The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2
Chapter 20

Part 4

After breakfast Mark's grandparents arrived to meet their new great-grandchildren. They were soon greeted and seated, each with a baby in their arms.

"It will interest you to know," Sana informed Mark with a smile, "That Balen and some of the other young elf-girls of The Devoted have taken it upon themselves to arrange a schedule for everyone that wants to visit the new babies, which is everyone in the settlement. Knowing that Talia wouldn't want to be overwhelmed by so many visitors so soon after her birthing, they've arranged that everyone will drop by in small well-spaced groups over the next week or so, with those with closer relationships to you coming first. We were actually scheduled to be before everyone but Yazadril and Nemia, but it looks like these youths have cheated by staying overnight!"

"Damn right!" Dren laughed. "I guess grandparents would come before cousins, but we were way too excited to go home last night."

"Besides, they never told us about it, so I plead ignorance!" Mandri laughed.

"So when are you two planning on giving us some more great-grandchildren?" Sana teased.

"Well..." Mandri grinned and paused until she had everyone's attention. "In about six and a half months actually, wouldn't you say, Yzell?"

"About that." the elven midwife smiled.

The room brightened with another round of joyous congratulations and hugs.

Twenty minutes later, Mark's uncle Wittan and his aunt Koran arrived just as the babies woke up. Talia noticed before they were fully awake, and held her arms out for her babes to be returned to her. "Good morning Mother." they told her in unison as their eyes opened.

"Good morning my loves!" Talia laughed. "You are so very beautiful, and it's delightful to speak with you, and I love you both very much!

"There are too many people here, Mother." Reggie told her as he fussed and kicked a bit, a tiny frown on his adorable little face. "Their thoughts are confusing. They're nice, but confusing." "And we love you too Mother." Helemia added.

"Just a moment." Talia said, and cast a very dense psionic Shield around the three of them with both her power and Mark's. "There, is that better?"

"Yes, thank you." Reggie told her, and giggled in spontaneous and joyous relief as the irritating excess of thought was blocked.

"I'll let you hear them two at a time as you're introduced, starting with these two lovely people;" Talia explained. "Reggie and Helemia, know your grandfather Yazadril and your grandmother Nemia, my father and mother. Father and Mother, know your grandson Reggie and your granddaughter Helemia.

"Mmm, some hugs are definitely in order!" Nemia beamed as she and Yazadril were gently handed the children. "We are pleased to meet you, and we love you very much."

"You are very nice, Grandmother." Helemia giggled. "Your thoughts are nice, and you smell good."

Yazadril only hugged Reggie a moment, then he couldn't help looking into the child's smiling eyes, fascinated and amazed by the lively intelligence that looked back at him. "You are both absolutely astonishing Such incredible minds!"

"You too grandfather, you have so many thoughts and memories!" Reggie exclaimed. "Many more than anyone else! Even more than Kragorram, and he is even older than you. How can that... Oh I understand! You have many memories from other people!"

"I sure do, Reggie." Yazadril chuckled. "As a wizard specializing in information and precision, I have Read and Linked with many, many people in my life."

"Ooh, if I look too close it makes me confused." Reggie frowned, and purposefully looked away, both physically and psionicly.

"I'm not surprised! The brain of a child your age should not even be able to retain enough memory to even think in words! Please be careful, we have no idea how all this will affect you!" "Okay." The baby replied, and made an effort to not 'look too close' at anyone's mind.

"We'd forget how to talk all the time, but Mother and Father are always showing us how to do it." Helemia explained. "We can know anything they know whenever we want, so it doesn't matter if we don't remember it, we can just keep learning it again until we do."

"Oh. I see." Yazadril nodded as his eyebrows rose and he turned to Talia. "So they're using your mental capacity through your Link?"

"They're using our memory, and we're guiding them as well as we can." she replied. "But their intelligence is entirely their own, as is their psionic ability."

"If their brains stopped growing right now they would be as fully functional as any adult's, including the ability to retain memory." Hilsith explained. "They only lack that ability because their brains are still growing and forming so quickly. It's hard to read and write well on a slate when the slate is growing quickly and unevenly in all directions."

"Fascinating." Yazadril smiled as he exchanged Reggie for Helemia. "So what do you think of this wonderful world you've been born into?"

"It's strange." Helemia replied, and squirmed in his arms a bit. "Before we could only hear a little bit, and we couldn't really feel anything, and we could only see the minds and thoughts around us. Now every sense is so loud that it's distracting, and it's hard to keep thinking about what we're thinking about. And seeing with our eyes is so beautiful, but it's weird to actually be seeing the person we're thinking with at the same time."

"Being a baby is almost intolerable!" Reggie added. "Look, I try to point my finger at you, but my arm just waves around, and I can't control my fingers individually at all! It's the same with my mouth and my voice! And I keep trying to raise my head or sit up, only to find I am too weak! And I can't seem to cast any spells at all, not even the most basic ones! It's so very frustrating!"

"Ah, but you're at the very beginning of your long lives, and you're already far ahead of where you should be in many abilities!" Yazadril chuckled. "Just try to have patience, keep working at it and practicing, and enjoy all the love and pleasure you have available to you. When this period of your lives is over, it will seem like it went by very quickly."

"And on that wise word, I'll remind you that we're waiting patiently for our turn!" Dalia teased.

Yazadril and Nemia smiled and passed the babies to Dalia and Bezedil, and Talia introduced them.

Just after lunch Povon and Kragorram inquired with a Speaking; "May we pop by for a visit? We're next on Balen's list."

"Certainly." Talia told them, and a moment later the two dragons appeared in the most amusing forms. Each was only a meter long, their heads and eyes appeared much larger in proportion compared to their normal appearances, and both were covered in short, fuzzy fur about seven millimeters long. In short, they resembled children's toy stuffed animal versions of themselves. They appeared hovering near the ceiling in the living room, then flew down to land with perfect control on the low table in front of the sofa where Mark, Talia, and Alilia sat with the babies.

They grinned and posed in ridiculously cute stances while exaggeratedly fluttering their overly-long eyelashes, and everyone roared with laughter at the sight of them, including the babies. "Oh sweet gods, you're so cute!" Mark gasped as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"Thanks." Povon chuckled. "We invented this for Karzog, when he complained of having no one to play with. We did it at the same size he was then, but I thought this would be more appropriate for meeting human babies."

"It's the most amazing transformation I've ever seen!" Mandri laughed.

"Not really." Kragorram chuckled. "Our bodies aren't transformed, they're at home. These are merely full-sensory Simulacrums. Far easier to cast than the Shrink spells, and much safer, since these only weigh a few kilos, and I can't set anything on fire if I cough a bit too hard."

"I can just picture you looking like this as you preside over the General Staff of Serminak!" Nemia gasped, which triggered another round of hysterical laughter.

"All hail The Dragon Lord Regent and The Prince of Serminaki Draconia!" Dren called, before he laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair.

Eventually the laughter calmed, and Talia formally introduced the dragons to her children. Rather than holding the babies, the tiny fuzzy dragons simply bounced over to the parents' laps and hugged

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