Once Upon a Time

Every man's life is a fairy-tale written by God's fingers.

Hans Christian Anderson

The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius

There was a time when the birds called, to those who would hear, of a magical gathering far away in the city of Monterey in the land of California, where the sea meets the land and the air is blessed with the scent of many blooms. The birds were of many kinds, but the song they warbled spoke of the same message: to come, to learn, to be one with the great mysteries.

And seekers, curious humans and powerful Fey, came to Monterey, mingling amidst the magic, and the child born of one such union of Fey and human would meet his destiny one day with a man who could Hear what others couldn't Hear and and See what others couldn't See.

The Tale of the Guide and His Mother

Naomi, a beautiful young woman, heard the beckoning in the birds' song and strongly desired to travel to the Monterey gathering, for she was curious and brave; she yearned to understand the mysteries of the mind and body. And so the beautiful Naomi dressed herself in an embroidered and beaded gown, and with flowers in her long red hair, she took passage in a wagon for the warm and welcoming land of California.

And thus she came to the gathering held where the sea met the land and the air was not only filled with flower scent but was heavy with the aroma of magical herbs, which filled her head with a glad feeling. There were magicians who used musical instruments to spell-capture onlookers into swaying and dancing throughout the day and night, and wizards who invited curious travelers to partake of a magical ceremony, allowing them insight into the mysteries of nature and of their own minds.

Naomi, clever daughter of the Sandburg clan, spurned the idea of returning to her own land and family as she took in the message of the gathering, of the joy of free love and being a free spirit She turned away from thoughts of rejoining the mundane world and pledged her life to understanding the mysteries of the soul, and felt a hunger for spiritual advancement as she grooved with men and women drawn, like her, to spend their days and nights reveling in the magic that was in the very air and and food and drink of Monterey.

Many of the brightly garbed and comely people were attracted to her own youth and beauty. But of all who entreated her to lie with them, the Fey, who were called forth by Monterey's strong earth magic from the Shadow Lands to mingle with the human travelers of the gathering, were the most attracted to her, relishing her bright spirit. And in the sharing of body-delights with the Fey, a magical talent of her own was awakened.

To her joy, she learned that if a lover had power she would share in it when she joined with him or her, and that the enlightenment earned by her sexual partner would enrich her also, increasing her own understanding of the mysteries of the soul.

But bedazzled by her ability, she stopped trying to earn enlightenment on her own and focused solely on liaisons with those who held powers or talents. In doing so, Naomi understood that her ability to gain enlightenment would be greatly increased. The Fey, disturbed by her actions, counseled with her to not use her talent to choose body-delight partners because of what they could do for her; instead, they pleaded with her to appreciate lovers for all of their qualities. Naomi did not heed their words, and the Fey no longer sought her out for body-delights.

There was one man who desired Naomi over all others at the gathering, but she cruelly spurned him. She said to him, "You are fair, and I would lie with you, but since you lack any way to gift me with power, you are worthless to me."

In anger, he called upon the Fey and begged a boon. He petitioned that Naomi be cursed to always desire those who held special gifts, but that she never be satisfied with a lover for long. He asked that she wander the world, always searching for enlightenment but never achieving it.

The request was deemed fair. Naomi's haughtiness had earned her the Fey's disapproval, and the boon was granted to the spurned would-be lover; yet one of the Fey, who cherished Naomi despite her unwise behavior, tempered the curse by passing to her a blessing. He ended the power of the prevention of childbearing spell Naomi employed and lay with her, under an illusion to mask his true nature. From their union she would conceive a boy-child born with a great gift of the Fey. This child, who would carry no father's name, would be a joy to Naomi and a help to her in her exiled wanderings until his sixteenth year. From that time on the blessing-spell would end, and he would be free to use his gift for his own destiny.

Naomi was unaware that she had been cursed and while she had not planned for the child's birth, she treasured her son.

And the years passed as Naomi and her child wandered the earth. The boy, Blair, was known to have no father and at times was taunted by others. He may have taken hurt from the insults, but if so he never showed it, for part of his gift was to be able to shield his true feelings from others, while also being able to ken what true emotions were in others' hearts.

The insult-givers often would be won over by the small, curly-headed boy, if he were given the opportunity to talk to them, for he had a talent for inducing people to enjoy his words and his company. In this ability, folk said he was his mother's child, for he copied her bright and winsome ways. And yet, more so than his mother, he showed a rare kindness and understanding of others' needs. Though he knew it not, he also had the Fey gift of empathy, although he had barely tapped into his power during their travels.

He lessened his mother's burdens in her journeying, for the child charmed many people they met, and being in his company seemed to bring ease to their tired or worried souls. He offered to help with any tasks wherever he and his mother stayed and over the span of years he became knowledgeable in many trades. In the same manner, he learned the lore of the folk he lived with during his mother's travels. He hungered to be a scholar and asked many questions of the wise, wherever he and his mother wandered. Most of all, the boy loved to hear of the old tales of watchmen, those men and women who were so keen of senses, which they used to protect their people from danger.

Naomi loved her son but never was he first in her heart, for always the lure of her quest for enlightenment and her desire for men with power and talent dominated her choices. Her son was good-natured about his mother's ways, and would defend her to those who would say ill of her. Some of his mother's men were generous to him, providing books, or tickets to costly entertainments, but never did they act as a father to him. Other lovers were not so kind to him or Naomi, and the boy learned stealth and the art of leaving quickly and evading pursuit.

Of his own questions to his mother regarding the magical gathering, and the name of his father, Naomi told him that due to the magic of the love ceremony her memories were vague as to the men who had lain with her. And because the boy loved his mother, he said no word of unhappiness to her that he could not name his sire.

And yet his sire's traits were strong in him, for the Fey can charm humans and are comely to look upon. He resembled his Fey father in his stature, eyes, and curly hair, and in his ability to understand others and to persuade them to his will. His cheekbones, and the reddish tints to his tresses, were his inheritance from his mother, as was his great curiosity in all things.

A curiosity that flamed as Blair indeed grew to be a comely young man. Both men and women desired him, and he followed his mother's example in being generous with his body, learning bed-skills to bring enjoyment to his partners. But he never risked his heart. His mother had taught him to guard himself - to open his body to love but not his inner self, which none had touched. Naomi counseled him that it was best this way, and to part with love from those whose company he had enjoyed when the moment of leaving was upon them.

One day, after he had turned sixteen summers, traveling by horse and cart in the rain-blessed land of Washington, Blair and Naomi entered the large city of Cascade. Within its gates, Blair beheld the tall buildings of Rainier, and recalled tales that told of Rainer's grand reputation as a place where learned men gathered to discuss the ways of the world. He said to his mother, "I have a great desire to remain and learn from these wise men for they know of the watchmen, for I love best the tales of men and women who use the gifts of their senses to safeguard their people, but I will go with you if you will it, Naomi."

His mother looked at her beautiful son, who had always given way to her needs, and saw that he was nearly a man. She meditated for a day and a night, and upon returning from wandering the spirit plane said to her son,"Go questing for your own fate, my son."

And Naomi, tears falling from her eyes, felt a tether in her heart that had tied her to her son fray away, and the young man felt a freedom to do as he wished for the first time in his life.

And Blair Sandburg, for no longer would he be known primarily as just Blair, Naomi's boy-child, tenderly kissed his mother goodbye and bade her well, both of them giving promises to meet as they could over the coming years.

And so Blair took his place as student to the learned men, and Naomi the Seeker sailed to a land across the great sea where an honored leader taught yet another form of spiritual enlightenment.

After Blair had apprenticed to philosophers studying the nature, magic, and essence of humankind, and completed his journeyman's work, he taught other apprentices about other lands and peoples, his own travels adding personal knowledge. He toiled hard to complete a grand master's level of scholarly work, for he sought to be one of the Grand Masters of Rainier. And always he gathered tales of the watchmen, or sentinels as some called them, and above all else he desired to meet a sentinel and learn directly from him or her of their talents.

Then one day, a healer with whom he had shared body-delights told him of a man who was ailing in all of his senses, complaining that they were too keen. Blair walked to the House of Healing, several miles distant from Rainier, to meet with this man, as he was curious to know if the man be a sentinel or not…

roo0~0oo

Part Two

James of the House of Ellison

When Blair first met with James of the House of Ellison, the tall, handsome, blue-eyed elder son of a wealthy Baron of Cascade, he did so under the illusion of being a healer, for only healers held privileges to speak to those seeking assistance within the House of Healing . He donned the garb of a healer and questioned James, and from his answers ascertained that he was indeed a sentinel. The sentinel, though, was no fool, and looked through the obfuscation Blair had woven to behold a man younger than he tried to appear, a comely young man, small in stature, with long, brown-red curly tangles of hair, and guileless blue eyes. Realizing that the sentinel doubted his credentials, and could give him away to the senior healers, Blair gave him a token to meet with one who could help him control his senses and hurriedly left the House of Healing to return to Rainer.

As a child, James of the House of Ellison, or Jim as was common to name him, had used his senses in a natural manner till his father had harshly counseled him to deny them, warning his son that others would think him strange and shun his company. From that long ago moment, until their reemergence many years later, his sentinel senses had lain dormant, but not dead within him. And since he had been untutored in his sensory gifts, Jim had been a sentinel with very little knowledge of all that his gifts entailed.

His mother had deserted her family when he was quite young, leaving her two sons' care to their father, William, who was more concerned with what was proper behavior for aristocratic boys, such as skill in ball games and horseback riding, than his sons' own desires. William spent much of his time engaged in the tasks for his holdings and paid scant heed to his two lads, but when he did it was to compel them strive against each other, the winner gaining his attention and rewards. Jim's younger brother betrayed him to their father by telling falsehoods about Jim; Jim did not deign to clear his name, instead he swore that when he'd grown to manhood he would have no more dealings with his father and brother. Jim left his childhood behind with bitter feelings about his family and an inclination to not trust many others, suspecting that they would betray and abandon him in the end.

After Jim grew to manhood, he joined the High King's army and learned the trade of the warrior. He was a fierce combatant and the High King, ruler of multiple lands and allied to other High Kings, sent him to fight many battles for him. One day, Jim and his band of seven fellow warriors were sent to the faraway land of Peru, which belonged to his King's ally. They traveled by ship and by caravan for many days before arriving at their destination, their mission to stop the enemies of their High King's ally from seizing a high pass that bordered a land of mountains and jungles.

But treachery caused the failure of their mission; his seven companions were killed, and Jim was stranded in that faraway country with no way to return home. Upon burying his men, and then wandering for a turn throughout the jungle, Jim met the Chopec, the people of that jungle and mountain land. These small brown people of slight build befriended him, and taking warning from his tale of his High King's and their High King's enemy, who wanted control of the Chopec's lands, they agreed to help Jim hold the Chopec Pass against the might of their mutual enemy.

Incacha of the Chopec, who was Shaman and Seer and Empath, had gazed upon the stranger his people had brought to their village home and had known him for a sentinel, though one who had suppressed his talents. As he laid his hands on the sentinel, he named him Enqueri in their language, and sent a surge of his empathy through the tall warrior. The empathy unlocked the senses that Enqueri had denied himself, and Incacha became his guide for the duration spent with the Chopec.

Enqueri became the Chopec's trusted sentinel, and led the others in holding the pass, and his ability to sense game helped provide for the people. All seemed well, and the sentinel was held in respect and affection by the tribe. And yet Incacha felt concern for the future of Enqueri, and so he traveled the pathway to the spirit world to ask for guidance. He followed Enqueri's spirit animal, a sleek black jaguar, into the spirit world - which had the appearance of a jungle darkened to the blue sky color of dusk - to a pool of clear water.

In the blue jungle, Incacha prepared the magic necessary to see the future in the pool, and read Enqueri's fate. He saw that warriors would come to take Enqueri back to his homeland, where he would again become James of the House of Ellison. He saw that there would be a future guide for Enqueri, but not for years would they meet and without his guide to help him Enqueri's sentinel senses would overwhelm him and cripple him. In pity for Enqueri, Incacha crafted a spell in such a manner that when Enqueri left the Chopec land, his senses would return to dormancy until the time of meeting his guide was near. After that interlude, the sentinel senses would flood and overwhelm him, causing him to seek for a guide to help him.

Further, Incacha saw that while he and Enqueri would still continue the minor bonding that allowed the sentinel to safely use his senses, the major bonding, if Enqueri chose it, would only be with his future guide. Incacha also saw that he, Incacha, would one day travel to the sentinel's homeland to meet with Enqueri one last time. He saw himself meeting with Enqueri's guide, a young man with the blood of the Fey in his veins, to teach him the way of the shaman. And he saw his own death in that foreign land.

The pool cleared of all visions of the future, then, and thus Incacha left the spirit world and returned to his own body. He said nothing to Enqueri of his visions, but aided him as best he could through the minor bonding so the sentinel would best be able to use the gift of his senses.

And in time, Enqueri followed the path laid out for him in the spirit world, though he was grieved to leave Incacha and the Chopec, for he had grown to care for them during the year and a half he had spent with them as a sentinel. Incacha's spell took hold of him as he left the Chopec land and his sentinel senses diminished, and his memory of his life spent with the Chopec was dimmed.

Upon returning to Cascade, Jim left the High King's service and became a city warden, to watch over the people and protect them from those who would rob and kill. On occasion he took lovers, and even a wife once, though the marriage was doomed as their auras were in conflict with each other and not even a magician's spell could align them together. He had few friends but those whom he did call comrades - Simon, Jack, and Danny, all fellow wardens - loved him for his loyal and caring heart. His father and brother he spurned, angered by their past treasons, and though his father entreated with him to remain his heir and take up the family's holdings, he refused to do so and continued the estrangement. Thus for five years did Jim guard the people of Cascade, but only with his own strong arms, as Incacha's spell held strong, denying Jim knowledge of his true nature as a sentinel.

The sentinel senses were finally released from dormancy when Jim went to the woods by himself for a lengthy time to keep watch on the lair of a madwoman. In her grief over her father's death, the woman blamed Jim, as her father was one of the seven warriors who had accompanied Jim to the land of the Chopec and who had died in that quest. The madwoman sent Jim messages to trick him into falling into a trap she had set, but although Jim's keen senses allowed him to avoid the spell-blast she had set, his inability to control his senses allowed her to escape.

Jim hoped that the senses would once again go away as they had done when he was a lad, not remembering how he had used them during his time as the Chopec's sentinel. They did not, and he considered them a curse, not a blessing.

Since the sentinel senses were erratic and painful for Jim to bear, he decided to inquire of those with healing knowledge for help to remove them. It was there at the House of Healing that he first met the young man who would become his guide.

oo0~0oo

The Time of the Sentinel and Guide

After Blair, in his guise of a healer, had pressed upon Jim the meet-token, Jim went the next day to Rainer's guild halls to rendezvous with the one who was said could help him. He used the token, which was imbued with a finding spell, to come to a dank and dungeon-like room in a massive stone building. There he again looked upon the false healer, who was doing a drum incantation praising the earth.

Jim was not pleased to see the curly-headed impersonator of the day before. When Blair explained that he was a scholar who recognized Jim to be one of the ancient watchmen, and that Jim's senses were a wonderful gift, the warden-named-sentinel harshly pressed Blair into the stone wall; in his anger he tore Blair's coarse white peasant shirt and coloured vest, lifting him so that the young scholar's boots no longer touched the floor. "Do not presume, imposter, that I will accept such outlandish lies from your tongue as the truth. Indeed, it would be but justice that I drag you to the stocks for daring to wear the green robes of a healer."

Blair did not struggle to be free of Ellison. Instead, instinctively guided by his Fey empathy, he clutched at the broad shoulders and pulled the warden closer to him. He looked intently into Ellison's rage filled eyes. "The healers cannot mend you, Watchman, but I can guide you so that that your senses are in accord with you again. I would be honoured to offer my assistance, but I cannot do so if I am imprisoned in gaol."

For a reply, intending to intimidate the brash scholar, Jim pressed harder against Blair, and his hands slipped to touch soft skin through the rents torn in Blair's shirt.

Jim did not know it, nor did Blair, but at that contact of flesh to flesh the first minor bonding occurred between them.

Blair had used his empathy to read the moods of fear and anxiety that lay beneath the anger the sentinel showed, but before he could soothe the livid man, Ellison dropped Blair to the floor and quickly fled the building in confusion regarding the strange connection to the insane student that he had felt surge through his body. Blair followed, aware that something odd had occurred between them, and concerned over Ellison's reaction to the explanation of his sentinel gifts. Also, Blair had not yet mentioned to Ellison a danger that accompanied the use of these gifts – the seduction of the senses into over-focusing on one tiny detail until awareness of the world had fled, and the sentinel would lie trapped in a trance, a zone.

Enraged at the tale he had just been told, Jim strode past a group of youths sailing a scarlet-coloured disk through the air to each other. His eye perceived the bright object, made of hardened cloth and wood, as it flew through the sky and his vision, newly intensified, tracked it, much as his eyes had done the flight of birds in the Chopec lands. Without Incacha's aid, though, he became lost to himself as he focused on the shades of scarlet soaring through the air.

When Blair saw the sentinel zoned in the street and in danger from being run over by several horses galloping his way, he ran to him and pushed him out of danger before he could be injured, both of them crashing down on the cobble road. The touch of Blair's body as they lay together in the street stopped the zone and deepened the bond that was drawing them together. In gratitude, realizing the young man had put his own life in danger to aid him, Jim offered to gift Blair by consenting to the student's desire to learn more of how a watchman handled his extraordinary senses. Blair named himself 'Guide', as he had learned from the old tales that that was the role of the sentinel's boon companion.

Now that Jim was willing to listen to his guide, Blair again explained that a sentinel had an advantage given to him by his forefathers, that his senses were more acute than others'. He would See before others would See. Sense what others couldn't Sense. With Blair's help to prevent a zone, Jim could be an ever-vigilant watchman against villains and lawbreakers who would harm the people of Cascade. Having realized that the odd sensation felt when they had first touched skin to skin was the minor bonding, Blair and Jim agreed to continue it, strengthening their bond with friendly, but non-lustful, touches with each other.

And so Jim became a reluctant sentinel, but an effective one, thanks to the aid of his guide. And the scholar from Rainier soon proved his worth to James of the House of Ellison by helping him stop the madwoman's wild schemes to assassinate Jim in order to revenge her father's death.

Several weeks afterward, Blair's abode, a poorly made dwelling near the docks where the great ships sailed into Cascade Harbor, was burned down by an unruly band of youths. And being a poor scholar in desperate straits, having lost much of his belongings and wealth in the blaze, Blair persuaded Jim to take him into Jim's own lodgings high above the waterfront, in a prosperous area of the city crowded with shops and sturdy homes. And through the march of time, as they lived together, their affection for each other grew, no matter how Jim despaired of Blair's untidiness.

Jim had entreated Blair to keep his sentinel abilities secret; the only one they confided in was Simon, who was the Captain of the Cascade Wardens, as well as Jim's friend. To all others, Blair's presence was explained as an indulgence given to the student by the city fathers. They were told Blair had been commissioned to chronicle the deeds of the wardens for Rainier's great library, so that future generations would know the brave deeds of the city wardens. And Blair did dutifully record those feats, but his real committment was to his sentinel.

Thus began Blair's duty as a guide and attestor; he became the chronicler of Jim's deeds and documented the extent to which the sentinel used his senses, scribing in journals that one day he hoped to share with the Grand Masters at Rainier in order to earn his own grand masters' blue robe.

But Blair did more than passively record Jim's actions; he unwittingly used his empathy to guide Jim's sentinel abilities, keeping him from experiencing zones, which were a sentinel's greatest weakness. The sound of Blair's voice, the scent of his body, the touch of his skin, all served to ground Jim and helped him to keep his balance between extending his senses and falling into the void of the zone. Also, Blair's empathic nature helped Jim's queries with witnesses and allies, and over the next several years, Blair learned the trade of being a warden himself. Yet, while he was not commissioned to carry a warden's weapons, he did use what was within reach to assist his sentinel with his duties. In Blair's clever hands a rock would become a missile striking its target easily, be-spelled water from a trough transformed into a forceful small water spout that disabled armed thugs bent on vandalizing and stealing.

Many times Jim used his extraordinary senses to better serve and protect the people of Cascade, and to keep his guide safe. Once, a cunning lunatic, who wished to do a killing spell ritual to transfer Blair's spirit essence to his own soul captured Blair, and although Blair fought against him fiercely, he was as last overcome and carried to an abandoned storehouse. Only by using his sentinel senses was Jim able to track and free his guide before the drowning death ritual was completed, risking his own life to slay the madman.

Thus for several years did James of the House of Ellison and Blair, Naomi the Seeker's son, live together as sentinel and guide; the minor bonding they had begun was confirmed over and over by the simple touches – pats to the shoulder and face, clasping arms to greet each other, slinging arms companionably round each other – that they gave to each other in friendship. Blair's knowledge of the sentinel's sensory gifts was deepened by the trials he engaged Jim in, to learn as much as he could of the range of his sentinel's senses. Jim, for his part, at times still had difficulty in accepting the truth of his sentinel heritage and would turn from his gifts, preferring to use the skills of the warrior and warden, ignoring the instincts that sometimes threatened to overwhelm him.

But on some occasions, despite himself, the sentinel would find those instincts taking hold of him, whether he will it or no, and find that he had gone spirit walking as he lay asleep, or when he was wide awake doing his rounds as a warden.

He chose not to inform his guide of how the spirit plane was intruding into his life, hoping that by ignoring his visions they would stop. However, they did not, and Jim came to realize that it was during the times of danger that he would catch sight of his spirit animal in a strange dream-jungle, or glimpse the deadly black jaguar prowling the cobbled streets or loping beside him as he rode Sweetheart, his horse.

It was following one such occasion, after sighting the jaguar's dangerous, sleek form snarling at him during his rounds, that he met once again with Incacha, as the Chopec shaman had foreseen in the spelled pool within the jungle spirit world years ago.

A small band of Chopec warriors, led by Incacha, had come to Cascade on a vengeance quest against an enemy whose base was in the great city. Jim was entreated by Incacha to assist with the hunt and while he did, striving to balance his responsibility as a warden with his obligation as the tribe's former sentinel, Incacha's eye fell upon Blair, and he knew Enqueri's guide to be Fey and an untrained shaman.

Incacha, as Seer, had long known that his own death would take place in the great city and had known that it was his destiny to instruct Enqueri's guide in the ways of the major bond before dying. Yet, a doom was laid upon them; Incacha was injured onto death before he could teach the guide , and so the Chopec Shaman forged a spell with his last strength and, grasping the bare arm of the untrained shaman and guide, he ceded his power through his bloody hand to Blair. "Guide Enqueri well, my apprentice, and I pass to you the way of the shaman."

All of Incacha's knowledge as shaman was keyed into the blood that covered Blair's skin. Following Incacha's death, the transferred power would lie quiet and unnoticed by Blair until he had initiated his own spirit walk and crossed into the blue jungle, that mystical place where life and death meet each other and pause for an long moment. And in that interlude, during his spirit walk, the full understanding of being a shaman and the knowledge of the major bond would be revealed to the inexperienced shaman. No longer, after the spirit walk, would the minor bond fulfill the needs of guide and sentinel. Blair would have a choice – accept, and offer the major bond to Jim, or end being guide to his sentinel. For if a major bond offered by a guide was rejected, then it would turn toxic, sowing dissension between the pair, and would gradually kill the guide if he remained in the vicinity of the sentinel who refused the major bond.

Jim was inconsolable for a span following the death of his first guide, but Blair, with his empathic gift, was able to help him come to terms with the loss. Blair himself was disturbed by the memory of the bloody hand-print that felt like its imprint had sunk into his bone. However, he kept any disquiet he felt to himself, revealing only merry and blithe moods for the most part. He also continued to work hard to achieve his grand master's robes from Rainier, and as attestor for the Cascade Wardens.

Blair continued to share body-delights with those chosen ones who would not fret about soon saying goodby to him, but now he noted the keen interest Jim now held towards Blair's lovers. Jim began inquiring into their characters and advising Blair of their unsuitability, which equally annoyed Blair and warmed him to know Jim concerned himself so with Blair's well-being. And yet, all through the hours they spent together, Jim would only touch him in the friendly manner they had always shared, and Blair began to secretly long for Jim's touch as a lover, for he had let down his guard and let Jim enter his heart.

It was a strange dance they weaved, as Blair's empathy had revealed to him Jim's desire for his guide and Jim's senses had long ago detected the scent Blair would release when he desired the sentinel. And yet, neither one asked the other to lie with him, fearing a change in their companionship through the sharing of body-delights.

In the fullness of time, with the help of his guide, Jim had become even more adept at using his senses but still did not reveal to the city fathers or his fellow wardens his sentinel abilities. He feared the lawbreakers would find a way to hamper his duties, if his sensory abilities were common knowledge. Jim's desire to keep secret his senses posed a difficulty for Blair, for he was told by Rainer's grand masters to name a sentinel to support his scholarly works. Since Blair would not betray Jim's wishes for secrecy, his studies were delayed in their completion and this caused the scholar to be looked upon with disfavor by the grand masters who oversaw his efforts.

Jim feared that when Blair had earned the blue robe of a grand master he would cause their bond to fray into nothingness, and his guide would leave him. It pained him, and deepened his resolve to not be forthcoming to all and sundry about his gifts, preferring to live in the present and not plan for the future.

And yet time moves towards the future and no man can stop its passage – and fate had set a trial in store for Jim and Blair that would test their bond even unto death.

One day, some months hence, another sentinel arrived in Cascade. A spell of deception was wound around this female sentinel, which ensnared Blair into believing she also, like Jim, would be worthy of his assistance. Blair agreed to guide her in the ways of her senses, which were causing her pain.

However, Blair was wrong to believe that only an honourable person would have the gift of enhanced senses, for Alex had a ruthless nature and no desire to protect others. Blair attempted to tell Jim of finding a female sentinel but he chose to not listen, and Blair, afraid of angering him, did not attempt again to share his news. Since Alex agreed he could name her as sentinel to the Grand Masters of Rainier, Blair realized that the information gathered about this new sentinel would allow his studies to be completed. Thus he could keep his word to keep Jim's abilities secret, and finally gain the title of grand master.

The very day that Alex had come to Cascade Jim had begun to feel disturbed, and he became surly and unreasonable with Blair and his fellow wardens. And when he finally learned that Blair was helping another sentinel, he packed up Blair's few belongings and lashed out at his guide. "You have betrayed my trust, Sandburg, and I wish to see you and your possessions gone from my dwelling."

Blair was saddened but hopeful that time would blunt Jim's anger, that they would remain sentinel and guide. In the night, he went to his small, dank, study-room at Rainier, hoping to stay there unnoticed for a time, since his purse was nigh onto empty. And so, it was there that Alex, the twisted sentinel, found him shortly after sunrise.

She had stolen a great spell weapon, which upon its release would kill many innocents, and was planning on leaving Cascade with it in order to sell the device to a wicked lord in a southern land, a man who wished to conquer even more lands. But she was of two minds regarding the guide Blair and was driven to see him again. He had eased her suffering from the erratic senses she had acquired after being isolated in captivity, several months before her journey to Cascade. And she realized that he could still remain useful to her, but if he refused to come with her and aid her then she intended to kill him, so as to not leave behind one who could turn the knowledge he had gained about her against her to the wardens.

But Blair, having learned from the wardens of her evil deeds, refused to assist her any further, denying her his services as a guide. In her great rage at his rejection, she injured him with a mighty blow, and when he fell unconscious she dragged him to a nearby fountain and threw his body face down into the cold water. And as Blair ceased breathing, his long hair spreading out in a nimbus round his head, she hurriedly left with the spell weapon for the faraway southern land.

The afternoon he had exiled his guide from their lodgings, Jim began to regret treating him so unfairly, having realized his angry moods were caused by the proximity of the evil female sentinel. He resolved to find his guide in the morning to make his apologies and renew the minor bond with him. The same night that Blair spent in his study-room, Jim had a dream-vision. He saw himself attacking a wolf, and as the animal died he changed into his guide, causing Jim to feel great anguish. And now, a sense of doom was upon him and he feared for his guide.

At dawn, Jim and Simon, accompanied by a squad of wardens, having realized that Blair was vulnerable to this twisted sentinel, had come to Rainer searching for Blair in order to warn him and protect him.

At first the wardens made to enter Hargrove Hall, hoping to find Blair in his study-room, but Jim ran towards a courtyard instead, and Simon and the others followed at a quick pace. Directed by the minor bond, as sure as a compass needle that turns towards North, Jim located his guide floating in the fountain. With much dread, Jim and the wardens lifted up Blair's lax body and attempted to breathe air back into his lungs. All seemed lost to the heartsick wardens. Blair showed no signs of life, and the other wardens counseled Jim in his grief to accept that their friend had indeed passed from this life.

But Jim refused to accept Blair's death and flung himself down next to his guide's body and attempted again to breathe life back into him. And at this touch of his hands to Blair's face, the spirits took pity on the grieving sentinel and brought him into their world, in the form of his jaguar animal spirit, and he beheld his guide wandering in the guise of the handsome wolf Jim had shot with an arrow in his dream-vision.

For Blair's part, after the life had left his body, he had found himself walking the paths of a strange blue-tinged jungle, as if in a dream. He felt himself at a great distance from Jim's attempts to breath life back into his wet and limp body, and took no heed of Jim's cries for Blair to live.

But Blair was not alone on the spirit plane; he heard his name called and turned back to find that Incacha was waiting for him. The spirit of the Chopec Shaman spoke to him, explaining that this spirit walk of death was the key to releasing the powers of the spell forged during Incacha's death and placed in blood on Blair's arm. Then his last duty completed, Incacha's spirit bid Blair farewell and was gone. Blair knew Incacha's words for the truth and experienced a jolt of power, blue flames licking at his body without pain as the spell took hold. And as all of Incacha's knowledge and power became known to him, Blair accepted that he was now a shaman, and felt himself transform into his spirit animal, a cunning wolf.

The young shaman knew he had a choice: He could go on to the land beyond and there exist, and his body would remain dead, or he could allow his sentinel's animal spirit to join his, which would return him to life again. Choosing life would be the first step in the major bonding of sentinel and guide; he would need to complete the bonding ritual under a full moon to complete the binding of their souls. And if the choice of life was made, his Fey nature would be an asset to the bonding; he now understood the empathy he had been gifted with and realized he had only ever tapped the surface of the well of power his empathy entailed.

Blair, in his wolf guise, continued to travel further and further away from the physical world, where his sentinel frantically breathed air into Blair's mouth. It did not matter to Blair, and he continued to lope down the path that would lead him to another existence.

And then there came behind him the sound of running feet, Jim's jaguar spirit form called to Blair's animal-spirit, and remembering the love he held towards his sentinel, Blair made his decision. He turned and ran towards his sentinel, who was rushing towards him. As black jaguar and wolf crashed together, their souls united and Blair and Jim were thrust back into the physical world. Blair began breathing and coughing, and the healers were summoned to care for him.

When Blair was recovering at the House of Healing, he asked Jim to join him in experiencing the mysterious, explaining to Jim exactly what the major bond required from both of them. His invitation was not well-received; Jim told him he wasn't ready to embark on that journey with him. And this was the first rejection of the major bond by Jim.

Leaving Blair to recover, Jim and Simon left Cascade secretly and trailed Alex to the southern country she had fled to, alarmed by the deaths that would occur from the spell weapon's effect were it to be dispersed. When Blair, still weak from his injuries, learned that they had gone to apprehend Alex, he left the House of Healing and with the warden Megan, a stalwart companion, followed and caught up with them in the southern land.

Jim was torn upon seeing his guide again, for he wished that Blair had remained safely away from the the twisted sentinel who had harmed his guide, but he also rejoiced to see Blair's beautiful face and laid glad hands upon him.

Jim thought himself more than equal to the task of capturing the sentinel who used her talents so wickedly, but there were powers at work in this land that he did not understand. Alex called upon those powers and wove a spell to entice Jim away from the sanctuary where the wardens had set up their camp, to meet with her on a nearby beach of pale sand. He fell victim to the spell as he slept, and quietly arose from the hard bench that served him as a bed, and softly stole away, leaving the other wardens and Blair behind. He came, as if still under a dream's influence, to the beach where Alex waited, the red of the rising sun tinging her skin with a bloody hue. He kissed her, and would have mated with her, except for his guide's intervention.

Blair had come urgently awake from dreams of Jim ensnared in a trap, concern for his sentinel's well-being thrumming through him. A quick glance showed him that Jim was no longer within the sanctuary, and using the minor bond, enhanced with his Fey empathy, he followed Jim to the beach. He was shocked to see Jim exchanging kisses and urgent touches with the twisted sentinel and hurtled empathic thoughts to Jim of the danger Jim was in, to stop Alex's power on the bedazzled sentinel. Alex, realizing that Blair's influence was turning Jim away from her, put forth a last effort into controlling him, telling him to throw his knife at Blair to kill him. Blair waited, frozen, as Jim made to hurl the deadly weapon at him, but then Jim put away his knife, as his befuddlement fell away.

However, Alex had been able to slip away during Jim's confusion,and Blair and Jim walked the strand, laying arms round each other, renewing the minor bond in order to mend what Alex had tried to destroy.

The next time Alex exerted her power over Jim was some days hence, in the jungle that lay not far from the beach where their mating had been foiled by Blair. The wardens and Blair had tracked her to a clearing where she was to meet with the lord who would pay her in gold for the spell-weapon. There was a skirmish, which ended with the lord's surrender; however, once again Alex escaped and Jim, Megan, and Blair followed her trail deep into the wild-lands. In the night as the others lay sleeping by the campfire, Jim found himself falling once again under Alex's spell, her intent being to draw him to the Temple of the Sentinels, an ancient place of power long lost in the jungle, where she was waiting for him. Under the cover of darkness, Jim stole quietly away, saying no word to his companions.

Upon Jim's arrival at the temple, Alex put him under a third spell, which sent him to the spirit world. There his past actions were laid upon him, and clearly he could see the role of his guide in his life.

While Jim lay helpless in the temple, Blair had spirit walked, as shaman, using the connection of the minor bond to find him. Upon locating his sentinel, he protected Jim with the power of his empathy from Alex's poisonous attempts to gain control over Jim's mind, body, and spirit. The wicked intentions of Alex, thus shielded from Jim by Blair's efforts, rebounded upon her, and she was struck down by her own evil spell. Blair then came back to his physical body and led the others to the temple where Jim was recovering. And even though Jim clearly had seen how his guide cared for and protected him, he again did not wish to join him in the major bond. And this was the second rejection of the major bond by Jim.

Upon their return to Cascade, Jim and Blair started to experience the toxic effects of the bond's rejection. It caused dissension. and tension grew as the trust between them began to dwindle. During this darkening time, Blair finished his manuscript on Jim's sentinel abilities but had not yet disguised his sentinel's name in it, which he intended to do before he was required to explicate his study to the Grand Masters of Rainier.

And then Naomi the Seeker returned to Cascade and rejoiced to visit her son. She discovered Blair's manuscript and was greatly intrigued by it, but when Blair told her she was not to read it, she agreed. However, she knew a man of influence regarding the written word, Sid, a publisher, who was a former lover; in a misguided attempt to help her son, she took him the manuscript. Sid was pleased with Blair's writings and by magical means many copies were made and sold in the city. He and Naomi expected that Blair would be overjoyed by their actions to gain him fame and wealth, but Blair was not because Jim was named as sentinel in the manuscript. Blair asked them to cease their actions, but it was too late. The common man and the Grand Masters of Rainer - all knew the name of the Sentinel of Cascade.

Jim had harsh words for his guide when Naomi's actions became known to him. He then told Simon that his partnership with his guide was finished. Blair's empathic nature, attuned to Jim's moods and thoughts since beginning the major bond, made him aware of Jim's intentions to end their friendship and he was greatly saddened. And this was the third rejection of the major bond.

In sorrow, Blair accepted that the rejected bond would soon start to kill him, and so he prepared to leave Cascade, for only by traveling far away from his sentinel would the effects of the toxicity be lessened upon the guide, although he would remain crippled in his heart. Jim would also feel an echo of the pain Blair felt, but it would not endanger his life, as Blair's would be endangered if he stayed near Jim.

But before Blair left Cascade, he made an attempt at atonement. Jim's fear of discovery had become like an arrow piercing Blair's heart, as he witnessed the hampering of his sentinel's duties by the crowds who wished to see for themselves the Sentinel of Cascade. In an effort to stop the damage, he offered up a sacrifice; he gave up his good name as a scholar and publicly called himself a liar on the steps of Hargrove Hall, at Rainier.

With a heavy heart he spoke to the crowds gathered to hear him. "My desire for fame as a scholar led me to make unwise decisions and I deeply regret the untruths I spoke regarding James of the House of Ellison."

And then Blair engaged many messengers to proclaim that James of the House of Ellison was not a sentinel; he had them announce that Blair, son of Naomi the Seeker, had made up a fantasy because of his great fascination with the ancient watchmen named sentinels. He made sure that the news spread all through Cascade, and as a result he was cast out from Rainier, for only those who were honest in their inquiries into knowledge were allowed to study and teach at the great place of learning.

Jim heard of his guide's efforts to save him from the effects of Naomi's misguided intentions. He learned of Blair's expulsion from Rainier. He read the letter Blair had left for him apologizing for the wrong he had inflicted upon his sentinel and explaining that since Jim had rejected the major bond between them three times - denying what Blair needed in order to stay with Jim and remain alive - Blair would surrender his duties as a sentinel's guide and go into exile far from Cascade that night, after delivering to the wardens' stronghold the chronicles he had written regarding those brave men's and women's deeds. For being industrious, he had completed the task that had served as an excuse for his remaining with Jim while he was on duty; being himself banned from Rainer, he hoped that Simon, Captain of the City Wardens, would allow the wardens to read it, and then deliver it for him to the great library.

The fear of being discovered to be a sentinel lessened in Jim's heart, and he came to realize that the cost of his turning away from the major bond was that he was going to lose his guide.

Jim asked himself what was it he so dreaded? 'Betrayal' was the answer he found by examining his past. He feared betrayal by the ones closest to him. His father and brother had betrayed him when he was a youth, although with Blair's assistance they had since become family again. The betrayal of Jim and his fellow warriors, which resulted in the deaths of Jim's companions, had scarred him in his heart. Former lovers had betrayed him by leaving him. And Jim realized he had always expected Blair to betray him one day, to put the glory of being a grand master before Jim's need for privacy.

But Blair had not broken faith with him. Naomi had inadvertently done so, and Blair had given up what Jim had always thought his guide prized the most in the world. And Jim understood, finally, the great love Blair held for his sentinel.

And so Jim decided to agree to the major bond with Blair. He then crafted a plan with Simon to offer Blair a warden's commission as Blair had demonstrated many incidents of his ability to do a warden's tasks. Soon after-wards, Simon, Jim, and the other wardens gathered around Blair when he came to remove his few possessions from the warden's station, and to deliver to Simon the chronicles of the wardens' brave experiences that he'd kept.

Blair was surprised and overwhelmed when Simon presented him with a warden's emblem. But Blair refused to accept the offer to be a warden until Jim drew him aside and told Blair he desired the major bonding and that he would do whatever was needed in order for Blair to accept the bonding and the warden's position. And then the heart of Blair was glad indeed, and he received the warden's emblem thankfully, for in truth he had come to love the work of a warden.

They made plans to complete their private bonding ritual during the full moon, a few days hence, and counted themselves lucky that it would be a blue moon, for drawing down a blue moon's power would strongly intensify their bond. And so in three day's time, sentinel and guide went into the Mountains of Cascade, far away from the distractions of the city, and prepared a comfortable pallet upon the ground.

As the moon crested the sky, Blair Sandburg, once known only as Blair, Naomi the Seeker's son, and James of the House of Ellison, stood naked, back-to-back to symbolize the protection they would give one another, and intoned the words of the ancient ritual that avowed them as sentinel and guide. Blair employed his Fey legacy and impressed upon his sentinel all the concerns and fears Blair had had in the past. Jim, as his sentinel, would now share any of Blair's future burdens, for their souls had come together in the spirit world. In return, Blair drew from Jim's soul all the hurts and betrayals that had wounded him in the past and made them to be as distant memories, no longer able to bring sorrow upon Jim. The first part of the ritual ended with oath-taking on both parts to fulfill the duties of sentinel and guide to each other.

The second part of the ritual commenced with Jim and Blair sharing body-delights with each other upon the pallet. Blair gave his heart and soul totally to his sentinel. Jim also entered into their union with no fear of abandonment or betrayal clouding his heart. And as their bodies reached the completion of their desires, Blair cast his spell, drawing power from the blue moon in the sky, which sent them together into the spirit world. And there hand in hand they wandered through the blue jungle and rejoiced in each others' company.

When it was time for their spirit walk to come to an end, Blair returned them to their bodies upon the pallet. Thus ended the ritual, although they would need to renew the rite every so often by sharing body-delights or spirit walking together. They slept the remainder of the night in each others' arms and woke up refreshed in the morning. They then returned to Cascade and Jim told the other wardens the truth that those astute men and women had already realized, that he was a sentinel and Blair was his guide.

And so they lived happily to the end of their days, as sentinel and guide, in the great city of Cascade.

The End.