Riding the Cosmic Waves

I arrived in the north planning to commute between three different colleges of sorcery every year. It sounded like a great idea back home, but the locals all thought I was mad.

Thinking back, I'm still not sure how I survived.

"It is a terrible place, north of the river." That's what most people say, and they aren't entirely wrong. It is a different place, with different dangers.

They don't have legions to guard every city, or knights to patrol the main roads. For that matter there are very few main roads that are little more than foot-paths. Bandits are a constant worry. Anyone who goes any place they haven't visited goes prepared to scale cliffs or cross a gorge.

One trek of mine got especially interesting. It was between Olynxes at the far northern shore and the eastern school of Turigg. Rumors had been circulating about ravenwyr in the area, vicious pack hunters that were like a cross between a bird and a human. I never traveled alone through the passes to begin with, but that season I went out of my way to find a caravan with some real muscle.

I waited a whole month, secluded in my cabin with nothing but my books, when I could have been revelling over a campfire each night with my classmates on their expedition south.

When the time came though I wasn't disappointed. The party I went with had a dozen men of arms, some of them actual knights, and two priestesses of the wretched saint, skilled medicine women and practitioners of healing magic.

By the end of our first day navigating the mountain passes my only real worry was how many looks I was getting from some of the men in the group. It took only a quick glance around to see why they were interested in me. Most of the other women were either feeble with age, nursing babies, or sworn to celibacy.

I hadn't had many opportunities to take a lover since I'd arrived in the north, but even though there were some attractive men in that party I did my best to keep my eyes down. It's not that I wasn't horny. I masturbated nearly every day while I was in that cabin, mostly to pass the time.

I wasn't afraid of being raped either. I had a fire spell prepared that, with just a word, would leave any rapist too crispy to complete the act. It cost me a week's living in gems and mineral dust just to have one such spell at the ready.

Although some of the men did try to get to know me on that journey I spent most of my time hiding in my tent, alone, with my books, while they all laughed and drank and sparred in full suits of armor.

Okay, I'll admit, I did get a little distracted from time to time.

Two of the knights were older men, nearing their forties, with graying hair. One was a man in his thirties, and their captain, Calweyn of Haresgor, was my age. Being a knight of such distinction in your early twenties was already an impressive feat, and I could tell simply by watching him fight why he held so much authority.

I watched him swing the blunted training blade, parrying and riposting the other fighting men who challenged him. He fought with real skill, his motions fluid, each block turning into an attack, never losing his footing, even on the muddy ground. He won bout after bout, deflecting each blow and taking away his opponent's ability to fight with a combination of strikes, grapples, and expert footwork.

One opponent fought him multiple times. He had his legs swept from under him once, then he overextended a lunge and was pulled face first into the mud. Then he was bested by Calweyn's sheer quickness with the blade. I don't know how long Calweyn was aware of me watching, but when he took off his helm, looked directly at me, and smiled I found myself blushing uncontrollably.

I retreated, red-faced and embarrassed, back to my tent where I sat down in front of my books and tried to compose myself.

The sounds of sparring got quieter, and the sounds of drunken laughter got louder as the night drew on. The crackle of campfires could eventually be heard over the occasional human voice as most of the men settled down for the night.

I stayed awake for some hours beyond my usual bedtime to read about endless landscapes, places in our world thought to be magical, that reportedly go on forever. The book detailed a lot of patterns that a sorcerer could look for to determine if they were in such a place. While I was contemplating their significance I was also debating laying down beneath my blankets to relieve myself of certain thoughts.

I ran two fingers along the seam of my pants, feeling my underwear stick to my sex. My lips parted and I spread my knees a little wider, still staring at the page. I was feeling extra horny, and about to give in to my needs when I noticed shouts outside my tent.

I couldn't make out entirely what they were saying, although, I thought I heard the word, "ravenwyr," yelled amidst the clink of armor plates and the shuffling of boots. That word made my heart leap into my throat.

"No ... no," I whispered to myself, trying to convince myself that I wasn't in any danger. Then I heard something that chilled me to the bone. A wailing cry from one of the men, both pained and sorrowful, ending with a gurgle as it moved swiftly away from where it started. Names were shouted. I could hear arrows being loosed into the night.

I froze in place, my heart thumping rapidly, not thinking, not acting, just listening, completely still. The agonized cry of that man in the distance moved quickly and suddenly closer. My instincts told me to move so I did, jumping to my feet and darting to the far end of my tent, expecting the shrieking man to crash in through the front and slam into me.

Instead the tent roof collapsed, trapping me. Luckily I had my survival belt on so I pulled my knife out of its sheath and frantically cut the fabric to make an exit. When the cool autumn air touched my shoulders and face I saw chaos all around.

Men in armor were huddled together, their wooden shields aimed in all directions. Others positioned themselves behind them and took aim with bows at dark shapes that moved in the trees. Then someone shouted my name.

"Liyah!" he screamed, turning my attention the other way. Something landed with a heavy thud right in front of me. It looked like a nude woman, wearing a robe of black feathers, its face more birdlike, with a short beak, talons the length of a man's hand on black, scaly feet. It moved like a chicken, its head swiveling as it focused on me.

It looked down at the mass that had fallen on my tent. Following its gaze I saw a man, his limbs still moving slightly, blood covering his breastplate and gauntlets. I looked up at the creature again.

It darted toward me and without thinking I spoke.

"Ga-Zyl!" I said, feeling the flames gather in my palm from intent alone as the first syllable passed my lips, directing it with my will and the motion of my arm. I heard it scream as the fires enveloped it, illuminating it's whole birdlike form.

"Creeeaaahh!" it howled, flapping angrily in retreat, its wing-beats only fanning the fire that hugged its body, leaving a trail of burnt and glowing feathers floating in the air as it went.

My limbs shook as I watched the thing take off in a hopping run, trying to gain height and failing as its wings burned. Two arrows struck the creature as it fled for the tree line and it fell in a smoldering heap.

I glanced around for safety, my one defensive spell used up, unarmored and exposed with only my knife as the men around me fought off swooping ravenwyr from all sides. Talons scraped shields and men shouted in anger as the monstrous bird women crashed into them, lashing out with their sharp beaks and grabbing at their plates with clawed feet.

I heard a loud snap and saw a black feathered body roll across the ground nearby, a broken spear protruding from its ribcage, beating one wing angrily against the two men it had bowled over in its assault.

"Rraaawk!" it screamed, hopping to its feet as they regained their footing and aimed their swords at the creature. It kicked experimentally, circling around them as they kept their shields and blades trained on it. It stood for a moment looking frustrated, up on one foot as three men faced it with weapons at the ready. Then its head turned, and I saw one of its large black eyes.

It spread its wings and turned toward me and I felt my blood run cold. I was an easier meal. It knew it and I knew it. The creature hopped and flapped in my direction, ready to snatch me up and take off despite the blood-drenched wooden shaft jutting out of its side.

I backed away as quickly as I could, with my dagger out and my hand shaking, afraid to look away from my attacker. Two talons shot out and I focused my mind in an attempt to warp space. I was still a novice mystic, but it was enough. The clawed appendages bent around my body, missing me. Then my heel struck something. I don't remember if it was a log or a corpse but I stumbled backwards over it.

Instinctively I folded space again, letting the earth engulf me. I was flipped over while soil rushed like liquid around my head, and like a buoyant thing dropped in water I was spat out a few feet from where I would have landed. Noticing that I was on my stomach now instead of my back I lifted my head and looked around for the ravenwyr, disoriented, and panicked.

It was behind me, I realized, hearing its big feet thump against the ground in confusion, and seeing two armored men charging to my defense. To my horror, another large black figure landed on one of them, pinning him to the ground and kicking up dirt and embers as it flapped its enormous wings.

I was on my feet by the time the other man reached me, but just as I was prepared to flee for cover one of the ravenwyr's massive, oily wings slammed into my shoulder throwing me into the dirt once again. While I was scrambling to get to my feet I saw Calweyn thrust his sword at the ravenwyr's chest.

It hopped back defensively and lashed out with a large foot, striking wood as Calweyn blocked the attack, its talons wrapping around the edges of his shield. It beat its wings furiously, lifting itself off the ground and wrenching the shield from Calweyn's arm as it clawed at him with its other foot.

I looked around for something to throw at the creature as it latched onto the armored man's sword arm. His feet were lifted off the ground slightly but Calweyn pulled a dagger from his boot with his shield hand and plunged it into the creature's thigh.

It screeched in anger and dropped him. Calweyn landed on his butt, his armor plates clanking noisily together. For a moment I was relieved, thinking it would give up. Then it dropped down onto him. I heard its foot strike metal, it's hook-like toes latching around the front of Calweyn's breastplate as it slammed him against the ground. Then in the same violent motion it leapt upward, taking off with him dangling beneath.

I gasped, as the ravenwyr sailed over the heads of the other men with Calweyn in its grasp, so dazed from the creature's blow that his sword slipped from his fingers.

I looked at its talon pressed against Calweyn's breastplate and then glanced at the armor of an unmoving man nearby. Without thinking I rushed to the body, warped space around my knife and stabbed it into the plate covering his chest. I heard the ravenwyr shriek and hiss and I knew I had successfully pierced its foot when it suddenly recoiled, releasing Calweyn and lurching upward, flapping its wings angrily while he fell to the ground.

"I can't believe that worked," I thought as I stood up, looking once at my knife and then back at the ravenwyr above. It circled for a few moments, evading arrows and searching for an opportunity to retrieve its prey from the ground below. A few seconds later it released a rueful shriek and took off into the night.

I could still hear the creatures in the distance, their birdlike cries getting further and further away while the men in our camp watched the sky with arrows at the ready. I rushed to where I had seen Calweyn fall and found him lying there with two other men above him.

I couldn't see much in that light but I could make out his pale face as his companions lifted him onto a litter. He looked at me and smiled as they carried him away.

My heart was still racing, I could feel sweat covering my whole body as I went back to my ruined tent and organized my things. I sat under the wreckage of my tent, looking down at the stack of books. I curled up and hugged my knees to my chest, shivering. I might have been there for an hour or two before I heard a man approach and say my name.

"Liyah ... miss?" he said, his voice rough and urgent, "we could really use your help at the healer's tent."

I'm not a physician, I'm not a surgeon, and I'm not particularly good with herbs, so until the whole situation was explained I had no idea why they could be summoning me. I followed him in and saw five men, most of them sitting up, bandages covering gashes from the ravenwyr's claws.

I saw Calweyn, shirtless, looking ghostly, on his back at the far end of the tent. The knight who had come to get me spoke as I approached.

"Most of us are inexperienced hands when it comes to this sort of thing," he said as I knelt beside Calweyn, noticing a sheen of cold sweat that covered his body, seeing his chest rise and fall slowly. "We're smart enough to mix a few poultices that can ward off the diseases picked up from a ravenwyr's talons and we still have the priestesses notes to go off of, but ..."

I looked at Calweyn, his eyes were half-shut and didn't seem to focus on any one thing. He barely reacted to my presence at all. I recalled the fall he had taken when the ravenwyr dropped him and immediately knew the trouble.

"His wounds are on the inside," I said, "he needs magic, but why ...?" I looked up at the man who had brought me to the healer's tent.

"Both our priestesses were carried off in the attack" he said looking a little pale in the face. "You're the only one who might be able to save the boy's life."

"I-I ... " I began, then gave up, looking down at Calweyn again.

"Do you know any magic that can help him miss?" a man asked from behind me. I placed a hand on the boy's bare chest and felt his life force dwindling with the slow beat of his heart.

"Yes," I answered, blushing a little as I thought about it. I shut my eyes and whispered the words of a spell that nearly every priestess learned in their first year, and felt the energy flow from my palm and into his body. Calweyn's eyes widened and he gasped as if he'd been dunked in ice cold water. He sat up suddenly, putting a hand on mine.

He held my slender hand in his, studying it, his gaze going up my wrist. He looked at me and I looked away immediately, retracting my hand, feeling my cheeks burn.

"E-excuse me," I said, standing up. I turned and pushed past the knight who was still standing behind me and made my way back to my collapsed tent.

"It's not too unmanageable yet," I thought, staring at the mess of poles and fabric with all of my books underneath, feeling tantalizing sensations between my legs each time my mind wandered back to Calweyn. Despite my effort to focus I could feel myself becoming unusually moist, until I was certain that my panties had been soaked all the way through.

"Fuck," I thought, "I shouldn't have cast that spell. I was already damn near ready to jump on his cock ..." I wondered if I could just crawl under the torn tent covers and put a hand down my pants ... for the next twelve hours.

I thought back to the last time I had done a healing. I used it on a friend at the college. She wasn't injured or sick, I just wanted the practice. She still didn't know this but I'd spent the next day and a half sweating in private to thoughts of having her pressed against me, and I wasn't even attracted to women.

"This is going to be so much worse," I thought, feeling my clitoris become so firm it was almost painful. "Unless ..."

There was one way to cure the affliction. I turned around and went back to the healer's tent, marched up to Calweyn and took him by the hand.

"Come," I demanded, nearly dragging him at first as I led him out, drawing curious stares from the other men who were likely wondering how urgent my need was. They had no idea.

"Liyah, are you okay?" Calweyn chuckled as we walked quickly to his tent. I glanced briefly over my shoulder at him and smiled, feeling my nipples stiffen in my shirt when I let my eyes linger too long on his naked upper body.

I batted the tent flap aside and stepped backward into his small sleeping area, finally allowing myself to look at him. His chest and shoulders looked almost as if they'd been carved out of marble, and his skin was smooth and almost hairless.

I traced the curves of his broad pectorals downward with my eyes, following the lines defining his abs down to the thin trail of hair that began just above the waist of his trousers.

"Liyah?" he asked as we stood on the threshold of his tent together, clasping hands, my slender fingers intertwined with his much thicker digits. "What is this?" he asked. Finally I looked up at him, my skin prickling, my panties sopping wet against my pussy.

"It's ... a side effect," I explained, my face turning red, feeling my juices soak into the crotch of my pants while I spoke. "... of the spell I performed on you. You see, most healers train their mind and body for years to deal with this. That or they just masturbate constantly," I said, chuckling softly and looking down at the ground between us.

"I'm not a healer Calweyn, I'm just a girl who did a healing spell," I told him, looking him in the eyes, my knees beginning to shake, seeing a look of surprise and intrigue on his face. "I need sex," I said, my clitoris fully engorged just from looking at him.

He studied me for a moment, then, without speaking, he moved into the tent and gathered me in his arms, pressing his lips to mine. I felt the bulge of his manhood in his trousers, pressing against my inner thigh as his tongue slid into my mouth.

His soft exhalations tickled my cheek as he kissed me, his hands going up my back and holding me close. I caressed his strong sides hungrily as we moved slowly toward his bed, my breasts pressed against his thick chest and my hips moving like I was already having him.

I felt his hands on my butt and I blushed as he gave it a good squeeze. With our mouths still locked together he lifted me off my feet and then got down on his knees, laying me on top of the soft bedding while I straddled him. Our lips finally parted and Calweyn's kisses wandered to the side of my face as he laid between my legs making thrusting motions and groping at my sides.

"Take off my clothes," I said, feeling his erection rub against my cunt, sending chills up my spine even though our sexes were still separated by multiple layers of fabric. "Hhhahh," I gasped as his hands slid up my shirt, grasping both of my tits, my nipples poking into his palms as he squeezed them.

Then he sat up and gripped the hem of my top, drawing it up over my head. I took deep breaths as I watched him undo my bra, flinging it open and exposing my chest. He buried his face between my breasts, groping them and kissing them, his thumbs on my nipples as he kneaded them like soft dough.

Gradually his hands moved down to my waist. He tugged at my pants while pressing his mouth to my naked stomach. They slid slowly over my hips, and when Calweyn could see the dark tuft of hair above my cunt he paused to put his nose in it, inhaling the scent of my groin.

He pulled some more and I felt my panties peel away from my wet sex. Calweyn stared at my exposed pussy and my heart began to race. He lifted his gaze, gripping my belt with a sly smile on his face. I beamed uncontrollably as he looked at me, my cheeks burning, my tits and cunt bared to him.