Danica Pt. 08

They took everything to the workroom and carefully arranged it so as to all be readily at hand as they worked. Darius split up the spell components into thirds and gave Danica and Celes each a third. The third he kept was more than he could find uses for in a year's time.

When they finished, night was upon them. They dined and went to their beds, all ready to be up with the sun, at last able to begin the work they had so carefully prepared for.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

They worked in perfect concert for two weeks -- Danica carving delicate scrollwork and runes of power into the staff, Darius casting the necessary spells as they worked, and Celes assisting them both without even having to be told to do anything specific. Darius used the elven spell components, knowing they would impart greater magic than the otherwise identical ones from outside elven lands.

When Danica at last sat back, exhausted from her detailed work, she revealed a staff of unsurpassed beauty. The pale wood shimmered like silver, and Danica's finely detailed scrollwork made the runes nearly invisible at a casual glance. The runes appeared to be nothing more than part of the fine carving unless one knew what they were looking for.

Darius praised Danica's remarkable work so eloquently that Danica blushed the whole time he was speaking. They went to their beds and rested for the next stage of the work, which mostly fell on Darius' shoulders.

Over the course of the next week, Danica cast the preparatory spells, followed immediately by Darius casting the final enchantments. Celes had the necessary components ready for the two at each stage. She also had water and cool, damp cloths ready for them every time they completed a series of enchantments.

On the last day, they began the final series of enchantments. When Danica finished casting the preparatory spells, they joined hands and Celes cast a spell of Art Sharing upon them. When Darius cast the final enchantment, Danica and Celes offered up their own magical energies to give greater power to his spell.

The nimbus of magic surrounding the staff when Darius completed the spell was so bright that none of them could look upon it. In time, the light vanished into the staff and faded.

Darius reached out slowly -- tentatively -- and took up the staff from where it rested on the table. As soon as his hand closed around it, he smiled wide and shuddered. "I can feel the power flowing through it. We have succeeded."

They were all exhausted and went to their rooms, though it was only mid-afternoon. They all slept through the day and night, even late into the next morning.

They went that day on Darius' boat to an island a short distance offshore. The isle was little more than a wind and wave blasted patch of rock and sand. Here, Darius stood with the staff in hand while Danica and Celes cast every spell they could muster against him. Every spell slid off the shielding of his staff. Danica and Celes then took up magical wands he had provided and again blasted him with magic. The power of the staff withstood it all.

Darius then spoke a word of command and took up the staff, cracking it sharply against a nearby rock. The contact echoed with a loud report, and the rock shattered as if made of glass. He used the staff's Cone of Cold enchantment to freeze a tidal pool solid, and then spoke another word of power, blasting a large boulder with the Ball Lightning enchantment.

The staff was everything -- and more -- that Darius had envisioned. They returned to Darius' manor and enjoyed a fine celebratory feast in the little-used dining hall with all of the servants and a few other select guests.

When all the guests bid their host farewell, and the servants went to their beds or set about cleaning up from the feast, Celes excused herself to her room as well. This left Danica and Darius alone in the large dining room. Danica pulled her chair close to his and they spoke softly of what they had accomplished.

Danica rested her hand on Darius' as they spoke, and something slowly built between them. Darius looked deep into Danica's eyes as they spoke, and continued to do so when they stopped talking. Without realizing it, they sat simply holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.

At last, Darius put his hand on Danica's cheek and kissed her softly, sending shivers running throughout her body. They stood in unspoken agreement and left the dining hall, heading toward Darius' chambers.

They kissed softly at first, and then more passionately as they held each other once the door to Darius' chambers closed behind them. They stumbled blindly to the bed without breaking from their embrace, where they slowly and sensually undressed each other.

Danica drank in Darius' body, even as he did hers. His muscles were quite well defined for someone who spent most of their time in study. Danica absently thought that he either had good luck in his parentage, or somehow found the time to keep his body in shape, as well as study.

He had sparse body hair, and what he did have was either shaven or otherwise short and immaculately groomed. The large expanses of smooth skin aroused Danica intently, though it was but one more drop in a bucket, as she was overheated with passion for him already.

When he revealed his manhood, Danica shivered in delight. His cock looked like an anatomical drawing, perfectly straight and smooth. It would take both of Danica's hands to cover his length, and her hands could not close around the breadth of his member to conceal it completely.

They lay down together and explored each other's bodies with their hands as they continued to kiss. Darius looked into Danica's eyes -- revealing longing and need mixed with a deeper attraction within his liquid blue pools, and then slid down to put his gorgeous, hard cock in line between her legs.

Danica gasped as he slowly pushed inside her. He thrust his hips forward at a slow, unhurried pace, leaning over her body to kiss her lips, neck, and breasts as he stroked his throbbing erection within her.

A warm glow expanded throughout Danica's body, pleasure mixed with something else she had not experienced with a man in a long time -- the first little tingles of love. It was a bittersweet sensation, something she had only experienced fleeting moments of with Andrea and Carolyn since her imprisonment in Zoraster's twisted home.

That glowing feeling grew warmer as her pleasure mounted, but never reached the hot flames of pure carnal need she most often experienced of late. It instead left her feeling as though she was floating, hovering above the bed, tethered to the earth only by Darius' cock inside her.

Danica moaned in quiet pleasure as his cock filled her and stroked her so well. She came to a soft, shuddering orgasm, kissing him passionately as the slow rolling waves of pleasure rippled through her body.

Darius continued to make love to her, and Danica could feel the pressure of another orgasm building deep inside her. Darius' pace increased slightly as he slipped into pleasure of his own building passion.

He at last pulled from her and spurted his seed over her tummy and breasts. The feeling of his hot cum pooling on her belly sent Danica tumbling over the edge into orgasm as well. Darius sank to the bed beside her, and Danica swirled her finger through the pools of semen on her body, bringing the salty-sweet nectar to her lips. They lay for many long minutes looking into each other's eyes, wrapped in each other's arms, basking in the sweet afterglow of their climax.

Darius drifted off to sleep, shaking Danica from the sweet, drifting feeling of her wonderful afterglow when she remembered her task. She sighed when she realized she might never have an opportunity such as this again -- it must be now.

Danica slipped carefully from the bed and dressed, reluctantly opening the hidden compartment of the ring she carried in her pocket and coating Darius' lips with the sleeping drug.

She checked him a few moments later and knew the drug had taken effect. She leaned down and kissed his forehead gently with another sigh, and then went to her devious work.

It took but a glance to guess where she would find the wand she sought -- a rune marked door on one side of the room. Danica had seen its like many times. Many wizards kept an armory of sorts where they stored their most potent magical items. Danica had little trouble defeating the simple protections on the door. Darius obviously counted on the wards protecting the entire suite of his rooms, and had spent little time putting special defenses upon this simple room.

Danica found the wand resting on a stand in a place of prominence near the center of the small closet-like space. With it were Darius' notes detailing what he had discovered about the artifact. Danica picked them up and resealed the door. With a final wistful glance at Darius, she left his chambers.

She went directly to Celes' room. Celes looked up and saw that Danica had the wand. She immediately nodded and gathered up her things from the room. Danica did the same in her room, wishing with all her heart that she could just remain here, but knowing it was impossible.

When they finished packing, Danica and Celes reluctantly rode the wings of magic back to Zoraster's abode, their prison.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Turning the wand before his eyes, Zoraster smiled. "Yet another to add to my collection. Soon, I'll have enough of you, my pretty little trinkets."

Zoraster glanced down at the report a servant handed him. He smiled and lay it down beside him. All was going as planned. The princess and the one arrogant woman here in his city who defied now consumed his special blend of their favored drugs. It would not be long before they served his purpose, rather than opposing it.

The report was one of many that had pleased him greatly of late. Everywhere his designs proceeded apace toward fulfillment. The waiting and anticipation was almost painful, but Zoraster knew that the rewards would be well worth the wait. The day would come when none would stand to oppose him.

Glancing back up, Zoraster watched as Telanor violently assaulted a bound young woman. Beside them, the young woman's barely conscious mother wept with her little remaining strength after her own brutal rape. The severely beaten husband and father was tied to a chair at the foot of the bed, his tears of rage and pain mingled with his blood as he was forced to watch the thief violate his daughter. Beside the table on which the two women lay bound sat a large bag filled with plunder Telanor had gathered while he recovered his stamina after raping the first woman.

Zoraster smiled and eased back in his chair with a sigh of contentment. Reaching over to his side, he picked up a cube of cheese and popped it in his mouth, savoring it for a moment before taking a sip of blood red wine as he watched.

Everything proceeded as planned.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Still in a studious mindset when she returned, Danica immediately took advantage of the freedom that the successful completion of her task granted her. The volume of powerful works in the inner recesses of the library stunned her. There were spells here long thought lost to the ages, spells that were exclusive creations of great wizards, and dozens of original spells created within these very walls -- many of them by Zoraster himself.

The discovery of an entire volume dedicated to spells either discovered or created by Darkniciad surprised Danica. She knew they were such, because she had spoken with her sister Devan about many of them. Most of these were of such a power that Darkniciad only taught them to the brightest and most trusted of his apprentices and allies. A shudder of foreboding gripped Danica as she considered Zoraster having access to them.

One spell immediately leapt to the forefront of Danica's thoughts, and she perused the book to see if it was there. She found the spell, Gunthar's Multiplicity, and looked it over carefully.

The spell was a complicated one. A mage could cast the first part of the spell up to a day before its ultimate release, longer if the spell caster was particularly powerful. After completing the first part of the spell, the spell caster could then concentrate on several spells they knew, which were of a similar nature. The Multiplicity spell would bind to these spells. The caster then needed only to complete the casting of the second part of the Multiplicity spell, and the energies of the spells bound to it would release all at once. The result could send a barrage of various missile spells at a target, summon several types of elemental shielding spells, or enact other similar magics.

The spell could prove extraordinarily useful and powerful when combined with other strong spells. Danica copied the difficult spell, determined to attempt to learn it.

Something else stolen from Darkniciad aroused Danica's interest as well, his work on reviving the lost Counter Triggering enchantment. The enchantment, when placed on an item, linked to other magics on the item. The linked enchantments would then activate when select conditions occurred. For instance, the condition of fire used as a weapon against the person with the item would cause the Counter Triggering enchantment to activate a Fire Shield without any intervention from the person with the item. It was a vastly useful enchantment, even though Darkniciad had only managed to piece together a weaker form of it than what once existed in ages gone by. Items still turned up occasionally with the ancient, stronger version of the enchantment, and they were astounding pieces of magic.

Danica copied all the notes on this enchantment as well, and then made her way back to her chambers. Celes was there when she arrived.

"'Ello Dearie," Celes said and cackled. She then dropped the accent since she was alone with Danica. "I've been thinking, and I've finally decided the type of thing I want to test my ability with as a first magical creation."

"That's wonderful. I'm beginning to have several inspirations myself, as well as other things I had already thought of but just haven't gotten around to. What is it you wish to make?" Danica asked.

"Well, as to the medium -- that I'm not sure of. The enchantment I want to lay on it, that I'm certain of. I've come to the conclusion that most males are tactless oafs ruled by a tiny creature that lives between their legs. I'm growing quite weary of their stares and comments and I'm thinking of taking a little revenge," Celes explained with a wicked smile.

"Oh dear," Danica laughed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I'm not going to try for anything of any great power for my first attempt. I know for certain I don't have your aptitude for the process." When she saw Danica scowling at her self-depreciation, Celes added, "At least yet. I thought perhaps something that caused them to itch rather violently down there where their brain lives might be a sufficient riposte to their callousness."

Danica broke out in laughter. "Well, it should be something passive then. You wouldn't want to have to point a wand or something at them to activate the enchantment. Jewelry would be a good idea. I would lean toward earrings or something similar. I find myself with far more rings than I have fingers and toes most of the time. It would mean working in metal, and I'm not confident doing that yet."

"Hmm, me either. I think I might know a way around that. Damian could craft the item, that's for sure, but I've become rather well acquainted with Amphros, the silversmith who works on the grounds. I think I could persuade him to come here to your lab and work the item while we both watched and learned about his craft. I could cast the necessary spells in a familiar environment while he worked on it."

"That sounds like a good idea. What do you think? Earrings?" Danica asked.

"Sounds as good as anything, I've only got one other pair besides these I wear. I could always use more I suppose. That way I could have another enchantment on the other ear as well. Like you said, you only have so many fingers."

They sat down to outline what spells and enchantments would need to be cast on the item, as well as doing a rough sketch of what they thought the earrings should look like. Celes said she would speak with Amphros the next day, as she wanted to purchase some things from the city and get a good night's sleep before beginning.

Danica sat down to study the difficult Multiplicity spell. It was well after nightfall when she raised her eyes from her copy of the spell and went to bed.

Danica had thought Amphros rather hard and unfriendly when she had encountered him, but he was a completely different person when he arrived with Celes the next day. He surveyed what they had, saying the smelting furnace was a fine one and he was surprised to find it with none of the other tools of a silversmith. He returned to his workshop and gathered up what he would need to work.

He explained each step as he performed it, going into more detail and growing animated when he saw how much attention the women paid to him -- and the interest and intelligence they showed in the questions they asked.

When he paused to let Celes cast the first of her preparatory spells, he said he would return to his workshop and gather up some pieces he was working on to keep his hands busy while Celes went about her craft. Danica could easily guess why he wanted to have something to do. Celes was taking a very long time, all her preparations and casting extremely meticulous. Danica smiled and continued to study the Multiplicity spell while Celes cast and Amphros worked.

It took Amphros four days, with the waits for Celes to work her magic, to complete the pair of earrings. He did a wonderful job taking the rough sketch Danica and Celes had made and turning it into something remarkable. The earrings were in the shape of a crescent moon, with a dainty chain attached leading to an equally dainty silver star. Amphros had designed the stars with a setting and put small chips of translucent sapphire in each. The resulting effect made the earrings twinkle almost like a real star.

Danica felt she had a solid working knowledge of the craft now. She felt nowhere near as confident as she had before she first turned her hand to working in wood or clay, but she believed she could fashion some objects of the softer metals now. She doubted she could make any pieces as dainty as the earrings any time soon, however.

Amphros provided the women with a list of tools they would need to work in silver and gold, as well as providing the name of a man in the city who produced the best of such tools. He also gave them the name of a goldsmith in the city who had worked with wizards before, as the process for working in gold was slightly different from that of silver.

Once Amphros left, Celes smiled and said she had an idea what she wanted to enchant her other earring with now. She wanted to try to outline it on her own -- now that Danica had educated her while working on the first enchantment.

Danica agreed and left her rooms. She first went outside, but the chill in the air reminded her of the approaching winter, so she changed her mind and went to the inner sanctum of the great library. She would have near complete solitude there, as few had access to that area of the library.

Danica continued to study the Multiplicity spell until nearly evening. She had mastered a few of the first difficult words and inflections, which made the rest easier due to the similarity of the words to the beginning part. She returned to her rooms to find Celes putting the finishing touches on her outline.

"I make and burn scented candles. I can light them with a spell or a cantrip, but I thought it would be more convenient to be able to do so with a thought and an enchanted earring," Celes said and showed Danica her outline.