Sisters of the Mists Ch. 09

Damian?

Hearing the sound of Danica's voice in his mind, Damian quickly answered, We're ready. He then stood and said to Branene, "After a fashion, and I'm not so sure you will welcome it at first. Please trust me."

"Damian, you're scaring..." Branene broke off and cried out as the magical portal winked into existence only a foot or so away.

Danica held out the pure white pearl of power, "I'm almost positive that this won't work inside the Hellgate, so we need to do it now. Pull out Zoraster's chain, and both of you get between me and the Hellgate.

Scowling at Danica, Branene asked, "Damian, what is this?"

"Please, my dear, we are in danger," Damian replied, guiding her to the position Danica had indicated while he pulled the pendant around his neck free of his robe. As soon as the amulet appeared, Danica stepped toward him and he grasped his satchel of hasty departure.

Danica touched the pearl to Damian's amulet even as a whirlwind of the couple's possessions streaked from throughout the apartment into his magical satchel. Hearing the click of the pendant's clasp, Danica quickly removed the slave chain from her old mentor's neck. Danica closed her fingers around the pendant even as the satchel flapped shut, having gathered up all the items Damian had linked to the magic item. In that very same moment, a bright flash of light appeared within the room.

Danica turned to see a powerfully built man dressed in fine robes staring at her. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Danica."

Ebonar! Damian thought to Danica in a shout.

"Ebonar, is it? So you're the bootlicker that's taken over for him," Danica taunted. Go through the portal -- now! Danica informed the couple behind her.

Ebonar took a step toward Danica. "As my Master once told you, nothing happens within these walls that escapes my notice. I believe it is time you returned to your proper place here."

Damian grasped Branene's arm and tugged her through the portal, much to Danica's relief. "No, I think I'll have to decline your hospitality." Tossing the chain she'd removed from Damian at the man, Danica said, "We won't be needing this, either."

Speaking a single word, Ebonar activated a prepared spell, attempting to ensnare Danica with his magic as the pendant bounced off his robe to fall to the floor.

Powder blue light burst from the runes on Danica's skin, protecting her and the portal from his magic with a shield of energy. "You're just as arrogant as Zoraster was," Danica said as she took a step backward toward the portal. Despite her bravado, she recognized the power behind Ebonar's spell and respected it. For a simple binding spell to cause her rune shield to shudder, it had to have tremendous strength behind it.

Ebonar didn't answer, and paused a few feet from where Danica stood poised to enter the portal. He spoke words of magic, and Danica recognized the danger. The man was withholding the final word that would release his spell, waiting for Danica to enter the portal. If he could release his spell in the few moments between when she crossed the dimensional rift and closed the portal, he could dispell her Hellgate with his kaleidoscopic strike. That would leave her weak as a kitten, at his mercy, along with Damian and Branene.

Thinking quickly, Danica lashed out with her telekinetic powers, attempting to shove Ebonar into the wall. A bubble of countering telekinetic energy sprang up around her target, ruining the attack. Though she thought she could summon up enough power to penetrate the shield, she doubted that he would give her time to do so. She also had little doubt that any attack with her magic would take too long to penetrate his defenses.

Just as Danica prepared to risk using her mental powers to attack his mind, a great cloud of smoke arose in the room from Ebonar's feet. Danica just felt the brush against her robe and caught a glimpse of Damian's hand in her peripheral vision. Not wasting the opportunity, she fell into the portal, closing it as soon as she was inside.

Sitting on her bottom in the grass of her pocket realm, Danica breathed out a great sigh of relief and let her head fall back to the ground. "Thank you, Damian."

"No -- thank you. I offered but a tiny bit of assistance."

Branene asked, "Damian, what is all this about?"

"I'm sorry to spring this all on you, but we'll have time to explain at Darkni's," Danica said as she shifted the focus of the portal to the powerful wizard's isle. As soon as the portal shimmered to show the welcome sight of her destination, Danica opened the portal. When she gestured, Damian hurried through the portal, hand-in-hand with Branene. Danica followed right behind them, smiling as she closed the Hellgate, seeing the excited look on Damian's face.

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

"This should work," Ashley declared, looking at the spell she, Celes, and Andrea had written.

"Guess we'll find out if we're all Edna expects of us when we find the right demon to use it on," Celes said.

A transparent image of Danica appeared in front of the three witches, her body bisected by the table at which they all sat. "Celes, I'm at Darkni's island. I'm probably going to be here for a little bit. Could you take care of firing the kiln when the girls are done with their toys?"

Celes responded, "Of course. Edna said you were going looking for wood. How did you end up on Darkni's island?"

"I just snatched Damian out of Zoraster's complex. The madman's replacement had put a slave chain on him."

"You did what? Have you gone daft, Danica? What were you thinking -- going in there alone on a moment's notice and..."

"I'm sorry, Celes. I know. I'll explain when I get home. Right now, I have to explain things to Darkni and Branene. You can spank me when I get back."

Celes pursed her lips and shook her finger at the image of the redhead. "You'd best bet that I'm going to hold you to that -- the explanation and the spanking."

"That isn't all that discouraging," Danica said with a crooked smile, and then winked before her image faded from view.

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

"Master," Ebonar began, speaking to Zoraster through a magic mirror.

The Archmage cut off his surrogate, "I know. Did you truly believe that I would fail to notice Danica's presence?" Though livid over the intrusion, Zoraster's features betrayed nothing of his anger. "Your concern is to ensure it does not happen again, after you have completed the task she interrupted."

"Of course, Master."

"The corpse supersedes all. In her body lies the seed of that which I seek. I will accept no further delay." Zoraster broke the contact with the successor he had created so violently that both mirrors shattered from the arcane energy.

He didn't even feel the shard of glass lodged in his thigh, leaving a spreading stain upon his fine silk robe.

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

After a quick explanation to Branene and Darkni, Danica let the two men indulge their natural curiosity about each other. Sharing a passion for the creation of original magic, little could have kept them from venturing down that avenue.

Branene sat with Darkni's wife, Carol -- the faintest hints of a smile returning to her face. Though willing to accept the need, Branene was still unamused with her man for hiding the escape from her.

Taking a deep breath, Danica walked over to where the two women sat talking. She could see the hard edge of distrust in Branene's eyes as the older woman noticed her approach. "We had a very bad start. I'd very much like to change that. I'd like for us to be friends," Danica said to Damian's mate.

Although she looked as though she was about to say something harsh and dismissive, Branene's features softened a second later, before any words could pass her lips. "I may have been wrong about you," she admitted.

"It's understandable," Danica responded.

"Danica ever has the best interests of all she encounters in her heart," Carol added.

After taking a deep breath, Branene swallowed her pride and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. The two of you deserve to be happy together," Danica said.

"Would you like me to drag my husband away by his ear, so that you can have some time with Damian?" Carol asked with a little chuckle.

"Oh, oh dear," Damian said, having heard Carol. He turned toward Branene and said, "I just lost track of..."

Branene smiled at her man and said, "I understand. If I didn't, I would have taken you off to lash you with my tongue already. For now, I'm glad to see you smile again."

Darkniciad laughed and clapped Damian on the shoulder. "We will have ample time to discuss our mutual interest in enchantment. Carol will show you to the rooms I have set aside for you, so that you may get your tongue lashing out of the way." He laughed, drawing scowls from both his wife and Branene.

"If you're in need of a rescue, I'd like to ask you a few things," Danica offered and then chuckled.

"Please, it will postpone my own tongue lashing, I believe."

"The key word is postpone, Carol said with a deceptively sweet smile, as she stood to guide Damian and Branene to their new quarters.

"And thus do I ever remain humble," Darkni chuckled.

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

Danica returned to the manor in a very good mood that evening. She'd managed to rescue her mentor, and torment Zoraster's lackey. She'd also sweet-talked Darkniciad and Damian into helping her with the workload of magic items she wanted to protect Ashley, Edna, and Andrea. Along with the balsa in her bag of holding, she also carried a dozen silver eggs, each topped with a sapphire. When someone pressed the sapphire and concentrated on somewhere that they knew well, the magic of the eggs would teleport the user and anyone he or she touched to that location.

In a fine mood indeed, she walked into the lab to find Ashley and Andrea hard at work making potions. "I have presents," she said with a grin, pulling two of the eggs out of her bag. "Did the girls finish their toys?"

"They're in the kiln," Andrea replied. "Edna took them to the baths. If you listen closely enough, you can probably hear them splashing. Those are beautiful," she added, looking at the glimmering eggs.

"Useful, too," Danica said, handing one to both of the witches. "I'll explain it better later, but you can use those to teleport to places that you know. That way, you won't have to depend upon Celes and me to take you somewhere. I have some for Marlena and Edna too. Where is Celes?"

Ashley pointed off in the direction of Celes' room. "She's not very happy with you right now."

Danica winced and asked, "Is she really that upset?"

Andrea answered, "Yes. I'm not happy that you would do something so dangerous by yourself, either." The blonde's stern expression surprised Danica a little.

Pouring some of the potion she'd made into a vial, Ashley added, "That makes three of us. Four, actually. I'm sure that Edna and Celes invented some new swear words. It will be five as soon as Marlena finds out."

Danica winced and sheepishly apologized, "Sorry."

"Just don't let it happen again," Andrea warned, her expression still stern.

Ashley let out a little chuckle and said, "I'm sorry. You just reminded me of Edna for a second there." She chuckled again and patted the blonde witch's hand.

"I promise I'll be more considerate and careful," Danica said. She couldn't help but smile, thinking about how much Andrea had grown up since they'd met. Barely over the threshold to womanhood at their first meeting, Andrea had matured a great deal over the last couple of years.

"I don't think you're going to get away so easily with Celes," Ashley advised, slowly shaking her head.

"She's that upset?"

"Livid," Ashley answered.

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

Meckataur crouched over the rift to the hells, contemplating the touch of dark power in his spawn. Only once before had he tasted of that unique vintage, on the day he had destroyed B'Lasco's gatekeeper to assimilate his former slave master's powers. Though the Devil's powers were legion, it was that seemingly insignificant touch of darkness that most intrigued Meckataur.

Meckataur yearned for more -- the urge so strong that it had required tremendous willpower not to destroy his spawn to obtain it. He could feel that darkness burning in his blood, tugging him toward something, though the direction was as yet indistinct.

Unaccustomed to such inactivity, Meckataur nevertheless sat on the edge of the abyss for many hours -- all else forgotten -- willing that power to reveal its location that he might obtain it.

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

Danica knocked on Celes' door hesitantly, having nearly decided to let the dark-haired witch have a night for her anger to cool.

"It's open," Celes said in a carefully controlled tone of voice.

Danica peeked her head in the room and asked, "Can I come in -- or am I about to see if I can withstand one of your lightning bolts?"

Celes sat cross-legged on her bed with her hands on her knees, palms upturned. Candles burned in several places, filling the room with the scent of honeysuckle and lavender. After a final, deep breath, Celes opened her eyes. "What were you thinking?"

Danica stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "I couldn't bear to know that Damian was there with one of Zoraster's slave chains around his neck."

"And you had to do this alone -- why?" As Celes said the final word, one of her candles shot across the room, the melted end sticking to the wall for a moment before it fell to the floor. Above anything else, the unwanted expression of her powers revealed how angry she truly was.

Danica sighed and walked over to pick up the candle, carrying it over to the bed with her. "You're right, I shouldn't have gone alone. It was foolish and inconsiderate. I'm sorry," she said as she sat down.

"Damn it all, Danica. You know as well as I do that we only escaped there because of careful planning and a lifetime's worth of luck. The madman was far from the only danger in that place. What if you'd been captured again? What if one of his dark wizards had trapped your soul to torment me? Do you want me to go through that again?" Tears welled up in Celes' eyes as she spoke, her voice steadily rising in volume.

Danica's eyes misted over as well, as she realized just how much pain she'd caused her friend. She reached out for Celes' hands and folded them in her own. "I'm so sorry, Celes. I didn't think at all about anyone else. I'm just so used to acting on the spur of the moment, of doing everything myself."

A single tear rolled down Celes' cheek. "Well, damn it, stop that. We're all here together for a reason. Our strength is in each other. I hate the idea of Damian being enslaved to Zoraster's madness just as much as you do. I wouldn't have argued for even a second, and I doubt any of the others would have either. We would have all went together to make sure he was safe."

"I know. It won't happen again -- I promise."

"See that it doesn't, or I will turn you over my knee," Celes said and punctuated it with a chuckle that was half-broken by a small sob.

Danica leaned forward and enveloped Celes in her arms, an embrace that Celes quickly matched. For long minutes, they simply held each other, letting their emotions settle down.

"Are we okay, then?" Danica whispered in Celes' ear.

Celes sat back and answered, "I'm just glad you're home safe."

Danica gave her friend a little kiss on the forehead, and felt Celes shiver. That reaction prompted Danica to kiss first one temple, and then the other. A moment later, their lips found each other in a long, soft kiss.

Danica felt the surge of passion from Celes the second they broke from the kiss. Celes reached out and stroked her fingers through Danica's auburn tresses, and then leaned in again for a far more ardent kiss. Danica responded in kind, her passions rising to match Celes'

Celes' fingers moved downward to the buttons on the back of Danica's dress, her deft fingers popping the closures open almost of their own volition. Danica slipped her fingers beneath the light shift Celes wore, stroking her fingers over the dark-haired woman's thighs.

As soon as she popped open the last button, Celes sensually slid her hands up Danica's back to the redhead's shoulders, tugging the straps of Danica's brassiere down upon reaching them. Danica's fingers curled around Celes' body to the witch's firm bottom for a squeeze before she pulled her arms back, allowing Celes to tug down both dress and bra, baring Danica's breasts.

A loud gasp passed Danica's lips as Celes kissed the swell of her right breast. A second and third kiss followed, and then Celes moved to trace kisses over Danica's right breast. All the while, Danica's fingers caressed her lover's back and she let out languid little moans of arousal.

After a teasing lick circumnavigating Danica's nipple without touching the areola, Celes put her hands behind the redhead's back and leaned forward, guiding Danica down to the bed. Danica lifted her bottom without a single conscious thought, as Celes kissed her lover's belly and pulled the dress downward over the redhead's hips.

As soon as the dress reached her ankles, Danica lifted her bottom again. Celes' fingers were already sliding beneath the cotton of Danica's panties, seeking to fully reveal her body. Once Danica freed the final piece of cloth from her ankles, Celes sat up on her knees and pulled off her shift, revealing that she wore nothing beneath it.

Celes lay down and enfolded Danica in her arms again, both women lying on their sides with their bare bodies fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. She kissed the redhead's neck, her rising arousal evident with every touch of her lips. Her body undulated in a slow wave against Danica's, the redhead moaning and rubbing her fingers over her lover's back, thighs, and buttocks.

Celes sat up and took a deep breath, letting her head loll back and her hair hang behind her like a curtain. She then looked down at Danica with a sultry smile and tugged on one of the redhead's knees, silently instructing Danica to lift and bend the knee.

Celes slipped her leg slowly through the opening created, grasping the upthrust leg and utilizing it to allow her to move closer. She unfolded the leg beneath her, stretching it out toward Danica as she moved closer. When their moist labia touched, Celes wiggled her hips and let out a sharp, high-pitched groan.

Continuing to use Danica's leg as a handle, Celes' hips moved in a carefully coordinated dance, rubbing her sex against Danica's. Their folds slipped over each other, making moist little sounds and sending tingles of energy through both women.

Danica wrapped her fingers around Celes' ankle, using the support to pull Celes even tighter against her. The intimacy of the contact combined with the unique, slippery feel of their labia sliding over each other to build a bubble of ecstatic energy in Danica's loins. Celes' folds caressed her clit just enough to slowly, but steadily increase the tingling beginnings of a climax. From the sounds Celes emitted, she had little doubt that the beautiful brunette was likewise climbing her mountain of pleasure.

Both women's hips gyrated faster as they neared their peaks. As if they knew exactly what the other was going to do, they remained in perfect synchronization, their nether lips remaining tightly pressed together to create a hot, slick friction. Their sounds of pleasure grew ever louder as they both spiraled upward toward their peaks.

Celes cried out as she came, her grip on Danica's leg tightening almost painfully. Between the sound of Celes coming and her body quaking, Danica tumbled over the edge as well. She let out a squeal, erupting in a geyser of girl cum, the juices squirting out to soak both women and the bed.