Wizard's Bane

Then she was gone and Kore was left alone, feeling as if she was on the verge of doing some great wrong. Almost she turned away, but her nearly insatiable curiosity drove her on. She desperately wanted to know what secrets were contained in that book!

She stepped into the wizard's chamber. All was utter silence. The only sound was her own breathing, which seemed desperately loud to her own ears. The book was there before her, a heavy bound, thick dark bound volume. It seemed immense in her small hands. Gently, she lifted the thick front cover, which seemed very ancient. Yet within, the pages were white and clean.

The inner page spoke it's subject loud and clear.

"The Inner Workings of Sex Magic," she read to her self softly "A Practical Manual, by Eros."

Carefully she lifted each page and began to read. Then she found a section of full color illustrations and her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. This was all too much! Yet she knew instinctively that it all must be true. Here was what a man looked like naked and here is what he and a woman must do together when they make a child. But there were other pictures of other acts that she had never dreamed of or considered before. Women were sucking on men's prongs and men were getting peed on by other women. Men were even putting their members inside girl's tight assholes and the girls didn't seem to mind at all from the looks on their faces. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying it!

She began to wish she had listened to Melissandra and Zara's advice. These images were forever burned into her mind and her childhood innocence was forever vanished. She'd opened a door she could never close. And yet, haunted and hypnotized, she read on.

Moments turned to hours, and even then, she continued to read. So fascinated was she that she only looked up when the candle began to gutter and she knew then by its failing that many hours had passed. Swiftly and quietly, she picked up the candle and gently closed the book, then passed from the room. She was sure that nothing within had been disturbed except for the book, and even Azimuth could have no way of discovering her fingers had caressed its pages, or could he? Perhaps he could. Wizards were known to possess powers that no one could begin to guess at or comprehend, and Azimuth was indeed a mighty wizard.

She went to Zara's bed and sat there silently until she knew Zara had roused enough to be aware of her.

"What time is it?" asked Zara, rubbing her dark ringed eyes sleepily. "It's not even dawn yet."

"I read the book," said Kore. "You were right about what you said. But there is more, so much more."

Now Zara was more fully awake. She saw the haunted look in Kore's eyes.

"I told you not to look in the book," Zara reminded her. "I warned you, and now its too late! What did you see?"

And then Kore knew that Zara was secretly as eager as she to learn these new secrets, and she told her all that she had learned and even more that she had guessed. Long into the early morning they talked, and each hour more breathless and heated their mood became.

"Do you really think all this is true?" Zara asked at last.

"Yes," Kore replied. "It must be. My only wonder now is why Azimuth Duul has so long withheld these teachings from us? When did he plan to initiate us into these secrets, and why has he waited so long?"

"Perhaps he's grown too old," suggested Zara. "These lessons seem........ extremely strenuous."

But when Kore saw Azimuth later that week, she wondered, for he seemed no older in mien or figure than when she had been no more than a child.

Their lessons continued without change. The days passed by, and at times those things that Kore had read in Azimuth's chamber had the semblance of remembering a dream. Zara and she talked secretly long into the nights that followed, but they came up with more questions than they answers.

But the wonders she had discovered were not without their effect. Late at night, she began to experiment with touching herself, the soft rounded flesh of her belly, the taut smoothness of her thighs and ass, the silken fleece of her mons, the wet silken cleft of her vulva, the inner joy she felt when she pushed her fingers inside herself, the tremulous quivering of her clit as she stroked her finger tips gently across its hood. These experiments often had explosive results, and more than once she had to rise early to rinse the bedsheets free of the wet stains that occurred after her ecstatic emissions. During these frantic moments, her head was filled with images from the book, and she imagined herself doing the things with men and women that were depicted therein even as her moment came. She found soon that some images aroused more than others. She began to wonder if Zara was also exploring some of these same strange fantasies, for she too was in a dreamy mood and had an odd look in her eyes that Kore thought she recognized being similar to her own when she gazed into a mirror.

If Melissandra noticed anything strange in her two companions behavior, she never spoke of it. Indeed, she was more silent, more closed off from than usual, and Kore began to think she suspected what was going on with them. The days passed. Kore's moon time came and went. Lessons were learned. Meals were cooked and eaten. The will o' the wisps continued to dance every eve in the meadow, and Azimuth made no sign that he knew aught of Kore having ever entered his chamber.

The three days when the wizard made his journey into town grew ever nearer. Kore already knew what she was going to do when night came once more and Azimuth's chamber was empty, and she knew that Zara knew her feelings as well as she knew them herself. Her intentions made her all the more afraid that the wizard had already discovered her earlier transgression.

One afternoon after lessons, she thought her fears had come to fruition. Azimuth called her alone into his study. Trying not to appear guilty, she followed him silently. He sat down behind the desk and Kore saw the book she had been studying remained just where it had been when she had left it. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Azimuth's gaze caught hers. In that fleeting moment, she was sure the wizard knew everything she had done and every thought she was thinking. But the moment quickly passed. Azimuth Duul leaned back in his chair and lit his pipe. The thick smoke rose up in fantastic curling strands, forming small amusing pictures before they disintegrated. The smell of the herb was like blueberries and honeysuckle in the room.

"I go soon to do my monthly business in town," he began, and there was no sign of subterfuge in the open honest face of the old man. "Long have I delayed discussing certain matters with the three of you, but I think soon you will be ready for new lessons, at least I pray it may be so."

Kore's heart was in her throat. Any moment now she knew he would reveal the truth, that these new lessons were inspired by his knowledge of her intrusion.

"Do you think you are ready for these lessons, Kore?" Azimuth asked suddenly. His grey blue eyes were startling clear and seemed to gaze directly into her naked thoughts.

Kore could not meet those eyes and tell the lies she had prepared. And she hadn't prepared at all for a question like this!

"I don't know, master," she said, her gaze seeking the floor. "There is already so much to learn, so much to know."

"You've learned your lessons well, Kore," he said. "And perhaps I should have given you other lessons long ago. Worry not about this now. We shall discuss this amongst the four of us when I return."

And then at last, the mage departed and was gone from the house. Kore was now sure he knew nothing of her nocturnal intrusion, and this made her more eager than ever to look into the book again in order to delve deeper into its mysteries.

Zara knew what was in her mind of course, but she said nothing. She knew Kore would come to her room after her reading, and Kore knew she was eagerly anticipating that moment.

At last the night came, though she thought Melissandra would never go to bed. The light was burning under her door until nearly midnight. Finally, when Kore's patience was nearly exhausted, it was extinguished and she felt safe enough to creep quietly down the hall past her door. In the distance, she could still hear the thoom thoom thoom of the were-beasts and ghouls incessantly pounding against the wizard's protective shields, but she paid them no mind. So used to these nocturnal sounds was she that they were to her no different than hearing crickets or frogs in the dusk.

She went once more into Azimuth's chamber and took up the book. Again, she became enwrapt and the hours flew by, but at last she turned away, and her mind filled with new revelations, her heart racing with new implications and imaginings.

She went immediately to Zara's chamber and found that she was awake and awaiting her.

For long hours they spoke in the dark. Then came that time before dawn when there is somehow still hints of light in the sky, and they could see each others eyes and bodies in the shadows.

"These things excite me so," said Zara, but they frighten me as well!" She held Kore close and Kore could feel the softness of her small breasts pressing against her own. "Why did Azimuth keep this magic hidden from us? Perhaps it is dangerous and we risk our immortal souls by dabbling in such magic!"

"Have you never touched yourself in the dark, when you were all alone?" asked Kore. "Have you never imagined or dreamed of a man touching you, even doing whatever he wished to do with you and doing whatever you wished to do with him?"

Zara's sigh was deep. "These things I have imagined more than once."

Kore smiled. "I knew it was so," she said. "Show me how you touch yourself, Zara! Show me how you bring yourself to the moment of pleasure!"

"What?! Here? Now?!" asked Zara, glancing around.

"Why not?" asked Kore. "Melissandra, that old sleepy head, won't be up for another two hours if I know her habits, for she went to bed nigh midnight last night, and she's is not used to staying up late as we. We shall be all alone."

Still Zara hesitated, giggling and blushing. "I don't think I should...."

"Why not?" asked Kore. "Be not ashamed. I do it as well every night and I will show you if only you'll show me."

They were both soon stripped of heir night clothes and they watched each other touch themselves. Kore's body was strong and large boned and blonde while Zara was more thin of frame, but still not as thin as Melissandra. She had generous breasts, whose dark rose colored nipples she was now lightly plucking with the tips of her long slender fingers Kore's hands were quicker and freer to go to more intimate areas, but Zara's methods, though slower to gain their goal, were delicious to watch.

Before she knew what was happening, they were touching each other. Zara's flesh felt hot and smooth and tight against her fingers. Their mouths sought each other, and their lips met in a clumsy kiss which nonetheless still sent instant shivers thru Kore's body. Her fingers found the cleft of her sex, her mound was swollen, slick with moisture. Her finger entered easily. She looked into Zara's eyes, half opened, accepting and quiescent, filled with all the allure of the mysteries of the cosmos. They kissed again........

A sudden scream broke the passion of the moment. They both jumped and nearly screamed themselves.

"Melissandra!" said Kore, and swiftly throwing their night shifts over their shoulders once more, they went down the hall to the door of Melissandra's room.

The door was open, but Melissandra was nowhere to be found. Her bed seemed to not even have been slept in. They called around the house for several minutes, and panic began to quiver in Kore's heart, but there was no answer. It soon became all too apparent that she was nowhere to be found inside the house, and now the howling of the demons and the pounding at the gates they had hear the night before did not seem so insignificant, and the implications were very terrible indeed.

"Where can she be?" asked Zara, nearly in tears. "If she is not here within the house, she must be somehow without....."

Kore went to the living room, and Zara followed her. There on the mantlepiece above the fireplace were three crystals. Each one was glowing bright green.

"Here are our life crystals, green as ever!" said Kore. "That means that Melissandra is still alive, wherever she may be."

"But where could she be if she's not within the house?" asked Zara. "She wouldn't have gone into the forest alone!"

"That is what we must discover," said Kore.

"I think we've gotten in enough trouble already!" argued Zara. "You never should have read that book! We should wait for Azimuth to return before we do anything more!"

"I don't think we have a choice," said Kore. "We must try something."

"Your mad as a loon!" snarled Zara. "This is all your fault for meddling in Azimuth's book. I'll have no more part in this!" and with this, she stormed from the room.

Kore returned to Azimuth's study. Many times, she had beseeched Azimuth Duul to teach her more of those darker arts whose secrets he was most reluctant to impart.

"Those that deal in the more malevolent aspects of magic eventually fall victim to the same forces they have unleashed," Azimuth Duul had patiently warned her. "There's a price to be paid for all sorcery, and the price of black magic is far too dear for any of mortal kind. Even those who deal in those arts from necessity find that there is always a price most dear that must be paid."

Azimuth's warnings hadn't fallen on deaf ears. She knew she risked her life and soul dealing with such dark forces. But she felt she no longer had a choice. She would gladly surrender her own safety to free Melissandra from whatever terrible nightmare had befallen her, for she somehow knew that she was responsible.

Long did she study the dark and forbidden arts. She read for many hours from tomes that Azimuth Duul had expressly forbidden. She delved deeper and deeper into those evil writings of black magicians and demon worshipers, some of which had been written in letters of blood on a parchment of human flesh.

After many hours of such studies, she began to feel befouled inside, as if some filthy hand had reached into her soul and tainted her with a poison.

But at last, she thought she had found an answer.

Deep into the middle of that night, just as the moon began to rise over the treetops, she began the ritual as described by Azimuth's hand himself. First, she sealed herself inside a sacred pentagram. This was to guard her from the malevolence of any of the spirits she evoked. Then, after stripping herself naked and painting her body with certain vulgar esoteric symbols, she began the incantation that was said to summon one of the minor demon lords from the seventh level of the underworld, a foul being known as Zhagmyr Khan.

Zhagmyr Khan, sitting on his throne in the netherworld, heard her summons, but at first he ignored her. He had better things to do than answer every summoning cast by every inept sorcerer or sorceress on the earth. But when he saw the voluptuous beauty of the crimson-haired young sorceress who had cast the summoning spell, he changed his mind.

It had been almost a week since he'd had a virgin.

He manifested himself before her in a fury of flame and smoke, not because it was necessary, but because that was what he always did to let neophyte magicians. It was what they expected, and it was good to let them know what kind of forces they were dealing with.

To his utter chagrin, she seemed little impressed by his sorcerous fireworks. She faced him unflinchingly, her green eyes cast straight forward, her feet placed firmly within the boundaries of a sacred pentagram.

"Why have you called me from those dark lands wherein I dwell?" asked Zhagmyr Khan. His face was carved from a block of iron, crimson eyes flaring upward inhumanly, and his form was massive, the body of an ape with overlong arms and heavy muscled chest.

"There is a task I would have you complete that is within your power," she replied. "Can you perceive the image of the girl which I now envision?"

"Aye," said the demon. "I see her clearly."

"She has vanished. I would have her found and returned."

"That will be no difficult task," said Zhagmyr Khan. "But what is the bargain? What would you give me in return?"

"I am prepared to pay the traditional price," Kore answered calmly, "The living essence of my soul."

The demon laughed.

"Human souls are petty things," he said. "Their worth is highly over-rated. Nay, if you would have me do this thing, it's not your soul I desire, but your body, for you are young and beautiful, and it has been long since I have enjoyed the taste of a mortal female."

Kore flinched. She hadn't expected such a request. Gazing down at the demon's immense, scaly member, she doubted if she would survive the ordeal of submitting herself to his lusts. Still, she had been and still was prepared to give up her life in order to achieve the means to gain revenge on her family's slayers.

"Agreed," she said finally. "If you can bring Melissandra back, I will grant your desire."

"Your blood on it," hissed the demon. "The contract must be sealed by a drop of your own mortal blood."

Kore had been prepared for this. Sliding the thin poniard from the sheath that hung from her belt, she lightly pricked he finger and let a few drops of her life essence fall upon the curling, questing tongue of the demon Zhagmyr Khan.

"The bargain is sealed," he said. "I go now to complete your task. Be ready when I return."

Then he vanished once more in another display of smoke and fire. Only moments later, he reappeared.

"I have discovered where she is," said Zhagmyr Khan. "But I cannot go there to retrieve her myself, for she is in a domain guarded by fierce magic. There is but one choice if you wish to save her. You must venture into the Forbidden Realm and seek out the magical artifact known as the ebony box. Only it holds the means to trap a demon inside it for all eternity."

"This was not in the bargain, demon." said Kore. "You were supposed to rescue her yourself."

"Once you retrieve the ebony box, I can help you to defeat the demon lord that kidnapped your friend. Otherwise, I am powerless."

"Tell me how to find it," said Kore.

The demon smiled slowly. Then it made a series of passes thru the air, and each finger trailed arcs of fire.

"It is just thru this door," hissed Zhagmyr Khan.

And there was a door there where there had been none before, a door of dark oak with an iron latch. Kore turned the knob, and it opened. Within, a long hallway was revealed, lined on all side with deep crimson carpets.

3

The intricacy and design of the architecture was more complex than any capable of any known craftsman. No joints showed in the gleaming walls. There was no mortar, nor cracks in the intricately woven tiles of the floor. A dim illumination emanated from some invisible source ahead. She knew she should have been wandering through a blackness darker than the darkest night, but the mysterious, sourceless light led her on, deeper and deeper into the vast depths of the alien structure.

Kore raced down the last length of the corridor, her hair shimmering like wind blown flame in the red tunnel. She came to a portal shaped like a triangle. Within, all was darkness. The mystical light which had led her this far extended no further. But Kore was not to be deterred. Casting a quick spell of illumination, she peered into the shadowy chamber.

There on a raised pillar was the ebony box. Even with her light magic, it was difficult to make out any details of its facets. Kore saw that the box itself was exuding darkness, and the darkness was blocking her light spell. When she realized this, she enclosed the box in a temporary spell of concealment. After she had done so, light flooded the room from the crystalline walls and the box was revealed as a completely featureless black cube. She pored over it for several moments, but could discover no way to open it, if indeed, it could be opened at all.