. I've got no strength, and I will need a limb as a crutch. So let's\nsettle down for the night.\" They lay\ntogether for warmth, falling into a weary, but uneasy sleep. The\nnext morning the boy found a branch and dragged it to the ruins. The now-old\nman hefted the sword and with swift blows severed the ends. The boy was amazed,\nfor the sword was massive. Leastwise, he\nthought it was. He had never seen anything more than the old, hand-me-down\nRoman short swords everyone used. The man strapped the sword around his waist,\ntook up his new staff, and the three of them walked to the village.  The\nvillagers ran out to meet them and were immediately on guard. It took all of\nthe coaxing that Arf could muster to convince them that these were the same two\nthat had left on an errand of great importance.\nSince the horse still sported a horn, and the old man was in the young\nman's robes, they reluctantly believed it. Magic wasn't something in their\nforte. Word was sent to Pike to come and collect the weapon. Jon-Tom rested and\nate. He also thought about how he would die. If he was to do so in battle, he\nwould be of little use. If he could just drift away while he slept... Pike\ncame the next day. Jon-Tom had placed the sword on a boulder in the middle of\nthe village. He wasn't worried about it being stolen. Pike found out why\nimmediately. He went to pick it up. It wouldn't budge. He might as well have tried\npicking up the stone as well. Jon-Tom tottered out and grasped the handle,\nholding it aloft. He set it back down. \"This sword will not kill an innocent\nman. By the same token, only a man pure of heart can wield it. Therefore, only\nsuch a man may carry it into battle. Only a man who can lift it high can be\nking. Until you find such a man, your quest for peace will be fruitless. Now\nleave me be.\" Pike\nwas crestfallen. He knew he wasn't the best man in the land, but he felt\nbetrayed. \"Why craft such a thing that no man will ever carry? Tis now nothing\nmore than a bauble to attract every crackpot and fool in the land. Any man who\nmight carry it would be too smart to try. All that effort and now I'll be devoid\nof your abilities as well.\" He stormed off, but not without a look back at\nAlma.. He was\ncorrect. As the news spread, many came to try lifting the sword. They all\nfailed. It did have the side effect of making the village prosperous as a\n\"tourist\" destination. Everyone was happy, except for the old healer and his\ncurious horse. They stayed together, rarely coming out into the light. His\nbeard continued to grow. He ate less and less, yet he never seemed to\ncompletely falter. Days passed into weeks, and weeks into months. The parade of\nthe brave and the foolish and the curious continued. Men dressed in fancy robes\nand men dressed in dirty sheepskin comingled in the lines that formed. But nary\ndid the sword budge. When someone made too much of a fuss, the old healer would\ncome out and with a single hand heft it high. Once it was one the boulder\nagain, it couldn't be budged.  More\ntime passed. There was snow on the ground. The boy had grown a few inches\nduring that time, and gained a few more point in intellect. He was constantly\npestering Jon-Tom for information. It\nwas the one thing that brightened Jon-Ton's days. He answered them as best he\ncould. He also asked questions back. One day, just to test his memory, he\nasked, \"How many gems are there on the sword?\" It was\na simple question, and easily answered. The boy ran outside, dusted off the\nsnow, and began counting. The top was just out of his line of vision. He\ngrabbed the pommel to pull himself up to finish counting. Instead, the sword slipped off the rock. He\nlet go of it out of surprise and fear. It clattered to the ground. He looked\naround. No one had heard. He carefully grabbed a hold of it, hoping to put it\nback. It was lighter than he thought it should be. That stone; what had he\ncalled it?; a meteorite, had taken several men to handle it. Now he, a boy\nheading into his teens, was holding it up high.  He\nlooked around again. There, in the doorway, was the healer. His bushy eyebrows\nwere arched above his bright eyes. \"It's about time you figured it out boy. I\nwas never certain, but I came to believe it would be you. I haven't been\nprepping you for nothing. You now have the unenvious task of leading your\npeople into a battle to unify your lands. It is up to you alone.\" Arf quailed.\n\"Me?! There be no way I'm going to lead an army! I must be rid of this sword!\"\nHe ran off into a building snowstorm. He made his way back hours later. The\nsword was nowhere on his person. He refused to tell anyone what he had done\nwith it. Jon-Tom\nwas disappointed. \"I don't blame you boy, but those most suited to rule are\nthose who despise it. Whatever you did\nwith that sword, you'll need to retrieve it someday. I've done what I can for\nyou. I can't make you take it up and rule. You have to decide that on your\nown.\" News of\nthe disappearance of the sword ran like wildfire throughout the hundred\nkingdoms. Pike came a month later, his face set like stone. Only the sight of\nAlma fractured his stiff countenance. But he expressed his dismay in no\nuncertain terms. \"I planned on backing who ever could wield that sword. Now ye\ntell me that someone has made off with it? So who do I support? Some lousy thief with a\ngood heart?\" Arf\nspoke up hotly. \"I be not a thief! I only wished to look at it. I had no idea\nit would come to me hand uncalled for!\" Pike\nknelt beside him. \"You be telling me that you grasped that sword? For the love\nof the gods what have ye done with it?\" The boy\ndropped to the ground. \"I threw it into the marsh. It sank into the darkness of\nthe peat.\" Alma\nstood up. She had been silent for a long time, not wishing to alarm the locals.\n\"Come. If this sword is so damn important, then let us go and get it out of the\nmarsh.\" Pike\nnodded in the negative. \"The waters will eat any metal given enough time, be it\nbronze or iron. That sword will be of no use to anyone now. All our hopes were\nput into one jar, and it has now fractured and spilled its contents. Alma\nstamped her hoof. \"Oh do shut the hell up you dolt! I say we go find it. If, as\nyou say, it will be ruined, then fine, it's ruined. If not, then the boy here\nwill have a second chance to do the right thing. But I will not die without\ngiving it one last try.\" They\nmarched off, leaving a trail through the snow. Their conversation was gloomy.\nEventually they came to a marsh. Snow clung to the banks. Patches of ice sat\nlike water lilies on the surface. \"Where is it?\" Jon-Tom growled. The boy\npointed out towards the center. \"Of course you flung it way out there.\" No one\nremarked that it should have been too heavy for him to have thrown it out\nthere, much less to have dragged it this far. Alma\nwas tired of listening to them. They were either going to walk away with the\nsword, or they weren't. She took in a deep breath and ran forward. Pushing off\nstrongly with her rear hooves, she sailed in the air for a moment before\nhitting the water. She sank like a stone. Ripples radiating outward broke up\nthe patches of ice. Then the surface calmed down to stillness. The men on the\nshore stood in shock. No one said a word. Alma had wanted to die, but no one\nfigured she would end it this way. Jon-Tom thought about it a moment. The cold\nwould numb him quickly. Drowning wouldn't be so bad... Arf let\nout a cry. He pointed to the marsh. The sword was rising from the surface, its\nblade still sharp and shiny. As it rose, the gold and bejeweled handle became\nvisible. Within the handle was a thin, delicate hand. The sword and hand moved\ntowards shore. As it moved, more and more of it was visible. Soon a head broke\nthe surface. It had long white hair streaming down past bare shoulders. Her\neyes were mesmerizing. Her breasts were small, taut, and perfectly formed.\nEvery exposed inch proved to be more perfect than the last. With a final push\nshe stepped onto the bank. She smiled wanly and collapsed. Jon-Tom\nknew it was Alma. It had to be Alma. But Alma couldn't change into a human. The\ndragon was her alternate form. And she, like him, had lost her power. He pulled\noff his robe and wrapped her up. Despite his best effort, he was unable to pick\nher up. Pike pushed him aside and picked up the nude lady. His eyes were full\nof wonder...and something else. Jon-Tom patted the boy on his head. \"Pick up the\nsword. I believe the time has come to strap it on and do some good. You'll not\nallow Alma's sacrifice to go to waste now will you?\" The boy\ndid as he was told. They returned to the village. Pike carried the unconscious\nfemale the whole distance, never once setting her down until they reached the\nhut. Inside, the fire was stirred up and a few logs thrown upon it. She was set\nupon a pile of rags. Her pure white skin and hair played a stark contrast to\nher dirty bed. As the fire grew, orange light played across her form. She\nshuddered a few times, absorbing the heat like a black hole. She coughed weakly\nand sat up.  Jon-Tom\nsat down beside her. \"You intended to die without me? That's just rude!\" He had\na slight smile. She returned it. \"No, not die. I was tired of foolish males\nplaying foolish games.\" She turned to Arf . \"Listen to me boy. If you can lift\nthe sword, then so be it. You don't have to like your destiny; you merely have\nto embrace it.\" She turned to Pike. \"And you, you stupid fool. Do you love me\nor not? I have seen your heart; do you know how it feels towards me?\" Pike\nwas taken aback. \"Milady, are you truly Alma?\" She\nshivered a little, drawing closer to the fire. \"I am. I didn't think I could\ntransform again, until something Jon, err, Mare-Aiden said. He said he couldn't\nchange, unless it was to a smaller form. I had nothing to lose. He was so\ncertain that I should be able to change to human. I guess he was right. Being a\ndragon was more imbued in my magical ability than in my inherent form. But he\nis correct in thinking that this is it. I can no longer change. Unless by some\nwondrous miracle, I will remain like this until I die.\" Pike\nwas quite downhearted. \"Milday, ye don't intend to do that anytime soon, do\nye?\" She\nreached out and grasped his hand. \"Do you love me?\" \"Yes\nmilady, I do. I loved you when ye were a horse, or whatever ye were. I deemed\nit improper to say anything. A man may lay with a sheep, but marrying a horse\nwould not be tolerated. But now, a man and a woman might do so without\nattracting too much discussion.\" \"Good,\nyou silly man. You have a lot to learn, but at least you learn quickly.!\" She\nturned to her original companion. \"I hope you don't think me fickle. I had no\nfuture with you, either there nor here. I hate to see you die in a land and a time\nthat is foreign to you. I simply don't know what to do to help.\" Then she got a\nlook on her face. \"Or maybe I do!\" Thus it was that Eve and Sybeele finally\nfound him. They had searched for a long time before they could locate the\nbarest thread of his presence. Stones that had long lay there, pushed and\npulled in place by hand, flew away like leaves in a breeze. Inside the barrow\nlay an old man. His robe was covered in dust and mold, his beard tangled and\ngray. His fingernails and toenails curled out like corkscrews. But he still had\na spark of life left in him. It was like a tiny ember in a tinderbox, glowing\nwith persistent determination.  Sybeele\nplaced her hand over his body and willed power into him. It was like trying to\npush a pinecone backwards into a knothole. But ever so slowly, life returned to\nhim. When they were satisfied that he would survive the trip back, Eve powered\nup and in a flash, they were gone. Years later, the curious came to look at the\nblown out barrow. Since the actual incident was unwitnessed, fantastic fables\nsprung up surrounding the occurrence. They were far more tame then the facts. Still,\nover the years, the barrow became a thing of great fear. The horror barrow, or,\nas it was oft abbreviated, the Hobarrow. Back in the other Hobarrow, for the sake of\nargument, the real one, sat three beings of great power. Two were female, the\nother male. The male was in a pretty pissy mood, for lack of a better term. \"I'm\nnot shaving, nor am I cutting my nails, nor am I going to do anything until I\ndamn well feel like it. In the meantime you can tell what happened after that\nidiot Alma locked my life-force to my body. I have never been so angry with\nsomeone in my entire existence!\" Eve\nlooked at Sybeele. \"Should we tell him?\" The girl nodded. \"Yes, for if we\ndon't, he'll simply rant and pout until we do.\" Eve\ndrew in a breath, more for effect than the necessity of breathing. \"I think you\nknew what you were doing. You were right in thinking that you had no way back.\nAlma used her power recklessly. She should never have tried that trick. I\nadmire her spunk, despite the ill effects it caused. Following my tether was a stroke of genius.\nThe problem was she left none for herself to follow back. What I don't\nunderstand is why both of you chose to dump your power into a sword.\" He was\nstill pretty irritable. \"Because we had nothing else to do with our power\nexcept allow it to slip away over time. I found going out with a flash to be\nfar better. I'm old, dammit! I can put on a smile and say I'm fine, but I'm\nnot. I always do my best, but sometimes it's not enough. I'm spread out thin - like\ngold leaf. I may look flashy, but it's only a thin layer anymore. I need a rest\nfor real. But to hell with me. What happened to Alma? Why didn't you bring her\nback?\" Sybeele\nstepped up. \"We would have, had she not already been dead. We didn't find you\nfor hundreds of years after you were buried. By then, we could hardly go back\nagain and retrieve you before you were buried. Besides, we did a little\ndigging. It seems that what you did had no harmful effects on the timeline.\" He\ngrunted and spit. \"Bullshit! I did my best to interfere this time. I wasn't\ngoing to, but then it came to me; if I made a mess of it, maybe the backlash\nwould kill me. I have the worst luck in the world!\" Eve\nsmacked him. \"Happily, you don't. That sword was a bit of brilliance, though I\nthink you know that already. As for Alma, she seems to have married a local man.\nSomeone named Spear.\" He\ngrunted again. \"His name was Pike. Not a bad fellow. Apparently they fell in\nlove with each other.\" Sybeele\ncorrect him. \"The bard's tales claimed his name was something else. Lance, of\nthe region of Lott. He took up the banner of the holder of the sword, a child\nprodigy named Arthur.\" \"Arf,\"\nhe started to correct. Then he stopped. Arf. Arfur. Arthur. King Arthur. But\nthere was no such king. He was a fabrication. The sword in the stone. But it\nwasn't in a stone, merely upon it. But then, in his head, he remembered the\nblacksmith's memories. There was something in there about pulling a sword from\nthe metal. He, Jon-Tom, had done just that. He had pulled that sword out of a\nmeteorite. And a meteorite was essentially just a stone. And\nthen there was Alma. She had dived into the freezing waters to retrieve it\nafter the boy had discarded it. She came back with it in human form. From then\non who knows how things had progressed. Apparently enough to include the rest\nof the Knights of the Round Table and the building of Camelot. Enough to creat\na mythos that had lasted for centuries. And he, Jon-Tom, the originator of it\nall, had slept through most of it.\" But\nwhat of the wizard in the story? He nearly had an answer for that. Eve had a\ndefinite one. \"When you left here, you had the sense to use the name the locals\ngave you over that incident with the dragon's brew. Apparently some language\nfrom your world called the sea - mare. The word works better for a horse, but\nthat hardly matters. You were called Mare Aiden. Over the years that got\nbastardized and misquoted until it finally became Mer-Lin. Does that name ring\na bell?\" He\nswatted her behind. \"You know it does. So, did Alma go on to have a good life?\nDid she have the children she so desperately wanted?\" Then his eyes hardened.\n\"And what the hell happened to that sword? You know that the spells laid on it,\neven though they were hardly my best work, were still more powerful than anyone\nin my world could handle. And it will never rust or corrode. It'll last\nforever!\" Sybeele\nnodded approvingly. \"Nor can it be used against someone who is innocent. You\ndid a fine job crafting it. Thankfully, Arthur had it buried with you after he\nmerged the many conflicting kingdoms. It's safe and sound. It's not like anyone\nwas going to run off with it, now was it? As for Alma, there is no reference\nmade to her. We think she changed her name so as to not disturb the fabric of\ntime, though she hardly could have done that. Any idea on that?\" His\neyes hardened even more. \"How did you get it? Not that I'm doubting you\nexactly, but that sword was gauged to respond to only three people, Arthur,\nAlma and myself. I don't care how much power you have, countering those spells\nwould have been difficult. As for Alma, I don't know. She did mention liking\none little girl's name.\" Eve\nsmiled. \"Like she said, you did well. I simply put your hands around it,\nclamped them shut and had you carry it. There\nwas no problem.\" Sybeele\nasked, \"What was the little girl's name?\" He had\nto think a moment. His brain was cloudy on some of the details. \"The tailor's\ndaughter was Marion. The other little girl was...Gwen.\" The two\nfemales arched the brows. \"Just Gwen?\" \"Yes,\njust Gwen. She lived in that little village called Vere.\" Then it hit him like\na thousand darts. Gwen...of Vere. Guinevere. She was, in legend, the wife of King Arthur.\nBut Arthur was much too young. Pike was a bit more mature, and to her liking. The\ngirls watched the realization cross over his face. \"So now, for the love of me and all that is\ngood, will you please get cleaned up? You look like hell and you smell like\nrotted meat!\" He\nsighed. \"I suppose I will. But once I am done doing that, I believe I'll stroll\nover to Huntchy's and see how his adventure turned out. I'm way behind on\nofficiating at his nuptials.\"Eve looked a Sybeele. They both\nlooked at him. \"Uh, I guess we didn't make this clear. Despite the fact that\nyou were gone for several hundred years your time, we brought you back ten\nminutes after you left. As far as anyone knows, you and Alma just wandered off.\nWe'll leave you to explain the fine details to everyone.\" He ran his nails through his beard. They\ncaught and grabbed on the way down. He scratched his backside with much the\nsame result. He winced just a little. Time travel, he thought to himself, is\nmuch the same. A big pain in my ass!","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/622023-from-barrow-to-barrow-part-1.json"}