Collegium Ars Magica - Prologue

As Ardo willed himself to step toward the maiden, he watched, entranced, as the water streaming from the mouths of the golden geese began to sway and dance in the air, its pattern shifting slightly but perceptibly, reaching out in the direction of the maiden's upturned hand and landing with only the slightest splash to fill her cupped palm. Again she brought the water to her lips and this time took a draught, a wide, innocent smile spreading over her face just as Ardo approached close enough to interrupt her reverie with the water. She turned her head to gaze into his eyes, hers going wide, and in that instant...a stream of water leapt thru the air to splash directly into Ardo's face.

"Oh dear! Beggin' yer pardon, kind Sir!" the maiden exclaimed in a dulcet tone, dropping her eyes. Her gaze raised to meet his again and another stream caught Ardo across the eyes, momentarily blinding him.

"Oh heavens! Oh my! I just..." the maiden sputtered as another stream splashed across Ardo's broad, bare chest, sending rivulets down his sleek, chiseled belly and into the fur lining of his breeches. The maiden's eyes traced the descent and settled at his crotch, her eyes widening. Only then did Ardo become aware that he was noticeably aroused in that area, just as another stream streaked directly across the long thick bulge that stood out prominently in his breeches.

A rumbling chuckle started deep in Ardo's belly as he realized that the jets of water were tracking along with the maiden's eyes, which, following a third stream across his aching hardness, finally flicked back up to meet his own.

"Mercy, Milady, I surrender to your superior force!" Ardo laughed as his hand shot up to block the next spray aimed at his eyes. By now the revelers around the fountain were taking notice of the strange interaction and, as if feeling their attention on her, the maiden spun her gaze across the crowd...and suddenly the fountain was pumping wildly, spraying in wide arcs into the faces of the onlookers.

"Oh mercy! Oh my!" the maiden exclaimed, bringing her hands to cover her mouth, then dropping her head and sliding her palms over her eyes...the fountain resumed its normal arcing pattern, with the addition of the now obvious rapid pulse of the water in time with the maiden's barely audible heartbeat.

Ardo stepped in close, attempting to discern if the shaking of the lady's form was from laughter or crying; after several moments he decided he detected a mirthful hint. As if in confirmation the maiden managed to speak thru a barely contained hysterical giggle. "Kind Sir, forgive me...is everyone out there...quite safe now?"

"Well, I don't think there were any grievous injuries, and the fountain is relatively subdued now...but I don't know if I'll ever be safe again..." he stepped forward and leaned in closer, dropping into a soft, deep grumble, "'cause if drowning is the cost of gazing into your eyes, I'd gladly pay it."

The maiden split her fingers to peek thru at him and he almost flinched as a stream streaked across his face. Quickly she snapped her fingers shut, tears beginning to pour from her eyes while the water in the fountain pool began to spill over the ledge and pour in a thin sheet across the plaza floor to puddle around her feet in a slowly expanding circle.

"This is so frillin' embarrassin'!" she moaned quietly, her nervous energy tipping over into small, tight sobs that caused her delectable breasts to jiggle and sway against the shimmering fabric of her gown in a way that led Ardo to hesitate for just a moment, admiring the spectacle, before pulling the maiden into a warm, gentle bear hug.

"I don't right know how to make it stop, Sir. This ha'nt n'er happened 'afore..." she wailed. He could feel her heart pounding against him, her warm tears and hot breath mingling against his chest as he breathed in deeply of the scent of her anxiety and arousal. She was really under a lot of stress internally and the excess energy was obviously leaking out erratically thru her magic. But what had triggered it in the first place? Ardo replayed the scene in his mind, how tranquil she had been in her communion with the water until...

...until their eyes met, then everything had gone sideways and spun out of control. Ardo wondered...could she be having the same kind of response that he had, the one that almost sent him into a shift the moment he spotted her? Might she be feeling the same intense attraction and not knowing how to deal with it, lacking any prior experience with suppressing it? What if she just let the energy run into its natural course? He felt her fingers clutching needily at his taut skin, her crotch pressed firm into his brawny thigh, and he made his decision.

"I have an idea, if you trust me..."; he paused. She bobbed her head insistently. Well then, I suspect we might be able to break it...erm...with a kiss?" She froze, yet in her stillness he could feel her weight sinking further into him, her palms pressing his sides, her heartbeat evening out just a bit.

"Alright, I do...trust you." She tipped her head back, raising her face to him, eyes still closed, lips slightly parted. Ardo, a full head plus a hand taller, smoothly pulled her up in his embrace, feeling the rough points of her nipples dragging the smooth fabric of her gown across his bare chest, her soft, plump mounds mashing into his strapping pectorals.

The moment their lips met the fountain stuttered briefly...tentatively her tongue parted their lips and plunged into his mouth and the fountain once again sprayed madly thru the air as the pair clinched in a ravenous exchange of spittle, tongues twining fervently between tightly sealed lips. The maiden plunged her fingers into the fluffy scruff at the back of Ardo's head and began fervently grinding her crotch into his belly with a sinuous fluid clenching of her plump, rounded bottom, which had somehow appeared nestled in the grip of Ardo's massive paws.

Suddenly the fountain froze, not quite literally, but the motion of both the mechanism and the arcs of water directly above the pool simply became motionless, while the water outside the pool's perimeter continued its fall.

The maiden's legs coursed around Ardo's legs and hips and she sunk her pelvis, pressing her mound against his rigid shaft; he felt the moist heat of her through her flimsy gown and his tightly strained breeches. The maiden tightened intensely for one brief moment then sagged against him, breaking the kiss with a mellifluous moan just as the first bell sounded thru the plaza.

***

Those bells. They might have continued on if it weren't for the sounding of the bells.

The response was so deeply ingrained thruout the crowd that it was nearly instantaneous, but for the two outlanders locked in a passionate embrace it took a few moments of recognition of the sea of humanity surrounding them turning to face the raised dais jutting out from the back wall of the plaza, then dropping to their knees and bowing their heads. Ardo gently lowered his lady to the puddled floor below, her bare feet softly splashing as her rather unsteady legs adjusted to her weight.

Poised behind a gilded lectern near the front of the dais stood the Magistratus of Trevethall.

"All Welcome in Benediction. For our outlander friends, please face me and kneel. It is necessary to avert the eyes from the Assumption of the Presence. Much Grace and Benediction to our Attendent Magistrates, may they Guide you and Protect you."

"Grace and Benediction, may we be Guided and Protected" came the muttered response of the crowd.

Ardo quickly scanned the room and noticed robed Magisters approaching other clusters of outlanders, their lightning rods drawn and ready, gently guiding to their knees those still standing in the wake of the strong Suggestion the Magistratus had issued. In a heady mix of arousal, compliance, and wariness, Ardo felt the maiden's hands pulling him down alongside her just as he felt the twin tap of a Magister's rods lightly across the backs of his knees and across his shoulders, the slight tingle transferred by their touch overriding any shreds of resistance as he knelt.

"Grace and Benediction on this Sanctified day of the Feast of Fatus Majorus. I, Selasi Mendari, Magistratus of Trevethall, and by Decree of Assumption, of the Western Reach, do herby Summon the the Assumption of Presence to attend to this Decree." There was a moment of silence followed by the toning of three bells in harmonic unison and a bright flash appeared above the heads of the assembly, trailed by a persistent glow and hum that permeated the upper reaches of the space. "I do forthwith issue Official Magisterial Summon for the following Selected to stand and approach in the Witness of Presence."

"Grace and Benediction, let them stand and approach in the Witness of Presence." the bowed assembly intoned.

"Stenda Chenasi of the Pitarao!"

A wild, ululating cry arose from across the plaza, joined in by a chorus as a figure resolutely rose and began to wend thru the kneeling throng; Ardo caught the movement in his peripheral vision and noted a tall, rugged looking figure dressed in practical buckskins, twin thick dark braids draped across a modest swell of feminine breast, approaching the dais.

"Brook of Hamen Crossing!"

"Oh!" the young lady gasped, pulling her hands from his to cover her mouth. "That's me!" she quickly apologized. The slight trill of mating glowbugs dominated the hush of the plaza. Her eyes raised to meet his, deep, blue, limpid pools that he could feel himself slipping dangerously into, mesmerized, until she slowly rose and looked about before her, seemingly scanning for a clear route to the dais through the silent crowd.

"Will none answer to the Summons for Brook of Hamen Crossing?" the Magistratus called forth in his smooth baritone.

"Um yes, Sir, it's me, Brook," the maiden called out.

"Will none other answer for Brook of Hamen Crossing?"

Ardo suddenly understood the suggestion and let loose a mighty bellow in honor of his beloved lady and her accomplishment, and swiftly his own call was joined by the voices of his distant clansmen.

"Liro Trevain of Wendelstorp!" the Magistratus recommenced after a slight pause.

A shrill shriek went up from the center of the plaza and Ardo glimpsed an obviously overwrought woman of noble dress clinging to a slight figure in dark formal dress. Behind them a tall, older Magistrate gazed down at the display with distaste as he exhaled a clear sharp tone that was joined in harmony by a handful of others. The Magister gently tapped the woman on her shoulder and she hesitantly released the figure which rose to reveal a pale, bookish looking youth with a truly unruly mop of raven colored hair approaching the dais.

"Ardo D'erall of Clan D'erall!"

Ardo's blood pumped hard as he heard the hue and cry of his clan mates, and taking a deep breath he returned it with great force as he began to stride forth in the wake of his beloved Brook, who had turned back to stare upon his cry. As he reached her, he bent in close, savoring her fresh, vital scent as he whispered "That's me." Then he swooped his lady up onto his shoulder and strode forward proudly. Another great shout echoed thru the hall as Ardo's clan noticed his maneuver, drowning out the Magistrate for several moments until Brook had been gingerly placed upon the raised dais, followed by Ardo launching into a quick onehanded press mount, landing in a low squat next to her before raising to his full height and offering her his hand. The pair approached the lectern and were signaled to stand before it facing the Magistratus, alongside the grinning Pitarao warrioress.

"Xosana Derani of Teirnan Keep!"

A great cry arose from somewhere behind them, obviously someone well connected and attended to garner such a strong call of witnessing.

"Eriad Sarsindahl of Trevethall!"

The plaza exploded with exuberant cries for one obviously well admired by their fellow citizens, held strongest by the keening of the well appointed ladies of the Sectus Couturi, the courtesan's guild, stationed in the raised mezzanine above the entrance to the plaza.

A short while later, all six of the Summoned were standing together in a line before the Magistratus, Brook and Ardo still holding hands, as they prepared for their lives to forever change.

"Grace and Benediction upon these Selected and Presented under Witness of the Presence of Assumption. You are henceforth Mandated to Assumption of Status Neophyte, to Serve until further Mandate at the Collegium Ars Magica, Tarsen Heights, Trevethall. Grace and Benediction upon your Service, and upon the Presence of Assumption."

"Grace and Benediction upon their Service, and upon the Presence of Assumption." the assembly responded. There followed the sounding again of the three bells in unison and the bright flash above; as they faded the previous glow and hum was gone, replaced by the slanting rays of the setting sun pouring thru the high celesteries and the sharp trill of the glowbugs.

"Forthwith, I, Magistratus Selasi Mendari, do Pronounce Benediction upon the Commencement of the Feast of Fatus Majorus!"

***

Welcome with Grace and Benedictions, esteemed Readers,

for accompanying me in Witness to the Presence of Assumption.

A few principle notes to aid orientation to the world of the Shining Realm:

In this world of distant past or future (?), magic is alive.

The realm is shared by humans with several other sentient races,

all of whom possess their own unique varieties of magical ability.

Power and precise use of magical energy requires cultivation;

as with any other art, some have greater talents and strengths

and rise to the level of professional or occupational mages.

The most powerful association among humans is the Magisterium

which employs a liturgical jargon rendered here as a bastardized Latin.

The official governing body is headed by the Hegemon Magi,

administered by the nine Magestrati in their Magesterial Courts

and their attendent body of Magisters, ordained clerical officials

armed with their magical skills and 'lightning rods',

(cubit length copper rods charged with magical energy)

who act as guides and protectors to the general populace.

In addition, each Magisterial has an attached Collegium,

thru which new recruits of the Magisterium are trained to serve

before being sent out for self-development as journeymages,

during which time they develop an occupational practice

or after a period of 3 years may apply for Status Adeptus

and further training as a Magister or Collegium Advisor.

Thank you for joining me on this unfolding journey

as we witness the Assumption of our brave Neophytes

into their Service and the intrigues of the Magisterium.

Your comments, questions and Benedictions are appreciated.

Further tales are to follow.

Grace and Benedictions~

highshine808~