Danica Pt. 14

The curse alerted Danica that she needed to use her magic, or she was likely to understand nothing anyone said to her. Danica stepped into a shadowed corner and quietly cast the spell, not knowing how the people here would react to magic.

Danica didn't see any shops, but found an open-air market displaying wares. Danica also noticed a few people, darker even than the rest of the populace, who were completely unclad as they walked toward the market. These people went directly to the market and nowhere else. They appeared somewhat nervous to Danica, and left with whatever they traded for as quickly as they had arrived. All of them came from, and went back toward, a thick jungle not far from the edge of the town.

Danica thought that her task here was senseless, as she had suggested to Marlena. There was little of any real interest to see. The town appeared almost artificial in a way, as if someone had moved the primitive here and shown them how to act like townsfolk. Danica really didn't have any reference to determine if this was normal, or if it was as odd as she considered it.

She knew Zoraster had influence here, and that alone was enough to make the town suspect. Some of the buildings did appear several years old, however, so if Zoraster's hand guided the town, he was molding some sort of civilization that had already sprung to life on the island.

She went to the market and found a floral sarong and top similar to Tonda's, but more red than orange. The woman's eyes lit up when Danica pulled out some beads and pearls, locking on a round, translucent bead of jade.

"That is most rare. What would you take in trade for it?" The woman asked her.

"Just this," Danica answered, indicating what she had selected.

The woman rummaged around at her feet and produced something, a necklace strung with bits of shell and two odd figurines. "No, please, take these too. Protect you they will from darkness and disease."

"Thank you," Danica responded as she handed over the bead, accepting the necklace. She slid it around her neck, and liked the way it looked. Danica could sense some sort of magic from the charm, although the sensation was somewhat alien. Danica had felt something similar before while holding blessed artifacts, and assumed the magic was godly in nature.

After walking around and purchasing a few more trinkets, Danica decided she had more or less exhausted the possibilities of the small town. There really wasn't much to see.

She decided to go down to the beach, where she drank in the sea air and the beauty of the pristine waters. Men fished and dived from boats out beyond the breakers. Men, women, and children swam and played in the surf. Most were nude as they swam.

Danica decided it was unlikely anyone would find it odd if she changed into her new clothing here, so she did so. She smiled and winked at a pair of young men, both of whom had healthy lengths of manhood dangling between their legs, when she heard them talking about her huge breasts, white as the sand. Their heads and bodies were both shaved completely bare of hair, and Danica found it quite attractive.

She walked down to the water to where it lapped at her knees slightly, and then strolled down the beach. She heard a dull roar after a while, and noticed the sound growing louder. She could see that a sharp cliff rose up above the beach some distance ahead, and the sound seemed to come from that direction. A mist obscured the air there as well.

Guessing the source of the sound and mist -- and having nothing better to do anyway -- Danica moved toward it. Her guess proved correct when she saw a beautiful waterfall cascading from the cliff down into a pool at its base. The water absolutely sparkled, and Danica could see brightly colored fish swimming in the pool, all the way to the bottom.

She had left behind any sign of other people some minutes ago. Most people she passed were heading back toward the town. Sunset was approaching, and Danica assumed that was the reason. Danica found she could not resist the pool, and pulled off her clothing and purse. With a graceful dive, she hit the pool.

Danica surfaced and flipped her hair out of her face. The water was just cool enough to feel invigorating. She swam toward the falls, the water dropping with strong, but not uncomfortable pressure on her body. Rocks along the surface of the cliff broke the flow of water into many small tumbles, creating a gentle cascade for such a vast quantity of water falling so far.

Danica thought she heard voices, and glanced toward the beach. She noticed two young men there, who looked as though they were arguing. One of them shook his head and walked back down the beach. The other one waved with a dismissive gesture in the direction of his companion and continued toward Danica.

Danica pretended not to notice him, lying back in the pool and floating with her breasts breaking the water like two islands. The stirring water and the thought of the young man coming her way caused her to tingle.

"It is a fine evening for a swim," Danica heard the young man say, and she opened her eyes to look at him. He wore a sarong, but it did little to hide his considerable erection as he looked at her with a smile that gleamed brightly against his dark skin.

"Would you care to join me?" Danica asked with a sly grin.

The young man's smile broadened, and he reached down to pull off his sarong. He stretched for a moment to display his considerable attributes, both his well-muscled body and his engorged manhood. He then took a step and dived, with grace born from years of practice, into the pool. He hit so perfectly straight that he barely stirred the water. Danica could see him swimming with powerful strokes toward her. He surfaced no more than a foot in front of her, smiling.

Danica reached out and ran her hand over his cock, then motioned and turned toward the waterfall. She swam under the falls and sat in a shallow depression behind it. The young man swam in right behind her.

As soon as he reached her, Danica turned around and put her hands on the rocks, spreading her legs wide. Her nether lips just barely touched the rolling surface of the water in this posture. She turned and beckoned him with her eyes, swaying her ass back and forth in front of him.

"Know a man when you see one," he said and moved in behind her.

Danica gasped when his big cock slid inside her. He had to be nearly as long as her forearm, thick, and uncut. He pushed almost all of it inside her in a single thrust.

Danica moaned as he immediately took her hard and fast, tightly gripping her hips. Danica felt her body responding with astounding swiftness.

He spoke as he thrust, but Danica realized she didn't understand it. Her tongues spell had worn off, but she really didn't care. He soon ceased to speak coherently, gasping and grunting instead as he pounded his manhood home.

Danica came a short time later, an orgasm that started from a deep hidden place inside her and spread through her whole body. She quivered and screamed, gasping for breath, as the young man kept assaulting her spastically contracting depths.

Danica could barely manage to remain upright and avoid banging her head on the rocks or scraping her breasts on them as he maintained his assault while she came. Her nipples scraped lightly against the slick rocks as they rocked back and forth with his thrusts. Danica hadn't even fully registered her first orgasm slowly melting away before she felt the white-hot fire of another building inside her.

She exploded again with a loud quavering scream as he maintained a fast pace, never slowing in the slightest as he thrust his manhood inside her. A look back at him revealed the signs of his impending orgasm to Danica, and then a wave of orgasm caused her to close her eyes again.

Danica growled in protest when she felt him pull free from her a moment later. She turned and saw him stroking his cock over her back. She sent a thought to one of her rings to activate the tongues enchantment stored there. She reached back to part her lips and growled, "Inside me."

"I like that," he grunted and shoved his cock back inside her with a growl, one that Danica matched as it set off another powerful surge of ecstasy within her. A dozen hard, fast strokes later, she heard him scream and felt his cum flooding her depths.

Danica moaned as she felt the warmth spread from her depths throughout her body. His head dropped to rest on her shoulders as his orgasm drained his strength.

After a few minutes, Danica reached back to slap him on the ass. He pulled free of her clinging depths with a gasp, which Danica echoed.

Danica reached back and rubbed her folds, coating her fingers in the mingled cum, and then stood up to suck it off her fingers. With a wicked grin, she knelt down and engulfed his slowly softening cock in her mouth, to suck him clean as well.

He pushed her away a moment later. "Damn woman, you will take my legs out from under me."

Danica laughed, and then moaned, "That was good."

"I've never had one of you before, and no woman has ever let me loose inside her."

"Like it?" Danica asked with a grin.

He just smiled in response. Danica noticed how low the sun rode on the horizon. "Time for me to get back. Thank you," she said and patted his now soft cock.

He just smiled, puffed out his chest, and then swam back toward the opposite edge of the pool. Danica took a moment to wash the cum out of her, and then swam back to dress as well. The young man waited for her at the edge of the pool.

"Go on. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for you to be seen coming back with me."

He just nodded and walked back along the beach. Danica waited a short while, watching the sunset, and then started back as well. The sun had vanished by the time she walked back from the beach into the town.

Danica thought it odd that she didn't see another soul, even though the sun had just set. She shrugged her shoulders and returned to Zoraster's outpost.

The door flew open as Danica reached it and Tonda said, "Quickly -- inside. You should not be out when darkness falls."

Danica looked at her with raised eyebrows and stepped inside. Tonda quickly locked and barred the door.

"What's wrong?" Danica asked.

"The striped cat and the snakes hunt at night -- and worse things of late," Tonda replied.

"I can handle some rowdy local wildlife. I just finished handling one, and he was indeed quite wild."

Tonda smiled for just a moment, but then said, "Danica, you must be inside when the sun sets. This will not protect you for long against the Nameless Ones." She pointed at the charm Danica had purchased in the market.

"Nameless Ones? What are they?"

"Men -- dead men that walk," Tonda explained with a shudder.

"The undead, especially mere zombies, are no threat to me. I can deal with them. When did this start?"

"Months ago. They come only at night, and they will not enter a home. Some foolish people have vanished, though, when they were found outside after dark. Look there," Tonda said, pointing out the window.

Danica looked and saw a pair of men walking down the street. They didn't walk with the stiff gait of a zombie, though they moved slowly and their eyes looked glazed over. The men were nude and covered from head to toe in strange sigla painted in crimson.

Danica kept watching until the men passed out of view. "Are you sure they're the undead? They appear to be under some sort of spell rather than the walking dead."

Tonda looked out the window, and then cracked the door open. Danica could smell the reek of death on the breeze. Tonda quickly shut the door.

"What do they do?" Danica asked.

"They wander without purpose, unless the find someone outside. I saw one dragging a woman past the house one night. One of our men chased after it and struck it with a spear in the back. The Nameless One ignored it. The man chased it down and tried to shove the spear through it. The creature turned and hit him. He fell and did not rise. When the daylight came, we saw his head was split open as if by a great rock."

"What happens to those who are taken?" Danica asked.

"They return soon after, to walk with the rest of the dead. That is why we call them the Nameless Ones. We must forget the names of those who are now monsters among us."

Danica saw a tear in Tonda's eye. "You've lost someone, haven't you?"

"He who was my brother now walks the night. He was one of the first," Tonda revealed with a sob.

Danica held the woman as she cried, leading her to her bed in the servant's quarters. Just before she fell asleep, Tonda said, "Marlena -- she is out there."

Danica shushed Tonda. "Marlena can take care of herself. I doubt even the undead could pierce her illusions to find her."

Danica went to bed, troubled despite her assurance to Tonda.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Danica rose the next morning and went to check on Tonda. Having awakened early, Danica assumed that the dark-skinned woman would still be asleep. She found Tonda's bed empty, however.

Danica heard water sloshing and walked that way, finding Tonda in the bath. She made a show of not looking, but took enough of a glance to see the woman's breasts were every bit as firm and beautiful bare as they appeared clothed. Her nipples and areoles were just slightly darker than the dark globes of her breasts.

"Are you alright?" Danica asked.

"Yes, I am fine. I don't talk about it often, because it always affects me like that. So long as I do not speak of it, I endure well. I am used to it."

"I'm going to contact Marlena and see if she has discovered anything." Danica sniffed then and made a face. "As soon as I've bathed anyhow."

Tonda smiled and stood up from the bath. Danica suppressed a shudder as she drank in the sight of the woman's completely clean-shaven body, dripping wet from the bath. "I was awakened by my own smell. I must have sweat a great deal in my fear. The water is still warm, come get in the bath and I will heat more water to keep it at a comfortable temperature."

Tonda toweled off her body, and Danica stared as the woman dried her dark hair. The gentle jiggle of Tonda's dark breasts as she dried her hair sent a tingle up and down Danica's spine, and a much stronger tingle between her legs.

Danica undressed once Tonda pulled the towel from her head. The light native costume took only seconds to drop to the floor, and Danica stepped gratefully toward the bath, eager to wash away the smell of sweat.

Tonda looked at Danica's hood ring as she approached. "I have never seen the like. Is it through..." She stopped and glanced up to lock eyes with Danica.

Danica smiled and said, "No, just through the hood. The piercing was painful, but I like how it looks." Danica flicked her hood ring with her finger to punctuate the statement. Danica caught little wisps of thoughts from Tonda, and shivered involuntarily when she realized the sight of her naked body aroused the woman.

Danica smiled at Tonda and said, "Your skin tone is beautiful. I imagine you find yourself overwhelmed with male attention."

Tonda smiled and blushed. "Yes, though I haven't given in to that temptation very often. I am somewhat unique with my light coloring and these," she said cupping her breasts. "I'm much smaller than most of the women, but they seem to be pleasing to many men."

"It's how firm and perfectly shaped they are. Men like them, the bigger the better, but firm beautiful breasts will win over large ones any day."

"I should imagine you receive quite a bit of attention with your fair skin -- fairer even than most of your people -- and your red hair."

"I stand out quite a bit." A thought popped into Danica's head that her nipples were standing out quite a bit as well, as she stood next to the beautiful, nude, exotic woman. She wondered if Tonda noticed, and then caught a fleeting thought that confirmed Danica's suspicion.

"You stand out even more here among my people," Tonda observed.

"I attracted some rather pleasant attention yesterday evening," Danica said with a smile.

"Be careful -- we here can be quite vicious in protecting our men from the clutches of others," Tonda said with a coy smile.

"I will. I have other things to attend to now any way. I may look for some comfort and pleasure elsewhere, later," Danica sent out just the faintest and fleeting thought of desire to Tonda as she said this. A shudder from Tonda revealed that the woman was far from disinclined to the notion.

Tonda seemed to realize she was still nude at that point, and laughed. "I will go heat the water."

Danica sank into the bath while watching Tonda's shapely ass as the brunette dressed, and then left the room with that hypnotic sway. Danica's fingers found her sex and caressed it as she relaxed in the bath.

Danica started when Tonda returned with the hot water. The little flash of embarrassment quickly passed when Tonda smiled upon seeing Danica jerk her hand from between her legs. Tonda carefully poured the water into the tub and Danica then concentrated on actually washing.

Danica climbed out of the tub a short while later and dried off. When she pulled the towel from her face after drying her hair, she found Tonda standing before her with a new sarong and top. "I finished these yesterday afternoon."

Danica smiled and put them on. The green did set off her hair and skin perfectly, as Tonda had suggested. Danica purred as she looked down at her body.

Tonda smiled. "I take it you like it. It looks very good on you."

"Thank you. Now, I need to see if I can contact Marlena."

"I will make something to eat and drink."

"That would be wonderful. I didn't realize how hungry I was until you mentioned it."

"I am hungry too," Tonda responded and Danica caught a glance that made her juices flow as the other woman turned to go to the kitchen.

Danica returned to the bedroom with visions of the Tonda's dark curls brushing her thighs playing in her mind, and sat down to contact Marlena.

The spell was a strong one, and easy when used to contact someone the caster knew well. Danica established contact with Marlena almost as soon as she completed the spell. She sent the gentle nudge that signaled the contact to the person on the other end of the spell, and then thought, Don't speak aloud Marlena. It's Danica.

Did you see any of them -- the undead? Marlena thought back.

Yes. Are you alright?

I'm fine. The spells which mask my scent from the wild animals out here seem to do the same for them. One walked within a few feet of me and never took notice. I levitated up into a tree after that, because I knew if one of them happened to look my way, it might not even notice the illusions I have woven around me. None of them have a mark on their bodies.

That's something I couldn't tell from the distance I was away. Be careful. I'm going to contact Zoraster. I think he would be irritated if I didn't say something about this immediately, Danica thought to the other woman and then broke the contact without breaking the spell.

It took only another moment to contact the mad Archmage, and Danica reeled for a moment at the chaos of his surface thoughts coming through the link. Zoraster, there is something I think I should tell you.

The undead -- I know. I saw it as I watched Marlena. I suspected as much, but it is now confirmed. This shall either be the fruition of my plans, or a barrier to them. Marlena will find the source. When she does, I will determine how to deal with it. Be prepared, because you will likely be the means through which I choose to proceed, Zoraster thought and then broke the contact of the magic from his end.

Danica let the spell lapse and rose from where she sat on the bed. Ever since the vampire, Danica had acquired or made an arsenal of protection and weapons for use against the undead. Many of the protections were within jewelry she already wore, but various wands housed most of the offensive magic, and she had not thought to bring them with her.