Daughters of the Moon Pt. 03

"So it'll come back?"

"You're strong and well practiced which makes it likely, but... many practitioners that are turned can never do magic again."

Carla felt her despair bubbling up again.

"Is there anything we can do to improve her chances?" Asked Gwen.

Anika thought for a minute.

"Working down here might help. You can't help with casting right now but we can put you on some basic runework and assembly. Maybe some alchemy prep. Going through the motions of basic spellwork may help reconnect you with your magic, " said Anika. Then she smiled, "Plus we're swamped with work orders and it'll be good to have such a skilled practitioner to help us."

Carla sucked in her lips ruthlessly, suppressing her tears. She was not going to cry in front of her new aunt. Even being in the lab for a few minutes had filled Carla with longing. The familiar bustle of the shop, the flow of practitioners at work, it was all deeply comforting. After everything that happened she wanted to immerse herself in that flow and forget anything had changed.

"That sounds wonderful, actually. It will be nice to have something familiar."

Anika nodded, "Excellent," then she turned to Gwen, "I assume you were going to teach her to fight?"

"Y-yes?"

"That would help too. Part of the problem is a disconnect between Carla's body and her soul. Teaching her to be more comfortable in her new body might help reintegrate them."

"Would.... would sex help?"

Anika laughed a deep rich laugh, "Yes, Gwen; that would certainly help too. I assumed that was going to happen no matter what I said."

"Oh... oh right."

"I would stay away from teaching her the mental gifts though. I know you are skilled with the Painted Eyes but save that until later. The mental gifts draw from the same place as magic and if you develop those before your magic has settled they may cannibalize it."

Gwen nodded, "No Painted Eyes."

Anika nodded. "That's all I can think of for now. Would you like to take some time in the shop? I can put you with Stephanie. She's very talented and is a sweet girl. I'm sure you'll get along well."

"That sounds wonderful," said Carla.

"Could we have a minute?" asked Gwen, "I just want to talk to Carla."

"Of course dear. I'll be in the lab."

When Anika left Gwen turned to Carla, "I'm so sorry this happened."

"Thanks."

"We'll do everything we can to fix this."

"I know."

"I'll teach you to fight."

"Okay."

"And we'll have so much goddamn sex."

Carla burst out laughing.

"I am going to fuck you so hard magic is going to come out of your ears."

Carla kept laughing.

"I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I'm going to make for you."

"Stop, you're going to make me choke."

"You can't choke."

"Oh, right."

Eventually Carla's laughter died down.

"What if it doesn't come back?" asked Carla. She was very proud at how steady her voice was, because even saying it made her want to put her thumbs through her eyes.

"It will. You're a magical person, so of course it will."

"You're adorable," said Carla. Then she went and gave Gwen a hug, "Thank you."

Gwen pressed her close, "You don't ever have to thank me. I owe you everything."

Carla and Gwen walked back into the lab hand and hand. Gwen let her hand go reluctantly and they said their goodbyes. Then Anika brought her over to a short, doll-faced vampire who was carefully assembling one of the still-like devices she had seen the vampires use to extract blood from the townspeople, three days and a lifetime ago.

"Stephanie, this is Carla. She's going to be working with us for now. Let her try her hand at some of the runework. And make sure she stays hydrated."

"Yes, master."

Anika sighed, "Stephanie, you can just call me ma'am. I've told you that so many times."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Anika wandered off, already chiding another assistant.

Stephanie and Carla stared at each other. Stephanie looked terrified.

"Hi, I'm Carla. Nice to meet you,"

She stuck out a hand.

Stephanie slowly took it. "'M Stephanie," she said. She whispered it so quietly Carla only understood her because she already knew the name.

Carla shook, she really just moved Stephanie's hand up and down. Stephanie barely gripped. Carla let go and decided focusing on work might be the way to go with Stephanie. She seemed too scared for small talk.

"So Anika wanted me to work on the runework?"

"Right, yes," said Stephanie. She visibly relaxed as they moved on to work.

"We're repairing this distiller. It was damaged in transport. Some of the runework was scratched out and we need to redo it."

"Alright."

"Oh right, here..."

Stephanie walked to a table across from the distiller and grabbed an old leatherbound tome. Even with her magic wounded and hiding she could tell the book was seething with dark energy.

"This shows you the rune sequences by section. Here's..." Stephanie grabbed a curl of brass tube. "Section E, if you turn to the appropriate page in the grimoire you can repair the damaged sections."

Carla nodded and turned to the page for her section. She began going over the brass tube very carefully. It helped that she was repairing what was damaged rather than starting from scratch and the unfamiliar runes felt strangely natural when she carved them. She found her new vampirism gave her advantages as well. Her eyesight was much better now, working in the low light on the tiny runes was the first time she really appreciated it, and even though she was hunching over the table, working with a small carving tool, her muscles never got sore or tired, her fingers never cramped. She never needed to stretch or crack a joint. Her body was always working perfectly, an instrument of her will. She worked through the complex series of runes for a little over an hour without needing to take a break. When she was done she looked up.

"I think I have it."

"Really? You're so fast!" said Stephanie.

"Would you mind looking it over?"

"Sure."

Stephanie was much more comfortable and animated as he looked over the runework.

"This is excellent. You only made a couple mistakes. Easily fixed. But this is great for a first time."

Carla felt a warm glow at the compliment, then she felt her chest tightening and she cleared her throat. The simple act of a job well done, of the sound of respect in a colleague's voice brought her a sense of satisfaction so sharp it almost hurt.

Steph looked up, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just... It feels good to work."

Steph smiled and nodded. She hesitated. "It's good to have you here."

They worked together for a few more hours. Going through each section of the distiller and repairing the runework. They didn't talk much, but Carla enjoyed her company nonetheless. She had never had a female colleague in the shop, just Benjamin's cool professionalism barely hiding his irritation. Working with Sebastian was easier but there was always an edge to it because of their feelings for each other. Stephanie was the first person she had worked with who was simply content to accept her as a work mate.

"Carla?"

Carla jumped and whirled to see Gwen. She had been hard at work on her third section of the distiller and hadn't heard Gwen come in.

"How's it going?" Asked Gwen.

Carla looked around, then down at her work, "Good, it's been... good. We're almost done with the runework repair on this distiller."

"Good! Good," said Gwen. She said in the way of someone who isn't really interested in your job but they're trying to sound interested because they like you.

"I was wondering if you... wanted to do some fencing?" asked Gwen.

Carla looked at Stephanie.

"I can finish up." She said.

"Are you sure?" asked Carla.

"Yes, thanks to your help, I can definitely finish this tonight. You've done enough."

Carla turned back to Gwen. Gwen gave her an excited smile.

...

Gwen took her to a small courtyard in the palace gardens. The courtyard was lit by cool blue mage lights that sent shadows dancing among the flowers and trees. Gwen had two practice swords in a leather carrying case. She placed them on a table and then pulled out a bottle from the case.

"This is for you," said Gwen

Carla took it, it was another bottle of blood. But when she took it in her hand she could feel the power in it. Her hand itched just holding it. Carla realized it might be a good sign she could still feel the magic in objects. Maybe it meant a shadow of her power was still hers to control.

"What is it?" asked Carla.

"It's a trick the blood alchemists cooked up. That's my blood and they've put my skill with the sword into it."

"They did what?"

"They took some of my blood and they put it through some... I mean, I have no idea how they do it. But the point is, if you drink that you'll have all my skill at swordplay for a couple hours."

"That's neat but how does that help me?"

"Because... and this is really fun, when it wears off you won't remember the knowledge the blood gave you, but you'll remember what you learned while we practiced. So instead of learning stances, endless posture exercises, and how to properly grip, we can just spar for a couple hours and you'll get a crash course in swordfighting."

"And this really works?"

"Sure. I use it all the time when I train our soldiers and thralls."

Gwen held out the potion. Carla, still skeptical, took it and looked at it. Gwen gave her an encouraging nod and Carla downed it. It was strangely unpalatable. It had none of the delicious flavor of Gwen's blood that Carla remembered so intensely from when she was turned. It felt as warm as all blood did but that was about it. It was like drinking tea that was under steeped.

"It doesn't taste very good."

"That's on purpose. This blood has been specially filtered to make it safe. Drinking unfiltered vampire blood is very, very dangerous. It can be addictive, and if you drink it directly from a vampire they can bind you. You'll have no defense against their gifts and will do whatever they ask."

Gwen paused, her face going grave, "That's a lesson too. Never, ever drink another vampire's blood. Ever."

"What about yours?"

"Even mine, Carla, even mine," said Gwen. She looked Carla in the eye. "This is important. Never."

There was an old pain in Gwen's eyes. A deep humiliation buried under a thin layer of dirt. The glimpse of that pain sent a chill down Carla's spine.

"Okay, Gwen. Never."

Gwen held her eye for a minute then nodded. Then she tried to break the mood with another smile.

"Alright, now for the fun stuff."

"I'm not sure if the potion worked. I don't feel any different."

Gwen swung at her with the practice sword. Without thinking, Carla moved her sword to block, reacting smoothly and perfectly. She felt the reverberation of the blow travel down her arm. She felt like her entire being vibrated for a moment. She looked into Gwen's amused green eyes over their crossed swords.

"Holy shit."

"I know right? God, Carla. This is such a great time to be a vampire. Our necromancers have come up with so much new stuff in the last decade."

"So this is new?"

"Yup, this and a lot of other stuff. It's been really great. Now let's do this. The potion won't last forever."

Gwen backed up and assumed a neutral stance which Carla found herself mirroring without thought.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess?"

Gwen laughed, "Well, let's find out."

Gwen came for her, Carla raised her sword in response and lost herself in the motion of their fight. Gwen made a fluid series of thrusts. Alternating between high and low, trying to get past her guard. Carla found her body moving to respond, meeting each strike as it came. She tapped thrusts off their course, slid slashes up her blade in a shriek of steel. For heavy blows she would dodge out of the way, often only needing a single step to get clear. It was exhilarating, the feel of her body constantly in motion, reacting instinctively to the actions of her partner. She could tell Gwen was going easy on her, holding back. Carla moved with the competence the potion had infused her with, but Gwen's body was like music in motion. Each step, turn of her hip, and twitch of her shoulder was infused with a flowing perfection. The motion between them continued until Carla was distracted by the flash of Gwen's creamy shoulder. Gwen slid her sword up Carla's and did a little twist of her wrist. Gwen's sword sliced into Carla's forearm, Carla felt a flash of pain, and she yelped.

"That's first blood."

"Yeah, you're telling me. What the hell?" asked Carla, but as she looked down at her arm, the pain and the cut were already gone.

"Sorry, these swords are just a little sharp. If mine had been fully sharpened that would have cut to the bone."

"Oh great."

Gwen shrugged, "It helps with the lesson. And that's another lesson for you. You don't have to win a fight by stabbing your opponent through the heart or cutting their head off. Anything that incapacitates your opponent wins you the fight. I can't tell you how many fights I've won cutting my opponent's thumb off."

"Gwen!"

"What? You just slide up their sword past their grip and just give them a little tap on the thumb."

"That's crazy. It is a crazy thing you just said."

Gwen gave her one of her rare serious looks.

"Fighting is serious business. I'll teach you anything that will keep you alive so you can come back to me."

Carla blew out a breath. "Maybe I should just stick to magic."

"You don't always get that choice. Magic is slow. I've knocked out a lot of practitioners before they could get a spell off."

"Like me."

There was an awkward pause, "I suppose so."

Carla raised her sword. "Well, then. I better learn."

Gwen nodded, looking a little worried.

This time Carla came for her. Trying to mirror Gwen's habit of attacking from different angles. She also realized her reach gave her an advantage. Gwen was faster and stronger than Carla, but she couldn't do anything about being short. Carla was tall for a woman and her arms were at least a few inches longer than Gwen's. After a few minutes she learned just the correct spacing to stay less than an inch out of Gwen's attack range while Gwen was still in hers. Gwen looked at her with respect as she became harder and harder pressed to keep Carla at bay, until finally Gwen went for a swipe to her head that puffed Carla's hair while Carla slid her sword across Gwen's belly and Gwen yelped.

Carla backed off and lowered her sword.

"That's blood," said Gwen, "That was excellent. You're a natural."

"It's easy with that potion."

Gwen shook her head. "The potion gives you my skills but it doesn't let you know how to use them. I was going to talk about reach in a night or two but you picked it up on your own. That's really impressive!"

Carla felt a warm glow at the compliment. Gwen took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her stomach. The wound was already closed but the dress was still cut, and the pale expanse of Gwen's shining belly was exposed to the night air. Carla licked her lips. Her mouth felt suddenly dry, and she felt some warmth blossom between her legs.

If Gwen was aware of the effect that glimpse of skin was having on Carla she gave no sign. She moved back into a guard position. This time the fight was more even. Gwen would move forward in a series of attacks, and Carla would give ground, meeting each one expertly until she found that perfect moment where the distance between them gave her an advantage, then she would move forward, with Gwen giving ground until she saw an opening where her speed and economy of motion allowed her to break Carla's attack. As they fought, Carla also had to fight her own distraction. Her eyes kept being drawn to the cut in Gwen's dress, to the muscles of her shoulders, the flash of her hair as it whirled around her. She was able to use her skill at concentration she had learned while spellcasting to prevent Gwen from affecting her swordplay and she was able to admire the body of the beautiful creature that flickered and danced and whirled in front of her even as she tried to hit her with a sword.

The fight came to an abrupt end when their swords crossed and locked, Gwen pressed against her, pushing Carla's sword up against her chest, then Gwen twisted the swords to the side, leaned over them, and placed her mouth on Carla's neck. Carla felt the points of Gwen's fangs press into her throat, not breaking skin.

Carla gasped and her hands went limp. Her sword cluttered to the ground. The wet heat between her legs flared like a fire driven by a savage gust of wind.

Gwen stepped back, "When you fight, it's not just with your sword. A kick to the hip, an elbow to the face, even stomping on a foot can give you a victory."

Carla didn't respond, she was staring at Gwen, taking deep slow breaths. She knew she didn't need to be breathing but it felt like the best way to ease the tightness of her chest.

Gwen looked concerned. "Carla, are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just..."

Carla closed the distance between them, leaned down and brought Gwen in for a kiss. Gwen stiffened in shock, body going rigid. Then Carla heard her sword clatter to the ground and her hand came to rest on Carla's back. Carla shoved her tongue in Gwen's mouth making Gwen grunt into her. Carla's hand drifted down to Gwen's ass and she pulled her close, pressing her thigh between Gwen's legs.

Carla broke the kiss, Gwen stared up at her with wide eyes and then made a half smile.

"I haven't had anyone try this technique on me before."

Carla didn't respond to the joke. She leaned down and tilted her head back, baring her neck to Gwen.

Gwen pulled in a shocked, short breath.

"Please, Gwen, I need to feel it."

Gwen put a hand on the back of her neck, pulled her down. Her fangs were at Carla's throat again. Carla felt them dimpling her flesh, her neck already tingling in anticipation of them penetrating her. Carla made a small, almost pained noise in anticipation.

Gwen pulled back and Carla gave a little cry of disappointment.

"Please..."

But Gwen shook her head, "Let's do this properly."

Gwen grabbed a blanket out of the bundle the swords were in, then she took Carla's hand and began leading her away from the courtyard. They followed one of the many paths, until the manicured flower beds gave way to an area of trees. A false forest for the nobles to walk in. Gwen stopped suddenly, turned off the cobblestone path, and went down a small dirt path through the trees that was barely visible even to Carla's night vision. After a short walk, the path opened into a small clearing of soft grass, ringed by trees. Gwen went to the middle of the clearing and flared the blanket. Then she turned to Carla. Carla's arousal had dimmed like a banked fire while Gwen had led her into the woods, but when Gwen turned to face her it flared up again. Gwen came forward and looked up again, and Carla was shocked again at how short Gwen was, how this tiny creature could fill her world. Carla leaned down and they were kissing again, Gwen's cool tongue slipped into her mouth easily and Carla rolled her own over it and across the inside of Gwen's lips. Gwen started pulling at her blouse, untying the front and slipping her hands inside, her hands ran over Carla's nipples, giving one a pinch, and the flare of sensation made Carla moan into Gwen's mouth.

Then Gwen broke the kiss and gave Carla a dirty grin, then she reached behind herself and started to unbutton her dress. Carla stood frozen, still as a statue, as Gwen slowly removed her clothes. She thought maybe she should be doing the same but she was too caught up in Gwen gradually revealing herself. Gwen's dress came down into a heap at her feet, then she reached behind her and undid her breast binding and Carla was entranced by the sight of Gwen's breasts tumbling free. Gwen's breasts were large and full, a whole world to explore with hand, tongue, and lips. A place for her to rest her head. Gwen quickly stripped off her tights and panties and her body was revealed. Gwen had been pale in life, with light brown hair with blonde highlights that tumbled to her mid back, and now she was so pale she shone in the moonlight. She had a broad torso but even broader hips and the shoulders and powerful body of a fighter. Carla stared at the gorgeous, alluring creature in front of her and forgot how she had gotten here, what had been done to her. She only thanked the gods that she was here now, with this woman. Gwen walked toward her slowly, smiling slightly, and got on her knees in front of Carla.