Might and Magic

By Sammie Spitz

Chapter 2: Introductions

Juno began to regain some strength. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a forest of some kind. Trees were everywhere, as well as the song of birds. However, upon closer inspection, this forest wasn't on Goldwood or anywhere else he was familiar with.

He noticed the blanket covering him. Whoever or whatever was responsible for it was at least nice enough to keep them from freezing in the night. He lifted himslef of. Naturally, gravity caused the blanket to slid off. He looked down and got a big surprise....

...he had horse legs! He got a better look and it looked like someone cut the head of some poor horse and stuck his upper body on it. Of course, that wasn't what really happened, but it was the best description. He was still shirtless, with his blue hair down and just below his shoulders. His equine half was lightish blue with a white tail, the left hind leg with a white sock mark, and the right front with a white stocking mark.

He decided to at least try and stand up. First, he got up on his front legs carefully. Then, when he could holf his weight on those, he steadied his hind legs. He almost stumbled over, but he was able to catch himself. Then, he looked around, in an attempt to get a better idea of where he was. He happened to notice his sister, laying about eight feet away, also in a blanket. He carefully made his way over to her, not wanting to trip on his own legs and fall on her. He tripped a few times and stumbled, but made it over to her.

He knelt down beside her to get a better look at her. She seemed to be having trouble getting her breath. He couldn't be sure why. There could have been hundreds of causes. Something else that bothered him was the shape under that blanket that was supposed to be her legs. They just didn't look right. He took the blanket off.

Vela wasn't safe from whatever transformed Juno. From a Little under her waist down was a silver-blue dolphin tail. She was still dressed in the pink night gown she wore to bed. This transformation into a mermaid may have answered why she was having breathing problems.

"Looks like you need some water." Juno said. He gentley picked her up and looked around for any kind of water. He looked behind some bushes and found a small creek. He found a shallow spot and set Vela down in it. He then started splashing some water onto her. It seemed to do her some good. Her breathing eased. She also started to stir in his arms.

She started to wake up. When she woke up, she noticed the horse man holding her. Stories from King Jeff flashed in her mind about how they used to carry of women into caves and the poor girls wer enever seen again. She started panicing, thrashing around. Suddenly, the creatur espoke in a familiar voice: "Calm down, Vela, it's me!"

Vela looked up at him again. Sure enough, it was Juno.

"Juno, what the hell happened to you?" She asked. The she noticed her tail and asked, "And what the hell happened to me?!"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna have a look around." Suddenly, there was a whimper coming from the bushes. Juno got up and continued, "I wonder if that's Lupus."

"I'll go with you." Vela said. She tried to heave herself back on shore, but Juno moved her closer to the center, making her put her new tail to use.

"I don't think you should be out of the water, sis." He told her, "I'll be right back."



Juno walked inot the bushes that the noise came from. He was starting to ajust to his new legs. He peeked inot the bushes. A strange dog was sitting in the middle of a clearing. It looked like a floppy-eared, golden retreiver that was the size of a pony. It had armor on it's paws and body. Upon hearing footsteps, it turned around and looked at him with familiar, green eyes.

"Hi, Lupus." Juno said. Lupus recongized his master and walked up to him. He jumped up, placing his front paws on his shoulders and licking him. Lupus grew happier with every lick.

"You missed me, didn't you?" Juno smiled and scratched him between the ears. Lupus then got down and trotted of. He figured, if Juno was here, Vela had to be nearby as well. He caught a whiff of her in a breeze and followed it.



Vela had gotten herself in a small fix. Instead of listening to Juno, she crawled out of the creek. Not long after, possibly only a few minutes later, she started getting short of breath.

"Damn it! Why the heck is this happening? I wasn't hurt or anything." She grumbled. She also cursed about the fact she couldn't walk, due to her tail, and she had to crawl around like someone who got both legs broken.

Unfortunetly, Vela knew very little about mermaids. Rather than going back to the creek, which would have helped, she dragged herself to a large rock about ten feet away from the creek. She propped herslef against it, trying to catch her breath. It didn't help that the sun beat down on the peticular part she was sitting at.

As she sat there, she noticed the giant dog heading for her.

"Oh shit! If this is his territory, I'm as good as gone!" She paniced. She tried to get up, but fell over. She forgot she didn't have legs. She covered her head with her arms, her fright causing her breathing to get even more shortened. Suddenly, the dog started nosing at her arms. When she looked up, she looked right in the eyes of the creature, which she realized was Lupus.

He looked down at her, his tounge hanging down and his eyes bright and happy. He licked her in the face happily as she scratched him.

Juno followed and looked over at them. Then he groaned, "Sis, what did I tell you?"

"You expected me to just sit there?" She replied, her shortness of breath becoming a little more obvious. Juno grabbed one of the blankets, soaked it, and then wrapped it around her and picked her up. Her breathing eased again, but he wasn't sure how long this would last.

He sighed a bit and muttered, "I wonder where Floyd is."



"Calm down, Floyd! Settle down!" Barry said, trying to calm down Floyd, "Just tell me again. Slower this time."

"They just vanished!" He repeated, "This strange animal of some kind appeared in the hall. And, when we got close to it, the twins, Lupus and the creature were all gone! So, I flew all the way her eto see King Jeff. This seemed rather supernatural, especially that animal, and I thought he may know something."

"OK, I'll go get him. Just stat here." Barry went behind a flap at the back of the hut and came back with his brother, "Alright, just tell Jeff what you told me."



Juno looked around a little more, trying to figure out where he was. As he did, some strange animals ran by in terror. A unicorn and her foal and a couple of rainbow colored cats. He then noticed the sound. It sounded like a small stampede. And it was getting close fast. Juno tried to run, but soon found himself surrounded by a herd of six, black, mean-looking horses. A centaur stepped out of the bushes. He looked a little like Juno, but also different. He had short brown hair, and a black horse body with red stripes along the back and on the legs. He was covered in red war paint, was also shirtless, and had a blet he kept his weapons on.

"Hmmm, must be forgine." He muttered, "Never seen any of you around here." He went over to Juno, who had Vela in his arms. The centaur peeked inot the blanket a little.

"Now I know your forgine. Usually this race doesn't wear that." He said, in response to her night gown, "Pretty one though."

Juno couldn't stand this animal. He had a bad feeling about him right from the start. And it only got worse. They're reputation, according to Jeff, wasn't helping.

"Keep your hands off my sister!" He growled.

The centaur looked up and asked, "Your sister?"

"I know she doesn't look like she is, but trust me. She's my twin, too. So, hands off!"

The centaur looked him straight in the eye and said, "Look, stranger. I'm the law in this area. So your in now position to give me orders. Understood?"

Juno had had just about enough. He knew he needed to get out of here. And he knew he needed to get past this creature and his lackies to pull it off. He reared up and kicked the centaur. He then back-kicked two of the horses behind him. He then galloped off, Vela in his arms and Lupus at his heels.

As he ran after him, the centaur pulled something from his weapon belt. It was a rope with a rock tied at each end. He spun it around over his head and then let it fly. It tied Juno's legs together. He fell over, but positioned himself so he fell on his back and didn't hurt Vela. Vela, realizing Juno was winded and stunned, crawled out of the blanket and dragged herself towards the centaur. Lupus trotted to her side.

"You listen to me, woman." the centaur growled, bending down to her "As Alpha the Ruthless, the soldier the great King Crozen put in charge of the Jade Forests, you must not disrespect my authority."

"Oh yeah?" Vela smirked, "Well, as Vela Caspia Gemini, famous warrior from the far off planet Goldwood, I must tell you that you shouldn't have done that to my brother and it's an even worse idea to be this close to me so soon after you did it."

Alpha was a little stunned. This little bitch really had the nerve to threaten her? He got face-to-face with her and asked, "Really? Why not?"

"Cause I may just do something like this!" Vela got a strong grip on his throat. He tried to yank her off. She then got onto his back, tried to wrap her tail around him, got her arms under his, and yanked up, as though she were trying to yank his shoulders out.

He thrashed around, bucking and rearing and trying desperatly to get her off. Lupus tried to rush up and bite him but he couldn't get close enough. His flailing hooves kept him back.

Alpha finally got a hold of her. He used all his strength and threw her over his head. She hit the ground hard. With her out of the way, he turned his attention to the dog. As he was getting a knife out, something dive-bombed him in the back. He turned around upon hearing something land behind him. It was the same animal that had first found the twins. It snarled at Alpha.

"So, you think your smart, do you Sun Wind?" Alpha sneered. Sun Wind reared up with an angry cry.

"Well, if you think your so tough, make a move." The creature's response was to suddenly start slashingt him. The creature was faster than he first expected. He finally decided against fighting it. He just threw down some smoke as a destraction and dissapeared into the woods.

Sun Wind just stood there, snorting. She then went over to the visitors. Juno just had some scraps from the fall. Lupus was unharmed. But, Vela wasn't in good shape. She'd been away from water for a great deal of time, making breathing a greater challange than it ever was before. Sun Wind quietly nudged her. Juno rushed over and held Vela, almost in tears over what was happening. Sun Wind walked off into the bush. She looked back at Juno and tossed her head a bit, as though beconing him to follow. At a loss of better ideas, he scooped up Vela and followed.

She lead them to a small house in a clearing. She scratched at the door. The creature that answered almost resembled a Sature. The top half was a human with silver eyes and short white hair. His bottom half, rather than that of a horse, was that of a white dog. He wore a purple tunis that went down to his knees with a white sash and a purple cape that went to the base of his tail.

"Hello, Sun Wind. I see you found them." He smiled. He then looked at Vela, now unconsious in Juno's arms and muttered, "Uh-oh. Quick, bring her inside!"

He had Juno place her on a bed. He rushed off to another part of the house to get some things while Juno sat nearby. He was so worried about what was going to happen to Vela. The man came back with a bottle of some blue liquid and a large silver thing almost covered in a blanket. He took a cloth and put some of the liquid on it. He then wiped it around her neck and face.

She already seemed to be feeling better. He then took out the other object, a metallic, silver belt with a blue stone in the center. He put it around her waist. It started to glow. When it stopped, it seemed fused around her waist. He then pulled the blanket onto her and said, "A little more rest and she should be fine. She was pretty lucky."

"Thanks. She really means a lot to me. You see-"

"You and your twin sister are orphans, right Juno?" He asked.

Juno couldn't have been more shocked. This stranger knew his name and his past! What else did he know? Before he could ask him anything, Vela started to stir. She looked up and asked, "Juno, where am I?"

"Your in my house on Malenton." the man replied.

"What the heck happened to me? I feel like crap."

"Well, first of all, you need to understand that mermaids were not ment to go on land. That belt should handle things so you can breath air. But, as for getting around, your better off in the water, Vela."

Vela's eyes widened and she asked, "How the hell did you know my-?"

"I'd like to know the same thing." Juno added, "He did the same to me."

"That's very simple. I'm a wizard. My name is Tobias. Since I'm a wizard, I know all abou tyou two and Lupus." Lupus cocked an ear.

"So, why were we brought here." Vela asked, sitting up.

"And why were we turned into these." Juno added. Lupus gave an agreeing bark. Just as Tobias was about to answer, another creature walked in It was a large siamese cat that was built like a human. It had rainbow wings and wore a pair of black shorts with a white sash, both of which looked worn.

"Babylon, is everything all right?" Tobias asked.

"Afraid not." He answered, panting, "Something got Alpha and his troops worked up and they're heading here!"

"Um, sorry. That may have something to do with us." Juno said, "We had a run-in with him and-"

"That's alright. You're not familiar with this place. Of course things like this will happen. But, we do need an escape plan." Suddenly, he was hit with a brain storm. "Everyone, out the back door!"

They all followed his orders. He lead them down a path to another small house. Tobias banged on the door.

The creature that answered it was a German Sheperd Dog, wearing a Merlin type hat and cape, blue with gold stars and moons. He smiled and said, "Tobias, what brings you and this merry band along?"

"A bit of an emergency." Tobias replied as they all came in. Tobias, Sun wind, Babylon, Lupus and Juno, with Vela on his equine back, holding onto him.

"Alpha got worked up by our visitors by accident. We got away for now." Babylon continued.

"We'd better tell Jeff about the soldiers being here. He may be worried. The dog took out a lens in his mouth and put it on the floor.

"You wouldn't happen to mean King Jeff of the Tribals, would you?" Juno asked.

"Sure do."

"You know King Jeff?!"

"Better than you think."


"This is very distressing!" Floyd continued, "We need to locate them at once!"

"But we barely have any clue as to where they are!" Jeff answered. Suddenly, his rod started to glow. He cast a small spell and a transparent image of the wizard dog stood before him.

"Jeff, it's been a while since we've last seen each other, hasn't it?" The dog said, smiling.

"Rainer, yes, it has. A few years, I think."

"Well, listen, did you happen to notice any soldiers going missing?"

"Yes, three to be exact."

"Well, there right here. They'e fine. Excuse me for a minute, please." He turned to the twins, "You two are going to need to blend in a little better. Your dog is just fine, but all you need is a different outfit. There's some clothes in the other rooms."

As he continued the conversation with Jeff, the twins changed into different clothes. They came out a few minutes later. Juno wore a dark blue vest with a white sash. Vela had on a light blue blouse that fit tightly to her, since she was, likely, going to be in the water, and had white trimming on the neck, bottom and sleeves.

"...And that's why we need them." After saying a few more parting words to his old friend, promising to keep in touch, Rainer turned around and smiled, "Much better."

Suddenly, there was a sound, like a horse kicking at the side of the house. Then a scream, "I know you have those rebels in there! Where are they?!"

To Be Continued...