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Series: War God 2, chapter five
Date: 4 October 1998
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Recovery
By Athea
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Ares took a deep breath and drew his sword. He felt Joxer in his mind, scared but determined to see this through before he felt his hands warm on his. They held the sword together and Ares reached out and joined his mind with his lover's. He waited a moment while they meshed themselves completely.

//Ready?// He asked and felt Joxer's acquiescence while he watched him smile up at him. //I love you.//

Joxer answered him as the sword sliced cleanly into the earth and the waiting chaos energy.

Heat.

Crisp light that crackled and consumed his sight.

Blistering sound that seared his ears to a crisp.

A thermal wind, hot and moist like a tropical storm that suffocated his lungs.

Hellish smoldering embers that burned flesh from bone.

Molten pain that kept filling and filling and filling . . .

Stretching.

Pulsing.

His immortal body was a bronze goblet held too long in the inferno.

Melting out of shape.

Lost in the destroying flames of pure, raw power.

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Joxer gulped and tried to put away his fear. Oh, not the fear of dying. He'd lived with that one since he was a child. No, the fear that he would let Ares down. Fail him by not being smart enough or strong enough or ... just enough to see them through this.

But he could feel his lover gather him close mentally and he joyfully merged into the link they had forged within themselves. Feeling the love and caring that wrapped him in wonder, he returned the love just before the Chaos energy hit.

Cold.

An icy wind that chilled him to the bone.

Howling drafts of sound that deafened him.

Smoking gas that choked him with their foul stench until he couldn't breath.

Freezing clouds that entered and froze his blood to a sluggish crawl.

Sharp needles of ice that pierced him through and through.

Stretching.

Pulsing.

Buffeted by a tempest of wind that blew him larger and larger ...

Until he was a balloon of being ready to explode.

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Ares mindlessly reached out for the cold wind to cool his melting flesh at the same moment that Joxer reached for the heat that was his lover. Melting, flowing, merging together into one being.

Grounding.

Tethering the air-Joxer to stabilizing earth.

Cradling him in earth-Ares' loving arms.

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Joxer moaned soundlessly into the heated air, feeling the tug to earth. Flowing his essence of water through the flames of Ares. But instead of extinguishing his fire, the two elements mingled together. Water-Joxer danced with fire-Ares, holding him close and hissing with need.

Steam rose from their entwined bodies and everywhere they touched sparked a wave of love.

Ocean burn.

Fire tide.

Earth squall.

Air quake.

The four elements blended into a seamless whole. One element ... complete within them.

Spirit.

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Golden light that held them in an eternal moment of bliss.

Warmth tingling through their bodies.

A cool breeze refreshing their souls.

Touch returning with gentle reminders of their aching flesh.

Sight brightening the world around them.

Sound echoing through their minds.

Smells of home enticing them.

And as their mouths closed over each other, spicy tastes overwhelmed the other senses in a banquet of delight.

//Home.// Ares thought.

//Home.// Joxer answered.

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Ninea started in terror. The energy was back. Greater than ever before, it sang through the earth like a hymn of triumph. Clapping her hands over her ears, she tried to moderate the surges that flowed through the ground and into her. But it was too strong and she huddled within the stone and endured each successive wave of power.

Gradually, she felt it flow onward. Warily, she uncurled from her fetal position and sniffed the air. The cave. It glowed with power and she felt herself drawn towards the source. It seemed like a very long time indeed that her mountain had overfilled with energy. She was a part of her chosen home and she'd felt keenly the draining away of all but the basic life force from the earth.

Peeking through the stone, she saw the two men sprawled on the floor of the cave. Ares was back and Joxer with him. Gritting her teeth against the loud song of power that echoed in the chamber, she crept across the floor and touched the god of war's hand. Warm, it was. But unknowing. Joxer's arm was the same.

Drawing back, she sat on her heels and thought long and hard. Did they need help or were they just resting? Should she summon Gaea? She shrank from invoking the sometimes testy goddess. She was the daughter of earth but knew she was one of the smallest of Her children. Her mountain was only one of a chain of much larger peaks standing proudly against the sky.

Wait, she told herself. Wait and watch.

Withdrawing to a safe distance, she closed her eyes and sank back into her mountain. Listening with relief to it's ever changing song of life and power and love, she hugged herself and smiled.

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End of chapter five