<span style="font-style: italic">In this very forest, on a night just like this..,</span>Jack thought, as his cantankerous horse took its first step into what Jack considered the beginning of the forest, after Jack had kicked its side hard and violently pulled its reigns. It was actually the middle of a warm summer day, but what the hell difference did that make? The forest had been growing unrestrained for at least 600 years, and he was the first man to enter it for just as long, so everything could happen at any time of day.<br/><br/>Jack would have been the first man to enter if his horse did not make it a point to not follow Jackâ€™s commands. He had been hopeful when his horse got scared by Povundra and galloped away in the direction of the canopy, until the horse also got scared by the forest and Jack almost fell off when it took a sharp turn left and would probably have rode on forever, if it and Jack had not been yanked back by the rope tied to them. When the horse was under moderate control, it was too late and Jack realized his friends could now all claim to have entered the forbidden forest first.<br/>An unbelievably shameless part of Jack found solace in the fair chance that none of them would leave the forest alive, and heâ€™d be able to claim the title he sought, right until Jack remembered Salem was among his competitors, and the Lad too, and he forgot all about personal glory to instead, with a beating heart, imagine how he would risk his life to save his two friends from the horrors of the forest.<br/><br/>There were no horrors in the forest for the first half hour of riding and Jack quickly grew bored. He would talk to the others, but his horse absolutely refused to get near Povundra. He was told to shut up when he shouted loudly to the others, and when he tried to catch up his horse would not let him, and when he tried to abandon the horse to pursue on foot the rope prevented that, too. Jack was alone to let his imagination wander, and he returned to his thoughts of a dark and stormy night.<br/><br/>It was not a stormy night. It was a summer day. The realization was more sudden that it should have been. Jack had known that it was summer, but somehow he had neglected to realize that he had met Cathy at the winter solstice. That meant he had stalked her for at least six months, and it had not at all felt like that. He had kept thinking from the start that any day now she would let her defenses down and love him, if not the day after, then next week, and he had thought this since he made up his mind to follow her for a little while after stopping Father Jingles. In fact, Jack thought, since he had no recollection of the six months being six months long, it could very well have been far longer. Neither he nor Cathy aged visibly so it could have been a year and six months, eight years and six months, or more. How long had they all been sleeping that night he slipped them all rainbow juice? Years together, Jack thought remorsefully, and she had never accepted his advances. Salem had never let him touch her, either, except in a dream, and even there she had been mean and killed him afterwards. It had been a lot easier with his wife, who had slept with him on sight, just because he was an interesting new possibility.<br/><br/>Jackâ€™s wife was a petite woman, whose two major interests in life were fornication and herself. She spent most of her time in front of the mirror, thinking up ways to further improve what from natureâ€™s side was close to perfection. When she was not at home not cooking and not cleaning she was travelling Teleron thin looking for whatever remedies she figured would emphasis her long, slender legs; make her firm, little breasts look bigger and feel softer and fit better in Jackâ€™s hands; or augment the curves of her body. She could spend weeks looking for the one dress that would make her ass seem a little more firm and she spent days without rest inside beauty shops, telling the hair-dresser how each single strand of hair should be cut. She always knew the name of each potion-maker, herbalist and witch-doctor within a hundred miles of her and gladly paid them in gold whenever they helped her in her victorious campaign against the aging process and she always celebrated each new purchase by sleeping with a terrified young man, who was not so scared he turned her down.<br/><br/>She was born Luciana Annabelle Catherina of Rivia, and was the daughter of a prosperous duke. Her father loved her dearly, but Lucianaâ€™s expensive lifestyle cost him so much he could not afford new halberds for his army, and was promptly conquered and killed by his neighbors who wanted to marry Luciana, but who were too afraid she would ruin them, too. Her fatherâ€™s death suited Luciana just fine because this gave her a better chance to pursue her other big interest, and what she had previously given for free to any soldier, waiter, cup-bearer, stable-boy, window-cleaner, jester, errant-boy and guest of the castle who asked for it, she now sold for expensive clothes and precious perfumes. She was the most expensive whore in the city and kept the pimps away by sleeping in turn with them all.<br/><br/>Luciana met Jack when he randomly woke up in her bed beside her after six days in prison for stealing chickens. Luciana did not remember sleeping with Jack the night before and had to do it again just to be sure. Jack instantly fell in love with her and that morning she got her first orgasm, and she decided they should marry.<br/><br/>Luciana was the girl who looked good and knew it but still believed there was room for improvement. She was a slender woman who never ate anything if it did not compliment her shape in the long run. Her full red lips never betrayed signs of pain when she neatly plucked the hair from her long, powerful legs one at a time with a pincer. Her lapis lazuli eyes could not be bluer. She could send a man exactly the kind of look she wanted to send. Whatever one looked for and wherever one looked for it, Luciana had it. Her hair changed whenever she decided it to change and it hardly mattered what she changed it into because she was the kind of woman who looked good in all fashions.<br/><br/>Jack loved her because she loved doing it the most in back alleys, hidden corners of expensive boutiques and with the lower half naked behind a counter. There was little she hadnâ€™t done and less she wouldnâ€™t do as long as she looked good doing it. She refused, for instance, to be spanked, because she worked hard getting the perfect tan and would not allow red marks to spoil her work. Luciana loved Jack because he loved her even more. She loved him because he, like her, was perfect. She loved his body and she loved it that he loved hers more than she did his. She loved it when he ran his fingers across her back and counted every detail on her with a dreamy voice. She could have easily spent months thinking up ways to improve him, but she loved that she did not have to. He was in perfect shape without her having to lift a finger for him. All the time Jack freed up in her day, but not having her improve him she spent improving herself. She had done it all her life and she still saw so many possibilities in herself that she really did not have the time to work on Jack. She loved Jack because he made her feel as beautiful as she knew she was, and because everyone was afraid of him and still everyone wanted her.<br/><br/>Luciana was the kind of woman who used men and left them to feel miserable in the way all men want to feel. She dressed in custom-made outfits that revealed all of her powerful legs and let no one doubt she was not the kind of woman she was. The church hated her for being a seducer and a flagrant atheist, but was too afraid of Jack to do anything about her. The men in town hated her because she slept with them and they could not resist her. She broke up marriages as an everyday hobby and laughingly told Jack about it so he would go into a fit of jealousy and beat up anyone she mentioned. She was a magnificent whore who could do what she wanted because everyone loved her and because her husband was an unstoppable madman. She loved Jack because everyone was afraid of him and it made her feel powerful when she picked up a trembling man who feared what Jack would do to him but who still could not resist when she looked at him and shook her bottom even slightly.<br/><br/>The men in town did not want to sleep with Luciana because whenever someone did, Jack would roam the city day and night and beat up any man he suspected might have touched his wife and he would give the usual suspects an extra overhaul so they could not touch his wife again until their broken bones mended. Even Havermeyer, who had a golden moustache and who had managed to smuggle a gun in from Zenkojjin, was afraid of Jack because Jack always came to beat him up first and because he had forgot to smuggle gunpowder with him.<br/><br/>They were perfect for each other, really, her and Jack. Jack always left town after Luciana cheated on him with Havermeyer and men like him. Her husbandâ€™s absence suited her and gave her plenty of time to miss him. With Jack gone, she would busy herself with not tidying up the house, ignore the priests who preached virtue, break up marriages, look at herself and spend all the values Jack brought with him whenever he returned home. Eventually she would run out of money and start missing Jack. She loved him dearly and whenever he came home she was thrilled to be his center of attention and have him explore her flawless body once again and feel him adore every change she had done to it<br/><br/>There were a lot of money in being immortal but there were even more money in being Jack Jenkins. He had never been able to settle down anywhere and the idea of a goal in life made him feel nauseous. He spent most of the money he earned, stole, found and otherwise acquired on alcohol, drugs and prostitutes but every so often he came across a real fortune, and whenever he did, he returned home to Luciana who was not home. In order for the couple to find each other Jack had bought a tiny house which had everything none of them needed. It had a kitchen for Luciana not to cook in and a fireplace that was never lit because Luciana insisted on being in a land warm enough for her to have a tan all year around.<br/><br/>Lately Luciana had gotten a new idea. Instead of just making herself look pretty, she altered the surroundings to compliment her as well. She started with the house itself and soon filled up every room with mirrors so there were ten times as much of her to adore and Jack was especially happy with the grand mirror in the bed room ceiling. The mirrors soon became monotonous and Luciana had to have exotic paintings of her produced and she gladly hurled herself all sorts of fantastic poses to be immortalized. She carefully planned which color schemes best portrayed her and she had new windows and skylights installed so the light could always fall on her just right. Naturally this new hobby took up much of her time and she had to ignore her duties as a wife, woman and human being twice as hard to make room in her busy schedule.<br/><br/>The best of times for both parties in the awkward marriage was when Jack returned home from his long journeys, which began after he was arrested for beating up Lucianaâ€™s lovers. Jack was often away for months and when he came home to be with his wife she was never anywhere to be found. Most of the time she was out shopping and her business trips could take as long as Jackâ€™s. If she was not home Jack would wait for her by going out and spend time getting get piss-faced drunk and punch Havermeyer in the gut because he could not punch him in the face and because the guardâ€™s let him; they did not like Havermeyer either. Jack would drink, do drugs and pick up any girl who would have him whether skinny or fat or young or old because to him all women were ugly bitches compared to his wife.<br/><br/>When Luciana came home it marked the happiest days of their lives because when they were together it was the climax of their complex circle of life. They celebrated their reunion by spending every second copulating; a task only made possible by a concoction Luciana had procured specifically for Jack. It was a mixture originally invented by a female necrophiliac who found the great problem with her partners to be their invariably flaccid state. The concoction killed the subject but also provided the body with an ever-lasting erection. In Jackâ€™s unique case, its negative effects were ignored and instead provided Jack with a month-long sensation of uninterrupted arousal. The mixture was highly illegal and everyone knew Luciana had it, but no one did anything because the captain of the city watch had to authorize the arrest order and he never did because Luciana slept with him and Jack beat him up for it.<br/><br/>The couple would catch up on new adventures and hear all the otherâ€™s stories and experiences of the past months apart during the fulfillment of their marital obligations. They never stopped copulating for a second and only Jackâ€™s accelerated healing prevented him from breaking his back during the innovative acts the two thought up. When Jack was home, and only when Jack was home, Luciana cooked and while she did Jack was right behind her and inside her. Their common aim was to prove their love by staying linked together until Luciana got bored. Whatever they had to do to stay alive such as eating was invariably done during some form of sexual act. It was even fully expected, if not downright demanded, that should one fall asleep the other would go on copulating. During the bizarre ritual Jack would tell of all his adventures and of all the women he had paid to conquer because Luciana wanted to hear that she was still the best he had ever had and Jack could always say she was without lying. Luciana would tell nothing about what she had done to herself and the house because she wanted Jack to want to find out for himself, so instead she talked about all the men she had had slept with because she enjoyed making Jack jealous and because Jack wanted to know who he was going to beat up. After a month or two this way Luciana would shout â€œfinitoâ€ and jump off Jack and accuse him of being a pig who did not love her because he let her sleep with other men when he should want her for himself. Jack would shout, break something and then go prove how much he loved her by punching Havermeyer in the gut.<br/><br/>Havermeyer was a gorgeous charlatan with blonde hair and a golden moustache and he was perpetually depressed. He was depressed because he was a womanizer who could have any woman he did not want and no woman he did want. In fact, Havermeyer only wanted one woman and that was Luciana, whose husband always came to beat him up because he thought Havermeyer always slept with Luciana. In truth, Luciana had only let Havermeyer sleep with her once because she found out it was more fun watching him not sleep with her than it was watching him do. He fawned over her and she treated him like filth. He tried all the techniques he knew would impress another girl and she just laughed at him and would at most give him a kiss on the forehead which he knew she just gave so he would continue being in love with her. Havermeyer loved Luciana for those kisses. In desperation Havermeyer turned to every other woman and while thinking of Luciana he spread his seed all across town. This made Havermeyer a womanizer and made Jack think he also slept with Luciana and therefore always beat him up. To protect himself Havermeyer had a gun smuggled in from Zenkojjin because he heard it was a weapon that could kill any man simply by pointing it at him. When Jack came to beat him up, Havermeyer had pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. When nothing happened he thought the gun was a fake and in desperation struck a deal with Jack: Jack would not punch him in the face if he did not take Luciana up the ass. Havermeyer did not take Luciana up the ass anyhow and felt so cunning that he always laughed a little just before Jack beat the shit out of him.<br/><br/>Whenever Luciana wanted Jack to prove his love, Jack got arrested for blatant assault and thrown in jail from which he always mysteriously vanished and reappeared in some other corner of the world and he always had to make his way back to Luciana by earning sufficient riches. Jack was proud he had to give all his money away to support Luciana, because it filled him with that sense of responsibility he hated. Luciana loved Jack because he brought her expensive jewels, silken clothes and riches from far-away lands she did not want and she sold them immediately in exchange for expensive jewels, silken clothes and riches from far-away lands she did want. She loved Jack because he could fornicate for just as long as she could and she loved Jack because he always beat up Havermeyer whom she did not like.<br/><br/>Luciana loved Jack more than any other man because he would do anything she wanted him to and because he was able to do anything she wanted him to. Luciana loved Jack and would do nothing for him including not taking his name. She disliked the name â€œJenkinsâ€ on anyone but Jack, because she was a noble and a Jack was a common idiot with a common idiotâ€™s name. As she was no longer the maiden of Rivia she had to take a new name suitable for one of her class and both her and Jack agreed that she should be Lady Luciana Annabelle Catherina Aldebaran and that Jack should continue being Jack Jenkins because he did not have her class. Jack was not sure what class was, but he was sure Luciana had it and he had not and that she knew it.<br/><br/>Luciana was- Jack was torn out of his dream as his horse had stopped moving. Jack did not notice, but Thiner continued to ride on Povundra, which tightened the rope around Jackâ€™s chest and he was nearly lifted off his horse again, except the Lad had been clever, as the Lad always was, and tied the robe around the horse also. It staggered and almost fell over, but managed to steady itself and reluctantly moved again. Jack wad displeased the Lad did not trust him not to get lost, so at the first sign of the horse being out of Jackâ€™s control, the Lad had ordered the party to stop and fastened a rope to Povundra, then tied it around Jack, with the knot tied fancifully around his back, so he could not untie it, and then the rest of the rope was tied around the horse, and if Jack ever behaved like himself, the rest of them would not have to care.<br/><br/>â€œWhat a â€˜ell, Lad!?â€ Jack complained, crying from as close to his friends and his horse would allow. â€œI â€˜ate this trick? Iâ€™m ainâ€™t gettingâ€™ lost, and â€˜er damn rope keeps tugginâ€™ me. Take â€˜er off!â€<br/>The Lad denied the request and Jack continued to whine until they eventually came across some ruins, and Jackâ€™s horse seemed so delighted to get into what was ostensibly a human settlement that it briefly moved past Povundra and Jack cursed again, because for a second he thought he had a chance to be the first human in this human city in 600 years, but Nole casually jumped off his horse, and when Jack tried to jump off to race for the houses he once again got caught by the rope and dangled awkwardly down the side of the horse.<br/><br/>And then someone shot at him. The ground flooded with arrows and despite Jack remaining stationary not even a single arrow hit him, much to his surprise, because he was usually the first to die. Then he panicked, as this meant Salem did not have him as a shield and he desperately tried to free himself from the rope, but the knot was of Darmlandish design, and he proceeded to do the only thing he could do, which was to roar as loudly as he could at the attackers, until the Lad told him to shout up again and follow them. With murderous intent, Jack sped after them as fast as his horse would allow, and as far away from Povundra as he could go.<br/>Jack did not look behind him, to see some elves returning to the overgrown human settlement to retrieve the arrows, nor did he see them carefully examine the bones Nole had found, before leaving them behind.<br/><br/>Jack was ready now, the adventure had begun. The unwarranted attack had fueled Jackâ€™s natural dislike for creatures who called themselves immortal, when they could really be killed. The only immortal Jack respected was the Teleron Immortal who had stood immovable in his and Lucianaâ€™s house for three years as a decoration, because he at least had the ability to not die when his body cavities were filled with mortar. Furthering Jackâ€™s distaste for the elves was their lousy aim with bow and arrow. Jack swore at the shapes moving swiftly amongst the trees, Jack barely being able to see more than a flicker of leaves, and he directed his barrage of insults at whatever branch moved last.<br/>â€œFae-lovinâ€™ lilâ€™ shitsâ€¦ Iâ€™ll break yerâ€¦ snickâ€™ed me â€˜dinger!â€<br/>Only for a short moment did Jack stop making as much noise as he was capable of, when he heard something beautiful. A melody of such ultimate harmony he could not pinpoint a direction and he whirled on Salem, suddenly feeling the urge to love her, but she was not making a sound. The elves made a sharp whistle and the harmonic sound faded, but for another moment Jack had forgotten that he was angry, forgotten even how to be angry. He then connected the elves to the music stopping, blamed them for the loss of something beautiful, and he continued swearing at them, intensifying his threats by making them more detailed and focused on violence.<br/>â€œ- Brâ€™aeing â€˜murs anâ€™ jaws â€˜n snappinâ€™ yer triggerâ€™n finger like â€˜em twigs ye love, Iâ€™ll will.â€<br/><br/>And it continued that way until the elves decided they did not like Jack and shot him dead.