Blood of Dragons - The Apprentice

She ran her fingers across the spines of several tomes, snagging ones that looked helpful and stuffing them into Erasmus’s discarded extra-dimensional satchel. The wizard himself was in his bedroom on the level above, and Paige could hear his wheezy snoring. Erasmus’s sleep schedule was on par with that of a particularly lazy house cat when he wasn’t travelling, and it would take a natural disaster to wake him up; Paige was confident that she could go about her work without him noticing. Once satisfied with her selection, she scurried back downstairs into the lab, conjured some lights about her head, pulled out the first book, and began to read.

Over the next several hours, Paige’s list of possible ideas grew shorter as the pile of books next to her grew taller. She had ruled out several possibilities as beyond her skill level, and some that would not have provided an adequate solution.

Her first plan had been simple: transmute some base metals into gold. She was disappointed to find that even if silver was the best she could accomplish, it was only temporary and would eventually be discovered as fraud.

Illusionary money was right out; even the most fundamentally trained Imperial battlemage would be able to dismiss such a basic trick, and people would quickly discover the ruse on their own when it vanished from their wallets anyway. Not to mention that the idea of deceiving people did not sit well in Paige’s mind.

She considered using divination to locate other magical items that she might use in trade, but then remembered that they would probably belong to other people at best, or be guarded by some horrific creature at worst, and she was in no position to deal with theft and/or monster hunting.

As the night started to draw in, Paige became increasingly desperate. She flicked through the pages of a tome on magical entities from other planes; maybe she could bargain with some planar traders in exchange for some resources from the mortal world. She shook her head, dismissing the idea as unlikely. It’s not like she had anything special to trade, and planar portals weren’t exactly the most common convenience around here. The only way she was going to get a planar entity to talk to her was...

Paige looked up from her reading. That was it!

She dug into the bottomless bag and hauled out a book: The Summoning and Binding of the Outer Planes. She paged through it excitedly, thoughts rushing through her head. If she could conjure an entity from another dimension, one with sufficient magical power, she might be able to convince it to help her.

The more she read, the more likely it sounded. The accounts of previous summoning rituals stated that many of the beings brought forth were willing to bargain, and not always in the business of souls. Some of them asked for favours, others for service, others still for more abstract things. Although, Paige noticed that bargaining was not always an option, and some entities had to be magically bound and ordered to perform as the summoner required.

Paige frowned a little. Even if she had enough power to do so, she didn’t like the idea of holding someone against their will. She looked up at the bottle of dragon blood, sitting in pride of place in front of the other vials upon the shelf. Her eyes narrowed.

She turned back to the book and began to look for a viable choice.

******

Paige stepped back and observed her work. A chalk circle surrounded by various glyphs and sigils now decorated the floor of the laboratory, a bowl of gemstone powder and mixed salts in the centre, with specially prepared candles lit and positioned at equidistant points along the edges. She had drawn it out exactly as the book had instructed; with this, she would be able to summon the assistance she needed.

Paige inspected the drawing of her intended target in the book, a jovial, round faced minor djinn. While not the most powerful of entities, it would hopefully be enough to grant her a favour with minimal bargaining, and she was less likely to lose her soul.

She took a deep breath. This spell was not a particularly complicated conjuration, but it was still far above what she had done in the past. It would require the utmost concentration, the most precise invocations; one slip up, and it would all be for nothing.

Paige readied her wand, and with a flick ignited a small spark above the bowl of powder in the circle. The mixture immediately caught alight with a fizzling flame, and she began to read aloud. With each line spoken, the flames began to jump higher, the candles flickering and jumping in time, and the glyphs began to glow. An unnatural wind seemed to blow from nowhere, causing the shelves to shake and the glass vials to rattle in a horrible cacophony. Paige forced herself to block out the noise, keeping her eyes on the book and continued to recite the words, tracing more symbols in the air with her wand.

Suddenly, the winds flipped the pages rapidly, the words and pictures of other spells speeding across her vision. Paige hurriedly lowered her wand and pulled the pages back to her bookmark, resuming the incantation, but the flames in the centre of the circle were sparking erratically, and the winds grew stronger.

Paige shouted out the last few words of the spell, slammed the book and her eyes shut, and fell to her knees praying that it had still worked. There was a sound like a giant gasp, and the winds died down.

“Well, this was unexpected.”

The deep, sonorous voice prompted Paige to crack open her eyes, which then opened wide as she saw what her spell had wrought.

Standing in the centre of the circle was not the friendly looking djinn that Paige had hoped to summon. Instead, before her stood a muscular humanoid man with purple skin and large topknot of black hair, from which poked a pair of large pointed ears. His jet black eyes surveyed the room, taking in the multitude of vials as he scratched his chin curiously with sharp black fingernails. Paige also quickly noticed that he was very much naked; as he turned to inspect his surroundings, she got a clear view of his firm buttocks, as well as the thick curly hair that covered most of his chest and trailed towards a pair of heavy testes and a phallus that dangled almost halfway down his thigh.

Paige quickly averted her eyes, blushing furiously. The spell had gone wrong; she had no idea who or what she had summoned, and had no way of knowing if she was capable of handling this.

It’s alright, she told herself. As long as she maintained focus, she could dismiss whatever this thing was whenever she wanted. It was still bound to the circle, and would not be able to harm her as long as she concentrated. And if she lost concentration, the summoning would end and send it back where it came from anyway. She took another deep breath and stood up.

“N-name yourself!” she said, aiming her wand at the purple figure and doing her best to sound authoritative.

The summoned entity blinked, as if noticing her for the first time. “I beg your pardon?”

“I am your summoner! I h-have called you to this plane!” said Paige, keeping her eyes fixed on his face and trying not to glance down. “I demand you name yourself, so that we may b-bargain!”

The purple figure laughed, the sound emanating from his throat like it was coming from a deep cave. “You’ve never done this before, have you?” He folded his arms and shifted his weight jauntily. “I’m not about to give my true name to a rookie conjurer who just pulled me out of a very important party.” He cocked his head to the side, his expression amused. “But if it’ll make this go quicker, you can call me Juda. What may I call you?”

Paige steeled herself. “You may call me your summoner, for that is all you need to know!”

Juda grinned, his mouth full of razor sharp teeth. “Not a complete idiot, then.” He spread his arms wide. “Very well then, summoner. You have called me here. How might I be of service to you?”

“I require riches,” Paige said, “gold to erase my master’s debt. Ten... no... fifteen thousand gold pieces would be enough.”

Juda rolled his eyes. “How mundane. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have power? A throne? A harem of supple young men? Or women, I don’t judge.”

“You c-cannot tempt me, fiend!” Paige said sharply. “I have made my demand, and will not be tricked into anything more!”

“Good grief, enough with all the big talk, can’t we just have a normal conversation?” said Juda. “So you want money, but not for yourself. You want to erase the debt of another. How very altruistic.” He tilted his head again. “Why?”

“What do you mean?” said Paige cautiously.

“Why are you looking to erase this person’s debt? Do you really owe him so much that you would contact the Outer Planes to do it?” Juda put his hands behind his back and paced around the circle. With each step, his penis swayed with the motion; Paige found herself glancing down again and forced herself to remain focused. “Surely his debt is his own problem,” Juda continued. “Why should it fall on you to sort it out?”

“You...” Paige cleared her throat. “You don’t need to know that!”

“Well if you want my help, I want to know why,” said Juda. “Consider it a deposit payment for my services. Tell me why you need to clear his debt, and then we can start talking numbers.”

Paige hesitated. He couldn’t do much with that information, could he?

“Very well,” she said. “With my master’s debt erased, he will be able to sponsor my enrolment at the Pristine Academy.”

“Ah, so it isn’t all altruistic, is it?” said Juda, grinning again. “You’re using him just as much as you’re using me.”

“I... I’m not using him! It is a mutually beneficial agreement between us!”

“Dress it up however you like, you wouldn’t be bothering with this if you didn’t need something from him, would you?” said Juda. He stepped closer to the circle’s edge where Paige was standing. “Is that who you are, little conjurer? The user? The manipulator?”

“N-no, I’m not!” stammered Paige. Her arm began to shake as she kept her want pointed at Juda, who appeared wholly unconcerned, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“You’ve done all this, just in order to use your so-called “master” for your own benefit,” he said. “Why go through all this trouble? You could just demand the riches for yourself.” He gave her a pointed look. “Pay your own way into the Academy; forget about his debts and let him clean up his own messes.”

Paige considered. It would be so much easier...

“You... could do that?” she asked.

“I have my ways,” murmured Juda. “I can ensure you have everything you need. All you have to do is accept it.”

Paige considered for a moment. “What would such a service cost me?”

Juda smiled. “I can tell you are a smart woman, and you are obviously a good person too. You want to help others as well as yourself, but you deserve to be a little selfish every now and then. You should not be punished for that.” He motioned to his lower half. “I don’t expect your soul, only a... service in return.”

Paige watched as his phallus began to engorge and grow; it had been long enough completely flaccid, but now it was truly massive as it stood erect before her. She did not think her skin could turn any more red than it already had, but it managed.

“I... I’ve never...” she whispered, lowering her wand.

“I know,” he whispered back. “And that’s why I want it.” He shifted on the spot, his cock and balls swaying again, looking heavier and more enticing than before. “Give yourself to me, and everything you want will be yours.” He leaned in closer. “Take the money, leave this place... cut out the middleman.”

The echo of Haley’s words came to Paige’s mind, bringing her sharply back into focus. She stepped back and raised her wand again. “NO! I refuse! You will not desecrate me, body or soul! Begone from my presence, fiend! I dismiss you!”

Juda sighed. “And here I thought we could do this the civil way.” He brought his foot forward, and stepped out of the circle.

Paige’s eyes widened in panic. “H-how did you do that? I dismiss you!” she shouted, backing away.

“Girl, you haven’t had the power to dismiss me ever since I caught you staring at my cock,” Juda said, continuing to step towards her. “Your concentration broke minutes ago; any second now, I could be pulled back to my home plane.” He reached out and grabbed her arm. “Though I think I still have enough time to take what I want before I go.”

Paige shouted the words of a spell, a burst of flame erupting from her wand, but the angle at which Juda was holding her wrist caused it to veer off harmlessly into the ceiling. Juda drew back his other arm and backhanded her across the face, dropping her to the floor. He grinned down at her, far more wickedly than before. “By all means, go ahead and struggle. It only makes it more fun.”

Paige screamed as he descended towards her.

*******

Haley rushed through the darkened streets towards the outskirts of town, audibly cursing as she ran. Her captain had put her on watch duty all afternoon, forcing her to stand at attention; her body was stiff and aching. She ignored it though; she had been fretting over Paige’s reaction the entire time, and Haley hoped that she hadn’t done anything rash since then.

She reached the abandoned barn that marked the entrance to the secret tunnel, dropped her spear and shield into the hole in the cellar and lowered herself in after them. Lighting her lantern, Haley hurried down the tunnel as best as the narrow space would allow. As she approached the familiar sight of the hidden stone door at the end, she heard a muffled scream come from the other side.

Haley’s heart almost stopped. Paige...

The guardswoman burst through the door to a horrific sight. Paige was spread-eagled on the ground, lying in the centre of some strange magical circle, her robes torn away and her body visibly covered in blood. Her arms were raised, weakly trying to fend off a massive purple man that was kneeling over her, his hands also stained red. His penis was on clear display, large and unnatural, and it was seeking an opening between Paige’s legs.

Juda looked up as Haley entered and sighed. “Really? I was just about to --”

His words were cut off as Haley’s shield connected with his face, her full weight behind it as she leapt through the air with an angry cry, carrying them both away from Paige’s prone form and landing hard on the stonework. Haley managed to pull herself up onto her knees, trying not to think about the fresh wave of pain that shot through her, and thrust her spear forward.

The point of the spear scraped across Juda’s side, barely even scratching the supernaturally durable purple skin. He snarled in annoyance, grabbing the weapon and wrenching it out of her hands, tossing it aside.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said. “I guess I’ll settle for gutting you and --”

This time, the shield struck him sideways across his face; Haley had taken a two-handed grip on the steel-clad board and swung it like a club. Juda spat out a dislodged tooth and a mouthful of black blood. “Seriously?”

“Shut the fuck up and die!” screamed Haley, swinging the shield around again. Juda was prepared this time, catching it with both hands and snatching it away as well. Rather than throw it away, he brought it down at Haley’s head, but she ducked forward and drove her shoulder into his gut. It felt like impacting with a brick wall and he barely moved, but it was enough to make him drop the shield in surprise.

Haley felt something slap against her armour; looking down, she saw Juda’s cock, still fully erect with his hefty ballsack swinging around beneath it. The target clear and present, Haley brought up her knee.

Juda let out a sound halfway between a scream and whimper, collapsing to the ground and curling up into a ball. His face screwed up in agony, he peered at Haley angrily with near-shut eyes.

“You little --” Juda’s voice abruptly trailed away. His body turned into a fine purple mist that quickly dissipated into nothing.

Haley had no clue what had just happened, but she didn’t care. She rushed to Paige’s side, kneeling down next to her. What little remained of her clothes could not hide the deep claw marks across her body and the savage bruises on her arms. She had lost a lot of blood, and was barely conscious.

“Haley...?” she whispered.

“Don’t worry Paige, I’m here,” Haley replied, pulling off her cloak and pressing it to Paige’s abdomen, attempting to stop the flow of blood. “It’s going to be alright, I’m here. I’m going to help you, you’ll be fine.”

“I messed up...” Paige murmured.

“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine,” Haley repeated. “I’m here now, and I’m not going to leave you, you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you...” said Paige weakly. “Thank you... for being...” Her eyes fluttered closed.

“No no no no NO!” cried Haley. “You can’t! I didn’t tell you...” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I didn’t tell you...”

The sound of shattering glass made Haley look up; an unbalanced vial had fallen off the shelf of potions.

The potions! Haley realised. She ran to the shelf and scanned across it.

“Red for healing, red for healing,” she muttered, her eyes darting back and forth. She grabbed as many red bottles as she could carry, pulling the first stopper as she rushed back to Paige. Cradling the half-elven girl’s head in one hand, she tipped the contents of the potion down her throat with the other.

For a moment, nothing happened and Haley’s heart sank. Had she been too late? She opened a second bottle and poured it into Paige’s gullet.

And then she saw it. Under the shredded remains of Paige’s clothes, the claw marks and bruises began to fade, the blood flow slowing as the wounds started to close. Haley popped open one more potion and fed it to Paige, for good measure. As the last of the liquid went down, Paige coughed and groaned, her eyes slowly opening.

“Haley?”

The brunette let out a choked sob and hugged Paige close, her tears flowing freely. Paige returned the hug, holding on tightly. “Haley... thank the gods...”

Haley sat back, holding onto Paige’s shoulders. “What was that thing? How did it get here?” she asked.

Paige shivered. “I came down here... I was going to perform a summoning ritual, to find a way to clear Erasmus’s debt and... it went wrong.” She looked at Haley, on the brink of tears herself. “He... he was going to...”

Haley held back another sob. “He didn’t!” she said hurriedly. “I got here just in time, but you were hurt, real bad. I managed to get you some of your healing potions. If you hadn’t made those, you might have...” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, you’re alright now. And...” Haley hesitated. “I... I have something to tell you.”

“What are you --”

“Please, I need to get this out,” said Haley. Her stomach was in knots, but she knew she had to confess now. To have nearly lost Paige like that... She did not want to think about missing her chance ever again. “Paige... I... I’m in --”

“Hrrk!” Paige leaned forward and clutched her stomach, her whole body quivering.

“Paige, what’s wrong?” said Haley worriedly.

“I... don’t... know...” Paige gasped. She glanced around. “You said... you gave me... potions. Which ones?”

Haley grabbed the empty bottles and held them out. Paige looked at them, and her face went pale.

“Haley...”

“What? They’re healing potions, right? You said the red ones were for healing, and they worked!”

“T-two of those... are,” Paige said shakily. “The other... that one is...” She clutched her stomach tighter and fell onto her side, gasping. As Haley looked on, Paige’s body began to change.

The skin across her shoulders burst into scintillating, sapphire-blue scales; they spread down her triceps and back, and across her hips onto her upper thighs, framing her rear end. The base of her spine began to extend, further and further until a slim, three foot long blue tail was waving and twitching behind her. As the scales spread further up her neck, her ears extended too, becoming spiny fins. The blonde bob of her hair was split as two similarly spiny horns grew, sweeping backwards from her temples. A shorter, blade-like horn sprouted on her forehead as the transformation began to creep across her face, framing her eyes with a mosaic of tiny scales.