Initiation

Merlin waited in the cave where he practised his magic, looking down the hillside. His second sight had already told him that someone would come to him today, seeking to be an acolyte and to learn from his insight into the hidden domains. But his sight did not tell him anything about the one who would come.

In the distance he saw a figure, robed and hooded as the traditions required. The figure drew closer, ascending the slope to the mouth of the cave, and Merlin rose to his feet.

"Stand where you are, and tell me your name and your business," he said, following the ritual.

His visitor reached up a hand to push back the hood of the robe, and Merlin was momentarily taken aback to see the face of a young woman, her skin dark, her hair long and black, her eyes ebony.

"I am Indra," she said, "and I seek knowledge, Master."

Merlin nodded as she completed the required phrases.

"Welcome, Indra," he said, and indicated that she should precede him into the cave. She did so, but cast a puzzled look over her shoulder.

Merlin followed her into the cave. "You may remove the robe," he said. She obeyed, draping it over a protruding rock. Under the robe she wore a long garment of white linen, embroidered in gold thread.

"Sit," said Merlin. With a motion so graceful it took the wizard's breath away, she sank to the floor and sat cross-legged.

"What wisdom do you seek?" Merlin began.

"Master, my destiny in my homeland is to become a courtesan. I have already had all the proper instruction from our sacred texts, though I have not yet been initiated; no man has known me."

"Ah," breathed Merlin. "You have a great opportunity."

Indra continued: "Our lore says that there is a great power in virginity, and it seemed to me that I should seek beyond the borders of our land for one whose knowledge could enable me to use this power most effectively."

Merlin nodded. "It is true," he said, "and I can give you such knowledge. But -- forgive me -- I must make a test of what you have said. The rite we will conduct has great power for ill if practiced by a woman who has already known intimacy with a man."

Indra's eyes flashed. "Very well," she said, "perform your test."

"Come with me," said Merlin. She rose to her feet, and once more Merlin marvelled at the grace with which she moved.

He led her to another entrance to the cave, which faced out onto the forest covering much of the hillside. He walked a few paces toward the trees, and made a gesture in the air, uttering a word under his breath.

For a moment nothing happened, then as if it had materialised from thin air, a creature appeared at the edge of the forest. Indra gasped. Horses she knew, and the hardy ponies of the countries through which she had travelled to reach this most northerly of lands, but this was something different. Pure white, with a spiral horn of a silvery substance on its forehead. Entranced, she held out a hand to the unicorn. It raised its head, and seemed to breathe in the air around it. Then it stepped slowly over to Indra, and buried its nose in her outstretched palm, allowing her to gently stroke its flank with her other hand.

"All is well," said Merlin. He waited a moment, then said, "Now you must let it depart. It will not come to you again after today."

Reluctantly Indra stopped stroking the creature and stepped back. It turned, and looked once more over its shoulder before disappearing into the wood as silently as it had arrived.

Merlin gestured to Indra to re-enter the cave. This time he took her to an inner chamber, where a fire burned, and the floor was covered by a large circular rug. Into the rug was woven a pentagram, its points nearly touching the perimeter.

"This is where we will conduct our rite," said Merlin. "There are only a few instructions."

"Firstly, after we have begun the rite, there must be no speech. We will go to each point of the pentagram in turn; at the first, I will pleasure you, and you are to remain still. At the second, you are to please me, and I will stay unmoving. At the third, I will give you pleasure, but it is you who must bring your body to me as I remain motionless. At the fourth point, you will pleasure me, as I bring my body to you. At the fifth point, we may please one another. Do as I do and it will be straightforward."

"I may bring you to the edge of orgasm and then stop; fear not, you will not remain unfulfilled. I must not spend my seed until I penetrate you, and that I must not do until we reach the centre of the pentagram. If I release too early, the rite is spoiled and we must wait and start again."

Indra listened, solemn-faced, then nodded her agreement.

"Stand in the centre, and unclothe," instructed Merlin. Indra did so, revealing a slender body, breasts just reaching their full ripeness, and a darker shadow between her legs.

Merlin too removed his garments, and went to her in the centre of the figure. He embraced her gently, then guided her to the first point of the pentagram, where she lay on her back. He knelt by her and first kissed her on the mouth; her lips yielded to his eagerly. Then he kissed her throat, and moved on down to her breasts, taking first one, then the other dark nipple into his mouth. As he suckled and tongued her, she opened her legs, and her hand strayed down over her stomach. Merlin placed his hand on hers and shook his head. Then he began to kiss down from her breasts, over her stomach, and finally began to touch between her legs with his tongue. He slipped a finger into her a little way, and almost immediately she began to gasp and her muscles began to tense ready for a climax as his tongue flickered over her clitoris.

He slowed, then stopped, and she gave a little moan of disappointment. He took her hands and raised her to a sitting position, then to her knees, and knelt behind her. He cupped her breasts, slowly caressing her hard nipples, then moved one hand between her legs, moving his fingers over all her wetness. Next he moved his other hand down, entering her gently with one finger from behind. He eased her forward slightly, exposing her even more to him, and very gently moved his thumb over the pink star of her other passage which now faced him. As he moved his other hand over her clitoris and his finger and thumb in her entrances, again she began to gasp and her hands reached for her breasts. This time he did not disappoint her, and her climax overwhelmed her, racking her body.

Merlin embraced her from behind, and she folded her arms over his, pressing them tightly.

He waited a few moments, then moved away from her, taking his place at the second point of the pentagram. She followed her cue, and knelt as he had done, her lips moving down onto his. Then she descended, her mouth on one nipple, her fingers on the other. As he watched, she slipped her hand briefly between her legs, bringing them back to his nipple wet. Then she began to suckle the nipple she had touched, tasting her own juices, and repeated the gesture with the other nipple. Her hand slid down to grasp his erection, then she moved to take the tip in her mouth, already tasting a drop or two of fluid on it.

He let her caress his tip with her mouth for a moment, then got to his knees. She knelt behind him, and reached one hand to hold his length once more. With her other hand, she cupped the soft skin of his sack from behind, and imitating his every move, gently caressed his back opening, sliding the tip of her thumb a little way in.

Merlin put his hand on hers and gently removed it from his hardness; she understood that he was perhaps dangerously close to his own climax, and it was not yet time.

Merlin moved to the third point of the pentagram, again lying on his back. Indra kissed him again, but then leaned over him so that her breasts touched his face. He began to run his tongue over them, and she shifted position so that one nipple was directly between his lips. He suckled and tongued it, and she moved to straddle him so that she could give him first one breast and then the other.

She felt the tip of his erection behind her, and was very tempted to guide it into her so-ready opening, but remembered his words. Instead she slid up his body so that his head was once more between her legs, and sighed with pleasure as his tongue again began to flicker over her clitoris and his hands caressed her breasts and nipples. This time he did not hold back, and she climaxed as he held her against his mouth.

She moved to the fourth point, and lay on her back. The wizard straddled her and offered her his chest; she began to suckle him again and use her fingers on his other nipple, alternating between the two. She felt a slight stickiness on her stomach, and knew that again a few drops of fluid were coming from him. He moved up her body, and she took first his tip, then as much of the length of him as she could manage, into her mouth. She held it still, not wanting to overstimulate him.

He gently withdrew from her, and she slid over to the final point of the pentagram. He positioned himself over her body, his head between her legs, his erection accessible to her mouth. She kissed his tip, gently licking the opening from where he would soon spend himself in her. In turn, he began to tongue her, and very quickly she was writhing under him in renewed pleasure.

She moved to the centre of the pentagram, and looked to him for guidance. He eased her onto her back, and gently arranged her limbs so that she lay in a star, hands and feet at four points of the pentagram. He approached from the fifth point, lowering himself onto her and pressing his tip into her opening. Knowing that this was the first time any man had entered her, he eased his hardness into her slowly, encountering the brief resistance he expected.

A brief flash of pain crossed her face, then vanished as his length reached the depths of her. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her, gently at first then almost hungrily as he moved inside her, building to his long-delayed climax. She lifted her knees, giving him even deeper access into her, and wrapped her legs around his, adding her own pressure to the movement of his hips. To her surprise she began to sense again the now-familiar approach of her own climax, and she broke from kissing him to throw her head back and gasp as her body started the unmistakeable shuddering that heralded her next orgasm. As she climaxed, his movement in her became suddenly more urgent and she saw with wonder the release in his face as she felt for the first time the sudden warmth, then repeated, and again, as he spurted his long-withheld seed into her waiting depths.

"It is done," breathed Merlin, still inside her, as his body relaxed onto hers, a heavy but so-satisfying weight. She smiled, closing her eyes. "Yes," she said.