Warloc

John has new powers he hasn't even begun to discover. Time for some on-the-job-training as he and Zynga strike out to explore the world... or at least the world's variety of women.

There's some excitement in this chapter, but nobody's bumping uglies so keep that in mind. Not to worry there, there's plenty of skins vs. skins games to come!

John checked the last of the buckles on the harness securing the draft horse to his wagon. It was a far cry from the coach he'd imagined, but a city like Telas didn't have any spare coaches for sale and John didn't have enough money to have one built, nor the time to wait for it.

The wet plop of the horse's poop dropping to the ground inches from his boot made him jump back. He scowled at the poop and then at the draft animal. It seemed Talas lacked in quality horses too.

Zynga cackled at the near miss. "Your mighty stallion agrees with me, it's too blessed early to be up and about."

John shook his head at how she liked to turn words like blessed upside down into a curse. He walked over to the iron rung and put his boot in it before climbing up and into the front of the wagon. He took the reins up and held them while he took a deep breath.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"I listened to the stable master," John said. "Read a treatise on it once too."

"I'm going to enjoy this," she said.

John ignored her and snapped the reigns. The draft horse jerked and took a step. The wagon shudder and scraped, barely moving. The horse stopped and looked back as if to say, "What the..."

Zynga howled with laughter far bigger than anyone her size should be able to produce.

John cursed and reached over for the lever that set, and released, the brake. He unlocked it and cracked the reins again. This time the wagon lurched forward as the wheels were allowed to turn.

Zynga was still laughing as John reached the outskirts of the outer city and left it behind. "You probably woke half the city," he told her as she finally calmed down.

"And you didn't even wake the baby-priestess you seduced and corrupted so she'd miss her vows," Zynga said.

John snorted. "She didn't want to be a priestess. She wanted more for her life. I did her a favor."

"More? What, being a whore?"

John frowned. "Why are you, of all people, chiding me? You're an imp! You should be thrilled."

She grinned. "You can see me as I truly am but everyone else sees a saucy little halfling wench. Just as I can see the beautiful darkness in you that no one else does. As for how you handled that wonderful acolyte, I'm very proud of you, Master."

John snorted at her use of the title. She was his familiar but the only thing he could count on her to do was complicate his life. That and dressing in clothing designed to be disruptive. Today's was a short dark brown dress that did not go past the halfing's knees. Given how she refused to sit like a lady, it was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. Her peasant neckline was no better as each bump of the wagon made her overly large breasts jiggle and threaten to spill out. A half dozen times already she had to pull the material back up to cover her boobs.

"You're the one waxing on about trying to deserve this new life and doing right by people. I'm hopeful you're coming to your senses," she said while glancing down at her neckline.

"And what would my senses tell me?"

Zynga grinned. "That you're one of us, Master. You've asked and received the pact with Mistress. She's granted you far more than any servant should ever expect, use her gifts to bring her power. Don't get caught up foolish human morality. Those were rules and laws created to make sheep of the weak-willed and weak-minded."

John clenched his teeth and tugged the reins to keep his horse on the road. He wasn't bothered by Zynga's lesson, he was bothered that he'd made a similar argument to Ela the night before.

They rode on across the open plains. The main road was worn down but filled with ruts and holes in the soft and sandy soil. They passed Riders and other wagons that were being driven off the road through the grasses near the road, but the grasses kept the ground firm and even for wheels and the legs of cattle and rider. Only people walked the road, everyone else used it as a guide.

"Here, take the reins," John said after the sun was well on its way to the western horizon. He held the reins over to his familiar.

Zynga looked at the straps like they were holy symbols. "Why?"

"So I can get some food out of my pack!" he said. "I don't think you want to dig through looking to feed me, do you?"

She scowled. "The mortal side of you is troublesome. You should see what you can do to please Mistress and ask her to remove the rest of that from you."

John rolled his eyes. "I have no interest in that. I'm a man, not an infernal."

She grinned. "Imagine how big your cock would be if you were?"

He shook his head. "I don't need a bigger cock. Half the time mine is too big as it is and I have to use magic to make it fit."

"You don't have to use magic," Zynga teased. "You could just shove it in."

"Gah! What's wrong with you?"

She shrugged. "It's just a suggestion."

"I gain power from pleasuring my partners, not from hurting them! If I gain power, than Mistress gains power. Making them suffer would not only be wasteful, but I have no interest in hurting people."

"You wanted to hurt that wizard. Billie the One Eyed," she said.

John stiffened. "Yes, I did, but I did that with my spear, not by trying to beat him with my dick."

Zynga cackled. "What a sight that would have been."

"Take the damn reins," he snapped and thrust them at her again.

Zynga frowned and took the reins. She held them as though they smelled bad and made no attempt to watch the horse that pulled the cart.

John turned and pulled his pack from the wagon. It sat next to the sturdy chest he'd purchased that contained his spell books. He pulled out a small loaf of bread wrapped in cloth and tore a hunk of it off. He rewrapped the rest of it and took the reins back in one hand while he chewed. The bits of sausage and fruit baked into it added flavor. Zynga looked on with disgust.

"You want some?" John asked her and held out the final bite.

"I don't eat that," she said.

"Not raw and bloody enough?" he asked before popping it in his mouth.

"At one time, maybe," she said. "Now I have a more refined diet. I only need one thing."

John stopped chewing and turned to stare at her. He opened his mouth to speak and nearly spit out his snack. He chewed and swallowed quickly and then took a drink from a water skin. "Do you mean that's all you... eat?"

Zynga licked her lips and wiggled her eyebrows.

John frowned and then laughed.

"What's so funny?" she demanded. "Mistress made your cum very tasty."

"I have to feed you, but you and I can't do... that. So the only time you feed is when I commune with Mistress and she's pleased with me enough to reward me with a climax that you can lick up while I sleep through it."

"Why's that funny?"

"Because of the irony. I have to please her, which means you have to help me. So you need me or you starve."

"I am bound to you. I do like you, Master... usually. If you were went full demon and stopped caring about the silly things you care about I'd probably have less fun anyhow."

John considered how she liked to tease and torment him and nodded. "Aye, you probably would."

"There are other ways, you know."

"Other ways? To feed you?"

She nodded.

"I have no interest in you as a lover. It's part of the original deal I made with Mistress, you said."

"That's true, but think back to last night. When you doused that acolyte with your seed you could have called me. Instead you let her slurp it all up and it did neither of you any good. You'd already wasted the power in it by spilling it on her and no in her."

"Wait, if the power was wasted—"

"No, no, the power you could benefit from where you tie her to your will and can use her as you desire. The power I get from it would have still been there."

"Oh," Just said. "I— wait, I could have tied Ela to my will? Like, make a servant out of her?"

"More like a slave, now that you've crossed over."

John gasped. He shook his head. "No! It bonded me to my lovers before. I could feel them and know them better. This isn't..."

"Think on it, Master. You have let a single woman drink from you since you came back. The girl on the boat, Steff, but you let her go and give herself to that sea nymph. All the wasted opportunities... why is that?"

"They didn't want to," John said.

Zynga snorted. "Don't give me that, you're the chosen of Beytrixxa, the most powerful succubus there has ever been! Look at what she did to you, that is power rivaling the greatest demon lords! You could have done whatever you desired with them... but you didn't. Why? Because you care. You care for their fragile sensibilities and minds. Once you have them in your snare you could twist them and shape them. You could make them the most craven whores. Instead, you leave them pining away for you and knowing they will never know a lover that will treat them as well."

"That doesn't seem so bad."

"Isn't it? What if you knew you could never cum again? Or even if you could, it would be nothing more than someone rubbing your floppy dick until you spilled a few drops of feeble seed? Would you not wish you could at least try to find your glory again? Would that not be a living hell in itself?"

John frowned as he considered her vulgar, but thought-provoking, argument. At last he shook his head. "No, it would not. There is more to a relationship than the bed—"

"There's bent over the table, riding you in a chair, on the back of a horse, holding her doubled over her shoulders and driving down into—"

"No!" John cried. "I meant trust and love! Caring and respecting one another. Many marriages are arranged, among the wealthy and common, do you think they are perfect lovers? No, but they learn to love and appreciate one another."

"Or find the arms of a whore."

John sighed and looked away. When he looked back he saw her grinning. "You may be the biggest curse I've ever had."

Zynga's grin widened and her eyes flashed red. She didn't need to bother with the theatrics, he could always see her wings, tail, pointed ears, and reddish eyes now. He only had to pay attention to them to see them as anything other than a shadowy fragments.

John looked back to the road and saw they'd wandered rather far from it. A copse of trees was ahead of them though, which might promise a small pool of water. Even if it didn't it would give him some cover to camp for the night. Khalas was another day's ride to the north, if not more. He'd hoped to make the tiny village said to have a tavern and a smith between the cities. The rough terrain and his own inexperience as a driver meant they'd made slower progress in the wagon.

"Well make camp in those trees," John said. "It looks like we've only an hour or so of daylight left."

"There won't be any maidens in the trees," Zynga said.

"A night without a partner is hardly cause for concern."

She shrugged. "Who knows, maybe you'll find an druid or something you can seduce."

"Or I could spend the night studying. So far I've barely learned anything from those books. I could control great spells and magic once... now I'm forced to relearn the basics of the spell forms necessary to summon light and fire."

"Mistress approves of that, you know."

"I know, she told me it was unexpected, but the more I could bring to serve her, the better."

"You should be training with that spear too. The black one, not the long spear between your legs," she teased.

"I should," he agreed. "I'm stronger than ever before, seems a shame I don't spend some time learning to use it better. Even my dagger."

"Daggers, you mean?"

John thought to the matched pair of daggers he'd taken from Billie's treasure cache. He still had them, but they were tucked away in his chest. They were worth something too, he was sure. He preferred the one strapped to his arm though. Mistress had given him that one.

"I'm keeping those to sell if I need to. I don't have much gold left. We'll need to find something to earn more."

"Not much out here to find," Zynga said as she looked around the countryside. "You could steal some cows, but selling them would be a chore. There must be something more fun... a good bit of thievery in a town, now that could be prosperous! Especially if we can pin the blame on a rival!"

John shook his head and pulled on the reins to slow the horse. It took a quarter hour just to get the wagon pulled in under the cover of the trees and once there he struggled to get the horse to stop. When it didn't stop fast enough he tugged hard on the reins. John and Zynga both lurched forward when the horse backed up a step. Cursing, John secured the brake and ignored the giggling imp.

"Don't forget to let the horse loose and feed him and rub him down and... what a pain."

John ignored her and set about trying to remember how to take the harness and bit off the horse. By the time he was done the last rays of the sun were lighting up the grass to the west. Beyond he knew was miles of sand and then ocean as far as the eye could see.

Fortunately for John, the setting sun did little to inconvenience him now. With his demon-sight he had no trouble gathering fallen branches and sticks for tinder. He arranged them far enough away from a tree to not cause a fire and pulled and kicked the grass to expose the dirt to build a fire on.

He stacked the twigs and broke smaller sticks first before adding the logs. John didn't bother with extra kindling or flint and steel. Instead he drew the form of the spell with a finger and finished it with a flourish that pulled the magic from the aether and created a plume of flame that ignited the sticks and branches.

John grinned and stepped back. Using a proper wizard spell felt good. Sure, it was a simple prestidigitation, but it was a proper spell and not magic contained within him and channeled by intuition and ability.

His smile faded. Impressed by a cantrip... he sighed. He was little better than an apprentice to a proper wizard. John sighed and looked up. Speaking of apprentice, he'd introduced Zynga as his apprentice a few times even though nothing could be further from the truth. Where was the capricious imp, anyhow?

A shape ducked behind a tree. A human shape. John scowled and looked around. He spotted an arm and a leg sticking out of the shadowed side of another tree. He kept looking but Zynga was nowhere to be found.

His horse snorted and stomped his hoof. John turned and looked. He saw legs behind the wagon. Someone was ducked down behind it. So that meant he was surrounded by at least three people. Three people that knew how to work together and be stealthy. He had an advantage in knowing they were there, but was that enough? Did they know about his magic? Had they seen him start the fire? For that matter, the magic he'd managed to learn was minimal. Parlor tricks meant to entertain and educate.

Then there was his other magic, but so far that hadn't helped him as much outside of bedding his choice of women. Unless... maybe he was being assaulted by a group of Amazonian warriors?

John snorted and held out his hands. "I know you're out there," he called. "Show yourselves. You're welcome to share my fire, but if you've something else in mind I have to warn you it won't go well for you."

The soft susurration of wind blowing the grasses and the leaves rustling were the only sounds to break the silence. John's horse stomped and whickered again, then turned as a man walked up next to him and reached up to rub the horse's neck.

John glanced over his shoulder and saw three others emerge from hiding. Two he'd known about and a third, a woman, that dropped from the limbs of a tree. She cradled a crossbow and shifted it to point at the ground in front of John.

"That's kind of you," the man near his horse said. He left the gelding behind and walked closer to John until there was only a dozen feet between them. He stopped there and said, "What sort of merchant rides a wagon with no goods in it?"

"I'm not sure," John said. "I'm not a merchant."

The man swept off his hat and bowed with a flourish, "My apologies, milord. Although what sort of lord travels without guards or even a driver?"

"I'm no lord," John said.

"Well, a man with a horse and wagon, fine robes and a very fine weapon like that spear... that you left in your wagon, must be something special," he said.

"I am special," John agreed. He raised his hand and traced a new form into the air that opened a tiny rift to pull enough energy to generate four floating balls of light. The balls drifted away from his palm and went to each of the brigands, floating over them and drawing gasps and curses from each.

"A wizard!" one of them hissed. He started to back away.

John smiled to hide his anxiety. The lights were illusions. Sure, they cast a faint bit of light but any one of them could have noticed it wasn't even enough to leave a shadow on the ground under them.

"Stop that," the leader of the bandits said. "We're not threatening you, we're just passing through and saw your fire. Thought we'd stop and check to see if you were all right. A wagon this far off the road might have run into some problems... broken wheel or axle, maybe."

"That's kind of you," John said. "I'm fine though."

"Are you?"

"I certainly thought so."

"Seems to me that a man that would use magic so readily against my friends is no friend at all. I mean, what kind of man risks traveling alone? Not a gentle, peaceful sort... more like the type that would take advantage of others. I think that it's in our best interests to protect ourselves from you... and maybe help out other travelers as well that might run afoul of you."

John chuckled and made sure he remained aware of the three others that were once again closing the distance toward him. "You missed your calling as a minstrel."

"And now you insult me," the man said and shook his head. His hand fell to the sword at his side. "I was going to offer you a chance of proving your good nature with charity. Donating your wealth to us as a gesture of good will. Now, I think, you have no good will."

John shook his head and scowled. This was a lost cause. Zynga was nowhere to be found and he was outnumbered. He'd spooked at least one of them with the dimly lit orb floating above them, but that left an archer and three men with swords.

He called on his magic and, with a subtle flick of his fingers, sent a mystical rope of it that struck the female bandit in the chest and burst into smaller tendrils that snaked around her like the legs of a spider. The magic had her in its clutches, causing her to stiffen. Her crossbow jerked up a few inches and then lowered as the magic clenched tighter around her arms.

John directed another thread to break away and cover her mouth. Her jaw was clenched and her lips pressed together. She struggled, knowing something was happening to her but she didn't know what it was. John poured more of his power into her, impressed with her resistance almost as much as he was worried about it. In the darkness the others had not noticed yet, but the longer her took the better the chance they would come at him.

"Nothing to say to that? Well then, how about—"

"How about you stop this charade," John snapped at him. "You're bandits. Thieves. Brigands. Thugs. The worst sort of people that would pray on innocents and steal what they worked hard for because you're too lazy to get it yourself."

The man laughed. "That's fine and good if you're trying to rouse the cowards and fools. We're neither... well, Terrence almost pissed himself when you put these damn balls of light over us. Tell me, will they go away when we kill you?"