Half remembered dreams opened my eyes to a faint red glow cast against the rough stone walls and ceiling of the cave by the last few embers of the dying fire. Power crawled in the shadows, its prickly touch coarse against my senses. I blinked, trying to anchor my thoughts among my strange surroundings as the dreams faded, my memory creeping back to me on silent feet as my consciousness rose from the depths to meet it.

I remembered.

Sleep had taken me after the exertions earlier in the evening but I couldn't be sure how long I had slumbered. The sweetness of that joining with Sharra still lingered in my mind, gently prodding me towards wakefulness and sending my thoughts in directions I never would have believed they'd ever go.

As my mind drew further from the beckoning embrace of sleep, I slowly became aware of something fundamentally different deep within me. There was a strange new fire burning bright within the Link I shared with my mate. It cast a delicious and beautiful warmth and light through my entire being, illuminating and warming even the cold, shadowy depths I had walled off from others so long ago. It was a feeling without comparison in my lifetime, and the profound sense of a connection, of an unbreakable union with Sharra that ran deeper than I could comprehend had spread to the furthest reaches of my soul.

The warmth of soft fur against my naked skin and the pressure of a muzzle resting on my shoulder were intoxicating reminders of the physical aspect of the coupling I felt so fiercely within the Link. A smile grew on my face and I reached over to gently stroke the softly furred ears I could see silhouetted against the dim glow on the cave walls. Sharra stirred slightly at my touch but did not wake. Something deep in the innermost reaches of her mind had broken free during our mating and on one plane within her I sensed an opening of possibilities, but on another, a resolution of months of doubts. When she slipped into sleep after our joining, her mind and body had relaxed with the solemn perfection of one who finally could rest without worry.

In that, Sharra wasn't alone. I felt better than I had in years! My worries and fears about having a physical relationship with my inhuman partner had disappeared, replaced now with something strange. I had this feeling that I could have jumped out of bed and run a marathon with a smile on my face the whole way. I wanted to sing my joy from the mountaintops, laugh like a lunatic and dance around like a man possessed. It was the weirdest, most unfamiliar sensation ever, but it felt so damned good! I'd heard people describe being in love was like being insane and I wondered to myself was this really love? Had I truly found the one thing that had eluded me for my entire life, and with someone who wasn't even human, no less? It had to be. It just felt right and the delicious warmth of Sharra pressed against my side anchored that thought. I pulled her tighter and smiled in the darkness, in awe of the sudden awareness that coursed through me that I no longer had to be alone and that I would never be alone again.

Although it was cool in the cave, the warmth of Sharra's deep connection with me was the only blanket I needed. A brilliant orange jewel had revealed itself in our special bond after our mating. It anchored her end of the Link, and within it I could see all her hopes and dreams, worries and fears. The memories of her life were a tight spiral of scents, sounds, and images curling within that brilliant gem and her entire life was laid bare before me. She hid nothing and it was a sobering thought to understand she trusted me with everything that she was.

I lay awake for a time, contemplating this new openness and depth to our connection. I sensed it went both ways. What I felt from Sharra she would in turn feel something similar from me and oddly enough, I was okay with that. I no longer had any desire to hide from her, and that in itself was a strange thing for a once solitary man like me.

Drifting slowly back towards sleep, I blinked lazily, my eyes wandering as my thoughts slowly settled down. For some reason I found myself staring at the entrance to our stone sanctuary.

The mouth of the cave seemed a long tunnel to another world. A few stars could be seen through the opening, glittering above the moon painted silhouettes of snow capped peaks. A silvery circle of moonlight reached in through the cave mouth, crawling slowly across the floor. Smoke from the the dying fire weaved and sparkled in the ghostly moonglow. The tickling sense of Power in the shadows grew in strength as the red glow from the last embers of the fire mixed with the creeping moonlight, a strange aura condensing around my mate and I as she slept and I watched in wonder.

The dark lines of charcoal I had drawn on the walls of the cave so many weeks ago drew my eyes. Something there had moved, sending a ripple through my awareness and a tingle up my spine. Beside me, Sharra's ears and hands twitched and her deep, regular breathing paused for a moment.

The air suddenly grew heavy and stagnant. The familiarity of that sensation grabbed my attention and I propped myself on an elbow, staring intently at the wall of the cave across the dying fire.

The dark lines there seemed to move and shift of their own accord in the unearthly light and the sudden strangeness of my surroundings. The rough portrait I had drawn of Sharra and I standing shoulder to shoulder stood out in stark relief in the shifting gloom. Power once again tapped its prickly fingers against my senses and I suddenly understood the images I had drawn on the stone were something more than just simple drawings. There was depth and meaning to them simple charcoal lines couldn't account for and as I stared they grew lives of their own.

The outlines of the two figures shifted smoothly against the backdrop of grey stone, their outlines growing darker and deeper. The human figure placed an arm around the smaller Tokarran's shoulder and they turned slightly so they were looking at each other. I stared at those two figures for a long time, pondering the meaning of what I was seeing. I couldn't be sure in the ghostly light but I swore a tail wagged and they had smiles on their faces. Warmth flooded into the Link, spreading into every crack and crevice of my being.

I gently lay back down beside Sharra, taking care not to disturb her. Sleep slowly overtook me, an echoing smile growing on my face as I lay content within the warm embrace of my mate.

#

Sharra woke alone in the soft light of morning, her mind and body blissfully relaxed as wakefulness returned. Even though her mate no longer lay beside her, she could sense his presence somewhere close by. She stretched an arm out to the spot where he had lain beside her, missing his soothing presence. Her searching fingers found no warmth from his body lingering in the hides. He'd been up for some time.

She knew without even thinking about it that he'd gently extricated himself from their bed in an effort to let her get the sleep he knew she needed. The loving touch he'd left in their bond as he'd done so lingered in her thoughts and brought a soft smile to her muzzle.

There was a bright new facet in their mental connection this morning. What had once been a trickling brook between them was now a wide, clear, and swift moving river. There was a depth to their bond, an openness there that had been missing before. The human no longer held walls between them and the shadows had lifted. Everything he was lay open before her, thoughts and feelings, images and memories shifting through the clear waters of the deep blue lake that held fast his end of their Link. The change was like a breath of fresh air, and it set her heart free to feel the new strength of their bond.

A tantalizing sweetness lay in her memories of the previous evening. Their coupling had not been what she expected. There were ... differences between John and a male of her own species that had made it a unique, exciting experience. The human had been gentle and patient and the sensations that had flowed through the Link had taken her arousal to places she never thought were possible before. Just thinking about it made her warm from her toes all the way to the tips of her ears. A smile grew on her muzzle and she wondered if John was ready for round two.

Smiling, Sharra rolled on her side to face the direction from which she sensed John's presence. The human was just out of arm's reach, his back to yellow light of morning streaming in through the mouth of the cave. He sat cross legged on a mat of hides, a deer skin draped over his naked shoulders in an effort to ward off the cool morning air. One arm rested on his knee, hand dangling limply. His other elbow rested on the other knee and his long fingers cradled his thickly bearded chin. He was staring at the wall for some reason and Sharra wasn't sure why.

Before she could open her mouth to ask if he wanted to come back to bed, she felt his amusement ripple through the Link. She saw his lips twitch into a smirk but he didn't turn to her.

"Can't you think about anything else?"

Sharra grinned as sheepishly as someone who resembled a wolf could. Her ears went to the sides and she averted her gaze from her mate.

"Not after last night. You surprised me. I was not expecting much and honestly, I was beginning to wonder if you were actually going to go through with it."

Embarassment suddenly tinged the Link and John wouldn’t look at her. The shy, bashful feelings leaking out of his thoughts brought a smile to Sharra’s face. Her tail thumped against the floor.

“It was fun.” He finally said, and Sharra couldn’t help but chuckle at his embarrassed shyness.

“It was.” She sent a burst of love and warmth to him through the link.

Sharra sat up, stretching the kinks out of her back. A yawn split her muzzle and she shook her head. As much as she would have liked to lie around some more, the pressure on her bladder pushed her to her feet and sent her on a path to the outdoors.

John still hadn't moved from his position on the floor. His thoughts were preoccupied but through that she could sense that he too was relaxed and in good spirits. The warmth of his awareness tracked her as she moved out through the mouth of the cave to take care of business.

The position of the sun in a sky of broken clouds told her that the day had turned to mid morning. After she was done what she needed to do she took a moment to put her nose to the cool autumn breeze that swirled through the trees. No worrisome scents were borne on the back of the wind. Her ears twitched as birds chirped and a few insects that survived the recent frosts rose from their hiding spots to buzz around her. Even though the air was cool, the sun was warm on the end of her nose when it breached the clouds and Sharra thought to herself: This is a good day.

She turned back to the cave, the opening a dark hole in the outcropping of grey stone. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior but when they did she could see than John had still not moved from his seat on the floor. It didn't even look like he'd moved a single muscle the whole time. His chin was still cradled in his hand and his eyes were fixed on the stone wall before him. The tattoos on his shoulder stood out in sharp relief and strange thoughts filtered through their Link.

She moved up behind her mate and knelt down, leaning forward to slip her arms under his and encircle his chest. With a happy sigh, she rested her muzzle on his shoulder. John took one of her hands in his and held it gently against his chest.

"Good morning beautiful." He rumbled. "I take it you slept good?"

"Best I have had in two years, thanks to you." Sharra wagged her tail and John smiled. He squeezed her hand, his eyes never leaving the rough stone before him.

"What are you doing staring at the wall?"

"Wondering what the hell is going on." John said after a moment. "See anything different there?" He gestured to the stone.

Sharra cocked her head. The lines her mate had drawn there weeks ago had become so familiar to her that she hardly looked at them anymore but ... something had changed! Her eyes widened and as her mouth opened to say something, her mate beat her to it.

"I saw them move last night. I thought I was dreaming until I saw it in the light of this morning. I've spent the last couple hours trying to figure out what it means."

Sharra was at a loss for words. Everything on the rock wall before her was as John had drawn it over a cycle of the moon ago, all except for one thing.

The rough charcoal outlines her mate had scratched on the stone of she and him had shifted. No longer were their images standing shoulder to shoulder. They now stood face to face, her image looking up at the human’s. Their arms were interlocked, her ears were up and her tail caught mid wag. A crude rendition of John's content, lopsided smile was on his face and her muzzle was parted in a happy grin.

"And no, I didn't do it." John remarked.

"I like it."

John squeezed her hand again. "So do I. Damned If I know what it means though."

"A sign from the Gods." Sharra whispered.

"A sign of what? Them messing with us as usual?"

Sharra snorted laughter. "That they approve of our joining, silly."

"Wonderful."

John didn't move. He just continued staring at his drawings on the wall. A sudden shift in their Link caught Sharra's attention and John's voice was distant and his eyes unfocused when he started speaking again.

"There's something ... strange about this place." He said, wonder creeping into his low tones. "I can feel the Power here. It moves and shifts within these stone walls. My drawings have awakened it and the Power is leaching out into the air, creating some kind of weird aura that moves and curls around us like a living thing."

Sharra cocked her head and eyed her mate curiously.

"At times I can almost see it." The human continued, shaking his head slowly. Here he paused for a moment and Sharra could sense the weight of the strange thoughts that pressed down on his awareness. Something stirred in the depths of his soul and his next words carried some of that strangeness with them.

"This cave has become an incredibly special place Sharra. It is an intersection where the past and the future meet, I can see that now. The impressions we leave here will linger on long after we're gone, lying in wait as the years flow forward. One day, others in the distant future will find this place and will discover the things we have left behind. They will come to know this place as the focal point for the Great Change."

Sharra's ears perked as John's voice trailed off into silence. She too could feel something unusual about their surroundings. She stared at the charcoal lines on the rock wall and sensed the same Power her mate did swirling dormant within them, yet there was something more than that, something deeper. This was a place of special importance. While she couldn't divine the hidden meaning that lay in those charcoal lines drawn on the wall of the cave by the hand of a species that had been extinct for millenia nor the taste of Power that curled out from them, she knew that John was right.

      For a moment the two mates, joined now not only in mind but also body and soul, regarded the silent stone wall before them and the sign the Gods of the Tokarran people had left for them to see. Their thoughts mingled within their special bond, the message sent to them solidifying within their minds.

"Come back to bed?" Sharra whispered in John's ear.

John tilted his head so it rested against her muzzle. He brought a hand up to her head and held it there, a shy smile growing on his lips and a gentle playfulness rising in his thoughts.

"Have I told you recently that I love you?"

"Not nearly enough." She nipped his ear.

Her mate chuckled, spinning around to face her with a twinkle in his pale blue eyes. He held her hands in his, staring at her for a long time. His expression was soft and the emotions that flowed through their Link were gentle and loving.

"What?"

"You've set me free Sharra. I feel as if I've suddenly become a different person." John shook his head slowly but the smile on his face never once wavered. "I ... hell, I hardly even know how to describe it but it's like I've finally seen the sun after a lifetime of rain."

Sharra's tail thumped against the floor behind her.

"That makes me very happy." She darted forward to give him a quick lick on the nose. Standing, she tugged on his hands. He rose slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. She led him over to their bed.

"Let us explore this new person you have become."

John smiled, eyes positively glowing.

"I'd like that."