Satyr Play 02 Pt. 01

Author's Notes:

Satyr Play 2 continues my surprisingly well-received first attempt to dabble in the realm of magic. Obviously, I learned nothing while writing the first story as I continue to ride roughshod over preconceived notions and the established guidelines of the genre. Mea Culpa.

No effort is made in this tale to explain the backstory, so it is highly recommended you read the stories in the following order:

• Satyr Play
• A Dark Heart (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 1
• Song for a Still River (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 2
• Bride in Black (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 3, Part 1
• Satyr Play 3, Part 2
• Satyr Play 4, Part 1
• Satyr Play 4, Part 2
• Satyr Play 5... to come.

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older. Most aren't even human... or real. Or are they? Dun dun DAH!

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Satyr Play 2, Part 1

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Chapter 1

Henry fought off a strong sensation of déjà vu as he sat between the two beautiful ladies on the couch. He knew this was a recollection of the last movie night he'd attended in Sandy's condo.

Sitting between the bubbly, pale-skinned blond with her wide, delighted smile and the polar opposite of her BFF, Dayshia, whose expression was as dark as her complexion, Henry smiled tentatively at Tish, who was facing him on the plush chair to his left. It was rather obvious that she was undressing him with her eyes.

On the love seat across from Tish, Roger was making no effort to hide his suspicion.

"So, you're saying you're Stanley's brother. A brother he didn't even know he had up until just before this family reunion in, of all places, Ireland! You don't even have an accent—and neither did Stanley!" the tall male nurse exclaimed incredulously.

"Roger!" Sandy exclaimed in outrage. The man also drew an angry glare from Tish, but Dayshia barely glanced his way.

"No, it's okay. I get it. It was weird for me, too!" Henry said reasonably.

He'd only returned from Ireland a few days earlier to begin the next phase of his life as a new man.

Henry Gable.

For all intents and purposes, Stanley Garin was dead and had to stay that way.

Henry could no longer be Stanley unless he wished to commit suicide and take all of Humanity with him.

So, Henry, it was.

His new name even came with a backstory. He was the adopted son of the late Evan and Marie Gable of Aurora, Illinois. This information would be available should anyone do a hunt for it. Paper records, too!

His visit to the emerald isle hadn't been a family reunion. He'd gone there on the invitation of Mab, Queen of the Fae. With his ability to disguise his true nature corrupted by a deadly curse, he had to turn to the Fae for a new means to create a normal human visage. The Fae were masters at creating and bonding magical disguises to the Hidden Races, a collection of unique, magic-infused peoples. He'd only recently discovered he was a member of this mysterious group of beings.

While he'd been raised as a normal, if small, human being, to his dismay, he'd discovered that this was just an illusion. The night his magical protection temporarily failed, he reverted to his true self.

He was a Satyr, plucked from an ancient era in Earth's past by the witch Baba Yaga. He'd also discovered that humans wiped out his people millennia ago, leaving him as the only one of his kind.

That's not to say he was alone. He was a member of the Hidden Races. He had the company of the Witches, Fae, Succubi, Valkyries, Lycans, Dragons, Kitsune, Vampires, Goblins, Ogres, Brownies, Gnomes, and even spider people—no, they were called Arachnids.

And there were even more races he wasn't aware of yet. Magical, mythical creatures really and truly existed, but they had to hide amongst the far more proliferate human race or face extinction at the hands of the humans.

Unlike the magic glamor spells used by his new friends, his original disguise was bonded to and activated by a Dragon Bone ring. Unlike Fae Glamors, the ring's magic made him not just look like a human; he became one while it was active. The ring recharged as he slept in Satyr form.

He'd finally accepted this and had been slowly learning the limitations this duality imposed on his life and how he interacted with others, especially true humans. People who could never know his secret.

Then, he was used as a pawn in a cruel and evil plan.

A vengeful dragon placed a powerfully crafted curse upon the ring. Then, with the help of Queen Mab, ruler of the Fae, the curse was linked to her globe-spanning, area-effect spell, expanding the curse's deadly reach. If the ring were ever used to activate his human disguise, Henry and every human on Earth would vanish completely, leaving the planet to the Hidden Races.

The curse forced Henry to remain in his Satyr state, no longer able to use the ring to hide himself as a human.

The curse's existence also had to remain a secret as some of the Hidden Races might attempt to compel him to use it to rid the Earth of the human plague. Queen Mab was outraged to discover that her globe-spanning spell was now irrevocably linked to Henry's life. The spell's main function, held an ancient Fae disease at bay and kept her people alive. Henry needed to remain alive for the spell to be active!

To resolve the loss of his disguise, the Queen invited him to Ireland, promising him an impenetrable glamor. She'd spent the first week summoning her most seasoned mages, wizards, or whatever their name. Magic and its use were still strange to him.

The attempt to bond a Fae glamor to Henry's core was the largest challenge the Fae had faced in millennia. His link to the realm of Wild Magic was much, much stronger than a typical connection, though he had no idea why, nor could he even feel it. It just was.

The Wild Magic was also much stronger than the old realm magic, making the task that much more difficult and dangerous.

Queen Mab had insisted her people use extreme caution and pull out at the first sign of losing themselves in the powerful and incompatible energies. The gathering of magical talent had been significant.

In the end, it was the sacrifice of one old Fae master who discovered the trick was to give his skills over to the very raw energy they'd fought to control and to let the Wild Magic work itself into the spell he shaped. He'd shielded the others from the brunt of the magic as he showed them the way until he succumbed to the torrent. Working in unison, the others finished the old master's work, then escaped from Henry's inner being, only slightly crispy from the effort.

Ultimately, Henry had a glamor, but it was unlike anything the Fae had ever created before. Most importantly, it allowed him to hide his Satyr form behind the image of a human equivalent.

However, the serious and diminutive Stanley everyone knew was no more. In his place was a six-foot-two man with broad shoulders, strong arms, and big hands. Long, soft brown hair now fell in waves to his shoulders. He had a muscular torso, which led to a trim waist and powerful legs. His disguise more closely resembled his true size and shape while hiding a few significant features of his Satyr form. Gone were his furry lower half and goat legs, big black cloven hooves, ram horns, and pointy, drooping furry ears.

Instead, he looked like a human. A big one.

Best of all, his hands were human. He could perform intricate network hardware assemblies and the administration and maintenance tasks that required a keyboard.

On top of this basic glamor functionality, he discovered it had unexplainable physical and metaphysical attributes. Where a Fae glamor was visual trickery affecting the perception of those around the wearer, including the perception of human technology, Henry's did that and more. It seemed to twist the laws of physics, and he hadn't completely grasped the extent of its boundaries.

Those who used a Fae glamor remained partially aware of the separation of their true physical attributes and those of the image they hid behind.

From inside his glamor, Henry perceived himself as the image he portrayed. He felt the four human fingers and thumb on each human-looking hand even though he knew he only had three much thicker Satyr fingers and thumb on each hand. He couldn't feel the weight of his horns, and his ears were back to being mostly immobile.

Oddly, his strength when the glamor was active was that of the human displayed. He only had access to his true levels when he dropped the glamor.

Best of all, due to the strength of the magic feeding his disguise, Henry didn't have to turn it off to recharge it. He could remain as a human indefinitely. The spell remained in place even while sleeping. However, it was strongly suggested that, when possible, he maintain the habit of switching back to his true self at night. Doing so would help him maintain a healthy attitude towards what he truly was.

So here he sat, looking like a human with his human neighbor and her human friends, hoping to be accepted into their group as Stanley had once been. While it had only been three weeks since Henry came into being, he'd completely adopted his new persona. It felt like him.

He looked to Roger as the man seemed to be demanding an answer. He'd give him the best he had.

"I grew up in Illinois. I was adopted but didn't know that until they passed away and I received their will. An uncle in Ireland contacted Stanley and me. We met there," Henry explained.

"And you just happen to have the same technical skills as your brother?" Roger huffed, but Henry just looked at him expectantly.

Roger saw that question wouldn't get him a satisfying answer, so he moved on. "VRL just up and hired you and gave you Stanley's job and condo?"

"They just lost their CIO. I needed a job, and my skills encompass the same areas as Stanley's. And... we clicked when we met," he said awkwardly. He hated lying to his friends, but as Sigrid had carefully explained, this was also for their protection.

"Enough, Roger. I didn't invite Henry here to endure the third degree from you!" Sandy growled, and Roger leaned back against the loveseat cushions with a pout.

Wanting to change the subject to happier topics, Henry looked to Sandy. "Where are Vanna and Gary?"

Eyes looked at him in surprise. Two sets continued to hold suspicion.

He recalled he wouldn't have met them as Henry, but he had his excuse ready. "Stanley told me you had a couple in your group. Isn't that the Vanna and Gary he told me about?"

"Ah! Yes, but they won't be back. They eloped and moved to Argentina to be closer to Vanna's family. I've received a few emails since they left," Sandy replied.

"Wow! Argentina! That seems sudden," he said in surprise.

"Vanna was homesick. Had been for years, and Gary would follow her anywhere," Tish sighed with a smile.

Henry smiled at Tish. "Gary was a romantic."

"Yes. How about you? Are you a romantic, Henry?" Tish purred.

He blinked at the intensity of her gaze. "Uh, I- uh... I don't know. I suppose I must be since I agree Gary did the right thing."

Roger surged to his feet, and all eyes turned in his direction.

"Well, this has been a slice, but I need to go. Got people to see. Have a lovely night. Sandy, lock up behind me?" He nodded to the others and then strode away quickly.

Sandy gave Henry an embarrassed smile, then jumped to her feet to chase after her friend. She caught up to the tall man as he waited by the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting stranger than you normally do!" she hissed at him quietly.

Roger sent a troubled look back toward the living room and shook his head in frustration. Even he couldn't put the finger on why he was so agitated. "Something isn't right about him. He's—he's too much like Stanley. They grew up apart, in different states, in completely different environments, yet I'd swear they grew up together." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maybe it's just too soon."

Sandy pulled the big guy into a fierce hug, and Roger returned it. He kissed the top of her head and got a face full of hair in return. He gently pushed her back and rubbed his tingling face. "You need to invest in a humidifier and better conditioner for your clingy hair!"

She snorted gently and gave him a little push.

He turned serious again. "I want you to be careful around him. We don't know his true agenda. Not really. He's too sexy."

Sandy's eyes widened. "Sexy?"

Roger scowled. "Handsome. Good looking—Oh fuck it, you know what I mean!" he finished with a quiet growl. "I'll see you at work tomorrow." He quickly ducked out the door, leaving Sandy in a state of confusion. She shook her head as she locked the door and returned to the living room.

When she arrived, she saw her spot on the couch had been stolen by Tish. The tall brunette was sitting very close to her guest. Sandy should have moved to the chair Tish vacated but found herself sitting on the edge of the coffee table directly before Henry.

He saw the women had surrounded him. He wasn't sure what was up. Glancing to his right, he was pretty sure he knew what Tish wanted. He smiled at Sandy's happy expression and looked to Dayshia, who was no longer scowling but did look distracted by something. He turned back to Sandy.

"So... were we going to watch a movie?" he asked.

"Oh! Sorry. We didn't pick one up," she said.

He nodded.

"How old are you?"

He looked to Dayshia who, it seemed, finally found her voice. "Twenty-four."

"Older than Stanley, then?" Dayshia continued.

"Yes, just a little," he said. Age was another part of his backstory. He'd been ruthlessly grilled on it until his responses became automatic.

"Girlfriend?"

He blinked in surprise. "Uh, no. Never."

"Never? You must have had ladies chasing you!" Tish gasped.

He shrugged. "I-I was too shy. A tech nerd with my nose always in a book. I guess if they did, I... just never noticed."

"Now that's a damn shame!" Dayshia blurted forcefully, causing Sandy and Tish to burst into giggles. Henry's face flushed with embarrassment, and he gave them a small smile. He needed to redirect the conversation away from himself.

"How about you three?" he said.

"You want the three of us to be your girlfriends? Ambitious!" Tish said with a twinkle in her eye.

Henry's smile fell away. "No! I mean—That's not what I meant! I was just—" he stammered.

Sandy patted his knee. "She's just a tease! She knew what you meant!"

He looked at Tish, and she was feigning innocence until Sandy gently slapped her knee. Then, she began to chuckle.

"Sorry, Henry, but you're just too sweet not to tease!" Tish sighed happily.

He shook his head slightly. "Will I get an answer to my intended question?"

Tish nodded and flashed a wide smile at him. "I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. My hours at the hospital make dating too difficult, and the club scene is such a draining experience."

He looked to Sandy who just nodded at Tish. "I'm in the same boat. Difficult hours, and I don't fit into the current dating scene in New York."

They looked at Dayshia, who gave them an imperious look. "I'm between boyfriends at the moment."

Tish made a small sound of disappointment. "Awww, I liked Flash! I thought he was a good match for you!"

The dark beauty looked away. "Yes, Flash was promising until he insisted I attend his church because I had to be welcomed and accepted by the community." She faced her friends with a stern expression. "You know I live by the rules of my faith, but I'm not going to force them on anyone else."

They nodded then Sandy looked back at Henry. "What about your family? Other than Stanley, I mean."

"As I mentioned, my folks passed away a few years ago. They were older when they adopted me and had no other kids or siblings of their own. The uncle in Ireland turned out to be an honorary uncle. A friend of our birth mother with no useful information about her and no knowledge of our father." He smiled at Sandy. "How about you? Any siblings?"

Sandy sighed and rolled her eyes. "I have an older brother. He's a lawyer somewhere in Nevada. He moved around a lot and just stopped keeping in touch. He had a falling out with us country bumpkins and ran off to become someone important. I guess he made it. My parents are retired and still live next door to their friends in a small town no one's heard of in Iowa. It isn't even on most maps as people keep forgetting it's there." She smiled at Dayshia. "I was the girl who arrived from nowhere," she said as she grinned at Dayshia, whose smile showed she recalled saying that to her when they first met.

Henry gave Dayshia an inquisitive look, and she nodded. "I have an older sister. Beth. She lives in Chicago and keeps an eye on my dad, who lives in a senior's home because he has Alzheimer's. He raised us when Mom died six months after I was born. He was a good man. My sister married a man just like him, and they have three kids of their own. Great kids, too! I see them over the Christmas holidays." She looked over at Tish with a small grin. "Tish has me beat on the count of nieces and nephews, though."

Henry turned to look at the woman in question and drew back a little in surprise as she was so close. Had she been smelling his hair?

Tish blushed and nodded. "Yes! Yes, I have a large family," she blurted to deflect attention away from being caught with her nose in Henry's silky locks. He smelled warm and manly!

"I'm the seventh child and youngest in my family. Most of my siblings have families of their own. There are lots of kids. Most have at least two. My oldest sister had six kids, and her oldest has a baby of her own."

Henry smiled at the thought of Auntie Tish surrounded by kids. "Inspired?" he asked with a gentle smile and saw Sandy's smile become pained as a small twitch appeared at the corner of Tish's lips. "Oh! I'm sorry! Was that a thoughtless question?"

Tish gave him a weak smile, and he could see her shake it off. "No, it's fine. You couldn't have known. I can't have kids. Motorcycle accident."

"You ride?" he blurted in embarrassment to change the subject and again saw Sandy wince. He shot her a desperate look. "Sorry, I have to shut up."

Tish chuckled and took his hand in hers, smiling at how well her long fingers fit in his bigger hand. "Stop worrying. I'm fine now." She looked into his compassionate eyes and smiled wistfully. Somehow, the words seemed to flow painlessly from her lips this time. "I was married for a short time to the wrong man. I was young and stupid. He was dangerous and exciting, and I was mostly blind to his faults. He rode a big, beat-up Harley but was also hot-tempered and reckless. One night as we were headed home on the interstate, he got pissed at a driver who pulled in front of us dangerously. Pete kicked the guy's car while we were going sixty miles an hour, and the guy bumped us back. Knocked us both off the bike. Pete broke both his legs and an arm. I broke my pelvis and my left arm and leg. I was in a coma for three months. When I woke up, they told me I'd lost a baby I wasn't even aware I was carrying. The night of the crash, the doctors had to perform some drastic surgery to save me. The result, I won't be having kids."

Henry took her other hand in his, and her smile strengthened. "I'm okay with it now. It happened so many years ago, and I have so many kids to dote over now without bearing any responsibility."