Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Fox Television Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, and UPN. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers and Timing: There are loose spoilers for Season Four. This takes someplace before or early in season five. There's only one thing that's different: Anya never returned to Sunnydale after graduation. Either that or Xander broke up with her during season four.

Note: This is the sequel to "Childe of the Mystik Realms." It would help to read that one first.

Summary: The Mfeselans have been free for a year and have finally gotten used to it again, but they aren't out of the woods yet. For one thing, the award money for their capture just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

*****

"Before the ranch," Xander filled in for her. There was a bite to his words that everyone present noticed. Buffy wondered, not for the first time, what those bastards did to him. She remembered seeing Xander naked, both as a nine-inch faerie and as a fully-grown human right after they broke the crystal back at the ranch. It had been a great sight, certainly. She knew that Willow had felt the same way, because even though Xander was their best friend, he was still a guy.

She'd noticed something else. She was pretty sure she'd caught a glimpse of markings all over Xander's back. They looked like scars from a whip, and there had been many of them. She hadn't seen Xander's back since then so she was unsure if she really saw them or imagined all of it.

She blinked, suddenly realizing she'd drifted off, and smiled awkwardly. "Right. Um, so how come you have two names?" she prompted.

Xander shrugged. "I was named Alexander LaVelle Harris when I was born, but my grandfather named me Elik Prltsl Tyr Mfeselan before my mom was even born. There's an advantage to knowing how many kids and grandkids you're going to have and what gender they're going to be before they're even born."

"What language does that name come from?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, and exactly how do you spell it?" Oz quipped.

"From what the others have told me, I think that Elik is elvish, Prltsl is a Centaur name, and Tyr is a merman name. Mfeselan is our family name. Don't know what language it comes from."

"Do you know any of those languages?" Willow asked. "Because that would be cool."

"I'm learning them," Xander admitted, wincing. The language of the unicorns was easy - it involved a lot of stomping and snorting. The merman language was the same, except it involved a lot of tail-flapping and hand motions. Elvish and Featherwing were both very complex while the Faerie language was somewhere in between. Centaurs didn't have any one language, so that was one less language he had to worry about.

"So what's happened here while I was away?" Xander asked.

"Not much, actually," Buffy admitted, shrugging. "You know how it is during the summer. Some nights I don't even get to stake anything."

"We've been using the spare time to train," Giles said. "In fact, there's some things I'd like to try between you and Buffy, Xander. I'd like to test your ability to change. If you don't mind?"

"No, that's fine," Xander told him. He wondered what Giles had in mind.

Giles smiled. "Excellent." He looked like Santa had just given him the present that had been at the top of his Christmas list. "You can stop by during training tomorrow."

"Can't," Xander said. "I've got a job interview tomorrow afternoon."

"Doing what?" Buffy asked.

"Construction," Xander answered. "It sounds like a good job. Good pay, too."

"What about your relatives?" Willow asked. "Have they figured something out yet? The last time I was there, they were still arguing over it."

Xander shrugged. He'd heard the arguments. Ulin had voiced his concerns about what they were supposed to do now that they were free. Xander was the only one among them who knew what freedom was really like, and he was determined to help his family discover the benefits of not having a master. So far, he had managed to convince them that working for money was much better than being forced to do hard labor.

They'd bought a residence big enough to house the eight of them with the cash Xander had earned from doing small jobs from his high school days. Considering that real estate was extremely cheap on top of the Hellmouth, it hadn't been hard to buy a house with plenty of room with a wide, enclosed yard. There was even a stables in case any of them were feeling inclined to sleep in their unicorn or centaur forms. However, the money left over wouldn't pay the bills, and neither would a monthly check from the construction company if Xander ended up getting the job. He hoped the others would find jobs quickly.

*****

He didn't need to worry. By the time he returned home after the job interview the next day, he found that his elders had decided on a business venture.

"A restaurant?" he repeated. The announcement had been a surprise but it certainly wasn't unrealistic. Many of his relatives were excellent cooks, although how they found time to learn to cook was beyond Xander. A restaurant seemed like an ideal family business. A bakery would be just as good, and that was their second choice. "Sounds great, guys," he said. "I'm sure the company I now work for would love to look into constructing the place for you."

"Congratulations," Mil'i'an said. The others echoed the sentiment.

Xander grinned. He'd known these people for only two months and they were already closer to him than his own parents. They'd shared too much for them not to be close. He didn't know them all that well yet, but he had gleaned a few facts about each of them.

Out of all of them he liked Mil'i'an the most. While Jip was the leader and his brother, Ulin, was often thought of as the second-in-command in the weeks they'd been free, Mil'i'an was the peacemaker and the problem solver. He had been the one to suggest a restaurant. He also had a wit that was as sharp as Xander's and he loved trying to out wit his elders, although it never happened. Mil'i'an's brother and Xander's great-great-great uncle, Bis, knew all about the limits of their family's abilities to influence and feel magic. He also knew how to bend them and work around them. They could influence or sense magic only in those two forms. Xander didn't remember ever seeing Bis in elf or faerie forms on the farm, and he learned that was because Bis hadn't been allowed to change into those forms; he was too dangerous in them for the Newmans. Xander figured that must have been torture for Bis. Every morning, the crystal that had controlled Xander for far too long and his relatives for even longer had feed this need to change through his veins. It was like that every morning, and release only came after the next change occurred. If Bis wasn't allowed to change into a faerie and an elf of two out of every seven days, he must have gone through torture. Thankfully, destruction of the crystal had changed all of that. It also explained why Bis was in elf form as often as possible.

Xander's grandfather four times removed, Vilip, and his brother Pil'tar were twins. They would have been identical if it weren't for the fact that Pil'tar was a few inches taller. He also had blue eyes and brown hair while Vilip had brown eyes and blonde hair. A few other differences appeared when they took on other shapes. They were also moderate jokers. Xander had spent hours with the two of them exchanging pointers and tips.

Xander knew what slavery was like, but he'd been free for much longer. However, every time he saw his elders, which was every time he went home, he discovered what freedom was like for them. They liked every thing, it seemed, and so did he. They loved being able to change whenever they wanted to, and they loved sleeping in beds in a house instead of on mats in cages.

That night, as he lay on his bed in his second-floor room, he thought about how much his life had changed in only two months. For most of his life, he thought he was completely human. Then Newman captured him and Xander discovered that he was never completely human. It had been a shock at first. He didn't want to believe it. He thought he was the joe regular of the Scooby Gang, and no matter how often he wished he had super powers like his friends, he never expected to actually receive them. After all, he never did wish for them out loud. How was he to know that someone was listening to his silent wishes?

Life on the ranch had been terrible. Every time Newman addressed him, he said Xander's mystik name as if Xander was his favorite pet. It was no wonder, really; Xander was the youngest and Newman could have gotten another slave easily if Xander had stayed on the ranch for a few more weeks. He wondered what the Newmans were doing now. He knew that they weren't enjoying it, and he felt no sympathy for them. If he did, the curse wouldn't have worked in the first place.

It didn't matter now, although it gave him some satisfaction to imagine what their curse had done to the bastards. Right now, his life was of the good. He had a job he wanted and was sure he'd be good at. He was free of a hell that he thought he'd never leave. His friends had accepted him for who he was now, and he had also done that. He even had relatives he actually liked.

Feeling safer than he had in weeks, he drifted off into a content sleep.

*****

Whispers and rumors had circulated amongst the staff at the Watcher's Council Headquarters for weeks now. Rumor was it that supernatural beings, known collectively as mystiks, had somehow escaped from the Otherworld and come to their reality. These rumors had started after the head of the Department of Magical Practices had burst through the front doors three days before. He came bearing news that one of his people, a sorcerer, felt some sort of magic being used unlike anything the world had seen in almost a thousand years. This rare type of magic could only be harnessed by a mystik. That wasn't the most shocking part, however. The worst part was that all eight detected mystiks were in league with the rogue slayer, Buffy Summers.

The Council was holding a meeting to decide what to do about this potential problem. One of the main reasons why the mystiks left Earth in the first place was because they were hunted down, either for their carcasses or for the powerful magical energy they contained. The council knew that as soon as word got out, bounty hunters and power-hungry people or demons would try to capture the mystiks and use them for their own purposes.

"We need to study these creatures," argued Dr. Russell Winters, the head of the Supernatural Historical Studies Division. He normally was not on the Council but had been invited to the meeting to present his argument. "Hundreds of years ago, the Mystiks left this reality because they were being repressed. They were being hunted by man and it was becoming harder and harder for them to hide. We can not allow modern-day bounty hunters to do it all over again. We have so much to learn about these creatures, and we can't learn anything if they're out of sight."

There was a murmur of agreement. A number of the Council members were scholars themselves and could understand the doctor's desire to refine the historical record. However, the members had been dealing with more pressing problems for too long. They had to constantly worry about manpower and resources, and they didn't see any point in wasting valuable resources on a race that might be extinct in only a few months.

Quentin Travers was about to change their minds.

"Thank you, doctor," he said. "We will take it under consideration."

Winters, sensing that he hadn't convinced his audience, looked about ready to argue some more. In the end he picked up his notes and left the room.

Quentin waited until the door closed again before he stood up. "Dr. Winters brought up an excellent point. We cannot allow these…creatures…to slip through our fingers. However, Mr. Winters was not completely informed about the situation. I have reason to believe that these…creatures…did not come from the Otherworld. They are called the Children of the Mystik Realms. They were created by the mystiks before the mythical creatures left this reality. Each Mystik Childe is part-merman, part elf, part faerie, part centaur, part unicorn, and part Featherwing."

He waited a moment for this information to sink in. When it did, the council members whispered to each other in astonishment. "What is your point, Travers?" one of them asked.

Quentin fought down a pleased smile. "The fact that such a race exists is extraordinary. Any mixed couples among the original mystiks could not reproduce naturally. For example, a centaur and an elf could not have a half-elf and half-centaur child; our records show that it was genetically impossible. The Children of the Mystik Realms could only have come into being through unnaturally means."

Carina Sahni, one of the key members he needed to convince, raised an eyebrow. "Magical means?"

Quentin nodded. "I believe that a large sum of energy would have been needed to create the first Mystik Childe." He waited until they had absorbed this before continuing. "If we could obtain one of these…creatures…we could learn more about this energy. Then we could attempt to harness it."

He had everyone's attention now. Sahni glanced around at the others seated around the table, meeting everyone's eyes before turning back to Quentin. "What do you propose?"

*****

"Hey there, stud."

Xander stopped and turned to greet her with a grin. "Hey there, beautiful," he replied.

Katherine Hartley never stopped looking gorgeous. That day she was wearing a short skirt with a low-neck top. She noticed where his eyes were wandering and grinned. "Careful where you try to look, Mr. Alexander LaVelle Harris," she teased. "I might take offense."

Xander took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close. "Would you take offense if I asked you out to dinner tonight?"

"I don't know. It would have to be someplace nice."

"O'Malley's," he suggested. That was one of the best formal restaurants in Sunnydale. His family's restaurant was another one, but they'd been there before.

"Sounds like a date," Katherine said before capturing his lips with her mouth.

Xander happily returned the favor. Over a year had passed since he and his elders had escaped the ranch. Kat had been hired as secretary for Xander's boss four weeks before, and he'd met her on her second day at work. They found out that they got along pretty well, and pretty soon they were flirting with each other, teasing at first. After a few days, Xander had asked her on a date. They'd been a couple ever since. Xander loved every minute of it and knew she loved it just as much.

Someone whistled. They broke the kiss and looked in the direction of the sound. A few members of Xander's crew were standing a few yards away, watching them, obviously amused. Xander mock glared at them. "Get back to work!" he told them.

One of the three men, Jeff, mock saluted him before walking away. Jeff called back to them, "Aye, aye, sir!"

Xander rolled his eyes and Katherine muffled a laugh behind her hand. "I'll see you later?" he asked hopefully.

"Definitely," she said, giving him a quick, chaste kiss before pulling out of his embrace. She headed for their boss's trailer, waving a goodbye. "If you show up wearing anything but a suit, though, the date's off!"

*****

Vilip rested his chin on his hand and narrowed his gaze. "There's something different about him."

Mil'i'an snorted. "It's not different, it's downright impossible. Has Bis been teaching him about illusion spells? There's no other way we'd even see him in a tux."

"I agree," Vilip said.

Mil'i'an's great-great-grandson glared at the two of them. Despite the expression that promised pain, Mil'i'an had trouble keeping down a proud smile. The two elder Mystiks had been conversing in a dialect of Elfish. Xander was a quick study indeed if he was able to understand what they were saying after only a year of practicing the language.

"First of all, this is a suit, not a tux," Xander countered in halting Elfish mixed in with English. "Second of all, I have enough money to afford the cheapest tuxedos available in the Sunnydale Mall. Third of all, if I have enough money for that, I can afford a suit jacket and pants."

"And where exactly will you be going in a suit jacket and pants?" a new voice asked. Jip walked into the room, hands folded across his chest, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. "Is Katherine Hartley actually succeeding in making you more civilized?"

Xander nodded. "Xander like pretty girl. Pretty girl make Xander more social. Pretty girl teach Xander to speak."

"Oh, get out of here, will you?" Pil'tar exclaimed in exasperation. "If I hear another joke about caveman Xander, I swear I will punch something." This last comment was leveled at Xander.

Pil'tar was the strongest one there, and although Xander knew Pil'tar was half-joking, the younger Mystik knew better than to push. "Gone," he said and was out the door in a flash of gray and white clothing.

*****

Katherine stood in front of the mirror, checking her make-up for the fifth time. After a minute, she realized what she was doing and scowled at her reflection. She was not nervous. She liked Xander, perhaps even loved him, although it was too early in the relationship to be admitting that sort of thing to him. She liked being with him and he had made it clear that he didn't have any qualms about spending time with her. She was glad of that. She still felt nervous every time she got ready for another date. What if he decided to break it off like her last boyfriend, suddenly and without any warning? She didn’t want that to happen a second time.

She put her make-up in her purse before stuffing a cross and a stake in there as well. She hoped they wouldn't run into anything supernatural while on their date. That was one of the main reasons for her nervousness. She hoped that she didn't have to explain fighting demons and vampires. That was why her last boyfriend had left. He thought she had a normal life and couldn't handle it when she proved him wrong.

She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Had she used too much blush? Maybe she should try to thin out the amount of mascara in her eyelashes. She scowled at her reflection again. She looked as good as she would ever get. Xander liked her even when she didn't have any make-up on at all. She needed to stop worrying about it.

She heard a car pull up and went over to the window. It was Xander.

She turned away from the window and grabbed her purse. Then she looked around for her house keys. They weren't anywhere in the living room. That meant she'd left them on the table in her bedroom. She knew that if she went into the room to get them she would try on another outfit, so instead she went for the simplest method of getting her keys.

She raised a hand and closed her eyes, concentrating on her task. A few seconds later, she opened them. The keys were floating in the air in the middle of the lobby. She made them fly into her outstretched hand before dropping her telekinetic hold on the objects. She nodded, satisfied, before turning to answer the door.

*****

Hilik desperately tried to stifle a yawn, but it was in vain. It wasn't out of place considering that many of the members of his family were also hiding yawns behind hands as they cleaned up the restaurant. That night, he had the wonderful duty of stacking chairs before moping up the floor. Although their restaurant was very prestigious, to demon and human clientele alike, and was considered a high-class establishment, the stained-wood floorboards always seemed to get dirty in some way. Sometimes it was slime from whatever slime demon had decided to dine at their restaurant that evening, but the rest of the time it was little bits of food.

With a tired sigh, he finished stacking the chairs and grabbed the mop and bucket, then did an entire rundown of the main room. The hall was carpeted, and Ulin was running a vacuum cleaner over it. The vacuum never did rid of any the stains. They had to replace the rug at least once a month, and the day before they got the new one the carpet tended to be an entirely different color. Hilik was against the idea of a carpet; if their demon customers were going to drag in their weapons whose blades were frequently covered in multi-colored blood, what was the point in having a carpet in the front hall? Sure, no demons ever succeeded in going further into the restaurant in that state of dress, but that was not the point.

Hilik shook his head. Since when did he care so much about a carpet? They'd been running this restaurant business for as long as they'd been free and somehow it had become one of the most important parts of his seven decades of life.

The noise of the vacuum cleaner died and the noises that the others were making became audible to his human ears. He could hear Mil'i'an in the kitchen. He sounded like he was almost on the point of begging his brother Bis to perform some sort of clean spell or an anti-mess spell, one that would prevent any stains or other potential disasters from occurring within the building. Hilik grunted in agreement although he knew they couldn't hear it. Considering how tired he felt, any spell that would take care of the work for him would be equal to paradise. He though about his grandson and felt jealous. Xander was probably relaxing and having a grand old time with his date. Hilik hoped the boy would be careful. At the rate those two were going Xander might have a daughter very soon. Hopefully before that happened, Xander would explain who he was or find a way around having to explain that she would get pregnant if they got in bed together.

A scream came from the kitchen, startling him. He let go of the mop handle and it cluttered noisily to the ground. Hilik raced toward the kitchen door, only seconds in front of Vilip and Jip.

The three of them burst threw the swinging metal doors and looked frantically around the kitchen. It didn't take long to spot Bis, Pil'tar, and Mil'i'an. Bis was on the floor, clutching frantically to the handle of an oven while his entire face expressed pain.

Hilik easily recognized it for what it was. Bis was having a Vision. Hilik had never seen Bis have one, but he knew that had to be it.

It was always painful while Bis was in human form. It took some effort for him to change into elf form, and only then did he relax in the sudden, welcoming absence of pain.

"What did you-" Jip began to ask before Bis jumped to his feet, catching Jip off guard.

"Ulin's about to be kidnapped. He's out back unloading a few carts from the back of the truck."

Jip swore in a few choice languages, and the others echoed the sentiment as they followed him out of the kitchen's rear entrance. The door led into a narrow space between the restaurant and an adjacent brick building. The six of them ran down the length of it before coming into the alley behind the restaurant.

Ulin was trapped in the middle of a ring of five humans. As Hilik rushed into the alley, he could see Ulin's eyes change from human blue to non-human black pools. The humans saw it too and started moving in.

Anger flared in Hilik's chest, and he heard one of his elders snarl. The human attackers hadn't noticed them yet, but that was all about to change. They hadn't gotten this far just for another group of humans to enslave them again, and the kidnappers were about to receive a stern lecture.

The six of them converged on the group. Some of them changed into other forms, and they started teaching. It didn't take long for the impromptu students to absorb the lesson.

*****

Xander walked out of the restaurant with his arm draped across Katherine's shoulders. He was glad that he'd suggested O'Malley's in the first place. Their service was excellent, and the evening had been great with Katherine around.

The last two weeks had been a welcome reprieve from the craziness of life on the Hellmouth. He did have to cancel a date or two to stop a demon and an apocalypse, but other than that, he had fun. He enjoyed spending time with his friends and family, but in between training to better understand his race, long hours learning knew languages, and having to fight the next evil during his or her hour on the great stage of evil demonic plots, he didn’t get much chance to relax. He got it around Katherine, though. He knew that it would be dumb to think that they would never run into a vamp while they were on a date, but most of the time, he could forget all about Hellmouth craziness and concentrate on having a good time.

"Wanna go see a movie?" Katherine suggested as they walked toward the car. She surreptitiously kept an eye on the shadows. She was unaware of the fact that her date was doing that as well.

"Sure. Like what?" he asked her. He didn't mind leaving the choice up to her. They'd discovered early on that they had the same taste in movies, TV shows, and even comics.

"Phantom Menace?" she suggested.

He shook his head. "Nah. Seen it. Too long, too many cg effects, and not the best plot."

"Hmph," she said. That wasn't the review she was hoping to hear. She hadn't seen it herself, and despite her boyfriend's enthusiasm, she might still see it simply because it was a Star Wars film.

She was about to suggest renting one of the Evil Dead movies when she heard a growl. Both of them stopped and tensed. Xander's arm dropped from Katherine's shoulder, much to her disappointment. She felt so much safer when he did that. She straightened her shoulders. She had a telekinetic gift that she'd used to fight more demons, vampires, and criminals than she ever thought possible. She'd do the same again if she had to, even at the risk of losing a boyfriend.

"Why, ain't it cute. Do y'all wanna exchange any vows before y'all die?" the vampire asked. Katherine winced. His southern accent imitation was terrible, and his joke was even worse.

She took out a stake, unaware that Xander was doing the same. "Get back, Xander," she said, hoping that he would actually listen to her and therefore not get hurt.

However, it wouldn't be that easy because at the same time Xander told her, "Stay behind me, Katherine."

The couple froze before turning to look at each other. Both noted the stakes that they held. "You know about vampires?" they asked simultaneously, both feeling surprised. Confused, they continued, "Since when?"

The vamp didn't look as confident anymore. He glanced uncertainly from Katherine to Xander. "Whatever," he said before turning and running toward the other end of the parking lot.

Katherine sighed in frustration and launched her stake at the vampire's retreating back. Her aim was off by five feet. She waved a hand, using her telekinetic powers to send the stake on the correct path. A few seconds later, the undead demon was a pile of dust on the concrete.

Damnit, she thought. Why did they have to be attacked by a vampire after a very nice and expensive dinner like that one? It was just perfect. Even if Xander did know about vampires, that wasn't any guarantee that he would want to keep dating a "freak".

Surprise was on his face, but there was no fear. "You're -"

The sound of a car engine interrupted him. Before Xander could move out of the way, and before Katherine could telekinetically stop it from happening, the car had slammed into them both.

The impact would have killed a human instantly. Lucky for Xander, he reacted on instinct, reverting to his elf form before he even hit the ground. Instead of dying, the impact knocked him unconscious.

Katherine hit the ground several feet away from him.

The men in the car didn't know that. They got out of the car, grabbed Xander, and placed him in the back seat. They drove off, leaving Katherine's corpse behind them.

None of them heard Katherine groan, and none of them witnessed her sitting up.

*****

"Speak, human," Jip commanded, his voice quaking with fury. "Who are you?"

The young mortal man looked like he was facing death incarnate. Gone was the confidence he had projected while his friends were still conscious. Now, however, the other four lay in broken heaps on the ground. Two of them had fainted from pain while the other two likely not be waking up again for some time.

"We're bounty hunters," he answered, his voice quaking with as much fear as Jip's voice vibrated with fury. "We thought we'd try to sell one of you to the highest bidder."

The seven mystiks surrounding him were appalled. A few of them let out a long stream of curses. "Like who?" Jip demanded.

"The Canadian Warlocks Council. The Watcher's Council. The Garash Demon Clans of New Hampshire." The young man answered in a rush with each word distinguishable yet running together.

Two of the others began to pace, while some of the others delighted in trashing any inanimate object lying about in the alley they could easily destroy.

"What other bounty hunters are here?" Jip asked, barely restraining himself from taking his fears and frustrations off on the human.

"I don't know. We just got here. Many of the other teams are still on their way."

Jip growled and punched the man unconscious. He heard something in the man's jaw snap and hoped it was fatal, but at that point he had more important things to worry about than checking for a pulse.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Vilip asked. Both he and Hilik looked extremely agitated. Neither of them were very violent people normally, and while the bloodlust had overtaken them when they fought this small group of humans, it had left them as the reality of the situation dawned on them.

Jip thought over what they'd learned. Some very powerful, rich, and influential groups wanted them captured. Jip wondered if the other bounty hunters would be as easy to take out as that group, and somehow doubted it. He somehow knew that they were just the beginning of one nasty storm.

"What are we going to do with these bodies?" Mil'i'an asked.

No sooner had he asked it, but all five bodies burst into flame. The living ones screamed in pain before they were consumed. The smell was not very pleasant. The seven mystiks covered their noses and turned their heads away. "What the hell?" Pil'tar exclaimed.

"The warlocks must have been monitoring them and didn't like what they saw," Bis said. "They're the only ones I can think of that would do this from what I've managed to gather in the last year about the major players."

"If they were monitoring this bunch, they'll send more," Ulin said. Jip nodded in agreement.

They needed to find Xander. He was as much of a target as they were. While the youngest Mfeselan had learned quite a lot in the last year and could take care of himself quite well, there were things that not even a competent fighter could come out of unscathed. Jip had learned that, not only in the past year, but three hundred years before, when his family had last tried to revolt against the Newmans. All of his elders had been slaughtered.

"Mil'i'an, Pil'tar, and Hilik, I want you three to go find Xander. Do not split up. Meet us back at the house immediately."

The three took off in the truck immediately. Jip, Vilip, Ulin, and Bis took the van back to the house.

That failed revolt had changed everything. The spell the Newmans had used to control the Mfeselans had been different back then. The mystiks changed into the same form each day. They saw each other every day, and it allowed them to keep up all of their family's old traditions. It had given them an advantage when they tried to get free. After the revolt, the only two allowed to live had been Jip and Ulin.

Since then, for every generation to come, not more than two Mfeselans were allowed to have the same form every day. Jip and Ulin managed to relay their family's history and knowledge, but it was harder.

Now, they really were free. According to tradition, Jip, being the oldest, was in charge. As his mind went over what he knew would come, he wondered if someone else would do a better job. He glanced at the others riding in the car and his jaw set. He was in charge. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his family a second time.

*****

"Nice going. You almost killed him."

"It's nothing your mojo can't fix. Besides, I thought you were considering selling his carcass when you were done with him?"

"Only when he's in merman form. A group of Japanese fishermen are looking for one. They have this myth about a merman's flesh granting immortality or something."

"I figured you'd believe in that sort of thing."

"I did once. Then I tried to find evidence. There was one guy who was supposed to have lived for hundreds of years after eating the flesh of a merman, but he turned out to be a vampire." He sighed. "Anyway, I'd better get to work fixing the wounds you caused before we hand this boy over to the Warlock's Council. Have any of the other bounty hunters figured out that we have one of the mystiks yet?"

"Not so far. I'm kind of hoping it'll stay that way, but I've got the guys on guard."

"Glad to hear it. I need some space here, so unless you want to help me prepare, you're going to have to leave."

"Ah, shucks. And here I was hoping to see the miracle man in action."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Xander blearily opened his eyes and stared up at a wooden ceiling fan. It spun lazily, cooling the otherwise hot room. He couldn't move. For a moment, most of his senses were absent from his sleepy mind. That moment passed by with every second until he was aware of pain along most of his body. "What…where am I?" he gritted out before succumbing to a wince.

"Don't worry. I should get rid of the pain soon if I've got the spell right," was his reply. The voice belonged to a young man only a few years older than Xander. He sounded friendly enough but his face was in a detached mask as if he was a doctor about to perform surgery on a patient.

Neither calmed Xander down. It just got worse when he realized he couldn't move. "What have you done to me? Where did you take me?" he demanded.

His captor sighed. He waved a hand over Xander's eyes. "Sleep. You'll feel better after I'm done."

The back of his hand glowed for a second and Xander's eyes closed as the warlock's spell cast him back into unconsciousness.

The warlock worked quickly. It took only a matter of hours to magically heal every wound, infection, and cut on the young man's body.

Then he prepared himself for the real work. He was a bounty hunter, and although the Warlock Council wanted this mystik for themselves and would pay his team handsomely for it, he was also a warlock himself. He wasn't as power-hungry as they were, but he did desire it from time to time.

He would take a little bit of energy from this mystik. His employers wouldn't even notice that it was missing. Elik Mfeselan might look a little tired when they saw him, but then, there was no suspicious reason why he shouldn't.

*****

Mil'i'an, Pil'tar, and Hilik drove downtown to the restaurant where Xander and Katherine were supposed to go on their date. Neither of them were in sight. Xander's car was still in the lot, but it was vacant.

Hilik banged a fist against the hood of his grandson's car. "Damn them!"

"We need to get back to the house," Pil'tar said. He was shaking with fury. "See if we can come up with a plan."

*****