101. Hello Again

Shannon was in the clearing playing with her new ferret that she had named Willow since the system told her to wait. She knew that it was sending someone to meet her, she assumed that it was either Alan or Joe. Or Novum and Theren in this world. She was not as good as them when it came to switching between names like they were but she would try her hardest. The ferret and her already had a great relationship and could actually communicate with each other. She had always wanted to talk to animals and not she could. At least a few of them, but it was enough.

She was not sure how long she was there when she heard something and got to her feet. She used the technique that the system gave her and got ready to throw a spell. 'Your escorts are approaching do not attack.'

'Thank you system.'

Novum and Theren got a notification. 'The person you are to escort is right in front of you. Do not charge in and scare them.'

The two of them slowed down and walked into the clearing. Novum saw the girl standing in the clearing and could not stop himself. "Shannon." He took a couple of huge steps forward and then stopped as he did not want to scare the person. She looked exactly like his ex wife when she was younger only a little taller.

Theren stepped forward as well. He was not sure what was going on but he was with Novum on this one and this woman looked just like Shannon. He was not sure what in the world was going on. Then a thought hit him and he bit his tongue to keep from saying something.

Shannon could not help herself. She ran forward and jumped on Novum and held him tight. She had wanted this for years and now she was back in his arms. He was a lot bigger and stronger than in the last world but that did not seem to make any difference in the way that she felt. This feeling of home was the exact same one that she used to get after he came back from a long deployment.

"God, I missed you." She could not hold back and kissed him. He reacted with a lot of passion as he felt that same sense of comfort.

Novum finally managed to pull back. "Shannon is it really you? What happened? Why are you here?"

"Theren never told you?" Novum looked over his shoulder at his friend. "It is not his fault. Honestly I would not have said anything either. I had cancer."

"What? For how long? What type?"

"That stuff does not matter, it is in the past. And it did what a lot of cancers do and it finally killed me. Then I meet a guy. He said you two referred to him as elder one."

"Yep. But back on topic. I don't care what kind but how long did you fight?"

"Two years."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What would you have done?"

"Everything in my power."

"I know that you big idiot. Then what would have happened to your books?"

"They would have waited."

"I knew that you would say that. I also knew that it would have done nothing. It was too far along when they found it. So, you would have wasted two years holding my hand and suffering with me and the same thing would have happened. I had the opportunity to not do that to you so I didn't. Honestly the first year was not the bad one the bad one was after you were already gone."

Novum turned and looked at Theren. "Hey, I didn't find out until your funeral. I did what I could and helped when she told me that I could. I just hadn't got around to telling you about it yet. Not going to say sorry for not telling you. There is nothing that you could have done or could do even if you knew. So, why put that extra stress on you."

"I am not happy that you kept it from me but I am glad that you are here. I really have missed you. I have had a lot of time to think since I have been here and I should have stopped when you asked me to. You deserved that and I deserved the divorce. I am sorry about that."

"I should have supported you more. I was not exactly easy to deal with either. But you know what, we are here now and we are healthy and we get a new chance. And Theren can probably get himself a lot of ex-wives in this world since he lives a really long time."

Novum laughed and smiled as his friends face turned red. "Hey, how did you build a character without me?"

"Who said that I did?" Novum tilted his head and looked at her. "I took one of your extras from when you started in the world and tweaked it enough to be playable by me and adjusted the looks and stuff."

"And made yourself a lot taller. Although I can't say that I am disappointed. If I had known that you were coming I would have made a druid for you to have. I know that you have always liked that class."

"With the system teaching me I am better able to understand the way that spells and stuff work now so it will be a lot easier." They had been standing so close together for so long that Willow was not happy with the situation and ran down Shannon's arm to get a good look at him. It was apparently sizing him up to see how big of a threat he was.

"This little thing must be your familiar. Good afternoon little one."

The ferret stood there and started talking to Shannon. "Willow thinks that you are to big and slow to be treated with anything other than contempt."

"Really." Novum gave out a shrill whistle and Fang bound into the clearing. He was easily twice the size of a normal wolf and moved with a speed and grace that the ferret was even impressed with.

Theren also sent outa signal and Svetlana came walking out of the woods. "This is my companion Svetlana." Although she was not quite twice the size of a normal mountain lion she was still big enough that she would not back down from any normal animal. And her speed had increased to a level that only a few could comprehend it.

"So, Willow do you think my friend Fang is fast enough to keep up with you?" The ferret ran up and laid across Shannon's shoulders and was hiding in her hair.

"Do not bully my sweet little Willow." She looked at Svetlana and the swelling on her face that looked like it was just starting to come down. "And what happened to you sweetie? Did Theren and his big dog pick a fight with you?"

Svetlana seemed to understand her and lowered her head in embarrassment. Fang also twisted his head and looked at her like she was crazy. There was not way that he would ever pick a fight with Svetlana. He had to be careful even when they were just training.

Both Theren and Novum threw their heads back and laughed. Theren spoke up. "No that swelling is the price of hubris. Novum warned her not to mess with the goats and Fang even warned her in their way of communicating but she thought she was better than both of them and did not listen. The billy that is in charge of the herd, even thought it is way smaller than her, did not show any fear and charged at her. This is her own fault. And although it could have been healed quickly, this is a good lesson for her and I do not want her to forget it."

Shannon's mouth was hanging open. "You are telling me that a goat did that? Novum where in the world did you find this goat?"

"I found it at the market in town. No one wanted to buy them so I bought the herd."

"What are you going to do with them? Seems like eating them might be a challenge."

"Only the billy is really powerful. And the nannies have a more patient temperament and let us milk them. But part of my idea is that if we get attacked simply turn him loose and let him have a go at the enemy."

"You have an attack goat?"

"I guess you could call it that. I didn't train it I just let it grow on its own and this was the result. So, it is late enough in the day that we need to either head back now or set up a camp for the night. I have enough stuff for that and we are close enough that with the animals there should not be any issues. OR we can head back to the manor tonight. We will be back late but that should not be an issue."

Shannon looked at him. "Let's stay out here tonight and we can talk without anyone hearing, since talking about another world would probably get us killed. And we can head back in the morning."

"Okay, beautiful." Novum responded to her choice out of habit and started setting things up. If he had been paying more attention he would have noticed the color in her cheeks as his comment. It was just like old times to her.