The Schooling of the Spell Caster

Gwydion blamed Amanda for her own loss of circle. It was bad enough that witches were being killed on sight, but to have a circle turn on another circle was something Gwydion had thought at the time was ancient history. Circles used to war each other all the time. The loss of life often staggering. Including all the collateral damage.

Gwydion sniffed. As if the King's army don't cause their own collateral damage. But no, when a witch accidentally kills innocents, it's all evil. Gwydion pushed open the door to her chambers after saying her name to the lock.

She rushed to her bedchamber and tore off her clothes. She threw her wet panties aside, and they hit the wall and stuck there for a moment before falling onto the carpet. She yanked open her bedside table and pulled out her enchanted vibrator.

One of the few things gnomes are good for, she thought, and fell onto her back on her bed.

She turned on the actuator and the eight-inch vibrator hummed to life. It was a marvel of technology, as the gnomes called their magic, and it did the trick. She spread her legs wide and didn't hesitate. She thrust the vibrator hard into her sopping cunt and thrust wildly with it. Pleasure rippled through her body, centred on her vagina and clit. She squeezed a nipple and felt her pussy contract with the sweet pain.

She imagined ripping off the clothes from Daniel and throwing her throat around his massive cock. She could see the massive cock head, engorged and purple with its lust for her. Driving into her like her vibrator was doing. She fumbled with her free hand and found her rosebud with a long, nailed finger. She jammed it into her ass, feeling the nail scraping painfully inside her rectum. It added just the right amount of pain and pleasure, and she had her first orgasm. It shuddered through her, and she cried out.

She kept at it until the fourth orgasm left her too weak to continue. I'm getting too old to do more. She lay with her limbs akimbo. The vibrator droned on inside her and slowly pushed its way back out to flop on the bed. Gwydion fumbled for it and turned it off. In a moment, she sucked on it, savouring her own juices. She always enjoyed her own taste.

I could smell his cum in that suite. The air is saturated with it.

She could feel the power of it and longed to have just a small taste. He was an enigma. Spell casters are all stunted by their training, she knew. Few knew the power of sex in magic. She knew, of course. It was how she survived the purge. Almost all witches were hunted down and eradicated so many years ago by Quinten and his cronies. Men swearing worship to what they called the One God, a fabrication of their own making, she knew. All the Gods were known. The One God was not one of them, but he gained his power from some entity. She just didn't know what one.

Finally feeling satiated, she rose, glancing back at her sheets, now soaked with her own juices. The wet stain was huge and likely soaked into the mattress. She would have the staff replace it on the morrow. She steadied herself with a doorframe before entering her office. She went to the back wall and murmured a simple spell tied to her blood and an illusion parted, revealing a small cupboard. She opened it and withdrew her special book. Owning this book, or even caught looking at it, would be the death penalty.

She sat at her desk and placed the book in front of her. She ran her fingers over the cured human skin binding. The title was embossed and read Witch Circles: How to Control Your Spell Caster and Use His Power. A strictly forbidden tome. All thought the books destroyed.

Except this one, she smiled to herself. It only cost me my circle. But it was worth it. They were such bitches. Not understanding power at all.

She flipped pages and read whatever caught her fancy. She had learned long ago that the tome only revealed what she needed, and only when she needed it. The making of the tome was a mystery to her and many others. She didn't question how it worked; she was merely determined to allow it to lead her to what she wanted. It rarely failed. She had survived to this day only because of this tome. The title was misleading. It revealed so much more. All important to her witchcraft.

I need to understand the power I felt. It was... sexual in nature.

It had given her a sense of deep euphoria. It had taken her a long time after it passed over her to gather her senses. Being sensitive to magic, she knew exactly where it had originated and ran to the suite. Being rebuffed by the insolent gnome had enraged her at first. Then she calmed and tried a more diplomatic approach.

What she found inside the suite was still warring inside her head with the knowledge she knew of witches, circles, and spell casters. The circle was barely functional and yet wielded such power. The spell caster almost appeared to be in charge, but she knew that was impossible. He acted like he was the heart. She snorted.

It was clear Amber was refusing to allow herself to bind herself to the new circle. Since she was the heart of the old circle, she was holding the others back. Gwydion knew, having seen it before.

She also knew Amanda Aine would have explained all that to her daughter Amber, so Amber knew and yet she wasn't telling the others. Amber was the child born by Amanda after Amanda stole Gwydion's spell caster and laid with him. Amanda had sworn she had loved him and wanted him back. Gwydion saw through it for the lie it was and the war started. It was always about power. Love never factored for witches.

It only ended after Gwydion had found her revenge and forced that same spell caster to take Amanda against her will while their daughter watched. Gwydion smiled at the memory of watching Amanda's spirit break as her former lover did unspeakable things to her. Better yet, Gwydion could see the curse she had placed in Amber all those years ago still working.

It was a small thing, but lovely, she thought. She cackled.

Gwydion sensed the power play at work in the suite. She saw the secret and how it would tear them apart, given time. Daniel had Amy and Jasmine on his side. Amber stood alone. And vulnerable. And while the circle wasn't complete, Gwydion needed a wedge she could apply. She flipped more pages, and her eyes were drawn to a passage.

Special circles can, on rare occasions, be created under special circumstances. Many efforts in the past have tried to arrange such a special circle, but as is always the way, the power created causes massive friction within the circle. Witches will turn on witches. It is inevitable. Special circles should be avoided despite the lure of the greatly increased power that is generated. Death is often the result.

Gwydion cursed using the ancient forbidden language of the Wild Fae and the candles in her room dimmed for a moment.

"Fuck! This tells me nothing! What special circumstances?" She slammed the book closed.

Four

GRACE DE MOROINGI watched from her perch high on the redwood tree. When the insects suddenly ceased their high-pitched noise in the night air, Grace slowed her breathing and listened. She heard the snap of a twig on the forest floor, and she grimaced.

They are here, she thought, and stepped off the branch and plummeted to the ground some fifty feet below her. She landed silently and turned to watch a small party of Night Fae approach.

They were a party of three. One stood in front of the others, who flanked her. They all wore the long cloaks favoured by the Night Fae, and they kept their faces hidden, but Grace knew who they were. Her mother had sent them.

The Night Fae in the front stopped and lowered her hood. Her white face gleamed in the night. Sharp eyes that mimicked Grace's stared back at her. She kept her face neutral, but after a moment, she broke into a grin.

"Grace," she whispered. "It is good to see you again."

Grace stepped right up to her and hugged her. "Sister, it's been too long."

Her sister hugged her back, and for a moment, they just held each other.

Grace had enough and let go of her and stepped back. "As the future queen, Morgaine, you never leave our home. When I received word you were in the area and looking for me, I couldn't believe it. Mother never lets you leave home."

Morgaine's smile faltered. "Yes, well, these are extraordinary times, my dearest big sister. Mother sent me since I can always find you. And you know she cannot leave our ancestral home."

Grace only nodded. Her mother was the Queen of the Night Fae and the Unseelie Court. She was linked permanently to the core of their city. She drew its power and enabled all the great works of the Night Fae.

Morgaine looked a little whimsical. "Father sends his regards."

"Your father. Not mine."

"Not true. He loves you as his own, you know that."

Grace only glared at her. This was a touchy subject, and Grace was not in the mood to rehash old arguments. "Why are you here? What is so important that you risk leaving our home?"

"Yanwey is no more."

Grace looked shocked. "What do you mean, no more?"

"It is nothing but ash. All were killed. The buildings levelled. A crater is all that remains."

Grace suddenly felt like sitting down. Her limbs trembled. "Ash, you say? Burned to the ground?"

Morgaine nodded, her face barely holding back her grief. "I am so sorry, Grace. This is not the best way to tell you. But I thought it best to just get to it."

"I had heard a city to the south had been attacked. But I never guessed Yanwey, its... my Gods..." Grace's voice broke.

Morgaine stepped forward and took her hands in hers. "It is why mother sent me. To have you hear it from her lips to my ears and from my lips to your ears. So you know it to be true."

"It was the egg, wasn't it?"

Morgaine looked around and found a suitable fallen log. She pulled her sister down and sat next to her and held her hands. "No. It was the Phoenix. He came from the Wilds. Unerringly, it would seem. We suspect the Light Fae had captured the egg and hid it in Yanwey, but someone knew, and we think they alerted the Phoenix. He arrived and scorched the earth. None survived. Including the Phoenix. He was badly hurt and fell. On his death, Grace, he wasn't reborn, no egg remained behind."

Grace's mind was in a whirl. She heard the words, but all she could see were her memories of Yanwey. The faces of her dearest friends. The streets, the laughter, the adventures. Grief rose thick and heavy, and she held back a sob. Morgaine scooted closer and held her as Grace's shoulders heaved with her sorrow.

In time, she pushed her grief aside. Her mind was in turmoil trying to understand everything. She wiped at her eyes. "What do you mean, no egg was left behind?"

"Exactly what I said. At the site of the conflagration, nothing remained behind. We do not understand. The Phoenix should have completed his life cycle and returned to his egg form. But nothing remained. The female should have hatched, but she didn't. We understand you delivered her egg to the King to fulfil your oath, and that geas is lifted from you.

"Mother would now have you recover it, whatever the cost. We must study it and understand what is happening. The world has never known a time when both Phoenixes were not present in one form or the other. Mother wants to intervene and see them both rise again as per the cycle. The Wilds need their guidance and control. Without it, the Wilds will explode. Maeve cannot stop it. It has happened once before. The world barely survived the last Surge."

Grace's mind was having trouble following everything. Nothing made sense. The world had always known the male and female Phoenixes. She had handed the female egg to King Arbuckle, bound by her oath. She had hated doing so, but her mother had understood. Eric had tricked her and their party into the oath and oaths were not to be taken lightly. This had been the true reason Grace had hated Eric so much. The oath had nearly broken her until her mother intervened and adjusted her oaths to the Night Fae. It had been a close thing.

Her mother reconciled it by stating while no race in the world could ever lay claim to the wild Phoenix eggs, she had been happier to see the egg with the humans, with all the threat it represented, than sitting in the Night Fae stronghold in their mountains. The destruction of Yanwey proved her mother right. But the egg needed to be returned to the Wilds.

So much death, thought Grace. How much rests on my shoulders?

"Mother would know all you know about the female egg. Can you tell me?"

Grace nodded. "There's not much to tell. Yes, my oath was fulfilled. My party was hired by the King to find it and bring it to him, as you know. We searched, followed all our leads, but they led nowhere. It now seems Eric was tipped off by his family. He discovered it alone, somewhere, but I suspect he found it in Yanwey, and fled back to Acron. There he was killed by someone. A... friend... found his body and recovered the egg and handed it to me."

"A friend? You said that strangely."

"A new friend. He's a spell caster. I sent him to the Adventurer Academy in Whitehaven." She paused for a moment. "With his circle of witches."

Morgaine gasped. "What? How could you allow that? Witches with a captured spell caster! That cannot be allowed to exist!"

"Relax. I'm not an idiot. They are different. Wildly different. If you were near them, you would sense it too. They are more like Glenda. Good witches, but really, they're nothing more than hedge witches at this point. Two of them were in love with the spell caster prior to bonding with him. It's made it different. And I had a sense of them. One I cannot ignore."

Morgaine looked at first appalled and then interested. "One of your visions?"

Grace nodded.

"They are important?"

"Vitally so."

"Okay. I can live with that. I'll make sure mother understands."

"Thank you."

"You referred to this spell caster as a friend. I sense deep emotion from you about him."

Grace looked away. "He is not normal. He is the most powerful spell caster I have ever seen, and he's untrained. He's just a noob, really. Stumbling around without a clue." Grace looked at her sister. "His cum is like my pussy, Morgaine. And he is human."

Morgaine blinked. "He flows with mana? Like you?"

"Yes. Except way more potent than me. I... I can't get enough of him. I think about him all the time. It's maddening."

"By the Gods, Grace! I will have to tell mother, you know that?"

Grace nodded. "I do. She has a right to know. He requires protection. I have left him in the care of Quinten. I know he's an ass, but he's promised to look out for him and the witches. I had little choice."

Morgaine thought this over for a time. "We must speak privately."

Grace looked over at the two female guards, standing twenty feet away and staring out into the forest for threats. She knew them both. They were highly trained Night Fae, and she should know, Grace had trained them. They were listening to every word as they were trained to do.

Grace reached out and touched the back of Morgaine's hand. As children, they had learned to share their thoughts, a gift their mother passed down to them, and a sure sign of their royal bloodline. They could always find the other.

Morgaine spoke in her mind. My sweet sister! It pleases me to join like this with you once again! But I don't have much time. I cannot remain long from our home. Have you heard about the gnomes?

The gnomes? What of them?

They have been freed. The geas has lifted; we know not how.

That is extraordinary! This pleases me. When did this happen?

Pleases you? It's caused such chaos; you would think Maeve was behind it. But to answer you, it occurred only a few days ago.

What are the gnomes saying about it?

They are tight-lipped. An unusual and powerful communication ritual was activated out of Whitehaven soon afterward. It targeted the gnomes. They are now choosing not to speak about what happened. Even to death. They are not like before when they could be easily compelled, other than about the geas. Mother is deeply concerned. She says they are a strength that few people remember. Mother says their use of their Science was troublesome to the Fae.

A world with free gnomes. How interesting...

What will you do now? asked Morgaine, changing the subject.

I will investigate Yanwey first. I must see for myself, Grace said through their link. Then I must find my party and tell them all I know. They have a right to hear this from me. They have blindly followed me all these years knowing I was working for mother. And they still trusted me. I must find them.

Morgaine nodded. Mother said that was what you would do. She asked me to tell you the Light Fae are massing an army deep in their forests. The destruction of Yanwey has disturbed them greatly and they seek to blame the Night Fae, as they are wont to do. They are incapable of reason and wallow in their dark and twisted emotions. Mother says the war will come. It is only a matter of time. She gives it a year. No more. Because of this, the egg cannot remain in human hands.

Grace pushed her sorrow away. War between the fae was as common as breathing. Every couple of hundred years, they turned to war like clockwork. It was like a pressure valve exploding. But this war would be almost fifty years early. Something or someone was pushing this on them. Grace knew it with her gift. The gift of foresight. It was nothing more than instinct, but sometimes, when the sight was particularly strong, she received flashes of vision.

In one such vision, she had seen Daniel Davies, surrounded by his circle, unleashing terrible forces on both the Light and Night Fae. And her instincts told her it had to happen, or all would be lost. She didn't understand it, but knew it was a true vision. She chose to keep that secret, even from her sister and mother.

I have seen war in our future. Tell mother she is correct. Also, tell her I was attacked by Light Fae returning with the egg to Whitehaven.

Morgaine's eyes widened, and then she nodded and rose, breaking their connection. "I will tell her." Morgaine walked away, and Grace knew she would soon leave, but she stopped and looked back at Grace. "What is the name of this spell caster you speak so fondly of, though you know it not?"

Grace hesitated and thought perhaps Morgaine saw something of her vision while connected. That sometimes occurred, so she said his name. "Daniel Davies."

Grace saw horror cross Morgaine's face.

"What? How do you know that name?" demanded Grace, rising quickly, and rushing to her sister. "Tell me!"

"I-I do not know Daniel Davies, but mother spoke of two other Davies. Amanda and David Davies. Potion crafters. They were killed in the Wilds over a decade ago."

"Yes, that is them. How does mother know them?"

"She knows of them. They were the ones that found the female Phoenix egg in the Wilds. They put all this into motion."

Grace stared at her sister. "That cannot be! They were simply gifted apothecarists from Whitehaven. They sought riches near the Wilds. They were killed by orcs! How does mother know this?"

"I think Maeve told her, but I don't know for certain. You know mother and her secrets. Mother said they were sent there."

"By whom?"

"King Arbuckle."

Grace was shocked to her core. "King Arbuckle? Why?" Grace's thoughts churned. "He's doing something bad, isn't he?"

Morgaine nodded. "Mother knows not what. Only that he is putting in motion events that will directly affect the Night Fae. And the Light. Mother wants the egg wrested from him before he can use it for war."