Surfacing Ch. 22

Rausery shrugged. *Trappings don't matter. We build, we tear down, once in a while we find something close by that's different. Take it or leave it, but no whining once you pick one, because there's no takebacks.*

The masking spells had begun to wear off and Rausery thought she could make out the old mage's teeth even in the darkness. * I have always enjoyed your attitude, Rausery.*

D'Shea did not respond and no longer seemed interested in talking as they waited; she let the missives go and somehow refrained from rolling her eyes.

When Vik finally eased into their perimeter, giving Rausery warning that he was there, his handler was nowhere to be sensed and Rausery did not draw attention to this fact. Clearly she expected it and it seemed the two mages were not to meet this mysterious Drow handler quite yet. The masked male was shorter than any of them but clearly very fit and with a strong frame. He bowed to Rausery and could not help but glance warily at the two mages.

"Okay to talk?" Rausery asked D'Shea, who nodded. "Right. Vik, this is Elder D'Shea and Headmaster Phaelous. You know their names."

The young male's eyes were a little wide but he nodded, choosing to make a respectful hand motion rather than say anything.

"You and I are going to go through your report again. Sound good?"

Not really a choice, he nodded all the same and his Elder guided him through a less frantic version of what he had told her the first time, which did not take long. There was no deviation from his earlier promise, though a bit more nervousness standing close to two Drow he did not know or trust. Understandable.

Soon enough Rausery turned to her allies and waved her hand in Vik's general direction. "That's as much as I know. You got more from Jaunda."

D'Shea nodded and looked at the Headmaster. "What do you see?"

From his seat Phaelous studied those who were standing with intelligent, curious eyes. "His natural aura is not nearly strong enough to be a mage, but he is still bleeding off a certain amount of excess magic, to which he's recently been exposed."

"How much is 'a certain amount'?"

He smiled a little. "Not much. Almost gone, as a matter of fact. I would have assumed he had a tryst with a powerful mage sometime in the half cycle."

Rausery looked at Vik. "Have you?"

The shadow shook his head. "No, Elder."

"Have you fucked anyone at all in the last seven cycles?"

Vik trembled a little, but he was not in pain. They could see an erection just beginning to show the crotch of his pants. He nodded, briefly licking his lips underneath his mask. "Halena. Twice, on the way back."

Rausery decided to show her surprise with a little amusement. "Anyone else since I took her way?"

"No, Elder."

"How about prior to this last mission? Did you two comfort each other out in the wilderness?"

He shook his head immediately, firmly. "No, Elder."

Phaelous nodded slowly and spoke to D'Shea. "Did you see something similar in Jaunda? Is this why you would not wait?"

The sorceress nodded. "Yes." She turned to her wizard. "Such bleed-off does not last a week of travel, Phaelous. It simply does not. Equilibrium finds itself quickly among our own."

The ancient mage smiled knowingly. "Among our own. We have little experience outside of it, don't we?"

"So it is magic," Rausery stated. "Not psionics."

The Headmaster nodded confidently. "I cannot say I would recognize all psionic tricks, Rausery, I have very little experience. I would simply look for something foreign that I did not understand, perhaps a void of some kind." He indicated the young male with one hand. "This, however, show no void, and is not foreign. Only incredibly powerful."

"A compulsion, then?"

To Rausery's surprise, Phaelous did not respond with the nod she expected; he considered his answer. "I would like to see Jaunda before I say, Elder. Perhaps the other, as well, if you allow it."

"I see no reason why not -"

D'Shea stepped closer to Vik, standing on the other side from Rausery. She studied him and then looked to her peer. "May I give him the same test I gave her?"

Rausery arched a brow and tried to suppress a grin. "Make it fast or I might ask you to stroke him off."

Vik's eyes were wide as he imagined what the test might be from this sorceress he had only heard about before; Rausery's answer certainly implied the nature of it. To his credit he did not move his feet but stayed where he was, avoiding direct eye contact with those around him.

"Lift your chin," D'Shea instructed, having already removed her glove from her left hand. "Remove your hood and show me your face."

Vik obeyed and watched as she dipped her first two fingers lightly into a pouch and drew them out again with nothing obviously covering them. Perhaps a light dust at best.

"Open your mouth."

Vik parted his lips and immediately found the Elder's first finger pressing down on his tongue.

"Close it. Suck on it. Gently."

The shadows still could not look at her eyes but looked at D'Shea's lips instead, and they could all hear his heart and feel that small rise in body heat within the cave; Vik remained partially erect and stiffened even more. He was hyperaware when her mouth opened again to speak a word of magic and he forgot to keep sucking. That was all right with D'Shea; he had already told her what she wanted to know.

As she slowly pulled her first finger out through his lips, there was a very dim iridescence on her skin. As expected. D'Shea took another look over his outfit and realized beneath the tools that it was one piece, there was no bottom part to pull down.

Shrugging mentally, she ordered, "Do what is needed to expose your backside to me."

Blood and heat surged up into his face when he heard the command and he bit his lower lip as he swiftly removed a modest tool belt and a few weapons strapped to his arms and torso. Rausery held out her hands to take them from him and he passed them to her with both hands. Then he undid a sash almost invisible in his black outfit which allowed him to expose his chest and shoulders and shrugged out of the fairly tight material. He lightly tied the sleeves so they would not drag on the ground before he pushed it down over his hips to the mid-thigh. D'Shea could tell it would hold itself up as it had the elasticity.

She stood behind him and took hold of his right shoulder with her gloved hand while the outside curve of her naked one lightly brushed his buttocks to let him know she was there and what he could expect. "Good. Now relax."

D'Shea penetrated him as smoothly as she could but by the nature of the compound it always required a dry insertion. Even Sirana and Jaunda had grimaced enduring this test, so she was not surprised when Vik flinched and physically jumped. He did not make a sound, however. Rausery had trained him well.

Her eyes wandered and, before she could stop herself, they landed on Phaelous. That particular smirk of his made her instantly conscious of how hot and squeezing Vik's sphincter was around her finger, and she forgot to say the word until Phaelous mouthed it for her.

*Oh, yes.*

The young male sighed softly and relaxed a bit when she finally drew out and read her results. Positive, but not nearly so bright as Jaunda. She pulled a cloth and cleansing compound to wipe off her hand as she said back around, saying, "You can dress now, Vik."

She could tell even without looking at him that he did not move to do so immediately. She turned around and read that he was highly tempted to pull himself first, as his cock jutted out fully erect in front of him. D'Shea looked at Rausery, who still held his tools and weapons in her hands. She looked very amused but said nothing.

"Dress," D'Shea repeated with less patience and her tone, and Vik obeyed this time, getting hold of his self-discipline once again.

"Thoughts, my Elder?" Phaelous asked before Rausery could. Both of them looked far too amused.

D'Shea finished cleaning off her hand and exhaled in thought as she tucked her items away. "Under more familiar circumstances, I would've said he received an emission from another male within the last cycle. I would have said that he was lying about not having had sex with any but Halena in the past week. But then I would have to say the same thing about Jaunda, and she somehow entertained ten males just outside the City limits right before coming in to do her report. And I already know that the signs on her uniform do not collaborate in such a theory."

"The bleed off, then," the ancient mage said with a nod.

The three of them looked at Vik for any sort of response, but there was nothing to read on his very calm face. Like Jaunda, he seemed to turn his thoughts inward and gave them no tells upon hearing D'Shea's words. And also like the Lead, he was clearly choosing not to say anything about the circumstances in which he took semen into both his orifices.

"Whenever you are ready, Elders," Phaelous said, "I have what I need from him, but would like to meet his partner."

D'Shea and Rausery nodded but the latter noticed her subordinate glancing at her.

"What is it, Vik?" she asked bluntly.

The shadow hesitated just a brief moment before looking down. "Is she lost to us, Elder? Halena, I mean."

"I think you know the answer better than I do at this point," Rausery said, adjusting her stance and her belt. "Twenty-one cycles, Vik. And I'll be back for you. Go meet your handler and never speak of or show anyone this place."

Young Vik nodded and slid silently out of the cave and back into the wilderness with the promise that he would live for at least three more weeks. Rausery watched him go before looking back to her sorcerous companions.

"Let's get back to the Cloister."

*****

Auslan had returned to the red sand dunes many times over the months leading up to Elder D'Shea's magical experiment with him and Shyntre. Many were frightful and memorable, most of them confusing, and a few of them even forgettable except that they did not allow him to rest very well. His Elder had grilled him on the rest of their "excursion," as she had referenced it, and the following week before Jaunda's return, wanting to know as much as he could remember about where he was with the sorcerer and the Dragon on the Surface.

He had given her a bit more visual information but not much: a better description of the Walker she had already seen once before among the dead shambling to the West, more detail on the barren household in which he had sat before finding the castle, being attacked by the sorcerer and saved by the Dragon. He specifically described the bath off the courtyard since it was so clear. The Elder did not try to interpret it then but simply made notes and proclaimed that they would record as much as they could from now on.

When the red sand beneath his bare feet began to bleed out and turn grey in his current dream, he knew that he would soon have something else that he could describe to her.

If it did not somehow paralyze or kill him.

The Consort had stood in this exact place before; stone jutted up from the sand some distance away and he even viewed it from the same angle. The grey haze remained by the cave and he remembered where he had been the last time that place had beckoned to him. His path had been blocked by a presence, but he could not keep his eyes open long enough to see her; the day had been so hot, the Sun and the wind both so strong, his skin burned from dryness and light, scoured by air-driven sand.

He had wanted to reach the shelter before; that cave was a natural choice for a Drow to find protection, but "she" would not let him. She had said he was not ready to see the river, that he needed to see what had happened first. She was angry... and desperate.

He might have shriveled to a skinless corpse when he could move neither forward nor back, except that Sirana had stepped out of the storm and wrapped him up in her cloak. His champion had sent the presence away as they were slowly buried in sand...

That was the first time the Dragon had flown overhead, wasn't it? And later, Ta'suil would see the empty civilization without a river of any kind, and the Dragon would return again.

Now, the Sky above remained a dark blue and purple above his head but the Sun had set behind dark grey clouds resting upon the horizon. The color of the land faded and he did not know where that would leave him. Would the dead come out again to surround him? Would light attract them or would they know he was alive among them even in the dark? Would the Walker help him again somehow?

Perhaps it was time to run toward that cave and the rock, before something stopped him again. She had said there would be a river there...

He loped down the side of one dune, concentrating on his balance and placing one foot in front of the other. He expected to feel cold with the hiding of the Sun in the desert, with the warm flame colors fading to that of hard stone. It did not happen quite that way as he mostly felt... Nothing. He was neither warm or cold.

The large Sister Moon had risen and shadows grew deeper the closer he got, but he did not stop now or he might turn back. There was no outright warning or sense of danger but he knew he was getting closer to place he had never been. It did not matter that he lived inside one giant cavern and caves were ubiquitous around the City; he had never been to any cave himself, he had never been allowed, and that his first was *this* cave was what made the difference.

The deep, black mouth was just tall enough for the Walker, perhaps, and wide enough for two to enter abreast but no more. It was... small, and yet he had seen it so clearly from so far away. As Ta'suil automatically studied the whorls of stone framing the entrance, he noticed the polished glint of black glass embedded in the stone, and this moment was when he felt valuable warmth drawn through his skin and toward that cool, open passage.

The grey haze condensed into a mist and settled closer to the ground before it rolled out from the cave and surrounded him; with a glance he confirmed he could no longer see the high dune from which he had often surveyed the landscape around him. He could not be certain of his direction if he chose to run away, but given that he had no direction in mind it was just as well that he stay here. Stay and wait for whoever was coming.

It took longer than he might have expected once the mists had begun swirling and rose higher. He looked up, barely making out the Stars in a black night, not covered from his view by clouds high up, but soon would be by the fog.

Finally Ta'suil glimpsed a pale face emerging out of the darkness, the high contrast a bit blurred around the edges by the mist. The gait told him it was female, he could believe nothing else, but she could be no taller than him. Possibly less so. He could not see pointed ears, so despite the pale skin she was not a Noldor.

Her stride was steady and carried her closer and straight toward him; now he could make out a patchwork of grey and black leather pinned, hooked, and sutured to the body with delicate curves of black metal, creating the strangest gown he had ever seen. The hair on her head was smooth and black except for one side above her left ear which was shaved and pierced with black needles forming an abstract image or symbol.

Her face looked Human, heavy-boned and lacking the elegant beauty and fine features of his own race but, like in the Walker-priest, the Consort sensed experience and wisdom of a different kind from what he had ever glimpsed in the eyes of all his mistresses of the Underdark.

Or... eye. She had one eye. The other socket he thought contained a sculpted obsidian stone; it was large enough that her lid was unable to blink and tiny symbols carved into the surface would scrape the thin flap of flesh raw if she could.

"We should walk away now," she spoke in a haunting, hoarse rasp; she held her right hand out, palm up, indicating a direction to him. "You will need a guide greater than me to enter, and I am not the only one who may come out."

Ta'suil glanced in the direction of her hand and saw only mist. He looked back at the cave over her shoulder. "Is there a river down there?"

She nodded and began walking, slowly. "A very big one that few of the living have the means to ford."

"Few. Some have?"

She merely nodded.

"Where will we go?" He stepped to follow here.

"Wherever you wish."

He frowned, trying to sense her motive. Truthfully, he could sense none; at least, none that boded ill for him. He had the feeling he was speaking to another messenger.

"Why are you here?"

She slowed even more so that he was even with her and turned her head to look at him. Her right eye blinked; it possessed sclera and an iris and pupil as it should, but that iris was so dark it may as well have been black as the false, flint eye. "I fulfill an agreement. Do keep up, you should not remain behind me."

He lengthened his strides and the mist was beginning to lessen now. He was not used to walking at a female's side, much less one shorter than him. "An agreement? With whom?"

The Woman folded her hands before her; her back was impeccably straight as she walked. "It is not mine to question. I am an instrument."

Ta'suil understood that feeling. He also wondered why he followed her so readily? Was she truly an ally, a guide, or was she a trick, an apparition, or an enemy?

"Even an instrument has a name," he said. "What is yours?"

Her pale face remained up, looking straight ahead even as they reached the base of a dune which blocked most of their view. She thought about it for a few moments. "My name is Ada."

"Ada. My name is..."

She turned her head and gave him a smile that felt like a single needle of ice entering his chest. "Auslan. Uncovered treasure. We finally found you."

He swallowed what he had been about to say and nodded. "Yes. My name is Auslan. How did you find me?"

"You sent us a champion with your message, you know this. Enemies found her too quickly for us to have come before now, but you have called the Dragon and opened the way."

The Consort considered that. "You are here to protect me?"

Ada nodded. "If you meet another such as the Deathless on your journey, you may not escape again."

"Who is the Deathless?"

The white Woman in black turned her head again and smiled widely at him; her teeth were a strange, bone grey. "You know. The one you enslaved in the Names of your Goddesses."

The Drow felt as if a cold hand squeezed his heart. "Cris-ri-phon."

"Your instincts are good. There were many paths that meeting could have taken, but this one gives us time."

"Time for what?"

Ada looked somehow both saddened and more determined. "Time to lessen the interference."

She had taken them up the grey incline of the nighttime dune, and he wondered if this was the one very tall one from which he surveyed the horizon in his dreamland. The fog had receded entirely and the Stars were once again bright overhead. On Ada, Auslan next noticed all the fine-chain webbing and jewelry over her wrists and hands, set into place with yet more needles and piercings.

The strange woman walked with him, told him what he wanted to hear, that he had done the right thing. When he could finally tear his gaze away, it was because he felt something odd vibrating along his nerves. He glimpsed out of his periphery a glow not unlike the Starlight above, but emanating from somewhere low to the earth.

"You want to show me something first," he said, "despite going 'wherever I wish.'"

Ada did not respond to the near-accusation. "You must see this."

Another long quiet moment stretched along with their legs as they fought the sand. They did so without being in a hurry, but neither did they stop to rest at any point. Ada and Auslan walked to the crest of the enormous dune and looked over the other side.