The Forgotten Catacombs

"I never thought I would ever have your cock in my mouth," she said, removing her head from it long enough to laugh. "No one will ever believe this when I tell them."

Her mouth returned to its work, with Decius leaning against the shelves and grasping her by the hair. She was good, trained in her art not by instructors at the collegia but by students. Or perhaps by the priestesses of Nystra, Goddess of Pleasure. She continued about her work until he was close to finishing.

"Hold on, girl," he said and pulled his cock out of her mouth. She pouted for him, staring up into his eyes with her eyes. The lantern light made her white face even more so, and he had to pinch his cock closed so that he did not burst all over her so soon.

"You keep going like that and I won't last long enough to put it in you."

"Well, let's not waste anymore time then," she said, rising to her feet.

She pulled her dress over her head, standing before him on only her smallclothes. Decius wasted no time in removing those, leaving him with a view of pink nipples on white flesh and her shaven sex. He busied his mouth on the former while working the latter with his fingers, pressing Ephia up against the shelves as he did. She kicked off her shoes to stand naked before him. Her fingers wound their way through his hair and she moaned with pleasure.

He stood up and kissed her mouth, exulting in her crooked rep lips and mischievous smile.

"Why stop there?" she asked wickedly and spread her legs open. Decius cast a look down the corridor towards the stairs. There was no light nor motion nor sound from them.

"We're not the first couple to fuck in the stacks," she said, "though we might be the first to do it down here in a long time."

"Oh, I'm well aware of the library's other uses. I've enjoyed my share of bookworms in here, you should know."

He grabbed her lantern from the shelf and raised it over her head, admiring her nakedness.

"Come now, Capricius," she teased, "Afraid of getting caught?" It was all Decius needed to hear. He threaded his arms under her bottom and lifted her up as she braced herself against the shelves, then lowered her onto his cock. Her eyes rolled back as he entered her and she gave out a little moan. He thrust his cock into her and drew it out again, his eyes wandering to her breasts and the bouncing they endured each time her thrust into her. He thrust in again and she squealed in delight. Encouraged by such a wonderful sound, he unleashed his full lust upon her.

Ephia braced herself against the shelves, rocking them against the stone floor with each thrust of his hips. The clattering of the shelves echoed loudly throughout the otherwise silent cellars.

The exertion soon began to tire him and he adjusted his posture for the better.

"Here," she said, stopping his thrusting with a hand on his chest, "Let us find somewhere where I can get on top."

He shed his clothes in the aisle, leaving them atop her own, and followed her into a small study chamber, where Decius lay himself atop an old table that creaked under his weight. Ephia wasted no time in mounting him, sliding his cock into the wetness between her legs. She planted both hands on his chest and began to ride him vigorously. He pulled her down so that he could kiss her mouth, then her breasts, then her mouth again. She began to moan as she rode, changing her posture from kneeling atop him to squatting so that his cock might reach deeper inside her.

Her moaning changed to screaming as she rode and she cried out in exhortation.

"Fuck me harder, Decius! Fuck me like I'm one of the emperor's whores! Oh yes, don't stop!"

"Oh, I'm going to come!" he shouted, pushing her off. She rolled off the table and knelt before him with her mouth wide open. Decius squeezed his cock shut and positioned himself before her. pointing his cock at her mouth, he gave himself a few vigorous strokes before unleashing a spray of cum into her gaping mouth. His release was misaimed, and some landed in her eye while more dribbled down her chin and onto her breasts. Ephia giggled in delight, playing with the cum with her tongue and wiping her eyelid clean.

He leaned back against the table, panting with the exertion.

"You were everything you were made out to be," Ephia murmured, laying back on the floor with her knees under her. Cum glistened on her breasts in the lantern light. She turned over, she off her naked back to him as she rolled across the floor in euphoria.

"How does that compare to the emperor's orgies?" she wondered aloud.

"You were wonderful," he said, bending down to give her a kiss on a cum-glazed cheek. "But nothing compares to them."

She gasped in mock offense.

"I will simply not believe that! Not without proof!"

"Well, the next time I am invited, I will take you to one," he said, and she met his eyes in delighted excitement. "How does that sound?"

She smiled widely and grabbed his head, pulling him in for a kiss. "That sounds like a dream come true. I could pleasure the emperor himself, and taste his cum on my tits."

It was Decius' turn to feign offense. "Thinking of another man so soon? Perhaps I should have another go at you."

"I would love that," she said, laying her head against the dusty floor. "But your mind outraces your cock, which is still not yet ready." She reached out a delicate white hand and playfully flicked the head of his cock.

"Hush," Decius whispered, peering down the corridor, "Someone is coming."

"Hide!" Ephia hissed, suddenly afraid, "The scribes will flog me in the commons if they find out my time away from the desk was spent like this!"

The tall sorcerer paused in the dusty tunnel. Before him, he could make out the faint glow of a lantern, unless his eyes deceived him.

"Why do you stop, Aeramen?" asked his companion, Adenet Rousse. "We must be quick about this."

"Quiet," Aeramen whispered, "I think I see the glow of someone's lantern up ahead."

"More students?" asked their companion Vanules Gruitt from behind them. "Charm them or kill them and let's be gone. I do not like being in the belly of the beast."

"Cloak yourself in shadow, Adenet," Aeramen commanded, "Approach them unseen and get rid of them. If you need to hide a body, there are all manner of foul beasts in the Catacombs that would be of use."

Adenet nodded and spoke the words to shroud himself in a cloak of invisibility. To all but the most trained eyes, he was no more than a puff of air. So hidden, he stole silently down the corridor to the source of the light, until suddenly it winked out.

Aeramen swore under his breath. Turning to the others, he gave out orders, "Rhamenes, take your lantern around that hall. Praxte, guard the stairs we came down. Vanules, stay close and keep a watch. We must avoid detection."

The others scattered through the narrow corridors while Aeramen and Vanules the demonbinder slowly crept forward. Aeramen held in his hands a magical compass, whose needle pulsed a dim red in the darkness. Their ears and eyes alert, they made their way into the densely packed shelves, following the needle's point.

Decius and Ephia crouched naked together in a side chamber as a pair of lanterns bobbed up and down through the shelves. Ephia's lantern, doused, lay between her bare feet. Decius thought of their clothes, strewn about the larger chamber, with his spice and coin pouch underneath them. Hopefully, whoever was out there would not find them.

He kept a hand on Ephia's naked shoulder to steady her, as she was trembling with excitement. Still flushed from their amorous interlude, she was further flustered by the prospect of getting caught by one of the dour scribes who patrolled the cellars, or perhaps by her ornery colleague from the front desk.

"They will pass soon," Ephia whispered in the darkness, "Unless they are also looking for some privacy down here."

"I would not be averse to some company, in that case," Decius whispered back. But something unnerved him under his humor. The behavior of those lanterns was consistent with neither scribes nor students, and his sorcerer's mind detected the something amiss in the magical realm.

"They are getting close," he said, "we should move. Out that door and into the hall beyond," he pointed to the far side of the chamber. "Don't forget your lantern."

They moved together in a quiet hurry, passing out of the chamber just as the lanterns' glow streamed through the door to illuminate the spot where they had hidden.

Decius paused in the hallway, for now the lanterns were splitting up. He ushered Ephia into another chamber and took note of its exits, plotting an escape route already.

"They are searching for us. We should look for an opportunity to retrieve our clothes and make for the stairs again."

Ephia nodded, clutching her lantern close to her chest, where the cold metal made her pale flesh rise in goosebumps. Her heart was racing at the prospect of being caught, and her eyes darted from one distant lantern glow to another like a hunted animal.

"Can you not turn us invisible?" she asked eagerly.

"Perhaps," Decius replied in thought, "I have not the innate power for it and I left my spice with my clothes. But there is something strange about these searchers." He pushed Ephia into a hiding spot between two shelves stacked with old ledgers.

"Stay here, I am going to have a look at them." Ephia looked about to protest, but he stole away before she could muster a response. Stealthily, he approached the nearer of the two lanterns.

Aeramen looked down an aisle to his side and spied a mass of clothes discarded on the floor. He signaled to Vanules and they slipped between the shelves to investigate. He prodded the pile with his foot, turning it over. A man's tunic and trousers, a cloak and a woman's dress. He was unsurprised. The lower cellars were popular with the students as a place for trysts.

"Just two kids fucking," he said quietly to Vanules. "find them and bewitch them to sleep through the night and remember nothing. It should be easy."

Vanules nodded and went off searching. Aeramen returned to his compass. The glowing red needle led him into a side chamber whose door was shrouded in cobwebs. Brushing them aside, he checked his shoulders for spiders. Finding none, he entered the room, which had loose sheets of paper and parchment strewn across the floor.

This ancient college has more knowledge than they could ever hope to catalogue, let alone use, he thought to himself. Stepping over them, he pulled open the doors of an ancient cabinet. There within lay his prize, a centuries old tome faced in brass and sealed with a heavy iron lock. Aeramen put away the compass and carefully picked up the tome from its place. At last, he thought, the Black Book of Sestius Rufus Mincio.

The book was even heavier than he expected, its cover engraved with wards and warnings. He ran a hand over it, probing the magics within for a weakness or a key to the lock. The spells were old, and unfamiliar. Unlocking the book's secrets would take more time.

No doubt one of the instructors above him would know the answer, he knew, but he was no longer on speaking terms with the Collegium. Never in his years of exile had he regretted poisoning that bond more than he did now, standing in their library cellar with unspeakable sorcerous power lying just out of his reach. Damn them all, he thought to himself, If it were not for their stubbornness, I could have everything thanks to this! But it was of no use. No magic in the world would let him undo what had been done all those years ago.

Vanules reappeared, interrupting his thoughts.

"They must be close," he said, annoyance evident in his narrow black eyes, "But I cannot find them. The shelves are many and the passages narrow."

"No matter then," Aeramen lowered his voice and spoke in Narosian, Vanules' mother tongue, confident that it would be foreign to most eavesdropping students, "we have our prize. Gather the others and let us make haste for our rooms at the Jester's Cap. We will rise early and be on a ship shortly after dawn."

Vanules nodded warily. He was eager to be away from this place at last, the stress of such an endeavor wearing on his nerves. The demonbinder extended a hand, holding a sack made from manticore hide. Aeramen slid the tome inside to keep it safe from prying eyes, both mortal and arcane. He slung the sack over his shoulder and followed Vanules toward the stairs.

As they passed through the thicket of shelves, motion to his right caught his eye. He clapped a hand on Vanules' shoulder and pointed into the shelves. Together, they dove into the shelves in pursuit of the spy. His hard gray eyes searching, he drew his silvery sword and spoke the command word. The blade flared to life with green fire.

Their chase proved short, and Aeramen cornered his nude quarry in the tangle of shelves. The man turned to face him, and Aeramen stopped short in surprise. The weight of many years fell away from him and his mind returned to his days as an adeptus at this very school, and the people had known then.

"Decius," Aeramen breathed in recognition, unable to believe his own misfortune. "I should have known it would be you." He looked over Decius' nude body and chuckled. "Some things never change."

"I wish I could say it was good to see you again, Fabius," Decius replied, unashamed. "This could have been you down here with a pretty girl, just as it was before."

Vanules emerged behind Decius, slowly and stealthily stealing his way towards the cornered sorcerer with a long knife in his outstretched hand.

"It could never be me again. It's far too late for that, as you know." Aeramen kept Decius' attention focused on himself, leaning back against the shelving behind him, pretending to be in deep thought.

"I suppose it is. And this man," he gestured over his shoulder at the silently approaching Vanules, "I presume this would be one quarter of the Ebon Chalice Cabal?"

Aeramen's eyes flickered to Vanules, who wore the same expression of annoyed surprise. The demonbinder had truly been silent as an owl, how had Decius detected him? "I was forced to find new friends. This arrangement had proven most beneficial to me."

"Forced? You were forced?" Decius asked incredulously, "You cannot believe that, can you?"

"You were not there," Aeramen snapped, "You have only heard their side."

"And what is your side, hm?" Decius demanded, "What can you say that would exonerate you?"

"The time for trials and exonerations is passed. I have what I came for, but I cannot let you tell the Arcani or the Regents you have seen me. I am sorry it has to end this way, Decius."

"Me too, Aeramen," Decius replied, and he shimmered and stepped backwards, through the bookshelves.

Aeramen swore and tried to shove his way through the obstacle. Vanules took off, running back along the row of shelves to find an entrance to the next aisle, but Decius was gone.

"Curses! Apliss is toying with me!" Aeramen swore, slamming his fists against the obstructing shelves. "Vanules, summon a hound to sniff them out," Aeramen he called out, running towards where the Narosian had disappeared into the stacks. He rounded a corner to find the demonbinder crouched down to the dusty floor, tracing an arcane circle in the age-old dust with his fingers. He began to chant, and slowly the dust swirled around him and formed a thick, red cloud. The cloud began to coalesce, and within it loomed the dark shape of a hound with burning coals in its eye sockets. As slowly as it came, the cloud dispersed, leaving a great hound at Vanules' side, standing as high as his waist, and panting eagerly. Long, wicked teeth in its open mouth dripped with steaming bile.

"Hunt for me," Vanules commanded, and the beasts growled in answer.

His shifting spell faded, placing Decius on the far side of a thick tangle of crowded shelving from Aeramen and his pursuers. He found his way back to where he had left Ephia, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Time to run, Ephia," he hissed into the darkness. Behind him, he could hear the Aeramen's companion chanting, and he smelled sulfur. "Ephia!"

The girl emerged from another doorway, her blonde head peering around the wall. "Come on!" Decius snapped, "there's no time to waste! We have to run and get the Arcani, these men are warlocks!"

Ephia emerged from her hiding place completely, her pale, nude body standing out in the dim light of the cellars. "The Arcani?!" she hissed at him, "no, never!"

"This is exactly why we have Arcani!" Decius shot back, "Let them hunt our enemies for once! Now come on!" he yanked her from the doorway and pulled her down the hall. She fell in quickly and matched his running pace. They tore down the halls as fast as they could in the direction of the stairs that had brought them here.

From behind, Decius heard the sound of claws on stone and a heavy panting. He whirled to see a huge hound descending on him, malice in its glowing red eyes. The monster snarled and lunged for him, its jaws snapping in search of flesh to grab hold of. Decius kicked at the beast, his bare foot connecting with its muscular body, coated in coarse fur. The hound roared in fury at him and came on again. Ephia throw a heavy scroll at the creature and it dodged aside, giving Decius the opportunity to knock a heavy shelf into its path. The hound came on still, scrambling over the obstacle to continue the hunt.

Backing away from the hound's snapping jaws, Decius and Ephia began retreating towards the stairs to their right. Decius saw the demonbinder disappear into the shelves, searching for an attack angle from another direction. They were in danger of being surrounded in the tangle of shelves and corridors.

The shelf to his right surged towards him and Decius backed away as quickly as he could, Ephia screaming behind him. Over the toppling shelf came a tall Laraeboi man, his bare chest tattooed with arcane sigils and a wicked bronze khopesh in his hand. He swung the blade down at Decius, who quickly conjured a barrier. The man's wrist struck the barrier and he cried out, the khopesh falling from his grasp. Decius seized the weapon before it struck the stone floor and readied it to strike back.

The man backpedaled away, drawing a rondel dagger from his belt. He assumed a practiced crouch, his second weapon at the ready. The hound nearly bowled him over in its haste to attack Decius, leaving the two of them tangled up in the corridor. Decius took the opportunity to run.

"Not that way!" Ephia called, pulling him back before the warlocks could close in around him. Decius knocked over another shelf, its contents spilling into the narrow aisle to form a significant obstacle to his pursuers.

"Run!" he shouted, and they took off down the corridor. The sickly green flame of the Aeramen's sword and the soft white glow of the lanterns came after them, and Decius ran ahead through the twisting passages, trying to remember the way from all his past escapades in the cellars.

He took a wrong turn and doubled back, wasting the head start he had gained for them. His shifting spell spent, he was reduced to running on his mundane feet, even if he were inclined to abandon the girl. Ephia toppled another bookcase into the path of their pursuers, buying them a little more distance in the chase. Decius ran through another crowded scroll repository, hoping to lose them in the tangle, and emerged on the far side.

They found themselves in a decaying corridor, even older than the rest of the cellars, with just two exits, the one they had entered through, and a heavy bronze door at the end of the hall. "Apliss!" Ephia swore, "it's a dead end! That door leads to the Catacombs, and is locked for a reason!"