Author's Notes:
This story is erotic fantasy, set in a world of magic. I reserve the right to be listed as the author of this work, wherever it is posted. If found posted anywhere except Literotica.com with this note attached, this story is posted without my permission. © Darkniciad 2000-2007
The sexual situations in this story will be far ranging, and may prove disturbing to some readers. Please be warned that the villains of the story are really evil, and the things they do are not glossed over, or toned down.
I make use of modern weights and measures quite often in my work, because those are the weights and measures of my fantasy world. I know many fantasy readers prefer more archaic terms, and I hope those readers can overlook my use of miles, feet, and other such measures.
You really need to read the previous parts of the story to know the characters and the storyline. This tale follows Danica in her day-to-day adventures, with the greater plot emerging slowly at first. Think of it more as a serial than a novel, and you'll be in the right mindset.
This is an edited version of this tale, making use of what I've learned since starting to post at Literotica, and the services of my tireless editor, Roust Writer.
{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}
Over the next several days, Danica, Celes, and Darius carefully detailed the path their work would take. All the while, Celes thoroughly searched the lab, confirming that the wand was not in the room. At night, they explored the house. Each covered the ground the other had the night before, just to ensure they didn't miss anything.
They found nothing of any magical interest within the house. It appeared that anything related to the Art was relegated to the workshop and Darius' private chambers. Danica reached into Celes' mind each night as they talked, and eventually succeeded in finding the beautiful self-image inside Celes again. After the first time, Danica found it easier to do again. The image was so perfect, so real, and so beautiful to Danica.
Danica took on the task of exploring the grounds. Celes could likely have done it just as easily under cover of magic, but she found it uncomfortable for women to see her as young and beautiful, knowing that even if they were attracted they could never touch her without knowing the truth. A woman lived in the garden house, serving as an assistant to the gardener, and that was enough to make Celes uncomfortable.
The woman's name was Gabrielle. Danica discovered it when she snuck into the garden house at night to find the woman on her knees, sucking the gardener's cock. He was moaning her name as she sucked him.
Danica could not help but look at the woman's body. She had dark brown hair, and slightly angular eyes that hinted at some Eastern blood in her ancestry. Her breasts were small, the nipples tiny, though she had large areoles. The hair surrounding her sex was as neatly trimmed as the hedges she worked in the gardens, cut so short as to be near invisible around her lips. Danica wondered what the woman saw in the man, who was unattractive, rail thin, and not well endowed.
Danica only realized how long she had been standing and staring when the gardener came with a grunt into Gabrielle's mouth. Danica saw a hint of something in the woman's eyes as Gabrielle swallowed his cum. The mixture of anger and longing from Gabrielle slammed into Danica like a physical force. Danica had to brace herself against the wall as the feelings assaulted her.
The gardener pulled up his trousers and returned to his own room. Gabrielle climbed up onto her bed and lay down hard on it. Danica still felt the rush of anger from the woman, but it slowly dulled. Gabrielle softly touched herself, and her anger fled completely. Danica could hear the woman's thoughts, angry that the man forced her to suck him, angrier still that she got no reciprocate pleasuring from him. She cursed her foolishness in letting her employer discover she lay with women as well as men, necessitating her several times daily ritual to keep him quiet. She feared that if he revealed it that she would lose her work here.
Her thoughts slowly drifted as her fingers worked more quickly. Danica shuddered as she watched the woman come to a soft, quiet orgasm from her touch, feeling the woman's pleasure through the link to her. The mental link to the woman's arousal had fanned Danica's desire until she almost came without being touched.
Danica at last mastered her need and managed to leave, but she shared Gabrielle's anger at the gardener when she left to make her way back to her room. She let Celes know what she had discovered on the grounds, which was little more than Gabrielle's situation.
Celes quietly summarized what they'd both learned. "Well then, we know almost without a doubt that the wand is in the man's private chambers then. The web of protective magic around that door is a labyrinth of traps, and disarming them will be nearly impossible without being detected by the magic. It would be doubly difficult because you have to be visible to work the magic."
Danica shook her head. "We could never do it, even if we put the entire household into a magical slumber. The man is a master of warding spells, quite obviously."
"Trying is likely to lead to a battle. It's not something I want to do, and I don't believe it's a course Zoraster wishes for us to take, from the way he outlined this task to us."
"He never opens the door or deactivates the magic except when he enters and leaves the room. I'm going to have to get him to take me there," Danica said.
"Seduce him? He doesn't seem all that interested in such, though I'd be willing to wager that if any could change his mind, it would be you," Celes said with a smile that was breathtaking to Danica as she looked at the woman through the eyes of magic, seeing her young and beautiful as she should be.
"It seems that is the course then," Celes continued. "I suppose I can concentrate on learning while you concentrate on piquing the man's interest."
Danica thought,
It's not like it will be such an onerous task. Darius is attractive, well-spoken, mannerly, and quite charming. I wonder what wonderful secrets he's hiding beneath his robes?
The two women went to their rooms and their beds. Danica pulled out her toy, sating the needs of her body while thinking about Celes, as she did nightly now.
{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}
The next day, they completed the first stage of their work. With the item fully outlined, they knew exactly the course they must take if they were to have any hope of succeeding in the ambitious enchanting of the staff.
Danica considered the materials as she looked over the notes. "It will certainly have to be crafted of a living branch, taken from the tree and not deadfall. I honestly don't believe that anything short of Elven Silver Maple could possibly hold this much power."
"I was coming to that conclusion as well," Darius replied.
"If you were willing to forego a few things -- the Ball Lightning, and Cone of Cold enchantments in particular -- I think we could use Vallenwood as the medium." Danica suggested, speaking of the immense trees that grew so large that full-sized homes could be built in their branches.
Darius shook his head. "Those are the greatest of the item's offensive magics, and it does not have so many to begin with."
Celes offered, "Elven Silver Maple isn't easily obtained -- even deadfall. The elves let none enter their woods uninvited, and they certainly don't allow anyone to cut branches from the living trees."
"I know, I have heard such from those who have ventured near the elven wood, but there must be some way," Darius said with a slightly frustrated sigh.
Danica sat up straighter and looked over to Darius. "There are elven woods nearby? I'm not familiar with this area."
