The Summer Vacation
Chapter 27
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

We arrive back in Thryson Kingdom two marks before the sun setting. We see some people there waiting for our return.

We appear in the courtyard. We are greeted by the Chamberlain first.

“Welcome home, King Tierion and Queen Shiranna.”

“Thank you. Did everyone see what happened?”

“Most of Thryson Kingdom did, my Lord.”

“Since we already had the evening repast, we'll still gather in the dining room to be with those who have not eaten yet. We'll have a lighter fare on the menu while the others eat normally. It will be the regular schedule tomorrow morning at the Second Mark.”

“Yes, my King.”

King Tierion and Queen Shiranna turn to face the group.

“You're all dismissed to go back to your homes, castles, ports and posts. Keep in contact on what we discussed earlier.”

“Yes, King Tierion.”

Then the Centaurs and Avel speak to me at the same time.

See you tomorrow, Richard.

“Huh?”... I look at them. That's a surprise, see you tomorrow Caltron, Serena
and Avel.

We smile at each other.

“See you tomorrow, Richard.”

“See you tomorrow, my friends.”

Then the fairies fly around me a few times. They giggle and laugh, then they fly to be near Avel. They enter the forest and disappear from sight.

Everyone else saw something going on between us.

I shake my head and smile.

“What was that, Richard?”

“They just talked to me in my head. They caught me off guard.”

They smile. “Well you better get used to it. In some ways we envy you.”

“Perhaps, but it makes up for not doing magic back on Earth.”

We laugh some more.

“I'll go in and change into my ranger outfit to get more comfortable.”

“I'm sure we all need to do that, Richard.”

The Castle Lords and Ladies connect with their wizard. Then they recite the spell and disappear in a blink of an eye.

The rest of us walk to the Castle entrance.

“I'll probably be by your side, Richard, as you tour Twainor.”

“I would think so, Sir Halgren. But I think the main focus is taking care of the star ship the next seven days. I'm still needed up there to solve a problem for them.”

“What is that?”

“It's their computer, my King. The holes need to be plugged to prevent any future take over.”

“I see. Sir Braxton and King Dryden will let me know when that will be. We must see to ourselves first. You're invited to the dining room this evening, Richard.”

“I'll remember to drop by, my King.”

The castle guards open the stone doors for us. We walk inside and part company. Sir Halgren and the Commanders turn right. The rest of us turn left. We walk down the end of the foyer and walk up the flights of stairs to our rooms on the third floor.

The knights on watch open the door to my room by removing the sealing spell on it.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Richard.” The knight emphasis the 'Thank you' before saying my name.

“You're welcome.”

We smile at each other. He turns around and assists the others to their rooms.

I walk inside and close the door behind me.

I look at the mirror and to a long look at myself. “Whew, what a whirlwind of a day. I thought yesterday was long, now this. I have just become the Omega Unicorn on Earth. I know it’s a big responsibility, but I'm going have to take this day by day.”

I put the helmet and wrist gauntlets on the table. I undo the leggings and slip those off. I lay them on the bed. I take off the arm pieces next and lay them on the bed. I then take off the breast and back plates. I lay them on the bed as well.

I then take the padding off the armor pieces. I fold them up and place them in the drawers of the dresser unit. I recite the cleaning spell for the drawer.

“I see the armor is still shining brightly from yesterday.” I place the arm and leg pieces on the floor near the dresser. “I need to change these underclothes.”

I take off my shorts, undershorts and T-shirt.

I look down at my groin area. I lift my male organs up. I see a slit underneath there that wasn't there before. Everything else is still the same as before, it's small.

I fold the dirty clothes up and place them in the drawer. I remove the extra clothes I brought and put those on. I better not touch the vagina yet. I need to learn from Avel first. I will need the feminine needs when I get back. I better use one of my handkerchiefs for now. I fold up one of them and place it in the undershorts as I bring them up. I might need to change my undershorts to a different style as well.

I open the other drawer and remove the padding for the breast and back plate. I put them on the breast and back plates and used the ties to attach it. Then I place the armor on me and latch them on the sides.

Then I open the drawer and take out the ranger outfit garments. I put them on and get ready for a late afternoon walk around the courtyard. I comb my hair and look at myself.

“Hmm . . . I still need to get my teeth cleaned. I bet a cleaning spell will work. Well let's try it.”

I focus on the mirror as I look at my teeth and smile. I recite the cleaning spell with my teeth in the sentence. I close my mouth and open them again.

I see my teeth shining brightly. “This is great. It does feel great. I better eat a mint type leaf.” I take a leaf from the glass jar and put the lid back on it. I put it in my mouth and start chewing on it.

While I do that, I go to the private room and make sure my bowels are empty. I get back up and check what I need to do next.

I open the box that I'm giving to King Thranton and see the garnet gem is still there plus the other three. I also see the bag of loose gems there as well. “I'll give each dwarf king a gem, which should make them happy. This is from my own collection when I went panning with my family several summers ago. I'm keeping the favorites.”

I put the box and bag back in the drawer. I turn and open the door. I exit the room and see a guard there. I turn around and see the door get a green haze and disappear. I look at the guard and we smile at each other.

“I'm just going out for a walk in the courtyard.”

“Yes, Richard.”

I exit the castle and take a walk around the courtyard. After walking among the gardens, I decide to take a walk to the stables and see if I can talk with the horses like I did earlier with Avel and the Centaurs.

As soon as I get near, I hear the horses start to get excited. I hear one of them clearly in my head.

You're here, Richard!

Yes I'm here. Is that you, Swiftwind?

Yes, it's me!

I walk inside the stable and see the stable master and greet him.

“Greetings, Richard. It seems the horses are excited to see you.” He smiles at me.

“Greetings, stable master. I thought I would come by and check them out. Also, try to calm them down.”

“Please do, Richard.”

I see Swiftwind get wide-eyed as I get nearer. The other horses get excited as well.

I'll get to you all later. I need to speak to Swiftwind first.

Okay Richard, we'll wait. The other horses calm down.

I can speak to you, Swiftwind, like this.

How is this possible?

I was just blessed by the Maker. Through the twelve unicorns, I am now the last unicorn on Earth. The title is Omega Unicorn. I will help the fairies there to live a longer life now. Moreover, help Earth to get ready for the Emissaries arrival in the future.

That's incredible. Now you're definitely not alone.

No, I'm not, Swiftwind. I'll be touring each of the upper and lower kingdoms for a year before I go home to Earth.

I'll miss you, Richard, when you go home. You're an excellent rider.

Thank you, Swiftwind. There might be times I will come back and visit. I don't know when, but I'm always available to be an Outside Helper here.

That's good.

Well, I need to greet the rest of the stable, Swiftwind. I'll see if there is a way you can tour with me here in Thryson.

I'd be honored, Richard. Let me know when. I'll be ready.

I pat the side of his head. Swiftwind gives a slight whinny and nods his head up and down as he calms down.

I walk down to each box and greet each of the horses there. They are surprised that I can talk with them. They overheard my talk with Swiftwind. It saved time in repeating myself to them.

I turn to each horse as each one speaks to me.

Greetings everyone.

Greetings Richard. They all respond together with a whinny.

So, are you planning to visit all of the kingdoms?

Yes I am. I'm also planning to attend the midsummer festival here and the annual Sea Gala in the fall.

Yes, you would get to see us strut and perform our best.

I'm sure your riders all want the best from you, regardless. You help them look good.

That's true, but we love getting the recognition when we receive the awards as a team.

I'm sure you do. Do the castle stable master and his help treat you well, here?

Yes he does, Richard. He tries to show no favoritism to each of us.

I hope you were not startled too much when that scout ship appeared here a few nights ago.

We were, Richard. It was a new presence we had not felt before. But the stable hands helped us to calm down easily.

So did that blast of fear into our heads. We couldn't believe how strong it was. That took the longest to calm us down.

That's good.

As you can see, they have not finished repairing our boxes.

Any word you wish for me to give to the stable master before I leave for the day?

I think some of our boxes need some tending to. We got too excited when we heard you in our minds.

Phew! I smile at them. It sure does. I’ll let him know. Well, this has been a new experience for me as well. Now you keep calm now. I'll see you from time to time as the year goes on.

I go to each horse and touch the side of their heads like I did with Swiftwind. They each respond favorably with a whinny and nodding of their heads up and down.

I walk to the stable master and talk to him.

“They should be calm now. They told me they got excited when I came near to them. You better check their boxes.”

“Yes, I can smell it from here Richard.” He smiles at me. “Is there anything I should know from them?”

“They appreciate the care you have given them and not showing any favoritism.”

“That's nice to hear.”

“How about the boxes that still need repair?”

“We're waiting for them to arrive from the wood artisans. They'll have most of it done by tomorrow evening. We found out you can't use the reassemble spells on the broken pieces of wood. It might reassemble, but the strength has been weakened. The artisans will find a use for the broken wood pieces.”

“All of them told me they can't wait for the midsummer festival to start. They definitely look forward to it.”

“I'm sure they do.”

“Well, I need to check the training field and see what is brought in so far.”

“See you later in the week, Richard.”

“See you later stable master.”

We nod our heads to each other and smile. I turn around and leave the castle stables. Well, that was interesting. I'll get used to it eventually.

I walk toward the training fields, and I see some knights unloading some pieces off a cart near the bins. They sort them carefully, especially with the burning pieces and containers of fuel they collected. In front of the cart, I see two animals that are used for their strength in pulling the carts.

A sergeant and a captain see me approaching them. The knights pause unloading when they see me.

“Continue working. I just want to see what is being brought in.”

“You heard him, keep unloading the wreckage.”

“Yes Sir!” They all respond together.

“This is a lot of debris that you found.”

“Yes, the fairies, centaurs and dragons helped us locate the burn sites. There was some still smoldering when we got there.”

“I didn't come prepared to pick up the pieces, perhaps later.”

“We understand, Richard. Too bad we can't use some of this ourselves.”

“Have your smiths and dwarf smiths looked at the pieces to get some ideas?”

“They have, Richard. They see they have a long way to go to create the right combinations to make it light, durable and without breaking.”

“It takes practice to get it right. Then there is the constant testing to see if it holds up.”

“We have collected only five air fighters from nearby. We estimate another twenty to arrive this week.”

“How about the wreckage that is in the waters?”

“The sea dragons are having fun with the wizards. They agreed to help remove them.”

“Heh, heh, I bet they are, Sir Langley. Sir Bratton, have orders been made to make more of these bins?”

“Yes Richard, they will be brought here as each one gets finished. Do you recognize any of these materials, Richard?”

“I think I do, Sir Bratton. Do you see that clear glass piece?”

“Yes, Richard.”

“From my experience, it’s probably not glass at all.”

“What do you mean, Richard?”

“Pick up a piece and see if you can flex it without breaking it.”

“Okay Richard.”

Sir Braxton picks up the piece and tries to bend it a little bit. He sees that he can bend it slightly.

“You're right, Richard. It does bend slightly. It is not glass at all.”

“I didn't think it was.”

“Why did they create this type?”

“For the reason you’re trying. If that cockpit covering is made of glass, flying at high speeds can cause a glass piece that big to vibrate and shatter into many pieces.”

“Yes, now I see the comparison. When we have our lightning storms, the sounds of the thunder can shake or break our glass windows some times.”

“That's right. But glass is still useful for its own properties. You can mix things in glass jars without harming the jar. Unless, it is very hot to melt it. The temperature to melt glass is probably a lot higher than that piece your holding there.”

“But glass at times is a better protector against lightning. I've seen the results myself.”

“I'm sure you have, Sir Bratton.”

“This is the last cart for the day, Richard. There will be more here for the next few days.“

“I have a new question. When is the midsummer festival here?”

“That won't be for another two inner moons from now. That's about forty-five days from now.”

“Hmm . . . I'm just guessing Sir Langley. I could visit at least two kingdoms by then.”

“It's possible, Richard. It depends on which kingdoms they are.”

“Well, we need to get back and get ready for the evening repast.”

“Yes, it's getting close. Come on men, let's take this cart back where it belongs.”

“Once we get it to the storage yard, unhitch the team of tranelles and put them with the others in the pen.”

“Yes, Sir Bratton.”

“See you later, Richard.”

“See you later, men.”

We go our ways. I walk back to the castle, while the knights take the cart and tranelles to the storage yard and pens.

I enter the castle through the side door. I walk down the hallway toward the dining room. I open the door to the dining room. I see several people there talking to each other. They turn to me when they see me.

“Hello, Richard. Where did you go?”

“I first went for a walk in the garden. Then I had a nice chat with the horses in the castle stables.”

“I'm sure that was a unique experience for you.”

“Yes it was, my Lord.”

“Have they told you any secrets that we might not be aware of?” He smiles at me.

I smile back. “Not yet, my King. It was just a general greeting. They did mention about being surprised by the arrival of the scout ship and the fear attack they experienced this morning.”

“I remembered that. I checked the stables after that fear attack. We all tried to calm them down. Some of the boxes still need repair.”

“They did tell me they look forward to the festivals.”

“I'm sure they do look forward to it, Richard. They love the competition to see who is best.”

“Well, it's just the ten of us, this evening. Richard, this is my brother, Duke Traylor and his wife Duchess Clarienelle. This is their son Eaome, he is eleven and this is my son Teliesen, he is ten. The dwarf ambassadors are back with King Thranton this evening.”

“I'm pleased to meet you all, finally.”

“Yes, you hardly met us when you were here last time.”

“Are there any princesses among you?”

The ladies giggle.

“Yes Richard, my daughter is resting in her room. She is only two years old. She is being watched by one of our hand maidens.”

“Queen Shiranna just received the news a moon ago.”

I look at the Queen and smile. I bow and rise up before her quickly. “Congratulations, my Queen.”

“Thank you, Richard.”

“I take it after the competition among the sons. The girls will have the chance to make life interesting around here.”

Duke Traylor looks at the two boys with a smile, “Don't we know it, Richard.”

The boys laugh at the little joke as they look at each other.

“I'm very sure the shopping bug is the same here as it is on my world for the female gender. There is another phrase that describes it. That would be retail therapy.”

Everyone laughs at the joke.

“If that's the case Richard, we better make sure there is enough gold in the treasury.”

“Tierion!” Queen Shiranna touches his shoulder with a smile.

“Sorry about that, my lovely queen.” King Tierion smiles back at her. “Yes, you do know how to shop for what is needed at a fair price. You do keep up with the latest fashion.”

“Thank you, my love, that's better.”

The ladies giggle at his recovery and joke.

“Come, let's sit and have the evening repast before it is too late.”

“Yes, my brother. Let's enjoy the evening repast.”

We approach the dining table. “Richard, please sit at the head of the table.”

“Thank you for the honor, my King.”

We all sit down together. Renard remains standing. Everyone gets quiet to listen to him.

“Maker, we just thank you for this day. Justice has been served to all concerning the enemy we just encountered. We thank you for this food. It is a gift from you to give us the strength we need to take care of your beloved garden in the heavens. We thank you again for all of that you have done for us. Thank you, Maker.”

Everyone responds together, “Thank you, Maker.”

Renard sits down.

“That is a good thanks, Renard. That was a good summary of today.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

The servers come out and deliver the first course. I see a plate put down in front of me. It is a smaller portion than what I'm used to having. I see the others received the same plate as I did when I went to Angathorn Kingdom today. The others received a normal portion for themselves.

We begin to eat and talk between bites.

“Duke Traylor, I'm curious. What are your duties besides being second in line here?”

“Well, that's a big subject, Richard. First I see to it that no slack occurs when my brother visits the other kingdoms. I over see the welfare of our kingdom through our governors. Tierion oversees the military side for our safety.”

“Do you stay here or do you have your own castle?”

“My family stays in our own castle. It's not far from here. I run the kingdom's welfare from there.”

“So, I take it there is a separate council of Castle Lords.”

“Yes Richard. It is very interconnected between the two divisions of safety and welfare.”

The servers come back in and take our empty plates. They come back out with the main dish. It is the same size portion as the first dish for each of us. It is a fowl dish. There is nothing special about it, except for a slice of grilled fruit served as well.

“Richard, what is the atmosphere like on your world with all of those nations?”

“Well, as you might surmise, Duke, there are many different voices. Some nations will agree with each other, some will argue. Hopefully the arguments don't lead to conflict and war.”

“But what about the roadways and towns, are there laws in place to keep the peace locally?”

“There are. Most of the people obey the laws. There's a separate force to help keep the peace. There is work for the people, they get paid their wages and make a life.”

“That's good.”

“It's just when someone decides to go against the law to steal or murder, then you hope the system works. Sometimes people disappear for no reason. What hurts the most, is when there are very few clues to solve such cases.”

“Perhaps that will change when you go back.”

“I hope so, my King.”

“This is just a reminder how many people we have. You can take your entire world population and try to house them in the smallest space possible. We have buildings that can be ten stories high. There are some buildings that are fifty to eighty stories high.”

“Isn't that dangerous, Richard?”

“It can be. But the buildings have to be designed right. It is a mixture of steel, stone and other materials. Like I said before, I don't wish our problems here. You'll deal with them as time goes on.”

“Yes, we will Richard. As much as we appreciate your help. We hope our Outside Helpers, when they go back home, they continue to improve and help their own world.”

“Thank you. I greatly appreciate hearing that, my King.”

Once we get done eating the main dish. The servers come out and take our plates. Then they deliver to each of us a bowl of fruit. It is all cut up in big chunks. I see some seeds in the chunks. It is dusted with a different spice this time. The servers also put a damp towel at each place setting as well for us to use.

We enjoy the challenge of eating the fruit. The juice at the bottom of the bowl becomes a delightful finish to the meal.

Once we get done, the king looks to a server nearby. “Please have the assistant chef come in.”

“Yes, my Lord.” She bows quickly and turns around. She walks into the kitchen. A moment later, the kitchen staff comes out and lines up.

“Thank you for creating this dish. It was not too filling and yet it satisfied our senses.”

Everyone begins to clap. The assistant chef steps forward. We get quiet to hear her speak.

“Thank you, my King. It is not too often that I get to do this by myself. I have been taught well by Master Chef Beharn. I look forward to serving you again, especially during the midsummer festival coming up.”

“Yes, that is when everyone gets a chance to shine. We look forward to tasting your creations.”

“Thank you, my King. So, until next time my King, that will be tomorrow morning.”

We all clap again. The kitchen staff bows quickly and walks back into the kitchen.

“Come let us witness the sun setting again. It is not too often that we see it two times in one day.”

We all get up and leave the dining room together. The knights open the doors for us. We walk out to the courtyard to witness the beauty of Twainor again.

It doesn't take long for it to arrive. Soon it is in the courtyard. Everyone begins to have fun with the lights. All of the adults pair up and dance around the courtyard. They all sing the same song while dancing. The two boys laugh and play tag with the streaming lights.

When I extend my hands and fingers out, I get a different effect than what I'm used to. My entire body is glowing a golden yellow color. My finger tips start to extend in golden streams of light.

“Uh . . . my friends . . . this is new.” Then I see golden air waves in front of my mouth as I speak.

Everyone stops and sees my interaction with the colorful light display. They stop and look and see what is happening.

“This is amazing, Richard. I don't know what to say.”

“I don't know what to say either, Richard. I have never seen this reaction at all except briefly on the Nefelim star ship.”

“Do you think it is because you're the Omega Unicorn now?”

“It has to be my King. It's like an inner glow. When I was being blessed by the Maker on the stage earlier, I thought I was somewhere else as if time stood still.”

“What did you see and hear?”

“I saw all twelve of the unicorns' souls and spirits. They were all glowing like me, but they appeared as men and women. The emissaries were glowing goldenly too.”

“That's amazing, Richard. Did they tell you anything?”

“They did, Lady Clarienelle. They gave me some words of advice. They will probably remind me and teach me when I visit them while I'm here for a year.”

Then the wall of colorful lights leaves the courtyard. My golden glow disappears as well. We look to the west and see the wall of lights sweep toward the Thryson Mountains. Once it reaches the crests, the ridge line lights up like a crown, then it disappears.

We look up at the night sky and see the stars come into view, the twin moons, the nebulae and the star ship. We clap our hands when we see that. We also hear the knights in the training fields doing the same thing as well.

I look up at the heavens and breathe in a big breath of fresh air and blow it out slowly.

Some of them come near me as I look up at one of the nebulae. They look up as well.

“You know you have been chosen now. A lot of your questions have been answered.”

“Yes, my King. I also know a thousand years will pass on Earth while you're still here.”

“A lot will change in that time, while not much will happen here.”

“That's one of the problems about time and space. I look at the lights of the stars up there. Those lights are just getting here after traveling for a million or a billion years. We were just a thought in the Maker's grand scheme when those stars were born.”

“Now we are alive witnessing that beauty. Don't worry, Richard. I paid attention to the Emissaries' words. There will be another test for our Local Group in the future.”

“Yes, there's another threat out there trying to make a name for itself.”

“Hopefully, by that time Earth will be part of the solution without needing your intervention too much.”

“Yes, my world must gain confidence that it can help others on this level.”

We look at each other while we continue talking.

“I'll start contacting the other kingdoms to make plans for your tour. We'll start with the western kingdoms first. This won't start until after this week.”

“I thought as much my King. I just found out your midsummer festival will happen in about forty-five days. I thought that's enough time for two kingdoms.”

“It's possible you can do that. We'll start with our own kingdom here first.”

“How will we travel about? Will we travel by horse or by magic?”

“We'll probably do both.”

“Are you planning any special ceremonies for your forces that went to the star ship?”

“That's a good question, Richard. It will allow us to thank them personally and allow the people see who they are.”

“We can do it with each Castle Lord when we visit or at the arenas where we have our midsummer festivals.”

“That's true, my brother. I think it will be better with each Castle Lord. There might be other awards for valor when we hear the stories with the crashing air fighters and the stampeding herds.”

“Then I'll contact the Castle Lords tomorrow. It will take them a week's time to get everything sorted in their fiefdoms anyway.”

“I agree, Traylor. Well it's time for bed. We'll discuss it and plan it during the week.”

“Yes, the boys had their romp. They look tired and ready to fall asleep on the bed.”

“What's the plan for tomorrow?”

“The air fighter wreckage collecting will still be going on. The Castle Lords will be repairing their own fiefdoms and tallying their losses.”

“The people will be returning back from King Thranton's Under Kingdom.”

“There is also the return of the scout ship from the Thryson Mountains.”

“Yes, that will have to be delivered back to them. You can go with them, Richard when that happens.”

“Yes, it will save a trip for the wizards.”

We all start walking back to the castle entrance. The knights open the doors for us. We walk inside the foyer area. Then we walk up the steps to the third floor. The knight removes the sealing spell on my door.

“Good night everyone. See you all in the morning at Second Mark. May we all have good dreams tonight.”

“Good night, Richard. I think all of Twainor will want those now.”

“Yes we do, Richard.”

I walk into my room and close the door. I see there is enough light coming in. There is no need to use the light crystals.

I undress like I have done before. I put the clothes away and place them in the drawer. I lay the breast and back plates near the other pieces of armor there.

I take out the night shirt and night shorts and put those on. I look at my teeth in the mirror. I recite the cleaning spell for the teeth. I open the mouth and see they are very clean and white.

I pull down the covers to the bed. I climb in the bed and get comfortable getting under the covers. I think about the time in morning to wake up.

I recite the spell to put me to sleep for so many marks with a time delay.

After a few moments I fall asleep. I have great dreams of home and family. I also have dreams of the future in my new role. Most of those dreams don't make sense now. But, I will know what it means by then.