Supernatural Earth Pt. 06

"Bane, you said that a person came down and looked for me and he put something into his car, right?" Ajax asked, mind working furiously. "Is he down there now."

"Yes. He is the one you identified as Boss."

"And if he's with these Hunters, I bet you anything that he took the Fae's body and reported back to his... i guess you could call it a Unit? Then I'm willing to bet that he told the authorities that I went missing, the search parties did their thing, chalked it up to a hiker disappearance, and then called in the Hunters." Ajax said.

Another Brave, Rakjar, strode up with narrowed eyes. "You seem to know a lot about this," he said in an accusing manner. "Are you in league with the Hunters?"

"Look at me!" Ajax said, exasperated with arms spread wide. "I'm one of you now! Why the fuck would I sell you all out? It's not like I got anyplace to go! And besides, how would I? I've been unconscious for the past week!"

"Peace. Both of you!" Bane snapped. "Let us return to the tribe and report what we have found out. Then we can use the wards to cover the entrance up so that they cannot find us." When Ajax and Rakjar continued to glare, Bane added "NOW!"

They fell into step and another thought occurred to Ajax. "If the entrance is hidden with these magic wards, how'd I see it then? I've been through this gorge before and this was the first time I ever saw it."

"You came through right before the wards reset," Bane said. "It was a case of how the humans say 'the right place at the right time'" he explained. "We will teach you how to use them."

***

CHAPTER 5: Confrontations

Ajax was surprised to see Rose still in his dwelling when he returned. He half expected her to

have left since he gave her permission to do so. Part of him was elated to see her there, still naked, and another part of him warned that there was no way they'd have any kind of relationship now. In his mind, there was no way that she could like him, or even love him, no matter what she said. "If you get past the wards, can you get back to your home?" he asked.

"What?" Rose blinked, surprised by the question. "Well, yes. The wards prohibit me from using my Fae magic. But what does it matter? I am here, with you, and I am ready to depart, with you, should the need arise." She gestured around the dwelling. Following her hand movements, Ajax saw that she had indeed packed what few belongings were in here save for the bedding.

He snorted and shook his head. "No... it can't be."

"Why not?"

"Because Rose," he said, voice rising in irritation. "This is reality and this isn't a Fairy Tale."

"Odd, considering I am Fae..." she said in confusion.

He shook his head and waved off the derailing comment. "Human expression. Point is; the Beast doesn't get Beauty. I refuse to keep you prisoner here away from your own people."

"But there are other Fae here with me..." Rose was looking really confused now.

"Your Winter people," Ajax clarified. He grabbed her by her bicep, taking care not to do it too roughly as he was still adjusting to his own strength, and hauled her up to the cave entrance. Using the hand motions that Bane taught him on the way in, Ajax dropped the magical wards long enough for them to step outside before putting them back up. "Teleport home," he told her, "to the Fae."

Rose looked hurt but then there was a glimmer of determination behind her eyes. "Fine," she said as she began to open a portal that would close the moment she was though. "But you're coming with me, my mate!" she declared with a force that he didn't think was possible from the sweet little Fae that he'd just met.

Ajax recoiled in surprise as she opened the portal, grabbed him, and dragged him through.

*

"ALARM! ALARM! ALL OF WINTER TO ME!" The Winter Queen's panicked voice resonated throughout the Ice City, rousing Guardian Daniel out of his sound sleep with his mate, Lily. "MINOTAURS HAVE BREECHED THE CITY IN THE MAIN HALL!"

Daniel and Lily were already out the door before the Queen had finished her warning. Daniel was forming his ice armor and summoning his gladius as he ran while Lily was preparing defensive spells to repel any attackers.

When they got to the Main Hall, Daniel saw the biggest Minotaur he'd ever heard of already laying into his Champions. "Holy fuck... he's already got a captive!" he gasped, seeing a naked Winter Maiden standing submissively behind him.

The first wave of Winter Champions were already down, all knocked out by the rampaging Minotaur. Where the fuck are the others? Daniel wondered. Don't these guys usually hunt in parties?

I do not know, my love, Lily responded mentally. Best we deal with this one first and ask that question later.

You're a woman after my own heart... Daniel replied to her through their link. With a savage grin, he sped up his run towards the Minotaur. The Minotaur just finished kicking a Champion into the nearest pillar as Daniel got to him. Daniel hit the ground, skidding across the floor on his knees, as he swiped at the Minotaur's legs.

To his shock, the Minotaur not only saw the move but anticipated it as he did a bunny hop over Daniel's ice gladius. No matter, Daniel imposed himself between the beast and the captured Maiden. Now that he was closer, he recognized her as Rose from his classes. She usually slacked off in the back with her Champion while laughing at him. No matter, she is still of Winter and I am duty bound to defend her...

But now that he thought about it, he wondered where her Champion was at. Daniel didn't see his body anywhere. Lily supplied the information. Tolon and Rose were declared missing when they didn't come back earlier in the cycle.

And I'm JUST now hearing about this?

Sorry, my love, but you were busy defending our Maidens from that group of Humans that was lying in wait for them...

Daniel swore that he'd have words with the Queen later on keeping him up to date on things like this. He backed up towards Rose in a defensive stance while he attempted to keep the now pissed off Minotaur at bay. "Rose, stay behind me, you're safe now."

"Guardian! This is not what you think!" Rose said quickly.

"Not now," Daniel said, trying to read the Minotaur's movements as he started whipping his war spear in a figure eight motion in preparation to attack. "Let me get rid of our unwanted guest then we can talk about where we can find your Champion."

"NO!" Rose shrieked, raising her arms into an attack posture.

"DANIEL!" Lily screamed, raising her arms to put up a quick defensive shield.

Daniel's head rocked forward as he took a point-blank ice lance to the back of his skull. Only Lily's quick shield and his ice helmet kept his head from being taken clean off of his shoulders. Dumbfounded, he stood up and turned to look at Rose, unsure as to why she just tried to kill him.

Big mistake.

The Minotaur bellowed out an earsplitting roar as he swung his spear like a baseball bat. It caught Daniel in his midsection, shattering his armor, and sending him flying off to the side. Daniel heard Lily screaming again and then he felt a buffet of wind blow in behind him to slow his rate of descent down to the floor. He still hit the ground hard and bounced but he was able to get back to his feet, reform his armor, and get his gladius back into his hand.

"If this is the kind of reception I knew that we would get," the Minotaur snarled at him in perfect English, "then I would've kept Rose with the tribe!"

"I tried to tell you," Rose replied to him sardonically with a cocked hip and crossed arms, "but you seemed to have to experience this in order to understand."

Daniel now blinked at the Minotaur. "You can talk?"

The Minotaur paused and then laughed. "You know, I said the same thing when I first met them." Then the laugh turned into a deep hearty one. "You must be Guardian Daniel Butler that I have heard so much about."

Now it was Daniel's turn to paus. "How do you know that?" he asked cautiously.

"Ajax Gagnon from An-Tir," The Minotaur gave a little bow with a hand flourish straight out of the SCA, "At your service."

"Wait... as in THE Gagnon that held that damn hill by himself during the last Grand War between An-Tir and The West?" Daniel asked suspiciously. "You look... different..."

"Long story."

"Well, we have time." Daniel looked around to his fallen Champions, some of which were beginning to stir and get back to their feet. "Did you kill any of them."

Ajax shook his huge bull head. "No. I took great pains to not hurt them."

*

Ajax related his story to The Winter Queen, the Harbinger Jack Frost, the Guardian Daniel Butler-Winter, and a score of protective Champions and Maidens who all looked ready to kill him. He explained what had happened and how they'd come to be there in their city.

"It doesn't matter," The Winter Queen said, glaring right at Rose. "She's been... infected... by their kind!"

Daniel was looking confused. "Why? We have our Maiden back... alive, I might add. What's the issue? Y'all didn't make this much of a fuss when the Vampires brought back one of ours dead. Shouldn't we be happy about this?"

"She's pregnant," Jack Frost said with an apologetic look towards Daniel and then towards Rose. Half-breeds are not permitted." This announcement made Ajax's head whip to the right to where Rose was sitting next to him. Rose merely shrank in her seat and blushed.

"So, you're saying my daughter isn't permitted?" Daniel challenged with a dangerous tone that implied that was about to throw down if it was otherwise.

Jack Frost shook his head. "No, your daughter is Fae. The Fae from Lily overrode whatever Human side you contributed. Minotaurs..." he gave a pointed nod in Ajax's direction, "by their very creation from the old gods override whatever side they mate with. Which means that Rose is pregnant with a Minotaur, not a Fae."

"Which, in our eyes, is an abomination!" The Winter Queen declared.

"How hypocritical of you, Elsa," Daniel shot back at the Queen. Now that he'd said it, Ajax could see how the Queen did look like the famous Disney character. "You'll be fine so long as your DNA trumps all but bitch and moan when someone else does it to you?" he demanded.

"But Rose isn't pregnant with a Minotaur!" Lily said. All eyes turned to her while Lily was still scrutinizing Rose. "Check again! The child is Fae!"

Both Rose and Ajax were taken aback by that as they looked to each other and then back at the others. The Queen, eyes glaring at them, stood up and glided around the table to Rose. "Stand," she ordered her Maiden. Rose complied and the Queen placed her hand right over her still nude abdomen. It didn't occur to Ajax until then that he had yet to have Rose get any clothes on. The Queen closed her eyes, her brow furrowed in intent concentration. Then they snapped open and focused on Ajax. "You are the father... but you are Minotaur and the child is Fae. How is this possible?"

"Fuck if I know..." Ajax shrugged his broad shoulder, "I'm new to this whole Supernatural thing."

"The Minotaur that he killed had me first..." Rose said in as much shock as Ajax was showing. "You must've killed him before he had a chance to.... Uhm... finish." She blushed. "That was before we mated."

"You two slept together before he was turned into a Minotaur?" Daniel asked, arching a questioning eyebrow. Rose nodded and Daniel smiled and spread his hands. "There you have it then. A Pairing."

"A what?" Ajax asked.

Daniel grinned at him. "Congratulations; you two are now married." He said, making a sarcastic sign of the cross in the air in front of him. "Look at the bright side; at least you don't have to wait for two years and your child to be born to find out about it." Beside him, Lily blushed. Daniel gave her a wink and blew her a kiss and Lily seemed to brighten up at that.

"That happen to you, I take it?" Ajax asked. Daniel nodded. Ajax let out a long breath. "This... is a lot to take in at once."

"So, as the saying goes," Daniel said, giving a pointed look over to the Winter Queen, "now what?"

The Queen glared at her Guardian but moved away from Rose to go back to her throne at the table. "This is all highly irregular..." she conceded as she sat down. We face a difficult position.

"Yeah, we got Maidens being taken and Hunters up the ass." Daniel quipped.

"And there's the issue of the tribe..." Ajax added, "I guess that I could say MY tribe now... needs a quick and safe passage across the damn country to some new haven that's being prepared for us."

"Newhaven? That place outside of Metro that the Hunters keep attacking?" Daniel asked.

"You know of it?" Ajax asked.

"The Vampires have allies there," The Queen said. "The Princess of Metro's brother-in-law has declared the area a safe zone for all Supernatural Beings and they're sending their representatives. We Fae have decided to do the same and to connect our realms with centralized portals there."

Ajax's eyes shot over to Jack Frost, who smiled as he shook his head before pointing over at Daniel and Lily. He looked back at the Queen as he realized that this was another part of his vision that God... Goddess... both... had sent him. "My people want to go there," he said flat out, "May we use your portals?"

"Out of the question." The Queen said with a cut of her hand. "Your people hunt mine just to breed!"

"To propagate their species!" Ajax protested. "And now that I'm one of them I feel the same urge. However, unlike MY people, I am willing to find others who are willing to mate with me to do so."

"Like me!" Rose stood up and proclaimed, moving closer to Ajax and wrapping herself around his bulky, muscular right arm lovingly. "I would be willing to bear not only his Fae child that's growing inside of me but his Minotaur child once this one is born!"

"Abomination!" The Queen gasped, looking paler than ever. Others around the room echoed that sentiment.

"You've been corrupted by them." Jack Frost said sadly. "Clearly-"

"NO!" Rose protested. "Ajax has given me many chances to go! He even brought me back here! That, of all things, should tell you of the change that is happening within his tribe!" She stood ramrod straight and lifted her chin defiantly. "I have heard the words of their leaders and they have done what they have to in order to survive. I believe that the Lurkers did the same thing before one of their caretakers changed their minds!"

"And, as I recall," Daniel chimed in with a pointed look towards the Queen and Jack Frost, "it wasn't that long ago that y'all were wanting to get rid of me in the grand tournament. Then, ain't life grand, little ol' me gets THE Jack Frost to concede to him." He spread his hands in askance. "Life is about change and it would help to have one less species hunting Maidens out there."

"You are talking about having Fae willingly become consorts to the Minotaurs!" The Queen thundered, fury in her glare towards her Guardian.

"I'm not saying doing a Mail-Order-Bride-Fae program or anything," Daniel replied in such an innocent and calm manner that it made Ajax laugh. "All I'm saying is opening trade and commerce with them and if anyone wants to try it would be welcomed to." Daniel looked Ajax's way. "This, of course, would be precluded on the show of good faith of the Minotaurs AND something that they'd be willing to trade in return."

"I have no idea what they'd have that the Fae would want." Ajax said, wracking his brain.

"Their Earth Magic," The Queen said so fast that it made everyone turn their heads towards her in shock. "The Minotaurs have very powerful Earth Magic. If we were to learn of this Magic it could complement our own and we'd be able to protect both our Maidens and our Champions better during the season change."

"Think you could sell that?" Daniel asked Ajax.

Ajax nodded. "I will make the offer. They don't even know that we're here yet."

The Queen pressed her hands together and leaned in on the table. "You will do one more thing for us for the show of good faith, Minotaur," she glared at Ajax. "Bring us the body of our Champion and we will grant your tribes safe passage to Newhaven and open up talks with your tribal leaders. Until then, we do not have a bargain. Understand?"

***

CHAPTER 6: Wet Work

"The Hunters have branched out both up the mountain and down into our gorge," Bane reported to Chief Kurdor. "Our Scouts following them say that it is only a matter of time before they are passing close to us. When they do..."

"The humans will have their proof of our existence and they will overrun us with sheer numbers." Kurdor nodded. "We will have to run in the middle of night. An all-out attack will only leave us exposed."

"Where is our new Brave?" Rakjar asked, looking around. "Him and his Fae disappeared in the middle of the night."

"I'm right here," Ajax said, walking down into the main grotto with Rose trailing in his wake. "I tried returning Rose to her people and things got... interesting." He shook his head. "I'll spare you the details as things are happening quickly. So, I'll get right down to it. The Winter Queen is willing to give us safe passage to the Newhaven of my vision in exchange for the body of their Champion and the promise that we will not actively hunt any of their Fae women for mating."

"Are you insane?" Rakjar demanded, eyes blazing with fury. "You will make us extinct!"

Ajax held up his hands as the Minotaurs got riled up. "That was just for free passage!" he shouted over the rising din of arguments. "Once that task is done they will open up talks for trade!" That got them to quiet down. "They want Minotaur Earth Magic. In exchange, they're willing to look for volunteers for Minotaurs to mate with."

Chief Kurdor gaped at him. Then his eyes narrowed as he studied Ajax. "You did this on your own? Without guidance of myself or the Council of Tribes?"

"To be fair, I was just trying to take her home," Ajax motioned to Rose. "To fulfill my promise to her. Isn't that what the Minotaurs are about? Words of Honor that you are to uphold? So, I did my first Honor by making good on my promise."

Rose stepped forward. "But I have shown my people that I would be the first volunteer by declaring my willingness to remain with Ajax and bear not only his Human-Fae child that now grows in my womb, but promising to bear his Minotaur child as well once this one is born."

"You had the opportunity to leave and yet you remained?" Kurdor asked. "Why?"

"Because if these Hunters that all are speaking of is such a great threat then everyone needs to be friends." Rose said. "That, and I have already paired with Ajax. I am his and he is mine!"

"HA!" Bane let out a bark of laughter, "spoken like a true consort of a Brave! She will bear us strong warriors!"

"Is this true?" Kurdor asked, warily. "The Maidens of the Snow have agreed to this?"

"I heard it from the Winter Queen herself." Ajax confirmed with a nod.

The Minotaur all looked from one to another with low murmurs. It was their greatest wish come true. Kurdor looked back at Ajax. "Now, we cannot speak for other tribes..."

"I know," Ajax nodded. "And the Winter Queen can't speak for the other Seasons. But... it's a start, right? First, it's one tribe trading their magic for breeding stock. I don't know how this would work but I imagine that spreading out your gene pool a bit will help, right? I mean, all both have to gain from this is stronger people. Winter Fae would come out stronger as will this tribe, right? Once other tribes see what's going on and the other Fae see what's going on in that both of us are prospering, then they'll follow suit, right?"