Tales of the Apprentice 01 Ch. 03

"How would that be different from robbery?" he finished her sentence.

She nodded.

"Exactly. That is yet another way in which magic has to honor the rules, to to speak. It is entirely possible to enrich yourself, but that wealth will have to come from somewhere; it can't just spring up out of nowhere."

"Does that mean that the power of magic is limited?" Galen asked.

"Well, I suppose that depends on how you look at it. On the one hand, yes, in that it can only operate within the internal logic and the rules that govern the universe. On the other hand, as long as you stay within those boundaries, there is little you can't do. As long as you understand enough about how things work an how you can operate within those rules, you could even make the sun explode."

"The... what?"

"There are ways," Serana said calmly. "In theory, at least. Which is exactly why you need to learn how to avoid accidentally doing something on that order."

"Ehm... Yes... Yes, of course." he replied, his mind reeling with the implications of what she had just said so casually.

"Fortunately the chances of such a thing happening are rather remote, but I'm sure you see my point. Last night you crossed a line that we shouldn't have reached for quite a while yet. I'm not sure how that happened or why it happened, or even if there is any particular reason at all, but that hardly matters at this point. It's the risks and the possible effects that count."

Galen slowly nodded.

"I think I understand," he said slowly. "But is there no... safer form of magic?"

"Magic is magic, Galen. The only difference between one magical working and another lies in the power behind it and in the mind that wields it. Both sex magic and death magic, for example, have the same possibilities and the same limitations. All forms of magic can be used both for good and for evil. It can be used wisely or foolishly; deliberately or randomly, with skill or with incompetence. But in all cases the magic itself remains the same."

"Are you saying that even death magic can be used for good?"

"In theory, yes. But in practice it never is," she said, her face bleak. "It starts with evil, and I've never seen any good come from evil. Strictly speaking, though, the magic derived from the act of killing is the same as the magic derived from our inner sexual Energies. But that's about it. In the end it's the Intent of the wielder that makes the difference, and a willingness to kill for magic does not leave much room for truly good intentions."

"I... see," he said slowly. "And... Are there any other forms of magic?"

"None that I know of. There's witchcraft, of course, but that's another matter entirely. Witchcraft isn't really magic at all."

"I seem to remember that you mentioned witchcraft the first time we met."

Serana nodded.

"Yes. Witchcraft involves enlisting the aid of spirits to do certain things. It's neither very useful nor very reliable. Spirits have their own objectives and they're untrustworthy at best, for the most part. A lot depends on which spirit you're dealing with, of course, but the problem is that it's hard to tell. Except with demons, that is. With demons you always know where you stand."

Galen said nothing. This was all coming a little fast.

"Alright," Serana said, seeing his confusion. "Since we're on the subject, we might as well go into it a little. You remember the time when your spirit left your body?"

"Vividly."

"When we die, our bodies return to the earth, but our spirits continue to exist, and they move on to the spirit realms. I say 'realms' because there is more than one. I don't know if our spirits choose their own realm or if they simply move to the one that fits them best. What I do know is that, under some very specific circumstances, the barrier that separates our world and the spirit realms can be crossed, so that we can communicate with them and they can cross over to our plane of existence. And that's usually when the problems start."

"I thought it might be something like that."

"Good. That means you're getting smarter. The problem with spirits, for lack of a better way to put it, is that they're much like people, in that some people are good and some are evil. So are spirits. Like people, some are interested in helping others, and some are not. Of course when spirits have crossed over to their realm, they also become a lot less interested in the affairs of the living. They've been here, they've lived with the problems of the mortal flesh, and once they have crossed over and have freed themselves from all that, they see little reason to return to it. It is extremely rare for them to volunteer their services, and if they do, it is almost certainly because it serves their own purposes rather than ours. That is why witchcraft generally aims to bind the spirits to those who practice it. But course the spirits resent such enslavement. Forcing them to do your bidding against their will requires constant control, which is quite draining on the practitioner. That is why witchcraft is so unpopular. And in the case of demons, witchcraft is downright dangerous, which is why witches are so few and far between."

"Demons?"

Serana nodded, her face serious.

"Yes. Demons. Make no mistake, Galen: demons so exist. They are real. Just like some people can be evil, so can spirits. That's what demons are: powerful spirits who are pure evil. I'm not sure, but I suspect that it may all begin with people who are purely evil."

"Like Rhinda's father?"

"Possibly. As I said, I'm not sure. At any rate, dealing with demons is extremely risky. They are difficult to control once summoned, and as soon as they escape control they usually turn upon those who tried to enslave them. Things start to go downhill at that point rather quickly."

"I've heard it said that demons will devour you," Galen said. "Is that true?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. They consume your Energy. All of it, until there's nothing left. And your spirit is pure Energy. So..."

"They devour your spirit," he said softly. "I see."

"Good. Never forget it, Galen. If you ever feel tempted to go into that direction, you could very well lose more than just your life."

"No... I think I'll pass, thank you."

"A wise decision, my young apprentice. Stick to sex magic. It's a lot safer. However, it still comes with its own risks. You can deplete your own Energies. You can overload your body with too much pleasure during overlong sustained orgasms. And if you are engaged in a magical working with other sex mages, you can harm them as well if you do it wrong."

He nodded, smiling mirthlessly.

"And I can make the sun explode and destroy the world."

Serana shrugged.

"Yes, I suppose you could. But what of it?"

"Well..."

"Do you see that poker by the fireplace, Galen? You could easily pick it up and kill me with it. You're strong enough, and a few hard blows to my head with the sharp end would almost certainly do it. But I don't need to worry about that. Yes, you can do it. But will you? I don't think so."

"Of course not! But... Serana, it's hard to beat someone to death with a poker by accident. With magic, though..."

"True. So maybe the poker wasn't that great an example. Alright, here's a better one: while working as a builder, have you ever had to to knock down a wall?"

"Of course. More than once."

"That sort of thing can be dangerous. A big hammer swinging this way and that, falling masonry, flying bits of rubble, that sort of thing. So you try to make sure nobody gets hurt, right? You try to act responsibly, because that's who you are."

"Of course. And yes, I see where you're going. But even if a botched job makes a whole building collapse, it will only kill a number of people. Bad as that is, it won't mean the end of the world."

Serana nodded.

"Exactly. And that is why you must respect the forces that you work with. As long as you're concerned with the effects of what you do and you make sure that nobody gets hurt, you're on the right track."

"But the potential for disaster..."

"Yes, Galen. There is that. Such is the power of the mage."

Serana looked at the troubled expression on his face. This was a moment she had dreaded. Whether he realized it or not, he had come to a crossroads. And he was right to be troubled. If what she had seen in her Vision was true, and she had no doubt that it was, Galen was destined to become more powerful than any sex mage before him. He was right to be apprehensive, even to fear that power. But would he fear it so much that he would shy away from it?

"Power means responsibility, Galen," she said calmly. "You can either accept that responsibility and face the duties it lays upon you, or you can turn your back on it and walk away. The latter is the easier way. But--"

"Is it?" he interrupted her. "I'm not so sure. If I... If do that, I'll have to live with whatever may happen, won't I? If I walk away and something terrible happens that I could have stopped, than that will be on me. I'm not sure I'd be alright with that."

She gave him a long, sober look. Then she slowly nodded.

"You are right, Galen. It's not an easy thing either way. But then, big choices usually are like that. And this is one of the biggest choices in your life that you will have to make, I expect. And if you choose to walk away from it, I won't hold it against you. But you must choose."

His eyes caught hers, held her by the intensity of his gaze.

"I already have," he said simply.

And she saw that he spoke truly. Nor was she surprised. The Great Mother had sent him to her, and that never would have happened if he had not been up to whatever task was before him.

She smiled, held out her hands. He took them.

"Thank you," she said softly.

She squeezed his hands before letting them go.

"Now," she said, businesslike, "Let's get to the more practical side of it. What you did last night was unintended, and it came at a considerable expense to your own Energies. It's time you learned a thing or two about that, too, and the easiest way is for me to show you. And since it's a cold day, I think we'll do it here in the kitchen where it's warm. We'll need the chair from the living room. If you'll give me a hand, we'll put it right here by the fire. In fact, let's put on some more firewood first. I want it warm enough to get naked."

"Oh?" he asked innocently. "What did you have in mind?"

She smiled.

"You'll see, my young apprentice. I think you will find this quite instructive, in more ways than one."

After tending to the fire and making sure it would continue to burn properly for a while, they went into the cottage's small living room to retrieve the chair they had removed from the store room on the day Galen had moved in. Galen had been wondering about that chair a few times. Curiously shaped as it was, at first he hadn't even been sure it was a chair at all. All curves and no straight lines, it appeared to be made from one single, thin sheet of wood that had been folded and bent into an almost organic shape. The back rest leaned back at an angle before curving down to the floor, and the front legs were much wider than the seat in the middle, which was shaped somewhat like a horseman's saddle, but not quite. It was strangely beautiful and enigmatic at the same time.

They put the chair next to the fireplace in the kitchen, and Galen closed the door to keep the warmth in. The kitchen was lit only by the light of the fire, the shutters on the windows having been left closed against the cold outside, and the air inside was pleasantly warm.

Serana poured them both another cup of tea while the cold wood of the chair lost some of the chill it had retained from the unheated living room. Then she went into her bedroom to fetch the box from under her bed with the various implements she would need. When she returned, she carefully placed the box on the kitchen table. Then she began to unfasten her dress.

She still wore the plain wool that she had worn for years, although underneath that serviceable fabric her body was no longer that of an old woman. She hung the garment on a peg, then removed the cloth that bound her breasts. They barely sagged when their support was removed, and something inside her danced with joy when she felt Galen's admiring gaze upon her. Turning, in such a way that ensured he would get a good eyeful of the shapely curves of her behind, she hung the cloth on the peg as well. Suddenly she wanted him, as much as she knew he would want her, right now. But she suppressed that impulse. This was going to be an exercise in all sorts of control, starting with her own self-control, so she'd better get a hold of herself or nothing good would come of it.

She faced him, noticing how firmly fixed his eyes were on her firm, high breasts; her slender waist; the smooth, tight curves of her hips. While gratifying, this was not what he should be focusing on right now.

"Alright, Galen. Move your eyes up here. I need you to pay attention, but not to my body. What we are going to do now will require a certain amount of inner Vision. I will help you with that, but I can't do it alone. So first of foremost, you must keep in mind that this will be business and not pleasure."

And so must I, she thought to herself.

His eyes found hers as she sat down on the chair. Good. She had known he would be able to approach this with the right frame of mind, and once again he did not disappoint her. She opened the wooden box that stood on the table before her and unwrapped the velvet that covered its contents.

"I am going to apply my Energies to an Intent," she said. "I will masturbate to a point where they will reach the level I require. Then I will bring myself to orgasm to release it and achieve my Intent." She thought for a moment. "Well, why not? It might as well have some practical use. So here's what I will do: I will melt all the snow around the house. About... twenty feet or so all around should do for now, don't you think?"

He could only stare at her. It had absolutely exhausted him to warm up a small room that hadn't been all that cold to begin with. And she casually suggested doing something that would take, what, a hundred times as much effort, just to show him how such things were done?

"You'll see," she said calmly. "You will share the experience with me. There's one thing to keep in mind, though. This will be a very personal thing for both of us. Your awareness will be joined with mine, so that you can see how I manipulate my inner Energies, and exactly how I do it. But you will not only see inside me; you will also feel what I feel. You will know my thoughts, and I will know yours. All of this will work both ways. We will bare ourselves to one another in a way we have never done before. Do you remember that afternoon when we had sex together outside?"

"Of course."

"The closeness and the merging with me that you are about to experience will be orders of magnitude beyond that, Galen. And that will be the difficult part: you and I will both have to remain objective and treat that closeness as what it is: a tool, and nothing more. We must keep our emotions out of it, and you need to keep firmly in mind that whatever you may feel, or whatever you may sense that I feel, has no meaning whatsoever other than as a learning experience. Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded.

"I'll do my best," he said.

She smiled and nodded.

"I know."

She carefully opened the box and lifted the silken folds that lined it to reveal its contents. The took the glass dildo out of the box and warmed the glass in her hands.

"This is very special to me," she said with a fond smile. "I have had it for many centuries, and it is very effective."

She put the dildo down onto the silken cloth where she could easily reach it. Then she leaned back on the chair, comfortably supported by the back rest at just the right angle. She pulled up her legs, putting her feet on the widest part of the seat before her, right over the front legs of the chair, so that her thighs parted and her pussy faced forward and up, quite exposed and in easy reach of her hands as well as his gaze.

She closed her eyes, sighed and relaxed. She had already decided not to bother with the other items in the box. Knowing that Galen was sitting right there, watching her, had her quite aroused already. Even in the warm kitchen her nipples were standing up firm, hard and proud, and the lips of her pussy were damp even though she hadn't even touched them yet.

Her hands found her breasts and began to stroke them, ever so lightly and gently. Great Mother, she loved the feeling of being young again! Under her caressing hands the round, smooth shapes of her breasts were those of a twenty year old woman; firm and bouncy, tipped with a pair of beautiful, pink nipples that swelled and hardened even further when her fingers brushed across them. And the feeling of that touch! She crooned softly. She'd have to watch that. Somehow she had become more vocal since she had started to work with Galen, and such a habit was easier to acquire then it was to break, even for someone with her experience. Vocalization interfered with the build-up of her Energy, as she had told him repeatedly, so she'd better set a proper example.

Galen could not help but stare as she sat there before him, caressing herself. She was so achingly beautiful, so sexy. But at the same time he could not help noticing that, gorgeous as she was, there was no mistaking her for a young girl. Yes, her skin was smooth, her figure slender, her breasts defiant of gravity, her waist narrow, her hips smooth, her buttocks firm and her face entirely unlined. And yet... There was something about that face, especially in her eyes, that no young woman could ever have, something that spoke of the centuries behind her, the things she had seen, the things she'd had to do... Suddenly he caught a glimpse of the chasm of time that existed between them, the gulf that separated them and always would keep her forever beyond his reach.

Serana closed her eyes. The touch of her hands on her breasts became firmer, and her fingers squeezed her hard nipples, gently at first, but soon her touch became more firm, more deliberate until her nipples tingled with pleasure. A warm glow began to spread through her, starting in her breasts and slowly moving outward.

Then she let one of her hands slide down across her chest, her stomach, her mons, keeping the other one occupied with the round curves of her breasts and her increasingly hard nipples. Closer and closer her questing hand crept to the apex of her thighs as she teased herself. Her breathing gradually deepened as her arousal continued to rise, and with her inner Vision she began to visualize the Energies building within her.

When she felt the moment was right, she moved her other hand down as well, but before her caressing fingers could reach the hot, wet center that awaited them, she moved them to her legs, down across her hips and around to the insides of her thighs. With her hands she traced slow, small circles across the smooth skin there, and every circle brought her fingers closer to where she wanted to feel them most, but not yet, not yet... The wetness had begun to pool inside her and she could smell her own arousal now, as the pleasure within her rose and her Energies built, slowly but surely. Closer and closer to their goal her questing fingers crept.

The insides of her thighs had always been among her most sensitive spots, and she liked to spend as much time there as she could, preparing herself for the pleasures ahead. Over the long, long centuries she had learned countless ways to arouse herself, and to arouse others as well. She knew the many different places on her body, and on that of many a lover or fellow sex mage, that could drive one wild with pleasure-- but not too quickly. Letting it build slowly and steadily was the key to harnessing the pleasure and controlling the Energies, and she was an expert when it came to that.