Field Trip

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Oddly Samantha wasn't upset when Jared and Nikeera returned to the room together nearly an hour later. Instead, she wore a warm, friendly smile.

"Hello, you two," she said as they stepped into the room, Nikeera's hands entangled with one of Jared's big ones. "Are we just about ready to go?"

"Just about," Nikeera said before turning to give Jared a quick kiss. She then took both of their shower kits and towels and put them in the closet.

"Any idea of what we're doing today, Jared?' the tuathan princess then turned back to the thoughtful Jared to ask.

"More training?" Samantha asked, already dressed to head outside into the rain.

"No, actually," Jared said. "I've rented a car today, and packed some supplies so we can take a bit of a trip."

"A trip?" Already in the clothes she had brought to the shower with her, Nikeera looked over her shoulder at him to ask as she began pulling on her hoodie. "Where are we going?"

"Well, I thought since you've already seen the ocean here, we'd go in the other direction today. To the mountains!"

"The mountains!" Samantha breathed, her eyes flying wide with excitement. "I love flying in the mountains!!"

After dressing for the weather, the three of them made their way towards the dorm's parking lot where Jared had arranged for a rental and a basket of food and drink to be waiting for them. The vehicle's key was in his mailbox, retrieved on the way out.

When they came around the corner, Nikeera hesitated, uncertainty on her face for a moment when she spotted the Land Rover that was sitting there.

"No, not like the ones that day," she murmured just loud enough for Jared to hear.

"No, not like those ones, Nik," he said, letting go of her hand to put an arm around her waist for a one-armed hug. "You have nothing to fear from this particular wheeled monster. We tell this one where to go ourselves!"

It took a few minutes for them to get their gear into the vehicle and get sorted. Her good mood from earlier still with her, Samantha generously let Nikeera take the front seat with Jared, sitting directly behind him so she could reach around the seat and touch him if she needed to. Then, after a quick safety demonstration on how to use the seatbelts, the airbags, the windows, and whatnot, with a smooth rumble of the engine starting, they were off.

First stop, of course, was a drive through for some take-out for breakfast. Then, after setting up the Land Rover's GPS, they began the hour and a half long drive up into one of the local national parks that were liberally scattered over this part of the Rocky Mountains. As they drove, Nikeera entertained them with stories of ancient Corlest, of the bright, colorful society of the Tuatha at the height of their power before the Second War of Balance. She even regaled them with beautiful songs from that time, her voice as pure as a mountain stream, golden and sweet as she sang the ancient ballads with enough emotion, they brought tears to Samantha's eyes and a sad smile to Jared's lips. Out of the three of them, only he had seen Ethaeron without the Tuatha Fáil's bright light illuminating the whole world.

Even so entertained, Jared found himself returning to Samantha's strangely friendly mood earlier despite the fact that he and Nikeera had just spent an hour in a hot shower together, doing all manner of things to each other. So curious was he, that he found himself asking her about it over the bond.

- You seem unusually happy, all things considered, Sam, - he sent.

- You mean, in the face of the fact that you and Nikeera spent an hour in a shower together this morning? - the griffon adroitly asked.

          

- Yeah. How come? -

- Because you are my rider, Jared. Now and forever, - was her rather simple answer.

- Normally I would be smart enough to not dig further than that, but there were some pretty powerful emotions and sensations between you and me last night and this morning. Are you sure you're good with me and Nikeera this morning? - he pressed.

- Oh, I didn't say I was good with it, - Samantha replied, a hint of tartness appearing out of the serenity in her voice. - But I am also not a fool. I know she needs to connect to you to enable her fate to unfold as it was meant to. I will not begrudge her that. Fate brought you to me. So to deny Nikeera her fate would be hypocritical of me. -

- Okay. I think that's a good way to look at it, - Jared indicated.

- It's the only way to look at it, - Samantha said. - Besides, you and I, we are a mated ...sorry, a bonded pair. We have shared things that you and her have not. And we've done things together that I could never do with a male griffon. Like exchanging essences the way we did. If I tried that as a griffon, I would've cut you in half with my beak. -

- Uh, yeah. There's that, - Jared conceded.

- I take joy in the uniqueness of our relationship, my delightful Jared, - Samantha then said, her voice softening and becoming almost wistful. - No other bonded pair of rider and Eternal Beast has ever had, or will ever have what you and I have. None. Ever. I cherish that. As I cherish you. -

She paused slightly and Jared felt her hand slip between the door and his seat to touch him.

- Now and forever, my Jared, - she said in a whisper replete with love and adoration. - Flesh and soul, heart and fate. For always! -

Despite himself, Jared found himself smiling, reaching down with his hand to give hers a squeeze.

- For always, Sam. For always! -

As he had hoped, the two strangers to Earth, and more specifically, the Pacific Northwest, found the temperate rainforests and sky-touching peaks of the nation park enthralling. With griffons traditionally nesting in the mountains of Corlest, for Samantha it was a return home, the clean, crisp mountain air, the snow-covered peaks, and the tall, moss-covered trees a tonic to the displaced griffon, putting energy into her steps, and making her eyes wide with both wonder and homecoming. Almost as soon as they had paid for entrance into the park and found a spot to park their vehicle, she was out and almost skipping down the paths that led deeper into the forest.

Of course, every time the golden amazon went around a corner and temporarily out of sight, Nikeera was pulling Jared into her arms with insistent energy, the big man gathering her in for a deep, and powerful kiss. As she had promised him in the shower that morning, they would do everything except actually mate, and they did. Along with a good number of things that Jared knew how to do that she wasn't, much to her delight.

Their intimacy had left a strong connection between the two, one that both wanted to renew, again and again. So, while they couldn't exactly find a hot shower in the middle of a national park in the mountains, they did take every opportunity to be in each other's arms, drinking deeply from each other's lips.

Still, Nikeera did her fair share of sightseeing, having lived the greater part of her life behind the walls of the then capital of the Tuatha nation, Tara Hill, the largest and most majestic of the five ancient cities of stone the Tuatha had established in Corlest millennia ago. To her the incredibly tall redwoods and their moss-covered limbs were as wondrous as the sea, something she was witnessing for the very first time. As were the purple mountains with their shawls of pristine white.

Of course, on the odd occasion that Samantha was back with Jared and Nikeera was the one skipping ahead into the dripping trees ahead of them, it was the golden griffon in nysim form that was turning to Jared and pulling the big man into a passionate embrace, her kisses hungry and urgent. For good reason; once they returned to Ethaeron, such intimacy would be impossible. She wouldn't be able to kiss her beautiful and powerful rider with a griffon's beak. So she took advantage of having lips while she could, to also drink deeply from Jared's loving lips as often as she could.

Between the emotional and spiritual communion he was having with the two women that had become central in his life. And the pristine nature of the park, Jared felt his very soul be renewed. And, as he found a clearing through which he could look at the mountains himself, the lingering ache that he still felt in his eye of gold abruptly, and finally, stopped.

"Huh," Jared said in surprise when the ache vanished without warning. Lifting his hand to the metal orb hiding behind its protective patch, he gently pressed it. And smiled when the pressure elicited zero discomfort.

The girls, standing on either side of him, both looked at the big man when he made his surprised exclamation.

"Jared?" Nikeera asked, giving his hand, which she had been holding, a squeeze. "Are you okay?"

Dropping his hand from his left eye, he slowly nodded.

"I think so," he said, looking over at her. Then, as if confirming it, the book was back in his mind.

- Jared, I sense your body and soul have recovered fully from the events at Skyguard, - the entity indicated, sounding impressed. - And with a couple days to spare. -

- It would appear so, book, - Jared confirmed, putting his arms around both Nikeera and Samantha and pulling them close, the two putting their arms around him to hold them there.

- Then you need to cut short your field trip and return to the city. It's time to jump you back over to Ethaeron so you can answer the summons. -

Jared glanced up at the sky to find the sun. Here, in the mountains, the storm currently pounding the city had been left far behind and the sky was clear. Which made finding the sun easy. And, after a quick calculation, he nodded. Just shortly after noon.

- Copy that. Heading back now. - He then looked first at Nikeera, then at Samantha. "Ready to go home, ladies?"

"Back to the dorm room?" Samantha asked, even as Nikeera's expression became thoughtful.

"I don't think that's what he meant, Samantha," the tuathan princess said and Jared smiled.

"No, I meant your real home," he clarified.

"Yes!" Nikeera said, her eyes widening in excitement and a broad smile appearing on her lips. Because, while she admired and enjoyed the beauty of this place, getting to see things she had never before seen in her life, returning to Ethaeron meant being released from the ritual and finally getting to have Jared in every way she desired.

Samantha, on the other hand, grimaced in dismay.

"No!" she declared, earning her a look from both Nikeera and Jared.

"No?" Nikeera repeated with a confused frown.

But Jared found himself slowly nodding in understanding. A return for Samantha meant being returned to her griffon form. Then everything that she had experienced with Jared in her nysim form would be lost to her, possibly forever.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but you know we have to go," he said with an apologetic frown. "What we've experienced together with you in your nysim form will be forever locked in my heart, so I can think about it again and again, and remember how amazing it was. But now, the summons to Tammen Gall beckons. And with the Watcher giving me a clean bill of health, I cannot deny the command to return. -

"I know," she said in a low, almost angry voice. "Are you sure we can't stay just one more night?"

"I'm sorry, Samantha."

"Burn me to ash!" the griffon snapped in dismay. Then, with a sob, she threw herself into Jared's arms. And, as she cried, she wailed over the bond.

- We are a mated pair, my Jared! We are a mated pair! I have your essence inside me. We are a mated pair! -

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