I had found that these Romanians were farmers, and that their families had been captured by the Shak'Tar and the Kresh. Their farms were destroyed, and many family members had already been killed. They had nowhere to go when we left the base in Romania. I brought them back with us.

The Mark didn't make them completely change who they were, but it placed my imprint forever in their minds. They know me like I had been with them forever. The children would run to me as if I was their father, the older ones treated me as if I was a long-lost friend. All of them were from many different families, yet, they were one family now. My Mark made them pull into one family as if they had always been one.

There were benefits for them when this occurred. All of them had lost family and friends but now they had more to lean on. There were ten children who had no one left at all, and they were pulled into this family as if they had always been there.

No matter how much good my Mark does these people, it was put on them without their consent, and I will have to pay for what I did. Because there was harm done as well. They aren't exactly who they were, and it all boiled down to the fact of consent. They may be in better shape than the Kresh would have left them but it wasn't my right to force it on them, however unwittingly.

"Where are your wayward Romanians?" she asked.

I know where they are at all times, I can feel them. Another part of the Mark that I have discovered. Just as I can feel them, they can unerringly point out where I am.

"Wichita, for now," I said, "I asked them what they would want to do now, and the majority of them want to farm as they did before. Several of the younger men and women want to join the Guard, as well as several of the older ones. Three of them were soldiers in their youth, and have a good bit of experience."

"And your plans?"

"I had Warren buy a big chunk of land in Oklahoma. It's close enough to here that I can go there pretty regularly, and it's far enough away to be out of immediate danger when they come through the Gate. This knocked a big hole in my fortune but there's enough to set them up nicely. The ones who want to join the Guard will have to pass the testing as any other has to. If they pass I'll sign off on them to join and put them in training."

"It sounds as if you have things in hand there," she said, "but you have to be careful with this telepathy you have. Things could have been so much worse than they turned out."

"I know, believe me, I know."

"They love you," Lyrica said.

We watched as Talib Yarrow inspected the new tractor that had just been delivered. Children ran in circles around us yelling. I couldn't understand what they were saying but they were very exuberant.

"They didn't really have a choice in that, now, did they?" I replied.

"We are in a far better place than where those monsters intended for us to end up," a voice came from behind us.

I turned to find Terena Isora standing behind us. She was the closest thing to a leader the Romanians had. While they were in the prison, she was the glue that had held them together, and afterwards she became somewhat of a Matriarch to the seventy three members of my new "family".

"One form of slavery is much the same as another," I muttered.

"One thing that has been made quite clear to us is the fact that we can go or do as we please. We choose to stay together, and we choose to consider you as our leader, whether you like it or not. If there is one thing that we know it is that you are a good man, and one worthy of the loyalty we choose to give."

"How do you know that doesn't come from the Mark?" I asked. "Would you feel the same if things had been different?"

"We would have stayed together because we all lost a great deal inside that place. We saw loved ones slaughtered and eaten. Children left without their parents. What you did gave us a reason to live on instead of giving up. You see it as a violation of our rights, perhaps our minds?"

I nodded.

"We feel that you have set us free from the despair that comes from the loss of so much. Yes, we are a little different than before. But Romanians have always been believers in family, and we are no different. We lost our families and you have given us all another one. We owe you a great debt for what you have given us, and we will repay this by helping you in any way we can. Our warriors are your warriors, our farmers are your farmers, and our children are your children."

I really didn't know what to say or even what to think so I did the best I could.

"I just hope I can prove worthy of what your people offer," I said.

"When I close my eyes, I can see you there," she said with a smile. "We already know you are worthy. You just have to come to understand that yourself."

"We've been trying to tell him that for years," Lyrica said. "He'll figure it out one day."

Terena smiled and turned to walk away, "There will be a Feast and a dance tonight as a celebration of the second home to be finished. You both will attend?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Lyrica said.

It seems that seventy or so people can build houses at an astonishing rate. Three weeks after we had come back from Romania and the third house was begun. It helped that the materials were readily available. I was told that the planting season would still be several months away so they were concentrating on getting homes for all of them built.

It's nice to be a part of building something instead of destroying them. Lyrica and I spent a couple of days in those three weeks here helping build homes. It was quite relaxing and I could almost see myself as a carpenter in another life.

Chapter 35.

"What about a link from our streams to yours?" Cristof Damaris asked.

We were trying to come up with a way for them to support me when I needed it. It was a bit crowded when ten Mages were trying to reach me at one time.

"That may just work," I said.

"Also we would not be constrained by the distance," Adaya Tovah added.

Cristof had come in from Greece with his squad of Guards and Adaya was an Israeli Mage. There were also Alexei Rostov from Russia, Alec Brighton from Australia, and Asante Xhosa from Nigeria in Africa. Each had brought their own squad of ten Guards. Flynn had brought together this Company from all over the world. Reyna was from Argentina, Stone came from England, Yueh from China, and Flynn from Scotland. Prada, also had a squad, and Rictor was in command of the whole lot. He was very familiar with this position, anyway, much like he had been as a Guard Captain. He was second in command under myself.

"If I build the links and we put a portal at your end, then you can keep from being hit by the drain at a bad time. It might just work," I said. "Shall we experiment a little?"

"I bet I know who the test subject gets to be," Rictor grumbled.

"Of course," I returned, looking at Prada, "You know how much he likes to try new stuff."

"It's a shame you're not throwing him out of a plane," she said.

"Still harpin' on that?" Rictor asked, "I swear, it never ends. Throw someone out of a plane, one time, and you never hear the end of it."

Adaya laughed, "I have heard some others talking of this. I must say you have a novel approach to bypassing orders."

"Never start a mission without a plan to circumvent stupid orders that should never have been given," Rictor said. "No tellin' when you're gonna need to do it. Always keep some sort of backup plan in mind."

Rostov chuckled, "It was a serious lack of planning on your part when you chose a woman to throw out of the plane, Friend. I have found that men will forgive much faster than a woman. They hold grudges forever."

"So true," Rictor agreed. "All right, Boss, let's get to it. Experiment away."

I built a hollow tendril that sprouted from my back to fasten on the side of Rictor's Stream. A rush of power from his stream ran through me as if my Stream had grown again.

"I felt that," he said, "My stream feels smaller."

I built the portal on his end of the tendril and closed it.

"That's better," he said.

"I just put the portal in," I said, "Let me light it up for a minute so you can see where it is."

As I lit up his stream and mine, I felt power flow up my Stream into me. No huge torrents, just a gentle flow. He located the portal and opened it. A flow of power ran down the tendril to me as my body sucked it up to hold the streams visible. I shut it off.

"Now, close it," I said.

He concentrated for a second and the flow stopped, "Got it."

"I think we just solved the problem with supporting."

I looked back toward Cristof. He was a short, dark haired man with a dark complexion. His aura was showing that he was impressed.

"'E tends to do tings fairly quick when the idea starts," Flynn said with a laugh, "'Ow close do ye 'ave to be for the link ta work?"

"Head out from me, Ric," I said, "I think the link will stretch out."

He started across the field and the link didn't break. It stretched farther and farther. As he kept going, the link was getting smaller.

"I think it'll stay but the closer you are, the stronger the link," I said while keying my throat mike.

"Got it."

I turned back to the others, "This is another of those volunteer things. You can pull out of the unit at any time. This is probably going to be standard for this company though."

"You specified open minds," Adaya returned, "so go ahead."

I repeated the link like I had made to Ric with the same results. I placed it in the exact position I had used with Ric.

"I'll try to get it in the same position on each of you. So it's easy to remember where it is."

"I'll go next," Reyna stated and stepped forward.

One after another, they all stepped forward for the link. The last was Alec Brighton and he had reservations. He was slow to make up his mind, and I didn't have to be a mind reader to know why. He took a dislike to me from the beginning. I'm not sure why but it was there, nonetheless. After a moment, he stepped forward and did as the rest.

"Alec," I said before making the link, "Do you have some sort of problem with me? I don't expect everyone to like me, but I feel there's something more with you."

"I'm not here to like you," he said, "But I have to trust you. And I'm having a bit of trouble with that."

I appreciated his honesty. He knew I could tell if he lied to me so he didn't bother. All of them knew what I could see in their auras. Emotions, memories and truth.

Rictor's aura flooded with anger and Prada's was much the same. I held my hand up toward them before anything could be said.

"Can you tell me why?" I asked, "Trust is the most important thing with a unit like this. If it's not there, then we'll fail."

He was quiet for a moment, and I could see the war of emotions in his aura, "I had a friend when I first joined the Soulguard. His name was Ramirez. He was killed by these Shak'Tar bastards. These bastards that you let walk back into a portal free and clear."

I was surprised. But I guess it was a reasonable complaint. I'd kept my DNA issues out of the common knowledge of most, but, if I was to ask them to trust me I would have to trust them as well.

"Luis was a close friend to me, as well, Alec. You have no idea how much it pained me to hear of his loss. But these Shak'Tar aren't the same people they were before our trip to Romania," I said, "I have my secrets and I don't suppose I could ask for your trust and not give you mine."

"You even brought three of the bastards back with you," he said bitterly, "How can you say you're a friend of Luis and ally yourself with the ones who killed him?"

"I guess we should start with the day I was born," I said, "My mother managed to kill fourteen soldiers who had entered our home. She did this while in labor with me. During the battle, she was wounded badly and some of the Kresh blood got into her bloodstream and, through the umbilical cord, into the unborn child- into me. She died that night after my father had returned, and I was left in the care of his two most trusted Guards."

He was staring at me with utter astonishment rolling through his aura. I think he expected an excuse. This was a lot farther from his expectations than he was expecting.

"You've all been briefed on the Shak'Tar. They were experimental subjects raised by Kresh to be used against humans. They have the DNA of the Kresh inside them, and it gives them a degree of telepathy like the Kresh. I also have that DNA, and the telepathy that comes with it. But I was raised by Kharl Jaegher and Kyra Nightwing, not Kresh. And I most certainly was not raised to be used against humans."

"What happened in Romania was as much a surprise to me as it was to them. I'm still discovering what I can do with the telepathy, and I did something while I was there that I cannot ever do again. I altered the minds of all of the Shak'Tar, all of the Kresh that were there, and even the Humans in their prison. They aren't the same people they were before that Mark I put on them. You ask how I can ally myself with Luis's killers?"

"After what I did to them, I can't do any different than I have done. I'm responsible for them all now. I don't know how far the Mark would push them to do as I ordered but I think, if I ordered one of them to do it, he would walk into fire and burn. What terrifies me is that he would do it happily if I asked it. What else am I supposed to do?"

All of them watched with different reactions to what I had said. Rictor showed no surprise and neither did Prada. Flynn wasn't surprised much, I think he had figured out quite a bit of it already. Len Yueh didn't show anything. His aura was behind that shield like his brother, Tien had around his. I couldn't see the emotions or memories in his aura because of it.

The rest of them had various emotions rolling through their auras. It would take a little while for some of them to accept what I had said, and there may be a few vacancies in the company. It might be hard to accept that the man you are following is part Demon.

"I had my suspicions after what happened in Romania," Reyna said, "After we found out about the Shak'Tar and their DNA, it was a small step to realizing that anyone who could do what you did there had to have the same."

"Some people have known for years and it's hard to fight what lives inside me. I'll understand completely if any of you want to resign from this unit. There'll be no repercussions if you choose to do so. Take the evening to think about the decision. We can't function without trust."

I turned and walked away. I hoped none of them chose to leave. I could see some real promise in these Mages. I really wanted this to work out but if not, I knew two hundred or so Mages who would follow me into hell. It would be disappointing if they chose to leave, but I would be damned if it would stop me from being prepared to fight this war when the Kresh returned.

Chapter 36.

"You think any of them will leave?" I asked.

"I doubt it," Ric answered. "They're Soulguard and they're the best of the best. After they think about it a bit, they'll come to the same conclusions as we did. You showed us what's inside you in Knoxville. Did anyone request transfers? If anything, it made us appreciate the willpower you have to keep that under control."

We were sitting near the practice field, watching the new trainees do weapon training. Irenia Jaegher seemed to be the center of attention. That's not hard for her to do. She's probably the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Worthington had been a beautiful woman before the burns, but her Soul had been hideous. Irenia's Soul was as beautiful as she was.

Dietrich may not have told the girl about the Soulguard, but he'd taught her how to fight. With her knot in place, she was hell on wheels in the practice ring.

"I know Flynn will be ok," I said, "I think the others will too, except maybe, Brighton."

"He'll be there, Boss," he said. "Damn that girl is good."

"I know. I haven't met a Jaegher yet who isn't. Seems like it's a family business."