The next day I said my goodbyes to the girls and said I would be back later. I had no idea at the time that I would be returning to a court hearing between my two wives and wife to be. At that time, I would be judged for my choices made without their consent.
I left the girls to head out into the village and talk to the woman Jill had spoken with. She was a lady by the name of Jezra, and she worked as one of the town's healers. Jill had given me directions, and I arrived outside a hut built into the mountainside.
"Hello?" I called out as I pushed aside the heavy door flap.
Inside was a bare room with a table in one corner, a stove, and a bookshelf. A wooden wall separated this room from another that I could hear rustling and movement. I tried to call out again, but as I opened my mouth to speak, the flap in the partition flew open.
A wizened woman who looked older than the mountain strode out sporting a cane. She looked everywhere but at me, and then her eyes locked onto me like a targeting system. The human wrinkle raised her club and pointed it at me.
"What do ya want?!"
The woman shook back and forth while holding out her stick, the feat causing her wrinkles to move like breaking waves. I screwed my face into a scowl to prevent a full-on laughing fit and took a long and deep breath. After letting the breath out and wiping away a tear, I spoke.
"My name is Dave. I'm good friends with Jill, and she told me you might be able to help me understand somethings better."
The cane dropped down at Jill's naming, and the old woman went and sat down as I finished speaking. She motioned to a teapot and a bucket of water, so I went and got some water on for tea. Only after I had served the tea did Jezra speak.
"So, you want to know about Kyrina and Kyrin, hmm? Not a lot more I can tell you that I haven't told Jill."
"I really want to know about Kyrin and what makes him so angry besides the obvious trama. I can't change that, but maybe there is something we can do to make them accept each other?"
"Kyrin is what I would call an overprotective brother for Kyrina. Before, Kyrin couldn't protect either of them, and he feels responsible for that. Now he pushes everyone away to keep Kyrina safe in his view."
"I see. I think I'm starting to get a better picture of what's going on here. Thank you for your time and tea mam," I leaned over and kissed the old healer's wrinkled forehead.
"What was that for? I didn't do anything but tell you what I already had, didn't I?!"
"Don't worry about it. Sometimes hearing it from the source can give you a more emotional understanding," I told Jezra as I left.
I left the village and traveled back down to the burnt-out cave where we almost died fleeing. Remenants of the melted crystal walls remained, but the door was intact and closed. I approached the door slowly but stop two-meters away and called out.
"Kyrin, it's Dave, I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday, and I would like to talk. I'm here alone."
I heard some talking inside and then some raised voices. I took a step back, but the voices lowered, and the door opened. The man Kyrin stepped out and closed the door behind himself, and stood with arms crossed, glaring at me.
"What do you want? Come to make fun of us or to take pity?"
The words were laced with acid and meant to push people away. I shook my head and then moved over to a melted wall. Kyrin eyed me with suspicion but said no more.
"I'm here to recruit you, and to show you I'm different."
"Pfft, different. What does that even mean? Different from what, hmm? We have met many different people, and it always turned the same for us."
"I can't promise it will be easy, but what I can promise is that we will all be there for you. The choices you two make would be different now if you chose to follow us. Let Kyrina out so she can enjoy being a girl. I know what happened wasn't fair, and that's not your fault. Look at it this way, you can rest and watch over her from the background."
"You! How do I know I can trust you? Too many times now, what's stopping you from turning on us?"
"Well, I have been thinking about this. Nothing but time can build trust, but what I can do is take Miss Kyrina as my wife."
"SWIWHP!"
In a mindbending display, Kyrin's body sucked into a single point and expanded out again. Before me now stood the beautiful and red-faced Kyrina, dragon tail twitching behind her. She began to try to speak, but the words ceased to exist before they could leave her mouth.
I slowly stepped closer, putting my hand up to stop her from speaking and then pulling her into me. Kyrina began to cry into my shirt slowly, and I held her until she stopped shaking. After I lifted her chin and kissed her forehead, I spoke to her while looking into her green eyes.
"Your new sisters and I will take care of you from now on. I'm not saying you shouldn't let Kyrin out, but I think now he should be able to relax in the background. Tonight I would like you to come and meet everyone."
"Do you really think that is a good idea after yesterday?" Kyrina's face partially shifted to Kyrin's, and I stepped back in shock, the up-close magical shift caught me off guard, but I recovered.
"Yes, it will be a good chance for you two to get out. These are all my good friends, and I will stay by your side the entire night."
Kyrin sighed and faded back into the background while another sigh followed from Kyrina as her face shifted back. Her face reddened when she noticed me watching the transformation, and she turned away from me in embarrassment. She looked cute, and I finally got a chance to really look at her.
Like Maxine, small wings sprouted from the top of her head, and a thick pink tail fell behind her. She wore a black dress that she always seemed to shift into from Kyrin's light plate he wore. Later I would ask about her dress, but for now, just mollifying her should be the right choice.
"Don't be shy. The transformation doesn't bother me. I may not be able to understand what it's like, but I can be understanding of your situation. All of the girls will treat you the same."
Kyrina relaxed and turned to me, still looking down.
"Did you mean what you said?"
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Kyrina's cheeks puffed out, and smoke began to leak out from her lips. Quickly, my brain quantified the last three seconds of conversation, and I remember my declaration of marriage that I hadn't talked to my other wives and wife to be that should have been my first wife. My brain felt like a shaken jar of pickled eggs, but I snapped back to the dangerous situation at hand.
"Yes, I do plan on marrying you. I just ask that you let me talk to the girls before making the announcement."
Kyrina let out a puff of smoke and deflated, cycling back to her burning cheeks and shyness. I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, putting my arm around her waist. We walked together back to the small tavern where the rest of the girl would be waiting.
Now, this is around that previously mentioned time, and my two wives and wife-to-be were all arguing over my announcement. Mikota had taken Kyrina to the springs to help her get cleaned up so she would be far away from this discussion. The wives were arguing about me not asking them, while Jill tried to explain that the idea held merit. She also pointed out that I had done something similar for each of them.
I was a bystander in the situation, only receiving rotating dirty looks from Sasha and Maxine. Finally, Jill convinced them that this was for the best, and there was more pressing news.
"The original reason for coming to this mountain village was to find the map we have been looking for. While you were gone wife hunting, Maxina and I were able to locate the map and copy it down."
"That's excellent news! So, where are we headed from here?"
"We have to go to a town north of here called Shadeholm. From there, we head north another half a day to a place called The Deamon Ruins, but after that, we are on our own. No one has ever survived to leave the place, so there are no maps of the inside."
"Hmm? It sounds like a pleasant place, but that is our destination, and we have collected all the elements. The final steps are in front of us. Not all of you fully understand what Jill and I started looking for a long time ago, but you will when we get there."
After that, we all left and joined the other two that had come back from their baths. I was a bit surprised, and a question I had wordlessly asked before was partially answered. Mikota must have dug through the girl's clothes because Kyrina wasn't in her typical black dress.
Instead, Kyrina wore a long blue dress that had been roughly customized to allow the tail room. Kyrina looked beautiful, but I was sure I saw a flash of irritation cross Maxine's face when she noticed the tear made for the tail. Mikota would be wise to keep her distance for a while.
Kyrin stayed in the back round for almost the entire night until near the end. I had stayed by their side the whole night, and Kyrina seemed to have a lot of fun. Near the end, she pulled me away from the others and out of sight.
"SWIWHP!"
Considering that I had been drinking along with everyone else, the sudden shift left me with a close bout of motion sickness that almost caused me to puke. Kyrin gave me his hand to steady myself, and when I looked up at him, he was smiling.
"I really have to thank you. Truly, she, I mean, we have had a great time tonight. I just hope this continues."
Kyrin shook my hand but gave me a mischievous look at the end of it. I got an uneasy feeling.
"SWIWHP!"
As Kyrin's hand sucked out of mine, I turned and grabbed the planter next to me and emptied my stomach.