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Amber's Enchantment Ch. 01

By: dweaver999





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 01



His thought processes were interrupted by the entrance of Tewant, Melan Lustren's slave. "Master wizard? Mistress Melan asked to see you."

"Yes, Tewant, I'll be right there. I just need to..." Vesti paused, a thought coming to him. "That's it," he thought to himself. "That's the solution to my assistant problem."

"Master?" the female slave asked.

"Oh, my apologies, Tewant. I just had a thought, that's all. Tell madam Lustren I'll be along presently."

"Yes, Master."

As the girl left, Vesti consulted a scroll and found that he'd have to wait until later that night to make his orbing. It wouldn't do to upset the man by waking him in the early hours of the morning. Best of all, he shouldn't have any problem writing the cost off as expenses.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 02







Amber's Enchantment Ch. 02



Amber followed him through the sleeping area which also had a chair and desk with voluminous writing materials. Going through another curtain, she saw a room dominated by shelves and a single table. Uncountable objects, many of which were surrounded by a glow of strange designs were littered about the table and shelving in seeming disarray. Vesti's next words confirmed that assessment.

"This room is a mess and I spend as much time finding what I need as I do on the work itself. My own fault, really. But, with a slave here, that shouldn't be a problem. Before you can help keep this place straightened, I need to make sure you can recognize what everything is. There are many magical items in this room, which have very different functions. Some of those functions are disruptive of each other, so the items can't be stored in close proximity to one another. It isn't a problem for me, as I'm so used to them that I can tell at a glance which are which. I do need, however, to teach you how to tell them apart."

Vesti went on from there to explain how the items were marked with small etchings that let those familiar with them to tell what each item was supposed to do. Amber quickly noticed a correlation between the glow that each object had and the function it was designed for. While she thought it curious that Vesti had gone to all the trouble to mark each item when there was a distinctive aura around each, she recalled her training in household duties. "Remember, Amber, when doing household cleaning, never go beyond what you were asked to do. A scribe's desk may look a mess, but more than once we've had a trainee returned to us with the complaint that, 'she messed with my papers and now I can't find anything.' If what they ask you to do, or the way they want it done seems strange, just smile and follow your directions."

As Vesti explained the general functions and which items to store away from the others, she thought it made perfect sense. You don't store heating and cooling objects together because they will drain each other's magic, for example. Soon, she had the patterns and instructions down and was able to start cleaning the room.

"I see you're a quick study, Amber. I'll leave you to this then. Oh, and I'll be wanting your company in bed tonight," he added with a lustful smile on his face.

"Yes, Master, it'll be my pleasure," she answered with her own smile.

Amber worked with a purpose, wanting to show how good a slave she could be. Vesti had left the actual organizing to her, and she took several minutes examining the auras and deciding which items would be best stored where. She used the objects without auras, the non-magical ones, as separators between those that were magic. She noticed while she was being instructed, that Vesti had never left incompatible things next to each other. "He must check them out of habit," she thought to herself. She also noticed that the auras seemed to fade while she was holding the objects, only to reappear when she set them back down.

One thing that Amber wondered about was why the magical training aids back in House Grantlo didn't have auras like the objects here did. She thought it might have had something to do with the nature of the enchantments.

Returning to the front room areas, Amber saw Vesti sitting in a chair, reading a book. Following her training, she knelt next to his chair, awaiting instructions of serving by anticipation. After a few minutes, he put his book down.

"Well, Amber, I assume you're done."

"Yes, Master. Do you want me to show you how I've organized things?"

"That would be a good idea," he said as he rose. "You finished very fast. Much faster than assistants have in the past."

"Thank you, Master. I hope my work meets your expectations." Amber's trainers had emphasized how important it was to be both quick and accurate in the various household services she might be called upon to perform.

"Ah, this looks so much better.. It was becoming hard to find the things I needed." He looked about the room and froze. Walking over to one section of the shelving, he picked up a couple of objects and looked at the etchings on them. Moving to another area, he examined the objects there with equal interest. "Amber?" he asked.

Amber grew frightened that she'd done something wrong as she watched his intense face while he was looking things over. "Yes, Master," her trembling voice asked.

"Why did you put the potion energizers with the warmth stones?" he asked, holding up two objects.

"I…it…they seemed to…it seemed the right thing to do, Master. Should they be separated?"

"No, in fact, they're best stored near each other. Their magic won't weaken near as much. You figured out that by just looking at them?" he inquired, holding up the two objects, their inscriptions facing Amber.

Amber, not realizing what he meant, replied, "Yes, Master, I just looked at them and knew they needed to be stored together," referring to her decision to store things with like auras together.

"I may well want you permanently when your training is complete. Even my apprentice didn't have such an intuitive understanding of magical devices."

"Thank you, Master." The wide smile on Amber's face showed just how much she, like most slaves, thrived on approval and praise.

"Come, I'm hungry. You can show me how well you can cook."

As it turned out, Amber was a moderately good cook, though not the result of any special training. In her past, she'd helped her mother in the kitchens and had developed a sense of what things would taste good together.

When he noticed that Amber wasn't eating, he asked, "Amber, are you waiting for something?"

"Yes, Master. I'm not supposed to eat until my Master has finished."

"That won't do here; I don't want to wait until you've finished once I'm done. Let's do this, you don't start eating until after I've started, but don't wait for me to finish."

"Yes, Master," she replied as she started eating her own food.

While Amber was cleaning the dishes from dinner, she found herself wondering just why some things were routinely done with magic moving water, for example and others were not (cleaning dishes). She couldn't see why it was any different to move water from the stream to where it was needed than to move the residue from the meal to the waste area, wherever that was. While she knew Vesti would be the perfect person to ask, she was well trained enough to not do so.

"Amber, pleasure me. I want to see what a trained slave can do."

"Yes, Master," she answered with a smile.

Vesti was sitting on the edge of his bed, still dressed. Amber moved to him and began to remove his clothes. Her pussy was juicing in anticipation as she revealed his body. As she removed each piece of clothing, she kissed and suckled at the newly exposed skin. At his chest, she lavished attention on his nipples, an area most non-slaves didn't realize was pleasurable for a male. As the sensual feelings spread through his body, Vesti lay back and absently stroked those parts of Amber that were in reach as she tended to his pleasure.

When she removed his pants, she saw that he was already aroused, his hard cock leaking a bit of precum from the tip. In a natural reaction, Amber mentally compared Vesti's cock to others she had encountered in her instruction. Its longer than average length made her mouth water. As a result of her training, Amber was aroused by simply anticipating having a cock in her mouth. The smell of the precum; the feel of the hard organ; the sight of it responding to her actions all combined to give her pleasure even before she touched it. With a playful smile, she licked a drop off the end, enjoying the way the cock jerked at the contact with its sensitive head. After a few minutes of this playful teasing, Vesti reached for Amber's head and she allowed herself to be pulled onto him, her mouth engulfing his straining member. While long, it wasn't so thick as to make taking it in a struggle. Her lips settled comfortably around his cock while her tongue lavished adoration upon it. His hips rocked as his urgency grew and Amber grasped his ass with her hands to pull herself tighter to him. Her throat responded to the cock pressing repeatedly at its entrance and opened to allow him passage. The swallowing sensations were too much for the long denied wizard and he came, pumping cum into her throat for her to swallow.

"Gods, Amber, that was fantastic."

"Thank you, Master," she answered after finishing her swallowing of his cum. "There's more I can do for you, Master." In her enthusiasm to demonstrate her skills, Amber went farther than she should have with her offer. Vesti, however, had no problem with her aggressive service.

"I'm not sure I'm able to handle more of you."

"Oh, I'm sure that won't be a problem," she replied with a smile. "Part of my training, Master, is in how to prepare a male for more sex."

"Well, by all means, Amber, show me what you can do." To himself, he thought, "I'm definitely going to have to find myself a permanent slave. A competent assistant and a fabulous sexual partner; what more could I ask for?"

From her training, Amber knew that many men would have trouble becoming erect after having cum once. The secret to getting him back to sexual readiness was in taking her time while not letting him realize that she was taking time on purpose. She rose from her knees to embrace him on the bed, initiating a sensual kiss. As her tongue encouraged his to explore her mouth, Amber's body rubbed sensuously against Vesti's. As she kissed his mouth and face, Amber let her hands roam to other parts of his body, watching for the signs that this or that area was an erogenous zone for him.

Vesti responded to her advances with moves of his own. His hands roamed her body, caressing her back and sides, while his mouth tasted her mouth and face. Before long, his cock was showing renewed signs of life and starting to harden in preparation for becoming erect. His desire increased as well, signaled by his increasingly frantic moans of pleasure.

Soon, his cock was fully erect and demanding it's own pleasure. Vesti rolled over, bringing himself on top of Amber and, holding her arms in place above her head, thrust himself into her cunt. Amber let out a moan as her own pleasure rocketed with the filling of her pussy. As he thrust in and out of her, Amber rocked her own hips to maximize the penetration. Amber's legs extended and closed around Vesti, drawing him in and making his thrusts more energetic as he instinctively fought her grasp.

When she felt the first pulses of cum pour into her pussy, Amber clenched her cunt and pulled him tighter with her legs. Vesti gave a cry as his cock erupted in her, each burst of cum pouring out in a spasm of pure ecstasy. He collapsed, spent, before Amber could cum herself. As he lay there, she kissed his face again; this time with gentler touches designed to relax him from the high he'd just experienced. She forced her own body to relax from its near orgasm as she let his waist go; letting her legs fall lose.

"You didn't cum yourself, did you?" he asked as his wits returned.

"No, Master. It's not my place to cum without your permission."

"But what if I want you to cum?"

"Then, Master, I'll cum for you. I'll do anything you wish, Master."

"I want to see you cum, Amber."

"Yes, Master. Do you have any preference for how I reach orgasm?"

"What options are there?"

"Master, I have a selection of training aids and play toys that you or I could use on me. You could also…" Amber hesitated and blushed, looking down.

"I could what, Amber?" he asked gently, lifting her head with his finger.

"You could spank me, Master. I've achieved full pain/pleasure symbiosis."

"You mean that's not a myth?"

Responding to the implied request, Amber rolled out from him and opened her slave pouch to pull out a paddle. She hadn't looked down, trusting the enchantment on then pouch to have what she wanted at the top of the pouch's extra-dimensional space "No, Master, it's not a myth. If you spank me hard and long enough, I'll cum from just the pain of the spanking. You could even use a whip or other implement."

Vesti took the paddle from Amber's hands. "I want to see this. Position yourself to be paddled. I want to see you cum and I want to know you've cum. I may even paddle a second orgasm out of you."

Amber leapt to her feet. "Yes, Master. Thank you, Master."

Amber stood with her hands on the bed, bent over at the waist. Her ass was thrust out as his cum and her pussy juices started to drip onto her legs. Seeing the evidence of his conquest on her stirred Vesti's loins and brought his cock to the beginning of renewed hardness. He hefted the paddle, getting a feel for its weight. Satisfied, he tapped it a couple of times on her ass and then let the first blow fly. There was a flare of pain from the blow and then a spreading warmth. This feeling was repeated as each blow from the paddle landed. Vesti didn't have the same skill at spanking and whipping that Amber's trainers had, so she never reached that place where the pain was non-existent; experienced only as pleasure; but she did feel the pleasure building in the afterglow of each stroke and let her moans and cries inform Vesti of just how much she was enjoying it.

She wasn't even aware that she was lifting her ass to meet each strike, though Vesti did and found the sight of the slave silently asking for each blow incredibly erotic. He had never seen a slave punished before and hadn't been sure if he would enjoy the sight, let alone the act of giving it. The fact that he did find it erotic was a bit of a surprise, though not an unpleasant one. Rivulets of fluid were dripping down Amber's legs as her body reached even higher levels of arousal. Without direct stimulation on her pussy or clit, the road to orgasm was a long slow one. Several times, Amber begged for Vesti not to stop the paddling.

If Vesti had thought that that seeing a slave aroused by a punishment was arousing to him, hearing her plead for even more, for him to not stop, was even more so. Playing with her, he would occasionally slow the pace down and relish the increased urgency of her pleas as her deep, red ass thrust itself towards him, shaking to entice him to renewed strokes. Well trained, Amber didn't look back or break her position, but her head did crane up as she let each blow soak into her like water into a sponge. As Amber's pleasure grew and became all the more apparent, Vesti's cock grew increasingly hard, preparing itself for a third bout of pleasure in this slave's body.

When she came, it was with a loud wail, her head arched forward and up as her body shivered with the intensity of her orgasm. The sight of her undulating in pleasure was more than Vesti could resist and he grabbed her, threw her on the bed, and plunged his newly erect cock into her cunt. With a passion that bordered on animalistic, the wizard fucked the slave with fast, brutal strokes; her pussy still quivering from its orgasm. Almost instinctively, his hands held hers in place above her head again, as he slammed into her pussy from her rear. In spite of his two earlier climaxes, Vesti reached his third orgasm quickly, pumping even more cum into her cunt. As Amber felt his seed enter her, she experienced another small climax.

Kissing his arms, Amber thanked Vesti profusely for her pleasure and his use of her. As for Vesti, he was exhausted from the exertions of three orgasms. As he tried to relax his mind so he could fall asleep, Amber disentangled herself from him and assisted him in getting settled under his covers, showing an instinctive grasp of what she would be specifically trained to do in the near future. Once she finished that, she slipped out of his room and into the front areas. She hadn't been told where she would be sleeping regularly, so decided to use that area until told otherwise.

Knowing she had her training to keep up, she went to open her slave pouch and gave a gasp. Looking this time, she was startled to see an aura around the magical device; an aura that wasn't there when she'd been given it. Quickly pulling out her training aids, she was shocked to discover that they too, had auras that hadn't been there when she and Bressala packed the pouch.

"Why," she wondered, "is there an aura now when it wasn't there before? Is it because I'm in a wizard's shop? Can the fact that magic is always going on give magical items an aura? Have I changed in some way? What should I do?"

What she wanted to do, she couldn't. Asking a Master questions that weren't part of your service was just not done. As a slave, Amber's purpose was to obey her Master, not increase her personal knowledge. Some Masters encouraged their slaves to actively learn as much as they could, especially in matters related to their responsibilities. For example, a merchant's slave was often encouraged to learn about mathematics so he or she could better help their Master do his business. No slave ever learned about magic, since they were rendered incapable of doing magic, besides alchemy, by their collars; assuming they'd had the spark before being taken by the Venturers.

Amber made a mental note to ask Bressala about the auras on the aids as she put the cunt trainer inside her pussy. Tapping it once, she tried to relax and feel the pulses from the device and respond with her own muscles. It took a while, but she was eventually able to squeeze the muscles in her pussy on command, as it were. Bressala had instructed her to train with the single squeeze level until she could do it on command through an entire session for ten days. At that time, she was to reset the device, Bressala had shown her how, for the two squeeze level. Her trainer had explained that she would be expected, at that level, to be able to use two different sets of muscles in succession at that level. At this first level, she was only using a single muscle, though she used different muscles in response to different stimuli from the aid.

She replaced the aid and pulled out the smallest of the anal plug trainers. Her instructions were to wear that one for at least half the day for five more days, then move up to the next size up until she was able to wear it without any discomfort. That could be anywhere from five to 20 days, depending on how her body reacted to the probe. The plug went in easily and she found herself shifting, trying to get the thing to sit properly, or rather, to feel like it was sitting properly. Her training done, she lay down on the rug in the room and went to sleep, a smile on her face.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 02



"Oh no, sir. Having the spark makes them lazy and ineffective. True, they train in alchemy, but they don't rely on it like a dwarf."

That much was true. Dwarves had no spark, and in fact, were resistant to magic to a certain degree. The usual explanation is that mana in their bodies resisted movement more than that of other races. The result was that the only magic dwarves were personally capable of was alchemy. When one only has one way to accomplish something, you tended to become very good at it, if you could. Their lack of the spark, and their innate resistance to magic, led to a lack of kind feelings between the Wizard's guild and the race, to understate it. This was the main reason Heversham went looking for alchemists among them first. It was unlikely that a dwarf would either object to using a non-standard scroll of recipes, or inform the guild that the merchants were doing just that.

Napure continued with, "These wizards forget that the common person can't fix an errant potion with their own magic. For most of us (and all of we dwarves), our potions need to work every time. I'm sure their recipes are, for the most part, the best there are; but they certainly aren't the best alchemists. Hell, most wizards don't even do alchemy. The ones that do tend to be weak in their own craft."

"I suppose that makes sense. When can you start?"





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 03



Chapter 3

Impossible Things

As the fires burned the air of Destran, the life the residents of this planet were used to seeing, surprisingly, not only survived, but thrived. It simply did so where the fires couldn't reach. In the far reaches of the atmosphere, birds, insects, and a few reptiles and mammals floated on the updrafts caused by the heat of the fires raging in the lower levels. These hardy fliers could stay aloft for decades without landing, which was a good thing, given the lethalness of the world below them for the next 50 years.

Just as life thrived above the flames, so too, did it thrive below them. Like the sentient beings that came to Destran so long ago (humans, and others), the native animal life sought protection below the ground. While some creatures did, in fact, take refuge in the caves and tunnels that riddled the hills and mountains of this young world, more of the non-flying life literally took to the ground. If someone could have survived the experience, each shovel full of earth would be teeming with life (that would perish as it was forced into the flames). Most people were unaware of the nature of the life forms native to this world, as they never ventured onto the surface.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 03



Vesti ran his hand across the fabric covering the doorway of the building, causing light to ripple on the other side, announcing the presence of a visitor. Tewant brushed the curtain aside after several seconds. "Master Vesti. Can I do anything for you?"

"I need to see your Mistress, now. It's a matter of great importance."

Tewant looked at the basket, recognizing it. "Yes, Master. If you'll come in, I'll let Mistress know you're here." A short while later, Tewant returned. "Master, if you'll follow me, Mistress will see you in the garden."

The slave led Vesti up a spiral ramp to the roof of the house where Melan's fungal garden was located. Red, green and blue mushrooms grew to heights of three to four feet amid the yellow moss bed. With his wizard's ability to see mana flows, the garden was even more lovely as streams of rainbow colors flowed among the fungi and the soil they were growing out of a path wound it's way through the lovely growths, affording the visitor a view of most of the garden by the time they'd reached a small sitting area. The leader of Clan Lustren was sitting in a low chair, her feet resting on an ottoman.

"Vesti, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't think you'd have the items identified so quickly."

"I haven't; not entirely. Madam Lustren, where did you obtain these devices?" Vesti's voice was clipped and his expression hard and unsmiling, his tension clear to anyone with eyes or ears.

Melan frowned, unused to being asked questions in such a terse manner. "I'm not sure that's any of your business, wizard; but if you must know, I obtained them from a merchant. They were quite expensive."

"I'm not surprised. I've never encountered such a dangerous device before. What merchant family sold these to you?"

"I'm afraid I can't divulge that information. It's a new clan, very small, that plans on specializing in specialty items. They're concerned about being ground out of business by the larger clans. What makes these things so dangerous?"

Vesti sighed, not knowing if he could explain the true significance of them to her. "One of the devices activated while I was examining it. My slave was nearly killed."

Melan interrupted him with, "Pshah, slaves can't be killed."

"That's not my point," he returned through clenched teeth. "If she hadn't been a slave, with her collar protecting her, she would be dead right now. But," he added with a hand raised, forestalling her new interruption, much to her dismay, "even more disturbing is how she would have died. The device attempted to pull all the mana out of her body."

"Fascinating," she mused, confirming to Vesti that she didn't understand the ramifications of what the thing did.

"No, not fascinating," Vesti interrupted, his voice rising. "Disturbing, very disturbing. What it tried to do is supposed to be impossible. Magic can't remove the mana from anything. It manipulates mana, moves it to create the desired effects. Everything in the world has mana, if only in minute amounts in some cases. If there was something without mana in it, magic would be unable to affect it directly." Unable to remain still in the face of his rising emotional state, Vesti began to pace while his hands gestured wildly. "It wouldn't be alive, it wouldn't be dead; it would be...something not alive or dead; I don't know, unalive, undead? Where did these devices come from?" His final question was punctuated with his finger jabbing at Melan.

"Control yourself, Vesti!" the woman commanded, her own voice rising, while her body barely resisted the urge to rise with it. "I'll not be address in that way, not in my own house and lands. I promised the clan that their existence and identity would be kept secret, and I intend to keep my word."

Vesti took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. While the wizard's guild and the royal families are theoretically equal in power on Destran, a single wizard could not confront the leader of a royal family and expect to survive politically or professionally. "Can you at least tell me what they were intended to be used for?"

"I supposed that would be fine. I wanted something more effective to deal with ore rats," she explained, referring to the bane of her family's existence. Ore rats (not really rats, actually) were native animals that infested veins of louvet. During the burning times, they nearly overran the veins, making mining the ore very dangerous (they attacked when disturbed, and while one could be dealt with effectively by a miner's pick, the swarms encountered during the burning times were uncontrollable).

Vesti stared at her for a minute, scowling as he did. "You didn't trust your supplier, did you? If you had, you'd have simply used these things on the rats."

Shaking her head, she replied, "No, that's not exactly it. We weren't told the devices would kill the rats. They're supposed to be used on the veins themselves. He called it a treatment that would cause the rats to go elsewhere."

"That doesn't make se...No, it just might in some convoluted way. Does your supplier know why louvet is mined?"

"I don't know. I assumed everyone's familiar enough with alchemy to know what louvet is."

"You'd be surprised," Vesti muttered under his breath. "You can't use these on the veins. They apparently remove mana from what they're used on. It's the mana in louvet that makes it valuable for alchemy. Strip the mana away, and while you may have rat free mining, you'll also have a worthless product. Next time, if you're insistent on dealing with whoever this is, ask for something to kill the rats, not just deal with the problem."

"I see. What do I do with these," she asked, pointing at the devices in the basket.

"As long as you don't use them on anything, it doesn't matter. Personally, I'd destroy them. I would like one to send back to the guild for study. These could revolutionize magical theory."

"Absolutely not. I paid good money for these and I want that money back. I intend to return them to the merchant."

Vesti nodded. "Is there anything else, ma'am?"

"No, you can go."

Vesti made his way back to his quarters, thinking on what he'd learned. While it wasn't uncommon for new merchant clans to try to strike out on their own, it was very unusual for one to do so during the burning times. The ability to bring new and unique products to the market simply didn't exist. The tunnels and caves that made survival during these 50 years of inhospitality on the surface were thoroughly explored. There was nothing new to be found here; nothing a new clan could make its stake with.

However, if this clan had a wizard that had learned how to do the impossible, it might be able to make its name on the basis of new and unique magic. What bothered Vesti was just what this new magic seemed to be capable of. Everything in the world had mana, even if the concentrations were small enough that it took special vision enhancing magic to see it. The idea of mana-less things, or worse, mana-less life, bothered Vesti in ways he couldn't explain. The more he tried to imagine life without mana, the worse he felt.

"Welcome back, Mas..." Amber paused, seeing the look of worry, no, more like fear, on her Master's face. "Master, is something wrong? Is there anything I can do?"

Vesti shook his head, clearing the rambling thoughts form his head. "I'm sorry, Amber. Are you okay? Are you feeling strange in any way?"

"No, Master. Should I?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm just concerned about what that device may have done. Stand still for right now. I want to examine you magically."

Amber did as he told her and Vesti started going through motions that Amber now recognized as the casting of a magic spell. An orange colored field grew up around Amber, though she couldn't feel anything. While she looked at it with curiosity, Vesti studied the pulsing colors that appeared to his sight. This spell was one designed to show the functioning of the internal parts of a person's body were doing. From what he could see in the spell, Amber's body was a normal human body, with only those slight alterations caused by the constant operation of the collar on her.

As he studied her, he realized that he lacked a crucial piece of knowledge; he didn't know how her body operated before the accident. He wondered if the bright center she used to have was significant in some way. As rare as it was, Vesti doubted he'd have another chance to study such a phenomena again. He was beginning to regret the standard courtesy he'd extended House Grantlo by not examining the slave magically.

Letting the field drop, he reassured Amber, "Everything seems normal, Amber. You collar seemed to protect you from any harm. Is the workroom back in order?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good, why don't you fix dinner and, if I feel up to it, we can play a bit."

"Of course, Master," she answered with a sly grin. As she walked to the kitchen area, she gave her hips an extra wiggle to encourage him to feel up to it.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 03



"Yes, Master. Please hurt me, hurt me until I'm begging for my orgasm," she gasped, her voice an octave lower from the lust burning its way through her.

Releasing her suddenly, he ordered, "Get the straps and the rings, slave."

Amber rushed off, only to return a minute later with six silvery rings and several leather straps. The enchanted leather in the straps adhered to itself as he wrapped them around her ankles and two of the rings. Vesti pulled the rings out from Amber, to the front and back and released them. The enchantment on the rings held them in place once he wasn't touching them; effectively immobilizing her leg. The second leg was similarly rendered incapable of movement, spread three feet from the first.

Three more straps went around her arms, binding them behind her tight enough to force Amber's elbows to touch. Another strap was used to connect a ring to her wrists. Vesti smiled as he pulled the ring up, forcing Amber's arms up; and Amber to bend at the waist As her wrists ascended, Amber groaned in pain as her shoulders felt a burning agony begin to build. When Vesti released the ring, its magic resisted all the strain Amber put on it (the rings would only move if grasped with intent). As the pain increased, so did Amber's arousal as her natural pain/pleasure symbiosis kicked in.

The last two straps went around Amber's forehead and linked it to the final ring. Pulling it back, Vesti forced Amber's head up against the natural tendency to fall forward to take as much tension off her shoulders. Tears leaked form her eyes in response to the pain while she panted in combined desire and agony. When Vesti shed his robe, her mouth opened to invite his use.

Amber's head was at just the right height and Vesti thrust his cock into her waiting m mouth. As he entered, Amber closed and enveloped it in her moist warmth. On each back stroke, Amber's tongue swirled around the tip of it, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her Master. Each thrust into her mouth pushed her back against the pressure holding her in place, causing another wave of heightened pain to surge through her body. With each of those surges, her arousal increased, igniting a fire in her cunt and tits that demanded release.

Vesti growled as his pleasure grew to a near unbearable ache in his cock and balls. Like most wizards, he had discovered how to use his magic to prolong his sexual pleasure very early. He was doing that now, staving off his climax until he was literally incapable of maintaining the interruption of his mana flow that allowed orgasm. He grabbed Amber's body as he increased the sheer brutality of his rutting into her mouth. He could feel her tremble in pain beneath his hands as he forced her against the immovable restraints with increased force. When his release came, he pulled almost all the way out, letting just the tip remain in Amber.

Amber swallowed greedily, ignoring the pain in her throat from forcing cum down it while held at such an extreme angle. Like all slaves, Amber had a love of the taste of all sexual fluids. Her moans as she gulped her feast were part pleasure, part pain, and part anticipation. She knew from his past uses of her, that Vesti wasn't through with her yet. His cock recovered from orgasms faster than a male slave's and his appreciation for what Amber could endure had grown with his desires.

Not disappointing Amber, Vesti moved behind her and gave her taught ass a hard smack with his hand. Her squeal was music to his ears and he continued, reigning smacks across her ass and legs with force and speed. Soon her skin was flushed a deep red and Amber was panting as she neared that special point where the pain and pleasure cocktail would push her to the brink of climax.

"Please, Master, let me cum. I need to cum. Let your slave cum, Master," she begged, her body trembling as it threw off sweat from the exertions being forced on it.

"Not until I cum in you, slave," he replied, playing the game they'd played numerous times since she had arrived.

His cock, now hard again, was thrust into her cunt , sliding into the wet folds of her pussy with no resistance. Her near orgasmic quivers sent shockwaves of pleasure soaring through him and he grasped her hips to fuck her with the speed and power they both craved. Amber was incoherent, crying out in ecstatic agony as she fought to not cum in spite of her body's demand for release. With no training in orgasm control, Amber's struggles were as often a failure as they were a success. Usually, that success or failure was in Vesti's hands, as he could magically hold off his own climax for as longer than even a trained slave could.

This time, Vesti didn't hold himself back and Amber felt the glorious warmth of his semen filling her cunt, signaling her that she could let go. With a scream, she let the sensations wash over her, her pussy pulsing against his cock as her juices flowed freely, soaking her own legs, as well as Vesti's. Each shake of her body sent new waves of pain through her as she pulled against the position she was bound in, prolonging her climax significantly.

When her orgasm(s) finally faded, Amber hung loosely in the bindings, her body spent and sore. Vesti used the rings holding her head and arms in place to pull her up. After making sure she had her balance back, he released her legs from their immobilization. Pulling her to him, Vesti embraced his temporary slave, kissing her deeply; sure that he'd been spoiled for any other woman. And wondering what he'd do after she returned to her house in a couple of days.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 04



Chapter 4

Interludes

As the months progressed, the flames that ravaged, without destroying, the world of Destran showed no signs of ebbing. In fact, they were, if anything, increasing in intensity. As more and more plants released their stored mana to be absorbed by the mana-destitute minerals in the ground and rocks, the flames ignited the air around them to an even greater degree, as if to speed the mana on it's way.

In fact, the plants were losing mana at an increasingly fast rate, in an attempt to survive the next 50 years. For, while they were shedding mana, they were also absorbing it as well. For Fron, the red sun responsible for the burning times, was the source of all mana in the world. The plant life on Destran, the native life that is, absorbed mana like the plants the sentient beings brought with them absorbed light. When Fron was distant, they took mana from the soil as well as the dim light of Fron. When Fron was close, however, they were flooded with more mana than they could handle. Thus, they evolved the ability to shed excess mana. And it wasn't only the soil that benefited from this outpouring...

*****

The portal opened and the dwarf who stepped through was old. Heversham's eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of the aged alchemist. His hair was fully gray, down to the last strands of his beard. His hands were gnarled, the joints seeming to have grown in some misshapen way. He walked with a stoop, much of his weight resting on the cane that seemed to be an extension of his left arm. The skin on his face, the only skin beyond his hands that was visible, was wrinkled and hung in sagging rolls.

Heversham had never seen anyone ravaged by the effects of time and aging. The magic available on Destran could push back those infirmities for quite some time, long enough that most people died of a physical injury of some kind. Colrit was living proof that even magic had its limitations. Time would catch up with everyone, one way or another. Colrit's eyes, however, belied his physical age. Excitement shown from them; excitement and intelligent. Heversham had no desire to face this particular dwarf across a game of Kings.

"Colrit, welcome to Aswan. I..."

The aged dwarf interrupted him. "Please," came the gravelly voice, "skip the pleasantries. At my age, one learns the value of time. I have no idea how much longer this body will house my mind. Let's get right to business, if we can."

"Of course," Heversham replied. "If you'll come this way, we have a lab and the scrolls ready for you. If I may ask, just how old are you/"

"Ha!," he barked, laughing at the question. "I'm long past being insulted by a simple question. I'm 437 years old."

"So, you've lived through one burning time already?"

"Yes. Nasty business, the fires; but if my theories are correct, very needed times as well."

"Theories about the burning times? I thought you were a theoretical alchemist?"

"I am, human. Theoretical alchemy requires a vast knowledge of many subjects. Reagents come from animals, minerals and plants. To predict the results of an infusion, one must understand all three types of substances. I've come to the conclusion..." He stopped himself. "No, not now. My theories are too radical to mention without proof. I'm hoping that your scrolls will give me that proof."

"I hope you'll be able to give us the ability to produce top rated potions on our own," Heversham added, unabashed at his self interest.

"If I'm right, potion making will be the least of the results," the dwarf said with an ominous glint in his eyes.

"Here we are," Heversham said, as he opened the door to the small building set into the wall of the cavern. "I've managed to assemble everything you indicated you'd need. I'm afraid we'll have to be on the move in a coupe of days. Trade waits for no man, or dwarf," he added.

"That's fine. I've worked from the back of a yeltin before."

"I'll leave you to it, then."

With that, Heversham left the old alchemist alone with his tools and the copies of the scrolls.

*****

In another part of Destran, in the caverns of house Grantlo, Amber was stepping through similar portal to return from her training assignment. While she had enjoyed her time with the Wizard Vesti, she was anxious to see her friends and trainer. The Master of trainers, Garth, was waiting her return. Amber stepped through and knelt before him, putting her head to the floor.

"Amber served me well, Garth. I hope Silen, here, can measure up to the standard Amber has set," Vesti said, looking at the naked slave waiting for her placement. Vesti had found the presence of a slave as his assistant valuable enough to make a permanent purchase. That he was able to convince Melan to pay half the cost in exchange for having access to her for large events that would overly tax the abilities of her personal slave, Trewant, made the decision even easier.

'I'm sure Silen will be able to match the abilities of this trainee," Garth replied with a grin.

"It's been a pleasure, but a wizard's job never seems to be done. Come along, Silen," he added, waving her through the portal. As the magical doorway shrank from existence, he could be heard to ask, "So, Silen, do you enjoy being bound?"

Garth chuckled, imagining Silen struggling in bondage as Vesti pleased himself with her body. "Come Amber, let's return you to your Mistress. There still quite a bit of training for you yet."

As Amber rose, she gasped in shock. The colors were back. She could clearly see the writhing colors surrounding the magical spells and items in her sight. Garth looked back with trepidation.

"Amber, what's the problem?" he asked.

"Master, I...they're back, the colors, I mean."

Garth squinted in confusion. "What colors, Amber. What are you talking about?"

"The magic, Master; the colors around the magic. I can see the colors around the magical things, like that part of your shirt, Master," she added, pointing to the deep pocket of his vest, magically enchanted to hold several cubic feet of material.

"Amber, that's impossible. Only someone with the spark, capable of magic themselves, can see magical auras. Your collar quenches any spark you might have had."

"I know, Master; yet I can see them, the auras, I guess. Master, am I going to get House Grantlo in trouble?"

"I don't know, little slave, I don't know. You do seem to make a habit of challenging what's common knowledge, Amber. Come with me, we need to talk, and I want to be sitting when we do."

The two walked through the tunnels until they reached Garth's office. He sent the slave that was waiting for him to fetch Bressala. Amber knelt quietly while they waited, Garth making notations on some scrolls; reports on training of several slaves. Bressala entered the room several minutes later.

"Master, you sent for me?"

"Yes, Bressala. I wanted you to hear this as well, as it may affect Amber's training. Amber, tell Bressala what you told me earlier."

Bressala's puzzled look deepened as she listed to Amber. "Mistress, I...I guess I can see magical auras."

"But that's impossible, Amber," she gasped. "You'd have to have the spark."

"I know, Mistress, now. I though my collar made that impossible, though."

"It's supposed to, little slave," Garth answered. "What worries me more is that you were assisting a wizard in his work. Did you do any magic yourself?"

"I don't think so, Master," she replied, her brow crinkled in thought. "He told me I was just helping with the physical motions needed to tune the bowls." The two trainers could see her thinking of something, and didn't interrupt her thoughts. "That would explain something though. Master, Mistress, he was pleasantly surprised by how well I was able to do the chores he gave me that had anything to do with magic."

"What do you mean, Amber?" Bressala asked.

"Well, one of the chores was to organize his work area. He had a lot of magical devices and some of them couldn't be stored next to each other. He had them marked so one could tell, but I wondered at the time why he had to when it was so easy to tell by the colors. Like colors were best stored next to each other and complimentary colors couldn't be."

"I see," Garth said, stopping short as he realized something. "Amber, you acted surprised; in fact, you said the colors were back. Did they go away for a while?"

"Yes, Master, right after the accident."

Garth's harsh tone startled Amber. "What accident?" he growled.

Amber shrank in on herself, afraid she'd done something wrong. "In his lab, with the magical devices Mistress Lustren wanted him to identify. One that he was examining did something; projected some sort of beam at me. There was pain, then a feeling like a long orgasm. Once Master Vesti had turned the device off, I couldn't see auras any more."

"And it started again after you came back through the portal?" he asked, getting a nod from Amber.

"Master," Bressala asked, "how is this possible? Does this have anything to do with the failure of the memory potion?"

"I don't know, Bressala." Garth noticed that Amber was shrinking in on herself, showing fear. "Amber, you haven't done anything wrong. Tell me, have you done anything that could be construed as performing magic?"

"Master, Wizard Vesti didn't think so, but...Master, I overheard a conversation between the wizard and another wizard. The other wizard seemed to think I shouldn't have been helping with the magic. Wizard Vesti insisted I wasn't handling mana, but I'm not so sure," she answered, her head hung low.

"Amber," Garth assured her, "I personally don't care one way or the other. Why do you have doubts?"

"When I did the motions he asked me to, I could see spots of aura and feel how they wanted to not follow the paths on the bowls he had me trace. It felt like I was...making the lights do the right things. Is that manipulating mana; doing magic?"

"I don't know, Amber. Only a wizard could tell for sure, and we're not likely to ask one if one of our slaves is accidentally using magic. Amber, have you noticed anything your collar is supposed to do that it isn't doing, or is doing less efficiently?"

"No Master, but I don't know everything it's supposed to do."

"I see. Well, this mystery won't be solved in the next few hours. Bressala, take Amber and continue her training. For the time being, I don't want any mention of Amber's new found ability mentioned to the other slaves or trainers."

"I understand, Master." Bressala turned to Amber who was still kneeling next to Garth. "Come along, Amber. Tell me how far you've progressed on the training assignments I gave you."

As they walked the corridors of the house, Amber relayed what she thought her progress had been. "Mistress, I've been able to wear the largest of the anal plugs you sent with me for several hours. It's not painful, but always feels very full."

"It should, Amber. It's larger than the average male penis. How easy has it been to get in?"

"It's been very hard. While I can get it in, it seems to take forever."

Bressala smiled, knowing Amber was ready for the next stage. "I'm not surprised. How about the cunt probes? How far along are you with those?"

Amber frowned, stumbling in her steps as she answered. "Not so well, Mistress. I'm stuck on the third probe. I can't seem to figure out just where that third set of muscles are. I'm sorry, Mistress."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Amber. Cunt manipulation is very hard. For most slaves, it's harder than everything except symbiosis. For you, it may well be the most difficult part," she reassured Amber, referencing that Amber had spontaneously mastered pleasure/pain symbiosis early in her training.

Amber smiled at the memory of her first pain induced orgasm. Bressala had been paddling her in preparation to being fucked by Thebes and she'd become more aroused by the pain of the paddling than ever before. It had been a very pleasant surprise.   "I understand, Mistress. Is there anything you can do to help me? It's become very frustrating."

"Yes, there is, Amber." She continued to explain as they walked into their quarters, brushing the curtain aside. "You see, one of the things you need to understand is that there isn't truly a third set of muscles to exercise. What you need to do is try to flex a smaller group of muscles than you did on the first two probes. You actually only have two sets of muscles. The goal for the rest of your cunt manipulation training is to make those muscles work in finer and finer detail. How long have you been with the third probe?" she asked as they sat.

"Only for a week, but I haven't made any progress at all. With the first two, Mistress, I could tell I was getting better each day.'

The sound of a paddle hitting flesh grew in volume, raising to noticeable from the mere background noise it had been. It was accompanied by moans of pain in a voice Amber recognized.

"Mistress, is Yolanda in trouble?" she asked with concern, her eyes focused on the curtain separating the living area from the training area.

"No, Amber," Bressala replied, reaching out to turn Amber's head back towards her. "She's begun symbiosis training. It's not going easy for her, either."

"Is there anything I can do to help her, Mistress?"

"Nothing special, but you will be a part of her training. I expect you to punish her like everyone else."

Amber bit her lip as she looked down in embarrassment. As much as she'd come to enjoy her own pain induced orgasms, she was uncomfortable paddling other slaves. She knew it was a necessary part of their training, and had witnessed her friend, Carli's, pleasure free week. Amber had celebrated as much as anyone else when Carli had obtained her breakthrough two months later. She had not, however, had to participate because Carli had been trained by Marlena, not Bressala.

Bressala reached out and gave Amber's shoulder a squeeze of understanding. "You'll do fine, Amber. Don't add to the worry of today. We're slaves, we worry about today and let the free do the worrying," she added with a wry grin, acknowledging that the old saying was far less than true.

Amber smiled back "I know, Mistress. Mistress, is Yolanda going to have to do the pleasure free week?"

"Possibly, Amber. In the end, that will be her choice." Worry crept into Bressala's voice and face as she looked at the curtain. "She hasn't experienced any arousal under the paddle." She looked at Amber and a thought entered her head. "Come with me, Amber; quietly."

The pair of slaves stole into the training room, seeing Yolanda bound between two poles, her arms and legs spread, her eyes covered in a blindfold. Bressala had decided to try and add some bondage and sensory deprivation to help Yolanda. She made a hand signal to Thebes to keep paddling as she led Amber around to the front of the bound slave. Slow, steady swats of the paddle echoed in the room as Bressala pointed to the dry pussy on Amber's fellow trainee. When Bressala lapped at the air with her tongue, Amber smiled and knelt, carefully, in front of Yolanda.

Clasping her hands behind her back, Amber bent forward into the woman's cunt and licked at it. Yolanda's moans stopped as she gasped in surprise at the pleasant touch. Amber began to apply her training to the pussy she'd grown quite familiar with. She teased Yolanda at first, licking around the edges, encouraging her to generate some of her own moisture. As each swat from the paddle forced Yolanda's cunt into Amber's face, Amber pressed against the bound slave, adding pressure on her pussy to the light, feathering laps nearby.

Yolanda gasped in a strange (for her so far) mixture of pleasure and pain as the first stirring of arousal tingled through her body. Her tears, formerly of frustration and pain, became those of relief and hope. As Amber continued her ministrations, Yolanda's body started to react to the pain differently. The pain in her ass spread as a warm glow that enveloped her whole body, concentrating in her pussy and tits. More and more fluid was produced by her body and Amber responded with licking that was more centered in Yolanda's cunt and clit.

Before she realized what was happening, Yolanda found herself on the edge of her orgasm, straining to reach that final pinnacle of pleasure. Her hips thrust to meet the blows and she tugged at her bindings as her body was tormented with that glorious mixture of pain and pleasure that all slaves came to love. Bressala saw that Amber was holding Yolanda on the edge, making the coming climax even stronger than it normally would. Concerned that the frustration might undo the good Amber's ministrations were doing, she tapped Amber on the shoulder and gave her a signal to bring Yolanda to orgasm.

Amber pushed her face in hard, sucking in folds of pussy and letting her teeth scrape lightly on Yolanda's clit as she did. Yolanda pulled hard at her bindings and her body locked up as she tipped over the edge and waves of ecstatic pleasure washed through her body. The pain of the continuing spanking wasn't even noticed as her body shuddered and her pussy pulsed juice down Amber's throat. Amber kept her vigorous pleasuring going, drawing out Yolanda's climax until she started to try to pull away from the stimulation on her now far too sensitive clit.

"That was very good, Yolanda," Bressala said as she brushed the slave's hair from her face.

"But, I didn't cum from the pain,' she replied, sadness tingeing her voice. "I need to cum from just the pain, don't I?"

"Yes you do, Yolanda. But, you were obviously struggling and failing. It's my hope that now that you've cum while in pain, that you'll be able to better reach the same level of arousal without Amber's help. Did you feel anything that might help you?" she asked as she released the bindings.

Thebes caught Yolanda as she was released, her muscles unable to support her right away. Yolanda tried to answer her trainer. "As Amber licked me, Mistress, there was a warmth that was part of the pain. It seemed to help. But, it wasn't there until she started."

"Actually," Amber responded, speaking from her own experience, "that warmth's always there, I think. Maybe you're too focused on the pain itself and don't let yourself feel it."

"Amber's right, Yolanda. That warmth, the pleasing part of the pain, is always there. You need to seek it out, where someone like Amber always seems to be aware of it and can embrace it more easily. It'll come, Yolanda, it will come. We'll practice more tomorrow with Amber's help, and give you more time to feel those sensations in the pain. Eventually, we'll ease off the pleasure and let you reach for the orgasms on your own."

Yolanda looked at her trainer, worried and frightened. "Will I be able to do that, Mistress? I'm frightened of the pain." She added, her head bowed in shame.

Bressala lifted her head with a gentle touch on her chin. "Yolanda, you wouldn't be healthy if the pain didn't frighten you some. Your fear seems stronger than usual. I'm not going to have you do a pleasure free week, but I do want you to ask for some kind of pain from someone at least three times a day. I'll pass the word to the other trainers. You can't ask for a specific kind of pain, and must submit to whatever the person you asks wants to give you." She saw the fear in Yolanda growing, threatening to become full blown panic. Bressala took Yolanda by the shoulders. 'Stop that!" she ordered. "Trust me, Yolanda. No one's going to beat you like it was demonstration day. You'll be slapped, pinched, scratched; things like that, at least at first. When I think you're ready; only then will people do harsher things. The whole point is to overcome the fear that's in your way. I've done this before, Yolanda. Soon, you won't limit yourself to three, as it will become like a fun game. Do you understand?"




Amber's Enchantment Ch. 04



'Yes, Mistress."

"Being frightened isn't wrong, Yolanda. What's wrong or right is how you deal with your fear."

"I understand, Mistress."

"Good, now, you and Thebes practice your massage techniques."

Yolanda and Thebes hurried off with a quick, "Yes Mistress," and Bressala turned back to Amber. "Well, my little trainee, lets' see if we can't get this cunt manipulation thing down, shall we?"

*****

While Amber was resuming her training, Garth left his office to seek out the one person who might be able to shed some light on the mystery of her ability to see auras. Inclon was in his office, pouring over some scrolls, ones Garth recognized as the alchemistical scrolls he'd acquired from the merchants. Inclon looked up, saying, "Come in Garth. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, sir," he replied. "There's been a development with Amber."

"I see. I assume this development is beyond the normal scope of a slave's training," the elder gentleman commented, a gleam of interest showing in his eyes.

"Yes, sir. It seems Amber has developed the ability to see magical auras."

Inclon gave Garth a hard stare, filled with incredulity. "Is there any chance she's imagining things, or lying for some reason?"

"I don't believe so, sir. If she had been imagining things, the auras she was seeing wouldn't have been as helpful to her in her assisting Vesti. As for lying, I believe she learned her lesson about that some time ago," Garth replied, referring to when Amber had kept her recovered memories from them early on when she woke from her death sleep.

"I didn't think so, myself, but it needed to be asked. How did this come about?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his temple with his fingers. His slave, Justilia, noticed the signs of an approaching headache and fetched him a soothing herbal infusion.

"From what we can tell, it started right after she was sent on her training assignment. It almost sounds like passage through the portal somehow triggered the ability. There was an incident while she was there that seemed to take the ability away, but she said it returned when she returned to us." Garth went on to explain what Amber had related about the accident with the unknown magical device.

Inclon fixed his interest in the facts about the device. "Are you telling me that Melan Lustren possessed a magical device that she didn't know the function of? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?"

Garth's eyes seem to widen. "I hadn't thought of that, sir. If she'd bought it from the guild, they would have told her what it did. So, where did she obtain such a device?"

"Exactly. I'm also concerned about the apparent function of the device. If Amber is correct, the thing seemed to drain something from here, something that had enabled her to see auras. That same something seemed to return to her from the portal. But, as far as I know, portals don't do anything to those who traverse them."

"I don't know anything about magic, sir. In do know that my brother's spark was discovered when he started being able to see magical auras. It's supposed to be the primary means of identifying future wizards." Garth shook his head. "Amber shouldn't be seeing auras, sir. She can't have the spark; the collar suppresses it."

"I know. We can't deny the clear evidence, though. Some how, in spite of her collar, passage through the portal either gave, or freed up, her spark; at least enough to see auras. Is there any indication that she can actually do magic; manipulate mana?"

"It's possible, sir." Garth went on to add Ambers revelations about possibly manipulating the auras when she was assisting Vesti. "That does sound a bit like she was doing something."

"Yes it does, doesn't it. And she's sure Vesti doesn't suspect anything?" At Garth's affirmation, he continued. "Impress on Amber the importance of not trying to make auras do anything. We certainly don't need a magic using slave on our hands. The wizard's guild would not be impressed." Inclon had no idea just how important that order would end up being.

"I'll make sure she knows. You must admit, though, having our own slave wizard would be very useful."

"Until the guild decided to take steps to rectify the situation. No, our society has survived as long as it has because the power in society is so evenly split between the families, the wizard's guild, the merchant clans and us, the slave houses. The last thing we need during the burning times is massive social unrest."

"True, sir, too true."

*****

Melan Lustren looked up as the miner entered her fungal garden. "Report?" she asked, her tone both inquiring and commanding.

"The candles work as promised, ma'am. The ore rats are dying. It's curious, though." At her raised eyebrow, he explained, "They're dying inside the ore veins. Whatever the candles do, it reaches into the veins quite some distance to kill the nests."

"Well, that's even better than we hoped for. Is the ore still useful?"

"I believe so, ma'am. I had Beltan use a small amount to make a simple potion and it seemed to work just fine."

Melan nodded her head with satisfaction. "Good, this is promising to be a very profitable burning time. Are there any side effects on the miners?"

"Not that we can tell, ma'am. Honestly, the smoke from the candles is rather pleasant smelling. Production is actually up a bit from normal."

"Good, even better. Keep me appraised of any changes that are noticed. That should be all," she finished with a wave of her hand. After the miner left, she took a different route through the garden to descend into the back part of her house. The house was designed to actually be two buildings in one, with the second only accessible through the fungal garden on the roof. To insure her privacy, there was only one path through the rear garden area that could be traversed without encountering a species of mushroom that emitted a cloying gas that rendered most species unconscious (of course, that path wasn't the most direct).

Back in the building, she went directly to the a room with a small shelf that had a crystal lying on a silken cloth. Picking up the crystal, she tapped it lightly with her finger, whispering, "Wizard Ponet." The crystal pulsed with an inner light for a few minutes as she tapped her fingers against the shelf in impatience. She sighed loudly when the light shot out to form a translucent, yet solid appearing disk of light with a man's face suspended in it.

"Madam, Lustren, to what do I owe the pleasure of your contact?"

"I have good news, sir wizard. I'll be able to ship you the desired quantities of louvet. I assume you'll be paying the agreed upon price?"

"Yes, yes," the suddenly excited wizard exclaimed. "That is good news. Of course, the agreed payment. Are you sure Vesti has no idea about our arrangement?"

"Absolutely none, I assure you. I swear, the man has no interest in anything but his magic and his new slave."

"Gods! Is he still using that slave to assist him in his duties?" The exasperation in his voice gave Melan pause.

"No, not the same slave. He had to buy a new one, as the previous one wasn't fully trained. What he really wants is the sex, of course."

"I hope so. Slaves helping with magic; what an abomination. If those blasted collars didn't quench any spark, I'd forbid it outright." Calming himself, Ponet asked, "When can we expect the first shipments?"

"You should be able to send someone to pick them up in two weeks. I assume the scrolls will be with him?"

"With me, you mean. I wouldn't trust something this valuable with just anyone. I'll open a portal to the usual place in 15 days, then."

"Excellent. I'll have the shipment ready."

As Melan broke the magical connection, ending the communication spell, Ponet relaxed in his chair. "Finally," he thought to himself, "we can start to get to the bottom of this mystery." The aged wizard pulled a scroll case out that glowed with the mana of the spell it was enchanted with. Amber would have recognized the aura as the same aura on the deep pocket in Garth's cloak. From within it, he pulled a scroll very few wizards had seen.

Most people, seeing the scroll's contents would have been no wiser. It was a collection of charts. The title was the obscure phrase, Plants: BT +0 to BT +5. He turned to a specific section of the scroll and looked up a number. Then, he walked over to a plant growing in a planter and cast a spell. A glow enveloped the plant and the glow pulsed at a steady rate. When the glow faded, he shook his head, muttering, "Where has it gone. It's not much, but it is missing. Hopefully, we can begin to find out in two weeks."

*****

"Amber, would you hurt me please?" Yolanda asked as the two slaves walked back from the dining area. It had been two weeks since Amber's return to House Grantlo and Yolanda was still struggling in her quest for symbiosis. Amber still was uncomfortable with giving pain to her friend, and was beginning to suspect that Bresalla had told Yolanda to ask Amber for pain more often than others.

"Of course, Yolanda," she answered, in spite of her discomfort. In addition to simply being obedient, Amber had seen improvement in Yolanda as the weeks had progressed. She took a hold of Yolanda's nipples and squeezed, pressing her friend against the wall. Yolanda groaned and held her arms above her head. The burning pain of the squashed nipples seemed to travel through her body, ending up as a pleasant warmth in her cunt.

Before she could ease up, Amber heard, "Don't stop, Amber. Let's see how far Yolanda can go this time." Bresalla had followed them and reached around Amber to place several sticks on the rest of her breasts. The pain sticks sucked in small patches of skin and pinched themselves shut, adding to the pain Amber was inflicting. The trainer's practiced eyes noted the formation of female juices on Yolanda's pussy, and she wanted to know just how aroused the slave could become.

As more and more pain sticks were added to her breasts, turning the eminently caressable orbs into a veritable pin cushion, more and more fluids were generated by Yolanda's cunt, and her moans were increasingly those of pleasure rather than those of pain. "Twist them, Amber; very hard." As Amber obeyed, Yolanda's knees started to buckle and her hands grabbed Ambers to force them to twist even more.

"Please, Mistress, please make me cum," she pleaded.

"Not yet, Yolanda. I need to see if you can get there on your own."

With several minutes of torture of her breasts behind her, Yolanda's pussy was fully engorged and wet. It was clearly in need of penetration and juice was running down her legs. Bresalla added still more pain sticks, now to her abdomen. A crowd had gathered in the hall leading from the dining area, with several breathes being held as Yolanda reached levels of arousal she'd never achieved form pain before. More experienced slaves made sure no one spoke and broke the mood, as it were.

As the line of pain sticks made its way down her stomach, Yolanda seemed to hover on the edge of a climax, unable to cross that final barrier. Bresalla placed the last six sticks between the fingers of her two hands and pressed them to Yolanda's pussy in one motion. They adhered as Yolanda gave a cry of pain that morphed into one of ecstasy as she crossed over to her orgasm. As she was prone to doing, Yolanda squirted copious amounts of fluid from her pussy as she shook in pleasure, the pain merely a backdrop at that moment.

As she came out of her climax, a cheer went up from the surrounding slaves. Bresalla quickly pulled the pain sticks off and allowed Amber to hug her friend in her moment of triumph. Bresalla smiled in satisfaction as the suspicion she'd had earlier that day was confirmed. The reports from the people Yolanda had been asking to hurt her showed an unusual trend; Yolanda seemed to only respond to pinching with arousal, while slapping seemed to do nothing for her, pleasure wise.

While she would still have to orgasm under the whip to officially pass her pleasure/pain symbiosis, Bresalla now had something to work with. Her mind was already devising a conditioning routine that would take the pain she could climax from and use it to teach her body to climax from other pain. "Amber, take Yolanda to the cleaning pools before returning to our quarters." Looking over, Bresalla saw that a couple of slaves were already returning with cleaning materials to deal with the pleasant mess Yolanda had made.

Amber helped her friend walk until she had recovered enough to walk on her own. As had happened when she was first brought to Destran, the red tiled pool filled with soapy water when the entered it. Amber gently massaged the water into Yolanda's body, washing away the sweat and other fluids that had recently accumulated on it. Yolanda, giddy from her recent success, embraced Amber, pulling her into a deep kiss while her hands explored Amber's body with a trained, sensuous touch.

Amber responded by spreading her legs and allowing her fellow slave access to her pussy. Yolanda's caresses brought Amber's arousal on quickly. Amber started undulating her body against Yolanda's in response, seeking the pleasure her friend wanted to give her. The warm water was slick against their skin as their bodies rubbed against one another.

Below the surface, Amber's cunt sought out Yolanda's hand, trying to force penetration while Yolanda teased her by avoiding Amber's opening; instead only letting the outer areas of Amber's pussy receive any touching. A game they'd played many times, Amber kept her own arms around Yolanda, not using them to try to control Yolanda's fingers in any way. Before long, Amber was moaning in desire and need as her pussy opened wide and her hips continued to seek out the desired invaders.

Both slaves knew how this game would end (it was as much ritual as game). Her body desperate, Amber whispered, "I surrender," and clasped her hands behind her back. Yolanda took them in one hand and used the other to continue teasing Amber's pussy. Amber tried to hold herself still and accept the sensual torture as Yolanda expertly took her to higher and higher levels of arousal and need. Soon her entire body was trembling as Yolanda kept her at the edge of her orgasm.

Fully trained slaves could play this game for hours, enduring the denial of their climax for the enjoyment of their owners. Trainees played so as to learn how to suffer the pleasant, yet agonizing sensations of unfulfilled need. By the rules both understood and accepted, Yolanda wouldn't bring Amber to her climax until she begged; and Amber wouldn't beg until she was literally incapable of enduring a second more. Before she'd been placed, Amber had witnessed Leesha, the slave who had been assigned to Amber at her initial captivity, endure seven hours without begging (the game had been ended by Bresalla).

Amber made it twenty minutes before she broke and begged for her orgasm, tears of frustration streaming down her cheek. When she did, Yolanda thrust her fingers into Amber's cunt, roughly rubbing her palm against her clit. Amber's back arched as she cried out, her body tensing in a massive climax. Yolanda kept up the stimulation until Amber went limp in her arms (she'd pulled Amber close to keep her head above water).

Once the climax was over, the two slaves finished their cleaning and returned to their quarters to resume their lives of training. Their thoughts were of sex, chores and eventual placement. The affairs of the world outside of the house were as far from their minds as could be. In the future, that would not be the case; as the affairs of the world would intrude on their simple lives all too harshly.

*****

Colrit set his quill down and leaned back in the saddle of his yeltin. One would expect the confirmation of one's life work to bring satisfaction to an old dwarf. Such was not the case. The implications of what he'd confirmed; and discovered, were mind boggling. This would change everything. All that people thought they knew of this world, this place they called home, would be forever altered.

And it wasn't as if the information could be sequestered away and people be allowed to live as they had. No, there was something happening; something potentially world changing that could only be dealt with by first understanding and accepting the truth about this world and the people inhabiting it. Colrit would go over everything again, just to be sure. You didn't change the nature of the world itself (or at least people's understanding of it) without being absolutely sure; but the aged dwarf had no doubts the second time would through would say the same thing. Destran is not our world.

*****

In a space somewhere else, shadows congregated. There was no sound, no smell, no feeling there, simply the presence of entities in a place that wasn't anywhere at all. As the entities seemingly milled about, passing through nothing and everything at the same time, something else, something new faded into being, as if passing through the edge of existence itself.

It was another shadow thing, and a mound of copper ingots. This shadow looked...different in some way; more real perhaps, yet at the same time, less real here than its companions. As the copper took on an unreal solidity that seemed both normal and unnatural in this nowhere place, the beings descended on it. Each one that passed through the copper somehow left less behind, and was changed, so as to look more and less real as the one that arrived with the copper.

When the copper was consumed (?), the shadow beings formed a circle, and without a sound, a smell, a feeling, bowed to the center and left the no place to go to some other place that wasn't; passing through the edge of existence. In their absence, the no place ceased to have any existence.



Amber's Enchantment Ch. 05



Chapter 5

Unpleasant Truths 

As the fires didn't ravage the surface of Destran, deep beneath the surface of the planet, changes were also happening. Life on Destran had evolved to not only survive the burning times, but to thrive because of them. While some animal species mimicked the sentient immigrants to the planet and moved into the extensive caves that riddled the planet, many more had become dependant on the fires and the influx of mana to survive as a species. It turns out that not every rock buried in the dirt was truly a rock.

In the unmined reaches of the depths of the planet, rocks the mining guilds thought of as rare, valuable, and useful, were hatching. Creatures, the likes of which very few of the sentient beings on the planet had ever seen were coming back to life. These creatures lived on, and for, the outpourings of mana the burning times brought. They would spend the next 50 years burrowing through the ground, leaving trails, veins, of rich minerals to be found, as they grew, matured, and laid eggs of their own. Those eggs, looking like rocks, would lay dormant for 250 years until warmed and woken by the next burning time.

*****

Amber pulled against the bindings as her body continued to respond to the fingers and tongues caressing her body. Five other slaves were gathered around her, concentrating on various parts of her body, stimulating them in an attempt to bring her to a climax; one she was trying to hold off. Yolanda was between her legs, licking at her pussy with light, feathery touches of her tongue. Thebes was at her left side, running his finders across her breast, occasionally pinching the nipple; an action that elicited gasps of strained pleasure from Amber.

Bressala was caressing Amber's right breast, her fully trained hands driving Amber farther into her arousal than any of the other slaves working her body into a frenzy. The feline slave, Aurora was bent over Amber's face, licking her rasp-like tongue across Amber's face, occasionally probing her mouth every few passes to dance with Amber's own. The fifth slave attending her was small, very small. Imri, whom Amber had learned was known as a fairy, was on Amber's belly, using tiny hands, feet, and gossamer wings to caress Amber with touches she had never known could be so soft and enticing.

It had been four months since Amber had returned from her assignment with Vesti. Her training had progressed rapidly and she was near the end of her orgasm control training. The erotic assault on her had been going on for two hours and she was managing to hold herself at the edge of orgasm Bressala could tell, though, that she was at the end of her endurance and that she would climax soon. As Amber's trainer, she was proud of how well she was controlling her reactions.

At this critical juncture, Bressala gave a silent signal and the slaves working on Amber changed their approach. Now they would stop trying to bring Amber to orgasm, but rather maintain her at the edge of orgasm. Amber would be able to propel herself into her climax any time she wished; but the second half of her test was to not give in to her growing desire to climax. In the background, another slave started a timing stone to determine how long Amber could resist seeking out her climax.

With the cessation of being actively driven towards an orgasm, Amber gave a loud groan that was half despair and half relief. Her pleasure addled mind was distantly aware that she had passed the first half of this test. As Aurora's tongue neared her mouth, Amber sucked it in, striving to give pleasure with the only part of her body not restrained from doing so. Aurora allowed Amber to service her oral member, basking in the sucking and wet caresses Amber was bathing it in. Her sensitive nose drew in the mingled aromas of Amber's ongoing lust mixed with the slowly increasing arousal of her fellow slaves ministering to her friend.

Amber's moans became increasingly plaintive as the constant pressure running through her body from the ongoing plateau became increasingly unbearable. Her body cried out for climax, yet she steadfastly fought her body's instincts to latch onto the glorious pleasure that could be hers. Pleasurable feelings morphed into painful ones as Amber's arousal filled her body with a relentlessness reminiscent of Dwarf digging for gold. When Amber's will broke and she thrust her clit roughly into the face teasing her pussy, an hour had passed since Bressala's silent signal. Amber screamed in painful release of her feelings, sinking into the orgasm she'd been working towards for over three hours.

Yolanda pressed her mouth tight against Amber's pussy, drinking the prodigious fluids the bound slave's cunt was producing as it quivered and pulsed. The other slaves attending her continued their ministrations until Amber collapsed in exhaustion, her body and mind spent from the battle against her own desires and the explosive release that followed.

Bressala glanced at the timing stone, seeing that Amber had nearly doubled her previous time of 35 minutes. Smiling, she brushed Amber's hair back from her face as the other slaves returned to their other duties; leaving trainer and trainee alone. Amber's breathing quickly returned to a more normal pace, but her eyes didn't open for several minutes more. A wry smile crossed her face as she looked up into Bressala's face.

"Mistress?" she asked, her voice tentative as she waited for word on how she had done.

"Just over an hour, Amber. You're doing very well."

"I think it's easier to be whipped, Mistress, than to have to fight your own climax."

"I suspect many of your fellow slaves would agree, my little slave. It's far easier to submit to something we don't enjoy than it is to fight against something we do enjoy."

Amber tugged at her still bound limbs. "Mistress, is there more training for me right now?"

"No, Amber," Bressala answered, licking her lips as she stood. "I'm just going to take advantage of you, much like an owner might."

"No, please Mistress, not that," Amber cried, here voice dripping with desire that belied her words.

Bressala lifted one leg over Amber's body and knelt over her head, pressing her pussy onto Amber's mouth. Amber responded with an outstretched tongue, lapping at the wet folds of her Trainer's cunt. Amber licked deep as her face was pulled tight into the pussy on top of her, using her well trained tongue to reach all those places that would propel Bressala to glorious heights of pleasure.

Amber soon realized that Bressala was serious about the taking advantage part. Unlike a session where Amber would provide service to Bressala, the trainer was using Amber's face, especially the mouth, to take her pleasure. Amber had little control over what part of her target's pussy she was ministering to, but simply licked and sucked at which ever part was being made available to her. At times, Amber found herself unable to breath as her entire face was enveloped in fragrant folds of flesh. She never panicked, her training being strong enough to keep her on task while her own body suffered under the use she was being put to.

As Bressala came, she road Amber's face, pulling it tightly to her and rubbing her pleasure sensitized crotch against Amber's face. Once her orgasm had spent itself, Bressala let Amber's drenched face and hair go to fall back to the table as she climbed back to her feet. Before Amber could say a word, Bressala picked up a waiting gag and snapped it onto Amber's face, the enchanted ball firmly in Amber's mouth. Without a word, Bressala left, leaving Amber bound and voiceless. Unlike a mundane gag, the minor enchantment on this gag prevented any sound from coming from Amber's mouth.

Amber was at the stage in her training when lessons would seamlessly merge into one another, or even take place at the same time. Bressala was leaving Amber, seemingly forgotten, much as an owner might do after using her. It would be several hours before Bressala would send someone to fetch the trainee slave. That she would be found aroused and needy again was a testament to her bondage training.

*****

Vesti slammed his hands on the table in frustration; a curse escaping his lips. The strange device in front of him was defying all his attempts to divine its purpose. It's not that he didn't know what it did; that much was quite evident from the first time it had accidentally discharged at Amber all those months ago. The strange L shaped thing, in defiance of all the known laws of magic, drained the mana out of whatever it was used on, and stored that mana in the crystal at one end. Clearly it was designed to be pointed at things. It's shape, and the placement of the activation spot made it natural to hold in the hand and use on something by simply pointing. All that was quite clear. What was baffling him was what the device was made of, and why it was made at all.

Every probe he'd used on the device failed to identify the materials in it. If Vesti hadn't known any better, he'd have said that the materials were not of this world. Of course, in theory, that was quite possible, as the inhabitants of Destran knew of a multitude of other worlds. But even on those worlds, one found the same materials making them up; iron, granite, air, water, etc. This device wasn't made from anything the wizard had ever seen before. With an advanced degree in alchemistical science, there shouldn't have been anything he couldn't identify. Yet this thing had, not one, but two unknown substances in it; the metal and the crystal at the lower end of what Vesti had come to think of as the handle.

The bigger mystery was why. Why in the name of all the Gods would someone want to drain the mana out of anything? Doing so would leave whatever you drained worthless. Without mana, there was no way to use whatever you had in a useful way. Gods forbid one drain the mana from a living being. There was barely any theory to explain what would be the result of such a thing. Living beings were the primary source of mana in the world. But even when a creature died, the mana remained; it simply stopped moving and being produced. Remove the mana altogether? Vesti's stomach clenched every time he imagined such a thing.

"Master?" came Silen's voice from behind him. "Dinner is ready, Master."

Vesti smiled at the naked beauty behind him as he turned. His cock was already hardening in anticipation of a pleasant evening with his slave. Silen was certainly better at the sexual arts, as well as the general service chores than the trainee Amber had been. She had needed more time to learn the intricacies of keeping his work-space in order, but Vesti assumed that was simply something Amber was naturally talented at.

"Thank you, Silen." Inhaling deeply, his grin increased in size. "Ah, Mikash stew. Silen, you spoil me, positively spoil me."

"Thank you, Master. It's what I'm paid to do," she giggled. It was a running joke between them that Vesti paid Silen well for her work. Silen was very happy with her placement, as Vesti was a kind Master with a sexual hunger and imagination that kept her very busy. Even serving at the occasional dinner party given by Melan Lustran was a welcome change of pace.

"Master," she added, "a package came for you while you were working." Silen pointed towards the leather wrapped parcel sitting next to the door of his place.

"Good, good. That'll be the scrolls I ordered from the guild. I'm going to need you to read them to me. I don't read Old Elvish."

"Of course, Master. Will we be starting tonight?"

"No, I have other plans for you, slave," he answered, a lustful grin on his face.

"Yes, Master," she replied, looking down demurely as her own arousal grew in anticipation.

*****

Colrit placed the clear stone on the parchment, tapping it to activate it. The writing on the parchment was projected in the air above it. To most people, the script looked like so much scribbling. To Colrit, and any other theoretical alchemist, they spoke volumes. Colrit and Heversham were in a small room at an inn. The clan was trading at a regular stop in the Boltin cavern and would be here for several days.

The aged dwarf started his presentation. "I'll try not to bore you with the minutia, but I must include some of the calculations to explain things properly. First, this table here," pointing to a part of the projection, which enlarged itself, "shows the mana content of numerous substances over a 300 year period. I've tried to make the obviously abbreviated list representative of the different kinds of materials and substances. Now, if you look closely at these first ten rows, they represent various plant species. All of them start the burning times with very high quantities of mana. But, eight of them lose almost all their mana by the end of the burning times. Then, over the following 250 years, increase their mana to pre-burning time levels. These two that don't, that have mana levels that seem fixed, are rice and wheat, cultivated crops. That's going to be important."

Coltit ran his hand through his beard in an unconscious display of nervousness. "These next ten rows are minerals. Every mineral starts with almost no mana at the start of the burning times, see vast increases over the burning times, and then slowly lose those levels over the subsequent 250 years. There are no exceptions as far as I can tell."

Heversham cocked his head to one side. "You almost make it sound like the mana is moving between the plants and the minerals."

"Yes," Colrit answered, "it certainly seems like that, doesn't it." There was an ominous sound in the dwarf's voice; almost a dread.

"Moving on, though, look at the animals. Now, we generally don't measure mana levels in living creatures, but in the parts of them we use in alchemy. At first, there doesn't seem to be any pattern. Some creatures see an increase in mana during the burning times, some see a reduction, and others see no change. However, notice which creatures see no change."

Heversham saw the open invitation in the dwarf's demeanor, and looked at the numbers himself. Like Colrit, it didn't take him long to see it. "They're all domesticated animals; cattle, pets, yeltin."

"Exactly!" Colrit confirmed. "Domesticated animals, just like cultivated crops, show no signs of changes in their mana levels. There's one more grouping we need to look at," he added, enlarging a different part of the projection. "The various sentient species."

Heversham nodded his head. Both knew that no one ever used parts of sentient species in potions, but knowing the mana levels in a patient were vital to brewing a proper medicinal potion at times. Colrit didn't even have to point out the results. Heversham could clearly see that every sentient species maintained constant, unchanging, levels of mana throughout the 300 year cycle.

"So, what's this all mean? I mean, it's fascinating from a theoretical standpoint. Plants, for the most part lose mana during the burning times, minerals gain mana, and animals are unpredictable."

"First, you've missed something important. Mana levels are changing in the first place. The laws of magic state quite clearly that mana doesn't move from one object to another. Yes, the flow of mana within an object can produce magical effects, but the amount of mana in the object doesn't change."

Heversham's mouth opened, then closed. "That would mean that the laws of magic..."

"...are incomplete," Clorit finished. "Clearly the mana in the plants is going somewhere, and the mana in the minerals is coming from somewhere during the burning times.

"I'm no expert in magic, but the implications of your discovery are mind boggling."

"That they are," Colrit replied with a wry smile hidden beneath his mane of facial hair. "There's more, however. The timing is significant as well. It seems clear that Fron is tied into these cyclical changes in some very basic way. I believe, in some way, the red sun precipitates the changes in mana in some way."

Heversham stared with incredulousness. "Are you telling me Fron is the source of the mana?"

"No, I don't think that's it. If that were so, I'd expect everything to see a mana increase as the burning times happened with a decrease afterwards. That's not what happens, though. Plants see a decrease while minerals see an increase. In some way, Fron sparks the exchange of mana during the burning times. The reverse, I suspect, is a return to what is, for lack of a better term, normal. What's more disturbing is the implications of the things that don't see changes in mana levels."

"I'm not following you."

"The vast majority of Destran has their mana levels changed in some way by the burning times, and by implication, Fron. What makes those few things that don't see changes different? I'll tell you what. They're all part of civilized society, that's what. They're all the sentient species, our cultivated crops and our domesticated animals. Why would we ignore what seems to be, for everything else, the normal laws of this world?"

"Perhaps that's what allowed us to develop sentience?" Heversham speculated.

"That might explain us, but what about our crops and herds? No, there's only one explanation I can imagine. We don't belong here."

"What do you mean, 'we don't belong,' Colrit?" There was a touch of hysteria in Heversham's voice as his mind tried to steer him away from the conclusion staring him in the face.

"We're not native to Destran. Sometime in the distant past, we came here, no doubt through portals, from another world. We brought seed crops, herds, everything needed to colonize another world. I wonder if we knew of the burning times when we arrived?" came the wistful speculation at the end of his conclusion.

Heversham was speechless. His face was a mask of shock, as he tried to think of something, anything, that would prove the dwarf wrong, while he feared Colrit was right.

*****

The wizards gathered in the room were some of the most powerful and knowledgeable (the two went hand in hand) in the entire guild. Most people seeing the room would see a rather plain room with a table, several chairs and one door. To the aura sensitive sight of the occupants, however, the room glowed with the auras of numerous protective enchantments. Nothing said in this room would be heard by anyone or anything outside of it. Anyone trying to enter the room uninvited would find their body enveloped in flames hot enough to melt gold itself.

Contrary to the expectations of many, the room was not filled with bearded old men in robes and pointed hats. The dress of the nine wizards seated around the table was as varied as that of the rest of the world's population. The only thing all nine had in common was the serious look on their faces, though they had different reasons for it.

The eldest, seated at the head of the table, looked at the wizard to his left. "All right, Ponet, why have you insisted on this meeting? I'm not aware of any world threatening crisis facing us."

"Never the less, my lord, there is one. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that our very civilization could vanish from the face of Destran if this problem isn't dealt with."

"Don't talk in riddles, man. If there's such a crisis, what is it, and why hasn't anyone known of it before now. The end of civilization doesn't sneak up on you."

"In this case, it may well have. If what I suspect is true, magic may be a legend of the past by the end of these burning times."

The uproar from his statement was just as energetic as he had expected. Voices were raised in anger and disbelief. He may as well have told a gathering of Dwarven elders that there would be no minerals left to mine in 50 years.

"Silence!" came the augmented voice of the council leader, Meltish Transom. "We are wizards of the first order. We do not behave in such an undignified manner." As the chaos cleared, he turned to Ponet. "Our esteemed colleague has never been in the habit of making wild statements. I assume, Ponet, you have some clear reason for making such a statement?"




Amber's Enchantment Ch. 05



"Yes, my lord, I do." He unrolled a scroll and placed a clear crystal on it (much like the one Colrit used elsewhere). "These are measurements of mana levels taken from numerous sources over the last few weeks."

Ursala, a witch sitting at the far end of the table seemed unimpressed. "Yes, Ponet, we all know how mana levels change over time. We have the guides to help us keep the levels straight."

"Yes, that we do. In fact, here," he replied, pulling out another scroll and crystal, "are the relevant pages from the current guide. The guides are useful because we, the guild that is, determined long ago that the changes were quite regular and predictable. Once you knew what happened in any 300 year cycle, you knew what would happen in any 300 year cycle. There predictable changes are vital for alchemy, and true magic, to actually work."

Gustavin, a Saurian wizard noted for his keen attention to detail, spoke up. "Ponet, I'd sack your apprentice. His readings aren't accurate."

"Ah, you noticed the discrepancies? My apprentice didn't take these readings. I did; several times. The actual readings are quite accurate." At the gasp of shock, he continued. "That's right. The guide is wrong. Our nice predictable changes have become unpredictable, or so it seems."

"So it seems?"

"Yes. It turns out that I can make some predictions about the mana levels. The salient one is that in 50 years, there won't be enough mana left in the world to light a small candle. There is a measurable drop in mana levels my colleagues, a very significant drop. It's as if the mana in the world is being bled off somehow. If we can't stop it, the world as we know it will cease to exist. There'll be no magic to run our society. We'll be back to stone knives and yeltinskins."

Somehow, the stunned silence that followed was more worrisome than the frantic outburst from earlier.

*****

"This wine has an amazing flavor; one I've never encountered before. Where did you say you obtained it?"

"Be careful, it's also quite potent," Melan Lustren replied to Gastrin's comment. The merchant was sampling one of the latest products Melan had purchased from the mysterious trader. "It's easy to become intoxicated on this." Ignoring his question, Melan continued with her bartering. "I think one case for a bar is very fair."

The pair continued to barter, not so much because Melan was concerned about turning a profit; like all her transactions with the trader, she paid for the wine in copper ingots while selling it for gold. Melan enjoyed the barter process for its own sake. House Lustren had seen an incredible growth in their fortunes ever since the mysterious trader showed up, claiming to be able to provide access to goods varied and unusual. Not everything was something she sold for profit. Some of the things he provided, like the candles that kept the ore rats away, were merely to increase the production of louvet, the traditional source of her family's wealth.

Blood wine, as the trader called it, was the first thing Melan had asked for that wasn't a specific product. She had only asked for a beverage that would be highly alcoholic, have an unusual taste, and that could not be found anywhere else on Destran. The trader had returned with the wine in a matter of days. His claim to be able to obtain anything Melan would need seemed to be very accurate.

His business completed, Gastrin led the loaded yeltins back to the clan's encampment on the edge of the caverns. Once the drovers were set to transferring the cargo to the wagons, he took one bottle to the larger of the four tents that made up their camp. Inside, he announced his presence.

"Guild Mistress (the term guild master or mistress was used both for the leader of a particular clan and the overall leader of the united clans), Lady Lustren has yet again provided a completely new product. I wish we knew where she was getting these goods?"

The older lady, Bestry, looked up from her scrolls, Her eyes narrowed in what could only be called suspicion, as she asked, "And what, Gods foretell, has she managed to find this time?"

"Wine, Guild Mistress, a new wine she calls blood wine. It's supposed to be highly intoxicating."

"Wine? There's no way the Lustren family can be producing wine. Grapes simply won't grow in this cavern; wrong type of soil, I've been told. This means she's definitely trading for at least some of these new goods. The question is, which clan."

"Ma'am, it can't be one of the clans. Each clan has their own assigned trade routes for the duration of the burning times. If someone has decided to change their route, go somewhere new, there will be hell to pay. Anyway, no one in the caverns produces this new wine. It has to come from outside the Helshenti Empire. That, of course, is impossible; at least in the quantities she's managing."

The Guild Mistress nodded her head at the fact of common knowledge. Each empire on Destran controlled one set of cavern complexes beneath the mountains and high plains of Destran. The only way to travel between them was overland or by portal. Overland travel was an act of suicide during the burning times, and since non-sentient creatures were driven temporarily mad by passage through portals, it was unlikely that magic delivered these quantities of goods.

Bestry looked up at her subordinate, only her eyes betraying the smoldering anger she was feeling. "Find out where Lady Lustren is getting these cargos. I don't care what it takes, find out."

"At once, Guild Mitsress," Gastrin replied as he backed out of the tent. He walked briskly towards his own tent, the insides of which were almost as lavish as his superior's. He pulled out a plain, unassuming box and unlocked it with an enchanted key. Several stones, pebbles actually, were inside. He pulled out one, a smooth red stone with blue bands on it. He tapped it once against the lid of the box he'd closed right after getting the stone he wanted. A familiar communication window opened in the air in front of him.

Several seconds later, a face shimmered into view. "Gastrin, it's been a long time. What can House Hustrid do for you?"

"Julian, I need one of your specials. I need to infiltrate a..."

The slaver interrupted him. "No, don't tell me where or whom. Male or female?"

"Not important. How long will it take?"

"I have a male ready now. The usual price?"

"Of course. I'll have the platinum ready within the hour and open the portal to the usual location."

"That's fine," Julian answered, an unpleasant smile gracing his face. "It's always a pleasure doing business with you, Gastrin."

The window closed and Gastrin set about finding the needed bars of platinum.

*****

"Are you nervous, Amber?" Bressala asked, noting the faster pace of her trainee's breathing.

"Yes, Mistress, a little," she answered. "This is a big deal, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes it is, in a way." While Bressala had never thought of the ritual as being a big deal, she was able to appreciate why it would be to Amber. Most slaves would be looking forward to their multiple partner test. Most slaves, however, didn't have any unpleasant memories associated with sex. "Are you afraid of doing poorly, Amber? If you are, I can assure you, I have no worries on that account."

"Not exactly, Mistress. I really enjoy sex and being a slave. I guess I'm a little worried about how my collar will react."

"Your collar?" the trainer asked, confusion clearly etched on her face.

"What if I...you know...react badly for a moment? Will it put me to sleep?" Amber gasped a sob back. "I don't want to sleep...to die."

"You're talking about having a flashback, to that other place, Ravenshore, aren't you?" Amber nodded her head. "There's nothing to worry about. The sleep only comes if you decide in your heart that you don't want to be a slave. A moment of panic because of your memories won't do it."

Amber bit at her lower lip. "Are you sure, Mistress? I mean, there's never been a slave that could have a flashback, has there?"

"Dear," Bressala assured Amber, "if the collar was going to put you to sleep because of a flashback, I think it would have done so during your little punishment crisis, don't you?"

Bressala was referring to Amber's early training when she was keeping her memories a secret. The Ravenshore slave brothel she had been trapped in used vicious punishments to train their slaves. Amber had been terrified that those kinds of punishments would be used by her trainers in House Grantlo. That was simply not the case.

"I guess you're right, Mistress." She hesitated for a minute, not sure if it was appropriate to ask what she wanted to. "Mistress, are you ever...afraid of your collar...of being put to sleep?"

"Not really, Amber. I guess I was, a little in my early days as a trainee. But that was because I didn't really understand about them, the collars, I mean."

"Not even that it eventually will put you to sleep?"

"I see. Amber," she started, trying to find the right words to explain her feelings about that faceless day in the distant future. "when that day comes, it will be because I can no longer be the slave I was meant to be; the slave I wish, with all my heart, to be. That sleep will be a blessing, Amber. I can't imagine life after slavery."

Amber sighed, as Bressala's answer was much as she expected. Unfortunately for the young slave, she could imagine a life after slavery. At times. Amber despaired all that made her so different from the other slaves; from her memories of her former life to her ability to see magic auras. She did find it fascinating to realize just how deeply ingrained into Destran society magic was. Everywhere she looked, the auras of the magic that kept the caves she had come to think of as home running were quite visible.

Bressala noticed her charge's pensive look, but didn't try to address it any further. "Come along Amber. Your orgy awaits." Bressala noted with a smile that Amber's arousal started at her words. While Amber was very different as a slave, she was clearly a slave in her reactions to all things sexual. The pair walked the corridors to one of the larger training rooms (while much training did go on in the quarters of the trainer and her trainees, there were larger training rooms that were used at times). Waiting for them were several people, both slave and free.

"Masters and Mistresses, this is Amber, presented to you for your pleasure. You may use her as you wish." The formal speech was identical to one that would be used if the House had been providing a slave for a short duration contract, such as an event or party. Amber had already been told that, once placed permanently, her owner may or may not use such a formal presentation to his or her guests.

Amber stepped forward, covering half the distance between Bressala and the people she was to give service to. Gracefully dropping to her knees with her ass resting on her heels, she placed her hands behind her back and bowed her head slightly. Her legs were spread, showing her ready cunt, while her arms being behind her back thrust her breasts, along with their erect nipples, forward invitingly. Two men and a woman moved towards her and encircled her.

Six hands began to stroke her body, drawing gasps as her pussy swelled and moistened with need. As she had been instructed, she kept her position while her body was fondled to high levels of arousal. Soon she was panting and struggling to hold still in the face of the erotic onslaught. Cuffs were placed on her wrists and locked together, ironically, making it easier on Amber, as she no long had to make an effort at keeping her hands behind her. It was with a sigh of relief that she was pulled upright on her knees by one of the men so his cock was in front of her mouth.

Without a moment's hesitation, she licked at it briefly before taking it into her mouth to caress it with her lips and tongue. The hands of the other two continued to tease and titillate her body, driving it to the edge of orgasm and then letting it slide back from the brink. Her breath was coming in panting gasps through her nose as the man in her mouth took hold of her head and started to fuck his cock in it with force, penetrating her throat with each in stroke.

When he came, he pulled almost all the way out, allowing his cum to squirt into her mouth where she could taste and smell him. Amber moaned with each spurt of cum, flicking her tongue against the bottom of his cock to coax his climax to continue even longer. She swallowed greedily, having come to love the taste of sexual fluids, whatever kind they were.

The hands caressing her stopped to pull her to her feet and lead her to a reclined chair. There, the other man who had been caressing her lay back so his head was actually below the rest of his body, his cock hard and coated with precum that had been leaking for a while. The woman guided her over him and pressed Amber's cunt onto his penis. She moaned in need as her pussy was filled and his hands took hold of her breasts. He pulled her forward until she was supported by his hands on her tits. The woman had come around and straddled the chair, her own pussy now level with Amber's head, giving the reclined man a close up view from below..

Amber could feel the man begin to thrust his hips slowly as her face was covered in pussy and she began to lick at it. Her initial enthusiastic lapping slowed as the man admonished her to go slowly and to draw the woman's pleasure out. Hands gripped her hips and held her still under the thrusting cock. Another lubricant covered cock pressed against her ass. Instinctively, Amber eased rear muscles to make penetration easier, allowing the penis to find a home in her bottom.

Both men fucked her with agonizing slowness, making sure to leave Amber unable to cum from their attention without additional stimulation. The one in her cunt made sure to avoid contact with her clit while the one in her rear simply made his fucking slow enough to prevent a precipitous rise on Amber's part. For that was the true test for Amber. Bressala had explained earlier that she would be required to service many people for at least a couple of hours, and none of them would do anything to make her own orgasm easy, or even possible. Through it all, the slave would have to enthusiastically serve and pleasure the very people using her as if she were just a thing.

Amber shuddered with unmet need as she slowly licked the woman's pussy, driving her arousal slowly to climax, while trying to make her own pussy and ass more pleasurable for the men fucking her by adding little twists and gyrations to her hips and squeezing her muscles to increase the contact inside her. Occasionally, she would unconsciously tug at her cuffs as her hands tried to make their own way towards her clit to give herself some relief.

The man in her ass came first, his grunting signaling the flood of cum that poured from him into Amber's bowels. He extracted himself and was replaced by another woman who licked at the cum seeping out of Amber. Amber twitched at the sensation of being penetrated again, albeit on a smaller scale, by the woman's tongue. This time, the penetrating digit explored every inch of her that it could reach, seemingly devouring every drop of cum that had been deposited in Amber.

As the woman at her face pulled Amber tighter, the hands holding her breasts shifted so they could pinch at her nipples. Little snippets of pleasurable pain jolted through Amber as she increased the speed and force she was using with her tongue. When the woman came, she kept Amber from putting her mouth over the jet of fluid that squirted out of her, making sure Amber's face was drenched in the liquid.

It was only seconds later when the man fucking her cunt came, filling it with his own fluids. As he did, his fingers squeezed her nipples even harder, drawing a small squeal of pain from her. Almost without thought, she milked her pussy around his cock to draw his orgasm out as long as possible. When he finished, hands helped her to her feet and the woman licking at her ass, came around to clean out her pussy. Amber visibly trembled as her arousal was not allowed to diminish to any great degree, but neither was it allowed to rise. The talented tongue delving into her, seeking out the cum that had been deposited there, while Amber stood, eyes half lidded as she endured, and even relished, the sensual torture being given her.

Once her pussy had been cleaned, Amber was led to another reclining chair where another man waited. Or rather, another male, as the person waiting for her was anything but human. Amber recognized one of the male captives from her collaring day, one she had thought at the time as a lizardman. She had since learned that his race was called Saurian, a kind of warm blooded reptilian race. His arousal was very evident, his cock having forced its way out of its protective sheath (a blow between the legs was not especially debilitating to an un-aroused Saurian). Fluid exuded from it, and it throbbed gently in anticipation of penetrating Amber's body.

Amber climbed onto his lap, placing the entrance of her cunt at the tip of his cock. She swallowed in a anxiety, looking at the large size; almost 12 inches long and 3 inches thick. She gave a squeal when he pushed hard on her shoulders, forcing himself into her all at once. The heavily ridged cock rubbed Amber's tunnel, generating a harsh pleasure that throbbed and made Amber gasp repeatedly. She started to clench her pussy against him, trying to increase his pleasure as much as possible. His scaled hands grabbed her tits and roughly caressed them, pinching and scratching at her tender orbs and nipples.

She turned her head towards his, inviting his kisses; an offer he accepted, plunging his prehensile, forked tongue into her mouth. As their tongues caressed each other, Amber felt his hips start to shift, pumping himself into and out of her cunt. As his arousal and need increased, his mauling of her tits became increasingly painful; his scales had befun to flex outward to provide a sandpaper rough surface for his caresses while his catlike claws extended to make his pinches actually piercings instead. All of this merely increased Amber's own arousal. While she wasn't thinking about it consciously, Amber knew what was coming and her body tensed in exquisite anticipation.

As the Saurian cock prepared to cum, small spines along its surface thrust into the soft pussy flesh surrounding it, sending waves of sharp pain through Amber's cunt. With her symbiosis training completed long ago, this added pain was enough to send Amber over the edge into her own climax as the hot cum of her partner flooded her. Amber wiggled on the now spiny penis, milking it for as much sensation, both pain and other, to draw both of their climaxes out as long as possible. Once spent, the spines retracted and the fluids coating his cock healed the minute holes they had left behind.

The next couple of hours passed in a blur for Amber, as more people made use of her for pleasure. Every one of her orifices was used by both males and females, and she even found herself being bound and paddled at times. While none of them made active attempts to help her cum, she did manage two more climaxes by the time Bressala returned to take her back. Covered in sweat and sexual fluids of various types, a bath and some time sleeping awaited the end of her successful testing.

*****

He was very aware of his surroundings. He had to be; if he missed her looking back, he wouldn't be able to slow down enough to let his skin take on a stable color. Anyone looking at him would see a ripple in the air, as it the air itself was following Melen Lustren. In reality, a naked slave of a race very few even knew existed, was following her. His skin could take on the coloration of his surroundings, effectively making him nearly invisible. When moving at a pace faster than a slow walk, the changes lagged, creating the visual effect of the air moving.




Amber's Enchantment Ch. 05



House Hustrid, the only slave house that knew of this race, called Fotons, had even developed a special slave collar that was enchanted to change coloration as his body did. He had been rented to Gastrin to follow Melen and discover just where she was getting the unusual products from. A week had passed since he'd been placed in the caverns, and now that time was bearing fruit.

The slave stood motionless against the wall, undetectable by anything able to see colors, as the strange trader greeted Melen.

"Did the bloodwine we provided satisfy your needs?" the creature asked in its strange whispering voice.

"Oh yes, it was very good. Can you provide more?"

"Certainly we can give more, for a price."

"I assume the usual copper ingots will be sufficient?" Melen asked, the glee in her voice indisguisable.

"Yes, copper ingots are required. We do have 100 cases available in seven days."

The slave cocked his head at the strange mixture of tenses from the creature. He thought he detected a slight shift in the strange creature's stance, but it wasn't enough to cause him alarm. The two talked further about future trades, with the strange trader continuing to speak in that strange mixed tense. When Melen left, the slave stayed to watch where the trader would go. He was shocked when it turned towards him and seemed to raise a hand holding a strange device that both Melen and Vesti would have recognized. A spark jumped from the end of the device to the slave and he felt a surge of pain, much like an orgasm gone too long. He tried to move away, but the spark moved with him until he collapsed. The device seemed to vanish and the creature followed it to that nowhere place it didn't exist in.

If a wizard had been there, he would have seen the same thing Vesti had seen with Amber; all the mana seemed to be drained from the slave's body. Or rather, nearly all. The strange creature had never encountered a Destran slave collar before, and was unaware of the life protecting function of the collar. It had merely kept the weapon on the slave until it could no longer see mana in him. What it didn't know was that there was still a spark of mana there, protected by the collar; just small enough to escape the creature's notice. Two days later, the slave would awaken, weak and confused, but able to make his way to the hidden communication stone at a remote wall of the cavern complex.

*****

Silen poured a glass of wine for Vesti to have with his dinner. The wizard had been working hard and she wanted to make the little time he had free as enjoyable as possible. With his meal ready, she walked to his workroom and stood silently waiting for him to finish what he was in the middle of.

"Master, dinner is ready," she called out when he set the instrument he was working with down.

"Thank you, Silen," he answered, stretching stiff muscles as he stood.

"I thought you might like some wine with dinner, Master. It's a new one from a bottle Lady Lustren had sent over."

"That sounds wonderful, Silen." The sight of her naked body reminded him that he'd done without her other services for several days. His smile of anticipation faded, however, when he entered the room and saw his meal laid out. Horror crawled into the light on his face as he stared at the bottle of wine she's left sitting on the table.

"Master," she asked, her voice and expression filled with concern.

"There's nothing there," he whispered to himself. Looking at the bottle of wine and the black void in the mana around it. Vesti knew he wasn't the most sensitive mage for seeing mana in the world around him. Frequently, low mana objects did not register in his sight; they seemed to be transparent mana-wise. It was much like he imagined those without the spark would see the world, in part. This bottle of wine, and the wine in his glass, were black; a void in the mana around him. It wasn't that he couldn't see their mana; there was no mana to be seen.

"Master, did I do something wrong?" Silen asked, her voice trembling at the thought that she had failed him so badly as to horrify her Master.

Vesti shook his head. "No, Silen, it's nothing you did." He sighed and turned towards her. "Take the bottle and glass to my workshop. Be very careful to put them on the unused table, not close to anything else. Then, get me something stronger than wine; much stronger.

*

Thanks to Sugaro for the wonderful editing work. Please remember that I love to hear from my readers with any thoughts or comments about my writing.



Amber's Enchantment Ch. 06



Chapter 6

The Laws of Magic 

If there had been anyone with the spark on the surface of Destran during the fires, they would have seen a never before witnessed sight. Pulses of pure white aura streamed down from the sky, being absorbed by the plants. The visible red light from Fron was filled with the pure white aura of rare, free floating mana. Not even the mana exchange between the plants and minerals had this white color under the sight: that mana having purpose and being part of something. So rare was the sight of white auras, the guild wizards of Destran had no idea what it actually meant.

It was only during this time when the surface was uninhabitable, that pure mana existed in enough quantity to be seen by the sight against the background of the world at large. Outside of these burning times, there were only two places where pure white auras could be seen. One was when wizards cast a spell. Unknown to them, thanks to their mistaken laws of magic, mana flowed from the wizard to the objects of the spell. The other was so rare as to have only been witnessed by a guild wizard five times in the last 2000 years.

*****

Vesti struggled to conceal the smile as he answered the magical summons from Ponet. His amusement faded when he saw the dark circles and borderline terror on the elder wizard's face. Perhaps his message had worked too well.

"Vesti, I don't have time for your usual banter. Where did you get that wine?"

"It was a gift from Madam Lustren; a new vintage she claims to have discovered. I take it you've seen the same thing I did; the black aura?"

"That was obvious. Did you do any testing on it before you sent it here?"

"Yes, I ran all the tests I was capable of with what I have here. The wine is completely... transparent, I guess the best term is...to magic. There's not a trace of mana in it. Have you discovered anything more?"

"We believe there used to be mana in the wine, but it's been...removed...in some way." Before Ponet could continue, Vesti's gasp caught his attention. "Is there something else I should know about, Vesti? You're not making the usual protestations of impossibleness that I've come to expect."

"It's just...I've seen something like what you're describing before."

"What! You've seen manaless things before and haven't told anyone?"

"Not exactly, I have a device that removes mana from things. Madam Lustren asked me to analyze it for her to determine what it did."

"You knew about this and didn't tell anyone? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I've never been in good standing with the guild and if I made such a claim without research to back it up, I'd be stripped of whatever status I do have."

Ponet sighed. "All right, I can understand that. You didn't know about the larger issues. Where did the lady get such a device?"

"What larger issues?"

"Later, Vesti. Where did she get it, and where is it now?"

Vesti bristled at the dismissal, but kept his emotions in control. "She bought it, from a new clan of merchants, she claims. It's in my laboratory."

"You need to...wait a minute. She bought a device, a magical device, that she didn't know the function of?"

"As a matter of fact, yes she did. She claims it was to deal with the ore rat problem. She was told to use the device on the ore veins and the rats wouldn't be a problem any more."

"Well, I suppose that would be true, but the ore would be useless as well. Something's not right here, Vesti."

"Tell me about it. Nothing about this device makes any sense. The materials used in it's manufacture are completely unknown. I've tentatively concluded that these things come from not just another dimension, but one so different from ours that the laws of nature are different."

"That would make sense," the older wizard muttered, just audible over the communication spell. "Wait a minute. Things? As in more than one? How many of these devices were there?"\

"A couple of dozen, I think. And before you ask, she said she was going to get her money back."

Ponet wiped his hand wearily over his face. "Vesti, these things, the wine and the devices you describe, they're symptoms of a larger problem, I believe. More disturbing is that they confirm that the problem is real. Mana is being somehow drained, or siphoned, out of Destran. In 50 years, magic may not be possible, as everything on this world will be as devoid of mana as that wine. That such a thing is supposed to be impossible seems to be of no importance. It's as if the laws of magic are changing before our very eyes."

*****

Amber leaned back, her features easing as Heversham shook hands with Grothnack. Amber was finding the job of translator exceptionally difficult. She was in the third week of another training placement, this time with a merchant clan. She liked most of the duties of a merchant's slave. The variety of tasks, coupled with the extensive travel, was something Amber thoroughly enjoyed. For reasons she couldn't explain, she was finding it especially taxing to listen to two languages at the same time. She wished someone had warned her about the lag time between hearing a language and understanding what it was saying when there was more than one language being heard at any given time.

As the Saurian walked away, Heversham turned towards his temporary slave. "Amber, you did well, if a bit slower than I'm used to. You shouldn't spend so much time thinking about what each party is saying; it's unseemly for a slave."

"Master, I wasn't thinking about the words, just waiting for the translation," she replied, rubbing her temples in an unconscious gesture.

"Waiting for the translation? There's never been a wait with slaves in the past. What are you talking about?" Heversham's voice was a mixture of concern and upset.

"Master, when there's more than one language being spoken, there's a second or two between the words and my understanding what they're meaning."

"Is that so? I've never had a slave complain about that before. In fact, I've never had a slave delay the way you do in translating."

"You haven't, Master?" Amber's voice was tinged with concern. She knew she was different from other slaves because she had her memories; and she had concerns over how her collar might react differently to her because of that. Was this the first sign of something going wrong?

"No, I haven't. Do you trainers know about this?"

"I doubt it Master. There's been no need for me to translate more than one language before."

Heversham pondered the response, knowing that, in fact, every slave spoke a different language, and it was the collar that made her speech understandable by any listener (the reason slaves made good translators). "Come with me, Amber. I think I need to orb Garth. There's something her that's not right."

Amber followed, fearful that she'd done something wrong. She wondered if there was something, some clue in the past, that she missed reporting to her trainers. Following Heversham to his tent, glowing with the aura of magic, Amber unconsciously noted the nature of the enchantments on the tent. In the months since she'd acquired the ability to see them, Amber found that there was a definite pattern to the variation in colors. She could tell that there was a protection of some sort on the tent, as well as a special alteration (no doubt the reason it was so large inside), and the usual enchantments for the sanitary and water delivery systems.

Heversham tapped the orbing stone on the table, whispering Garth's name as he did, calling up the specific individual from the dozen or so he had affixed to the stone. Several minutes later Garth's image appeared.

"Heversham, it's a pleasure to hear from you. How is Amber doing?"

"I've no complaints. She's very eager and compliant. A concern has arisen, however."

Garth frowned. "A concern? What kind of concern?"

"Tell me, what training has Amber received in translation duties?"

House Grantlo often used Heversham's clan for training placements, and it wasn't uncommon for the clan leader to inquire about the training of the slaves so placed. "Nothing special, just the usual training in repeating things perfectly. Has that been an issue?"

"No, she does that very well. So she's not done any actual translation before?"

Garth shook his head with concern as he answered, "No."

"Amber tells me that there's a second of delay between hearing what someone says and understanding it; but only when there's two languages being spoken. Isn't that right, Amber?" he asked, turning towards the slave. Amber nodded, too nervous to answer with words. "I've never heard of such a thing before."

"Neither have I, Heversham. Neither have I. We need to look into this in some detail. May I open a portal to retrieve Amber?"

"Of course, I'll have her ready. I hope this isn't a sign of anything serious."

"I don't think it is, but we should make sure."

Ten minutes later, the now familiar glow of the forming portal appeared to Amber's vision. The portal itself soon followed, opening a doorway between where she was (Amber had no idea) and the familiar portal room at Grantlo caverns. She stepped through and knelt before Garth.

"Master?" she asked.

"Welcome back, Amber. Don't be afraid, you haven't dome anything wrong." Garth looked up. "Guild Master Heversham, thank you for training Amber."

"It was an honor, Training Master," he replied; completing the formal ritual.

"Again," Garth added, "thank you for catching this. Will you need a replacement for Amber for the balance of the training period?"

"No, we haven't had anything we've been depending on her for. Take care of her, and if she needs more time with a merchant clan, we'd be happy to take her back."

Garth nodded and waved his hand over the stone, closing the portal with a soft pop. Garth turned back to Amber. "Come along Amber, we need to figure out what's going on."

As she stood and followed, she asked, "Master, is there anything else about me that isn't working right?"

"Yes, you have permission to speak," Garth started, gently reminding Amber of protocal. With a sigh, he continued. "Amber, I really don't know. Your trainers haven't reported anything, but there's so much to being a slave that's automatic. We don't ever think of checking them. I suspect that there's things we don't even know need to be checked. Don't worry, we'll figure out what's going on."

They continued through the tunnels until they reached Inclon's office. Bressala and Marlena were both there as well. "Come in Garth, let's see what we can figure out." Once both were seated, Garth in a chair and Amber on a cushion, he continued. "Amber, let's start be having you describe exactly what it's like when you're translating."

:Yes, Master," Amber replied, taking comfort in having something she needed to do. "When I'm translating, I hear both languages as they're being spoken. I understand what they mean a second or two later. It's weird, but that's not what's happening right now. I only hear my own language when any of you speak."

Inclon squinted before he spoke again. "Thrishil gracknil?" A second later, Amber knew he'd asked, "What about now?"

"Yes, Master, just like that."

Garth spoke up. "Quesh'ol within hel'un." Again, Amber knew, a second later, that it meant, "We normally speak like this."

Amber's mouth opened, but no sound came out. She stared back and forth between the two men, trying to assimilate what had just happened.

"Amber, are you all right?" Garth asked after a minute of silence. Again, Amber was hearing the English she normally heard when people talked. For some reason, whenever two languages were being spoken within a short time of one another, she no longer heards them in her natural tongue.

"I...I don't know, Master. What happened? How did I not hear you right just then?"

"We don't know, Amber. That's what this meeting is about. As Bressala and Marlena can tell you, what's happening with you isn't normal." Both trainers nodded in acknowledgement. "I know this will be hard, but is there anything else that you've experienced that seems...not right?"

Amber stared at Inclon for a moment and then started to laugh. "Master," she gasped between bouts of laughter, "you mean waking up with no memory, discovering that I agreed to come and be a slave, learning to orgasm from pain? No, Master, nothing that I can think of."

"Don't get cheeky, slave," Garth warned with a smile. "You know what we mean."

"Yes, Master. Master, I'm not sure if I would know..." She turned to Bressala. "How does reading work for you, Mistress?"

"Bressala shrugged her shoulders. "I just read. There's nothing to it."

"So you don't see the words change from something you can't read to something you can?"

"No, Amber, I don't. Now I remember your describing this effect a while back. No one knew what to make of it; it didn't seem significant in light of everything else that was going on at that time" Bressala was referring to the period Amber had her memories back but was lying about it.

Amber nodded her head. "Master, why am I so different? Is it because the memory potion didn't work on me?"

Inclon leaned back and sighed. "Honestly, we don't know, Amber. What we need is an expert on magic, a wizard. But, we can't trust the guild not to use what they would find out against us somehow. They've already shown they can't be trusted."

Amber wondered at his meaning, since the only wizard she'd ever met, Vesti, had been quite trustworthy, as far as she could tell.

"Sir, there is an alternative. We could go outside the guild," Garth pointed out.

"I know. If the guild finds out, though, we could find ourselves cut off from the only people able to make collars."

"Well, the renegade himself wouldn't say anything, not if he wants to continue practicing magic. And given their current feelings towards the guild over the guide, I'm sure Heversham and his clan would be willing to discreetly find us someone."

"Before we go there, there's something else I'd like to try." He turned to Amber again. "Can you still see auras, Amber?"

"Yes, Master. In fact, they're clearer, sharper now than at first."

"Can you tell anything about them from seeing them."

"Well, kind of. There's usually a relationship between the colors and the function of the device. For example, protective things always seem to include gold auras."

"Good, I'd hoped your normal intelligence and curiosity would be working in this as well. Not that I want you trying to change things, not that I expect you could if you tried. Best to not try though." Amber nodded her understanding. "Have you noticed any differences between the magics on you and those on your fellow slaves, especially around the collars?"

"I'm not sure, Master. I can't see my own collar very well, and auras don't seem to reflect in mirrors."

Bressala spoke up. "Amber, when I was teaching a few years back, the scrolls taught that people can have their own auras, not just magic. It's supposed to be because the auras come from the mana in us. Can you see auras on, in people?"

"I've never tried, Mistress. Do you want me to?"

Inclon nodded his assent, not really grasping what he'd actually asked Amber to do. Seeing auras in magic came naturally to those with the spark. Seeing auras on people was actually a spell. Because they had never seen a wizard do magic without an incantation, it never occurred to anyone in the room that Amber was attempting to cast a spell, to manipulate mana like a wizard.

At first, Amber stared hard at Bressala, trying to see the aura she knew had to be there (because she'd been told it would be). Unknown to Amber, magic wasn't something you forced by an exercise of will, but something you coaxed along with a more subtle prodding of your mind. Much like moving water with your hands, the sudden forceful push resulted in uncontrollable movement that accomplished little of want you wanted; while a gentle wave of the hand would put the water you wanted where you wanted it to be.

So, mana moved under her forceful attention, but it accomplished nothing that anyone could see. It was only after she had given up and relaxed that, for a split second, an aura flared into sight around Bressala. Oddly enough, to make it work, Amber needed to use the same kind of relaxed concentration she needed to during her cunt control exercises.

"No...There...damn, it went away." She turned to Inclon. "Master, I had a flash, less than a second. I had just given up on it."

"Try again, Amber. If you can see a difference in your aura and those of other slaves, we'll know there's something different about you, for whatever reason."

Amber stared at Bressala again, instinctively trying to match the brief state she'd been in when she had the flash (something she did a lot in her slave training, early on). This time when it came, she was able to bring it back repeatedly as it tried to fade over a period of several minutes, until it was steady in her vision.

"Wow, Mistress. You should see this. There's all sorts of colors coming out of your collar and wrapping themselves around your body. It's almost like a cloak, or a dress. It's pretty, but I think your prettier on your own."

"Why, thank you, Amber. But didn't you see that before? It is the aura from the collar, isn't it?'

"Not exactly. Before, I could see the aura of the collar, but just on it. It was different too. There was less color on the collar itself. What I'm seeing now is like the collar's aura and more."

"Fascinating, Amber," Garth commented. "You make it sound like the aura on the collar and on the wearer are blending in some way."

"I don't know, Master. I suppose that's possible. I'm not sure I like the idea."

"Amber, you already knew the collar was doing things to you. You're just seeing a manifestation of that. What about your own aura?"

Amber looked down at herself to try to see her own aura. She gave gasp and clutched at her chest. "Master, there's a bright spot in my chest. It's white and it's pulsing. Bressala doesn't have one in her." Amber's voice was panicked as she stared at the pulsing, white aura in her own body.

"Amber!" Garth's voice rang out with command, snapping the slave's head up with a jerk. "What do white auras usually mean?"

"I don't know, Master. I've only seen a pure white aura was the spark that happened during the accident with the strange device at Master Vesti's."

Master," Bressala observed, "it seems that the more we find out, the more questions we have."

"That does seem to be the case," Inclon replied. "Amber, I want you to continue to look at people's auras. Make a report to Bressala of anything you find that is different."

"Different in what way, Master?"

"Different from everyone else, actually. I need information, raw data, if you will. Write down what you observe. I especially want to know what makes auras change. Can what they eat or drink change them? How they're feeling? Does illness or injury affect auras? How does magic interact? I know it's a lot to ask of someone whose just learned to see them, but I have the feeling that this will be important in some way." Sighing at the prospect of more long nights of work in his near future, Inclon finished with, "Bressala, Marlena, Amber, you can return to your duties. Bressala, I want you to make some time in the evening for Amber to record what she observes each day. Deliver what she writes to me each morning."

"Yes, Master," the three slaves answered, rising to their feet and leaving.

Once they were gone, Garth looked pensively at his superior. "We're not going to be able to place her, are we?"

"I'm afraid not. Until we can figure out what the hells is going on with our little Amber, we can't run the risk of selling her. Can you imagine the reaction if it gets out that we have a slave whose collar isn't working properly? Contact Heversham. I want to hire a renegade. We're going to need expert advice on this. Oddly enough, a renegade wizard is the only outsider we can trust to keep this quiet."




Amber's Enchantment Ch. 06



"Yes, sir. I'll get on it right away."

*****

"I'm sorry, Mistress, that I'm such a bother to everyone," Amber sighed as they walked back to their quarters.

Bressala stopped and turned towards her charge. Taking her by the shoulders, she looked Amber in the eye. "Don't say that. You're not as bother. It's not your fault that something about the magic isn't working properly on you. You've done exactly what we've expected of you, under the circumstances. Our Masters will figure this out; they always do."

"Okay, Mistress. Will there be some time for some training before bedtime?"

Bressala smiled at Amber's enthusiasm. "I think we can fit in something, maybe a refresher session."

"Thank you Mistress. That'll be nice."

Bressala hid her concern. She suspected what Inclon had confirmed to Garth; that Amber may be unplaceable. A slave who wasn't sold, unless they were kept as a trainer, rarely lasted more than a year before their depression over their fate led them to fall into a collar sleep. Effectively telling a slave they weren't good enough a slave to be sold was a death sentence. Best to keep Amber's mind off that possibility with some training activity.

Entering their training quarters, Bressala called out, "Thebes, Yolanda, come here please." Both slaves quickly appeared from the training area. "Yolanda, how are you feeling right now?"

"Nervous, Mistress. What if it doesn't go well tomorrow?"

"It will be fine, Yolanda. You've climaxed under the whip more than once already. Tomorrow is simply your official test. Let me guess, you can't even think of sleeping right now, can you?"

The young slave shook her head. "No, Mistress. I'm too nervous."

"Then this will be good for you." She turned to Amber. "Amber, you're to pleasure Thebes and Yolanda. Until they've both had at least two orgasms, you're not to climax yourself. Let's see how your orgasm control is holding up?"

With smiles on their faces, the three slave trainees came together in a mutual embrace. Amber let her hands wander over both the others, caressing whatever part of their bodies happened to be available. She could feel Thebes' cock rubbing against her thigh, noticeably hardening against her. She undulated her body to provide him with additional stimulation while she met Yolanda with a deep, tongue probing kiss. She felt her own arousal building as well, the familiar tingling pressure growing slowly.

When both her partners were panting softly, Amber gently pushed Thebes onto his back and turned away from his face. She allowed him to pull her down onto his cock, feeling the hard phallus enter her damp cunt. Yolanda knelt and allowed Amber to suckle on her breasts, pulling Amber's face tightly to her. Amber let her hands drop to caress Yolanda's ass, occasionally probing her hole. Through all of this, she slowly rocked herself on Thebes' cock in response to his hands moving against her hips, milking it with her pussy.

Yolanda, wanting more, stood and pulled Amber to her own pussy, gasping with pleasure as Amber's tongue lapped at the damp folds, playing at the entrance to her cunt. Thebes had begun to rock himself up and down, thrusting into the grinding Amber. When Amber felt Yolanda's pussy tense rhythmically, she knew she was in for a hard time; Yolanda was using her own, more developed orgasm control She suspected that Thebes was doing the same. A small moan of worry escaped her throat since she knew that both the other slaves, could, if they wished, outlast her in controlling their own orgasm.

Redoubling her own efforts, Amber began to pinch and bite at Yolanda, knowing that such little pains would only increase the slave's arousal. She was rewarded with a flood of new moisture from the pussy she was licking and sucking at. Amber moved her hands up, finding Yolanda's nipples and squeezed them hard, drawing another moan of pleasure. At the same time, she ground her hips in a circle, something she knew Thebes particularly liked.

The coupling of pain and pleasure together overcame Yolanda's control and she was soon shuddering in a failing attempt to hold back from cumming. Amber threw her over the edge with a seemingly savage pinch and twist on Yolanda's nipples. Amber locked her mouth to Yolanda's pussy, catching and swallowing nearly all of her sweet tasting cum. As Yolanda's climax ended, Amber lightened up her oral ministrations to help ease the slave down from her high.

Thebes was also close, though in his case it was because Bressala had silently instructed him to stop fighting his orgasm. Bressala knew that Amber would be unlikely to encounter owners with the ability to delay their own orgasms for any length of time. Hearing Yolanda cum was nearly the last straw, and he shot off into Amber's cunt as she was lapping at the last of Yolanda's moisture.

Amber moaned as her cunt was filled, the warm sensation of Thebes' cum driving her own arousal even higher. When she sensed that he was through spurting in her, she pulled off and bent to clean his cock and balls. Yolanda knelt behind her and started to lick at the juices leaking out of Amber's pussy. Amber groaned as she forced a small orgasm back from the brink it was brought to by fingers accidentally brushing her clit.

With Thebes' cock clean, Amber turned around and prodded Yolanda to lie on her back. Kneeling between her legs, Amber raised her ass in invitation to Thebes. The male slave smiled as he saw Amber's ass literally open up for him; a sign that her anal training was quite successful. He brought his cock to full erection again, a result of his erection control training. He knew he was good for one, or possibly two more erections before he was physically unable to get it up again (only the semi-avian Arvast had 100% control of their sexual organs).

Amber licked at Yolanda's damp thighs, teasing her fellow slave by forcing her arousal to climb ever so slowly. Amber's arms pressed Yolanda's legs down to prevent them from closing or being used to increase stimulation on herself. When Yolanda's hands came down and Amber grabbed them, holding her helpless. Yolanda's struggles were minimal, as she opened herself up to the control.

Amber felt Thebes' cock probe her rear opening and she made little thrusting motions of encouragement. She moaned in pleasure as her ass was penetrated, the moans giving Yolanda a little extra dollop of pleasure as well. Amber decided to let Thebes set the pace for all of them; as he played with her and drove her arousal up, Amanda would do similar to Yolanda, keeping her a little bit closer to her orgasm than Amanda was.

As Thebes caressed and otherwise played with Amanda's clit, breasts and ass, Amanda would increase the attention she was giving to Yolanda's pussy. It didn't take long for all three to be nearing their respective climaxes. Amber was trembling from the effort to hold her own orgasm off in the face of Thebes' aggressive attempts to bring her off. Her training held, however, and she felt Thebes spurting his seed into her ass as she made her final moves with her mouth, lightly scraping her teeth against Yolanda's clit, sending the girl into the heavens as her body erupted in pleasure. Again, Amanda was drenched with Yolanda's female cum; this time as she let go and came herself.

"Very well done, Amanda," Bressala exclaimed as the three slaves came down from their heights. "Yolanda, think you can fall asleep now?"

"Yes, Mistress. Thank you, I feel too good to be nervous."

Bressala smiled at the confirmation that her plan had worked. Tomorrow would be a big day for Yolanda, as her symbiosis training was the last step before her final endurance exam. Within a couple of weeks, Yolanda would likely be sold and be serving a Master somewhere in the Helshinti empire.

*****

"Mistress, the Clan Leader will see you now."

Bestry looked up from where she sat fuming. Not only was she the bearer of bad news, it had cost her plenty to get here as quickly as she did. While portal travel was commonplace for wizards and slave houses, only the most successful merchant clans were able to afford the enchanted stones that would open a portal to any desired location. The Wizard Guild had charged her its usual exorbitant fee to transport her to the clan leader's location (which, like all merchants, wasn't fixed).

Ranslan, leader of the united merchant clans greeted Bestry with the traditional handshake. "Mistress, Bestry. To what do I have the honor of your presence?" His voice didn't betray the unsureness of his greeting. He had never met Bestry; her clan was one of the smaller clans, though successful in their own right.

"Guild Master, I'll get right to the point," she said, after a look over her shoulder to make sure the doors were shut. "I have evidence that Melan Lustren is engaging in trade with someone, or rather something, that isn't part of the united clans."

Ranslan hesitated, not missing the significance of her self correction. Merchants only misspoke when they intended to do so, as Bestry did to draw attention to those words. "What do you mean, something?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "According to our witness, the being she traded with was a shadow; something less than solid in appearance."

"Less than solid? You're not making sense."

"I know, sir, I had trouble fathoming it myself. But, the slave reported that it had appeared out of thin air, without passing through any openings. While it was negotiating with her, its form seemed to waver and shift, as if it wasn't all there. He said it was like watching shadows dance in firelight."

"A slave reported this? Whose slave?"

"One of my merchants has a contact in House Hustrid. They will rent a special race of slave that is capable of changing the color of its skin to match its surroundings. They make very good spies; very expensive spies."

Ranslan could see how much it pained her to make such an admission. He had never heard of such slaves and could see how a small clan might well be successful with the inside information such a slave could provide. In the back of his mind, Ranslan wondered who else rented such slaves. "Renting slaves? What an insane idea."

"Would you sell such a slave permanently, sir? I wouldn't. I'd want such an asset under my control at all times."

Ranslan shook his head to clear it. "We're getting off track. Just what is she getting from these traders?"

"I don't know all the details, but in this one case, something called blood wine. It's very new, very different, and very intoxicating."

"And thus, very profitable. Is the spy/slave trustable?"

"Yes, sir. One other thing; the trader attacked the slave with some kind of magic device. A non-slave would probably had been killed, from what we can tell."

"How? What did the device do?"

"We don't know. The slave described a spark of some kind, then a feeling like an overly long orgasm that left him unconscious for two days. He's sure he'd have died if not for his collar."

"I'm less worried about a new trade adversary than I am of what this new trader is. It almost sounds like someone from another dimension is making some kind of inroad into Destran. As far as anyone knows, though, Destran is the only world with enough magic to support regular dimensional travel of any kind."

Ranslan was mouthing a common belief among those unlearned in magic. It turns out that travel between dimensions is frequently easier than travel between points in the same dimension; at least in terms of the energy needed to open the portal. This is because, in terms of physical distance, the dimensions are actually quite close. The closer the two points being connected, the easier it is to open the portal. Oddly enough, traveling a short distance is actually harder on the travelers than a long distance. That's why portal shock for captives is so strong; they're actually traveling a matter of a few feet (venturers are trained to resist these affects).

"But there was no portal when the creature appeared, according to the slave. It just faded into view, as if it had always been there and just became visible."

"We need more information. I suspect we'll only get it if we force the issue. We'll have to institute a trade ban on the Lustrens. When she comes to us to have it lifted, she'll have to come clean. I want to know what these beings are, and I want trade with them in our hands."

*****

"You can't do that!" Melan Lustren was nearly sputtering in her outrage. "You have no right!"

The face in the communication sphere looked on with disdain. "Of course we do. By law and tradition, all trade outside your own noble house must be through guild merchants. This blood wine was not obtained through any of our clans, and everyone knows you can't produce wine in your caverns. Until such time as the source of the wine deals with the guild itself, the Lustren family is denied all access to merchant guild services. Any clan that trades with you will be excommunicated and their goods and assets sold off. Any family that dares to trade with you directly will find themselves cut off as well. The same will happen to any slave house that sells you slaves and to the wizard's guild unless all wizard services to you are terminated."

"They won't stand for this, Ranslan. Louvet is too important for a stupid boycott to be allowed to interfere with shipments."

"I think you overestimate your importance, Madam. Centuries of tradition aren't discarded simply because you want make more money. The sooner you cease your illicit activities, the sooner you'll be in the good graces of the guild, and everyone else. The guild isn't to blame in this."

"You'll pay for this, Ranslan. Mark my words."

Melan waved her hand through the image, terminating the contact. Her body trembled in anger. Melan Lustren was used to getting her way; the obstinance of the guild was something she wasn't used to dealing with. "Tewant!" she bellowed.

The slave entered and knelt. "Yes, Mistress? How can I serve you?"

"Summon Vesti to me, slave. He's to come immediately, without delay. Yesterday would be best."

Tewant, recognizing how upset her Mistress was, hurried off with a quick, "Yes, Mistress." At the wizard's quarters, Silen answered the door. "Silen, my Mistress requests your Master's presence right away."

"Oh, come in, Tewant. I'll let him know." Silen walked to Vesti's work room, finding him ending a communication.

"Very well, Ponet. I understand." When the spell ended, he turned to Silen. "Silan, go to Madam Lustren and request an audience with her."

"Master, Tewant is here, requesting that you come and see her Mistress right away."

The wizard sighed, a look of resignation on his face. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I'll go with her right away. Start preparing a bag for travel, Silen. We'll likely be leaving shortly. Expect to be gone for several weeks."

It was clear that Silen was curious, but her training prevented her from asking. As Vesti left with Tewant, Silen began going through his things, making sure to set out enough clothes, personal items and magical apparatus for a trip.

It wasn't long before the wizard and the noble were face to face.

"Vesti, the Merchant's guild is trying to impose an embargo against me. I want your assurance that you won't be honoring such an asinine order."

"Madam, I've already been summoned back to the guild hall. I can't ignore such a command on your whim."

"How can you stand for such high handed actions on the merchants' part? Who died and made them emperor?"

"Actually, lady, the guild could care less about the prerogatives of merchants. We're more concerned with the nature of the goods you've been purchasing from these traders."

Melan look flabbergasted. "What are you talking about? Why would some trade goods and candles to kill ore rats be of concern?"

"Madam Lustren, that blood wine you gave me? It has no mana, none at all. Those strange devices you had me analyze? They drain mana from things; something that's supposed to be impossible. Additionally, they're constructed from materials that don't exist in Destran. These traders are a danger to everything we hold dear."

"I don't understand what the problem is. So the blood wine has no mana. Why is that a problem?"

"It's a problem because it's not possible. Madam, everything has mana in it. The absence of mana is like...a hole in the fabric of reality. A device that can remove mana from things; it's essentially a device for tearing a hole in the universe." Vesti didn't mention the decreasing mana levels in the world in general; but that decrease was his inspiration for calling the mana-less things holes.

"Is anything being harmed by this...lack of mana? I haven't seen any."

Vesti squirmed inside, knowing what harm there was, but unable, thanks to guild rules, to say anything about it. "Just because there's no visible harm now, doesn't mean there isn't any. Just like developing a new potion, you don't use it on people first, you make sure it works properly on test animals first. These things need to be studied, and we shouldn't be creating or bringing more into existence until we're sure they're safe."

"So study them, for Gods' sake. But you don't have to get in the way of my profit. I need to keep the bowls in alignment. I can't do that without a wizard. What will it take, other than closing down my special trading, to get you to stay here?"

Vesti rubbed his temples. "At the very least, we'll need samples of everything you've traded for. We might want to meet one of these traders."

"I'd agree with those stipulations, so long as I have your assurance you won't try to usurp my deals."

"I'll check with the guild and get back to you."

*****

Colrit dripped two drops of the potion on the stone. Through his enchanted monocle, he was able to note the extremely minute difference in color emitted by the potion. He made notes on a parchment to the side, seemingly oblivious to the rocking of the yeltin beneath him. Satisfied, he put the rock away, and pulled another, different looking one out of the bag at his side. He repeated the dripping and recording. This went on for over an hour longer (and had been going on for three hours prior). He then studied his results, frowning with increased seriousness as time went on. Shaking his head, he repeated several of the tests, confirming that he hadn't made a mistake; though it had been decades since he'd made an alchemistical mistake of any kind.

He coaxed his yeltin forward, passing several others until he was beside Heversham's. "Merchant, we have problems," he announced in his gravelly voice with his usual lack of preliminaries.

"What, yet another problem? Something worse than our not being native to Destran?"

"Yes, Merchant. Not being natives won't end life as we know it. People may be disturbed, but civilization will go on, mostly. No, this problem could represent the end of magic; and the civilization that depends on it." Colrit paused to allow his words to sink in. "I've run tests on various reagents. Their mana levels are universally lower than they're supposed to be."

"But, didn't you say that mana levels will drop at times?"

"Yes, but not for all the reagents, and they're predicted by the various editions of the guide. No, every reagent I've tested shows mana levels less than the predicted levels. It's a constant percentage as well; 2%."

"Can't we adjust potion recipes to adjust for this change?"

"Of course, but potions aren't the problem. The mana isn't going anywhere." At Heversham's confused look, Colrit tried to explain. "Look, the cyclical changes represent a moving of mana from some substances to others. In this case, the mana seems to just be vanishing."

"But, the laws of magic. Mana can't be destroyed."




Amber's Enchantment Ch. 06



"Actually, the laws of magic say that mana can't be moved. And I didn't say that mana was being destroyed. I said is was vanishing. It may well be going somewhere we can't detect."

"So, how can we determine what's happening? More importantly, how do we stop it?"

"We can't. It will take a wizard to possibly determine what's happening and how to stop it."

"Oh, that won't go over well. The only way we could tell them what's happening is to admit that we have current copies of the guide. They won't take that well; they don't take any infringement into their domain well."

*****

The portal that opened in the portal room was different from ones Garth had seen before. If he was to describe the difference, he would've used the word crisper. Most portals had a shimmer in the field that made the location on the other side appear to be out of focus. In this portal, there was no shimmer, and other than the energy field on the edges, there was no way to tell that what was on the other side wasn't just the other side of the room.

The person who stepped through looked as unlike a wizard as anyone Garth had ever seen before. She was wearing traveling leathers, well worn ones. In one hand she had a walking stick with a crystal embedded in the top. The slightly pointed ears indicated at least some elvish blood in her lineage, though the dark brown hair and hazel eyes denied that she was purely elf.

"Welcome, Silene, to House Grantlo," he offered as the portal closed behind her without a sound.

"You must be Garth. The message I received was intriguing. What is the exact nature of your problem?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell you, but I am to escort you to Inclon, who will."

"Very well, lead the way."

She followed at a brisk pace, her walking stick not being used at all, but slung over her shoulder. Soon they entered Inclon's quarters. Her eyes scanned the tunnels around them as they walked, taking in the mana patterns imbuing the caverns. Her head nodded several times in appreciation of the enchantments she saw; and a couple of times frowning at others.

"Silene, it's a pleasure to meet you. You come highly recommended. Would you care for something to drink?"

"Some fruit juice would be nice."

While Justilia fetched the juice at Inclon's nod, the aged advisor started to explain what he needed. "We have been having...not so much trouble, but issues...with one of our slaves. There's some background I can go into if you think it's needed, but the short version is that our memory potion failed with her and she recovered her suppressed memories shortly after collaring. Recently, however, we've noticed several other...magics...that are not working as they should with her. The collar's translation spell isn't performing in the same manner that it does with the other slaves." He paused to gather himself to offer the last piece. "And...she's been seeing magical auras for several months now."

Silene paused in the middle of sipping her juice. Setting it down, she replied, "I can see why you're reluctant to call in the guild on this one. If they had any idea that a slave could do magic, they'd act as if it were the end of the world."

"She's not doing magic, she's just seeing auras. We've made it clear she's not to try to manipulate auras."

"Oh, trust me, she's doing magic. Seeing auras is a very basic spell; so much so that 95% of all wizards use it without realizing it. Tell me, can she see auras on people? Other than from spells affecting them?"

Inclon frowned. "Yes, she started being able to see those a few weeks ago. We were trying to figure out what was going on ourselves."

"Then she's learned to cast her first purposed spell." She leaned back, steepling her hands, fingertips pressed together. "You see, incantations and hand motions aren't actually needed to do magic. What is needed is to be able to relax and concentrate at the same time. The incantations and movements facilitate reaching that state for most wizards. Eventually, at least for the simple spells, most wizards don't need them anymore. Apparently this slave has learned concentrating relaxation on her own."

"Amber," Inclon added in a distracted voice. He realized that she was describing the very state of mind a slave needed to reach to master the more difficult techniques, such as cunt control. "I see," he started again, as he shook his head a bit. "Anyway, she's described a difference in her aura from that of other slaves. No one at the house has the training to interpret this difference, and we certainly can't have a guild wizard asking how we knew there was a difference in the first place."

"Well, I'll need to see Amber, and another slave, for comparison's sake to help you. I don't expect it to take too long. I suspect it's something minor, given her lack of training. Small differences in temperament or enchantments can produce seemingly large variations in aura."

Inclon sent for Amber, knowing that Justilia could serve as the comparison slave. Soon both slaves were standing in the office. "Amber, this is the wizard Silene. She's going to examine your aura and hopefully tell us why yours is different."

"Actually, I prefer sorceress. Wizard implied guild allegiance, which I most assuredly do not have." Silene looked at Amber as her expression seemed to soften. Then her eyes widened and she sat upright in her chair. She reached into a magical pouch and extracted a clear crystal. "Amber, tell me what you see here."

"Mistress, it's...pure white, just like in my chest." Without thinking, she added, "What does a pure white aura mean? I've only seen it three times now."

"Three times? When was the third? I assume the other two where in my seed and in your chest."

Amber looked to Inlcon for a nod before answering; a delay that Silene did not fail to notice. "Mistress, it was when the strange device's spark touched me."

"What strange device?" There was an edge in Silene's voice, like a mixture of fear and excitement.

"I had been placed with a wizard, and he was asked to find out what a magic device did. It activated and a spark jumped from it to me. The spark was pure white. I thought it odd since the device itself had a black aura."

"I see. Wait! You saw a black aura?" Amber nodded, trying to keep her own fear down. Silene turned to Inclon. "A white aura is the color of pure, unused, mana. Amber has a mana seed inside her body; something unheard of. Rogues, at least some of us, are able to store mana in crystals such as these."

"But, the laws of magic say that mana can't be moved, certainly not into and out of things."

"The laws of magic," the sorceress sneered. "Lame explanations for people who can't trust the evidence of their own senses. There is free floating mana everywhere. Mana flows from a wizard to the things being affected whenever a spell is cast. A mana seed such as mine," she held up the crystal, "allows me to perform magic that is stronger and for longer periods of time than I can without one. Guild wizards are taught that seeds are impossible, so they don't even try. I've personally violated half the laws of magic.

"What's of more concern is these black auras Amber is seeing. Theoretically, black is the color of no mana; the absence of any color from the mana in an object. It shouldn't be possible. You see, I can recharge my mana seed by drawing loose mana from the air around us. In a pinch, I could recharge it by drawing mana out of an object. But, the less mana in something, the harder it is to draw it out. I could, I suppose, empty something totally, but the energy I'd put into doing it would be so great as to be impossible." She turned back to Amber. "Amber, could you tell which direction the white mana in the spark was moving?"

"It was moving away from me, Mistress."

"This is not good. Inclon, there is a constant flow of mana into Amber's mana seed from the ambient mana around her. I suspect that the collar is, in some way, responsible. In fact, I suspect that's happening to all your slaves, though only Amber is actually storing it. I shudder to think what would have happened to Amber if she had been drained completely. Life without mana? The very idea fills me with dread."

"What would make that so bad?" Inclon asked.

"Our emotions are intimately tied to our internal mana. The relationship is very complex, with mana moving in response to our emotions and our emotions responding to the movement of mana. That's why spells can affect our moods. I suspect that without mana, a creature would feel no emotions at all; would be incapable of feeling anything. They would respond to their basest needs; hunger, the need to reproduce. Sentient beings with no mana could possibly act on internal logics that we wouldn't begin to understand; as there would be no emotional backing to them. They would seem insane without actually being insane."

"Great Gods! Why would anyone want such a device; one that would create such monsters?"

"Unless they were a wizard, they would have no idea what the devices did. Used on inanimate objects, all that would happen would be a stripping of the mana."

"Mistress, Master, I remember overhearing the wizard say that the devices were supposed to deal with the ore rat problem."

"I need to speak with this wizard. If these devices are being used, it could unleash a plague of mindless eating machines on us. I'd also like to see one of these devices. They're doing something with the mana; I'd like to know what." She turned back to Amber. "I'd also like to work with, and observe Amber. I suspect that the reason her collar isn't translating properly is that she's been altering its function in some way. It will be interesting to see just what other magics Amber has been performing."

*

Thanks to Sugaro for editing this chapter. Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think.



Amber's Enchantment Ch. 07







Amber's Enchantment Ch. 07







Amber's Enchantment Ch. 07



"Master, Mistress, it was so beautiful. All the colors; mana flowing through the air in gorgeous patterns. Waves of pure white mana cascading out of the sky." Her smile faded as her description continued. "There was black as well. Hundreds of black auras pulsing into and out of existence. Every time one appeared, mana streamed towards it. It was like someone splashing black paint on a work of art."

Both wizards looked at each other in shock. They had feared the black voids being there, but had had no idea to expect white mana. That didn't make sense.

"Amber, where was the white mana coming from?"

"The sky. It was falling out of the sky, like a heavy rain."

Silene shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. I've been outside a lot and I've never seen white mana falling from the sky."

Vesti looked thoughtful. "But not during a burning time. Amber's the first person to see outside during a burning time. Gods! Fron! The only thing different during the burning times is Fron being close. All that white mana is coming from Fron."

"That would mean that Fron is the source of mana; that it pours new mana into the planet every 300 years."

"It's more than that. It pours new mana in, without increasing the overall levels of mana in the world. But for that to happen..."

"Mana has to be being used up in some way. The Laws of Magic are even more wrong than I thought," Silene breathed.

"Yes, but think about this. The voids are slowly draining mana from the world; at a time when massive amounts of mana are being added on a regular basis. Imagine what would happen if this wasn't a burning time."

The look of horror on Silene's face showed just how well she understood the point he was making.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 08



Chapter 8

The Death of a Slave

The pattern of fires on Destran's surface was being changed by the mysterious mana draining holes in the world. The normally random flames started appearing primarily near the holes themselves. What no one realized was that while the mana from Fron poured onto the planet evenly, the ability of the minerals, plants and animals to absorb that mana was dependant on the fires themselves. With the fires clustered around the mana draining holes, the substances and creatures able to absorb new mana had it stolen from them.

The sentient peoples of Destran had not yet put together that the holes were deliberate. The brisk trade that Melen Lustran had done had played into the shadows' hands. The transfer of massive amounts of copper from one dimension to another was having a predictable (if you had the right knowledge) result. Now that the flow of copper had been cut off, the invaders would take more direct action.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 08



When Amber felt Thebes' orgasm fade, she slipped him out of herself with a moan and licked the combined juices from his cock, lavishing the cleaning with as much dedication as the actual sex. Once finished, she knelt up with her hands on her thighs, in spite of the trembling desire burning in her sex. The fluids still covering her cunt glistened in the light from the globes mounted on the walls. Amber knew that the test wasn't finished yet.

"Amber, go wash yourself and return," Bresalla commanded, leaving unspoken the reminder that she was still to keep from her own orgasm.

"Yes, Mistress," she replied in a trembling voice.

Rising gracefully, she walked through the corridors toward the bathing pools. They were located on the far side of the cavern system and each step brought twinges of pleasure and desire in her pussy. She could smell the sex on her and feel Thebes' cum dripping down her legs. Slaves she passed would stroke her sides or slip their fingers into the escaping fluids, driving her even more mad with lust than she was (all a part of her test).

The bathing pools were empty. If she chose, she could bring herself off and no one would see her or stop her. They would know, because she would tell them, but only she, herself, would stop herself from failing the test. Amber's arousal was so high that the gentle sloshing of the warm, soapy water as the pool filled was only adding to her torment. She gripped the edge of the pool to give her hands something else to do and spread her legs against the desire to squeeze her pussy over the edge. She found herself wishing for cold water to douse the fire in her belly.

Washing her body was an exercise in self torture. Every stroke of her hands to wipe away the sweat and sexual fluids was a temptation to linger and caress. The worst was the need to clean her cunt thoroughly. Fingers that probed to clean away every last trace of semen stimulated her desire and arousal as well. Several times she cried out in agony as she pulled her hands away long enough to descend what little she could.

She managed to finish her task and return to the testing room to kneel at Bresalla's feet. There was nodding from the trainers who had gathered to watch the test. In spite of the bath, her pussy was damp and her arousal's aroma filled the room.

Standing behind Amber, Bresalla stroked her own hands along Amber's face and shoulders. She felt the slave shudder under the renewed sensations. "You've done very well so far, Amber. You understand the denial continues, don't you?"

"Yes, Mistress. I hope my frustration is pleasing to my Masters."

"Go to your chores. No one will intentionally try to make you fail, but all the slaves will give you pleasure if you ask for it." Bresalla reinforced that it would be Amber's efforts, and those of no one else, that would see her pass this test.

Amber rose and left, heading to the kitchen area where she had cleaning duties to attend to. This time, everyone she passed treated her normally, neither commenting on her needy state nor teasing her as she walked. As she lost herself in her chores, her arousal faded to a background ache; not overpowering but ready to surge forth at a moment's notice. She didn't know how long it would be before she would be allowed to cum again. From what she'd been able to glean from other slaves and trainees, the post test time was highly variable and may depend on the individual slave. The point was that the testee couldn't set a goal of holding out for only so long; they had to be prepared to hold out for any length of time.

Several hours later, Amber was with Silene, being trained in the art of magic. It seemed to Amber that magical training was far harder than slave training. In reality it wasn't; it was the fact she was a nearly fully trained slave that made the magic hard to learn.

"I don't want you to become frustrated Amber. The type of control needed for controlling active magic and the type of control you're used to using as a slave are polar opposites. As a slave, you learn to relax and let your unconscious abilities exert the control that they've been trained to use. From what I've been told, the most successful slaves are the ones that can use their training without thinking about it. A wizard can't let a spell run by itself, or unconsciously. To do so would be to risk letting it do things he or she never intended. Active, conscious control at all times is the secret to using magic."

"Why is that, Mistress. Why can't you, once you know how a spell is supposed to work, let it work that way every time?"

"Because the flow of mana around you is never the same twice. Remember, it's the movement of the mana that produces the magical effect. This movement is in relation to all the mana around you when you cast your spell. Usually the differences are small enough that there is no need to adjust for circumstances, but there have been tragedies in training when an apprentice forgets this and is caught by a difference that drastically changes how his spell worked."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Silene thought for a moment, before snapping her fingers. "Maybe I can show you. Are you seeing auras right now?" At Amber's affirmative response, she continued. "Light the candle, Amber."

Like many apprentices, one of Amber's first spells was a minor fire creation spell. Fire was one of the easiest elements to manipulate, though not so easy to control. The debate over whether to introduce such spells to barely trained apprentices was still waged in guild houses across Destran. Amber's natural intelligence made her a fast learner;. The candle was lit seconds after Silene asked her to.

Silene cast a spell of her own, smiling when Amber scrunched her eyes against the change in mana flows. She knew that Amber was seeing something very similar to what was done to light the candle, but there was no visible effect. Silene snuffed the candle with dampened fingers and instructed, "Okay, Amber, light the candle again."

Focused on the candle, Amber didn't see the protective ward that Silene had put around herself. Amber went through the motions and there was a sudden woosh as flame filled the entire room in an explosion. Amber was knocked back against the wall and her skin singed red in minor burns. Everything flammable in the room ignited, only to be put out by Silene's quenching spell a moment later.

As Amber's burns faded, she asked, "Mistress, what happened?"

"In technical terms, that was a resonance overpower reaction. In more simple language, you tried to light a match in an area that was vastly hotter than normal and the fire took on a life of its own. I'm afraid I took advantage of your collar's healing ability. Since I knew you couldn't be seriously hurt, I arranged for you to have a somewhat serious training accident. To avoid this, you would have to have recognized the nature of the spell I cast and modified your spell to a much lower power level."

"I see what you mean, Mistress. I did see a difference in the mana, but I didn't know what it meant. I know the colors indicate something, and that like colors are similar types of magic."

"That's the first thing we need to correct. The color of the mana doesn't tell you what kind of magic is involved, at least not all the time. All living things have an aura, even when there is no magic affecting them. The color of an aura tells you the dynamic properties of the object, or creature. It's confused with the nature of the magic affecting things because non-living objects only have dynamic properties when under the effects of magic. But creatures are inherently dynamic things, so they have auras that are meaningful."

"Mistress, you seem to be able to tell when magic is affecting someone. Does this mean that there is something in auras that magic creates that is different from the natural auras on people?"

"Very good, Amber. Yes, the auras from an active spell look different from those on ordinary people. The difference is in the resonance. Visually, there is a difference in the flicker." Amber nodded to indicate she had noticed that auras had a flicker to them. "Now, make sure you can see my aura and watch carefully as I cast a spell on myself. Look for the difference in the flicker."

Amber watched intently as the aura of the magic settled itself over Silene's body. She thought she'd seen something different, but wasn't sure "Mistress, could you drop the spell and recast it?" Bresalla would have smiled if she'd been there. Amber had a long history of asking to see a technique again during her training. Silene did as Amber asked several times as Amber stared with an intensity Silene was well familiar with.

"It's regular, Mistress. The flicker of the spell is regular."

"Very good, Amber. Living things are...unpredictable...I guess is the right word. If you were to feel the beat of your heart, it would be almost, but not quite, regular. There would be pauses and such that makes it irregular. The same thing happens to your aura. It responds to your biological and emotional states (not the most stable things) and flickers in what can only be described as random patterns."

"So that deep red aura I see in people that are in pain; if it had the regular flicker of magic, what would it mean?"

Silene frowned. "If you see magic of that color, be very careful. Spells that are colored that way tend to be destructive spells. They can kill."

"Mistress, I thought magic couldn't kill."

"That's a misunderstanding of something that may not even be true. The laws of magic," she started with a sarcastic tone, "actually say that magic can't directly snuff out life. I can't cast a spell that will just kill you. I can cast a spell that will damage you in any number of lethal ways. Your own collar can kill you by putting you to sleep. Spells that inhibit your breathing, or that expose you to intense flames will definitely kill you. That deep red aura indicated a spell that is purposely inflicting some kind of harmful stress on the subject. Ore refining spells show that color. Used on a living creature, you can imagine what would happen."

"So in addition to being able to notice the flicker difference, Mistress, you need to know what the colors really mean."

"Yes, though, as you've no doubt noticed, there is a relationship between the auras resulting from physical/emotional states of people are related to the auras from spells. So, I want you to tell me all the aura colors you know the meaning of and we'll look at what the spell version means."

Amber began to relate what she'd observed over time and the meanings she'd associated with them. As Silene listened, the rogue wizard realized that Amber had created in her mind a hybrid of living and magical aura meanings, due in part to the fact that she spent the first months seeing auras only able to see those associated with spells. Most apprentices are quickly taught to see auras in living creatures so they can be taught the relationships. As she and Amber went over things, Silene realized that Amber was actually finding it easier to make the connections between living and magical auras than most apprentices (including Silene's own experiences). Silene couldn't help but wonder just how many of the practices that were set in stone in the guild were less than the best.





Amber's Enchantment Ch. 08



The device started draining mana from Amber's internal mana seed, just as it had before. Silene's spell did push Tyrene away from the shadow, but it also intertwined with Amber's unconscious spell, and the dimensional portal spell in the weapon. Amber had only meant to force the shadow she could see out of the room. She had no way of knowing that the shadows were all extensions of a single being. Her attempt to make a single shadow leave them alone was turned into a forceful push through dimensions of every shadow creature on the planet back to their home.

The spell merger had two additional affects. Because the movement spell was intended to push Tyrene, it did so, but it pushed him into the shadow's home dimension. So alien was that world that the slave ceased to exist as a separate entity. The other affect was the result of the weapon being entangled with Amber. As it returned to its home dimension, it took the mana from Amber's body with it, leaving Amber as black a mana void as the wine the shadows sold to Melen Lustran. She collapsed to the ground, her skin pale as death and her eyes sightlessly open. As Silene started in horror, the only mana she could see on Amber was the mana of her collar, pulsing with healing magic, apparently trying to figure out how to bring back the slave it was on.

To be continued...