“Close your eyes…Deep breaths…clear your mind of all extraneous thoughts…” The voice of Maleena’s Mistress said in a soothing voice. The teenage apprentice sorceress did her best to follow the older woman’s instructions. “Now, extend your senses, reach out and find the leyline…”
Maleena had done this enough times now it wasn’t difficult. She blocked out all of her mundane senses, to focus on her other, magical senses, senses she hadn’t known she possessed until three years before when a chance encounter had led her to become apprentice to Nariada the White Sorceress.
It took her only a moment to find the leyline. It appeared in her mind as a shimmering river of white light flowing a hundred yards or so below the foundations of the tower they were in, extending off beyond the horizons in either direction. It was the presence of the leyline that had led Nariada to settle in the crumbling old watchtower, abandoned centuries before when the Empire that had built it to guard some long forgotten frontier had collapsed. Leylines weren’t the only source of magic, Maleena recalled from one of her earliest lessons in magic, but they were the easiest for a sorceress to tap into, especially an apprentice sorceress just learning magic.
“I see it, Mistress.” Maleena said, her voice a little strained as she tried to hold the image of the leyline in her head.
“Good. Now, draw power from it for the spell…” Her Mistress said. Maleena bit her lip. This was the difficult part. With the same senses with which she’d found the leyline, Maleena extended out to the leyline and began to draw magical power from it. It was like trying to hold a pail of water, without the pail. In her mind, Maleena saw wisps of light flare off and dissipate from the small orb of light glowing in her chest as power slipped away from her. Her body trembled from the strain of trying to hold on to the magic.
“Cast the spell now!” Nariada said, a note of concern entering her otherwise calm voice.
Maleena extended a hand towards a small wax candle set in front of her. She spoke the words of the spell she had painstakingly memorized and at the same time willed the magic to flow from her, through her hand and into the wick of the candle. Most of the magic flashed and vanished as soon as she stopped concentrating on holding it, but a small fraction reached the intended destination. For the briefest of moments, the wick flared a dull red color, then it went out, giving off a thin wisp of smoke.
Maleena leaned back, throwing her arms back to support her body as she panted. Summoning magic always left her worn out. This time hadn’t been as bad as some of the earlier times when she’s passed out from the exertions, but she was still a long way off from the effortless summoning up and controlling of magic a true sorceress, like her Mistress, could do without thinking. She frowned, looking down at the candle with a look of frustration.
Kneeling across from her, looking at the candle as well, was Maleena’s mistress Nariada. The sorceress was a tall, slender woman, dressed in simple, but elegant ropes of a whiteness no mundane laundress could achieve. Her long, straight hair was pure white as well, her smooth, flawless skin only a few shades darker. Her face was that of a beautiful woman in her early twenties, though Maleena knew stories of the White Sorceress went back centuries.
The apprentice, in contrast, was a short peasant lass of 18 summers with thin, almost gangly limbs. Her skin was a dark olive, framed by an untidy scruff of short, dark brown hair. She wore a simple tunic of dun homespun, tied with a cord at her waist.
“There is improvement.” Nariada said at last. “But you’re still losing control as you begin to cast the spell, letting the magic you’ve gathered slip away. That is why the candle did not light. Keep practicing. Over time, you will grow stronger and more confident in your power and you will have more control over the magic.” Maleena nodded, wearily. “But perhaps that is enough for now. That will be all for today’s lesson. Tend to your chores, apprentice. I must start preparations for tonight’s castings.” She rose smoothly to her feet and walked to another corner of the chamber, which stood near the top of the tower, and busied herself fussing about a large circle of runes marked on the smooth sandstone in chalk. Maleena had been allowed to watch, but not to assist in its creation. She still didn’t know enough of the runes to be entrusted with so delicate a task.
The teen, meanwhile, staggered to her feet and wearily went to fetch her broom. This close to the wastes, sand and dust continually blew in on the hot desert winds. Clearing floors and doorways was an unending chore. She had just started to sweep up a small pile when she saw her Mistress suddenly stiffen.
“MIstress…” She started to ask, but saw Nariada’s head start to turn, as if listening to a silent, distant voice. The apprentice knew what that signified. Someone had tripped the wards which surrounded the tower. The teen had seen it a couple times now, local youths sent on a dare to sneak into the tower of the infamous sorceress. Those occasions had been fun breaks from the routine, the Mistress treating her apprentice to an impromptu lesson in how illusions could be used to scare off unwelcome guests. But this time was different. When Nariada turned to face her, Maleena saw a note of worry, never seen before on the face of her Mistress.
“Maleena!” The sorceress called sharply, which made the girl give a start. The Mistress had never used her given name, only calling her ‘apprentice’ or ‘girl’ before. “Go to the deep chambers and hide there. Do not come out until I call for you!”
“Mistress?” Maleena started to ask, but the other woman cut her off with a crackle of power. The Mistress was gathering energy from the leyline, far more than Maleena had ever attempted before, more than she’d ever seen her Mistress call upon at one time, in fact. It radiated off the older woman, so strongly the teen could sense it even without the ritual of clearing her mind beforehand. “Go now!”
Frightened, Maleena turned and ran for the stairs which led down, below ground level, into the deeper chambers they mainly used for storage. Before she got there, though, there was a loud ‘Boom!’ which echoed through the chamber as the tower itself shook from some powerful force. Maleena was thrown off her feet, stumbling to the ground. As she struggled to stand up again, more blows rang out against the outer walls of the tower, as if some giant was trying to smash it apart with an iron club.
Nariada stood at the center of the chamber, arms outstretched, chanting magical words faster than Maleena could follow. She guessed, from what words she did catch, these were spells to strengthen the physical walls of the tower and the magical wards bound to the stonework. But the pounding was relentless. Cracks appeared in the brickwork of the tower, dust and pebbles rained down, dislodged from forgotten cracks and crevices high above. Maleena screamed as a section of stairs above her broke from its place and plummeted towards her. At the last instant, a glowing shield of white magical energy suddenly appeared above her head, turning aside the hail of stones which would have crushed her.
“Find a place to hide! It’s not safe here!” That was all the time Nariada had to instruct her apprentice. The split second of attention diverted to saving the girl had fatally weakened her defenses. With one final crash, a whole section of wall opposite Maleena burst in, scattering charred and blackened rubble across the floor of the chamber in a billow of smoke and dust.
As it cleared, Maleena saw a figure float through the newly opened hole in the tower walls. It was a man, tall and gaunt with a thin, cadaverous face. He was dressed in black robes and a turban, edged in bright scarlet. His hands were raised and Maleena could feel power radiating off of him, as great, maybe even greater than her Mistress’ power. As the warlock and sorceress faced each other, the apprentice scurried for cover, finding a small, dark niche where the stairs rose from the floor, circling the outside of the chamber.
Maleena pressed herself as deep as she could into the space. Outside the hiding spot, the magical duel had begun. She clapped her hands to her ears, blocking out the roar and crackle of spells as the two combatants hurled power at each other, seeking to overwhelm their opponent through raw strength.
From time to time, Maleena caught a glimpse of the effects of spells going off in the small sliver of the chamber she could see from her hiding spot. She saw her Mistress deflecting bolts of black energy with a dozen white shields which orbited around her. The warlock recoiled back, his black robes fully enveloped in green flames which he extinguished with a summoned downpour. He worked the conjured cloud into a thunderhead and hurled it, spitting lighting and hail all around, at his opponent.
Summoned monsters trampled and cavorted around the chamber, locked in battle. A massive, one-eyed ogre swung its club at a giant golden lion which clawed at the brute’s throat. A roc screeched and swooped about the chamber, bedeviled by a swarm of tiny imps which hurled needle-like spears into its sides. A green-scaled hydra swallowed up black carapaced beetles only to have them burrow their way out from inside of it.
As Maleena waited, to see which way the battle would turn, a spell hit the stairs under which she hid. The large sandstone blocks began to twist and reshape themselves, flowing like putty. With a shriek of terror, the teen bolted from the niche as the stone golem ripped itself free from the wall in a shower of rubble and chunks of masonry and lumbered into the battle. Before she could find another place to take cover, the warlock turned, alerted by her scream. Faster than the apprentice could react, the man whipped a hand in her direction. A number of black cords were conjured forth and shot at her, overcoming her feeble attempts to dodge. She gave a cry of alarm as her arms and legs and torso were soon wrapped up in magical ropes.
“MissMmmpphhh!!!” Maleena called desperately, but one of the cords knotted itself in the middle, jamming the not between her lips. The free ends tied themselves off, forming a crude muzzle which silenced the frightened girl.
“No!” Nariada cried and threw a spell towards Maleena. Nothing seemed to happen. The teen squirmed and struggled as the ropes rose into the air, pulling her up with them.
“Well well…” The warlock chuckled. He extended a hand and Maleena drifted towards it. “You seem to care for this insignificant worm. Surrender now, or she dies!” He closed his hand into a tight fist. Maleena screamed into her gag as the cords binding her began to tighten, threatening to crush the life from her body.
“Stop!” Nariada said, throwing up a hand. “If you spare her I will yield!” Maleena grunted frantically to her Mistress, urging her to keep fighting, regardless of the cost to her apprentice, but the older woman bowed her head. With a quiet sigh, she released the remaining magic she had gathered, leaving herself vulnerable.
The warlock didn’t hesitate to take advantage. A spell like the one that had ensnared Maleena shot forward. Nariada might have been able to counter it, despite everything, but she didn’t even attempt to dodge, letting the spell take her. Soon, she floated into the air, wrapped up and gagged in the dark cords like her apprentice.
“Foolish of you, to sacrifice yourself for a mere apprentice.” The warlock said, gesturing to Maleena. “A whelp with no power of her own. But I am quite glad. Had you resisted much longer, I would have been forced to destroy you. That would have been a waste indeed. I have use for you, a true sorceress. As for this whelp, she may serve among the slaves, where she belongs.” As he said this, Nariada grunted angrily into her gag, drawing another evil chuckle from the man. “I said I would spare her life, not her freedom. Not that you are in any position to hold me to my word now, Sorceress.”
As she and Maleena moaned into their gags in horror and outrage, the warlock turned and began casting another spell. A shimmering circle appeared in the air before him, a doorway floating in mid-air. On the other side was a chamber of dark stone. Helpless the two women were floated through, first Nariada, then Maleena. Their captor followed, closing the doorway behind him.
As her eyes adjusted to the new darkness, Maleena found the chamber they were in was high and vaulted, circular in shape. At the center, where they had emerged, was a stepped platform. Inscribed into the surface of the smooth, dark stone was a run circle. Maleena recognized it from one of her lessons as a teleportation circle, a fixed point for the caster to tie his spell to and return to after his victory, bound spoils in tow.
At the outer perimeter of the chamber were four arched gates, spaced evenly apart. Above each gate, straddling it, were a quartet of stone statues, burly humanoid figures with the heads of bulls, tall enough for their sharp horns to brush the start of the domed ceiling twenty feet up. Their eyes glowed with a dull red witchfire. Maleena knew if they had been intruders, instead of prisoners, the massive golems would have come to life to crush the women with the stone axes and maces they wielded.
The warlock strode between the legs of one of the golems, fearless in his own domain. His captives floated along behind him. The gates swung open of their own accord to permit the trio into a long corridor of the same dark stone. Flickering torches, bracketed to the walls every dozen yards or so, created tiny pools of light, separated by long lengths of dark shadow. The chill and damp of the stone and the sense of weight pressing down on her told Maleena they were deep underground.
As she floated, helpless, the teen cursed herself for her foolishness. This was all her fault. If she had obeyed her mistress from the start and had run, the warlock might not have broken the tower’s defenses. Had she not exposed herself and been captured, the Mistress wouldn’t have surrendered to spare the girls’ life. Maleena glanced over at the older woman. Nariada floated, still and calm, maintaining an air of quiet dignity, despite the indignity of floating, arms and legs lashed with cord. But beneath the calm mask, Maleena could see the strain the older woman felt and something she’d never seen before on her Mistresses face: fear. That made the younger woman terrified.
Maleena had little idea how long they walked, and floated, for. The unchanging design of the hallway made gauging distance difficult, plus she could feel the presence of powerful magics at work, warping her perceptions of both space and time. They might have been traveling for mere minutes and yards, or hours and miles, at the same slow, unrelenting pace.
Eventually, they came to another large gate, with its own, hawk-headed guardian golem standing watch over it. The gates swung open, admitting the trio into a long, vaulted chamber. On either side were stone arches, each ten or so feet tall, stacked three high below the vaulted ceiling, with a shallow, dark niche behind it. At first, Maleena though the arches contained more statues, but as they approached the first one, she saw she was only half right.
The arch contained a tall statue which filled the space. The figure was that of a monstrous demonic humanoid with a terrifying hawk-head that brushed the top of the arch. It had four long arms ending in talons. These were clutched tight around the wrists and ankles of the young woman who was suspended in front of it.
At first, Maleena thought she was part of the statue but to her shock and horror, the figure fidgeted and squirmed, revealing herself as a living, breathing woman. She was tall and slender and totally naked. Her features could not be discerned, due to a hood of black cloth which covered her head completely. The most distressing part of it, though, was what was between her legs. The bird-demon statue had been given an enormous stone phallus, which projected out between the woman’s legs, thrusting upward where it split into two, each penetrating one of her holes. The woman rocked her hips, though whether seeking freedom or release it was difficult to tell. The hood muffled her quiet, desperate moans.
With mounting horror, Maleena realized each of the niches held near identical statues, each clutching a naked, hooded captive woman mounted lewdly atop it. What was worse, every so often, there would be a muffled squeal and a flash of movement from one of the niches. When it happened to the one they stood before, Maleena gave a cry of shock as the statue came to life, thrusting into its victim with what appeared to be enthusiasm on its stony face. She squealed through the hood, struggling for all she was worth. As she did, Maleena felt magic briefly. It dissipated quickly and in the arch runes flashed with eldritch light.
Beside Maleena, Nariada gave a muffled cry of outrage, looking at one of the other niches. The woman in that was, like all the others, naked and hooded, but there were tattoos visible on her pale skin. The warlock chuckled.
“Yes, your missing sisters are here too. They fell to me in battle, one by one and I claimed their power. Soon, all the sorceresses will be mine and then I will be unstoppable!” He stopped and Maleena saw they’d come to the end of occupied niches. The alcove they stood at now held a statue without a captive, but not for long.
The warlock gestured with his hand. Nariada began to float forward. Her mask of calm had dropped now. She fought openly against the cords binding her, a look of fear on her face as she saw the statue meant for her. As she got close, the warlock chanted a quick spell. Nariad’s clothes dissolved away, leaving her completely naked. The black cords released themselves from her arms and legs, reforming into a hood like all the other sorceresses wore.
Any freedom this brought her, though, was short lived. At another chant from the warlock, the statue came to life. With a look of eagerness, it reached out with its four arms, seizing the woman’s wrists and ankles. It drew her close, despite her struggles, holding her spread-eagled in the air. Slowly it lowered her down onto its forked phallus. Maleena turned her head away, but heard the outraged scream as her mistress was penetrated by the stone shafts.
With his latest prize secured, the warlock turned and strode onward, dragging Maleena behind him. They had passed through another arched gate when he seemed to remember the teen, still floating bound and gagged behind him. “Yargoth!” He spoke, seemingly into the empty air of the corridor, but when they rounded a corner a boy about Maleena’s age stood, bowing low before the warlock. He face was pale, save where acne had broken out, his hard an untidy blonde scruff. He was dressed in black robes bearing the livery of the warlock.
“Another foolish apprentice taken with her mistress.” The warlock told his own. “Prepare her and put her to work with the others.” The boy nodded as his master strode away, leaving Maleena behind. She slowly sank to the ground as the warlock released his hold over her. She just managed to get her feet beneath to avoid sprawling to the hard stone floor. The boy turned to face the helpless girl. For a long moment, he stood, hand outstretched with a look of intense concentration on his face as he gathered magic. Then he spoke the words of a spell and directed the magic at Maleena.
The girl felt the magic crackle over her body. The black cords were released from her body as, to her shock and embarrassment, all her clothes were too. The naked girl was about to try and cover herself when the magic concentrated itself about her wrists and ankles. They glowed a bright purple for a moment and the next thing she knew shackles of some polished black metal circled her wrists and ankles, joined by short chains. It moved to her neck and formed a collar, a long chain leash running from it to the boy’s hand. Moving upwards, a thick bitgag manifested between her teeth, the trap circling Maleena’s head. In a few short seconds, she had been transformed from Sorceress’ apprentice to a naked and chained slave girl.
“Come!” The boy barked, in an authoritative way which belied his high, cracked voice. He tugged sharply on the chain lead. Maleena had no choice but to shuffle after him, stumbling in her heavy chains. As the two walked down the corridor, Maleena bowed her head, fighting back tears as she thought of her Mistress and her torments just beginning, and her own fate, enslaved here for the rest of her days, never to become a sorceress like she had dreamed off. She was shocked when, after a few minutes of walking, she suddenly heard the voice of her Mistress in her head.
“Maleena? Can you hear me?” The teen gave a startled grunt of surprise. To her relief, her captor didn’t notice, taking it for more of the slave’s sounds of anguish.
“Just before we were captured, I put a spell of telepathy on you, so I would be able to talk to you remotely.” Her mistress continued. “Do not let anyone know you can hear me or all will be lost. You are our last hope, Maleena. For me and my sisters and all the other sorceresses the warlock has captured.”
The teen’s mind raced. Her? Their last hope? Fresh tides of despair welled up inside her. It had been because of her, after all, they had been captured in the first place.
Some of her thoughts and feelings must have come through whatever tenuous connection the two had because her Mistress spoke up hurriedly. “It wasn’t your fault. The warlock was too powerful for me to defeat from the start. He has the power of dozens of sorceresses to twist and pervert to his will. Sooner or later, he would have worn me down and either captured or destroyed me too. Fortunately, he seems to have underestimated you.”
Maleena’s eyes went wide in shock. Underestimated her? A wannabe sorceress who couldn’t light a candle, much less face a warlock stronger than her mistress more than a dozen times over?
“Yes, you are inexperienced, but you’ve already come so very far in your training. Had you been any more powerful he would have sensed it and either destroyed you or imprisoned you alongside me. As it stands, we have a chance, a slim one, but a chance none-the-less. We must bide our time. I will continue your training…as best I can under the circumstances. You won’t be strong enough to face the warlock, but if you can find your way back to me and release us, his power will be gone and he will be no threat anymore.”
For the first time since the attack, Maleena felt something akin to hope. Compared to facing a powerful spellcaster, sneaking back and freeing her mistress seemed almost doable.
“You must be careful though. Do not let anyone catch you using magic or you’ll wind up with us in a heartbeat. The process will be long and arduous, but I have faith in you, my apprentice…I…I can’t speak any longer…” a note of distress entered the sorceress’ voice. “It’s starting again…oh goddess!” The voice trailed off into a moan and was silent.
“Here we are, slave! Your new home! Make yourself useful or the Master will fine use for you in one of his experiments!” The boy told Maleena as they passed through another gate. This section of the Warlock’s lair looked refreshingly mundane, in contrast to the dark stone and eldritch runes of the two previous chambers. The teen saw a large kitchen and adjoining stores, much larger than the ones back at the tower where she had prepared meals for her and her mistress, but built to the same pattern and design.
What was less comforting, though, was the dozen or so young women and girls at work in the kitchen, preparing food or cleaning. Like her, they were naked, save for shackles and gags. Briefly Maleena wondered if these were the former apprentices to the other captured sorceresses, enslaved after their Mistresses were taken, the same as she had been, or if they were local girls, stolen from their homes to serve the warlock and his apprentices’ mundane needs.
Watching over them were two more boys in the same black livery, marking them as apprentices of the warlock. They carried wooden rods with which to encourage their charges to work hard. One of them seemed to be practicing his magic. His rod floating into the air, held aloft by his will. It flew over and delivered a hearty smack to one of the slave girl’s bottoms. She yelped, chains rattling as she jumped. The red stripes marking the backsides and thighs of many of the other slaves told Maleena this was no uncommon occurrence.
Maleena was led to one corner of the room where an enormous pile of dishes, pots and pans stood, half submerged in a large wooden tub of soapy water. Pointing to a rag hung over the edge of the tub, the boy holding her leash ordered the girl to get to work scrubbing. As she got to it, he hooked her chain lead over a nearby hook, to keep her from wandering off, then he turned and left, on some other errand of his cruel master, Maleena guessed. The two overseers glanced at her from time to time, but she was careful not to give them an excuse to use their rods on her.
After a few minutes of this, she felt certain no one was paying her any attention. Continuing to work her mindless task, Maleena turned her focus to her mission and her aborted training. It was hard to clear her mind, kneeling naked and chained surrounded by other miserable slave girls, but she did her best. She reached out with her senses, searching for a source of magic. At once, she sensed the chamber with the captured sorceresses, feeling as magic was compelled from them and siphoned off to some evil design of their captor. Maleena didn’t dare touch that, figuring it was too likely to be noticed. There were other sources scattered about the lair she didn’t recognize, powerful artifacts or spells-in-progress being crafted by the warlock. Eventually though, she felt the faint calling of a leyline, high above her head. It was further off then the one at the tower, miles away, perhaps. Drawing power from it would be challenging, but she had no other choice.
“It’s that or scrub dishes for the rest of my life.” Maleena thought, having to divert her attention to scratching at a particularly persistent patch of pudding. Then she cleared her mind, found the leyline again and gritted her teeth. This would be the most difficult lesson of her sorceress training thus far…