A SPARTAN'S WAR

HE WASTES

Dysea finished lacing up her combat boot and sat back up slowly. She gazed at Martin squatting on the rocks twenty meters away as she and Tarifa finished dressing. He had elected to leave his fatigue top off and wear only the t-shirt and combat vest. His head was tilted at an angle as if he was trying to catch a scent. She let her eyes linger on the superbly defined muscles in his arms and shoulders, as well as the way his tattoos highlighted them. She could still hardly believe that only a short time ago, she was wrapped in those powerful arms and screaming her head off in indescribable pleasure.

Dysea smiled as she felt Tarifa come up behind her and lace her arms around her waist, placing her chin on her shoulder.

"He's beautiful isn't he?" Her soft voice filled her ear.

Dysea nodded her head and felt the wonderful soreness between her thighs that told her he was not only the most beautiful man she had ever seen, he had fucked her senseless with a cock bigger than any she had ever seen. She turned her head slightly and gazed into the sapphire eyes of her other lover. It had been Tarifa who had opened the door to what she was feeling now.

"I… I still can not believe we actually did what we did." She said softly.

Tarifa's eyes narrowed slightly. "Dysea you don't regret it do you?" She asked softly, her voice carrying a tone of worry.

Dysea shook her head quickly turning to face her, "Oh by the gods Tarifa no!" She spoke, taking Tarifa's hand and pulling it to her cheek. "It was the most pleasurable experience of my life, every single moment. And I want… I want it to happen again and again."

Tarifa smiled. "Well that is music to my ears." She saw the look on Dysea's face and reached up to caress her cheek. "What troubles you then?" Tarifa asked.

"What… what does this mean for us; for you?" Dysea asked. "Martin… he…"

Tarifa smiled gently. "What Martin and I have shared will remain with me always." She told her. "But you are the one he truly wants Dysea of the Wood Elves. I could see it by the way he held you so tightly and the way his body responded to yours."

"I… I do not wish to… take him from you Tarifa." Dysea spoke quickly.

Tarifa smiled and she kissed her softly. "You can not take from me what was never mine in the first place." She said. "I do not understand it completely, but what Martin and I have shared was exquisite, but we both know it was not permanent. You are meant for him, and the two of you will not be alone… and I… I was meant for another."

"But I… I want to… I want to do this again." Dysea spoke shyly, still coming to grips with what they had shared.

Tarifa smiled. "And we will, for as long as you and Martin will have me."

"What of… what of the Elders?" Dysea spoke. "They will… they will not approve of this thing we have discovered."

"Why not?" Tarifa asked.

"Do you think your Council of Elders will accept it?" Dysea asked. "I know mine will not; at least not initially."

"Dysea… like you, I want this to happen again. Being with… Martin has opened me to new things… and I have promised myself to not ignore what I desire any longer." Tarifa spoke.

"I do as well." Dysea told her. "We will have to break this to everyone easily. Now that I have found Martin, I will not lose him. Or the pleasure you have shown me that we can share. We must proceed carefully. You know this better than I."

Tarifa sighed heavily and nodded. "I know. As much as it pains me to say, it will shock my parents to the core to know about what we have shared."

Dysea looked at her shaking her head. "My… my mother will adore him." She said with a smile. "My people are not as… we are not as close minded when it comes to our sexuality." She said. "And when… when she sees Martin…"

Tarifa smiled. "I would like to be there to see that."

Dysea leaned over and kissed her tenderly. "Perhaps it will be something you will witness Tarifa of the High Elves, Tarifa… my friend."

"Ladies…" Martin's voice broke into their thoughts. "We need to go before our friends start to wonder what happened to us."

They both turned to see him gazing at them with his liquid dark brown eyes, though only Dysea felt the surge of love those eyes projected race through her. It was as if Martin wrapped her in some invisible blanket that overflowed with his essence and love for her, and it surrounded her with soothing warmth and comfort. They got to their feet, pulling on the small packs.

"Then let us get moving." Dysea said.

The Alliance Captain looked at the smoldering wreckage of the Raptor as several of his troops sifted through the remains, his ebony skin glistening in the sun, his burning amber eyes alert. His white hair was cut short all around, exposing the three inch long elfin ears, and the fact that he was a Drow elf. He turned as his second in command walked up. The female officer was nearly as tall as his six foot two with the same dark skin and dark amber eyes, but her long hair was flowing white in color, and braided on either side of her stunning face, only the tips and upper portion of her elfin ears sticking through the long hair.

"Nothing is salvageable sir." She spoke confidently. "What the genomes did not destroy, the acid storm that passed through here did."

The Captain nodded. "Is there any sign of bodies?"

The Lieutenant shook her head. "No sir, none that we can detect."

"Then everyone survived the crash." The Captain spoke.

"It would appear that way sir. That they were able to get this far with the damage they had speaks volumes of the skills of the pilot." The Lieutenant said.

The Captain nodded. "Indeed it does." He said. "The information the Colonel gave to us gives us a small description of the skills and abilities of these genomes. If they are even half of what the report says they are; they will make formidable opponents."

"Do you think that they… could they be…" The female started to speak.

The Captain looked at her. "We will not know that until we meet them Lynwe… you know this as well as I."

The female nodded slowly. "I know Tari… but it does not fill me with the greatest of comfort knowing we may well be seeking the very thing we should fear the most."

The man nodded. "Yes… I know what you mean."

"The cockpit took heavy damage from the missile strike sir." The Lieutenant said. "If they made it this far it stands to reason the pilot survived, but is injured."

The Captain nodded. "Even with injured members in their party these Genomes would still be able to move faster than you or I." He spoke. "They must have found shelter from the storm, and would have had to remain there until it was over. That gave them twelve hours minimum to rest and recover from wounds. Elves and Genomes have much faster healing abilities as you know. Have the company spread out in a five mile perimeter. Look for caves or buildings where they could have found shelter. And dispatch a patrol to Crawford to the north. They could have easily covered the distance to the ruins there since the storm."

"There is an Acid Nomad encampment four miles to our north. Their scouts have been following us for the last three hours." The Lieutenant spoke.

"Yes… I saw them some time ago. They will not attack us due to our size. Keep the men together and have each patrol equipped with a heavy machine gun. We will set up our base camp here and use this point as our pivot to conduct our search." The Captain said.

"Do you think that the Elf Queens are with this group as well?" The Lieutenant asked.

"That is what the report stated."

"What do we do if we find them Tari?"

The Captain looked at her. He reached up ran his hand through his short hair. His amber eyes scanned the desolate terrain all around them. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it." He replied. "My hope is that they will accept us for what we are."

"And if they do not?"

"We can not go back Lynwe." The Captain spoke, turning to look at her. "We have struggled for too long and endured too much to go back."

"If they do not accept us Tari, then we shall survive on our own as we have in the past." The female elf replied.

The Captain nodded. "Order the men to discard their Alliance uniforms Lynwe. I have no desire to be set upon by either the High Elves or the Wood Elves due to our dress. Have the patrol moving to Crawford keep them on until they return, just in case there are Alliance sympathizers within the ruins of the city."

"I will see to it." The female replied.

CRAWFORD

Anja stepped up to where Danny stood to the side of the window frame. They had reached Crawford with little trouble, bypassing the Acid Nomad camp and moving into the ruins to occupy the four story building at the northern edge of the town. Julie was on the roof trying to establish communications with their encampment near the Elves Mountain City, the others spread out in defensive positions, but staying out of the sun and resting.

"How are you doing Danny?" Anja asked him.

Danny looked at her with his dark eyes and smiled. "I'm good." He replied.

"Danny I'm sure Martin is fine." Anja said reaching up and putting her hand on his chest affectionately.

Dan smiled. "I ain't worried about the Skipper." He told her. "This place just gives me the creeps. I hate ghost towns, they make my skin crawl."

"I didn't realize you were afraid of anything." Anja said with a smile.

"Who me? Shit Red, my own shadow scares me sometimes." Dan replied, matching her smile. "That's why I like being in the middle of you and Jules at night. I feel safe."

Anja chuckled and leaned up on her tip toes and kissed him softly. "We'll protect you Danny. I promise." She said.

"You'd better." Dan told her, dropping his hand and squeezing her waist.

Anja moved away from him and back into the shade of the building. She made her way over to where Walter sat eating the remains of a power bar and settled to the floor next to him. "Doctor Carson, how are you holding up?" She asked.

"Quite well Commander considering my age, thank you for asking." Walter replied. He saw her glance back to where Danny stood and then turn back to him. "Forgive me for being so forward Commander Peterson, but I've noticed that you seem to have a unique relationship with Daniel and Julie."

Anja met his eyes and smiled. "It is unique." She told him.

"You are… you are lovers aren't you, lovers with both of them?" Walter asked.

Anja nodded her head, finding she was completely unashamed of what she felt for Julie and Danny now. Anja felt free and unrestrained for the first time in her life, and it was a very welcome feeling. "Yes we are." She answered.

Walter smiled. "That is very interesting." He said.

"Why is that?" Anja asked him.

"I was aware of their relationship before all this happened." Walter said evenly. "I knew they were very fond of each other, but I did not expect them to have remained together for so long. I think perhaps you have extended that somewhat."

Anja smiled and looked once more at Danny's tall muscular form. She felt the small surge of pleasure course through her, though it was no where near as strong as when she first entered into the relationship with them, and that told her that while what they shared was very pleasurable, it was not what she was seeking. "They are very special." She said softly. "In more ways than I can begin to explain. They have opened my eyes to many things I would not have seen before; or… or things that I wasn't willing to see."

"You are speaking of your feelings for Martin?" Walter spoke.

Anja looked at him surprised. "Does everyone know of that?" She asked.

Walter chuckled. "Martin has very few friends Anja, as you no doubt have noticed. They are like a family… a pack if you will, since I understand you know what they are capable of."

Anja nodded. "I saw it on EDEN." She said softly. "It was surprising to say the least." "Yes I'm sure it was." Walter spoke.

"Doctor Carson would you tell me…" Anja began.

Walter smiled. "Please… it's just Walter."

"Walter it is then." Anja said. "My specialty is genetic engineering, the same as yours." She explained. "It was never known that Martin and Danny and the others could change like they do. Why is that?"

"It was known." Walter told her. "There were only four people that had that information however. If that information had been common knowledge, do you think they would have allowed Marty and the others to survive?"

Anja shook her head. "No I don't believe they would have." She answered immediately.

Walter nodded. "You are correct." He said. "Their ability to change did not manifest itself until they were all in their late teens. Martin discovered it first. That ability saved their lives on countless missions. With the exception of one or two changes in their appearance, all of them can control it extremely well."

"One of those exceptions is their teeth I take it." Anja asked.

Walter nodded. "There was nothing we could do to hide their teeth. Eventually we just said it was due in part to the animal DNA."

Anja nodded slowly. "It… it scared the hell out of me."

Walter nodded. "I do know the feeling." He said. "I nearly lost control of my bladder when Martin first showed me. It's amazing really. They have incredible strength and stamina to begin with, but when they initiate a change it increases by a factor of ten. They all seem to have the uncanny ability to control the length of their fangs, if you will, in the midst of heated engagements or moments of stress or…"

"Passion?" Anja said.

Walter looked at her and smiled slowly. "Yes."

"And that's why I wasn't able to tell before I saw them change?" Anja said.

"I would hazard a guess and say they did not want to frighten you considering what you apparently share with them." Walter said.

"Is it possible for them to… to pass on their DNA?" Anja asked almost shyly.

Walter knew immediately what she was talking about. He shook his head quickly. "I am pretty sure you mean through the exchange of bodily fluids and the answer is no. That's not possible. We tried it in the lab hundreds of times and nothing ever came of it." He looked at her. "Have you discovered something to the contrary?"

Anja shook her head. "No. I guess it was just a worry in the back of my mind." She told him.

Walter smiled. "Well it's not something you should be concerned with." He spoke. "The Alliance on the other hand has been able to do some things that are positively horrible with my work. I have files in the Mountain City archives if you would care to review them sometime."

Anja nodded. "Yes I would."

Walter nodded. "Good. If you'll excuse me Anja… the walking has tired me out more than I thought. I haven't had this much exercise in quite some time."

Anja smiled and watched as he settled to the floor against the pack and closed his eyes. Anja got up and went to where her pack was, settling to the floor as well. She looked around quickly before turning her head to the side. She reached up to touch her canine teeth and she concentrated as hard as she could.

Anja smiled as she felt her canine teeth slowly lengthen to almost a quarter of an inch. She felt a surge of power within her body, and for a few moments all of her senses became more alive and sensitive. She inhaled deeply during that brief moment and detected the scents of everyone within the small room. She did not yet want to reveal that she was changing, more because it frightened her than anything else. It was not what she had expected. The enhanced senses she could detect right away, but it was the surge of power and the dreams she had that frightened her now. Her mind seemed like it had opened in a whole new way, and if she concentrated enough, she thought she could almost hear voices within her head. Whatever was happening to her… it also made her realize that no matter how much she tried to discount it, she felt her desire for Martin was growing stronger as each day went by. He was pulling her to him, and he was filling her dreams and thoughts. And with him in those dreams and thoughts was the breathtaking platinum blond female elf they had rescued.

Martin stepped out onto the sidewalk behind the black Alliance soldier and drove the blade of his knife into the back of the man's skull. His body went rigid and then immediately flopped to the ground. The sound of his weapon dropping to the concrete caused the remaining four Alliance troops in the patrol to spin around their amber eyes going wide at what they saw. There were three bodies laying half in and half out of the doorways they had passed so far, blood staining the ground. Martin's blade was coated red, his fangs fully extended and his eyes had changed to the yellow and black orbs.

The remaining four Alliance troops began to bring their weapons up in a last ditch effort to save their lives. It did them no good.

The window to their left had been shattered hundreds of years before, and that window now filled with Dysea's figure, her hands filled with her dual fighting knives. They were intricately carved blades that she had thought lost at the encampment. Martin had returned them to her before they had left the underground cavern and made their way to Crawford. As she launched herself at the two closest Alliance troops, the last soldier in the file was bringing his weapon to bear on her. He never got the chance to pull the trigger as Tarifa appeared from behind him and drove her knife into his back. He dropped his assault rifle and screamed, trying to clutch his lower back. Tarifa nimbly used his body as a pivot, her black hair whipping about as she flipped over his slumping figure and landed in front of him. His amber eyes met hers and filled with fear as he saw that her canine teeth had lengthened into nearly inch long fangs. Tarifa hit him in the chest with a straight open palm that crushed four of his ribs and drove splinters from those broken ribs into his lungs and heart. Blood splashed from between his lips as he dropped to his knees, his head falling forward to meet Tarifa's rising boot. His head snapped back viciously and Tarifa heard his neck pop like a gunshot. His body flipped completely over and he landed with a sickening thud ten meters away from her. Tarifa stood there in shock at what she had just accomplished. Elves were well known as being stronger and faster than humans, but what she had just accomplished was beyond anything she had done before.

Dysea had leaped out of the window, her blades flashing to either side of her. She felt both of them bite into flesh as she executed a perfect roll away from the two soldiers and came to her feet whirling around. One of the soldiers was holding his throat, his blood arcing into the air in powerful squirts from where her blade had sliced cleanly through his jugular vein. It took half a second for her to determine he was out of the fight and she turned her attention to the second soldier who was clutching his shoulder. He had turned further than his partner and her blade had only cut deeply into his shoulder, but it was deep enough to slice through the muscles in that arm and render it useless. He tried to grip his rifle with his free arm, his eyes wide in terror and trying to bring the weapon up. Dysea spun around, still in her crouch and drove one of her blades into his gut just as his chest exploded. Her head snapped around quickly and she saw the large black genome from Martin's group step from around the corner. She heard the soldier's body hit the ground and she turned and watched Martin throw the last member of the patrol into the unyielding concrete of the five hundred plus year old building. The soldier's head impacted the wall with enough force to crush his skull, and his body slumped to the ground, blood and brain matter staining the wall as he slid to a sitting position, his eyes frozen open in death.

"Damn Skipper!" Danny spoke as he walked up. "It took you long enough to get here!"

Martin looked at him and smiled his eyes and fangs instantly disappearing and returning to normal. "We… we got a little sidetracked." He replied.

Danny's eyes went a tiny bit wider as he detected the faint scent of both Tarifa and Dysea all over his commander and friend as he walked up to him. A huge grin split his face. "Ok… well at least the delay was important." He said. "Jules was able to string an antenna and cut through the radiation. Kenny's sending a Raptor to pick us up. The encampment was attacked Skipper, and your city Tarifa."

Martin and Tarifa both looked at him intently, "Casualties?" Martin asked.

Dan shook his head. "Kenny didn't say, but from the sound of his voice Jules doesn't think it's good."

"These are Drow!" Dysea spoke now, toeing one of the dead bodies with her boot, her voice surprised. "I thought the Drow had been wiped out."

Tarifa nodded and knelt next to one of the bodies. "They wear the uniform of the Alliance's elite scouts." She spoke looking at her.

"This is important I take it?" Martin asked.

"The Alliance destroyed the Drow over a hundred years ago. Or at least we thought they did." Dysea spoke turning to look at him.

"Well they came in from the south." Martin spoke. "And that means they came from the direction of the crash."

Dysea looked at him. "And that means someone told them the general area where your craft went down."

Tarifa looked at them, her fangs now retracted. "The Alliance Assassins who fired the missiles must have tracked us." She said.

Martin shook his head. "A general position maybe, but if they had a solid fix on us we wouldn't be standing here talking." He looked at Danny. "How soon before Kenny gets that Raptor here?"

"We contacted him just before these bozos showed up. He said he'd have us extracted within the hour." Dan replied. "I got the others on the north end of the town standing by."

Martin nodded. "Let's get these bodies off the street and link up with the others." He said.

Dan nodded and reached down to haul two of the bodies up and headed into the doorway closest to him. Tarifa and Dysea stepped up to Martin as he quickly searched the body next to him.

"Martin your… your friend?" Dysea asked with a small amount of embarrassment. "He could smell… he could smell Tarifa and I on you couldn't he?"

Martin stood and looked at her. "I'd say that's a pretty good guess." He said smiling. He stepped up to her and leaned over to nuzzle her elf ear. He heard her sigh softly in delight, her hands going to his chest in surprise. "You do smell delightful when you are excited Melda Min." (Beloved One in Elfin language)

Dysea blushed red and Tarifa took her hand with a girlish laugh. "Come with me Dysea," She said seeing Dysea's stunned expression at what Martin had called her. "Let us move these scum before he embarrasses you anymore."