The Schooling of the Spell Caster

"Also, if you summon a demon or something equally stupid, you would be inside the circle with the demon. So, you better have a plan for that. Most people summon whatever it is they want into a specially prepared cage. The best cages are airtight. They have to be, really, if you want to contain it. Otherwise, they just fuck up the circle and escape. Many witches have died because of shitty preparation. Like any science experiment, you need to plan for the worst. And witchcraft is really just science when you think about it. Now spirit is a real bitch. Very hard to contain. But where was I?

"Ah yes, the witches then perform the ritual. Rituals can be anything, really. The more common are weather, influence events or people, effect nature, divination, prognostication, delay death, locate people or animals, hex and curse which are bad ones, magic circle, um... oh, yes, blight, elemental bane, channel power, and umm... astral projection. Hedge witches can do some of these. But not well and not with much strength.

"But witches can do much more besides rituals. They, like spell casters, can cast some spells. Once trained, some witches can cast when needing things like communicate with animals, see in the dark, drive away beasts, read minds, cause harm, or heal, invisibility sort of, umm what else? Oh, cast flame but only small flames, douse flame, and dousing to find the elements like water, food, and minerals. Also, find person, lightning lure, chill touch, illusion, hexes, and curses—more bad stuff—witch bolt, which is weird, also cause fear, earth bind, enthral, dispel magic, magic circle, elemental bane, channel power, true seeing..." Bitty tapped her lower lip with a finger. "And that's all I can remember. Every gnome is taught as a child what witches can do. We vowed to never to let them fuck with us again."

Daniel was impressed. He had watched Amber while Bitty was speaking. Her mouth still hung open. He was sure that Bitty knew more than she did. He wasn't certain before, but now he was. Amber and the girls were novices. Girls playing at being witches, but with no actual knowledge of what they were or capable of.

Just like me, he thought, sighing mentally.

Amy and Jasmine were sitting on the edge of the couch now, listening intently to Bitty. Their eyes had grown larger as Bitty had rhymed off what a witch could do. Daniel knew the girls hadn't known all of that. He could see and feel their surprise and excitement.

Jasmine was the first to speak. "We could find gold!? Diamonds?" Daniel could see her eyes gleam.

Bitty nodded slowly. "Yes. Sort of. Diamonds are just carbon. So, you would search for the earth element carbon. Problem is carbon is in everything. We heard of a witch circle who laboured for years finding precious elements like that. Something happened to it. My den father said they fell into infighting. Destroyed themselves with avarice."

Jasmine's shoulders fell. "Oh."

Amber looked equally disappointed. Daniel mulled that over. He also didn't believe Bitty. If you knew enough about what you were searching for, you should be able to be quite specific. Like purity levels, he thought. Mother once told me diamonds are pure carbon. You could also search for pure gold. That would eliminate false findings... His thoughts were interrupted by Bitty asking Amber exactly what he had first asked.

"So, what ritual are you doing tonight?" asked Bitty.

Amber kept her mouth shut. It was Amy who answered after first looking annoyed at Amber. "Really Amber, you need to accept that our circle now includes Daniel. He is our spell caster. Grace has told us he is already bound to us."

Amber blew an exasperated shot of air from her mouth. "Bound to you and Jasmine, you mean. I can never truly accept him. Never."

Amy's eyes flashed with anger, and Daniel could feel her anger, surprising him. Jasmine was also angry at Amber's words, but kept her face lowered.

Interesting, he thought.

Amy focused on Bitty and forced a smile. "To answer you, Amber said we need to perform the Influence People ritual."

"Why?" Bitty asked at once.

"To get people to not look to us for removing the curse from the gnomes, of course."

Bitty laughed, and the sound brightened the room. Jasmine looked up at the sound and smiled. It was like hearing a child's laughter. It was infectious. "No way! That's not going to work."

Amber scowled. "How do you know?"

Bitty laughed again. "How many people do you think live in this land? A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? Half a million? I have no idea, but it's a lot of people. And to do it right, you actually have to know these people. To influence someone, you need to understand how they think. Then you manipulate that. Change their way of thinking or make them think about something else that favours you. It's very subtle. And very hard to do. You would need so much magic to do that. Sorry guys, but you simply don't have the ability to do that."

Amber looked crestfallen.

They sat in silence for a long time, deep in their own thoughts. It was Bitty who spoke first.

"Why do you want to exclude Daniel?" she asked Amber.

"Because he is not part of the circle."

Bitty laughed again. "Actually, it's you who isn't. Isn't that right?"

Amber went a deep shade of crimson. The entire room felt the anger radiating off her. She stood rapidly and quivered there a moment; her hands clenched at her sides. Without a word, she stormed off and disappeared out into the garden.

They all remained sitting for a long time. Daniel finally had enough, and he turned to Bitty.

"You seem to know so much about this. Is there something we could do to take everyone's attention off who broke the curse?"

"Oh yes," replied Bitty at once. "You need to think outside the box. When I became your emissary, I reached out to the gnomes and told them what had happened and why it was important to remain silent. All you probably need to do is for the same order to come directly from you to all the gnomes to keep their mouths shut about it. The sooner the better. They won't tell on their own, but they could be forced to. There are many magics to make that happen. But if you, the one who freed us, orders their silence, they will have no choice but to obey. I think. You will need to order all of them."

"All of them? How would we do that?"

"A ritual, naturally. You send a message and explain why it's important. If it comes from you, the person who broke the curse, the gnomes will have to agree. Really, it's so important just to communicate. So much can be solved simply by talking about it."

Daniel laughed. "Bitty, you're a wonder! But would they really stay quiet about it?"

Bitty reached up and wrapped her hands around the back of Daniel's neck and pulled herself up and kissed him on the mouth. "For you, the gnomes would do anything. You don't get that yet, despite me telling you over and over."

Daniel smiled and kissed her back. "I don't mind gratitude, but that's all I'll ever accept. But this is amazing." He looked over at Amy and Jasmine. "Maybe you two can sit down with Amber and explain this to her? Get her to see?"

Amy nodded and rose and pulled Jasmine off the couch with a helping hand. "Come on, Jazz. Let's go remind Amber that she's not the boss. Seriously, that girl needs to be spanked hard."

Daniel watched Amy and Jasmine exit out the patio door. No sooner had the door closed than Bitty was yanking down his pants and wrapping her mouth around his cock. As he grew hard in her mouth, he stroked her bald head and sighed contentedly.

⭐

Much later that night, Daniel sat at the wrought-iron table in the garden with Bitty sitting beside him. There was no moon in the night sky and Bitty had said that was perfect. This caused another heated conversation with Amber, who said the moon was vital in rituals. Daniel could still remember the condescending tone that had emerged from Bitty for the first time. She was showing her true colours around Amber, and Daniel was impressed already.

"Actually, NO," stated Bitty with a tone that startled all of them. "It is only during spiritual rituals that the moon plays a part. The sun's reflection off the moon is spiritual energy. It can augment the ritual if you can harness that spirit prior to sealing the circle. Remember, nothing in or out once formed?

"Or have you forgotten the Night Fae civil war three hundred years ago? They slaughtered people from their lairs deep underground. How did they do that with no moon, huh? It's like I'm speaking to a child when I talk to you, Amber! Do you know anything at all?"

Amber had screeched in reply, her hands raised in claws, before Bitty did something to her that had Amber on her ass staring up, bewildered.

"Don't you show your claws to me, Amber Aine! By the Gods, what is your problem?" hissed Bitty. "Get over yourself." Then Bitty pointed at Daniel. "And you need him for this. He has the power to make this work. Sorry, but you girls don't have the strength yet. And I sure hope your ritual knowledge is sufficient to actually make this work. But without Daniel's magic juice, you might be able to communicate with me. Good thing I'm standing right here, twenty feet away, huh?"

Daniel bit the inside of his cheeks to stop from laughing. Amy helped Amber to her feet and pulled her away. Daniel was watching them from his seat at the table. They were animated and the occasional words drifted their way. Words like ass, jerk, male, and "what the fuck do gnomes know?" drifted over.

Daniel smirked at Bitty. "What's got into you?"

Bitty burped and then smiled. "Oh Gods, burping up your cum is amazing. It's potent stuff." She fanned the air. "Gotten into me? Nothing. I've always been this way. With the geas of the curse hovering over me, I could only speak my mind in private or with other gnomes. I guess I'm coming out of my shell." She giggled.

"I like this version."

Bitty grinned at him. Her overly large eyes then blinked seductively at him. "Me, too."

Daniel watched Jasmine strut over to Amy and Amber and join in. Arms and hands flailed away in the air.

Bitty stroked Daniel's cock through his pants.

"Please stop," he asked.

Bitty dropped her hand. "Sorry. It's just so wonderful. Your cum is really strong in magic. What I wouldn't do to put you in a lab and study you."

Daniel stared at Bitty. "What the actual fuck?"

Bitty laughed, but it sounded forced to Daniel. "Ha, ha! Kidding. Of course."

Daniel pushed what she had said aside for now. "What are they talking about?"

"Humans and their stupid, useless ears," chuffed Bitty. "Let's see. Amber said something about no fucking way is that man taking part in this. To which Amy said, fuck you, you fucking bitch. Or something similar. This went back and forth, and Amy asked Amber repeatedly what her fucking problem was. Amber has yet to answer. Then Jasmine joined the conversation and said Amber's afraid of you and that you'll ruin the circle binding. Now they're arguing whether Jasmine was correct."

"Is she?"

Bitty looked uncomfortable. "Yes, it is very possible."

"Grace told us that because I was in love with Amy and Jasmine before that the binding would be different."

Bitty looked genuinely surprised. "Truly? You didn't form with their circle before you loved them?"

"No. I had no idea they were witches. We just kind of happened."

"And with Amber, too?"

"Um, no. I met her later."

"I see. I don't think I have ever heard of a spell caster not being forced to bind with a circle. Who knows what that means? It's still risky. But there is another problem."

"How so?"

"It's that Amber isn't part of the full circle. Amy and Jasmine have evolved as hedge witches. They are bound to you and you to them. You mentioned tendrils, yes? That is the manifestation of that binding. You create that visualisation. It's actually just entanglement that changes as you observe it. Have you seen any from Amber? To you or the girls?"

Daniel shook his head.

"She is fighting it. The tendrils are also a manifestation of their love. When a spell caster is forcibly bound, that love isn't real. It's a simulacrum. Witch circles are hated across the land because essentially the witches are forcing someone to love them. Against their will. It's evil. Witches can exist, but once a circle forms, it is only a matter of time before they force a spell caster to love them and join their circle. It's not only evil, is punishable by death, enforced by whomever discovers it. The King offers substantial rewards. As for Amber, as the heart, she has the power to force decisions. One of the few she has. She seems to flex that pretty hard. She knows she is, Daniel. This is intentional on her part."

Daniel thought hard about that and admitted she was right. "That sounds about right. So, Amber is afraid I will be bound to the circle, but it looks like I already am, right?"

"I think so. But here's where it gets interesting. Normally—like any of this is normal—witches coerce a spell caster into their circle. They bind the poor fellow. He becomes enamoured by them. Forced love. They say the subconscious, or maybe more of the spell caster, always knows this. It messes with the circle in subtle ways. Gnomes feel it limits the circle significantly. But in this case, we have two witches who were already in love with you before they bound with you. That's potentially powerful because you aren't limited by any subconscious hatred. But Amber is the loose strand of thread in this tapestry. Will the love of Amy and Jasmine keep the circle strong, or will Amber dilute it? Cause issues. Like that fight over there. She hates you. She'll never love you."

Daniel glanced at the girls and saw they had evolved their argument to pointy fingers being stabbed in shoulders and upper boobs. "I wish I could help..."

Bitty looked pensive and then jumped up. "I have an idea. Be right back."

Bitty raced away, back inside the suite. Daniel watched the girls continue to bicker. He wanted to go over and try to calm things, but some male survival instinct took hold of him, and he remained seated.

Bitty came back out holding the Bag of Holding and pulled out several of her vials of his cum. He grimaced.

"I think if they form the circle using this instead of salt or scratching a line in the dirt, this might make a huge difference. And you wouldn't need to be part of the ritual. Not physically, at least."

"Just my spunk."

"Spunk? That your word for this? I call it Bottled Mana."

"What?"

"You've heard of mana potions? Master, this is pure magic, as far as I can tell."

Daniel gawked at her. "No way. My parents made mana potions. And they're extremely costly and difficult to make. And stop calling me master."

Bitty nodded her head. "Sorry, slip of the tongue. But yup, what you say is all true. But this!" She held up a vial. "This is mana." She uncorked the vial in her hand and took a sip. Daniel grimaced. She smacked her lips. "Wow. It sends shivers through me." She held out the vial to him. "Try it!"

"Uh, no thanks. I'll pass."

Bitty looked at the vial as if suddenly realising what she held. "Right. Sorry. I'll work on making this less spunk-like." She took another sip and corked the vial and sat next to Daniel once more. "Think I should tell them now?"

Daniel nodded and Bitty got back up. She seemed energised. She ran over to the girls and threw herself into their conversation. Daniel watched her hold up a vial and take a sip. Jasmine took it from her and took a sip. She smacked her lips and said something to Amy. Amy tried it, too, and then looked over at Daniel in thought. Amber held up her hands and made a retching sound.

Bitty held up the other vials and pointed to where the girls were going to clear the ground for the ritual.

Surprising Daniel, the girls, except Amber, quickly agreed, and he watched them clear the ground with a plain old straw broom. Bitty came and sat next to him again. Candles came out and were circled with his cum from the vials. He had no idea that Bitty had kept so much. Candles were lit, and then the girls removed their clothes.

Daniel's eyes widened, and he leaned forward. He loved watching their breasts swaying and jiggling. That beautiful space between their legs. That rare glimpse between their ass cheeks when they bent over to some task. Amy and Jasmine soon realised that Daniel was watching them intently and emphasised their motions, looking back at him, smiling and winking.

Once, Jasmine leaned right over and looked back at him between her legs. She pointed at her exposed pussy and made an exaggerated, surprised "O" shape with her mouth. He heard her giggle when she stood back up.

Daniel was rock hard watching them perform for him. Sly smiles were sent his way. A finger would probe their private areas and find their mouths while watching him. Amber saw and shook her head. But they still worked as a team. They each had a role and performed it flawlessly in Daniel's eyes.

Amy and Jasmine created the circle with the vials of his cum. He could see the ground darken with it and mark the circle. It was more oblong than anything else, and Bitty said it didn't matter. The remaining cum in the vials was emptied into a small copper bowl they had found in the kitchen. The bowl was placed in the centre of the circle.

A small sliver of hazel wood, which Amber had insisted be inserted into Daniel's left arm for a time, was then placed in the bowl. It had hurt like crazy, but once removed, it left no mark or trace on his skin.

When questioned, Bitty explained to Daniel that wood had different magical properties and influences depending on the tree. Hazel, she had explained, was commonly linked to knowledge, mental powers, and messages. The strip of hazel was infused with Daniel's identity and would confirm in the message to the gnomes that it came from him.

Bitty had laughed when Daniel asked her if she was sure they would know it came from him.

"I've told you before, all gnomes know you now," was all she said. Then she added cryptically, "No one forgets their first..."

The girls started the ritual. Turning to the cardinal points and speaking words that seemed to pass through his memory, immediately forgotten. Then there was a flash of light and an invisible breeze blasted past them that seemed to Daniel to be more of his imagination than anything else. Except now he could feel power in the air. The hairs on his body stood up on end. He could hear a buzzing in his ears.

"Nicely done," murmured Bitty. "They have trapped the air nicely."

The girls met in the centre of the ritual and their hair flew around like they were in a windstorm. Amber held up a small piece of dark, glistening, and twisted wood in her hand that tapered to a sharp point.

"Rowan wood, taken from the heart of a tree struck by lightning at midnight," murmured Bitty. "A rare wand... where did she get that, I wonder?"

The girls started to chant. He couldn't hear the words or remember them when he thought he did. He felt lightheaded, and the buzzing in his ears grew stronger. He watched in a trance for a long time. At least an hour had gone by, he figured. He looked over at Bitty and saw she was frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"They have the right idea, I think. They just can't complete it. It's like trying to lift a heavy barrel up on a table. You can lift the barrel but not high enough to set it on the table. They're struggling and they're tiring now. They've exceeded what they can manage at their level."

Daniel stood and dropped his pants. He could feel Bitty's head snap to look at his cock. He reached down and stroked it to life. Bitty stood in front of him and took him into her mouth. He moaned at the pleasure. Bitty drove his cock deep into her small mouth. He could feel her small teeth rasping against his tender skin, but it only heightened his arousal. He placed a hand on her bald head and controlled his penetration. He was careful not to go too deep, but he used her mouth for his pleasure.