Each stone of the wall was a smooth white tile, nearly reflective. A grand cyclorama adorned the center of the inside walls, leaving the tiles visible above and below. The ancient painting told the tale of this place, this land. Taking my time, I walked the perimeter and observed the story. This was the site of a great battle between forces of good and evil. And so on: The triumph of the forces of good. The vow to keep the place holy. Tales of ancient sorcerers gaining power to battle evil. Blah, blah, blah, very instructive. Some minor cantrip kept the painting evergreen.
In the middle of Centrum Carminis, there were two features. The font and the cup. The water came from a deep underground spring and filled the fountain. In the darkness, the quiet surface looked like liquid metal. The cup appeared to be a heavy, polished granite.
The idea was to fill the cup with water from the font, spend the night applying incantations, and then wait for a sign that the spring water had been charged with power. Some texts said that the water took on a luminous quality. Others described a circular wind in the temple creating ripples on the water. Once the sign became visible, the sorcerer was meant to drink the water, and thereby receive power and knowledge. This was not a trick for novices. One had to fully understand the temple, the elements, the power, and how to conjure. One had to be thoroughly trusted to be here. Mendax the Trusted.
It was said that trust was necessary to ensure respect for the power of the place. I knew better. Quite by accident, I had found books that no eye had seen in hundreds of years. Lost books. Forbidden books. The battle in the painting had indeed occurred, but it had ended in a draw, and the temple, like the ground, stood balanced on the edge of a knife. Only those deigned "good" had been allowed inside for centuries, because of the fear of what else might be conjured. I was about to find out.
Approaching the fountain, I carefully removed my robe. Standing naked, I felt the mist surround me. There was such potential to harness the bright power, I felt it ready to go to work as it had for so many before. Such electric brightness, like a child cheerfully waiting to open a present. Like a friendly dog ready to perform a trick. I rejected all of this and began to urinate in the water.
Instantly the brightness was joined by another, darker force. It had been suppressed for hundreds of years, but was finally being given the opportunity for release. The air in the temple became a dipole, positive and negative existing in the same space. My bladder continued to empty into the font. The stream was strong and sure, polluting the water. I grinned and arched forward, hands on my buttocks, spraying the water and surrounding stone. It was deeply satisfying.
I laughed aloud, the sound echoed a distorted, horribly warped version of my voice. Terrible glee filled me. I laughed because they had allowed me here, because they all but opened the door for me, because they trusted me. Idiots all.
I let the last drops of urine fall at my feet. Darkness descended and I began a slow, guttural incantation, my voice resonating throughout the ring. Using words that had not been uttered for centuries, I called out to the cup, singing to it. The fouled water began to overflow on the floor and ran over my bare feet. Formerly crisp and cool, the room suddenly felt warm and I broke into a sticky sweat. In the darkness, I heard the low moan of something in ecstasy. Someone fucking or being fucked. Sex magic.
I touched myself and began to grow hard. The moaning seemed to increase in intensity, which added to my excitement. What manner of beast moaned just beyond my sight? Whatever it was, we were mutually getting off. I began long, slow strokes. I held the top joint of my middle finger against the sensitive frenulum and gently wrapped my thumb around the top of the head. I leaned over and allowed a long string of saliva to land in my palm. The moaning was closer. The memory of a mouth around my penis brought more blood to my erection. I continued my slow masturbation and methodic chant.
I sang a song of knowledge, both a display and a request.
The temple, already dim, was almost totally dark then. Clouds may have obscured the stars, but I also felt the darkness ooze from the floor, rising into the sky. I could barely see my own sex. The wet sound of fucking seemed all around me. The moist scent of sex was everywhere. I continued to stroke but I could almost feel something unseen tongue my engorged head. Was my memory this vivid, or was it a real sensation? My hand fell away and unseen lips circled the head, tongue working the underside.
What was that dark thing? In the moment I did not care. It took in my entire penis and then the mouth felt as if it had two tongues at once, circling, lapping, teasing, nearly penetrating. I sensed the presence of teeth. Perhaps fangs.
Bodiless whispers from around the temple registered at the edge of my perception. I realized that the whispers were overlapping, coalescing into a chant from the darkness.
"Give me. Give me..."