A Long Time From Home

Author's notes:

About the language and notation:

The Baylon language is a predecessor to Latin, which is why it looks like Latin at a glance.

Mental communication is denoted by a < and ends with a >, so a mental communication will look like this: "< Who are you? >"

In ancient times Egypt was known as Kumet

Some warnings

:

This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. I haven't gotten an editor yet, so any mistakes are mine. Interested editors are welcome :)

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Chapter 12 -- Flashback: Learning to forge

Halls of Ordo Architectus, Baylon.

For thousands of years, the Ordo Architectus (Baylon: Order of Engineers) had developed and refined the art of power assisted crafting, reaching a point where they could use Ars Magica and Ars Mentalis to do wondrous work with materials like Malanga, Bdel, Iron Silk and Adamant. The materials that almost all Baylon weapon and armor were made of.

However, the smiths at the Ordo Architectus craft hall also taught the techniques of bronze working, as well as iron and steel forging since primitive versions of those techniques were in use in both the Bhārata region and in the Hittite Empire.

All agents operating outside Baylon for longer periods of time, had to be able to make new weapons from local materials and apparently, someone higher up in the system had decided that it had been my turn.

That was the reason why I had spent half a year at the Ordo Architectus' crafting halls in the city of Mordcha, learning the ins and outs of making wooden bows and metal weapons with and without the use of powers.

I had expected the work to be boring but to my pleasant surprise, I found that the process of creating something with my hands was just as mentally relaxing as painting. As a bonus, both the manual skills, as well as the Ars Mentalis tricks, I had learned, could be used for creative purposes, like sculpturing or forging small decorative pieces, as well as creating weapons like the Lescarian Dao or the Kumetian Khopesh.

Consequently, I developed a habit of staying in the forging hall some extra hours every day, using the extra time to make small items like a bronze butterfly for my sister, a belt buckle for my father, a rose for Verina and a candleholder for my mother.

My latest project was a return to weapon making, as it was a bronze sword for Jia. Since she wasn't Baylon, I wasn't allowed to make a steel weapon to her, but bronze weapon were permitted, so that was what I was making.

I was going all out on making this sword, using all the materials, equipment and techniques available to me. Not only because it was a gift for Jia, but I also intended to use the sword as one of the five pieces we were required to make to graduate the course.

The blade consisted of two different types of bronze, a hard bronze for the edge and tip and a more flexible one for the spine. However, I had added other materials to the bronze to make it better, chiefly among them iron and a bit of sulphur. After having researched bronze making, I also added some

lux

to the mixture.

A strange material,

lux

was distilled from urine as a by-product from making medicine and despite being highly flammable in its pure form, it could be mixed with copper and tin, to create a type of bronze, that was a lot harder and more flexible than ordinary bronze.

It wasn't perfect, but it was the best weapon material I was allowed to make, and it was a lot better than the bronze swords in use in the rest of the world.

It was also enormously complicated to make, and I had to recast it four times before I got all the cracks and errors out of it. Once I had the blade I wanted, I had hammered the edge and double fuller into the blade, before mounting the curved guard along with the bronze handle.

The pommel was to consist of a bronze rose and I was in the middle of hammering out one of the petals, when I noticed someone entering the forge.

I smiled to myself when I discovered it was Dianna, my other, but equally important, reason for staying in the forge hall longer than usual.

A Mage in the Ordo Architectus, Dianna Piso was different from the well-trained warrior women of the Ordo Gladius and the Feminae Bellum, but that didn't stop her from being both sexy and cute at the same time.

Her dark blonde hair was short and framed a good-looking face, adorned with a set of blue eyes as clear as gems and the freckles over her short nose added to the cute look.

As most Baylon women she was the same height as I was, but where I had spent a good deal of time doing physical- and weapon training, she had read books and practiced spells. Consequently, she was slim without being thin, with nice little ass and perky tits.

As most time, she was wearing a knee length green skirt that somehow went well with her red sleeveless top.

Walking nearer, she looked at the sword hilt and chuckled. "I do admire your patience, Ivah, but shouldn't that one be finished by now?"

Grinning, I shook my head. "Nope. I'm only allowed to use powers at the creating and smelting of the bronze and again when finishing it. All forging must be done without powers."

Dianna looked mock horrified. "Without powers! What terrible crime did you commit, to be punished like this?"

I leaned closer and lowered my voice to a whisper. "I had sex with a mage of the Ordo Architectus and made her forget about magic for a while. Repeatedly, I might add."

"The shame... the dishonour." She giggled, moving closer. "Will the poor girl survive?"

"Oh, yes. Last I saw her, she looked extremely satisfied."

"Tsk, Tsk. What would make any decent girl do a thing like that?"

I lowered my voice again. "I honestly have no idea, but I liked every heartbeat of it."

"Good."

With Dianna being present, I doubted that I would get much more work done, so I placed the hammer back on its place on the tool rack.

When I turned around again, Dianna had moved right next to me and as soon as I turned, she flung her arms around me, kissing me hungrily. It was a kiss full of lust and it went right to my dick, making it hard in a few heartbeats.

Feeling it pressing against her, Dianna wriggled her hips against it, and broke the kiss just long enough to whisper. "Sorry, but I'm so horny.

Exui

"

Recognizing the magical word, she had uttered, I didn't even attempt to resist it and a moment later, we were both naked and our clothes placed in neat piles on the floor.

Wasting no time, Dianna dropped to her knees on the hard floor and sucked my stiff cock into her mouth. Shivering from the feeling, I took a quick look around, but like it usually was at this hour, the forging hall was empty except for us.

Then I looked down at Dianna and watched as she licked her way down the length of my cock, until she reached the base. Then she reached up with a hand and stroked me, while she licked and sucked my balls.

The feeling made me groan, but apparently, she was impatient, because after giving my balls a good licking, she sucked and nipped her way back up my dick and captured the head between her soft lips.

Dianna was moaning as she did it and from the movement of her other arm, I had no doubt she was playing with herself at the same time.

She flicked her tongue against the slit at the tip, and I shuddered at the feeling. With her left hand still wrapped around the base, she began moving her head back and forth, sliding her moist lips over the exposed head and caressing me with her tongue as she did. Then she would lock her lips, trapping the head in her mouth, while stroking me as her tongue played.

She stayed like that for a while, playing with herself, before returning her hand to the base and sliding my dick in and out of her mouth.

For my part, I enjoyed the feeling and the sight of her. From experience I knew that she loved sucking my dick almost as much as she loved to share pleasure and watching her obvious pleasure made the experience even greater.

She took her time, but after a while, she let my dick slip free and look up at me with lust-filled eyes. "Fuck me."

"Your wish is my command." I said with a smile as I helped her to her feet.

Turning her around, I lay my arms around her, finding her small firm breasts with my hands and gently pinched her nipples. Dianna shuddered and squared her shoulders, pressing her tits into my hands. I knew what she wanted and twisted her nipples a bit, making her groan in pleasure.

Reaching in between us with a hand, she caught my dick and pressed down, while she got on her toes. That made the head of my cock slip between her parted legs and glide over her moist pussy.

With a shudder, she began rocking her hips back and forth, each move causing the head to slide over her pussy and love-pearl.

There weren't too many choices in regard to positions as we were in a forge, but after a while, Tia leaned forward and placed her hands on the anvil, making my dick press into the entrance of her slick pussy instead of sliding over it.

Since her leaning forward made fondling her breast somewhat awkward, I slid my hands down her body. One hand ending up on her hips and the other between her legs, where I trailed my fingers over her love-pearl.

Dianna whimpered and arched her back, pressing down on my stiff cock and forcing the head to slide into her hot pussy.

I stood still, admiring the smooth curve of her ass as it flared towards her hips, as she wriggled her ass and kept pressing down, moaning with each move she made. That didn't distract her though, and it didn't take long until my cock was fully buried in her.

That was when I started to move. The hand on her hips holding her still, I thrust into her, fucking her with a steady, measured rhythm, while playing with her love-pearl. The combination made her moans rise steadily in volume until it was a low howl.

She was close to an orgasm and just to prolong it a little, I slowed down enough to make the climb to an orgasm take longer.

However, Dianna was having none of it and began rocking her hips quickly, moaning low in her chest. With a few swift moves, she slammed her ass against me, threw her head back with a shriek and came, shuddering all over, as the orgasm rolled over her.

I wasn't even close to coming, so I just stood there, enjoying the feeling, as the jerking and twitching of her hips made her pussy massage my dick.

The other times we had started sharing pleasure in the forge, we had finished in Dianna room, so there was no need to hurry.

Dianna turned her head to send me a smile and moved forward as she straightened up, causing me cock to leave her pussy.

"That was great." She declared, "but we better get dressed before the rest comes back from dinner."

"You don't want to give them a show?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Fun thought, but no."

Still smiling, I went over to my clothes and dressed. Despite my comments, I had no intention of having a bunch of smiths watching me pleasuring anybody.

We were almost done dressing, when Dianna asked. "I know you didn't come, but was it good for your too?"

"Oh yes." I answered. "Pleasuring you is always a treat."

"Good." She said sternly. "Otherwise, I would have to leave it to somebody else to keep an eye on you... someone like Tia Magnus."

Tia Magnus was another mage from Ordo Architectus, but where Diana was pure Baylon, Tia Magnus' father was a member of the Royal Family from Kumet and was one of the rare half-breeds that had inherited the spell casting ability of her Baylon mother.

I wasn't exactly sure, why Dianna considered having Tia Magnus as a supervisor was a threat, but I guessed that it had something to do with Tia Magnus being half-human. A threat that was completely wasted on me on many levels.

I sent Dianna a smile. "You might want to rethink that threat."

She blinked in surprise a few times, but then understood what I meant. "Oh yeah... you're here because you're about to be sent abroad." She shivered for a moment. "The mere thought gives me the creeps."

"You and many others." I said drily.

In general, Baylons didn't fare well in the world outside due to some kind of allergic reaction. No matter what people did they itched all over, their eyes started to water, the nose began to run, and it became harder for them to breathe.

To make matters worse, it seemed like the more power people had, the worse it became, and it was generally accepted that the cause of that reaction was the world itself, since we don't really belong here, having come from another dimension.

Strangely, it only started when people went outside Baylon and not when wares from the human world was brought to Baylon.

Consequently, the trade posts we had around the world was staffed with people of little power and most Magi and Mentats, especially the powerful ones, rarely left Baylon.

I suspected the allergic reaction was the main reason why the Senate haven't decided to conquer the areas of the human world we traded with. There wasn't any point of spending lives and resources on taking an area most Baylons couldn't live in anyway.

The only notable exception to the allergic reaction was the relatively few people in the Ordo Gladius and I assumed that being attuned to the life force of the world via our use of Vis was the reason for that.

"So, do you like Tia Magnus?" Dianna wanted to know, and I responded with a nod. "Yeah, she's a highly skilled mage, not to mention intelligent, well-spoken and polite." I smiled. "I know Baylons don't have red hair or green eyes, but in my eyes, it just makes her exotic and sexy."

Her eyes widened in surprise and then became cold. "She's a half breed."

"You can't choose your parents." I said with a shrug. "Tia Magnus got power and Baylon blood, which, according to the law, makes her a Baylon." Thinking for a moment, I continued. "The reason why most people don't like humans, is the lack of the mental connection that comes with the Centrum Potentia. However, as she can wield Ars Magica, Tia Magnus clearly has a Centrum Potentia, so what exactly is your reason not to like her?"

"Because she's a half breed." Repeated Dianna, her pretty face contorted in revulsion. "Breeding with humans is disgusting."

Both the poison in her voice and the look of disgust on her face surprised me. While most Baylons disliked the thought of having sex and children with humans, I had never met anyone before that found it revolting on the same level as Dianna. It was a side of her, that I had never seen before and one that really didn't become her.

Since Baylons from the trading and diplomatic families had contact with humans constantly, many of these families had some human ancestry and as long as the offspring was able to use powers, it was at worst a social scandal.

For that reason, any child without Power of such a union was usually placed with its human family, while a child with power would be claimed by the Baylon part.

My own father was one of the latter. He had been born because of my paternal grandmother's long-term relationship with Horemheb, an extremely bright and charming Kumetian diplomat, who had risen from commoner to the rank of King's Messenger, Chief Commander of the Army and Hereditary Prince.

However, my father had not only inherited his looks from my grandmother, but he had also, despite the ten-to-one odds, retained the Baylon ability to use powers. Thus, he belonged to my grandmother, even after Horemheb was crowned Pharaoh.

The royal connection was also the reason why my father had insisted, that my sister and I should be born in Kumet, because there was a chance that we weren't able to use powers and if that was the case, we would have belonged to the royal family instead of being simple commoners.

On the other hand, my mother had agreed because she had done her research and knew there would be a solar eclipse at the winter solstice right around the time where she was to give birth.

Both events were supposed to boost the Power in children born during them and though she denied it every time the subject came up, I was pretty sure she had used some kind of trick to ensure the birth of my sister and I during the relative short duration of a solar eclipse.

Dianna shifted her feet, bringing me out of my thoughts. I shook my head slightly and picked up the conversation again, painfully aware, that the mood had shifted and not for the better. "As I said before, you can't choose your parents. There's no logical reason to let your distaste of actions done by her parents colour your opinion of her. You're acting on emotions, not reason."

That made her blink a few times. Most Baylons were proud of their rationality and telling a Baylon they were controlled by their emotions, was awfully close to an insult.

Diana sighed. "Really, Ivah?"

"Well, give me a reason for not liking her, then." I said with a shrug. "I can understand a dislike, if she was better than you and thus in line for a promotion you would like to have. However, as far as I know, she is not. A fight over a lover would also make sense and the same would a disagreement over magical theory, but disliking a person, who is legally a Baylon, for their parents is about as smart as disliking someone for taking a ship instead of a transport gate. They got here, so who cares how?"

As soon as I had asked the question, I knew it was a mistake. Mage Dianna Piso was not one to admit she was wrong, especially not to a Mentat thirty years her junior, and as the mage assigned to me, she could make a lot of trouble. That I was right didn't make it better.

The friendly smile had disappeared from her face as she looked at me and when she spoke, her voice was icy. "I think we're done here for today." Glancing down at the weapon I was making, she added. "I suggest you focus on the weapons you're supposed to make, instead of making gifts. I expect the dagger to be done by the end of the week."

"Yes, mam." I said as she turned and walked out of the forge again.

With a sigh, I took the hammer down from the wall again. Unless I was mistaken, I had just lost a sex partner and made a shit load of work for myself at the same time.

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I wasn't mistaken. For the next month every piece I made was rejected due to some small error and I had to redo everything at least half a dozen times, before Dianna Piso couldn't find any errors with my work and allowed me to go on to the next.

Not only was it irritating, but it also meant that my time away from Arcem Discendi took longer than expected. However, as Diana kept to the rules, there wasn't much I could do about it. Instead, I took precautions and waited.

Then one fine day, August Raco, the Dominus or Head Smith, came down to visit me while I was working, most likely looking for an explanation why I was one of the slowest learners they had ever had.

He wasn't alone as a slightly uncomfortable looking Dianna Pico was trailing him.

As soon as I saw them, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty and it didn't take long before I was proven right. They didn't greet me, causing me to ignore them as I worked.

August Raco studied me for some time while I was working and then asked. "Emilian, is this how you always work?"

"More or less, Dominus Raco." I said, placing the polished piece of bronze on the workbench. "I guess you're here to see why I'm really bad at this?"

There was a shadow of a smile as he nodded. "That is correct."

"Thank you, Sir... As much as I like crafting, it's getting kind of repetitive."