Mud and Magic Ch. 15

Tanith inhaled sharply. "I wasn't aware. Forgive me."

Carver lowered his roll, fixing Tanith with a stern gaze. "Aware of what? Is Marissa in danger?"

Now it was Tanith scrabbling for the right words, going by her agitated hand-wringing. She exhaled, her face settling into a carefully neutral mask. "The Handmaiden wasn't satisfied with the sacrifice and she was most displeased at finding you observing one of our most sacred ceremonies."

"The latter part was obvious, going by her threats," Carver acknowledged. He touched his chin where the Handmaiden's chitinous claw had grazed him. "What did you do?" His voice grew quieter until it was almost a whisper.

"I asked what it would take to restore our standing and the Handmaiden proclaimed that one of us had to take the Queen's Favor."

"And you delivered Marissa on a silver platter?" Hot anger flared within Carver and it took all his willpower not to snap at Tanith. "You didn't even think to offer yourself?"

Tanith raised a warding hand. "Peace, Lord Carver. The Handmaiden decreed that Marissa taking the Favor would both be penance and punishment, so I didn't object. After all the time we spent together, I was certain she could take whatever the Handmaiden could inflict on her. She even seemed to like it!"

Carver remembered the conflicting emotions he had experienced through the tether he and Marissa shared, the terror and disgust and unearthly lust as the Handmaiden fucked her to the edge of madness. He exhaled slowly. "Which part was it you did not anticipate?"

"The pace at which the pregnancy would progress. The Queen's Favor is a ritual normally invoked to... make it easier for us dark elves to conceive. As you might know, our chances to bear children are much lower than those of the younger, short-lived races."

"And the Chaos Queen knows a ritual to counter this flaw?" Carver asked, his interest piqued.

Tanith nodded. "Especially in the early years after The Fall, we needed to repopulate quickly. We could not wait two years for each pregnancy to run its course and we couldn't spend every waking moment fucking until one lucky shot took hold. So our glorious Mother blessed her beloved children with the Queen's Favor in times of need. Or when She feels especially capricious, like yesterday."

"How long will Marissa be pregnant?" Carver asked, fascinated.

"Depends on how long a human pregnancy runs. Nine months, was it?"

Carver nodded. Tanith muttered something and counted on her fingers. "It might be over in a matter of days, taking the relative length of each species' pregnancy into account." She sighed. "Your Marissa might not survive the explosive growth of the unborn."

"I will be most displeased if that happens," Carver warned her. "Normally, I don't bother with vengeance but she has grown dear to me."

"Luckily, there are ways to circumvent the inevitable. We have potions and elixirs strengthening the body or loosening taut tissue. Young priestesses-to-be usually take them to survive the initiation rites the Handmaidens subject them to."

"And here I was under the belief dark elven anatomy was adaptable enough to withstand such a grueling assault like a Handmaiden's prodigious cock," Carver mused.

"Like She said - four out of ten acolytes don't survive the initiation, torn apart on the inside. Or subjected to a quick, bloody death if their faith or devotion was found lacking. Those in the know do cheat a little," Tanith admitted, a hint of a smile flickering across her concerned face. "I will make sure Marissa receives only the best care we can muster, even if I have to spend every waking moment brewing potions from now on."

"Before you busy yourself with alchemy, let us return to another thing we only brushed past yesterday," Carver said, opening the collar of his robe. "When I jested about making you my vassal, you didn't exactly object."

"I did not, for good reason. You have seen the best and worst our kind has to offer by now. House Dree'vex in particular has always thrived as allies to others but I am not enough of a fool to place my trust in my own kind any more. As Xalyth has demonstrated so keenly, betrayal can come from any angle and I would like to have allies I can count on." She rose from her seat and joined Carver, sliding onto his lap. "What would it take to make us formal allies, Morgan Carver?"

"First, you still owe me a Dragon Stone. I think I have provided more than enough reasons to close that particular deal."

"Oh, no doubt about that. Ridding us of our Matriarch, aiding us when the Xalaari tried to backstab us, even lending Marissa as substitute priestess - you have earned that stupid rock multiple times over." She parted her garment, exposing black skin and acid-green tattoos. "I would not mind joining you and Marissa in that tether of yours. Unless I have to forsake my goddess to do so."

Carver smiled, shaking his head slightly. "Only the one initiating the connection needs to have Desire's blessing. Most people would see this joining as a punishment. After all, I will always be able to read your thoughts, even see and sense what you are doing."

"Not unlike a Blood Oath then," Tanith purred. "When a priestess wishes to make sure another dark elf doesn't step out of line, she can invoke a Blood Oath, enabling her to eavesdrop on their thoughts and experience anything they experience. She always knows when said dark elf plans anything untoward." A naughty smile fluttered across her lips. "Of course, such an oath can be used in more creative ways as well."

"Of course." Carver chuckled. "Your kind relishes the carnal side of life, does it not?"

"There is only one certainty in our life, Carver. We will die. No one knows when and no one knows if it will be in battle or in bed, being fucked by your brothers or sisters - and stabbed in the back by the very same people. So why not enjoy the time we have to the fullest?"

"What about Lilith? She probably won't like it if you throw in your lot with me."

Tanith raised her hand and showed it to Carver. He saw a pale white scar running over her palm. "She already knows. Lilith and I swore a Blood Oath when we were both freshly-blessed acolytes. It helped to thwart the usual murder plots against us and had the pleasant side-effect of amplifying the sensations we experience when fucking our brains out." She offered a naughty grin. "Lilith might be angrier than a dwarfess on the rag but my sister likes you and your willingness to spread your butt for her. She usually defers to my judgment when House matters are concerned while I leave the battlefield to her. We are two parts of a whole and I have a feeling she won't mind if we keep seeing each other, for business and pleasure."

Carver sensed a powerful presence in the room and looked up. Where Tanith had sat before, holding the abandoned tea cup, was his mistress, Lady Desire. She wore the tight combat leathers and angular face of a dark elven assassin but her eyes and cruel mouth were easy to recognize, no matter the disguise she wore. She toasted Carver and made an encouraging gesture before vanishing. The tea cup drifted slowly back towards the table, as if carried by a pair of hands.

He gently touched Tanith's chest, where he could feel her heart beat against the ribs. "Her blessing is given," Carver muttered, casting the tether. A shimmering arc of dark energy sprang from his fingers as he moved them away from Tanith's shapely breast. Unlike the last time, when he tethered Marissa, the spell required a lot more energy, draining him to the bone. A long, tense moment later, it was done. Carver had bound another soul to his. Tired as he was, that feeling was most exquisite!

"For all our sake," Carver muttered, "let us pray that no other family decides to try their luck against the Dree'vex today because I just shared my daily allotment of Desire's grace with you."

"So this is how Marissa feels," Tanith breathed, grinding herself against Carver's chest and groin. He felt the waves of arousal course through both their bodies and allowed Tanith to revel in their shared pleasure for a moment. Then Carver closed the connection. The Dark Elf moaned in protest, her hands clawing at his back.

"We are not done just yet," Carver admonished her quietly. "Before I'll allow you to partake more, you will give the Dragon Stone to me."

"Yes, Master," Tanith whispered, her body wracked with urgent need. "Let us make haste." She slid from his lap. "Please, follow me."

* * * *

The vaults under the spider-like main building of House Dree'vex were a labyrinth in themselves, full of narrow passages, multi-layered storerooms and pathways only manageable by dark elves and their inborn levitation magic. It took Tanith and Carver most of an hour to finally reach a cave at the lowest point of the warrens, in a place reeking of ancient air and filled with the chill of antiquity. And finally Carver understood why Tanith had been so reluctant in presenting the stone. It was a slab of ancient, withered rock taller than he was, mounted on a heavy metal pedestal wrought in the shape of draconic claws, heads and tails. Only one side was even remotely flat, with crude carvings etched into the marbled surface resembling a dragon's spread wings.

"Our house was literally built atop its resting place," Tanith said, eyeing the ancient artifact with a mixture of awe and disgust. "Maneuvering it through the cellars will be a nightmare."

"I wonder how it came to be here," he said softly. "Did your ancestors take it?"

"When they were banished from our ancestral home during The Fall, my forebears stole anything they deemed important, valuable or hurtful to their fair-skinned kin. Being able to call a dragon seemed a useful power to have but over the five thousand years we've been at each others' throats, who knows where the instructions for the blasted ritual have ended up?"

Carver offered her a little smile. "I found them, in bits and pieces all over the Western Continent. Some of them, carved into the bark of ancient elven trees, I stole from the libraries of Horvath Point. Others came from the Temple of Light in Lordehome. And some I tore from the minds of Elven wizards, along with the knowledge that there are four kinds of Dragon Stones and the powers available to me if I managed to learn their secrets."

Tanith snaked an arm around his waist and nuzzled his neck. "All the more reason for my House to aid you. We could be your eyes and ears Below, maybe find traces of the next stone."

"I was hoping you'd offer," Carver said, caressing her spine. In a rare fit of playfulness, his hand cupped her behind, squeezing the firm globe of her buttock. "As for how to move that slab - I have already planned for this eventuality. You might want to shield your eyes." He freed a scroll from one of the pouches on his belt and, unfurling it, read the angular runes of a Portal spell. Glaring sunlight burst through the upright oval and one of Marissa's apprentices poked her head through the opening.

"Ah, it's you, Master," the young half-elven woman chirped. "How may we be of service?" She crossed the divide and bowed respectfully.

"Unless you can spirit this artifact into our vault by yourself, grab a few men and store this item in the treasury Kierkov has the keys to."

"That won't be necessary," the sorceress said, flashing him a wide grin. Her fingers moved through the energy-gathering motions and radiant bands of a Transport spell enveloped the Dragon Stone, tilting it on its side while maneuvering it, tip first, through the portal.

"Be very careful," Carver cautioned. "If the Dragon Stone takes damage..." He let the threat dangle unfinished.

The sorceress bowed again, inviting him to gaze through the portal. The Dragon Stone stood upright in the Fortress's courtyard and a low dolly was already being readied to transport it deeper into the vaults.

"Well done," Carver said. "Make sure to notify our dark elven guests to prepare for departure. Once I'm back, I'll open another portal back here."

"No need," Tanith said. "I think you should keep them, as a token of our new alliance. Assassins, spies and troops able to effortlessly fight at night will always be useful, no?"

Carver offered a fleeting smile. "I gladly accept."

The half-elven sorceress stepped back through the portal, bowing deeply. "I will see to it the artifact will be safely tucked away," she promised. "Give my regards to my Mistress."

Carver waved his hand and dismissed the Portal spell. He could feel Marissa writhe in agony through his tether. "You owe me a few potions, I think," he said to Tanith.

"Of course. And once you have them, we'll have a word with Lilith."

"Oh?" Carver turned to leave. "Why her?"

"Our troops on the Surface will need an able commander. And I'm sure you won't mind her antics now that Marissa will be... unavailable for the near future."

"I have the sneaking suspicion you want some distance between you and your hot-headed sibling," Carver mused.

"Not true. As you might have seen earlier this morning, I love my sister - and the pleasure her body provides - very much. But I recognize our respective usefulness to you. She will be the perfect person to keep our troops in line under your command while not interfering with our House's rebuilding and defense efforts."

"Ah, so you do punish her for Qanthus?" Carver wondered.

"A little. Just a little. No one said she had to be the one to personally fuck every minotaur in our guard detail. But enough about her. I believe your pet witch needs some potions."

* * * *

Thurguz looked up from his far-seeing table when Rhys entered the half-orc's office. The old wizard breathed a loud sigh of relief. "Glad ye made it in one piece, lad," he said."You didn't bring her, did you?"

Rhys, tired and disheveled, slumped onto the chair Lishaka had sat on half a day ago. He looked at the image visible in the table's crystal top. A furious thunderstorm was still pounding the lake, its waters churned by fierce gales. Skyview Castle had vanished, eaten by the unbridled elemental fury Celeste had unleashed. A new valley played host to a hook-shaped extension of the lake.

"I could sooner bring the Sword Divide to you," Rhys sighed. "I'm sorry I doubted everyone's judgment of the situation. If it hadn't been for Haloryth, we'd all be down there, at the bottom of the lake along with the castle and the fishes."

"Don't sell yerself short, lad," Thurguz grumbled, patting Rhys' shoulder. "You believed in your friend until the very end. That kind of loyalty is a rare gift."

Rhys snorted in disgust. "I should have listened to the voices of reason instead of being a stubborn ass. All this little excursion managed to do was nearly get us killed several times over."

"Ah, stop the flogging already," Thurguz said, grinning. "Mortal peril is every adventurer's bread and butter. Not only did you manage to confront dear Celeste and walk away from it but you killed Faedal and returned with a priceless Elven artifact to boot. I'd call that a success." He cleared his throat. "And I should apologize as well. Your exploits have proven to me that my attempt at solving this realm's crisis with a gentle hand may have been too subtle."

Rhys blushed furiously. "How about we meet in the middle, Master? A little less recklessness from my part, a bit more adventuring spirit on yours?"

Thurguz burst into laughter, slapping Rhys' back. "Wise beyond yer years, boyo, wise beyond yer bloody years. Yes. Let us try it. Less suicide runs but more impact on current events. I think we can work with that." He looked Rhys up and down. "Anyone hurt?"

"No. Tired beyond belief? Yes." Rhys cast his gaze around, found a water pitcher on the window sill and beckoned it closer. It sailed across the room and settled quietly onto the far-seeing table. Thurguz passed him a wooden cup. Rhys drank greedily. "You did watch the whole debacle?"

"Aye, that I did." Pride swelled Thurguz' chest. "Dropping the tower on him and his men was a stroke of genius."

Rhys shook his head. "More a last-ditch attempt at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Again, without Haloryth's aid, we'd all be dead."

"Then we should think about a way of thanking her for it. Any ideas?" Thurguz asked, a rare twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"There is something," Haloryth said, using Rhys' mouth. "I'd be eternally grateful if we could find a way of granting me speech without having to use this lovable fool's body every time I need to make myself heard. Please?"

"I'll look into it, promise," Thurguz said. A chime on one of his shelves rang, quickly and insistently. "After I've had a talk to the agent demanding my attention. Anything else before you go, Rhys?"

The sorcerer shook his head. "Unless you need more details in regards to the mission, I think I'm good. I need a bath, some decent food and then I should see a certain goblin."

"Absolutely. Maybe shuffle the order of events around a bit and see Lishaka first. The rest will fall into place."

"Do I smell some meddling, Master?" Rhys headed for the door.

"Meddle? I? Hogwash! Now begone!" Thurguz bellowed, fetching chalk for one of the magic mirrors.

Rhys closed the door to Thurguz' study and headed down the stairs. In the students' quarters, he saw Galdor leave Lishaka's room.

"Ah, just the sore loser I was hopin' to see," Galdor said as he noticed Rhys coming down the corridor. "Back from some adventure, eh?"

"Don't tell me you want to claim your prize right now," Rhys said, hugging the grinning dwarf. "I'm not even bathed yet."

Galdor groped Rhys' behind. "Heh, by all rights this fine ass should be mine. But there's a goblin in dire need of your attention and I'd be a lousy friend if I were to put my lust for yer virgin rosebud ahead of hers." He shot Rhys a sneaky look. "Or did Borna do ye already? It wasn't exactly clear from how I found the three of you nestled together," the dwarf added in a conspiratorial whisper.

"You spied on us too?" Rhys asked, turning beet-red.

"I came a bit late but Lishaka caught yer little threesome on the scrying windows in the Common Room. Had the poor lass worked up into a right tizzy. So?" He made a lewd gesture.

"Not yet. The only one who had anything to do with my rear was Chassari thus far, and only with one of her toys."

"When? And why wasn't I involved?" Galdor protested.

Rhys ruffled the dwarf's hair. "In preparation for when I'll eventually drop my trousers for you, Master Alchemist. I thought it wise to receive counsel from our most accomplished and depraved expert on lovemaking. And she taught me everything I could ever need to pleasure you."

"And why in the blazin' Pits are you telling me just now?" Galdor roared. "You must have plundered every set o'holes this Tower had to offer - except mine!"

"Not true," Rhys said. "I didn't do Yukio, Sen or Idunn. The latter probably won't happen at all but you get the point."

"Pah. What about Astra'il? I mean, when in the Elven Forest, eh?"

"I didn't know you were the sex inquisition, Galdor." Rhys said mildly. "She was very willing to try me and Borna but fate conspired against us in that regard. And now I need to leave you, unfulfilled as ever, before Lishaka tries to blow me up again."

"Fine, fine. But mark my words - yer ass will be mine before the month is out!"

To Galdor's surprise, Rhys leaned in and planted a kiss on his beardless lips. "I'm very much looking forward to that particular experiment," he said. Leaving the surprised dwarf behind, the sorcerer wrapped himself in an Armor spell and knocked against Lishaka's door. This time, it opened without any accompanying explosions.

Garbed in a short blue robe, the goblin stood in the doorway, her eyes wide and curious.

"You look... different," she said, her voice a bit quavery.