Tales of the Apprentice 01 Ch. 09

Tales of the Apprentice - Book 1

Chapter 9

Serana sighed. It was one of those sighs that just happened. There didn't seem to be much reason for it; it was just one of those moments that seemed to call for one.

For the past two weeks she had been trying to continue the task that the Great Mother had charged her with: to educate her young apprentice to the point where he'd be able to face the Purpose that he appeared to be headed for. She dreaded that Purpose. It wasn't one that she herself, with more centuries of experience behind her than she cared to count, would want to face. Yet this young man would have to do just that.

Young? Well, maybe not quite. In years, perhaps, but in other ways he wasn't. Not anymore. Galen had matured considerably, and more than time alone accounted for. Maybe that was what the sigh was trying to tell her.

They'd hit a point where they struggled to move forward together. It was not his fault, nor was it hers. He was simply developing as intended, but as he did so, she found it more and more difficult to connect with him.

Ayden hadn't been too worried when she spoke with him about it. "Such things are not unusual," he'd told her. "Some people develop in straight lines, others go back and forth as they move along, or even sideways. Galen appears to be one of those, and I'll grant you that he's been a challenging apprentice. But then, that's why you came to us, isn't it? So let us help you."

Serana had nodded; he had been entirely correct, of course. Ayden had made Galen read every night for the past two weeks, and the lad was learning all kinds of things that she would have struggled to explain to him. Ayden's help with the teaching of magical matters had also been invaluable. He could explain certain concepts to Galen in just a few words, while Serana struggled to put things in a way that made sense to him. That was good, of course, but somehow it felt like a loss to her, maybe even a defeat. And worst of it was that she had no idea why she felt that way. She knew she shouldn't, and yet she did.

Great Mother, she really was getting too old for all this.

"Part of it you know already," Ayden was saying to Galen. "It's quite simple. You visualize in your mind what you want to accomplish, and when you liberate your Energies at the moment of Release, you channel them into your Intent. Once your intent is sufficiently energized, you simply will it to happen."

Galen raised his eyebrows.

"Perhaps we have different ideas about the meaning of simple," he suggested blandly.

Ayden smiled.

"Well, it is simple, really. It's just the details that are a little difficult to put into words sometimes."

"Serana tried to show me. I don't think I quite got it, though."

Ayden nodded.

"That's understandable. Serana is a very good teacher of sex magic, much better than I am, but she picked it all up on her own, a very long time ago. She didn't have any formal training or teaching until she was already quite skilled, so the way she does it is... I suppose her style is more intuitive than anything else. And that sort of thing is hard to follow sometimes. But then, Irya does the same, every now and then..."

His voice trailed off as he gazed into the distance. They were sitting outside, in front of the house. The day was blue and green and golden, but no longer as hot as it had been a few hours earlier when Galen had been busy cultivating a patch of soil by the side of the house.

"Irya said the same thing about you," Galen said. "She told me that you learned most of it on your own, too."

Ayden thought about it for a few moments.

"Well, yes, I suppose I did, at least for the most part," he said slowly. "But the difference is that I'd had a bit of formal education on mundane matters beforehand. My parents were fairly well off, and I learned to read and write as a boy. I hated them at the time for making me take lessons every day, but they really did me a huge favor. Books have taught me a lot. I've also had the privilege of learning more from a number of very good mages after I'd picked up the basics myself."

"And Irya?"

"Her training as a mage was more formal than mine. It's often that way: it starts with a certain amount of interest, sometimes a little talent, but the rest comes from having the right teachers at the right time. Much like you, really. But that's not the point. Irya and I have been together for a long time. We know each other intimately. And yet I still struggle to follow her, now and then. So why is that, do you think?"

He stopped there and looked at Galen expectantly.

"Maybe..." Galen ventured. "Maybe it's not how you learned it. Maybe it's just how your mind works. Yours and hers."

Ayden nodded approvingly.

"That's right," he said. "Men and women tend to think in different ways. Men prefer to follow straight lines. Straightforward, if you will. Sometimes even too straight, to the point where we get stuck on a single idea and we can't see any alternatives anymore. Women are different. Women tend to think more in circles. Or back and forth. Or sideways. Women don't think things through all the way sometimes, and men often find that exasperating. Yet female thinking does tend to be far more creative and it often produces results that men alone could never come up with. On the other hand, female reasoning often makes sense only to women."

He chuckled.

"Don't tell them I said that."

"Too late," Serana said from the doorway where she was standing. "I heard you."

"Oh."

"You're not wrong, though," she told him. "Male minds are indeed quite simple, when you get right down to it. Straightforward is the only way they know. Understanding the more subtle intricacies that require a female mind is really quite beyond them."

Ayden winced. Serana managed not to smile.

"Gently, sister," Irya's voice came from within the house. "Have mercy on the poor creature. It's not his fault that he's only a man, after all."

"No, I suppose it isn't," Serana said with a hint of barb in her voice.

"He might have a very good point, though," Galen said carefully. "Men's and women's minds do seem to work differently. Maybe that's why I sometimes have trouble seeing what you're doing. With magic, I mean."

"It's entirely possible," Serana admitted. "So why don't you let Ayden show you how he does it?"

"Not a bad idea," Ayden agreed. "How about it, Galen? A different perspective at this point could be a good thing."

Galen nodded slowly. He realized full well the implication of Ayden's words. So far he had only practiced sex magic with Serana and Irya. He had never worked closely with a male sex mage.

Serana caught Ayden's eye, realizing how important this seemingly ordinary moment really was. The time had come for Galen to make a choice, and with that inner certainty that she had never questioned, Serana knew what that choice would be.

Galen stood.

"Alright," he said, squaring his shoulders. "Let's give it a try."

Ayden nodded.

"Good man," he said simply.

Serana smiled at him.

"It'll be fine, Galen," she told him, meaning it.

Galen nodded.

"I know."

"Well," Ayden said as he also stood up. "We've got some preparations to make, then. Come, Galen. Let's get started."

"Exactly what sort of preparations are we talking about here?" Galen asked.

Ayden looked speculatively at the patch of soil that Galen had been working on that morning.

"I thought we'd kill two birds with one stone," he said. "You've been spading up that field quite nicely, but it's getting a bit late in the season already. If the four of us want to eat by harvest time, perhaps we should hurry things along a little. So let's water the soil and get some seeds in. Tonight we'll have a full moon. As long as we're going to teach you how to perform a magical working anyway, we might as well put it to some good use and speed up the growth of our crop a little. Otherwise we might be cutting it rather close by the time fall comes around."

"I did wonder about that," Galen admitted. "An early winter would certainly be a problem. Alright, let's do that. We should be done well before sundown, I think."

Serana chuckled.

"Physical labor, Ayden?" she said. "That's a first. You're getting old."

"And frequently misunderstood," Ayden replied with great dignity. "It's the bane of my existence, but a load I must bear. Coming, Galen?"

Galen nodded.

"If anyone would have told me that it takes a hoe and a bucket to prepare for sex magic, I'd never have believed it," he said to no-one in particular.

"I know," Ayden said, deadpan. "A mage's life is full of surprises."

Serana watched them go, feelings of hope and apprehension mingling within her. She knew that Ayden would contribute to Galen's training in ways she herself would never be able to. But what awaited at the end of that education was enough to give her nightmares.

* * *

The evening was cool and fresh. The sky was dark and clear, the fields were all silver in the light of the full moon, and the smell of damp earth was heavy on the air. Serana inhaled it deeply. It was the perfect night for the creation of new life, she thought. Even Galen, freshly bathed and shaved as he was, had a fragrance of vitality and virility about him.

"Well, I suppose we're ready," Galen said. "So... Are we going to do it here? Outside, I mean?"

Serana could not help smiling.

"Are you serious?" she said. "It would be far too chilly. And the grass will be soaking wet by now, too. No, I think we'll be moving this indoors, Galen."

"I'm not that cold."

"You will be when you're naked on wet grass. There's also the mosquitoes."

"I suppose so," he said with a shrug. "Although I'm not going to be naked, am I? I mean, how bad can it be?"

She gave him a stern frown.

"First of all, don't be selfish, young man. We're not all feeling as manly as you are right now. Secondly, you're wrong. You will be naked."

"Oh?"

She nodded.

"Ayden feels, and I agree with him, that the best way to learn something is to do it. So you're not just going to watch him go through the motions of a magical operation; the two of you will be doing it together. Which means that Irya and I will be stimulating both of you."

He gave her a speculative look.

"That's not the only reason, is it?" he asked pointedly.

She caught his eyes and saw the understanding there. When she had discussed it with Ayden earlier, they had both agreed that it might be a good idea to make this as easy for Galen as they could. The lad had dealt well with most of the things that had been thrown at him lately, but this was different. Some social taboos were stronger and more difficult to overcome than others, and there was no way of knowing how the effect that this one might have on him.

"I think you already know the answer to that question," she replied simply.

He nodded slowly.

"Yes. I suppose I do."

"We'll do anything we can to help you, Galen."

"I appreciate that."

"Shall we go in, then?"

He followed her into the house. She paused to close and bar the front door before entering the bedroom, where Ayden and Irya had placed lit candles in each corner of the room and shuttered the window.

"Alright, Galen," Ayden said in a deliberately business-like manner. "Here's what we're going to do. You and I are going to be on the bed, with Serana and Irya helping us to build up our Energies. When the Energetic levels are high enough, we're all going to join our awareness, all four of us. You will link with Serana first. You've practiced Melding with her before, so you know how to do it. I will join my awareness with Irya's, and then they will link the four of us. Once we're all included in the Meld, I'll formulate my Intent and Release the Energies into it at the point of orgasm. You will watch closely, and when you're ready you will do the same. Serana and Irya will make sure you don't make any mistakes. Alright?"

Serana watched Galen as he looked at Ayden and squared his shoulders.

"Alright," he said with a tone of determination in his voice.

"Good man," Ayden said.

But Serana knew her young apprentice well enough to know that he was grateful for her presence here.

Ayden began to unfasten his tunic. Just like Galen he wore a simple tunic and hose with a breechcloth underneath. Serana watched Galen to see how he would react while Ayden removed first his hose, then his breechcloth. She was fairly sure the lad had never seen another man naked before, and certainly not this close. She knew men and the society they grew up in well enough to know that this was likely to be at least somewhat uncomfortable for him, especially given that they were about to do something which, by its very nature, would be quite intimate. The fact that that intimacy was to serve as a means to an end, rather than a purpose onto itself, mattered little.

Galen stood there for a few moments, looking at Ayden while obviously trying not to stare. Serana noticed once again how good her old friend still looked despite his age. There was a seasoned, understated muscularity about him, a subtle mix of age and virility. His cock, still flaccid, was a little larger than Galen's, although she knew from experience that they both would be about the same size when fully erect.

"I have seen you naked before, Galen," Ayden assured him with a gentle smile. "Turnabout only seems fair play, wouldn't you say?"

Galen nodded and began to remove his own clothing while Ayden lay back on the bed. Irya, kneeling down beside him, wasted no time. She began stroking the inside of Ayden's thighs, then caressed his balls, and when she reached his cock it began to stir almost immediately. Serana managed not to smile. She knew how skilled Irya was when it came to touching a man's body to inflame him in ways he wouldn't have thought possible. She also knew that Irya had been practicing some of those skills on Galen, so the lad would be fully aware of what Ayden was feeling right now.

From the look on his face and the way he walked toward the bed and lay down on it beside Ayden, she could see that he was holding on to his self-control with some effort, but she also could see his resolve. The lad was clearly determined to do whatever it took. She wondered briefly if he would close his eyes. He didn't, and Serana was both impressed and encouraged.

Ayden's cock continued to swell and rise, while Irya's fingertips continued to touch him, her hands moving and weaving as if she were casting an enchantment. By the time Serana knelt at the side of the bed next to Galen, she knew that he could not have helped noticing how Ayden's cock had fully hardened under Irya's skillful ministrations and that it was now standing up firm and proud in all its large and rigid glory. In fact she was sure of it, because the proof of Galen's awareness was swelling and rising up, too, right there before her eyes. It was growing larger and harder with every beat of his heart, even though she hadn't even touched her young apprentice yet. Interesting, she mused. Very interesting.

But that line of thought would have to wait. She reached out and took the proof of his arousal in her hand. Great Mother, he had such a wonderful cock. There was something about it... It stood to attention before her, hard as steel yet soft as velvet and smooth as silk, so full of life. She could feel his pulse through it as it reached its full hardness, right there in her hand. The silky-smooth head, bulbous and shiny with the inner pressure of his blood, seemed to beg her to touch it, caress it, lick it, suck it...

With some effort she regained control of herself. She was supposed to teach him, not get carried away by him! Yet here she was, fascinated, distracted and besotted like some inexperienced farm girl! What was happening to her?

Stopping herself in her tracks, she quickly turned her Vision inward to check for any spells. He'd done it before, after all. But try as she might, she could find no proof that her thoughts and feelings were anything but her own. Good. Or not? For a moment she couldn't decide whether to be relieved or concerned by that fact.

She wrapped one hand around his hard, throbbing shaft and began to caress the head with the other, her fingertips gently and lightly stroking the taut, smooth surface, then tracing their way down to the crown and beyond it, paying special attention to the sensitive band formed by the exposed inside of his retracted foreskin. His breathing deepened as she continued her caresses. Next to him, Ayden had closed his eyes as Irya let her lips slide down around the head of his cock while her fingertips traced intricate patterns across his sac, which had already begun to tighten.

She felt Galen's cock twitch as her own fingertips found his balls, and she smiled. Suddenly she wanted to tease him, drag it out until he'd beg her to make him cum and his orgasm would finally explode with the intensity of a dying star. But that was not what he needed right now. She bent down and put a light, gentle kiss on the bulbous head of his cock. When she glanced up, his eyes met hers, and he smiled. She smiled back at him. He'd been watching Irya work on Ayden's cock as much as he'd been watching her work on his. But she read something else in his eyes as well, and she knew that it was taking him more effort to control himself and keep his arousal and his Energies from getting out of hand than it had ever before.

"Close your eyes," she mouthed, soundlessly.

He did as he said, and as her lips touched the underside of his cock again she felt him relax slightly. Good. His Energies were not nearly at the level where they had to be, and he was going to need more time. So would Ayden, although Irya's head had already begun to bob up and down slowly as her lips slid back and forth across the head of his cock. His breathing, while still controlled, had deepened considerably. But Ayden was an expert at controlling his arousal.

Now that Galen had his eyes closed and was no longer, or at least less, distracted by what Irya and Ayden were doing right next to him, she could increase the pace a little. Sensing the flow of his Energies as they roiled and pulsed within him, she used her tongue on the underside of his cock until they reached a more stable state. When she felt that his control no longer threatened to slip away from him, she licked her lips and let the head of his cock slip between them as her fingers begun to caress his balls.

Great Mother, he tasted good! With the tip of her tongue she tasted the thick, clear nectar of his arousal that had begun to leak out of him, and she savored its slightly salty flavor and velvety texture. Her own nectar would even sweeter, she knew, and thick as honey. She could feel it pool between her nether lips even now. If only he could dip his tongue in there and taste her now...

But such thoughts wouldn't do, and she berated herself for getting distracted again. She was the teacher and he was the apprentice, not the other way around! Why did these thoughts continue to intrude? Once more she forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

As his Energies continued to build, she carefully reached out with her inner Awareness. Yes, he did remember what he had learned. In fact, right now he was showing more discipline than she was, as he slowly separated a portion of his Energy to share with her. She gratefully accepted it and let it flow though her.

* Galen? * her mind probed.

* Yes, * his thought came back.

As she joined her awareness with his, she clearly felt the effort it took him to keep both his arousal and his Energies under control.

* Serana... I don't know how long I can... *