Amber's Enchantment

First Placement

All over Destran, the carefully tended gardens and groves of the various enclaves of civilization lay in a burned out heap, all the plants burned to cinders and blowing in the wind. Such wasn't true elsewhere on this strangely beautiful and dangerous world. Along the trails used by the United Merchant Clans for five sixths of the years, life flourished, after a fashion. The unusual plant life that only those traveling merchants and the brave, yet solitary harvesters ever saw weren't being consumed by the flames of the burning air around them. No, they were actually seemed to be feeding the flames while not being consumed.

To one gifted with the spark and the knowledge of how to see mana in the world around them, the plants were bursting with mana. As the flames danced around them, the plants would spring small, undetectable,

leaks

that mana flowed through. This flow, too weak to produce a truly magical effect, would allow the flow from the mana rich native plant life of Destran to the minerals in the soil and ground around them that had much less. If they could study this phenomenon, scientists from another dimension would discover that this movement was more than a by product of the burning times, but essential to the health of this strange world. Without the burning times, all life on Destran, all native life, would be in danger of extinction.

*****

Amber felt the burst of warmth from the probe in her pussy and squeezed the walls of her cunt as hard as she could. Sweat beaded on her forehead, an indication of how difficult this seemingly simple task really was. The training aid shocked her as it sensed her incorrect technique and a squeal escaped her throat.

"Relax, Amber. The probe is your friend, not your enemy. You don't have to bear down on it like you were trying to expel it. Think of trying to caress a cock with you pussy; a nice gentle squeeze."

Amber didn't reply, not wanting to break her concentration. Bressala could see Amber's problem easily. Like many trainees, she was holding her breath and bearing down, thinking about squeezing without any thought to how hard she was squeezing. Watching the end of the aid, she waited for the red glow that let the trainer know the pulse had come. As soon as it did, Bressala pushed down on Amber's belly, forcing her to exhale instead of holding her breath. The result was a much lighter squeeze on Amber's part and a tingle of pleasure from the probe.

"There, did you feel the difference, Amber?"

"Wow, Mistress, is that all there is to it? I didn't think the probe could feel something that light."

"Remember, the training aids are magical and can sense very minute changes. This first phase is crucial to the rest of the training. There's no way to get that rippling sensation you felt in Yolanda with the brute force squeezing you were trying. I want you to keep at it until you've gotten ten successes in a row." Bressala tapped the end of the probe to give it the same instructions.

"Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress."

In the two days since Carli had been placed, Bressala had been pushing Amber's training at a seemingly breakneck pace. In reality, the trainer slave was keeping Amber from spending too much time thinking about her missing friend. It was unlikely that Amber would ever see Carli again; such was the nature of slavery on Destran. Carli had been placed with one of the merchant clans to act as translator and general service slave. Baring a visit by that clan to house Grantlo, Carli wouldn't see the place that had been her home for the last two years ever again.

Bressala smiled as she noticed Amber leaning back and trying to relax into her lesson. That was truly the secret to cunt manipulation; being relaxed yet focused at the same time. In many ways, it was the secret to good sex of any type; being relaxed enough to enjoy it while still being able to concentrate on your partner's pleasure. This was, however, a secret that each slave had to discover on their own; it couldn't be told to them. Once a slave made the discovery, their training became far easier than it had been.

As Amber practiced on the first cunt probe, Bressala considered exactly what she needed to send with Amber when she left on her first training placement later that afternoon. The word had come just last night that Amber was to be placed with a wizard by the name of Vesti for two months to assist with the non-mana manipulation portions of some of his work. Normally, with a slave doing the training at home, cunt manipulation would take two months, though Bressala half expected Amber to finish that training early. She selected a full set of cunt training aids as well as a set of anal trainers as well. Amber was really adjusting to these areas of training very well. Additionally, she set aside a selection of clothes that Amber could wear when nudity was inappropriate (such as when children were present), and a supply of the fixative.

All of these were placed in what was jokingly referred to as a slave pouch. The small pouch was enchanted to hold far more than its exterior size would lead one to believe. This was a common enchantment for clothing that travelers had to wear when a beast of burden was not possible; as would be true when Amber portaled. This specific pouch earned its name because it had an additional enchantment that caused it to blend into the wearers skin so as to look like nothing was being worn. With it, Amber would look like she was wearing nothing; important for a slave who was supposed to be naked at all times.

The chime from the probe sounded, indicating that Amber had completed her required series of squeezes. Bressala turned back to Amber.

"Very good, Amber. Clean the probe and bring it here." Amber did so and knelt in front of her Mistress. "Okay, you'll be leaving for a remote assignment after the evening meal. Do you remember what I told you about the time shift that will result?"

"Yes, Mistress. Master Vesti is so far away that it's the next day in the late morning. I still don't understand how he can be at a different time than we are."

"He isn't, actually." Bressala picked up an orange and held it up. "Destran is a ball. It's hard to see when you're on the ball itself, but it

is

round. The suns don't actually go around Destran, Destran spins in place, like this." Bressala mimicked the motion of the orange spinning while her other hand held a candle. "See how the candle only shines on one side of the orange? That's how it is with the sun. Now imagine two people on different parts of the orange. To them, they'll both see the candle, but not at the same time."

"I think I see, Mistress. Some Master Vesti is on the other side of Destran and it's night time for him when it's day time for us."

"Exactly, Amber." Bressala knew it was more complex than that, but didn't want to confuse Amber any more than she already was. Even Bressala didn't understand the complex orbital dynamics of a twin sun solar system. Given Amber's background, Ravenshore may well have been on a flat world somewhere. "That's why you'll need to take a waking potion before you leave. It'll allow you to stay awake until it's time to sleep where he is. Just remember, don't eat any meat for dinner; meat interferes with how well the potion works."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Now, I've selected some training aids for you while you're away. Just because you're on an assignment is no reason to stop your training. While you're away, I want you to…"

Bressala explained the regimen she wanted Amber to follow and how to use the slave pouch. After she'd eaten and taken the required potion, Amber found herself in a large chamber she'd never been in before. There were designs drawn on the floor and she could see a faint glow along some of the lines; ones that formed a circular area some 10 feet across, the result of an incoming portal spell. Garth and Inclon was waiting for her.

"Ah, Amber, you're on time. Good. Are you nervous?" Inclon asked.

"Yes, Master. I didn't like the feeling of being portaled when I was rescued by the Venturer."

"That's what I suspected. The first time someone travels by portal, it always feels that way. For slaves, since their first portal is between dimensions and not just between locations on the planet, the unpleasant feelings, we call them portal shock, are worse. At most, you should experience a slight dizziness; nothing more."

"Thank you, Master. Master, why here? Couldn't the portal open anywhere?"

"Normally, that's true. Lord Grantlo has, however, had two rooms of the house enchanted to react to portals in special ways. This room, called the portal room, no surprise there, is enchanted to attract any portals that open in the house. We can't have thieves portaling into the treasury, now could we? The other room is the healer's chambers. They've been spelled to accept portals and keep them from being redirected by this room. In a medical emergency, speed is of the essence and someone portaling directly to the healers doesn't need to be taken elsewhere."

A point of light formed in the middle of the glowing circle and began to expand, forming a circle. The circle grew in size until it was ten feet across. It was contained in the glowing circle of designs on the floor. Once it was fully open, Amber could see another room through it; a room with shelves filled with all manner of strange looking objects. In the center of the circle stood a man. He was shorter than Amber had expected, though she had no idea why she'd expected anything about him. His flaming red hair was unkempt and extended across his face to form a full beard, as unmanaged as the rest. His clothes, a simple pair of trousers and vest were unremarkable in appearance and most people would be hard pressed to describe them once he'd left their presence.

He stepped forward, through the portal, and smiled. Inclon, I assume, and the slave?"

"Wizard Vesti," Inclon replied. "Yes, I'm Inclon and this is Amber, slave in training, who will be serving you in a training placement."

Amber knelt, as she'd been told, and inclined her head. "Master, it's an honor to be placed with you and I hope that you'll find my service pleasing."

"I'm sure I will. My eyes certainly are."

Amber blushed gently at the compliment as Inclon spoke again. "Amber will serve you in any capacity you wish so long as it doesn't jeopardize her training. Sexually, she's fully qualified for oral and vaginal service, though the more advanced techniques are still in her future. She's also had basic training in household duties."

"Ah, yes, that's good. Much of what I need her for is very similar to cooking, or rather following a recipe."

"Good. The contract is for two months. After that, you'll need to take another slave placement so she can continue her formal training."

"That won't be a problem. Lady Melan has agreed to provide a permanent slave by then. I expect she'll be contacting the house in the near future about the specifics. If there's nothing else, I need to get her back. Portals don't stay open by themselves."

"Very well." Inclon turned to Amber. "Do us proud, little slave."

"I will, Master."

Amber rose and followed Vesti back through the portal. As soon as they cleared the glowing ring f energy, it collapsed on itself, shrinking back to a pinpoint of light that dimmed to nothingness. She felt a waft of something she couldn't describe as the circle closed; something she assumed was magical energy.

"Come along, Amber. We have much work to do. One of the Louvet bowls stopped working properly last night, so ore is backing up in the storage rooms." Vesti led Amber out of the room and down some corridors while he talked. "Tell me, slave, what do you know of magic?"

"Not very much, Master. It all seems so strange to me. I do know that it involves moving mana to produce magical effects and that only wizards can do magic; except for potions."

"That's right. Alchemy is the common being's magic. Anyone who can follow a recipe exactly can make potions. Louvet is one of the rarer reagents for alchemy. It has to be refined just so, and the magic that does that is touchy; subject to flow changes if not monitored and tuned regularly."

"Master, I thought only wizards could move mana. How does the mana change where it's going?"

Vesti stopped and looked at the young slave walking in front of him. "That's a very good question, Amber." Vesti's opinion of Amber had just gone up and his change in addressing her showed that. "The idea that magic is the moving of mana is only partially accurate. More precisely, magic is the process of changing the movement of mana. All mana moves naturally. In living things, it moves with some speed; observable speed if you know what to look for. In dead things, rocks and the like, it moves very slowly; so slowly that early magical theorists believed it didn't move in the inanimate at all."

"I see, Master. It's much like a beaver who dams a river, changing where it goes."

"I don't know what a beaver is, but the idea is sound. Louvet bowls are a dam, so to speak, and not a very stable one. The mana easily returns to its original paths. Unfortunately, it doesn't return all at once; resulting in a misspell, not a non-spell. Improperly refined louvet can have drastically different effects on the potions it's used in."

"Much like the way my memory potion didn't work properly," Amber thought to herself. "I wonder if his problems are behind the ones I had."

"Here we are," Vesti announced as he pulled aside a curtain. In the room beyond, men were using small trowels to scoop dirt into large bowls. There were other bowls that glowed faintly with a yellowish light. She noticed that those bowls had something in them, though not all had the same thing. Vesti led her to a shelf with an unused bowl on it.

"This is the problem bowl." He picked it up and carried it to a table in the back of the room, away from where the others were working. "You're probably wondering why we don't have enchanted trowels fill the bowls." Amber hadn't, actually, but Vesti kept up his commentary. "It's because the magic on the bowls is so sensitive that other magics used in close proximity would interfere. We're far enough away that the tuning won't create any resonance with the others.

"I need you to watch what I'm doing very carefully; you'll have to do it yourself while I'm completing the rest of the tuning. Do you see the carvings on the bowl?" Amber nodded, the intricate designs readily apparent. "It's important that your tracing is in time with the incantation itself. Watch." Vesti began to trace his fingers around the outside of the bowl, supporting it as he did. While he traced, he pronounced what to Amber, sounded like nonsense syllables. "notriumic, bithile, vastihume…"

Amber's eyes widened as points of red light appeared at Vesti's fingertips, following the digits as they traced the symbols. Inside the bowl, more light appeared, this time blue in color. The blue lights didn't move. He kept up the incantation for several minutes before stopping and asking, "Do you think you can do that, Amber?"

Amber pursed her lips in thought. She thought she had noticed some kind of pattern to the tracing, but couldn't place exactly how it worked. "No, Master. May I see it again?"

Vesti stared at Amber for a minute. He'd never had an assistant admit to not being able to follow the pattern on the first viewing. "Amber, do you always admit when you don't know something?"

"I didn't at first, Master, but Bressala, my trainer, has told me it's better to ask than to do something wrong because I didn't."

"I'm impressed. The number of students, let alone teachers, who don't understand that basic truth is astounding. Okay, watch again. Pay close attention to the relationship between my fingers and the words of the incantation."

Amber watched and was better able to see the pattern this time. She asked for a couple more repetitions before asking if she could try it on her own. Taking the bowl into her own hands, she balanced it on her fingertips and nodded to Vesti, indicating she was ready. He started on the syllables again and Amber started moving her fingers. The first thing she noticed was there was resistance from the points of light. They seemed to want to go elsewhere. Each time she lost control of the red lights, she stopped with a, "Sorry, Master," and they started again. It took a dozen repetitions, but finally, Amber was able to resist the inclinations of the dots and move them to where they were supposed to go.

"Very good, Amber. Most apprentices can't master it that quickly. Now, we're going to do it for real now." Vesti placed his fingers along the inside of the bowl. "This is why it can't be done by one wizard. None of us have the requisite four hands," he added with a chuckle.

He started the incantation again, and to no surprise on Amber's part, the blue light from inside concentrated under his fingertips just as the red ones did for her. What surprised her was that the bowl seemed to lose its weight and float in between the two pairs of hands. As the tuning spell advanced, she felt a tingling sensation in her fingers that slowly spread up her arms. The lights also started to change color, taking on an increasingly yellowish hue. As the spell completed, the sensation was up to her shoulders and the lights were as yellow as the glows from the working bowls. With a flash, the lights and tingling vanished and the bowl dropped back into her hands.

"Is that all there is to it, Master?"

"That's it, Amber," he answered, taking the bowl from her. "We'll tune a bowl or two each day. That'll leave you plenty of time to take care of any training activities you need to do."

Amber bowed her head and blushed a little. "Is there any other service you wish of me, Master?"

Vesti thought for a moment. He'd been so concerned about finding someone to assist with the work that he hadn't thought about all the other things a slave could be used for. "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Come with me, Amber. Oh, and put on a gown, we might encounter children."

The subterranean home of the Lustren family was much different than those of House Grantlo. Where her trainers lived consisted of miles of tunnels connecting the rooms where the people lived and conducted their business. Melan Lustren and her extended family lived in two connected caverns of great size with buildings built within them. The two caverns were connected by a single tunnel wide enough for five yeltin to walk side by side. Water flowed out of an opening high on one cavern wall and flowed in a manmade stream that snaked along one side of the tunnel and out a hole in the second cavern. Amber couldn't see any signs of people carrying water to the buildings and assumed that the same magics that brought water to her room in House Grantlo was working here.

Wizard Vesti's quarters were near the top level of one of the buildings. Amber entered behind her temporary master and took stock of the rooms. Unlike the rooms in house Grantlo, his quarters were closed off by an actual door as opposed to a simple curtain. The thick stone moved far more easily than Amber expected. Inside, there was a spacious living area that seemed designed to serve as a place for both relaxing and meal preparation. Two curtains closed off other rooms that Vesti explained.

"Over there is the sanitary facilities. Do you know how to use the cleansing bowls?" he asked. At Amber's nod, he continued, pointing to the second of the curtains. "There are my personal areas; sleeping chamber and laboratory. As you can see, I haven't had much time to keep things in order." Amber kept the disappointment off her face as his words continued along the line she feared. "I want you to spend some time tidying up my quarters. First, though, I need to make sure you know what to do and not do in the lab."