Druids ring: Family Planning            by: Destiny

 

The Northern Lights lit up the whole sky with it's ghostly auras. Ted tossed and turned in his bed in the old inn of Druids Ring. The place was totally weird, but he knew that he was lucky to find the place after his car had broken down. At least in the morning he could walk to the nearest payphone and get help, what a time for his mobile's battery to run out. He remembered the way it had gone silent as he had walked in the door, like something out of an old movie. At least the barmaid had been friendly, he recalled, she hadn't actually said much, but he got the feeling that she wanted to see him. There was a knock at the door.

Mary the barmaid was excited to see the man walk into the barroom of the inn. She hoped he might be her ticket out of the inn. She knew that she had to get him out before the locals found a place for him here. She remembered what had happened when she first arrived, she had been a young man with a future but that had all been changed now. At first she had no will of her own, it had been a struggle just to think her own thoughts, but she fought back. Now her mind was once again her own and she wanted out before Hobb (as the fat landlord was known) could restore her helplessness. More than that she wanted to spare the man who had just arrived her fate or worse.

As Mary waited in her room for the right time to visit the man's room, she thought of what she had learned of Druids Ring. It seemed to be only tenuously linked to the world, in fact it was more of a wandering country of it's own. She had learned of it's ability to travel in time when the door opened once and a group of soldiers in Nazi uniforms walked in. Of course the next morning several of the farmers had new pigs for their herds. She had seen many other changes since then and the only linking feature was the isolated location and the aurora borealis. She looked outside the window to try to gage the time and decided it was time to go.

Ted got off his bed to answer the door, it ws the barmaid from earlier. What, he wondered, was she wanting. he opened the door to let her in.

"If you ever want to leave here, come with me now." Mary instructed him.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Ted pulled back, what on earth was going on here?

"Just what I said. Look I know this sounds crazy, but you've got to trust me. The locals have a little surprise stored for you."

Ted looked at her frightened expression and decided that perhaps she maybe was on to something. He let her lead him down the back stairs and into the yard. Ted froze at what he saw there, several of the locals were entering the front entrance. They were all dressed in some sort of robes, one was even carrying a pitchfork. Ted shrank down behind the wall.

"Ok what the hell is going on here?" There was a hint of fear in his voice.

"It's going to be difficult to believe, but... Well, here goes." Mary began to relate her whole story. She stopped several times to answer some of Ted's questions. Eventually she came to the end of her tale.

"So let me get this straight," Ted asked, "you used to be a guy? this place is some sort of magic kingdom and they want to turn me into what?"

Mary sighed. "Yes, sort of and I don't know. Does that answer your questions?

"What I don't get is why do they need me"

"All I know is that they sometimes need new people. The only answer I ever got was that somebody had 'Gone to the Old Ones'. I don't know what that means."

From inside there was a cry of frustration. Both Ted and Mary decided that it would be a good time to move on. Keeping low they moved across the moor in the direction of Ted's car, hoping to find the road and escape. Mary soon felt herself tiring, inwardly she felt a surge of frustration, she never used to tire like this. They struggled over one last hill, and Mary let out a sob of helplessness. Below them lay Druids Ring, they had come full circle. There was a noise behind them. Hobb stood behind them with all the locals, he indicated to his followers to take them.

Ted tried to struggle as he was dragged to the cellar and the waiting ring, Mary didn't have the strength to fight she just followed with grim acceptance.

Ted watched as Mary was strapped to the floor and the ring of power rose from the floor. He watched as the girl was covered by the ghostly light, and was shocked to see, when the light cleared a baby lying in the middle of the floor. That sight made him struggle even harder, but it was futile. His captors seemed to have muscles of iron. As he was chained to the floor he heard the Landlord pronounce his fate.

"The girl tried to escape, but we couldn't allow that. No-one is allowed to leave. For you, well, Campbell's wife was chosen for the Old Ones and it ain't right for a young man to be without a wife. Since the girl wanted you to protect her, well I think it's fitting that you should."

The chant began, and Ted felt his body changing under him, his breasts swelled and his penis and testicles shrank and reformed into a proper set of female genitalia. As the chant subsided The young girl looked up at her new family. Tenderly she picked up her baby daughter and was led away by her husband.

Hobb watched them go, then walked back in to the barroom. He had to prepare Druids Ring, and it's little realm, away to a new location. His thoughts turned to the new family and it's place in the land, he was sure that they would fit in now, but there were other people needed, so many had gone to the High Ones recently. Not that he wasn't happy for them, but they had left so many gaps and now he needed a new barmaid again.

© 2000
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