A pause in the fighting. The younger Mentokka stared at the older version of herself, battered and bruised. The fight lasted for less then a minute, and the older women clearly had the upper hand on her younger opponent.

"This is not suppose to be happening!" the younger Mentokka thought. "I'm fighting myself. It should be a stalemate at best. I know what is coming, but I can't seem to counter in time, she's beating me to the blow, damn near every time. I'm hurting in places I did not know exist."
The older women chuckled, clearly hearing the younger girl thoughts.

"Come on, sis. Your not thinking." the older Mentokka said sharply. "
What did Uncle Rand say to you about this kind of fight?" The younger girl seemed puzzled by what she said. The older women told her to take her time and think about it, and she promised not to attack her when she did.

Even though her body was racked with pain, she sensed only truth in her words. She paused for several seconds more, before closing her eyes and going to that place that was a well of knowledge for her, Uncle Rand's teachings.
She thought about what the older Mentokka said to her.......(This kind of fight)
What was this kind of fight? She was fight against a older version of herself.

Like going though separate pages in a book, Mentokka looked intensely for the scenario that which she was looking for. She remembered something about it on her own, but not enough. Then after awhile she remembered. It was the time when she asked Uncle Rand to train her in secret. She fell to the ground hard. The receiving end of a forearm smash to her face. After a few moments her head cleared and the ringing in her ears stopped.

"By the gods!" Mentokka shouted. "What am I doing wrong?" She rose to her feet to face her Uncle that was grinning slightly.

"What are you doing wrong, Little Girl?" Rand repeating her question. "Nothing. You matched me blow for blow."

"I must be doing something wrong?" Rand answered her question with another question.

When you tried to beat your brother in a fight, what was the one thing he always had on you?" Mentokka though about for several seconds.

"His strength. He always out muscled me. He's far stronger then me. That's why I wanted to learn his style to see if I can beat him this way instead." Rand smiled. It took Mentokka several more seconds for the answer to sink in.

"That's it!" Mentokka all but shouted. "The key is strength. I'm losing because I'm not strong enough." Rand's smile got larger.

"Now you understand, Little Girl." Rand said, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Tosh wins because he stronger then you. It doesn't matter if you learn his style. All you end up being is a weaker version of Tosh."

"And you beat Tosh because your stronger then he is?"

"Just barely." Rand said grimly. "He's still growing. He'll best me one day, as it should be. As I believe, one day you will, in the magic." Mentokka didn't understand what he meant at that time, about her getting more stronger then him. But she finally understood why she couldn't beat her brother back then.

Mentokka opened her eyes and looked at her older self. "Strength." Mentokka muttered quietly. "I'm the weaker version of myself. She's stronger then me." The older Mentokka smiled and nodded her head.

"You finally understand, don't you?" The younger girl nodded."You'll need 'Big Brother's help."

"But why would you......" The older women cut her.

"Question me later, sis. Go see Tosh." She wanted to protest, but she thought better of it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes once again.

"Help me, Big Brother." she thought. "Help me, Tosh."

Tosh continued his visual by his sister's bedside. Minuets earlier he was filled with dread. Mentokka's body was shaking as if it was responding to physical blows.

"Mentokka!" Tosh shouted. "What's wrong?" Suddenly, images rushed into his mind of his own magical trial. Right there he was sure his sister was going though the same thing. Fighting for her life.
As much as he wanted to help her, he knew there was little he could do to help her other then stay by her sister's side and hoping for the best for her. Several moments later, Mentokka's body relaxed. Tosh moved closer to see if she was alright.

"Sis?" Tosh whispered, taking her hand."Are you alright?

"Help me Big Brother." Tosh's eyes went wide when he heard her voice. "Help me, Tosh."

Instantly Tosh thought the worst. His sister was in need of his help. She must of been losing her fight, and was asking for her help. Tosh closed his eyes and offered his sister his very life force. "My life is yours,sis."

Mentokka instantly felt, his big brother's life force enter her body. "No Tosh!" she shouted.
Tosh must of thought that she was in trouble, and he was giving her his very life force to her. She knew she had to stop him before he killed himself for her. She forced herself back to consciousness.
She opened her eyes and saw his brother was in deep in himself slowly drawing his life force out of his self and into her.

"Tosh....stop." she said weakly, trying to release her hand from her brother's grasp. But her brother was too deep into himself to hear her. Calling up all of her strength, she slammed her fist into her brother's chest, breaking his contact with his magic, and falling off the bed.

"Brother.......listen to me." she gasped. Tosh rose to his feet and moved to her side once again. "I don't.....need your life.....force."

"But you called out to me, asked me for my help." Tosh said. "What do you need?" a small smile broke out across her tired face.


* * *

Gunner, struck on the head with stunning force for the second time in as many minutes, lost consciousness. But not for long. When he regained his senses he found himself being carried several meters off the surface of the marsh, his body still helplessly clutched to the breast of a flying dragon of enormous wingspan. His left arm and shoulder was were in agony, though the animal had shifted its powerful grip and was no longer holding him directly by the injured limb.

He thought the dragon was going to drop him at any moment. He knew a grown man must be a very heavy load--five minutes ago he would of thought it was impossible load--for any creature that flew on wings and not by magic. And obviously his captor was having a slow and difficult struggle to gain altitude with Gunner aboard. No mattered how its great wings labored, it was unable as yet to rise any higher above the tree tops.

From being sure the dragon was going to drop him, Gunner quickly moved to being afraid that was not. Then it gained more altitude despite the evident odds, he progressed to being fearful that it would. Either way there appeared to be nothing he could do. Both of his arms were now pinned between his body and the scaly toughness of the dragon's. He could turn his head, and when he turned it to the right he saw his crossbow rifle protruding from between the scales near the joining of the animal's left leg and body. The wound was lightly oozing blood. If Gunner had been able to move his right arm, he might have tried to grab the weapon, not like it would of done any good.

The great wings beat on, slowly winning the fight for flight. Despite the color of the dragon's blood, its scales, and everything thing else about it. Gunner began lightheaded to wonder, if it was really drop him.
This thing couldn't really carry me, he kept thinking to himself, and kept expecting to be dropped at any moment. No flying creature ought to be able to scoop up a full grown-men, but still.....

Now for a time, terror threatened to overcome his mind. Gunner clutched with his fingernails at the scales of the beast that carried him. Now he could visualize it planning to drop him when it had reached a sufficient height, like a seabird cracking shells on rock below. In panic he tried to free his arms, but it ignored his feeble efforts. Once again Gunner lost consciousness. When he came to again, his abductor was still carrying him in the same position. They were in smooth flight between two horizontal layers of cloud, for a time that seemed to Gunner an eternity, and must in fact have been several hours. Gradually the cloud layers thinned, and he could see that he was being carried over what must be part of the great swamp, at a height almost to great to be frightening at all. The cloud layers above had now thinned sufficiently to let him see from the position of the sun that his flight was to the southwest.

"Let me go!" Gunner shouted. When he heard the dragon groan and for a few seconds look down at him, he quickly changed his mind. "No, no! Correct that! Do not let me go! Hang on tight! Don't drop me, Mr dragon!" Gunner thought it would be better if he just keep his mouth shut, before he unknowingly say something that would get him killed....or worse.

Eventually there appeared in the swamp below an irregular small island, bearing a stand of stark trees and marked at its edge by low cliffs of clay, or something close to it. At this point the dragon turned suddenly into a gentle downward spiral. Gunner could see nothing below but the island itself which might prompt a descent. And it was atop one of those low, wilderness cliffs of clay that the dragon landed.

Gunner was dropped rudely onto the rough ground, but he was not released. Before his stiffened limbs could react to the possibilities of freedom, he was was grabbed again. One of the dragon's feet clamped round his right leg, lifted him, and hung him up like meat to dry, with his right ankle wedged painfully in the crotch of a tree some five meters above the ground. He hung upside down and yelled.

Gunner's screams of new pain and fresh outrage were loud, but they had no effect. Ignoring Gunner's noise, the dragon spread its wings and flapped heavily off the cliff. It descended in a glide to land at the edge of the swamp, some twenty meters below. There, moving in a cautious waddle, it position at the edge of a pool. Placid as a wool beast, it extended its neck and lapped up a drink. it continued to ignore the rife which still stuck in its hip.

"What now?" Gunner thought. "Now that you drank. You going to dine?" With that thought in mind, Gunner was brought to desperation. Gunner contracted his body, trying to pull himself up within grabbing distance of the branches imprisoning his leg. But his right arm, like his whole body, was stiff and sore, ans his left arm could hardly be made to work at all. The fingers of his right hand brushed the branch above, but he could do no more, and fell back groaning. Even if by some all-out contortion he were to succeed in getting his foot free, it might well be the price of a bone breaking fall onto the hard ground at the top of the cliff.

Sounds of splashing drew Gunner's attention back to the swamp. Down there the dragon had plunged one taloned foot into the swamp. Shortly the foot was brought out again, holding a large snake. Gunner thought squinting into his upside-down view of the situation that the serpent was as thick as a man's leg. It coiled and thrashed and hissed, its fangs stabbed uselessly again ts the dragon's scales. The head kept striking even after the dragon snapped off a large section of its midsection., allowing the tail section to fall free.

Gunner drew some small encouragement from the fact that the dragon seemed to prefer snake to human flesh. Hoping it didn't see him as dessert. He tried again, more methodically this time, to work his way free. But in this case method had no more success then frenzy.

Gunner must of fainted again, for his next awareness was being picked up once more by his captor. He was being held against the dragon's breast in the same way as before, and his arms were already pinned. Gunner screamed at the dragon to let him go before it decided to take off once again. For he was sure the dragon was going to drop him from a very high height this time. As it turned out, this day was full of surprises,....so?
Why not another?

The dragon brought the still screaming Gunner closer to its face. Terror filled him. He was sure that the dragon was going to promptly swallow him whole, or with several bites.

"Be Silent, Human!" The dragon roared. Gunner wasn't expecting that.

"You! You..you..you..you...can Talk?!"

"In all my years, I didn't think it was possible. But, your giving me a headache!"

"S-s,so...so sorry." Gunner at this point had a dying urge to piss on himself, but though strength of will, and a bit of luck, he held it in. "Are you going to kill me?"

"If I was, don't you think I would of done it already?"

"P-point taken, Mr. dragon." Gunner said in a small, frightened voice. The dragon groaned. No doubt thinking about its next move.

"Now human." the dragon said calmly. If you considered a dragon talking/ roaring calm. "If you promise to behave yourself and be quite, I'll let you ride upon my back, agreed?"

Gunner wanted to shout that he agreed to its terms, but he also wanted to ask him to let him go, but thought better. He nodded his head and kept him mouth close.

"Very well, human." the dragon said placing Gunner on the ground. "Climb onto my back, and we shall be off." Gunner took several moment to stretch his stiff and sore limbs before climbing up on to the dragon's back. He wedged himself in a small area where the dragon's neck and shoulders connected. "Hold on tight, human!"

"You can call me, Gunner, Mr. Dragon."

"I do not plan on knowing you long enough to want to know your name.....Human!" The dragon roared, as he spread his massive wings and leaped into the air.

Gunner was taken by surprise as he felt like he was going to fly off the dragon's back. He felt like he was being shot out of one of his father's huge cannons. He grabbed on to the dragon's scales and held on for all he was worth. Even though he promised not to speak, he couldn't help screaming.
The dragon took off with a little extra speed, no doubt to enjoying the fact that he could add a little more terror to this human.......without killing him.

Gunner was sure he heard the dragon chuckle.


* * *


Mentokka returned to the area where her the older Mentokka stood waiting her. The look on the younger girls face told her that she was successful with her task. "I take it, your ready for the next round, sis?"

"Like you said before.....Question me later when this is done......Big sis." The younger said with a small smile on her face. The older women nodded and went into her fighting stance. Once again, the two Mentokkas were joined in battle. The older women started cautiously, noting how differently her younger self stood her her fighting stance. "This shouldn't take long." the older women chuckled to herself, before she threw her first punch.

The younger Mentokka saw her older self completely different.What she got from Tosh made her think that this wouldn't take long.

The older women threw her first punch and the younger girl block it with a stiff forearm, then countered with a straight punch to the older women's chest. The blow made the older women stagger back a few steps. The younger Mentokka couldn't believe how much strength was behind that blow. Not giving the older women time to recover, she ruched in with a hard forearm shot to the older women's nose. The older Mentokka's head snapped, blood erupting from her nose, but the younger girl didn't let up. She went low, with a side kick to the the side of her left knee.. The older girl, already staggering, fell to the ground. The younger girl jumped on her fallen opponent and slammed her fist to the side of her head. she reeled back and hit her once again. Blood flew. The blow snapped her head to the side. The Younger Mentokka was about to deliver the finishing blow when she stopped herself.

"By the gods, what am I doing?" she asked, seeing the blood on her hands. "Forgive me, sis. I didn't mean for this to...." the older Mentokka cut her off.

"W-what are.... you d-doing?" the older women said though bloody lips. "Finish it! Its the only way. The magic..... must be controlled.......n-not the other way around."

The younger girl looked at her older self with shock. "You want me to win. Why?" The older Mentokka coughed up blood, and the younger girl helped her sit up.

"I've touched your soul.....I've touched Tosh's souls. its been so long, I forgot what the feeling between the two of us was. Tosh and I went our separate ways years ago. I never knew how much I needed Big Brother in my life....h-how much he needed me. I let the magic control me. And it drove Tosh away. and Uncle Rand was powerless to do anything....anything but watch the family fall apart. I'm sure that is what killed him. I won't let you make the same mistake."

Tears welled up in the younger Mentokka's eyes, as she heard her older women words.
"Uncle Rand.....dead? Tosh is gone away?"

"I'm sure this is where it all began....Me letting the magic take control. W-where everything started to fall apart. This is why you must finish this."

"I can't," Mentokka cried. "I can't do this......not to you. I can't kill you! Your me! There must be another way!" The older women shook her head painfully.

"Its the only way, sis......y-you'll understand after wards. You must do it! Think of it as a favor for your big sister."

The look in the older Mentokka's eyes told her there was no changing her mind. Every time the younger Mentokka asked her about what she would understand when it was over, she told her to simply trust her. She asked her what she had to do.

"Kill me," she whispered. "We both know your more then strong enough to it. You must control the magic."

Tears were now streaming from here eyes, she knew that the older women was right. But the thought of killing her was tearing her apart.

"It will be quick......Big sister." the older women smiled and closed her eyes.

"It will be alright in the end, you'll see, sis."

Still holding her up, the younger Mentokka moved to where she was holding her up, but kneeling behind her. She placed her hands on both sides of the older women's head. She knew what she had to do, but she was faltering. "Do it, sis."

Mentokka screamed and called all her strength and broke the older Mentokka's neck with a quick jerk of her hands. The older women crumbled to the ground, quietly.
The Younger Mentokka didn't move for a long moment. At this point she was sobbing uncontrollably now, not believing what she done.

"Why do you cry, sis?" The older Mentokka's voice called out to her.

"Big sister? Is that you?" Mentokka asked fanatically looking around. "Where are you?"

"I'm inside you, sis." the voice replied. "The magic is now yours. this way we both get something out of this."

"What do you mean?" Mentokka asked totally confused by what the voice was saying.

"You get full control of the magic. and though you, I get to have Tosh and Uncle Rand in my life once again." though her tears, Mentokka smiled and nodded.

"Go now. I'm sure Big brother is worried about us."

Mentokka closed here eyes and disappear in a flash of golden light. Using her new powers for the first time.

Mentokka woke to see, Tosh soundly sleeping in the chair next to her bedside. "Brother?" she called out to him. his eyes flew open when he heard her voice.

"Sis!" he said, moving closer to him. "Are you alright?" Mentokka nodded gently.

"It's all over, Big brother. The trial is over. The magic is mines. Time to give back what I'd borrowed from you." She took Tosh by the hand and the strength and stamina returned to him.

Tosh smiled, feeling his strength returned to him. "Like the return of an old friend."

"Speaking of old friends." Mentokka said sitting up in her bed. "Why didn't you tell me you met the older Mentokka in your dreams?"

"To tell you what? That we came to blows. I think I nearly broke her nose, and she nearly broke my jaw? And talking about other things. Oh yeah, now that is something to brag about."

"Tosh." Mentokka said softly. She told me everything. "Your feelings about me." Tosh said nothing, just looked away from her, no doubt embarrassed about what she said.

"We need to talk, Tosh." she said talking her brother's hand once again. He nodded. "I also need to tell you my feelings for you. And by the time we are done. I don't know if we will see each other as brother and sister anymore, it could all change."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"By the time our talk is over. We might become.......Lovers."

Tosh remained silent and expressionless, but inside he was sure his heart skipped a beat........more then once.