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This made the remaining Valkyries burst into laughter and clap him solidly on his back.
“Was that too far?” he asked, and Silvi snorted.
“It’s the only thing she understands. Trust me, she’ll like you even more now.” She paused. “Not that that’s necessarily a good thing.”
Rena and Ingrid laughed even harder as the three walked back to the others.
“Your abilities with magic have grown exceptionally,” Xiong said, and he nodded. “Could that be due-”
“I’m aware,” he said in interruption, and Xiong nodded then changed the subject.
“We’re so pleased you gave your daughter another chance at life, then returned to have your children here,” Xiong sighed to him happily.
Henry looked sharply at Xiong.
“Did you not feel her? We did! She was so happy!” the Glass Being sighed.
Henry’s eyes were filling with tears again, and Xiong looked to his friend. “Oh! I’ve upset you?”
Struggling to regain his composure, Henry shook his head and put his hand on Xiong’s shoulder. “No, I-I don’t understand how any of this works, but to know she’s happy is enough. Please don’t share this with Sigrid or the others.”
Xiong bowed, and Henry felt the village’s agreement too. He sent them all a hug.
Henry wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled. “I have some ladies I need to take to the hot springs.”
He said his goodbyes and joined Sigrid and her entourage.
Sandy looked pitifully at him. “I really need to take a shower.”
“How would you like to relax in a hot spring instead?”
“YES!” the people within earshot all shouted in unison. There were many Valkyries in that range, so the noise was quite loud. Henry’s eyebrows rose. He called up the image of the hot spring and realized they were large enough for everyone, and he could add a privacy field down the middle to separate the men and the ladies since there were kids present.
“Uh, we’ll be naked in front-” Dayshia began.
“No, I’ll ensure there are privacy fields between the sexes,” Henry assured her.
Camila smiled. “The field can allow the ladies to see the men,” she suggested.
“No. Behave,” Henry said, and she pouted sweetly. He felt that look cause a surge under his kilt. “Behave!” he insisted, and she giggled.
Meixiu rushed up to him. “We have many new towels still in their packaging in a storage room off the laundry room. I can get them!”
“Let me get you some help,” Henry said as he looked to the grasslands. He saw Aadiya and Mahali being chased by the kids. He concentrated on them, and they looked in his direction. He gestured for them to come back, and they pointed to the hillside, and the kids all raced toward the adults, with the twins following to ensure none were left behind. They scooped up two of the youngest, Jolene and Marian, both six, and leapt into the sky to fly past the leaders and arrive first. They left the cheering girls with their moms and joined Henry.
“No fair! Flying!” Felicia called out, but Layla just laughed, so Felicia had to drop her complaint.
Henry kissed Aadiya and Mahali, much to their delight. He held their hands to get them to focus their attention. “Your flying is much improved! You’re obviously stronger too, if you can carry the kids. How are your wings feeling now?”
“Good!” Aadiya exclaimed. “Strong!” Mahali added.
He nodded. “Excellent! I have another request for you. Can you assist Meixiu with collecting some towels from the mansion and bring them to the hot springs?”
They nodded enthusiastically.
“Where is the hot spring?” Meixiu asked.
“When you pass through the doors, turn left and walk over the ridge. As you cross the field, the village will be on your left. Keep an eye open for the tethered lights the kids are going to get!” He raised his voice, so the kids heard that last part, and they all squealed happily. He grinned at them as they came running to his side. He tapped each on the top of their head, and a pretty colored light appeared above them, then they moved for the next kid.
As Henry worked, he looked to Meixiu and continued his instructions. “If it takes you longer and we’ve left the field, I’ll leave fire orbs as a trail. Just follow them. Oh! If you see Revna, let her know where we are,” Henry said, and Meixiu nodded before rushing away with the twins flying behind her.
He turned to the rest of the group. He scanned them and noted some significant absences. “Where’s Roy, Mary, and Lorelei?”
Camila touched his arm. “Lorelei was unable to leave Earth. Her bond to the planet is too strong.”
“Oh!” Henry exclaimed, feeling terrible for not being aware of this.
“She said she had a lovely time, and you could make this up to her on your date this week,” Camila continued with a cheeky smile. “Roy and Mary decided to man the fort until we return.”
He nodded, still feeling a little unsettled for having missed her, then looked to the others. “Okay, we’re going to walk this way to the hot springs.” He pointed over the small wooded hillside. He pointed at Sigrid and the babies. “You, I’m carrying.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
She smiled at him as he knelt and got his arms under her and lifted her against his chest. Then he pushed with his legs and stood with her and their babies safely in his arms.
Tish’s oldest brother approached and walked alongside him. “Hi, Henry!”
“Hey, Brian. What’s up?”
“This place is amazing and all…”
Henry looked closer at the man. “But…”
“But it’s a complete unknown to us. Are there any dangerous creatures we should be concerned about? Any poisonous bugs or snakes? Anything we need our kids to be careful of?”
Henry shook his head. “No bugs or reptiles anywhere near us. The only dangerous creature we’ve encountered is a toothy ribbon that flies. When we got here, I sent the twins, Aadiya and Mahali, hunting. They killed one, making every other one for at least ten miles around avoid the area. Should we see another one, I’m sure one of our brave warrior goddesses will welcome the opportunity to hunt it. Sigrid quite enjoyed it.”
Henry saw he’d attracted the attention of nearby Valkyrie with the word hunt. There were many smiles at his reference to them as goddesses.
Talia moved closer with a gleam in her intense green eyes. “I would welcome the opportunity to test my mettle against a beast from this world.”
Sigrid smiled with a bloodthirsty gleam in her eye. “The ribbons are fast and maneuverable with sharp teeth that will rend any exposed flesh, but they can be defeated. Once that happens, all others in the area head for safer pastures for a time.”
Talia grinned a Sigrid. “When do you think one might venture back?”
Sigrid pondered that and glanced up at Henry. “You say the twins killed one just as we got here?” Henry nodded. “There might be one sniffing around on the edges of the area a few miles out.”
Talia leapt upwards and snapped her wings open the climb into the sky. Her wings glowed like Sigrid’s had the first time he saw her saving him from a demon in the alley near VRL. They were bright but nowhere near as blinding as Sigrids were now.
“What if she gets lost?” Henry muttered, and Sigrid laughed then stopped to consider the possibility.
He sighed. “I’ll tether a large fire orb above the hot spring so they can see it from the sky.”
“That’s my Henry. Always thinking of others,” Sigrid said with a sweet smile.
They crossed the vast field next to the village, and a few Silver People came by to welcome them. They were from Kuwait, so there was a bit of a language barrier, but Henry could speak with them through the Wild Magic via imagery, and they seemed thrilled to meet him. They didn’t exactly swarm him, and they didn’t interfere with his carrying Sigrid and the children. They finally rushed back to the village as Henry’s group headed up the next slope.
Henry began to drop tethered light orbs so Meixiu would be able to follow them. He put them eight to ten feet apart as they walked.
As they crested the hill and passed through the grove of trees, Henry felt the humidity rising and heard the hiss of a cascade of water falling from a rocky crag into a pool. The forest continued to climb up a steeper slope to the left, toward the river’s source. They turned right instead and followed the slope down towards a flat expanse, which appeared to be a series of tiered pools. Henry wasn’t sure where the hot water was sourced as the mist from the waterfall felt quite chilly.
When they got closer, they saw a stream coming from the pool fed by the waterfall met a steaming stream gushing up from between some rock. That stream was almost boiling hot.
Scalding met freezing and mixed. The result was tiered pools downstream, and by the third and largest pool, the water was a perfect soaking temperature.
He set Sigrid and the babies down a short distance from the water and asked everyone to stay back from the water for a minute.
He created a huge red and blue flame orb with a two-hundred-foot tether and let it rise up into the sky.
Then Henry walked to the edge of the large pool of dreamy water and envisioned how he would put up a temporary privacy wall dividing the water into his and hers sides. For now, he didn’t need anything fancy. He created a clear force field dome over the large pool extending ten feet beyond the shoreline on both sides. Then, he bisected the energy dome with a wall that went right down to the water’s bottom but didn’t restrict the water’s flow. The bisecting division was translucent, so the light passing through it was heavily blurred. He extended that blurring to the parts of the dome that extended past the edge of the water. This would be the changing area. His last adjustment was to adjust all non-blurred parts of the structure to only allow visibility outwards. It would also protect against the ribbon beasts.
Stepping out of the spa building, he added a rule to the spell that restricted access on the left side to the males and the other side to females. He adjusted the dome to allow babies of either sex inside either side.
He drew a vertical dividing line where the dome was bisected, then scribbled MEN on the left side of the line and WOMEN on the right side.
Henry turned to face the group. “The dome will ensure privacy. Towels are on the way.”
He heard thumping footfalls and saw Revna trotting down the hill towards them with a grin on her face. That was a good sign, he thought.