Amber's Enchantment Ch. 05

Chapter 5

Unpleasant Truths

As the fires didn't ravage the surface of Destran, deep beneath the surface of the planet, changes were also happening. Life on Destran had evolved to not only survive the burning times, but to thrive because of them. While some animal species mimicked the sentient immigrants to the planet and moved into the extensive caves that riddled the planet, many more had become dependant on the fires and the influx of mana to survive as a species. It turns out that not every rock buried in the dirt was truly a rock.

In the unmined reaches of the depths of the planet, rocks the mining guilds thought of as rare, valuable, and useful, were hatching. Creatures, the likes of which very few of the sentient beings on the planet had ever seen were coming back to life. These creatures lived on, and for, the outpourings of mana the burning times brought. They would spend the next 50 years burrowing through the ground, leaving trails, veins, of rich minerals to be found, as they grew, matured, and laid eggs of their own. Those eggs, looking like rocks, would lay dormant for 250 years until warmed and woken by the next burning time.

*****

Amber pulled against the bindings as her body continued to respond to the fingers and tongues caressing her body. Five other slaves were gathered around her, concentrating on various parts of her body, stimulating them in an attempt to bring her to a climax; one she was trying to hold off. Yolanda was between her legs, licking at her pussy with light, feathery touches of her tongue. Thebes was at her left side, running his finders across her breast, occasionally pinching the nipple; an action that elicited gasps of strained pleasure from Amber.

Bressala was caressing Amber's right breast, her fully trained hands driving Amber farther into her arousal than any of the other slaves working her body into a frenzy. The feline slave, Aurora was bent over Amber's face, licking her rasp-like tongue across Amber's face, occasionally probing her mouth every few passes to dance with Amber's own. The fifth slave attending her was small, very small. Imri, whom Amber had learned was known as a fairy, was on Amber's belly, using tiny hands, feet, and gossamer wings to caress Amber with touches she had never known could be so soft and enticing.

It had been four months since Amber had returned from her assignment with Vesti. Her training had progressed rapidly and she was near the end of her orgasm control training. The erotic assault on her had been going on for two hours and she was managing to hold herself at the edge of orgasm Bressala could tell, though, that she was at the end of her endurance and that she would climax soon. As Amber's trainer, she was proud of how well she was controlling her reactions.

At this critical juncture, Bressala gave a silent signal and the slaves working on Amber changed their approach. Now they would stop trying to bring Amber to orgasm, but rather maintain her at the edge of orgasm. Amber would be able to propel herself into her climax any time she wished; but the second half of her test was to not give in to her growing desire to climax. In the background, another slave started a timing stone to determine how long Amber could resist seeking out her climax.

With the cessation of being actively driven towards an orgasm, Amber gave a loud groan that was half despair and half relief. Her pleasure addled mind was distantly aware that she had passed the first half of this test. As Aurora's tongue neared her mouth, Amber sucked it in, striving to give pleasure with the only part of her body not restrained from doing so. Aurora allowed Amber to service her oral member, basking in the sucking and wet caresses Amber was bathing it in. Her sensitive nose drew in the mingled aromas of Amber's ongoing lust mixed with the slowly increasing arousal of her fellow slaves ministering to her friend.

Amber's moans became increasingly plaintive as the constant pressure running through her body from the ongoing plateau became increasingly unbearable. Her body cried out for climax, yet she steadfastly fought her body's instincts to latch onto the glorious pleasure that could be hers. Pleasurable feelings morphed into painful ones as Amber's arousal filled her body with a relentlessness reminiscent of Dwarf digging for gold. When Amber's will broke and she thrust her clit roughly into the face teasing her pussy, an hour had passed since Bressala's silent signal. Amber screamed in painful release of her feelings, sinking into the orgasm she'd been working towards for over three hours.

Yolanda pressed her mouth tight against Amber's pussy, drinking the prodigious fluids the bound slave's cunt was producing as it quivered and pulsed. The other slaves attending her continued their ministrations until Amber collapsed in exhaustion, her body and mind spent from the battle against her own desires and the explosive release that followed.

Bressala glanced at the timing stone, seeing that Amber had nearly doubled her previous time of 35 minutes. Smiling, she brushed Amber's hair back from her face as the other slaves returned to their other duties; leaving trainer and trainee alone. Amber's breathing quickly returned to a more normal pace, but her eyes didn't open for several minutes more. A wry smile crossed her face as she looked up into Bressala's face.

"Mistress?" she asked, her voice tentative as she waited for word on how she had done.

"Just over an hour, Amber. You're doing very well."

"I think it's easier to be whipped, Mistress, than to have to fight your own climax."

"I suspect many of your fellow slaves would agree, my little slave. It's far easier to submit to something we don't enjoy than it is to fight against something we do enjoy."

Amber tugged at her still bound limbs. "Mistress, is there more training for me right now?"

"No, Amber," Bressala answered, licking her lips as she stood. "I'm just going to take advantage of you, much like an owner might."

"No, please Mistress, not that," Amber cried, here voice dripping with desire that belied her words.

Bressala lifted one leg over Amber's body and knelt over her head, pressing her pussy onto Amber's mouth. Amber responded with an outstretched tongue, lapping at the wet folds of her Trainer's cunt. Amber licked deep as her face was pulled tight into the pussy on top of her, using her well trained tongue to reach all those places that would propel Bressala to glorious heights of pleasure.

Amber soon realized that Bressala was serious about the taking advantage part. Unlike a session where Amber would provide service to Bressala, the trainer was using Amber's face, especially the mouth, to take her pleasure. Amber had little control over what part of her target's pussy she was ministering to, but simply licked and sucked at which ever part was being made available to her. At times, Amber found herself unable to breath as her entire face was enveloped in fragrant folds of flesh. She never panicked, her training being strong enough to keep her on task while her own body suffered under the use she was being put to.

As Bressala came, she road Amber's face, pulling it tightly to her and rubbing her pleasure sensitized crotch against Amber's face. Once her orgasm had spent itself, Bressala let Amber's drenched face and hair go to fall back to the table as she climbed back to her feet. Before Amber could say a word, Bressala picked up a waiting gag and snapped it onto Amber's face, the enchanted ball firmly in Amber's mouth. Without a word, Bressala left, leaving Amber bound and voiceless. Unlike a mundane gag, the minor enchantment on this gag prevented any sound from coming from Amber's mouth.

Amber was at the stage in her training when lessons would seamlessly merge into one another, or even take place at the same time. Bressala was leaving Amber, seemingly forgotten, much as an owner might do after using her. It would be several hours before Bressala would send someone to fetch the trainee slave. That she would be found aroused and needy again was a testament to her bondage training.

*****

Vesti slammed his hands on the table in frustration; a curse escaping his lips. The strange device in front of him was defying all his attempts to divine its purpose. It's not that he didn't know what it did; that much was quite evident from the first time it had accidentally discharged at Amber all those months ago. The strange L shaped thing, in defiance of all the known laws of magic, drained the mana out of whatever it was used on, and stored that mana in the crystal at one end. Clearly it was designed to be pointed at things. It's shape, and the placement of the activation spot made it natural to hold in the hand and use on something by simply pointing. All that was quite clear. What was baffling him was what the device was made of, and why it was made at all.

Every probe he'd used on the device failed to identify the materials in it. If Vesti hadn't known any better, he'd have said that the materials were not of this world. Of course, in theory, that was quite possible, as the inhabitants of Destran knew of a multitude of other worlds. But even on those worlds, one found the same materials making them up; iron, granite, air, water, etc. This device wasn't made from anything the wizard had ever seen before. With an advanced degree in alchemistical science, there shouldn't have been anything he couldn't identify. Yet this thing had, not one, but two unknown substances in it; the metal and the crystal at the lower end of what Vesti had come to think of as the handle.

The bigger mystery was why. Why in the name of all the Gods would someone want to drain the mana out of anything? Doing so would leave whatever you drained worthless. Without mana, there was no way to use whatever you had in a useful way. Gods forbid one drain the mana from a living being. There was barely any theory to explain what would be the result of such a thing. Living beings were the primary source of mana in the world. But even when a creature died, the mana remained; it simply stopped moving and being produced. Remove the mana altogether? Vesti's stomach clenched every time he imagined such a thing.

"Master?" came Silen's voice from behind him. "Dinner is ready, Master."

Vesti smiled at the naked beauty behind him as he turned. His cock was already hardening in anticipation of a pleasant evening with his slave. Silen was certainly better at the sexual arts, as well as the general service chores than the trainee Amber had been. She had needed more time to learn the intricacies of keeping his work-space in order, but Vesti assumed that was simply something Amber was naturally talented at.

"Thank you, Silen." Inhaling deeply, his grin increased in size. "Ah, Mikash stew. Silen, you spoil me, positively spoil me."

"Thank you, Master. It's what I'm paid to do," she giggled. It was a running joke between them that Vesti paid Silen well for her work. Silen was very happy with her placement, as Vesti was a kind Master with a sexual hunger and imagination that kept her very busy. Even serving at the occasional dinner party given by Melan Lustran was a welcome change of pace.

"Master," she added, "a package came for you while you were working." Silen pointed towards the leather wrapped parcel sitting next to the door of his place.

"Good, good. That'll be the scrolls I ordered from the guild. I'm going to need you to read them to me. I don't read Old Elvish."

"Of course, Master. Will we be starting tonight?"

"No, I have other plans for you, slave," he answered, a lustful grin on his face.

"Yes, Master," she replied, looking down demurely as her own arousal grew in anticipation.

*****

Colrit placed the clear stone on the parchment, tapping it to activate it. The writing on the parchment was projected in the air above it. To most people, the script looked like so much scribbling. To Colrit, and any other theoretical alchemist, they spoke volumes. Colrit and Heversham were in a small room at an inn. The clan was trading at a regular stop in the Boltin cavern and would be here for several days.

The aged dwarf started his presentation. "I'll try not to bore you with the minutia, but I must include some of the calculations to explain things properly. First, this table here," pointing to a part of the projection, which enlarged itself, "shows the mana content of numerous substances over a 300 year period. I've tried to make the obviously abbreviated list representative of the different kinds of materials and substances. Now, if you look closely at these first ten rows, they represent various plant species. All of them start the burning times with very high quantities of mana. But, eight of them lose almost all their mana by the end of the burning times. Then, over the following 250 years, increase their mana to pre-burning time levels. These two that don't, that have mana levels that seem fixed, are rice and wheat, cultivated crops. That's going to be important."

Coltit ran his hand through his beard in an unconscious display of nervousness. "These next ten rows are minerals. Every mineral starts with almost no mana at the start of the burning times, see vast increases over the burning times, and then slowly lose those levels over the subsequent 250 years. There are no exceptions as far as I can tell."

Heversham cocked his head to one side. "You almost make it sound like the mana is moving between the plants and the minerals."

"Yes," Colrit answered, "it certainly seems like that, doesn't it." There was an ominous sound in the dwarf's voice; almost a dread.

"Moving on, though, look at the animals. Now, we generally don't measure mana levels in living creatures, but in the parts of them we use in alchemy. At first, there doesn't seem to be any pattern. Some creatures see an increase in mana during the burning times, some see a reduction, and others see no change. However, notice which creatures see no change."

Heversham saw the open invitation in the dwarf's demeanor, and looked at the numbers himself. Like Colrit, it didn't take him long to see it. "They're all domesticated animals; cattle, pets, yeltin."

"Exactly!" Colrit confirmed. "Domesticated animals, just like cultivated crops, show no signs of changes in their mana levels. There's one more grouping we need to look at," he added, enlarging a different part of the projection. "The various sentient species."

Heversham nodded his head. Both knew that no one ever used parts of sentient species in potions, but knowing the mana levels in a patient were vital to brewing a proper medicinal potion at times. Colrit didn't even have to point out the results. Heversham could clearly see that every sentient species maintained constant, unchanging, levels of mana throughout the 300 year cycle.

"So, what's this all mean? I mean, it's fascinating from a theoretical standpoint. Plants, for the most part lose mana during the burning times, minerals gain mana, and animals are unpredictable."

"First, you've missed something important. Mana levels are changing in the first place. The laws of magic state quite clearly that mana doesn't move from one object to another. Yes, the flow of mana within an object can produce magical effects, but the amount of mana in the object doesn't change."

Heversham's mouth opened, then closed. "That would mean that the laws of magic..."

"...are incomplete," Clorit finished. "Clearly the mana in the plants is going somewhere, and the mana in the minerals is coming from somewhere during the burning times.

"I'm no expert in magic, but the implications of your discovery are mind boggling."

"That they are," Colrit replied with a wry smile hidden beneath his mane of facial hair. "There's more, however. The timing is significant as well. It seems clear that Fron is tied into these cyclical changes in some very basic way. I believe, in some way, the red sun precipitates the changes in mana in some way."

Heversham stared with incredulousness. "Are you telling me Fron is the source of the mana?"

"No, I don't think that's it. If that were so, I'd expect everything to see a mana increase as the burning times happened with a decrease afterwards. That's not what happens, though. Plants see a decrease while minerals see an increase. In some way, Fron sparks the exchange of mana during the burning times. The reverse, I suspect, is a return to what is, for lack of a better term, normal. What's more disturbing is the implications of the things that don't see changes in mana levels."

"I'm not following you."

"The vast majority of Destran has their mana levels changed in some way by the burning times, and by implication, Fron. What makes those few things that don't see changes different? I'll tell you what. They're all part of civilized society, that's what. They're all the sentient species, our cultivated crops and our domesticated animals. Why would we ignore what seems to be, for everything else, the normal laws of this world?"

"Perhaps that's what allowed us to develop sentience?" Heversham speculated.

"That might explain us, but what about our crops and herds? No, there's only one explanation I can imagine. We don't belong here."

"What do you mean, 'we don't belong,' Colrit?" There was a touch of hysteria in Heversham's voice as his mind tried to steer him away from the conclusion staring him in the face.

"We're not native to Destran. Sometime in the distant past, we came here, no doubt through portals, from another world. We brought seed crops, herds, everything needed to colonize another world. I wonder if we knew of the burning times when we arrived?" came the wistful speculation at the end of his conclusion.

Heversham was speechless. His face was a mask of shock, as he tried to think of something, anything, that would prove the dwarf wrong, while he feared Colrit was right.

*****

The wizards gathered in the room were some of the most powerful and knowledgeable (the two went hand in hand) in the entire guild. Most people seeing the room would see a rather plain room with a table, several chairs and one door. To the aura sensitive sight of the occupants, however, the room glowed with the auras of numerous protective enchantments. Nothing said in this room would be heard by anyone or anything outside of it. Anyone trying to enter the room uninvited would find their body enveloped in flames hot enough to melt gold itself.

Contrary to the expectations of many, the room was not filled with bearded old men in robes and pointed hats. The dress of the nine wizards seated around the table was as varied as that of the rest of the world's population. The only thing all nine had in common was the serious look on their faces, though they had different reasons for it.

The eldest, seated at the head of the table, looked at the wizard to his left. "All right, Ponet, why have you insisted on this meeting? I'm not aware of any world threatening crisis facing us."

"Never the less, my lord, there is one. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that our very civilization could vanish from the face of Destran if this problem isn't dealt with."

"Don't talk in riddles, man. If there's such a crisis, what is it, and why hasn't anyone known of it before now. The end of civilization doesn't sneak up on you."

"In this case, it may well have. If what I suspect is true, magic may be a legend of the past by the end of these burning times."

The uproar from his statement was just as energetic as he had expected. Voices were raised in anger and disbelief. He may as well have told a gathering of Dwarven elders that there would be no minerals left to mine in 50 years.

"Silence!" came the augmented voice of the council leader, Meltish Transom. "We are wizards of the first order. We do not behave in such an undignified manner." As the chaos cleared, he turned to Ponet. "Our esteemed colleague has never been in the habit of making wild statements. I assume, Ponet, you have some clear reason for making such a statement?"