Reservoir of Power Ch. 08-09

"Welcome Lena, for you are Lena now. It is the name that you chose."

"Ma'am, I don't understand what you mean. Are you Artio?"

"Welcome to my lair Lena, and yes, Artio is one of my names."

"Why do you say that I chose the name Lena? Lena is just the name that my parents gave me when I was born."

There was musical laughter before the voice returned to her head and replied, "No Lena, actually your father called you Ursula, but you chose to forget this when the man that you thought was your father slew your real one."

"What?" Lena asked in confusion.

"That man who drove you to one sports camp after another, insisting that you make sports your life; he was not your real father. He was just the human who raised you after he shot your father. Your father was a bear, Ursula, and you were born into the bear world, not the human one. As you made your first shift into human form, the man shot your father. It was a lucky shot, but he managed to kill your father instantly."

"No, that can't be true." gasped Lena.

"Yes, unfortunately, you hadn't imprinted into your new shape yet, and with the death of your real father, you imprinted on the human instead. You thought that he was your father; you even knew his name. The bear Magik supplied you with everything that you needed. You chose the name 'Lena' and the human world, and then followed the hunter back to live in it with him."

"Did he know?"

"Sure he did! He was a widower when he found you. He had no daughter and suddenly, there you were. He was never 100% sure that you were a werebear, but he knew that whatever you were, you loved him and he needed that. The death of his wife had left him lonely and you made him happy, so he didn't fight the idea of keeping you with him."

"So his love for me was real?"

"Yes Lena, his love for you was much more real than your birth father's ever was. My bears are more instinctual, less emotional than humans, and even though your birth-father was more human than most, he was still more bear than man. Your memories with your adopted father are more real than anything that most werebears ever receive. Your father directed you into sports because he thought that you would be happy there."

"So why do you limit the bears to a mere animal consciousness then?"

"It preserves the balance. What do you think would have happened to the humans or even the wolf packs if bears were able to live their lives with full memories and the ability to shift? I think that you know."

"They would have bred wildly, and then killed everything else."

"They," Artio asked with a smile in her voice.

"We," Lena decided suddenly, but then something else struck her, "but what does that mean for Lochlainn and me? Will we ever be allowed to be together if bears are so dangerous?"

"When a bear dies on your Earth, they can choose to be reborn there, or they can make the choice to be reborn in mine. All bears on my world will retain their memories and their ability to shift, but until then, I can only allow there to be a few of you here."

"Lochlainn and I... are we among the few that you've chosen?"

"If you are willing to surrender your humanity and instead come and serve me throughout your life, and if Lochlainn agrees to the same, you will be the first pair I've ever accepted. You will lead my honor guard."

"Yes, we'll do it! I'd agree to anything to be with him."

"Are you sure? If you become one of mine, you will have to drop everything whenever I call upon you, and that will include putting your children aside for a time. It would be a lonely commitment sometimes, and just so you know, werebears live very long lives."

"We could have children? Would they be like us?"

"Members of my guard will breed true."

"They'll maintain their memories and be able to shift into all three forms?"

"If, at their time of choosing, they choose to follow me and if I need more guardians. Otherwise, they'll be given the same choices as any bear. Those who are not worthy won't be given the choice to serve me at all. These children will make their choice, never knowing that they'd been considered for the third way. You'll remember them, but they'll forget you until such time as they bring one of their children into the human world. It could be lonely to lose your children, Ursula."

"But if our children are exceptional, and if you needed more guards, then they can retain their abilities and live in our world?"

"I'd be honored to have them." Artio said seriously.

"Your selections will be based upon merit, and not parentage?"

"Yes, but good parenting certainly helps create a climate where merit can be seen," Artio replied graciously, "and I do believe that you and Lochlainn will prove to be exceptional parents."

"Yes, we'll do it," Lena said, her voice breaking. "You are offering us more than we'd ever hoped for!"

Then go back to your husband and send him to me by putting some honey on his lips. I will speak with him individually and if he agrees as well, then I will accept both of you into my service. Will there be anything else?"

"No Goddess, thank you so much. You've given me my life."

Artio had no face for Lena to see, but somehow, Lena imagined that Artio's head nodded slowly and Lena found herself back inside her own body again. She was currently in her human form, still entwined into her mate, a pool of honey on his chest where she had fallen asleep. She tried to wake him, but as no time had passed here, he was still dead to the world from the exertions of his earlier matings with her, and he refused to wake.

As Lena's ardor began to rise again, she found herself getting frustrated that her man was not rising to her challenge. So she spread some of the spilled honey across her lips and began to kiss his mouth passionately. She was sharing her essence, her memories, and her tongue with the love of her life."

...and with that kiss, the honey passed into Lochlainn's spirit, allowing him to pass through the in-between place and back into the snow. It was not easy to commune with Artio; the voyage to her was not for the impatient, nor was it for the faint of heart.

~~

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Author's Note: There will be one more chapter of Reservoir, and then there will be a gap before I return to this world. My second project has been sitting unfinished (under a different user name) for months as I found that I was unable to make time to write both works at once.

I have the third novel plotted and the new characters ready to go, I just lack the time to put the words on paper, but it will get done as I've loved sharing my characters with you, and I hate it when an author abandons a story line that I'm reading, so I won't do that to my readers.

As always, thank you dearly for giving me your time.

SisterRobin

P.S. Send me a private message if you'd care to guess what my next were-creature will be and the first few who get it right will be given an opportunity to name one of the new side characters. Good Luck.